Nagpur

“ It appears to me quite a mistake to imagine that districts like Mânbhum, Palâmow, the Sântal Parganas, Jhârkhand, &c., could ever have been extensively cultivated and peopled densely like the plains of Magadha or the valleys of the Jamna and the Ganges; the occurrence of ruins among the wilds of Chutia Nagpur can only be due to cities having from some generally intelligible natural cause sprung up at points along a great road ”

“ These tribes were formerly turbulent, and a source of trouble to the Mahommedan governors of Bengal and Behar; but the introduction of British rule has secured peace and security, and the aboriginal races of Chota Nagpur are now peaceful and orderly subjects. The principal agricultural products are rice, Indian corn, pulses, oil-seeds and potatoes. A small quantity of tea is grown in Hazaribagh and Ranchi districts. Lac and tussur silk-cloth are largely manufactured. The climate of Chota Nagpur is dry and healthy. ”

“ We find him even at Nagpur continuing his literary work, particularly the compilation and translation of a Supplementary Digest. He also prepared, as far as this was possible in the midst of diplomatic avocations, some of his most important contributions to the “Asiatic Researches,” one on Sanskrit prosody, which did not appear till 1808, and was then styled an essay on Sanskrit and Prakrit poetry; one on the Vedas, another on Indian Theogonies (not published) , and a critical treatise on Indian plants. At last, in May, 1801, he left Nagpur to 381 return to his post at Mirzapur. ”

“ His Punjab experience had taught him the value of picked subordinates, and no chief commissioner was ever served by better assistants than Alfred Lyall, Charles Elliott, and Charles Bernard. The connection at length established with Bombay by the Great Indian Peninsula railway system in 1867 enabled Temple to leave Nagpur in full confidence to his successor, upon whom frowning times of famine were to fall. ”

“ The consequence is that the existing population is very diverse, and is made up of elements belonging to many parts of India. The people of the northern Districts came from Bundelkhand and the Gangetic plain, and here are found the principal castes of the United Provinces and the Punjab. The western end of the Nerbudda valley and Betūl were colonised from Mālwa and Central India. Berār and the Nāgpur plain fell to the Marāthas, and one of the most important Marātha States, the Bhonsla kingdom, had its capital at Nāgpur. ”

“ The state includes a fertile plain, yielding rice and cotton. Its prosperity has been promoted by the Bengal-Nagpur railway, which has a station at Dongargarh, the largest town (pop. 5856) , connected by road with Khairagarh town, the residence of the raja. ”

“ It has an area of 141,580 sq. m. and a population of 54,096,806. It consists of the provinces of Behar, Orissa and Chota Nagpur, and the western portion of the Ganges valley, but without the provinces of Northern and Eastern Bengal; and is divided into the six British divisions of the presidency, Bhagalpur, Patna, Burdwan, Chota Nagpur and Orissa, and various native states. The province was reconstituted in 1905, when the Chittagong, Dacca and Rajshahi divisions, the district of Malda and the state of Hill Tippera were transferred from Bengal to a new province, Eastern Bengal and Assam ”

“ In Southern India the most notable, perhaps, is the great temple at Tanjore (see chap. 17 of Monier Williams's Religious Thought and Life in India) .
7. 'This mode of suicide is called Bhrigu-pātā, "throwing one's self from a precipice". It was once equally common at the rock of Girnār [in Kāthiāwār] , and has only recently been prohibited' (ibid. p. 349) .
8. Nagpore (Nāgpur) was governed by Marāthā rulers, with the title of Bhōnslā, also known as the Rājās of Berār. The last Rājā, Raghojī, died without heirs in 1853. His dominions were then annexed as lapsed territory by Lord Dalhousie. ”

“ Nagasaki (61) , one of the six treaty ports of Japan, on the NW. of the island Kiushiu; has a beautiful and extensive harbour, within which lies the island of Deshima; manufactures “egg-shell” china, exports coal, tea, &c., and possesses an excellent dockyard; American and English missions are carried on.
Nagpur or Nagpore (117) , capital of the Central Provinces of British India, and of a district and division of the same name; an important railway terminus, 450 m. NE. of Bombay; is noted for the manufacture of fine cloth, and carries on a brisk trade in wheat, salt, spices, &c. ”

“ There are 3648 small lakes and tanks in Bhandara district, whence it is called the “lake region of Nagpur”; they afford ample means of irrigation. More than one-third of the district lies under jungle, which yields gum, medicinal fruit and nuts, edible fruits, lac, honey and the blossoms of the mahuá tree (Bassia latifolia) , which are eaten by the poorer classes, and used for the manufacture of a kind of spirit. Tigers, panthers, deer, wild hogs and other wild animals abound in the forests, and during the rainy season many deaths occur from snake-bites. Iron is the chief mineral product. ”

“ Then, too, the division of Chutiá Nagpur, a mountainous territory lying between Southern Bihár, Western Bengal, Orísá, and the Central Provinces was surging with revolters, and these were constantly traversing the grand trunk road, impeding communications, and rendering travelling dangerous. ”

“ Iron-ores abound, together with good building stone. The indigenous inhabitants consist of non-Aryan tribes who were driven from the plains by the Hindus and took refuge in the mountain fastnesses of the Chota Nagpur plateau. ”

“ In 1905 five Oriya-speaking states (Bamra, Rairakhol, Sonpur, Patna and Kalahandi) were added from the Central Provinces and two (Gangpur and Bonai) from the Chota Nagpur states. This made the total area 28,046 sq. m. and the pop. ”

“ In 1743 Raghoji Bhonsla of Berar established himself at Nagpur, and by 1751 had conquered the territories of Deogarh, Chanda and Chhattisgarh. In 1741 Ratanpur had surrendered to the Mahratta leader Bhaskar Pant without a blow, and the ancient Rajput dynasty came to an end. In Chanda and Deogarh the Gond rajas were suffered by Raghoji Bhonsla and his successor to carry on a shadowy existence for a while, in order to give them an excuse for avoiding the claims of the peshwa as their overlord ”

“ By far the largest accession of territory made during Lord Dalhousie's rule, to the British dominions on the failure of heirs, was the great central tract of India known as Nagpur. This Maratha principality as now constituted into the Central Provinces, and after various rectifications of frontier, has an area of 113,279 square miles, with a population of 12,000,000 souls. The territories annexed by Lord Dalhousie in 1854 make nearly four-fifths of the present Central Provinces. ... It is difficult to find any ground for the charge which Mr. ”

“ Beyond the station lies the broad sheet of water known as the Jama Talao, and farther east is the city, completely hidden in a mass of foliage. Handsome tanks and gardens, constructed by the Mahratta princes, lie outside the city. ”

“ The Nagas preferred working for us to working for the Maharajah, as we paid them for their labour, whereas the durbar considered it as revenue, and gave them nothing. At the same time, the way the Manipuris managed all the hill-tribes about them was very creditable. Every village had to work for the Rajah so many months in the year—about four. Some had to cut wood, and bring so many bundles in for the palace; others had to give so much rice, or go down to Cachar or to Kohima for trading purposes, and each tribe had its own duties. ”

“ It was often very difficult to procure food for the men, and they had more than [270] once to go without dinner when they got in at night, though as a rule they had half-rations. We had managed to get a supply of rice from one of the Naga villages situated near the road.
The Nagas were for the most part friendly disposed towards us, but here and there they gathered together near their villages, which they had deserted for the meanwhile, and had a stray shot at us as we passed along. We never burned these villages, thinking they might be useful to the troops when they should return. ”

“ Naurangpur is the station of the deputy tahsildar and of an ámin of the Jeypore estate. Population 3,203; height above the sea, 1,918 feet. It consists of one broad street, in which are the public offices and the residence of the ráni referred to below, with a few lanes on either side. The place is a great centre for the export of grain, and is known for the lac toys (see p. 129) which are made in it and for its splendid avenues and topes, one of which consists of a quadruple row of trees two miles long. ”

“ He had numerous native troops with him, and a large city under his control; if anything sinister should arise, he was far away from any extraneous aid—being nearly six hundred miles distant from Madras, and still further from Calcutta. But, whatever were his anxieties (and they were many) , he put on a calm bearing towards the natives of Nagpoor. This city, the capital of the territory bearing the same name, is a dirty, irregular, straggling place, nearly seven miles in circumference. Most of the houses are mud-built ”

“ Janghera, thus happily placed between the rugged scenery of the upper provinces, and the smiling landscapes of Bengal, partakes of the nature of both: the Ganges spreads itself like a sea at the foot of the rock, which on the land-side overlooks a wide expanse of fertile country, having for a back-ground the low ranges of hills which separate Behar from Bengal. ”

“ The small fort is concealed within, and protected by a nice bamboo-fence that grows round it. He holds twelve villages rent-free as nankar, and pays revenue for. all the rest that compose his share of the great estate. The heads of families who hold the other shares enjoy in the same manner one or more villages rent-free as nankar. These are all well cultivated, and contain a great many cultivators of the best classes such as Koormees, Lodhies, and Kachies." Muhammad Hasan Khan's sons held at annexation forty-two villages comprised in the estate of Jalálpur, Bhúrwára, Bargadia. ”

“ Round about Naurangpur, headmen of big villages are sometimes called báranaiks, which literally means head of twelve villages.
The land revenue is administered on methods which are without a parallel in other Madras districts and are interesting from the survival of the ancient feudal spirit which they exhibit. No survey or settlement has ever been carried out; and though in the lower division a good deal of the land is held on ryotwari tenure most of that above the Gháts is administered under a village-rent system called mustájari. ”

“ Rock crystal abounds in the vicinity of the snow.
The country near Emodus is very cold, and produces many sheep. The lower hills are warm, and produce most rice and wheat, but also many other crops.
Srinagar the capital is in a very hot valley, and contains about 2000 houses. There is no other town, but many celebrated places of worship, which seem to have been sacred among the Hindus for many ages. How these people came to establish places of worship in countries that, until of late, were p. ”

“ These hills are the backbone of Assam, and the Manipur ranges are a continuation of those known as the Naga Hills. The highest range on the road to Manipur is about 6,000 feet, but they are all steep, and the road over them is very rough, making riding difficult in places. They are covered with bamboo jungle, and here and there you come across villages, but they are not numerous. ”

“ The whole of the territories belong physically to a plain; but they vary in character from the great fertility of the Pawadh region to the aridity of the Rajputana desert. Nabha is one of the Sikh states, founded by a member of the Phulkian family, which established its independence about 1763. The first relations of the state with the British were in 1807–1808, when the raja obtained protection against the threatened encroachments of Ranjit Singh. During the Mutiny in 1857 the raja showed distinguished loyalty, and was rewarded by grants of territory to the value of over £10,000. ”

“ The hills around are studded with villages, and peopled by various tribes. The Nagas in the immediate vicinity of Kohima are perhaps a finer race than any hillmen to be found in Assam. They are called Ungamis, and are very fine men, most of them six feet high at least, broad shouldered, and powerfully built. Their dress is curious, and quite different to any of the Nagas about Manipur. ”

“ Saliyana, the residence of the chief, is situated on a large hill, and his house was built of brick, and covered with tiles. The other houses were mostly mud-walled huts. The air there is cool, although not so cold as Kathmandu. The Raja fortunately held some part of the plain belonging to the Nawab, and in a valley, between the mountains and a low ridge of hills, had a considerable mart called Jara Pani, or cool water, a tempting name on the burning plains of India. It is ten coses north-east from Balirampur, and is still a considerable thoroughfare, although not so great as Butaul. ”

“ The most valuable district which the Raja of Nepal possesses, is that which formed the western division of the principality, founded by Lohangga, although the district called Mahatari has been separated, and annexed to the Subah of Saptari. The Subah of this district resides usually at Makwanpur, on the hills, but, in the cold season, he visits the plains and resides at Baragarhi, from whence he is often called the Baragarhi Subah. His jurisdiction extends from the Rato, on the east, to the Trisul Gangga, and Gandaki, on the west ”