Henzada District, 1908
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
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Henzada District
Physical aspects
[Hinthada). — Northernmost District of the Irra- waddy Division of Lower Burma, lying between 17° 20' and 18° 31' N. and 94° 48' and 95° 47' E., in the plain of the Irrawaddy, with an area of 2,870 square miles. It is irregularly triangular in shape, with its apex in the north at Akauktaung, a spur of the Arakan Yoma, touching the Irrawaddy 24 miles above Myanaung, and its base along the northern edges of Bassein and Ma-ubin. The Irrawaddy forms nearly the whole of its eastern border. Its western boundary is the forest- clad watershed of the Arakan Yoma, running north and south, which separates it from Sandoway and the coast. To the south of the District lie Bassein and Ma-ubin ; to the north Prome. The District is in fact, with the exception of one circle in the south-eastern corner, contained between the Irrawaddy on the east and the barrier of the Arakan
Yoma on the west. In the latitude of Myanaung the asoects Arakan range exceeds 4,000 feet in altitude, but from
this point southwards it rapidly diminishes in height. From the main ridge spurs run eastwards towards the Irrawaddy, one, in the extreme north of the District, ending in a conspicuous bluff about 300 feet in height, and washed at its base by the stream. As the river pursues its southerly course to the sea it bears away from the hills, leaving between its banks and the uplands the vast stretch of paddy-fields, 60 miles broad in the south, which forms one of the main features of the District. The hilly tract in the west, 12 to 20 miles in width, is characterized by steep slopes and dense tree-jungle. All the plains were up to modern times annually inundated by the river, but the greater portion of this area is now protected by an extensive system of embankments.
The Irrawaddy, bounding the District on the east, sets in a general south-south-east course, and is navigable at all seasons by the largest river steamers. Numerous streams flow from the Yoma eastwards towards the Irrawaddy ; most of them are entirely dry in the hot season, and nearly all are marked by precipi- tous banks and tortuous channels. During the rains, however, boats can ply on the lower reaches of their courses in the plains. Of these watercourses the Patashin is the only one of importance that joins the Irrawaddy itself, which it does just below Kyangin in the extreme north of the District. The rest drain into the Bassein (or Ngawun) river, which leaves the Irrawaddy about 9 miles above Henzada, and flows in a general south-westerly direction into Bassein District.
The entrance, about 300 yards wide, is choked by a sandbank, which rises above the low-water level of the Irrawaddy. In the rains, however, the largest boats can cross this obstruction. Thirteen miles below this point the Bassein river is joined from the west by the Okpo or Kanyin stream, which rises in the Yoma and runs for about 60 miles through the Okpo townshij). This river is connected with the Irrawaddy by a channel known as the Thanbayadaing creek. A short distance below the mouth of the Kan)in the Bassein river is augmented by the waters of the Nangathu, formed of various streams from the Yoma, whicli unite and flow eastwards into the delta country.
The chief lakes are the Nyein-e in the Apyauk circle, the Duya and Eitpyet a few miles from Henzada, and the Tu in the Kanaung town- ship. The last, the largest of the four, is 3 square miles in extent.
The plain is composed of alluvial deposits, which may be divided into an upper and a lower division. The lower consists of coarse gravels transported from a distance ; the upper of a very homogeneous but somewhat arenaceous clay of a yellowish colour. The whole de- posit has a southward slope exceeding in steepness that of the present surface. The Arakan Yoma in the west is formed by the Negrais rocks passing up into the Nummulitics. Intrusive rocks, which are mostly serpentine, occur in patches.
Like Tharrawaddy, Henzada differs from the true deltaic areas in having no mangrove swamps or tidal jungles. The main vegetation consists of deciduous forests, similar to those in Pegu District, while bordering the Irrawaddy are open savannah forests, similar to those of Hanthawaddv. The riparian vegetation is of the type in Prome. On the upper slopes of the Arakan Yoma are evergreen forests, which have not yet been botanically explored, but probably contain oaks, chestnuts, and species of Dipterocarpxis.
Tigers, leopards, and elephants are all found, the latter for the most part in the hills to the west. During the rains all of these animals confine themselves for safety to the rising ground ; but in the dry season they not infrequently enter the plains, where they destroy cattle or rice according to their nature.
The cold season is short and mild, but the hot months are not very trying, and the means of the maximum and minimum temperatures registered during 1901 were 88° and 68° respectively. The rains usually begin about the end of May, and cease in the middle of October. They have never been known to fail altogether, but the quality of the crops depends upon the distribution of the monsoon. The annual rainfall averages 75 inches at Henzada town, and decreases, as the dry zone is approached, to 58 inches at Kanaung in the north, where there are occasionally complaints of lack of rain. Henzada is too far north to be in the immediate track of cyclones, but destructive floods occur occasionally, though the embankments have largely removed the possibility of serious inundation.
History
Henzada or Hinthada derives its name from hintha, the Burmanized form of the Pali name for the Brahmani goose. It formed part of the Talaing kingdom of Pegu which was annexed by Alaungpaya in 1755, but at no time apparently had it an independent political existence. There was no resistance in the District to the British advance on Prome during the first Burmese ^^'ar. In the second War the Burmese troops, on hearing of the occupation of Prome, left their fortifications at Akauktaung, at the extreme northern corner of the present District, and were defeated in an attempt to cross the river. This position was not occupied, however, by the British, and was in time stockaded by the Burmans, who kept the country disturbed till the cutting up of a patrol under a British officer. Major Gardner, who was killed, led to the occupation of Akauktaung. Meanwhile the southern areas were in a still more disturbed state than the northern, in consequence, mainly, of the disbandment of the Burmese police. The rebels, led by one Nga Myat Tun, a hereditary thitgyi, made marauding expeditions into Henzada, Bassein, and Ma-ubin, till they were dispersed at Danubyu in the last-named District. Since then, though crime is always heavy, there have been no serious disturbances. The original Hen- zada District comprised a portion of the existing District of Ma-ubin and practically the whole of the present Tharrawaddy District, and its limits have been altered more than once in the past thirty years.
Population
The population at the last four enumerations was as follows : (1872) 256,753, (1881) 363,899, (1891) 437,620, and (1901) 484,558. The principal statistics of area and popu- lation in 1 90 1 are given in the following table : —
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 Henzada, the head-quarters, Zalun,
Kyangin, Myanauno, and Lp:mvethna. 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 Takings have become merged with the Burmans, and are scarcely represented at all. The Karens in 1901 numbered 45,800. They are 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. Tmingya-z\Mi^\%, or nomadic cultivators, numbered 5,000.
The number of Christians (8,085) '^ 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, 'i'he American Baptists have 48 churches and 42 vernacular schools, and also work mainly among the Karens.
Agriculture
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 .
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 fl(xjded, hc^wever, 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 kwifis in the Henzada and Zalun townshii)s, 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 k (plough) is rarely met with, the tiindon (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 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 : —
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 188 1 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 {pegyi), 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 1 904, 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 (juality. Goats are bred almost exclusively 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 w^as constructed about 1868. It extends down the western bank of the Irrawaddy for 39 miles, and protects nearly 100 square miles. It cost 11 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 scjuare miles of protected land are within the limits of Henzada.
Fisheries
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 is, however, very large. The most valuable realizes between Rs. 12,000 and Rs. 13,000 at the auction sales. A 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 hiber- culaius) grows freely, and cutch is abundant, mostly in the Myanaung subdivision, \m\v\& pyiugado {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.
Trade and Communication
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 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 (8t 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 months in the year there is steam trafific 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 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).
Administration
The District is divided into two subdivisions : Henzada, consisting of the Henzada, Zalun, Ok.po, and Lemyethna townships ; and
Myanaung, consisting of the Kanaung and Kyan GIN townships. As m other parts 01 Lower Burma, the circle thugyi is being gradually abolished as deaths or resignations occur, the village headman [ywat/iugyi) 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 arc 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.
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. i or Rs. i-io-o 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 1 899-1 901 the whole cultivated area of the District (except a portion referred to later) was regularly resettled. The new rates vary from 1 2 annas to Rs. 4 on rice lands, with uniform assess- ments of Rs. 3 on gardens, Rs. 2 on may in 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 1 900-1. The following rates were then introduced and are still enforced : on kaukkyi rice lands, R. i to Rs. 3 ; on niayin 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 i88o-r : —
The total revenue for 1903-4 includes Rs. 4,49,000 from capitation tax, Rs. 2,04,000 from fisheries, and Rs. 3,22,000 from excise.
The District cess fund is maintained chiefly by a levy of 10 per cent, on the total land revenue, and is administered by the Deputy- Commissioner for the provision of various local needs. The income in 1903-4 was 1-43 lakhs, and the chief items of expenditure were public works (Rs. 42,000) and education (Rs. 27,000).
There are four municipalities, Henzada, Zai.un, Kyangin, and Myanaung ; and one town under a town committee, Lemyethna.
The District Superintendent of pohce is aided by two Assistant Superintendents in charge of the two subdivisions ; and the force comprises 4 inspectors, 10 head constables, 33 sergeants, and 301 con- stables. Fifteen village headmen are on the paid staff of the rural police. The District contains 15 police stations and one outpost. The military police has a strength of 3 native officers and 187 rank and file. Of these, 76 are stationed at Henzada, and 39 at Myanaung, the rest being distributed at the different township head-quarters. The District contains two jails, one at Henzada and one at Myanaung. The first has accommodation for 521 prisoners, who work at rice cultivation, brick-making, carpentry, and cane-work. The second is designed to hold 88 prisoners, and its inmates are engaged in garden- ing and basket-work.
The percentage of literate persons in 1901 was 26 (47-6 males, and 5-4 females). The increase of education in the District since 1880 can be gauged from the number of pupils : (1880-1) 5,446, (1890-1) 6,712, and ( 1 900-1) 14,252. In 1903-4 there were 2 special, 18 secondary, 272 primary, and 502 elementary (private) schools, with 12,979 boys and 2,472 girls. The total expenditure on education was Rs. 65,800, which was met from the following sources : municipal funds (Rs. 13,300), District cess {Rs. 27,000), Provincial funds (Rs. 8,600), and fees (Rs. 16,300).
There are 5 hospitals and a dispensary, with accommodation for 68 in-patients. In 1903 the number of cases treated was 52,113, in- cluding 1,008 in-patients, and 802 operations were performed. The total expenditure was Rs. 19,200, towards which municipal funds con- tributed Rs. 14,800, Local funds Rs. 3,600, and subscriptions Rs. 800.
Vaccination is compulsory only within municipal limits. In 1903-4 the number of persons successfully vaccinated was 39,772, represent- ing 82 per 1,000 of population.
[J, Mackenna, Settlement Reports (1901 and 1902) ; B. Samuelson, History of Embankments, Henzada Division (1889).]
