Hoshangabad 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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Hoshangabad District
Physical aspects
District in the Nerbudda Division of the Central Provinces, lying between 21° 53' and 22° 59' N. and 76° 47' and 78° 44' E., with an area of 3,676 square miles. It is bounded on the north by the Native States of Bhopal and Indore ; on the east by Narsinghpur ; on the west by Nimar ; while the southern border marches with Chhindwara, Betul, and Berar. The District consists of a long narrow strip forming the lower portion of the Narbada valley, with sections of the Satpura hill country on the southern border. The Narbada is the northern boundary of the District and of the Central Provinces along its whole length in Hoshangabad, running from a little north of east to south of west ; Physical and the District extends along its southern bank for a length of over 120 miles, while its width varies from 22 to 40 miles. North of the Narbada lie the Vindhyan mountains, in places seen only as a far-off outline, with the plains of Bhopal or Indore spread out below, in other places running in and following the line of the river, the water of which washes their base for miles. In these spots outlying spurs and hills are generally found on the .southern side. One such spur, known as the Black Rocks, crops up close to Hoshangabad and supplies the town with building and paving stone.
With the exception of these ouThers, the portion of the District adjoining the Narbada consists of an open black-soil plain of great fertility. In the south the Satpuras generally run in successive ranges parallel to the line of the valley and trending to the south-west. The portions included in the District consist of the block of the Pachmarhi or Mahadeo hills in the south-east, a low outer range of the Satpuras running through the Hoshangabad and Harda Tahsils with the valley of the Denwa behind it in the centre, and another wild tract of hill and forest on the south-west called Kalibhit which extends to the Tapti on the border riansfericd to Nimar Dibtricl in I1J04.
of Bemr. Most of the peaks of the Satpuras rise to about 2,000 feet, or a little over, but in the Mahadeo hills there are three with an elevation of over 4,000 feet. Hoshangabad town is 1,011 feet above the sea, and the fall of the Narbada in this part of its course is rather less than 3 feet in a mile. From the Satpuras numerous streams run down through the valley to the Narbada, having in the east, where the slope of the valley is rapid and direct, a very straight course and a length of only about 24 miles from the base of the hills to their confluence, while in the west they make a circular sweep and usually flow for about 40 miles through the plain.
The principal of these streams are the Dudhi on the east, dividing Hoshangabad from Narsinghpur, the Tawa flowing through the Hoshangabad tahsil, the Ganjal separating Seoni-Malwa and Harda, and the Machak on the west. These bring down with them large quantities of sand in their floods, which are very high and rapid, and deposit it on the banks, causing deterioration in the soil to a considerable distance. Where two or three rivers escaping separately from the hills draw close together, the whole of the land enclosed between them is generally poor soil overrun with jungle. Notable instances of this are to be seen in the system of rivers which unite near Sohagpur, and those which join the Indra east of SeonI, in both of which cases a large belt of forest reaches nearly down to the Narbada.
The plain portion of the District is covered by alluvial soil, consisting of a stiff reddish, yellowish, or brownish clay, with numerous interca- lated bands of sand and gravel. Kankar abounds throughout the deposit, and pisolitic iron granules are of frequent occurrence. The thickness of the alluvial deposits, as exposed along the banks of rivers, usually does not exceed a maximum of 100 feet. In the west, rocks belonging to the transition system, consisting of quartzite, hornstone- breccia, and limestone, occur near Handia. The hilly tract to the south, embracing the Pachmarhi or Mahadeo hills, forms part of the great Gondwana system. At the base of it occurs the Talcher group, consisting mainly of greenish silt beds, breaking up into small splintering fragments and hence called needle shales, and green, brown, or whitish felspathic sandstones, in both of which pebbles and large boulders are often irregularly scattered. The Talchers are overlaid by the Damuda series, which is made up chiefly of thick-bedded, often coarse felspathic sandstones, with subordinate beds of carbonaceous shale and coal.
The Government forests cover the hills on the southern border and also extend into the plain, especially along the banks of the rivers in the eastern tract. Almost pure teak forest is found on the alluvial flats along the rivers, and on red stony soil on the lower hill-sides. Mixed forest of saj ( Terminalia tomentosa\ teak, dhaiird {Anogeissus laiifolia), Jialdii {A (Una cor dif olid), tinsd [Ougfinia daIl>ergioides), and bljdsCd {Pterocarpus Marsupiuvi) occurs on the middle and lower slopes of the hill belt. On the dry stony hill-tops and plateaux, more especially those of sandstone formation, salai {Bostve/Iia'serrafa) is predominant, with stunted trees of other species, mainly khair {Acacia Catechu) and lendid [Lagerstroemia parviflord). Sal {Shorea rolmsta) is found on the PachmarhT plateau, and anj'an {Hardtvickia bifiata) appears in the Denwa forests of the Sohagpur range, but does not attain any size.
The forests are fairly well stocked with game, including bison in the Borl and Rajaborari tracts, and tigers, leopards, and the usual kinds of deer over most of the wooded area. Antelope are plentiful in the open country. Of birds, peafowl are the most numerous, and the other land game-birds are also common, but duck and snipe are found only in scattered localities. Mahseer may be had in the rivers.
Rainfall is registered at the four tahs'il head-quarters and at Pach- marhT. The annual fall at Hoshangabad town is 50 inches, and this may probably be taken as representing the average for the plain. In the hills the rainfall is much heavier. Until within recent years the District has very rarely suffered from marked deficiency of rain. Thunderstorms occur with comparative frequency in the hot season. Hail is not uncommon and is much dreaded, but dust-storms are unknown. The climate is on the whole healthy. The cold season is characterized by bright cloudless days and cold nights with piercing winds ; frost is known, but water never freezes. The summer months are hot and dry, and during the rains the weather is somewhat steamy and oppressive, especially in the town of Hoshangabad.
History
Little is known of the history of the District before the Maratha invasion. The town of Hoshangabad is believed to take its name from Sultan Hoshang Shah Ghorl, the second of the Malwa kings, who reigned from 1405 to 1434. Hoshang Shah may have passed through Hoshangabad on his way to Kheria in Betfil, the head-quarters of a Gond dynasty, which he is said by Firishta to have reduced in 1433. In Akbar's time Handia was the head-quarters of a sarkdr, and was occupied by a Faiijddr and Dnvdn and by Mughal troops. Seoni was attached to Bhopal, and Hoshangabad is not mentioned at all. Several reasons point to the conclusion that the eastern part of the District was never conquered by the Muhammadans, but was thought too wild and valueless to wrest from the Gonds who occupied it. On the decay of the Mughal empire the District again reverted to the Gonds, who were probably its original masters. In the early part of the eighteenth century the eastern portion of the Rajwara parga/ia was ruled by four Gond Rajas of Sobhapur and Fatehpur, who were feudatories of the Mandla kingdom.
The centre formed part of the territorit-s of the Deogarh dynasty, and in the west were the petty chiefs of Makrai and Makla. iVbout 1720 Dost IMuhammad, the founder of the Bhopal family, took Hoshangabad town and annexed a considerable territory with it. In 1742 the Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao passed up the valley on his way to attack Mandla and subdued the Handia pargana. Eight years later Raghuji Bhonsla of Nagpur overran the whole range of hills from Gawllgarh to Mahadeo, and reduced the country east of Handia and south of the Narbada except the portion held by Bhopal. Hostilities between the Bhopal and Nagpur rulers commenced in 1795 and lasted with little inter- mission for twenty years.
Hoshangabad was in that year taken by the Nagpur troops, but was retaken in 1802 by WazTr Muhammad, the celebrated minister of Bhopal. The Bhopal dominions north of the Narbada were finally lost to the Marathas in 1808. During these wars the Pindaris, first summoned by WazTr IMuhammad to his assistance, but afterwards deserting to his enemies, plundered the country impar- tially in all directions. It is estimated that not a single village escaped being burnt once or twice during the fifteen years for which their depredations lasted, and the greater part of the District was entirely depopulated. The Pindaris were extirpated in 1817; and in 1818 the portions of the District belonging to the Nagpur kingdom were ceded, under an agreement subsequently confirmed by the treaty of 1826. In 1844 the Harda-Handia tract was made over by Sindhia in part payment for the Gwalior Contingent, and in i860 it was permanently transferred and became British territory. The Mutiny of 1857 disturbed the District very little. There was some trouble with the police at Harda, a petty chief rebelled in the Mahadeo hills, and Tantia Topi crossed the valley in 1858; but the authority of the British officers was at no time seriously shaken. The small Feudatory State of Makrai lies in the centre of the Harda tahsil.
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 I 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 Ghori.
Population
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 . 1 891 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 fahsJis, which were already fully populated. In 1896 a strip of territory on the east of the Harda ialisll, 572 square miles in area and containing 32,458 persons, was transferred to Nimar, and the figures of previous enumerations have been adjusted to allow for this\ The decrease of population in the present area of Hoshangabad, during the last decade, was at the rate of nearly 10 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, Sohacipur, Itarsi, and Pachmarhi — and 1,334 inhabited villages. The chief statistics, of population according to the Census of 1901 are shown below : —
The figures for religion show that 84 per cent, of the population are Hindus, nearly 11 per cent. y\niniists, and 5 per cent. Muhamniadans. 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 tahsilthe language presents some features of differ- ence and is allied to the Malwl 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 11 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 pahvdris or village accountants. The important cultivating castes 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 inmiigrated 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),
In 1904, 38 villages with an area of 51 square miles nnd a iioimlatioii of 2,580 persons were transferred from the Harda Tahsil to Niniiir District, and also 293 square miles of the Kallbhit 'reserved' forest. The adjusted District figures of area and popu- lation are 3,676 square miles and 446,585 persons. About 6 1 per cent, of the whole population are returned as dependent on agriculture.
(Christians number 2,706, of whom 2,301 are natives. The P'riends Foreign Mission Association has stations at five places in the District, with a European staff numbering 36 members. Its converts number r,2oo. Altogether 13 schools and 4 dispensaries have been established by this body ; and in their workshops at Rasulia near Hoshangabad, and at Lehi near Seoni, 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.
Agriculture
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 many places 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 sihdr, which is formed from sandstone rock, produces only autumn crops, but responds to irrigation. The black soil of the Harda and Seoni-Malwa tahsih 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 tahs'il, and wash down sandy deposits from the hills. A small area of first-rate land round Pachlaora and Sobhapur must, however, be excepted. Sihar 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 nf)w sown on black soil, is an exception to this.
' Of the whole area of the District, 173 square miles are comprised in estates held on Jdglrdari tenure; 73 square miles, formerly Govern- ment forest, are in process of settlement on the ryohvdri 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
' The agricultural statistics in this parngraph relate to the year 1903-4. In 1904 the area of Government forest was reduced to 922 square miles by transfer of the Kalibhit tract. In the statistics, 96 square miles of waste land which have not been cadastially surveyed are excluded from the total area of the District. mdlguzdri iQwwx^. The principal statistics of cultivation in 1903-4 are shown below, in square miles : —
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, /<??£/ Jr 56, /// 79, and the small millets kodon and kuikl 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 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 ghl, which is an article of export. A Government cattle farm has 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 1 899-1 900 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.
Forests
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 entirely on the 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 salai {Boszvellia serrata), mixed with stunted growths of other species. The middle 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 sdj {Terminalia iomentosa), 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. x\rgentiferous 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 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.
Trade and Communication
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 comnimnications. 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 Timurni 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. Mahud is sent to Khandwa for the manufacture of country liquor. Salt comes from Ahmadabad and in small quantities from the Sambhar Lake, sugar from Mir/apur and the Mauritius, gur from Betul 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 dreat 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-lietul, 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.
Famine
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 ri 8,000 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.
Administration
The Deputy-Commissioner has a staff of four executive Assistant or Extra-Assistant Commissioners. For administrative purposes the District is divided into four tahstls, each of which has a tahsildar and a naih-Tahsildar. The Harda and Seonl-Malwa tahsils 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 tahstl. The Divisional and Sessions Judge of the Nerbudda Division has jurisdiction in Hoshangabad. 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 18 18, 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 si)ring 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 190 1-2, 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 re\enue are shown below, in thousands of rupees : —
The management of local affairs, outside municipal areas, is entrusted
to a District council and four local boards, each having jurisdiction
over one tahs'il. The income of the District council in 1903-4 was
Rs. 78,000, while the expenditure on education was Rs. 30,000 and on
civil works Rs. 31,000. Hoshangabad, Sohagpur, SeonI-Malwa,
Harda, and Pachmarhi are municipal towns.
The police force, in charge of the District Superintendent, consists of 581 officers and men, including 74 railway police and 10 mounted constables, besides 1,363 village watchmen, for 1,340 inhabited towns and villages. Hoshangabad town has a District jail, with accommoda- tion for 168 prisoners, including 12 females.
In respect of education the District stands fifth in the Province, 4-6 per cent, of the population (8*8 males and 0-3 females) being able to read and write. The proportion of children under instruction to those of school-going age is 12 per cent. Statistics of the number of pupils are as follows: (1880-1) 3,778, (1890-1) 5,363, (1900-1) 8,039, (^9°3~4) 8j4°3) including 615 female scholars. The educa- tional institutions comprise two high schools, five English and seven vernacular middle schools, and 129 primary schools. The high school at Harda, opened in 1900, is maintained by the Foreign Christian Missionary Society of America. The District contains nine girls' schools, consisting of a vernacular middle school at Hoshangabad town and eight primary schools. Ten boys' and five girls' schools are managed by missionary bodies. The total expenditure on education in 1903-4 was Rs. 74,000, of which Rs. 60,000 was derived from Provincial and Local funds and Rs. 8,000 from fees.
The District has 11 dispensaries, with accommodation for 102 in- patients. In 1904 the number of cases treated was 68,292, of whom 756 were in-patients, and 1,528 operations were performed. The expenditure was Rs. 19,000, mainly from Provincial and Local funds.
Vaccination is compulsory only in the municipal towns of Hoshang- abad, Harda, Sohagpur, and SeonT. The percentage of successful vaccinations in 1903-4 was 29 per 1,000 of the District population, which is below the Provincial average.
[C. A. Elliott, Settlement Report (1867) ; F. d. Sly, Settlement Report (1905)-]
