Kalsia
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.
Kalsia
Native State in the Punjab, under the political control of the Commissioner, Delhi Division. It comprises twenty detached pieces of territory in Ambala and Ferozepore Districts, lying mainly between 30 degree 12' and 30 degree 25' N. and 77 degree 21' and 77 degree 35' E. The present Sardar of the State, Ranjit Singh, is a descendant of Sardar Gurbakhsh Singh, a Jat of Kalsia near Lahore, who joined the Kroria misl or confederacy of the Sikhs. His son Jodh Singh, a man of ability and prowess, effected considerable conquests on both sides of the Sutlej, but eventually the family lost all those north of the river. When the Cis-Sutlej States came under British protection, Sardar Jodh 1 Corpus Inscriptionum Itidicarum, vol. i, pp. 12 and 117. Singh, after some hesitation, followed the general example. The State has an area of 168 square miles, and a population (1901) of 67,131. It is divided into two tahsils, Chhachhrauli and Basi, with the isolated sub-tahsil of Chirak, in Ferozepore District. It contains two towns, Chhachhrauli (population, 5,520) and Basi (4,641) ; and 181 villages. In 1903-4 the revenue amounted to 1-9 lakhs, of which 12 lakhs was land revenue. The State was regularly settled in 189 1. It had suffered considerably from over-assessment, and its people had been im- poverished. The excise administration is leased to the British Government for Rs. 6,000 per annum.
