Pune/ Poona District, 1908
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Poona District, 1908
(puna). District in the Central Division of the Bombay Presidency, lying between 17degree 54' and 19degree 24' N. and 73 19' and 75degree 10' E., with an area of 5,349 square miles. It is bounded on the north by the District of Ahmadnagar ; on the east by Ahmad- nagar and Sholapur ; on the south by the Nira river, separating it from Satara and the estate of the chief of Phaltan ; and on the west by Kolaba. Two isolated blocks of the Bhor State, one in the west and the other in the south, are included within the limits of Poona District.
physical aspects
Towards the west the country is undulating and intersected by numerous spurs of the Western Ghats, which break off in a south- easterly direction, becoming lower as they pass . eastwards, and in the end sinking to the general aspects level of the plain. On the extreme western border the land is so rugged and cut up by valleys and ravines that on the slopes and sides of the hills a system of spade tillage takes the place of ordinary cultivation by ploughs and bullocks. Along the western border of the District the Western Ghats form a barrier inaccessible, except by a few difficult passes or ghats. Of these, the Borghat, traversed by both a road and a railway, is the only line fitted for wheeled vehicles. The ridges, which form the main line of the moun- tains, have the flat tops and steep sides common to basaltic hills. Within the limits of the District not a few of the hills have had their sides hewn into rock temples, or their summits crowned with fortresses. Many streams rise in the Western Ghats, and flow eastwards, until they join the BHIMA river, which passes through the District from north- west to south-east. The main tributaries are, on the left the Vel and Ghod, and on the right the Bhama, Indrayani, Mula, and Nira. The water of the rivers is good for all purposes, and all of them are sources of supply to the many villages along their banks. Poona is well supplied with water from six artificial lakes, of which the chief is the Kharakvasla lake, 10 miles south-west of Poona city, with an area of 5 1/2 square miles.
Almost the whole rock of Poona is stratified trap. In many parts of the hilly portion of the District the hill-tops are crowned with collars of trap resembling the walls of a fortress. Beds of basalt and amygdaloid alternate, their upper and lower planes being strikingly parallel with each other and apparently with the horizon.
Poona District, lying as it does partly on the Western Ghats, pos- sesses a varied flora, of the Konkan or Ghats type on the west, pass- ing into the Deccan type in the east. The chief plants of the Konkan type are Clematis hedysarifolia, Dillenia pentagyna, Bocagea Dalzellii, Cocculus macrocarpus, Capparis Moonii, Garcinia indica, Thespesia Lampas, Kydia calycina, Sterculia colorata, Erinocarpus Nimmoanus, Linum mysorense, Impatient, Heynea trijuga, Gymnosporia Rothiana, Smithia, Desmodium, Mucuna, Careya, Casearia, and Begonia. Of the Deccan type the following are a few familiar examples : Clematis triloba, Fumaria, Capparis, Flacourtia, Abutilon muticum, Triumfetta rhomboidea, Tribulus terrestris, Ailanthus excelsa, Balanites Roxburghii, Boswellia serrata, Heylandia lattbrosa, Taverniera Nummularia, Dichro- stachys cinerea, Mimosa hamata, Acacia arabica, Anagallis arvensis, and Caralluma fimbriata. The commonest road-side trees are the plpal (Ficus religiosa) vada (ficus bengalensis), nandruk (Ficus retusd), pipri (Ficus Tsield), umbar (Ficus glomerata), karanj, tamarind, mango, jambul (Eugenia Jamboland), and babul. Oranges, limes, grapes, figs, plantains, and guavas are grown and are of good quality.
The spread of tillage and the increase of population have greatly reduced the number of wild animals. Tigers, leopards, and bears are found only in the Western Ghats, and even there in small numbers. The sdmbar and the spotted deer are rare, and bison is now unknown.
The wolf is found in small numbers over the whole District. Wild
hog abound in the babul groves on the banks of the Bhima and Ghod,
in the western hill forests, and, since the opening of the Mutha canal
(1873), in the neighbourhood of Poona. The antelope and the Indian
gazelle, and sometimes the hog deer, are found in the hills. The Dis-
trict is poorly supplied with game-birds. Except for quail, and on rare
occasions for duck and snipe, no large bags are made in the District.
Snakes are numerous but mostly harmless. The rivers and streams are
fairly stocked with fish, about thirty kinds being offered for sale in the
Poona market. During the rains, and still more towards their close,
when the waters of the streams dwindle into chains of pools, fish are
caught in nets and traps by the chief fishing classes, the Maratha
and Kol! Bhois.
The height of the Poona plateau (1,800 feet), its freedom from alluvial deposits, and the prevalence of westerly breezes, make its dry, invigorating air better suited to Europeans than any climate in Western India. The air is lighter, the heat less oppressive, and the cold more bracing than in almost any other District of the Presidency. November to February form the Poona cold season, March to June the hot, and June to October the wet. During the cold season cool land winds prevail, with s,ea-breezes mostly after sundown. The hot winds, the chief characteristic of the hot season, are over by the middle of May. During the hot season the air is occasionally cooled by severe thunder- storms, bringing heavy rain and occasionally hail. The temperature falls to 48 in November and rises to 107 in May. The south-west monsoon begins about the middle of June and lasts till the end of September. The rainfall varies considerably in different parts of the District. In the western parts of the Junnar, Khed, Haveli, and Maval talukas it is heavy and regular ; in the central belt it is moderate ; and in the Bhfmthadi and Indapur talukas on the east it is very irregular. At Lonauli on the Ghats it averages over 185 inches annually. In Poona city 32 is the average, while farther east it does not exceed 20 inches in places.
History
In prehistoric times Poona District is said to have formed part of the Dandakdranya or Dandaka forest of the Ramayana, infested by wild men. In very early times it was crossed by important trade routes, which led to the Konkan by such passes' as the Borghat and the Nana pass. Ample evidence on these points is to be found in the rock-cut inscriptions at Bhaja, Bedsa, Karli, and the Nana pass. The history of the District commences with that of the town of Junnar, 56 miles north-west of Poona, and 16 from the rock-cut steps which lead down the Nana pass into the Konkan. A century before Christ the town was ruled by an Andhra king. In the succeeding two centuries Buddhism established itself at Junnar, and the circle of hills round the town became honeycombed with caves for the monks of this religion. At Bedsa an inscription of this period furnishes one of the earliest known notices of the Marathas. Until 1290 no further evidence is forthcoming regarding the fortunes of the District ; but it seems probable that it passed successively under the dominion of the early and Western Chalukyas (550-760), the Rashtrakutas (760-973), the Western Chalukyas (973- 1184), and the Deogiri Yadavas. Under the latter, it was divided between petty Maratha or Koli hill chiefs. With the fall of the Deogiri Yadavas, Poona came under the dominion of Delhi, and Muhammad bin Tughlak marched against Kondana, the present Sinh- garh fort, in 1340. The Bahmani dynasty incorporated Poona in its possessions, and held it at the time of the Durga-devI famine (1396- 1407). An interesting account of Poona under the Bahmanis has been recorded by the Russian traveller Athanasius Nikitin (1468-74).
The founder of the Nizam Shahi dynasty of Ahmadnagar, Malik Ahmad, made Junnar his head-quarters for a time. One of his successors con- ferred Poona as a jagir on Maloji Bhonsla, the grandfather of Sivaji, who was born at Shivner fort, close to Junnar, in 1627. The emperor Shah Jahan about this period penetrated into the Deccan and recovered for the Mughals the northern portions of the District. With the rise of Sivaji, Poona became the scene of conflict between the Marathas and the Delhi emperors, the former holding the forts and passes in the hills and the latter the open country. To this period belongs one of Sivaji's most famous exploits, the capture of Sinhgarh. An expedi- tion of Aurangzeb into the Deccan led to the capture and death of Sivaji's son Sambhaji, and the temporary re-establishment of the Mughals. Sambhajl's son Sahu recovered the District from Aurangzeb, and thenceforward it remained under the rule of the Peshwas, of whom the first, Balajl, was Sahu's minister. For the next hundred years (1714-1817) Poona was the seat of the Peshwas, the heads of the great Maratha confederacy. Baji Rao Ballal, second Peshwa, insti- tuted the dakshina or money gifts to learned Brahmans that led to the foundation of the Deccan College. His successor Balajl Baji Rao brought the Maratha power to its zenith, though destined to witness, at the close of his rule, the disastrous defeat of Pampat (1761).
The subsequent years are full of stirring events, when the Peshwas first opposed the Nizam and Haidar All, and subsequently allied them- selves with different members of the Maratha confederacy in the hope of raising a barrier against the advancing power of the British. In these intrigues they were ably assisted by the famous minister Nana Farnavis. Alternately the ally of Sindhia and Holkar, both of whom in turn plundered Poona city (1798 and 1802), Baji Rao Peshwa was finally brought into conflict with the British owing to the murder of Gangadhar Shastri, the minister of the Gaikwar of Baroda, whose safety they had guaranteed. In the Treaty of Poona an attempt was made by Baji Rao Peshwa to conciliate the British power ; but a subsequent resort to force led to the battle of Kirkee on November 5, 1817, and to the end of Maratha rule in the District. After annexation the District was managed by Mr. Elphinstone, the former Resident at the court of the Peshwa. In 1826 the Ramosis rose in revolt, and were joined by the Kolls from the hilly western tracts. This rising and a similar one in 1844 were quelled without much difficulty. Since then, the most notable chapter in the history of the v District is connected with the disaffection that arose in Poona city in 1897 over the measures taken to check the spread of the plague. Discontent was rife, and ended in the murder of the special plague officer, Mr. Walter Rand of the Civil Service. The subsequent depor- tation and imprisonment of certain leading citizens, together with the establishment of a strong punitive police post, put an end to acts of violence ; and the peace of the District has since remained un- broken.
The earliest historical remains are the caves of JUNNAR. The inscriptions in these caves and at the Nana pass in the vicinity are of special interest, being the oldest known Brahmanical inscriptions yet discovered. Later in date are the Buddhist caves at KARLI, BHAJA, BEDSA, and Shelarwadi, probably all dating from the first and second centuries after Christ. Later Hindu dynasties have left the Saivite rock temple at Bhambhurda, 2 miles west of Poona, and scattered Hemadpanti remains varying from the tenth to the thirteenth century, which it is customary to attribute to the Gauli-raj, or Deogiri Yadavas. The chief Hemadpanti remains are the Kuka- deshwar temple at Pur 10 miles north-west of Junnar, the tanks of Belhe 21 miles north-east of Junnar, and Pabal 21 miles north-east of Poona ; transformed mosques at Poona, Junnar, and Sasvad ; and the Ganga and Jumna rock-cut reservoirs on the top of Shivner fort in Junnar.
population
The number of towns and villages in the District is 1,189. Its population at each of the last four enumerations was: (1872) 922,439, (1881) 901,828, (1891) 1,067,800, and (1901) 995,330 The decline in 1881 was due to the famine of 1876-7, while the decrease in 1901 is chiefly due to the famine of 1900 and to plague. In both famines the eastern portion of the District suffered severely. The distribution of the population by talukas in 1901 is shown in the table on the next page.
The chief towns are: POONA CITY, KIRKEE, JUNNAR, BARAMATI, SIRUR, LONAULI, SASVAD, INDAPUR, TALEGAON-DABHADE, KHED, and ALANDI. The villages with population exceeding 5,000 are TALEGAON- DHAMDERE, OTUR, GHOD, MANCHAR, and PANDARE. Of the total population, 93 per cent, are Hindus, 5 per cent. Musalmans, 10,703 Jains, and 14,484 Christians. Marath! is the chief language, being spoken by 90 per cent, of the population.
According to the latest returns of the Agricultural department, the number of villages is 1,205.
The Hindu population is largely composed of Marathas and allied castes, of which a description will be found in the article on the BOMBAY PRESIDENCY. The local Brahman sub-caste is the Deshasth, who form 60 per cent, of the total number. Next to Deshasths in importance are the Chitpavans or Konkanasths (14,000), a sub-caste that came from the Konkan, and rose to a position of great power in the days of the Peshwas, who themselves belonged to this sub-caste. Many Brahmans are money-lenders, general traders, and landholders. The Marathas of the old fighting class number 333,000, or one-third of the total population ; while Maratha Kunbis, who are closely allied to them though socially inferior, number 98,000. An important cul- tivating caste is the Mali or gardener (61,000). In the hilly western portion of the District the land is for the most part in the hands of Kolis (46,000). Dhangars or shepherds number 42,000. Mahars (82,000) and Mangs (22,000), the depressed classes, who probably represent primitive tribes dispossessed by the Aryans, are numerous, a few families being found in almost every village, where tney occupy a hamlet apart from the houses of their better caste neighbours.
The vicinity of Bombay city induces many of the labouring classes to seek work in that place during the busy season. The emigrants are chiefly drawn from the Ghats villages, where the peasants are much involved in debt, and are known in Bombay as ghdtls. Ramosis or professional watchmen (22,000), widely distributed throughout the District, once formed part of the Maratha fighting forces. Chamars or leather- workers number 18,000. Musalmans (46,000) are chiefly Shaikhs (27,000), a term loosely used to designate either converts from Hinduism or descendants from Arab invaders. In Junnar they are an indication of the former predominance of the Musalman king- dom of Ahmadnagar. Agriculture supports 57 per cent, of the popula- tion, and industries and commerce 15 and 2 per cent, respectively.
In 1901 the native Christians, who numbered about 8,000, included 3,765 Roman Catholics, 1,131 of the Anglican communion, 117 Presbyterians, and 243 Methodists. The Church of England Mission has a branch known as the Panch Houd Mission in Poona city and another small branch in the Haveli taluka^ which perform social, educational, and religious work among both sexes. The Church Missionary Society carries on evangelistic work in seven stations and maintains in Poona city a divinity school, where natives are trained as catechists. Closely connected with it is the Zanana Bible Medical Mission, working among women. The Church of Scotland Presby- terian Mission, with its head-quarters in Poona cantonments, maintains a hospital in Poona city, a boarding-house, orphanage, and 23 schools, of which ii are for girls. The United Free Church of Scotland Mission, established in 1882, has branches at Lonauli and Sasvad ; and the Methodist Episcopal Mission, established in 1873, maintains a home for Eurasian boys and girls and four boys' schools in Poona city. The American Marathi Mission, established in 1855 at Sirur, maintains two orphanages, and several schools for low-caste children, in which special attention is paid to industrial training. An energetic Brahman lady, Pandita Rama Bai, established in the Bhlmthadi taluka in 1896 the undenominational Mukti Mission, which comprises a church, school, printing press, and a large boarding establishment, costing Rs. 80,000 a year and financed from Great Britain, Australia, and America. The Poona Village and Indian Mission, styled inter- denominational and embracing all the Protestant sects, was established in 1895; it has three stations in the Bhor State and maintains a hos- pital, two orphanages, and a school. Among minor establishments are the Zanana Training Home at Wanowri, a Boys' Christian Home at Dhond, the St. Vincent of Paul Society for the relief of the poor, and the St. Anthony's bread guild which provides clothing and rations for the destitute. The Salvation Army has branches at Sirur and Talegaon-Dhamdhere.
Agriculture
In Poona all arable land comes under one or other of three great heads c dry-crop ' land, watered land, rice land. The khanf or early crops are brought to maturity by the rains of the . south-west monsoon ; the rabi or spring crops depend on dews, on irrigation, and on the small cold-season showers which occasionally fall between November and March. The principal kharif crops are spiked millet (bajra), mixed with the hardy tur, and jowar. These are sown late in May or in June, and are reaped in September and October or November. In the wet and hilly west the chief har- vest is the kharif, which here consists of rice and hill millets, such as rdgi and van. The rabi crops are sown in October and November, and ripen in February and March. They are chiefly the cold-season Indian millets, such as shdlu, tambdi, and dudhmogra, and wheat, together with gram, lentils (masur) kulith, and other pulses. As in other parts of the Deccan, the chief kinds of soil are black, red, and barad or stony. The black- soil, found generally near rivers, is by far the richest of these. The red soil is almost always shallow, and coarser than the black. The stony soil is found on the slopes of hills. It is merely trap rock in the first stage of disintegration ; but, if favoured by plentiful and frequent rains, it repays the scanty labour which its tillage requires. With four bullocks, a Kunbl can till some 60 acres of light soil. The same area of shallowish black soil re- quires six or eight bullocks. Eight bullocks can till 50 acres of deep black soil. Many husbandmen possess less than the proper number of cattle, and have to join with their neighbours for ploughing.
The District is mostly ryotwdri, only about 15 per cent, of the total area being indm or jdglr estates. The chief statistics of cultiva- tion in 1903-4 are shown below, in square miles:
Statistics are not available for 89 squaie miles of this area, which is based on the latest information.
The chief crops are bajra (1,100 square miles) and jowar (885), grown almost entirely in the eastern portion of the District. Bajra is sown on light lands whenever the early rains suffice. Rice occupies no square miles, and is grown mainly in the western portion known as the Maval. Inferior hill millets, with wheat, peas, beans, and gram as second crops after rice, are grown in the Maval when the moisture is sufficient. The central belt grows a variety of products. Its cereal is bajra, and the chief oilseeds are niger-seeds and ground-nuts. Safflower covers 92 square miles. Wheat (126 square miles) is grown as a * dry crop ' in a considerable area in the Maval and in the central portions of the District. Of pulses, which occupy about 352 square miles, the most largely grown are gram, tur, math, kulith, and mug. Sugar-cane is extensively grown (20 square miles in 1903-4), chiefly under irrigation. Vegetables form an important market-garden crop near Poona, as also do grapes, figs, papayas, guavas, oranges, and other favourite fruits. Among special crops, the grape-vine ( Vitis vimferd) is occasionally grown in the best garden land on the border of the western belt and in the neighbourhood of Poona city. The vine is grown from cuttings, which are ready for planting in six or eight months.
It begins to bear in the third year, and is in full fruit in the sixth or seventh. With care, a vine goes on bearing for sixty, or even, it is said, for a, hundred years. The vine is trained on a stout upright, often a growing stump which is pruned to a pollard-like shape about five feet high ; this mode is said to be most remunerative. Or a strong open trellis roof is thrown over the vineyard about six feet from the ground, and the vines are trained horizontally on it ; this mode is preferred by the rich for its appearance and shade, and is said to encourage growth to a greater age. The vine yields sweet grapes from January to March, and sour grapes in August. The sour grapes are very abundant, but are not encouraged ; the sweet grape is tended in every possible way, but is apt to suffer from disease. After each crop the vine is pruned, and salt, sheep's droppings, and dried fish are applied as manure to each vine after the sour crop is over. Vines are flooded once a year for five or six days, the earth being previously loosened round the roots. Blight attacks them when the buds first appear, and is removed by shaking the branches over a cloth, into which the blight falls, and is then carried to a distance and destroyed. This operation is performed three times a day until the buds are an inch long.
The cultivation of sugar-cane and other valuable ciops has greatly increased of late years, owing to the construction by Government of irrigation canals, as also has the use of new manures. English ploughs are used in a few places, and iron sugar-cane mills are seen everywhere. The Poona Experimental Farm, which is situated about 2 miles from the city in Bopudi village, originated in a small piece of land taken for the agricultural class at the College of Science in 1879. In i888*it was handed over to the Agricultural department, which since that date has superintended the raising of hybrids of cotton, wheat, and joivdr^ the growing of forage crops for the use of the model dairy attached to the farm, the testing of new crops, the trial of new agricultural implements, and the distribution of seed both to agricul- turists and, for scientific purposes, to experimental farms at Pusa and elsewhere. The farm is used for educational purposes by the students of the College of Science, by junior civilians, and by visitors and agriculturists ; and it is furnished with an increasing collection of soils, manures, seeds, fibres, botanical specimens, and indigenous and imported implements. A portion of the land, which measures 66 acres, is annually reserved for growing small plots of all important varieties of typical crops. A second farm at Manjri, occupying about 45 acres, and 8 miles distant from Poona, is devoted to experiments in sugar- cane cultivation. Since 1894 attention has been directed to the system of manuring sugar-cane, to testing several methods of culti- vation, to the acclimatization of imported varieties of cane, and to studying the most profitable methods of utilizing bone manure. Botanical experiments in cotton and wheat are also carried out. A sewage-farm, on which sugar-cane, fodder, ground-nuts, maize, and sweet potatoes are grown, forms part of the Manjri Farm. The model dairy farm at Kirkee contains 68 cows and 53 cow-buffaloes, and sells dairy produce of an annual value of about Rs. 24,000. The gardens at Ganeshkhind are maintained for botanical and experimental purposes, and are in charge of the Economic Botanist. They contain excellent mango orchards. Advances to agriculturists under the Land Improve- ment and Agriculturists' Loans Acts amounted during the decade ending 1904 to 21.4 lakhs. Of this sum,11 lakhs was advanced in the three years 1899-1900, 1900-1, and 1901-2.
The District has ten breeds of cattle, of which the khilari, or herd- cattle from West Khandesh, are the most valuable draught animals in the Deccan. Buffaloes are common in all parts and are of eleven kinds, but the best breeds are imported from Sind, Cutch, and Gujarat. For rice-field work the Poona cultivator prefers the buffalo to the bullock, and the cow-buffaloes supply most of the milk used in the District. Poona has long been famous for its horses, and there are few villages in east Poona without one or two brood-mares. Of eight breeds of horses the local or deshi variety, bred on the banks of the Bhlma and Nira, was most esteemed by the Marathas. The Dhangar pony, thick-set, short-legged, and strong, very unlike the ordinary village pony, is of the same breed as the Nira pony. Horse- breeding is carried on by the Army Remount department, which maintains eight horse stallions and four pony stallions at Sirur, Bara- mati, Dhond, and Indapur. Donkeys are used as load-carriers by stonecutters, limeburners, potters, and washermen. Mules," chiefly cast commissariat animals, are used by charcoal-burners for carrying loads and drawing carts. Flocks of sheep are found in most large villages, and goats are common. Fowls are reared everywhere, while turkeys, geese, and ducks are found in the towns, where also many Musalmans and some Hindus breed pigeons for amusement or profit.
Of the total cultivated area, 145.5 square miles, or 4 per cent., were irrigated in 1903-4. The areas under the various classes of irrigation sources were : Government canals, 56 square miles ; private canals, 7 square miles ; tanks, 6 square miles ; wells, 75 ; and other sources, one square mile. The chief water-works made or repaired by Govern- ment are the Nira and Mutha Canals, and the Shetphal, Matoba, Kasurdi, Sirsuphal, and Bhadalwadi tanks. The MUTHA CANALS, completed in 1878, and the reservoir from which they are fed, LAKE FIFE, command 16,800 acres; while the NIRA CANAL, fed by LAKE WHITING, completed in 1886, commands 113,000 acres. The former supplied 7,000 and the latter 31,000 acres in 1903-4. Well-irrigation is of great importance in Indapur and other drought-stricken parts of the east. t Wells are circular, 8 to 10 feet across and 20 to 50 feet deep. Water is raised in a leathern bag. Near Poona city good crops are raised by well-irrigation for the Bombay and Poona markets, and many additional wells have been constructed out of Government loans during recent 'years. The District contains 22,177 wells and 27 tanks, used for irrigation purposes.
The forest lands may be roughly grouped into three classes : hill, river-bank, and upland Reserves. Except in the Sinhgarh range the hill Reserves, consisting of mixed evergreen woods and teak coppice, are found in the west. The evergreen woods yield little timber, but the teak coppices, chiefly on the slopes and terraces of the easterly spurs, furnish a valuable revenue. The groves found along the banks of almost all the larger rivers consist mostly of well-grown babul. The third class of forest lands, the upland or mdl Reserves, are found in every subdivision, but chiefly in Sirur, Bhimthadi, and Indapur. The chief forest trees are : the mango, the ain, the nana and the bondara (Lagers troemia lanceolata and L. parvifolia, two closely allied species), the hedu (Nauclea cordifolid), the kalamb (Nauclea parvifolia), the asau (Bridelia retusa) the savi (Bombax malabaricutri), the dhaura (Cono- carpus latifolia}, the teak, the jambul (Eugenia Jambohma) the yela (Terminalia belerica), the dhaman (Grewia tiliaefolia), the myrabolam, and the bamboo. The Forest department is in charge of about 500 square miles of ' reserved ' forest in the District, and the Revenue department manages 210 square miles of fodder reserves and pasture lands. In 1903-4 the forest revenue amounted to Rs. 60,000.
Excepi iron, which occurs in various places as hematite associated with laterite, or as magnetic grains in stream beds, the District produces no metallic ores. The trap rock yields good building stone and road-metal almost everywhere, boulders being preferred to quarried stone. A variety of compact dark-blue basalt, capable of high polish, is worked into idols and pedestals for wooden pillars. Quartz occurs throughout the trap in various forms, either crystalline or amorphous in the form of agate, jasper, and heliotrope. Stilbite, and its associate the still finer apophylite, though less common than quartz, are by nc means rare. One magnificent variety consists of large salmon-coloured crystals 2 or 3 inches long. The other mineral products are commor salt, carbonate of soda, sand for mortar, and limestone.
Trada and communications
The chief manufactures are silk robes, coarse cotton cloth, and blankets. The Poona cotton and silk-embroidered fagris have a wide spread reputation, and the brass- and silver- work of the some place is much admired. Among other special manufactures may be mentioned toys, small clay figures carefully dressed, and ornaments, baskets, fans, &c., ol khas-khas grass, decked with beetles' wings. The manufacture oi paper by hand, formerly of some importance, has of late year? practically ceased. A few Musalman papermakers are still to be found in Junnar town.
Among the factories of the District are two cotton-spinning and weaving mills, a paper-mill, a flour-mill, and a brewery. In 1904 the cotton-mills contained 308 looms and 13,924 spindles, employee 1,069 hands, and produced i6 million pounds of yarn and 700,000 pounds of cloth.. A Government gun-carriage factory and an arms and ammunition factory at Poona and Kirkee employ about 2,100 hands. There are also railway workshops at Lonauli.
Of late years, except the development caused by cheap and rapic carriage of goods, there has been no marked change in the trade o; the District. It is, generally speaking, small. The increased demanc for raw sugar has led to a larger production. The raw sugar goes mostly to Bombay and Gujarat. The chief exports are grain, raw sugar, cotton cloth, vegetables, fruits, brass-ware, and silk cloth. The chief imports are rice brought from Ahmadnagar and Thana, wheat salt, and copper and brass sheets. The chief agencies for spreading imports and gathering exports are trade centres, markets, fairs, village shops, and pedlars' packs. The leading merchants are Marwar Vanis Gujarat Vanis, Bohras, Parsis, and Brahmans.
Besides about 222 miles of metalled and 913 miles of unmetallec roads, 112 miles of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway traverse the District from west to east, and this section is joined at Dhond bj the north to south cross connexion from Manmad. The Southerr Mahratta Railway runs from Poona southwards for a distance o about 48 miles within the District, and has nine stations in thai length. Metalled roads place the District in communication with Nasik, Ahmadnagar, Sholapur, Belgaum, Satara, and Kolaba Districts With the exception of 341 miles of unmetalled roads, all the roads an maintained by the Public Works department. The chief of there are the Bombay-Poona mail road to the foot of the Borghat, the Poona-Ahmadnagar road, the Poona-Sholapur road, and the Poona- Nasik road ; while of roads maintained by the local authorities the chief are those from Manchar to Ambegaon, from Khed to Bhorgiri, from Siriir to Nira Bridge, from Junnar to Belhe, and from Baramati to Patas.
Famine
With much of its rainfall cut off by the western hills, large tracts in the east of the District have a very uncertain water-supply. During the last five hundred years there is either traditional or historical mention of at least twenty-five famines. The first was the dread calamity known as the Durga-devi famine. Other famines are recorded in 1422, 1460 (Damaji-pant's), 1473, I 5 20 > 1630, 1787, 1792, 1793, 1802-3 (ravages of Holkar's troops), 1820, 1823, 1824, 1825, 1832-8, 1844-6, 1862-7, 1876-7, 1896-7, and 1899-1902. In the year 1792-3 no rain whatever fell till October, and the price of grain rose to 8 seers for the rupee. In 1802, owing to the devastation of the country by Holkar's troops, the price of grain is said to have risen to 4 seers for the rupee. In 1824-5 and 1845-6 failure of rain caused great scarcity. In 1866-7 more than Rs. 80,000 of land revenue was remitted, and Rs. 20,000 was spent on relief to the destitute. Poona was specially affected by the famine of 1876-7. In 1896-7 the whole District suffered. At the height of the famine in May, 1897, there were 22,223 persons and 3,345 depen- dents on relief works and 6,566 in receipt of gratuitous relief. The number gratuitously relieved reached a maximum of 23,998 in September and October, 1897. In 1899 the practical cessation of the rain from the middle of September onward resulted in widespread failure of crops, the Dhond petha suffering most. As early as December the number on relief works and of those gratuitously relieved exceeded 11,000. It advanced steadily till May, when it was 65,717, in addition to 17,236 dependents on relief works and 13,237 in receipt of gratuitous relief. The latter figure rose to 28,536 in September. The relief works were kept open till October, 1902, when the daily average attendance was about 1,ooo, just lowered from 2,000 in the previous month. It is calculated that over 20,000 persons died from the effects of famine and 120,000 cattle perished. Including remissions of advances to agriculturists and land revenue, more than 45 lakhs was spent in the District in the last famine. The advances- made to cultivators exceeded 10 lakhs.
Administration
The District is divided into eight talukas as follows : BHIMTHADI, HAVELI, INDAPUR, JUNNAR, KHED, MAVAL, PURANDHAR, and SIRUR.
The Collector is assisted by two Assistant Collectors and a Personal Assistant. The petty subdivisions (pethas) of Dhond, Ambegaon, and Mulshi are included in the Bhimthadi, Khed, and Haveli talukas respectively. The Collector is Political Agent for the Bhor State, which is included in the District for some administrative purposes.
The District and Sessions Judge, who is also Agent for the Deccan Sardars, is assisted by a Small Cause Court Judge, a Special Judge under the Dekkhan Agriculturists' Relief Act, and six Sub-Judges. There are thirty-eight officers to administer criminal justice in the District. The city of Poona forms a separate magisterial charge under a City Magistrate. There are also two benches of magistrates to assist him in criminal work. There is a Cantonment Magistrate for Poona cantonment, and another at Kirkee. The commonest forms of crime are theft and housebreaking.
The earliest revenue system of which traces remained at the beginning of British rule was the jatha, that is, the family estate, or the thai, that is, the settlement system, under which the whole arable land of each village was divided among a certain number of families.
The lands occupied by each family were distinguished by the original occupant's surname, even when none of his descendants remained. These holdings were called jathas or family estates. The head of the family was held responsible for any land revenue due for the lands belonging to the family, and was styled mukaddam. In theory the leading family estate and its head were responsible for the whole rental of the village, and were bound to make good the failures of minor family estates. This responsibility, however, could not be enforced, and the Government was frequently content to accept less than the full rental. Malik Ambar's settlement was introduced between 1605 and 1626. It was based on a correct knowledge of the area of the land tilled and of the money value of the crop, coupled with a determination to limit the state demand to a small share of the actual money value of the crop. It is generally thought that, under Malik Ambar's survey, areas were fixed by an estimate or nazar-pahani. The rates were intended to be permanent and were therefore moderate. Between 1662 and 1666 a more correct measurement of the land was made ; but owing to the state of the country, which had suffered from war and pestilence, Malik Ambar's system had to be discontinued.
In 1664 in its stead a crop division was introduced. In 1669, when Sivaji reconquered Poona, he introduced a cash rental instead of payment in kind. The settlement was by village, or mauzawdr. The village had therefore to make good a lump sum, and the villagers were left free to arrange for the recovery of the state dues on land which had fallen waste. Land deserted by its owner became the joint property of the village, which either divided it or cultivated it jointly. Under this system Sivaji's rental was uncertain, as individual property in land had a tendency to vanish, and this led to Malik Ambar's system of a fixed money rent for the whole village being restored in 1674. The rise in the price of produce greatly reduced the state share in the out-turn of the land, and to make good this loss special cesses were levied on several occasions and under various names. This system continued till 1758, when, under the rule of Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao, a new and very elaborate measurement and settlement were introduced. In the times of the Peshwas the government collected its revenues through its own agents ; the maximum of the land tax was fixed and only charged on lands actually under tillage, while remissions were made in bad seasons. The revenues fluctuated according to the prosperity of the country. Between 1772 and 1800, the years of the administration of Nana Farnavls, the management of the Peshwa's land revenue was perhaps more efficient than at any other time. In the reign of Baji Rao II the practice of farming the revenue for short terms to the highest bidder was introduced. The charges involved by this system aggravated the evils of its predecessor. Much hardship resulted from the exactions of these temporary revenue farmers.
The assessment introduced at the beginning of British rule when prices were high pressed heavily on landholders in seasons either of bad crops or of low prices. Consequently the leading features of the revenue system before 1856 were high assessment and large remissions. About 1825, when distress was acute, Mr. Pringle was appointed to survey the District and revise the assessment. His survey settlement was introduced over the whole District between 1829 and 1831. The measure proved a failure, partly from the heaviness and in- equality of the assessment in a period of bad seasons and partly from the malpractices of Mr. Pringle's establishment. The defects were early foreseen and the new rates were soon discontinued. The first settlement conpirmed for thirty years was introduced into the Dis- trict between 1836 and 1854. About 1855 a regular revenue survey was undertaken. A revision survey was made and introduced between 1874 and 1901. This survey found an increase in the cultivable area of 6 per cent., and the settlement enhanced the total revenue from about 6 lakhs to 12 lakhs. The average assessment per acre of 'dry' land is 9 annas, rice land Rs. 2-7, and of garden land Rs. 2. The following table shows the collections of land revenue and of revenue from all sources, in thousands of rupees :
The District has twelve municipalities : namely, POONA CITY and Poona Suburban, SASVAD, JEJURI, BARAMATI, INDAPUR, SIRUR, TALE- GAON-DABHADE, LONAULI, KHED, ALANDI, and JUNNAR. The -total income of these municipalities averages about 4 1/4 lakhs. Outside the municipalities, local affairs are managed by the District board and eight taluka boards. The receipts of these in 1903-4 were Rs. 2,25,000, the chief source of their income being the local cess. The expenditure in the same year amounted to Rs. 2,09,000, including Rs. 87,000 spent on the construction and maintenance of roads and buildings.
The District Superintendent of police is aided by an Assistant and 3 inspectors. In 1903-4 there were 18 police stations, with 16 chief constables, 3 European constables, 231 head constables, and 988 con- stables. The mounted police numbered 28, under 4 European constables and 6 daffadars. The Yeraoda Central jail, intended for the confine- ment of all classes of prisoners, as well as for relieving District jails throughout the Presidency, is situated 3 miles north of Poona city. It has accommodation for 1,580 prisoners, and in 1904 the average daily number of prisoners was 1,452, of whom 40 were females. The present structure was built altogether by convict labour. The prisoners are employed outside the walls in gardens, and are hired out to contractors for unskilled labour. Inside the prison various industries are carried on, including weaving, carpet-making, coir-work, cane-work, and car- pentry. A printing press has recently been established. There are 10 subsidiary jails and 12 lock-ups, with accommodation for 125 and 181 prisoners respectively. A reformatory school for juvenile offenders at Yeraoda is under the supervision of the Educational department.
Poona stands seventh as regards literacy among the twenty-four Dis- tricts of the Presidency. In 1901, 6-6 per cent, of the population (11-7 males and 1-5 females) could read and write. Education has made much progress of late years. In 1855-6 there were only 95 schools, with a total of 4,206 pupils in the District. In 1881 the number of pupils rose to 15,246, in 1891 to 30,370, and in 1901 was 25,963. In 1903-4 there were 411 schools with 24,801 pupils, of whom more than 4,400 were females. These schools include 22 pri- vate schools with 417 pupils. Among the public institutions are 2 Arts colleges (the Deccan and Fergusson), one professional college, the College of Science, 14 high schools, 21 middle schools, 341 primary schools, and 10 special schools, including a training college for male and 2 for female teachers, one workshop, and a medical class at the Sassoon Hospital. The College of Science includes engineering classes, agricultural classes, a workshop, and a forestry class. The Deccan College has a law class attached to it. Out of 389 public institu- tions, 14 are supported by Government, 201 by local boards, 50 by municipal boards, 119 schools are aided, and 5 are unaided. The total expenditure on education in 1903-4 exceeded 6 lakhs, of which nearly 1 1/3 lakhs was recovered as fees and Rs. 52,000 was contributed by local and municipal boards. Of the total, 25 per cent, was expended on primary schools.
In 1904 the District contained 4 hospitals and 20 dispensaries, pro- viding accommodation for 252 in-patients. About 145,000 patients, including 3,573 in-patients, were treated in these, and 5,520 opera- tions were performed. The total expenditure, excluding the cost of two of the hospitals and five of the dispensaries, which are maintained from private funds, was Rs. 1,47,165, of which Rs. 11,617 was P a ^ from local and municipal funds. A lunatic asylum at Poona contained 146 inmates in 1904.
The number of persons successfully vaccinated in 1903-4 was 27,000, representing a proportion of 27 per 1,000 of population, which is much above the average for the Presidency.
[Sir J. M. Campbell, Bombay Gazetteer, vol. xviii (1885) ; W. W. Loch, Historical Account of the Poona, Satara, and Sholapur Districts (1877).]
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.
