Rewa Kantha
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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Rewa Kantha
('the banks of the Rewca or Narbada'). A Political Agency subordinate to the Government of Bombay, established in 1821-6, having under its control 61 separate States, lying between 21 23' and 23 33' N. and 73 3' and 74 20' E , with a total area of 4,972 square miles. Besides lands stretching about 50 miles along the south bank of the Narbada, Rewa Kantha includes an irregular band of territory from 10 to 50 miles broad, passing north of the Narbada to about 12 miles beyond the Main, and an isolated strip on the west lying chiefly along the left bank of the Mahi. It is bounded on the north by the Rajputana States of Dungarpur and Banswara ; on the east by the tdhtka of Dohad m the Panch Mahals District, All Raj pur, and other petty States of the Bhopawai Agency, and part of Khandesh District; on the south by Baroda territory and Surat District; and on the west by Broach District, Baroda State, the Panch Mahals, Kaira, and Ahmadabad Districts. Extreme length from north to south about 140 miles, breadth from east to west varying from EO to 50 miles.
Of the 6 1 States, 6 are laige and 55 are small. Of the large States, Rajpipla in the south is of the first class ; and five -Chota Udaipur and Bariya in the centre, and Sunth, Lunavada, and Balasmoi in the north and north-westare second-class States. The 55 small States include Kadana and Sanjeli in the north, Bhadarva and Umeta in the
west, Narukot in the south-east, and three groups of Mehwas or turbulent villages. The 26 Sankheda Mehwas petty estates he on the right bank of the Naibada, while the 24 Pandu Mehwas petty estates, including Dorka, Anghad, and Raika, which together form the Dorka Mehwas, are situated on the border of the Mahi.
Physical aspects
In the outlying villages to the west along the Mahi, and in the north and south where Rewa Kantha stretches into the plains of Gujarat, the country is open and flat , but generally the Agency is hilly. Its two principal ranges are in the south, asects the Rajplpla hills, the westernmost spuis of the Sat- puras, forming the water-paitmg between the Narbada and Tapti valleys, and acioss the centre of the Agency, the spurs of the Vmdhya range running west from the sandstone-crowned table-land of Ratanmal, and forming the water-parting between the Narbada and the Mahi. In the 120 miles of the course of the Mahi through Rewa Kantha, the country changes from wild forest-clad hills in the east to a flat bare plain in the west. Its deep banks make this river of little use for inigation. Its stream is too shallow and its bed too rocky to allow of navigation. The Narbada enters the Agency through a country of hill and forest with wooded or steep craggy banks. For the last 40 miles of its course, the country grows uch and open, the banks lower, the bed widens, and the stream is deep and slow enough for water-carriage For 8 miles it is tidal
Gneiss and Deccan trap are the predominant rock formations m Rewa Kantha, the former in the northern part of the Agency, the latter in the southern. There are also some outcrops of Cretaceous rocks underlying the Deccan trap and of Tertiary rocks overlying it, The Cretaceous and Tertiary beds, including the Deccan trap, dip in various directions at low but distinct angles and are frequently faulty. The gneiss is mostly a coarse-grained granitoid rock, associated sometimes with crystalline schists At the north-western extremity of the gneiss area are some ancient strata classified under the name of Champaner beds. The Cietaceous rocks belong to the Lam eta group 3 also called Bagh or infra-trappean, which is of cenomaman age. Some outcrops fringe the northern limit of the Deccan trap area, along the valleys of the Asvan and Men rivers ; and there are also some mhers in the midst of the basaltic outcrop, principally near Kawant and in the Devi valley, respectively north and south of the Narbada. The Deccan trap con- tains the usual basaltic flows, with occasional intercalations of fossih- ferous fresh-water mter-trappean beds. Ash-beds and agglomerates are frequent, and dikes are very abundant, especially in the Rajplpla hills, which occupy the site of an ancient focus of volcanic activity. Intrusive sills, some of them trachytic instead of basaltic, also penetrate the underlying Lameta. The surface of the Deccan trap was greatly denuded and extensively transformed into ferruginous latente during the Teitiary period. The lowest Tertiary beds at the western extremity of the Raj- plpla hills rest upon a thick mass of this ferruginous lock, and through- out the entire senes a great many ferruginous beds recur at vanous horizons ; the Tertiary beds consist largely of the accumulated products of disintegration from the adjoining volcanic area Two groups have been distinguished in the Tertiaiy a lower gioup with Nummuhtes, identical with the upper pait of the Kirthar in Sind, or the Splntangi in Baluchistan, whose age is middle eocene ; and an upper gioup with- out Nummulites, containing numerous bands of conglomerate. Marine and terrestrial fossils, the latter including fragments of fossil wood, occur in this upper subdivision, which answers to the Gaj group and Si wall ks. The celebrated agate-mines of Ratanmal in the Rajplpla State are situated m a conglomerate belonging to this group. The agates in their original form consist of geodes contained in the Deccan trap basalt which, having been set free by the disintegration of the enclosing rock, have been shaped into wateiworn pebbles accumulated into conglomeratic layers. The exceptional value of the Ratanmal agates is due to the lateritic ferruginous matrix in which they are imbedded they have been impregnated with ferruginous products giving them a much appi eclated colour, which is further enhanced by artificial tieatment.
A great part of Rewa Kantha is forest. The commonest tree is the mafatd, found in gieat numbers in the States of Chota Udaipur and Bariya. Teak is abundant, but, except in sacred village groves, is stunted The other most abundant trees are black-wood, tamarind, mango, ray an t sadado (Terminal la Arjuna)^ beheda^ timburrun^ bill (Aegle Marmelos\ khair, &c. Many shrubs and medicinal plants are also found in the forests. Among grasses the most important are viran or khas-khas and elephant-grass, the stems of which are used to make native pens.
Tigers aie very rare ; but leopards, though yearly becoming fewer, are still found in considerable number. Bears and wild hog are com- mon. Sambar^ spotted deer, and nilgai aie found throughout the greater part of the Agency , bison in the extreme south-east. The painted and common sand-grouse, red spur-fowl, the peafowl, the painted and grey partridge, and quail are common. Common jack and painted snipe, black goose, cotton, whistling, common, and blue-winged teal, aie some of the principal water-fowl.
In the forest-covered tracts of eastern Rewa Kantha, with large areas of land rich in springs, the cold in January is very severe, ice forming on pools and the crops suffering at times from frost The heat is at times intense, the thermometer m the shade in Lunavada and Bariya using to 108 and 110. In 1903 the minimum ranged from 54 m January to 80 in May, and the maximum from 85 in January to 112 in May. In 1873 the heat was so great that several persons died, and bats and monkeys are said to have fallen dead from the trees. Healthy in the open parts, the climate of the eastern hill and forest tracts, espe- cially in Baiiya and Rajpipla, is very sickly. The chief diseases are malarial fever, eye and skin complaints, diarrhoea, and dysenteiy
The annual rainfall in the Agency varies from 38 to 48 inches At Lunavada, Rajpipla, and Balasinor it averages 38 inches, and at Bariya and Chota Udaipur 48 inches.
History
Under the first Anhilvada dynasty (746-961), almost all the Rewa Kantha lands except Champaner were under the government of the Banyas, that is, Kolt and Bhll chiefs. In the eleventh, H i sto ry. twelfth, and thirteenth centuries chiefs of Rajput or part Rajput blood, driven south and east by the pressure of Muhamma- dan invasion, took the place of the Koli and Bhll leaders The first of the present States to be established was the house of the Raja of Rajpipla. Kadana is said to have been established as a separate power about the thirteenth century by Limdevji, younger brother of Jhalam Singh, a descendant of Jhalam Singh, the founder of the town of Jhalod in the Panch Mahals, About the same date Jhalam Singh's son settled at the Bhil village of Brahmapuri, changing its name to Sunth. In the sixteenth century the Ahmadabad Sultans brought under submission almost the whole of Rewa Kantha In the seventeenth century, although a member of the Babi family founded the State of Balasmor, the power of the Gujarat viceroys began to decline. The Marathas soon spread their authoiity over the plains, and collected tribute with the help of military force.
The younger branches of the chiefs' families had from time to time been forced to leave their homes and win for themselves new States ; and these, with the descendants of a few of the original chiefs, form the present landholders of the small estates of the Agency. Under the Marathas, they plundeied the country ; and as the Gaikwar failed to keep order, the British had to undertake the task In 1822 an agree- ment was concluded with the Gaikwar, under which the contiol of all the Baroda tributaries was vested in the Bombay Government. In this year Mr. Willoughby was appointed to settle the affairs of the territory. In 1823 the position and tribute of the chiefs of the Sankheda Mehwas weie settled by him. In 1825 the chiefs of the Pandu Mehwas came under British control. At the same time the political control of the Panch Mahals was made over by Smdhia to the Government, and Banya State was transferred from the Bhopawar Agency, Central India. The Political Agency of Rewa Kantha was established in 1826 to take charge of Rewa Kantha, including Rajpipla, Sindhia's Panch Mahals, the Mehwas States on the Mahl and Narbada, Banya, Chota Udaipur, and Narukot of the Naikdas. The States of Lunavada and Sunth, which had been under British control since 1819, were afterwards trans- ferred from the Mahl Kantha Agency. In 1829 the appointment of Political Agent was abolished, and the chiefs were left very much to themselves foi a few years. In 1842 the Political Agency at Rewa Kantha was re-established, and the powers of the chiefs in "criminal cases were defined In 1853 the State of Balasinor was transfened from the Kaira Collectorate , and Smdhia handed over for a period of ten yeais the administration of the Panch Mahals. In 1861 the Panch Mahals were exchanged by Sindhia for land neai Gwalior, and became British teiritory. Two years later the Panch Mahals were removed from the control of the Agent and formed into a separate charge. In 1876 the Panch Mahals were raised to the rank of a Dis- trict, the officer in charge of it having control of the Rewa Kantha States. The estate of Narukot is managed by the British Government, which takes half the total revenue, the lemaming half going to the chief, under the agreement of 1839. Since 1825 the peace of Rewa Kantha has thrice been broken: m 1838 by a Naikda (Bariya, Chota Udaipur, and Narukot) rising ; in 1857 by the presence of a rebel force from Northern India; and in 1868 by anothei Naikda (Narukot) disturbance.
The population at the last four enumerations was: (1872) 512,569, (1881) 549,892, (1891) 733,506, and (1901) 479> 6 5 Tne great decrease during the last decade is due to severe famine. The average density is 96 persons per square mile. pu a lon ' The Agency contains 6 towns and 2,817 villages. The chief towns are NANDOD, LUNAVADA, and BALASINOR. Hindus number 435,023, or 90 per cent of the total, Muhammadans, 23,712, or 5 per cent., aboriginal tribes, 18,148 , Jams, 1,400 ; and Christians, 267, The Brah- man caste (20,000) is largely represented by the Audich (7,000) and Mewada Brahmans (5,000). There are 17,000 Rajputs, and among cultivating castes Kunbis (34,000) are important , but the States of the Agency are mainly populated by aboriginal tribes of Bhil and KolT origin Though these tubes suffered severely in the famine of 1899- 1902, the last Census disclosed 91,000 Bhils, 150,000 Kolis, 32,000 Dhodias, 27,000 Naikdas, and 18,000 Dhankas. Disinclined to regular cultivation, these tribes lead a wandering life, subsisting veiy largely on forest produce They are thriftless and fond of liquor, and when intoxicated will tire themselves out in wild dancing. Crime, however, is less frequent among them than formerly Among Hindu low castes, Mahars number 14,000.
Agriculture
Rewa Kantha includes great varieties of soil In the north near the Mahi, and in the south near the Narbada., are rich tracts of alluvial land. In Lunavada and Balasmor in the north, light . brown goradu, not so rich as that of Central Gujarat, is the prevailing soil. There are also a few tracts of grey besar land, generally growing rice Near the Shedhi river are some patches of land called bhejvali, very damp, and yielding a cold-season crop of wheat and pulse, but not well suited for cotton. In Sunth the black 01 kali soil holds moisture well, and without watering yields two crops a year. The Banya lands light brown goradu^ deep black kali, and sandy retal are capable of yielding any crop except tobacco The black loam of the Sankheda and Pandu Mehwas is nearly as rich as the cotton lands of Amod and Jambusar m Broach. Rajpipla, espe- cially its Narbada districts, is exceedingly fertile Except a few tracts of rocky and inferior black soil, Rewa Kantha is on the whole fertile. In the open country, in the hands of Kunbi and other high-class husbandmen, the tillage is the same as in Central Gujaiat, In the hilly and wooded tiacts inhabited by Bhils, Kolis, and other unsettled tribes, cultivation is of the rudest kind.
Of the total area, about 1,719 squaie miles are cultivable, of which 1,030 square miles were actually under cultivation in 1903-4. The principal crops are cereals (maize, rice, jowdr : bajra, and kodrd) pulses (fur i math, and giam) , oilseeds (castor, gingelly, and til) , and fibres (cotton and jaw-hemp). The wheat grown in the Agency is of two kinds, vajia and kdtha. The rice is of a coarbe description known as vari. Of kodra a local variety (mtnia kodra) has a narcotic property, which is to a certain extent neutralized by washing and dry- ing two or three times before grinding. Turmeric, chillies, cumin, melons, guavas, custaid-apples, and plantains are commonly grown.
The domestic animals are buffaloes, cattle, horses, sheep, and goats. In Balasinor, Lunavada, Sunth, and Banya goats are carefully bred, and yield fairly close and fine wool. Horse-breeding is carried on in Sunth.
Only 4,637 acres were irrigated in 1903-4, distributed as follows Rajpipla (127), Lunavada (2,856), Balasinor (1,438), Sunth (216). Wells are the only sources of irrigation.
The greater part of Rewa Kantha is covered with forests, of which the most valuable are in Banya State. The chief trees have already been described under Botany, The forest Reserves are of two kinds : State Reserves, or tracts in the large forests where the Darbar only can cut , and sacred village groves, where the finest timber is found. Most of the villages have two kinds of groves one never cut except on emergencies, and the other less sacred and felled at intervals of thirty years. Except for the wants of the State, or when the villagers are forced to make good losses caused by some general fire 01 flood, the fear of the guardian spirit keeps the people from destroying their village groves. The forests were once famous for their large stoie of high-class timber, Strict conservancy in the neighbouring Panch Mahals District led to much reckless felling in the Agency, but greater care of their forests is now taken by the chiefs.
Manganese ore and mica deposits are found in Chota Udaipur and Jambughoda, and a prospecting licence for manganese in the latter place has been issued. A prospecting and exploring licence will shortly be issued for Chota Udaipui Akik (agate 01 carneban) is worked in Rajpipla.
Trade and Communication
The Rewa Kantha manufactures are of little importance. The chief industries are the making of catechu from the bark of the khair, country soap, coarse cotton cloth, and tape for cots.
. The Bhils make good bambo baskets and matting.
" Since the iron furnaces ceased work, the swords for which Nandod was once famous are no longer made There are three cotton -ginning factories worked by steam, and eight distilleries, The trade resembles in many respects that of the Panch Mahals. Both have a through traffic between Gujarat and Central India, and a local trade west with Gujarat and east with Rajputana, Central India, and Khandesh. While the opening of the railways described in the following paragiaphs has increased the local trade westwards, the through trade has dwindled, the old direct routes with their rough roads and heavy dues failing to compete with the easy railway journey by these lines. The principal exports are timber, firewood, mahua, and other forest produce , and the imports are piece-goods, salt, sugar, and metals.
No State of the Agency possessed railway communications until 1890. The extension of the Anand-Godhra branch of the Bombay, Baroda, and Central India Railway to Ratlam since 1893 nas con ~ nected the Bariya State with the mam line. Similarly, the construction of the Dabhoi and Baroda-Godhra lines has facilitated the trade of the Chota Udaipur, Rajpipla, and Bariya States with the neighbouring Baroda territory, and the Rajpipla State Railway in 1899 has connected the State with Broach District as well as with the chief towns on the main line of the Bombay, Baroda, and Central India Railway. Many roads were newly constructed or repaired with the advantage of cheap labour during the famine of 1899-1902. The total length of roads is about 450 miles. There are 27 post offices in the Agency main- tained by the British Government.
Famine
The first famine of which memory remains was in 1746-7. The next severe famines were m 1790-1 and 1812-3, while 1802 and 1825 were years of scarcity. In 1883-4 the rainfall was scanty, and the small harvest was destroyed by swarms of locusts. After a period of fifteen years the Agency again suffered from severe famine in 1899-1902. Relief measures were commenced in November, 1899, and were brought to a close in October, 1902. The highest daily average number on relief was 40,000 in April, 1900, which decreased to 311 in October, 1901, and again rose to 12,000 in May, 1902. More than TO lakhs was spent on relief. The famine loans contracted by the Darbars from Government amounted to 4 lakhs, of which Rs. 2,25,000 was borrowed by Rajpipla and the rest by the other States in the Agency.
Administration
Civil courts have only lately been introduced into Rewa Kantha. Disputes were formerly settled by arbitration, and money-lenders were
allowed to recover their outstanding debts as they best could. At present there are 32 civil courts in the Agency, of which 17 are under the supervision of the British Government, and 15 in the States. For the purpose of administering criminal justice, the Rewa Kantha authorities belong to five classes : thanadars with second and third-class magisterial powers in the estates of the petty Mehwas chiefs , the petty chiefs of Kadana, Sanjeli, Bhadarwa, and Umeta, who have the powers of second-class magis- trates; the second-class chiefs of Bariya, Balasinor, Rajpipla, Luna- vada, Sunth, and Chota Udaipur, with full jurisdiction over their own subjects , the chief of Rajpipla exercising poweis of life and death with jurisdiction over British subjects, except in the case of capital offences by the latter, for the trial of which the Political Agent's sanc- tion is required } and the Agency courts of the Assistant Political Agent and the Political Agent of the five second-class States. Theft, hurt, mischief, and offences against excise and forest laws are the commonest forms of crime. Balasmor is at present under British management owing to the minority of the chief; and of the five minor estates' Sanjeli, Urn eta, and Narukot are similarly administered.
Except such portions as they have alienated, the Rewa Kantha lands belong to the chiefs. The heads of the larger estates take no share in the actual work of cultivation ; some small chieftains, whose income is barely enough to meet their wants, have a home faim tilled by their servants; and proprietors (tdlukdars) whose estates are too small to lease have no resource but to till their own land. Save that they have to pay no part of their produce to superior holders, men of this class do not differ from ordinary cultivators.
To collect the land levenue, the large States are distributed into talukas, each under a commandant (thanadar\ who, besides police and magisterial duties 1 , has, as collector of the revenue, to keep the accounts of his charge, and, except where middle-men are employed, to collect rents from the villagers. Under the fhdnaddrs one or more accountants (taldtis) are generally engaged In the petty Mehwas estates the proprietors themselves perform the duties of both thdnaddr and talati. In the small estates under direct British management the revenue is collected by officers known as attachers or ^aptidars. Rewa Kantha villages belong to two main classes : State villages held and managed by the chiefs, and private villages alienated or granted under some special arrangement. Private villages are of six varieties : granted (mam\ held under an agreement (patai)at\ given as a sub- sistence (jzvarakh), temple (devasthan\ charitable (dharmada), and held at a fixed rent (udhad). In State lands the form of assessment vanes from the roughest billhook or plough cess to the elaborate system in force in British territory. The former ranges from 4 annas to Rs. 20, and the latter from annas 4^ to Rs. 25 per acre. The crop- share system prevails in parts of Balasmor, Sunth, and the petty estate of Chudesar, and in the alluvial lands of Mandwa in the Sankheda Mehwas The form of assessment levied from the rudest and most thriftless Bhils and KolTs, who till no land, consists of cesses known as datardi) pam^ kodali, &c. From those a degree better off, who are able to keep bullocks, a plough tax is levied. Among some of the more settled and intelligent communities a rough form of the separate
1 In the States mentioned as being nndei the direct management of the British Government, thanadars have no police and magisterial powers. holding (kkatdbandi) system has been introduced, and from others cash acre-rates (bighott) levied In such cases the holdings are roughly measured. Survey settlements are being gradually made throughout the Agency. Except in the surveyed States, where fixed rates are being introduced, the rates levied under hoes, or ploughs, or on the crop-share system, are supplemented by cesses of different kinds
In former times the scattered nature of the villages and the isolated position of the country, the rivalry among the chiefs to secure settlers, and the lavish grants of lands to Brahmans, &c., prevented the land from yielding any large amount of revenue. Between 1863 and 1865 the rise in the price of field produce fostered the spread of tillage and increased the rental of rich lands Since then, owing to the opening of railways and the construction of roads, the cultivated area has continued to increase and the land revenue has steadily risen Of the total revenue of 21 lakhs raised in 1903-4, 14 lakhs was derived from land> including forest revenue, customs yielded nearly one lakh, and excise nearly 2% lakhs. Rajpipla has a net income of about Rs. 1 1,000 from the railway constructed by the State, at a cost of 13 lakhs, in 1899. The total expenditure amounted to 22 lakhs, and was chiefly devoted to Darbar charges (5^ lakhs), tribute (i-| lakhs), administration (ij lakhs), public works (i-| lakhs), police (ij lakhs), military (Rs. 75,000), education (Rs. 67,000), and forests (Rs. 34,000)
There are four municipalities NANDOD, RAMPUR, LXTNAVADA, and BALASINOR with an aggregate income of one lakh m 1903-4.
Rajpipla maintains a military force, which in 1905 consisted of 75 infantry and 36 cavalry, and the State owns 6 guns, of which 4 are unserviceable. The total military force in the Agency consists of 214 cavalry, 75 infantry, and 55 guns, of which 31 are unserviceable.
Regular police is now provided by Government for the Mehwas States, in place of the Gaikwar's Contingent, which was disbanded in 1885. The large States maintain a police force of their own. At a time when several of the States were under management during the minority of their chiefs, a system of joint police was established ; but this had to be given up as each chief succeeded to his inheritance. In 1903-4 the strength of the police was 1,402, of whom 162 were mounted In the 29 jails and lock-ups, 1,099 prisoners were confined in 1903-4.
The number of boys' schools in 1903-4 was 160, with 6,487 pupils, and of girls' schools 10, with 937 pupils. There are 6 libraries in the Agency, and a printing press at Nandod for State work. The average daily attendance at the 18 dispensaries maintained was 221 in i93-4, the total number of patients treated being 80,722. Nearly 15,000 persons were vaccinated in the same year.
