Nagpur district: The Satpuda Hills:
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The Satpuda Hills
The northern range of hills extends along the whole border, being pierced only in two places where the Kanhan and Pench rivers have broken through. On the west it consists merely of the outlying foothills of the Satpudas, the plateau proper lying behind them in Chhindwada. But from the Kanhan to the Pench, it is the major range of the Satpudas themselves which dominates the landscape, and the ascent of the Khamarpani plateau is made in Nagpur. Along this length the hills are well wooded and picturesque, and there is some striking scenery on the Pench river.
The old Gond fort of Bhivagad stands on this range. Government-managed forests in this district mainly belong to these hills between the Kanhan and the Bawanthari.The cultivated villages are scattered here and there in the river valleys, and the country is very pleasing and well-wooded, open glades alternating with patches of forest and clearings of cultivation.
Mahua trees and tanks abound, and the Gond villages, with their clean little streets and neat back-gardens, have a far more picturesque appearance than the monotonous mud walls of the more imposing houses in the rich villages of the plain country.
A few miles to the south of the main Satpuda range are two minor lines of hills, to the west and east of the Pench. Those to the west lie between Bhivagad and Parseoni, terminating in the peak of Tekadi 508.34 metres (1,669 feet). East of the Pench are the Mansar hills, both these and the western range being now denuded of trees, and, after a gap of a few miles, come the well known
Ramtek hills, rising to 427 metres (1,400 feet) at Ramtek proper. Timely measures by the Government have helped in retaining the wooded character of this range. Three miles east of Ramtek the Sur river has forced a passage through the hills. Beyond this point they are called the Ambagad range of Bhandara.
The Ramtek hills terminate on the west in the form of a horse-shoe curve, its inner sides enclosing the beautiful and sacred tank of Ambala, one of the most charming pieces of scenery in the district. The temple hill at the extremity of the ranges, rising 183 metres (600 feet) sheer above the level of the plain, is at once a landmark to the surrounding country and a vantage ground from which the great Wainganga plain may be seen spread out below, its irregularities of surface softened into smoothness by the height from which one looks down upon it.
Minor Ranges
The second main hill tract extends along the south-east of the district from Khargad on the Wardha river, where there are some fine waterfalls, to the junction of Wardha and Chanda with Nagpur. They separate the valley of the Kar from that of the Jam up to Kondhali and further south-east form the watershed between the latter river and the Bor. Near Bori they become the Kauras plateau and here terminate to afford a passage for the Wardha river, continuing afterwards southeastwards and dividing the valley of the Nand from the Wainganga plain.
West of the Wunna the range is mostly well covered with picturesque valleys and ravines, among which are narrow strips of rich well-irrigated land of great fertility. But to the east towards Umrer the range has lower levels and is uninteresting. It consists of low bare hills which are grass covered and boulder-strewn, except where, overlooking the Nand valley, some excellent teak is grown.
The third main range runs northwards through the Katol tahsil from Kondhali to Kelod, separating the Wardha and Wainganga valleys. The highest part of it is at Pilkapar. The hills are generally clear of trees, but there is a great deal of cultivation scattered among them, and here and there are found upland plateaus covered with stones and with soil of varying depth, suitable only for the production of rain crops. Connected with this range is the hill system which divides the Wunna valley from the Wainganga plain, and bisects the Nagpur tahsil. These hills in part striking eastward from the third range, and in front projecting from the Kauras plateau are low and bare. To them belong those dreary stone-covered downs which shut in the city of Nagpur on the west.
The Wardha and its Tributaries
The Wardha valley proper includes but a small proportion of the district, consisting of the rich Amner pargana to the northwest of Katol. But its tributaries drain the bulk of the Katol tahsil, a half of Nagpur and a small part of Umrer. The principal of these are the Bor, the Wunna, the Jam and the Kar.
The Bor rises in the hills near Bazargaon and rushes down a winding and rocky channel between the Kondhali uplands and the Kauras plateau, passing into the Wardha to join the Wunna. Its narrow valley is very fertile and the high well-wooded cliffs on either side render it a wild and beautiful spot in the whole of the district.
The Wunna rises near the hill of Mahadagad in the Pilkapar range and flaws along the northern base of the Kauras plateau past Hingna and Bori where it is crossed by the Central Railway. It leaves the district at Ashta. The small Krishna river joins it at Bori. The Jam rises among the hills south of Kondhali and flowing northwards into the centre of the Katol tahsil, takes a westerly turn past Katol and joins the Wardha at Jalalkheda.
The Kar rises in the same range, but flaws directly south-west, separating the Wardha and Nagpur districts till it joins the Wardha river at Khargad, the trijunction point of the two districts with Berar. The Nand flows across a small strip in the south of the district and joins the Wunna beyond the border of Wardha.
The Kanhan and its Tributaries
The eastern two-thirds of the district belong to the drainage system of the Wainganga and except for the northern range of the Satpudas consist of an undulating plain of cultivation, broken only by isolated hills and by the hallows and depressions marking the course of the innumerable streams, which traverse its surface and feed the larger rivers.
The chief rivers of this tract are the Pench and the Kanhan, both of which flow down from the Satpuda range in the Chhindwada district, and meet near Kamptee, where they are also joined by the Kolar. The upper reaches of the Pench among the hills and jungles north of Bhivagad afford some pleasing views.
The Kanhan, entering the district near Baregaon, takes a south-easterly course past Khapa to Kamptee, where it receives the Pench and Kolar and is crossed by two bridges. In its subsequent course it marks the boundary of the Ramtek tahsil, and after receiving the Nag river near the hills of Bhivakund, finally empties itself into the Wainganga at Gandpipri in Bhandara.
The Kolar rises in the north-east corner of the Katol tahsil, and after passing through the rocky country of Lohgad in the Pilkapar range, emerges, into the fertile plain of Saoner and separates the Nagpur from the Ramtek tahsil until its place as a boundary river is taken by the Kanhan. Its bed is generally rocky. At Patansaongi it receives the Chandrabhaga, which brings in the drinage of the Kalmeshwar plain. It is bridged at Dahegaon, where it is crossed by the road from Nagpur to Chhindwada. The doab of Parseoni between the Pench and the Kanhan, and the doab of Patansaongi on the narrow strip of land enclosed between the Kolar and the Kanhan. are the most fertile and highly cultivated portions of the Ramtek and Saoner tahsils, respectively.
Other Rivers
The only other rivers of importance are those draining the eastern half of the Ramtek tahsil, the Bawanthari, Sur and Gaotala-Sand. The Bawanthari only passes through the extreme north-east of the district, but it drains the country to the north of Chorbaoli and east of the Seoni road.
The Sur, rising in the hills west of the Seoni road, follows a most erratic course, and after cutting its way through a narrow gorge in the Ramtek range, flows eastward past Aroli and Kodamendhi into Bhandara, where it joins the Wainganga. The Sur is remarkable for the shallowness of its bed, the level character of the land immediately on its margin, and the fertile properties of this land in producing sugarcane and garden crops.
The Gaotala-Sand issues from the Ramtek tank and joins the Kanhan at the south-east of the Ramtek tahsil near the hill of Sitapahar.
General Characteristics of the Rivers
Most of the large rivers, where they flow through plain country, are characterised by high banks and rapid streams when in flood, but in the hot weather they are mere rivulets, with deep pools here and there where the bed is rocky and hollow among the rocks have been formed by the action of the stream.
The wide wastes of sand which are exposed to the sun's rays during the hot weather months seem in the case of the large rivers to neutralise the cooling effect of the small streaks of water in the centre of the bed, and the influence on the country around these rivers, though of course very great, is not directly discernible except in the rugged ravines with short scrub which mark their banks.
But their tributaries, the numerous shallow streams with a fringe of vegetation on either side, or winding amidst sindi bans or woods of date palm, exercise a more patently beneficial effect on the surrounding lands, which are generally fertile and are kept moist all the year round. Such streams are however, only to be found in the most level plains, or in deep valleys among the hills.
Over most of the great wheat tract of Umrer, where the more marked undulations of the country cause the water to be carried rapidly away, are deep water-courses absolutely dry during half the year, with bare banks devoid of all vegetation. These become small torrents after each heavy fall of rain, and the fields in their neighbourhood are scoured out of all recognition, despoiled of their soils, and speedily rendered unfit for cultivation.
