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HINDUSTAN. 



HINDUSTAN. 



19 1 



Sirohi, Jesaulmeer, and Bikaneer. A few oases occur, the largest of 

 ■which are those in which the towns of Joudpoor, Jesaulmeer, and 

 Bikaneer have been built. 



Marwar has a better soil, and is in a better state of cultivation than 

 the other principalities on the west of the Aravulli Mountains. The 

 capital of Marwar is Joudpoor, a large city with a castle in which the 

 Raja resides. Nagore is surrounded by barren sand-hills. Rajpoo- 

 taua east of the Aravulli range, though its soil is sandy, is fertile and 

 generally well cultivated. The periodical rains are abundant, and 

 there are numerous wells for the purpose of irrigating the land in the 

 dry season ; some of these wells are 200 feet deep. 



Jypoor, the capital of the principality of Jjrpoor, in 26° 64' N. lat., 

 75° 38' E. long., stands in a valley open to the south, and is surrounded 

 by a stone waU. It is well and regularly built, with four principal 

 streets, which meet in a large square. The small territories of 

 Boondee and Tonk may be considered as included under the same head. 

 The town of Kota is seated on the Chumbul, in 25° 12' N. lat, 

 and 75° 47' E. long. 



Mewar, though mountainous, is tolerably fertile, and produces all 

 kinds of grain, sugar, indigo, cotton, and opium. Grood pastures are 

 rare, and the cattle are smaller than in the neighbouring districts. 

 Oodipoor, the capital of Mewar, in 24° 34' N. lat and 73° 45' E. long., 

 is seated in a mountainous district, and is a place of great strength ; 

 it can only be approached by three narrow defiles. Chitore, the 

 former capital, having been ttJcen by the Mohammedans, Oodipoor 

 became the residence of the Raja, or Raaah, as he is called. The 

 town of Chilore is situated in a rocky plain, in 24° 53' N. lat, and 

 74° 45' E. long., on the banks of the Bunnass, over which are the 

 ruins of a long, lofty, and handsome stone bridge of eight pointed 

 arches, and one semicircular arch in the centre. Chitore is a tolerably 

 large town, with many pagodas. 



Ajmter, in 26° 28' N. lat, and 74° 42' E. long., is a moderate-sized 

 town on the slope of a high hill. The houses are well-built, and are 

 mostly whitewashed. On the top of the hill is a remarkable fortress 

 called Taraghur, which is a place of great strength and is in most 

 parts inaccessible. Just above the town of Ajmeer is a large lake, 

 which was formed by the emperors of Delhi by damming up the 

 outlet of an ertensive valley, into which several rills were conducted. 

 The lake is 4 miles in circumference in dry weather and 6 miles 

 during the rains. It affords the means of irrigation to a large district 

 on its banks, supplies abundance of excellent water to the inhabitants 

 of Ajmeer, and is full of fish. In 1818 the city of Ajmeer, with the 

 surrounding district was ceded to the British by Dowlet Rao Sindia, 

 in exchange for a part of the territory of Malwa. 



The other principal towns of Rajpootana are the following : — 

 Bikaneer, in 27° 68' N. lat, and 73° 20' K long., a large town sur- 

 rounded by a wall and ditch. Boondee, the capital of the principality 

 of Boondee, is a small town on the side of a hill, on the summit of 

 which is the Raja's palace, a large stone edifice strongly fortified. 

 Jeatulmeer, in"C6° 48' N. l«t, 71° 6' E. long., is situated in an oasis of 

 the great sandy desert, and contains a population of 20,000. Tonk, on 

 the Bunnaas, in 26° 12' N. lat, and 75° 47' E. long. Kuhengurh, in 

 26° 38' N. lat, and 74° 57' E. long., is situated on a chain of granite 

 hills, surrounded by walls of solid masonry, with its castle on the 

 mountain top. The states of Rajpootana extend over an area of 

 123,019 square miles, with a population of 8,095,632, and an annual 

 revenue of 1,743,9952. Three of the states have a population of 

 upwards of a million each, namely : — Jypoor 1,891,124, Joudpoor 

 1,783,600, and Mewar 1,161,400. The others vary from 70,000 to 

 600,000. A military force is maintained in the states. The extent 

 of the force varies with the circumstances of each state. 



The inhabitants of Rajpootana consist principally of Rajpoots, who 

 are Hindoos, and of Mohammedans. The remainder of the inhabitants 

 consist of Bheels, Jains, Jauts, and Mairs. Till they came under the 

 protection of the British the Rajpoots were little bettor than robbers, 

 and were engsged in incessant warfare with each other ; consequently 

 the towns and many of the larger villages of Rajpootana are fortified, 

 and generally placed in situations where they might be protected by 

 a fortress on a rocky height The Rajpoot states were never properly 

 mbjpctefl by tlie Mohammedan emperors ; for though they were com- 

 pelled to pay a tribute and furnish a certain number of mercenary 

 soldiet* they continued in a state of half independence, and their 

 frequent revolts occasioned their principal cities to be several times 

 destroyed. After the death of Aurungzebe in 1707, Rajpootona con- 

 tinued nominally subject to the emperor of Delhi till 1748, when its 

 chief* became independent. Since then the desolating attacks of the 

 Mahrattas have compelled the Rajpoots to place themselves under the 

 protection of Great Britain. The rajas of Rajpootana are independent 

 sovereigns, but an English officer commands the forces ; and a garrison 

 has bean Mtablisbed at Ajmeer sufficient for its protection against its 

 enemies, and also to keep the Rajpoot chiefs themselves in subjection. 



IV. The Plain of the Oanget. — The Oangei, or Oanga, rises with 

 two principal branches in the highest elevation of the Himalaya 

 Mountains, near 31° if. lat., and between 78° 30' and 80° E. long. The 

 most western branch is called the Bhaghirettee. The other branch 

 is called the Alakananda. The river formed by the junction of the 

 Bhaghirettee and the Alakanan'la is called the Ganges. Its course 

 within the region of the Uimalaya Moua tains ia not long, but very 



Oioa SIT, TOb Ut, 



winding, until it entirely leaves it below Hurdwar, and enters the 

 plain of the Ganges. The surface of the river at this point is hardly 

 more than 1000 feet above the sea-level. In its course through the 

 plain it inclines to the south-south-east, and forma a junction with 

 the Jumna at Allahabad. In this part of its course of more than 400 

 miles it receives no considerable affluent except the Ram Ganga, which 

 with its principal tributary the Kosila joins the Gauges above Canoge. 

 The Jumna, which joins the Ganges at Allahabad, rises west of the 

 Ganges, within the more elevated masses of the Himalaya range, in 

 two branches, of which the eastern soon takes the name of the Jumna. 

 They unite near Kalsi, within the lower range of the Himalayas, and 

 soon afterwards leave the mountain region. Though its waters during 

 its course are increased by those of the mountain region of Northern 

 India, the Chumbul, Sinde, Betwah, and Cane, yet at the point of 

 their confluence the Ganges is much larger, being a mile across, while 

 the Jumna is only 1400 yards. From Allahabad to below Boglipoor, 

 near the foot of the Rajmahal Hills, the Ganges runs east with a 

 winding course, and receives a great number of large streams, among 

 which may be mentioned the Goomtee, the Gogra, the Ghandaki 

 Ganga, or Gunduck, the Bagmutty, and the Coosy. At SicliguUy, 

 about 30 miles below Boglipoor tind 10 miles above Rajmahal, the 

 Ganges, turns southward. Here the great delta of the river may be 

 considered to begin. At present the first bifurcation of the Ganges 

 takes place at Sooty, about 20 miles below Rajmahal. The western 

 arm is called the Bhajirettee, and flows south. The eastern arm 

 preserves the name of Ganges, and flows south-east. It divides again 

 about 40 miles lower down, near Jellinghy, from which the western 

 branch is called the Jellinghy River. The Jellinghy River flows mostly 

 south, and joins the Bhajirettee near Nuddea. Another arm branches 

 oflT from the Ganges a few miles from Jellinghy. This arm, called 

 the Matabunga, runs likewise south with many large bends, and joins 

 the Bhajirettee nearly at an equal distance between Nuddea and 

 Hoogly. After the junction of these three arms of the Ganges the 

 western branch of the Granges is called the Hoogly, under which name 

 it passes Calcutta, and reaches the Bay of Bengal near the island of 

 Sagor. The principal branch of the Ganges, continuing its course to 

 the south-east, sends off another arm near Custea, which is called tho 

 Chundna. The fifth great bifurcation takes place at no great distance 

 lower down, near Madd:ipoor, and is called the Gurroy. These two 

 great branches, the Chundna and Qurroy, unite again near Colna, and 

 thence proceed southward to the Bay of Bengal under the name of 

 Ballisore River, or Horingotta, which, Uke the Hoogly, forms a wide 

 acstuary at its mouth. Whilst the Ganges loses a great deal of its 

 waters by sending off so many large branches, besides several smaller 

 ones, it receives new supplies from the Himalaya Mountains and the 

 Brahmapfitra. The Mahanada and the Teesta, which both run from 

 250 to 300 miles, rise on the southern declivity of the higher Hima- 

 layas in Nepaul and Bootan, and run southward. They communioato 

 by several branches with one another during the rainy season, but 

 they join the Ganges at different points. At Nabobgunge the Ganges 

 receives the first supply of water from the Brahmapfitra by the branch 

 called the Jenye, which leaves its principal stream opposite the town 

 of Sheerpoor, is very deep, and brings down a great volume of water. 

 Where the Ganges is increased by the waters of the Jenye it divides 

 again, and its eastern branch, called the Booree Ganga, passes Dacca 

 at no great distance, and enters the wide bed of the Brahmaputra 

 below Nuraingunge. The Booree Ganga receives three other navigable 

 branches of the BrahmapAtra. The Brahmapdtra is so much drained 

 of its waters by these different offsets that during the dry season it is 

 not navigable between Sheerpoor and the mouth of the Booree Ganga. 

 The principal branch of the Ganges flows nearly parallel to the Booree 

 Ganga and the Brahmapi'itra, but falls into the sea by a separate 

 embouchure between the continent and the island of Deccan Sbabaz- 

 poor. The Gauges runs nearly 1500 miles. All the afiluents of the 

 Ganges rising within the mountain region of the Himalayas are 

 navigable for smaller or larger river-boats to the very foot of the 

 range for about six months in the year. The Ganges itself and its 

 arms within the delta, and also the Jumna, are navigable all the year 

 round for vessels of larger or smaller size. The Hoogly can only be 

 navigated as far up as Calcutta by vessels not drawing more than 15 

 feet water, and all larger vessels are obliged to remain at the island 

 of Sagor, where the climate is very unhealthy. The tide at full and 

 change causes a teirible bore in the Hoogly, and its ascent as far as 

 Culna, and even Nuddea, is very perceptible ; but though the bore in 

 the Megna, or Brahmapdtra, is said to be still greater, the tide does 

 not ascend farther than the town of Dacca, on the Booree Oanga. In 

 the Horingotta branch it is felt as far as Custee. 



The great plain which is drained by the Ganges and its afllueuts may 

 be divided iuto three parts, the plain of Bengal, the plain of Bahar, 

 and the plain of the Doab, Oude, and Rohilcund. 



The plain of Bengal extends from the mouths of the Ganges to the 

 Himalaya Mountains, about 280 miles, and its width may perhaps 

 exceed 180 miles. Its western boundary runs from Balasore on the 

 Bay of Bengal, through Midnapoor, Bishunpoor, and Nagore to 

 Rajmahal, and thence along the river Coosy to the mountains. On 

 the east its border skirts the Tiperah Hills, includes the province of 

 Silhet in the form of a gulf, and follows here and farther north the 

 southern and weitem declivity of the Garrow Hills, untVl in the 



