1869.] The District of Ludidna. 83 



The District of Ludidna.— By T. W. Tolbort, Esq., C. S. 

 [Eeceived 17th May, 1869.] 



The following article is one of a series which the contributor 

 has written, or purposes to write, descriptive of different districts in the 

 Panjab. Most of the information it contains, has been derived from 

 local sources. Much is legendary or trivial ; but the writer in pursuing 

 his own studies, has found the want in each district of a basis on which 

 to commence historical or scientific inquiries ; and it is to supply such 

 a basis, however meagre or deficient in scholarship, that he proposes 

 to publish the series of papers referred to. 



Excluding topics of purely official or administrative interest, we 

 shall find it convenient to arrange our account of the Ludiana district 

 under two headings. 1, Natural Features. 2, History and kindred 

 topics. 



1. — Natural Features. 



The Ludiana district is the most westerly of the three which 

 form the Cis-Sutlej or Ambala division. 



It is bounded by Ambala on the east, by Firozpur on the 

 west, by Patiala and other native territories on the south, and 

 by the district of Jalandhar, from which it is separated by the 

 river Satlaj on the north. The soil is sandy, yielding a rich crop of 

 cereals and of grain, but is not so fertile for sugar cane and fruit 

 trees, as in the neighbouring district of Jalandhar. The aspect and 

 area of the district, have been much modified by a change in the 

 course of the river Satlaj, which formerly flowed by the Ludiana fort, 

 but is now six miles to the westward. The old bank of the river 

 forms a ridge the whole length of the district, and a small offshoot of 

 the river called the Buddha Nalah still flows in the deserted bed. 

 The Ludiana district does not produce either mangoes or dates, but 

 there is much to interest in its flora, and the writer regrets that 

 he is not competent to give a detailed and accurate account of its 

 botanical features. Some information on the subject may be found 

 in a paper by Mr. Edgeworfch, Vol. VII. of the Asiatic Society's Jour- 

 nal, page 751, and a short subsequent paper in Vol. XI., page 26. 

 The Ludiana district appears nearly to coincide with what Mr, 

 Edgeworth in the papers referred to, terms the " phalahi" tract. The 

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