298 Route from Secrsa to Bahawulpore. [No. 148. 



(Hindoos). In Bikanir, the zemindars are Mussulmans from the Nai, 



and Bagris from Bagar-des. In Bahawulpore, the prevailing caste is 



Mussulman. The small towns on the road are inhabited by Hindoo 



merchants. The chief places are Raneeah in the British territory, a 



Thana and tahseil station, Bhatner and Sooratgurh in Bikanir, and 



Maroth in Bahawulpore. Sooratgurh and Maroth are the marts to 



which the scattered inhabitants of the desert resort to dispose of their 



produce, chiefly ghee, and to purchase in return the necessaries of life. 



The principal food of the inhabitants of the desert is bajra. 



4. Between Seersa and Sooratgurh, the country bears traces of hav- 



m . _ ing once been well inhabited. At no very distant 



Tract from Seersa & J 



to Sooratgurh des- period, the waters of the Guggur river reached as far 



cribed— Its capabili- . 



ties and prospects of as Sooratgurh, and old wells are numerous as far 



improve west as Bhatner. A large belt of meadow land, four 



miles in breadth, extends from Seersa to Sooratgurh, which when flood- 

 ed by the Guggur, is capable of producing crops of wheat, barley, gram 

 and oats, and after the rainy season, rich crops of rice ; while the Rohi 

 or high lands, north and south of it, yield excellent crops of bajra, moot 

 and til. The progress of improvement in this district has been much 

 retarded since it came under British sway, by the unjust system that 

 has prevailed in the Putteala and Kaithat states, of bunding the upper 

 course of the Guggur river, notwithstanding remonstrances from the 

 British authorities running through a twelve years' correspondence. 

 Villages' that enjoyed the benefit of the Guggur inundation when under 

 Patteala, have within the last six years, since their transfer to us, been 

 nearly ruined for the want of it ; yet it is maintained that no new bunds 

 have been constructed. The above tract has, it is seen, great natural 

 advantages if not unjustly deprived of them, and only requires the intro- 

 duction of capital, and a more industrious race of cultivators to render it 

 exceedingly valuable. It has suffered much from the disorders following 

 the cessation of regular Government, and from the misrule of its late 

 masters, the predatory Bhattis, who lived by plundering their neigh- 

 bours. The Bhattis checked in their predatory habits by the strong 

 arm of the British Government, are now slowly, but gradually, being 

 displaced by the more industrious Seikh Jaths and Bagris, and they 

 must either bend to necessity, and become cultivators, or retire with 

 their herds of cattle further into the desert and across the Sutlej. 



