374 Account of Pergunnah Mahoba, Zillah Ilumeerpore. [No. 4. 



not appear to be a separate soil ; the latter is the poorest of all 

 soils, and as its name denotes, is hard and stony. "When the rains 

 are favourable, it gives good khureef crops, but any lack of moisture 

 causes a failure. Its power is soon exhausted, and it requires to lie 

 fallow, and recover itself after every two or three years. 



Khera and KacJiar are classes of soil, deriving their names rather 

 from position and circumstance, than from being iu themselves differ- 

 ent. 



Khera is that land, generally near the village, which is manured 

 and irrigated from wells, it may be of many species and often is 

 rakur. The treatment it receives, however, makes it fertile and the 

 garden cultivation takes place iu it, in which case it is termed 

 " kachwara." 



KacJiar is the land in the vicinity of streams, or overflowed by 

 lakes in the rains. It is generally rich, and of necessity confined to 

 rubbee crops. 



Lakes. 

 One of the great peculiarities of this Pergunnah is its lakes or 

 tanks, which are to be found in the neighbourhood of most of the 

 villages. They, in general, date back to the time of the Chandels, 

 and in many instances the names of the founders have been pre- 

 served, as in Mudun Saugor and Keerut Saugor at Mahoba itself, 

 made by Mudun Brahma and Keerut Singh, the father and grand- 

 father of that Parmal Deva, of whom mention was made before. 



They generally are faced witli rougli stones of large size, ar- 

 ranged so as to form steps, with ghats of coarse white granite 

 in immense slabs ; above which, in many instances are the remains 

 more or less perfect of temples of the same material. Lieutenant 

 Burgess is of opinion, that they were in former days, used exclu- 

 sively for irrigation, and the remains of bunds, now broken, in 

 regular succession on the line of stream through the Pergunnah, 

 would seem to confirm the notion. The largest is Beejannugger, 

 near Mahoba, which is nearly two miles long, and a very fine sheet of 

 water, lately made available for irrigation. 



Streams. 

 Rivers, there are none in the Pergunnah, though several of the 

 streams rising in the hills become considerable ere discharging 



