The Panjab, North-West Frontier Province, and Kashmir Part 14

Historically Karnal is one of the most interesting districts. The Nardak is the scene of the great struggle celebrated in the Mahabharata. The district contains the holy city of Thanesar, once the capital of a great Hindu kingdom. It has found climate a more potent instrument of ruin than the sword of Mahmud of Ghazni, who sacked it in 1014. It still on the occasion of Eclipse fairs attracts enormous crowds of pilgrims.

Pihowa is another very sacred place. Naraina, a few miles to the north-west of Karnal, was the scene of two famous fights[11], and three times, in 1526, 1556, and 1761, the fate of India was decided at Panipat.

[Sidenote: Area, 1851 sq. m.

Cultd area, 1174 sq. m.

Pop. 689,970.

Land Rev.

Rs. 11,47,688 = 76,513]

~Ambala~ is a submontane district of very irregular shape. It includes two small hill tracts, Morni and Kasauli. There is little irrigation, for in most parts the rainfall is ample.

Wheat is the chief crop. The population has been declining in the past 20 years.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 89.]

The only town of importance is Ambala. Jagadhri is a busy little place now connected through private enterprise by a light railway with the N.

W. Railway. The district consists of two parts almost severed from one another physically and wholly different as regards people, language, and agricultural prosperity. The Rupar subdivision in the north-west beyond the Ghagar has a fertile soil, and, except in the Nali, as the tract flooded by the Ghagar is called, a vigorous Jat peasantry, whose native tongue is Panjabi. The three south-eastern _tahsils_, Ambala, Naraingarh, and Jagadhri, are weaker in every respect. The loam is often quite good, but interspersed with it are tracts of stubborn clay largely put under precarious rice crops. The Jats are not nearly so good as those of Rupar, and Rajputs, who are mostly Musulmans, own a large number of estates.

[Sidenote: Area, 101 sq. m.

Cultd area, 15 sq. m.

Pop. in Feb.

1911, 39,320.

Land Rev.

Rs. 17,484 = 1166.]

Simla consists of three little tracts in the hills known as Bharauli, Kotkhai, and Kotgarh, and of patches of territory forming the cantonments of Dagshai, Subathu, Solon, and Jutogh, the site of the Lawrence Military School at Sanawar, and the great hill station of Simla. Bharauli lies south-west of Simla in the direction of Kasauli.

Kotkhai is in the valley of the Giri, a tributary of the Jamna. Kotgarh is on the Sutlej and borders on the Bashahr State. The Deputy Commissioner of Simla is also Superintendent or Political Officer of 28 hill states.

[Sidenote: Area, 19,934 sq. m.

Cultd area, 7762 sq. m.

Pop. 3,967,724.

Land Rev.

Rs. 61,64,172 = 410,945.]

~Jalandhar Division.~--More than half the area of the Jalandhar division is contributed by the huge district of Kangra, which stretches from the Plains to the lofty snowy ranges on the borders of Tibet. The other districts are Hoshyarpur in the submontane zone, Jalandhar and Ludhiana, which belong to the Central Plains, and Ferozepore, which is part of the South-Eastern Panjab. Sikhs are more numerous than in any other division, but are outnumbered by both Hindus and Muhammadans. The Commissioner has political charge of the hill states of Mandi and Suket and of Kapurthala in the Plains.

[Sidenote: Area, 9878 sq. m.

Cultd area, 918 sq. m.

Pop. 770,386; 94 p.c. H.

Land Rev.

Rs. 9,26,661 = 61,777.]

~Kangra~ is the largest district in the Panjab. It includes three tracts of very different character:

(_a_) Spiti and Lahul, area exceeding 4400 square miles, forming part of Tibet;

(_b_) Kulu and Saraj;

(_c_) Kangra proper, area 2939 square miles.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 90.]

Lahul, Spiti, Kulu, and Saraj form a subdivision in charge of an a.s.sistant Commissioner. The people of Kangra are Hindus. Islam never penetrated into these hills as a religion, though the Rajput Rajas of Kangra became loyal subjects of the Moghal Emperors. In its last days Ranjit Singh called in as an ally against the Gurkhas remained as a hated ruler. The country was ceded to the British Government in 1846.

The Rajas were chagrined that we did not restore to them their royal authority, but only awarded them the status of _jagirdars_. An outbreak, which was easily suppressed, occurred in 1848. Since then Kangra has enjoyed 65 years of peace. A Gurkha regiment is stationed at the district headquarters at Dharmsala. The cultivation ranges from the rich maize and rice fields of Kulu and Kangra to the poor buckwheat and _kulath_ on mountain slopes. Rice is irrigated by means of _kuhls_, ingeniously constructed channels to lead the water of the torrents on to the fields.

~Spiti and Lahul.~--Spiti, or rather Piti, is a country of great rugged mountains, whose bare red and yellow rocks rise into crests of everlasting snow showing clear under a cloudless blue sky. There is no rain, but in winter the snowfall is heavy. The highest of the mountains exceeds 23,000 feet. Piti is drained by the river of the same name, which after pa.s.sing through Bashahr falls I into the Sutlej at an elevation of 11,000 feet. Of the few villages several stand at a height of from 13,000 to 14,000 feet. The route to Piti from Kulu pa.s.ses over the Hamtu Pa.s.s (14,200 feet) and the great Shigri glacier. The people are Buddhists. They are governed by their hereditary ruler or Nono a.s.sisted by five elders, the a.s.sistant Commissioner exercising a general supervision. Indian laws do not apply to the spa.r.s.e population of this remote canton, which has a special regulation of its own. Lahul lies to the west of Piti, from which it is separated by a lofty range. It is entered from Kulu by the Rotang Pa.s.s (13,000 feet) and the road from it to Ladakh pa.s.ses over the Baralacha (16,350 feet). The whole country is under snow from December to April, but there is very little rain. The two streams, the Chandra and Bhaga, which unite to form the Chenab, flow through Lahul and the few villages are situated at a height of 10,000 feet in their elevated valleys. The people are Buddhists. In summer the population is increased by "Gaddi" shepherds from Kangra, who drive lean flocks in the beginning of June over the Rotang and take them back from the Alpine pastures in the middle of September fat and well liking.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 91. Bias at Ma.n.a.li.]

~Kulu and Saraj.~--The Kulu Valley, set in a mountain frame and with the Bias, here a highland stream, running through the heart of it, is one of the fairest parts of the Panjab Himalaya. Ma.n.a.li, at the top of the Valley on the road to the Rotang, is a very beautiful spot. Kulu is connected with Kangra through Mandi by the Babbu and Dulchi pa.s.ses. The latter is generally open the whole year round. The headquarters are at Sultanpur, but the a.s.sistant Commissioner lives at Nagar. In Kulu the cultivation is often valuable and the people are well off. The climate is good and excellent apples and pears are grown by European settlers.

Inner and outer Saraj are connected by the Jalaori Pa.s.s on the watershed of the Sutlej and Bias. Saraj is a much rougher and poorer country than Kulu. There are good _deodar_ forests in the Kulu subdivision. In 1911 the population of Kulu, Saraj, Lahul, and Piti, numbered 124,803. The Kulu people are a simple folk in whose primitive religion local G.o.dlings of bra.s.s each with his little strip of territory take the place of the Brahmanic G.o.ds. It is a quaint sight to see their ministers carrying them on litters to the fair at Sultanpur, where they all pay their respects to a little silver G.o.d known as Raghunathji, who is in a way their suzerain.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 92. Religious Fair in Kulu.]

Kangra proper is bounded on the north by the lofty wall of the Dhaula Dhar and separated from Kulu by the mountains of Bara Bangahal. It consists of the five _tahsils_ of Kangra, Palampur, Nurpur, Dera, and Hamirpur. The first two occupy the rich and beautiful Kangra Valley.

They are separated from the other three _tahsils_ by a medley of low hills with a general trend from N.W. to S.E. They are drained by the Bias, and are much more broken and poorer than the Kangra Valley. The tea industry, once important, is now dead so far as carried on by English planters. The low hills have extensive _chir_ pine forests. They have to be managed mainly in the interests of the local population, and are so burdened with rights that conservation is a very difficult problem. In 1911 the population of the five _tahsils_ amounted to 645,583. The most important tribes are Brahmans, Rajputs, and hardworking Girths. The hill Brahman is usually a farmer pure and simple.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 93. Kulu Women.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 94.]

[Sidenote: Area, 2247 sq. m.

Cultd area, 1128 sq. m.

Pop. 918,569; 54 p.c. H.

Land Rev.

Rs. 14,22,527 = 494,835.]

~Hoshyarpur~ became a British possession in 1846 after the first Sikh War. It is a typically submontane district. A line of low bare hills known as the Solasinghi Range divides it from Kangra. Further west the Katar dhar, a part of the Siwaliks, runs through the heart of the district. Between these two ranges lies the fertile Jaswan Dun corresponding to the Una _tahsil_. The other three _tahsils_, Garhshankar, Hoshyarpur, and Dasuya, are to the west of the Katar dhar.

Una is drained by the Soan, a tributary of the Sutlej. The western _tahsils_ have a light loam soil of great fertility, except where it has been overlaid by sand from the numerous _chos_ or torrents which issue from the Siwaliks. The denudation of that range was allowed to go on for an inordinate time with disastrous results to the plains below. At last the Panjab Land Preservation (_Chos_) Act II of 1890 gave the Government power to deal with the evil, but it will take many years to remedy the mischief wrought by past inaction. The rainfall averages about 32 inches and the crops are secure. The population has fallen off by 93,000 in 20 years, a striking instance of the ravages of plague. The chief tribes are Jats, Rajputs, and Gujars.

[Sidenote: Area, 1431 sq. m.

Cultd area, 1069 sq. m.

Pop. 801,920; 45 p.c. M.

33 p.c. H.

22 p.c. S.

Land Rev.

Rs. 14,77,661 = 98,511.]

~Jalandhar District.~--Modern though the town of Jalandhar looks it was the capital of a large Hindu kingdom, which included also Hoshyarpur, Mandi, Suket, and Chamba, and in the ninth century was a rival of Kashmir (page 160). The present district is with the exception of Simla the smallest, and for its size the richest, in the province. It contains four _tahsils_, Nawashahr, Phillaur, Jalandhar, and Nakodar. About 45 p.c. of the cultivation is protected by 28,000 wells. Behind the long river frontage on the Sutlej is the Bet, divided by a high bank from the more fertile uplands. The soil of the latter is generally an excellent loam, but there is a good deal of sand in the west of the district. The rainfall averages about 26 inches and the climate is healthy. The well cultivation is the best in the Panjab. Between 1901 and 1911 the population declined by 13 p.c. Jats and Arains, both excellent cultivators, are the predominant tribes. British rule dates from 1846.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 95.]

[Sidenote: Area, 1452 sq. m.

Cultd area, 1143 sq. m.

Pop. 517,192; 40 p.c. S.

35 p.c. M 25 p.c. H.

Land Rev.

Rs. 11,57,399 = 77,160.]

~Ludhiana~ on the opposite bank of the Sutlej is also a very small district. It consists of a river Bet and Uplands with generally speaking a good loam soil. But there are very sandy outlying estates in the Jangal Des surrounded by Patiala and Jind villages. There are three _tahsils_, Samrala, Ludhiana, and Jagraon. Of the cultivated area 26 p.c. is irrigated, from wells (19) and from the Sirhind Ca.n.a.l (7). Wheat and gram are the princ.i.p.al crops. Between 1901 and 1911 the population fell from 673,097 to 517,192, the chief cause of decline being plague.