Bilaspur, central India
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA.[1] |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts.Many units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Note 2: This extract is full of scanning errors which, it is hoped, readers will correct.
Contents |
General
District in the Chief Commissionership of the Central Provinces, lying between 2\ 22 and 23" 6' n. lat., and between 80" 48' and 83' 10 E. long. Bounded on the north by the Native State of Rewa, on the east by the Garhjat States of Chutia Nagpur and the chiefships of Sambalpur District; on the south by Raipur ; and on the west by the Districts of Mandla and Balaghat. Population {1881) 1,017,327; area, 7798 square miles. The administrative head-quarters of the District are at Bilaspur, which is also the principal town.
Physical Aspects. " The District resembles a vast amphitheatre, opening on the south upon the plains of Raipur, but on every other side surrounded by tiers of hills. These irregular chains, though known in each locality by a special name, form in truth a part of the great Vindhyan sandstone range, which extends from east to west across the whole peninsula of India.
In Bilaspur, the hills on the northern side constitute the most important series.
They run along the whole length of the plain, " here thrusUng forth an arm or throwing up an isolated peak, or advancing boldly into the level country, there receding into deep hollows and recesses, usually covered with luxuriant vegetation. From the solitary cliff of Dahla, 2600 feet high, standing out in the plain about 15 miles east of Bilaspur, the features of the country can be best descried. On the one side, a great expanse of plain stretches away as far as the eye can reach; on the other, rise irregular ranges of hills, which throw a dark shadow on the green surface below. From this height, the spectator can easily discern the villages which dot the landscape, the numerous tanks sparkling in the sun, and the mango, pipal, and tamarind groves which break the monotony of the generally shadeless plain. Examined more closely, the vast plateau breaks up into a series of undulations; sometimes a long stretch or sandy or stony upland, then an expanse of low-lying rice fields, and again abrupter alternations, deeply cleft by many a fissure or ravine. But the grander scenery of Bilaspur must be sought in the hilly country occupied by tracts of Government waste, and by fifteen chiefships, in two of which, Sakti and Kaw^arda, the chiefs have been acknowledged as feudatories. In these highlands, the scanty villages convey no impression of permanence, but are mere solitary breaks in a vast mountain wilderness. Matin and Uprora lies perhaps the wildest country in Chhatisgarh. Here it is that the shattered forest trees, the broken and crushed bamboo clumps, the hollows and footprints in a hundred marshes and watercourses, indicate the presence of wild elephants.
Sometimes, when the rice crop is ripening, a herd w^ill wander from a neighbouring chiefship, and in a single night destroy the toil of months; but in Matin and Uprora, elephants are never absent, and may be seen on the wooded slopes of the Hasdu river, in the shady depths of the forest, near some waterfall or deep sdll pool in the bed of the mountain torrent.
The Mahanadi, though it only flows for about twenty-five miles along the south-eastern extremity of the District, forms the centre of the drainage system of Bilaspur.
A magnificent river during the rains, attaining in places a breadth of two miles, the Mahanadi in the hot season dwindles down to a narrow stream creeping through a vast expanse of sand, which may almost anywhere be forded with ease. Most of the waters of the District flow from the northern and western hills; but these ranges constitute a distinct watershed, and give birth to other streams, which, flowing north and west, and leaving Bilaspur behind them, by degrees assume the dignity of rivers. Such are the Son (Soane), which rises in a marshy hollow in Pendra, and the Narbada (Nerbudda), rushing picturesquely over the rocky heights of Amarkantak. The District contains extensive forests, most of which, however, are zammddri, or private property. The only large tracts of Government forest are the wastes spreading over the Lormi and Lamni hills in the north-west, and the Sonakhan area to the south-east, the total area of the former being 190,269 acres, and of the latter, 97,503.
History
History. " Until the invasion of the Marathas, Bilaspur was governed by the Haihai Bansi kings of Ratanpur, whose annals are lost in the mist of antiquity. The dealings of Krishna with Mayiir Dwaja, the earliest recorded prince of the line, are related in \hQjaimmi Purdna (Jaiminiya Aswamedha). The god, disguised as a Brahman, asked for half of Mayiir Dwaja's body to test his faith. The king consented to be cut in two with a saw; but when all was ready, Krishna revealed himself, and showered blessings on the head of the pious prince. From this time until the Maratha invasion, no man used the saw throughout the land. The Rajas at Ratanpur ruled originally over 36 forts, and hence the tract was called Chhatisgarh, or ' the place of 36 forts.' But on the accession of the twentieth Raja, Surdeva, about 750 A.D., Chhatisgarh was divided into two sections; and while Surdeva continued to govern the northern half from Ratanpur, his younger brother, Brahmadeva, moved to Raipur and held the southern portion.
From this time two separate Rajas ruled in Chhatisgarh ; for though nine generations later the direct line from Brahmadeva became extinct, a younger son from the Ratanpur house again proceeded to Raipur, whose issue continued in power till the advent of the Marathas.
The 36 forts were in reality each the head-quarters of a taluk, comprising a number of villages, held sometimes khdm, and sometimes as feudal tenures, by relations or influential chiefs. Of the 18 divisions retained by Surdeva, as compared with the present Bilaspur District, 11 are khdlsd jurisdictions, and 7 are zaminddris, while the 1 8th karkati appears to have been made over to Rewa by Raja Dadii Rai about 1480, as a dowry to his daughter. Of other tracts now included in Bilaspur, Pandaria and Kawarda on the west, were 447 wrested from the Gond dynasty of Mandla; Korba from Sarguja about 1520; and the small chiefship of Bilaigarh, south of the Mahdnadi, with the khdlsd tract of Kikarda, on the east, from Samba) pur about 1580.
Surdeva was succeeded by his son Prithwideva, of whose deeds local tradition is full; and the sculptured tablets of Malhar and Amarkantak still record, in Sanskrit verse, how he was a terror to his enemies, a friend to his people, generous to the learned, and himself fond of learning. After Prithwideva followed a long line of Rajas, whose names are commemorated on temple slabs, associated now with the building of a shrine, now with the construction of a tank; but it was not till the reign of Kalyan Sahi, between 1536 and 1573, that this landlocked region came into contact with the outer world. That prince, leaving the government in his son's hands, proceeded to Delhi to have audience of the great Akbar, and, after eight years' absence, returned to Ratanpur invested with the full rights of Raja and a high-sounding title. The prudent submission of Kalyan Sahi helped to prolong the independence of his dynasty, and, after nine further successions, a Raja of the Haihai Bansi line still ruled in Bilaspur. But Raj Singh had no child. At the same time he had no wish that his nearest heir, his great-uncle Sardar Singh, should succeed him. Accordingly the Raja took counsel of his Brahman diwdn, a hereditary servant of the family. After much discussion, and an appeal to the sacred books, it wa? resolved that a Brahman selected by the dkodn should visit the favourite Rani.
In due time she gave birth to a son, who received the name of Bisnath Singh; and the popular rejoicings knew no bounds.
When Bisnath Singh reached a proper age, he was married to a daughter of the Raja of Rewa.
Soon after the wedding the young couple were playing a game of chance, when Bisnath Singh tried his bride's temper by defeating her game after game. At length she discovered that he was playing unfairly, and rising from the table she said, half in jest and half in scorn, ' Of course I should expect to be overreached, for are you not a Brahman, and no Rajput !' Stung to the soul with the taunt, confirming as it did whispers which had already reached him, the young prince went hurriedly out and stabbed himself to the heart. When Raj Singh heard what had happened, he resolved to revenge himself on his diiudti, through whose imprudence or treachery the shame of the royal house had been revealed. The Divvan [diwan?] Para, or ' Minister's Square,' of Ratanpur at that time formed an imposing part of the town.
There lived the dm"dn^ [diwan?] and round him a crowd of relations who, however distantly connected, had congregated near the fortunate representative of the family. The Raja blew^ down with cannon the whole of this quarter, involving in one common ruin every member of the small community, to the number of over 400 men women, and children. dynasty perished.
With the diwdti, most of the records of the [some record missing]
After these occurrences Mohan Singh, of the Raipur house, a vigorous and attractive young man, was generally regarded as the Raja's destined successor. But Mohan Singh chanced to be away on a hunting expedition, when Raj Singh w^as thrown violently from his horse. Finding himself near death, and the young man not appearing, the Raja placed the pagri on the head of Sardar Singh. A few days after Raj Singh's death, Mohan Singh arrived, but only to find Sardar Singh duly installed. In a fit of rage he departed, muttering that he would yet return and assume the government. Sardar Singh, however, ruled quietly for twenty years, and was succeeded, in 1732, by his brother Raghunath Singh, a man over sixty years old. Eight years later the Maratha general, Bhaskar Panth, invaded Bilaspur with an army of 40,000 men. At that time Raghunath Singh was bowed down by a heavy sorrow, having lately lost his only son. The heart-broken old man made no attempt to defend himself, and gave no sign till part of his palace was already in ruins from the enemy's fire. Then one of the Ram's mounted the parapet and exhibited a flag of truce. Thus ingloriously ended the rule of the Haihai Bansi dynasty. The Mara thas, after exacting a heavy fine and pillaging the country, permitted the fallen Raja to carry on the government in the name of the Bhonslas. Meantime Mohan Singh had become a favourite of Raghuji Bhonsla; and on the death of Raghunath Singh, the ambition of his youth was gratified by his installation as Raja. In 1758, Bimbaji Bhonsla succeeded, and ruled at Ratanpur for nearly thirty years; and when he died, his widow, Anandi Bai, held the real authority till about 1800. From this time till the deposition of Apa Sahib by the British in 181 8, a succession of siibahddrs misgoverned Bilaspur. The occupation of the District by a Maratha army, the raids of the Pindaris, and the exactions of the siibahddrs or deputies, had half ruined the country, when it was placed under Colonel Agnew's superintendence. From this date it has begun to improve. In 1830 the last Raghuji came of a^e, and ruled from that time until his death. On the lapse of the Nagpur Province to the British Government in 1854, Chhatisgarh was formed into a separate Deputy Commissionership with head-quarters at Raipur ; but the charge proved too heavy for a single ofticer, and finally, in 1861, Bilaspur was constituted a separate District, comprising, with the additions subsequently made, the northern section of the Chhatisgarh country. During the Mutiny, no disturbance occurred except at Sonakhan, a small estate among the hills at the south-eastern corner of the District, the zatninddr of which, breaking out from Raipur jail, where he was confined on a charge of dacoity with murder, returned ???? [some record missing]
[some record missing] ???and vegetables cooked with ghi in the evening, and in the morning, before beginning work, a rice gruel called bdsi, which consists simply of the remains of the last evening's repast filled up with water and served cold. The castes who eat fish and flesh have of course a greater variety of diet; and the abundance of milk and gur enables a clever matron to provide occasional sweets. On the whole, the great body of the people live well; but their simplicity and superstition render them an easy prey to designing persons. An instance may be mentioned. About twenty years ago a Panka, named Mangal, gave out that a deity had entered into him; and, sitting with a light before him, he received the adoration and offerings of crowds of worshippers. It happened to be the cultivating season, and Mangal proclaimed that good men's crops w^ould spring up without sowing. Thousands believed his teaching, till, finding the revenue falling off, the Native Government arrested Mangal, and committed him to Raipur jail. The language spoken in the District is corrupt Hindi, with an admixture of aboriginal words. The largest towns in the District are " Bilaspur (population, 7775), Ratan PUR (5615), and MuNGELi (4757); 84 other towns have a population exceeding 1000.
Townships of from 200 to 1000 inhabitants, 1720; villages of fewer than 200 inhabitants, 1917. The only municipality is Bilaspur.
Agriculture
Agriculture. " Of the total area of 7798 square miles, 21 21 were returned in 1881 as under cultivation, 4164 square miles as cultivable,, and 1063 square miles as uncultivable waste. About one-fifth of the area under cultivation is irrigated, entirely by private enterprise. Rice forms the staple crop of the District, occupying in 1881, 751,529 acres, the other principal crops being " wheat, 537,470 acres; other food-grains, 291,680 acres; oil-seeds, 112,500 acres; sugar-cane, 13,843 acres; cotton, 33,070 acres; fibres, 2763 acres; tobacco, 4345 acres; and vegetables, 4031 acres. These figures include land bearing two crops in the year. Either the black earth, consisting of the debris of trap, or the red, which is probably decomposed laterite, is most suitable for rice; but the situation and aspect of the rice fields, which are excessively small, are considered of more importance than the nature of the soil. Sugar-cane and garden produce grow well on the sandy patches. It is ortly for these crops that irrigation is resorted to and manure used. Where rice is grown, rotation of crops is not practised, nor is the land allowed to remain fallow. The yield of new land averages 25 to 30 per cent, extra, till in four or five years it falls to the common level. With other crops rotation is in use. Thus, after wheat will come gram or 7Jiasur, and then perhaps kodo. Cotton is often succeeded by /// or some other oil-seed; and where this is not done, after four or five years the land is left fallow. The cultivation of cotton continues to increase-, having nearly doubled within the last few years. The Census of 1881showed a total of 909S proprietors. The tenants of all grades numbered 315,872, of whom 61,817 had either absolute or occupancy rights, 148,852 were tenants-at-will, and 105,203 assistants in home cultivation. The agricultural labourers numbered 78,257. The average area cultivated in 1 88 1 by each head of the regular agricultural population (405,067, or 39*82 per cent, of the District population) was 7 acres; the amount of Government land revenue and local cesses levied on the landholders was ^28,643; and the amount of rental, including cesses, paid by the cultivators was ^61,049.
The rent of land suited for rice averages iid.; for wheat, is. 2d.; for cotton or oil-seeds, 9d.; for sugar-cane, 3s. 6d. Average produce per acre " rice, 424 lbs.; wheat, 324 lbs.; cotton, 54 lbs.; and oil-seeds, 120 lbs. The price of rice at the end of 1881-82 was 2s. ]3er cwt. ; wheat, 2s. 4d. per cwt.; and raw sugar {gnr), iis. per cwt. Wages average for skilled labour is. per diem, for unskilled 3d. The agricultural stock is thus returned " cows, bullocks, and buffaloes, 655,640; horses, 354; ponies, 4691; donkeys, 104; sheep and goats, 21,235; pigs, 4861; carts, 13,647; and ploughs, 287,202.
The extensive forests of the District are situated in the zaminddris, and belong to private proprietors; the only large tracts of Government forest consist of the wastes which spread over the Lormi and Lamni Hills on the north-west, and the confiscated area at Sonakhan.
On the plain skirting the northern hills, other patches of jungle have been reserved.
Sal is the only valuable timber, and the inaccessibility of the forests renders the revenue from this source of small value. Of jungle products, lac and tasar silk are the most important. In some villages the practice prevails of changing fields periodically, to prevent any monopoly of the best sites. Everywhere throughout the District the husbandmen show but slight attachment to their individual holdings; even a hereditary tenant will, for a small sum, relinquish his land.
Natural Calamities
Natural Calamities. " An agricultural population, dependent for its subsistence on a single crop, and that one which requires a heavy downpour in each of the four rainy months, would appear peculiarly exposed to famine.
Happily, however, owing to its girdle of hills, Bilaspur enjoys a fairly regular monsoon, and an abundant fall in one part generally compensates for drought in another.
Moreover, the numerous tanks, though of small size, add considerably to the water supply of the District.
Commerce and Trade
Commerce and Trade. " The weaving trade constitutes the only important local industry. In 1870, it employed about 6000 looms, turning out at least 600,000 cloths, of the value of ;""6o,ooo.
Besides the regular weavers, the Panka caste work at the loom as well as in the fields, and nearly half the cloth in the District is made by them. Iron ore abounds in the hilly regions; but owing to the absence of agdriaa [???] or smelters, the manufacture does not extend beyond a few villages. Near Korba on the right bank of the Hasdu, and in the beds of two hill streams, the Bijakhera and Mundjharia, and probably in other parts, coal exists in considerable quantities. It is shaly and inferior on the surface, and whether the lower seams will prove of better quality has not yet been ascertained. The District offers at many points sandstone excellently suited for building purposes, but the only important quarries are those near Bilaspur and Seorinarayan.
The weekly markets, of which at least 170 are held throughout the District, supply the means of internal trade. They are held either in a shady mango grove, or, more frequently, in some open space near a village. At the large bazars at Bamindi, Ganiari, Takhtpur, and Mungeli, a brisk traffic in cattle is carried on. The chief imports of the District are sugar, metals, English piece-goods, and cattle, while the exports consist entirely of agricultural produce " rice, wheat, gram, and lac. The whole trade tends in a westerly direction, to the railway at Jabalpur (Jubbul pore). In that direction the Banjaras drive their long lines of pack bullocks along a track winding over hill and valley, and across the steep and craggy beds of numerous streams. The northern routes through Pendra to Rewa, and through Uprora to Mirzapur, pass over a difficult country, and are only available for pack-bullocks during six months in the year. Though no made roads yet exist in. Bilaspur, the abundance of gravel would render their construction comparatively easy. During half the year the Mahanadi supplies a means of communication for the 25 miles of its course through the District, but rocky barriers render the navigation a difficult task.
Administration
Administration. " In 1861, Bilaspur was formed into a separate District under the British Government of the Central Provinces. It is administered by a Deputy Commissioner, with 2 Assistant Commissioners and 3 tahsilddrs. Total revenue in 1868-69, "?"^^91h of which the land yielded ^27,195; total cost of officials and police of all kinds, ;^io,8o2.
By 1881-82, the gross revenue had increased to ^41,339, of which the land contributed ^28,093; cost of otticials and police, ^12,397; number of civil and revenue judges of all sorts, 7; of magistrates, 6; maximum distance from any village to the nearest court, 56 miles: average distance, 10 miles; number of police, 331, being i policeman to every 24 square miles and to every 3073 inhabitants. Owing chiefly to the plenty which prevails throughout the District, crime is comparatively rare, and for the most part confined to small offences. In 1881, the daily number of convicts in jail averaged 11276, of whom 14-20 were females. The number of Government or aided schools in the District under Government inspection in 1881 was 68, attended by 4387 pupils. Bildspur, the only municipality, contains a population of 7775 persons; the total municipal income in 1881 was ^""203, of which ^78 was derived from taxation, at an average rate of 2^d. per head.
Medical Aspects
Medical Aspects. " From the middle of April to the middle of June hot winds prevail, and the heat is frequently excessive, though tempered by occasional showers. After the first heavy fall of rain, the climate becomes cool and agreeable, and few days pass without a pleasant breeze. In the plain, however, the cold weather from November to February fails to prove bracing. Average temperature in the shade at the civil station " May, highest reading 113 R, lowest 84^; July, highest reading loi^ lowest 74; December, highest reading 89% lowest 56".
From 1862 to 1881 the mean yearly rainfall was 47*26 inches, but in the latter year the fall was 65'32 inches, or i8'g6 above the yearly average. In the opinion of Mr. Chisholm " to whose Settlement Report this article is greatly indebted " the climate of Bilaspur has a worse name than it deserves, owing to the attacks of cholera which formerly broke out during the hot weather along the pilgrim route to Jagannath, and thence spread over the country. In 1868, the passage of pilgrims was prohibited, with the best results. Fever proves by far the most fatal disease in the District, and about the end of the cold weather small-pox prevails. In 1882, the recorded death-rate from all causes was 26 "19 per 1000 of the population, the mean for the previous five years being 34"8o. In that year three charitable dispensaries afforded relief to 20,488 in-door and out-door patients.
[For further information regarding Bilaspur see the Settle-ment Report of the District, by J. W. Chisholm, Esq. (1868); the Central Provinces Gazetteer., by Charles Grant, Esq., C.S., C.S.I. (Nagpur, 1870); the Census Report of the Central Provinces for 1881; and the Administration Reports of those Provinces from 1880 to 1883.]
