Bilaspur tahsil, 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. Bilaspur.
Revenue Sub -division or tahsil of Bilaspur District, Central Provinces, lying between 21 38' and 22" 25 n. lat., and between 81" 46' and 82" 31 e. long.; population (1881) 418,620, namely, males 209,108, and females 209,512; distributed among 1724 villages or townships, and 120,789 inhabited houses; area, 4770 square miles; average density of population, ^'^ per square mile; land revenue, ;^8o73 5 total revenue, ^^8766; total rental paid by cultivators, ;^i8,594, or is. per cultivated acre. The Sub-division contained, in 1883, 4 civil and 4 criminal courts, including the head-quarters courts of the District, with 3 police stations {t/uinds) and 7 outpost stations; strength of regular police, 74 men; village watchmen (chaukiddrs), 749. Bilaspur. " Chief town and administrative head-quarters of Bilaspur District, Central Provinces; on the south bank of the river Arpa. Lat. 22 5' N., long. 82" 12 E. ; population (1881) 7775, namely, Hindus, 6281 ; Kabirpanthis, 242 ; Satnamis, 59 ; Muhammadans, 1030; Christians, 22; aboriginal tribes, 141. Founded about 300 years ago [around A.D. 1600] by a fisher woman named Bilasa, whence the name Bilaspur, it long consisted of only a few fishermen's huts, till, about a century ago, Kesava Panth Subah, who administered the District under the Marathas, fixed his residence here and began to build a brick fort on the river-bank. Subsequently, on the Marathas removing their headquarters to Ratanpur, the rising prosperity of the town dwindled away. In 1862, however, Bilaspur was constituted the head-quarters of the British District. The belt of woods, the gardens and mango groves, and the distant hills, render the situation pleasant and attractive
