Cambay
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
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Cambay
Physical aspects
[Khambdyai ox Khambhdf). — Feudatory State in the Political Agency of Kaira, Bombay, lying at the head of the gulf of the same name, in the western part of the province of Gujarat, between 22° 9' and 22° 41' N. and 72" 20' and 73° 5' E., with an area of 350 square miles. It is bounded on the north by the District of Kaira ; on the east by Kaira and Baroda ; on the south by the Gulf of Cambay ; and on the west by the Sabarmati river, separating it from Ahmadabad. The boundaries of the State are very irregular ; some villages belonging to the Gaikwar of Baroda and to the British Government are entirely surrounded by Cambay territory, while Cambay villages are found in Kaira District. The country is flat and open, interspersed here and there, generally in the vicinity of the villages, with Physica groves of fine trees, such as the mango, tamarind,
banyan or bar, tilvi, and p'lpal. From the position of the State between the Sabarmati and Mahi, both of which are tidal rivers, the soil is so soaked with salt that the water becomes brackish at a little distance below the surface.
Cambay is a gentle, undulating, alluvial plain, without any rock exposure. The fauna does not differ from that of the neighbouring British District of Kaira, though the former presence of tigers in large numbers is said to be indicated by the site of a village named Vagh Talao or ' tiger tank.' The climate is equable, the temperature rising to 108° in May, when the minimum is 75^, and falling as low as 46 in January, at which season 84° is the maximum. The annual rainfall averages 31 inches.
History
The name is said to be derived from khambha or stambha-tlrth, the pool of Mahadeo under the form of the pillar god. Cambay is men- tioned by Masaudi (913); but the prosperity of the town is traditionally referred to the grant of its present site to a body of Brahmans in 997. During the eleventh and twelfth centuries Cambay appears as one of the chief ports of the Anhilvada kingdom ; and at the conquest of that kingdom by the Musalmans in 1298 it is said to have been one of the richest towns in India.
According to Lieutenant Robertson's Historical Narrative of Cambay, the Parsis of Gujarat sailed from Persia about the end of the seventh or beginning of the eighth century. A great number of their ships foundered in a storm, and only a few arrived at Sanjan, about 70 miles south of Surat. They obtained permission to land after some difficulty, and on certain conditions, the chief of which were that they should speak the Gujarat! language and abstain from beef. The ParsTs remained for many years in the vicinity of Sanjan, pursuing a coasting trade ; but eventually they spread over the neighbouring districts, and became so numerous at Cambay that they outnumbered the original inhabitants and took possession of the town. After a short period, however, they were driven out with great slaughter by the Hindus, who held the territory until conquered by the Muhammadans in 1298.
In the fifteenth century, with the growing wealth and power of the Gujarat kingdom, Cambay regained its former prosperity, and at the beginning of the sixteenth century formed one of the chief centres of commerce in Western India. Large vessels unloaded their cargoes at Gogha, whence they were conveyed in small craft to Cambay. In 1538 the Portuguese plundered the town, and the country remained in a state of disorder until 1573, when it was reduced by the emperor Akbar. Though free from disturbance during the next century, the gradual silt- ing up of the harbour drove a large part of the Cambay trade to Surat.
Its manufactures, however, still retained their former importance ; and in 1616 the English, followed by the Dutch in 16 17, established factories there. On the death of Aurangzeb, when the Mughal power commenced to decline, the country was exposed to the ravages of the Marathas, who exacted large contributions. Cambay appears to have been established as a distinct State about 1730. The founder of the present family of chiefs was Momin Khan, the last but one of the Muhammadan governors of Gujarat. While he held the office of governor, his son-in-law Nizam Khan had charge of Cambay.
On Momin Khan's death in 1742 his son Muftakhir (Momin Khan II) basely compassed the death of Nizam Khan and assumed the govern- ment of Cambay. The Maratha leaders had already partitioned Gujarat ; but Momin Khan II successfully resisted the claims of the Peshwa to tribute, until, by the Treaty of Bassein, the Peshwa's rights over Cambay were transferred to the British. The principal item of this disputed tribute consisted of a nominal half-share in the sea and land customs, deducting cost of collection. The British Government found much difficulty in inducing the Nawab to revise the complicated and onerous tariff of sea customs, which was highly injurious to trade; but in 1856 an arrangement was made by which the methods of collection were assimilated to those obtaining in civilized countries.
The ruler is a Muhammadan of the Shiah sect. He has received a sanad, guaranteeing any succession to his State that may be legitimate according to Muhammadan law. He is entitled to a salute of 11 guns. A tribute of Rs. 21,924 is paid to the British Government.
Population
Cambay contains 2 towns and 88 villages. The population was 89,722 in 1891, but fell to 75,225 in 1901, owing to the famine of Population 1899-1900. The density is 215 persons to the square mile. Hindus form 81 per cent, of the total, Musalmans 13 per cent., and Jains 5 per cent. The only important town is Cambay. The most numerous Hindu castes are Kolls (14,000), KunbTs (12,000), and Rajputs (5,000). They are mainly cultivators, though KunbTs now work as carnelian polishers, an art formerly prac- tised by the Musalmans. Parsis have ceased to be of importance, and the decline of trade has taken many of the trading castes to Bombay. Nearly half the population (30,000) is supported by agriculture. The Irish Presbyterian Mission has a branch at Cambay.
Agriculture
Towards the north and west the soil is generally black, and well suited for the cultivation of wheat and cotton. To the east it is fit Agriculture ^"'^ °"^^ inferior sorts of grain, abundant crops of which are grown in favourable years. Of the total area, 84 square miles are unfit for cultivation and 224 are cultivable. Of the latter, 154 square miles were under cultivation in 1903-4, the residue being composed of fallow (n square miles) and cultivable waste (59 square miles). Only 903 acres of land were irrigated. The chief crops are the ordinary varieties of millets and pulse, rice, wheat, cotton, indigo, and tobacco. The cultivation of indigo has of late years greatly fallen off. Besides the Nareshwar tank and the Alang canal, there are 1,292 wells and 36 tanks for irrigation purposes. The supply of drinking-water is chiefly drawn from wells, in which water is found throughout the greater part of the year. Near the town of Cambay, .skirting the shore of the gulf, and along the banks of the Mahl and Sabarmat! rivers, stretch vast tracts of salt marsh land submerged at high spring-tides. About three-quarters of a square mile of salt-waste is in process of reclamation by means of an embankment built along the seashore, which holds up rain-water.
Trade and Communication
The chief articles of manufacture are salt, cloth, carpets, embroidery, and carved carnelians, which are imported from Ratanpur and other places in the Rajplpla State. The chocolate-coloured comiunicadons.brought from Kathiawar ; agates come from Kapadvanj and Suklacirtha on the Narbada river, and from Rajkot in Kathiawar. There are two cotton-ginning factories and 1,400 hand-looms, supporting over 3,000 persons. An experimental school for weaving was opened in 1904. During the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries Cambay had a trade history of much interest. At the close of the thirteenth century it was one of the two chief ports of Western India, whence were exported indigo in abundance, cotton, fine cloth, and large quantities of hides.
Its chief imports were gold, silver, copper, tfdia (copper sulphate), madder from the Red Sea, and horses from the Persian Gulf. By the opening of the sixteenth century Cambay had added many other articles to its export list, and had dealings with fifteen marts in India, Persia, Arabia, and East Africa. The transfer of trade to Surat at the close of the sixteenth century dealt a severe blow to Cambay's importance, and by 1802 its trade had dwindled to a very low ebb. Trade revived during the nineteenth century and was valued at one lakh in 1874-5. The total imports in 1897-8, previous to the severe famine of 1899-1900, consisted chiefly of molasses, timber, clarified butter, grain, carnelians, metal, piece-goods, silk, coco-nuts, and sugar, and were valued at more than 5 lakhs ; while the exports, including tobacco, wrought carnelians, and sundries, were worth 4 lakhs.
The total value of the sea-borne trade in 1903-4 was 6-5 lakhs. Before the advent of railways, goods and passengers were carried by boat to Bombay and other ports. Now the passenger traffic is almost entirely by rail. The mode of transit into the interior by native carts, camels, or pack-bullocks has been discontinued since the opening of a line from Cambay to Petlad. For communication by water, except during the monsoon months, boats of under 6 tons at ordinary tides, and under 50 tons at spring-tides, ply between Cambay and Bombay, Surat, Broach, Gogha, and other ports. The head of the gulf forms neither a safe nor commodious harbour, in consequence of the constant shifting of its bed from the force of the tides and the currents of the rivers Mahi and Sabarmatl. Ships of more than 50 tons never visit Cambay. The lightship at the port exhibits a steady white light over an area of 8 miles.
There are 45 miles of unmetalled roads in the State, the two longest being from Cambay to Golana (16 miles) and from Cambay to Kanavada (i6|). The Cambay-Petlad Railway, a broad-gauge line 22-42 miles in length, connecting with the Bombay, Baroda, and Central India Railway at Anand, was opened in 1901 at a cost of 15 lakhs, of which the State contributed 9. There is only one post and telegraph office in the State.
Famine
In 1 899-1900 Cambay State suffered severely from famine. ReHef measures commenced in October, 1899, and were closed in July, 1900, though gratuitous relief was continued till the end Famine.of January, 1901. The highest number of persons on the relief works was 3, 1 74 in February, and of persons gratuitously relieved, 1,948 in June. More than Rs. 80,000 was spent on relief, of which Rs. 48,371 was devoted to works and Rs. 32,432 to gratuitous relief. The loss of cattle is estimated at more than 30,000.
Administration
The Nawab exercises full jurisdiction within the State, but cannot try British subiects for capital offences without the Political Agent s permission. The Collector of kaira exercises the usual political control, but does not ordinarily entertain eppeals. The State has a revenue of 5^ lakhs and an expenditure of 4 lakhs, of which Rs. 65,000 go into the chief's purse. The chief sources of revenue are land revenue, excise, and customs. The land revenue is regulated by a survey settlement introduced in 1894, which replaced the old bhdghatai system of payment in kind. The settlement increased the revenue by nearly half a lakh. The survey rates are : for ' dry ' land, from Rs. 2,-2> to Rs. 6-0 per acre ; for rice land, from Rs. 6-6 to Rs. 10; while garden rates are merged in the 'dry-crop' rates in the shape of a subsoil water assessment. The total land revenue demand amounts to 3 lakhs, while the local fund cess of half an anna per rupee of assessment brings in Rs. 14,000. In 1901-2 British currency was substituted for the State coins. In 1880 the Cambay salt-works were closed, the output since then being restricted to the requirements of the Darbar, namely, 500 maunds. No opium may be produced in the State. Excise arrangements have been controlled by the State since 1904, the previously existing lease to the British Government having expired in that year. During the last ten years the State has spent more than 6 lakhs on public works, including many schools, roads, and a dispensary.
The military force consists of 236 men, for the most part undis- ciplined. The police number 170, exclusive of village watchmen numbering 366. The State contains one jail, with a daily average in 1903-4 of 25 prisoners. Public instruction is imparted in 26 schools^ including a high school and 2 girls' schools, the total number of pupils in 1903-4 being 1,880. Besides these, 15 private schools have 551 pupils. There are 2 hospitals and 2 dispen.saries, treating about 33,000 patients a year at a cost of Rs. 7,000. A veterinary dispensary is also maintained at a cost of Rs. t,ooo. More than 1,400 persons are vaccinated annually.
