Kamptee

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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.

Kamptee

Kamth — Town with cantonment in Nagpur District, Central Provinces, situated in 21 degree 13' N. and 79 degree 12' E., on the Bengal- Nagpur Railway, 10 miles from Nagpur city and 529 from Bombay. It stands on the right bank of the Kanhan river, and the cantonment extends in a long narrow line beside the river, with the native town to the south-east. The population at the four enumerations was as follows: (1872) 48,831; (1881) 50,987; (1891)53,159; (1901) 38,888. The population in 1901 included 26,379 Hindus, 9,852 Muhammadans, and 1,851 Christians, of whom 1,036 were Europeans and Eurasians. Kamptee is the fourth town in the Province in respect of population. The ordinary garrison consists of a battalion of British infantry, one of Native infantry, and a field battery. Kamptee was until recently the head-quarters of the general commanding the Nagpur district ; but this appointment has now been abolished, and the garrison is at present commanded from Ahmadnagar. The cantonment was established in 182 1, and was made the head-quarters of the Subsi- diary force maintained by the British under treaty with the Nagpur Raja. The whole town is included in the cantonment. The receipts and expenditure of the cantonment fund during the last decade averaged i-i lakhs. In 1903-4 the receipts were Rs. 1,06,000 and the charges Rs. 1,18,000. During Maratha rule traders flocked to Kamptee on account of the comparative immunity from taxation which they enjoyed within the cantonment, and a large commercial town thus grew up alongside it. Owing to its favourable situation on the roads leading to Nagpur from the Satpura plateau, Kamptee for a long period monopolized the trade from this area; and it is only within comparatively recent years that the advantages possessed by Nagpur, as the larger town and capital of the Province, have enabled it gradu- ally to attract to itself the commercial business of Kamptee. To this transfer of trade are to be attributed the stationary or declining figures of population during the last thirty years, and the construction of the Satpura railway may tend to accelerate the process.

The town contains three cotton-ginning and two pressing factories with a total capital of 2.4 lakhs, three of which were opened in 1891 and 1892 and the others since 1900. Muhammadan hand-weavers produce the cheaper kinds of cloth. Weekly cattle and timber markets are held, and the town contains one printing press. The Cantonment Magistrate, who has also the powers of a Small Cause Court Judge, has jurisdiction over the cantonment. The educational institutions comprise a Govern- ment high school, one English middle, two vernacular middle, and eleven primary schools. The Convent of St. Joseph maintains a board- ing and day school for European children, teaching in some cases up to the matriculation standard, orphanages for native children, and a dispensary. Medical relief is afforded to the civil population at the Cantonment General Hospital and a branch dispensary in the town.