Nasik Town
Nasik Town, 1908
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.
Head-quarters of Nasik District, Bombay, situated
in 20° N. and 73° 47' E., 5 miles north-west of Nasik Road on the
north-eastern line of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, with which it
is connected by a light tramway. Distance from Bombay, 107 miles.
On account of the great number of pilgrims who visit its shrines, the
population of Nasik varies much at different times of the year. The
fixed population would seem to increase but slowly. The returns for
1850 gave a total of 21,860. In 1872 the inhabitants numbered
22,436; in 1881,23,766; in 1891, 24,429; and in 1901, 21,490. Of
the total number, 17,944 were Hindus, 3,257 Muhammadans, and 133
Jains.
Among Hindus Nasik is considered a spot of special interest and holiness. This is due to the sanctity of the river Godavari, and to the belief that Rama, hero of the Ramayana, lived here for some time with his wife Sita and his brother Lakshman. About 30 miles from its source, the Godavari, flowing eastwards through a group of small hills, turns sharply to the south, and, after passing in that direction for about a mile, again swerves suddenly towards the east. Here, on both sides of the river, but chiefly on its right or south-eastern bank, lies the town of Nasik. Along the right bank the town stretches for about a mile, spreading over three small hills that rise abruptly from the river-side. The buildings, covering an area of about 2 square miles, are divided into two main parts — the new town to the north and the old town to the south. Though, according to tradition, a place of extreme antiquity, the old town of Nasik is without ruins or buildings of any age, except the mosque standing on the site of the old fort. In style and appearance the houses do not differ from the new quarter, little of which is more than a hundred years old.
Panchvati, the portion of the town on the left bank of the river, in extent about one-seventh part of the whole, is connected with the main town by the Victoria Bridge, built in 1897 at a cost of 2-| lakhs. It has several large temples and substantial dwellings, owned and inhabited chiefly by Brahmans. Between Panchvati and the old town the river banks are, for about 400 yards, lined with masonry walls and flights of stone steps or ghdis. On both sides places of worship fringe the banks, and even the bed of the stream is thickly dotted with temples and shrines. The river is split up into a series of pools or tanks {kunds) bearing the names of Hindu deities, of which the Ram- kund is reputed to be the holiest. Though the town is not walled, the streets opening on the river and leading to the southern and western suburbs are ornamented with gateways. The streets are for the most part narrow and crooked ; and the houses, built on plinths 2 or 3 feet high, have almost all an upper floor, and most of them more than one storey. The fronts of many are rich in well-carved woodwork, and the whole place has an air of wealth and comfort not to be seen in most Deccan towns.
Though, since the misfortunes of Rama and Sita, Nasik has ranked among the most sacred places of Hindu pilgrimage, its early Hindu rulers do not seem to have raised it to any position of wealth or importance. The Musalmans made it the head-quarters of a division, and are said to have protected the town by building a fort, and to have fostered its trade, introducing the manufacture of paper and other industries. On the rise of the Maratha power, Nasik, chosen by the Peshwas as one of their capitals, increased in size and wealth. At first, under British government, it passed through a time of depression ; but of late years the opening of railway communication and the establish- ment here of the head-quarters of the District have added much to its wealth and prosperity.
Among the objects of interest in the neighbourhood of Nasik are the Dasara maiddn, about half a mile to the south-east of the city ; Tapo- van with some caves and a famous shrine of Rama about a mile east of Panchvati ; the old settlement of Govardhan or Gangapur, with a picturesque waterfall, 6 miles to the west ; the Christian village of Sharanpur about a mile to the north-west ; the Jain Chambhar caves and the Pandu Lena or Buddhist caves. These last are situated in one of three isolated hills, close to the Bombay road, which are called in the inscriptions Trirashmi. They are a group of old Buddhist caves (250 B. c. to a. d. 600), with many inscriptions of kings of the Andhra, Kshatrapa, and other dynasties. The caves are 1 7 in number and are of three kinds : chaitya or chapel caves, layatias or dwelling caves, and sattras or dining caves. Almost every cave has a cistern or two with a water-supply. _ The caves when first finished do not seem to have contained images. Later image worshippers appear to have transformed them to suit the new creed. The images are chiefly of Gautama Buddha ; the Bodhi-sattwas, Vajrapani and Padmapani ; and the Buddhist goddess Tara. The inscriptions hold the first place in Western India on account of their length, preservation, and the value of the information they supply. Their contents throw hght on the history of Western India between loo b. c. and a. d. ioo, giving many names of countries, mountains, rivers, cities, towns, and villages. Chambhar Lena, or the Chambhar caves, are cut in a hill 600 feet above the plain, about 5 miles north of Nasik. They are Jain caves of no great age or merit. In 1870 the Jain community of Nasik, com- prising some wealthy Marwari and Gujarati bankers and cloth-dealers, built a wall near the caves, a flight of steps, a cistern at the foot of the hill, and a large resthouse in Mhasrul village which lies close by. The caves are about 450 feet from the base of the hill and face south- west. The upper part of the ascent is by a stair of roughly dressed stone, containing 1 73 steps of varying heights and with side parapets. [For a description of these caves see Bombay Gazetteer, vol. xvi, pp. 541-639 and 426-8.]
The municipality was established in 1864, and raised to the position of a city municipality in 1874. The receipts during the decade ending 1 90 1 averaged Rs. 85,000. In 1903-4 the incom.e was Rs. 73,000, chiefly drawn from octroi, a house-tax, a sanitary cess, and tolls, together with a tax on pilgrims. The climate is healthy and pleasant. The Government high school has 220 pupils, and there is a good public library. Besides the chief revenue and judicial offices, the town contains two Subordinate Judges' courts, two hospitals (including the Bai Dhankorabai Hospital for females), and a dispensary in Panchvati.
The industries of Nasik maintain something of their former im- portance, although, owing to the competition of machinery, the manu- facture of paper has greatly declined. Neither wool nor silk is woven here ; but cotton hand-loom weaving is still carried on with success, and in brass- and copper-work Nasik ranks first among the towns of the Bombay Presidency. The cotton-weavers earn about 4 to 5 annas a day for twenty days in the month ; women assist and earn i to 2 annas a day. The old and new palaces of the Peshwa accommodate the Collector's Court and the municipal and other public offices.
