Rajmahal Hills
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.
Rajmahal Hills
Hilly tract in the Santal Parganas District of Bengal, lying between 24 30' and 25 rs'N. and 87 21' and 87 49' E., and estimated to cover an area of 1,366 square miles. The height nowhere exceeds 2,000 feet above sea-level, and the average elevation is considerably less. Among the highest ridges are Mori and Sund- garsa. The narrow valleys in these hills belong to the Government estate known as the Daman-i-koh, which extends 24 miles north and south, with an average width of 5 miles, and is surrounded by hills on every side. The Rajmahal Hills were long regarded as a continuation of the Vindhyan range of Central India; but Mr. V. Ball, of the Geological Survey, after a detailed examination of these hills, came to the conclusion that they form an isolated group, the noith-eastern extremity of which constitutes the turning-point of the Ganges. The Rajmahal Hills consist of overflowing basaltic trap of comparatively recent date, resting upon coal measures and metamorphic rocks of gneissose character, forming part of the Lower Gondwana system.
The hills leave only a narrow passage between their northern flank and the Ganges channel } and in Mughal times this pass; known as TELIAGARHI, was of great strategic importance, and was defended by a large stone fort, the ruins of which are still to be seen. The loop- line of the East Indian Railway follows this route. The hills are inhabited by the Pahana races, who are described in the article on the SANTAL PARGANAS. A peculiar feature of these hills is the chain of level plateaux which are found upon the crests of the ridges. Upon these small plateaux the Pahanas have built their houses } and they are cultivated with the ordinary plains crops, millets, sarguja (Gutzotia oleifera), pulses and even rice covering the hill-tops, while mangoes, jack-fruit trees, and palm trees thrive luxuriantly, The approach from the plains below to each plateau is jealously guarded by a steep ladder of boulders, The slopes of the hills yield large quantities of bamboos and firewood, and spiked millet is grown in patches everywhere. A large trade has recently sprung up in sabai grass (Ischaemum angusti- fotium}) which is grown in the hills near Sahibganj, where it is baled and dispatched by rail to the paper-mills in the neighbourhood of Calcutta.
