Saran District, 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.
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Saran District
District in the Patna Division of Bengal, lying between 2539 / and 26 39' N. and 83 54' and 85 12' E., with an area of 2,674* square miles. The name is said to be derived from the Sanskrit Sarana, meaning ' refuge ' ; and there is a legend that some demons converted here by Buddha sought the refuge ' of the Buddhist triad, Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. The District is a wedge of allu- vial soil, between the Ganges and the Gandak rivers, with its apex pointing south-eastwards towards Patna city. The Gandak separates it on the east from Muzaffarpur and Champaran, and on the south the Ganges forms the boundary dividing Saran from Patna and Shah- a"bad. The western boundary marches with the United Provinces. The Gogra, running parallel with the Gandak, meets the Ganges opposite the head-quarters station of Chapra and forms the south- west boundary between Saran and Ballia District, while an irregular
1 This aiea, which diffeis from that given in the Census Report of 1901 (2,656 square miles), is that asceitained in the recent survey opeiations.base-line drawn north-east from the Gogra to the Gandak constitutes the western boundary with Gorakhpur.
Physical aspects
Saran is a beautifully wooded plain } highly cultivated and densely populated, without a hill and hardly any elevations except those which mark the site of some old fortress or deserted village. It is very fertile, and is intersected by ysica numerous water-channels which now in a south- easterly direction. The GANGES, GANDAK, and GOGRA are described elsewhere. The Daha or Sandi, Gandaki, Dhanai, and Ghangri were originally spill-channels from the Gandak, with which, however, their connexion has been severed by the Gandak embankment; they form the system known as the Saran Canals. Similar streams are the Khanua, Jharahi, and Khatsa, which ultimately fall into the Gogra or Ganges. The channels of the Ganges, Gandak, and Gogra are perpetually oscillating; and sandbanks form in the beds of the rivers one year, only to be swept away the next, so that frequent changes in jurisdiction are necessary.
The soil consists of alluvial deposits, the basis of which belongs to an older alluvial formation composed of massive argillaceous beds, disseminated throughout which occur kankar and pisolitic ferruginous concretions. These clay soils, locally known as bhat^ are exposed in marshy depressions called chaurs^ which are scattered over the District. Elsewhere they are overlaid with more recent sandy deposits known as bangar*
Though the District contains no forests, it is well timbered, the most conspicuous trees being the sissu (Dalbergia Sissoo), red cotton-tree (Bombax malabaricutn), and tamarind. The village sites are embedded in groves of the palmyra palm (Borassus flabelHfer}^ the date palm {Phoenix syfoestris), and other semi-spontaneous and more or less useful species. The groves of mango-trees planted in beautifully regular lines are a marked feature of the landscape. The surface is highly cultivated ; but the banks of streams and patches of waste land are covered by a dry scrub jungle of shrubs of the order of Euphorbiaceae^ Butea and other leguminous trees, and species of Ficus, Schleichera, Wendlandia, and Gmelina.
Nilgai and wild hog are common in the low scrub jungle which is met with on the alluvial islands, and are very destructive to crops. Wolves carry off a considerable number of infants, snakes are very numerous, and crocodiles infest the large rivers.
The winter months are delightfully cool, but the dry heat is intense in May and June. The mean temperature varies from 62 in January to 89 in May, and the maximum from 73 in January to 100 in April and May, while the mean minimum ranges from 50 in January to 79 in June to August. Saran is one of the driest Districts in Bengal, the aveiage annual rainfall being only 45 inches. The monsoon com- mences in June, when 6-9 inches fall, and the maximum monthly fall of 1 2-1 inches is reached in July. The average fall for August is ii inches and for September 7-6 inches. Humidity ranges from 57 per cent, in April to 88 per cent, in August. The rainfall is capricious, and during the decade ending 1901 it varied from 24 inches in 1896-7 (the lowest on record) to 65 inches in 1899-1900.
The District has always been liable to floods, which occur when the waters of the smaller rivers are banked up by high floods in the great rivers into which they flow. An embankment constructed along the right bank of the Gandak for a distance of 99 miles now protects the north-east of the District, but the south-west and south aie still exposed to inundation from the Gogra and Ganges.
History
At the dawn of history Saran formed the eastern limit of the ancient kingdom of the Kosalas, whose head-quarters were in Oudh and who were separated by the Gandak river from the eastern kingdom of Mithila. Very little is known of it, and the absence of any reference in the early Vedic literature and the paucity of Buddhist remains render it probable that it maintained its character as a vast jungle for a much longer period than either of the adjoining Districts of Muzaffarpur or Champaran. Indeed, the earliest authentic relic which has been found in Saran is an inscribed copperplate preserved in the village of Dighwa Dubaulia, about 34 miles north-east of Chapra, which Dr. Rajendralala Mitra declares to be a counterpart of a similar plate found by Colonel Stacy near Benares, dealing with the grant of a village by Raja Bhoja Deva, paramount sovereign of Gwalior about A.D. 876. The mediaeval history of the District is connected with the fortunes of the HATHWA family, whose head-quarters were at Husepur. Siwan and Manjhi were fortified seats of turbulent Musalman freebooters, while Manjha, Parsa, Mirzapur, Paterha, and Cherand were during the same period the head-quarters of powerful Hindu chieftains.
Population
The recorded population increased from 2,076,640 in 1872 to 2,295,207 in 1881, and to 2,465,007 in 1891, but fell to 2,409,509
Population. in I9 Ip The increases of Io i per cent, between 1872 and 1881 and of 7.4 per cent, during the next decade are partly attributable to improved enumeration. Several causes contributed towards the decrease of 2-2 per cent, during the last decade. The District already contained a larger population than it can support and the volume of emigration sensibly increased. The famine of 1897 told severely on the people, and, though it caused no direct mortality, reduced their vitality and lowered the birth-rate. Plague also assumed epidemic proportions during the winter of 1900-1. The principal statistics of the Census of 1901 are shown below :
The four towns are CHAPRA, SIWAN, REVELGANJ, and MIRGANJ.
The villages are small, and their average population is only 397, as
compared with 602 in North Bihar as a whole. The density of popu-
lation is surpassed in only two Bengal Districts. It is very evenly
distributed throughout the District, and only one thana has less than
800 persons per square mile. Saran sends out a greater proportion
of emigrants than any other District in Bengal outside Chota Nagpur,
and in 1901 more than a tenth of the District-born population were
enumerated away from home; about one-fifth of the absentees were
found in contiguous Districts, but the remainder had gone farther
afield and were enumerated in large numbers in Rangpur, Calcutta,
and the Twenty-four Parganas. Owing to this emigration, the pro-
portion of females to males (6 to 5) is the highest in Bengal. Infant
marriage is much less common than in other parts of Bihar \ and there
has been a marked falling off during the last two decades in the
proportion of married persons, and also in the number of children,
which points to preventive checks on the growth of population. The
language spoken is the Bhojpuri dialect of Hindi", but Muhammadans
and Kayasths generally speak Awadhl. Seven-eighths of the population
are Hindus (2,124,641), and practically all the rest are Muhammadans
(284,541).
The Aryan castes are strongly represented, as Saran lay in their line of march eastwards. Brahmans number 184,000, Rajputs 259,000, Babhans 106,000, Kayasths 49,000, and Ahirs 290,000, more than a third of the population belonging to these five castes. Those excellent husbandmen, the Koiris and Kurmis, are numerous, as also are Chamars (leather-dressers), Kandus (grain-parchers), Nunias (salt- petre manufacturers), Dosadhs, and the common Bihar functional castes. Among the Muhammadan tribes, 18,500 Pathans and 6,000 Saiyids are probably descendants of foreigners, but the ancestors of 97,000 Jolahas and 63,000 Shaikhs were doubtless local converts to Islam. Of every 100 persons, Sr are agriculturists, 9 are engaged in industry, one belongs to the professional classes, 4 are general labourers, and the remainder follow other occupations. The proportion of agri- culturists is the highest in Bihar.
The German Evangelical Lutheran Mission, which has been at work at Chapra since 1840, claims to have baptized 500 persons, most of whom were probably abandoned children or orphans. A Roman Catholic mission has recently been started at Chapra, and a branch of the ' Regions Beyond ' Missionary Union at Siwan. The number of native Christians in 1901 was only 78.
Agriculture
The hard clay in the low swamps (chaurs) produces only a somewhat precarious crop of winter rice, and, being dependent on the rainfall, is the first to suffer from drought. On the light Agriculture. gandy up i an d s an autumn rice crop is obtained, which is generally followed by a spring crop of poppy, indigo, barley, wheat, sugar-cane, pulses, or oilseeds. The most fertile soil is a rich loam known as kachh : and the finest yield is obtained from the lands round the village sites, which are highly manured, and are reserved for such lucrative crops as poppy, wheat, vegetables, and condiments. A season- able rainfall is of special importance in a District where the normal precipitation is small, and where only 15 per cent, of the cultivated area is protected by irrigation. The crucial period when rain is urgently needed is the last fortnight of September, and during the hathiya asterism at the beginning of October. A drought during this period not only ruins the winter rice, but deprives the soil of the moisture necessary for the subsequent spring crops.
The chief agricultural statistics for 1903-4 are shown below, areas being in square miles :
Rice is the most important crop, covering an area of 516 square miles, or a quarter of the cultivated area ; 16 per cent, of it is harvested in the autumn and the remainder in the winter. Barley and maize cover 19 and 15 per cent, respectively of the cultivated area. Khesari pulse, which is sown extensively as a catch-crop in winter rice lands, may be called the poor man's food. The most extensive non-food crops are oilseeds, linseed occupying 124 square miles, and rape and mustard 1 7 square miles. Sugar-cane, which is being largely substituted for indigo, occupies 3 per cent, of the cultivated area. Indigo in 1 903-4 covered only 19,300 acres, or less than half the area sown five years before. Saran is the premier opium District in Bengal, and the out- turn in the same year was 282 tons.
Cultivation has long ago reached its utmost limit, and there is no room for expansion. Little advantage is taken of Government loans ; the only considerable advances made were in the famine year 1897, when 2-31 lakhs was lent under the Agriculturists' Loans Act.
The cattle are generally poor ; the best come from north Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga and from the United Provinces. Pasturage is in- sufficient, and in the cold season large herds are grazed in Champaran. The Hathwa Raj has recently established a cattle-breeding farm at Sripur. Most of the horses and ponies come from Ballia and elsewhere in the United Provinces, but a few are bred in Saran. The most important fair in Bengal is held at SONPUR, where large numbers ot elephants, ponies, and cattle are sold.
Of the cultivated area, 15 per cent, is irrigated, and of every roo acres irrigated 72 are watered from wells, 18 from tanks and reservoirs, 3 from private channels, and the remainder from other sources. The number of wells is 30,000, of which 27,000 are of masonry. The only Government irrigation works are the Saran Canals, which derive their water-supply from the Gandak. In addition to the main canal with a length of 6| miles and a branch of 12 \ miles, certain natural channels are used to convey the water. There is no weir across the river and, owing to the uncertainty of the water-supply and other causes, the scheme has been a failure, and the canals were closed in 1898. They have, however, occasionally been reopened in especially dry years. In 1902, for instance, 3,000 acres were irrigated during the rabi season free of charge.
Trade and Communication
The only minerals are salt (in very small quantities), saltpetre, Glauber's salt, potter's clay, and nodular limestone (kankar), A little coarse cloth is woven, but the industry is declining. Cloth is printed with Mirzapur stamps, or stamped with gold- and silver-leaf ornamentation, Siwan brassware has more than a local reputation, which is well deserved, as the materials are good and the workmanship excellent. A little black and red and glazed pottery is also made at Siwan. Salt- petre was an important item in the exports from India until the end of the French Wars, and considerable quantities still find their way to Europe. The crude saltpetre is extracted from saliferous earth by a rough process of lixiviation ; this is refined by boiling and is then ready for the market. In 1903-4, 10,533 tons of saltpetre were pro- duced, of which 2,582 tons were refined and 7,846 tons crude salt- petre, and 105 tons were sulphate of soda.
The industry is in the hands of the Nunia caste. In 1903, 27 indigo factories were at work in the District. The industry is declining rapidly owing to the competition of the artificial dye ; and several factories have already been closed, while others are reducing the scale of their operations. The reported out-turn for 1903-4 was 95 tons, valued at 3-27 lakhs. A sugar factory has recently been erected at Barhoga, where the cane is crushed and the juice boiled and clarified and manufactured into sugar by imported machinery. Various indigo concerns are following the example, and a good deal of sugar is also prepared in native refineries. Shellac is manufactured, and 8 factories were at work in 1901 with an out-turn valued at over 3 lakhs.
Famine
Saran never produces sufficient food for its own consumption, and imports largely exceed exports, the cost of the surplus imports being met from the earnings of natives of the District employed elsewhere, who make large remittances for the support of their families. The principal imports are rice and other food-grains from Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, and Bhagalpur, cotton piece-goods, salt, and kerosene oil from Calcutta, and coal from Burdwan and Chota Nagpur, The exports are opium, sugar, indigo, saltpetre, shellac, molasses, linseed, mustard seed, gram, pulses, and other food-grains. Most of the exports go to Calcutta, but the sugar finds a market in the United Provinces. The bulk of the traffic now goes by railway; and the principal marts are CHAPRA, REVELGANJ, SIWAN, MAHARAJGANJ, MIRGANJ, Dighwara, SONPUR, and Mairwa.
The main line of the Bengal and North-Western Railway traverses the District from Sonpur at the south-east comer to Mairwa on the western boundary. A branch line connects Chapra via Revelganj with Manjhi, where the Gogra is crossed by a steam ferry. A fine bridge spans the Gandak between Sonpur in Saran and Hajipur in Muzaffar- pur, and effects a junction with the Tirhut State Railway system, now worked by the Bengal and North- Western Railway Company, and via Katihar with the northern section of the Eastern Bengal State Railway. The Bengal and North-Western Railway is connected with the East Indian Railway by a steam ferry from Paleza Ghat, near Sonpur, to Digha Ghat on the opposite bank. The chief lines of road run from north to south, originally connecting the Gandak with the Gogra (and now with the railway), and following the old trade routes from Nepal through Champaran and Muzaffarpur. From Chapra important roads lead to Rewah Ghat, Sattar Ghat, and Salimpur Ghat, all on the Gandak. Other roads also converge on these points, such as the road from Doranda railway station to Maharajganj, and thence northwards to Barauli and Salimpur Ghat. The road from Siwan to Mirganj and thence to Gopalganj and through Batardah to the Champaran border is also of importance. In 1903-4 the District contained 1,219 miles of roads maintained by the District board, of which 137 were metalled and 1,082 unmetalled, besides 1,428 miles of village tracks.
The India General Steam Navigation Company has a daily steamer service on the Ganges and Gogra from Ulgha Ghat in Patna District, nearly opposite Sonpur, to Ajodhya in Oudh. These steamers connect at Dlgha Ghat with the Goalundo line, and are often crowded with coolies on their way going to or returning from Eastern Bengal. Numerous important ferries cross the Ganges, Gandak, and Gogra rivers.
Saran is less liable to famine than the neighbouring Districts, as it is protected both by the number and variety of its crops, and by the distribution of its harvests throughout the year. Nevertheless famine or scarcity has occurred on several occasions, notably in 1769, 1783, 1866, 1874, and 1897. Little is known of the first two calamities. In 1866, the year of the Orissa famine, the winter rice failed and the spring crops were extremely poor ; the relief afforded was inadequate, and over 8,000 persons died of starvation and disease. In 1874 famine was caused by the failure of nine-tenths of the winter rice crop. Relief on this occasion was given on an extravagant scale, and no deaths occurred from starvation ; the number on relief works exceeded a quarter of a million in June 1874. No less than 40,000 tons of grain were imported by Govern- ment, and the expenditure was 24 lakhs. In 1896 the rainfall was very deficient, amounting to only 23 inches, and the autumn crop yielded less than half and the winter rice only one-sixteenth of the normal out-turn. In spite of this, the famine was much less severe than in the neighbouring Districts, and the maximum number on relief works was only 24,000 in May, 1897. The cost of relief was 9 lakhs.
Administration
For administrative purposes the District is divided into three sub- divisions, with head-quarters at CHAPRA, SIWAN, and GOPALGANJ, The staff at head-quarters consists of the Magistrate- . . Collector, an Assistant Magistrate ? and five Deputy- Magistrates, besides officers employed specially on partition and excise work. Each of the outlying subdivisions is in charge of a subdivisional officer, assisted by a Sub-Deputy-Collector.
Subordinate to the District Judge are two Sub-Judges and four Munsifs at Chapra, one Munsif at Si wan and another at Gopalganj. The Sub-Judges hear appeals from the Champaran civil courts also. Since the completion of the survey and record-of-rights the number of rent suits has greatly increased. Criminal justice is administered by the Sessions Judge, an Assistant Sessions Judge, the District Magis- trate, and the above-mentioned stipendiary magistrates. Burglary and petty theft are common and riots are frequent, but there is very little heinous crime.
In Todar MaFs settlement of 1582 Saran was assessed at 4 lakhs, the area measured being 415 square miles. In 1685 the revenue was raised to 8 lakhs, and in 1750 to gf lakhs, of which half a lakh was remitted. In 1773, eight years after the British assumed the financial administration, the revenue was 9-36 lakhs, and in 1793 the Permanent Settlement was concluded for 10-27 lakhs. A number of estates held free of revenue under invalid titles have since been resumed, and the demand in 1903-4 was 12-63 laklls > payable by 5,506 estates.
Almost the entire District is permanently settled; but 78 estates paying Rs. 15,000 are settled temporarily, and 28 estates with a revenue of Rs. 12,000 are managed direct by Government. It is noteworthy that, whereas the allowance fixed for the zamlnddrs at the Permanent Settlement was one-tenth of the 'assets,' the Saran landlords now retain no less than 78 per cent. As the result of a very careful calculation by the Settlement officer, the gross annual produce of the soil is valued at 425 lakhs, of which sum the revenue represents less than 3 per cent, and the rental 12 per cent.
The District was surveyed and a record-of- rights was prepared between 1893 and 1901. The average area culti- vated by a family is estimated at 3-8 acres. Cash rents are almost universal, only 4 per cent, of the holdings of settled and occupancy ryots paying produce rents. The average rates of rent per acre vary for the different classes of ryots : those holding at fixed rates pay Rs. 3-4-9 j settled or occupancy ryots, Rs. 4-5-4 ; non-occupancy ryots, Rs. 5-0-6 ; and under-ryots, Rs. 5-2-8. Lower rents rule in the north than in the south, where the pressure of population is greatest and cultivation more advanced. Of the occupied area 90 per cent, is held by ryots, and practically all of them have a right of occupancy, only 15,000 acres being held by non-occupancy ryots.
The following table shows the collections of land revenue and of total revenue (principal heads only), in thousands of rupees ;
Outside the municipalities of CHAPRA, SIWAN, and REVELGANJ, local affairs are managed by the District board, with subordinate local boards at Siwan and Gopalganj. As many as 19 Europeans, principally indigo planters, have seats upon the board. In 1903-4 its income was Rs. 2,44,000, of which Rs. 1,54,000 was derived from rates; and the expenditure was Rs. 2,43,000, including Rs. 1,27,000 spent on public works and Rs. 42,000 on education.
The District contains 10 police stations and 16 outposts. The force at the disposal of the District Superintendent in 1903 numbered 4 inspectors, 40 sub-inspectors, 37 head-constables, and 508 constables. The rural police consisted of 340 daffadars and 3,971 chankldars* "An inspector with a special guard is in charge of the settlements of the criminal tribe known as the Magahiya Doms, who in 1901 numbered 1,048 persons. The District jail at Chapra has accommodation for 305 prisoners, and subsidiary jails at the other subdivisional head- quarters for 50.
Education is backward, and only 3-5 per cent, of the population (7-3 males and 02 females) were literate in 1901. The number of pupils under instruction rose from about 18,000 in 1883-4 to 24,088 in 1892-3, but fell to 23,683 in 1900-1. In 1903-4, 23,643 boys and 1,326 girls were at school, being respectively 16-9 and 0-69 per cent, of the children of school-going age. The number of educational institutions, public and private, in that year was 949, including 20 secondary, 687 primary, and 242 special schools. The expenditure on education was Rs. 1,19,000, of which Rs. 12,000 was derived from Provincial funds, Rs. 41,000 from District funds, Rs. 3,500 from muni- cipal funds and Rs. 40,000 from fees. The schools include 12 night schools for bona fide agriculturists and day-labouiers, and 3 schools for Doms, Chamars, and other depressed castes.
In 1903 the District contained 12 dispensaries, of which 4 had accommodation for 135 in-patients. The cases of 145,000 out-patients and 1,356 in-patients were treated, and 6,645 operations were per- formed. The expenditure was Rs. 1,54,000, of which Rs. 1,000 was met from Government contributions, Rs. 6,000 each from Local and from municipal funds, and Rs. 1,37,000 from subscriptions. These figures include a sum of Rs. 1,33,000 subscribed for the Hathwa Victoria Hospital, of which Rs. 1,24,000 was spent on the buildings.
Vaccination is compulsory only in the municipal towns, outside which it is backward. In 1903-4 the number of persons successfully vaccinated was 54,000, representing 23-2 per 1,000 of the population.
[Sir W. W. Hunter, Statistical Account of Bengal, vol. xi (1877) ; J. H. Kerr, Settlement Report (Calcutta, 1904).]
