Sirsa Town (1)
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.
Sirsa Town (1)
Head-quarters of the subdivision and tahsil of the same name in Hissar District, Punjab, situated in 29° 32' N. and 75° 2' E., on the Rewari-Bhatinda branch of the Rajputana-Malwa Railway, on the north side of a dry bed of the Ghaggar. population (1901), 15,800. The old town of Sirsa or Sarsuti is of great antiquity and tradition ascribes its origin to an eponymous Raja Siiras, who built the town and fort about 1,300 years ago. Under the name of Sarsuti, it is mentioned as the place near which Prithwi Raj was captured after his defeat by Muhammad of Ghor in 1192 : and accord- ing to Wassaf it was in the fourteenth century one of the most impor- tant towns in Upper India. It was taken by Timur, the inhabitants fleeing before him, and is mentioned in the reign of Mubarak Shah as the rendezvous of the expedition against the rebel fortress of Sirhind. In the reign of Sher Shah, Sirsa became for a time the head-quarters of Rao Kalyan Singh of Bikaner, who had been driven from his country by the Rao of Jodhpur. In the eighteenth century Sirsa was one of the strongholds of the Bhattis, and was taken by Amar Singh of Patiala in 1774, but restored to the Bhattis by the agreement of 1781. 'i'hc town was depopulated by the great famine of 1783, and the site was annexed in 18 18 after the expedition sent against the Bhatti chief, Nawab Zabita Khan. In 1838 Sirsa, which had lain deserted since 1783, was refounded by Captain Thoresby, who laid out the present town, which from 1858 to 1884 was the head-quarters of the Sirsa District. The ruins of Old Sirsa lie near the south-west corner of the modern town, and still present considerable remains, though much of the material has been used for building the new houses. It contains an ancient Hindu fort and tank.
The municipality was created in 1867. The income during the ten years ending 1902-3 averaged Rs. 23,300 and the expenditure Rs. 23,900. In 1903-4 income and expenditure each amounted to Rs. 18,100, the chief source of income being octroi. The town is a centre of the export trade to Rajputana, and is in a flourishing condition. Most of the trade is in the hands of Banias from Rajputana and the country to the south-east. Sirsa contains a dispensary, an Anglo-vernacular middle school maintained by the municipality, and an aided primary school for European boys.
