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=Nasik Town, 1908=

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This article has been extracted from <br/>

THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908.<br/>

OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS.
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''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.