View source for Rajpipla, Rewa Kantha

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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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[[Category:India|R]]
[[Category:Places|R]]
''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. ''

=Rajpipla, Rewa Kantha =
State in the Political Agency of Rewa Kantha, Bombay, 
lying between 21 23' and 21 59' N. and 73 5' and 74 E., with an 
area of 1,517-! square miles. It is bounded on the north by the Nar- 
bada river and the Mehwasi estates of Rewa Kantha ; on the east by 
the Mehwasi estates of the District of Khandesh ; on the south by the 
State of Baroda and Surat District ; and on the west by Broach 
District. Its extreme length from north to south is 42 miles, and its 
extreme breadth from east to west 60 miles. 

Two-thirds of the State are occupied by a continuation of the 
Satpura range, known as the Rajpipla hills, nowhere exceeding 3,000 
feet in height above the sea, which form the watershed between the Narbada and Tapti rivers. Towards the West the hills gradually 
subside into gentle undulations. The principal rivers of Rajpipla are 
the Narbada, skirting the territory north and west for nearly a hunared 
miles ; and the Karjan, which rises in the hills of the Ntochal/<wy00, 
and, flowing north into the Narbada, divides the State into two equal 
portions. The signs of disturbance in the lines of trap and the great 
number of dikes seem to show that Rajpipla was, during the time 
when trap rocks were poured out, a great centre of volcanic action. 
Except in the rich western lands, the whole of the State is covered with 
trees, the chief being teak, black-wood, and khair. The climate is 
exceedingly unhealthy, malarial fever being prevalent from September 
to February. The rainfall in 1903-4 was 46 inches 

The family of the Rajpipla chief is said to derive its origm from one 
Chokarana, son of Saidawat, Raja of Ujjain, a Rajput of the Paramara 
tribe, who, having quarrelled with his father, left his own country and 
established himself in the village of Pipla, in the most inaccessible part 
of the hills to the west of the modem town of Nandod. The only 
daughter of Chokarana married Moker or Mokheraj, a Rajput of the 
Gohel tribe, who resided in the island of Premgar or Piram in the Gulf 
of Cambay. Mokheraj had by her two sons, Dungarji and Gemar- 
smghji. The former founded Bhaunagar and the latter succeeded 
Chokarana. Since that time (about 1470) the Gohel dynasty has ruled 
in Rajpipla. The Musalman kings of Ahmadabad had before this 
taken an agreement from the Raja to furnish 1,000 foot-soldiers and 
300 horsemen ; and the agreement remained in force until Akbar took 
Gujarat in 1573, when he imposed a tribute of Rs. 35,550 on the 
country in lieu of the contingent, This was paid until the end of 
the reign of Aurangzeb (1707), when, the imperial authority declining, 
the payments became irregular, and, if opportunity favoured, were 
altogether evaded. Subsequent to the overthrow of the Muhammadan 
authority, DamajT Gaikwar, in the latter part of the eighteenth century, 
succeeded in securing a half-share of four of the most fertile sub- 
divisions of the territory. 

These were afterwards released at the cost 
of an annual payment of Rs. 40,000 to the Gaikwar, and this sum later 
on was raised to Rs. 92,000. Such rapid and frequent encroachments 
on the State and internal quarrels led to the intervention of the British 
Government. About the close of 1821, of two disputants, the rightful 
claimant Verisalji was placed on the throne by the British. Under the 
settlement made in 1823 the State pays an annual tribute of Rs. 50,001 
to the Gaikwar, on the understanding that a remission shall be granted 
in seasons of natural calamity. The State, owing to mismanagement, 
was placed in the year 1884 under the joint administration of an officer 
of the British Government and the Raja. From 1887 to 1897 the 
administration was entrusted solely to a British officer. The chief, 
who bears the title of Maharana, is entitled to a salute of n guns and 
holds a sanad authorizing adoption. The succession follows the rule 
of primogeniture. 

The population at the last four enumerations was : (1872) 120,036, 
(1881) 114,756, (1891) 171,771, and (1901) 117,175, the decrease 
during the last decade being due to the great famine of 1899-1900. The 
population is distributed between one town, NANDOD, the capital of the 
State, and 651 villages, the density being 77 persons per square mile. 
Hindus number 94,865, Musalmans 5,636, and Animists 16,075. The 
latter are chiefly Bhils. 

Of the total area 33 per cent, is cultivable, and 243 square miles 
were actually cultivated in 1903-4. Cotton is the most important 
crop, occupying 53 square miles ; while jowdr occupied 43, lajra 29, 
rice 25, and kodra 20 square miles. In the rich alluvial soil in the 
north and north-west and in the favoured patches in the west, tur^ 
castor-oil, millet, cotton, gram, and rice are grown. Experiments for 
introducing Egyptian cotton are in progress. Among the hills and 
forests, where Bhils are the only husbandmen, the chief crops are tur^ 
coarse rice, kodra^ banti, and bavta. The four last are the Bhils' chief 
diet, though, unless three or four times washed, the kodra is slightly 
poisonous, causing giddiness and faintness. Almost all hill crops are 
grown in scattered forest clearings. The tract covered by forests 
is about two-thirds of the whole area, including 409 square miles of 
' reserved ' forest. In the south there are valuable teak forests. 

Car- 
nelian mines are worked at the foot of a hill near Ratanpur, a village 
about 14 miles from the city of Broach, where the Marathas gained 
a victory over the Mughals in 1705. lion of good quality used to be 
manufactured in the same locality, and akik stones are exported to 
Cambay for the manufacture of agate work. A soTt stone found in 
a village in the Vadia tahika is fashioned into grindstones and mortars 
for export. The State contains two cotton-ginning factories. The 
Bhils and other forest tribes make bamboo matting and baskets for 
sale ; otherwise there are no industries of any description. The chief 
article of trade is teak from the forests. Mahud and sesamum are 
largely exported, and nearly all the cotton grown in the State is sent to 
Bombay. A railway, constructed at a cost of 13 lakhs, and opened in 
1899, connects Nandod with Anklesvar. Its total length in 1903-4 
was 235 miles, and it yielded a net profit of Rs. 11,641. In 1899-1902 
the State suffered severely from famine, due to short rainfall and the 
ravages of rats. Nearly 9 lakhs was spent on famine relief on this 
occasion. 

For administrative purposes the lands of the State are distributed in 
parganaS) each under a thanaddr^ with considerable revenue, police, 
and magisterial powers. The chief has power to try, for capital 
offences, without the permission of the Political Agent, any person 
except British subjects. The income of the State in 1903-4 was 8-7 
lakhs, including receipts from land, forests, and excise. 

More than 
Rs 70,000 is annually spent on public works. The forms of assess- 
ment levied are the hoe (kodali), or the billhook (ddtardt] cess (vary- 
ing from 8 annas to 2 rupees) ; a plough tax (halbandi\ levied on each 
plough (varying according to the status of the cultivator from Rs. 5 to 
Rs. 19) ; and bighotis, or acre rates (ranging from 4^ annas to Rs. 25). 
Of the total area, 437 square miles have been surveyed. There is 
a municipality at Nandod under State management. The chief main- 
tains a military force of in men, horse and foot, and 239 police. The 
State contained in 1903-4 one high school and 81 primary schools, of 
which 5 were for girls. The boys' schools were attended by 3,417 
pupils and the girls' schools by 607. One hospital and five dispen- 
saries and the Nandod jail infirmary cost Rs. 16,000, and treated 
38,100 patients in 1903-4. In the same year 3,280 persons were 
vaccinated. Nandod contains a veterinary hospital.