Latest revision as of 18:37, 10 November 2014

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.

[edit] Jhalrapatan Chhaoni

[edit] cantonment

Chief town and official capital of the State of Jhalawar, Rajputana, situated in 24° 36' N. and 76 1o' E., on a rising stretch of rocky ground over 1,000 feet above the sea, between the fort of Gagraun (in Kotah) and the town of Jhalrapatan. The chhaoni, as it is always called locally, was founded in 1 791 by Zalim Singh, regent of Kotah, and was at first merely a permanent camp, which he made his head-quarters on account of its central and strategical position. Houses gradually took the place of tents and huts, and in course of time the old camp attained the impor- tance of a town. The population in 1901 numbered 14,315, of whom 9,501, or 66 per cent., were Hindus, and 4,402, or 31 per cent., Musal- mans. The Raj Rana's palace is enclosed by a high masonry wall forming a square, with large circular bastions at each corner, and two semicircular ones in the centre of each side of the square.

The principal entrance is on the eastern side, and the approach to it is along the main street of the bazar running due east and west. About a mile to the south-west is a sheet of water, below which are several gardens, and in one of these is the summer residence of the chief, surrounded by a canal filled with water from the tank. The sanitation, lighting, water-supply, and roads of the chhaoni are looked after by a municipal committee which was established about 1876-7. The receipts, derived mainly from the rent of State houses and shops and the sale of un- claimed property, average about Rs. 5,000 yearly, and the expenditure is slightly less. Besides the palace, law courts, and public offices, the town contains a combined post' and telegraph office, a Central jail, a couple of schools, and a hospital The jail has accommodation for 164 prisoners, and the daily average number in 1904 was 79. The prisoners are employed in making carpets, blankets, cotton cloth, shoes, &c, and in printing, bookbinding, and gardening. The jail costs about Rs. 6,200 a year, and the manufactures bring in about Rs. 1,150. Of the schools, one is for boys and the other for girls. The former is a high school, with a daily average attendance in 1904-5 of 164. The hospital has accommodation for 14 in-patients.