Sujangarh
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.
Sujangarh
Head-quarters of the nizamat and tahsll of the same name in the State of Bikaner, Rajputana, situated in 27° 42' N. and 74° 29' E,, about 72 miles south-east of Bikaner city and within half a mile of the Marwar border. Population (1901), 9,762. The old name of the place was Harbuji-ka-kot or the fort of HarbujI, a Rajput hero ; and the present town was founded by Maharaja Surat Singh (1788-1828), being named after Sujan Singh, the twelfth chief of Bikaner. The fort, which is about 200 feet square, with walls from 5 to 6 feet in thickness, is said to have been built by the Thakur of Sandwa, who once owned the place, and whose estate is now situated a little to the west, and was altered and improved by Surat Singh.
The town contains several fine houses belonging to wealthy traders ; a substantial bungalow which was occupied from 1868 to 1870 by a British Political officer specially deputed to put down dacoity, which was very rife on the triple border of Bikaner, Jaipur, and Marwar ; a combined post and telegraph office, a jail with accommodation for 66 prisoners, an Anglo-vernacular school attended by 90 boys, and a hospital with accommodation for 7 in-patients. About 6 miles to the north-west is the Gopalpura hill, 1,651 feet above sea-level, or about 600 above the surrounding plain ; and legend says that where the village of Gopalpura now stands there was in old days a city called Dronpur, built by and named after Drona, the tutor of the Pandavas. Near Bidasar, a little farther to the north, a copper-mine was discovered about the middle of the eighteenth century, and was worked for a short time, but the ore was not rich enough to repay expenses. The mine is, however, now being professionally examined. The Chhapar salt lake, 8 miles north of the town, is no longer worked. The Sujangarh iahsil contains 151 villages, almost all of which are held in jagir by Bldawats or Rathor Rajputs descended from Blda, the brother of Bika, the founder of the State. Indeed, almost the whole of this tract was taken by Bida from the Mohil Rajputs, a branch of the Chauhans, and it is often called Bidawati.
