Sylhet, North
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, units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts.Many units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Sylhet, North
Head-quarters subdivision of Sylhet District, Eastern Bengal and Assam, lying between 24° 36' and 25° 11' N. and 91° 38 and 92° 26' E., with an area of 1,055 square miles. On the north it is bounded by the Khasi and Jaintia Hills. The north-east corner of the subdivision, which is known as the Jaintia Parganas, originally formed part of the territories of the Jaintia Raja. The greater part of North Sylhet consists of a flat plain, but a little to the east of Sylhet town low hills crop up above the alluvium. The general level of the country is higher than in the west of the District, but the enormous rainfall precipitated on the face of the hills renders the low land at their foot quite unfit for anything but cold-season cultivation. The average fall at Sylhet town is 157 inches, while at lalakhal, which is nearer the hills, it is over 100 inches more. The population in 1891 was 482,341, which by 1901 had fallen to 463,477, a decrease of nearly 4 per cent., as compared with an increase of 4 per cent, in the District as a whole. The cause of the decrease appears to have been a severe epidemic of malarial fever in 1897 and 1898; but the population is still dense, there being 439 persons per square mile, as compared with 416 in the District as a whole. The subdivision con- tains one town, Sylhet (population, 13,893), the District head-quarters ; and 1,956 villages. The staple food-crop is transplanted rice. There are 22 tea gardens, which in 1904 had 7,684 acres under plant and gave employment to 15 Europeans and 7,211 natives. For adminis- trative purposes the subdivision comprises the three thdnas of Sylhet, Kanairghat, and Balaganj, and is under the immediate charge of the Deputy-Commissioner of the District. The demand on account of land revenue and cesses in 1903-4 was Rs. 3,47,000.
