Tiruvannamalai Taluk
Tiruvannamalai Taluk, 1908
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.
North-western taluk of South Arcot District, Madras, lying between ri° 58' and 12® 35' N. and 78° 38' and 79° 17' E. In the west a spur of the Javadi Hills of North Arcot, locally known as the Tenmalais (' south hills '), runs down into it ; and in the south it includes the corner of the Kalrayan Hills round about Chekkadi, which is sometimes called the Chekkadi hills. Both these ranges are malarious. They are inhabited by Malaiyalis, a body of Tamils who at some remote period settled upon them and now differ considerably from their fellows in the plains in their ways and customs. On them are large blocks of ' reserved ' forest in which grow sandal-wood, teak, and a few other timber trees, forming the most important of the Reserves in the District. Tiruvannamalai is the largest taluk in South Arcot, its area being 1,009 SQuare miles, and its population, which numbered 244,085 in 1901, compared with 205,403 in 1891, increased during that decade by 18.8 per cent., showing a higher rate of growth than any other. It is still, however, the most sparsely peopled in the District, the density being only 242 persons per square mile, compared with the District average of 450. It contains 400 villages and one town, the municipality of Tiruvannamalai (population, 17,069), the head-quarters. The rain- fall is the lightest in South Arcot, being 36 inches annually, compared with the District average of 43 inches ; and the idhik is more liable to scarcity than its neighbours. The demand for land revenue and cesses in 1903-4 amounted to Rs. 4,32,000.
