Volume 1

The East-India gazetteer; containing particular descriptions of the empires, kingdoms, principalities, provinces, cities, towns, districts, fortresses, harbours, rivers, lakes, &c. of Hindostan, and the adjacent countries, India beyond the Ganges, and the eastern archipelago; together with sketches of the manners, customs, institutions, agriculture, commerce, manufactures, revenues, population, castes, religion, history, &c. of their various inhabitants / By Walter Hamilton.

  • Hamilton, Walter, M.R.A.S.
Date:
1828
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The East-India gazetteer; containing particular descriptions of the empires, kingdoms, principalities, provinces, cities, towns, districts, fortresses, harbours, rivers, lakes, &c. of Hindostan, and the adjacent countries, India beyond the Ganges, and the eastern archipelago; together with sketches of the manners, customs, institutions, agriculture, commerce, manufactures, revenues, population, castes, religion, history, &c. of their various inhabitants / By Walter Hamilton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    133/712 (page 111)
    BAHAWULPOOR. the representation of two human feetj but no tradition exists from what cause its reputation for sanctity ori¬ ginated. The Mahomedan popula¬ tion of the district has been esti¬ mated at 724,000, and occasionally they still make converts from the pa¬ gans, especially by the purchase of slaves, who are usually treated with great kindness; but, for want of mo¬ ney, this mode of conversion now proceeds slowly. The Shiah sect form but an inconsiderable portion of the whole, probably not exceeding 3,000 families, mostly of rank. The number of Brahmins is immense, 80,000 families, most of them having betaken themselves to agriculture and arms; and there are also a con¬ siderable number of Hindoos belong¬ ing to the sect of Nanock, the Seik lawgiver. The division of Jains named Shrawaks amount to about 350 families. On the annual festival called Dewali, the Gowalas or cow¬ herds tie the feet of a pig, and drive their cattle over the wretched animal until it is killed, after which they boil and eat it; but at other times they do not use pork. On this occa¬ sion every rich man sends his cattle to assist in the ceremony, and poor men paint the horns of their cattle in order tomakethem look handsome. When the British took possession of this district by far the greater part of it was in a wild state, and the southern half, after being re¬ peatedly plundered by the Maha- rattas, had fallen into a predatory anarchy. The Mahomedan chief of the tribe of Mayi, and the rajas of Tickary, were the principal leaders in these dissensions; but being co¬ erced by the British power, tranquil¬ lity was restored, and a more ade¬ quate land-tax imposed. At present most parts of the district are over¬ flowing with population, and the whole would have probably been so, had not the very great extent of rent- free land tended in some divisions to encourage sloth and negligence.—(P. Buchanan^ J. Grants Tufton^ <^c.) Bahar.—A town in the province and district of Bahar, ihirty-five miles S.E. from Patna; lat. 25° 13' N., Ion. 85° 35' E. This city was probably at some remote era the capital, but it has since been super¬ seded, first by Patna and afterwards by Gaya. The existing town is a large scattered place, surrounding the ditch of an ancient city, now in a great measure deserted. The most compact part is a long narrow bazar or street, paved in a rough manner with bricks and stones, but of a mi¬ serable appearance. In the centre of the town are the remains of a massy stone building, roofed with a number of diminutive domes, which partition its interior into as many cells, resembling the Patan mosques of the upper provinces. Although much decayed it still contains about 5,000 houses, and the vicinity is re¬ markably well cultivated and arti¬ ficially irrigated.—{F. Buchanauy Ful- lartorii ^c.) Bahawulpoor.—A principality of considerable extent in the province of Mooltan, but thinly peopled, situ¬ ated principally about the twentieth degree of north lat. The town of Bahawulpoor stands about sixty- two miles S. by E. from the city of Mooltan; lat. 29° 19'N., Ion. 71° 29' E. This territory extends (or did extend in 1809) 280 miles from north-east to south-west, and about 120 miles in the other direction at the extreme points, and for a certain distance includes both banks of the Indus, the Jhylum, and the Chinaub. The banks of the rivers are every where rich, but to the west of the Chinaub the soil at a distance from the river is poor, and towards the east a mere desert. For four or five miles on each side of the Hyphasis the surface is formed of the sedi¬ ment deposited by the, river and is very rich, but so soft as scarcely to support a horse. Some portions are highly cultivated; others covered with coppice of low tamarisk trees, abounding with wild hogs ; hog-deer, wild geese, partridges, and floricans.