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.

    268/712 (page 246)
    BlRBHOOM. dicants (chobees), existing in filth and idleness.—(fVard, Turner^ FuUarton, Binsur Temple.—A small math or temple in Northern Hinclostan, thirteen miles S. by E. from Serina- gur; lat. 3(F 4' N., Ion. 78° 40' E. Bintang.—An island (thus named by Europeans) lying off the south¬ eastern extremity of Malacca, about the first degree of north latitude, surrounded by innumerable small rocky isles and islets. In length it may be estimated at thirty-five miles, by eighteen the average breadth. The chief town is Rhio, formerly a port of considerable trade. Birbhoom ( Vh'abhumiy the land of heroes),—A district in the province of Bengal, situated on the north¬ western extremity, about the twen¬ ty-fourth degree of north latitude. To the north it is bounded by the district of Boglipoor, on the south by Burdwan and the Jungle Mahals; to the east it has Rajeshahy, and on the west Boglipoor and the Jungle Mahals. By Abul Fazel, in 1582, it is named Sircar Madarun, and in 1814 it was estimated to contain 7,000 square miles, a considerable portion of it hilly, jungly, and thinly inhabited. The most important articles pro¬ duced in this district are rice, sugar, and silk. Coal has been discovered of so good a quality that it now supplies the Calcutta forges, and is carried to sea as ship stock. Iron ore is also found, not in veins, but in strata mixed with clay, whence it is dug. It is very rich in the metal, but cannot compete in cheapness with European iron, as was proved from an experiment instituted by go¬ vernment in 1814. The cultivation and population of Birbhoom are gra¬ dually increasing: but the absence of navigable streams is a‘ great impedi¬ ment to the extension of its commerce. Roads and bridges are consequently more attended to, mostly kept in order by the government convicts. The number of native iron forges in Birbhoom and Boglipoor, together with the supply required for Moor- shedabad and the adjacent towns, renders the demand for fuel more considerable than usual in Bengal; but the extent of forest throughout the province is immense, and its. power of reproduction rapid. In Birbhoom, besides the coal, there are large forests lying close to the forges, which occasion thegreatest consump¬ tion. When first acquired by the British, this w'as the largest Mahomedan ze- mindary in the province, and was originally conferred on Assud Ullah, who was allowed to settle here about the time of Shere Shah, for the po-' litical purpose of guarding the fron¬ tier of the west against the incur¬ sions of the barbarous Hindoo tribes of Jeharcund. A warlike Mahome¬ dan militia were entertained as a standing army, with suitable territo¬ rial allotments, under a principal landholder of the same faith. In some respects it corresponded with the ancient military fiefs of Europe, certain lands being exempted from rent, and solely appropriated to the maintenance of the troops. This pri¬ vilege was resumed by Cossim Ali in 1763, and under existing circum¬ stances is become still more unneces¬ sary. So late as 1814 an arrange¬ ment was made with the ghautwalls, or petty hill chiefs, of the western jungles, to secure their own absti¬ nence from plundering,and also their assistance towards the suppression of robberies perpetrated by others. Highway depredations are frequent, chiefly committed on Hindoo pil¬ grims journeying through the forests to the sanctuary at Baidyanatb, where there is a celebrated temple dedicated to Siva, and it is probable that many of these robberies are ac¬ companied by murders, the know¬ ledge of which never reaches the po¬ lice officers. The head-quarters of the judicial establishment are at Soory, which is the residence of the magistrate. In 1801 the population of Birbhoom was estimated at 700,000, in the proportion of thirty Hindoos to one Mahomedan.—(J, Grant, Po-