GAZETTEER OF

HARYANA

KARNAL DISTRICT GAZETTEERS

KARNAL

SUDARSHAN KUMAR

& i. RAJ BAJAJ Editors

HARYANA GAZETTEERS ORGANISATION REVENUE DEPARTMENT (India) 1976 The Controller, Printing and Stationery, Haryana, Chandigarh (India)

Printed by : Controller of Printing and Stationery, , Chandigarh A District Gazetteer is the many-faceted compendium of information pertaining to a district. It is a multipurpose hand book dealing not merely with geographical data; it is essenti- ally a narration of the socio-economic changes which take place in the district. The book, therefore, concerns itself with the people and their environs viewed in the context of histori- cal change .

Since the formation of Haryana, eight years back, pro- gress in this new State has been rapid. The entire socio-econo- mic pattern has been completely transformed and it can be said that within this period the State has achieved a break-through vitally affecting the welfare and prosperity of the people. The present book is an attempt to portray the all round progress made by the district since the last publication. I am thankful to Dr K.C. Khanna who revised the volume before its publication and, in particular, to the Chief Minister and the Revenue Minister for the support given by them to the Gazetteers staff.

Chandigarh, S. D. Bhambri March 17, 1976. Chief Secretary and Financial Commissioner, Revenue, Haryana. The Gazetteer of Kamal is the second in the series of District Gazetteers which are being brought out by the Government of Haryana in collaboration with the Central Gazetteers Unit of the . The Gazetteer of the Kamal district was first published in 1883-84, then in 1892 and the last edition was out in 1918. Since then, momentous changes have occurred following the independence of the country and the resettlement of thousands of people from West Punjab in thi~ area. In particular, development has been phenomenal, after the formation of Haryana, in all spheres of socio-economic activity. The economy of the State has been transformed and spectacular results have been achiev- ed in the matter of rural electrification, road building prog- ramme, agricultural production, etc.

The Gazetteer of Karnal gives an eloquent commentary on the political, social and economic reforms introduced after Independence and in particu Jar after the formation of Haryana. As such, this Gazetteer is not only a geographical lexicon but reflects the multiplicity of changes affecting the lives of the people. In January 1973, a separate district of was carved out but the present volume gives an integrated picture of the erstwhile district of Kamal h:clud ~ ing the part which now forms .

The Gazetteer lias been modelled on the pattern laid down by the District Gazetteers Unit of the Government of India.

The production of this book has been a co-operative endeavour. The material was collected by the State Gazetters Unit with the help of field staff from various departm~nts, (ii )

Th e Cha pter on 'Histor y' was scrutinized by the late Dr Buddha Pra kash of Kurukshe tra Universit y. Dr K. C. Khanna ex- ami ned the ent ire man uscript with a view to editing and impr ov ing it . Dr P. N. Chopra , Ed ito r,Dis trict Gaz etteers Unit , Government of India, gave us seve ra] useful sug gestions to im pr ove the quality of th e public ation. After the tr ansfe r of Shri Sudarshan Kumar ,Editor durin g the middle of proj ect, Shri B. Raj Bajaj, Edi to r, handled th e assi gnment with compete nce. My than ks are due to all these esteem ed coll- abo ra to rs .

Ch andi garh , v. P. Dhir, lAS, Mar ch 17 , 1976. State Ed it or Ga zettee rs and Deputy Se cretar y to Govern me nt, Harya na, Re ve nue Deptt. Loc ation , boundaries, are a and popul ati on Hi st ory of the di strict as an administra ti ve uni t Sub-division s, tahsils and than as Topog raph y ur al dra inage Ri ver sys tem Geo logy Econo mic mine rals- 9 10

12

13 17-51

The ancient period 17

The medi eva l peri od 20

The modern period 37

Uprising of 1857,-44 , Growth of politi cal stru ggle -47

53-111 Popul at ion 53

Language 59 Religious lif~ 6Q Sup erstition s

Fes ti va ls and fair s

So cial lif e So cial grou ps -74, Joi nt family sys tem-77 , Inheritance-78, Marr ia ge cu stom s and mo ral s-80, Other rituals and cu stom s-86 , Position of wo men- 87

ViIlages-89 , Dwe ll ings, Furniture ar nd utensil s-8 9, Dress and orn ament s-9 2, Faod -93

Folk cultu re -95, Games and rec rea ti ons-99, Gener al- 101 Rehabilit atio n

Intr oduction-l02 , Rura l rehab ilitation -l04, Agr icult uralla ans-l0 5, Ru ral housin g-l 05, Urba n re habi li tation -l0 6, Ho usin g sche mes-l 06, Small urban an d hou se buildi ng loans- l08, Payment of compensation-ll 0, Soci a-e con omic bl en d-II 0

Land Utilis ation 113 Irrig ation 118 Ca nal irrig ati on -120 , We ll irri gation- 128, Tank Irri ga ti on-131 ,Floo d-em bankments and margin al bun ds-1 32 Agri cultu re Soils-134 , crop s- 135, Fruit cro ps and ga rden s-1 40, Ag ric ult ur al implement s-141, Seed s-l 42 , Manu res and chem ica l fer tilizers - 144, Crop rotat ion -147 , Ag ricu ltura l pes ts and disea ses -14 8, Agri cul tur al co-ope rati ves- 150 Animal Hu sbandr y Cattle and buff \lloes -15 3, Sheep br ee di ng -l 57 Horses and ponies, do nkeys and mul es, po ultry farming and piggery-I58, Animal diseases and vet erinary hospitals -I 59, Dairy farming- I 60 Fisheries 161 Forestry 163 Natural calamities 166 Floods-I66, Famine-I69 Augmentation Canal Project 170(a) Haryana Milk Foods, 17 0(c) 171-18 7 Old-time ind ustries 171 Government assistance to industries 173 Source of power 175 New ind ustries and ma nufactures 176 Large and medi um-sca le indu stries -I 76, Small -scale indus tr ies -I??, Cottage and village in dus tries-I8 0, Handicrafts -182, Agro-based industries- 182, Town-w ise distribution of industr ie s- 183 Industrial labour 184 Industrial co-ope rati ve s 186 189-204

Banki ng and finance 189 Indigenous banking-189, Co-operative credit-191, Joint -stock banks- I93, Small savings-194, Currency !l nd coinage-I96 Trade and Commerce Regulated markets-197, Fairs-200, Co-operation in trade-20!, Consumer co-opera tive stores -202, State trading-202, Storag e and wa rehousing-202, Weights and measures-203 205-227 Roads and roa d transpor t 206 Road s-206, Nationa l highways-2 07, State highways -207, District minor roads-209, Canal inspection roads-2IO, Road transport-2 10, Passenger transport.210 , Goods transport by road-2I8 Railways 218 Rail road competition 219 Waterways, ferries and bridges 219 Civil aviation 221 Tourist facilities 223 Posts, telegraphs and telephones 224 Wireless station 227 229-242 Public services 229 Defence services 230 Educational personnel 231 Medical profession 232 Legal profession 232 Engineering services 234 Transporters 235 Personal services 236 Domestic services 238 Self-employed persons 239 CHAPTER IX-ECONOMIC TRENDS 243-267 Growth of agriculture 243 Growth of industry 247 Employment situation 253 Prices and wages 256 Community development 264 269-280 Administrative divisions 269 District authorities 271 Development organisation 273 General arrangement for disposal of business 274 Elections ~. 275 District Committees 275 Other State and Central Government Officers 276 Police 278 Judiciary 278 281-319 History of the revenue administration '' 281 Special assessment on land put to non- agricultural use Collection of land revenue 289 Revenue administration and land records 292 Land revenue and special cesses 295 Land reforms 301 Other sources of revenue, State as well as Central 305

Police 333 Jails and lock-ups 338 Justice 340 Civil courts-340, Criminal courts-342, Revenue courts-344, Bar associations-344

Public Works Department 347 Haryana State Electricity Board 352 Co-operative Department 354 Department of Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes 356 Finance Department 356 Public Relations Department 357 Fire Fighting Department 358 Food and Supplies Department 358 Planning Department 359 National Savings Organisation 359 Language Department 361 Central Soil Salinity Research Institute 362 Food Corporation of India 363 Department of Town and Country Planning, Urban Estates and Colonization 364 Rural Electrification 365 (v i)

CHAPTE R XIV-LOCAL GO VERNMENT 367-379 Histo ric al backgro und 367 Mun ic ip al committ ees: Ka rnal-3 68, - 369 , Kai th al- 37 0, Than es ar- 370, Shahab ad (Shahbad)-3 70,Peh owa -37 1, - 371, Rada ur -37 1, Pu ndri-372, Gharau nda-372 , Nilu Kh eri (Ni lo Kheri) Noti fi ed Ar ea Co mmit tee-372 Town pl an ning 372 Panchayati Raj 373 Panch ayats-3 75, Pan chayat Sami tis-3 76, Zila Pari shad -378

381-411 Hi stori ca l backg round 381 Edu ca tion of women 383 Educ ation al set-up 384 Educ ation (gen eral) 385 Pro fess io nal and technic al education 397 Med ical education- 400, Te achers ' trainin g-400, Techn ical educa tion-402

Education of the handic apped 406 Gurukul educ ation 406 Nation al Fitnes s Corps 407 National Cadet Corp s 408 Sports 408 Libraries and museums 409 Vijn an Mandir , Nilu Kheri (Nilo Kheri) 410

CHAPT ERXVI-M EDICAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICES

Medical and he alth services 414 Dise ases common to the di strict 420 Vi ta l st ati stics 426 Pr eve ntive mea sures to promote public health 428 General 435 (vii)

CHAPT ER XV II ..OTHE R SOCI AL SE RV ICES 437 -453 Labo ur we lfa re 437 Labour legis lation-438, Subsidized Industrial Hous ing Scheme-440, Emp loy ees ' Provident Funds Scheme-440, Employees ' State Ins urance Sche me-442 Socia l we lfa re 443 Adva nce ment of ba ckwar d classes 445 Use of intox ic ant s 451 CHAPTER XV III-P UB LIC LIF E AND VOLUNTARY SO CIAL SERVICE ORGANISA nONS

Represen tati on of the di st rict in the Stat e and Union Legis latu res Firs t Ge nera l Elect ion s-455 , Seco nd Ge neral El ecti on s-458, Th ir d Genera l Elec tion s-459, Fou rth Genera l Elections- 462 , Mid -t erm Elec tions-465 Political pa rties and orga ni satio ns 467 Newspape rs and pe riodicals 472 Vo lu nt ary soc ial service organisations 473 Organisations promoting welfare in general including recreation and spor ts-473, Organisations promoting co nstructive activities bas ed on th e Gandhiji's ideals of truth and non -vio lence-483, Organisatio ns promoting economic welfare-48 5, Organisations promo tin g educa tional welfare- 485, Organi satio ns offering medica l re lief-48G, Re ligio us organisat ions promo ting so cia l objectives -487

Am in-493, Asandh-494 , -494, Gul a (Guhl a) -4 95, In dri -49 5, Kaitha l- 495, Kala Am-499, Karnal -499 , Kunj pura-503 , Kuru ks hetra -503, Ladwa -512, Nilu Kheri (Nilo Kheri) -512, Pani pat -513 , Pe howa-51 6, Ph aral-518 , Pundri-518 , Sh ahabad (Sbahba d) -51 8, Siw an-520 , Tirawa ri (Tar ao ri)-520 , -521

Places of archaeologic al interest 524 Other leg endary pl aces 526 APPEN DI X 529- 642 Content s of Tabel s-529 , Tabl es I to LXIV-5 32 -64 ~ BIBLIO GRA PHY 643 -645 GLOS SA RY 64 7-6 50 lND EX 65 1-6 68 (viii) ILL USTRA nONS

A se ction of the pictoria l scroll , depicti ng th e featu res of We stern Jumna () Cana l from Karn al to De lhi and believ ed to ha ve been prepared in the reign of Shah Jahan (1627-1657); the deer are bein g hunted by a tiger in the vi cinit y of Karnal 669 Augmentation Canal , Karnal 670 Energi sa ti on of Tubew ells 671 Mec hani sa tion of ag riculture-H arv esting through a combine 672 Pa dd y gr ow ing in Kamal 673 Bump er crop of an. improved variety (Co. 975) of Sugarca ne 674 Karan Swiss 65 , the Pea k Milk Yi elder (43 kg daily) of Nat ional Dai ry Research In stitute, Kama l 675 Ca ttle fair at National Dairy Rese arch Institute, Kamal 676 An inne r view of the Dair y Cond ensing Plant. Kamal 677 A beautif ul specimen of car pets man uf actured at Panipat 67 7 Co-operative Sugar Mill s,Panip at 678 A view of the Chak rava rt y Lake at Uchana, Kamal, wit h 'W histl ing Te al' bar and res taur ant and the nine-su ite (do ubl e-b ed room s) tou ris t bung alow ove rlook ing th e la ke-a ha ven for touri st s 679 Blu e Jay, a tourist respit e, Sam alkha 680 Bus St and,Kamal 68 0 Ucha ni Tow er, th e Symbo l of 100 per cent rural el ectrific at ion in Hary ana 681 Wome n Soci al Welfar e Centre, Kamal 682 A renova ted sec ti on of the holy Kurukshetra Tank (B ra hm Sar or Br ahm Sarov ar) 683 San nih it Tank ,Tha nesa r 684 Panchay at Bh awan , Ka mal 685 A par t view of the Hal i Park, Panip at 686

MAPS (G ENERA LANDECO NOMIC ) ERRAT A ORIGIN OF THE NAME OF THE DI STRICT The di strict is named afte r the tow n of Kamal, which according to legends owes its foundation to Raja Karn r.1, the myt hi ca l champion of Kauravas in the epic war of Ma habharata. The fac t of it s having been the camping st ation of Kama duri ng the war is support ed by the exi stence of a tank called Kama Talab and a town gate afte r his name.

LOCATIO N, BOUNDARIES, AREA AND POPULATION Location. - The distr ict 2 lies on th e easte rn edge of the Harya na between 29 ° 09' 50 " and 30 ° 15' 15" nort h lat itude, and 76 ° 10' 10 " and 77 ° 17' OS6 east longitude.

Boundaries. -The di stric t is bo unded on the east by ri ve r Yamun a which separates it from the Saharanpu r, Mu za fL~ rn agar and Meerut districts of the ; on the north by th e Ambala di strict, and the Patiala district of th e Punjab; on the west by the di strict , and the Patiala district of the Punjab ; and on the south by th e district .

Area. -At the time of the 1904 -09 Se tt lement , the area of the district was

1. "Kama was the son of Pritha or Kunti by Surya, the sun, before her marriage to Pandu . Kama was thus half-brother of the Pandavas, but his relationship was not known to them till after his death. Kunti on one occasion paid such attention to the sage Durvasa, that he gave her a charm by virtue of which she might have a child by any god she preferred to invoke. She chose the sun, and the result was Kama, who was born equipped with arms and armour ." (John Dowson, A Cla ssical Dictionary of Hindu Mytholog y and Religion, Geography, Hi story and Lit erature, 1913, p. 150.) 2. The Kamal district has been bifurc at ed on Januar y 23 , 1973, and the new district of Kurukshetra comprising the tah sils of Thanes ar, Gula (Guhla) and , has been carved out of it. In this adjustment , 77 villages, formerly in the Kaithal tahsil, have been shifted to the adjoining areas, viz. 22 to the Kamal tahsil of the Kanial district ; 44 to the Jind tahsil ,S to the Saffidon tahsil and 6 to the Narwana tahsil of tho .. 3,124 square miles (8,091.1 square kilometres). Minor changes due to riverain action of the Yamuna continued to occur in the area of the district till 1949. Under the Provinces and States (Absorption of Enclaves) Order, 1950, 32 villages of this district were transferred to erstwhile Patiala and East Punjab States Union. In 1951, another 6 villages of Khadar area of the Kamal tahsil were transferred to Uttar Pradesh due to a major change in the course of the Yamuna. The area of 38 villages so transferred was 48 square miles (124.3 square kilometres). In 1960, 7 villages of the Gula (Guhla) sub-tahsil (now tahsil) comprising an area of about 11 square miles (28.5 square kilometres) were transferred to the . Eight villages of Uttar Pradesh were added to this district due to river action, viz. 3 having an area of 14 square miles (36.3 square kilometres) were added to the Panipat tahsil in 1961 while 5 (4 in 1965 and 1 in 1969) comprising an area of 4 square miles (10 .4 square kilometres) to the Kamal tahsil .

The area of the district at present (1972), as reported by the Deputy Commissioner, Kamal, is 3,101 square miles (8,031.6 square kilometres). However, the Central Statistical Organisation, Department of Statistics, Government of India, put the area of the district at 7,932 square kilometres. In size, the district ranks second among the seven districts of the State. Its maximum breadth from east to west is 68 miles (109 .43 kilometres) while its maximum north-south extension is 84 miles (135.18 kilometres).

PopuIation.-The total population of the district according to the 1951 Census was 10,79,379 persons , of which the rural population accounted for

8,76,067 and the urban for 2,03,312 persons. I The population according to 1961 Census was 14,90,430 persons (12,34 :83 S rural and 2,55,592 urban). It showed an increase of 38.34 per cent over th e las t decade.

HISTORY OF THE DISTRICT AS AN ADMINISTRATIVE UNIT Kamal is a land of hoary antiquity and legendary traditions. It has been a battle-field of India from the time of .

The first record of the administrative division of the district is found in Ain-i-Akbari. Akbar divided his kingdom into subas which were sub-divided into sirkars, dasturs and . The whole of what is now Kamal dis- trict was included in suba . Most of it was in sirkar Delhi but some por- tion of it also lay in sirkar Saharanpur, sirkar (Hissar) and sirkar Sirhind. Thus parts of the district, as we know it today, were originally included in the

1. This figure of total population for 1951 was adjusted to 10,77,381 persons at the 1961 Census according to the territorial jurisdiction of the district prevailing in 1961 . neighbouring administrative units and it was only gradually that the district emer ged in it s present form. To ge t a clear er id ea, we may further study the di strict as consisting of two porti ons wit h a di stin ct admin is tr ati ve histor y up to 1862 . When the Britis h took ove r th e area aft er th e Tre aty of Surji Arjungaon in 1803, the por tion comp risin g th e pr esent Panip at ta hsil and a part of the Karnal tahsil beca me a part of the Delhi terr itor y. Thi s area was expressly excluded from th e pur view of the Bengal Reg ul atio ns. In 1819, the was reorga ni sed into four part s whi ch were the beginning s of the districts of Delhi , Roht ak, Gurg aon and Hisar (Hi ssa r) . The Panip at district, including the area of Panip at, Karnal and Sonepat, was formed as the fifth district in the reo rg ani sa tion of 1824 . In 1832, the se five districts were included in the No rth-W est ern Provinces. In 1851, the Panip at di strict was divided into Panipat and Karnal tah sil s with tahsil headqu arter s at Panipat and Gharaunda' respectively. Ab out th ree year s later, the hea dqu arters of the district were shifted to Karnal . In 1858, th e Karn al dis trict , alon g with the other portion of the Delhi territory, lyin g nor th of the Yamun a, was tra nsferred from the North-Western Provinces to the Pun ja b. Th is is the backgro und of one part of the administrative history of the distric t.

The other porti on of the dist rict was par celled out among various Sikh chiefs an d co nfe deracies who had rise n to po wer on the de cline of the Mughal emp ire and had esta bli shed independ ent principalitie s. Kaithal lapsed to the British Govern ment in 1849, a part of Th ane sa r (held by Bhag Singh) in 1832 and the res t of it (he ld by Bhanga Sin gh) in 1850, and Ladwa in 1846. The Br it ish Gove rnm en t org ani sed these lapse d territor ies into the Thanesar district in 1849 . This dis tri ct was bro ke n up in 1862 and the are a distributed between the dist ri cts of Kam al and Amb ala. The pargan as of Gul a (Guhla), Pehowa, Kaith al,Indri and a part of Th anesa r were in cluded in the and th e re maind er was all otte d to Ambala. In 1866, Pehowa was trans- ferred fr om Karn al to th e Amb ala di st rict . It was transferred back to the Karnal di strict (14 villag es in 1875 and the rem aining 89 in 1888) and in cluded in the Kaith al tahsil . The Pipl i tahsil, which had been transferred to the Ambala district in 1862 , came back to the di strict in 1897, and the headquarters of the tahsil were shi fted to Th ane sa r th e same year . A sub-tahsil at Gula (Guhla) wa s crea ted in 1890 and th e Ka ith al tahsil was formed into a sub-division unde r the charg e of a Sub-D ivis ional Offic er in 1896. Th e subsequent change s in the compo sition of the distric t, which occ urr ed durin g the fo llowin g seven de ca de s, though of a minor nature , are de scri bed be low:

1901 to 1911. - The district lost one vil lage to the Muz affa magar di strict (Utt ar Pr ade sh) and gained one vi ll age from the Sa haranpu r di st ri ct (U tta r Pr adesh).

1911 to 1921. -So me sma ll tra nsfers took pl ac e be tw een thi s di strict and Utta r Pra des h du e to river act ion, bu t no vill ag e as a whole was lost or 2ain ed.

1931 to 1941 .- Th e dee p str ea m of the Yamun a was decl ared to be the bound ary betwe en the Kamal di stri ct on the one si de and the Muza ffa rnagar and Meerut di strict s of Utt ar Pr ades h on the oth er vide Government of India, Home Department , no tificat ion No. F.350 j33, dated Decemb er 14 , 1933. The bound ary betwee n th e Kam al di st rict and the Sah aranpur di strict of Utt ar Pr ade sh was, how eve r, to be the vil lag e boundari es . Ther e were some ver y min or ch anges betwee n thi s dist ri ct an d Ut tar Pr ade sh.

1941 to 1951 .-U nde r th e Prov in ces and Sta te s (Ab so rp tion and En claves) Order , 1950, the distr ict lost 32 vi ll ages to er stw hil e PEPSU . In 1951, an other 6 vi ll ag es of Kha dar area of th e Ka mal ta hsi l wer e tr ans ferred to Ut tar Pr ades h du e to riv er actio n.

1951 to 1961 .-In 196 0, seve n vi llages of the Gul a (Guhl a) ta shil (then a sub ·ta shil of the Kaitha l tahsil) were exc lud ed fr om the distri ct and add ed to th e Amb ala dist ri ct.

1961 to 1969.- The di stri ct ga ined 8 vill ages of Uttar Pr adesh due to riv er act ion, viz. 3 in 196 1 we re added to the Panipat tahsil while 4 in 1965 and 1 in 196 9 to the Kamal tas hsil .

Gula (Guhl a), a sub-t ahsil of th e Kaithal tahsil, was raised to the status of a tahsil on Augu st 13 , 196 8.

SUB-DI VISIO NS, TAH SILS AND THA NAS Th e di str ic t compr ises fiv e tahsil s namely ,Kamal , Panipat, Th ariesar, Kaith al and Gul a (Guhl a). The sub-d iv isions ha ve been created at Kamal, Kaith al, Panip at and Th anesa r. Gul a (Guhl a) tah sil is under the Sub- Divis io nal Off ic er, Ka ith al. Kaith al sub-d ivision was formed in IS96 while th e rem ai nin g three sub-d iv isions were cre ated in the pos t-Independen ce per iod, viz. Panipat in 1955, Th anesar in 196 0 and Karn al in 1964.

There are 22 thanas and 8 po li ce pos ts for polic e admini str ation . Their detai ls may be seen in the Ch apter on 'Gener al Admini st rati on'.

TOPOGRA PHY Th e entire di st ri ct is a part of th e Punj ab pl ai n and app ea rs monoton ous ly flat to a lay man, but inten sive stud ies on a large sca le reve al sig nific ant va ri a- tio ns in th e confi guration of sur face. On th e bas is of the se vari ations it is poss ibl e to divi de the di str ict into severa l localit ies whic h are dis tin ct from one anot her in thei r reli ef feat ur es.

Th e dist ric t may be di vi ded into two regio ns dema rca ted by a water shed runn ing north- sou th at a dista nc e vary in g betwe en 6 and 12 mil es (10 and 20 kil ometres) fr om th e Yam una , hardl y per ce ptibl e to th e eye, wh ich de- termi nes th e dr ai nage of th e area. The inl and Ch auta ng st re am and th e which dr ain s into the Gh agg har ri ve r lie to the wes t of this waters hed. The wate rs of the area to the east of th e wa ter shed dr ain in to the Yamuna. Th eir flow passes near Kamal and th en foll ows the line of the eas tern ca nal di stributa ry.To the east of th is wa tershed th e land is in clin ed toward s the Ya mun a; to th e wes t th e in clin ation is bot h westward and sout hward. The west ward fall in altitud e is from ab out 850 feet (259 metres) in the north ern parts of th e wate rshed to about 760 feet (232 metres) alon g the weste rn bou nd ary of the distric t, showi ng an ave ra ge fall of about 2 feet per mile (0 .38 met re per ki lome tre ). Th e so uthwa~d dec rease in altitude going below 750 fe et (229 met res) also gives a 2 feet- a-m ile fall in slope . The ' are a west of th e wa tershed is di visibl e into tw o di stinct ph ys io graphic part s, thu s splitting the di strict into three portion s: the Khadar, the upland plain , and the low- lying areas .

The Kh adar. -Th e excur sion s of the Yamun a extend wi thin one mile (1.6 kilo met re s) of the wat er shed and thi s area is known as the Khadar. It is a low -lyin g ri ver ain tra ct ex tending up to the bro ad sandy bed of the ri ver with ligh t soil s and wat er clo se to the surf ace . The Yamuna has swept ov er th e whole of it with incomparativel y rec ent time s. The Khadar is a flood pl ain formed by the Yamun a alon g its cour se. Aft er th e rainy sea son th e recedin g flood s le ave a lot of fin e si lt whic h is ea sy to culti vat e and whic h remain s we t for mo st part of the year. For this reaso n th e soi ls of this trac t seld om suf fer from reall y dr y con ditio ns. In fa ct , qu it e of te n too much water in the soil is the main pr obl em. Th es e co nd itions are mo st suitable for rice and su ga rca ne cultivation . In parts, veg etables are also grown. Because of the vuinerabiiity of this tract to flooding, the villages, generally small and sparsely spread, are situated on higher ground. The Khadar is generally about 20 feet (6 me tres) lower than the upland plain, and within the Khadar tract the altitude gradually decreases to the south, the average fall being 2 feet per mile (0.38 metre per kilometre). Because the land is easy to cultivate and water is abundant, there is still considerable scope for extension of cultivation in this tract . The vegetation cover consists mainly of grass and scrub with only scattered trees here and there .

The Upland Plain.- The upland plain is not a uniformly level area. Instead, it is inclined to the south and south-west . East-west sections drawn on the topographical sheets indicate that immediately west of the Khadar is a sort of hump in the configuration of surface of the district covering Thanesar Bangar , Indri Bangar, Kamal Bangar and Panipat Bangar assessment circles. The Bangar zone is 5 to 10 miles (8 to 16 kilo metres) in width. Within this zone the land is relatively flat . It is to the west of this zone that inclination to the south and south-west starts. Bangar is irrigated by wells and canals and IS a prosperous agricultural area.

West of the Ban gar tract is the where water-table has been deep till recently. It was an open plain covered with various grasses and dhak trees until a large part of this area was reclaimed and brought under the plough. About two-thirds of the dis trict is covered by Bangar and Nardak. This is made of old alluvium.

The Low-Lying Areas.-It includes the areas of Markanda Bet and Naili circle. The conditions of soil and surface here are very much like those of the Yamuna Khadar. The Bet along the Markanda stream is a low-lying flood plain. It has clayey loam soil . In dry season this soil is hard and crack- ing, whereas during the rainy season it is wet and sticky. Till irrigation was introduced in recent years , the land had been lying waste. Then a quick process of reclamation began. Naili circle is a low-lying area along the Saraswati stream. It suffers from poor drainage during the rainy months. In this area rice has emerged as a main cash crop. The new settlers in the area have brought significant chan~es in the use of the land.

Much of the natural drainage of the northern parts of the Kamal dis- trict sloping towards the south-west is determined by streams emerging from the foot of the lower Shiwalik hills which bring down heavy floods during the ~ monsoon monthS. This has necessitated vast schemes of drainage syst em .' Waters of the ent ire north ern part of the district col lect in the Nail i circ le du ring the rainy se ason th rough several seasona l streams like Umla , a trib utary of the Ghagghar , the Mar ka nda , the Choya , the Linda and the Chaut ang floo ding the low-lying areas.

RI VER SYS TEM The distric t is bo rdered on the east by the Yamuna and on the nort h- west by the Ghaggh ar. Th e Yamun a re ceive s dr ain ag e from a nar row zone on it s wes tern side wh ereas th e Gh ag gh ar rec eives dr ainage of a large part of the Th anesar tahsil and the northern part of the Kaith al tahsi l. In between th e two ri ve rs, th ere is a th ird bu t small stre am, the Ch autan g (inl and ), which runs indep endently onl y to lo se it self nea r Asandh.

The Yam una. -The Yam una pierces th e Shiw alik s 95 mil es (153 kilo- metr es ) from its sour ce at Khar a, and sep arates th e Amb ala and Kamal di stri cts in Haryana fro m Sahar an pur and Muz affa rnaga r in the Uttar Prade sh. The riv er en ters the Kamal distri ct 2 kilometres north of vill age Nakom and 1t kilom etre s east of vi ll age Ramgarh. It le ave s th e di stri ct about } kil o- metre south -we st fro m village Kako r Khurd and 2 kilo metres eas t of vil lage Garhi Ja t. Its leng th in the Kamal di st ri ct is 142 ki lometr es (a pprox imatel y) and averag e br ea dth (di stance between two high banks) 14 6 metr es (a ppr ox im at el y). Ri ver Yamun a has a gre at hi story mostl y shro uded in my ste ry. Th e name Yam una is menti oned in connect ion with Dasa rj ana, th e battle of the Ten King s menti oned in the Rigv

The Yamun a gradual ly drif ted eastward to the pres ent line of flow. Not long ago it use d to flow in the bed of the Burh i Nadi whic h at present ru ns

1. Refer to Chapter on 'Agric ult ure and Irri gat ion' for a de tailed descri pti on of the drai na ge scheme > exe cut ed as meas ure s of flood pr otection . 2. There are bot h phys ical and his torica l gro und s for this belief. (R. C. Maj umdar, The Hi sto ry and Cult Hr e of the Indian People , Volum e I, The Ve dic Age , 19 65, p. 87) al ong the wes ter n margi n of the Khad ar. The pre senc e of ox- bow lakes in th e Khad ar is indi cativ e of th is east ward dri ft of the river, and th e ava il able recor ds also support the vie w th at about four hundr ed yea rs ago, Karn al ~nd Pani pa t were sit uated on the bank of this river. Burhi Na di has bee n known in the recent pas t to flow regul arly in fl ood times, th e floods pas sing from the ri ver abov e vill age Dh ansa uli (t ahsil Pan ip at) and ru nning down the old bed as far as Delhi in some part s, the last oc cas ion being in 186 4. Lat er, the ri ve r sudd enl y ch ange d its co ur se in some parts whil e in others it gradu all y re treat ed . Now the Yamun a see ms to hav e st abilised its co ur se an d there 11 ave been no signifi can t cha nges in it du rin g rece nt deca des.

The Gha ggha r.-- Th e ri ve r which onl y to uches the north -wes te rn borde r of the Kama l dis tric t rece ives drain age of a large part of it . It enter s the Kamal di st ri ct 1~ kil omet res nor th-ea st of village Pha phr ala and ! kil ome tre so uth- wes t of vi!l ag e Jaw alap ur. It leav es th e distr ict one kil ometr e so uth - eas t of vill age Ratanh eri and 2 kil ometre s west of vill age Rat ta Khera Lu qman. It aga in ent er s th e dist rict one kil omet re nor th of vi ll age Up lana and one kilomet re so uth- west of vill age Arn et u and leaves the distri ct 21 ki lometr es north of vill age Chic harwa la and 2 kilometres so uth -we st of vi ll age Up lana. Th e length of ri ve r Gh aggha r in the di str ict is 38 kil ometre s (a pp rox im ately) and ave rage breadt h 50 met res (a pproxi mately). The Gh agghar is sai d to hav e be en a mi ghty ri ver sys tem in th e pas t. Alth ough in itse lf a sma ll strea m coming dow n the lowe r sec ti ons of the hill s, it s two major trib utar ies , th e Satluj on the west and the Ya mun a on th e eas t, were perenni al st rea ms fe d by snow-clad ranges of the Himalaya s. It is said that at one ti me an adva nced civili za tion had devel oped alon g its lower cour se, mainl y be ca use of ab un dant wate r- supply ava il able from the ri ver fo r irri gation . With the di smember me nt of th e ri ver, thi s civi liza tion also de clin ed. The pres ent bed of the ri ve r is mu ch too wide for the small vo lume of wate r see n in it dur ing th e year . With thi s vo lume of water the ri ve r could neve r have carved out such a wide va lle y, and also could not maint ain its fl ow thr ough the arid areas of th e sub conti nent re aching th e Rann of Kutch. Precisely wh at caused the des icc ation and when , is a que stion which de se rves a thorough scientific inve stig ation. However , the two important stre ams now draining the northern par t of the Kama! di'strict and flowing into the Gh agg har are the Mark and a and the Sarasw ati . The Ma rk and a.-I t is a seas onal str eam and take s its ori gin in the lower Shiw alik hill s. Wh en in spate during the rainy season , it poses a seriou s threat to villages si tu ated along its ba nk s and causes con sid erabl e dam age to the standing crops . It ent ers the district near Damli village (tahsil Thanes ar) and pas ses near Shahab ad (Sh ahbad) . After fl ow ing in the sou th -w es terly di rec tion fo r abo~t 48 kilometre s it joins Gh agghar river. ]

The Saraswati. -The Sa raswat i enters the Kamal di stri ct one kilo- metre south of vill age Mu stafa bad R.S . and ! kil om etr ~ north -e ast of village Gond hni. It le aves the distr ict! ki lometre nort h- eas t of vi ll age Baharjachh and! kil ome tre wes t of vill age An dh ali. It s leng th in the district is 160 kilometre s appro xima tely and its bre adth vari es from 15 to 40 me tres . '(Ri ve r Sara swati has been ref err ed to as the river par ex cell enc e and occu rs mos t frequ entl y in the Ri gl 'eda. It seem s to have bee n the holy st re am of the Vedic age . It is possib le that it was as large as the Sat luj in th e Vedi c ag e, and act uall y re ac hed the sea , as the RigveCla desc ribes it as go ing dow n to th e ocea n. It was th e fir st of the Vedic river s and its bank s witn essed the dev el op- ment of the Vedic sa cr ifices . It is believ ed th at befor e the dismem berm ent of the Gh ag gh ar river sys te m, the Yamu na us ed to fl ow into the bed of th e Sa ra swati . At pre sent the Saraswat i is an in sign ific ant stre am beg inn in g in a large depre s- sion at Kut awar in th e nort h of Mustafa bad (Am bala dis trict ) and carr ying wa ters of th e Kun dla and th e Ch autan g. Thro ugh mos t of its course it has no defi ned bed. Th e Saraswa ti and it s num ero us sma ll tribut aries dr ain a large part of th e Th anes ar tahsi l and ove rspill thei r wa ters in the low-lying Naili circle though th eir floods rarely extend to any di stance . It outf alls into Bibipur lake, wherefro m thro ugh Sarasw at i dra in it jo ins Para, a tributary of the Gh agg har. The .- Ap art fro l11 a smali Ch auta ng Nadi which rise s in the Shiwalik hill s, enters th e Kam al di st ri ct and joi ns the Sar as wati at Bhaini (Th anes ar tahsil), th ere is an indep ende nt inl and but seaso nal Chautang Na ll ah . It st rart s a few kil omet res north of Chh ac hhr auli (Amb ala di strict) and fl ows on to th e sou th- west and lo ses it se lf nea r As andh .

GEOLOGY The Kamal di str ict offers nothi ng of ge ologic al intere st. It is entirely covered by alluvial depo sits of qu atern ary to recent age , which consist of clay and sand with kankar (ca lca reou s conc entr ation s) . Beds of gravel and cement ed sand are occ asion ally present with the unconsolidated sand. The thickness of the alluvium is not kn own even approximately , but it is reasonably certain th at it is a few hund red me tres thick throu ghou t. Economic mineral s.- Th e di st rict is we ll know n for th e sever al occur- renc es of sa ltpetre whi ch is of econom ic imp or tance. The ordin ary potter's clay which is a comm on fea tu re in the allu via l pl ain s is used for the manu - facture of earthen wares and bri cks. The depth of water in general has bee n found to va ry fr om 6 to 7 metres below land surfac e. The water- table el evation dec lines from north-e ast to south -ea st and is a ~ughly sub -parall el to the region al slop e of the country . The ground water in Sh ahab ad (Sh ahbad ), Pipli and Ladwa are as occurs in a thick zone of sa tur atio n from or within a few metre s of land surf ace to a dep th as yet unkno wn. The wate r in gene ral is low in chlo ride but high in bic arbona te and tot al hardness. The wat er is pota bl e and is con sid ered suitabl e for irrigation . Its to tal har dn ess being hi gh, the water is con sidered unsuitable for launderin g purp oses beca use of co mp arati vely hi gh consump- tion of soap. Other wise wit h only a few exce ptions, it ca n be use d for all normal purpose s.

The flora of th e Kamal di strict is very li ttl e know n. As in the adjoinin g di strict , Kamal also has a rich all uvia l so il and conseq uently th e veg etation is fairly ri ch bo th in den si ty an d in the numb er of species. Du e to exten sive culti vation very li ttl e of the nat ur al fore sts is left over . Th ese forests , wherever pr esent, are of th e open dr y dec iduous sc rub con si sting of the foll owing shrub s and trees :-But es monosperma (Dhak) , Balan ites aegyptiaca (Hi ngo t) , Sal vadora Ol eoid es (Ja!) , Di ospy rg;. co rdif olia (Kain du), Pro sopi s cin eraria (Jand ), Zi zyp hus nummula ria (Jha r), Z. jujuba , Z. oe nop li a, Kir ganelia reti cu lata , Cl ero de ndru m phl omid is (Arni ), Alh ag i ps eudalha gi (Ja wasa) , Acacia nil oti ca (Kikar , Babu! ), A. leuc op hl oea , A. mo desta , Capparis dec idua (Kair) , Adhat oda vasica and specie s of Indigo[ era (Nee l), Euphorbia, Ip omaea (Kaladana) , Opuntia (N agphan i), etc. Ass oci ated with th es e trees and shrub s are foun d shrubb y climb ers such as Pergularia daemi a (Karial , Sial i, Trotu ), Cappari s sepiaria (Hins) , Ox ystelma esc ulentwn (Dhutlata , Gani), Cocculus pendulu s (Vallur , Par watti) , M aerua ovalifolia , Coc cinia cordifolia (Kanhuri, Jangli par val ), etc. Durin g the monsoon a number of herbaceous pl ants app ea r as und ergro wth in the jungles . Th es e include Comm elina benghal ensis (Kan na, Kan shura) , Dig era muri cata , Tephro sia hamiltonii, Tribulu s terrestris (Gokhru , lotak), Trianth ema portula castrum (Bishkapra), A ch yranthe s aspera (Latj ora, Chi chra), etc. Acacia milotica (Kikar) and Phoeni x sy lv estri s (Khajur) are ver y common in swampy or marshy localities and in low lying area s. Tamari x articulata (Fm 'ash) is common in saline areas wh ere hardly any other tree can grow. Sal sola fo etida (Lana) and Suaeda fruti cosa (Moti lana) are the common herbs in saline are as. Dalbergia sissoo (Shi sam) is exten sivel y planted along canal bank s and ro ad-sides. Som e of the ot her pi a Jilted species alon g ca nal banks and ro ad-sides in clude Millingtonia horten si s (Akas Nim), Ailan thus excelsa (Aruna , Maharukha) , Pro so pis jul iflora (Jand Kanda), Inga dulcis (Vila yati Imli ), Acaci a leuco phl oea (N imbar) , Albi zia lebbeck (Sirish) , Azadirachta indica (N im ), Cass ia fis tula (A malt as ), Moru s al ba (Tut) and species of Eu cal ypt us, etc. Ficus reli gios a (Pee pa l) and Fi cus henghalen sis (Badh) are often pl anted near vill ages and the peo pl e look upo n th ese tree s with religious fer vou r. Zi ziphu s maur atian a (Ba er) , Man gifera in dic a (Am) and Sy zgium jambolanum (Jamun) are the chief fruit tr ees . Other common tree s which are either pl ante d or self sow n in clude Salmafia ma labari ca (S ee mul) , Moringa oleifera (Sainjna) , De/onL y regia (Poin cia na regi a, Golm ur) Putranjil 'a ro x- burgh ii, Terminalia mjun a (Arjun) , Cordi a dichot oma (C. myxa , Lasora), Bauhinia I'arie gata (Kachnar) , etc . Irri ga ted forest planta tions ha ve been taken up rece ntl y in the di stric t to meet th e demand for fuel woo d and timber for furnitur e, sport s goods indu str y, paper pulp , elec tric poles , etc . The main pl anta ti on block is the Saraswat i Pl antatio n ne ar Peho wa in Gula (Guhl a) tahsi l, rai sed wit h species of Eu cal ypt us, Dalb ergia sissoo, Acacia nil ot ica, and Moru s alba. In was te land s are found Cal otr opi s procera (Ak), Xanthium strumarium (Chota dhatura) , Datura met el (Dhatura) , Argemone me xicana (Satyana shi) , et c.

There are severa l med icina l plants of loca l reput e in the di strict whi ch include Boer haal 'ia diffusa (Puna rma), Sida cord if olia (B ala), Withania so mni fera (Asw agan dh), Vite x negund o (Nigundi , Si mbhalu), Ph ysa li s minima (Tulati-p ati, Kaknaj ), Art em isia sc opari a (Pilaj an , Da nt i), Crotalaria medi- ca gin ea (Gu labi), Ch enopod ium ambros ioides, Ma lothri a made raspatana (Gwala Kak ri), Oxystelma esc ul entum (Dhutl at a, gan i), Phyllanthu s niruri (lara amla ), Tr ibul us terres tris (Gok ru , !otak), Ad hatoda I'asica (A dulasa) , etc.

Th e aqu at ic flowe rin g pl ants are poor ly represe nt ed. In pond s, lakes and ca nals are foun d Valli sne ria spir al is (S awala , syal a) , Hyd ril la I'erti- ciliata (Janjh , jala) , Potam ogeton sp., Cerat oph yllum demer sum, Utricularia sp., etc. Azo ll a pin nat a is a float in g aqu ati c fer n which sometimes co vers pond s and pool s. Mars il ea, anoth er aq uat ic fe rn , is generally found on water margi ns .

In the cult ivated fie lds Aesc hynome ne indic a, Conl 'o!l 'u!u s Gnen sis, Crotalaria me dicagin ea (Gul abi), Eu phorbi a hirta (Dhut i), Euphorbia dra cun cul o ides (Kangi) and Asp hod e!us tenuifo liu s (Pia zi) amon g others are found as wee ds.

Or oban ch e in dica (S ar sum ban da ) is a common ro ot parasite on mu stard pl ant s and it does conside rabl e harm to the crop. Ci stanche tubul osa is also a root parasi te co mmonl y fo und on Cal ot ropis procera durin g Feb ruary -M arch. Oth er para sItIc angios per ms include Cuscuta rcf lexa (N i/ athari, Zarbu ti), and Cusc uta hyal ina .

$accharum spo nt anewn (Sarkal 'a) Eri anth ils mun}a (Munj) and Des l1Io s- ta chya bipinnata (Dab) are three impo rta ;, L grasses of the area . Th e leaves of th es e are use d for thatc hi ng hut s. Bask et s, chair s, screens, etc ., are made from the ste m of sarkar a. Mun} fib re is st rong an d is use d in making ro pes, strin gs and mattin gs. The fibre of dab is inferio r to th at of munj . Ve tiveri a ziza nioides (Khus- Kh us) and Typ ha e/eph ant ina are ofte n found in water- logged areas and along ca nal b:lJ1ks. Trapa bispi nosa (Sing har a) is cul tiv ated in wate r ponds. The co mm on fodd er grasses includ e Cynodon dact .l' /oll (Dub /u), Cymbop ogon jll'ara ncusa (A njan), Dicha nthi unz annu/at um (P a/wa), Heteropogon contortu oS (Sar ala ), Ech inoc hl oa colonum (Sanwak) , Cenchrus species and species of Sporobo /us. Othe r grasses fo un d are spec ies of Dacty locte niuln , Ar istida, etc .

There was a tim e when dense ju ngles of Ka mal harb our ed var ious kind s of wild bird s and animals. But with the growth of communic ation s, clear ance of jungle s, in cre ase in ir rig atio n fac ili ties and ext ension of culti- vat ion, the ric h stocks have cons iderab ly dwi ndle d; nonet heless the di strict st ill holds a good posit ion as regar ds the stoc k of wild -life. In th e Kaith al tah sil an d th e area bordering lin d terri tory, bl ac k buck , ni/ gai and chink ara are st ill avai lable, though not in pl enty. Hog deer which was once quite abund ant in swa mpy parts and al ong th e banks of the Yamuna , is now avail ab le in traces only. Grey part ridges are su ff iciently ava il able throu gh- out ex cep t in Khadar. Black part rid ges are foun d along the banks of can al irri ga ted and river ain areas . Ha re ar e com mo nly available . Peafowl is abundan tly ava il abl e in the cul tiva ted fi eld s in gro oves and orchards. Blue rock pi ge on s are also co mm on ly noti ce d. Common qu ail comes with the rip en in g of whea t cr op, as usua l. The jhee ls abou nd in ducks and geese. The pintail , mall ard, poc hard shove ll er, tea ls, comb du ck, spotbil and goo se are the co mm on sp eci es of du cks ava il abl e.The grey leg goo se is to be found on th e large marshes and th e blac k bar red-go ose is to be see n on river- side . Th e com mon and jac k sn ipe are also ava il abl e in ric e fi el ds. The pelican s, cranes, he rons, bitt erns an d many so rt s of wad ers co ver jhe els; saras and kunj are pa rti cul ar ly conspicu ous.

In old times, li ons and tigers we re not un comm on in this district . The Nardak area was on ce a fav ourite spot of th e Mugh al emperor s for hunting lion s and tiger s. Fr ancois Berni er states that lion s which were scarce in India exce pt in Kathi awar were st ill found in thi s area and th at lio n hun tin g as a sport was the privil ege of the Emper ors. I As late as 1827 , Archer 2 say s th at lion s were som etimes seen within a 20-mile (32-kilometre) radius of Kama l while tige rs we re excee dingl y numerous in it s immedi ate vicini ty· . Th ese hav e compl ete ly di sa pp ea red now . Jack als, of co ur se, abound and are res ponsi bl e for much damage in the fi eld s.

Thr ee sa nctuaries pro viding complete pr ote ction and res t to partridge, peafow l, hog dee r, wild boa r, blu e bull and bl ac k bu ck ha ve been es ta blished at Theh Mujibullah , Bir Baras wan and Bir Kohli Kh era to en sure ad equ ate repr odu cti on.

CLIMATE The climate of the di stri ct is char acterised by extreme dryness of the air with an inten se ly hot summer and a cold winter . It is onl y during the thr ee mo nsoon month s of Jul y, August and September that the moi st air of oce anic origin pen etr ates into the district . The year may be divided into four se as on s. Th e cold sea son is from mid-November to about mid - March. It is foll ow ed by hot season which con tinues to about the end of Ju ne. The perio d from Jul y to about mid-Sept emb er is th e south-west mon- soo n sea so n, aft er which a period of one month co nsti tut es the transition peri od fro m the monsoon to winter ·conditions.

RainfaIl.-R ecor ds of rainf all in the di strict are ava il able for six stat ions for peri ods ran ging from 77 to 99 year s. The details of the rainfall at these stat ions and for the di strict as a whole are given in Table I of Ap pe nd ix. Th e average annu al rainfall in the district is 568 .7 mm and ge nerall y incr eases from sou th-we st to north-e as t. About 81 per cent of the norm al annu al rainf all in the district is received during June to September, Jul y bei ng th e rain ies t month . Some rain is also recei ved during the cold seaso n in associat ion with pas sing wes tern disturbances.

The variation in the annual rainfall from year to year is large. In the fift y year period from 1901 to 1950, the highest annual rainfall amounting

1. Fra nc oi s Bern ier , Tra vel s in th e Mo gul Empi re, 1891 , pp. 37 8-79. 2. Archer 's Tour s in Upper India and in parts of the Himalayan Mountains , 183 3. 3. In a pictor ial scroll, depict ing the features of Western Jumna (Yamuna) Canal from Kamal to Delhi and bel ieved to have been prepared in th e reign of Shah Jahan (1627- 1657), the deer are being hunted by a tieer in the vi cin ity of KarnaI . See illu st ration . to 171 per cent of the normal occurred in 1942 while the lowest rainfall which was only 46 per cent of the normal, occurred in 1938. In the san1e period, the annual rainfall in the district was less than 80 per cent of the normal in 10 years. Consecutive two and three years of rainfall less than 80 per cent of the normal have occurred once each. Two consecutive years of such low rainfall occurred 5 times at Rajaund during these 50 years. Even 4 consecutive years of such low rainfall occurred once each at Kamal, Gula (Guhla) and Thanesar . It will be seen from Table II of Appendix that the annual rainfall in the district - was between 400 and 700 mm in 36 years out of 50.

On an average there are 30 rainy days (days with rainfall of 2.5 mm or more) in a year . This number varies from 18 at Rajaund to 35 at Kamal .

The heaviest recorded rainfall in 24 hours was 269.70 mm at Kamal on August 21, 1952.

Temperature.- There is a meteorological observatory at Kamal . For the purpose of the following description, records of this observatory as well as the data of the neighbouring stations outside the district may be taken as re- presentative of the meteorological conditions in the district in general . The cold season generally starts by about mid-November when temperatures begin to decrease rapidly. January is generally the coldest .month with the mean daily maximum temperature at 20. 2°C and the mean daily minimum at 7. O°e. In association with eastward passage of westem disturbances in the cold season, cold waves affect the district and the minimum temperature some- times goes down to about a degree or so below the freezing point of water . From about the middle of March temperatures begin to rise rapidly. May and June are the hottest months with the mean daily maximum temperature at about 40 °C. From about April, hot westerly winds, locally known as luh begin to blow and the weather progressively becomes hot and trying. In May and June the maximum temperature may sometimes go above 45 °C. With -the advance of the south-west monsoon into the district towards the end '--- of June; there is ·an appreciable drop in the day temperatures while night temperatures continue to be nearly as high as in the summer . Even during the brief south-west monsoon season, the weather is sultry and unpleasant due to the increased moisture in - the monsoon air. After the withdrawal of the monsoon by about mid-September there is an increase in the day temperatures but night temperature drops down rapidly with the progress of the season. May 28 , 1962 . The lowest mini mum was O. O°C on Jan uary 31, 19 64.

Hllm idi ty.--The air is genera ll y dr y du ring the greate r pa rt of the year. Humidity is gener ally high , ranging between 60 and 85 per cent duri ng th e monsoon season and decreases thereafte r. April and May are usua ll y the dries t months with relative humidities bein g ab out 20 per cent or less in th e afternoons .

Cloud ines s.- Durin g the south -west monsoon season and 'particularly during July and Augu st the skies are heavily clouded. In the rest of the year the skies are clear or light ly clou ded generally. Duri ng Janu ary to ear ly March, however, th e skies are often cloud y an d overcas t in assoc iati on with the pass age of western dist urbances .

Winds.-In gen era l, win ds are light except during the summer se as on when they strengthen in force .During the mo nsoon season, winds are most ly easterly or sout h-eas ter ly. In the res t of th e year win ds are pre dom ina ntly wester ly or no rth -westerly.

Spec ial wea ther pheno mena .-Apr il to Se ptember is the perio d with the highest incide nce of thunder-storm s. Dust-s torms mos tl y occur during April to Ju ne. Vio lent squ all s may accompa ny such storms. So me of the th unde r- storms are accompanied with heavy rain and occas ional hai l. Thun der -stor ms also occur in winter mon ths in association with passing we stern distur bances. Fog , som etimes dense , occ urs in the co ld seas on.

Tab les Ill, IV and V of Ap pend ix give the temp era tur e and relati ve humi dity , mean wind speed and specia l weat her phenome na respect ive ly fo r Karnal. THE ANCI ENT PERIOD Th e hi st ory of th e area in whic h the Ka mal di stri ct lies , can be traced back, hows oev er diml y at ti mes, to the ancient Ar ya n pas t. Of the fi ve traditi ona l divi sions of Indi a, the reg ion co mpri sing Kamal di strict lay mostly in th e Madh yade sha.! Fr om time immem ori al, th is region has been rega rd ed as ex trem ely sacre d. It was on the bank s of the Sarasw ati th e Dr is hadwa ti and th e Apaya river s in th is regi on tha t the Ri gve di c

Ar ya ns kindled the sacred fire and chanted th e Vedic hymn s. The Saraswati 2 can, with littl e he sita ti on, be id entifie d wi th the modern Sar suti or Saraswati , a stream mi dway betwee n the Sat luj and the Yamun a. In the period of the Rigve da , th e ri ver was of greate r imp orta nce tha n it was in the following period wh en it was known to have bur ie d it se lf in the sa nd s in its flow to the Indu s.

This reg ion was the home of th e Bh aratas, a fa mous Ri gl'edi c tribe of the Aryans. In the later Ve dic per iod, it app ears that th e Bh aratas and the Purus were merged in to th e Kuru s who comm anded th e str ategic plain between

1. It compr ised the centra l par t of Nor th er n India ly ing bet ween the Himalayas and the Vindh yas and between All ahabad or Va ranas i in the eas t and som e' locality like Pr ithudaka (Peh owa in Karnal di strict) in the ea stern Punjab tHaryana) in the west- (R .C. Maj umdar , Th e Hi sto ry alld Cultu re of the In dian People , Volume II , The Age of Imper ial Unit y, 19 60, p. 101 fn.) 2. Th e di fficult y in pre ci se id entification of the Sar aswa ti and Drishadwati is due to the extensive chang es in the course of the rivers of Northern India which are known to have occurred . Modern maps are utterly mi sleading, and it is impossible to co nstruct maps of the ancient riv er sy stem for an y time preceding the Muslim invasion . "It is, ho wev er ,a reasonable conj ect ure th at within the period of history the {Satluj) united with the Sarasv ati (S aras wati) and Gh aggar (Gh ag gh ar) to form the great river (Hakra) which once flowed into the In dus through Bahaw alpur , and that then Brahmavarta wa s a Do ab (space bet ween river s) whi ch might be compa red with that of the (Gang a) and Jumna (Yamuna )." (Al exa nde r, Poru s, and th e Pan jab by C. Pearson. appearing in TII€ Indian Antiqua ry, Volum e XXXIV, 1905, p. 254.) 3. E. J. Rapson , The Camb ridge Hi stor y of India , Volume J, Ancient India. 1955 , p. 72. the Saraswati and the Yamun a nea r the north -eas tern edge of th e desert of Rajputana , gi ving it th eir nam e Kuruk shetra or the land of th e Kurus.1 This are a, whi ch ac cord ing to the Mahabh arata was divid ed into a number of vana s or fore sts, had urb an set tl ements li ke Kaith al, Rajau nd and Panipat. Kaithal is said to have bee n founded by the mythic al hero Yudhi shthir a, its sa nskri t name being 'Kap ist hal a' abode of monkeys . Rajaund has been deriv ed fr om 'Rajahand' the priso n of raj ahs. Panip at is said to hav e been one of the pra st has which Yudh ishthir a demand ed fr om Du ryo dh ana as the price of pe ace . The region of Kuruk shetr a was th e scene of the Mah a- bh arata War between th e Kaur avas and th e Pandavas. Th e sce nes of many incidents connected wit h the war are traditio nally pointe d out by the peopl e, and the wh ole ar ea is full of tirthas co nsidered sacred . The di stri ct lay beyo nd th e reac h of th e Macedoni an conq ueror and is indi scernible in th e faint lig ht of the hi story of th at perio d. In the Ma ur ya n tim es it form ed par t of the Maga dhan emp ire as the di scovery of As ok a's st up a at Th anesa r indi cates . Aft er the di smembe rment of the Ma ur yan em pir e, the In do Bactr ian Grc: eks invaded and occ up ied the Punj ab in th e 2nd centur y RC . In the fi rs t two centu ries of th e Chri sti an era , th e tract was includ ed in the Ku shana empir e as is indicated by the di scovery of Indo-Scy thi an coin s from Theh Polar, an ancient mound about 11 mil es (1 8 kil ometres) fr om Kai tha J2 and tw o in sc rib ed red-ston e recta ngu lar pil lars of K ushana times fr om Ami n,a vill age in the Kar nal tahsi l. In the 3rd ce ntury, Ku shan a powe r dec lined and the Yaudhey as, rep resent ing an anc ien t In do- Ir ani an clan, ros e to power and held sway ove r th e re gion betwe en th e Sat luj and the Ya muna. Their coin s and other relics have bee n found all over Haryan a including The h Polar, Panip at and Kam al. In the first hal f of th e 4th cent ury the Kamal area along with Hariy ana 3 seems to have bee n ann ex ed by the Gupta mona rchs. The empire was shattered by th e att ack of the Huns in abo ut 51 0 A.D. , and pr obab ly during thi s period and up to the end of the 6th centur y the re was no sett led

1. R. S. Tripathi. Histor y of An cien t In dia, 196 0, p. 42; Bu dd ha Praka sh. Political and Socia! Movement s in Ancient Panj ab. 1964 . p. 80 . 2. The informati on ab out th e dista nc e of Theh Pol ar from Kaithal give n in Census of In dia. 1961 , Punjab Dtst ri ct Census Handbook No. 4, l Di stri ct (Pub lished in 196 6) . is no (correct. 3. It is di fferent from present Har yan a State . It comp rised the wh ole tract of land bounded by Shiwaliks in the no rth . the Rajasth an desert and the Ar avalli s in the ~outh, the Ganga basin in the ea st and the Satlu j ba sin in the west. rule in these parts. At the end of the 6th ce ntur y A.D., 'thanesar became the capit al of Raja Prabhak ara-vardhana of Th ane sar , who ti ghtened his gri p over the Indus region, Actu ally, Yasod harman Vish nu- var dh ana of Mand as or had driven th e Huns to the north -west before his time.

Under Pr abh akara -vardhana and his younge r son, Ha rsha , Thane sar attained a paramount pl ace among the powers of Northe rn Ind ia. Unde r Vardh ana rul ers the region around Th anesar was know n as Srikant ha. The remain s of stone temples and palace s found in some old vi llages along the banks of the Sar aswati and the Gh aggh ar are a living evidence of the time s in which Harsha ruled ove r a large kingdom. The accou nt of Yuan Chw ang (Hiuen Tsa ng), the Chine se pilgrim , who remained in Ind ia from A.D. 629 to 645 throws much valuable light on the history of this period . The court poet , Bana , also provides very usefu l information abo ut the economic, soc ial and cultura l life of the area in his book H arsha-c har ita. 1 Recently , a se al of Harsha of Thanesar has been fo un d in the vi ll age Daul atpur ne ar Pip li .

Th e 7th century wa s a period of eclecticism in relig ion. Bud dh is m was a de clinin g fo rce , Hindu ism was aga in com ing into it s ow n, and re lig ious traditi ons playe d a consid era bl e part in raisi ng Th ane sar to a foremost pos i- tion in Northern In dia.2

Th e glory of Th an esa r was di mm ed to some ext ent with the transfe r of th e seat of Gov ernme nt to Kanauj in th e ver y life time of Har sha -var dhana . It is know n fro m th e Khalimpur copper-plate of Dh armap ala, th e pa la em - per or of Benga l, (c . A.D . 770- 810) th at he held a durbar at Kanauj and insta ll ed Chakr ay udh a, hi s nomin ee on the thr one of Kanauj. The durba r was at tended by a numb er of vassa l chi efs inclu din g th e rul er of Kuru country. It may be ded uced fr om thi s cont empor ary record that the influ ence, if not the pow er , of Dh arm apa la extended as far as Haryana.

The authority of Mihira Bhoja (c .A.D. 836-85), the Prati hara ruler of Kanauj pe netr ated as far as Pehowa and eve n beyond it in th e Punjab . The Peh owa inscription records cert ain tran sactions at the loca l fa ir by cert ai n horse dea lers 'in th e victorious reign of Bho jadeva'.3 Ano th er Pehowa inscription throws con sider able light on th e hi sto ry of the region in the time

I. Buddha Prakash, Glimp ses of Hari yana, 1967 , p. 16. 2. Kamal Di strict Ga ze tt ee r, 191 8, pp. 13- 14 . 3.Epi graph ia Indi ca And Re cord of th e Ar cha eol ogical of Surv ey of fnd ia , Part IV, 1889 (Ca lc utta ), pp. 184 -90 . of the Pratlha ni emperor , Mahendr apala (c. A.D . 885-910) . It seems that he lo st som e territory in the Pun ja b to Sank arav arm an, king of Kashmir . In spit e of th e loss, if any, it is ce rta in from thi s in scrip tion th at the di strict of Kamal continued to re mai n under him .! At th at time the Tom ara Raj put s, desc ending fr om Raj a Jau la, es tabli shed them se lves as rulers of thi s reg ion in the middle of the 9t h ce ntur y. About this time , th ey must have acknow- ledged the su zer ainty of th e Pra tih ara emperor Bhoj a. The Tomara Gogga and hi s two step brothers Purn ar aj a and Devaraj a to ok se rvice und er the Pr atihara s. Th ey built at Prithud aka (P ehowa), on the banks of the Saras wati , three temple s of Vi shn u durin g th e reig n of Ma hendrapala 1. Kie lh or n remark s th at th ese thr ee Tomara pr inces were pr obabl y conn ec ted with Delhi , and they mig ht not have any po litica l connection wi th Pehowa , a place of pil grim age, where they, li ke many ot hers fro m di fferent par ts of In dia, founded reli gi ou s establi shment s. Ac co rd ing to Firis hta , Th anesa r, about 20 mil es (32 kilomctr es ) east of Peho wa, was withi n the kingdom of Delhi in the early part of the 11th centu ry. 2 About the beginnin g of the 10th ce ntur y, as the Pr atih ara pow er be ga n to dec line , the Tomaras ass umed independence. One of the Tom ara ruler s, Ananga pal a, fo unded the city of Delhi an d made it hi s Capit al. His success or s, Tejapala, Mada napala, Kritpal a, La kh ana- pal a and Prithvipal a, we re rul ers of note. Th e Tom aras came into conflict with the Ch ahamana s of Saka mbhari , but conti nu ed to rule the Hari ya na country tiJJ th e middl e of the 12 th ce ntur y when they were ove rthr ow n by the Ch aham ana Vig raharaja IV, also kn ow n as Vi sa ladeva.

TH E MEDI EVAL PERIOD Our knowledge of th e hi story of thi s are a becomes more def inite and detailed with th e comin g of Mu slims. Wi th Muslim invasion s, the fortunes of the tr act became ide ntif ie d with tho se of Delhi . Thi s are a bec ame a battle-ground for the empire of Delhi. Thr ee of the mo st de cisive battl es of medie val Indi a we re fo ugh t at dif fer ent tim es at Panip at. On receipt of the ne ws of 's ad va nce in A.D. 1011, 3 Bijay apal,4 th e Tom ara Raja of Delhi , in who se kingdom Thane sar was

1. Epigraphia Indi ca An d Reco rd of th e Ar cha eo lo gical Sur vey of India , Part IV , 183 9 (Calcutta), pp . 242-50. 2. R. C. Majumdar, Th e Hi stor y and Cultur e of the Indian Peopl e, Volume IV , The Age of Imp erial Kanauj , 196 4, pp . 111-12 . 3. Ibid . Volume V, 7 he Stru gg le For Emp ire, 1966, p. 23 fn. 7. Howe ver, Th e Ad vanc 'ed Hi stor y of In dia by Majumdar , Ra ych audhur i and Datta , publi shed in 1956, p. 183. gi ves 1014 as the year of the conque st of Th ane sar . 4. Wolsele y Haig , The Cambri dge Hi story of In dia, Volume III , 1958 , p. 18 . situated, sent messengers to other chiefs requesting them to join him in defence of the sacred city. It was emphasised that if the invader was not checked at Thanesar , the whole of India would be overwhelmed by the Mu slims . But before the could rally their forces , Mahmud reached Thanesar , plundered the city, and broke a large number of idols, sparing the principal one, which was carried to Ghazni and placed in a public square for defil ement .l Soon he sa cked , Kanauj and annexed the Punjab whi ch was eventually placed under a Governor at Sonepat . Within thirteen years of Sultan Mahmud's death in A.D. 1030, the Hindu chiefs formed a confedr acy und er the lead('rship of the Raja of Delhi to put an end to the Mu slim rule in the Punjab. They wre sted Han si, Thanes ar and other pl ace s from Governor s who were posted th ere by Maudud , the grandson of Mahmud of Ghazni. The country between the Satluj and the Yamuna experien ce d rel ative peace for a century and a half until the Ghuris appeared on th e sce ne tow ard s th e end of the 12th century .

In A.D. 1190-91 Muhammad Ghuri invaded India but was defeated by Prithvir aja Chaham ana (Chauhan) of Sakambhari in the battlefield of Tir awa ri ( )2, situ ated bet ween Thanesar and Kamal . In order to aveng e him self of the de fea t, the Sultan again attacked India in 1192 and defe at ed Prith viraja at Tir awari (Taraori) and the latter was taken a prisoner or killed in th e nei ghbourhood of th e river Saraswati. 3

Aft er the Second Battl e of Tirawari (Taraori) in 1192 , the Kamal are a was more or les s firmly att ached to Delhi till the close of the 14th century.

I. R. C. Majumdar, Th e Hi story and Cultur e of the Indian People , Volume V, Th e Strug gle for Empir e, 1966 , p. II.

2. The name of the vill age where the battle was fought was not Narain or Naraina but Tar ain, called Taraori cf. Hi sto ry of India by Ishwari Pra sad, published in 1952, p. 133, fn. 6.

The location of this site is the subject of some controver sy. Minhaj calls it Tarain xx x Ni zamuddin xxx and Firi shta xxx follow Minhaj, but some later hi storiao5 cal l it Narain. Thi s later read ing is obviously due to an inadvertant orthographical mistake in which the two dots of '1' have been reduced into one . Firishta, however, ma kes a further statement and says that it was also known as 'Tarawari' cf . (4 Compreh ensil 'e , Volume Five -The Delhi Sultanate (A .D. 1206- 1526) publi shed in 1970 under the auspices of The Indian Histor y Congress , p. 159 , fn . 14 .)

3. R. C. Majumdar, The History and Culture of the Indian People, Volume V, The Struggle for Empire, 1966, p. 112. We learn that in A.D. 1215 1, IItutmish captured Taj-ud-din Yildi z in open bat tle on the old battlef ield of Tirawa ri (Taraor i) when the latte r chall enge d the Sultan ate .2 Later on, Raz iyya, the Sl av e Qu een, flyin g before the pur su- in g tr oop s, halt ed at Kaith al, wh ere her mercena ries deserted , an d she was murdered on October 13, 12 40 , by robb ers wh ile re st ing und er a tre e.3

In th e ea rl y forties of the 14th ce ntury , durin g the reign of Muh am mad bin Tughluq (A .D. 1325-1 351) , the re occurred a seve re famine in the Kaith al territ ory and the surr oundin g areas. The Sultan tr ied to all ev iate th e sufferin gs, but with no succe ss . He was soo n face d with popular outb rea ks in Sun am, Sam ana, Kaithal and Guhr am.The Jat and tr ib es in thi s region form ed mand als (s tro nghold s), wit hh eld th e tribut e, and cr eate d di sturb ances. 4

Firuz Sh ah Tu ghluq (A. D. 1351-13 88) had five ca nals excava ted, two of which passed ri ght across Kar nal. The Ra ji wah , excavate d from the Ya mun a, was made to pass throu gh Karnal, Un cha Sam ana and then joining with oth er br anche s of Chi ttang (C hout ang) river was condu cted to Hisa r (Hi ssa r) throu gh Dh atr ut .5 Th e Ulu ghkhani Canal , ta ke n out from the Sutlej (S atl uj) , passe d through Kar nal and Girnir on its wa y to Jajh ar (Jh ajj ar) .6 The We stern Jumna (Yamun a)Canal is po ssibly th e improved restorat ion of the canal ex cava ted by Firu z Sh ah from the Yamun a to Hi ssa r Firu za.

Historical epi so des in th e sub sequ ent hi story of the Tu ghluq dynasty ar e conne cted wi th th e Karn al di stri ct. In A.D. 13 90, during the ci vil wa r whi ch foll owed th e de at h of Firuz Sh ah,Princ e Hum ay un , grandso n of Firu z Sh ah (afterwards Sult an Al a-ud -din Sik and ar Sh ah) , adva nced fr om Saman a and assemb led a consid erabl e forc e at Panip at in support of th e cause of hi s fath er Nas ir -ud-Din Muh amm ad Sh ah. He plund ered th e co untr y almo st up to the wall s of Delhi , which was th en held by Abu Ba kr

1. According to Advanc ed Hi story of In dia , p. 283, this happene d in 1216. 2. Minh aj-ud-din bin Siraj , Tabaqat -i-N asiri, p. 135 . (Te xt edi te d by W. Nas sau Lees , Calcutt a, 1864 .) 3. R. C. Majumd ar, Th e Hi story an d Cultur e of th e In dian People. Volume V, Th e Stru ggl e for Empire , 1966 , p. 139. It is al so bel ieved th at she wa s mu rdered in or ne ar Delhi. 4. M. Husain , Lif e and Time s of Muhammad bin Tu ghlll q, 1938. p. 164. Ishwari Pras ad, Hi sto ry of the Qaralll 1a h Turk s ill In dia, 1936, p.173 . 5. Col. Colvin, J.A .S.B., 1833, No. 15, PP . 10 6-7. 6. J. M. Bannerjee. Hi stor yof Firoz Shah Tu gh /uq , published by Munshiram ManoharlaJ , p. 119 . son of Zafar Khan , the third son of Firuz. The latter sent a force against Princ e Hum ayun who was def eated at Pass in a Khurd , seven miles (II kil ometre s) south of Panip at.

Durin g th e fir st thr ee yea rs of th e no minal reign (A .D. 1394-1412) of Nasir -u d-din Mahmud Sh ah (yo un ge r so n of Nas ir- ud-d in Mu ha mm ad Shah ), hi s co usin Nu srat Shah conteste d hi s supr ema cy, and thu s there were two Sulta ns in Delh i. Th e res ult was a protr act ed ci vil war in which the ami r of Pan ipa t supp orte d Nusrat Sh ah. Ma llu Iqb al Kh an, a chi ef, dese rt ed Sul ta n Mah mud Sha h and join ed th e par ty of Nu srat Shah. Bu t a few days late r he formed a co nspirac y against Nusrat Shah wh o fled to Pani pa t and joined hi s lI'azi r Tat ar Kh an. Ma Uu brou ght under hi s cont rol Sult an Ma hmud who became a mere too l in hi s hands . He marched along wi th the pagea nt Kin g fr om Delhi to Panip at, the he adquarter s of Nu sra t Khan and Tatar Kh an. Tatar Kh an evade d him , arri ve d at De lhi and bes ieged it . In the mea ntim e, Mallu Iqb al Khan ca ptured Pani- pat and took possess ion of the baggage and el eph ants le ft there by Tat ar Kh an, and reac hed Delhi in Octobe r 1398. Meanwhile , there occ urr ed the in vas ion of Tim ur whi ch swe pt away the Tu ghJuq dynas ty , and put an end to th e Tur kis h rul e in In dia.

Ti mur marc hed thr ough the Ka mal dist ri ct on hi s way to Delhi . As desc rib ed in hi s autobi og raph y! and also in the Zafar-N am a2, it is easy to trace his ro ute thro ugho ut, except betwee n Munak (Akalga rh) and Kaithal . It is almost certa in that he crosse d the Gh agg har and th e Saras wati by br idge s at Gul a (Guhl a) and Polar. Fro m Kaith al, Timur marched and passed throu gh Asa ndh to Tu ghl akp ur, probab ly Sa lw an. The whole of thi s region had become des ol ate as th e inh abit ant s had fled to Delhi. Th ence he marched to Panip at, whi ch he reach ed on December 3, 1398 .3 The people had de ser ted th e to wn in ob edience to the orders from Del hi, but he found ther e 1,60 ,000 maunds of whe at, which he seized. He th en marched six kos and encamp ed on the bank s of "the river of Panip at whi ch was on the road ." It pro bably refer s to a br anch of the Yamuna flowing in the channel of th e 'Bud d hi Nadi'.

I. Malfu zat-i-Timuri or Tuzak-i-Timuri, tran slated in The History of India As Tol d By It s Own Hi storian s, by H.M.Elliot and J. Dows on, Volume lIT, 1871 (London) , pp . 389-477. 2. Zafar- Nama of Sharf-ud-din Ali Ya zadi, (English tr anslation of extract s in Th e Hi story of In dia As Told By It s Own Historians. translat ed by H. M. Elli ot and J. Dows on, Vo lum e III, 187 1 (Lon don). pp .478 .522 .) 3. Kamal District Gaz ett eer, 1918, p. 16 . In th e anarchy that foll ow ed the dep arture of Timur , and in the subse- quent struggle between the Sai ya ds and th e Lodi s, th e tr act was ent ire ly separate d from Delh i, and belonge d, fi rst to the rul er of Samana , and ev entu al ly to the Lodi ruler s of the Punj ab.

During the reign of Bah lul Lodi (A . D. 14 51-14 89), hi s so n Princ e Nizam Kh an, af terw ard s Sikandar Lod i, se ize d Panip at and held it as Jag ir without permi ss ion. I He made it hi s hea dqu arte rs, and his fo rc e th ere in clud ed 1,500 cav alary . Si kan dar, as a king (A .D. 1489- 1517) , howev er, fr equently raze d temples to th e grou nd and ere cted mosq ues and publi c utilit y buildin gs in thei r pl ace. It is, therefore , no wonder that Th anesa r was in va ded and badl y sac ked in hi s time.2

Kamal and Panipat we re on th e hig h road from Sir hind and Fi rozpur (Fer oze pur ) to Delhi ; and fro m the time of Timu r to th at of Akba r, or fo r 150 yea rs , thi s tract witne sse d imp ort ant and dec ision mak ing bat tl es fou ght betwee n the ruling powers of Delhi and th ose co ming from the no rth-w est with the intenti on of suppl anting th eir auth or ity.

First Battle of Panipat. -In A.D. 1525, Ala-ud- di n Alim Kh an, an un cle of the Sul ta ns was se nt by Baba r with a Mu ghal army aga inst his neph ew Sul ta n Ibr ahim Lodi , and wa s joi ne d with additio na l fo rce s at Ind ri by Mia n Sulim an, a Pi rz ada of Panip at.Bein g defea ted nea r Delhi , he re tr eated to Pan ip at, where he tric ked hi s fri end Sulim an ou t of thr ee or four lakhs and went back. He shortl y afterwa rd s rejoin ed Baba r; and nex t yea r th e Mu ghal army marched on Delhi.

Leav ing Amb ala, Baba r marched via Sh ahaba d (Sh ahb ad) to Yamuna nea r Al ahar (ta hsi l Jaga dhri ), and then ce fo ll owe d the rive r bank to Kamal. Ther e he he ard th at Al a-ud-din , whom he had sen t on tow ards Delhi, had , thi s tim e, bee n defe ate d by Ibrahim , and that the latter had adva nce d to . Mounting his horse at th e Gh araund a Sarai, Babar led hi s arm y to Pan ip at, which he select ed for the battle field , as the town would cover one of his flanks . He arr aye d hi s arm y about tw o kos to th e ea st of the town , with hi s rig ht flank resting on the walls. Ibrahim Lodi took up a positi on at the sam e dis- tance to the south-west of the town . On April 12, 1526 A.D. ,3 Babar was

1. Even before his acce ssion to the throne on April 19 , 1451, the entire ar ea covering Dipalpur, Laho re, Panipat and Sirhind was under the control of Bahlul . 2. Th e His to ry of India As Told By It s Own Hi sto ri an s translated by H. M. Ellio t 'and J. Dowson ,Volume IV, 1872 (London), pp . 439-40 . 3. Wolseley Haig, The Cambrid ge Hi stor y of In dia , Volume IV, Th e Mu ghal Period , 19 63, p. 13 . ready to receive Ibrahim's attack but for a week nothing mo re than skirmis hes occurre d. At length , on Ap ril 21 , ·1526 A.D ., Ibr ahim Lodi 's force s advanced to the attack, were utte rly rou te d, and were pursue d by Babar' s army to De lhi . Babar himself remained encampe d for a wee k to the wes t of Panip at before proce edin g to Delhi . He tr ea ted the people wel l and mac e Sult an Muhammad Angluli , who had as si sted him wit h troops , Gover nor of Panipat. Babar 's victor y ove r Ibr ahim who had been defeate d and slai n in spit e of overwhelming supe ri orit y in numb ers , de stroyed the power of the Lodi dyn asty and tr ansferred the empire of Hindu stan from the Afg hans to th e Mugh al dynast y, othen vise known as th e Gurg ani Chagata i ·dynasty.

Di strict under the Mugha ls.- Thi s are a cont inu ed to be restive during the early ye ars of the Mugh al rul e. After th e batt le , Babar laid out a garden and built a mo sque and a tan k at Panip at. Th e name of th e ga rden is Ka bil, Kabul or Kabuli Bagh .1 Some yea rs later when Hum ayun defe at ed Salim Sh ah ab out 4 miles (6 .4 kil ometr es ) north of Panip at, he added a maso nr y platfo rm and called it Ch ab ut ra Fate h Mub arak. Tn 1529, the Ma nd ha r of th e Nard ak tr act reb elled unde r their chi ef, Moha n, an d de- fea ted th e Mu gha l tr oops. Babar the n burnt the rebel vi llages . La ter , du ri ng the stru gg le whic h led to th e ex pul sio n of Hum ay un, Fa te h Khan, Jat, rebell ed and laid the coun try was te as far so uth as Panipat. 2

Second Battle of Panipat .-Wh en Humayun died at D~lhi in A. D. 1556, the young Akb ar, wh o wa s th en in the Punj ab, marche d at once under the guardians hip of Bair am Kh an to me et the Af ghan Army under Him u (a Dhu sar of )3, the Hindu General of Adil Sha h. Him u, afte r in- flicting a severe def ea t on th e Mugh al forces, occupied De lhi. Bai ram Khan and Akbar after pass ing th ro ugh Th ane sa r, arrayed the ir army 10 mil es (16 kilometre s) nor th of Kam al, and then march ed to Panipat . Himu, whos e army was far superior in numbers, was encamped more or le ss at the sam e site, previou sly occup ied by Ibrahim Lodi , th at is two kos to the west of Panipat . After a week's sk irmishing, Akb ar sent a detachme nt ro un d the town to take Himu in the re .ar, and he himse lf adva nced to th e att ack . Himu fought heroically but was ki lled and the re sult was the tota l rout of the

1. Some say tha t when Babar saw this plain groun d he sai d that the spo t wa s Kabil-i- Bagh (fi t for a gard en); oth ers, that he planned the garden on the patte rn cus tom ary in Kab ul. Ac cor di ng to Cole br ooke, Babar gave the nam e to the gard en after the name of hi s fav ourite queen Kab ul i Begam. (Journal of the Ro yal Asiatic Society, Volume XII I, p. 279.) 2. Kama l Distr ic t Ga zett ee r, 1918 , pp . 17- 8. 3. Di st rict Gazetteer, 1910, p. 64 . Afgh ans. Imm edia tely aft er th e vic tor y, Iskand ar Kh an, the Uzbeg, was sent in pursuit of th e flee ing ene my . He fol lowed them, with grea t sl aughter, to the gates of th e capita l, which he ente red and sec ure d for th e em peror .1

During the reig ns of Akb ar and his succes sors th e Mu ghal empire wa s so firmly establ is hed at Delhi th at th e Kamal dist rict can ha rdly be sai d to ha ve posses sed a sep arate hi sto ry. Ho weve r, a fe w event s are conne ct ed with the district .

In 1567 , whil e Akb ar was encamped at Thanesar, an ext rao rdin ary incid ent is ' said to have oc curr ed, whi ch thro ws a rather unpl easant ligh t on the ferocious aspect of his cha rac ter . Th e sanyasis, or fa kirs, who assem bl ed at the holy tank were divi de d int o tw o parties, whic h Abu- 1-F az l calls Kur s and Puris. The lead er of th e lat ter co mpl ained to the king that the Kur s had unjustly occupi ed the accusto med sitt ing -pla ce of the Pu ris, who we re thus debarr ed from co ll ecting the pilg rims' alms . Ne ither party would lis ten to friendly counse l. Bot h fact ions begged permission that the disp ute might be decid ed by fi gh ting. The de sir ed lea ve having been grante d, the host ile crowds dr ew up in line, an d the fi gh t began with swords, one man on each side adv anci ng in braggart fas hio n and star ting the fray. Swords were disc arded fo r bows an d arrows , an d these agai n for sto nes. Akb ar, seeing tha t the Puris were out numbe red , gave the signal to some of hi s mo re sav age follow ers to help th e wea ker pa rt y. Th e reinf or cement ena bled the Puri s to drive the Ku rs into head long flight . The van quished wer e pu rsued and a number of 'the wret ches sen t to an nih ilatio n' .The author of Tabaqat- i-Akbari agrees with Abu- I-Faz l that 'the Empero r gre atly enjoyed the sight'.2

In A.D. 1573 , th e rebel Ibr ahi m Husa in Mir za, defeate d by Akbar in Guj arat, moved northwar ds with the objec t of creati ng dist urb ance s in Upper India , - and the surround ing cou ntry . He passe d throu gh the di s- trict and plundered Panipat and Kamal. .

In 1606 , prince Khu srav, esc aped fro m his semi- conf inem ent at Agra and made his way to the Punj ab gat heri ng tr oops on th e way. He passe d thr ough the district, plu ndering and pill aging as he we nt. When he re ac hed Panipat he was joined by one Abdu l Rahim . Dil awar Ali Khan, wh o was at Panipat with an Imperi al force, retre ated befo re them to Lahore. Jahangir (A.D . 1605-1627) hims elf shortly followed in pursuit to capture the rebel

I. Wol sele y Haig , The Cambrid ge Hi stor y of In dia , Vol ume IV , Th e Mugha/ Period , 1973, pp . 72-73. 2. V. A. Smith, Akbar The Great Moghu/ , 1966 , pp. 56-70 . prin ce. He us ed to moralis e on th e succe ss which Panipat had always brou ght to hi s fa mily. The Fri day prayers wer e alway s held in the mosque of Kabul Bag h wh ich Babar ha d bui lt . Thi s cu st om was cont inued till the Marath as occ upied the mos qu e in the Third Battle of Pan ipat (A.D. 1761).

For abou t two centurie s the tr act enj oy ed pea ce under the Mughals. Ci vil or der obtai ned as the nor mal rule of life. The Sh ah Nahar (Royal Canal) was made from the Yamun a; ko s minars were erected at short distances and se rais and we ll s were con structe d for the use of tr av ellers along the route of th e Gr and Trunk Roa d pas sing thr ough this area. The minars (brick pill ars, 6- 9 metr es high ) and we ll s still ex ist in th e di stri ct; the serais of Samalkh a and Gha ra unda are in ru ins while that of Kamal has disappeared. Wit h the dec line of the Mughal em pire, the gro wt h of Mara th a power in North Indi a and the rise of th e Sikh s in Punja b, this ar ea lo st its former stability and remain ed ve ry di stu rbed for about a ce ntur y.In 1709 -1 0, Banda Bairagi, the di sc ipl e of Gu ru Gobind Sin gh, in an effo rt to co ntinu e the fight against oppr ess ion, co lle cted an arm y of Sik hs and occ upie d the whole of the co untry west of the Yamun a. He lai d the whole neighbourhood waste and espec iall y th e neig hbo urh ood of Kamal, where he killed the Faujdar and massacred the in habitants. He was repulsed by Bahadur Shah about tw elve miles (19 kilom et re s) north -eas t of Sadh aura (A mb ala district) in Dece mb er 1710. 1

Towa rd s the close of 1738 , Nadir Shah inv ade d India. Emperor Muh amma d Sh ah (A.D. 1719-1 748) wit h an enormous army occupied a strong ly forti fied camp at Kamal. Nadir Sha h marched to Tirawari (Taraori) whi ch su rr endered to him after a very bri ef bomb ardm ent in February 1739. Nadir Shah, now finding that dense jung le wou ld imp ede a direct advance from th e north of Ka mal, inc lined slig htl y to his ri ght and encamped in the ope n pl ain to the wes t of th e town. 2 He se nt Pr ince Nas r-ullah Mirz a, his yo un gest son, wit h a cons id era bl e force to a spot nor th of the Sh ah Nahal' close to Kama l. All this time Muham mad Sh ah was not awa re th at Nadir Shah was in such close neighbo urhoo d. Jus t at th is time a detatchment sent by Nadir Shah, instea d of opposing Burh an-u l-Mulk (Sa adat Khan of Oudh), ca me to close quarters with Mu hamm ad Sh ah's ca mp. Nadir Shah and his son mar ch ed to th e support of thi s detat chment and cut off Muhammad Sh ah's su ppl ies from the open co untry in the re ar. Muh amm ad Shah was

1. Wo lsel ey Haig, The Cambridge Hi story of In dia, Volum e IV , The Mugha/ Peri od, 1963, p.32 3. 2. Ibid. p. 35 9. st arved into submi ss ion, and yiel de d to the inv ader who led him in hi s train to Delh i.

A dec ade later, in 1748 when Ahm ad Sh ah Dun'an i in va ded th e Punj ab, the Mughal forc es sen t ag ain st him under Pr ince Ahmad, passe d thr ough Panip at and Ka mal, and advanced to Machiwara on the Satluj. On the way bac k to Delhi , Prince Ahmad was cr own ed as Empe in the ca mp at Panip at as Emp eror Muhammad Sh ah had died at Delh i.

Wh en Alamgir II (A .D. 175 4- 59) was raised to the throne in 175 4 by Waz ir Gh azi -ud-di n, anarc hy preva il ed throug hout the Pu nja b. Tn 17 56, the Waz ir, takin g with him hi s puppet emper or, marc hed from Delhi to rega in this los t provi nce. The exped ition pr ove d a failure large ly on acco unt of a mutiny on the pa rt of the officer s of a hi ghl y paid corps, who clamo ured fo r the ir arr ear s of pay . As he tri ed to que ll the tumu lt th e ex ci ted so ld iery got hold of him and dra gge d him thro ugh the street s. Hi s life was spared at the inte rcess ion of the Em peror . After thi s the corps was att acked and taugh t a severe lesso n.

Henc ef or ward, for more th an half a centur y, a ti me of hor ror fol lowed in this are a which was fi tt ingly us her ed in by the gre atest of all the batt le s of Panip at, I kn own as the Thi rd Batt le of Panip at.

Third Ba ttl e of Pa nipat. -At the clo se of the rainy seaso n of 176 0, the Marat has under Sadash iv Rao Bh au marched upon Kun jpu ra . The for t of Ku njpur a was we ll-s tocked with money and provis ions, of whi ch the Marath as wer e in sore nee d. It was he ld by Nij abat Khan wit h 10,000 pi cke d Rohill as. It was seized by th e Ma rat has after a fierce bomb ardm en t. Th e ga rr iso n was put to the sword on the pret ext that Nij abat Kh an had bee n re spon sibl e for the deat h of Dat taji Sin dhia at Bada un Gh at. The (Yamun a being in fl ood , Ahmad Sh ah wh o was in th e Do ab, was un abl e to cro ss the ri ver in tim e to pr eve nt this disast er whil e th e Ma rat has pr oc eeded un che cke d to encamp at the vill age of Pa nina Kalan (P anipat ta hsil ). At length Ahm ad Sh ah ford ed the riv er near Bagh pat and advance d again st th e Marta has who retre ated to Panipat . Th ere the Marat has st rongly fortif ie d th emselves . Th e Durrani enc amp ed clo se in front of th em on th e pl ain nor th of Ri sa lu and Uj ah. For five months while th e two ar mi es, numb er in g mor e than 4,00 ,000, remained engag ed in fru it less neg oti ati ons and consta nt sk irmishe s, the whole coun try ar ound was devast ated by the op posing hor des . The inhabit ant s of the co unt rysid e fle d; bes ides Panipa t, onl y three vill ages, Phurl ak, Daha, and Bala (Kamal tahsil) were inhabited at the time of the actual battle. At length supplies wholly failed ; and on January 14, 1761 the Bhau advanced to action . The Marathas were utterly routed and many of them were driven into the town of Panipat, whence next morning the conqueror brought them out , distributed the women and children among his troops and massacred the men in cold blood. The fugitives were followed all over the country, and killed wherever they were overtaken. It is said that 1,00,000 Marathas were slain in this battle. The people still point out the site of an old mango tree where the Bhau stood to watch the fight .

The appearance of in the district .-On the retirement of from the Punjab in December 1762, the Sikhs appeared on the scene. On January 14, 1764, they defeated and killed Zain Khan, the Durrani Governor of Sirhind, and took possession of the whole of Sirhind pro- vince as far south as Panipat. The noted Sikh chiefs who commanded ' sub-contingents of troops under the Misldars at once dispersed in various direction s and according to their strength seized what fell in the way of each. Raja Gajpat Singh seized Jind, , Panipat, Karnal, Bazidpur and Rohtak . Mehar Singh Nirmala seized the parganah of Shahabad (Shah- bad) and Ismailabad situated on the , 16 miles (about 26 kilometres) south of Ambala. Sahib Singh and Gurdit Singh, the two brothers seized Ladwa, Indri, Babain and Shamgarh territories consisting of 117 villages . Bhai Mit Singh together with his two nephews Bhanga Singh and Bhag Singh, seized the territories of Pehowa and the suburbs of Thanesar . Dul cha Singh Karorsinghia occupied Radaur and Damli. The Afghan Nawab of managed with difficulty to retain the total revenue of a number of estates (53 villages , worth half a lakh a year); in the case of others he was forced to give a share to the Shamgarh Chief and the Sikhs of Churni. 2

During his seventh campaign (December 1764-March 1765), Ahmad Shah Durrani, after the battle of Jullundur Doab with the Sikhs, reached Kunjpura by the end of February 1765. There he halted for some days and discussed plans of the action to be adopted in order to crush the Sikhs, but weather conditions being unfavourabJe, he decided to return to Afghanistan.

Amir-ul-Umara Najib-ud -daulah, the Mir Bakshi of the , then held the charge of Hariyana . Soon after the celebrations

1. Hari Ram Gupta, A History of the Sikhs, Volume I, 1952, PP. 197-213. [But Kamal District Gazetteer, 1918 (p.21) placed the fall of Sirhind in 1763.] 2. Kamal District Gazetteer, 1918, p. 21. (October 14) of 1765 at Amritsar, the Sikhs made for Hariy ana and com- menc ed plunderin g Najib 's vill age s.Najib-ud-daul ah, who had anticip ated th is irrup tion and had bee n mak in g pr epa ratio ns, ma rche d to oppose their adva nce, and met them nea r Sh amli , 12 miles (19 kil ometr es) ea st of Kamal. After havin g fou ght for two days furiou sly , the Sikh s cr oss ed the Yamuna with all th eir bagg age and camp in the darkness . In the mornin g not one

hor se man of th em was left . I

Th e off and on plun de ri ng by the Sikh s in the parganas of Kamal and Panipat continued in the follo win g fe w yea rs.Naji b-u d-d aul ah fought many battles with them bu t was def eate d in 176 8.2 Later on , taking ad va ntage of the illn ess of Na jib-ud-d aul ah, th e Sik hs laun ched the ir raids and arri ved ne ar Panip at on th e 4th Janu ary, 177 0, plu ndering and ravagi ng th e co untr y as th ey we nt . Na jib 's elde st so n, Za bi ta Kh an, tri ed to oppo se them , but he could not carry out hi s pl ans pro perl y. The Sikh s plundered ever y villag e betw een Pan ipat and Delhi. 3

On th e dea th of Na jib-ud-d aul ah on Octo ber 31 , 1770 , Zabita Kh an succee ded to hi s es tates inc ludin g the di stric t of Panip at. No soo ner was the new s of the remov al of th e stro ng hand of Najib-ud-daul ah kn own to the Sikh s, than th ey carried sev era l plundering ra ids into th e Panipat area. 4 Compl ete anarchy preva il ed in the tr ac t in whi ch we re situate d th e town s of Son ipat (Son epat ), Panipat and Kamal. It form ed a sor t of no-m an's land bet - wee n the Si kh and Mara th a powe rs, co ve ted by both but pro te cted by ne ither. It fell a vi ct im to ever y freeboo ter who happened to come that way.s

Mu ghal Ali Kh an, the Go ve rn or-des ignate of Si rhind help ed by Daler Kh an, son of Nijaba t Kh an of Kun jp ura, with a body of 500 horse was at tac ked nea r Kun jpur a by Sahib Sin gh, Dya l Singh , Dana Sin gh and Laja Singh with a body of 6,000 hor se. Severe fighting took place and con tinued the whol e day in whi ch about 500 men were kill ed on both side s. In th e dark ness of the ni ght Mu ghal A1i Kh an and Daler Khan repa ir ed to the fort . The Sikhs imm edi ate ly besi eged it. Hosti lit ies contin ue d fo r thirte en days. On the 14th day, the Mughal soldie rs wer e defea ted and on the ad vice of Daler Khan , Mughal Ali retired to Delhi. 6

1. Buddha Pr ak asha , Glim ps es of Hari yana, 19 67, p. 60. 2. Ibid. p. 62 . 3. Ibid. p. 63. 4. Ibid . p. 64 . 5. Imp erial Ga ze tteer of India , Provin cial Seri es , Pun jab, Volum e I, 1908, p. 303 . 6. Ha ri Ram Gupta ,"Hi slor y of Ihe Sikh s, Volume II , 19 44. pp. 46-7 . Mughal Ali's defeat was a great shock to the Mughal Emperor, but the pleasure-seeking court of Delhi swallowed the bitter pi11 without showing any sign of their displeasure. The success of the Sikhs, however, alarmed Janko Rao, the chief, statiOlled at the capital . At the head of a strong force he marched from Delhi into Panipat and Kamal districts.' His movements cau sed consternation among the Sikh chiefs of the Cis-Satluj, who believed that the Maratha chief was coming to punish them. The Maratha General, however, showed no signs of hostility, and did not advance farther than Pehowa. 2 The purpose of his visit was partly to take a religious bath in the holy stream and partly to find out if the Sikhs were up to any other mischief. On his return after a short while, the Sikh chiefs of the neighbourhood heav ed a sigh of reiief.

In 1774, Gajpat Singh seized Kamal . Shortly afterwards Najaf Khan, the Imperial Wazir, marched in person to restore his authority, and by a treaty then concluded between the Raj as and the Emperor, the Sikhs relinquish- ed their conquests in Kamal and its neighbourhood, excepting seven villages which Gajpat (Singh was a110wed to keep, and which probably included Shera, Majra !atan, Dharmgarh, Bal Jatan and Bala. 3

Samru, the deputy of Faujdar of Sirhind, was assigned the districts of (Sonep at) and Panipat, and was authorised to possess himself of whatever territory he could wrest from the Sikhs, in particular from Gajpat Singh of Jind, whose territory lay quite adjacent to the area under his charge.

Samru took charge of his post early in July 1774 at the head of nearly 2,000 soldiers, some of whom were Europeans, with five pieces of cannon, a considerable quantity of ammunition and six elephants. He garrisoned Gharaunda which had been evacuated by the Sikhs who assembled at Kamal . Samru finding that his position was not tenable, resigned his jo b. Just about this time, on a request from Warren Hastings, Governor of Bengal (1772- 1785), Samru was dismissed from the service by the Emperor . 4

Accompanied by Prince Mirza Jakan Shah Farkhunda Bakht, Nawab Abdul Ahad Khan left Delhi for Patiala to deal with the Sikh menace in June 1779, with 50,000 horse and foot and 200 pieces of cannon, and marched along the western bank of the Yamuna. In July they were encamped at a distance of two kos from Panipat. At Kamal many Sikh chiefs including

1. Hari Ram Gupta, History of the Sikhs, Volume II, 1944, pp. 47-8. 2. L. H. Griffin, The Rajas of the Punjab, 1870, p. 38. 3. Kamal District Gazetteer, 1918, p. 22. 4. Hari Ram Gupta, History of the Sikhs, Volume II , 1944, Pp. 52·3. Sahib Sin gh Kh ondah , Diw an Singh , Baghel Sin gh and _ Karam Sin gh Nirm ala wa ited up on the Nawa b; but the Prin ce was not happy to have the Si khs in hi s army as he did not trust th em. Gajp at Sin gh, a za mind ar of Kamal, the mos t loya l Sik h sard ar of the Emp eror, on pay in g homag e to the Mugh al Prin ce , was made to pay a tr ibu te of two lakh s of ru pees . Abdu l Aha d Khan rece ive d th ree lak hs of rup ees as tribute fr om anot her Sik h chi ef, Des u Singh of Kaithal and took hi s so n, Lal Sing h as a hostage for the payme nt of on e lak h mor e. Bh anga Sin gh and Bh ag Singh also joined the Imperi al ca mp at Th ane sar on the 12t h Septe mb er.

Ab dul Ab ad mo ved hi s ca mp toward s Pat iala on th e 22 nd Septem ber, and cross ed the Sarasw ati strea m near Pe howa. He encamp ed at Si ya na Sa yadan (about 6 kilometr es north of Pehowa) .On the 27th, th e camp mov ed fo rward and on the 28 th Abd ul Ahad marc hed on to Ghura m (a bout 24 kil o- metr es so uth of Pati aJa), whic h became the base of operatio ns of the Imperial forces . At thi s stage, the Ka mal co ntingen t deserted him and th e Nawab \- vas fo rce d to fal l back to Pan ip at. Th e Sik hs plund ere d everything they co ul d lay their hands on durin g hi s retr eat .

Th erea ft er, comp lete anar chy prevai led in the Ci s-S atIuj co untry whi ch was accen tu ate d by in te rne ci ne war fare among the Sik h ch iefs the mse lves. Sah ib Sing h Khond ah, Dulch a Si ngh, Bh ag Sin gh and ot her Sikhs atta ck ed Thane sar to ou st Bhanga Sin gh. Th ey al so ask ed Zabita Kh an, the Mir Ba kshi of Delhi, to help th em in ex pellin g Des u Sin gh's son s fro m Kaithal and to ac kno wle dge their rule ove r Th anesa r. Mi rza Sh afi , ass isted by Zabita Kh an, was appointed in ch arge of a regul ar camp aign again st th e Si khs. Shaf i maint ai ned hi s gr ound at Kunjpur a for tw o month s. Wh en th e Si khs en tered th e Ganga Doab , he chas ed them bac k int o the Ci s-S atluj territ ory. Hu sa npur was plund ere d, and Baghe l Singh 's milit ary pos t was expelled from Indri . The guerilla tac tic s of the Sikh s gave him no peace , and hi s tempor ary succ es se s ac hi eve d

no lastin g result s. I The rAmil s (Mugh al officer s in charge) of Bur iy a, Sadh aur a and Sh ahabad (Sh ah bad) were given no rest by the Sikh s. They continued hara ss ing the Ami! of Shahabad (Shahbad) , who in spite of hi s pr ecar iou s condition and repeated appeals received no reinforcements . Ultimate ly he su rrender ed. This fact greatly dishe artened Shafi who made a pathetic appeal to Delhi for reinforcement . In June 1781, Sh aft sent Jai Sin gh Rai to Di wan Singh , Baghel Singh and Gurdit Singh to settle terms of peace . He offered th em Rad aur , Babain and Sh amga rh in return for the

1. Hari Ram Gupta, Hi stor y of th e Sikh s, Volum e n, 1944 , pp . 94 , 102, 104 -05 , 106-24 . boot y of Shahabad (Shah bad) but the Sikhs did not agree. He was then compelled to make pe ac e with the Si khs , gener ally on their own terms. Gaj pat Singh wa s re co gni se d as the rul er of Jind area with the titl e of Maharaja (Jul y 12, 178 1), and his trib ute was fixed at rupees six lakh s. Zabita Khan and Gajpat Singh int erviewe d th e oth er Sikh chief s and per suaded them to come to an agreement with the Delhi Government . Thus the Mughal Emperor of India formall y acc ept ed th e sove reignt y of the Si khs over the country situ at ed to the we st of th e Yamun a, and admi tted th eir ri ght of bl ackmail in the Upp er Ganga Do ab.1 Thi s pe ace was, how ever , shor t li ved . Tn 1782 , Emper or Sh ah Al am was force d by cir cum st ance s to se ek the protection of Mahad aji Sindhia and to app oint him Vakil-i-Mutliq (Regent Plenipotentiary) combinin g the office of th e Wazir and the Comm ander-in-Ch ief .

Sindh ia domi na ted th e pol itics of north ern Ind ia for a decade to come . The presence of the Si khs in the Gang a Doab greatly alarmed him. He took various steps to counter act this dang er. He won ov er the celebrated Beg am Samru of Sardh ana, a wo man of mas culine intr epidity and correct ju dgme nt , added sever al parga nas to he r jag ir , some to the wes t of the Yamuna in or der to keep a check up on th e Sik hs . Amb aji Ingle was appointed Faujdar of the distri cts north of Del hi with the main object of protecting the capital from the Si khs. At the sa me time he mad e a treaty with the Sikhs in 1785 whic h pr ov ided for the sa fety of cr ow n-land s situ ate d bet ween Delhi and Panipat . Not conte nt wit h thi s, Si ndhia des patched hi s off icers to vari ous parts of th e dist rict to ov er awe th e Sikhs into submi ss ion. The Ma ra th as re cei ved submi ss ion fr om th e Sard ars of Th anesar and Kaithal and also rece ived rupee s fi ve lakh s fr om Dewan Nanu Mall of Patiala . In 1787, Amb aji Ingle , under ord ers from Ma hadaji , led an expedition int o the Sikh terri to ry with the obj ect of exa ctin g tribu te from th e Sikh chi efs. After taking some ac tion he appoint ed Bakshi Shy am Rao as hi s deputy at Kamal and returned to join Sindhia. Bakshi Shy am Rao, not being able to maintain his po sit ion at Kamal , han ded it over to Bh ag Singh of Jind and escorted by Diwan Singh pro ceeded to Delhi ceding Panipat to Begum Samru on the way .

When the Sikhs offended the Marathas by offering asylum to the mother of Ghulam Kadir , the Rohill a chief who had captured Delhi in 1727 , an expedit ion wa s launch ed again st th em. Rane Khan , Ali Bahadur , and other s, entru st ed wi th thi s oper ati on, cros sed the Yamun a, reached Kunj- pura and threatened to inva de Pati ala. But the expedition failed to achieve Bhag Singh quitted Thane sar and at the request of the Brahmans of Th ane sar , Nana Rao spa red the cit y and appointed one infantry regiment and five hundr ed horse to protect the tow n.

Th e Sikh s be in g disa ppo inted at the loss of Th ane sa r tried to excite Lal Sin gh of Ka itha l to claim it as it ori gi na ll y bel onge d to hi s family. On his refu sa l to do so they turn ed agai nst him an d as he was pro claimed to be very rich , inci ted Na na Rao to dem and a heavy tribut e fr om him. They also advised Na na Ra o to secure a large sum from Pat iala.' Thes e demands of Nana Rao unit ed La l Singh and Bibi Sahi b Kau r of Patial a, who wa s a wom an of re markab le genera lship and diplomacy . At the same time, Nana Rao was bein g pur sued by Bhanga Sin gh of Thanesa r who made night attacks on th e Ma rat has. As his suppl ies were also runnin g short , Nana Rao made up hi s min d to retr eat . He fail ed to co ll ect any tribute from Patiala. He onl y rece ive d Rs. 5,000 from Kara m Si ng h Nirm ala in exch ange for the fort of Gumt ha la (Tha nesar tahsi l) whic h belon ge d to Bhang a Sin gh. The latter, however, crept back int o Tha,nesar as the Ma rath as lef t.

We must now tu rn our atte ntio n to Geo rge Thom as, an Iri sh adventurer whom ia had appo in te d in 179 5 to the charge of the Sonep at (Panipat), and Kar nal dist ricts with 2, 000 infan try , 200 cava lry and 16 pie ces of field artil- lery. Find in g that Thomas wou ld be a helpf ul hand, Ba pu ji Malh ar, Governor of Sa haranpur, took him into his service in 1797. As the Sikh s int erfered with the affairs of the Maratha Governor of Sa haranpur , Thoma s marched to Karn al in 1798 where a body of Sikhs had ga th ered in rebellion against the Ma ratha ru le. Here four successive act ions we re fo ught , in which both sides sustained heavy losses . Thomas's art il lery always pro ve d sup eri or to the tactics of the Sikhs who did not possess th is arm. In this fight Thom as lo st 500 men and th e Sikhs nea rl y twi ce as much. Peace was then con cluded, and, in acco rda nce with its te rms, the Sikhs evac uated th e place. 2 So on after diff erences arose between Geo rge Thomas an d hi s mas ter Bapuji , who dis- mi sse d him. There after, Thomas reve rted to the pr ofess ion of freebooter. Hi s grow in g power fi lled his min d with ambit io n and he tho ught of carving out an in depe nde nt pri ncipctlity fo r him se lf in th e trac t kno wn as Hariyana. He esta bli she d hi mse lf at Ha nsi and co mm and ed a circ le of 800 villages including .

Sind hia was deter min ed to que ll the Si kh ch iefs in the Ci s-Sutlej terri- tor y. In 1799, he despatc hed his largest reg ul ar force for this purpose

1. Hari Ram Gup ta , His tory of the Sikhs, Vo lume II, 1944 , pp . 256-60. ' 2. Ibid . pp . 260-62, 27 1- 72 . under Parron, who rea ch ed Kam al and summoned Raja Sa hib Sin gh of Patiala , Raja Bh ag Singh of Jind , Bhanga Singh of Th ane sa r, Gurd at Singh of Ladwa, Bhai Lal Sin gh of Kaithal, and se veral other petty sardar s. Equ all y deter- mined to resi st, th e Sikh chie fs opposed him . In order to strengthen his po sition, Parron began to empl oy loca l Mu slims aga inst the Sikh s. The first to join was Gul sher Kh an of Kunjpur a, who shortly collected as many as 10,000 horsemen . Parro n then marc hed to Th anesar , but Bhan ga Singh esca ped to Pa tiala . The Sikhs, howeve r, ca me to te rms and a peace tre aty Was signed on th e 10 th Ma rch, 1799 . Pa rr on stay ed at Th anesa r long enough for all the Sikh chi efs between th e Yamun a and th e Satluj to visit him . Leaving Thanesar , he made for Panip at wh ere he was joined by Begam ' Samru

with four batt alion s. I

In 180 I, Geo rge Th omas, who had est ablis hed him se lf in made an effor t to har ass Kamal and Panipat. Th e Sik hs aske d the Marat has for help aga in st him . Daul at Rao Sindhia who beca me jeal ous of Tho mas's progress , agreed to do so on the Si khs promi sing to become hi s subsidi aries and pay him five lakhs of rupee s. Sindhia sent th e French General Parron against him . In the bat tle th at foll owed Th oma s lo st all his conque sts, re- tired to British territ ory and shortly aft erw ard s die d on his way to Calcutt a. Safidon and Dh atr at we re then made ove r aga in to Jind by th e Ma ra thas. 2

In 1803 , the po we r of the Marath as in was completel y broken , and the Kamal di strict with Daul at Rao Sindhia 's other posses - sions west of th e Yamun a, passe d on to the British by th e Tre aty of Surji Arjung aon , signed on Dece mbe r 30, 180 3. Th e chief s of Ladwa and Thane sa r, with five th ousand Sikh s, had foug ht against th e Bri tis h at the . Imm edi ately after th e ba ttl e, Be ga m Samm made her sub - mi ss ion to Gener al Lake; and Bh ag Singh of Jind and Lal Singh of Ka it hal Were hardly les s prompt . Their ad vances were favour ably received, and in January 1805, th ey join ed their forc es with the Briti sh. The Sikh chiefs, who had ac tuall y fou ght aga in st th e Briti sh at Delhi , continued to di splay acti ve ho stility, till they we re finall y routed by Co!. Burn at the end of 1804. In Mar ch 1805 , an amn es ty was pr oclaim ed to all th e Sikh s on condi tion of peaceable behaviour ; but Gurd it Sin gh of Ladw a wa s expre ss ly ex cluded from this amnest y, and in April of the sa me yea r th e English forces marched upon hi s fort of Kamal and captured it .3

1. Hari Ra m Gupta, Hi stor y of th e Sikhs, Vo lume n, 194 4, pp . 276-77 . 2. Karnal Di strict Ga ze ttee r. 191 8, p. 23. 3, Ibid . pp. 23-24 . THE MODERN PERIOD This area had experienced varying political disturbances In the eighteenth centur y. Thes e were identified with the terms Singhashahi ka Ram Raula or Bha ogardi , the 'Sikh hurly-burly' or the 'Maratha anarchy'. The Mughal authority had lost its grip over this region. The Sikhs never really established their gr asp over the country south of Panipat ; and they held, what they did possess , only as feudatories of the Marathas. But the whole period was a constant contest between these three powers ; and the tract formed a sort of no-man 's land , coveted by all but protected by none. It was practic ally the prey of the strongest and most audacious freebooter of the day whether hailing from the Punjab or the Deccan , for nobody cared to spare for to-morrow wh at he might only possess for to-d ay. Even as early as 1760 , Ahmad Shah A bdali had to approach Delhi by way of the Ganga Doab. as owing to the constant passage to and fro of the Maratha troops, the countr y was so desolated that supplies were unprocurable ; and in 1803 , when the British took over the district , it was estimated that more than four- fifths was overrun by forest , and it s inhabitants either removed or exterminated. The royal canal had long dried up , and thick forest had taken the place of cultivation, and aff orded shelter to thieves, vagabonds and beasts of prey .'

The at that time being not in favour of acquir- ing territory we st of the Yamuna, parcelled out this area between petty chiefs . The sovereign powers of the Rajas of lind, Kaithal , Ladwa , Thanes ar and Shamg arh and of the Nawab of Kunjpura were confirmed and they were continued in the land s held by them under treaty from the Marathas , except that Ladwa was deprived of Kamal . The pargana of Kamal was bestowed on the Mandals 2 in exch ange for their lands in the Yamuna Doab . Besides, other minor adjustments were also made.

The policy , which bade the British abstain from interference west of the Yamuna, changed with the altered political circumstances in Europe. When in 1806 , Ranjit Singh crossed the Satluj with his army and marched to Thanesar , it was realized that the Satluj must become the north-western boundar y of the British territorial influence. Negotiations followed and finally a treaty was signed in 1809 by which Ranjit Singh was prevented from making any encroachments south of the Satluj. At the same time all the chiefs between the Satluj and the Yamuna were taken under British protecti .on .

1. Karnal Di stri ct Gazett ee r, 1918, p. 24. 2. The Mandals are said to have come from Samana, Patiala district (Punjab). That section of the Mandals whose head wa s the titular Nawab of Karnal, was fQund by Lord Lake in 1804, established on the eastern bank of the Yamuna . As the record s of the Ambala Agency te stify , from 1809 to 1847 per sistent effort s were made in va in to enforce good governmen t th ro ugh the politic al agen cy at Amb ala among the endless sem i-indep ende nt Chi efs in thi s ar ea. The Bri tish Go ve rnm ent so ught to remedy thi s situat ion by enforcing it s claim s to lap se by esc heat on th e dea th without line al heir s of the poss essors of 1809 or their desce ndant s. It was thu s that th e Bri tish di stricts of Amb a la and Th anesa r gradua ll y gre w up, eac h success ive lapse bein g made th e occas ion for re gu lar se ttlements of the vill ag e re ve nu es and the intr od uct ion of dir ec t Briti sh rul e.Howeve r, ea ch rem ain ing chi ef, great and small alik e, had wi thin hi s own territor y abso lu te civi l, crimi nal and fisc al juris dicti on, subje ct onl y to the gen eral authori ty of the Age nt to the Go ve rnor -Gene ral . No tribute was taken from them , and th ough the y we re require d, in th e case of wa r, to ai d th e Gov ern me nt , ye t no spec ial cont inge nt was fixe d. The Ci s- Satluj chief s enjo ye d a complete immun ity fr om in vas ion, and re ta ined th eir ri ghts of sov ereignt y. The ri ght to esc hea ts was the so le ri ght which the Gove rnm en t demanded in ret urn for it s pr otect ion. In fact, with th e ex cepti on of a few te rr ito ries whic h had lapsed from failu re of heir s, eac h chief still found him sel f th e rul er of th e terri to ry whi ch he or hi s forefath ers had held at th e time wh en th ey pas sed und er the Brit is h prot ect ion .

In 1846-47 , a fres h st ep was taken by th e Bri tish Gove rnm ent af ter exp erien cin g th e passive obst ru ct ion or op en re lu cta nce on th e part of the chie fs when ca ll ed up on to assis t with supplie s an d men du ring the Fi rst Sikh War again st th e Lahore Du rbar in 1845 . Only a few chiefs abstained fr om open re belli on. In any case with its ex pansion of te rritory and poli tical in flu enc es across the Satluj af te r the Fir st Sikh War, the Brit is h Gove rnment could hardl y afford th e Ci s-Sat luj chiefs to exe rcis e almost unlim ited power. Con sequ ently, sweep in g meas ur es we re introdu ce d to reduce their privilege s. Th e polic e juri sd iction of most of th e chi efs as we ll as all tr ansit and custom dutie s we re aboli shed and a commut ati on was accept- ed for th e person al se rvice of th e chi ef and hi s co ntin ge nt . Th e only State s exempted wer e Pati ala, li nd, Na bh a, Faridko t, Malerkot la, Chh achh- rauli (Kal sia), Raikot , Buri ya and Mamd ot.1 The polic e juri sdi ction was made ove r to Europe an officer s in the territori es of th e remaining chiefs. Howe ver , it soon beca me app aren t th at th e chiefs, depr ive d of their polic e jurisdiction , were un able to collect their reve nue. A propo sa l was , therefore , made for a regul ar set tlement of the land revenue . But .before fin al order s were pass ed on thi s point , the se co nd Sik h ca mp aign

1. Nabha was exceptionally treated, one-quarter of its te rr itory ha ving been cond scated. had co mmence d. It ende d in the ann exa ti on of th e Punj ab in 1849 . In the sa me year, it was dec lared th at, with th e. excep ti on of th e Sta tes al- rea dy men tio ned, al l the chief s shou ld "cease to hold sovere ign pow ers, shou ld lose al l crimin al, civ il and fi scal ju risdictio n, an d sho uld be co n- sidered as no more th an ord in ary subjects of the Br it is h Gove rnm ent in the possess ion of cer ta in excep ti onal pr ivil eges" . Th e chi efs of Kunjp ura, Thanesar an d Sh amga rh we re trea ted in th is manner . Th e reve nu es were sti ll to be their s, but were to be assessed by Briti sh off icers and un der Brit ish ru les . Th e fin al step was taken in 1852 when the rev enue settle me nt beg un for Bri tish vi il ages wa s extende d to th e vi ll ag es of the ch ief s, Thereaf ter, the chiefs cea sed to ret ain any reli cs of th eir fo rm er power exc ept that th ey were st ill permitted to col lect direct from their vil lages th e cas h asses sment of re ve nue as fi xe d at the time of se ttl eme nt. They sa nk to the pos ition of jagirdars , wh o ret ained a ri ght to the re venue assigned to them in pe rpe tui ty subject only to lap se on fa ilur e of heir s.

HISTO RY OF PRl NCIPALlT IESI The detai led hi st ory of the Kaithal, Ladw a, Thanesar and Ku nj- pura St at es which are now part of th e district cannot be give n here. We can only stop to mention the pr in ci pal feat ur es relat in g to th eir ori gin and admin istration.

KA ITH AL2 Kaithal in the tim e of (A.D. 1719 -48) was a parga na consisting of 13 tappas . In A.D. 173 3, it was held from th e Delhi Government in jagi r by one Qamr-ud-din Kh an, a Ba luch by trib e. Thi s ma n was slain in the mas sacre of De lh i by Na dir Shah in A.D. 1739. Az imullah Khan, his successor, see ing the dec lining state of the em pi re, endeavoure d to shake off his alle gia nce and assume in dep end enc e.Ikhtiar Kh an, an Afghan, was one of the principal za mindar s wh om he enga ged. The latte r so metimes pai d but frequ ently res isted and ap prop ria ted the reve nu es. In A.D. 175 1,Inayat Kh an Afg han, an in flu en ti al zal1 1inda r, pe rsuaded th e people to jo in him in resist in g the de man ds of the Baluchi s, rais ed a con sidera bl e fo rce for the pu rpos e, an d enj oyed the reve nues him- self . Ma tt ers con tinu ed in thi s state till 1755.

In A. D. 1756, Tahaww ur Kh an , br other of Qa mr-ud -din , made an uns uccessf ul attem pt to recover the Kait hal jagir fro m In ayat Khan .

1. For an account of the chief s and familie s of not e in the Karnal di strict . refer to L.H. Grif fi n, Chi ef s and Famili es of No te in th e Punjab . Volume 1,190 9, pp . 9- 48. I 2. Karnal Distri ct Gaz elte er, 1918, pp . 30-31 . Thu s ended the Baluch posse ss ion . Th e famil y of In ayat Kh an continued in posse ss ion of Kaithal till A.D. 1767, when Bh ai De su Singh march ed against Kaith al, which succumbed after a we ak re sistance , and thus commenced the Sikh rule . Bhai Budha Singh , his eld es t brother , se ized Thane- s:u and Pehow a. Bhai Desu Singh built th e ori ginal fort of Kaithal and sever al small forts around Kaith al, numerous ka chcha dams along the Saraswati and brought a wat er-cour se fr om Mangn a to Kaith al.

Of the three sons of De su Sin gh, Khu shh al Si ngh di ed in ch ild- hood. Bahal Singh su cce ed ed to the rul e as hi s elder brot her, Lal Singh , wa s under re stra int at Delhi . Lal Sin gh's moth er obta in ed hi s re lease on payment of Rs. 40 ,000 . He shortly returned and ass ume d the Gover nmen t, driving his brother , wh o strongly oppo sed him , to Kul aran. Bahal Singh acquired Budhlada , but wa s soon put to death by hired as sas sin s.

Lal Singh proved the greatest chief of his dyn asty . He was re garded as the mo st powerful of th e Ci s-S at luj Sardar s aft er th e Raja of Patiala . He is de sc ribed as hav in g been a very able man, th ough he was utt erl y untru stworth y, unscrupulou s and of a violen t di spo sition. He was held in some res pect by th e le sse r chief s who frequentl y submi tte d to his arbitra- tion . He acquired lar ge tr ac ts of land by pl underin g hi s neighbours on all sid es . He suc ceed ed in regaining po ss ess ion of th e mu ch covete d Th ane sar which origin ally bel onged to the Bh ais of Kaithal , but wh ic h had been captured by their old ri va ls Bhang a Singh and Bhag Singh of the Dallewala Misl from Manjha , He did good service to Parron in defe ating George Thomas , and was rewarded in con sequence by the gift of parg ana SLllar on payment of a na zarana of Rs. 60 ,000 , lit tle bett er th an one year's rev enue. Hi s ser vices were acknowl edged by Lord La ke by th e gr ant of (Roh ta k di st ri ct) for life. He joined the Briti sh forces in the pur suit of Jaswant Rao Holk ar up to the Satluj. He render ed goo d ser vice to General Ochterl ony in th e Gorkha War , and wa s liberall y tr ea ted. He had been a firm ally of Raja Bhag Singh of Jind all hi s lif e, and on mor e than on e occasion had come to his assi stance in repelling the att ack s of George Thomas.

Lal Singh resided chiefly at Kaithal . He added to the fort of Kaithal, and , in fact , may almost be said to have re-built it, for it wa s nothin g but a mud building before. He ruled for 33 years and died in A.D. 1818 .

On Lal Sin gh's dea th, hi s sons , Partab Singh and Udai Singh, being 4 and 3 year s old re spect iv el y, the Government wa s carried on in the name of Par tab Singh, under the regenc y of hi s moth er (Sahib Kaur ); but th e bo y only lived to the age of 12 years , and died of smallpox. Udai Sing h, still a boy, succeeded under th e regency of his moth er, who co nti nu ed to exercise very gr eat influ enc e in public affa irs even whe n he came of age . Udai Sin gh was a weak-minded yout h, witho ut ambition an d with out en ergy to ke ep what hi s fat her had ac quired. Dur ing hi s chiefs hip the di sorder an d affrays on the Kai thal frontier became so se ri ous, stoppin g all trade and di sturbin g the peace of the wh ole co un try, th at a strong re mo nstrance was addre sse d by th e Britis h aut hori ties to him and the neighb ourin g Sardar s, who were jointly res po nsible for the good governmen t of the area.

Udai Sin gh res ided chi efly at Kailhal but freq uently at Pehowa, and bo th plac es bea r witne ss of hi s taste for architectu re.He enl arge d and beaut ifie d the fort of Ka it haI. built a palace there , after the mode l of Oc ht erl ony's house at Kam al, onl y on a more impo sin g sc ale, an d near it a bridge over the Bidk iyar lake . At Pehowa, the ga rde n house is a cre di t to hi s archi tectur al tas te, bu t was left incompl ete on his dea th . A maso nry da m that he erected acro ss the Saraswat i, which threw wa ter do wn a cut irr igat ing nume rous vi ll ages for 16 mi les (abou t 26 kil omet res) tow ards Kaithal, was des troyed by the Bri ti sh authori ties aft er the esche at. ]n priva te life Uda i Singh was a deba uch, in pu bl ic a tyra nt . He was bedridde n fo r some years of his later life , and died at Kaithal on Ma rc h 14 , 1843 , wh en the greater part of the es tate lapsed to the Bri tish. Only that te rri tory whi ch was acquir ed by Gur ba khs h Sing h, the or ig inal found er of the fami ly, was conferr ed up on Bhai Gul ab Sing h and Bh ai Sa ngat Singh of Arnoli , coll ater als of Uda i Si ngh in the thi rd genera ti on. Th ey also ceased to exercis e adm ini st rat ive func- tions in 18 49.1

Thi s lapse was highly distast efu l to the Phul kian chie fs of Pati ala, Jind and Nabha, who , as relatives of the dece ased , were desiro us of retain in g th e posses sion in the family . But nothin g came of th eir eff ort s to influe nce th e Bri tish Go vernment no r di d the in surr ection of the peo pl e who had been excited at th e prosp ect of loss of Kait hal pr oduce any re sult in spite of th e fi ght they gave and Kait hal was finally ta ken over in 1843 .

LADWA 2 The founde rs of the La dw a es tat e were Sahib Sin gh and Gurdit Sin gh wh o mas tered Babain an d Ladwa, Shamgarh ,S:1 ga, Kamal and some vill ages of Pani pat . They had come from the Manjha3, an d es tabli shed

I. Kamal Di strict Gaz ett ee r, 1918, p. 34. 2. Ibid. 3. Th e Manj ha Sikhs inhabited the countr y in the Upper Ba ri Doab ; later the cou ntry al so cam e to be known as Manjha. themselves at Babain and Ladwa . After the def eat of the Afghans at Sirhind in 176 4 A. D., th ese Sardar s lo st Panip at and Kamal . Sahib Singh, who wa s afterw ard s kill ed in action near Kamal , bestowed Shamgarh on hi s brother-in-law , Kirpal Singh , who accompanied the confeder acy in the co nquest.

Gurdit Singh was suc ceed ed by his son , Ajit Si ng h, who obtained th e title of Raj a from Lord Auckl and for buildin g a bridg e over the Saras- wa ti at Th anesar . He sid ed with the Sikh s during the Firs t Anglo-Sikh War (1845-46 ) and was imp ris on ed at Allah abad. The estate lap sed in 1846.

Ku JP URA1 The founder of the Kunjpur a famil y was a Pathan nam ed Nijab at Khan who flourished in th e early part of th e ei ght eenth century. He built a strong tower in the Yamuna marshe s and named it Kunjpura ,'Th e Heron 's Nest '. 2 The Chakl adar of Saharanp ur, Izza t Kh an, adv ance d again st the freebooter bu t was killed by one of Ni jabat Kh an's relati ons. The Emper or of Delhi , hea ring the de ath of his Ch ak ladar, enticed Nijabat Khan through the in tercess ion of Mulr aj, Go ve rn or ofPanipat and kept him ther e as a prisoner for one yea r. Ev entua ll y he was rele as ed ; and hi s es tate Nij abat Nagar, and other vill ages wer e gra nted to him in jagir on conditi on of his re strain- ing the re st less Jats and Rajput s from cau sing dis turbanc es.

Nij abat Kh an sub mitt ed to Nadir Sh ah in A.D. 1739 and supplied him wi th pro visions. He beca me a Ri sa ld ar of 1, 000 SI1' a1 'S and wa s recognised as rig htful own er of Ku nj pura by the new power. The Maratha army under Sa da Shi v Bh au plu ndere d Kunjpura in 1760 when Nij abat Khan was killed. Nijab at's eldest so n, Da ler Kh an succe eded in esc aping acros s the Yamuna , and had hi s reven ge in the following year by taking part in the battle of Panipat, when the Marathas suffered a cru shing defe at at the hand s of the Durr anis .

Daler Khan 's ass istan ce to the Durr ani s was evidently of considerable va lu e, and he was confirm ed in the rule and re venue s of Kunjpura , Jndri and Azimabad . The grant extend ed over 150 vill ag es in Kam al, Jndri , Th anesar, Sh ahabad (Shahb ad) and Badauli . The mah als of Kamal and Safidon were afterwa rd s be st owe d in li eu of certain other vill ages re sumed. DaJer Khan and his succe ss or Gulsher Khan had to struggl e hard to maintain their

I. L.H. Griffin , Chi efs an d Famili es of Not e in th e Punjab , Volume J. 1909, pp. 'j~·7 .3 . 2 His sons renamed the fort and called it Ni jabat Nagar. position against the encroachments of the Sikhs. Sollie family possessions had to be surrendered, in other cases part of an estate was kept while the re- mainder was given.

The head of the Kunjpura house enjoyed the title of Nawab, and his jurisdiction as a semi-independent chief was only lost to him under the operations of Lord Hardinge 's order in 1846. Thereafter the Nawabs of Kunjpura were mere Jagirdars, occasionally exercising judicial powers specially conferred. The Nawabs of Kunjpura migrated to after the Partition and the estate was acquired as an evacuee property .

THANEsARI The founder of the Thanesar chiefship was Mith Singh. He belonged to Manjha and came to this region with the Dallewalia misl in company with his nephews Bhag Singh and Bhanga Singh. The royal fort at Thanesar was held by the troops of the Bhais of Kaithal under the command of Desu Singh . Bhag Singh and Bhanga Singh waited their opportunity in the neigh- bourhood, while Mith Singh advanced with the conquering Sikhs, and was killed at Meerut . Bhang a Singh and Bhag Singh, with the assistance of the Ladwa Sardars and Karam Singh Nirmala of Shahabad (Shahbad) , after one failure, made a successful night attack and possessed themselves of the fort of Thanesar . After the death of Bhai Desu Sin gh of Kaith al, a large part of his possessions ill Indri , and some estates near Pehowa fell into the hands of the two Th anesar Sardars and of the Ladwa Chi ef. The terri- tory conquered by Bhanga Singh and Bhag Singh comprised a number of estates in the present Indri pargana , some villages in Pehowa, and a large tract in the Thanesar tahsil . A partition was made, Bhanga Singh taking 3/5 and Bhag Singh 2/5. Bhanga Singh was a savage and determined ruler ": and was the only Cis-Satluj chief whom Ranjit Singh feared. He died in 1815, leaving a son , Fateh Singh and a daughter by hi s wedded wife, and a son, Sahib Singh , by a concubine. The daughter, Karam Kaur, married Karm Singh, the Raja of Patiala , and six villages of Indri were given as her dowry. Sahib Singh had a jagir of 9t villages in Indri, and was succeeded by his son, Bishun Singh, who died without a male issue. The remainder of Bhanga Singh's est ate descended to his son, Fateh Singh, who died in 1819 leaving his mother Mai Jiun and two young widows. Mai Jian managed the estate till 1830, and died in 1836. Ratan Kaur , one of the widows, died in 1844, leaving the other widow Chand Kaur, in pos- session of the estate, which lapsed on her death in 1850. Bhag Singh , the brother of Bhan ga Sin gh, di ed in 1791 leaving fo ur so ns, thre e of who m di ed childl ess. The esta te descended to Jamiat Singh , the so n of the yo ung est brother, Baj Sin gh, who also died childl es s in 1832 , when the es tate lapsed.

UPRISI NG OF 1857 Th e Upri sin g of 1857 clea rl y showe d that th e peo ple in many are as of this di stri ct ros e in oppo sit ion to Br iti sh author ity. To hav e a clear view of the happ enin gs of th e Upri sin g of 1857 , it se em s ess entia l to keep in mind the th en adm ini st rati ve se t-up of the are as now formin g the Kamal di stri ct. The Panip at and Kamal tah ils compr ise d the th en Pampat di strict while th e remainin g port ion, viz. Th anesar , Ka ith al and Gul a (Guh la) tahsils , formed a part of th e th en Th anesar di stric t.

Th e Briti sh authorities felt th at it was of the utm os t importance to kee p open th e roa d betw ee n Amb ala and Mee rut to facilit ate the junction of the for ces fro m th ese two points . Bot h on account of its proximity to Delhi and it s locati on on th e hi ghroad from Amb ala, it wa s in the interest of the British to put dow n all oppos iti on in th is area.

The distri ct of Panip at on account of its locati on wa s under the hee l of the Briti sh. It was a frequent sight fo r th e civi l po pulation to se e British forces ma rching to and from Delhi and the Pu njab.'Bes id es, all the impor ta nt town s of the di st ri ct we re hea vil y guarded by the fo rc es of th e Patiala and lind chief s, wh o, to prot ec t th eir own int ere sts , wer e ali gned to the ca use of th e Br iti sh.

As soo n as th e news of th e happ enings of 185 7 reac hed lind , the Raja co ll ected hi s troop s and, re aching Kama l on the 18th of May, he preven ted the loca l opp osition fr om ga theri ng st rength . He th en marched down the Grand Trunk Roa d in adva nc e of th e Briti sh co lumn s and after recovering Panip at and Samalkh a from the op posing forces of freedom fighter s, kept the road op en for the Brit ish for ces be tween Kama l and De lhi . The Mah araja of Patia la too helped the Br itish by holdin g Kamal , Than esa r and Amb ala and kee pin g the roa d open fr om Kamal to Phill aur . In spit e of such arr ange ment s, the com pa ny of th e 5th Nativ e Inf antry post ed at Thane sa r went into ac tion but it was di sa rmed on Jul y 14 .

The civ il popul at ion rose in alm ost every big vi ll age. Con sequently , the civil admini st ration was thrown out of gear, the revenue and police

1. Ka ye's and Mal/ es ou 's Hi story of the In dian Mutin y of 1857-8, edit ed by cal on ed Mall eso n, 1914, Vo lume VI, p. 140. of ficer s ce as ed to fun ction an d even many zamind ars and important villager s we re in no mood to help the Br itish.

In the Panip at Bangar, 16 of the larges t Jat vill ages in the Na ulth a zail refu se d to pay th eir reve nu e, and join ed act ion in the Roht ak dis tri ct. An ot her J 9 large vill ages, most ly in the Bhal si and K ur an zail s rose in opp os ition , burnt som e Gover nm ent buil din gs and ref use d to pay reve nu e. Th e Guj ars also ro se and join ed hand s. Th ese freedo m fighte rs had to pay he avi ly for th eir co ura ge. Th e Briti sh were me rcil ess in their atr oci ties aft er the Upri sin g was suppre sse d.All th ese vill ages, be sid es bein g fin ed, were pu nished in variou s ot her ways ; and Lambar dars' all owances to th e amou nt of Rs. 7,3 17 , represe nti ng a reve nu e of Rs. 1,46.3 40 wer e confisca - ted .'

In th e tow n of Panip at , those up in ar ms aga in st the Gove rnment col lec ted in th e shrin e of Bu ali Shah Qaland ar. They would have attacked th e Coll ecto r's office bu t the Jind tr oop s pr ev en te d th em from doin g so. Th e Briti sh behaved mercile ss ly; hos tages wer e se ize d, peo ple we re hange d and th e pension of the shrin e was reduc ed con siderabl y: Th e Ta hsild ar of Gh ara und a, a Panip at man, was remo ve d on charges of di sa ff ec- tion .

Th e Na rd ak area did not lag behind the Banga r. Some of th e large vi ll ages nota bl y Si wa n, Asa ndh, Jalman a, Bala , Dac har, Gandar and refuse d to pay reve nu e and defied th e Bri tish auth ori ty. A fo rce of about 250 tr oo ps was se nt from Kamal under Capta in Hug hes on Jul y 13. Thi s force was checke d at vill age Bala, abo ut 40 kil ometre s fr om Kam al, by a for ce of the Jats comp risin g 900 matc h-loc km en and many mount ed sowa rs. Af ter a fi erce fig ht that last ed a short whil e, th e Jats co mp elled th e enemy to fl ee away. Captain Hu ghes di spatched a mes se nger to Kamal for re in fo rcements and he hi ms elf en cam ped in the jungle near by. Bu t during the ni ght the Rangha rs floc ked in fr om th e neighb ourin g vill ages. Th ey numb ered about 3,000; und er shelt er ofa small jun gle and th e bank s of a cana l, the y ke pt up a harass ing fire. Capt ain Hughe s co uld not withs ta nd thi s pr essu re and at the day- br ea k of Jul y 14 , effe cted hi s retreat. Mea nwhil e, th e rein- forcem ent s co mpri si ng two gun s of the Nawab of Kam al (Ahmad Ali Kh an) and 50 Sikh s (Pati ala men), with 20 of th e Naw ab's tr oo pers, arriv ed. Comin g up un-noti ced , the y sudd enl y opened fire. After mu ch loss , th e Ranghars had to le ave the ground. 2

I. Karnal Dist rict Ga zett ee r, 1918, p. 40 . 2. Cav e Browne , Rev . J. , Th e Punja b an d Delhi in 1857 , Volum e II , pp. 143 -44. (Rep ri n te d by th e La nguages Department , Punj ab, !97 0.) . The village of Bala was re-attacked. The Jats took up the defensive in a strong building, the double barricades of which could defy any enemy without artillery. When the fire of guns of the British force caused considera- ble damage to the building , its inmates, coming out in the open, launched an attack on the enemy. The British cavalry, by a flank manoeuvre, got between the rebels and the towns-people with speed and completely encircled them. In the grim battle that ensued, nearly 100 Jats fell and the day was lost . The losses of the British side were limited to two Jndian officers and three troopers, fifteen wounded and several horses killed. Captain Hughes' own horse received three wounds .'

The villages around BaJa were sacked and made to pay heavy fines in addition to the arrears of revenue. But this in no way dispirited the people. Hardly had the British force left Karnal, when they again started their acti- vities. A huge force assembled at the village of lalmana and gave fight to Lieutenant Pearson who had attacked them. The opposition grew so strong that he failed to register a victory over them. He asked for reinforcement but not getting any owing to the precarious British position at Panipat and Ambala, he retired from the field.

The Deputy Commissioner of Panipat learnt on June 8 that a hostile force of the freedom fighters was on its way from Jullundur to Delhi. He thought that this force might march upon Ambala and Patial a but in any case Thanesar was certain to be attacked. The Maharaja of Patiala took an alarm at it and withdrew his forces from Thanesar to protect his own capital . Under these circumstances, Lieutenant Pearson was called back leaving Jalmana as it was . In fact, the Jullundur force proceeded to Delhi and did not attack any of these places .

With the danger over , Lieutenant Pearson on June 15 , re-directed his attention to settling the Kaithal region and brought it under control . Simi- larly, the Ladwa villages which had successfully risen in opposition were attacked and destroyed by the Deputy Commissioner of Thanesar .

Towards the western side of the district, the opposition to the British was still brewing. The Ranghars living in the area, collected in great numbers, attacked and captured the Asandh police station. On hearing this , Pearson advanced towards Asandh with a strong force . But so strong was the opposition of the Ranghars that he could not dare to attack them; on the contrary he was attacked and pushed back by them. While these events were happening, the position of the British had become more favourable for them in the districts of Hisar (Hissar) and Rohtak . Similarly , the work of suppressing the opposition in Asandh, Jalmana and other villages was taken in hand with th 'e help of the Patiala force. The village of Asandh was bombarded and reduced to ashes. I The British also cruelly burnt the village of Jalmana . All other villages met a similar fate . Heavy fines were realized from all these villages at the point of the bayonet .

GROWTH OF POLITICAL STRUGGLE Like other districts of the south-east Punjab , roughly comprising Haryana , Kamal was tagged with the Punjab after the Uprising of 1857. As a measure of punishment , the district was not included for any of the development programmes . Moreover, there was an advantage in keeping it economically and educationally backw ard , in order to usc it as a recruiting area for the British army .

India began to change in the 19th century , and th e pace of change quicken ed as the years went by . The introduction of Engli sh education opened the door to west ern influence by exposing the educated classes to western ideas. This change affected the whole country in varying degrees and the Kamal district was no exception, though it s pace was slow . While it affected other aspects of life , it was particularly noticeable in th e political outlook which engendered discontent . Signs of popular awakening in the district were not lacking . The Arya Samaj played an important part in this awakening, It was founded in the Mohalla, Kamal, in the beginn - Il1g of the present centur y.

The World War I brok e out in 1914 and the district contributed its share in the supply of manpower . It also contributed substantially to the Aeroplane Fund, the Imperial Indian Relief Fund, Comforts Funds and the War Loans.

During the World War I, people had hoped that the defeat of Germany would usher in an era of peace. This . hope did not come true. "After the Armistice was concluded in November 1918, the prevailing ab- normal conditions, instead of vanishing, became aggravated, particularly in relation to high prices. The ordinary people naturally became discon- tented with their lot . There was widespread famine in the country owing to the failure of the monsoon of 1918 , and the prevalence of influenza and ot her epid emic s had re sul te d in a very heav y mort alit y." I In Punj ab, the Government under Michae l 0' Dwyer came to be regarded by the educa ted and politic all y-minded class es as oppo sed to their as pi rat ions. The passage of Row latt Acts aggr avat ed the situat ion and demonst rati ons of var ious kind s were ma de to sec ur e the rcpea l of the measure. Mahatma Gandhi joined the ag itat ion and advised passi ve res istance ag ain st these obnoxio us Acts . In response to his call parti al hart al wa s ob serve d at Pa nipat on the 30 th March , 191 9, and a meet in g was held in the town. An ha ndwritte n not ice advocat in g mourn ing an d prayer s for pa ssive resis tance was found st uck in the bazaar at Ka mal. To ::trr ange for the hart al on the 6t h Ap ril , mass meet ing s we re held at Kamal on the 4t h and the 5t h April . The harta l on th e 6th Apr il was ob serv ed succes sfull y at Kamal but it failed at Panipat. On the 9th Apr il, Ram Naumi was celebr atcd at Panip at and at Roth Yatra Hindus and Muh amma da ns fr aterniz ed and org ani sed demons tration s in hon our of Mahatma Gandhi. On th e IIth April , a complete har tal was obser ved at Panip at in conn ect ion with th e arr es t of G2ndhij i at Palw al. A De lhi fr eedom fi gh ter, Bh agwanji deli ve red str ong spee ches and a warran t under Defence of Indi a Act was sub sequcn tl y iss ued for his arr est .

On the 12th Ap ril , a ge ncr al Rai lwCl Y, Post and Telegmp h strike was th re atened at Kamal. The sa me day, a meeting was held at Shahab ad (Sh ahb ad) to arr ange for obs erv ance of harta l on th e fo ll owin g day. In th e cve ning Hin dus and Sik h con gre ga ted in the Imambara and fra ternize d wit h Muhamm adan s. At Panip at, a contributi on was lev ied on a shopkee per wh o had not obser ve d hartal on the II th April . A com plete harta l was obse rve d at Sha habad (Sha h bad) on th e 13th Apr il . Effor ts were also made at Thane sa r to form a Hin du -Mu slim pon cho) 'ot to sett le ca ses.

The ma ssacre of Jalli anwala Bag h becClme the foc al point of th e nation al movem ent of resistance all ov er th e co untry. There we re demonstrat ions th ro ughout the distr ict agai nst this horr ible mass acre of Ap ril 13, 191'9. A public meeti ng wa s he ld at KClrnal . A pr oc ess io n fo ll owed by a pu bli c meetin g wa s obs erved at Pani pat .

On the 18th Apri l, considera bl e exc ite ment preva il ed at Pan ip at ow in g to pressure from so me De lhi free dom fig hters .The sa me day , a mee ti ng was held at Fatehpur (P und ri). An un success ful attemp t at hart al was al so made at Pu nd ri.Har tal was observed at Kait hal, during whic h abo ut 100 Hindu and Mu sli m boy s visited the railway stClt ion an d tri ed to in du ce th e ra ilw ay staff to str ike . Ladwa was visite d by an unk now n bare -foote d and bare- he aded Muhammadan, who convened a meeting of Hindus and Muslims, whom he informed that the Muslims of Delhi had given up cow-killing and urged them to follow Delhi's example and promote Hindu-Muslim unity. He also told them that the Delhi people had vowed to remain bare-headed and bare-footed till Gandhiji was set at liberty. On the 19th April, the people damaged Kaithal Railway Station. The Government suppressed their movements with a strong hand.

In 1920, Gandhiji in alliance with the Khilafat leaders launched a Non-violent Non-Cooperation Campaign throughout India to bring the British administration to a standstill . Henceforward, the course of events in the district was in line with what happened elsewhere. The Congress move- ment was started in the district that year and Congress Committees were formed at various places. The Khilafat movement was also started and Khila- fat Day was observed at Panipat on March 3, 1920 , and non-cooperation resolutions were passed. A District Political Conference was organised at Kamal with as its chairman. The participation of the people in Non-Cooperation Movement led to several arrests at Panipat, Kaithal, Shahabad (Shahbad), Salwan and .

Thereafter,the district followed the line of action laid down by the Congress for the whole country. In compliance with Gandhiji 's appeal for funds, Lala Lajpat Rai toured the district . The people responded en thusiastically and a good sum was collected. To suppress the movement, the Government arrested many of the leaders which resulted in slackness of political activity.

In 1930, the Indian Na tional Congress decided on complete independence to be the goal of India. It authorised the All-India Congress Committee to launch a Civil Disobedience Movement . Many villages in the district showed signs of dis-affection. On his visits to Salwan, the Commissioner, , was greeted with black flags. A police party was posted there by way of punishment . Many arrests were made throughout the district . The Civil Disobedience Movement was suspended in 1931 in consequence of the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. On its renewal in 1932, the Civil Disobedience work was organised by the volunteers throughout the district . On request, three parties of four volunteers each from villages Gagsina and Salwan proceeded to Lahore and courted arrests there. Besides, many other persons from Karnal, Kaithal, Shahabad (Shahbad), Panipat, Salwan and Urlana Kalan were arrested. The movement continued unabated till May 1934, when it languished. After th e suspen si-on of Civil Di sobe die nce Move ment, ,the -Co ngress de cided to parti cip ate in th e el ecti ons of 19 37 to th e leg islature s and local bod ies; Hec ti c elect ioneerin g activ it y fo ll owe d an d many mee tin gs were or- gani sed.

Politic al activit y was ke pt ali ve on the ba sis of local an d' nati onal issu es after the elec tio ns of 19 37 .Protests we re organi sed ag ain st hega r and the high-hand edne ss of local offi cers. A Chamar Sa bha was orga nised to vO Ice the grieva nces of th eir community .

Th e leading per sons of the di strict unani mou sly app rove d th e 'Quit In dia' res olution adopted by th e Con gress in 1942. The Congre ss Committee s were dec lared unl awf ul by the Gove rnm ent. Thi s led to a shar p re action. Ther e we re ex pl osions in the Ka mal Pos t Off ice aime d at sett ing fire to the dak. Th e distill ery was set on fir e and at severa l places, Gove rnment buildings wer e damag ed . The natio nal fla g was in stall ed and unfu rled on th e Mun ic ip al Co mmitte e Buildin g, Kamal in sp it e of the stri ct watch kept there by the police gu ard s. Th e poli ce lat hi- charge d th e ga th ering in fro nt of th e buil di Jl g. Many of th em along wit h th eir lead er, Man Sing h Rahi , were arres ted an d se nt to Centra l Jail ,Mult an.1 The Gover nm ent too k stern ac ti on and curbed the mov ement by puttin g th e politi ca l lea ders behind the bars.

When many of the poli tica l wo rkers in ur ban areas had been ar rest ed or had gone und ergrou nd, worker s started pouring in from rura l areas .A batch of wo rk ers ca me from Gags ina 'to unfu rl the nat iona l fl ag on th e tah sil bu il di ng at Kama l. A seve re lath i- charge wa s made whi ch res ul te d in se rious inju ries to se ve ral per son s.The authoriti es bec ame more st ern and cau sed ?uffe ring to . many polit ica l wor ker s.

The youth of the di str ic t servi ng in th e Briti sh Indi an army in South Eas t As ia joined the Ind ian Na ti ona l Arm y in large numb ers and fought br avely under the lea ders hip of Subh as h Chand ra Bo se . Sub se quent events like the deat h of Subhas h Chandr a Bose and the tri al of LN. A. per so nne l who were re ga rded as hero es, cause d a gre at stir in th e public mind her e as els ew here .

When Indep enden ce came , the distr ict ce lebra ted the In de pendence Day on Augu st 15 , 1947, with gr eat enthu sia sm. The mig rati on of large numbers of peo pl e fr om Wes t Pun jab (Pakis tan) cre ated num erous probl ems of sett lem ent and soci al re -adju stment . The last two dec ades have wit ness ed change in ma ny direc ti ons . The subse que nt Chapt er s wi ll thr ow lig ht on what de ve lopment s have bee n made in diff ere nt sph eres of activ ity duri ng thi s per iod .

1. Man Singh Rahi became seriously ill and di ed in jail in 1944 . Ho wev er , one of the most sign ifica nt de ve lopment s has been that the distri ct passed on to Hary ana on Nov emb er 1, 1966, wh en thi s new State was created. Sinc e then th e fo ll ow ing mini str ies have existe d und er th e lea dership of the Chi ef Mini sters whose names are give n below:

March 24 , 1967 (Fo renoo n) Nove mb er 21 , 1967 (For eno on)

Du ri ng the peri od between Nov emb er 21,1967 and May 21,19 68, th e St at e remain ed und er the Pr es id ent's rul e.

We are 1'00 ,near the pre se nt to view the hi stor ical import ance of thes e changes. . Chapter III PEOPLE

POPULATION Of the seven districts of the State, Kamal according to 1961 Census, ranked second in respect of population . It was inhabited by 14,90,430 persons (8,04,769 males and 6,85,661 females). The first population assessment in the district was made in 1853. As the boundaries of the district underwent consid- erable changes afterwards, a comparison of earlier population figures with later figures is not possible . The district as constituted at present had 8,70,823 persons in 1901 . During the subsequent 60 years (1901-61) this number increased by 71 .15 per cent . The population variation since 1901 has been as below:

1901

1911

1921

1931

1941

1951

1961

1901-61

1. Actually the total population recorded at the 1951 C,c:nsus was 10,79,379 persons . This figure was adjusted to 10,77,381 persons aJ the 1961 C,cnsusaccording to the territorial jurisdiction of the district prevailing in 1961 . The major portion of the incre as e in popul ation occ urr ed durin g the yea rs 19 31- 61. The dec ade 1901-11 was marke d by severe rava ges of plagu e and malari a which too k a heavy toll of the pop ul at ion . During 1911-21 occ urred the grea t influen za epid emic . Th e deca de 19 21- 31 wa s generall y hea lth y but the populati on was almost stati c. It expanded fas ter during 19 31-41 . The dec ade 1941- :: -51 . show ed an in crea se of 10 per ce nt in the popul at ion .The loca l popul ation actu ally in cre as ed by 22 per ce nt but thi s incre ase was reduced by shifting of th e Mu slim popul ation in large num- ber s in th e wak e of the Parti ti on. Th e numb er of non-M uslim immi grant s who ca me in was less than th e numb er of outgo in g Mu slim s by 53 ,875. 1 Th e yea rs 195 1-61 were fr ee from di sease. and the publ ic hea lth mea sure s ta ken by the Go vernm ent redu ce d th e deat h rate while th e bir th rate went up . The rapid extensi on in agr ic ulture and ind ustri alis ati on, parti cularl y during the po st-Partiti on period und er the Fi ve-Y ea r Pl ans has also contribut ed to thj s high rate (38. 34 per cent ) of growth in population whi ch was th e highest in thi s period of 60 year s.

Place of birth .- Of th e to ta l per sons enumer ated in the di stric t in 1961 about 60 .45 per cent we re born at th e pl ace of enum era tio n. Thi s perce nt age wa s compo sed of 64.08 rura l and 42.92 urban popul at ion, den ot in g a high er degree of mobili ty in tow ns. Si mil ar perc entage in res pect of male s and fe males was 72.3 9 and 46.44 res pect ive ly. The low figur e for fe mal es res ul ts from th eir lea vin g the -ance str al pl ac e aft er marri age. Out of th e remainin g 39.55 per cent of popul atio n re cord ed as havin g come from oth er pl ace s, 13.40 per ce nt were born at another pl ace within th e di strict . Person s born out sid e the di stri ct but wi thin the St ate (pre-organised Punjab) form ed 8.65 per ce nt of the popul atio n. Of the rem ai ning 17 .5 0 per cent co min g from out sid e, 2.95 per cent had co me fr om ot her Stat es in Indi a, mainl y from Utt ar Pr ades h (34 ,645) , Delhi (3,57 7), Rajas than (3, 078) and Jammu and Kas hmir (1,179). Persons from Ut tar Pr ade sh and Rajas th an were mainl y fo und in rur al areas and those from Delhi and Jammu and Kas hmir in urb an areas. Th e bala nce of 14 .55 per cent mo stl y repr es ented the population who had migr ate d to the di strict from oth er di stri cts of the Punj ab (Paki sta n) aft er the Pa rtition .

Density .-According to the 1961 Census the number of per so ns per square kilometre in the di strict works out to 187 (156 rur al and 4,69 8 urban) . The den sity rem ain ed almo st unchanged durin g the fir st half of the

I. -Ag ain st 3,04 ,346 Musl im s-of :194 .1 -- Census, almo st all of whom mig rate d to - Pakis ta n-a t· the ti me of the -Partiti on, 2c,SO ,471 disp lac ed persons y,ere en ume rated at 195 1 Censu s as ha ving settled in thi s -di stri~~ --'- demog raphi c di vide (1901 -3 1), but it shot up hi gh in th e sub sequ ent decades on account of the inc rease in po pulatio n an d by 1961 it near ly. doubled as is obvious from the f.cHowi ng tabl e: -

Cens us yea r Area Density (Populati ori (Squa re kilo metres) per squ arekil oni ett e) ------1901 8, 166* 107

1911 8, 166* 97 ·

192 1 8,094 * 101

193 1 8,094* 104

1941 8, 096" 121

i95 1 8, 228* 131

196 1 8,190 * 182 7,96 4** 187

Standi ng seco nd in point of pop ul ati on in th e State, the dist rict rank s fou rth in dens ity. Th e reason fo r lower densi ty is spa rse pop ul atio n in areas affected by floods and water- logg in g. Th e proportio n between the rura l and th e urb an populat ion acco rd ing to 196 1 ·Census is 82.8 : 17.2 as co mp ared to 8-1.2: 18.8 in 195 1. There has bee n relatively more increase in rur al areas; the ave rage popu lat ion per inh abit ed vill age in crease d fr om 66 4 in 195 1 to 915 inl 96 1. Density in th e four ta hsil s in 195 1 and 196 1, as show n below, brin gs out th e bi g rise durin g th e 195 1- 61 de ca de: Tahsil De nsi ty (Popul ati on per squ are kil ometre )

1951 . 1961 ------Kaithal 10 8 158 Thane sar 129 187 Kamal 146 200 Panipat 190 23 5

"This is ac cor di ng to th e Surveyor Genera l of Jndi a. (Ce l/ sl/ s of il /dia , 1961, Volume XIII, Punja b, Part JI- A, Ge neral Popu lati on Tables, p. 12.) **Ce ll sus of Ind ia , 196 1, PUI/jab , Di strict Census Halld bo ok, No.4, Kal 'll (l l District (pu bl is hed in 1966), p. 160. The towns in the district are generall y more conge sted . The urban densit y of the distri ct is 4,698 per sons per square kilometre . Ladw a has the highe st den sit y of 12,706 . Then come Gharaunda (11 ,286) and Sh ahabad (Shahb ad) (1 0,78 1). Tha ne sar is the lea st congested to wn with 1,083 per son s per square kilome tre.

Houses and households .-Addition al hou sin g is esse nt ia l to relie ve the inc onve ni ence of in cre ase d den sit y as condi tions of li vi ng and work ing are determined by it. Duri ng the peri od 195 1-61 , th e ru ral dwe ll ings increase d by 26. 7 per cent as aga inst an incr eas e of 41 .3 per cent in popul ation and the urban dwelling s incre as ed by 18 .8 per cent as aga in st an incre ase of 25.7 per cent in populati on. The di strict record ed an ov erall in crease of 25 .I per cen t in housin g as aga in st an ove rall in cre ase of 38 .3 per ce nt in populat ion. As the popul ati on adva nced more th an th e dw ell ings, bot h in towns and vill age s, th e proble m of short ag e of rur al dw ellin gs was rende red mo re ac ut e.

Th e total of 3,87, 155 hou ses (3 ,19 ,717 rural and 67 ,438 urb an) in the dis tri ct we re occupied by 14,88 ,63 1 per son s. Th e num be r of houseless per sons co mpr is in g wa nd erin g tri bes, tramp s, sadh us and pave ment dwe lle rs was limit ed to 1,799.

Norm all y, a single house wa s used by one hous ehold I whic h on an averag e con siste d of 5. 7 perso ns.2 Th e ov er-burdened household s refle ct the short - age of hou ses in the di str ic t.

Distribution of population. -There were 1,415 villages, J ,350 inhabited and 65 uninh abited according to the Census fig ure s of 196J .3 Th e inh abited village s contained 82.8 pe r cent of the populati on. Th e rem ai ning J 7.2 per

I. The te rm hou sehold is taken to me an a group of person s who comm onl y liv e together and take their me als from a common kitchen unles s exigencie s of work prev ent anyone of them from doing so. 2. Ce nsus of In dia, 1961 , Vol ume XIII , Punjab , Part IV-A , Repo rt on Housin g and Establi shm ent s, p. 15 . 3. In fact, in 1961, according to the information supplied by the Deput y Commi- ssioner , Karnal, there \\ -ere 1,421 villages in all . Of the se, 1,354 were inhabited and 67 un- inhabited (b e-chara g). Mo st of the se uninhabited vill ages were in area s subje ct to ri ver ac tion : 24 in the Karn al tah sil , 17 in the Thanesar tahsil , 14 in the Panipat ta hsil and 12 in the Kaith al tahsil . In 1969 th is number increased to 1,429 (1,35 7 inh abited and 72 uninhabited ) as det ailed in the Chapter on 'General Administration '. The det ailed anal ysis of the villages in the text is bas ed on the Census fil:urell given abo ve. cent of the population li ved in II to wns. The tahs il-wi se distri but io n is ex- hibited in Tab le VI of App endix.

The av er age number of persons per inh abited vil lage in the distric t was 915. Among the tahsil s, Panipat with an av era ge of 1,279 and Kai th al wit h 1,192 were far abo ve thi s av er age. Karn al with 885 and Th anesar with 538 were far below. The rura l popul ati on could be gro up ed vi ll age-wise in diffe- rent units as fo ll ows :-

Unit of popu lati on Numb er of Total villages pop ul ation ------

Less than 200 17 2 21,10 3

Between 200 and 499 42 3 1,43 ,2 59

Between 500 and 999 377 2,64,952

Between 1,000 and 1,999 229 3,24 ,127

Betwee n 2,000 and 4, 999 131 3,66,025

Betw een 5,000 and 9,999 18 1,15,372 ------1,350 12,34 ,838 ------

The number of vill ages with popul atio n le ss than 200 wa s the maxim um in the Karnal tahsi l (64) and the -Thanesar tah sil (61) beca use of the ar ea bei ng subject to river act ion and floods. The ea stern reg ion had bee n a scene of ba ttles and warf are till about the time wh en the Br itis h took ove r. This cou ld never be conduciv e to the growth of bi g villag es, and we find that out of the 18 villages in the di strict of which the popul atio n excee ded 5,0 00 , four were situate d in th e Kamal tahs il , one in th e Pa nip at tahsi l, eleve n in the Kai th al ta hsi l, two in the Gul a (Gu hl a) tahsi l and no ne in th e Th ane sa r tashi l., The same re ason may account for the prepo nde rance of vill ages with smal le r popu lation ranging between 200 an d 999 in the Than esa r ta hsil (3 07 ) and the Kar nal ta hsi l (228) .

Of the II towns in the dis trict, there was no Class I town (tec hn ica ll y ca lled city wit h a po pulation of 1,00 ,00 0 and above) . Kama l an d Panipat we re

I. Tirawari (Taraori), Go ndar , Jun dla and Ba la Khalsa (ta hsil Kam al), (tahsil Panipat), Keorak . Kaul , Habri . Pai ,Karara , Rajaund. Chhattar, Asan dh, Salwa n, Moana and Alewah (tah sil Kai lhaJ ), and Si wan an d GumthaJa Garhu (tah sil Gula) . Cl ass II tow ns (50,000 to 99,999) . Kaith al came in the category of Class III towns (20,000 to 49,999 ), while Sh ahab ad (Shahb ad) , Thanesar and Gh araunda were Class TV towns (10,000 to 19 ,999) . The rem aining towns, viz . Ladwa, Nilu Kheri (Nilo Kheri), Pundri , Peh owa and Radaur belonged to the category of Cla ss V towns (5,000 to 9,999) .

In 1951 , the towns in the di strict numbered 12. Nilu Kh eri (Nilo Kheri) and Radaur were de clared town s for the fir st time in that year . During the dec ade 1951-61 , two to wns namely, Kamal Ci vi l Lines and Kaithal Mandi lost their entity because of their merger with the adjoining towns, viz. Kamal and Kaithal re spectively. Pehow a wa s de clared a town for the fir st time in 1961 . The va riati on of populati on in the to wns du rin g the decade is gi ven in Table VII of Append ix .

Sex ratio. -Accord ing to 1961 Censu s there were 852 fe males per 1,000 males . Sex ratio fig ure s for di fferent yea rs are give n below :

Fema le s per thou sand males

Rural Urban For the district

1911 82 0 901 828

1921 82 7 83 9 82 8

1931 818 796 815

1941 838 800 833

1951 85 3 88 1 85 8

1961 849 866 852

The above figure s sh ow a shift in favour of female s. Dur ing 1951-61 there has , however, been a slight reces sion indic at ing male oriented immig ra- tion into the distri ct during thi s peri od. I

The females have a shorter sp an of life th an the males .Males below the age of 15 years are 448 per thous and male s; th e corre sponding figure for females is 465 . The number of male s per thou sa nd be tw een the age of 15 and 55 years was 470 and th at of fem ale s 474. In the age group 55 years and abo ve, the males were 82 and the females 60.

1. Cen sus of India. 1961, Volume XIII , Punjab , Part II-A, Ge!/ l:ral Pop1llafion Tabl es. p. 60 . It is a common observation that a number of persons shift from villages to towns for study and livelihood. The low paid among them leave their families in their village homes and live in the towns by themselves. When past the age of useful work, some among them return to their villages. The effect of this type of movement is reflected in the statistics of rural and urban age composition. For age groups below 15, 15 to below 55, and 55 and above, the distribution among males is 454, 463 and 82 per thousand maleli in the rural area and 416, 500 and 83 in the urban area. The corresponding figures for females in the rural area are 472, 469 and 58 and in the urban area 432, 498 and 70. Literacy.-In 1961, roughly speaking, one male out of three and one female out of nine could read and write. A little over half this number had had schooling and only one male in 26 and one female in 125 had crossed the Matriculation level . In the towns there were 634 per thousand males and 401 per thousand females who were literate but in the villages they were as few as 239 and 56 respectively. The rural people have a considerable leeway to make up in order to come up to the stage reached by the urban people. The comparative low literacy among females is associated with the social and economic backwardness of the people, especially those living in the rural areas.

LANGUAGE Twenty spoken languages or dialects were recorded as mother-tongue in the district during the Census of 1961 . was spoken by the largest number of persons as the following figures show:-

863

133

4

The composite character of the district is examplified by the various dialects spoken within its boundaries. As we travel from north to south, we observe dialectic variations. Hindi with small admixture of Panjabi words is spoken, especially in the northern portion of the district . In the Panipat and Kaithal tahsils the Jats use many words which are not used in the rest of the district and their pronunciation and accent are quite peculiar to them. The - quality of their speech Closelyresembles that of Rohtak Jats. The language of the Thanes ar tahsil and indri Parg ana of the Kamal tahsil is a curious admi xt ure of dia lec ts be ca use of the mixture of Panj abi words with the local diale ct. To th e no rth of Kaithal the proximity of Panjabi speakin g zone intro- du ces a Panja bi el ement . The di spl ace d pers ons who se ttl ed in th is di strict spea k Panj abi. Bo th the loca ls and th e displ aced persons ha ve adopted many word s from each oth er's lang uage .

Th e va ri ous sc ripts use d are: Dev nagari for Hindi , Gurmukhi for Panj abi , Persian fo r Urdu , Roman for Engli sh, and Lande'. After the emigr ati on of Mu slims in 1947, the use of Ur du has gradu ally given place to Hindi . Its use is now lim ite d to the old er gene ratio n. Th e younger gen eration most ly uses Hindi both in spe ech and wr itin g in preferen ce to Urdu. Som e shop kee pers st ill maint ain th eir account boo ks in Lande.

REL IGIOUS GR OUPS Th e reli gion- wi se bre ak-u p of th e popu la ti on as per 1961 Censu s is shown below:

Num be r Religi on Per ce ntage Males Fem ales Tota l ------Hindu s 6,99,792 5,93,5 62 12,93, 354 86 .8

Si khs 93,969 83,633 1,77, 602 11 .9

Mu slim s 8,36 9 5,790 14 ,15 9 0.1

Jain s 1,555 1,652 3,2 07 0.2

Ch rist ians 1,071 1,023 2, 094 0.1

Rel igion no t sta ted 13 14 ----- Tot al: 8,04 ,7 69 6,8 5,6 61 14 ,9 0,430 ------

Hindus .-The majority of the popul at ion of th e di strict con sists of Hindu s.They fo rm 86.8 per ce nt of the tota l po pulation and predominate both in the rur al and urban areas. An idea about thei r dist ribu ti on can be Number ------Ma les Females Total ------Urban 1,22 ,209 1,06 ,382 1,28 ,591 Rural 5,77 ,583 4,87 ,180 10 ,64,763 Tot al: 6,99, 792 5,93,562 12 ,93 ,354

1,65 ,412 1,40 ,272 3,05 ,684

1,1 1,165 94 ,575 2,05,740

96 ,042 80,789 1,76,831

Kaithal tahsil (in cluding Rural 2,04 ,964 1,71,544 3,76 ,508 Gul a)

Most of the Hindus follow traditional Hindu belief s and practise Sanatan Dharm a.1 The y belie ve in Shi va, Vishnu , Hanuman a, Rama and Krish ana. It is true that all men know of Shiva and of Vishnu ; th at the peasa nt utter s th e name of Nar ay ana even when he yawns ; that Bhagwan is made re sponsible for ever ything that happens. They reco gnise the supremacy of the hi gher power; their daily concerns in their work-a-day world are , however, with a host of deitie s. These deities may be broadly divided into four classes; benevolent deiti es, such as the Sun, the Yamuna , Bhumia , Khwaja Kh izr , and the lik e; the malevol ent deities mostly females, such as the Smallpox Si sters, the Fairi es, etc ; the sainted deiti es such as Gugg a; and the malev ol ent dea d such as Sa yy ads (Sh ahid s).

The religious practices of the Hindu s all ov er Har yana are almost identical . The va ri ation s, if at all, are due to customs peculiar to each caste and family. Mo st of th e temple s are built to Vishnu and Shiva ; some temples are , however, built to local deities . Very few people go to temples for worship while most go for darshans or for asking boons. The educated people mostly worship at home some of whom keep the image of their favourite deity. On occa sions of grih prave sh, child birth , marri age , etc ., the purohit is invited for wor ship. The Kuruk shetra tirthas are imbued with a religious aura. The myths conne cted with Ku ruk shetr a hav e so engrooved their minds that the Hindus

1. San atan Dh arma Sabh as ha ve been form ed at variou s pl aces to propagate the Sanatan Dh arma. spontaneously pay hom age to its very name. Kur ,uk shetra had been the sce ne of Mahabh arata where Gita , the Song Cel es ti al, was sung . For a Hindu , a visit to K uruk shetra is a ve ry piou s act . A bath in the holy tanks and visi ts to temple s are con si der ed as equ al to th e merit of perf orming a thou sa nd ashvam edha )'ajnas . Peh owa is sa nctified by th e exist ence of the Sara swati, par exce ll ence , and Hindu s see k th e sa lva ti on of th eir elder s by vi sit ing th is plac e and offerin g pinda s.

Charh awa (o fferin gs ), made mos tl y by wo men , ge nerall y tak es the form of gram or milk or cooked food or a few sweetmeat s off ere d in front of the deit y, th e prie st puttin g a part on the pl atf orm where the deit y is pl aced, and the remainder of the off ering bein g given to the appropriat e rece iver . In ma ny cases, th e Br ahm ans are fed in th e name of th e Lo rd.

Th e prac ti ce of obs er ving shraddha s in commem ora ti on of the dead ance stor s is also common . These are performed for 15 days bef ore the co mm ence ment of na uratr as . Brahm ans are fed on th e tithi (date ) on which the anc es tor died . Khi/ :, ha/ wa, etc., are pre pared and fed to th e Brahman s. No memb er of th e fam ily takes me als bef ore the performance of shraddh a.

Shiva .- The di strict has been closely associated with Shiv a wor ship fro m anc ie nt tim es. Acco rdin g to the Pur ani c liter ature and th e Maha bharata , the famou s Sthanu Tirth a existed th ere and the place wa s so call ed after Sth anu (Sh iva) . A ter ra-cotta seal with a bull and a kh aros hthi lege nd on it discov ered from th e mound known as Karan Ka Kil a in Thanesar may also be co rrob orative of this view. Beside s, a st one slab depi cting four -a rmed Ganp ati with Shiv a and Parv ati was di scovered from Amin , fiv e mil es (8 kilo- metr es) from Th ane sa r. Th e Chine se trav ell er Yu an Ch wa ng also reco rd s the existence of som e 100 Deva templ es and people in gre at numb er belon g- ing to diff erent sects .

Shi va temple s or Shira/a s ar e found in larger numb er th an other temple s in the vill age s. The pr iests are Jo gis, generall y of th e Kanph ara or pi erce d- ear clan and the y take th e off ering s. The wor ship of Shiv a in the templ es at Kuruk shetra and Peho wa I is ve ry popular .

Vishnu. - The di st rict has also been clo se ly assoc iated with Vi shnu cult and the Mahabharata refers to the various tirtha s named after Vi shnu . The famou s idol of Jagson (Vis hnu ) in the tem ple of Chakr asva min

1. The Panchmukhi MUfti of Shi va at Peho wa is the onl y one of it s typ e in the whole of India . at Kuruk shetra was remo ved to Gh az ni by the Muslim invaders.' The Pehowa in scripition s als o bear testimony to the practice of Vishnu worship and the existence of Vishnu temples.

The people still WOJ 18hipVishnu but he is hardl y recognised by them under th at name thou gh under th e comm oner names of Rama and Nara ya na he is the gre at god of the cou ntry. Temple s de di cat ed to him exist in serveral big villa ge s of th e di strict . Vishnu wo rship in Kas hipur i temple 2 at Kaithal is very popular .

Hanumana. - Th e fol lo we rs of Vis hnu ar e spe ciall y devoted to thi s deity and th e im ages of Hanum ana , the monkey god, ar e to be se en in mo st of the templ es. Kaith al to wn is co nnected by tr adi tions with Hanum ana. It was nam ed as Kapi sth ala, a Sanskrit word mean ing an abod e of monke ys. Th e deity is wor shipped on Tue sday s in a temple situat ed in the heart of the town . Be side s, in th e east of the town, there is a mound said to be the birth place of Hanuman a and as such it is known as 'Anj ani Ka Tila ', Anjani (Anjan a) bein g th e nam e of Hal1um ana 's mother .

Rama .-Lord Ram a is al so wor shipp ed by the people as th e inc arnation of Vi shnu . Ram a is wor shipped on the occasion of Du ssehra when Ram Lil a or th e story of th e Rama yana is sta ge d in variou s part s of th e distri ct. Truly speakin g, Ram Lil a has kept th e folk- theat re ali ve.

Krishna .-Th e Kuruk shetr a tr act is intim atel y connected with the lif e of Krishna . It was here th at he acted as Arjuna 's ch arioteer in the epic battle an d sa ng th e so ng Celesti al, the Gila . Li ke Ram Lila , Krishna Lila also provid es a fa vourite th eme to the folk-theatre .

Minor deities. -Cu riou sly enou gh mos t of th e male vo lent deities are worshipped by women and by children while at their mother 's apron . Some Mu slim pir s ar e al so worshipped, particularly th os e th at are the male- volent type, for it can do no harm to worship them , while they may be troublesome if no t propitiated .

Sun God .- This is th e god whom th e people chiefly delight to honour . No shrine is ever built to this god , but Sunday is the day sacred to him . On Sund ay the devote es do not eat salt ; nor do the y set milk for ghee , but

1. Elli ot and Dowson, The Hi stor y of India As Told By It s OlVn Hi storian s, Volume II , 18 69 (London ), p.454. 2. The imag e of Tri vik rama Vi shnu in thi s temple was reco vered from Siw an . (R .C. Maj umdar , Th e Histo ry and Cultur e of th e Indian Peo pl e, Volume IV, The Age of Imp erial Kanauj, ·196 4, p. 336) . See also Ch apter on 'Pl aces of Intere st '. make it into rice -milk, of whi ch a part is gi ven to the Brahmans in honour of the Sun ; and a lamp is al ways lighted for him on Sunday. Water is thrown towards the Sun (ar gh) I ; and with first steps out of doors in the morning, the dev otee salute s the Sun , and sa ys dharm ko sa/wi rakh) 'a suraj maharaj (Keep me in the faith 0' Lord , the Sun !). The Brahmans take the offering s.

The Mahabharata refers to the popul ar it y of Sun cult in the Kurukshetra tract . It is belie ved that Aditi had given birth to Sur ya at Sur aj Kund situated at Amin , about fi ve mil es (eight ki lome tres ) from Th anesa r. There still exists a temple of Aditi and a Suraj Kund near by. During the eclipse of the sun, million s of pe opl e assemble at Kuruk shetr a in ord er to bath e in th e holy Kuru ks hetr a Tank.

The Yamuna .-Th e people refer to river Yamun a as Jamna Ji . There are no shrines to the Yamun a; but peo ple go and bath e in the ri ve r on the occa sion of Sankranf s in th e month s of Chaitra and Kartika and on 15th of Kartik a or ever y da y in that month . Likewise , the other rivers are also held sa cred .

Bhumia or the god of the home stead .-Bhul11i a or the god of the home - ste ad or th e vill age it self , oft en called Kh era is the mo st imp ortan t. Bhumi a is wor shipp ed on Sund ay. Peopl e li ght up a lamp and offer a cake of bre ad at th e shrin e, and fee d the Brahmans . This is alway s done twice a year, after the harvests are gather ed in, and al so on other occa sions. Bhumia is al so wor shipp ed at ma rri ages . The bride groom before proceeding to the bride 's house , take s a round of his own vill age and worship s the Bhumia and he again wor ship s the god before he can enter hi s house alon g with his bride . When a woman has had a so n, she li ght s lamp s, and affixes with co wdung fiv e culm s of th e pann i gr ass called beam to th e shrine . So too th e first milk of a cow or buff alo is always offered to Bhumia . Women commonly take their children to wor ship Bhumia on Sund ay. The Brahman s take the offering s.

Khwaja Khizr .-The worship of the local god of water, though the name is Mu slim , is pr ev alent more in the Khadar th an in the Bangar, and especially on Sunday s. Twi ce a year after the harv es ts, he is wor shipped at the well , lamp s being lighted and Brahmans fed. And on the festivals of Holi and Diw ali, a raft called langri is made of the beam just mentioned , and a lighted lamp is put on it and se t afl oat on the tank in his honour . The Brahmans take the offering s to Khwaja Khizr, though they are occa sion ally given to the water-c arrier or jhinwar. In add ition to the wor ship of these deitie s the bene volent deities such as Pitr and Satis are also worshipped in va rious form s.

Smallpox Sister s.- Th e pust ul ar group of di seas es is supposed to be caused by a band of seven sister s of wh om Sitala or Mat a, the goddess of smallpox, is th e greates t and most virul ent . Th ere are import ant shrines to th ese de iti es at Pathri , Kabri, Baholi (t ahsil Panipat ) and Siwan (tahs il Gul a). These are never worship pe d by men bu t only by women and children of both sex es up to th e age of 10 or 12. Enormou s cro ws coll ect at the se shrines on the 7th of Ch ait ra which is ca lled Sili Sat en. Besides this , Phag , the day after the Holi fes ti va l, and any Mon day , es pec iall y in Ch aitr a or Asadha, ar e favo ura bl e days.

Du ri ng an atta ck of th e smallp ox no offer ings are made ; and if the epidemic ha s on ce seized up on a vill age, all offe rin gs are di scontinued till the di seas e has disappea red , oth erwise the evil influ ence would spr ea d. But , so long as Mata kee ps her hands off, not hin g is too goo d for th e go dde ss , for she is one of the grea t dre ads of Indi an mot hers. The dre ad is ba sed upon the hi gh inci dence of de ath s ca use d by the disease, but with incre ased faci lities wit h reg ard to vac cinati on , a material reduc ti on in th e annu al mort alit y has be en br ought about . Th e di sea se has not so far bee n co mpl etely eradicated and peopl e still hav e undimini shed faith in the smallp ox go dde ss.

Th e fai ri es ar e a so mewha t va gu ely defin ed class of mal ev olent spirits and with the sp read of ed uc at ion , the fairi es are con sid ered nothing but the pr oduc t of super st itions .

Gugga Pir. -Gug ga or Jahar Pir , thou gh a Muslim, is supposed to be the grea te st of the snake -king s. Gu gga is wor shipped thr oughout . The 9th and 15th of Bh adra , es pecially the former , considered as Gugga Naumi , are ded icated to this Pir , and generally the 9th of an y month and all Monda ys are hi s days. Hi s shrine usuall y consists ' of a small one-room building with a min aret on eac h corn er and a gr ave insid e. It is cal1ed a mari and is marked by a long bamboo with pe acock plum es, a coconut , some coloured thre ads, and som e hand-pankha s and a blue fl ag on the top . On the 9th of Bhadra th e Jogis take this fly-flap known as chhari round the village to th e so und of der oos and the devo tees salute it and offer churmas . The Balmik is sing de voti onal so ngs know n as 'Pir Ke So ll e' in honour of the Pir to the accompani me nt of dero os . Beating of de roo s is the ex clusive privilege of the Balmiki communi ty; others may partake in singing , dancing or simply offer charhawa . It is beli eved th at th e spirit of Gugg a tempor arily takes abod e in th e dev ote e dancer who pro ve s thi s fact by bea tin g himself occ as ion ally with a bunch of ir on ch ain s called chabuk. The imp or tant maris of Gugga are at Pundri (tahsil Karnal ), Ladwa (t ahsil Than esa r), As an Kalan and Mandi (tah sil Panip at ).

Gugga Pir is also the subject of folk-songs . the occ asion of child-birth and marriage.

Sayyads.-In vill age s, there are many old shrin es built in honour of mythical Say yad s. Accordin g to the Kamal Dist ri ct Gaz et tee r of 19 18 , even the names of the Sayyads were not sometime s known. People used to wor ship at the se shrines , but th is habit has weakened ove r th e years and particularly with the migr ation of Mu slims and th e in co ming of peopl e from Paki stan for whom such tr aditi onal shrin es had li ttl e mea nin g.

Minor saints. -There are innumer abl e lo ca l sa ints ; man y villages hav in g shrine s to name s ne ver hea rd of elsewhe re. A few of the most celebrat ed are Miran Sahib , Lakhd ata or Sakhi Sarwar , Bawa Farid Sh akarga nj and Bau li Shah Qa land er. Among the se, th e last named , a contemp orary of Bawa Fari d, I is a ve ry celebra ted loca l saint . He is supp ose d to ha ve been born in A.D. I190. Th e sa int died at the ag e of 122 years in A. D. 1312 . He use d to ri de about on a wa ll at Bud ha Khera , a villag e about three mil es (five kil ometr es) fro m Karn al, but even tu ally set tled at Pan ipat . Be sid es two shrin es, one eac h at Panipat and Kamal, ther e is a shrine to him at Budha Kher a built ove r the wall on whi ch he used to ride. 2

Arya Samaj .- It was founded in th e di strict in 1885 . It atta ck ed the worn out and old es tabl ishe d religiou s pr ac ti ces , the mea ni ngl ess ri tes and cerem onies of the Hindu s. Th e move ment spr ea d rapi dly to the rura l area s. But the Arya Sam aj has begun to los e its form er hold for want of vig our and enthu siasm in its pr ea chers . It has, howev er , do ne a wonde rfu l job in spreading education , speci ally amon g the wo men, by opening a number of schools and coll eg es. Up lif t of Harij ans, wid ow marri age, erad i- cation of illogic al and orthodox beli efs, pr ote cti on of cows and propa gation of Hindi are some of the other activiti es of th e Ar ya Samaj.

J. There is a shrine of Ba wa Farid at Goripur (tah sil Thane sa r). 2. Trad ition has it th at he died at Budh a Khera and there was a good deal of trouble about bur ying him. He was bu ried at Karnal bu t the Pa nipat pe ople opened his grave upon which he sat up and looked at them till the y felt ashamed . The y then took away some brick s from the grav e fo r the found at ion of the shrine ; but when they got to Panipat and opened the box , the y found hi s bod y in it ; so he now lies buried both at Panipat and Kamal. Sikhs .- The sikh s con stitute 11.9 per cent of the total populatioh ot the distri ct and form th e secon d largest religious group. They are composed of mo stl y Jat Sikhs and Maz hbi Sik hs. The majori ty among Jat Sikhs com ~ prise Virk s whil e other s in clu de Sa ndh us, Chatta s, Cheemas, Bhatis and Gill s. Th e Sikh s are gene rally scat tered in rur al are as as is evident from the tabl e give n bel ow:

Numb er

Males Females Total

Urb an 13 ,06 2 11 ,2 65 24,327 Rural 80,9 07 72 ,368 1,53 ,275 Total: 93, 969 83,633 1,77,602

Rur al 21,023 18 ,236 39,259

Rur al 2,131 1,860 3,991

Rur al 20,175 19 ,780 39 ,955

Kaithal tahsil (i nclud in g Rur al 37,578 32 ,492 70,070 Gu la)

Th e Si kh Guru s enj oin ed the wor ship of one supreme God . The devotees vis it gurdwa ras where verses fr om th e holy sc ript ure (the Granth Sahib) are reci ted. Bes id es obse rvin g so me Hindu fest iva ls, the Sikhs cele- br ate Gurpurbs (b ir th days and ma rt yrdo m days of th e Sikh Guru s) and Bais akhi whi ch marks th e bi rth of the Khalsa. Ak hand pa th is som et im es organised ei th er in than ksg iving for the ful film en t of a des ire or on th e occ asion of birth, marriage and deat h. No ne mu st app ear bare -h ea ded befo re the Granth Sahib. Gurd wa ra Mas tga rh at Sh ahabad (Sh ahbad) , Gurd wara Thanesar and Gu rdwa ra Tir awar i (Tara ori ) are held in high es teem .

Muslim s.-Th e Muslim s ar e now ve ry few in number . At the time of 1941 Census they counted 3,04 ,3 46 fo rmin g 30,6 per cent of the popul ation. In the wake of the Parti tion alm os t all of them migrate d to Paki stan and in their pl ace 2,5 0,471 I non -Mus lims mig rat in g fro m Paki stan se ttle d in thi s district . Alt ho ugh acc ur ate stat istic s are not ava il abl e, it is est imated that 3,00,688 Mu slims comp risin g Afgha ns, Baluch es, Muslim Rajputs, Sayyids , Gujars

1. Ka mal Di stri ct Ce nsus Han dbook . 19 51, p. 12 . This number decre as ed to 2.14. 116 accor ding to th e 196 1 Cen sus appar ent ly bec ause som e di spl aced persons shifted to othe r pl aces out side th e district du ring thi s decade . and Sheikh s, migr ated from thi s dis tr ict to Paki stan. According to the 1961 Ce nsus, the Mu slims numb ered 14 ,159 being onl y 1 per cent of the total popula - ti on of the dis tri ct. Th eir di stribu ti on is exhibit ed below :

Number

Males Females Total

Ur ban 862 160 1,022 Rur al 7,507 5,630 13 ,13 7 Total: 8,369 5,79 0 14 ,159

Rur al 2,548 1,9 14 4,46 2

Panip at tahsil Ru ra l 2,2 30 1,690 3, 920

Th anesar tah sil Rur al 1,621 1,122 2,743

Kaith al tahsil (in clud ing Rur al 1,10 8 904 2, 012 Gula )

Ev idently , th e majorit y of th e Mu slim popul ati on li ve in rural are as. There are hardl y any Shi as amon gs t th em. Th ey ar e mo st ly fa rmers or culti va tor s dependin g on ag ri cultur e. A few en ga ge thems elves as pett y shopkeeper s or as padl ars who roa m fr om vi ll age to vill age selling th eir mer chandi se, cloth or ute nsi ls.Some are job wo rk ers in to wns.

As el sew here in the co untr y, there is no re li giou s res triction of any kind on the Mu slim s. Two sc hoo ls, one in Jama Masji d, Kam al and the other at Pan ip at, imp art Mu slim reli gious instr uctio n. Th e fest iva ls of Id and Baqrid are celebrated with enthu sias m. Th e Mu slim s fr om rur al areas flock to Kamal , Panip at and Kaithal on th es e occas ion s fo r off ering mass pr ay er s. The Mu slim s fr om ot her parts of th e co untr y come to Panip at, the birth pl ace of the Mu slim poet, Hali , to ce lebr ate the Urs .

Marriage amon g the Mu slims is contrac te d with th e usual Nikah cer e- mony performed by a Maul vi . Th e Mu slim Raj put s ma y marr y their son s and daughters among the Muslim Raj put s residin g in the adjoinin g State of Utt ar Pra des h. Th e oth ers, e.g. car pente rs and bl ac ksmith s, pr efer their own birad ari within the di stri ct.

A Muslim 's dr ess co mpr ises a lun gi or tehmat , shirt , jac ket and turban or Gandhi cap or round ca p. A woman ge nerall y wea rs a sal war , shirt and dupatta . Bur kah is rarely se en. Jains and Christians.- The hins and the Christians form a small minority. The Jains practice the teaching propounded by Lord Mahavira. They worship the images of Tirthankara s.

The appearance of Christianity in the district dates back to the time of Akbar when he all owed the Roman Catholic missionaries to preach their reli- gion in his empire . Anyhow , it was only during the British period that some tangible effort was made to build churches at Kamal and Kaithal . A church, call ed the St . James ' Church , was erected at Kamal in 1806 , but with the remo va l of the cantonment to Ambala the building was dismantled and the materi al removed to Ambala in 1843. A church at Kamal, which was completed in 1905 , serves the protestant Christian commLlTIity of the district . It functions under the management of the Churches of India , Burma, Pakistan and Ce ylon with its headquarters at Cal cutta. In 1960, the Catholic Mission was re-organi sed , two Churche s, one each at Habri and Panipat, were built and th e Mi ss ion also started a con vent school at Kamal .

Some superstitions and omens commonly observed in other parts of India ar e also observed by the masses of the Kamal district . A few are, how- ever, peculiar to this district . Odd numbers are usually regarded as lucky but 3 and 13 are unlucky. To sneeze is considered auspicious , as it is an oman for a long lik So, when a man sneezes his friends become great en- thu sias tic and congratulate him saying satan jib (live a hundred years) . A villager will not eat when a black sesame is formally offered to him by anyone for , if he does , he wiIl have to serve him in the next life . Thus , if one asks any other to do something for him , the latter wiIl reply: 'Kya main ne tere kal e ti! chabe hain ? (Ha ve I eaten your black sesame ? )

The present day common superstitions relate to the iIl effect of an evil eye. No new activity is started if someone sneezes before it is due to be st arted. White going out on an auspicious work, it is generally considered inau spicious to come across a Brahman, a bundle of firewood or a black cat going across the pat!l . Coming across a low caste is, however, considered auspicious . People still believe in the cure of leprosy by bathing regularly in the holy tank at Pehowa. The delivery is considered easier when village Amin 's (tahsil Kamal) old-brick wash is admini stered to an expectant mother . It is believed by the people living in villages on the bank of the Markanda streamth at if an old and re spected viliager worships the stream bare-footed and offers a rupee , the flo od would re cede . FEST IVALS AND FA IRS The common fe stiva ls ce lebr ate d by the Hindu s are Holi, Janam As hta mi, Du sse hra and Di wa li. The min or fe sti vals are Shivrat ri , Gu gg a Na umi, Sol ono (Raksha Bandhan ) and Bh aiya Duj. Amon g th e many fair s held in the di st rict, the more imp orta nt wh ich are att end ed by lakh s of perso ns fr om all ove r Ind ia are Kuruk shetr a, Pe howa and Phalgu fairs. Baisa khi, Mela Bh agwa ti Bala Sundri and Baw an Dw adas hi are of lo ca l impo rt ance .

Th e prin cip al festiva ls are ce lebra ted by the Hind us here as in othe r parts of the co untr y. It is, therefo re, not necessa ry to give a detail ed acco un t of th eir obser vance exce pt wh en th ere is so methi ng dist in cti ve or pec uliar to thi s district in the cel ebration of any of them. For exa mple , people of Naulth a (ta hsil Panip at) ce lebr ate Holi somew hat diff erentl y. Half naked group s of men dr enc hed with co loure d water sta rt from dif rerent lanes and mee t one anot her. Eac h grou p tri es to pu sh th e other group wi th naked che sts, keeping their hands up, till on e of th e groups is overpow ered . Thi s contest is call ed dat. All the group s, then, com e to chapa! , dancing , jumping and ski ppin g. Colour ed water is thr ow n ov er th em from the ro ofs of th e houses . An oth er feature is th at one of the youn gmen jump s fr om th e hou se top on the marc hin g grou ps below. He is ca ught in arms by the rev eller s and is not allow ed to fa ll dow n on th e ground. In vill age Aga un dh (tahsil Gula) , Holi is cele- br ate d as Mela Ma ndir Baba Lalpu ri.

Shivratri .-It lit erally mea ns th e ni ght consecr ated to Shiv a who is one of th e thr ee gods of the Hindu Trini ty. Shi vrat ri is a specia l oc casion fo r the wors hip of Shiva; a fas t on the fou rtee nth day of the dark fo rtni ght of the lun ar month of Phalgun a, and wo rshi ppin g Sh iva at ni ght , eith er in th e hou se or in a templ e. Th e wo men wo rship by po urin g wa ter cont ainin g a few ri ce grain s on Shi l'ali ng a; the me n ce lebr ate by holdin g wres tlin g matc hes. Ce lebr atio ns are held at Baraut , Asa ndh (tahsil Kaith al), Bhor (ta hsil Gul a) , Ram Saran ' Mazra, Patti Ka nkr a Sh ahah ad, Urn ai, Bapa , Khairi , Pipli ,Umri , Sh aha- bad (Shah bad)(tahsi l Th anesa r), Barauta , Da du pur Kh alsa , Kamal (ta hsil Kamal) and Bh adaur (tahsil Panip at) .

1. Th ere is a legend behind the cel ebration of Mela Sh iv ji (~hi vr atri) at Ba raut . It is said th at a Mu slim was once dig ging a grav e to bur y a co rpse. His spad e stru ck ag ai nst a sto ne and blo od and mil k gus hed ou t of it. Wh en the ne ws of thi s stra ng e happ ening wen t roun d th e vill age, th e Hind us cl aim ed the sto ne to be an id ol of Shi va . A compr omi se was arrived at betw een the Hindus an d Mu slim s and the plac e was entru sted to the Hindu s. Th e idol of Shi va was taken out and in sta il ed in a tem ple con struct ed there . It is \\ors hipped and a fai r is held. Cuts ca use d by th e spa de can still be seen on the idol . Gugga Naumi .-It is :1 reli gious festiv al conn ec ted with snake worship observed on Bh adra 9 (Aug ust-S eptember) . A number of leg ends have clus- tered around Gu gga. He is al so ca lled Gugg a Pir , Zahir Pir (the Saint App arent ).Some refe r to him as Baga rw ala (He of th e Bagar) beca use of his grave nea r Dad rewa (Ga nga naga r di strict of Rajas th an) in the Bagar tra ct which he is sa id to hwe ruled ove r. He flourished abo ut the middl e of the 12th century. He was a Hindu and hi s proper name is Gu gga Bir (G ugga, the Hero ). Th e Muslim s al so floc k to hi s shrin e and hi s name has been alter ed to Gu gga Pir (Gu gg a Sain t) , whil e in the opinion of many, he him self bec ame a Muslim . Gu gga had a peculi ar powe r of curin g snake bi te . Monday is his day, the 9th is hi s date and Bh adon 9th the date on which Gug ga desce nded into earth . To comm emor ate thi s event , fair s are held on his shrine ev ery year on thi s date . Th ose who do not atte nd th e fai r go out in se arch of hol es th at mi ght conta in some snake and pour on it kachchi-Iass i (diluted mil k) and selViall (co ok ed ve rmic elli).

Gu gg a Pir' s shr ine is distin gui shed by it s sq uar e shape with min aret s and domed roo f and is alway s know n as a l11 ari . Some of th e pl ac es where th is fes ti val is celebrat ed in the Kamal di strict are Peh owa (ta hsil Gul a), Pundri , Kai th al (t ahsil Kait ha!) , Jathlana, Badarpu r, Buh aw i, Bh art

Kur llkshetra fa ir .-Kuruk shetra is an important place of pil grimag e for the Hindu s all over Indi a. Wh enever the solar eclip se occur s, there is a congregat ion of about five lakh devo te es from all ov er the count ry . Sim ilarl y, at th e time of lu nar eclip se , th ere is a gathering of about one lakh pe ople. The mod e of ob servan ce of thi s religious fair includes a dip in th e holy tanks, viz. Brahm asa r or Kurukshetra tank and Sa nn ihati tank at the time of

ec lip se, I gi ving alm s and ch aritie s, visitin g vario us shrin es and temp les an d

I. It is beli eve d that on th e amal 'as (mo onle ss night) and during the perio d of ecl ipse , al l fir/ha s as se mble at Sannihati tank an d by pe rfo rming shradd has an d tak ing a dip in the tank at th e time of solar ecli pse one acqu ires the fruits of ashral/ le dh a ya jllQ and is absol ved of all pre vious sins. Acc or ding to anothe r legen d, one of the fi ngers of an an cestor of Kaur avas and Pand ava s wa s defor med . As chance wou ld have it . it got sme ared with the soil of thi s pl ace and bec ame all ri ght . Keepi ng in view this purif ying and healin g effec t of the soil, the Kaurava s :lnd Pandava s constructed a tank which is regarded sacred . A dip in the tank is be lieved to relieve one of all di seases doin g ob eisance to the deiti es . Religi ous book s are re cit ed, bha jan s ar e sung , kir tan s are held and shraddha s of ance stors are per fo rm ed. In more recent tim es cin ema and cir cus shows, and wrestling and ka bad di mat ches ha ve been added .

Phalgu fair .- Kuruk shetra fa ir , describ ed earli er, and Phalgu fair , held in honour of a ri shi of thi s name menti oned in th e Mah abharata , are two of the bigge st fairs. Both of the se attr ac t ve ry lar ge cr ow ds.

Th e fair is held at Ph aral, ten kil ometr es from Pundri tow n 111 the Kaith al tahsil . Like the Kuruk shetra fair it is celebr ated at a pl ace which do es not norm all y ha ve the usual tow n fac ili ties. Anoth er poin t of sim ilarit y be- tween the tw o fair s is th at th ey are not annu al feat ur es : Kuruk shetra fair is held on the so lar ec lips e and Ph algu fair is held when th e al1 1al 'aS (moo nle ss ni ght ) durin g th e shraddha s occ ur s on a Mond ay. Th e last Kurukshetr a fair was held in 196 1 and th e next will take pl ace after 12 yea rs.

Th e numb er of vi sit ors from all over th e co untr y in cludin g a size abl e pro por tion of wo men appro xim ates ove r th ree lak hs. Th ey are mo stl y Hindus and some are Sikhs . The fair whi ch la sts for fift een days is held wh ene ver a so ma rati amaras fall s during th e dark half of As uj . Th e sit e of th e fair is the holy tank adj oinin g the Phalgu vill age . It is considered sa cr ed to perform here th e shraddha s of anc esto rs on such so ma rati aI1lQ l'Gs. Th e Pand a vas al so performed the shraddha s of their ance stors at thi s pl ace. The mode of ob- ser van ce of thi s religi ous fair in clude s a bat h in the tank and offering of pinda s and shraddha s in the name of ance stors . Cinema and circus show s, dr amati c perform ances, et c. , pro vid e ent erta inment .

Pehowa fair. -Kn own as mel a Chet Ch aud as h,It IS a fair of gre at religious signific ance for the Hindu s. It is celebrated in Pehowa town which is at a di stan ce of 27 kilometre s from Kuruk shetr a. Th e fair is ce lebr ated for three days on Chaitr a Badi 13 to 15 (March-April) but the main sanctity is atta ched to the night between th e 14 th and 15th of th e dark half of the lunar month. It is held annu ally but ge ts added signific ance if the Chaitra amal 'as (moonles s night) recur s on a Mond ay which is reg arded as ver y au spicious. People from far-off pl aces come here to take bath in the holy Saraswati , re- garded as the ri ver of knowledge . The last rite s of tho se per son s who die an abn orm al de at h re sul ting from l' ln accident , and of those who bre athe th eir last in their beds and not over the ground are performed here . It is belie ved that the departed ones wh ose spirit s are not at pe ac e ge t mukti (sal va tion ) if the nece ssary reli gious ceremonies are perf ormed at this pl ace . A Hindu therefore consi ders it hi s sacr ed du ty to VI SIt Pehowa to perform the last rites of those of hi s ance stor s and re latives who di e under abnormal circumstance s.

The fair is attend ed by mo re th an one lakh pilg rim s including a fair pr opor ti on of women. Hi ndus and Sikh s are the principal parti cipants though visit ors fr om other comm uni ties are also th ere. Al l age -gr oup s are repre sented. Th e visitor s ob se rve th is fair by havin g a sac red bath in th e pon d constru cted at th e confJu enace of Saras wati and Ma rka nda and by of fering of pinda s in the name of ancest ors and givin g cha ri tie s. As else wh ere, bhaj ans an d kirtans are organised , wre st ling and kab addi matches are pl ayed , circu s and cinema sho ws and exhib ition s are he ld for the ent erta inm ent of visitors. .

Baisakhi .-It is a seasona l an d re li gious fair celeb ra ted on Vaisakha 1 (April 13) eve ry yea r by bot h Hind us and Sik hs at Pani pat Tarf Ans ar (t ahsil Panipat), Mangn a (tahsil KaithaJ) , Kamal and Puj am (t ahsil Kam al). At Garhi Naz ir (tahsil Gul a) it is also ca lled mela Guru Teg Bahadur in who se honour there al so stand s a gurdw ara . Baisak hi celebr ated at village Diyalpur (tahsi l Th anesar) has a different signi fica nce. The leg end goe s th at it wa s here on th is day that Ar juna sho t an arr ow into the ea rth and th e wat er of the Ganga gushed forth . Thu s, Bhis hma took wa ter and qu enched his thir st .

Mela Bhagwati Bala Sundri .-It is a re li gio us fair held on Chaitra Sudi 7 (M ar ch-April) at Dehr ah an d Sh ahab ad (Sha hb ad ) (ta hsil Thanesar). At Dehr ah it is ca lle d Me la Devi Bala Sundri or Devi Bh awa ni. Th e dev otees wo rship th e deity and make many kinds of off ering s in th e shape of cash, cl othe s and orn ament s. It is at tend ed by bot h Hin dus and Sikh s.

Bawan Dwadashi .-- A religi ous festi va l, it is dedi cated to Bawana, an incarnation of Vishnu. The fe stival falls on Bh adra Sudi 12 (August-Septem- ber) . At Th anes ar, palanqu ins carrying th e im ages of deities are taken out in the form of a proc ess ion. The people bathe in the sacred tank. At Ladwa , however, the palanquin car rying th e image of Bawana after having been taken through the city in th e for m of a proce ss ion is carried across Rama Kundi tank in a bo at. At both th e pl aces the festival is attended by several thousand people . Village Jatl ana is anoth er place in the Thane sar tahsil where this festival is cel ebrat ed. At Kaith al, a fair is held at the temple of Saru Dev.

A few relevant detail s of other fair s and festivals celebrated III the district are given in Tabl e VIII of Appendi x. SO CIAL GROUPS The important social groups are Jat s, Ror s, Rajputs , Gujar s, Tagas , Marathas , Virks, Khatri s, Ar oras and Brahman s. The latter four compris e the displaced popul ation from Paki stan , who set tl ed in the di st ri ct as a con- sequence of the Partition in 1947. Jats , Ror s, Rajput s, Khatris and Virk s form the agricultural backbone of the di stri ct.

Jats. -Jats who are pre-em inentl y th e ag ricultur al cas te of th e tract, are ver y good cultiv ator s. AJaC wh en as ked his cas te, will as ofte n answ er 'Zamindar ' as 'Jat'. They are a fine st alwart race . Th ey see m to hav e held part s of the countr y about Saman a in ve ry ea rl y days as rar t of an ea rly Indo- Scythian kingdom . I Th e princip al clans of the Jats are Jag lan, Gh amgha s, Gatwal or Malak , De swal, Katkhar or Gahl aur , Sa ndhu an d Halawat . Although scatter ed all ove r the di strict, th ey ar e pre domi nan tl y found in the rur al areas of the Kaith al tahsil follo we d by the Kamal and Pan ip at ta hsils . Th ey are all Hindu s. Tho se wh o had beco me Mus li ms we re call ed Mule Jats. They were found in two or thr ee vill ages and mi grate d to Paki st an at th e time of the Par tition .

Ror s.- , a stal wa rt peopl e, are mo st ly inhabi ted in th e rur al are as of th e Kamal tahsil fol lowe d by the Kaithal and Pan ip at tahsi ls. Th ey are almos t as good cultiv ators as th e Jats, and are assisted by th eir women in th e sa me way yet are much more pea ceful and less gras ping in th eir habits.

Rajputs. -They ar e fine brave men , and still retain the fe ud al instinct . As agri culturi sts the y ma in ta in the int eg rity of their co mmuna l pr operty in the vill age land and pur sue cattle re aring in ad diti on to agric ultur e as a pro- fe ssion. In rural ar eas they are conc entrated in the Ka mal tahsil foll o:.ved by the Kaithal tahsil . Rajput s fr om Nardak area join th e armed fo rc es in large numbers. Mu slim Rajputs , wh o left for Pakista n foll ow in g the Partiti on, were

called Ranghars by other caste s, and Chotik ats 2 by their Hindu bre thr en.

I. "The Jats of the district seem to have come partl y from the Bagar , wher e the y were in force 700 ye ars ago . In no cas e have Jat s settled frolll acro ss th e ]ulll na(Yamuna) . The Jats are not mentioned as a promine nt cas te of the tract in Akbar 's time, an d probabl y gained a footing during th e brea king up of the Mughal dyna sty, whe n they bec ame an important element in the polit ics of the time ." (Kamal Di strict Gaz etteer, 1918, p. 92 .) 2. From choti, the Hindu scalp-lo ck which the converts to Islam were not required to keep . Gujar s.-The prin cipal clans of Guj ars are Rawat, Chokar, Ch ama in an d Kal san and are most ly concentrate d in the rur al areas of the Panipat and Kaitha l tahsil s. Gene rally of good ph ysiq ue they devo te mos t of their energies to ca ttle keepin g, bu t are known to be ind ifferen t cu! !iv ators.

Ta gas. - Tagas are a Brah man caste whi ch has aband one d the prie stly pr ofessio n and adopted agriculture. This co mm uni ty is mostly found in the rura l areas of the Kait hal tahs il . Th ey are all Gaur s. They are the oldest inha bitants and are good cultivato rs. Their wome n are str ictl y sec luded .

Maratha s. -Rose in his glossary spea ks of Marat has in the Punjab as a group of Br ahm ans, a re li c of the Maratha supr emacy . I. Af ter the Third Battle of Panip at, the Ma rat ha sett lers spre ad over the whole of the Punj ab, an d in th e Kama l district they sett led at Kai th al, Kama l, Sh ahabad (Sh ah bad) and Panip at.

Virk s.- Virk 1ats who wit h thei r fanning sk ill have gre atly st rength ened th e agr icul tura l econ omy of the dist ri ct, are di spl ace d perso ns from Paki stan and hav e most ly sett led in the ru ral are as of the Kam al, Ka ithal and Th anesa r tahsil s. They held larg e conti guo us blocks of vill ag es in She khu pura and Guj ranwa la2 distr icts (P ak ist an ). Vi rks amo ng the Sik hs are th e bes t cul ti- vator s. They ha ve put in hard labour to br ing the jung les and virgi n land s under plou gh, obviou sly to achi ev e the sta ndard of li vi ng enj oyed by them in their homeland . They have alm ost modem ised their farms. Th e loc al za min dars have been inf luen ced by the superio r ski ll and cul tiva tion te ch niqu es of the se immigr ant culti vators and have co nside rab ly ga ined from thei r experience .

Khatri s, Aroras and Brahma ns.- These main caste s of non -cul tivato rs migrated in to the district from G ujranwa la, M ultan and M uzaff argarh dis - trict s of Wes t Punj ab (Pakist an). The Kh atr is an d Aroras have most ly set tl ed

l. H.A. Rose , A Gl oss ar y Of Th e Tri bes And Cast es Of The Punjab And No rth- Wes t Fronti er Provin ce , Vo lume III , 1914 (La hore ), p. 48. 2.Gujra nw ala Distr ict Ga ze tt ee r, 1893-94 ,(pages 58-9 ), des crib es thus their qualiti es as men an d ~s culti va tor s: "T he y are main ly Si khs, in th e Ear* nearl y al ways so, and physi call y are a fine athletic ma nl y race fa r surpassin g in ener gy an d indu stry any of the ir Muha mm ada n neig hbours . They are first-rate cul tiva tors, th ough in th e Ea r* they hav e ta l

Kha tri s and Ar oras fun ction ed as tr ader s, shopke eper s and bank ers in Wes t Punj ab (P ak ista n). Fo r a succes sful pr osec uti on of the se professions and for re asons of sec urity, the y li ved in town s or large villa ges. Th ei r work did not in volve any man ual labour bu t, deprive d of their easy way of making mone y du e to the Partition , the y have no w ch ange d their economy and ha ve in- cre as in gly drifted in to the rank of work ers. Their rese ttlement in the stagn ant to wns of Pun ja b an d Harya na has qu icken ed the pul se of social lif e. Dr ab bazaa rs, with ill -ke pt sh ops, ha ve co mpl etely changed , and instead we find well- stocked orderly shop s with a large var iety of good s. The town s- men here were soc iall y backwa rd , and th eir wo men purd ah-r idden . The di spl ace d sh opk eeper s have penetra ted iso lated vi ll ag es where ban anas and or anges can no w be had. Th ey have greatl y incr ease d the ci rc ulation of good s eve n in vi ll ages inh a bite d by the parsi moniou s countr y folk. The loc al res ident s hav e adopte d frui ts in their diet . Fru it shops are found in mu ch larger numb er in all the tow ns an d meat as an ar ti cle of diet is finding incre asing popularit y with the er stw hile altoget her veg etari an popul ation. The cul ture of We st Punj ab had a lib era lis in g infl ue nce on the loc al wom en, who emul atin g the example of their sisters from the Paki stan, have discard ed purdah and escaped from th e pri so ns of their homes, and no w bahu jis (w ives ) can also be see n elega ntly dressed pro menadi ng the street s. '

The majority of the population living in villages, continue to be con ser va ti ve, in the matt er of inter-religious gr oup s marri ages. In towns, however , inter-c ast e marri ages do occur alth ough rarely. Spe aking gener all y, the soc ia l relatio ns among th e diffe rent co mmunit ie s are not col our ed by reli- giou s dif fere nc es. JOI NT FAM ILY SYST EM

The famil y is loca ll y kn ow n 3S klm ba. A group of families having co mm on ancesto rs is ca ll ed thula . Two or more tl1 U/a s are jo intl y call ed pana or pa tt i. It is com mon for seve ral br other s, and occa sion all y for cousins to live to get her and farm the land jointly . More of ten the land is managed joi ntly whil e th e own ers li ve se parat ely. The most important characteristic of th e jo int fa mily syst em is that the income of all its member s is po oled and spent for the bene fit of all the members , whe ther or not th ey have actually ear ned any part of it . The ba sis for the sy stem is to insure mainten ance of all de sce nded from a comm on anc es to r, fath er or gr andfather or gre at-grand- father . The wid ows or orph ans, the childr en, young boys and girls and eld er ly or decr epit or ph ys ic all y inc apacit ated memb ers of the family, all receiv e th e atten tion of th e he ad of famil y and are supp ort ed and maintained out of the joi nt family fund s.

Th e joi nt famil y sys tem which ha s been a di stinguishing fe ature of Hindu soci ety since tim e immem orial , is breaking up under the stress of the changed eco nomi c and soc ial co nditi ons. Variou s factors are respon sible for thi s change . The co mpet it ion for earning a li ving , the tax- structure , th e in crease d cost of li ving , the mobility res ulting from the requirements of service and , above all , the growing spirit of individualism, all these features spell th e doo m of thi s ancient institution . It is no longer possible for one earning memb er of a family to feed and support a ho st of relation s and dep endent s. Eve n in the fa mily wher e every member is an earning han el, it seem s difficult to make both end s me et. An other factor which ha s assi sted in the dissolu- tio n of the sys tem is the gr owi ng tendenc y of late marriage s both for boys and girls. When bo ys and girl s marr y at a comp arat ive ly advanced ag e, they pr efer to li ve independently . A new pattern, with an individualistic bias , is steadil y emerging. Usually the branch of the family which earns more money se parates from the poor er br anch . Those who enter ser vice , hav e natur all y to go wher ev er th ey are po sted and the y can hardly uproot the he adqu arters of th e joint family and move it with them from place to place according to the ex igencie s of ser vic e. Wh ile the pos ition is more marked in urban are as, the joint family sys tem is di sa ppe aring even in the vill ages, where pe ople depend almost entir ely on ag riculture . Th e average holding is too sm all to support a joint famil y whi ch con tinue s growin g in siz e with the birth of each new baby in the fa mil y.It is th eref or e ine vit able that some member s of the family should move out in search of service to the towns or el sewhere to supplement the me agre famil y in come . In thi s wa y the mig ration of rural population to the ci ti es in searc h of a li vin g - wheth er in busin ess , in dustry, se rvice or so me fo rm of labour-h as vi tall y affec ted the structu re of the joint fami ly. Tho se who migrate to the towns ge t allu red to modern ameniti es of life and tr y to se ttle do wn th ere wit h their fa mili es , and leave the fa rm to th ose mem bers of the fa mily v, iho st ay be hind in the village .A vill age youth moving to tow n, after a while gets so attun ed to ur ba n way of liv in g that he disli kes the th ought of going back . Ev en th e tren d of la~est leg isla tion on inh eritance has hardly been cond uciv e to the co ntinua nce of th e joint fam il y sys tem.

The law of inh eri tance pr evai lin g in th e past, as give n on pages 135 -37 of the Ka rnal Di strict Ga:: ett ee r, 1892, was as fo ll ows :-

"The land ow ned in seve ralty by indi vi du al fa mili es is not only inh erited , but is also invar iab ly divid ed on the occasio n of separatio n of pr operty in strict accor dance with ancest ral shar es. The me mb ers of th e fa mil y ofte n di vid e th e land among themse lves fo r co nve nie nce of culti va tion more in acco rd ance wit h the ap pli ances at the di sposa l of each th an with the pr opr ie tary share s, ju st as the commo n land is all ott ed to the va rio us fami li es on a sim ilar scale. But this division is not a di vision of property, and th e rig ht of the me mbers to a re-di stributi on acco rding to shares, wit h du e rega rd to the preferenti al ri ght of eac h to the land he has cul tivat ed, so long as it does no t exceed his sha re, is always recogn ise d by the peo pl e, thoug h so metim es (not ofte n) conteste d by the indiv iduals co ncerned.

"Th e rul es of inh er itan <;e are as fo ll ows :-No pract ica l distinct ion whateve r is ma de betwee n div id ed and und ivided fami lies ; in fact, the te rm s are ha rdl y eve r used. I First th e so ns and so ns' so ns by st irpes how low soeve r succee d, so ns repr ese ntin g their dea d fat he rs. In the absence of them, the widow ta kes an int ere st str ictly limit ed to a li fe tenancy .If there is no wi dow , or afte r her death, the brot hers and brothers ' sons how low soeve r inherit by stirpe s with repr ese ntatio n. In th ei r abse nce th e mo th er

I. lbb etson wr ites: -' l need hardl y sa y tha t all my remar ks refe r solel y to the Janel-owni ng cas tes, an d not to Ball ias an d th e li ke. The y al so do not app ly to the or iginal Mu sa lm ans , who us ual ly foll ow th e Mu hamm adan Law. Moreover , in th ese mat ters 1 only give the genera l customs. Partic ul ar excepti cns . thoug h fa r le ss nume rous than mig ht be expecte d, will be fo und re cord ed in th e rec ord of co mmon customs. "

1 have add ed som e not es.See als o the vo lu me re lating to parg 'llla lll dri and tahs iJ Kait haJ in th e ser ies dev ot ed to th e Customar y Law of the Punja b.- -J. M. Dou ie. take s a life inte rest .' After th ese the in he rita nc e goes to the nea res t bra nch in the male line, the divi sion at each stage bei ng by stirp es. Daught ers, if unm arried , have a claim to ma int enance onl y.2 ]f pro pert y is se parately acqui red by a son in a di vided fami ly du ring hi s fathe r' s life, th e fat her in- herits befo re the brot her; but sepa ratio n of interest befo re the father 's death is not all ow ed, and no se pa rate properl y can be acquirf d by the indivi du als of an undi vided fami ly. The fathe r may divide the land for co nve ni ence of culti va tion; but on his death , or the bi rth of another so n, it will be open to re-d istr ibut ion.

"In atte sting the recor d of com mon cu stoms the who le country side has dec lared th at, wh ere there are three sons by one wife and one by anothe r, all four share equ ally (p agI'Qlld ). But there have undou btedly occu rred in- sta nces in cert ain families. especial ly among the Rajputs of the Nardak , wh ere the divi sion has been hy wives (c1l l1lldar and). Whe re chl /llda rand is the ru le of divi sion, the full brot hers and their repr es en tativ es succ eed to the exclusi on of the half-blood ; oth erwi se there is no di~· tjJ 1ct ion between th e two .3 All son s, whether by ori gin al marr iage or re-m arri age (karnra), are on an equ al foo ting; no priority is at tac habl e to the son s of any pa rtic ular wife. But if a Rajput Musalman should marry a woma n of anot her caste, as th ey so met imes do , es pecial ly in the cities, th e sons do not inherit at all , the propert y going stri ctl y in th e tr ibe.

"A son born less than seve n mont hs af ter th e mar ri age is consu mm ate d, even thou gh bego tten by the hu sband , and one born mo re th an ten month s after deat h or depart ure of the hu sband, is ill eg itim ate. An ill egit ima te son can not be leg itimi sed, no r ca n he inh eri t. 4 A so n by a fo rm er hu sband

I. Th ere is so me disp osition among cert ain tribe s to say that the mo ther shou ld succeed alo ng wi th the so n's wid ow or eve n alo ng with th e widow . It is foun ded on the fe eling that the ol der woman wou ld be less likel y to mismanag e, and fin all y attemp t to pa rt wi th , th e land.-J.M . Doui e. 2.It ma y be tak en as a rul e that th e spin dle si de is deba rred fro m in heri tance unde r all cir cu ms tanc es, at le ast as long as th ere is any mal e coll atera l howeve r di stan t.- J.M. Dou ie .

3. I think there is ev id enc e to shew th at c1l1l/1 darall d was mor e co mmo n former ly th an it is now . It is foun d to some i:xt en t am 0ng Jat Si kh s, who came or igi nall y from the Punja b. -J.M. Dou ie. 4. The answe r yOLlar e li kely to get in que stio ns abo ut illegit ima cy is that no case of an ill eg itimat e so n bei ng born in th e tr ibe was ev er hea rd of , an d ill ici t relaiio ns between men and un mar rie d wom en of th e sa me tri be and go t, bei ng reg ard ed as in ces t, are prob abl y ver y rare.- J.M. Douie . brought with her by a woman on her re-marria ge, who is call ed gelar' (g el together with ) if born , and kar ew a if unborn at the time of the re-marriag e, in her its as the son of his beg etter . A member of the famil y who becom es a monk (s adhu) lose s his inheritance ; but does not do so merely by becom- ing a beggar (fakir) .2 But the di sc iple s of monks inherit from th em as their so ns. The life intere st of widows sub sist so long as one is ali ve, and is sha red by all equ all y. But a Mus alm an widow of another cas te has no inte re st; and a widow who re-m arries loses all right s even if she marries the husb and 's brother . Pregnancy al so de stro ys their righ ts; bu t not mere re puted unch as - tit y. Their ri ghts are not contin ge nt up on th eir liv in g in th e hu sband 's vi ll age. Wom an's sep arate pr opert y (stridhan) is unknown . It is remarkable how wholl y, in the mind s of the peopl e, th e famil y is repr esented by its hea d. At the Regul ar Settl ement th e name of th e hea d onl y was reco rd ed as a ru le ; and the peopl e still think that it is quite suff icie nt to send their hea ds to re- pre sent them in court or el sewh ere . Thi s fee lin g, howe ver , is we aker am ong th e Jats th an amo ng other tribes ; and the y hav e become noto ri ous in co nsequ ence. "

Now, accordin g to th e Hindu Suc cession Ac t, 1956 , son s and dau ght ers , the mot her and the wid ow along with oth er heirs 3 of th e decea sed , if an y, inh eri t th e in testate prope rty sim ul ta neou sly . A daughter has as good n claim to her father 's pr oper ty as a son , prov ided the fath er does not debar her by law. However , in spi te of the ri ght conferred by law, it appears to have becom e a gener al practi ce for the girls not to claim any part of the inte state propert y. Tn the absence of a brother , a girl may som e time gi ve her land to her near rela tives , though in such ca ses she usuall y ret ain s her right to propert y. In a few cas es suit s hav e bee n in stituted by daughters who ha ve been deni ed their shar e in the inte state pr opert y. But the sentimen ts of so cie ty did neither welcome nor encourage such case s.Rather there is resentment again st this particular portion of the new legislation .

MARRIA GE CUSTOM S AN D MORAL S The Vedi c system of marriage in es sence prevails among the Hindus . It is treated as sacred and is governed by tr aditional cu stom s. As elsewhere , the marriage dates are mostl y determined by astrological consideratio ns.

1. Or Gadhelra. -J.M. Douie . 2. The re is no doubt that a man who becomes a Hindu ascetic lo ses his rights of propert y. Th e rule is le ss po si tive as regards Musalman fakirs.-J. M. Douie . 3. Sp ecified in Class I of the Sched ule vi de Sec tion 8 of the Hind u Suc ce ss ion Act. 1956 . Marri ag e is an important event of on e' s life ; it is prec eded by betrothal and a numb er of pr elimin ari es and elaborat e pr epara tio ns.

BetrothaI .-Betr ot hal is ca ll ed nata , the ceremon y sagai. The brother of th e girl or on e of the close relati ves (previou sly vill age barber or Brahman used to perfo rm such fu nct ions) goes to the boy's place. If the offer is acce pt ed and the re sul t of the deta il ed di sc uss ion is satisfactory, the nata is set tl ed. Afte r thi s, he puts so me money in to th e boy' s hand. Thi s is called I'o kn a or ti kk a. Th is, howeve r, is no t a necessa ry pr eliminar y.

Afte r rok na the next ce rem ony to be performed is betrothal (sagai), wh en pre se nt s of mon ey and gi fts are given by the girl 's parents to the boy and his relati ves . In the years go ne by no re lati on of th e girl would take any part in the bet roth al ce remo ny , bu t now the girl 's fath er and near relations do take part in it . In most cases now rokna and sagai are performed at one and the same time.

Marriage preliminari cs .-A day bef ore the marriag e, the maternal un cle of the boy or gir l br ings the Mat. Thi s con sists of pre se nts and neces- sar il y in clud es th e wed ding su it for the brid e or brid egro om. Th e people on the bo y's side then get tog ethe r and neot a is collected .

Wedding. -On the day when the bara at is to sta rt, the bo y is dres sed in hi s wedd ing sui t brou ght by his matern al un cle . The ka ng na or se ven-knotted sacred thre ad is tied on hi s ri ght wri st. His head-dr ess con sis ts of a crown or cre st over the turban , and a se hra cove ring the face.

The cer emon y of ghurchari is th en perform ed. The barber leads the decor ated mare with the brid eg room on it s back , while women follow along singin g song s peculi ar to th e occasi on and the mo ther or aunt or an elderly woman wit h a utens il containing water . His sist er pu ts her wrap over her righ t hand , and on it pl aces rice which she flin gs at hi s crown as the bride- groom go es alo ng. He go es and wor ships the god of the homestead. Thereafter the baraat , usually comprising the relatives and friend s, starts with mu sic of sort s. In som e ca stes , ghur chari is performed a day earlier .

If both the part ies resid e in the sa me place which frequently happens in a town , no managements for the re sidence of the baraat are necessary. If , on the other hand , the bara at come s from an out- sta tion , it is received by the bride 's side usually at the ra ilwa y statio n in the ca se of a town or on the outskirts of the villa ge from where the part y is taken, sometimes in pro cess ion , to jandal wasa , dh arm as al a, or chopa l or any ot her pl ace where arran gements have been mad e for the baraat to sta y and to be entert ain ed. In th e evening , the baraat goes in proc ess ion , the boyan a mare , to the bride's house where the baraat is re ce ived by the people on th e bride 's side. Th e first ceremony to be per- formed is called bar othi or milni wh en the boy' s fath er and th e girl 's father embrace each other and the latter give s some money to the boy 's fath er who also pays something to the bar ber and the Br ahm an on the girl's sid e. At the door stand women singin g an d jai mala is put by the brid e around the neck of the bridegroom and vic e ve rsa. After thi s col our ful ceremony the bridegroom is taken into the hou se and the bar aat is are the n ent ert ained to a delicious and sumptuou s dinner with merri me nt galor e.

Thereafter the key fun cti on start s. Sacred texts are recited in Sanskrit mostly by Vedic riti or oth erwi se. The sa cr ed fi re is li ghted , the Brahman tie s the palla (hem) of the girl 's wr ap to a piece of cloth call ed the patka and the boy take s the latt er over hi s shoulder and lea ds her round the fire anti- clockwis e four time s, and th en she le ads him round thr ee times. Thi s is called ph era cerem ony and con stitute s th e core of mar ria ge. Ph era is now reco gni sed as one of the ess ential cer emonie s und er th e Hindu Marriage Act . Aft er Ihi s the Brahman form all y asks each whether he or she accep ts the ot her, and is ready to perf orm dutie s toward s each other, which are se t for th in time-honoured tradi- tio ns and put forth in very impr ess iv e languag e full of ap propri ate sim iljes and ma tapho rs . The bride gro om an d th e bride th en exch ange plac es . No w follows the ka ny adan-the so- ca ll ed for ma l bride- givin g. The parent s thus give away their daughter in marri age and usher he r into the new world of grihastha. The ceremony norm ally tak es betw ee n two to four hour s-primarily depending upon the in genuity, skill and kn ow ledge co nt ent of th e pri es t. If he is co nte nt with reciting the holy mantra s and contends him se lf with the bare ri tuals , the cerem ony is ju st over in two hour s-e spe ciall y wh en he is unos tent atiou s and believes in the economy of wo rds. If , howeve r, he is in a mood to parade him self and make a show of hi s lea rning , th en he wi ll go in to the how and why of each ritual and will wax el oqu ently on the duties of the hu sband an d wif e- quoting copiou sly both from myt holo gy and scripture s. The id ea ls of Sita , Savitri, Damayanti .and Mandodri are ext oll ed and th ere is so metimes a sermon administered to the youn g man ove r hi s mult ifar ious prospective duties.

The ceremony is highly col ourful , picture sque , and at tim es interesting also . There may, howe ve r, be no tic ed minor variation s among certain ca stes in the perform ance and ob se rva nce of th es e cerem onie s.

Soci al more s and folk ways chang e like fashions. Ther e was a time wh en danc ing girls were invited at the wedding s, their songs and dances provided fun and froli c to th e peopie , es pe cially in the rurai areas , which had no other sour ce of entert ainme nt. Th e cinema has changed all this. The practice of inviting dancing parties has vi rtuall y go ne out of fashion. In villages, gramo- phon es fit ted with loud spe akers have taken their pl ace. A marriage in a village is a ga la occ as ion and the entir e community is regaled to popular tunes and song-hits of the film -land. In cities, marriage celebrations have virtually become stand ardi sed with the assista nce of spec ialise d contractor s. It is of interest to note th e socia l change. The house of th e brid e is li t up with multicoloured fa ir y lig ht s, shamiana s are put up and the passage is ado rne d with paper flower decor ati ons. Film so ngs are pl aye d thro ugh lo ud speakers . The baraat ap- pro ach es at the fixe d tim e hera lded by in ca ndesce nt li ghts and a band playing hot mu sic to whi ch the yo ung bo ys and girls do twist -da nci ng. The feeding of the baraat is usuall y und erta ken by a se parate contr actor . All these el aborate and expen sive ar rangem ents ar e made ju st fo r one night. This standardised system is gainin g curr enc y in Kamal and oth er import ant towns of the dis- tri ct and shows how thing s are ch anging under the imp act of modernization .

Pr ev ious ly, th e bara at use d to stay at the brid e's plac e for 3 days but thin gs have changed und er the stress of eco nomic forces. Now the baraat return s th e same or the next day. The brid e's matern al un cle esco rt s the girl , foll owe d by wome n singing, to the ra th (bull oc k cart) or bu s or car in which she is to trave l. Th e bride fo ll ows the brid eg room duri ng this shor t walk. A few small coi ns are thrown over the hea ds of the cou ple as a mark of good wi she s and th e pr ocess ion sta rt s bac k for home .

A peculi ar custom of santa pr evails in the Ror community . A nata of a girl from one si de in exc hange for a nata of a girl . fr om the other side is in sisted up on. If the prospect ive brideg roo m does not have a sister to offer in marri age to th e brot her or some ot her nea r re latio n of the pr os pect ive bride, he mu st come fo rward wit h an of fer from amongst on e of hi s cousi ns or other relation s.If he can not find on e such relatio n to offe r, th e boy has to wed celeb acy in pl ace of the girl .

Muklawa (co nsumm at ion of mar ri age ) foll ows th e mar riage ce re mony. After marriage pr oper, the bride return s to her parents and remains there till muklawa. Thi s ce rem ony is signi fica nt in so far as it miti ga tes the evil effect s of early mar ri age to some exte nt. Ac cor din gly , the pe riod betw een marriage and muklG\ \'a is so spaced as to all ow the young co upl e to att ain puberty before any opp ortunity is prov id ed to them for co nsummatio n. But here again ther e is on e pec uli ar ity. Muk la wa mu st be so lem nis ed durin g the odd years , i.e. fi rst, thir d, fi fth , etc., afte r the marr iage and in no case during the even year s, i.e. second , fourth , sI xth, et c. Now mo stl y that the boy and girl are married at a fai rl y mature age , thi s ceremon y exi sts in name only and may be formali se d on the sa me day immediately after marri ag e or on the following day. In th at cas e, it is te rm ed as patra-ph er.

Anand Karaj pre vai ls amon g the Sikh s. Th e di stinction betwe en Anand Karaj and the Vedi c marri ag e is th at in "the former the bride and bride- groom instead of going round the fi re, go round th e holy Granth. Some extracts from the sacred book are re ad and thou gh the y are ori gin ally meant to describe in a fi gur ativ e way the uni on of hum an so ul with the Sup reme Being, they are made to ser ve the purp ose of sa nct if ying th e uni on of brid e and bridegroom.

Ci vil marri ages ca n be perfo rmed by the Marri age Of ficer of the di strict who is th e Deput y Commi ssi on er, but such marr ia ges are rare. Only 22 civil marriage s wer e sole mni se d in th e di strict durin g the years 19 56-70. Marriages under the Hindu Mar ri age Act ar e also performed by registr ation in the office of th e Tahsildar who is Regi str ar for Marri ages under this Act. Such marri ages are also rare as the re gistration certi ncates of marriages are obtained only by th e per sons who usually go abro ad or requir e such certific ates for inc ome tax and oth er purp oses .

Gener all y spea king , marri ages within the go tra or with cou sin s are not appro ved by soc iet y thou gh there are st ray in stanc es among some di splaced per son s from Paki stan , of marri age with th e daughter of a ma ternal un cle or aunt whi ch may be asc ribed to Musli m influence . In te r-c as te marri ages are not approved either.

Dowry system.-Althou gh a rotten :s ocial evil, the dowry system prevails everywhere . Even th e dow ry leg islat ion of 1961 has not su cceeded in achiev - ing its object . The ir ide as not having been refo rmed, people follow the old cu stom , and if nec essa ry, by-pas s th e law.

Marital age. -Earl y marri ages wer e a usual feat ure in the di strict in the past . But the pos ition see ms to have changed co nsid erably during the last two to three dec ade s. Th e Ch ild Marr iage Res tr ai nt Act enforced from April 1, 1930 , provides pen alties for the celebration of marriages of male children under 18 and female children under 14 years of age. Consequently there has been a tendency for po stponing marriages beyond the age specified in the Act . The general marit al ag e at pr es ent is 18 to 20 years in case of boys and 14 to 16 year s in ca se of girl s. Of the ag e group 10-14 ye ars, according to 1961 Cen sus, there we re 4,672 marri ed male s and 15 ,119 marri ed females whil e the numb er of wido we d males and females of the £a me age group was 16 and 26 respectively . It is thus evident that the institution of child marriage, like th at of dowr y, still pre vail s to some extent de spite the civil law prohibit- ing it.

Widow marriage. -Karewa or karao IS a simple sort of marriage for wid ows. It is in esse nce , th e Jewish Le virate ; that is to sa y, on the de ath of a man hi s yo unger bro th er has fi rst claim to th e widow , then hi s elder brother , and aft er them other . rel ation s in th e same degree ; though kar ew a cannot be performed while the girl is a minor, as her consent is necessary. But it has bee n exte nded so th at a man may marr y a widow whom he could not ha ve mar rie d as a vi rgin, the onl y res triction being th at she is not of hi s own clan. Thu s, a Gujar may marry a Jat or Ror widow of any clan but his own. Neither marriage nor adoption , nor any other ceremony, can change the clan of a man or wo man; th at being , und er all circumstan ces, the cl an of the original fat her. Kar ew a is effec ted by th e man throwing a red wrap over the woman 's he ad and putting wri stl ets (chura) on her arm in presence of male and female member s of the br ot herhood. Such a marriage generally does not take place withi n a yea r of th e husb and 's death . Among Rajput s, Br ahman s and Taga s, a wo man usuall y doe s no t re-m arr y.

Unde r no circum stances ca n a woman perform the ph eras twice in her lif e. Bu t in case the hu sband dies shor tly after marriage and the girl has not li ve d with him or if she has no issue , she is re-married with all the ceremonies usual at the mar riag e. Thi s is called punaI ' vivah which is mostly adopted by the Bani as. Recentl y kar ew a ha s been introduced among Brahmans as well .

Wido ws who ma y no t wis h to re-marry , live on th e property left by the ir hu sbands. In urban area s, however , the educated ones take up some emplo yment or engag e themsel ves in some kind of paid or honorar y social work .

Divorce.-Di vorce is not much prevalent . There is a general tendenc y to suffer hard ship re sulting from ill-matched marriages. This is particularly true of uneducated and conserv ative people. They prefer to lead a miserable life rather th an to di ss ol ve the marriage. Another practice has been to lea ve th e girl with her parents and never recall her . However , with the coming in to for ce of the Hindu Marriage A~t, 1955 , a few cases of divorce are being Divorce Pet itions Cases Cases Pending New grante d dismissed com - pend- cases cases (Allo w- pro - JOg ance mised al lowed)

1956 66 14 (4)

1957 62 10 (3)

1958 31 15 (6)

1959 34 12 (2)

1960 49 19 (9)

1961 31 10 (3)

1962 27 10 (2)

1963 26 5 (I)

1964 57 7 (2)

1965 21 3 (-)

1966 40 15 (5 )

1967 33 6 (2)

1968 68 11 (3)

1969 1 17 22 (7)

Other ritual s and cu stoms. -Diffe rent soc ial gr oup s have their own tra - ditiona l customs wh ich they observe at differe nt stages of life. The old Hi ndu way of livin g was fra ught wit h ma ny traditio nal samska ras an d rit uals. In the co ur se of time these got wo rn out and were no lo nge r in kee pin g with the changi ng times. Und er the influe nce of modern educ ati on and new ideas their ho ld is loose ning. Of a multit ude of these customs, a few are still trad iti onal ly observe d though not wit h so much zea l and fervo ur . The very bir th of a chi ld is an occasio n to ce lebrate and particu larl y the birth of a son is considere d as an eve nt of rejo ici ng. To announce the birth of a male infant an iron plate is rung in the room where delivery takes pl ace . The anx ious re latives waiting ou tside consider it aus picious and congratulate each ot her. Superst itious ceremonies accompan y the birth of a child . The mo ther and the infant are kept in a se par ate room for 40 days . The door and th e windows , if an y, are al- ways kept clo se d even in hot and sultry weath er conditions . A sm all dung ca ke fir e is kept sm ouldering outside the room as a protection aga inst all evi ls. A bra nch of the margo sa tre e is hung on each side of the room as an au spi cious sign. The clothes of the mother are not ch anged for 40 days ign orin g the dirti ness, stinking and unhealthy conditions and the discomfort thu s caused to her. The was te wate r of the child-wash is diverted to a spe cially du g Oll t pit with in the house which , however , is co ver ed and closed lat er on . Mun da n cer emon y is perfo rmed when the boy is a few years old. On thi s occas ion , hi s hair is cut and head sha ve d for the fir st tim e and fri en ds and rela ti ves are entertain ed to a feast.

Whil e the Mu slim s and Chri stian s bury their de ad, Hindu s and Sikhs crem ate th eir dead . If th e cremati on was performed on the bank of the Yamun a, water is thrown on th e ashes , if in the Kurukshetra , the bones are thr own in to one of the sacr ed tank s, and all is over . Otherwise on the third day th e knu ckle-b ones and other small fr agm ent s of bone (phul ) are collected. 1 If they can be take n to be imer se d in the Gang a at once , well and good; if not they are bu rie d in th e ju ngle. But the y mu st not be brought into th e vill age in any case ; and when on ce re ady to be taken to the Gang a, the y mu st not be pu t dow n an yw here, but mu st alway s be hu ng up ti ll fin all y thrown by a Br ahm an into th e st ream. Oth er po st-crem ation ri tes in clude 12- day (bahra) or 13-day (tehram i) mourning loc ally called angaari. Children under 8 years of age ar e buri ed without ce remony.

POSITION OF WOM EN Every region has it s own tr adition s and prejudic es . So has Hary ana and the Karn al di strict is no exception. People in the rur al ar eas are mostly con ser vative . So me of them are even aver se to sending their daughters to co- educ ation al sc hoo ls. The education of women has lagged behind as compared with that of th e boys . And this factor has been re spon sible fo r their general backw ardne ss . Still, there ex ists some awar ene ss of the educ ation of women , The old thinkin g that the social structur e would crumble if women were educa- ted, is di sappe ar ing. Greater opportunities for them have however brought forth distinguished ladies who are able to serve their State in an increasing measure.

Th e parents in urban ar eas , ho wever , tr y to give th eir daughter s higher educa - tion so as to make them econ omic ally independent . Some educat ed urban girls

1. This rite is loc all y called fai yy a. The pall-b ea rer s are fed with khi chri on th at day . take up job s bef or e their marri age and a few continue to work even after their marriage. But generall y speaking , the vill age girl doe s not like to foll ow any career ; she pr efer s to sit at home and look aft er her children and hou se- hold aff airs rather than to adopt a care ~r to supplement her husb and 's income.

The lot of the rur al hou sewife on the whole , is a hard one. She go:;:s to the vill ag e well with ghara (pitcher) on her head and draws wa ter twice in the da y, co ok s the mor ning mea ls and , when th e men are at wor k in th e field s, carries it out to them . At the seasons for weedin g and harves ting she doe s a con sider able share of this work , and af ter going home has to cook the eve nin g mea l. Tn additi on she has to co lle ct th e dun g fro m th e field s and make it int o gos as (dung cak es). Sh e also att end s to spinnin g.

Earl y in th e mornin g and in the eve ning wom en can be see n carr yi ng two to thre e emp ty pitch ers on th eir he ads fr om the village to the well ne ar th e pond- side , and returning from the well to the vill age wi th pitcher s full of water.Tt is a rema rka ble feat of balance, and gi ves them th at graceful gai t and poise which the poet s comp are with th at of th e swa n. Wh en th ey go to the well the y put on th eir be st clothe s, for the well is also th e vill age club where gos sip is exc hange d. Th e married wom en ob serve purdah or veil and onl y th e maid ens go about with unco vered fac es. Quite a few of th em are goo d loo kin g in th eir teens, but the drudgery of life tells upon them in a few years. Socially th e Jats ar e more adv anced th an oth er caste s and their women do not ha ve to li ve out th eir li ves in perpetual widowhood on th e de ath of th eir hu sband s. A young Jat widow se ld om remain s such for long, and she is readily accepted as a wife by one of the brothers of the dece ased hu sband.

The po siti on is a bit differ ent in urban area s where the condition of women is in the process of a vital change . Their education has got new impetus with the opening of num erous academic and various technic al institution s. With the spread of education , social barriers again st th eir empl oyment are co !lapsing by and by . They are increasingly replacing men or participating with them in parallel fields , such as social work of variou s kind s in cluding education , child welfare , community work , arts and craft s. Wor ki ng women though economically active , still occupy a subordinate position in so cial life but they do not ob serv e purdah any more.

Prostitution. -Trafficking in women for immor al purpo se doe s not exist , nor is there an y organi sed gang of traffickers of women in the di strict .1 Although it may ap pea r to a cas ual observ er that the home life of villager s is pa tt erned on tr c: diti ona l line s, yet a more careful view at once indi- cates th e dire ct ion s in which ch ange s in thi s pat te rn are percol ating from the more moder ni sed urb an loca lities .

Vil la ges .-Th e vil lages of Kama l are usua ll y built on mounds which were selec ted probab ly fo r safety or th ey may possib ly be exis ti ng on the ruins of older ab adis whi ch through the cen turies wer e subm erged as a result of some natu ral up heava ls. A gro up of vil lages is ca lled tapa. At the out- sk irts of the village s are the gohar as, the ' pyr amid li ke structure s, in which dung-cak es are sto red. They form a con spi cuous feature of the rural lands cap e.In the hou ses are circula r bins of clay in which gr ain is stored . Surrou ndin g the vill ag e abadi is a nar row belt of cul tiv ated land irrig ated with the aid of pers ian wh ee ls or chars as.

With the re clamat ion of fo rest lan d dur ing th e last few yea rs, the situa- tion has gre atl y ch ang ed. In place of track less forest of dhak , one finds well laid out fa rm s aro un d the roa dside . Thi s is mainly the contribution of the co lonist farm ers from Jull undur and Amrits ar as well as th e Virk settlers from Sh ek hupu ra (P akistan) who are hardwo rkin g farme rs and can meet the cha ll eng e of hard life in the se are as.

Dwe llings, fur nit ure and ute nsil s.- The hou ses in rural area s are mostly built with mud bric ks . But in th e Kaith al tah si l, th ese are pakka and part ially doubl e-storey ed with a chau baraor two-three rooms. However, elsewhere too, th e latest trend is to build pak ka house s. For their brick req uirement s the vill agers do not hav e to go to the brickkilns but themselves manufactur e the bricks and co nst ruct the ir own houses. Th e home-made clay brick s of unst and ar d size are arrang ed in a cir cle outside the village and then burnt . The fuel con sists of bhu rli (was te st alk of gr am) , litters and gosas (dung- cake s). Thi s act ivity whi ch is a common sight in the months of Ch aitr a-Bais akh (M arch- April) , cr ea te s so much smoky atmosphere that it becomes difficult for th e resi dent s of the village to breathe freely.

Ent er ing th e str ee t do or of a pr iv ate vill age house , you pass into the outer room or dahli z, beyond whi ch you must not go without permission, and wher e your friend will com e an d fal k. It is of te n pa rtly occupied by some calves.Beyond this is th e yard (chauk) se parated from the streets by a wall, an d in whi ch the cat tl e ar e ti ed up in cattle- sheds (bara) , and the women sit and spin . Round thi s are th e hou ses oc cup ie d by the variou s households of th e family . In fr ont of each is a room with the side towards the yard open (da lan or tam sal ) which is the family living room. On either side of this will be a si dri or store room and a chatra or cook-room with its chulha or hearth; and there is often an inner room beyond called obri or dobari if with two doors, and ko ta or kotri if wi th one onl y. Up stairs is the chau bara wher e the hu sband and wif e sleep; wh ile th e girl s and children sleep downstairs , and the boy s in the chopal or da hli z.

There are some rec eptac les for grain (kuthla ) ma de of rings of adobe buil t up into a cylinder . Thi s has a small hole in the bottom, out of which the gr ain runs and keep s alwa ys full a sm all rece ptac le open in front , from whi ch it is taken as wanted . Another form is kothi which is usually built in one of the room s. It is rect angular in shape and beside s foodgr ains , other art icles are also stor ed in it . Thi s has a tak i (s mall wi nd ow) for placing in or takin g out the art icles. The face of the kothi is decorat ed with colour- ful draw ing s in indigen ous style. Ba snaut is another pr actic e. Three or four big eart hen containe rs call ed maat , ghara and jh akri (big , medium and small in size resp ec ti ve ly) are pl aced one over the other in an arti stic manner . In additio n to its utili ty for the sto rage of fo odgrain s, it is considered as an item of in terior decora tion . There are so me oven s (bharala , hara) for warming mi lk and so me re cess es in th e wall to act as shelves (pe ndi ); on e or tw o swinging tr ays or rope ring s for water vesse ls .

With the spre ad of educa tion and gr owing outlook for better sanitar y and health fac ili ties, the vill age rs are ch angi ng the pattern of their houses. The y now hav e a sep arat e cat tle- shed and also care for proper lighting and ventil ation. The ava il abilit y of el ec tri city In the vill age s has also ch anged the look of the houses. But it is not customary to pro vid e bath- rooms.

The dwelling s in old urban area s are almo st pakka. Facilitie s of bath- rooms , usu all y dr y latr ine s, etc., are mos tl y av ailable. The houses in new town ships are provided with all the mod ern amenities , they are gen erally electrified . Piped water-supply is ava ila bl e at Kamal , Kaithal , Panipat , Nilu Kheri (Nilo Kheri) , Thane sar , Sh ahabad (Sh ahbad) and the rural areas of Deob an, Kh eri Shar af Ali and Kheri Sheru. Sewe rage schemes hav e also been und ertaken at Kam al, Panipat , Kaithal and the rur al area of Samalkha.

The furni ture of the vill agers generally con sist s of a few bed stead (manja, khat ) made of woo den fram es co vered with ne tted string ; a few small stools (pira , pida, khatola) of identic al construction ; a few small low wooden tables