Montgomery District
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, I ’ f T . _ GAZETTEER 1 ; ? n . , 5 : ‘ OF THE , _ ' a " l a w > w 7 1 - » v » MONTGOMERY DISTRICT, 1 8 8 8 - 8 4 ; C o m p i l e d a n d P u b l i s h e d u n d e r t h e a u t h o r i t y 0 1 ’ t h e P u n j a b Government. l a b o r : : PRINTED AT THE "ARYA PRESS," BY RAM DAS. 1 8 8 4 . tar/.5, AM E eaeezstz PREFACE. _I0l—-— THE period fixed by the Punjab Government for the compilation of the Gazetteer of the Province being limited to twelve months, the Editor has not been able to prepare any original matter for the present work; and his duties have been confined to throwing the already existing material into shape, supplementing it, as far as possible, by contributions obtained from district officers, passing the draft through the press, circulating it for revision, altering it in accordance with the correc tions and suggestions of revising officers, and printing and issuing the final edition. The material available in print for the Gazetteer of this district consisted of the Settlement Reports, and a draft Gazetteer, compiled between 1870 and 1874 by Mr. F. Cunningham, Barrister-at-Law. Notes on certain points have been supplied by district officers; while the report on the Census of 1881 has been utilised. Of the present volume, Section A of Cap. V (General Administration), and the whole of Cap. VI (Towns), have been for the most part supplied by the Deputy Commissioner; Section A of Cap. III (Statistics of Popula tion) has been taken from the Census Report; while here and there, and especially in the matter of ancient history, passages have been extracted from Mr. Cunnigham’s compilation already referred to. But with these exceptions, the great mass of the text has been taken almost, if not quite verballyifrom Mr. Purser's Settlement Report of the district. The draft edition of this Gazetteer has been revised by Colonel Riddell, Major MacNeile, and Mr. Purser, and by the Irrigation Department so far as regards the canals of the district. The Deputy Commissioner is responsible for the spelling of vernacular names, which has been fixed throughout by him in accordance with the prescribed system of transliteration. The final edition, though completely com piled by the Editor, has been passed through the press by Mr. Stack. THE EDITOR. C 0 N T E N T S. Page. CHAR I.—THE DISTRICT 1 A.—DEBCR1PTIVE . 1 B.-—GEoLooY, FAUNA AND FLORA 16 ,, II.—HISTORY 26 ,, III.—THE PEOPLE 44 A.——STATISTICAL . 44 B.—SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS LIrIa: 49 0.—TRIBES, OASTES, AND LEADING FAMILIES 59 D.—VILLAGE COMMUNITIES AND TENURES 71 ,, III-PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION 86 A.—AGRICUL'I'URE AND ARBORICULTUBE 86 B.—DOMESTIC ANIMALS . 126 O.—OCCUPATIONS, INDUSTRIES, AND COMMERCE 139 D.-Pmcns, WEIGHTS AND Mmsunna, AND COMMUNICATIONS 143 ,, K-ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE 150 A.—GENERAL ADMINISTRATION ~ 150 B.——-LAND AND LAND REVENUE 154 ,, VL-TOWNS AND MUNICIPALITIES 175 STATISTICAL TABLES (INDEX 0N PAGE ii) CHAPTER I.—THE DISTRICT. Section A-Descriptive— TheGeneral high description-The central ridge, the high Dhaya-The central ridge, county the below Dhaya the ridge .. comNHGO01$“ _ The Mr and its sub-divisions—The upland of the Rachnzi. Doaib-The rivers; BudhqflprTheThe rivers.—-TheDeg—Budhs,The Sutlej river-inlets—-The Sutlej-—The or river-inlets canals-The Révi Nikki—The \ canals.-—The Khén TheThe canals.canals.-The w —The upper KhétaWéh-TM or new SohAg-The canals.—-The canals.—-The upper or lower new orSohég old Sohég Other Other irrigation irrigation channels—The channels nallé Wéha-The . mllé J hetkfi-Kamélia chhdrs—The Kamélwah—Chh¢ir Machhi Singh—C'hhdr Goléb Ali Drainage Chluir channels Muréd andShéh—Katora dry nallds-Nallda canal of the Révi. Wahni-The Sukh 10 The Sutlej rawa.s—(l) mllds. The The smaller old Sukhrawa-(2) Bias-The Bakhilwah-The The large Sukhmwa old Sohé.g—-Th 11 The Khéd-The Para-The DhadarChum-The Khoharianwéla—The Kaluwah-The Bisharat 12 The TheGhég in iLs—Desertedand its tributaries-The Vill&ges-—Theh8. Dtngi-The Kholas—0ld Bhég-The wells Kuhrér in the bér 13 14 I Punjab Gazetteer, ii Section A.—-DBSOI‘iPi2iV6-—(c0ntinued)— pag¢_ Government jungle-Scattered wells—Késht Kha'm tahsil—Grazing leases Rainfall, temperature and climate-Disease 15 Disease 16 Section B.—Geology, Fauna and Flora Geology—Kankar--Salpetre, kallar 16 Mines, quarries—-Vegetation-Trees—The ukhzin, jha'n, lej—-The Mar BabtZl-Kdbuli kilca/r—Bé'r . .. l7 Kokan ber—Jand—Kam’l-The wan-Pipal-Sohénjni-Ehe chachhrd Plants other than trees ; and grass-San 13 Saw-Khangan kluir. Gom ldna—Mait6r Zdna—Phes¢i/: ldni—Sa_7:jt'-A k Pitdka—Jhzijhan 19 JhfijharwBhophallHawékén-Hamal--G'ilo—Dhdmdb—Poli-Aleti or ggkhti-Ghtlfl'di' mdhdna-~Bziz'n-—Reslmn-Far{d mzZli—Puthkanda 20 Itsit-Ckauléi-Bhalcm-Htithi-sfindi-Grasses-Chhimbar-Khabbal or talla-Ttilli—Dabh—Londk—Dhdma/n—-Palwdhan-Kheo-Gharrn 21 Dhiddan_,5'aw¢ink_Kzin5—K1ira-—Khawi—-Panni-—Dila—-Murk—Mwrlcan— Lamb-Chinikki—L1iki—Lz2mbar-—Kanh—Maina-Salyzim-_Im;g_. Leh 22 Fauna. Domestic animals-Wild beasts—Game~—K, tilyar—Alligators— Fish-Snakes, reptiles, insects—-Honey-Sport 23 Sport-Fishing 24 Fishing 25 CHAPTER II.—HISTORY. Early history. Alexander’s invasion 26 Antiquities-Resale, son of Sa1vahan—Firoz Shah Tughlak at Dipalpur- Tamer-lane takes Pak Patten-Babel- takes Dipalpur 27 Babar takes Dipélpur-Sher Shah builds a fort of Shergarh-The Khan-i- ‘ Khanan—Chaklds ,- rise of the Hans 28 Ghaklds; rise of the Héns-Pargana Alamgirpur founded—-The Kambo KharraIs-Saadat Yar Khan succeeds 29 Quarrels of the Ravi tribes—The J hang Sials occupy Kamélia-—Ahmad Shah’s invasions ; break up of the empire-Independent states formed The Bahrwal Nakkals 30 The Bahrwal Nakkais-The Gugera. Nakkais 31 The Hans-The kachln' occupied by Bahziwalpur 32 The kaehlu' occupied by Bahawalpur—The Div/ans of Pzik Pattan-Death of Abdussubhém-The Wattiis. Lakhé. and Ahmad Yer-The Bhangis 33 The Wattus. Lakha and Ahmed Yer-The Bhangis—-The Afghans of Dipélpur 34 The Afghans of Dipélpur-The Saiyads 0f Hujra and Basirpur—-The Saiyads of Shergarh—The sardtir of Shémkot 35 The sarddr of Shamkot—-The country under Ranjit Singh-The country under Diwan Sawan Mal-Political divisions under the Sikh monarchy 36 Political divisions under the Sikh monarchy-British Rule 37 British Rule-The Mutiny of 1857 33 The Mutiny of IBM-Character of seasons—Famines 39 Character of seasons-Famines-Ohanges of boundary-District Oflicers 40 District Oificers—General review of the past of the district—Development since annexation 41 Development since annexation 42 ,_-.u_.____‘_,._._-...-<_-s___a Montgomery District] iii L‘____.__."W" CHAPTER III.—THE PEOPLE. Section A.—Sta.tistica.l— Page. Distribution of population—Migration and birth-place of population 44 Migration and birth-place of population—Increa.se and decrease of population 45 Increase and decrease of p0pulati0n~Births and deaths—Age 47 Age-Sex-Oivil condition-Infirmities. Sanitation 48 Infirmities. Sanitation-European and Eurasian population 49 Section B.—Socia.1 and Religious Life Types of villages . 49 Types of villages—Houses—Description of a village 50 Description of a village—Nomad encampments ' 51 Household furniture-Clothing of men-Clothing of women _ 52 Clothing of women—Ornaments—Bedding-Food 53 Food—Use of tobacco and opium 54 Amusements_Daily occupations-Divisions of time 55 Marriages-General statistics and distribution of religions 56 General statistics and distribution of religions-Superstitions—Fairs— Language 57 Language—Education-Cha.raoter and disposition of the people-Poverty or wealth of the people 58 Poverty or wealth of the people 59 Section C.—'I'ribes, Castes, and Leading Families— Statistics, tribes, and castes 59 Caste superseded by tribe—Jats and Rajpiits—-Pastoral and agricultural tribes 60 Pastoral and agricultural tribes—Great and Little ‘Ravi tribes—Origin of the chief tribes 61 Origin of the chief tribes-Location of the principal tribes-—The 62 The Kharrals-The Wattiis 63 The Kathias—The Baghelas-The Sials, Fattianas, and Tahranas 64 The \Vahniwals—The Biloches—The J oyés 65 The J oyas—The Malian-Agricultural tribes-The Mans-The Khichis The Awans 66 The Awéns-The Saglas-The Arars—The Hindu ‘Tats-The Raths n15 Dhudhis-The Hans-Three industrious tribes-The Mahtams 67 The Mahtams-The Arziins-The Kambohs 63 The holy clans. The Khaggas—The Chishtis-The Saiyads—The Bodlas: Odaso'fakirs-Bhuman Shah-The trading tribes-The Khatris 69 ' The Aroras—0ther tribes-Intermarriage among tribes-Leading families... 70 Talzilcdént 71 Section D.—Vi11age Communities and Tenures— Village tenures 71 Village tenures-Statistics of village tenures 72 Riverain law~Proprietary tenures-Tenants and rent 73 Tenants and rent 74 Proportion between landlords and tenants—Tenants. Right of occupancy Btita mér 75 Brita mdr-Migratory character of tenant population 76 Rent-Green fodder-Manner of dividing the crops-—Expenses and method of defraying them-Kamins’ fees 77 Expenses and method of defraying them.—Kami'na’ fees-Expenses on the Ravi-—Mdlikdna 7B [Punjab Gazetteer. iv Section D.-Vil1age Communities and Tenures—(c<mtinued)_ Page. DharaFMalbw-Tenants growing inferior crops-Rent for wood-work of wells-Repair of wells by tenants—Agricultura-l labourers-Farm servants. Kdmas and ddhjogiaa 79 Farm servants. Kdmas and ddlljogias—Kamins or sepia 80 Kamlm or sepia-Duties of sepia and other village servants-Petty village 81v grantees I Village oificers 82 Village ofiicers-Zailddn 83 Head Lambarddrs-—Lambarddrs-—Patwdris~The dharwhi-Village watch men 84 Mortgages-Poverty or wealth of the proprietors 85 CHAPTER IV.—-PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION.