1 ! V I I: GAZETTEER ii BOMBAY PEESIDENCY. VOLUME VI. lEWA KANTHA, NARUKOT, CAMBAY, AND SURAT STATES. Under Government Orders. iSomfiag: FEINTED AT THE GOVERNMENT CENTEAL,PRBSS. 1880. /\.\ W^o^ Special acknowledgments are due to Colonel L. 0. Barton and Bao Bahadur Nandshankar Tuljashankar for very complete materials for the Rewa Kantha Account. For Cambay Dr. Gr. Biihler, C.I.E., supplied valuable historical, and Mr. G. F. Sheppard, C. S., useful descriptive and administrative, details. The Sachin and Bansda accounts are from papers contributed by Mr. B. 0. K. Ollivant, C. S., and Rao Bahadur Keshavlal Nathubhai. JAMES M. CAMPBELL. February, 1880. ; CONTENTS. REWA KA'NTHA. Chapter I.—Description. paob Position and Area ; Boundaries i Divisions ... ... 1 Aspect ; Mountains ; Rivers ... ... ... 2-6 Water-supply ; Drainage ; Geology ; Climate ... ?.10 Chapter II.—Production. Minerals ; Trees ; Plants ; Forests ... ... 11-15 Animals ; Birds ; Fish ... ... ... 16-18 Chapter III.— Population. Census Details ... ... ... ... 19-21 Hindu Musalmans Castes ; ; Parsis ; Christians ... 22-34 Villages ; Dwellings; Communities ; Movements ... 35-37 Chapter IV.—Agriculture. Soil ; Tillage ; Crops ; Famines ... ... ... 38-40 Chapter V.—Capital. Capitalists ; Interest ; Craftsmen ; Wages ; Prices ; Weights and Measures ... ... ... ... 41-45 Chapter VI.- Trade. Roads; Ferries ; Post ; Exports and Imports ... ... 46-55 Manufactures ... ... ... ... 56-58 Chapter VII.—History. Legends ; Early Hindus to 1484 ; Musalman Ascendancy (1484-1700); Local Revival (1700-1730); Maratha Supremacy (1730-1820) ; British Supervision (1820-1879) First Naikda Rising (1838); The Mutinies (1857); Second Naikda Rising (1868); Changes (1820-1879) ... 59-66 Chapter VIII.—Land Administration. Land -holders ; Management ; Villages ; Staff ; Assessment Revenue Survey ; Cesses ; Rent how Realized ; Instal- ments ; Defaults ; Reforms ; Survey ; Boundary Disputes. 67-76 ; ii CONTENTS. '*"" Chapter IX -Justice. ... 77-82 Civil ; Criminal ; Courts of Award ; Police ; Jails Chapter X.—Revenue and Finance. - 85 ; ; Minor States ; Cesses. 83 Rajpipla ; Bariya ; Lunavada Sunth Chapter XI.—Instruction. - ... ... Schools ; Progress (1864 18 79) ; Libraries 86-88 Chapter XII.- Health. ... ... Diseases ; Dispensaries ; Vaccination 89-90 Chapter Xin.-States ... ... ... ... 91-166 Chapter XlV.-Places of Interest ... ... ... 157-170 NA'RUKOT. Description ; Products ; Population ; Agriculture ; Trade History ; Administration; Justice; Revenue; Instruction; Health ; Places of Interest ... ... ... 173-178 CAMBAY. - Chapter I.— Description ; Products ; Population ... ... 181 186 Chapter II.—Trade and Manufactures. Roads ; Trade, Historical Summary of (913-1880) ... 187-197 Manufactures (Agate Ornaments and Cloth)... ... 198-208 Money-lending ; Currency ; Prices ; Wages ... ... 209 - 210 Chapter III. -History, Name ; Legends ; Balharas (915) ; Anhilvada Kings (950-1300); Early Delhi Governors (1300-1400); Ahmedabad Kings (1400-1573) ; Mogbals (1573-1730) ; Cambay Nawabs (1730-1880)... ... ... 211-233 Chapter IV.—Administration. ; Justice ; Police Revenue Land ; Instruction . ; . 234- 239 Chapter v.—Places of Interest. ... ... ... 240-241 SURAT STATES. Ba'nsda ... ... ... ... ... 245-253 DHAEAMP0R ... ... ... ... ...254-257 ... Sachin ... ... ... ... 258-265 Index ... ... ... ... ... 267-271 EEWA KANTHA B 561 — MTEJfiENCES M E IS TtthikaO/lictcmdifaHut. ft CoUator:s Bvn^alow^^_ & Travellers'^ Do. '- ^ Madt Road' a ffiJlFort ) PopuJuJuiii aiom 20.000 2 , beHmm, 7.S00) & MOOO) ^ iebfem 5.000) & ISOOS T* 4 be/Mem 2.^00} & s.ooo] ^G>- >t'£KWAR V-.-' GAe ^V ^R Scale of Miles IRIEWA 10 5 10 2 SKAHTIEIA Cm^Photap/uo Office Poona, 1878 EEWA KA'NTHA. CHAPTER I. DESCRIPTION. The lands under tlie control of tlie Rewa Kantlia Political Agent Chapter I. lie between 21° 23' and 23° 33' north latitude and 73° 3' and 74° 18' Description. east longitude. With an extreme length from north to south of about 140 miles and a breadth from east to west varying from ten to fifty, the Rewa Kantha has an area bf about 4792 square miles, a population of over 500^000 souls or 110 to the square mile, and yields an estimated average yearly revenue of about £162,710 (Rs. 16,27,100). ' Besides lands stretching about fifty miles along the south bank Boundsriet, of the Rewa or Narbada, the Rewa Kdntha iucludes an irregular band of territory from ten to fifty miles broad, passing north from the Narbada about twelve miles beyond the Mahi, and to the west an isolated strip of land chiefly along the left bank of the Mahi. It is bounded on the north by the Meywd,r states of Dungarpur and Bansvada ; on the east by the sub-divisions of Jhalod and Dohad in the Panch Mahals, Ali Rajpur and other petty states of the Bhopavar Agency and a part of Khandesh; on the south by Gaikwar territory and the Mandvi sub-division of Surat ; and on the west by Anklesvar and Broach, by Gaikwar territory, by Godhra and Kalol in the Panch Mahals, by Thd,sra and Kapadvanj in Kaira, and by Parantij in Ahmedabad. The Pandu and Dorka Mehvas villages detached from the rest of the Agency lie chiefly along the left bank of the Mahi, between the Panch Mahals and Baroda territory on the east, and Kaira on the west. The Rewa Kantha Agency contains six large and fifty-five small Divisiona. states. Of the large states, one, Rajpipla in the south with an area of about 1574 square miles, is of the first class, and five, Ohhota TJdepur and Bariya in the centre, and Sunth, Lunavdda, and Balasiuor in the north and north-west, are second class states with areas varying from 400 to 875 square miles. The fifty-five small states, with an average area of about thirty square miles, include Kadana and Sanjeli in the north and three groups of Mehva^ or turbulent villages. Of the three Mehvas groups, Sankheda with an area of 311 square miles, comprising twenty- two petty estates, lies on the right bank of the Narbada, while the Pdndu Mehvas with an area of 138 square miles and twenty-two small estates, and the Dorka Mehvas nine square miles in extent with three estates, are situated on B 561—1 [Bombay Gazetteer, STATES. Chapter I. the borders of the Mahi. About one-fifth of the whole Eewa Kantha, Descriptiou. comprising nineteen states yielding a yearly revenue of about £30,000 (Rs. 3,00,000), is, on account of the minority of the chiefs Divisions. and from other causes, under the entire control of the Political Agent. Of the nineteen states under direct management, two Lunavada and Sunth are second class j the rest are small estates varying in area from four to 100 square miles. The following table shows the chief statistics of the different Rewa Kantha states :— Rewa Kdntha States, 1879. Aspect, Mountains. Giy'arfit.] EEWA Ki.NTHA. stretches west into Broach. On one of the highest peaks, Dev Chapter I. Satia about 2000 feet above the sea, are the ruins of old Description Eajpipla, where in troublous times the chief and his followers used MountaiiiB. to take refuge. The way up, diificult even for footmen, through thick forest and high elephant grass, winds round precipices and ugly ledges. There are still traces of the former capital and on Dev Satia immediately behind are the ruins of an old fort. From Dev Satia the view is wide and beautiful. To the east, ranges of hills rise in endless confusion, to the south the valley of the Karjan stretches through the central uplands, to the west the Narbada winds to the sea, and to the north lies the rich Gujarat plain with Pavagad on the horizon. Of the south Eajpipla hills the only spur that comes within Eewa Kantha limits has, unlike the northern range, sloping sides and flat tops. On the east of the Karjan river a ridge of hills stretches for twelve miles from north to south, and to the east of this again lies the Sagbara range 700 feet high, well wooded and flat topped, peopled by several small Bhil hamlets. The Vindhya spurs, that lying east and west cross the Centre of the district from Eatanmal to Pavagad, are steep about 800 feet high, their tops in some places flat, in others rising into peaks. In the range are several passes, two of them at Kadval in Udepur and near Sagtala in Bariya fit for carts. From Eatanmal northwards a chain of hills or more strictly a line of table-land from 800 to 1200 feet above the sea, the water-parting between the Mahi and the Anas, forms the boundary between the Eewa Kantha states of Bariya, Sanjeli and Sunth on the west, and the Panch Mahals districts of Dohad and Jhalod in the east. This table-land can in many places be crossed by carts. Besides the chief highway, that between Godhra and Dohad mounts the plateau about seven miles west of Dohad, roads run from Bariya, Sunth, and other Eewa Kantha towns to Dohad, Jhalod and Limdi. Between this table- land and the range of the Pavagad hills are many irregular branching timber-covered spurs, steep and high with jagged tops on the east, growing gradually lower as they pass west, and finally disappearing in the basin of the Mahi. To the north these spurs, more regular and unbroken, lying north and south parallel to each other in ranges separated by narrow valleys, form a link between the Aravali and Vindhya mountains. Occasionally the traveller may go for miles along the hill foot without finding an opening, and in some parts in moving from one village to another has to make long detours. Separated by the central line of the Eatanmal and Pavagad hills, Riven. are two distinct river systems, the Mahi with its tributary the Panam in the north, and in the south the Narbada joined from the right bank by the Men Asvau Heran and Or or Orsang, and on the left by the Karjan. Entering the district in the extreme north-east corner, the Mahi The Mahi, passes south-west for about 120 miles through Kadana, Lunavada, and the Pandu Mehvas.