AcN \1<66:f SERVANTS OF INDIA SOCIETY'S LIBRARY PUNE 411 004 FOR INTERNAL CIRCULATION To be leturned on or before the last date stamped below. Ro. ye sec. he. CENTRAL PROVINCES 'AND BERAR DISTRICT GAZETTEERS AKOLA DISTRICT , 167 VOLUME A-DESCRIPTIVE BY C, BR9WN, I.C.S, General Editor and I A E NELSON Ie S SuPdt. 01 Gazetteer r .. , '" CALCUTTA PRINTED AT THE BAPTIST MISSION PRESS 1910 U#7.7/~i ])(01 \ I \ , PREFATORY NOTE. Chapter II, History and Arch~ology, is by Major W. Haig, and Chapter IX, General Administration, by Mr. F. L. Crawford, Deputy Commissioner of the District. Chapter VII, Famine. is abstracted from the reports for Berar as a whole and from those by Mr. Rustomji Faridoonji for Basim in 1896-1897 and Akola in 1899- 1900 and by Mr. F. W. Prideaux for Basim in 1899- 1900. The greater part of the sections on Botany, Wild Animals, and Forests is taken from notes by Mr. R. H. Cole, Divisional Forest Officer, and the medical para­ graphs are largely based on notes by Major P. F. Chapman, I.M.S., Civil Surgeon of Akola. The pl;l.ra­ graphs on the Kanadi, Gopal, Pathrat, and Lonari castes in Chapter III represent information collected in· the District by Mr Adiiram Chaudhri, clerk in the office of the Superintendent of Gazetteer; and most of the local traditions given in the Appendix were recorded by my clerk, Mr. lIfadhorao Rangnath Shembekar, when I was 011 tour in the District. Information has been taken freely from Sir A. C. Lyall's Gazetteer for the Hyderabad Assigned Districts (1870), the Settlement Reports, and other official records. The reports for the original settle­ ment were written by Major P. A. Elphinstone and Mr. R. R. Beynon, and those for the revision settlement by Major R. V. Garrett and Mr. F. W. Francis. Enquiries on some curious beliefs and customs were suggested by "Indian Folk Tales (Bilaspore)" by the Reverend E. M. Gordon, and many interesting points were men· tioned by Mr. Padithyum Shankar Das, Hospital lV PREFATORY NOTE. Assistant. I have tried to make no statements about creed or practice without either substantiating them by personal enquiry or else quoting my authority in the text. A large proportion of the book is based on information gathered in a special tour of the District, when several hundred people, representing all classes, were consulted either individually or in small groups. Capable critics have kindly revised the press copy, generally with ap­ proval. In practically every instance information was given with great cordiality; I must gladly acknowledge the kindly spirit shown. The representation of vernacular terms has caused S(lme difficulty. As far as possible these have been transliterated directly from Marathi. In many cases, however. a word has already appeared in a Hindi form in other Gazetteers of this series; in such cases the Hindi form has generally been adopted. In other instances the local form differs from that of classical Marathi, or a word has different local forms; it has then been necessary to select a form according to the particu­ lar circumstances. The cerebral letter which is transliter­ ated by r in Hindi words has, according to a common and convenient practice, been represented by d in Marathi words. The long accent has been omitted over capital initial vowels, generally over final vowels, and often over i and u. C. B. AKOLA: The 6th March, 1909. AKOLA DISTRICT GAZETTEER. CONTENTS. Pages LIST OF THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONERS WHO HAVE HELP CHARGE OF THE DISTRICT •• xix-xxi CHAPTER I.-GENERAL DESCRIPTION. BOUNDARIES AND PHYSICAl, FEATURES 1-8 GEOLOGY •• 8 BOTANY 8-10 WILD ANIMALS 10-16 RAINFALL AND CLIMATE r6-19 CHAPTER H.-HISTORY AND ARCHJEOLOGY. HISTORY •• 20-53 ARCHlEOLOGY •• 53-62 CHAPTER IH.-POPULATION. STATISTICS OF POPULATION 63--81 RELIGION .• 81-112 CASTE 112-136 SOCIAL l.IFE AND CUSTOMS 136- 156 LEADING FAMILIES 156- 1 59 CHAPTER IV.-AGRICULTURE. SOILS 160-161 STATISTICS OF CULTIVATION 161-164 CROPS 164-180 vi CONTENTS. Pages IRRIGATION 181 CATTLE 181 0 -185 CHAPTER V.-LOANS, PRICES, WAGES, MANUFACTURES, TRADE, AND COMMUNICATIONS. LOANS 186-197 PRICES 197-199 WAGES 200-206 MANUFACTURES 206-216 TRADE 216-221 COMMUNICATIONS 221-225 CHAPTER VI.-FORESTS AND MINERALS. FORESTS 226-228 MINERALS .• .• 228-229 CHAPTER VII.-FAMINE .• 230-251 CHAPTER VIII.-LAND REVENUE A,DMIN- ISTRATION .• 252-268 CHAPTER IX.-GENERAL ADMINISTRA- TION. o. 269-281 APPENDIX.-Gazetteer of Taluks, Towns, Important Villages, Rivers, and Hills .. 285-398 LIST OF MAPS AND PHOTOGRAPHS. r. Tomb of Burhanuddin and Shakkar Talao, N amala •• FronmpiBC 2. District Map I 3. Geological map ., 24 4. View of the Piitur caves 48 5. Dahihanda gate, Akola 72 6. Temple of Antariksha Parasvaniith, Sir- pur 98 7. Inner gateway of Baliipur fort 122 8. Chhatri, Baliipur 146 9. Temple of Kiilika Devi, Biirsi Tiikli 170 10. Interior of Temple of Kalika Devi at Biirsi Takli .. 194 II. Map of Communica1ions 221 12. Pillar in Temple of Kiilika Devi at Barsi Tiikli 243 13. Inscription on top of Mahakali gate, Narnala 265 14. Temple of Rama and shops, Akola 291 15. Biiliipur fort from the south-west 310 16. South cave, Patur 323 17. Temple of Kapaleshvara at Pinjar 345 18. Mahakali gate, Narnala 366 19. Entrance to temple of Antariksha Paras- vaniith at Sirpur 389 PARAGRAPH INDEX. CHAPTER I.-GENERAL DESCRIPTION. Boundaries and Physical Features­ Pagf I. General I 2. Position and boundaries 2 3. Physical features ib. t. Rivers 4 5 Elevation ... 7 Geology- 6. Geology 8 Botany- 7. Botany ib. Wild Animals, etc.- 8. Wild animals, etc 10 Rainfall and Climate-· 9. Rainfall and climate 16 10. The rainy season 17 II. Temperature 18 CHAPTER II.-HISTORY AND ARCHAWLOGY: History- 12. Hindu period 20 13. Muhammadan invasion of the Deccan 21 14· Muhammadan -period 22 IS. The Bahmanis 23 16. Rebellion in Daulatiibad z·b. 17· Famine 24 18. Ahmad Shah visits Berar and repairs Narnala .. ib. x PARAGRAPH ~D~X. History-contd. Page I9. War between the Deccan and Khan- desh 25 20. Defeat of the Sultan of Khandesh .• 26 21. War between Malwa and the Deccan ib. 22. Famine 27 23. Redistribution of the provinces of the Deccan ib. 24. Imad-ul-Mulk repairs Narnala 28 25. The Imad Shahi dynasty of Bera.r ib. 26. War between Berar and Ahmadnagar 29 27. Death of Ala-ud-din Imad Shah ib. 28. Invasion of Berar by the Sultans of Bijapur and Ahmadnagar 30 29. Murtaza Nizam Shah invades Berar . ib. 30. Berar a province of the kingdom of Ahmadnagar 33 31. Invasion of Berar by the Mughals ib. 32. Sultan Murad invades the Deccan 34 33. Berar a province of the Mughal empJre ib. 34. Quarrels between the imperial: officers 35 35. The Ain-i-Akbari 36 36. Death of Akbar 37 37. Malik Ambar in Berar ib. 38. Drunkenness of the imperial officers. 38 39. Shahjahan appointed to the Deccan. • ib. 40. Rebellion of Shahjahan 40 41. Invasion of the Deccan .• 41 42. Famine 42 43. Operations in Telingana and against Daulatabad ib. 44. Reorganisation of the Mughal con- quests in the Deccan 43 45. Accession of Aurangzeb (Alamgir) ib. 46. Accession of Bahadur Shah 44 PARAGRAPH INDEX. xi History-contd. Page 47. Recognition of chauth and sardesh- mukhi 44 48. Campaign of Balapur ib. 49. Battle of Balapur 46 50. Asaf Jah independent of Delhi 47 51. The Nizams of Hyderabad' ib. 52. The Akola campaign ib. 53. Battle of Argaon 49 54. Maladministration of Berar 51 55. The Assignment. Boundaries of the District .. 52 56. Progress since the Mutiny ib. A rcheeology- 57. Patur caves.. 53 58. Temple at Barsi Takli ib. 59. Sirpur temple '54 60. Narnala fort. 55 61. Shrine at Piitur 60 62. Akola town ib. 63. Balapur 61 CHAPTER III.-POPULATION. Statistics of Population- 64· Area and population 63 65· Growth of population 65 66. Migration 67 67 Medical statistics 69 68. Diseases ib. 69· Plague 71 70 . Medical practices 72 71. Physique . 74 72 • Occupation .• 75 73· Criminal population 76 74· Language 78 xii PARAGRAPH" INDEX. Religio11r- Page 75· General 81 76. Religious practices 83 77· Religious organisation 86 78. Practices at festivals 88 79· General beliefs about the superna- tural 92 80. Beliefs about disease ib. 8r. Beliefs about agriculture 95 82. Rain charms 98 '~. Spirits 99 84· The virtues of oil lor 85· Magic 102 86. Treasure and the payalu 103 87· Animals 105 88. Miscellaneous 106 89· Muhammadan belief and organisation 107 90. Bohras 109 91. Birth, marriage, and death among Muhammadans no 92. Christians III Caste- 93· Principal castes 1I2 94· Brahman II3 95· Koli lIS 96. Mahar lIB 97· Gondhali 121 98. Jhingabhoi 122 99· Pal Pard hi 123 100. Bedar 124 101. Kanadi' 127 102. Gopal 129 r03· Pathrat 13° 104. Lonari 133 103 Miscellaneous ib. PARAGRAPH INDEX. xiii Social Life and Customs- Page ro6. Composition of villages 136 107. Private houses 137 ro8. Public buildings 139 109. Social life and character 140 lIO. Children and school-life 142 III. Effects of education 145 Il2. Children's games 147 I' 3. Marriage customs ) . 149 Il4· Dress ~I lIS· Food 15'4 n6. Furniture ISS Leading F amilies- Il7. Leading families CHAPTER IV.-AGRICULTURE. Sotls- u8. Soils 160 Stattstics 01 Cultivation- U9. Progress of cultivation 120. Present state of cultivation Crops- 121. Kharit cultivation ib. 122. Cotton 165 123. Weeding and picking 167 124. Jawari 169 125. Keeping of jawari 170 126. Miscellaneous kharit crops 172 127. , Rabi crops .. ib. 128. Outturn 174 129, Diseases and ill'5ect pests ib.