Asansol Subdivision, 1908
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts.Many units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Asansol Subdivision, 1908
North-western subdivision of Burdwan District, Bengal, lying between 23 25' and 23 53' N. and 86° 48' and 87 32' E., with an area of 618 square miles. Until 1906 it was known as the Ranlganj subdivision. The north-western part consists of a rocky undulating country, which merges in the south and south-east in the alluvial plain stretching along the Damodar river. The population in 1901 was 370,988, compared with 310,273 in 1 89 1. It contains two towns, Asansol (population, 14,906), its head-quarters and a great railway centre, and Raniganj (15,841), its former head-quarters ; and 811 villages. The subdivision is now the most progressive part of the District, but its density of population, 600 persons to the square mile, is still slightly less than that of Katwa. It differs from the rest of Burdwan, which is entirely agricultural in character ; the alluvial soil here changes to laterite, and rich coal- and iron-fields have of recent years caused a continuous increase in the number and prosperity of its inhabitants. Brass and bell-metal ware and shellac and lac-dye are manufactured at Dignagar.
