Basim Town (or Washim)
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.
Basim Town (or Washim)
Head-quarters of the Basim taluk, Akola District, Berar, situated in 20° 7' N. and 77° 11' E,, at a height of 1,758 feet above sea-level; distant 52 miles south-south-east from Akola on the Nagpur branch of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, with which it is connected by a good metalled road. Population (1901), 13,823. Basim is said to be a very old town, and to have been founded by Wachh, a Rishi. A legend tells of a king, Vasuki, afflicted with leprosy, who was cured by bathing in a pool outside the town, which he enlarged to a tank, known as Padma Tirtha, still largely resorted to for bathing. It is also said to petrify articles exposed to its action. The deshmukhs of Basim in the seventeenth century received large grants of land and perquisites from the Mughal emperors, and the family has always been of some consideration in South Berar. After the Bhonsla ruler of Nagpur ceased to receive a share (40 per cent.) of the revenue, the Nizam stationed troops and established a mint at Basim. The most striking buildings are the temple and tank of Balaji, constructed rather more than a hunared years ago by Bhawani Kalu, a general of the Bhonslas. The muni- cipality was created in 1867. The receipts and expenditure during the ten years ending 1901 averaged Rs. 13,400 and Rs. 12,700. In 1903-4 the receipts were Rs. 18,000, principally from taxes, the expen- diture, mainly devoted to education and conservancy, being nearly the same. The town contains several ginning factories and a cotton-press. It was the head-quarters of Basim District till 1905, when that District ceased to exist as a separate administrative unit.
