Jullundur District, 1908

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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, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.

Jullundur District

Pysical aspects

Jalandhar — District in the Jullundur Divi- sion, Punjab, lying between 30 degree 56' and 31 degree 37' N. and 75 degree 5' and 76 degree 16' E., with an area of 1,431 square miles. It occupies the southern part of the doab (called the Bist Jullundur Doab), or country between the Beas and Sutlej. The latter river forms its southern border, separating it from Ludhiana and Ferozepore, and in shape the District is an irregular triangle with its base on that river. The State of Kapurthala separates it on the west from the Beas and its confluence with the Sutlej.

Along its north-east border lies the District of Hoshiarpur ; and in the centre of this portion, between the Jullundur and Nawashahr tahsil, is a detached tract of Kapurthala territory which forms the Phagwara tahsil of that State. The valley of the Sutlej is marked by a high, well-defined bank, aspects North of this lies a plateau whose highest point, at Rahon near the eastern corner of the District, is 1,012 feet above sea-level. Thence it slopes gradually westwards towards the Beas. No hill or rock breaks the level of this plateau, which lies entirely within the zone of rich cultivable soil that skirts the foot of the Himalayas, and was regarded by the Sikhs as the garden of the Punjab. At places a few acres are covered with sand ; but, except in these rare spots, one vast sheet of luxuriant and diverse vegetation spreads over the plain from end to end.

South of the high bank of the Sutlej lies the Bet or khadar, a strip of alluvial soil annually fertilized by deposits of silt from that river, although the opening of the Sirhind Canal has greatly reduced its flow, and it now runs almost dry for eight months in the year. The only important stream is the East or White Bein, which, rising east of Rahon and running along the Hoshiarpur border, traverses the Phagwara tah&l of Kapurthala State, and thence meanders westwards across the District till it falls into the Sutlej near its junction with the Beas. In its earlier course it receives several torrents from the Siwalik Hills in Hoshiarpur. These bring down de- posits of sand, which are doing considerable damage to the cultivated lands on its eastern bank.

The District is situated entirely in the alluvium, and contains nothing of geological interest. Cultivation has advanced to such a point that there is little in the way of natural vegetation beyond the weeds that come up with the crops throughout North-west India. Trees are almost always planted ; and, owing to the proximity of the Himalayas, several kinds succeed very well, among them the mango and ber (Zizyphus Jujubd). The river banks are in places fringed with a dense growth of high grasses, as in Ferozepore and adjoining Districts.

Wolves are seen but very rarely, and towards Kaparthala antelope, Ntigai, and hares are found. Field-rats abound, and do no small amount of damage to the crops.

The climate is, for the plains, temperate. In the hot season, with the exception of June and July, the heat is not excessive ; in the cold season frosts are light, and confined to January and February. The average mean temperature of January is 56 , and of June 93 . The mortality varies very much with the rainfall, owing to the prevalence of malaria in rainy years. Plague made its first appearance in the Punjab in the village of Khatkar Kalan in this District in 1897.

Owing to the nearness of the hills, the rainfall is fairly constant. The annual average varies from 24 inches at Phillaur to 27 at Jullun- dur, 22 inches falling in the summer months and only 5 in the winter. During the ten years ending 1903 the heaviest fall was 60 inches at NawSshahr in 1900-1, and the lightest 11 inches, in 1899-1900, at Jullundur. There were disastrous floods in 1875 and 1878, owing to the railway embankment giving insufficient passage to the floods caused by the unusually heavy rains.

History

Early legends attribute the name of the doab to the Daitya king Jalandhara, who was overwhelmed by Siva under a pile of mountains. His mouth, the legend says, was at Jawala Mukhi, his feet at Multan, where in ancient times the Beas and Sutlej met, and his back under the upper part of the Jullundur Doab, including the present District The earliest mention of Jul- lundur occurs in the accounts of the Buddhist council held at Kuvana, near that city, early in the Christian era, under the auspices of Kan- ishka. When visited in the seventh century by Hiuen Tsiang, it was the capital of the Rajput kingdom of Trigartta, which also included the modern Districts of Hoshiarpur and Kangra and the States of Chamba, Mandl, and Suket.

Towards the end of the ninth century the Raja- tarangita records the defeat of Prithwl Chandra, Raja of Trigartta, by Sankara Chandra of Kashmir. The town was taken by Ibrahim Shah Ghori about 1088 ; and from that time the country appears to have remained under Muhammadan rule, the Jullundur Doab being gener- ally attached to the province of Lahore. During the Saiyid dynasty (14 1 4-51), however, the authority of Delhi was but weakly maintained ; and the doab became the scene of numerous insurrectionary move- ments, and especially of the long campaign of the Khokhar chief Jasrath against the ruling power. Near Jullundur the Mughal forces concentrated in 1555, when Humayun returned to do battle for his kingdom, and the neighbourhood was the scene of Bairam's defeat by the imperial forces in 1560.

Adlna Beg, the last and most famous of the governors of Jullundur, played an important part during the downfall of Muhammadan power in the Punjab, holding the balance between the Delhi emperor, the Sikhs, and Ahmad Shah Durrani. Both Nurmahal and Kartarpur were sacked by Ahmad Shah, and to avenge the desecration of the latter place the Sikhs burnt Jullundur in 1757.

The Sikh revolt against the Mughal power early found strong support in the District, and a number of petty chieftains rapidly established themselves by force of arms as independent rulers throughout the doab. In 1766 the town of Jullundur fell into the hands of the Faizullahpuria misl, or confederacy, then led by Khushhal Singh. His son and successor, Budh Singh, built a masonry fort in the town, while several other leaders fortified themselves in its suburbs.

Phillaur was seized by Budh Singh, who made it the capital of a considerable State ; and the Muhammadan Rajputs of Nakodar (on whom the town had been conferred in jagir during the reign of Jahanglr) were early ousted by Sardar Tara Singh, Ghaiba, who built a fort, and made himself master of the surrounding territory. But meanwhile Ranjlt Singh was consoli- dating his power in the south ; Phillaur fell into his hands in 1807, and he converted the sarai into a fort to command the passage of the Sutlej ; and in 181 1 Dlwan Mohkam Chand was dispatched to annex the Faizullahpuria dominions in the Jullundur Doab. Budh Singh fled across the Sutlej ; and though his troops offered some resistance to the invader, the Maharaja successfully established his authority in the autumn of that year.

Thenceforth Jullundur was the capital of the Sikh possessions in the doab till British annexation. Nakodar was seized in 181 6, the petty Sardars were gradually ousted from their estates, and the whole country brought under the direct management of the Sikh governors. Here, as elsewhere, their fiscal administration proved very oppressive, especially under Shaikh Ghulam Muhl-ud-dfn, the last official appointed from the court of Lahore, a tyrannical ruler, who exacted irregular taxes. He made over the tract to his son, Imam- ud-dln, but neither resided regularly in the doab, their charge being entrusted to lieutenants, the best known of whom were Sandhe Khan in Hosh&rpur and Karim Bakhsh in Jullundur.

At the close of the first Sikh War the British annexed the whole of the Jullundur Doab, and it became the Commissionership of the Trans- Sutlej States. For two years the administration was directly under the Supreme Government; but in 1848 the Commissioner became sub- ordinate to the Resident at Lahore, and in the succeeding year, when events forced on the annexation of the Punjab, the administration of the doab was assimilated to the general system. The Commissioner's head-quarters were fixed at Jullundur, and the three Districts of Jul- lundur, Hoshiarpur, and Kangra were created. The fort at Phillaur was occupied as an. artillery magazine, and cantonments formed there and at Nakodar, which continued to be occupied till 1857 and 1854 respectively.

In 1857 the native troops stationed at Jullundur and Phillaur muti- nied and marched off to join the rebel forces at Delhi ; the authorities were, however, not altogether unprepared, and though the mutineers succeeded in escaping unmolested, they were prevented from doing serious damage. Raja Randhir Singh of Kapurthala rendered invalu- able assistance at this time, both in supplying troops and, by the exercise of his personal influence, in helping to preserve the peace of the doab.

The tombs at Nakodar and Nur Jahan's sarai at Nurmahal are the chief remains of antiquarian interest.

Population

The population of the District at the last four enumerations was: (1868) 794,418, (1881) 789,555, (1891) 907,583, and (1901) 917,587, dwelling in 10 towns and 1,216 villages. It increased _ . . by i-i per cent, dunng the last decade, the uicrease being greatest in the Jullundur tahsll and least in Phillaur. The density of population is the highest in the Province. The District is divided into the four tahslls of Jullundur, Nawashahr, Phillaur, and Nakodar, the head-quarters of each being at the place from which it is named. The chief towns are Jullundur, the head-quarters of the" District, and the municipalities of Kartarpur, Alawalpur, Phillaur, Nurmahal, Rahon, Nawashahr, Banga, and Nakodar. The following table shows the chief statistics of population in 1901-

Muhammadans number 421,011, or more than 45 per cent, of the total ; Hindus, 368,051, or 40 per cent. ; and Sikhs, 125,817, or nearly 14 per cent. Punjabi is spoken throughout the District.

By far the most numerous caste are the Jats or Jats, who number 185,000, or 20 per cent, of the total, and own half the villages. About 185 clans are enumerated in the District. Some of these claim a Rajput origin ; others have no traditions of being anything but Jats. Taken as a whole, they are an honest, industrious, sturdy, and vigorous folk, addicted to no form of serious crime, except female infanticide. The Muhammadan Jats are inferior to the Hindu and Sikh. The Arains (143,000) come next, comprising one-seventh of the total. They are entirely Muhammadans, and are a peaceable people without the sturdy spirit of the Jats, but quite as efficient cultivators. The Rajputs (50,000) come third.

More than four-fifths are Muhammadans, but they nearly all preserve Hindu customs. They formerly held a more important position in the District than they do now, and carefully maintain the traditions of their former greatness; and, despising work as beneath their dignity, they are very inferior as agriculturists to the Jats. The Khokhars are entirely Muhammadan they are often considered Rajputs, but the claim is not generally accepted, and they do not intermarry with Rajputs. The Awans (i 2,000) also are all Muhammadans.

They claim to have come from Arabia, but their observance of Hindu usages marks them as converts to Islam. Other agricultural tribes worthy of mention are Sainis (16,000), who are clever market-gardeners ; Kambohs (6,000), mainly Sikhs ; and Gajars (20,000), who are found everywhere. The Khattris (26,000) are the most important of the commercial tribes, the Banias numbering only 6,000. Of menial tribes the most important are the ChamSrs (leather- workers, 96,000), Chuhras (scavengers, 41,000), Kumhars (potters, 15,000), Lohare (blacksmiths, 15,000), Mochls (cobblers, 20,000), Tarkhans (carpenters, 32,000, many of whom are landowners), Jhlnwars (watermen, 29,000), Julahas (weavers, 16,000), Nais (barbers, 15,000), Chhlmbas and Dhobis (washermen, 12,000), and Telis (oil-pressers, 14,000). Brahmans number 32,000. Half the population is agricultural and one-fourth industrial.

Agriculture

The Jullundur Mission is one of the stations belonging to the American Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. It was established in 1847. In 1901 the District contained 276 native Christians.

Lying as Jullundur does close to the Outer Himalayas, an absolute failure of the rains is almost unknown ; and apart from the protection afforded by the numerous wells, the soil is sufficiently charged with moisture to resist anything but absolute drought. More than 40 per cent of the cultivated area is a good alluvial loam ; patches of clay soil, amounting in all to 13 per cent, of the cultivated area, are found all over the District, while 24 per cent, is sandy soil, of which half is found in the Jullundur tahsil. A small proportion is uncultivable, being covered by sandhills.

The District is held almost entirely by communities of peasant proprietors, large estates covering only about 37 square miles. The area for which details are available from the revenue records of 1903-4 is 1,357 square miles, as shown below : —

The chief crop of the spring harvest is wheat, which occupied 430 square miles in 1903-4; gram covered 177 square miles; and barley only 16 square miles. Maize is the staple product of the autumn harvest, occupying 149 square miles, while pulses covered 121. Sugar-cane, which occupied 49 square miles, is commercially of the greatest importance to the cultivator, as he looks to this crop to pay the whole or the greater part of the revenue. Very little great millet is grown (14 square miles), and practically no spiked millet ; cotton covered 28 square miles, and rice 3,188 acres.

The cultivated area increased by only 800 acres during the ten years ending 1901, and hardly any further increase can be anticipated. There has, however, been a considerable development of well-sinking, more than 8,000 wells having been constructed since the settlement of 1880-5. Practically no cultivable land is now left unfilled; and the pressure on the soil, which in 1901 was, excluding the urban population, 718 persons per cultivated square mile, can only be met by emigration.

The District has already sent numbers of its sons to the Chenab Colony, to the Jamrao Canal in Sind, to Australia and East Africa ; and many are in civil or military employment in other parts of India. The remittances of these emigrants add enormously to the natural resources of the District, and the greater portion of the Government revenue collected in it is required by the post offices to enable them to cash money orders issued on them.

Loans under the Land Improvement Loans Act for the construction of wells are popular and faithfully applied ; during the five years ending 1904 more than Rs. 54,000 was advanced for this purpose. Nothing has been done in the way of improving the quality of the crops grown.

Jullundur is not well adapted for breeding cattle, and it is estimated that for ploughing and working the wells no less than 10,000 bullocks per annum have to be imported. These are generally obtained at the Amritsar, Sirsa, and Hissar fairs, and from Patfola and Ferozepore. Although some places in the Jullundur Doab are mentioned in the Ain-i-Akbari as famous for a breed of horses, the ponies are not now specially valuable.

One horse and four donkey stallions are kept by the District board. There are very few camels, and sheep and goats are not important The country is so fully cultivated that little ground for grazing is left, except along the Sutlej and in places near the Bein. Large numbers of cattle are driven from a distance to these favoured spots, and considerable sums are levied in grazing fees by the owners of the land.

Of the total area cultivated in 1903-4, 479 square miles, or 44 per cent., were classed as irrigated. Of this area, 477 square miles were irrigated from wells, and 1,455 acres fr° m streams and tanks. In addition, 56 square miles, or 5 per cent, were subject to inundation from the Sutlej. Wells are the mainstay of the District; and there are 28,609 masonry wells worked by cattle, chiefly on the rope-and- bucket system, besides 464 unbricked wells, water-lifts, and lever wells. The Persian wheel is found where the soil is sandy and water near the surface.

The District contains two small plantations 'reserved' under the Forest Act, consisting chiefly of shisham and kikar 9 and covering 262 acres, with a military Reserve of 885 acres. It is on the whole well wooded, almost every one of the wells which it contains being surrounded by a small coppice; but, as already noticed, waste land is very scarce. Phillaur is the winter head-quarters of the Bashahr Forest division, and a great wood mart, to which quantities of timber are floated down the Sutlej and stored. Much also is brought for sale here from the Be&s and the Sirhind Canal.

Trade and communication

Kankar is plentiful, the best beds being within a radius of ten miles from Jullundur town. Saltpetre is manufactured from saline earth.

A great deal of cotton-weaving is carried on, the principal products being the coarse cotton cloth which supplies most of the dress of the people, and coloured stripes and checks. Large quantities of very coarse cotton fabrics (khaddar) are exported to Shikarpur and Sukkur in Sind. Rahon had once a great reputation for a superior cotton longcloth, but the industry is almost extinct. Silk-weaving is carried on at Jullundur town, and in 1899 employed 250 looms, the estimated out-turn being valued at 2 lakhs. The gold and silver manufactures are flourishing, but in no way remarkable, and the out-turn is insufficient for local require- ments. Besides ornaments, silver wire and gold and silver lace are made. The District has some reputation for carpenter's work, and chairs are made at Kartarpur for the wholesale trade.

Brass vessels are manufactured in many parts, the output being valued at Rs. 27,000, of which half is exported. The thin pottery known as ' paper pottery ' is made in the District, and glazed and coloured tile-work of unusual excellence is turned out at Jullundur by one man. There are two flour-mills at Jullundur town, and attached to one of them is a small iron and brass foundry. The number of factory employes in 1904 was 73.

The traffic of the District is mainly in agricultural produce. In ordinary years grain is imported from Ludhiana, Ferozepore, and the Sikh States for export to the hills ; other articles of import are piece- goods from Delhi, Bombay, and Calcutta, iron from Ferozepore, Amrit- sar, and Karachi, brass and copper vessels from Jagadhri, Amritsar, and Delhi, rice from Kangra, and salt from the Mayo Mines. Sugar and molasses are largely manufactured to supply the markets of Bikaner, Lahore, the Punjab, and Sind. Wheat, cotton cloth, and silk goods are the other principal exports.

The District is traversed by the main line of the North-Western Railway, and branch lines are contemplated from Jullundur town to Kapurthala and HoshiSrpur. It is exceptionally well provided with roads, the total length of metalled roads being 158 miles and of unmetalled roads 337 miles.

The most important of the former are the grand trunk road, which traverses the District parallel with the railway, and the road from Jullundur to Hoshiarpur ; these, with some minor roads, 62 miles in length in all, are under the Public Works department, the rest being under the District board. The Sutlej is navigable only in the rains ; there are twelve ferries.

Famine

Jullundur, thanks to the excellence of its soil and the nearness of the hills, is but little liable to drought None of the famines that have visited the Punjab since annexation has affected the District at all seriously, and it was classed by the

Irrigation Commission of 1903 as secure from famine. The area of crops matured in the famine year 1 899-1 900 amounted to 76 per cent of the normal.

Administration

The District is in charge of a Deputy-Commissioner, aided by three or four Assistant or Extra-Assistant Commissioners. It is divided into four tahsil leach under a tahsildar assisted by a naib- tahsildar ;Jullundur comprises its northern portion, and Nawashahr, Phillaur, and Nakodar, which lie in that order from east to west, the southern.

The Deputy-Commissioner as District Magistrate is responsible for criminal justice. Civil judicial work is in charge of a District Judge, and both these officers are subordinate to the Divisional and Sessions Judge of the Jullundur Civil Division, which consists of the District of Jullundur alone. There are six Munsifs, three at head-quarters and one at each outlying tahsil There are also a Cantonment Magistrate at Jullundur and eight honorary magistrates. The common forms of crime are burglary and theft.

In the revenue system of Akbar the present District formed part of the Duaba Blst Jalandhar, one of the sarkdrs of the lahore Subah. The later Mughal emperors soon dropped the cash assessments of Raja Todar Mai as unprofitably just, and leased clusters of villages to the highest bidder. Under the Sikh confederacies even this remnant of system disappeared, and the ruler took whatever he could get Ranjlt Singh followed the same principle with a greater show of method, giving large grants of land in jagir on service tenure, and either leasing the rest to farmers or entrusting the collection of the revenue to kdrddrs y who paid him as little as they dared.

When in 1846 the dodb came into British possession, a summary settlement was made by John Lawrence. The assessment, which amounted to 13 ½ lakhs, worked well, and the total demand of the regular settlement (1846-51) was only Rs. 20,000 less. The assessment was again mainly guess-work, the demand of the summary settlement being varied only where circum- stances suggested an increase or demanded some relief. A revision carried out between 1880 and 1885 resulted in a demand of 15 lakhs. This has been paid very easily ever since, and the District is prosperous and contented. The rates average Rs. 4-10-0 (maximum Rs. 5-8-01 minimum Rs. 3-12-0) on 'wet' land, and Rs. 1-8-0 (maximum Rs. 2-4-0, minimum 12 annas) on 'dry ' land. The demand, includ- ing cesses, for 1903-4 was 178 lakhs. The average size of a proprietary holding is 18 acres.

The collections of land revenue alone and of total revenue are shown below, in thousands of rupees : —

The District contains nine municipalities : Jullundur, Kartarpur, Alawalpur, Phillaur, Nurmahal, Rahon, Nawashahr, Banga, and Nakodar. Outside these, local affairs are managed by the District board, which in 1903-4 had an income of Rs. 1,55,000. The expen- diture was Rs. 1,48,600, public works and education being the prin- cipal items.

The regular police force consists of 453 of all ranks, including 56 cantonment and 78 municipal police. The Superintendent usually has three inspectors under him. The village watchmen number 1,305. There are twelve police stations, two road-posts, and two outposts.

The fort at Phillaur was made over in 1891 to the Police Training School and central bureau of the Criminal Identification department. The District jail at head-quarters contains accommodation for 318 prisoners. The chief industries carried on in the jail are the manu- facture of paper and lithographic printing.

The District stands nineteenth among the twenty-eight Districts of the Province in respect of the literacy of its population. In 1901 the proportion of literate persons was 3-6 per cent. (6-4 males and 0-3 females). The number of pupils under instruction was 7,624 in 1880-1, 15,102 in 1890-1, 13,191 in 1900-1, and 13,874 in 1903-4. The District possessed in 1903-4 a training school, 6 Anglo-vernacular high schools, 4 Anglo-vernacular and 7 vernacular middle schools, and 3 English and 124 vernacular primary schools for boys, and 23 verna- cular primary schools for girls.

In addition, there were 7 advanced and 262 elementary (private) schools. The number of girls in the public schools was 699, and in the private schools 941. The most important schools are at Jullundur town. The total expenditure on education in 1903-4 was 1-1 lakhs, the greater part of which was met by Local and Provincial funds.

Besides the Jullundur civil hospital, the District has ten outlying dispensaries. At these institutions 154,504" out-patients and 4,247 in- patients were treated in 1904, and 12,883 operations were performed. The expenditure was Rs. 20,000, contributed in nearly equal shares by District and municipal funds. There is a leper asylum at Dakhni.

The number of successful vaccinations in 1903-4 was 21,801, repre- senting 24 per 1,000 of the population. Vaccination is compulsory in the town of Jullundur.

[H. A. Rose, District Gazetteer (in press) ; W. E. Purser, Settlement Report (1892).]