Kumaun
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.
Kumaun
The most northern Division of the United Provinces, situated almost entirely in the Himalayas, and extending from the borders of Tibet to the damp submontane tract known as the Tarai. The Division is bounded on the north by Tibet ; on the east by Nepal ; on the south by the Bareilly Division and the State of Rampur; and on the west by the State of Tehrl and Dehra Dun District. It lies between 28" 51' and 31° 5' N. and 78° 12' and 81^ 3' E., with a total area of 13,725 miles. Although it is thus the second Division in size in the United Provinces, it is sparsely inhabited, and the density of population, 88 persons per square mile, is but one-fifth of the average. Population is rising steadily. The numbers at the four enumerations were as fol- lows : (1872) 928,823, (1881) 1,046,263, (1891) 1,181,567, and {1901) 1,207,030. In 1901 Hindus formed more than 92 per cent, of the total, and Muhammadans only 7 per cent. Half of the latter are to be found in the Tarai portion of Nain! Tal District. Christians numbered 3,509, of whom 2,276 were natives, and no other religion was repre- sented by more than a few hundred followers. The head-quarters of the Commissioner are at Naini Tal, which is also the summer capital of the United Provinces. Kumaun contains three Districts, as shown below : —
Nainl Tal lies on the outer ranges of the Himalayas ; but most of it is included in the waterless tract at their feet known as the Bhabar, and the moist country below called the Tarai. The other two Districts are situated mainly in the Himalayas, and include the highest peaks within the Indian Empire. The Division contains 10,041 villages and 12 towns, all of which are small. The largest are Naini Tal (popu- lation, 15,164 in summer, and 7,609 in winter, with cantonment), Kashi- PUR (12,023), and Almora (8,596). Kashlpur, Haldwani, Tanakpur, SrInagar, Kotdw^ara, and Dwarahat are the principal places of commercial importance. Among many famous Hindu temples and places of pilgrimage, the chief are the shrines of Badrinath and Kedarnath. The tenures in the hill tracts differ considerably from those in the rest of the Provinces. Before British rule the normal system had been a kind of ryotwari. Each village contained a number of cultivators called khaikar, who held hereditary, but not transferable, rights. During the Gurkha supremacy grants of cultivated land were often made to persons who were known as thdttvdti, the word that meaning 'village' or 'property in a village.' Such grants could be abrogated at will by the governing power. The khaikars paid to the thatwan the revenue assessed on the village and, in addition, certain dues and small cash rents.
On the conquest by the British the thatwan or, if there was none, the khaikars received proprietary rights. All landholders are now called hissaddrs, whatever their origin ; but the name khaikar is used to describe the actual occupants of villages which were originally granted to a thdtwdn. The khaikars have heritable, but not saleable, rights, though subletting and even mortgage are allowed. They do not pay rent, but pay the Government revenue plus a mdlikdna, which is generally 20 per cent, in Garhwal and 25 per cent, in Almora. There are few tenants-at-will, and khaikari rights are not acquired by prescription, though they are sometimes conferred at settlement. The Tarai is administered as a Government estate, while in the Bhabar the tenures are partly those of the hills and partly those of the Tarai and the plains. The gross revenue from all sources raised in the Division has been, in thousands of rupees: (1880-1) 11,25; (1890-1) 12,93; (1900-1) 15,98; and (1903-4) 16,37. Details by Districts are not tabulated separately.
