Punjab, 1908

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

In its strict etymological sense the Punjab, or land of the five rivers’ is the country enclosed and watered by the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej ; but the Province as now constituted includes also the table-land of Sirhind between the Sutlej and the Jumna to the south of the former river, the Sind-Sagar Doab or wedge of country between the Jhelum and the Indus, and west of the latter river the two tracts which form Dera Ghazi Khan and part of Mian wali District. The Province lies between 27 degree 39' and 34 2' N. and 69 degree 23' and 79 dregrr 2' E., and with its Native States has an area of 133,741 square miles, being larger by one-tenth than the British Isles, and comprising a tenth of the area of the Indian Empire. Of the total area, 36,532 square miles belong to Native States under the political control of the Punjab Government, and the rest is British territory. The population in 1901 was 24,754,737 (of whom 4,424,398 were in the Native States), or 8.4 per cent, of the whole population of the Indian Empire.

On the north the Himalayan ranges divide the Punjab from Kashmir and the North-West Frontier Province. On the west the Indus forms its Main boundary with the latter Province, except that the Punjab includes the strip of riverain which forms the Isa Khel tahsil of Mianwali District, west of that river. Its south-wesstern extremity also lies west of the Indus and forms the large District of Dera Ghazi Khan, thereby extending its frontier to the Sulalman range, which divides it from Baluchistan. On the extreme south-west the Province adjoins Sind, and the Rajputana desert forms its southern border. On the east, the Jumna and its tributary the Tons divide it from the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, its frontier north of the sources of the latter river being contiguous with Chinese Tibet.

Physical aspects

The Province falls into five Main physical divisions. Three of these the Himalayan region, the Himalayan submontane which stretches from the Jumna to the Salt Range, and the arid plateaux of that range are small in area, but the submontane is the most fertile and wealthiest in the Punjab. The other two are the arid south-wesstern plalns, and the wesstern portion of the Indo-Gangetic Plaln West which extends as far westward as Lahore. Both these divisions are of vast extent, but infertile towards the south, where they encroach on the plalns of Sind and Rajputana.

The Punjab proper comprises five doabs, or tracts lying between two rivers. These received their names from the emperor Akbar, who formed them by combining the first letters of the names of the rivers between which they lie. They are : the Bist Jullundur, also called the Saharwal Doab, lying between the Beas and the Sutlej ; the Bari, between the old bed of the Beas and the Ravi ; the Rechna (Rachin-ab, or Rachin-ao), between the Ravi and the Chenab ; the Chinhath, between the Chenab and the Bihat (another name for the Jhelum), also called the Chaj ; and the Sind-Sagar, between the Indus and the Jhelum or Bihat.

The whole Central Punjab is a vast alluvial plaln ; but the north- east of the Province is formed of a section of the HIMALAYAS, stretching up to and beyond the great central ranges so as to include the Tibetan cantons of Lahul and Spiti. The SALT RANGE, with the plateaux which lie to the north between it and the Indus, forms its north-wesstern angle, and the SULALMAN Range forms the southern half of the wesstern frontier of the Province. These are the only mountain systems of importance ; but a few insignificant outliers of the ARAVALLI system traverse Gurgaon District in the extreme south-east, and terminate in the historic Ridge at Delhi.

All the seven great rivers of the Punjab rise in the Himalayas, and after long courses, sometimes of several hundred miles, amid snow- clad ranges, they debouch on the plalns. The slope of the low country is to the south and south-west, and is very gradual, seldom exceeding 2 feet in a mile ; and this determines the course of the rivers. In the process of time each stream has cut for itself a wide valley, which lies well below the level of the plaln, and whose banks mark the extreme limits of the course on either side. Within this valley the river meanders in a narrow but ill-defined and ever-shifting channel. In the winter the stream is comparatively small; but as the mountain snows melt at the approach of the kot season, the waters rise and overflow the surrounding country, often to a distance of several miles on either side. At the close of the rainy season the waters recede, leaving wide expanses of fertile loam or less fertile sand.

Of these seven rivers, the INDUS is the greatest. Already a mighty stream when it emerges from the Hazara hills, it flows almost due south past Attock. Here it enters a deep gorge, terminating at Kalabagh, where it pierces the Salt Range. Thus far it forms the wesstern boundary ; but south of Kalabagh it enters the Province, and divides the Isa Khel tahsil of Mianwali from the rest of that District. Farther south again it forms the wesstern boundary until it re-enters Punjab territory near Bhakkar, and divides Dera Ghazi Khan from Mianwali and Muzaffargarh Districts and from the State of Bahawalpur. The JIIELUM enters the Punjab east of the Salt Range, flowing south between this and the Pabbi hills, which terminate at Mong Rasul. Thence the river flows west and then south until it is joined by the Chenab near Jhang. The CHENAB rises in the Himalayan canton of Lahul within the Province, and after traversing the Chamba State and the Jammu province of Kashmir debouches on the plalns east of the Jhelum, into which it falls about 225 miles from the hills. The RAVI, rising in Chamba, reaches the plaln below Dalhousie, and joins the combined waters of the Jhelum and Chenab 50 miles south of Jhang. The united streams of these three rivers form the Trimab.

The BEAS, rising on the south of the Rkotang pass on the opposite side of the Central Himalayas to the Ravi, traverses the Kulu valley southward, and then bends suddenly westward, through the Mandi State and Kangra District, until it turns the northern flank of the Siwaliks, and enters the plalns within a few miles of the Ravi. Thence its course is more southerly, and it falls into the Sutlej about 70 miles from its debouchure. The SUTLEJ, rising near the source of the Indus in Tibet, enters the Province near the Shipki Pass, traverses Bashahr and other States of the Simla Hills, and pierces the Siwaliks near Rupar. Thence it runs almost due west to its junction with the Beas near Sobraon, where it takes a more southerly course for 270 miles, and falls into the Trimab 9 miles north of Uch. Below this confluence the waters of the Jhelum, Chenab and Ravi, Sutlej and Beas form the PANJNAD, or 'five rivers,' which fall into the Indus at Mithankot. Lastly, the JUMNA, the only one of the great rivers of the Province which ultimately drains into the Bay of Bengal, rises in Tehrl State in the United Provinces, and from its junction with the Tons at the eastern extremity of Sirmur territory forms the boundary between the Punjab and the United Provinces for a distance of over 200 miles.

The Province presents great varieties of scenery, from the snow peaks and glaciers of the Upper Himalayas to the deserts of shifting sand in the Sind-Sagar Doab and Bahawalpur. The scenery of the Himalayas has often been described. In the Salt Range it is picturesque and even grand in places, and in the interior of the range the slopes are everywhere green with box and bog-myrtle. The southern face exhibits a very rugged and broken appearance, but on the north the contours of the hills are for the most part smooth and undulating. Between the Salt Range and the Himalayas the aspect of the country varies greatly, from the deep, shaly, and infertile ravines of Jhelum to the rich uplands of Gujar Khan. The Siwaliks and the Pabbi hills are much tamer than the Salt Range, and the vegetation which clothes them is coarser and scantier, though the Jaswan Dun in Hoshiarpur is not lacking in richness and beauty. But the characteristic scenery of the Punjab is that of the plalns, and the contrast between their appearance before and after the crops have been cut is most striking.

As harvest approaches, the traveller, especially in the irrigated tracts, rides through an endless expanse of waving crops of different shades of colour, out of which the villages seem to rise like islets in an ocean of green. After the harvest all is changed ; and the dull brown of the fields is relieved only by the trees, solitary or in groves and avenues, and by the hamlets and village ponds. The lowlands through which the great rivers work their way retain some of their verdure throughout the year, and, especially in the east of the Province, are studded with groves and gardens. But in the plateaux between the rivers, and in the great sandy plalns oi the south, where cultivation is impossible without the aid of artificial irrigation, the scanty vegetation takes a more sober hue, and the only relief the eye can find from the stretches of bare soil is afforded by stunted and infrequent bushes.

1 Geologically the Punjab falls into three natural divisions : the plalns, the Salt Range, and the Himalayas. The plalns consist almost entirely of the Indo-Gangetic alluvium, but contains beds ol sedimentary rocks of Peninsular type. These comprise a small area of rocks of a transition age, which form a series of outliers of the ArSvalli rocks at Delhi and to the south and south-east, whence the) are known as the Delhi system . 2 They are composed of a lowei group of slates and limestones, and an upper and much thicker

1 Condensed from a note by Mr. H, H. Hayden, Geological Survey of India. 2 Manual of the Geology of India, p. 69 (' The Delhi System '). of quartzites; the upper beds, known as the Alwar quartzites, are exposed on the Ridge at Delhi. Two small outliers, also referred to the Delhi system, are found near the Chenab, at Chiniot and Kirana, within 35 miles of the beds of extra- Peninsular type found in the Salt Range. From the strong contrast they afford in petrological and dynamic conditions, they are almost certainly older than the oldest rocks of that range and in all probability pre-Cambrian.

In the north of the Province the SALT RANGE stretches from the Jhelum valley on the east to the Indus on the west, and crops up again beyond that river. Its geological features are particularly interesting, and the age of the salt which gives its name to the hills is still uncertain. The lowest beds to which a definite period can be assigned are shales, yielding trilobites. obelus, and hyolithes, and regarded as Lower Cambrian. They are underlaln, with apparent conformity, by purple sandstone, which may also be Cambrian. From its apparent position below this sandstone the salt marl has been classed as Lower Cambrian or pre-Cambrian, but it also occurs at various horizons of higher levels. It has no appearance of stratifica- tion, but is a soft, structureless mass, showing no signs of sedimentary origin. In it are found immense masses of rock-salt, and bands and strings of gypsum, with disintegrated patches of dolomite. Magnesian sandstone appears to lie conformably on the obolus shales, but has yielded only fragmentary fossils. It is, however, probable that this, together with the overlying salt pseudomorph sandstone, belongs to the Cambrian system.

A great break then occurs, representing the Silurian and Devonian and part of the Carboniferous epochs ; and the next formation, a boulder-bed, lies unconformably on all the older deposits. It con- sists of faceted and striated boulders embedded in a fine matrix, giving evidence of a glacial origin ; a few fossils are found, including Conularia^ and the series is regarded as Lower Permian, of the same age as the Talcher boulder-bed.

The Upper Permian is represented by olive and speckled sandstones and lavender clay, containing Conu- laria and other fossils, and the Productus beds which yield Xenaspis and Cyclolobus, Over these are found Lower Triassic beds of limestone, sandstone, and marl, containing ammonites, and termed ceratite beds. The Middle and Upper Trias appear to be wanting, the ceratites being overlaln by sandstones, oolites, and shales, in the upper beds of which have been found ammonites and belemnites of Upper Jurassic age. They are followed by pisolitic sandstones, containing at the Chichali pass a rich Lower Cretaceous (nexomian) flora, and overlaln uncon- formably by shales and sandstones with coal seams passing into Nummulitic limestone, the coal and limestone being of Lower Tertiary (exene) age. Above the limestone is another unconformity, followed by a great mass of sandstone, with beds of red clay similar to the Nahan beds of the Himalayas ; this in turn is overlaln by typical SiwSlik sandstones.

The Himalayas fall into three broad divisions : a northern, a central, and a southern. The northern, known as the Tibetan zone, extends through Kanawar and Spiti into Lahul, and affords an almost unbroken sequence of sedimentary deposits ranging from Cambrian to Creta- ceous. The oldest beds are slates and quartzites, for the most part unfossiliferous, but containing in the higher beds trilobites and other fossils of Middle and Upper Cambrian age. These are overlaln, unconformably, by conglomerate, followed by a great mass of red quartzite, believed to be of Lower Silurian age, and passing up into limestone and marl with Silurian fossils (trilobites, corals, &c.). The limestone gradually gives place to a white quartzite, which is one of the most characteristic horizons of the Himalayas. Except in Kanawar and Upper Spiti the quartzite is usually overlaln by beds of Upper Permian age, but near Lis in Kanawar a great thickness of limestone and shale is found ; the limestone contains a rich fauna of Lower Carboniferous age, and the shales have yielded Upper Carboniferous brachiopods and bryozoa. Next in order is a conglomerate of variable thickness, overlaln by calcareous sandstone and a bed of dark mica- ceous shale representing the Permian. The uppermost bed, known as the Productus shales, is found throughout the Himalayas, and contains Upper Permian brachiopods and ammonites.

The latter are especially interesting, as they are closely allied to species (Xenaspis carbonaria and Cyclolohus oldhami} from the upper Productus limestone of the Salt Range. Above these shales is a thin shaly band with ammonites, known as the Otoceras beds, which passes into a vast thickness of limestone, intercalated by shale, and representing the whole of the Trias, and the Lower and probably Middle Jurassic. Fossils are numerous throughout, and representatives of all subdivisions in the Alpine Trias have been recognized. The limestones are succeeded by the well-known Spiti shales, famous for their ammonites. They are of Upper Jurassic age, and are overlaln by the Giumal sandstone and Chikkim limestone and shales representing the Cretaceous system.

A broad zone of metamorphic, crystalline, and unfossiliferous rocks forms the axis of the Himalayas. The crystallines are partly intrusive, and partly the result of contact with the metamorphism of the Cam- brian slates in the northern zone. South of the metamorphics, however, the unfossiliferous sedimentary rocks extend from Chamba through Kangra and the Simla Hill States to Garhwal. They consist chiefly of limestones, slates, quartzites, and conglomerates of unknown age, and have been divided into three systems. The Jaunsar system, regarded as the oldest, consists of grey slates overlaln by blue lime- stones, followed by red slates and quartzites exposed near Chakrata. In Jaunsar-Bawar and the east of Sirmur the quartzites are overlaln by a considerable thickness of trap and volcanic ash. Above the Jaunsar system a great development of limestones forms most of the higher parts of the mountains running north from Deoban, and is known as the Deoban system. It is also seen in Sirmur, and in the Shall peak north of Simla. Above this follows the carbonaceous system, covering the greatest part of the Lower Himalayas.

At the base is a great thickness of grey slate, with beds of grit and quartzite, resembling the Cambrian slates of the Tibetan zone. The slates, which are known as the infra-Blalni or Simla slates, are overlaln by a characteristic series of conglomerates or boulder-slate and pink dolomitic limestone, which has been recognized in many parts of the Simla Hill States, while similar beds occur near Mussoorie on the east and in Chamba to the north-west. These are overlaln by carbonaceous shale, followed by a quartzite bed of variable thickness, the two being included in the infra-Krol group, while the overlying Krol beds consist of limestone with subordinate bands of carbonaceous shale, the limestone attaining a great thickness in the Krol mountain near Solon. The age of the 4 Jaunsar and Deoban systems is quite unknown ; the carbonaceous system has been referred in part to the Permian and in part (the Krol limestone) to the Trias, but this classification is not final.

The sub-Himalayan zone consists entirely of Tertiary beds, as a rule abutting against the pre-Tertiary rocks of the central and lower zone. These are comparatively narrow on the east, but gradually widen, till on the north-west they spread over the plalns, forming a continuous mantle covering Jheluni and Rawalpindi Districts, and extending to the northern parts of the Salt Range. The lowest or Sabathu group consists of grey and red gypseous shales, with subordinate bands of limestone. It is overlaln conformably by the Dagshai group, composed of a great thickness of grey sandstones, with bright red nodular clays. These are followed by bright red or purple clays, overlaln by sand- stones which constitute the Kasauli group. The Sabathu group yields fossils of Nummulitic age, while no recognizable fossils have been found in the Dagshai, and only plant reMains in the Kasauli group ; but it is probable that the two last represent the oligocene and lower miocene of Europe.

The Upper Tertiary or Siwalik series is separated from all the older beds by one of the most marked structural features of the Himalayas, the Main boundary fault, a great dislocation which can be traced for long distances along the lower parts of the range. Sandstones and red clay form the lowest group, being well seen at Nahan. They are succeeded, often unconformably, by many thousand feet of very soft grey sandstone, with bands of clay. These are overlaln by conglomerates which constitute the uppermost portion of the Siwalik series. In the SIWALIK HILLS the thickness of the series is at least 15,000 feet. The two upper groups contain great quantities of mammalian reMains of pliocene age.

The flora falls naturally into four primary divisions : the Himalayas, the submontane belt from the Jumna to the Ravi, the plaln proper, and the Salt Range on both sides of the Indus with connected country in the north-west of the Province.

The Himalayan tract includes the basin of the Sutlej, from the Tibetan border at Shipki to the hill station of Kasauli in Ambala District; 'the basins of the Beas and Ravi, from their sources to the submontane tracts of Kangra and Gurdaspur ; the basins of the Chandra and Bhaga, which unite to form the Chenab, from the high watershed that divides their sources from the Indus valley to the eastern borders of Kashmir and Jammu ; and a promontory bounding the Kashmir valley on the south, and culminating in the station of Murree about 6,500 feet above sea-level.

The Sutlej basin is again divided into two well-marked portions, of which the outer includes Simla District and adjoining Hill States, with Kasauli. The trees and shrubs of this portion, to about 6,000 feet, are Mainly subtropical. But above this is a temperate belt which begins, roughly speaking, at Simla, and is rich in familiar European forest trees, such as yew, pines, oak and holly, elm, a horse-chestnut, several sorts of spindle-tree and buckthorn ; and, among humbler growths, crowfoots, columbines, anemones, cresses, violets, stitchworts, cranesbills and St. John's worts, brambles, roses, spiraeas and wild strawberries, woodbines, guelder-rose and ivy, bell-flowers, gentians, Solomon's seal, meadow-rush, and herb-paris. The Flora Simlensis of the late Sir Henry Collett (edited by Mr. W. B. Hemsley) takes in only a part of the Simla Hills, but it describes 1,236 species ot flowering plants, a number somewhat less than that of the native plants of the British Islands.

The component elements, however, differ materially from those of any European flora, for, apart from the subtropical contingent, the Outer Himalayas preserve many forms allied to the plants of North-Eastern Asia (e.g. Hydrangea), as well as Indo-Malayan types. The deodar, which flourishes near Simla, is related to the cedars of the Lebanon and the Atlas. East of Simla the rivers drain into the Jumna, and not towards the Sutlej, but as a matter of convenience certain petty States south-east of Bashahr and the territories of Sirmur are grouped with the Simla area. In this tract the Chaur mountain, rising almost from the plalns to over 12,000 feet, shows successive zones of vegetation, from the almost tropical valleys at its southern base to birch forest and subalpine pastures near its summit.

The upper portion of the Sutlej basin within Indian limits that is to say, Kanawar and the Spiti valley, with Lahul and Pangi, both drained by the Chenab constitutes a Mainly alpine field of huge extent and great elevation. The flora is most closely linked with the vegetation of Wesstern Tibet and Middle Asia, and includes few trees and very little forest. A pine, which is also found in the mountains of Afghanistan, extends to the lower levels of the inner Chenab basin ; but, except in Pangi, a small pencil cedar, stunted junipers, a few scat- tered birches, with pollard willows grown from saplings planted by the watercourses, complete the list of trees for this portion of the Punjab Himalayas.

Crossing outwards again to the basins of the Beas and Ravi, the Kulu valley and the higher glens of Chamba present a far more varied and luxuriant aspect to the forester or botanist. The trees are Mainly those of the Simla country ; but certain shrubs and herbs reappear that are rare or absent' in the Sutlej valley, owing doubtless to its greater indraught from the heated sands of the Punjab and Northern Rajputana. On the other hand, some West Asian types for example, the wild olive and the Oriental clematis are found in the drier parts of Kulu more abundantly than to the eastward, while a few European forms e.g. the great spearwort and the purple loosestrife -have their eastern limit in the Beas valley. The hill stations of Dalhousie and Dharmsala come within this area. Epiphytic orchids, which are missing from the Simla country except very locally, reappear near Dharmsala, but do not pass west of the spurs that divide the Kangra ranges from the basin of the Ravi.

The Murree hills, which are separated from the Ravi country by a long stretch of the Outer Himalayas lying within Jammu territory, differ considerably owing tp the presence of a stronger West Asian element in their flora.

The submontane belt is practically restricted to the Districts of Ambala (with its adjoining States), Hoshiarpur, and Kangra. The sal tree, which is not found elsewhere to the west of the Jumna, survives in a single dun (or strath) connected with the Kangra valley but actually within the northern border of Hoshiarpur District. The Kiarda Dun in Sirmur State and the Kalesar forest in Ambala shelter a number of species that are characteristic or abundant in the Siwalik tract east of the Jumna, though unknown or rare farther westward.

The plaln also has its subdivisions, which are, on the whole, even better marked than those of the Himalayas, an important influence being exercised by the climate of the Great Indian Desert which borders the whole southern limit of the Province, and sends out two arms which embrace the actual country of the five 1 rivers. That

1 The Beas, Ravi, Chenab, Jhelum, and Indus. The Sutlej is included in Hindu- stan, of which at the same time it forms the traditional boundary. on the east takes in a great part of the Phulkian States, its apex being near the town of Ludhiana, on an ancient bed of the Sutlej. The wesstern arm (locally known as the Thai) extends from the Sind border up the Indus valley to the south-west angle of the Salt Range. The eastern chain of sandhills and alternating barriers has of late, however, lost much of its desert character through canal extensions. From Ludhiana to the Jumna valley, and along the Jumna to the neighbourhood of Delhi, the country is substantially a portion of the great Gangetic plaln, though some interesting peculiarities present themselves : a crowfoot (best known from North-Eastern America) occurs, also a rose which is elsewhere most abundant in the swamps of Eastern Bengal, and a kind of scurvy-grass (Cochkaria), a genus usually partial to far colder latitudes. The south-east portions of the Province, and the upland tract skirting the wesstern valley of the Jumna, present certain features of the Deccan flora, merging ultimately in the Aravalli system.

Trees in the extreme south-east are few, and mostly of Arabian or North African affinity. Similar forms, though seldom reaching the dimensions of a tree, characterize the southern fringe of the Punjab ; but towards the Indus, a West Asian or indeed Euro- pean element becomes prominent, in the case especially of those field annuals which come up each winter with the crops of the season : such as poppy, fumitory, rockets, catchfly, spurrey, chickweed, vetches and trefoils, thistles, blue pimpernel, bindweed, toadflax and veronicas, broomrape, goosefoots, milkspurges, asphodel and others.

Between the desert and the Indus the dodbs bounded by the great rivers presented formerly a succession of alkaline wastes, often covered with low bushes qf the saltwort tribe, or untilled expanses dotted with a scrub of thorny bushes of the acacia family and of van (Salvadora, a desert representative of the olive), with an occasional row of tamarisks near a creek or waterhole, relieved in the autumn by a short-lived flush of climbing plants, and in good seasons by an abundant crop of grasses, which afforded coarse but invaluable pasture to the cattle of the nomad population. Canal extension and systematic state colonization are now changing all this rapidly, and the flora is ap- proximating to the general spring and autumn series of agrestal species of Northern India, though a strong West Asian adinixture Maintains itself. Beyond the Indus, in Dera Ghazi Khan District, this 'Oriental' 1 element begins to predominate, even as regards shrubs and perennials ; and it continues northwards to the Salt Range and the hills near Attock, where several types common to the Orient and the Medi- terranean e.g. pinks and larkspurs may be gathered at less than 2,000 feet above sea-level.

1 The region from the Mediterranean to the Indus, and between the Red Sea and the Steppes, is thus termed by botanist, Himalayan forms are still prevalent in the Salt Range, especially at the higher levels. On the north face of the culminating summit (Sakesar), at about 4,800 feet above the sea, there are a few oaks, of a common North-West Himalayan species, while herbaceous plants of the same region intermingle with trans-Indus representatives ; but the slopes abound with box-trees, olives, and other Wesstern forms. The herbs and grasses, moreover, although Indian forms abound, include a decided proportion of more Wesstern types j but, owing to the dryness of the climate, these are usually such as characterize the arid zone that extends on the west through Africa to the Atlantic Islands.

Until the beginning of the nineteenth century both lions and tigers appear to have been common, and the Nardak of the Eastern Punjab was a favourite hunting ground of the Mughal emperors. As late as 1827 Major Areher says that lions were sometimes seen within 20 miles of Karnal, while tigers were exceedingly numerous in its immediate vicinity ; and in the neighbourhood of Sirsa and in other parts of the Punjab tigers were abundant until past the middle of the nineteenth century. Lions are now entirely extinct and tigers practi- cally so, though occasionally a straggler from the Aravalli Hills is found in the South-East Punjab, or one from the eastern tarai in Nahan or Ambala. Another animal practically extinct in the Punjab is the wild elephant, though it is occasionally met with in Nahan and Ambala. The only common representatives of the feline tribe are the leopard, the hunting leopard, and the wild cat, with the lynx, along the southern border ; the leopard is chiefly found in the hills.

Two kinds of bear, the black and the brown,, are found in the hills ; hyenas and wolves are seen in most Districts, but are not common ; jackals and foxes on the other hand abound. Ibex and bharal are found in the Higher Himalayas, and lower down musk deer, barking-deer, and wild goats ; in the Salt Range the itrial (Ovis vignei) is not uncommon. In the plalns antelope are plentiful, especially in the east and south of the Province, and nilgai, ( ravine deer' (chinkard), and hog deer (par ha) are common in places. The wild hog, badger, porcupine, and hare are found in most parts. The grey ape (langhr) lives in the hills, and monkeys abound, both in the hills and in the canal-irrigated Districts. The otter and river porpoise are found in all the rivers.

Peafowl are plentiful, and so is the lesser bustard ; the great bustard is less common. Flocks of sand-grouse (imperial painted, pallas, and pintail) are frequently seen in the dry tracts. The grey partridge is found everywhere, and the black partridge is occasionally met with ; in the hills the chikor (Caccabis chukor) and slsl (Ammoperdix bonhami) partridges are common, and the snow partridge is found at high eleva- tions. All the Indian pheasants are found in the Himalayas, including the argus, monal t koklas, chir, and white-crested pheasant. Bush-quail and rain-quail are found in the plalns, and the common grey quail comes in hosts at the ripening of the wheat. In the winter large numbers of water-fowl visit the rivers and jhils. The most common ducks are the sealing-wax bill, pintail, mallard, pinkhead, shoveller, teal, and goose teal ; geese, cranes, flamingoes, pelicans, ibises, herons, bitterns, snipe are all also more or less plentiful. The crow, vulture, and kite are ubiquitous, and the adjutant bird is occasionally met with. Hawks of various species are found, and often fetch high prices for sporting purposes. Green parrots fill the air with their screeching in the irrigated tracts, the golden oriole sometimes flashes through the trees, and the blue jay and woodpecker lend a frequent note of colour to the scene. Immense flocks of rosy pastors visit the plalns in the kot season, and the Maina is common everywhere in the neighbourhood of houses.

The sharp-nosed or fish-eating crocodile (ghariyal) is found in all the great rivers, and the blunt-nosed crocodile or magar (Crocodilus palustris] is also met with in the lower reaches. The poisonous snakes are the karait, cobra, Echis carinata (kappa), and, in the east of the Province, Russell's viper. Lizards of various kinds are common. The commonest fish are the rohu (Labeo rohita) and mahseer, the latter of which runs up to 50 Ib.

Locusts sometimes arrive in swarms, chiefly from the south-west, and do considerable damage. White ants attack timber and garnered grain, which is also much subject to injury from weevils. Mosquitoes abound, and with sandflies combine to make life a burden in the kot season ; and house-flies swarm, especially towards the beginning and ending of winter. Scorpions and centipedes are numerous, but not much seen. The honey-bee, hornet, and wasp are common, and the firefly's flashing light is to be seen wherever there is irrigation.

Over the greater part of the Punjab the climate is of the most pro- nounced continental character, extreme summer heat alternating with great winter cold ; but its diversified surface, including montane, sub- montane, and plalns zones, modifies very largely the temperature, weather, and climate in different parts of the Province. The Punjab has accordingly been divided into four natural divisions, in each of which the general meteorological conditions are believed to be fairly homogeneous. These are the Himalayan (stations, Simla and Murree), the sub-Himalayan (stations, Arabella, Ludhiana, Sialkot, and Rawal- pindi), the Indo-Gangetic Plaln West (stations, Delhi and Lahore), and the south-west dry area (stations, Khushab, Montgomery, Multan, and Sirsa).

As a whole, the Punjab has in normal years two well-defined rainy seasons. The first or period of the north-east monsoon includes the 'Christmas rains, as they are called, which fall between the end of December and the end of February or the middle of Mareh. The second rainfall period is that of the south-west monsoon, from the end of June to the middle of September. The rainfall is naturally heaviest in the Himalayas. The highest average received is 126 inches at Dharmsala, and the average of the Himalayas is nowhere less than 36. In the plalns the rainfall decreases rapidly away from the hills. The submontane zone, which skirts the foot of the hills, and of which Rawalpindi and Sialkot may be taken as typical stations, has an annual fall of 30 to 40 inches. The eastern plalns from Delhi to Lahore belong to the West Gangetic plaln, and have a mean rainfall of about 24 inches, the valley of the Jumna having a higher rainfall than the rest. To the west and south-west lies the dry area, characterized by an extremely light and variable rainfall, and a heat and dryness in the kot season extreme even for the Punjab.

The ordinary south-west monsoon winds from the Sind and Kathiawar coasts encircle but do not blow into this area, which therefore gets very little rain from this source, though it occasionally receives heavy cyclonic downpours from storms that have travelled westward from the head of the Bay. Montgomery and Multan are typical stations of this tract.

The plalns, owing to their arid nature and remoteness from the sea, are subject to extreme vicissitudes of climate. In the winter the cold exceeds anything met with elsewhere in the plalns of India. In January and February the night temperature commonly falls below freezing- point, while by day the thermometer does not as a rule rise above 75; and for four months of the year nothing can be more perfect than the Punjab climate, with its bright sun and keen invigorating air. In summer, on the other hand, the fierce dry heat is surpassed only in Sind. In June the thermometer commonly reaches 115 to 121, while the night temperature averages from 79 to 83.

About the end of December the weather conditions ordinarily become disturbed ; rain falls in the plalns and snow on the hills. The rainfall of this season is almost exclusively due to cold-season storms or cyclones, which follow each other at varying intervals, averaging about ten days, from the end of December to about the middle of Mareh. Important features of these storms are the rapid changes of weather which accompany them. Their approach is preceded by the appearance of a bank of cirrus cloud, which gradually overspreads the whole sky. Under this canopy the heat rapidly increases, more par- ticularly at night, and temperatures from 5 to 15 higher than usual are registered. In the rear of the disturbance a rapid change takes place, accompanying the clearing of the skies and the change of wind. The thermometer falls with great rapidity, sharp frost on the ground is experienced, and air temperatures of 18 or 19 are occasionally recorded at the hill stations. This fall of temperature appears to be directly related to the snowfall on the hills, and is proportional to the amount of the snowfall and to the lowness of the elevation to which it descends. As the rainfall of this period accompanies the mareh of cyclonic storms from west to east across Northern India, it is ordinarily heaviest at the northern and Indus valley stations, and usually diminishes to a very small amount over the south and south- east.

The mean temperature in most parts increases from February to May at about the rate of 10 a month, and by the end of Mareh or beginning of April the kot season is in most years fairly established. From April till near the end of June there is, as a rule, no rain of im- portance, though occasional thunder- and hailstorms afford temporary relief from the great heat. A desiccating, scorching west wind blows during the greater part of this period, and the thermometer ranges from about 95 in the early morning to about 115 in the heat of the day. These westerly winds commence to drop towards the end of June, and for a few days calm, sweltering heat succeeds the scorching blasts of the kot winds. About the end of June south and east winds bring up heavy cumulus clouds, and in favourable years the monsoon rains are then ushered in with violent thunderstorms and heavy showers. The rainfall is generally very variable and irregular in its advance, and is ordinarily brought up by the approach to the south-east of the Province of a cyclonic storm from the Bay of Bengal.

This carries with it the moist south-east air-currents from the Bay, and at the same time induces an inrush of moist air from the north of the Arabian Sea across the Sind and Kathiawar coasts and eastern and central Raj pu tana into the South and East Punjab. The rainfall of the monsoon season is seldom steady or continuous, nor does it, as a rule, extend over the whole Province, as in the west and south the fall is both scanty and uncertain. For two or three days in succession heavy, fairly general rain may fall ; but this is succeeded by intervals of oppressively kot and sultry weather, when the rain ceases or only falls as scattered showers. These condi- tions continue with greater or less intensity till the second or third week of September, when, with not infrequently a second outburst of violent thunderstorms, the rains cease and fine weather commences.

Severe cyclonic storms are practically unknown in the Punjab. Hail- storms are fairly frequent, especially in Mareh and April, and often cause considerable damage to the crops.

Although the Province is traversed or bounded by seven large rivers, it is not to any serious extent subject to inundations from them, and it is only in the comparatively narrow riverain belts bordering the channels of the rivers that floods do serious harm. An exception to this gene- ralization is to be found in the extreme south-west, where parts of the Districts of Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh, and Multan, border- ing on the Chenab and Indus, are low enough to be subject to frequent inundations even during the passage of normal floods. Protection is afforded by the erection of dikes, but they are not always sufficiently strong to resist a heavy spate. Nearly all the high floods of which records exist have occurred in July or August, when the summer mon- soon is at its height. The earliest of these was in 1849, when the town and civil station of Shahpur were washed away by the Jhelum.

In 1856 and in 1878 the Indus rose very high, and on both occasions the towns of Muzaffargarh and Dera Ghazi Khan were flooded out and large portions of the Districts submerged. In 1892, 1893, and 1905 the Chen5b and the Jhelum were heavily flooded, and in the second of these years the Kohala suspension bridge on the Kashmir road was carried away. The great Indus flood of 1878 is said to have been in part the result of heavy landslips in the hills.

Throughout the period over which authentic records of Indian earthquakes extend, the Punjab has repeatedly suffered from the effects of seismic disturbances of greater or less intensity. This is due to the presence of important lines of weakness in the earth's crust, caused by the stresses involved in the folding of the Himalayas and resulting in the development of faults. The most important of these is that known as the ' Main boundary fault,' which runs through the Lower Himalayas from end to end of the Punjab. Along these lines readjustments of the equilibrium of the crust are constantly taking place, and when these readjustments are irregular or spasmodic the movement results in an earthquake. Such earthquakes as are due to this cause are naturally most severe in the neighbourhood of the fault. A striking exemplification is to be found in the Kangra earthquake of 1905. About 20,000 human beings perished in this catastrophe, which ranks as one of the most disastrous of modern times. The loss of life occurred principally in the Kangra valley, Dharmsala, Mandi, and Kulii, but the shock was perceptible to the unaided sense throughout an area of some 1,625,000 square miles. Although this most recent catastrophe dwarfs all earthquakes previously recorded in the Province, those of 1803, 1827, 1842, and 1865 were of considerable severity.

History

The Punjab was undoubtedly the seat of the earliest Aryan settle- ments in India, and the Rig- Veda was probably composed within its borders. In one of its finest hymns the Vipasa (Beas) and Sutudri (Sutlej) are invoked by the sage Visvamitra to allow the host of the Bharatas to cross them dryshod. And in the later Vedic period the centre of Aryan civilization lay farther to the south-east, between the Sutlej and the Jumna, in the still sacred land of KURUKSHETRA round Thanesar, the battle-field of the Mahabharata, while Indrapat near Delhi still preserves at least the name of Yudhishthira's capital, Indraprastha, For a brief period

after 500 B. c. part of the Punjab may have formed a Persian province, the Indian satrapy conquered by Darius, which stretched from Kala- bagh to the sea, and paid a tribute of fully a million sterling.

In invading the territories east of the Indus Alexander yielded to mere lust of conquest, for they no longer owed allegiance to the Persian empire. In 326 B.C. he crossed the river at Ohind or Und, invading thereby a dependency of Porus (Paurava), whose kingdom lay in the Chaj Doab. The capital of this dependency was Taxila (San- skrit, Takshasila), now the ruins of Shahdheri, but then a great and flourishing city, which lay three marehes from the Indus. Its governor, Omphis (Ambhi) or Taxiles, was in revolt against Porus, and received the Macedonians hospitably. Leaving Philippus as satrap at Taxila, Alexander, reinforced by 5,000 Indians under Taxiles, marehed to the Jhelum (Hydaspes), where he found Porus prepared to dispute his passage of the river, probably near Jhelum town. Alexander, however, turned his enemy's right flank by crossing higher up, and defeated him with great loss. Porus himself was captured, but soon adinitted to alliance with the Macedonians and granted the country between the upper reaches of the Jhelum and Chenab (Bhimbar and Rajauri). His nephew, also named Porus, ruler of Gandaris (possibly the modern Gondal Bar, between the Chenab and the Ravi), had already tendered his surrender; but the Macedonians crossed the Chenab and drove him across the Ravi. Here, in the modern District of Amritsar or Gurdaspur, Pimprama, the capital of the Adraistoi, surrendered to Alexander, and he then invested vSangala, the capital of the Kathaioi. Having taken it by assault he advanced to the Beas ; but his soldiers being reluctant to cross that river, he erected twelve massive altars on its bank to mark the eastern limits of his invasion, and re- turned to the Jhelum, making Porus governor of all the conquered country west of the Beas.

At his newly founded city of Bucephala (? Jhelum), Alexander now prepared a flotilla to sail clown the Jhelum and the Indus to the sea. Starting late in October, 326 B.C., the Macedonians marehed in two divisions, one on either side of the river, Alexander himself with some of the troops sailing in the fleet, which numbered nearly 2,000 vessels, great and small. At the capital of Sophytes (probably Bhera) he was joined by Philippus, and thence hastened to invade the territories of the Malloi and Oxydrakoi, two powerful tribes which held the country south of the confluence of the Jhelum with the Chenab. The strong- holds of the former soon fell, as did a Brahman city (? Atari or Shor- kot) ; but the capital of the Malloi offered a desperate resistance, and had to be carried by assault, in which Alexander himself was wounded. The Malloi and Oxydrakoi now submitted, and the satrapy of Philip- pus was extended to the confluence of the Chenab with the Indus, including the Xathroi and Ossadioi tribes. At the confluence of these rivers Alexander founded a city, possibly the modern Uch Sharif, and thence sailed on down the Indus to the capital of the Sogdoi, where he fortified another city, constructed dockyards, and repaired his ships. His voyage now lay through the kingdom of Mousicanus, correspond- ing to the modern Sind.

Alexander thus made no attempt to hold the Punjab east of the Jhelum. That country he designed to make a dependent kingdom under Porus, while Philippus governed the Sind-Sagar Doab as satrap. This arrangement, however, did not endure. In 324 Philippus was murdered by his mercenaries, and no successor was appointed, Euda- mus and Taxiles being ordered to carry on the adininistration. After Alexander's death Porus ousted Peithon from Sind, and in revenge Eudamus decoyed him into his power, and murdered him six years later. His execution was the signal for a national revolt against the Macedonian power. Eudamus withdrew with his Greek garrison, and Chandragupta (Sandrocottus), the Mauryan, made himself master of the Punjab and the lower Indus valley. Himself a native of the Punjab, Chandragupta organized the predatory tribes of the north- west frontier against the Greeks. His mastery of the Punjab enabled him to conquer Magadha ; and when, about sixteen years later, in 305 B.C., Seleucus Nicator, king of Syria, marehed into India to recover Alexander's Indian conquests, he was content to cede to Chandragupta even the territory west of the Indus, and to give him a daughter in marriage. Under his son Bindusara and his grandson Asoka, Buddhism became the state religion of the Punjab, as is shown by the pillar erected at Topra and by the Buddhist reMains at Sui VEHAK, in the Bahawalpur State, and in the Kangra valley. Under the Mauryan dynasty Taxila reMained the capital of the great vice- royalty, which extended from the Sutlej to the Hindu Kush, and probably included Sind. After Asoka's death Euthydemus, who had usurped the Graeco-Bactrian throne, extended the Greek power in India.

In 205 or 206 Antiochus III of Syria acknowledged his inde- pendence, and then crossed the Paropamisus into India and made a treaty with Sophagasenas (Subhagasena), returning to Syria in the following year. Ten years later, in 195 B.C., Demetrius, son of Euthy- demus, reduced the Punjab, rebuilt Sagala, which he renamed Euthy- demia, and extended his conquests so far that Justin calls him ‘ King of the Indians.' But while engaged in these conquests he lost Bactria, and his successors appear to have ruled only over the Wesstern Punjab and the Kabul valley ; but little is known about them until Menander raised the Graeco-Bactrian power to its zenith in India. According to Plutareh, Menander's territories extended to the Narbada and Indus delta. But this great kingdom was doomed, as we shall so often find

its successors were doomed, to fall before barbarian invasion from the west.

By 100 B.C. Maues or Moga, king of the Sakas, a tribe expelled from Sogdiana by the Yueh-chi, founded a kingdom in the North- West Punjab, with its capital at Taxila, which endured for about seventy years. This kingdom was overrun by Kozula Kadphises, the chief of the Kushan tribe of the Yueh-chi. He also destroyed the last Greek principality in India, and his son Wemo Kadphises (Hima- kapisa) had extended his sway all over North-Wesstern India by A.D. lo 1 . About A.D. 25, however, we find a Parthian satrapy established in Afghanistan and Northern India, with Gondophares, the Gundoferus of St. Thomas's mission, as its founder. The Parthian power was short-lived, for by A. D. 78 the Kushans had recovered their supre- macy in the person of Kanishka, under whom the so-called Scythian power reached its zenith. He was succeeded by Hushka (Huvishka) and Jushka (Vasudeva). Under the latter the Kushan dominions shrank to the Indus valley and Afghanistan ; and the dynasty was then supplanted by Ki-to-lo, chief of the Little Yueh-chi, and he in turn by the Ephthalites or White Huns about the middle of the fifth century. Under Toramana and his son Mihirakula these Huns held Northern India, Sagala being their capital. The latter is doubtless the great Mihirakula of the Rdjataranginl^ who lost his empire in Central India and gained the kingdom of Kashmir, retaining probably the Punjab until his fined overthrow at Karor in 544, after the Ephthalite power had endured for a century. Space precludes any detailed account of the religious history of the Punjab after Asoka made Buddhism its state religion ; but the coins of the Kushan kings bear effigies of Zoroastrian, Greek, and Hindu divinities, while Mihirakula's perse- cution of the Buddhists was terrible in its severity, a policy which probably contributed to his downfall. At all events, Buddhism was now on the decline.

In the latter half of the sixth century arose the great kingdom of THANKSAR. This, however, included only the Punjab east of the Jhelum river ; for in the middle of the seventh century Hiuen Tsiang, the Chinese pilgrim, found Taxila and Singhapura in the Salt Range dependent on Kashmir, while the Central Punjab from the Indus to the Beas formed the kingdom of Tseh-kia, whose capital lay near Sakala, and to which Multan was a subject principality. Early in the eighth century Thanesar ceased to exist as a great kingdom, and the Tomar dynasty of Kanauj established itself in the South-East Punjab, where it held Hansi and founded Delhi. After a century's dominion, the Tomars were supplanted by the Chauhans of Ajmer in 1151.

The Muhammadan conquerors of India invaded the Punjab by two 1 The date of the Kushanb is still in dispute.

distinct routes. As early as the year 38 of the Hijra the Khalifa Ah had appointed governors to the frontiers of Hind, and six years later, in A.D. 664, a Muhammadan general penetrated to Multan. This inroad, however, resulted in no permanent conquest ; and the first real invasion occurred in 712, when Muhammad bin Kasim, another of the Khalifa's generals, conquered Sind and took Multan, which then lay on the north bank of the Ravi, in the dominions of Dahir, ruler of Sind. He made Multan the base of further inroads, and garrisoned Bramhapur on the Jhelum, the modern Shorkot, Ajtahad, and Karor ; and afterwards, with 50,000 men, he marehed via Dipalpur to the foot of the Himalayas near Jhelum. But his ill-deserved execution pre- vented a farther advance ; and it was not till some years later that the whole province of Multan was reduced, and the part of the Punjab dependent on Kashmir subdued.

By 871 the power of 'the Khalifat was on the decline, and Multan became an independent and prosperous kingdom under an Arab dynasty. The rest of the Punjab was divided among Hindu kings, the Brahman dynasty of Ohind probably holding the Salt Range, while as early as 804 Jalandhara or Trigarta was an established kingdom.

More than a century elapsed before the Muhammadan advance was resumed, and Ghazni now becomes its base. In 979 Jaipal, king of Lahore, advanced on Ghazni to encounter Sabuktagln, its Amir, at Laghman, but effected a treaty and retired, only to be defeated there nine years later, in 988. Jaipal was then in alliance with the kings of Delhi, Ajmer, Katinjar, and Kanauj ; and his defeat was decisive, as he had to surrender four strongholds towards Ghazni. Sabuk- tagln occupied the country up to the Indus ; and Shaikh Hamid, the Afghan governor of Multan, also did homage to him. Sabuktagln was succeeded by the renowned Mahmud of Ghazni, who in 1001 com- menced a series of inroads into India. In the first, Jaipal was defeated near Peshawar, and, having burnt himself to death, was succeeded by his son Anand Pal. The latter allied himself with the governor of Multan, Abul Fateh Lodi, but was also defeated at Peshawar in 1006, whereupon Multan was reduced. In 1009 Anand Pal, who had formed a great coalition of Hindu rulers, including those of Ujjain and Gwalior, met with his second defeat near Peshawar, after which Mahmud sacked Nagarkot or Kangra. Nevertheless in 10 10 Mahmud had again to subdue Multan, where the Karmatian heretics had revolted, and deport its Lodi governor. In 1014 he reduced Nandana, a fastness in the Salt Range, driving Trilochan Pal, Anand Pal's son and successor, to seek an asylum in Kashmir ; and in the same year he plundered Thanesar. The subjugation of the greater part of the Punjab was hardly completed before 1021, when Trilochan Pal was defeated again and slaln. It was left, however, to Masiid, son

of Mahmud, to reduce Hansi, the old capital of Siwalik, in 1036. But the Ghaznivids were already destined to succumb to a stronger power, and as early as 1041 Masud was compelled by the Seljuk Turks to retreat into the Punjab. Nevertheless Ghazni reMained the centre of their authority ; and it was only as the Turkish power in Central Asia increased that they gradually withdrew into the Punjab, until their kingdom was virtually confined to that province.

Finally, in 1181, KhusrQ, who significantly bore only the title of Malik, not that of Shah, surrendered Lahore to the invader, usually called Shahab-ud-din, but more correctly Muizz-ud-din, Muhammad of Ghor. Muhammad was governor of Ghazni under his brother, the Sultan of Ghor, when in 1175-6 he took Multan from the Kar- matians and lald siege to Uch, which was betrayed by its queen. In 1179 ne captured Peshawar. Meanwhile the Kashmir ruler had invoked his aid against Khusru, who was endeavouring to consolidate his power in the Punjab, with the result already related. In 1191 Muhammad of Ghor made his first great expedition into the South- Rast Punjab. After conquering Sirhind, which he garrisoned, he advanced to meet PrithwT Raj of Ajmer, who, with his brother, the ruler of Delhi, and all the chiefs of Hind, encountered him at Talawari, near Thanesar. Muhammad was defeated and wounded. In the following year, however, he returned and, though too late to relieve Sirhind, overwhelmed Prithwi Raj, whom he captured, and whose brother, Rai Govind of Delhi, fell in the battle, which was fought on the scene of Muhammad's former defeat. By this victory Ajmer with all the Siwalik territory, including Hansi, fell into his hands ; and his slave and lieutenant Kutb-ud-din Aibak completed his work, taking Delhi in the following year (1193). The tribes of the Salt Range, however, made the communications between Ghazni and Lahore precarious ; and, though he suppressed them with ruthless severity, Muhammad was in 1206 assassinated by them on his way to Ghazni.

On Muhammad's death Kutb-ud-dTn established himself as an independent ruler at Lahore, another slave, Taj-ud-din, obtaining Ghazni. Taj-ud-din soon ousted Nasir-ud-din KubScha from Lahore, which he held for Kutb-ud-din, but the latter, advancing from Delhi, drove him back to Kirman in the Kurram valley, and for six weeks occupied Ghazni. On his death in 1210 his slave Shams-ud-din Altamsh was raised to the throne at Delhi, while Nasir-ud-din secured most of the Punjab. But Taj-ud-din, driven from Central Asia by the Khwarizmis, retreated into the Punjab, wrested Lahore from Nasir-ud- din, and attacked Altamsh, only to be defeated and taken prisoner at Talawari. Altamsh then seized Lahore, and thus became master of the Punjab, though Nasir-ud-din Maintained himself at Uch. Mean- while, the Khwarizmis themselves had had to yield to the invading

Mongol hordes, and in 1221 their Sultan Jalal-ud-din fled into the Punjab, pursued to the west bank of the Indus by Chingiz Khan. Escaping from his pursuer with a handful of followers, Jalal-ud-din defeated an army of Altamsh, but fearing to attack Lahore turned south towards Multan and Uch, overthrew Nasir-ud-din, and returned to summer in the Salt Range. These events led to the first Mongol invasion of the Punjab. Alarmed by Jalal-ud-din's successes, Chingiz Khan had dispatched against him a force which captured Nandana and invested Multan. In the following year (1223) another Mongol army compelled Jalal-ud-din to evacuate the Punjab, after burning Uch in his retreat.

Five years later Altamsh defeated Nasir-ud-din and annexed Multan and Uch, with Sind. His authority, thus extending over nearly the whole Punjab, was conpirmed in 1229 by a diploma of investiture from the Abbassid Khalifa of Baghdad. He failed, however, to extend his frontier beyond the Salt Range, and an unsuccessful expedition against the Mongols in that quarter was followed by his death in 1236. Under the influence of ' the Forty,' a corps of Turkish Mamluks which he had formed, his dynasty rapidly decayed. His daughter Razia, the only Muhammadan queen who ever ruled at Delhi (1236-40), had to face religious disaffection within the city, where a Karmatian rising was suppressed after much bloodshed. Her feudatories of Lahore, Hansi, and Multan also rebelled, though unsuccessfully ; but such was the weakness of the kingdom in 1241 that a Mongol army sacked Lahore. Uch, with Sind, became independent, and the Turkish Amirs deposed Razia's successor, Bahram Shah, a degenerate son of Altamsh, in the following year. The reign of the next king, Ala-ud-dfn Masud, was chiefly noteworthy for the rise of Balban, one of ' the Forty ' who in 1246 compelled the Mongols to raise the siege of Uch. For the next twenty years, Balban and his cousin, Sher Khan, feudatory of Lahore, kept the Mongols and Karlugh Turks at bay. Under Balban's stern rule the disaffection, which had brought rapine to the very gates of Delhi, was checked. More than once he had to ravage the Mewat, while the Mongols made good their footing in the Indus valley, and, aided by a disloyal vassal at Uch, placed an intendant at Multan. In 1266 Balban was placed on the throne of Delhi, and devoted his whole reign to organizing resistance to the Mongol encroachments. The power of ' the Forty ' was broken. Sher Khan died, not without suspicion of poison. Balban's son Nusrat-ud-din Muhammad, the patron of the poet Amir Khusru, bid fair to continue his father's work, but in 1285 fell in battle with the Mongols near Dipalpur, and earned his title of 'the Martyr Prince.'

Two years later Balban died, and was succeeded by the Khilji line of Sultans in 1290. Its founder, Firoz Shah II, had to contend with

religious disaffection, and in 1296 was assassinated by Ala-ud-din Muhammad Shah, his nephew and son-in-law, who usurped the throne. Ala-ud-din's ambition led him to attempt conquests in Southern India, while from 1296 to 1305 the Mongols overran the Punjab. In 1298, with 200,000 men, they penetrated to Delhi, but met with severe defeat under its walls. In 1303 they beleaguered the Sultan within the city, and, though compelled to retreat after a few months' siege, invaded Hindustan in the following year. Ala-ud-din now reorganized his forces, and rebuilt the frontier towns of Samana and Dlpalpur, but failed to protect Multan and the Siwaliks from the Mongol inroads. In 1 304, however, Ghazi Beg Tughlak, governor of the Punjab, routed their retreating forces and secured a respite from their inroads until Muhammad Shah's death in 1316. Four years of anarehy followed, but eventually Ghazi Beg seized Delhi and established the Tughlak dynasty. Like his Khilji predecessor, the founder was assassinated by his eldest son, Muhammad, who in 1325 caused a pavilion to fall on him, and ascended his throne. Muhammad bin Tughlak is the most striking figure in mediaeval Indian history. Though his father had built the great fortress of Ttighlakabad, now a cyclopean ruin, near Delhi, he endeavoured to transplant his capital to Dcogiri in the Deccan. While unable to withstand the Mongols, who in 1327 ravaged Multan and had to be paid a vast ransom to spare Delhi, he planned the conquest of China, Khorasan, and trans-Oxiana. A scholar, a poet, and a patron of letters, he was as a ruler ruthlessly severe. His economic measures included the introduction of a token currency, and led to frightful disorders and distress. In and around Delhi a terrible famine, caused by his exactions, raged for years ; but the Sultan took vigorous measures to restore prosperity, and organized a system of loans to the starving peasantry. He obtained a formal recognition from the Abbassid Khalifa of distant Egypt, though he ruled an independent kingdom as wide as that of Aurangzeb. Never- theless his power was built on sand. The Afghans, who now appear for the first time on the north-west frontier, overwhelmed Multan in 1343. Even the country round Sunam and Samana was in open revolt, and the Gakhars seized Lahore. Eventually Muhammad bin Tughlak died of fever in 1351 while on an expedition in Sind, leaving the kingdom to his cousin the noble Firoz Shah III. With this king's accession the modern history of the Punjab begins to take shape. He dug canals, notably that from the Jumna, and founded Hissar. Sirhind was colonized and became a separate government. Nagarkot (Kangra) was taken, and Sirmfir and the hills north of Ambala were subdued.

Flroz Shah reigned for thirty-seven years and was succeeded, after the usual interlude of anarehy, by Muhammad Shah III in 1390. Mewut, however, was in revolt and the Khokhars under Shaikha seized

Lahore. Prince Humayun was about to mareh against them, when his father's death recalled him to the throne, and the rebellion had to be put down by Sarang Khan, feudatory of Dipalpur, in a regular campaign in 1394. By 1395 the empire had fallen into chaos. Rival puppet Sultans waged war on one another from their opposing capitals at Delhi, while Sarang Khan attacked Multan on his own account. On this scene of disunion the Mongols reappeared in force. In 1397 Pir Muhammad lald siege to Uch, Sarang Khan's fief, defeating a relieving force, and also invested Multan, which surrendered in 1398, and thus paved the way for Timor's great inroad of that year. Crossing the Indus south of the Salt Range, Tlmur plundered Talamba in September, and advanced via Ajodhan to Bhatner. Thence his mareh lay through Fatehabad, Tohana, across the Ghaggar, through Kaithal and Panipat to Delhi, which he sacked on December 26. Crossing the Jumna he 'attacked Hardwar, and recrossing the river in January, 1399, defeated Ratn Sain (probably the Raja of Sirmiir) in the Kiarda Dan, advanced through the Siwaliks, took Nagarkot and Jammu, and encamped at Bannu early in Mareh. In this incredible mareh Tlmur massacred men, women, and children by tens of thousands, and reduced the country along his route to ruin. It is, however, a consolation to read that he killed some thousands of Jats near Tohana because they were given to robbing travellers. The only immediate result of his inroad was to reinstate Khizr Khan in possession of Multan, which Sarang Khan had wrested from him. On his departure the struggle for Delhi recommenced, with the added miseries of pestilence and famine. The Punjab fiefs reMained virtually independent, and indeed Delhi never regained her ascendancy until Babar founded the Mughal dynasty.

Eventually in 1414 Khizr Khan, who had been practically master, not only of Multcan, but of the whole Punjab since Timor's departure, took Delhi and founded the Saiyid dynasty, which owned a nominal allegiance to the Mongols. But the four Saiyid rulers were as weak as those whom they had supplanted. The Mongol governor of Kabul exercised a fitful control over the Punjab, which was in constant revolt under its Turk and Khokhar feudatories. Again, the necessity for a strong warden of the marehes compelled Muhammad Shah IV to entrust Dipalpur and Lahore to Bahlol, a LodI Afghan, in 1441 ', but Bahlol soon patched up a peace with the Khokhars, and in 1451 took Delhi and founded the first Afghan or Pathan dynasty. Multan had become an independent kingdom in 1443. Under the Lodis the Punjab enjoyed such peace as a country no longer worth plundering might enjoy. The period is remarkable for a popular religious revival, for it produced Nanak (1469-1538), the founder of Sikhism.

In 1526 Babar, a fugitive king of Samarkand, defeated Ibrahim, the

Lodi king of Delhi, at Panipat, and thus established the Indian empire of the Mughals. As usual, disunion and disaffection had led to the ruin of the Afghan domination. Daulat Khan, himself a Lodi, governor of the Punjab, sought the aid of Babar, then king of Kabul, against his kinsman, and enabled him to seize Lahore in 1524, when he estab- lished Ala-ud-din, Daulat Khan's uncle, as 'Sultan' at Dipalpur. Daulat Khan, now alarmed for his own safety, raised a force to oppose Babar, who had returned to recruit fresh troops in Kabul, but offered little resistance; and Babar, having seized his stronghold in the Siwaliks, inarehed down the Jaswan Dun, crossed the Sutlej, and overthrew Ibrahim at Panlpat in April, 1526. Babar spent the last years of his life in establishing his rule in India from the capital at Agra, and, on his death at the age of forty-eight, Humayun succeeded him in 1530. But Kamran, Babar's second son, promptly annexed the Punjab, and, though the Afghan power was still far from crushed, Humayun frittered away his power in a futile conquest of Gujarat. In 1540 Sher Shah drove him out of India, through the Punjab and into the desert country near Uch, whence he fled to Persia, Sher Shah held effective control of the Punjab, building Rohtas in Jhelum District to overawe the Gakhars of the Salt Range, who had long been vassals or allies of the Mughals. Aided by the Shah of Persia, Humayun expelled Kamran from Kabul in 1547, and eight years later he overthrew Sikandar Suri, who had seized the Punjab, defeating him at Sirhind in '555- Sikandar retreated to the Kangra hills, and Akbar was press- ing in pursuit of him when he received news of Humayun's death at Delhi in 1556.

With Akbar's accession a new era began. The Mughal empire was finally and firmly established, and the Punjab, after twenty years of incessant war, enjoyed comparative peace. Sikandar was indeed intrenched at Mankot, and Himu, a shopkeeper of Rewari, who had risen to be Wazir of the last of the Afghan emperors, seized Delhi and proclalmed himself ruler of India under the title of VikramajH. In 1556, however, Akbar routed him at Panlpat. Mankot surrendered after an eight months' siege, and only a difficult campaign was required to secure the north-west frontier in 1 586. With the rest of India, the Punjab benefited by Akbar's reforms and owes to him the foundations of its modern revenue system.

The accession of Jahangir in 1605 was followed almost immediately by the revolt of his son Khusru, who escaped from Agra and lald siege to Lahore. The rebellion was suppressed by the emperor in person, and the adherents of the defeated prince were punished with fearful severity. In 1611 Jahangir married Nur Jahan, who during the reMaining years of his reign dominated his policy and his fortunes. Her influence at first was for good ; but later she involved the emperor

in conflicts with his son, Khurram (Shah Jahan), and his famous general, Mahabat Khan, who in 1626 seized the emperor in his camp on the Jhelum. After making a spirited attempt to rescue him, the empress consented to share his brief captivity. Jahangir did not long survive his release. He died in 1627 at 13 him bar, and was buried at Shahdara near Lahore. His widow raised a splendid mausoleum over his reMains, and herself lived in retirement at Lahore for eigh- teen years after his death.

Shah Jahan was proclalmed at Agra early in 1628, but his younger brother, Shahryar, had already set up his standard at Lahore. He was speedily overthrown by the energy of Asaf Khan, the father-in-law of the emperor, and the ill-starred enterprise terminated with the execution of the pretender and his principal adherents. During the last five years of Jahangir 's reign, Lahore had been the capital of the empire ; but Shah Jahan determined to build for himself a new capital on the banks of the Jumna at Delhi. His reign was the most prosperous period of Mughal rule, a period of profound internal peace and immunity from foreign invasion ; but it was, none the less, marked by military activity beyond the frontiers. Kandahar was seized in 1631;, only to be lost again ten years later ; and the great expeditions of 1652, commanded by the princes Aurangzeb and Dara Shikoh, failed to recover it. The successes of the imperial army in Balkh and Badakhshan in 1644 were neutralized by the disastrous retreat conducted by Aurangzeb through the passes of the Hindu Kush, but the expedition against Baltistan in 1651 was crowned by the capture of SkHrdo. A dangerous illness which prostrated the emperor in 1657 was the signal for the outbreak of strife among his sons. After his defeat near Agra, Dara fled to the Punjab, trusting to his popularity with the people of the province to gain him adherents. In this he was not altogether disappointed ; but the restless activity of his brother compelled him to fly, and in the following year he was captured and put to death at Delhi.

The reign of Aurangzeb dates from June, 1658, though his fathci survived in confinement at Agra till 1666. It was one long struggle against the powers of the South. In the Punjab the profound peace which the province had known under Shah Jahan continued for half a century under his successor, broken only by the mareh of the imperial armies through the province in 1673-5 to cl ' llsn Lri c Afghan revolt, and by the insurrection of the Satnamis of Narnaul in 1676. The war with the Afghan tribes dragged on for two years, and was only brought to a close by a treacherous massacre at Peshawar. The insurrection of the Satnamis infected the Hindu population of Agra and Ajmer. Detachments of the imperial army were defeated, and the insurgents advanced on Delhi. A panic spread throughout the

army, and it was with difficulty that the soldiers could be brought to face the enemy. Confidence was restored by the personal exertions of the emperor, and a crushing defeat was inflicted on the insurgents. In the closing years of Aurangzeb's reign signs were already visible that the downfall of the empire was not far distant, and the century after his death in 1707 saw the rise of a new power in the Punjab.

This power was the Sikhs, originally a mere religious sect, founded by Baba Nanak, who was born near Lahore in the latter half of the fifteenth century, and who died at Dura Nanak, on the Ravi, in 1538. A full account of the sect will be found in Prinsep's History of the Punjab (2 vols., 1846) and Cunningham's History of the Sikhs (second edition, 1853), to which works the reader is referred for a complete or detailed narrative. Baba Nanak was a disciple of Kablr, and preached as a new religion a pure form of monotheism, eagerly accepted by the peasantry of his neighbourhood, He Maintained that devotion was due to God, but that forms were immaterial, and that Hindu and Muhammadan worships were the same in the sight of the Deity. His tenets were handed down by a succession of Gurus or spiritual leaders, under whom the new doctrine made steady but peaceful progress. Ram Das, the fourth Guru, obtained from Akbar a grant of land on the spot now occupied by the city of AMRITSAK, the metropolis of the Sikh faith. Here he dug a holy tank, and commenced the erection of a temple in its midst. His son and suc- cessor, Arjun Mal, completed the temple, and lived in great wealth and magnificence, besides widely increasing the numbers of his sect, and thus exciting the jealousy of the Mughal government. Becoming involved in a quarrel with the imperial governor of Lahore, Arjun was imprisoned in that city, where he died, his followers asserting that he had been cruelly put to death.

' This act of tyranny,' writes Elphinstone, ‘ changed the Sikhs from inoffensive quietists into fanatical warriors. They took up arms under Har Govind, the son of their martyred pontiff, who inspired them with his own spirit of revenge and of hatred to their oppressors. Being now open enemies of the government, the Sikhs were expelled from the neighbourhood of Lahore, which had hitherto been their seat, and were constrained to take refuge in the northern mountains. Notwithstanding dissensions which broke out among themselves, they continued their animosity to the Musalmans, and conpirmed their martial habits until the accession, in 1675, of Guru Govind, the grandson of Har Govind, and the tenth spiritual chief from Nanak. This leader first conceived the idea of forming the Sikhs into a religious and military common- wealth, and executed his design with the systematic spirit of a Grecian lawgiver,

But their numbers were inadequate to accomplish their plans of resistance and revenge. After a long struggle, Guru Govind saw his

strongholds taken, his mother and his children massacred, and his followers slaln, mutilated, or dispersed. He was himself murdered in 1708 by a private enemy at Nander in the Deccan. The severities of the Musalmans only exalted the fanaticism of the Sikhs, and inspired a spirit of vengeance, which soon broke out into fury. Under Guru Govind's principal disciple, Banda, who had been bred a religious ascetic, and who combined a most sanguinary disposition with bold and daring counsels, they broke from their retreat, and overran the east of the Punjab, committing unheard-of cruelties wherever they directed their steps. The mosques were destroyed and the Mullas killed; but the rage of the Sikhs was not restrained by any con- siderations of religion, or by any mercy for age or sex. Whole towns were massacred with wanton barbarity, and even the bodies of the dead were dug up and thrown out to the birds and beasts of prey. The principal scene of these atrocities was Sirhind, which the Sikhs occupied, after defeating the governor in a pitched battle ; but the same horrors marked their route through the country eastward of the Sutlej and Jumna, into which they penetrated as far as Saharanpur. They at length received a check from the local authorities, and retired to the country on the upper course of the Sutlej, between Ludhiana and the mountains. This seems at that time to have been their principal seat ; and it was well suited to their condition, as they had a near and easy retreat when forced to leave the open country. Their retire- ment on the present occasion was of no long continuance ; and in their next incursions they ravaged the country as far as the neighbour- hood of Lahore on the one side and of Delhi itself on the other.

The emperor, Bahadur Shah, was compelled to return from the Deccan in order to proceed against the Sikhs in person. He shut them up in their hill fort at Daber, which he captured after a desperate siege ; the leader Banda and a few of his principal followers succeeded by a desperate sally in effecting their escape to the mountains. The death of Bahadur Shah in 1712 probably prevented the extermination of the sect. During the dissensions and confusion which followed that event the Sikhs were allowed to recruit their strength, and they again issued from their mountain fastnesses and ravaged the country. In 1716, however, Aidus Samad Khan, governor of Kashmir, was dis- patched against them at the head of a large army by the emperor Farrukh Siyar. He completely defeated the Sikhs in several actions, took Banda prisoner, and sent him to Delhi, where he was barbarously put to death along with several other of the Sikh chieftains. An active persecution ensued, and for some time afterwards history narrates little of the new sectaries.

In 1738 Nadir Shah's invading host swept over the Punjab like a flooded river, defeated the Mughal army at Karnal in 1739,

sacked the imperial city of Delhi. Though Nadir retired from India in a few months with his plunder, he had given the death-blow to the weak and divided empire. The Sikhs once more gathered fresh courage to rebel ; and though again defeated and massacred in large numbers, the religion gathered new strength from the blood of the martyrs. The next great disaster of the Sikhs was in 1762, when Ahmad Shah Durrani, the Afghan conqueror of the Marathas at Pani- pat in the preceding year, routed their forces completely, and pur- sued them across the Sutlej. On his homeward mareh he destroyed the town of Amritsar, blew up the temple, filled the sacred tank with mud, and defiled the holy place by the slaughter of cows. But, true to their faith, the Sikhs rose once more as their conquerors withdrew, and they now initiated a final struggle which resulted in the secure establishment of their independence.

By this time the religion had come to present very different features from those of Baba Nanak's peaceful thexracy. It had grown into a loose military organization, divided among several mists or con- federacies, with a common meeting-place at the holy city of Amrit- sar. The Mughals had nominally ceded the Punjab to Ahmad Shah ; but the Durrani kings never really extended their rule to the eastern portion, where the Sikhs established their authority not long after 1763. The Afghan revolution in 1809 facilitated the rise of Ranjit Singh, a Sikh adventurer, who had obtained a grant of Lahore from Zaman Shah, the Durrani ruler of Kabul, in 1799. Gradually this able chieftain spread his power over the greater part of the Punjab, and even in 1808 attacked the small Sikh principalities on the east or left bank of the Sutlej. (See Cis-SuTLEj STATES.) These sought the pro- tection of the British, now masters of the North- Wesstern Provinces with a protectorate over the Mughal emperor at Delhi ; and an agreement was effected in 1809 by which Ranjit Singh engaged to preserve friend- ship with the British Government, and not to encroach on the left bank of the Sutlej, on condition of his sovereignty being recognized over all his conquests north of that river, a treaty which he scrupulously respected till the close of his life. In 1818 Ranjit Singh stormed Multan, and extended his dominions to the extreme south of the Punjab ; and in the same year he crossed the Indus, and conquered Peshawar, to which shortly after he added the Derajat, as well as Kash- mir. He had thus succeeded during his own lifetime in building up a splendid power, embracing almost the whole of the present Province, together with the Native State of Kashmir.

On his death in 1839, his son Kharak Singh succeeded to the throne of Lahore, but died, not without suspicion of poison, in the following year. A state of anarehy ensued, during which the Sikhs committed depredations on British territory, resulting in what is known as the first

Sikh War. The Sikh leaders having resolved on war, their army, 60,000 strong, with 150 guns, advanced towards the British frontier, and crossed the Sutlej in December, 1845. The details of the campaign are sufficiently known. On December 18 the first action was fought at Mudki, in which the Sikhs attacked the troops in position, but were defeated with heavy loss. Three days afterwards followed the toughly contested battle of Ferozeshah ; on January 22, 1846, the Sikhs were again defeated at Allwal ; and finally, on February ro, the campaign was ended by the capture of the Sikh entrenched position at Sobraon. The British army marehed unopposed to Lahore, which was occupied on February 22, and terms of peace were dictated. These were, briefly, the cession in full sovereignty to the British Government of the territory lying between the Sutlej and the Beas rivers, and a war indemnity of 1 1/2- millions sterling. As the Lahore Darbar was unable to pay the whole of this sum, or even to give satisfactory security for the payment of one million, the cession was arranged of all the hill country between the Beas and the Indus, including Kashmir and Hazara ; arrangements were made for the payment of the reMaining half-million of war indem- nity, for the disbandinent of the Lahore army, and its reoiganization on a reduced scale. The other terms included the cession of tin* control of both banks of the Sutlej ; the recognition of the independent sovereignty of Maharaja Gulab Singh of Jammu ; a free passage through Sikh territory for British troops ; and the establishment of a British Resident at Lahore. In addition, at the request of the Lahore Govern- ment, it was settled that a British force should reMain at Lahore for a time to assist in the reconstitution of a satisfactory adininistration. Simultaneously, a treaty was executed with Maharaja Gulab Singh by which the English made over to him in sovereignty the Kashmir territory ceded by the Lahore government, in consideration of a pay- ment of three-quarters of a million sterling. Shortly afterwards diffi- culties arose regarding the transfer of Kashmir, which the Sikh governor, instigated by Lal Singh, the chief of the Lahore Darbar, resisted by force of arms. Lal Singh was deposed and exiled to British India ; and in December, 1846, a fresh treaty was concluded, by which the affairs of the State were to be carried on by a Council of Regency, under the direction and control of the British Resident, during the minority of the young Maharaja Dalip Singh.

For a time the work of reorganizing the shattered government of the country proceeded quietly and with every prospect of success. But besides many minor causes of discontent among the people, such as the withdrawal of the prohibition against the killing of kine, and the restored liberty of the much-hated and formerly persecuted Muham- madans, the villages were filled with the disbanded soldiery of the old Sikh army, who were only waiting for a signal and a leader to rise and

strike another blow for the power they had lost. At length, in April,

1848, the rebellion of the ex-Diwan Mulraj at Multein, and the murder of two British officers in that city, roused a general revolt throughout the Punjab. Multan city was invested by hastily raised frontier levies, assisted afterwards by British troops under General Whish ; the siege, however, had to be temporarily raised in September, owing to the rapid spread of disaffection among the Sikh troops. The two rebellious Sar- dars, Chattar Singh and Sher Singh, invoked the aid of the Amir of Kabul, Dost Muhammad, who responded by seizing Peshawar, and sending an Afghan contingent to assist the Sikhs. In October, 1848, the British army, under Lord Gough, assumed the offensive, and crossed the Sutlej. Proceeding from Ferozepore across the Punjab at an angle to the Sikh line of mareh, it came up with Sher Singh at Ramnagar, and there inflicted on him a severe check. The Sikh army, consisting of 30,000 men and 60 guns, made a stand at Chilianwala, where an indecisive and sanguinary battle was fought on January 13,

1849. Two or three days after the action, Sher Singh was joined by his father Chattar Singh, bringing with him Sikh reinforcements, and 1,000 Afghan horse. Lord Gough awaited the arrival of the column under General Whish (set free by the fall of Multan on January 28), and then followed up the Sikhs from Chilianwala to Gujrat, where the last and decisive battle was fought on February 22, the Sikhs being totally defeated with the loss of 60 guns. The Afghan garrison of Peshawar were chased back to their hills, the Amir Dost Muhammad himself narrowly escaping capture. The remnants of the Sikh army and the rebel Sardars surrendered at Rawalpindi on Mareh 14, and henceforth the entire Punjab became a Province of British India. The formal annexation was proclalmed at Lahore on Mareh 29, 1849, on which day terms were offered to, and accepted by, the young Maha- raja Dalfp Singh, who received an annuity of 50,000 a year and resigned for himself, his heirs, and his successors, all right, title, and clalm to the sovereignty of the Punjab, or to any sovereign power whatever. He resided till his death in England, where he purchased estates, married, and settled down as an English nobleman.

The Punjab, after being annexed in 1849, was governed by a Board of Adininistration. It was subsequently made a Chief Commissioner- ship, the first Chief Commissioner being Sir John Lawrence, who afterwards became the first Lieutenant-Governor.

At the outbreak of the Mutiny in 1857 there were in the Punjab the following troops: Hindustanis, 35,000; Punjabi Irregulars, 13,000; Europeans, 10,000 ; there were also 9,000 military police. The Euro- peans consisted of twelve regiments, of whom no less than seven were either at Peshawar or in the hills north of Ambala, leaving only five regiments to hold the country from the Indus to the Sutlej. The news

of the massacre at Delhi reached Lahore on May 12. There had not been wanting premonitory signs that the Hindustani sepoys were dis- affected and likely to rise ; and, accordingly, on May 13, 3,000 native troops were successfully disarmed at Mian Mir. At the same time European troops were thrown into the forts of Govindgarh and Phil- laur, the first important as commanding Amritsar, the second as con- taining a large arsenal which subsequently supplied the munitions of war for the siege of Delhi. On May 14 the arsenal at Fcrozepore was secured ; the sepoys here mutinied on the following day, and escaped without punishment. On the 2rst of the same month the 55th Native Infantry rose at Mardan and fled to independent territory ; many were killed in pursuit, and the reMainder were captured by the hillmen. On June 7 and 8 the native troops at Jullundur broke and escaped to Delhi. In the first week of July the sepoys at Jhelum and Sialkot mutinied ; they were destroyed, as were the 26th Native Infantry, who mutinied at Peshawar on August 28.

Simultaneous with the vigorous suppression of open mutiny, 13,000 sepoys were disarmed without resistance during June and July. While the Hindustani troops were thus disposed of, the dispatch of rein- forcements to Delhi, an object of paramount importance, proceeded without a break. About May 17 it had become apparent that the Punjab did not sympathize with the movement in Hindustan, and that a good spirit prevailed in the Punjabi troops. It was therefore safe to augment them ; and eighteen new regiments were raised in the Province during the later months of the year. As these forces were being enrolled to supply the place of those who marehed down to Delhi, the stream of reinforcements was steadily Maintained. Four regiments from the European garrison of the Punjab formed the greater portion of the force that first marehed upon Delhi. Next followed two wings of European regiments of infantry. Then a con- siderable force of native troops was dispatched, including the Guides, two regiments of Punjab cavalry, a body of Punjab horse, two regi- ments of Punjab infantry, and a body of 1,200 pioneers raised from the Mazbi Sikhs; 7,000 men, forming the contingent of the Cis-Sutlej chiefs of Patiala, Jind, and Nabha, accompanied the regular troops to the siege. An irregular force of 1,000 men was also detached to clear the wesstern part of the Delhi territory. Wagon trains were organized from Multan and Ferozepore via Ambala to Delhi. Siege trains, treasure, stores, and transport animals were poured down from the Punjab for the besieging force. Finally, in August, one last effort had to be made to send reinforcements, in spite of the risk run in denuding the Province of Europeans and loyal troops. The need for aiding the force at Delhi was, however, imperative ; it was therefore resolved to send Brigadier-General Nicholson with the movable

column and every European who could he spared. Two half- regiments of European infantry, the 52nd Foot, and three regiments of Punjab infantry were dispatched. These were followed by a siege train from Ferozepore, a wing of the ist Baloch Regiment from Sind, and a contingent 2,000 strong from the Maharaja of 'Kashmir. There then reMained only 4,500 Europeans (including sick) to hold the Punjab.

The crisis had now come. If Delhi were taken speedily, all was well ; if otherwise, there would be a struggle for European dominion and existence in the Punjab itself. The next few weeks after the departure of Nicholson's column were weeks of anxious suspense, in which all eyes were turned to Delhi. Symptoms of the wavering faith of the people in the British power appeared in local outbreaks at Murree in the north, and in the wild and barren tracts south of Lahore, between the Ravi and Sutlej. Both were, however, soon suppressed, and the fall of Delhi on September 14 put an end to all further cause for apprehension. The first sign that the mass of the inhabitants had regained confidence was that the Sikhs of the Manjha, or the tract between the Ravi and the Sutlej rivers, who had hitherto held aloof, came forward for enlistment in the new levies.

The loyal action of the chiefs had an important bearing on keeping the population steady during the crisis. The Raja of Jind was actually the first man, European or native, who took the field against the muti- neers ; and his contingent collected supplies in advance for the British troops marehing upon Delhi, besides rendering excellent service during the siege. The Rajas of Patiala and Nabha also sent contingents for field service ; and with the exception of the Nawab of Bahawalpur, who did not stir, every chief in the Punjab, so far as he could, aided the English in preserving order and in suppressing rebellion. Rewards in the shape of grants of territory were made to the chiefs of Patiala, Jind, and Nabha, and a large talukdari estate in Oudh was conferred upon the Raja of Kapurthala.

Since the Mutiny, the Punjab has made rapid progress in com- mercial and industrial wealth. In 1858 the Delhi territory lying on the right bank of the Jumna, together with the confiscated territory which had formerly belonged to the Nawabs of Jhajjar and Bahadur- garh, was transferred from the North-Wesstern Provinces to the Punjab. The territory thus transferred included the present Districts of Delhi, Rohtak, and Ourgaon, almost the whole of Hissar, and portions of Karnal and Ferozepore. The year after the suppression of the rebel- lion is remarkable for the commencement of the first line of railway in the Punjab, from Amritsar to Multan (February, 1859), and for the adinission of water into the Bari Doab ("anal. With the exception of punitive military expeditions against marauding hill tribes, the history of the Province has been one of uninterrupted progress.

Canals have spread irrigation over its thirsty fields ; railways have opened new means of communication for its surplus produce; and British superintendence, together with the security afforded by a firm rule, has developed its resources with astonishing rapidity. In October, 1901, the North-West Frontier Province was formed. It comprises all the territories formerly adininistered or controlled by the Lieutenant- Governor of the Punjab which lie to the west of the Indus, except the trans-Indus portion of the Isa Khel tahsil of Mianwali District, the District of Dera Ghazi Khan, and the territory occupied by the pro- tected tribes on its wesstern border and known as the Baloch Trans- frontier. It also includes the District of Hazara, east of the Indus.

Though the Punjab was the earliest seat of Vedic civilization, arehaeology has hitherto failed to discover any monuments or traces of the epic period. Not a single relic of the Macedonian invasion has been brought to light, and', as in the rest of India, the oldest arehaeo- logical monuments in the Punjab are the Asoka inscriptions. Of these, two were inscribed on pillars which now stand at Delhi, where they were re-erected by Flroz Shah in about 1362, one having been origin- ally erected at Topra at the foot of the Siwalik Hills in the Ambala District of this Province, and the other near Meerut in the United Provinces. Both the inscriptions are in the ancient Brahml script, which is found in all the Asoka inscriptions excepting those at Shah- bazgarhi and MANSEHRA in the North-West Frontier Province, The vast ruins of Takshasila (Taxila), now known as Shahdheri, in Rawal- pindi District, reMain to show the extent of the capital of the great Mauryan province which comprised the modern Punjab and the North- West Frontier Province. South-east of Takshasila is the tope of Manik- yala, identified by General Sir Alexander Cunningham as one of the four great stiipas mentioned by the Chinese -pilgrim Fa Hian. It is the largest stupa in Northern India, and is believed to have been built to commemorate the sacrifice of the Bodhisattva, who gave his body to feed a starving tigress. Near this great stupa is a smaller one, which contained a slab with a Kharoshthi inscription recording its erection during the reign of Kanishka early in the Christian era.

In Kangra District a few reMains testify to the prevalence of Buddhism in the Himalayan valleys of the north-east Punjab. Close to PATHYAR, 6 miles south-east of Kanhiara (? Krishna-vihara), a votive inscription of a primitive type in both Brahml and Kharoshthi has been found ; and at KANHIARA itself an inscription, also in both characters, records the foundation of a monastery, and indicates the existence of Buddhism in that locality during the second century A.D. A much later inscription at CHARI contained the formula of the Buddhist faith. The existence of Buddhism in the south-west of the Punjab is demonstrated by the ruined stupa and inscription at

Sui VEHAR in the modern State of Bahawalpur, and by a similar ruin at Naushahra, too miles south-west of Sui Vehar.

The Punjab can show but few Hindu antiquities. To some extent this is due to the destructive action of the great rivers on whose banks the ancient cities lay, but the iconoclasm of the Moslem invaders was even more destructive. Thus the Arabic inscriptions on the Jama Masjid or Kuwwat-ul-Islam at Delhi record that material for the building was obtained by demolishing twenty-seven idol-houses of the Hindus, and their profusely carved but partially defaced pillars are still to be seen in its colonnades. But the early Muhammadans often preserved the ancient Hindu monuments which were free from the taint of idolatry, for in this very mosque stands the iron pillar erected by Raja Chandra, probably Chandra Gupta II, an early king of the Gupta dynasty (A.D. 375-413). The Inner Himalayas, however, mostly escaped the Muhammadan inroads, and some ancient Hindu shrines have survived ; but owing to the style of construction prevalent in the hills, in which wood enters largely, the reMains are few and not of very great antiquity. Stone temples exist at BAIJNATH, where there is an inscription of 1239, and at NURPUR. Those in the KANORA fort were destroyed by the earthquake of April, 1905. In Kulu the stone lingam temple at Bajaura contains some sculptures of great age, and the temple of Parasu Rama at NIRMAND on the Sutlej possesses a copper- plate of Raja Samudra Sena of unknown date. The temple of Hidimba Devi at Manali, which bears an inscription cut among profuse wood- carving, recording its erection in the sixteenth century, and that at NAOAR have conical wooden roofs presenting a type peculiar to the hills. All these places lie in Kangra District, In the Chamba State the Devi temples at BARMAUR and CHITRADI date from the eighth century A.D. They are of a different style from the two Kulu temples last mentioned, and their wood-carving is superior to that found at Manali. The temple at Triloknath in the Mandl State contains a Sarada inscription. The temples at MAT.OT and Kathwar in the Salt Range are built in the Kashmir style.

The Muhammadan period inaugurated a new arehitectural era, nowhere in India better exemplified than in the Punjab. The early Pathan period (1193-1320) is represented by the Kuwwat-ul-Islam, the Kutb Minar, the tomb of Altamsh, the gateway of Ala-ud-din, and the Jamaat-khana mosque at Delhi. Another noteworthy monument is the tomb of Altamsh's eldest son at Malikpur. The Tughlak or middle Pathan period (1320-1414) is represented by the vast ruins of Tughlakabad and of Firozabad near Delhi, with the Kalan mosque and other monuments in and around that city. The later Pathan period (1414-1556) produced the Moth-kl-masjid near Mubarakpur with its glazed tile decoration, and the impressive Kila-i-Kohna mosque

of Sher Shah at Indrapat, with other monuments round Delhi. The Mughals revived the splendours of Muhammadan arehitecture. At Delhi Akbar built the tomb of Humayun and the tomb of Azam Khan, which dates from 1566, in which year Adham Khan's tomb at Mihrauli was also erected. Jahangir's reign saw the construction of the Nlla Burj (in 1624) and the mausoleum of the Khan-i-Khanan. He also built the first of the three Moti Masjids or ‘pearl mosques ' in the Punjab at Lahore in 1617-8. Shah Jahan founded the modern city of Delhi and called it Shahjahanabad. In it he erected the Red Fort, in which were built the Diwan-i-am and the matchless Diwan-i- khas. Opposite the Red Fort rose the imposing Jama Masjid, and in the midst of the city the smaller Fatehpuri and Sirhindi mosques. Wazir Khan, Shah Jahan's minister, built the mosque still known by his name in LAHORE, and his engineer All Mardan made the Shalimar garden near that city. The zealot Aurarigzeb added little to the arehitectural monuments of his predecessors, but his reign produced the great Badshahi mosque at Lahore and the beautiful Moti Masjid in the Red Fort at Delhi. His daughter built the Zinat-ul-masajid or 'ornament of mosques' at Delhi. After Aurangzeb's death ensued a period of decay, which produced the Moti Masjid at Mihrauli, the Fakhr-ul-masajid, and the tomb of Safdar Jang at Delhi. A feature of this period is the mosque with gilded domes, hence called ' Sunahri,' of which type one was built at Lahore and three at Delhi.

The south-west of fhe Punjab has developed an arehitectural style of its own, distinguished by a blue and white tile decoration, quite distinct from the kashi tile-work of Lahore and Delhi. This style is exemplified by the tomb of the saint Rukn-ud-din at MULTAN, and that of the Nahar ruler, Tahir Khan, at SITPUH. The tomb of the famous saint Baha-ul-Hakk, the grandfather of Rukn-ud-din, dates from the thirteenth century ; but it was injured at the siege of Multan in 1848, and has been entirely renewed. Lastly may be mentioned the Jahazi Mahal with its remarkable frescoes at SHUJAHAU, built by Muzaifar Khan in 1808.

population

The total population of the Punjab in 1901 was 24,754,737, including the Baloch tribes on the border of Dera Ghazi Khan District. The

density of the population was 185 persons per square

mile, as compared with 174 in 1891 and 158 in 1881.

In British territory alone it is 209, compared with 121 in the Native States. The density is greatest in the natural division called the Indo- Gangetic Plaln West, where it rises to 314 persons per square mile, and in the Districts of Jullundur and Amritsar in this area to 641 and 639 respectively. The sub-Himalayan tracts, with 300 persons per square mile, are nearly as densely populated, Sialkot rising to 544 and thus ranking as the third most densely populated District in the

Province. In marked contrast to these two areas are the north-west dry area with 96, and the Himalayan with 77 persons per square mile. In the latter, Chamba State, with only 40 persons per square mile, is the most sparsely inhabited tract in the Province.

The Punjab contained, in 1901, three cities DELHI, LAHORE, and AMRITSAR with more than 100,000 inhabitants, 53 towns with more than 10,000, and 99 with more than 5,000. The principal towns are: RAWALPINDI (population, 87,688), MULTAN (87,394), AMBALA (78,638),

JULLUNDUR (67,735), SlALKOT (57,956 ) and PATIALA (53,545)' A11 of

these include large cantonments. Villages numbered 43,660, of which 14,127 contained 500 inhabitants or more. In the Punjab plalns the village is as a rule a compact group of dwellings ; but in the south- west and the hill tracts it comprises a number of scattered settle- ments or hamlets, grouped together under the charge of a single headinan for fiscal and adininistrative convenience.

During the ten years ending 1891 the total population of the Punjab rose from 21,136,177 to 23,272,623, an increase of 10.1 per cent. In the next decade the rate of increase was not so rapid, owing partly to the famines of that period, and partly to emigration to other Provinces in India and beyond the seas. During the twenty years since 1881 the population has risen by 17 per cent. The enumerations of 1854 and 1868 were not extended to the Native States, and even in British Districts were imperfect. Since 1854, however, the increase of the population in British territory may be safely estimated to exceed 45 per cent. Migration plays an important part in the movement of the population. The Punjabi is free from that disinclination to emigrate which is so strongly felt in other parts of India ; and Uganda, Hong- Kong, the Straits Settlements, Borneo, and other countries attract large numbers for military and other service. More than 25,000 Punjabis are believed to have been resident in Uganda in 1901 ; and though no precise estimate of the total number of emigrants out of India can be made, it must have largely exceeded the number of immi- grants. According to the Census the emigrants to the rest of India numbered more than 500,000, exceeding the immigrants by over 200,000. Immigration is Mainly from the contiguous United Provinces and Rajputana, but Kashmir also supplies a large number. Emigration is Mainly to the same territories, but service in the army and military police takes more than 20,000 persons to Burma and many to other distant places. Within the Province the foundation of the CHEN AH COLONY has led to an extensive movement of the population from the congested submontane Districts to the virgin soil of the new colony.

In 1891 the mean age of the population was 22.8 years for males and 22.4 years for females. Ten years later the figures were 25 and 24.9, excluding the North-West Frontier Province. Judged by

European standards, this mean is low; but it is higher than that of any other Province in India, and, allowing for the general inaccuracy of the age-return, indicates a longevity above the Indian average. It is held luckier to understate rather than overstate one's age in the Punjab ; and the number of children in proportion to adults is high, as the following table, which gives the distribution over five Main age-periods of every 20,000 of the population, shows :

The discrepancies in this return are due to the fact that in 1891 the current year of age was returned, whereas in 1901 the completed year was recorded, as it was in 1881 ; and comparisons with the figures of that year show that the mean age of males was the same in 1901 as in 1881, while that of females had only risen by a tenth of a year, The figures, however, are affected by migration and various other factors, so that no conclusions of value ran be drawn from them. Famine, causing a diminution in the number of children, had in 1901 appreciably affected the figures in the Districts of Ilissar, Rohtak, and Jhelum.

In rural areas the village watchman is entrusted, under the super- vision of the village headinan and the higher revenue officials, with the duty of registering births and deaths. Though almost invariably illiterate, this agency is so closely supervised in British Districts that the registration is, in the mass, exceedingly accurate, and its results are in close agreement with the census returns. In municipalities and cantonments registration is in the hands of the local authorities and is often defective. The system of compilation is anomalous. The cantonment returns are excluded from those of the Province altogether, as are those of such Native States as register births and deaths. Municipal returns go direct to the Civil Surgeon, but those from rural areas are compiled by the Superintendent of police, and forwarded by him to the Civil Surgeon, who sends both the municipal and rural returns to the Sanitary Commissioner. In each Division the inspector of vaccination is also charged with the duty of inspecting the birth and death registers, and his supervision has greatly improved the accuracy of the returns. The following table shows the principal vital statistics for the Province :

In the first three quinquennia of the period from 1881 to 1901 the birth-rate averaged a little over 39 per 1,000, but in the last quin- quennium it rose to 43, pointing to better registration. The fewest births occur in May, after which the rate rises gradually till July and is high in August and September, reaching its zenith in October. It then falls gradually until it drops suddenly in Mareh. The mean death-rate for the five years ending 1900 was 33.7 per 1,000 ; but it rose in 1901 to 36, in 1902 to 44, and in 1903 to 49 per 1,000, plague alone accounting for 10-22 per 1,000, or more than a fifth of the deaths in the last year. The unhealthy season in the Punjab is the autumn, and the deaths in October corresponded to an average annual rate of 51 per 1,000 in the ten years 1891-1900. Mareh and April are by far the healthiest months. The number of deaths from fever fluc- tuates greatly from year to year, according as the autumnal months are unhealthy or the reverse. The deaths from cholera, small-pox, and bowel complalnts are relatively very few. Under the last head only deaths from dysentery and diarrhoea have been registered since 1901.

In so far as specific infirmities are concerned, the figures of the latest Census showed a marked improvement on those of 1881 only 421 persons in every 100,000 of the population being returned as infirm, compared with 743 in the latter year. Lepers now number only 19 in every 100,000 as compared with 26 in 1891 and 45 in 1881 ; and the blind 305, compared with 349 in 1891 and 528 in 1 88 1. Insanity shows an apparent increase to 35 per 100,000 in 1901 from 29 in 1891 ; but this infirmity is often confused with deaf-mutism, which shows a marked decrease to 80 per 100,000 in 1901 from 97 in 1891.

The disease returned in the Punjab as most fatal to life is fever. In this malady the people vaguely include most disorders accompanied by abnormally high temperature; but making all due allowances for this fact, malarial fever is unquestionably the most fatal disease throughout the Province. The death-rate fluctuates greatly. In 1892 the rate was 34*8 per 1,000, and 33*4 in 1900 ; but in 1899 it was only 18.6. In the two former years heavy monsoon rains caused extensive

floods and an unhealthy autumn. Malarial fever is most prevalent in the riverain valleys. This is especially marked in the tract west of the Jumna, which is naturally waterlogged, and where the faulty alignment of the old Wesstern Jumna Canal used to obstruct the natural drainage lines. Much has been done by realigning the canal and constructing drainage channels to remedy this evil, but the tract reMains the most unhealthy in the Province.

Cholera is hardly endemic, though a year seldom passes without an outbreak, and occasionally a local epidemic. Epidemic cholera caused 65,000 deaths in 1892 and 25,000 in 1900. Small-pox is endemic, but owing to the wide extension of vaccination it is not very fatal to life, the mortality during the ten years ending 1903 never having exceeded 3 per 1,000. Vaccination is compulsory only in twenty-three of the more advanced towns, and small-pox is most fatal in towns where it is not enforced.

The first outbreak of plague occurred in October, 1897, in a village of Jullundur District, but infection had probably been imported from Hardwar in the previous May. For three years the disease was almost entirely confined to the adjacent parts of Jullundur and Hoshiarpur Districts, but in November, 1900, it broke out in Gurdaspur and soon spread to the neighbouring District of Sialkot. In 1901 outbreaks occurred in several Districts ; since then the disease has spread widely, and the Province has never been completely free from it. The number of deaths was comparatively small till 1901, when 20,998 were recorded. In the following year mortality increased more than tenfold, and the epidemic still continues. The deaths from plague in 1905 numbered 390,233, or 15-8 per 1,000 of the population. The usual measures have been adopted for dealing with outbreaks of plague and with the object of preventing its spread, including the isolation of plague patients and the segregation of persons who had been exposed to infection, the evacuation of infected houses and villages, and the disinfection of houses and effects. Medical treatment and anti-plague inoculation have always been freely offered; but the people have usually preferred native medicines, and the attempts which have been made to eradicate or diminish plague by means of inoculation have not proved successful. Until May, 1901, most of the precautions, with the exception of medical treatment and inoculation, were com- pulsory ; but since then compulsion has been gradually abandoned, and is now chiefly restricted to the reporting of plague occurrences, and the inspection or detention of persons travelling either by road or railway to certain hill stations.

Judged by English standards infant mortality is extremely high, especially in the case of girls. This will be clear from the following table :

The births registered show a marked excess of male births, 111 boys being born to every roo girls. This initial deficiency in the number of females is accentuated, especially in the first year of life, by the heavy mortality among girls and women up to the age of 40. Of the 24,754,737 persons enumerated in 1901, 13,552,514 were males and 11,402,223 females, so that 53.9 per cent, of the population were males and 46.1 per cent, females. In other words, for every 1,000 males there were 854 females in 1901, compared with 851 in 1891 and 845 in 1881. These figures show that the number of females in the Punjab is increasing more rapidly than the number of males, though improved enumeration probably accounts to some extent for the higher ratios of 1891 and 1901. The proportion of females in the Punjab as a whole is probably not affected by migration. In different parts of the Province the ratio varies, being lowest in the central Districts and highest in the Himalayan and submontane. These variations are not explicable by differences in the position of women. The Sikhs, whose women are comparatively well educated and enjoy more liberty than those of either Muhammadans or Hindus, return a very low ratio of females, the figures for 1901 being Sikhs 778, Hindus 844, and Muhammadans 877 per 1,ooo males.

Among Muhammadans marriage is a civil contract. Among Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains it is in theory a sacrament, indissoluble save by death, and not even by death as far as the wife is concerned. But practice does not always follow precept ; and among the lower Hindu and Sikh castes remarriage (karewa) is allowed, while in the Himalayas women are sold from hand to hand, and a system of temporary marriage prevails. On the other hand, the prejudice against widow marriage is almost as strong among Muhammadans of the superior classes as it is among orthodox Hindus. All castes view marriage as desirable for a boy and indispensable for a girl, an unmarried malden who has attained puberty being a social stigma on her family, especially among the Rajputs. Betrothal is, as a rule, arranged at a very early age, and the wedding takes place while the bride is still a child, though she does not go to live with her husband till a later period. Infant marriage is, however, by no means universal, and 4-5 per cent, of the girls and 26 per cent, of the boys over fifteen are

unmarried. Early marriages are commonest among Hindus and in the east of the Province. The ceremonies connected with marriage are of infinite variety, the wedding especially being made an occasion for much costly hospitality and display. In general, Hindus and Sikhs observe the rule of exogamy which forbids marriage within the tribe, and that of endogamy which permits it only within the caste; but a third social rule, which has been called the law of hypergamy, also exists. By this a father must bestow his daughter on a husband of higher social status than his own, though he may seek a bride for his son in a lower grade. This rule renders it difficult and costly for the middle classes to find husbands for their daughters, or brides for their sons, as the lower grades have no scruple in exacting money for a girl. Among the Hindu agriculturists in the extreme east of the Province, the seven circuits round the sacred fire, prescribed by Hindu law, form the essential part of the marriage ritual, and the strict Hindus of the towns everywhere observe the same usage. Farther west among the agriculturists the number is reduced to four, while in the south- wesstern Districts the important part of the ceremony is the sir met or joining of the heads of the parties. The Muhammadan form of marriage, simple in itself, has almost everywhere been coloured by the Hindu ritual.

The following table gives statistics of civil condition as recorded in 1891 and 1901 :

Polygamy is not at all common, and is largely a question of means. Among Hindus and Sikhs only 6 per 1,ooo of the married males have more than one wife, and among Muhammadans only 11. Many of the agricultural and menial castes allow the marriage of widows, preferably to the brother of the deceased husband ; and it is among them that polygamy is commonest. It is rare among high-caste Hindus, who do not recognize remarriage. The ceremonies of re- marriage are much simpler than those of marriage, and the woman never acquires the status she had in the house of her first husband, though the children of the second marriage are regarded as legitimate. Avowed polyandry is confined to the Himalayan tracts, though the practice is not unknown among some socially inferior castes in the plalns. In the hills it usually exists in the Tibetan form, in which the husbands are all brothers. Indications of succession through

females among the polyandrous tribes are few and obscure, and the general rule is that sons succeed as the children of the brotherhood which owns their mother. Divorce is not common, even among Muhammadans, though their law recognizes a husband's right to put away his wife without assigning a reason. Among the Hindu agri- cultural tribes of the plalns it is extremely rare, though the custom is not unknown among the inferior castes and among the Jats of the central Districts. It is only in the Eastern Himalayas, within the limits of Kangra and Simla Districts and the Hill States, where the marriage tie is notoriously loose, that the power of divorce belongs by custom to the wife as well as to the husband. The joint-family system of Hindu law is almost unknown to the peasantry of the Province. It prevails only among the Brahmans and the clerical and commercial classes, and even among them it hardly exists outside the towns of the Delhi Division. Among the agricultural tribes of the plalns, sons by different mothers usually inherit in equal shares ; but the chundawand rule, by which they inherit per stirpes, is not un- common among both Hindus and Muhammadans, especially in the centre and west of the Province.

With the exception of Tibeto-Burman, spoken in its pure form only in the Himalayan canton of Spiti and in a debased form in Lahul and Upper Kanawar, the vernaculars of the Punjab belong entirely to the Aryan family of languages. Of this family the Indian branch greatly predominates, the Iranian being represented only by 52,837 persons speaking Pashtu, 40,520 speaking Baluchi, and 3,074 speaking Persian. Pashtu is confined to the Pathan tribes settled in Attock District and in the Isa Khel tahsil of Mianwali on the banks of the Indus, and to Pathan immigrants. Baluchi is virtually confined to Dera Ghazi Khan District and the adjacent State of Bahawalpur. Persian is spoken only by immigrant families and refugees from Persia and Afghanistan.

Wesstern Punjabi is spoken in the Indus valley and east of it as far as the valley of the Chenab in Gujramvala, whence its boundary is a line through Montgomery District and the State of Bahawalpur. East of it Eastern Punjabi is spoken as far as the meridian passing through Sirhind. East again of that line Wesstern Hindi is the dominant speech. These languages are divided into numerous dialects. The Wesstern Punjabi (also called Jatkl, 'the Jats' speech,' and MultanI) comprises the Hindko, Pothwari, Chibhali, Dhundi, Ghebi, and Awankari. Eastern Punjabi has two Main dialects: the standard of the Manjha, or central part of the Bari Doab, spoken round Amritsar; and that of the Malwa, the tract south of the Sutlej. Wesstern Hindi comprises Hariani (the dialect of Hariana), Bangaru (that of the Bangar), Jatu (the Jat speech), and Ahirwati (the Ahir

speech), To these three languages must be added the maze of Sanskritic dialects spoken in the hills, and hence called generically Paharl. These resemble Rajasthani rather than Punjabi, and merge into the Tibeto-Burman in Lahul and Kanawar. The Gujari, or Gujar speech, likewise deserves mention as a tongue spoken in the Hima- layas, and also closely resembling Rajasthani.

The following table shows the numbers returned in 1901 as speaking the chief languages :

As an institution, caste plays a far less important part in the social life of the people than in other parts of India. Its bonds are stronger in the east than in the west, and generally in the towns than in the villages, so that in the rural areas of the Wesstern Punjab society is organized on a tribal basis, and caste hardly exist*. Ethnically, if the Buddhists of the Himalayan tracts of Lahul, Spiti, and Kanawar be excluded, the mass of the population is Aryan, other elements, such as the Mongolian and the Semitic (Saiyids, Kureshis, and other sacred Muhammadan tribes), having by intermarriage with Indian converts to Islam lost nearly all traces of their foreign origin, Socially the landed classes stand high, and of these the Jats (4,942,000) are the most important. The Jat, or Jat as he is termed in the south-east of the Province, is essentially a landholder (zamindar) and when asked his caste usually replies 'Jat zamindar? The Jats are divided into numerous tribes and septs, and many of these hold considerable areas which are divided among village communities. By religion they are essentially Hindus, 1,595,000 being so returned in 1901 ; and they also comprise the great mass of the Sikhs, 1,390,000 being of that creed. The Sikh Jats are Mainly confined to the central Districts of the Punjab. Large numbers of Jats have from time to time been converted to Islam, and the Muhammadan Jats number 1,957,000. As cultivators the Hindu or Sikh Jats rank higher than any other class in the Province, and they make enterprising colonists and excellent soldiers, the Sikh holding a marked pre-eminence in these respects. The Muhammadan Jat lacks the energy of his Hindu and Sikh kinsman, but he is not far behind him as a cultivator. Next in importance are the Rajputs (1,798,000). The majority of them are Muhammadans (1,347,000). They do not rank high as cultivators, but furnish many recruits to the Indian army under the general designation of Punjabi Muhammadans. The Hindu Rajputs are found Mainly in the north-east corner of the Province, and in the

Himalayan and submontane tracts, the Rajput tribes of the plalns having for the most part accepted Islam. As a body the Rajputs stand higher than the Jats in the social system, and this has prevented their adherence to the levelling doctrines of Sikhism. Below these castes, both socially and numerically, stand the Muhammadan Arains (1,007,000), the Hindu and Sikh Sainis (127,000), and the Kambohs (174,000), who live by petite culture and rarely enlist as soldiers. In the south-east of the Province the Ahlrs (205,000) hold a position little if at all inferior to the Jats. In the Himalayas of the North-East Punjab, the Kanets (390,000) and Ghiraths (170,000) form great cultivating classes under Rajput overlords.

In the north-west the Gakhars (26,000), Khokhars (108,000), and A wans (421,000), and farther west and south the Pathans (264,000), take the position held by Rajputs elsewhere. In the south-west, especially in Dera Ghazi Khan District west of the Indus, the Baloch (468,000) form a dominant race of undoubted Iranian descent. Essen- tially pastoral tribes are the Gujars, or cowherds (632,000), found Mainly in the Lower Himalayas, and the Gaddis, or shepherds (26,000), in the State of Chamba and Kangra District.

The trading castes in the villages occupy a lower position than the landowning classes, but in the towns they rank higher. The most important are the Banias (452,000) in the south-east, the Khattrls (436,000) in the centre and north-west, and the Aroras (653,000) in the south-west. All these are Hindus or, rarely, Sikhs. The principal Muhammadan trading classes are the Shaikhs (321,000) and Khojas (99,000). Attached to these classes by a system of clientship, which is a curious combination of social dependence and spiritual authority, are the various priestly castes, the Brahmans (1,112,000) ministering to Hindus, and the Saiyids (238,000) to Muhammadans. Both these classes, however, often follow secular occupations, or combine them with religious functions ; and similar functions are exercised by count- less other religious tribes and orders.

The ethnical type in the Punjab is distinctly Aryan, there being few traces of aboriginal or foreign blood, if the Tibetan element in the extreme north-east be excluded. The typical Punjabi is tall, spare but muscular, broad-shouldered, with full dark eyes and an ample beard. The hair is invariably black, but the complexion varies from a deep olive-brown to wheat-coloured. As a rule the lower classes are darker than the upper, and the complexion is fairer in the north-west than in the south-east. The Jats of the Manjha and Malwa exhibit a splendid physique, and the peasantry of the plalns are generally a fine people ; but in the riverain valleys there is a marked falling-off, and in the south-east of the Province the type approximates to that of Hindustan. In marked contrast to the plalns

people are those of the Himalayas. Among these the higher or Rajput class is slight, high-bred, and clean-limbed, but sometimes over-refined, while owing to immorality the lower classes are often weakly and under-sized. Nothing is more striking than the influence of hereditary occupation and town life on physique; and the urban and trading populations are markedly inferior physically, though not intellectually, to the peasantry.

The Punjab by religion is more Muhammadan than Hindu. Of the total population enumerated in 1901, 12,183,345 persons, or 49 per cent., were Muhammadans. In the west and in the submontane tracts Islam is the dominant religion, its followers forming four-fifths of the population in the north-west dry area ; but the Hindus are more numerous in the Intfo-Gangetic Plaln, and in the Himalayas they form 95 per cent, of the population. In the south-west, Multan and Uch were the earliest strongholds of the Moslem faith, and the popu- lation is deeply imbued with Muhammadan ideas, Hinduism being confined to the trading, landless castes, who are socially despised by their Muhammadan neighbours. The early Sultans made Delhi a great centre of Muhammadan influence, but they and their successors appear to have left the Hindus of the Punjab unmolested in religious matters until the Mughal empire was firmly established. Akbar's policy of religious toleration lessened the gulf between the two creeds, but many Muhammadan tribes ascribe their conversion to the zeal of Aurangzeb, Islam in the Punjab is as a rule free from fanaticism, but among the more ignorant classes it has retained many Hindu ideas and super- stitions. Though the great mass of its followers profess the orthodox Sunni creed, the reverence paid to Saiyids as descendants of All, the Prophet's son-in-law, is unusually great ; and popularly Islam consists in the abandonment of many Hindu usages and the substitution of a, Muhammadan saint's shrine for a Hindu temple. A very important factor in Muhammadan religious life is the Sufi influence which, originating in Persia, was brought into the Punjab by the early Sultans of Ghor. Its first great exponent was the saint Kutb-ud-din Bakhtiycir, in whose honour the Kutb Minar at Delhi was erected. His disciple Baba Farid-ud-din, Shakar-ganj, of Pakpattan in Montgomery District, is perhaps the most widely reverenced saint in the Punjab ; and the shrine of his disciple Khwaja Nizam-ud-din, Aulia, near Delhi, is also a place of great sanctity. Spiritual descendants of these saints founded shrines at Maharan in the Bahawalpur State, at Taunsa Sharif in Dera lihazi Khan District, and elsewhere. Thus the Province is studded with Sufi shrines.

Hinduism in the Punjab is a singularly comprehensive creed. As the Province can boast no great centres of Hindu thought or learning, the Punjabi Hindu looks to Hardwar on the Ganges as the centre

of his faith. But Hardwar is accessible only to the eastern Districts, so elsewhere pilgrimages are made to countless minor temples and shrines, even those of Muhammadan saints. Vishnu is worshipped chiefly by the Banias of the south-east and by the Rajputs, but Sivdiwalas or temples to Siva are nearly as common as Thakurdwaras or temples of Vishnu (Thakur). Far more popular than these are the widely spread cults of Guga, the snake-god, and Sakhi Sarwar, the benevolent fertilizing earth-god, whose shrine in Dera Ghazi Khan is the object of regularly organized pilgrimages. Guga's legend also makes him a Rajput prince converted to Islam, and Sakhi Sarwar has been metamorphosed into a Muhammadan saint. There are countless minor cults, such as that of Sitla, the 'cool one,' the small- pox goddess, and those of the siddhs or ‘ pure ones’ Ancestor-worship is very common among the Jats.

In the Himalayas Vishnu and Siva have many devotees, the Rajputs especially worshipping the former ; but underlying these orthodox cults are those of the innumerable deotas (gods or spirits), devis (goddesses), and tors (heroes), which are probably more ancient than Hinduism. The principal religious orders are the Sanyasis and Jogis, who follow in theory the philosophical system of Sankaracharya and Patanjali. There are also Muhammadan Jogis, whose mysticism has much in common with the practices of the Hindu ascetics. The Bairagis, a Vaishnava order founded by Ramanand in the fourteenth century, are likewise numerous.

The Arya Samaj was founded by Pandit Dayanand Saraswati, a Brahman of Kathiawar, about 1875. During his lifetime the doc- trine spread rapidly; but since his death in 1883, the growth of the Samaj has been comparatively slow, and in 1901 only 9,105 males over 15 returned themselves as Aryas. The movement has been well described as being 'primarily the outcome of the solvent action of natural science on modern Hinduism.' The Samaj finds its sole revelation in the Vedas, which, rightly interpreted, prove that those who were inspired to write them were acquainted with the truths which modern science is slowly rediscovering. It attaches no merit to pil- grimages or to most of the rites of popular Hinduism. The liberal social programme of the Aryas is the outcome of their religious views, and includes the spread of education, the remarriage of widows, and the raising of the age for marriage. They are drawn, as a rule, from the best-educated classes of the community, Khattris, Aroras, and Brahmans ; and the doctrines they preach have met with acceptance chiefly in the progressive tracts north and east of the capital. At Lahore they Maintain a college. Since 1893 the Samaj has been divided into two parties. The cause of the schism was the question of the lawfulness of meat as an article of diet. Those in favour

of it are known as the ' cultured' or ‘ college' party, and those against it as the mahatma party.

Religious arehitecture still Maintains the tradition of each sect or community, with few deviations from the old plans which were designed Mainly with a view to the needs of each religion. Ablution is an essential feature of every sect, so that a tank of water, with other necessary facilities, is found in a prominent position in all buildings. Mosques, now usually built of brick, consist of an open courtyard, with the mihrdb on the west, surmounted by a dome flanked with minars or pillars. The Hindus enclose their temples in a walled courtyard, containing the shrine for the deity to which the temple is dedicated. Over this is a pyramidal tower, surmounted by a metal fmial shaped to represent the emblem of the divinity enshrined. The temples of the Sikhs are usually designed on an orthodox square plan consisting of nine parts, known as the naukara. The general arrange- ment is a courtyard, in which is situated a tank of water for washing and a central open construction (bdradart) for the reading of the

• ( iranth.' Over this is a dome, which may be distinguished from that

of a mosque by being generally fluted or foliated in design. The modern Sikhs being adepts in wood-carving, the doors and other details are not infrequently freely decorated. Jain temples are built on a somewhat similar plan to those of the Hindus, except that more than one shrine is often found in the enclosure and pillared verandas are a feature. In modern examples, however, this latter characteristic is frequently omitted.

Excluding the Jesuits at the Mughal court, the first Christian mis- sionary to the Punjab was a Baptist preacher who visited Delhi early in the nineteenth century. Delhi and Simla are the only stations now occupied by this mission. The first great missionary movement in the Punjab proper was the establishment of the American Presbyterian Mission at Ludhiana in 1834. The Ludhiana Mission, as it thus came to be called, occupies a number of stations in the Central Punjab south of the Ravi, and Maintains the Forman Christian College at Lahore, with a printing press at Ludhiana. The Church Missionary Society began operations in the Punjab in 1851. Its stations com- prise a group round Amritsar and Lahore, and a long line of frontier stations stretching from Simla to Karachi in Sind. It has a college in Lahore which prepares natives of India for holy orders, and the Church of England Zanana Mission works in many of its stations. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel began work in Delhi in 1852. In 1877 it was reinforced by the Cambridge Mission, which Maintains the St. Stephen's College at Delhi. Other missions are the Methodist Episcopal, the Church of Scotland, the Moravian, the American United Presbyterian, the Zanana Bible and Medical Mis-

sions, and the Salvation Army, besides the missionary work conducted by various Roman Catholic orders.

The following table gives statistics of religion as recorded in 1891 and 1901 :

Of the total population, at least 56 per cent, are supported by agri- culture. Next in importance is the artisan section of the community, which numbers 4,898,080, or 19.8 per cent, of the population. Of these, cotton -weaving, spinning, &c,, supports 1,012,314, and leather- working 742,034, while potters number 269,869, carpenters 263,717, and iron- workers 164,814. The making of tools and implements supports 135,786, and building 121,153; goldsmiths number 120,755, and tailors 108,963, but the figures for these smaller groups are subject to several qualifications. Commerce supports only 2.8, and the pro- fessions 2.2 per cent., of the population, while public service Maintains 2 per cent, The residue is composed of general labourers (812,584 in number), personal domestic servants (1,771,944), and 827,289 persons whose subsistence was independent of occupation. In spite of the caste system, the division of labour has not been pushed very far in the Punjab. The carpenter is often an ironsmith, the shopkeeper a money-lender, the agriculturist a trader, and so on.

The staple food consists of the grain grown in the locality. Well-to- do people eat wheat and rice, while the ordinary peasant's food consists chiefly of wheat, barley, and gram in summer, and maize in winter. The poorer classes use inferior grains, such as china (Panicum milia- Ceum) mandua (Ehusine coracana], jowdr (great millet), &c. In the hill, submontane, and canal-irrigated tracts, where rice is largely grown, it forms the principal diet of the people in general; but elsewhere it is eaten only on festive occasions. In the west and south-west bajra (spiked millet) is mostly consumed in the winter. Pulses and vegetables are eaten with bread by prosperous zamlndars and towns- people ; but the poorer classes, who cannot always afford them, merely mix salt in their bread and, if possible, eat it with buttermilk. Peasants are especially fond of curds, buttermilk, and green mustard (sarson) as relishes with bread Gh! is used only by those who can afford

it. Meat is seldom eaten, except by the better classes, and by them only on occasions of rejoicing or by way of hospitality. The cominon beverages are buttermilk, water mixed with milk and sugar, country sherbets, and sardai, a cooling drink made by bruising certain moistened ingredients in a mortar ; but the use of the two latter is almost entirely confined to the townsfolk. Aerated waters are coming rapidly into use. Hemp (bhang) is ordinarily drunk by the religious mendicants (fakirs), both Hindu and Muhammadan. In towns cow's milk is used, but in rural tracts buffalo's is preferred, as being richer. In the camel-breeding tract camel's milk is also drunk.

The dress of the people is of the simplest kind and, in the plalns, made entirely of cotton cloth. A turban, a loin-cloth, a loose wrap thrown round the body like a plald, and, in the cold season, a vest or jacket of some kind, are the usual garments. White is the usual colour, but dyed stuffs are often worn, especially on festive occasions. As a rule Muhammadans avoid red, while Saiyids and others clalming descent from the Prophet favour green. Hindus similarly avoid blue, but it is the characteristic dress of Sikh zealots, like the Akalis. Minor variations in dress are innumerable, and fashion tends to adopt European clothes, often with most incongruous results, among the men.

Women are far more conservative ; but the influence of Islam has brought about the adoption of the trouser instead of the Hindu skirt, which is only general in the south-east. Here again local and tribal customs vary. Thus Rajput women, Hindu as well as Muhammadan, wear the trouser, and Gujars the petticoat, while many Sikh and Hindu Jat women wear both. In the wilder parts of the central area the skirt was little more than a kilt, but the more elaborate garment is coming into fashion. The tight bodice is essentially a Hindu woman's garment, the looser skirt a Muhammadan characteristic. The wrap or chddar is universally worn ; and the pardd system compels most Muhammadan and many Hindu and Sikh ladies of the better classes to wear, when compelled to leave the house, an ungainly and uncomfortable veil (burkd) which covers the whole form.

The ordinary peasant's house is not uncomfortable, though hardly attractive. Built of mud, with a flat roof, and rarely decorated, it is cooler in summer and warmer in winter than a house of brick or stone. In the large villages of the Central and South-East Punjab the dwellings are close and confined, but in the south-west a ruder and more spacious type is found. Houses of stone are found Mainly in the hills, and slate roofs only in the Himalayas. Brick (pakka) houses in the villages are rapidly increasing in numbers, but in comfort are hardly an improve- ment on the old. In the cities such houses have long been the rule ;

but to secure privacy and additional room they are built or rebuilt to several storeys, rendering sanitation an insoluble problem. The furni- ture of an ordinary house is cheap and simple, comprising a few string beds, stools, boxes, spinning-wheels, and cooking utensils, with a grain- receptacle of mud.

Muhammadans bury their dead, while Hindus and Sikhs, with some exceptions, burn them. The casteless people, such as the Chuhras and Chamars, who stand outside the pale of Hinduism, imitate which- ever religion happens to be dominant in their neighbourhood. Hindus collect the bones from the ashes of the funeral pyre and send them to be thrown into the Ganges, or, if they cannot afford that, cast them into an adjacent stream.

Games are singularly few, especially among children; and this perhaps explalns why cricket, and to a lesser extent football, have become popular in the schools. In the villages a kind of prisoner's base, clubs, quoit-throwing (among the Sikhs), tent-pegging, especially in the Salt Range and wesstern plalns, and camel racing on the Blkaner border, are fairly popular. Otherwise athletics are a growth of British rule. Wrestling is virtually confined to professionals. Sport is often keenly followed, hawking, coursing, and shooting being favourite pastimes of the well-to-do in many rural tracts. In the towns quail- fighting is the form of sport most actively pursued. The drama hardly exists, except in a few rude plays (swangs) acted by the professional castes. Folk-songs are fairly numerous, but the music is singularly rude and barbarous. The monotony of village life is rendered bearable by the numerous and costly ceremonies which a birth, a wedding, or a funeral demand.

Pilgrimages offer great distractions, and are regularly organized to shrines like that of Sakhi Sarwar. Fairs also afford excuse for numberless holidays, which are mostly spent in harmless though aim- less amusements.

The principal Hindu holidays are : the Basant Panchnir, or feast of Saraswati, goddess of learning ; the Sivaratri, or feast of Siva ; the Holi, or the great spring festival and Saturnalia of Northern India; the Baisakhi, or Hindu New Year ; the Salono, or day when amulets against evil are solemnly put on ; the Janm Ashtmi, or birthday of Krishna ; the Dasehra, which recalls Rama's conquest of Ravana ; and the Dewali, the Hindu feast of lanterns. Instead of the Holi, Sikhs observe a kindred festival called Hola Mohalla, held the day after, and also Guru Nanak's birthday.

The chief Muhammadan holidays are, in the Punjab as elsewhere : the Id-ul-Fitr or day after Ramzan, the Id-uz-Zuha, the Muharram, Bara Wafat, Juma-ul-wida, and Shab-i-barat. Besides these, every locality has a succession of minor fairs and festivals of its own.

The personal name generally consistvS of two words, which are selected from a variety of causes, astrological, religious, and super- stitious. The father's name is rarely, if ever, given to the son, and there is seldom anything like a surname, persons being distinguished only by the variety of names employed. Among Hindus it is essential that the religious name given at birth should never be known or used, and the name by which a man is known is more or less a nickname ; while among both Hindus and Muhammadans it is often not easy to say what a man's real name is, as a man who is known among his friends as Gotra or Mujjan will on occasions of state entitle himself Govardhan Das or Murtaza Khan. The second name among Hindus is often in a sense honorific, and originally had a religious meaning, Ram and Lal distinguishing, Brahmans, Singh Kshattriyas, and Mal, Rai, and Lal Vaisyas ; but these distinctions do not now hold good. All Sikhs indeed have names ending in Singh, but the title is not confined to them ; and as to the others, a man who one year is called Parsu will, if things prosper with him, call himself Parasurama the next.

Muhammadan names generally consist of two words, the alam or name and lakab or honorary title, such as Muhammad Din, though, as above mentioned, the villager will as often as not be known by an abbreviation such as Mamdu. A combination of one of the ‘ comely' names of God with aid (' servant ') is also common, such as Aidullah, or Aidul Ghafur. About half the proper names of Muhammadans are of religious origin, and the rest differ in no way from those of Hindus.

Besides the two regular personal names, both affixes and prefixes are found. Affixes generally denote the caste or clan, such as Ahluwalia, Ramgarhia, Seth, or Varma (a purely Khattri appellation), or are honorific, such as the Muhammadan ‘ Khan.' This affix sometimes, but rarely, tends to harden into a surname. Prefixes are honorific and answer to the European Mr. or Monsieur : such are, among Hindus, Baba, Lala, Sodhi, Raja, and Pandit; and among Muhammadans, Munshi, Fakir, Wazirzada, and Makhdum. In addition a man may bear honorific titles, many of which, such as Rai Bahadur and Khan Bahadur, are given by Government, so that a Muhammadan's full style and title may run Makhdum Aidul Aziz Khan Shams-ul-Ulama Khan Bahadur, or a Hindu's Baba Raghunath Singh Rai Bahadur Diwan Bahadur.

The most common endings for place names in the Punjab are the Arabic -abad (' abode') and -shahr ('city ') and the Hindu –pur, -nagar, and -wdra, all meaning ' town ' or ‘ place’ and -kot and -gark meaning ' fort’ Many are in the genitive, meaning, like Mukerian or Fazilka, the place of a certain tribe or people; while the termination -wala, meaning * belonging to,' is one of the most common.

Agriculture

Excluding the Himalayan and other hill tracts and the ravines of Rawalpindi, Attock, and Jhelum Districts, the vast alluvial plaln is broken only by the wide valleys of its rivers. Its soil is a sandy loam, interspersed with patches of clay and tracts of pure sand. The soils of the Himalayan and lower ranges resemble those of the plalns ; but both sand and clay are rarer, and the stony area is considerable. The quality of the soil is, however, of comparatively little importance, facilities for irrigation, natural or artificial, being the primary factor. The monsoon current extends only to the extreme south-eastern Districts. The rainfall is fairly sufficient for agricultural purposes in the hills and in the submontane tracts, but diminishes rapidly as the distance from the hills increases, being as little as 5 and 7 inches in Muzaffargarh and Multan. It is only in or near the Himalayas that unirrigated cultivation can be said to be fairly secure.

The Punjab has two harvests : the rabi (hari) or spring, sown mostly in October-November and reaped mostly in April-May ; and the kharif ' (sawant) or autumn, sown in June- August and reaped from early September to the end of December. Both sugar-cane and cotton, though planted earlier, are autumn crops. The spring sowings follow quickly on the autumn harvesting. To the spring succeeds the extra (zaid) harvest, chiefly tobacco, melons, and similar crops, harvested late in June. Speaking generally, the tendency, as irrigation develops, is for intensive cultivation in the rabi to replace the extensive cultiva- tion of the kharif.

The advantages of frequent ploughing are thoroughly recognized, especially for wheat and sugar-cane, for which a fine seed-bed is essential. The plough used is an implement of simple construction, made of wood w r ith an iron or iron-pointed share, and drawn by a single yoke of bullocks. When the soil has been reduced to a fairly fine tilth, a heavy log of wood roughly squared, called sohaga, is used to supply the place of a light roller. It breaks up any reMaining clods, and also compacts and levels the surface.

There are three methods of sowing : by scattering the seed broad- cast on the surface, by dropping it into the furrows by hand, or by drilling through a tube attached to the plough handle. The last method, if skilfully used, deposits the seed in the bottom of the furrow, and is employed when the surface is dry. The second is employed in moderately moist, and the first in thoroughly moist soils.

Land near a town or village is heavily manured, as also is land near a well, since it can be easily irrigated and valuable crops grown on it. Sugar-cane, maize, tobacco, and vegetables are always manured. Wheat, cotton, barley, and melons are manured only when manure is readily available. Spiked millet, gram, tara mira, and other inferior crops are

never manured. Thorough manuring costs from Rs. 60 to Rs. 80 an acre, and is most common in the vicinity of the larger towns, the municipal boards of which make a considerable income by sales of refuse. In such localities two to four very rich crops a year are grown. Irrigated land is manured much more generally than unirrigated* Besides the sweepings of villages, night-soil, the dung of sheep, goats, and camels, the ashes of cow-dung, and nitrous earth are used for manure. The two last are applied as a top-dressing, especially for vegetables and tobacco. The others are spread over the land after the rabi has been harvested, and ploughed in before the monsoon rains set in. A top-dressing of thoroughly decomposed manure is often applied to sugar-cane after the cuttings have struck, the soil being then hoed by hand and irrigated. Cattle, sheep, goats, and camels are often folded in the fields for the sake of their manure, and in the hills shepherds derive much profit by lending their flocks for this purpose. The practice of using cow-dung for fuel seriously diminishes the natural supply of manure.

Weeding and hoeing are resorted to only for the more valuable crops. The crops are cut entirely by hand, and harvesting employs all the menials of a village. Grain is mostly trodden out by cattle. The implements in use, of a primitive type and simple construction, are well adapted to the cultivator's needs, but are capable of improve- ment. The iron sugar-press has now almost ousted the old cumbrous wooden press.

Agriculture affords the Main means of subsistence to 13,917,000 persons, or 56 per cent, of the population, exclusive of 214,000 par- tially supported by it. The Punjab is essentially a country of peasant proprietors, landholders and tenants numbering, with their families, 13,452,000 persons. Of the total number supported by agriculture, 36 per cent, are actual cultivators, only 184,000 being rent-receivers.

The principal crops in spring are wheat, gram, and barley. Wheat is the staple crop grown for sale. The development of canals in the past ten or fifteen years has led to a great expansion of the area under spring crops, especially wheat, which ordinarily covers about 10,000 square miles. In good years, such as 1894, 1895, and 1901, it covered more than 10,900, but in the famine years of 1897 and 1900 only about 7,800 square miles. Though best sown between the middle of October and the middle of November, it can be put in later ; and in the North- ern Punjab, if the winter rains are late, it may be sown up to the first week in January. There are many indigenous varieties, both red and white, bearded and beardless. Rather more than half the area under wheat is irrigated. The out-turn per acre varies from 4 to 1 2 cwt on irrigated, and from 4 to 7 cwt. on unirrigated land.

Next to wheat comes gram, which usually covers more than 3,100

square miles, but the area fluctuates with the rainfall. Sown as a rule earlier than wheat and Mainly in the poorer unirrigated lands, it is generally harvested a fortnight earlier, but is not infrequently sown and harvested with it. The yield per acre is about 4 to 9 cwt. on unirri- gated land, but may rise to n cwt. under irrigation,

Barley is often sown mixed with wheat and gram, as it matures even if the rainfall be not sufficient for the wheat. It is also useful as a catch- crop, since it can be sown later than wheat. It is grown extensively for the breweries and as fodder. Barley ordinarily covers about 1,600 square miles. On irrigated land the out-turn per acre is from 5 to 11 cwt., compared with 3 to 9 cwt. on unirrigated land.

The staple cereals in autumn are maize, great millet (jowar), spiked millet (bajra) and rice. Of these, maize is the principal food-grain of the montane, submontane, and central tracts, and is cultivated exten- sively in all three. In 1904 it covered about 1,900 square miles. It is sown from the middle of June to the middle of August, and harvested between the middle of September and the middle of November. Maize yields from 4 to 1 1 cwt. per acre on land dependent on rainfall, and from 7 to 13 cwt. where irrigation is available.

In the Rawalpindi and Delhi Divisions spiked millet is the chief crop, but it is also grown throughout the Province. It ordinarily covers more than 2,500 square miles, but in years of good rainfall more than 3,100 square miles. It requires less moisture than great millet, but its stalks are of inferior value as fodder. The yield per acre varies from 2 1/2 to 10 cwt.

Great millet, grown throughout the Province, ordinarily covers 3,000 square miles. This also is chiefly sown on unirrigated land. When sown as a food-crop, it still yields from 120 to 180 cwt. of fodder per acre. Sown only as a fodder-crop it is called chart. The out-turn of grain per acre is from 3 to 5 cwt., increased by i or 2 cwt. if irrigated.

Rice is grown chiefly in Kangra, Hoshiarpur, Karnal, and Ambala Districts, and throughout the Lahore and Multan Divisions. It ordi- narily covers more than 1,100 square miles. There are many recog- nized varieties. Sowings extend from Mareh to August, and the crop is harvested in September and October.

Other important autumn cereals are ragi or mandwi (Eleusine Coracana) china (Panicum miliaceuni), and kangni or Italian millet (Setaria italica). In 1904 these covered more than 300 square miles.

Cotton is increasing rapidly in importance as an export staple. The area sown now amounts to over 1,600 square miles. The crop is gene- rally irrigated, except in the Delhi Division. Sown from Mareh to July, it is picked from October to December. Ginning mills are spring- ing up in the chief cotton tracts. A hundred pounds of uncleaned

cotton gives about 30 pounds of clean lint. The cotton is of the short- stapled variety known as ‘ Bengals’, but is in brisk demand.

Oilseeds are ordinarily sown on 1,000 to 1,300 square miles, but the area varies with the rainfall. The principal kind is sarson or rape-seed (Brassica campestris) sown from August to December on unirrigated land and ripening in Mareh. Another kind, toria, is sown on irrigated land in August, and cut in November or December. Sesamum or til (Sesamum orientate) is an autumn crop, and a little linseed or a 1st (Linum usitatissimuni) is grown in the spring.

Indian hemp or san is only grown sparsely for the local manufacture of rope. It covered 77 square miles in 1904.

Spices covered more than 40 square miles in 1904, generally on manured and irrigated lands close to the villages. Chillies are the most important crop of this class ; ginger is grown chiefly in the hills.

Sugar-cane is an important and valuable crop in Rohtak, Delhi, Karnal, Jullundur, Hoshiarpur, Amritsar, Gurdasptir, Sialkot, Gujran- wala, and Jhang Districts. It ordinarily covers about 520 square miles, of which more than 80 per cent, is irrigated and the rest moist land. Usually propagated from sets lald down from the middle of February to the middle of April, the crop is seldom cut till December or even later, thus occupying the land for nearly a year.

The poppy is a spring crop sown from September to January, the juice being extracted in April and May. In 1904 it covered more than 14 square miles.

Tobacco is grown more or less in every District as an ' extra ' spring crop, sown in Mareh or April and picked in June. In 1904 it covered a little more than 80 square miles, mostly manured lands near the villages.

Tea is grown only in Kangra District, the States of Mandi and Sir- mur, and on a small area in Simla. In Kangra there are 112 tea estates (15.5 square miles), of which 33 (with 3,500 acres) are owned by European planters. The out-turn in the latter varies from 150 to 250 lb. per acre, and the total output exceeds 1,000,000 lb. annually 1 .

The area under indigo has greatly decreased of recent years, owing to competition with chemical indigo. The area in 1903-4 was a little more than 80 square miles, of which about 30 square miles were in Muzaffargarh District and 25 in Multan.

Highly manured land near villages grows turnips, carrots, and si.mi- lar produce, which occupy 578 square miles. Potatoes, already, a valuable crop in the K&ngra and Simla Hills, are increasing in impor- tance. Mangoes are a paying fruit-crop in Hoshiarpur, Jullundur,

1 This was written before the earthquake of 1905, which had disastrous effects on the tea industry.

Multan, and Muzaffargarh ; and in the two latter Districts and in Dera Ghazi Khan the date-palm flourishes, there being nearly 1,500,000 female trees which produce about 33,000 tons of fruit annually. It is consumed entirely in Northern India. There is some export of pears, apples, and other European fruit from the Kulu valley, but in- accessibility hinders the development of the industry.

The crop rotations shown below are generally recognized, but all depends on climatic conditions, soils, the means of irrigation, and the system of agriculture followed in any given tract : maize, indigo, or hemp, followed by wheat ; great millet, followed by masur and gram ; rice, followed by barley, masur, and peas ; turnips or cotton, followed by maize ; cotton or maize, followed by senji, senji, followed by melons. Since annexation, the potato, tea, and English fruits and vegetables have been introduced. The first named is so important that the people call it ‘ the hillman's sugar-cane.' Attempts made to acclimatize American maize have succeeded only in the hills, and even there the stock has deteriorated. It requires nearly five months to mature, and the heat of the plalns ripens it too rapidly. In 1901 an experi- mental farm of 55 acres was started at Lyallpur in the Chenab Colony. A 5oo-acre seed farm has also been opened in the Jhelum Colony.

A combined Agricultural College and Researeh Institute is to be established at Lyallpur, with a staff which will include a Principal, a Professor of Agriculture, an Agricultural Chemist, an Economic Botanist, an Entomologist, and a Mycologist. The college will train men for the Agricultural department, and also as teachers of agriculture in normal schools. The present experimental farm at Lyallpur will be largely increased in size, and it is intended to establish similar farms on a smaller scale in localities selected as characteristic of the Main divisions of the Province. As the scheme develops, it is hoped that an Agricultural Assistant will be appointed for each District. The Veterinary department is a part of the Agricultural department, under the control of the Director of Agriculture.

The working of the Land Improvement and Agriculturists' Loans Acts varies from District to District, In some, borrowing from Govern- ment is unpopular, the cultivators preferring to take loans from the village banker, because, though the rates of interest charged by Government are low, it generally insists on punctual and regular re- payment in fixed instalments, whereas the village bankers do not require punctual repayment, and often accept grain or cattle in lieu of cash. Moreover, the official formalities necessary before the cash reaches the cultivator's hands often deter him from applying for a loan from Government.

During the decade ending 1900 about 2\ lakhs a year was advanced under the Land Improvement Loans Act, 3.4 lakhs being advanced in

1900-1 and 1.5 lakhs in 1903-4. Loans are made at 6 1/4 per cent, per annum interest, and on the security of the borrower's holding. They are seldom misapplied, and are mostly taken for sinking irrigation wells, the number of which rose from 211,000 in 1890-1 to 276,000 in 1903-4. Allowing for the wells which fell out of use, more than 100,000 wells must have been sunk or renewed in this period, and of these a large proportion were made with the aid of loans from Government. Advances under the Agriculturists' Loans Act are made on the personal security of the cultivator, and practically only in or after drought, to enable him to replace cattle that have died and to purchase seed. Between 1891 and 1900 about 4-5 lakhs was advanced annually, 2 lakhs being advanced in 1900-1 and i lakh in 1903-4.

The indebtedness of the cultivators has long engaged the attention of Government, and the extent of the evil was illustrated by a special investigation into the conditions of certain tracts in Sialkot, Gujran- wala, and Shahpur Districts. The measures taken to cope with reck- less alienation of land are described below, under Land Revenue. The creditors are in the great majority of cases small Hindu shopkeepers. Agriculturist money-lenders are found in parts of the Punjab, such as Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Ferozepore, and Ludhiana, where the Sikh, * half agriculturist, half soldier, and wholly Bania, 3 predominates; and they are said to be even more exacting than the trading classes. The ordinary rate of interest varies from 21 to 25 per cent., except in the case of loans on jewels, which are given at about 12 per cent. A Registrar of Co-operative Credit Societies has been appointed in the Punjab. The number of registered societies on Mareh 31, 1906, was 151, of which 108 were in the Districts of Gurdaspur and Jullundur.

The yak is found within the geographical limits of the Punjab, but only in the Northern Kangra hills. In summer it finds pasturage up to 17,000 feet, but in winter grazes below 8,000 feet. In the Higher Himalayas it is used for ploughing and pack-carriage. At lower eleva- tions it is crossed with the ordinary cattle of the hills.

The Punjab kine are of the humped Indian type. In the Himalayas the mountain or Pahari breed is dark in colour, becoming black or red as the elevation increases. The Dhanni or Salt Range breed is similar in size but lighter, tending to white, in colour. In the plalns there are several breeds, the principal being those of Montgomery, the Malwa, and Hariana, and that of the Kachi, the country between the Chenab and the Thai steppe. The best animals are reared in the southern Districts Hissar, Delhi, Rohtak, Gurgaon, and Karnal. Bulls and bullocks are used for ploughing throughout the Province.

Wild buffaloes are no longer found in the Punjab, but the domesti- cated variety is common and highly prized. A good cow-buffalo yields from 25 to 30 seers of a white insipid milk, rich in fat, from which large

quantities of ght (clarified butter) are made. The profit from ght is in some Districts very large. Hides are an important article of com- merce, and bones are largely exported.

The most prevalent cattle diseases are foot-and-mouth disease, haemorrhagic septicaemia, rinderpest, black-quarter, and anthrax. Sheep and goats also suffer from the first named. Though it is very common, the losses from it are slight, as only 2 or 3 per cent, of the animals attacked die. Septicaemia is also prevalent, especially during the rains, and the mortality is usually 90 per cent. Buffaloes are its chief victims, but it also attacks kine. Rinderpest is common, more especially in the hills, where it assumes a virulent form, killing 80 or 90 per cent, of the animals attacked. Cattle, sheep, goats, and even camels are subject to this pest. Inoculation, segregation, and other measures for combating cattle diseases are controlled by the qualified assistants who work under the Superintendent of the Civil Veterinary department and the Deputy-Commissioner.. The prices of cattle vary considerably. A good milch buffalo fetches Rs. 100 or even Rs. 150. A pair of young Hariana plough bullocks cost Rs. 120 or Rs. 140, and a cow from Rs. 50 to Rs. 70 ; but as a rule inferior and cheaper cattle are in demand.

The Baloch and Dhanni breeds of horses are the best known in the Punjab. Generally the Punjab stock has immensely improved during the last thirty years from the infusion of the English and Arab blood of thoroughbred stallions. Large horse-fairs are held at Sargodha (in Shahpur), Dera Ghazi Khan, Rawalpindi, Gujrat, Amritsar, Multan, and Jalalabad (in Ferozepore).

Sheep are important in the South-West Punjab, where wool is a staple product. The dumba or fat-tailed sheep is found in the Salt Range, but does not flourish east of it. In the Himalayas the variety found resembles that of Dartmoor or Exmoor, the khddu being the best breed. Goats are kept chiefly for milk and meat, but the hair is also largely utilized.

Camels are found generally throughout the plalns and in the Lower Himalayas, but the south and south-west supply the largest numbers. Mostly used as a pack-animal, the camel is also employed for draught, riding, and even ploughing in those parts. Camel fairs are held at Abohar and Bhiw c ani (in Hissar).

Donkeys are miserable creatures in the Punjab, except in Rawal pindi and the Districts west of the Chenab. Mule-breeding from imported donkey stallions supplied by the Army Remount depart- ment is carried on in ten Districts and in both the canal colonies, and elsewhere by the Civil Veterinary department.

Cattle are largely stall-fed. Every village has its grazing grounds ; but the grass is never abundant and fails entirely in years of scanty

rainfall, when the cattle are driven off in large numbers to find pasture along the rivers and below the hills.

The principal cattle fairs are those held at Amritsar, Jahazgarh (in Rohtak), Gulu Shah (in Sialkot), and Hissar.

The extent to which cultivation is dependent on irrigation may be gauged from the fact that 41 per cent, of the cultivated area is irrigated, Mainly from wells and canals, and that 7 per cent, more is subject to inundation from the rivers. Hence only 52 per cent, of the cultivated area is wholly dependent on the rainfall. Of the 41 per cent, irrigated, 22 per cent, is irrigated from canals, 14 from wells, 4 from wells and canals combined, and i from streams and tanks.

The necessity and demand for irrigation vary with the climatic and physical conditions. Speaking generally, the necessity for perennial irrigation varies inversely with the amount of the rainfall, being there- fore greatest in the south-west and least in the north-east submontane tracts. The two principal means of irrigation are canals and wells, the latter including various indigenous kinds of lift, and the area in which each can be used is determined by the depth of the spring-level. Perennial canals are beneficial where the spring-level is not less than 20 feet below the surface ; but where it is higher, wells are used in the cold season and the canal is reserved for irrigating the autumn crop during the summer months, to prevent the soil from becoming water- logged.

Native rulers were not blind to the possibilities of irrigation in the Punjab ; but, at annexation, the only canals open in the Province, as it stood before the addition of the Delhi territory after the Mutiny, were the Hasli (since merged in the Bari Doab Canal) and a good many inundation canals in the south-wesstern Districts. Thus the present canals are almost entirely the creation of British rule. These canals fall into two classes: (1) the perennial canals, with permanent head- works ; and (2) the inundation canals which run only in the flood season, and irrigate the lowlands along the rivers. Of the former class there are now six canals : the WESSTERN JUMNA, SIRHIND, BARI DOAB, CHENAB, JHELUM, and SIDHNAI, though there is seldom enough water in the river for a cold-season supply to the last named. These great canals serve four-fifths of the total area irrigated from Govern- ment works. There are six series of inundation canals : the UPPER and LOWER SUTLEJ, CHENAB, INDUS (right bank), MUZAFFARGARII (from the left bank of the Indus and right bank of the Chenab), SHAH- PUR, and GHAOGAR. Besides these, numerous small inundation canals are owned by private individuals or District boards. Of these, the GREY CANALS in Ferozepore are the chief. The total length of Main channels and branches in 1890-1, 1900-1, and 1903-4 was 3,813, 4,644, and 4,744 miles respectively.

Canal revenue is direct or indirect. The former is paid by the cultivator according to occupier's rates fixed for different crops. It is assessed on all the great perennial canals by the canal officers, and the rules provide liberal remissions for failed crops. The indirect charges (owner's or water-advantage rate) aim at taxing the landowner for the rent or profits derived by him from the canal. The gross receipts averaged 50 lakhs between 1881 and 1890, 102 lakhs between 1891 and 1900, and amounted to 162 lakhs in 1900-1 and 200 lakhs in 1903-4. In the same periods the expenditure (excluding capital account) was 26 lakhs, 42 lakhs, 60 lakhs, and 66 lakhs. The net profits in 1903-4 were 134 lakhs, and, deducting interest on capital expenditure, 94 lakhs, or 8-7 per cent. The most profitable canal was the Chenab Canal, which yielded 19-6 per cent. The return on capital has decreased greatly in the case of ' minor ' works. This is due to the expenditure of 10 lakhs of capital during the ten years ending 1890 on protective works, which produced no direct return. The returns from inundation canals fluctuate enormously. For example, on the Upper Sutlej Canals the dividend was only 1.95 per cent, in 1900-1 and as much as 43.2 per cent, in 1901-2.

The efficient distribution of the water depends largely on the tele- graph system by which canal officers are kept in constant touch with the gauge stations. Control of the distribution is secured by a sys- tematic devolution of responsibility. The Chief Engineer receives a weekly report on the state of the crops, and is thus enabled to supervise the general distribution of the water throughout the Province; the Superintending Engineer controls its distribution among the divi- sions of his canal, and so on. Within the village the policy is to leave the distribution of the water in the hands of the cultivators, who see that it is divided in accordance with the share lists based on the area to be irrigated in each holding. On inundation canals the supply depends on the rise of the rivers, and these rarely do more than supply water for sowing a spring crop, which has to be matured by well- irrigation.

Avast irrigation scheme was sanctioned in 1905. It will comprise three new canals : the Upper Jhelum, Upper Chenab, and Lower Bari Doab. Of these, the first will take off from the Jhelum in Kashmir territory, 18 miles from the British border, and, skirting the Pabbi hills, pass close to Gujrat town and tail in above the head-works of the existing Chenab Canal. It will have only one branch ; but its dis- tributaries, 562 miles in length, will irrigate the southern part of Gujrat and a part of Shahpur District, which is not supplied by the Jhelum Canal. The Upper Chenab Canal will take off from the Chenab river opposite Sialkot, and will irrigate a large part of Gujranwala and Lahore Districts and a little of Sialkot ; then, crossing the Ravi river by

a siphon 16 miles below Lahore, it will feed the third canal in the series. This, the Lower Bari Doab Canal, will run parallel with the Ravi river through the whole length of Montgomery District and end in Multan District, the northern portion of which it will also irrigate. These projects are estimated to cost 782 lakhs, and will take nine years to complete, provided that sufficient labour is forthcoming. The total length of the three canals will be 230 miles, with 2,714 miles of distributaries.

The only navigable canals are portions of the Wesstern Jumna and Sirhind systems. The former is navigable from its head to Delhi ; a portion of the Hansi branch is also navigable, the total length of navigable channels being 207 miles. The Sirhind Canal is navi- gable for 1 80 miles from its head at Rupar, and from the town of Patiala to Ferozepore, where it connects with the river Sutlej, whence there is a continuous water-way to Karachi. The boat traffic is insig- nificant, the boat tolls on both together amounting to less than Rs. 5,000 per annum ; but there is a considerable raft traffic, c., particularly on the Wesstern Jumna Canal, where the dues average about Rs. 40,000 per annum. The rafts consist principally of timber, sleepers, scantlings, and bamboos, which are floated down the hills to the canal head, and are thence passed into the canals.

Almost all the irrigation carried on by indigenous methods is from wells. In 1903-4 the Punjab contained over 276,000 masonry wells and 38,000 unlined and lever wells and water-lifts. In that year the total area of the crops matured under well-irrigation was about 5,400 square miles. Masonry wells are worked by bullocks, the Persian wheel or a rope and bucket being used. Unlined wells are chiefly found in riverain lands, but small unlined wells are also used in submontane tracts with a high spring-level. They are mostly worked by a lever. Masonry wells cost from Rs. 150 to Rs. 750 or more according to depth. Unlined wells cost only about R. i per foot, but seldom last more than three years.

In the Salt Range and the hilly tracts of Gurgaon and Dera Ghazi Khan, torrents are embanked and the water is spread over the fields as required. In the hills and submontane tracts a considerable area, chiefly under rice, is irrigated by small channels (kuhls) taken out of a river or stream and often carried along the hill-sides.

Fish are plentiful in most of the rivers and canals of the Province. In certain Districts the fisheries are leased by Government to con- tractors, and in 1904-5 the total income from this source was Rs. 4,342. In accordance with the provisions of the Indian Fisheries Act (IV of 1897), certain methods of fishing, such as the use of the drag-net, have been prohibited in some of the streams of Rawalpindi District, and in the Jumna for a mile above and a mile below the Okhla weir

at the head of the Agra Canal, while in Sirmur and the hill-country of Patiala the fish in the Giri and other streams are strictly preserved in the interests of anglers.

rents,wages and prices

The state under native rule took all, or nearly all, the produce of the

land which was not required for the subsistence of

Rents prices!' and the cultivators, and it is only since the value of land

has risen under the more lenient British assessments

that anything in the shape of a margin leviable as rent has been in any

general way available for the owners of land.

The assessment on land, which under Sikh rule was usually taken direct from the cultivator in kind, is now always taken from the owner in cash, and the latter recovers from the tenant, in kind or in cash, an amount which ordinarily ranges from twice to three times the value of the assessment. The usual practice is to take rent in kind at a share of the produce, and 57 per cent, of the rented area of the Province is now subject to some form of kind rent ; but where crops difficult to divide are grown, and in the neighbourhood of towns, or on lands held by occupancy tenants, or in tracts, such as the south-east of the Punjab, where the custom is of some standing, it is not unusual to find rents paid in cash. The exact rate at which a rent in kind is paid is largely a matter of custom ; and such rents, while varying considerably from soil to soil, do not change much from time to time. Cash rents, on the other hand, have necessarily increased with the increase in the prices of agricultural produce ; and the average incidence of such rents has risen from Rs. 1-13-2 per acre in 1880-1, to Rs. 2-6-5 in 1890-1, and Rs. 4-6 in 1900-1.

As nearly one-half of the land in the Punjab is cultivated by the owners themselves, and a fair portion of the rest by owners who pay rent to co-sharers or other owners, the tenant class is neither so large nor so distinctively marked as in the rest of Northern India, and the law affords much less elaborate protection to the tenant than is usual in the United Provinces or in Bengal. A limited number of the tenant class, amounting to nearly one-fifth of the whole, have been marked off by the legislature on certain historical grounds as entitled to rights of occupancy, and the rents of this class cannot be enhanced to a standard higher than 12 1/2 to 75 per cent, (according to circum- stances) in excess of the land revenue. In the case of the reMaining tenants, who hold at will, no limit is fixed to the discretion of the landlord in the matter of enhancement ; but the procedure to be followed in ejectment and the grant of compensation for improvements legally executed are provided for by the law in respect of both classes of tenants.

The figures given in the following table are of interest as showing the direction in which rents are developing :

These statistics are subject to a good many reservations which need not be entered into here ; but they are sufficient to disprove the usual impression that the increase of the landowning population entails a withdrawal of land fr6m tenants, and that with the development of the country the practice of kind rents is disappearing.

With normal prices, the sum required for the food of a labouring family may be taken to be about Rs. 4 1/2 a month, and to this Rs.1 1/2 a month must be added for a reasonable amount of furniture, clothing, and other necessaries. The ordinary unskilled labourer, therefore, looks to get about Rs. 6 a month or its value, and this may be taken as the ordinary rate roughly prevailing. The labourer in a town is usually paid entirely in cash ; in the country he is paid either wholly or partially in kind. The country labourer needs a little more food than the town labourer ; but whereas the latter has house-rent to pay, the former generally obtains his house at little or no expense to himself. The cultivator who rents but does not own land lives at a standard of comfort very little higher than the landless labourer. As his expen- diture, like his income, is almost entirely in grain, and a large part of his food and clothing is produced by himself, it is difficult to estimate his receipts in money ; but it would probably be fair to say that, when the ordinary day labourer receives Rs. 6 a month, the receipts of the cultivator after paying his rent would be represented by something like Rs. 7 or Rs. 8, while if the cultivator were also an owner of land his average income, after payment of Government dues, might be put at Rs. 10, or more. Skilled labourers, such ^is blacksmiths or masons, get about Rs. 16 a month or its equivalent, and carpenters still more. The ordinary vernacular clerk in a com- mercial or Government office will as a rule get something between Rs. 15 and Rs. 20, but on this he has to Maintain a better style of dress and living than men who work with their hands. Wages are now twice or thrice as high as they were in Sikh times, and there has been a progressive rise in recent years. So far as the labourer's food is concerned, its money value has in the last twenty years increased by 30 to 35 per cent., while the other items of his expenditure have decreased in price ; and it would probably be correct

to say that during the same period the labourer's wages have risen from 20 to 25 per cent. With artisans the increase has been larger, or from 25 to 30 per cent.

Although there are large piece-goods and other marts at places like Delhi and Amritsar, no official statistics are Maintained regarding the prices of any but agricultural staples. For these, three classes of data are available : the prices obtained by agriculturists at harvest time at a fair number of towns and large villages in each District ; the whole- sale prices prevailing at the end of each fortnight in six representative cities of the Province ; and the retail prices prevailing at the end of each fortnight at the head-quarters of each District. The differences between the figures obtained under the first and second of these heads are due partly to the cost of carriage, and partly also to the want of capital among agriculturists, which necessitates their selling while the market is still low. To illustrate the difference which prevails between the three classes, an example may be taken from one of the central Districts in 1904, when wheat sold at the country markets at harvest time for Rs. 19-5 per ten maunds, whereas at the head-quarters the average wholesale price for the year was Rs. 21 and the average retail price Rs. 22. In making rough calculations for assessment purposes, it is usual to assume that the agriculturist gets 4 annas per maund of 82 Ib. less than the recorded average retail prices of the year. The rise of prices in the Province at large is best studied in the retail figures, which are available in greater completeness than the others. Table V at the end of this article (p. 383) shows prices for a series of years at Delhi, Amritsar, and Rawalpindi. In wheat, which is the Main staple of the Province, the average rate of increase in the three markets noted is 36-7 per cent, for the period 1880-1900; and if wheat, gram, jowdr, and bajra are dealt with in the proportion in which they are grown, the average joint increase is 35-4 per cent. The mileage of railways within the Province has more than quad- rupled in the same period, and the large rise in prices is doubtless due in the Main to this improvement in communication, accompanied by the opening of foreign markets.

Village life is still simple and possesses few luxuries. All the articles that the people require, except matches, lamps, and kerosene oil, and, most important of all, piece-goods, are made locally, and are much the same as they were before British rule. The wealth which is being accumulated by the people is hoarded, commonly in ornaments, and less usually in cash. The circulation of Punjab circle currency notes rose from 134 lakhs in 1891-2 to 263 in 1903-4, and the deposits in the Postal savings banks increased from 63 to 80 lakhs in the same period. The peasantry, especially the landowners, have a much higher standard of living than they had forty years ago, their increased means

enabling them to travel more, eat better food, wear better clothing, and own more horses, utensils, and jewels. The Sikh Districts of the Central Punjab and the submontane and Himalayan tracts are per- haps the most prosperous. Among the landless labouring classes the increase in general comfort has been marked, owing to the extension of canal-irrigation and the foundation of the Chenab Colony, which has attracted large numbers of labourers from nearly every part of the Province. In the towns cheap European luxuries, such as German watches, patent leather shoes, and bicycles, find a considerable sale, as do American drugs and cigarettes. Round most of the larger towns suburbs are springing up containing villas built in European style with gardens, to which the wealthier classes resort as a change from their close ill-ventilated homes within the ancient walls.

forests

The forests may be divided into two Main classes, those of the hills and those of the plalns. For the most part the forests of the plalns are of the class known as dry forests, growing in tracts of scanty rainfall and poor, sandy, and often salt-impregnated soil. The characteristic trees are the tamarisk or far ash (Tamarix articula1a) the leafless caper or karil (Capparis aphylla) the jand (Prosopis spirigera) the van (Salvadora oleoides), and a few acacias of the species known as klkar in the Punjab and babul in the rest of Northern India (Acacia arabica). Forests of this type, interspersed with large treeless wastes, occupy extensive areas in the Lahore, Montgomery, Multan, Chenab, Jhelum, and Shahpur Forest divisions, where they are estimated to cover an area of about 4,000 square miles. In the Central Punjab large tracts covered with the dhdk (Butea frondosa) are common. As they approach the hills these forests become richer in species, and gradually blend with the deciduous forests of the Lower Himalayas, while to the south and west they give place to the deserts of Rajputana and Sind. On the banks and islands of rivers, and indeed wherever water is near the surface, the shisham (Dalbergia Sissoo) often becomes gregarious, and is of some importance ; and many other species, such as acacias and the black mulberry, are found. The avenues of shisham and other trees planted along roads and canals are an important feature in the scenery of the Province.

The sal tree (Shorea robusta) is found in the small submontane forest of Kalesar in Ambala, in the adjoining State of Sirmur, and in a few scattered areas in Kangra District. This is, however, the extreme wesstern limit of its growth, and it can never be expected to attain any great dimensions. The rocky hills of the Salt Range and Kala-Chitta are in parts covered with an open forest, in which the olive (Olea cuspidatd) and the phuldhl (Acacia modesta) are the prin- cipal trees.

The hill forests fall into groups classified by their elevation. Below 3,000 feet they are composed of scrub and bamboo (Dendrocalamus strictus). The bamboo forests are most important in Kangra, where they cover an area of 14,000 acres ; the scrub forests survive in good condition only in places where they have been protected by closure from grazing. Between 2,500 and 5,000 feet of elevation the chll pine (Pinus hngifolia) is the principal tree. Forests of this tree are found throughout Kangra proper, in the Murree and Kahuta tahslh of Rawal- pindi, and in the lower portions of the valleys of Kulu, Bashahr, and Sirmur. Between 5,000 and 8,000 feet occurs the true zone of the valuable deodar (Cedrus Deodara), which grows either in pure forests or mixed with the blue pine (Pinus excelsa), the silver fir (Abies Web- biana), the spruce (Picea Morinda) and trees of various deciduous species. The principal deodar forests are found in the Parbati valley, and around the head-waters and side streams running into the Beas in Kulii, on either side of the Ravi in Chamba and the Chenab in Pangi, in the valleys of the Sutlej and the tributaries of the Jumna in Bashahr, and in Jubbal. In this zone extensive forests of blue pine, pure or mixed with deodar, also occur, principally in Kulu and Bashahr. Above 8,000 feet, extensive areas, especially in the zone between 9,500 and 12,500 feet, are covered with silver fir, spruce, and trees of various deciduous species. Approaching 12,500 feet, which is about the limit of tree growth, rhododendron, birch, and juniper are found. The grassy slopes which extend from the limit of tree growth to the line of perpetual snow afford pasturage, and shepherds and herdsmen migrate thither annually with their flocks and cattle.

The adininistration of all the more important forests is controlled by the Forest department, under a Conservator. There are twelve Forest divisions, including those of the Bashahr and Chamba States, the forests of which are leased by the Punjab Government. The forests of the Simla Hill States are under the general care of the Simla Forest officer, who advises the chiefs. In 1904 the land under the Forest department amounted to 9,278 square miles, of which 1,916 were completely 'reserved,' 4,909 * protected,' 1,914 'unclassed,' or given over with some restrictions to the use of the public, and 539 ' leased.' There were also 112 square miles of ' reserved ' forest, and square miles of * unclassed,' under the Military department ; and other civil departments had charge of 4 miles of 'reserved,' 10 acres of 'protected/ and 7,033 square miles of 'unclassed' forests, the last being chiefly waste land in the charge of Deputy -Commissioners.

All deodar forests of commercial importance are worked in accor- dance with working-plans, prepared by the Forest department and sanctioned by the Local Government. Under their prescriptions 7,140 deodar trees are allowed to be cut annually, and the annual

yield of deodar timber from the forests under the control of the department is estimated at 659,000 cubic feet. This timber, together with a certain amount of blue pine and chll, is floated down the various rivers to the plalns, where it is sold to railways for sleepers, or to the public. Efforts are now being made to introduce exploitation by private enterprise. The chll forests of Murrce and Kahuta are also under a working-plan, and for those of Kangra a plan is in prepara- tion. In the Kangra forests the chll trees are systematically tapped for resin. The spruce and fir forests are for the present principally of value as grazing grounds, and for supplying local requirements in forest produce. They hold, however, enormous stocks of timber, which may eventually become of commercial value. The scrub forests below 2,500 feet and much of the plalns forests are managed as grazing grounds. The bamboo forests of Kangra form a valuable property, yielding an annual surplus revenue of about Rs. 20,000.

All closed forest areas in the lower hills and in the plalns may be regarded as fuel and fodder reserves. In times of drought such areas are opened to grazing, and if necessary to lopping, so as to enable the people to keep their cattle alive until the occurrence of more favour- able seasons. The area of forest land in the plalns is rapidly decreasing as colonization schemes are extended, and the consequent contraction of fuel and fodder-producing areas may be felt in the future.

Changa Manga in Lahore District contains a plantation of 8,872 acres fully stocked with shisham and mulberry, and there are smaller shlsham plantations at Shahdara in the same District, and at Jullundur, Ludhiana, and Jagadhri. Efforts have been made for many years past to increase the stock of deodar in the hill forests by artificial sowings and plantings, which have been to a certain extent successful.

The wants of the people are fully provided for by the various forest settlements, which record their rights to timber, fuel, grazing, &c., in the Government forests ; and in some places the inhabitants have the first option of taking grazing leases, and buying the grass from the adjoining forests. The relations of the department with the people are satisfactory, and offences against the forest laws are usually trivial and are becoming less numerous.

Attempts are made to protect all the more valuable forests from fire. Fortunately the valuable deodar forests are but little exposed to this danger, but the chil forests become highly inflammable in the kot season. The local population at first resented the restrictions imposed by fire conservancy, and many cases of wilful firing of forests used to occur ; but such occurrences are now happily less frequent, and the people often give willing help in extinguishing fires in Government forests.

The financial results of the working of the department are shown in the following table :

Forest revenue is principally realized from the sale of deodar timber, which produces about 6 lakhs annually, sales of other timber amount- ing to only Rs. 60,000. The other chief items are sale of fuel (Rs. 4,60,000), and grazing and grass (Rs. 1,64,000).

Mines and minerals

The Punjab is not rich in minerals ; and nearly all its mineral wealth is found in the hills, the only products of the alluvium being kankar or nodular limestone, salt- petre, carbonate of soda, and sal-ammoniac.

Saltpetre is found on the sites of used and disused habitations, generally associated with the chlorides of sodium, magnesium, or potassium, and the sulphates of sodium, potassium, or calcium. The initial process of manufacture, which consists in allowing water to per- colate slowly through the nitrous earth, results in a solution not merely of nitre but of all the associated salts. The separation of the nitre from the rest is the work of the refiner. Refineries exist all over the Province and pay an annual licence fee of Rs. 50, while for the initial process the fee is Rs. 2. Saltpetre is exported to Europe, and is also largely used in India in the manufacture of fireworks and gunpowder for blasting. In 1903-4 there were 35 refineries in the Punjab. These produced 73,917 cwt. of refined saltpetre, the out-turn being nearly 41 per cent! of the crude substance. Impure salt (sittd) to the amount of 58,322 cwt. was also educed, the out-turn being over 32 per cent, of the saltpetre so utilized. Of this amount, only 4,091 cwt. were excised at Rs. 1-5-9 per cwt. (R. i a maund), 54,496 cwt. being destroyed. Pure salt is not educed. A large saltpetre refinery exists at Okara in Montgomery District.

The only other important mineral product of the plalns is kankar, or conglomerated nodules of limestone, used for metalling roads, which is found in most parts. Carbonate of soda (barilla) is made from the ashes of various wild plants, chiefly in the west and south-west of the Province. Sal-ammoniac is manufactured in Karnal, by burning bricks made of the clay found in ponds and heating the greyish substance which exudes from them in closed retorts.

The most valuable mineral is rock-salt, which, with gypsum, forms immense beds in the Salt Range. It is worked in that range at KHEWRA and NURPUR in Jhelum District, at KALABAGH in Mianwali, and at WAREHA in Shahpur. Salt is also manufactured at Sultanpur, in Gurgaon

District, by evaporation of the saline subsoil water. Salt, dark in colour and containing a large proportion of earth and other impurities, is quarried at Drang and Guma in the State of Mandl. The total amount of salt made and sold in the Punjab rose from 79,295 tons in 1880-1 to 84,338 tons in 1890-1, 94,824 tons in 1900-1, and 105,163 tons in 1903-4. The average output of the Salt Range and Mandl mines in the six years 1898-1903 was 93,698 tons, of which 89,023 came from the Salt Range; the output of the Salt Range in 1904 was 99,192 tons. Large deposits of gypsum occur in Spiti and Kanawar, but too inac- cessible to be at present of any economic value.

Although the existence of coal at numerous points throughout the Salt Range had long been recognized, no attempts were made to work it until recently, except at the large colliery near Dandot in Jhelum District. Within the last few years, however, prospecting licences have been taken out at Kalabagh on the Indus in Mianwali District, a few other places in J helum, and Sandral in Shah pur ; and great hopes are entertained that the coal will prove to be of a paying quality. The Dandot Mines have been worked since 1884 by the North- Wesstern Railway. There is only one seam of coal, which outcrops at various points along the hill-side at a mean distance of 300 feet below the limestone scarp, which here rise.s 2,300 feet above sea-level. The seam averages 2 feet 9 inches in thickness, and is' worked on the long- wall system, ail the coal being taken out in one operation. The mines are entered by level or inclined tunnels from the hill-side, the longest stretching 900 yards under the hill. From the mouth of each tunnel the coal is conveyed on an inclined tramway to the edge of the hill, whence a funicular railway runs down the cliff to the North-Wesstern terminus at Dandot. The coal is classed as a bituminous lignite, and, though low in fixed carbon, has a relatively high calorific value. About 1,500 men are employed on the mines, at a daily wage of 8 annas for a miner and 3-| or 4^ annas for a cooly. The workers are chiefly agriculturists, who leave the mines when their fields clalm all their time, to return to them again when the crops need less attention. Very few can really be called miners. Makranis were at one time imported from Karachi, but the experiment was not a success. In 1891 the out-turn was 60,703 tons, in 1901 67,730, and in 1904 45,594 tons. In 1901 it was estimated that three million tons reMained to be worked.

There are no gold-mines in the Punjab, but gold-washing is carried on at various places in the upper reaches of most of the rivers. The industry is not remunerative, a hard day's work producing gold to the value of only 2 or 4 annas 1 . The total recorded output in 1904 was 370 oz.

Iron is found in Kangra District at several points along the Dhaola 1 Punjab Products, by Baden Powell, pp. 12, 13.

Dheir, in the form of crystals of magnetic oxide of iron imbedded in decomposed and friable mica schists. The supply is practically inex- haustible, and the quality of the ore is equal to the best Swedish iron. The remoteness of the tract, combined with difficulties of carriage and absence of fuel, have hitherto prevented smelting on a large scale. Besides iron, antimony ore is found. Iron mines are also worked at Kot Khai in Simla, and in the Hill States of Jubbal, Bashahr, Mandi, and Suket. Sirmur State possesses several iron mines, but they are not worked owing to their inaccessibility and the poor quality of the ore.

Copper was formerly smelted in considerable quantities in various parts of the Outer Himalayas in Kulii, where a killas-like rock persists along the whole range, and is known to be copper-bearing. Veins of galena and of copper pyrites occur in the Lower Himalayas, in KulCi, and in the Simla Hill States ; and stibnite is found at Shigri in the valley of the Chandra river in Lahul.

There are quarries at Bakhli in the State of Mandi, near Kanhiara in Kangra District, and throughout Kulu, which turn out a good quality of slate. A quarry at Kund in the Rewari tahsil of Gurgaon is worked under European management, but the slate and flake are not of good quality.

Petroleum springs occur in Attock District, and in the hills to the south-east, but the average recorded output during the six years ending 1903 was only 1,674 gallons. In 1904 the output was 1,658 gallons.

Near Kalabagh in Mianwali District, on the Indus, considerable quantities of a pyritous shale are extracted for the production of alum, but the mining is carried on in an irregular and fitful way. The output was estimated in 1898 to amount to 750 tons, and to only 129 tons in 1904.

Arts and manufactures

Cotton-spinning is the great domestic industry of the Province, coarse cotton cloth being woven by hand in almost every village. In 1901 the number of persons returned as supported by cotton-

weavin in british territory was 778,947, of whom 

322,944 were actual workers and 456,003 dependents. The coarse country cloth is strongly woven and wears well, and is not likely to be entirely displaced by the machine-made article for some time to come. Finer qualities are also manufactured, but these in- clude only longcloths and damasks, white or coloured, with woven patterns. Muslin (tanzeb} is made in small quantities at Delhi and Rohtak. The longcloths, when checked and of thick material, are called khes, and when striped are termed stlsi, the latter being made of machine-spun yarn with sometimes a few silk threads in the warp. The lungl or pagrt is a long narrow strip of cotton cloth worn by men round the head as a turban or as a band round the waist. Beautiful

khes are made in the South-West and Central Punjab. The gabruns of Ludhiana closely resemble similar goods made in Europe, and its lungis^ imitations of those made in Peshawar, are famous. The lungis of Shahpur and Multan are more ornate. A special cloth made of a mixture of cotton and wool called garbi lot is woven in Gurdaspur District and exported all over India. The glazed fabrics of Jul- lundur, especially the diaper called ghati or bulbulchashm or ' nightin- gale's eye,' are also famous. Cotton rugs, dan's or shatranjis are turned out at Lahore and Ambala. Cotton-pile carpets are made at Multan, but recent productions indicate that a crude scheme of colours has ruined the beauty of this manufacture. Cotton-printing is carried on in many parts of the Punjab, and the productions of Kot Kamalia, Sultanpur, and Lahore ar6 especially famous. The printing is done by hand by means of small wooden blocks. Within recent years fairly large quantities have been exported to Europe and America, but the trade is declining owing to the fashion having changed.

Sheep's wool is largely produced in the plalns, and is woven or felted into blankets and rugs. Dera Ghazi Khan and Bhera produce coloured felts (namdas) in considerable quantities. The finest wool is that of Hissar, and the wesstern Districts also produce a fair quality. Some of the wool worked up in the Province is imported from Australia, most of this being utilized by the power-loom mills at Dhariwal. Of greater interest, , however, are the manufactures of pashm> the fine hair of the Tibetan goat. This is imported through Kashmir, Kulu, and Bashahr, and supplies Ludhiana, Simla, Kangra, Amritsar, and Gujrat, the chief seats of artistic woollen manufacture. The industry dates from early in the nineteenth century, when famine drove numbers of artisans from Kashmir to seek a home in the Punjab. Real Kashmir shawls continued to be made until the Franco-German War, when the demand ceased ; and the manufacture of pashmina, or piece-goods made from pashm, is now confined to alwdns or serges, curtains, and ordinary shawls. In many Districts sacking, coarse blankets, and rugs are made of goats' and camels' hair.

Practically the whole of the silk used in the Punjab is imported from China. It is woven in most parts, the chief centres being Amritsar, Lahore, Patiala, Batala, Multan, Bahawalpur, Delhi, and Jullundur, where both spinning and weaving are fairly important industries. The articles manufactured may be divided into three classes : woven fabrics of pure silk, woven fabrics of silk and cotton, and netted fabrics of silk or silk and cotton, of which the second are being turned out in largely increasing quantities. Turbans and waist- bands (lungis) of cotton cloth with silk borders woven on to them are also very largely made. Netted silk is made in the form of fringes, tassels, girdles, paijama strings, &c.

Many kinds of wearing apparel are decorated with embroidery. The wraps called phulkaris ('flower-work') are in most Districts embroidered with silk, and the industry has grown from a purely domestic one into a considerable trade, large numbers being exported to Europe for table-covers and hangings. Very similar are the orhnas of Hissar, which are embroidered in wool or cotton. Delhi is the centre of the trade in embroideries, in which gold and silver wire, as well as silk thread, is largely used, on silk, satin, and velvet. The purity of the manufacture is guaranteed by the municipality, which supervises the manufacture, fees being paid by the artisans to cover expenses. This practice, a relic of native rule, is highly popular among the workmen, who thereby get a guarantee for the purity of their wares. The embroidery is applied chiefly to caps, shoes, belts, uniforms, turbans, elephant trappings and the like, besides table covers and similar articles of European use.

The carpet- weaving of Amritsar is a flourishing and important indus- try, and its products are exported to all parts of the world. Pashm is used for the finest carpets, and the work is all done by hand. Woollen carpets used to be made at Multan, but owing to the com- petition of Amritsar the industry is now confined to the manufacture of mats. Felt mats called namdas are made of unspun wool and embroidered.

Ornaments are universally worn, and Punjabi women display jewellery as lavishly as those in any other part of the plalns of India. It has been estimated that Amritsar city alone contains jewels to the value of two millions sterling, and the workers in precious metals in the Province considerably outnumber those in iron and steel. Gold is Mainly confined to the wealthier classes, and is not largely worn by them except on special occasions ; whereas silver ornaments are in daily use by all but the poorer classes. The late Mr. Baden Powell l gave a list of ninety-nine names for ornaments used in the Punjab, and the list is by no means exhaustive ; it includes ornaments for the head, forehead, ears, nose, neck, arms, and waist, with bracelets, anklets, and rings for the toes and fingers in great variety. The general character of the gold- and silver-work is rough and unfinished. Superior work is turned out at Amritsar and Delhi, and at the latter place a good deal of jewellery is made for the European market.

Iron is largely smelted in Kangra and Simla Districts, but the out- turn is insignificant compared with the amount imported into the Punjab. Lahore used to be famous for the manufacture of weapons, but the industry is now extinct. In Gujranwala and at Bhera in Shahpur District cutlery is made, but the production is irregular. 1 Punjab Manufactures, pp. 181-4.

The finish of these articles, though not perfect, is better than the quality of the steel, which is tough but deficient in hardness. Dama- scening or inlaying small articles of iron with gold wire is carried on in Sialkot and Gujrat Districts. Agricultural implements are made by village blacksmiths, who are also often carpenters. In Lahore ironwork has been considerably improved under the influence of the North-Wesstern Railway workshops.

All the brass and copper used is, in the first instance, imported, chiefly from Europe. Formerly copper was obtained from Kabul, but the import has entirely ceased. Various copper and zinc ores, found in the Kulu hills and other parts of the Himalayas, used to be mined, but the imported metals are so cheap that there is no immediate likelihood of trie mines being reopened. European spelter, chiefly German, has long since driven the Chinese zinc out of the market. Both yellow and grey brass (or bell metal) are manufactured in the Punjab. Brass-ware is either hammered or cast ; copper-ware is either cast or made of sheet copper soldered together. The industry is limited to the manufacture of domestic utensils, which are only roughly ornamented. The chief centres of the manufacture are the towns of Rewari, Delhi, Jagadhri, Panipat, Gujranwala, Amritsar, Pind Dadan Khan, and various places in Sialkot District.

Rough unglazed pottery is made in nearly every village, the potters being generally village menials who supply the villagers' requirements in return for a fixed share of the harvest. Unglazed pottery of a rather better kind is made at Jhajjar, and thin or * paper' pottery at Panipat, Jhajjar, Jullundur, Tanda, and a few other places. Glazed pottery is made at Multan. Originally confined to the manufacture of tiles, there is now a large trade in flower-pots, plaques, vases, &c. The predominant colours are light and dark blue, brown, and green. Porcelaln of disintegrated felspathic earth, mixed with gum, is made at Delhi. China clay is found near Delhi and in the Himalayas, but has not hitherto been utilized. The manufacture of glass is Mainly confined to the production of glass bangles. Bottles, glasses, mirrors, lamps, lamp-chimneys, and other articles are made at Karnal, Kangra, Hoshiarpur, Lahore, and Delhi.

Wood-carving as an indigenous art is almost entirely arehitectural, being devoted to doors and doorways, balconies and bow windows. Apart from the hill work, which has a character of its own, the wood- carving of the Punjab may be divided into three styles : the earliest or Hindu, the Muhammadan, and the modern Sikh style. Examples of the Hindu work are to be seen principally in the large towns, particu- larly at Lahore. The forms used are fantastic, tassel shapes, pendants, and bosses being predominant ; but the style, except for a very recent revival, may be said to be extinct. With the Muhammadans came the

development of lattice-work or pinjra y which is to this day the charac- teristic feature of Punjab wood decoration. Most of the old doorways and bukharehas to be seen in frequent profusion in the old towns belong, broadly speaking, to this style of work. The Sikh style, the work of the present day, may be said to be a modern adaptation of the Muhammadan, with occasional Hindu influence underlying it. It is characterized by clear-cut carving, broad treatment, and as a rule fairly good joinery. The best wood-carvers are to be found at Amritsar, Ehera, Chiniot, and Batala. Of late years the European demand has led to this handicraft being largely applied to small articles of decorative furniture.

Inlald work is also of Muhammadan origin, and was probably intro- duced from Arabia. The chief centres are Hoshiarpur and Chiniot. The wood inlay- work of Hoshiarpur has a high local reputation, and is capable of considerable development. For many years pen-cases, walking-sticks, mirror-cases, and the low chauki, or octagonal table, common in the Punjab and probably of Arab introduction, have been made here in shlsham wood, inlald with ivory and brass. Since 1880 tables, cabinets, and other objects have also been made, and a trade has sprung up which seems likely to expand.

Turned wood ornamented with lac in various combinations of colours is produced in almost every village. Pakpattan has more than a local reputation for this work, while a family in Ferozepore produces a superior quality.

Furniture after European patterns is made in every station and cantonment, the best-known centres being Gujrat and Kartarpur in Jullundur District. Gujrat is known for its wooden chairs, chiefly made of shisham, the supply of which is abundant.

Ivory-carving is practically confined to the cities of Amritsar, Delhi, and Patiala ; but at the latter place it has greatly declined. Combs, essential to the attire of an orthodox Sikh, are made in large quantities at Amritsar, where paper-cutters and card-cases ornamented with geo- metrical open-work patterns, of some delicacy of execution but no great interest of design, are also made. The ivory-carving of Delhi is of a high order of excellence, and miniature painting on ivory is also carried on. Ivory bangles are turned in several Districts, the chief being Amritsar, Dera Ghazi Khan, Gujranwala, Multan, and Lahore. Billiard-balls are made at Ludhiana.

The manufacture of paper is now confined almost entirely to the jails. Sialkot was famous in Mughal and Sikh times for its paper, but the industry has greatly declined owing to the competition of jail- made and mill-made paper; and this is also the case at Multan. Gunny-bags, matting, rope, baskets, blinds, and the like are largely made of various fibrous plants all over the Province.

The decade ending 1900 witnessed a striking extension of industrial enterprise. In the cotton industry there were, in 1904, 114 steam factories for ginning and pressing cotton, compared with 12 in 1891, and 6 in 1881. The produce of these factories is still for the most part exported abroad, or to other Provinces in India. The Punjab contains eight cotton-spinning and weaving mills, of which six have been started since 1891, and a good deal of the Punjab-grown cotton is utilized in the Province. The following table shows their recent development :

These mills have a nominal capital of 60 lakhs. The out-turn of yarn has steadily increased since 1895-6, but that of woven goods shows a tendency to decrease, as appears from the following figures, which give the out-turn in pounds :

The commonest counts spun are 13’8, 11's, 15's, 16's, and l2's, in the order given, and these amounted to 8 1/2 of the 9-6 million pounds spun in 1901-2. The goods woven are almost all grey. The esti- mated out-turn of cleaned cotton in 1903 was 104,496,400!lb, of which more than one-fourth was exported. While the Punjab is of consider- able importance as a cotton-producing Province, the staple is short, varying from -1/2 to 3/4 of an inch, and occupies a low position in the market.

The Egerton Woollen Mills, established at Dharfwal in 1880, are the only woollen mills in the Province. The company has a nomi- nal capital of Rs. 12,00,000. Its progress is shown by the following figures :

In 1903-4 the mills turned out broadcloths, blankets, greatcoats, serges, flannels, tweeds, lots and shawls, travelling rugs, knitting yarns,

braids, Berlin wool, socks, caps, gloves, and other kinds of knitted goods to the amount of 572,061 lb., valued at Rs. 7,30,118. The native shawl- weaving industry and manufacture of pattii and blankets have not been much affected by foreign imports.

The Province contains eight breweries, from which nearly 2,000,000 gallons of malt liquors were issued in 1903-4. In 1904 there were 15 ice factories worked by steam, compared with 4 in 1891. The number of indigo factories decreased from 27 to 12. There were, in 1891, two distilleries for the manufacture of spirits according to the European method, but the number has now risen to six. In 1903-4, 273,102 gallons (London proof) of spirits were issued from these. Most of the spirit is made from sugar, but some is whisky distilled from barley malt.

There were 5 private iron foundries in 1904 : namely, three at Delhi, one at Lahore, and one at Sialkot. Steel trunks and boxes are made in large numbers at Multan, Lahore, and Sialkot. At the place last mentioned surgical instruments are made by an enterprising firm. The most important iron-works, however, are the North-Wesstern Railway workshops at Lahore.

Factory operatives are protected by the Indian Factories Act, revibed rules under which were promulgated in 1892. The orders of the In- spectors have been enforced without difficulty, and very few prosecutions under the Act have been necessary. In 1892 there were 34 factories in which steam-power was used. The number has now risen to 175. While the conditions of labour of the mill operatives has been de- cidedly improved, it does not appear that there has been any tendency for wages either to rise or fall during the last ten years. The highest rates are paid in the Government workshops on the North-Wesstern Railway, where many skilled mechanics are employed. The ordinary rates in private factories are 3 annas to 5 annas a day for male operatives ; 2 annas to 4 annas for women and children ; and from Rs. 30 to Rs. 60 a month for skilled mechanics.

The condition of skilled artisans in the indigenous industries of the Punjab, such as carpet-weavers, leather-workers, brass-workers, is not favourable. The capitalists in some cities formerly safeguarded their interests by a trade practice, according to which, when a workman left one employer for another, the second employer was held to be liable to the first to the extent of all advances received, and the thraldom of the artisan to the second employer was Maintained. This trade practice has recently been declared illegal by several decisions of the Chief Court, and the growing competition among capitalists for the service of workmen is beginning to have its natural effect in strengthening the position of the artisan. The present transitional stage from the guild or caste system to the system of free competition between capital and labour

is one of much interest to the student of sociology. The change is, however, as yet only in its initial stages, and has scareely affected the village artisans, who still receive their customary dues in kind, and are almost as much dependent on the nature of the harvests as the agri- culturists themselves. In towns also the hereditary nature of many caste industries, and the tradition of preserving the trade secrets within the trade caste, still continue. The freedom to learn where and what one wills has not yet been obtained, but is being gradually brought about by the competition of capital for labour, by the industrial schools, and by the introduction of steam-power and factory labour, which, having no caste tradition, is open to all.

Commerce and trade

Prior to annexation the Punjab proper had practically no trade with the rest of India. It had , no surplus agricultural produce to export, and the anarehy which ensued on the decay of the Mughal empire was an effectual barrier to commercial

enterprise. Ranjlt Singh's policy aimed at excluding British traders from his kingdom, while the earliest efforts of the British Government were directed to opening up the water-way of the Indus. Since annexation the security afforded to person and property, the improvement of communications, and above all the extension of canal-irrigation, have vastly developed the agricultural resources of the Province.

The Main source of the wealth of the Punjab lies in its export of wheat, of which the largest amounts exported were 550,911 tons in 1891-2,457,991 in 1894-5,493,826 in 1898-9 ', 623,745 in 1901-2, 536,374 in 1902-3, and 877,022 in 1903-4. Next to wheat, raw cotton is the principal export, and besides wheat inferior grains are exported on a large scale, chiefly to Southern Europe. During the ten years ending 1900 the value of the agricultural produce exported exceeded that of the amount imported by an average of nearly 438 lakhs a year, a sum which considerably exceeds the total land revenue, with cesses and irrigation rates, levied in the Province.

Among imports, cotton piece-goods, European and Indian, stand first. The imports of the former fluctuate greatly. Valued at 218 lakhs in 1890-1, they had fallen to 190 lakhs in 1900-1, but rose to 253 lakhs in 1901-2, falling again to 231 lakhs in 1903-4. Indian-made piece- goods, however, tend to oust the European, the imports of the former having increased threefold in value between 1891 and 1904. In the case of twist and yarn this tendency is even more marked. The other considerable imports are iron and steel, sugar, wool (manufactured),

1 All figures for years prior to 1900-1 on pp. 321-3 include the trade of the North- West Frontier Province, whether internal or external (i.e. within India or with other Asiatic countries, including Kashmir), and those for the subsequent years its internal trade alone.

gunny-bags and cloth, dyes and tans, and liquors. Wheat and gram are also imported in times of scareity. The well-to-do classes in the Punjab consume wheaten bread, even when wheat is at famine prices, and are not content with a cheaper grain. Hence the imports of wheat vary inversely with the out-turn of the local wheat harvest. In the pros- perous year 1898-9 the value of the wheat imported was only 6 lakhs : the poor harvest of 1899-1900 raised it to 29 lakhs, and, the scareity continuing into 1900-1, to over 41 lakhs in the latter year. Good harvests in 1901-2 and 1903-4 reduced it to 8 and 10 lakhs respec- tively. The import statistics of the coarser and cheaper food-grains, such as gram and pulse, are an index to the purchasing power of the poorer classes. Less than 8-| lakhs in value in 1898-9, the imports of these grains exceeded 87 lakhs in 1899-1900, falling to 39 lakhs in 1900-1 and 5-5- in 1903-4, The figures show that in periods of acute distress the poorer classes are compelled to fall back on inferior grains, until better harvests and lower prices permit them to resume their wheaten diet.

The development of the export trade in wheat has created new centres of trade, in places favourably situated on the lines of com- munication, especially on the Southern Punjab Railway and on the line from Wazirabad through the Chenab Colony. Along the former large grain markets have been established at Rohtak, Kaithal, 13ha- tinda, and Abohar. The last named, ten years ago a petty agricul- tural village, has now become a considerable trade centre, and has attracted much of the wheat trade from Fazilka. In the Chenab Colony important trade marts have been established at Gojra, Lyallpur, Sangla, Chiniot Road, and Toba Tek Singh. Kasiir in Lahore District has likewise benefited at the expense of Ferozepore. Imports are distri- buted chiefly through the cities and larger towns, such as Delhi, Lahore, Amritsar, and Multan. A Punjab Chamber of Commerce, with its head-quarters at Delhi, has recently been established.

The trading castes are the Khattris in the centre and north, the Banias in the east, and the Aroras in the west. The village trader is the collecting and distributing agent, but he almost always combines money-lending with shopkeeping. Nearly every cultivator is his client, and to him much of the agricultural produce of the village is handed over at a low price, to liquidate debts which have sometimes accumu- lated for generations. To this, however, there are notable exceptions, the Sikh and Hindu Jats being often themselves keen traders. More- over, in the case of wheat, the exporter often deals direct with the cultivator, and in the east of the Province many cultivators in the slack season fill their carts with produce and set out to sell it in the best market they can find. Most towns are centres for the collection of agricultural produce, and, as mentioned above, many

large grain markets have been established along the lines of rail. These usually have the advantage of being free from municipal octroi duties which, in spite of the system of refunds and bonded warehouses for goods in transit, more or less hamper commerce. No statistics are available to show the volume of this internal trade.

The trade outside the Province is almost entirely with other Pro- vinces and States in India, the amount that comes over the passes from Central Asia being relatively insignificant. More than 90 per cent, of the recorded exports and a still higher proportion of tKe imports are carried by rail, the reMainder being borne partly by rail and partly by boat on the Indus to and from Sind and Karachi. The bulk of the trade of the Province is with Karachi, which in 1903-4 sent 37 per cent, of the imports and received 54 per cent, of the exports. Bombay and Calcutta together accounted for 27 per cent, of the imports and 14 per cent, of the exports, and the United Provinces for 23 per cent, of the imports and 19 per cent, of the exports. Wheat, raw cotton, oilseeds, hides, raw wool, and a certain amount of inferior grains go to Karachi, in exchange for cotton and woollen piece-goods, sugar, metals, and railway plant and rolling stock. The trade with the other seaport towns is on the same lines. Bombay takes a large amount of raw cotton, and sends silk, tea, and tobacco. Hides and skins, leather, dyes, and tans go largely to Calcutta, whence comes a great deal of the wearing apparel, jute, and woollen piece-goods imported. Cotton and woollen manufactured goods are exported to the United Provinces, which send sugar, coal and coke (from Bengal), ghi, gram, and pulse.

The trade with Kashmir is partly by the Jammu- Kashmir Railway, and partly by the roads leading into the Districts of Gurdaspur, Sialkot, Gtijrat, Jhelum, and Rawalpindi in the Punjab and Ha/ara in the North-West Frontier Province. In Table VII attached to this article (p. 385) the figures for 1903-4 exclude the trade through Hazara, now a District of the North-West Frontier Province. The trade with Ladakh passes either through Kashmir or over the Bara Lacha (pass) into the Kulu subdivision of Kangra. The chief imports from Kashmir are rice and other grains, ght, timber, oilseeds, manufactured wool, raw silk, hides and skins, and fruits ; and the chief exports to Kashmir are cotton piece-goods, wheat, metals, tea, sugar, salt, and tobacco. Charas, borax, and ponies are the principal imports from Ladakh, and metals and piece-goods are the chief exports thither.

The direct trade with countries beyond India is small, being confined to that with Chinese Tibet, and an insignificant trade with Kabul through Dera Ghazi Khan. Trade from Chinese Tibet either comes down the Hindustan-Tibet road to Simla, or enters Kulu from Ladakh or through Spiti. The chief imports are raw wool and borax, and the

chief exports are cotton piece-goods and metals. The chief imports from Kabul are fruit, gfa, and raw wool ; the chief exports are piece- goods, rice, leather, and sugar. The trade with Kabul, which passes down the Main trade routes, as well as that with Tirah, Swat, Dir, Bajaur, and Buner, is registered in the North-West Frontier Province ; much, however, passes through to the Punjab, and beyond it to the Lower Provinces of India.

Communications

The Punjab is well provided with railways. Karachi, its natural port near the mouths of the Indus in Sind, is directly connected with

the Punjab by the broad-gauge North- Wesstern State

Railway from Lahore. Delhi is m direct communi- cation with Karachi by another line passing through Rewari and Merta Road Junctions, and also by the Southern Punjab Railway, which runs along the southern border of the Province to join the Karachi line at Samasata. Karachi has recently been brought into closer contact with Ludhiana by the new branch of the Southern Punjab Railway from Ludhiana via Ferozepore and M c Leodganj Road, The north-west corner of the Province is directly connected with Karachi by the branches of the North- Wesstern Railway, which leave the Main line at Campbellpur, Golra, and Lala Musa and converge at Kundian, whence the Sind-Sagar branch follows the east bank of the Indus and joins the Karachi branch at Sher Shah. The new Wazlrabad- Khanewal line taps the fertile Chenab Colony in the Rechna Doab and also connects with Karachi via Multan. The Jech Doab line commences from Malakwal, a station on the Sind-Sagar branch of the North-Wesstern Railway, and ends at the Shorkot Road station of the Wazlrabad-Khanewal branch. Another small line is under construction from Shahdara, 3 miles north of Lahore, to Sangla Hill on the Wazirabad-Khanewal Railway. It will serve as an outlet to the immense grain traffic in the interior of the Chenab Colony.

In the east of the Province the country is covered with a network of branch lines, of which the Delhi-Umballa-Kalka, Simla-Kalka, Rajpura- Bhatinda, Bhatinda-Ferozepore, and Ludhiana-Dhuri-Jakhal are the most important. The Rewari- Bhatinda-Fazilka (metre-gauge) State Railway links up the important junction of Bhatinda with the Raj- putana-Malwa line, which also connects with Delhi. The Delhi-Agra branch of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway has recently been opened. In the centre of the Province a branch of the North-Wesstern Railway, recently opened, connects Amritsar with Patti, a town in Lahore District.

The oldest railway is that from Amritsar to Lahore, opened in 1862. That from Multan to Lahore linked up the capital with the Indus Flotilla in 1865; but it was not till 1878 that its extension north- westwards began, and only in 1883 was through communication from

Peshawar to Calcutta and Bombay established. Meanwhile Amritsar and Rewari had been linked with Delhi in 1870 and 1873 respectively ; and, though no farther extensions were made till 1883, progress was rapid after that year. In 1891 the Province contained 2,189 miles of railway, which increased to 3,086 in 1901 and 3,325 miles in 1904. In the latest year the total was distributed under broad gauge, 2,757 miles; metre gauge, 380; and narrow gauge, 198 miles.

The greater portion of the railways in the Punjab is worked by the North-Wesstern State Railway, which included 2,585 miles on the broad gauge, and 138 on narrow gauges in 1904. In January, 1886, when the contract of the Sind, Punjab, and Delhi Railway Company expired, Government took over that line and amalgamated it with the Indus Valley, t'he Punjab Northern State Railways, and the Sind-Sagar branch into one imperial system called the North- Wesstern State Railway. The Amritsar-Pathankot Railway, which originally belonged to the Local Government, was transferred to the North-Wesstern Railway in 1892. The Rajpura-Bhatinda, Ludhiana- Dhuri-Jakhal, and Jammu-Kashmir Railways were built respectively by the Patiala, the Maler Kotla and Jind, and the Kashmir States, but are worked by the North-wesstern Railway, with which has also been amalgamated the Southern Punjab Railway. The management of the Kalka-Simla Railway was taken over by the North-Wesstern Railway on January 1, 1907.

The railways in the Punjab may be classed under two heads, com- mercial and military. The commercial section of the North-Wesstern Railway cost on an average Rs. 1,32,000 per mile to construct, inclusive of the worked lines and the Amritsar-Pathankot Railway. The worked lines cost on an average Rs. 55,000 per mile to construct, and the Amritsar-Pathankot Railway Rs. 82,000 per mile. In 1904 the Punjab had one mile of rail to every 40 square miles of territory. The only Districts not yet traversed by a railway are Dera Ghazi Khan, Kangra, and Hoshiarpur. The strategical value of the railway system lies chiefly in the facilities it offers for the transport of troops to the north-west frontier of India; the commercial value lies Mainly in the export of cotton, grain (especially wheat), and oilseeds to Karachi. Combined with the canals the railways have revolutionized economic conditions, the former inducing the production of wheat on a vast scale, and the latter placing it on the world's markets. Further, their combined effect renders the Province, as a whole, secure from serious food-famines. In 1899-1900 the canal-irrigated tracts formed a granary whence grain was distributed by the railways. The railways also tend to equalize prices in all parts of the Province and from year to year, but it may be doubted whether by themselves they have raised prices generally. It is, however, true that they are tending to erase local

variations in speech, dress, manners, and customs, and to obliterate the few restrictions which the caste system in the Punjab imposes on the ordinary intercourse of daily life.

The chief road is a continuation of the grand trunk road, which, starting at Calcutta, runs through Northern India to Delhi. Thence, in the Punjab, it passes through Karnal, Ambala, Ludhiana, Jullundur, Amritsar, Lahore, Jhelum, Rawalpindi, and Attock, where it enters the North-West Frontier Province and ends at Peshawar, with a total length of 587 miles, metalled and bridged throughout. The section from Karnal to Ludhiana was made in 1852, but that from Phillaur to the Beas was only completed in 1860-1. From the Beas to Lahore the road was opened in 1853, and thence to Peshawar in 1863-4. It runs alongside the railway, and still continues to carry a certain amount of slow traffic. The other roads are Mainly important as feeders to the railway system. On the north the chief routes are the Hindustan-Tibet road, which runs from the Shipki Pass on the frontier of the Chinese empire to the railway termini at Simla and Kalka ; the Kangra Valley cart-road, which brings down tea and other hill products to Pathankot ; the Dalhousie-Pathankot road ; and the Murree-Rawalpindi road, which now forms the Main route from Kashmir. All these, except the Dal- housie road, are metalled, and all are practicable for wheeled traffic, except that part of the Tibet road which lies north of Simla. In the centre of the Province a metalled road runs in a loop from Lahore via Kasur and Ferozepore to Ludhiana, where it rejoins the grand trunk road. The other metalled roads are merely short feeders of local importance connecting outlying towns, such as Hoshiarpur and Kapiir- thala, with the railways. As feeders and for local traffic unmetalled roads suffice for the requirements of the people, and the construction of metalled roads has accordingly been of recent years subordinated to that of railways, at least in the plalns. Thus in 1880-1 the Province contained 1,381 miles of metalled roads; and though in 1900-1 the mileage had risen to 1,916, in 1903-4 it was only 2,054, compared with 20,874 of unmetalled roads. All roads, except 147 miles of strategic roads in Dera Ghazi Khan District, are Maintained from Provincial or District funds. Most of the important metalled roads are Provincial, while unmetalied roads are Maintained by District boards, their metalled roads being often made over to the Public Works department for Maintenance. The total annual expenditure on land communications is about 4 lakhs for original works, and 10 to 12 lakhs for repairs.

The chief means of transport of goods by road is the bullock-cart. This is a heavy substantial vehicle without springs or tires, and made by any village carpenter. It is drawn by a pair of bullocks at the rate of 2 miles an hour, and 10 to 15 miles are reckoned a fair day's

journey. It will stand the roughest usage and the worst roads, and only in the hills and in the sandy tracts does its weight render its use impossible. In the sandy deserts bordering on the Blkaner desert, and in the Sind-Sagar Doab, including the Salt Range, the camel is the chief means of transport of merchandise, while in the Himalayas goods are carried on mules or by bearers. For passengers by road the light springless cart known as the ekka is the almost universal means of locomotion ; it will carry four to six passengers, and go at the average rate of 5 miles an hour. On metalled roads, the ‘ tumtum’, a vehicle with springs not unlike a dog-cart, is much in use. On the important cart-roads to the hills regular passenger services are Maintained by means of a two-wheeled carriage called a ' tonga,' drawn by two ponies ; at every 4 miles there are 'stages at which ponies are changed, and journeys are performed at the rate of about 8 miles an hour. Regular services of bullock-carts are also Maintained on these roads.

All the great rivers are navigable in the rains ; and the Indus and the lower reaches of the Jhelum, Chenab, and Sutlej are navigable throughout the year. Except on the Indus, timber is the most impor- tant article of commerce transported by this means. There is a con- siderable trade on the Indus with Sind. Navigation on all rivers is entirely by means of rude country craft, the Indus Steam Navigation Flotilla having ceased to exist some twenty years ago. The grand trunk road crosses the Ravi, Jhelum, and Indus by roadways attached to the railway bridges, and the Chenab by a footway ; and roadways cross the Sutlej between Lahore and Ferozepore, and the Chenab between Multan and Muzaffargarh. There is a bridge of boats on the Ravi near Lahore ; and the Indus is crossed by bridges of boats at Khushalgarh, Dera Ismall Khan, and Dera Ghazi Khan, the two latter replaced by steam ferries in the summer. All the rivers are provided with ferries at frequent intervals, which are generally managed by the District boards.

The Districts and States of the Punjab (except the States of Chamba, Jind, Nabha, and Patiala, which have their own postal arrangements) form, together with the North- West Frontier Province and Kashmir, one postal circle under the Postmaster-General of the Punjab and North- West Frontier Province. It is divided into seventeen postal divisions. The table on the next page shows the advance in postal business in the Punjab during the two decades since 1880, giving also the figures for 1903-4. The figures exclude the North-West Frontier Province and also (for the most part) Kashmir.

These figures include both the imperial and the local or District post. The latter system was a substitute for the posts which land- owners were in early days bound to Maintain for the conveyance of official correspondence in each District. As the District came under

settlement, this personal obligation was replaced by a cess levied on the land revenue, and eventually in 1883 the cess was merged in and became part of the local rate. The expenditure on the District post averaged Rs. 1,50,274 during the five years ending 1902-3, and in 1903-4 amounted to Rs. 1,42,253. In 1906 the cess was abolished, and the system was amalgamated with the imperial post. The value of the money orders paid during the year 1903-4 amounted to

329 lakhs, or nearly 102 lakhs more than the value of those issued.

==Famine==

The Punjab contains two Main tracts which are not secure against drought : one in the south-east comprising most of the plalns Districts of the Delhi Division and that of Ferozepore ; the other, the Districts of Gujrat, Jhelum, and Rawal- pindi in the north-west. The north-west of Gurdaspur and the Sharakpur and Ajnala tahslh (in Lahore, and Amritsar Districts respectively) are also insecure. But hitherto famines have been fre- quent and severe only in the south-eastern tract, of which Hissar is the centre. This area lies on the edge of the sphere of influence of the south-eastern monsoon, and any deflexion of its currents leaves it almost rainless ; but the Wesstern Jumna and Sirhind Canals, especially the former, have greatly circumscribed the area liable to famine. In the north-west the rainfall, though liable to fail, is much less capricious than in the south-east, and here scareity has never deepened into serious famine. Well-irrigation in the insecure tracts is largely impos- sible or unprofitable, owing to the depth of the water below the surface.

Generally speaking, the autumn crops used to provide the agri- cultural population in the Punjab with their staple food and most

of the fodder for tTie cattle, the spring crops being grown only for profit. To a great extent this still holds good, especially as regards fodder; but of late years the area under spring crops has greatly increased, and now, even in the insecure tracts, it almost equals that under autumn crops. The loss of a single harvest, or even of both the annual harvests, does not in itself necessitate measures of relief. Such measures are required only after a succession of lean years, and thus the point when failure of the monsoon spells famine can, as a rule, be accurately gauged. Besides a rise in prices, not always a very trust- worthy sign, indications of the necessity for measures of relief are usually afforded by the contraction of private charity and credit, activity in the grain trade, increase in crime, and aimless wandering in seareh of employment br food.

The first famine in the Punjab of which any information exists oc- curred in 1783-4 (Samvat 1840), and is popularly called the chahsa kal, or ' famine of the year 40.' It affected the whole country from the Sutlej to Allahabad, and was acute in the neighbour- hood of Delhi. Hariana was desolated and the people perished or emigrated. The mortality must have been very great, and few villages now existing in this area boast a history anterior to the famine. Famine again occurred in 1833-4, 1837-8, 1860-1, 1868-9, 1877-8, 1896-7, and in 1899-1900. In 1833-4 the conditions were those of severe scareity rather than of famine ; and though there was suffering in Hissar and Rohtak Districts and the Fazilka tahsil^ no relief, beyond large suspensions of revenue, was given. The scareity was, however, the precursor of serious famine in 1837-8, when the tract between Allahabad and Delhi was most seriously affected, but Hissar, Rohtak, and Fazilka also suffered. Relief works were opened for the able-bodied, but the relief of the infirm and helpless was left to private charity. The Main features of this famine were the prevalence of aimless wandering and the extraordinary amount of violent crime.

The famine of 1860-1 affected only the Districts between the Jumna and the Sutlej, and was the result partly of the Mutiny, and partly of deficient rainfall in the two preceding years, followed by a failure of the monsoon in 1860. The principles adopted in 1833-4 were again followed. Gratuitous relief was given Mainly in the form of cooked food.

Practically the same tract was again affected in 1868-9, but the great influx of famine-stricken immigrants from Rajputana exhausted the resources of private charity. The principle that it was the duty of the people to relieve the infirm and weak had to be abandoned, and Government acknowledged its liability to supplement charitable aid. Large works under professional control and minor works under civil officers were also utilized for affording relief. The excess mortality in

Rajputana and the Punjab was estimated at 1,200,000. About 3 lakhs ' of revenue was remitted in the Punjab.

The great famine of 1877-8 hardly reached this Province, in which only scareity existed. Fazilka and the Districts of the Delhi Division, which were not protected by irrigation, suffered most.

After 1878, in spite of occasional short harvests, the Punjab had a respite from actual scareity till 1896-7. In 1895 the monsoon ceased early in August, and a poor autumn harvest was followed by a deficient spring crop in 1896. In the latter year failure of the mon- soon caused widespread scareity in the Punjab, as in other parts of India. The whole of the Delhi Division, except Simla, and parts of the Lahore and Rawalpindi Divisions were affected. A total of 22 1/2 million day-units were relieved, of whom half were in Hissar. Relief cost 22 1/3 lakhs, 22 lakhs of land revenue was suspended, and at the close of the famine 11 1/2 lakhs was advanced for the purchase of seed and cattle. After one good year the monsoon failed again in 1898 and 1899, and famine supervened in the same tracts. The scareity of fodder caused immense mortality among cattle, and the distress among the people was intense. Relief was afforded to 52 million day-units at a cost of 48 lakhs. In addition, 44 lakhs of land revenue was suspended, and 19 lakhs granted for the purchase of seed and cattle as soon as favourable rain fell in the autumn of 1900. The Charitable Relief Fund also allotted 12 lakhs to the Punjab. Hissar was again the most deeply affected tract, account- ing for two-thirds of the numbers relieved.

Of recent years the immediate effects of scareity on the population of the Province have been practically negligible. The famine of 1899- 1900, the most severe since annexation, affected the health of the people, so that many were unable to withstand disease which under more favourable circumstances might not have proved fatal. It might have been anticipated that the two famines of the decade ending 1900 would have appreciably affected the population in Hissar and Rohtak Districts, but the Census of 1901 showed an increase of nearly 10 per cent, in the latter. Generally speaking, as regards mortality, the after- effects of famine are almost more potent than famine itself. Practi- cally no deaths from actual starvation were recorded in the Punjab in the recent famines. During famine cholera is most to be feared ; but when famine ceases, after a plentiful monsoon, malaria, acting on a people whose vitality has been reduced by privation, clalms a long tale of victims. At such seasons the mortality is naturally greatest among the very old and the very young. This is shown by the fact that, at the recent Census, Hissar returned only 999 children under five in every 10,000 of its population, compared with the Provincial ratio of 1,340. This paucity of children, however, is to some extent due

to a diminished birth-rate. The famine of 1899-1900 lasted exactly thirteen months from September, 1899. Up to December the birth- rate was fairly normal, but after that month it rapidly declined until the close of the famine. In July, 1900, it was only 22.3 per 1,000, as com- pared with 40-5, the annual average for the month in the five years 1891-5. On the other hand, the re-establishment of normal con- ditions, after famine, is followed by an abnormally high birth-rate. Thus, in Hissar, famine ended in August, 1897. Up to July, 1898, the birth-rate reMained low ; but it then rose rapidly and reMained well above the average until September, 1899, the highest figures occurring in October and November, 1898, when they reached 81.7 and 76.7 per 1,000, as compared with 57 and 50.8 respectively, the averages for those two months in 1891-5.

Whether it will ever be possible to render the Punjab free from liability to famine is a difficult question at present to answer. The two great remedies are the extension of railways and irrigation. As to the former, from the point of view of famine protection, the Pro- vince is as a whole well off, and further schemes are in hand for facilitating distribution of the immense surplus stocks produced in the large canal colonies. As to the latter, much has been done and much more is in contemplation. The Chenab and Jhelum Canals, by rendering cultivable vast areas of waste, have been of incalculable help in reducing the pressure on the soil in the most thickly populated Districts, and in increasing the productive power of the Province ; but, until the insecure tracts themselves are rendered safe by the extension to them of irrigation, scareity and famine must be appre- hended. The new Upper Jhelum, Upper Chenab, and Lower Bari Doab Canals have been described above (pp. 304-5).

Adininistration

On the annexation of the Punjab in Mareh, 1849, a Board of Adininistration was constituted for its government. The Board was

abolished in February. 1853, its powers and func-

tions being vested in a Chief Commissioner, assisted

by a Judicial and a Financial Commissioner. After the transfer of the Delhi territory from the North-Wesstern (now the United) Provinces, the Punjab and its dependencies were formed into a Lieutenant-Governorship, Sir John Lawrence, then Chief Com- missioner, being appointed Lieutenant-Go vernor on January i, 1859. In this office he was succeeded by Sir Robert Montgomery (1859), Sir Donald M^Leod (1865), Sir Henry Durand (1870), Sir Henry Davies (1871), Sir Robert Egerton (1877), Sir Charles Aitchison (1882), Sir James Lyall (1887), Sir Dennis Fitzpatrick(i892), Sir Mack- worth Young (1897), Sir Charles Rivaz (1902), Sir Denzil Ibbetson (1907), and Sir Louis Dane (1908).

In 1866 the Judicial Commissioner was replaced by a Chief Court.

A Settlement Commissioner was shortly afterwards appointed to super- vise the land revenue settlements ; but this office was abolished in 1884, and a Second Financial Commissioner appointed. In 1897, however, the old arrangement was reverted to, a Settlement Commissioner re- placing the Second Financial Commissioner.

The direct adininistrative functions of Government are performed by the Lieutenant-Governor through the medium of a Secretariat, which comprises a chief secretary, a secretary, and two under-secretaries. These are usually members of the Indian Civil Service. The following are the principal heads of departments : the Financial Commissioner, the Inspector-General of Police, the Director of Public Instruction, the Inspector-General of Prisons, the Inspector-General of Civil Hospitals, the Sanitary Commissioner, the Conservator of Forests, the Accountant-General, and the Postmaster-General. The last two repre- sent Imperial departments under the Government of India. The heads of the two branches (Irrigation, and Roads and Buildings) of the Public Works department are also ex-officio secretaries to Government, and the heads of the Police and Educational departments are similarly under-secretaries in their respective departments. The Financial Commissioner, who has a senior, a junior, and an assistant .secretary, controlb the Settlement Commissioner, the Commissioner of Excise (also Superintendent of Stamps), the Director of Agriculture, the Director of Land Records (also Inspector-General of Registration), and the Conservator of Forests. He is also the Court of Wards for the Province.

The civil adininistration is carried on by the Punjab Commission, a body of officers now recruited exclusively from the Indian Civil Service, though prior to the constitution of the North-West Frontier Province one-fourth of the cadre was drawn from the Indian Staff Corps. The Commission is supplemented by the Provincial Civil Service, which is recruited in the Province either by nomination, or by examination, or by a combination of the two, and is almost entirely of Punjabi origin. With a few exceptions, the higher appointments in the adininistration are held exclusively by members of the Punjab Commission, while mem- bers of the Provincial service, who are graded as Extra or as Extra- judicial Assistant Commissioners, perform the functions of District judges, magistrates, and revenue officials. The minor posts in the adininistration are held by the Subordinate services, which are recruited entirely from natives of the Province.

The territories under the control of the Lieutenant-Governor consist of 29 Districts, grouped into 5 Divisions, and 43 Native States. Each District is in charge of a Deputy-Commissioner, who is subordinate to the Commissioner in charge of the Division. A District is divided into sub-collectorates called tahsils, varying in number as a rule from

three to seven, each under a tahsildar with a naib (deputy). Tahsildar, Of the 29 Districts, Kangra, with an area of 9,978 square miles, is the largest, and Simla, in area less than the county of London, the smallest. The average District corresponds in size with one of the larger English counties. In population Lahore, with 1,162,109, is the largest, and Simla, with 40,351, again the smallest District. The average population of a District is 701,046. Particulars regarding each Division, District, and State will be found in Table III on pp* 380-1. For purposes of criminal, civil, and revenue jurisdiction, the District is the unit of ad- ministration. The Deputy-Commissioner (as the officer in charge of a District is designated, the Punjab being a non-Regulation Province) is Collector, with judicial powers in revenue suits, and also District Magis- trate, being usually invested as such with power to try all offences not punishable with death. The District staff includes a District Judge, whose work is almost entirely civil, though he is also ordinarily invested with magisterial powers, which he exercises in subordination to the District Magistrate. It also includes from three to seven Assistant or Extra-Assistant Commissioners, with criminal, civil, and revenue powers, of whom one is in charge of the treasury. It further includes one or more Munsifs or civil judges. The tahsildars are invested with revenue, criminal, and civil powers, and their assistants, the naib-tahsil- dcirs, with revenue and criminal powers. In ten Districts there are subdivisions, each consisting of one or two outlying tahsil^ in charge of an Assistant or Extra- Assistant Commissioner, who resides at the head- quarters of his jurisdiction. Lahore city also forms a subdivision, and subdivisional officers are posted to the hill stations of Murree and Dalhousie during the kot season. As a rule, however, there is no inter- mediate link between the District and the tahsil. In two tahsil a sub- tahsil exists in charge of a naib-tahsildar. The tahsildar has under him from two to five field kdnurigos, each of whom supervises twenty to thirty patwdris or revenue accountants, in charge of the revenue records of a group of villages. Each village has one or more headinen, who collect the revenue, and chaiiklddrs or watchmen. In most Districts the villages are grouped into circles or zails> each under a non-official (zailddr) of local influence, whose duty it is to render general assistance to all Government officials. Commissioners of Divisions now exercise judicial powers only in revenue appeals, their civil and criminal jurisdic- tion having been transferred to the Divisional and Sessions Judges.

The Native States under the control of the Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab are 43 in number, comprising an area of 36,532 square miles, and a population in 1901 of 4,424,398 persons, as shown in Table III on pp. 380-1, with a total revenue of 155 lakhs. Kashmir, formerly included among the Punjab States, was placed under the direct political control of the Government of India in 1877. Of the 43 States,

the three Phulkian States (Patiala, Jind, and Nabha) and Bahawalpur are in charge of a Political Agent under the direct control of the Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab ; Chamba is under the Commis- sioner of Lahore ; Kapurthala, Farldkot, Maler Kotla, Mandl, and Suket are under the Commissioner of Jullundur ; Sirmur, Kalsia, Dujana, Pataudi, and Loharu are under the Commissioner of Delhi ; and the 28 Simla States are under the control of the Deputy-Commissioner of Simla, as ex-officio Superintendent, Simla Hill States.

The relations of the British Government with Bahawalpur are regu- lated by treaty ; those with the other States by sanads or charters from the Governor-General. The States of Patiala, Bahawalpur, Jind, Nabha, Kapurthala, Sirmur, Farldkot, and Maler Kotla Maintain Imperial Service troops. The other States and also Kapurthala pay a money tribute, amounting in 1903-4 to a total of Rs. 2,66,434. The States of Patiala, Jind, and Nabha are ruled by members of the Phulkian family ; and should there be a failure of direct heirs in any of them, the sanads provide for the selection of a collateral as successor by the chiefs of the other two States. A nazardna or relief is payable to the British Government by the collateral who succeeds. The Phulkian chiefs, and also the RtOJa of Farldkot, are bound by sanad to execute justice and to promote the welfare of their people ; to prevent sati, slavery, and female infanticide ; to co-operate with the British Government against an enemy, and to furnish supplies to troops ; and to grant, free of expense, land required for railways and imperial lines of road. On the other hand, the British Government has guaranteed them full and unreserved possession of their territories. They, with Bahawalpur and Kapurthala, differ from the reMaining feudatories in the fact that they possess power to inflict capital punishment upon their subjects. The treaties with Bahawalpur define the supreme position of the British Government, and bind the Nawab to act in accordance with its wishes, while in turn the British Government engages to protect the State. Sanads of varying import are also possessed by the minor feudatories.

Of the chiefs, those of Bahawalpur, Maler Kotla, Pataudi, Loharu, and Dujana are Muhammadans j those of Patiala, Jind, Nabha, Kapur- thala, Faridkot, and Kalsia are Sikhs; and the rest are Hindus. Of the Muhammadan chiefs, the Nawab of Bahawalpur is head of the Daudputra tribe, being a descendant of Bahawal Khan, who acquired independence during the collapse of the Sadozai dynasty of Afghani- stan early in the nineteenth century. The Nawab of Maler Kotla is a member of an Afghan family which came from Kabul about the time of the rise of the Mughal empire ; his ancestors held offices of im- portance under the Delhi kings and became independent as the Mughal dynasty sank into decay. The chiefs of Pataudi and Dujana are descended from Afghan adventurers, and the Nawab of Loharu

from a Mughal soldier of fortune, upon whom estates were conferred by the British Government as a reward for services rendered to Lord Lake in the beginning of the nineteenth century.

With one exception (Kapurthala), the Sikh chiefs belong to the Jat race. Chaudhri Phul, the ancestor of the Phulkian houses (Patiala, Jind, and Nabha), died in 1652. His descendants took advantage of the break-up of the Mughal empire in the eighteenth century, and of the confusion which attended the successive Persian, Afghan, and Maratha invasions of Delhi, to establish themselves, at the head of marauding bands of Sikh horsemen, in the Mughal province of Sirhind, and eventually rose to be independent chiefs. The Raja of Kapur- thala clalms Rajput origin, and his ancestor, Jassa Singh, took rank among the Sikh Sardars about 1750. The founder of the Farldkot family, a Barar Jat by tribe, rose to prominence in the service of the emperor Babar. Jodh Singh founded the Kalsia State about the same time. The reMaining chiefs, whose territories lie among the Outer Himalayan hill ranges, are principally of Rajput descent, clalming a very ancient lineage.

The rulers of Patiala, Farldkot, Jubbal, Baghal, Kanethi, Mallog, Kunihar, Bfjci, Madrmn, Dhadi, Tharoch, and Kuthar were minors in 1906 l . The chiefs of Maler Kotla and Kumharsain are of unsound mind, the Raja of Bashahr is of weak intellect, and the Raja of Bilas- pur was in 1903-4 temporarily deprived of his powers as a ruling chief for misconduct The State of Patiala is adininistered by a council of regency, composed of a president and two members ; and an English guardian and tutor supervises the education of the Maharaja. The adininistration of Farldkot is conducted by a council, presided over by an Extra-Assistant Commissioner deputed by Government. Maler Kotla is adininistered by the heir apparent. In Blja, Kunihar, Mallog, and Madhan the adininistration is carried on by councils of State officials ; in Dhadi it is in the hands of a relative of the chief, and in Tharoch in those of the waztr. Bilaspur, Jubbal, Bashahr, Kum- harsain, and Kanethi are adininistered by native officials of the British service deputed by Government. In Baghal the council consists of a brother of the late chief and an official deputed by Government, while in Kuthar the manager is a member of the ruling family of Suket.

Legislation and justice

By the Punjab Laws Act of 1872 custom governs all questions regarding succession, betrothal, marriage, divorce, the separate pro- perty of women, dower, wills, gifts, partitions, family relations such as adoption and guardianship, and and religious usages or institutions, provided that the custom be not contrary to justice, equity, or good conscience. On

1 The Nawab of Bahawalpur died at sea in February, 1907, while returning from a pilgrimage to Mecca. He left a son two years of age.

these subjects the Muhammadan or Hindu law is applied only in the absence of custom.

A Legislative Council was created for the Punjab in May, 1897, consisting of the Lieutenant-Governor and not more than nine members nominated by him, of whom five were non-officials in 1904. The members do not as yet possess the rights of interpella- tion and of discussing the Provincial budget, which have been granted to the Councils of the older Provinces. The following are the chief legislative measures specially affecting the Punjab which have been passed since 1880 :

The supreme civil and criminal court is the Chief Court, which consists of five Judges, of whom one at least must, under section 4 of the Punjab Courts Act, XVIII of 1884, be a barrister of not less than five years' standing. The Court has from time to time been strengthened by the appointment of temporary Additional Judges, who numbered four in 1906. Of the five permanent judges, three are members of the Indian Civil vService, one is an English barrister, and one an Indian pleader.

Subordinate to the Chief Court are the Divisional and Sessions Judges, each exercising civil and criminal jurisdiction in a Civil and Sessions division comprising one or more Districts. As Divisional Judges, these officers try most of the appeals in civil suits from the

courts of first instance. As Sessions Judges, they try sessions cases, with the aid of assessors, and hear criminal appeals. Thus the Divisional and Sessions Judges in the Punjab fulfil the functions of District and Sessions Judges in the Regulation Provinces. Appeals in minor civil suits from the Munsifs' courts are heard by the District Judge, whose court is also the principal court of original jurisdiction in the District. The Divisional and Sessions courts are established under Act XVIII of 1884, which also provides for the appointment of Sub- ordinate Judges (exercising unlimited civil jurisdiction) and Munsifs. The latter are of three grades, the jurisdiction of a first-grade Munsif being limited to suits not exceeding Rs. 1,000 in value. There are Small Cause Courts at Lahore, Amritsar, Delhi, and Simla, and many Munsifs are invested with 1 the powers of such courts under Act IX of 1887.

Relatively to the population, the Punjab may be called the most litigious Province in India. In 190 1 the number of suits instituted was r [4 per t,ooo of the population, the next highest figure being 9-6 in Bombay. During the last few years, however, the annual number of suits has declined considerably, from 227,284 in 1900 to 156,354 in 1905. In the year 1904-5 alone there was a decline of no less than 26 per cent., due Mainly to an amendinent in the law which extended the period of limitation in suits for the recovery of money lent from three to six years. The Punjab Alienation of Land Act of 1900 has also had a considerable effect in checking litigation between money- lenders and agriculturists. Suits of this class show a falling-off of nearly 42 per cent, in the first five years (1901-5) during which the Act was in force. The question of codifying the customary law has of late years attracted some attention. An attempt has been made to codify the custom as to pre-emption in the Pre-emption Act II of 1905, but it is not possible to say at present what the ultimate effect of that Act will be. During its first year it stimulated litigation to some extent.

The District Magistrate is ordinarily (and Additional District and subdivisional magistrates and other magistrates with full powers are occasionally) invested with power to try all offences not punishable with death, and to inflict sentences up to seven years' imprisonment. Further, in the frontier District of Dera Ghazi Khan and in Mian- wali an offender may be tried by a council of elders under the Frontier Crimes Regulation, and in accordance with its finding the Deputy- Commissioner may pass any sentence of imprisonment not exceeding fourteen years ; but sentences exceeding seven years require the confir- mation of the Commissioner, who has also a revisional jurisdiction in all cases.

The litigious spirit of the people is illustrated by their readiness to

drag their petty disputes into the criminal courts. About one-third of the charges preferred are ultimately found to be false. In a normal year the number of true cases is about 5 per 1,000 of the population, but this figure naturally fluctuates from year to year. A season of agricultural depression will cause an increase in crime against property and a decline in the number of petty assault cases, the prosecution of which is a luxury reserved for times of prosperity. The commonest form of crime is cattle-lifting, which is rife in the South-Wesstern Pun- jab and in those Districts of the Eastern Punjab which border on the United Provinces and Rajputana. Crimes of violence, generally arising out of quarrels connected with women or land, are commonest among the Jat Sikhs of the Central Punjab and the Musalman cultivators of the northern Districts. Offences relating to marriage have increased during the last five years, probably owing to the ravages of plague, which has caused a proportionately higher mortality among females than among males, and has thus enhanced the value of the surviving women. The same cause has led to an increase in civil suits relating to women. In an average year about 250,000 persons are brought to trial, about 27 per cent, being convicted.

All sentences imposed by magistrates of the second and third classes are appealable to the District Magistrate; and in 1904, out of 28,564 persons sentenced by them, 34 per cent, appealed and

36 per cent, of these appeals were successful. Sentences imposed by District Magistrates and magistrates of the first class are, as a rule, appealable to a Sessions Judge; and in 1904, out of 21,336 persons sentenced by those courts, 32 per cent, appealed, and of these appeals

37 per cent, were successful. Sentences imposed by Courts of Sessions, and those exceeding four years passed by District Magistrates, are appealable to the Chief Court; and in 1904, out of 1,799 persons so sentenced, 61 per cent, appealed, with success in 28 per cent, of the appeals.

Of the 6,6 1 8 civil appeals filed in the courts of District Judges in 1904, 38 per cent., and of the 9,591 filed in the Divisional Courts, 26 per cent, were successful ; but of the 2,374 filed in the Chief Court, only 9 per cent, succeeded.

The revenue courts established under the Punjab Tenancy Act are those of the Financial Commissioner, Collector (Deputy-Commis- sioner), and Assistant Collectors of the first grade (Assistant or Extra- Assistant Commissioners), and Assistant Collectors, second grade (tahsilddrs and natb-tahsilddrs). These courts decide all suits regard- ing tenant-right, rent, and divers cognate matters, in which the civil courts have no jurisdiction. Appeals from Assistant Collectors ordi- narily lie to the Collector, from him to the Commissioner, and from the Commissioner to the Financial Commissioner, with certain limitations.

The Registration Act was extended to the Punjab in 1868. All Deputy-Commissioners are ex-officio registrars and all tahsildars are sub- registrars under the Act, but most of the registrations are performed by non-official sub-registrars, remunerated by a percentage of fees. General control over them is exercised by the Inspector-General of Registration. The figures below are for the old Province up to 1900-1 ; those for 1904 are for the Province as now constituted.

Under Sikh rule revenue was realized from all known sources of taxation, direct and indirect. Land, houses, persons, manufactures, imports and exports, alike contributed to the income of the Khalsa under Ranjlt Singh. The outlying provinces, in which revenue could be levied only by a military force, were farmed out to men of wealth and influence, who exercised powers of life and death without interference from the court of Lahore, so long as their remittances to the royal treasury were made regularly. The revenue from districts nearer lahore and more completely under control was collected by local tax-gatherers, called kardars, whose more important proceedings were liable to review by the ministers of the Maharaja. The salt revenue was realized by a sale of the monopoly.

Under this system the country was, on the whole, wonderfully prosperous. Every Jat village sent recruits to the Sikh army, who remitted their savings to their homes ; and many a heavily assessed village thus paid half its land revenue from its military pay. Money circulated freely, manufactures and commodities were in brisk demand, and commerce flourished despite the burden of taxation. From land revenue Ranjlt Singh raised 165 lakhs, partly in cash and partly, or mostly, in kind. From excise he realized 2 lakhs. In the Province generally the dual system of realizing the land revenue reMained in force till 1847, and to a much later period in the Native States and great jagirs. During the regency, however, from 1845 to 1849, summary revenue settlements were made ; and on annexation the assessments thereby imposed were Maintained as a temporary measure, quinquennial settlements being made in tracts which had not been assessed. The customs and excise systems were also reformed,, and in the year after annexation coin of British mintage replaced the old currency, 50 lakhs of which were withdrawn from circulation.

The estimated revenue for 1849-50 was as follows : land revenue (including grazing tax, income from forests, gold-washing, iron mines, and rents of lands), 152 lakhs; excise (on salt, liquors, and drugs), including stamps and canal? water rate, 26 lakhs ; tributes, 5 lakhs ; post office, 3 1/2 lakhs ; and miscellaneous receipts, 3 1/2 lakhs a total of 190 lakhs. After the Mutiny of 1857 the Delhi and Hissar Divisions were added to the Punjab, increasing its revenue by 66.2 lakhs.

All items of revenue other than those derived from purely local sources, such as District and municipal funds, fall into one or other of two classes. They may be treated as Provincial, in which case they are at the disposal of the Local Government, or as Imperial, in which case a portion returns into the Province in the form of payments, the balance being absorbed into the Imperial exchequer (see chapter on Finance, Vol. IV, ch. vi). Since 1871 the financial relations of the Local and Supreme Governments have been regulated by periodical settlements. This arrangement consists in the assign- ment for Provincial uses of the entire income under certain heads of revenue and a fixed proportion of income under others, termed ' shared heads.'

Under the first Provincial settlement the total receipts rose from 284-44 lakhs (Provincial share 51-39) to 335-01 lakhs in 1882 (Pro- vincial share 80-25), owing to the rapid growth of stamps and excise revenue. In the same period expenditure rose from 179-14 to 216-06 lakhs (the Provincial share rising from 116-57 to 133-85 lakhs), owing to the development of the departments transferred to Provincial control. The Provincial income and expenditure during the quinquennium averaged 65-13 and 129-31 lakhs respectively, compared with 49.22 and 1 20-1 1 lakhs estimated in the contract. The Provincial balance was 29.63 lakhs in 1882. Under the second settlement Provincial received 40.7193 per cent, of the land revenue, and was made liable for the same proportion of the cost of settlement and survey operations, and refunds of land revenue. Half the receipts and expenditure under forests became Provincial, and the same division was made of stamps, excise, and registration, formerly wholly Provincial, while half the licence tax collections also became Provincial. On the other hand, the pay of Civil Surgeons and other charges devolved on Provincial. Under this settlement the receipts rose from 344.37 to 351.54 lakhs (Provincial from 140.35 to 150-68 lakhs), while expenditure fell from 237.03 to 218.12 lakhs, but the Provincial share of this rose from 146.36 to 155.77 lakhs. The Provincial income and expenditure averaged 146.84 and 152.98 lakhs respectively, as compared with the estimates of 144.90 and 144.94 lakhs, leaving the balance at 17.36 lakhs, or 7.36 more than the minimum reserve prescribed in

1887. the settlement was renewed on the same terms for the third quinquennium, during which the income rose from 361.03 to 414.50 lakhs (Provincial from 151.93 to 168.30 lakhs), and the expenditure from 224.53 to 245.19 lakhs (Provincial from 153.04 to 175.17 lakhs). The Provincial income and expenditure averaged 160.66 and 162.05 lakhs respectively, compared with the estimates of 144.90 and 144.94 lakhs, while the Provincial balance rose to 27.71 lakhs. The cost of certain measures, of which the most important was the reorganization of the Punjab Commission at a cost of 2.27 lakhs a year, was met by assignments from Imperial.

Under the fourth settlement the Provincial shares were fixed as follows : land revenue 25, stamps 75, and excise 25 per cent. Half the income tax, hitherto wholly Imperial, also became Provincial. The income rose from 421.92 to 473.10 lakhs (Provincial from 134.91 to 142-27 lakhs), chiefly under land revenue (9.43 lakhs), stamps (2.88), excise (1.86), income tax (0.80), registration (0.95), and irri- gation (2.20), to take the annual averages. Expenditure increased from 248.22 to 284.20 lakhs (Provincial from 180.39 to 185.34 lakhs), owing to larger outlay on public works, Maintenance of canals, salaries and expenditure of civil and political departments, and famine relief. Survey and settlement charges, hitherto shared, became Provincial, raising the total of expenditure. The Provincial income and expen- diture averaged 139.49 and 179.41 lakhs respectively, as compared with the contract figures of 132.19 and 167.24 lakhs; but the settle- ment affected the finances of the Province adversely, and the quin- quennium closed with a balance of 5-23 lakhs, or hardly more than half the prescribed minimum.

The fifth settlement made in 1897 was afterwards extended to 1904-5. It was modified in details in consequence of the separation of the North-West Frontier Province in 1901, but the general terms reMained unaltered. Famine (which commenced in November, 1896) and plague (which broke out early in 1897) led to diminished receipts and larger outlay, resulting in a complete collapse of the Provincial finances, which had to be supported by special grants from Imperial funds. Famine cost 54.70 lakhs and plague 6.58 lakhs during the quin- quennium 1897.1901. Mianwali District was created, and the Chenab and Jheluni Colonies extended. In 1902.3 arrears of land revenue, aggregating 39.30 lakhs, were remitted, and loans to agriculturists, amounting to 9.06 lakhs, were written off in that and the following year. In 1902.3 the Supreme Government contributed 3.80 lakhs for extensive measures against plague, over and above the ordinary- plague expenditure from Provincial funds. In that year the income was 519-36 lakhs, and the expenditure 299-65 lakhs (Provincial 219-23 and 208-94 lakhs respectively). Financially, the conditions in the

Punjab since 1897 have been so abnormal that analysis of the figures for 1897-1903 would serve no useful purpose.

From April 1, 1905, the new Provincial settlement came into effect. Its noticeable features are :

(1) Permanency leaving the Province to enjoy the fruits of its economy, unless grave problems of Imperial interest call for assistance from Local Governments ; (2) in the case of ‘ shared heads' the expen- diture is divided between Imperial and Provincial in the same pro- portion as in the case of corresponding heads of income, except land revenue, the expenditure (31.04 lakhs) under which is entirely Pro- vincial, while the Provincial share of the income is three-eighths (95-58 lakhs) ; (3) the Local Government obtains, for the first time, a direct financial interest in ' major ' irrigation works, three-eighths of the income (62.89 lakhs) and expenditure (37.74 lakhs), which includes interest on capital outlay 15.62 lakhs, having been assigned subject to a guarantee of a net income of 28 lakhs per annum.

Since the settlement was sanctioned the famine cess (Provincial rates) has been abolished, and a compensatory assignment of 6 1/2 lakhs per annum given to Provincial. Recoveries from District funds on account of District Post charges were waived and the Patwari cess abolished from April 1, 1906, and the cantonment police provincialized from April 1, 1905, lump assignments aggregating 17.83 lakhs being given as compensation. Famine expenditure did not enter into the Provincial settlement, and the question of its distribution is now under consideration.

Land reveue

Prior to annexation, the character of the land tenures throughout the Punjab was very indefinite and varied considerably from place

to place. Usually, however, cultivation was carried

on by a number of independent groups of persons

scattered at uncertain intervals throughout the cultivable area of the country. Each of these groups was, or believed itself to be, sprung from a common stock, and the area it cultivated was known as a village or mauza, while the cultivators lived together on a common village site. When the crops were cut, a part of the produce was handed over to the village menials in payment for their services, and the rest was divided between the state and the cultivator. In many cases the state share was taken by some magnate or court official to whom it had been assigned ; and there would often be some man of local influence who, from his character or traditional clalms, was in a position to attend at the division of the grain heap and demand a small share for himself. When an assignee or intermediary clalmant was strong enough, he would break up the waste, settle culti- vators, and otherwise interfere in the village arrangements; but he seldom, if ever, ousted the cultivator so long as the latter tilled his

land and paid his dues. The land itself was very rarely transferred, and when a transfer did take place it was almost always to some relation or member of the village community.

On annexation the three duties which fell on the land revenue officials were the determination and record of rights in the land, the assessment of the land, and the collection of the revenue ; and the same duties continue to constitute the Main features of the land revenue adininistration at the present day.

A great deal of time and anxiety were expended in the early days of British rule over the determination of the various parties who had rights to the soil, and more particularly over the question of ownership, the persons recorded as owners being as a rule made responsible for the revenue. In many cases, more especially in the south and west of the Province, intermediaries of the kind above noticed were adinitted to have superior clalms to the proprietary right ; but in most instances the cultivators were held to be the owners of the village lands, either jointly or in severalty.

In the Punjab, as in the United Provinces, the ordinary landholder is known as zamindari the term being applied irrespective of the size of the holding. A distinction used to be made in revenue records between zamindari and pattidari tenures on the one hand, and bhaiya- chara tenures on the other the former referring to estates held as a single unit or portions representing fractions of a single original share, and the latter to estates held in separate portions representing no fractional parts of the whole. The former classes of tenure are, however, less common than formerly, and the distinction is now of little practical importance. The zamlndars in an estate are technically bound by a common responsibility towards Government, each being responsible for any balance of revenue due from other zamlndars in the village ; but here too the tendency is towards individualism, and with lighter and more elastic assessments the enforcement of collective responsibility has become practically obsolete. In practice, the owner or owners of each holding are assessed separately to revenue and are responsible to Government for the revenue so assessed. The revenue in each village is collected from the owners by one or more headinen or lambardars, who pay the proceeds into the Government treasury and receive a percentage on the collections as their remuneration.

The persons recorded as owners, while undertaking the responsi- bility for the Government revenue, obtained a very much fuller right of property over their lands than had been usual in Sikh times. The right of transfer reMained at first under some control and was little used; but as the revenue became lighter and land more valuable, the owners began to alienate, and within thirty years after annexation land had already begun to pass freely into the hands of money-lenders.

This evil grew more and more marked, until in 1901 the Government was compelled to place considerable restrictions on the powers of alienation enjoyed by agricultural tribes, in order to prevent their being completely ousted from their lands.

The initial examination of rights in land which occupied the first twenty years or so after annexation was a part of the process known as the regular settlement of the various Districts, and was accompanied by measurement of the land and by the preparation of a complete cadastral map and record of titles. The arrangement originally contemplated was to undertake a revision of the record of each District only when the District came under reassessment, that is to &ay, at intervals of twenty or thirty years. But since 1885, when the whole record system was reformed, it has been the practice to enter all changes as they occur in a supplementary register and to rewrite the record of titles once every four years ; and this record is in law presumed to be true until the contrary is proved. In the same way, instead of making a fresh cadastral measurement of the District at each settlement, it is now becoming more usual to note changes in field boundaries as they occur, and to provide a fresh map at resettle- ment from the data thus available instead of by complete remeasure- ment.

The cadastral record, though it also shows all rights to land, was primarily meant to be a fiscal record indicating the persons liable to pay the land revenue. Having determined the persons thus liable, the next point is to decide the manner in which the assessment should be taken. The Sikh government most frequently took its revenue (as above described) in the form of a share of the crop, an arrangement which proportioned the assessment very satisfactorily to the quality of the harvest, but was attended by much friction and dishonesty. To avoid these disadvantages, and to Maintain the tradition imported from the North-Wesstern (now United) Provinces, the British revenue was levied in the form of a fixed cash assessment, payable from year to year independently of the character of the harvests. This form of revenue was, in most parts of the country, a considerable relief to the people after the harassment of the Sikh system, and it has ever since reMained the predominant form of assessment in the Province. It subsequently, however, became clear that, in dealing with a people who save little from one year to another, an assessment of a fixed character caused a good deal of hardship where the harvests varied greatly in character; and it has therefore become gradually more usual, especially on river-side areas and in rainless tracts of the Wesstern Punjab, to assess the land by a cash acreage rate on the crops of each harvest, so that the revenue may fluctuate with the area actually cropped.

The prevalent form of assessment prior to annexation absorbed the whole, or nearly the whole, of the produce which was not required for the Maintenance of the cultivator. The first rough assessments under British rule aimed at obtaining the money value of a share of the gross produce approximating to that obtained by the Sikh revenue proper, after excluding its superfluous cesses ; and as more detailed information became available, it became usual to look upon one-sixth of the gross produce as a fair standard of assessment. Later on, however, when land became more valuable and letting to tenants more common, it became, and has now for many years continued to be, the rule to assess on the net rather than on the gross ‘assets,’ and to assume, as in the United Provinces, that the normal competition rents paid on rented lands are a fair index to the net 'assets' of the proprietors generally. In the rare cases where competition rents are ordinarily paid in cash, there is little further difficulty ; but in the more usual case of kind rents the value of the net ' assets ' can be arrived at only after a number of elaborate and somewhat uncertain calculations as to prices, yields, &c. Although therefore the standard of assessment is represented, as in the United Provinces, by one-half the net 'assets,' this standard has not, as in those Provinces, been looked on as determining the average assessment, but as fixing a maximum which should not be exceeded. In four settlements recently sanctioned, for instance, the proportion of the calculated half net 'assets' taken in each District has been 78, 81, 69, and 87 percent, respectively. These figures do not include the cesses, which are calculated on the land revenue but are separate from it. The rate at which these cesses are levied varies in the different Districts ; but the prevailing rate is one of about 13 1/3 per cent., or about 2 1/6 annas per rupee, on the land revenue, of which 5 per cent, goes to the village headinan, and 8 1/3 per cent, to Local funds. Efforts are at the same time made to assist local agriculture, not only by the loan of money for the purchase of seed and bullocks and the construction of wells, but also by remitting temporarily the revenue assessable on improvements such as the construction of gardens and wells. The increased assessment due to the improvement caused by a new well is remitted for a period of twenty years from the date of the construction of the well.

The assessment or settlement of the Province has usually been taken up District by District. The settlements effected immediately after annexation were summary in character, and the revenue then assessed reMained payable for four or five years only. The more elaborate settlements subsequently made, which were known as regular settlements, were usually for thirty or twenty-six years ; and the prevalent term now in force is one of twenty years.

In a tract where the previous assessment has approximated to the standard of half the net ' assets’ the Main grounds for enhancement after twenty or thirty years are the increase of cultivation and the rise in prices. The cultivation of the Province between 1880 and 1900 increased about 19 per cent., and the price of the Main staple (wheat) rose in the same period by about 36 per cent., while the land revenue demand of the Province, standing in 1880 at 193 lakhs, was 203 lakhs in 1890, 250 lakhs in 1900, and 283 lakhs in 1904, which at present prices represents an assessment of 460,000 tons of wheat. Adding cesses (60 lakhs) and canal rates (168 lakhs), the total assessment comes to 511 lakhs, representing 813,000 tons of wheat. The assess- ment in the time of Akbar (1594), when cultivation was quite un- developed, reached a sum of 282 lakhs, which at the prices then current represented in wheat no less than 1,700,000 tons.

The collection of the grain assessments imposed by the Sikhs taxed, as may be imagined, the energies of a large staff of officials. Since annexation it has been usual to entrust the collection of cash assess- ments to 'the village headinan, who, in return for this and other services, receives 5 per cent, of the revenue which he collects. In the early days of British rule, when the assessments were based on imperfect data and were often very severe, the headinan frequently failed to collect the revenue ; and stringent measures had to be under- taken to recover the Government dues, involving in many instances the wholesale transfer of proprietary rights from the agricultural to the moneyed classes. Even at the present day the collection of dues from a body so numerous as the peasant revenue-payers of the Province is a task which cannot always be accomplished without friction; and the law has reserved for Government very complete powers, by way of attachment, arrebt, and sale, for the realization of its demands. The enforced sale of a defaulter's property, which in early days was common, is now, however, almost unknown.

In collecting the fixed assessments it is now the rule, on the occurrence of any markedly bad seasons, to arrange for total or partial suspensions of the revenue, calculated on the basis of the cropped area of the harvest as recorded by the revenue staff. The suspended revenue is allowed to lie over till next harvest, and is then collected or further suspended according to the conditions then pre- vailing. Should it be found necessary to postpone the collection for a considerable time, it is ultimately remitted altogether. When crops suffer from causes not of the ordinary seasonal nature for which allowance is made at assessment, e.g. by locusts or hail, the area damaged is calculated, and the revenue thereon is remitted at once. This system of suspending and remitting revenue has since 1880 become much more developed than it was in the earlier days of

British rule, and during the famines of 1896 and 1900 it did much to foster the resources of the affected areas. In Hissar, which suffered most at that time, 5.9 lakhs, representing 83 per cent, of the land revenue of the District, was suspended in 1899-1900; and in 1901-2 a sum of 37.3 lakhs then under suspension in various Districts was entirely remitted.

Mention has been made of the fact that, owing to the serious extent to which land was passing from the hands of the old agricultural tribes to those of the moneyed classes, the Government was in 1901 compelled to place restrictions on the alienation of land in the Punjab, this being the first occasion on which a general measure of this character has been introduced in India. Under the Land Alienation Act (XIII of 1900), the 'Government has in each District notified certain tribes as ' agricultural tribes’ and has classed as ' agriculturists’ for the purposes of the Act all persons holding land, who either in their own names or in the names of their ancestors in the male line were recorded as owners or as hereditary or occupancy tenants at the first regular settlement. A member of an agricultural tribe may not, without permission, sell or otherwise permanently alienate his land to any one who is not a statutory ' agriculturist ' of the same village or a member of the same agricultural tribe or group of tribes (for the present all the agricultural tribes of a District are counted as being in one group). Similarly, a member of an agricultural tribe may not mortgage land to any one who is not a member of the same tribe or group of tribes, unless the mortgage is in certain specified forms which fix a limit to the period of usufructuary possession or else ensure the retention of the cultivating possession by the mortgagor. The Act has not yet been long enough in force for its results to be accurately gauged ; but as a general rule the object arrived at appears to have been achieved, and the intention of Government to be duly appre- ciated by the class for whose benefit the new measure was under- taken.

The assessments in the Punjab have generally been noted for their moderation. In the first regular settlements the assessments imposed at the summary settlements, which had been hastily conducted after annexation, were much reduced, though the enormous fall in prices which followed the pacification of the country made the burden of the earlier assessments heavier than had been intended. The policy of lenient assessments thus initiated has been adhered to.

For purposes of assessment land is divided into two Main classes, irrigated and unirrigated. The latter includes moist (saildfr) land, not actually irrigated, in the valleys of the great rivers and on the banks of hill torrents. This is of the most varying quality, and its assessment varies accordingly. Sailab land on hill torrents is occasionally assessed

as high as Rs. 4 per acre. Other unirrigated land pays from 3 or 4 annas to Rs. 2 or Rs. 2-8 an acre. Canal-irrigated lands are assessed to land revenue in three different ways : (1) by a fixed assessment on the land calculated on its value if unirrigated, plus a fixed or fluctuating canal-advantage land revenue ; (2) by a fluctuating canal (nahri) rate or rates, no separate ' dry ' rate being imposed ; and (3) on the Sirhind Canal, by a (fluctuating) combined occupier's and land revenue canal rate. The first system is in force on the Wesstern Jumna and Bari Doab, and the second on the Jhelum and Chenab Canals. Lands irrigated by wells pay 1 2 annas to Rs. 6 or Rs. 7 per cultivated acre. The lowest rates are taken in the south-west, where the average area for each well is far larger than the area which can be irrigated from it in any one year, and where a considerable part of the crops grown is consumed by the tenant and his cattle without any return to the landlord. The highest rates are paid in the north-wesstern Districts, where only 3 or 4 acres are attached to each well, the land being double cropped and producing valuable staples.

Miscellaneous revenue

Under Sikh rule salt was one of forty-eight articles which were liable to customs, town, or transit duties. The cis-Indus and Kala- bagh salt mines were farmed out to persons of eminence ; and the farmer, as long as he paid the amount of his contract, was allowed to dispose of the salt in any manner he might think proper. He was under no restrictions as regards time, place, or price, and might sell whole- sale or retail, either at the mines or in distant markets. The prices charged by the farmers do not appear to have been high ; but mining and transport difficulties helped to restrict the area within which the rock-salt was consumed, and the cis-Sutlej tract seems to have been almost entirely supplied at this time with salt from Rajputana.

Upon annexation the management of the cis-Indus and Kalabagh mines was at once taken over by the British Government. An excise duty of Rs. 2 a maund was levied at the mines, in lieu of all charges to which the salt was formerly subject ; and on payment of this duty the salt was allowed to pass free throughout the British dominions, subject only to the additional duty of 8 annas a maund levied on all salt crossing the branch customs line established for the protection of the Bengal revenue. The duty imposed was considerably higher than the prices charged by the farmers for salt under the Sikh government, but all articles except salt and liquor were exempted from excise, customs, and transit duties. The Imperial customs line was at the same time extended along the Sutlej and the Panjnad to the Indus at Mithankot, and a preventive line was established on the Indus to exclude Kohat salt from the cis-Indus portion of the Province. The manufacture of alimentary earth-salt in the cis-Indus Punjab was also prohibited. The

adoption of the principle of a fixed duty on the production of salt, levied at the source, foreshadowed the adoption of the policy now in force throughout India. Salt crossing the customs line into the cis- Sutlej Punjab from Rajputana was liable to the duty in force in the United Provinces of Rs. 2 a maund. The history of salt taxation in the cis-Indus Punjab from this time merges in the history of salt taxation in British India, and it is unnecessary to specify the enhance- ments and reductions in the rate of the duty which have since been made. In 1870 a price of one anna a maund was charged on rock- salt excavated on behalf of Government in addition to the duty.

From 1849 to 1869 the salt mines and quarries in the cis.Indus Punjab and at Kalabagh and the preventive line on the Indus were under the management of the Provincial Government; but in 1869 the Government of India assumed the direct control of the inland customs department, and the adininistration of the salt revenue in the Punjab was at the same time made over to the Imperial department. In 1878 the customs line was abolished, but the preventive line at the Indus was still retained. Upon the abolition of the customs line the Punjab system of levying duty at the mines was extended to the Rajput- ana salt sources, but the change of policy had no material effect upon the salt supply of the Punjab. Cis-Indus rock-salt continued to be the Main source of supply for the trans-Sutlej Districts, and with the extension of the railway to Khcwra in 1882 the demand for this salt rapidly grew.

By the annexation to the Punjab of the Delhi territory after the Mutiny two additional sources the Nuh and Sultanpur salt-works in Gurgaon and Rohtak Districts were brought within the Province. The greater part, however, of the salt produced at these works was consumed in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh ; and the competition of superior salt at a uniform rate of duty after the aboli- tion of the customs line and the lease of the Rajputana salt sources by the British Government soon proved fatal to these works. The quantity of Nuh and Sultanpur salt which annually crossed the customs line into British territory before 1878 was about 158,000 maunds and 680,000 maunds respectively. By 1883-4 the salt from the Nuh works, which were not on the line of railway, had become unsaleable, and the works were closed. The Sultanpur salt-works, most of which are on the Farrukhnagar branch of the Rajputana- Malwa Railway, are still struggling for existence, but the annual sales from the works in the three years ending 1903-4 have averaged only 65,763 maunds.

For some years after annexation earth-salt was made on a con- siderable scale under a contract system of taxation in the Rajanpur tahsil of Dera Ghazi Khan District; but in 1881 the prohibition of

the manufacture of alimentary earth-salt was extended to the territory west of the Indus, and all licit salt works were closed.

The preventive line on the Indus was withdrawn in 1896, when the duty on Kohat salt was raised to Rs. 2 a maund of 102 ½ 7/8 Ib. The transport of this salt to cis-Indus territory, both in the Punjab and in the new North- West Frontier Province, is, however, still prohibited.

At present Rajputana salt is consumed in Delhi and the adjoining Districts, and from Ambala northwards the Punjab is supplied with rock-salt from the cis-Indus and Kalabagh mines. The salt excavated from the cis-Indus mines is the cheapest in India, and of excellent quality, the analysis of a sample showing a percentage of 98.86 of chloride of sodium, and the average percentage may be taken at 97. The trade in salt within the Province is in a satisfactory state. In 1903-4 the number of traders dealing direct with the Salt department was 2,035, and salt is supplied to all parts of the Province without the intervention of middlemen. Salt from the Mayo Mines at Khewra is delivered, sewn up into bags (which are provided by the traders) and loaded into railway wagons, at a price of 1 anna 3 pies a maund. Salt from Wareha and Kalabagh, where arrangements for its removal are made by the traders, is sold at 9 pies a maund. The illicit manu- facture of salt is still carried on in Rajanpur, and cases occasionally occur in Multan, Muzaffargarh, Delhi, and Gurgaon ; but salt is good and cheap, especially in the central and wesstern portions of the Pro- vince, and offences against the Salt Law are rare.

Details of the quantities of salt sold for consumption within the Province are given below :

The incidence of consumption per head was 6 3/4 Ib. in 1881, 1 4/5 Ib. in 1891, 7 1/4 Ib. in 1901, and 7 1/4 Ib. in 1904.

The Punjab system of excising opium differs essentially from that of the rest of India, in that the cultivator is allowed to sell the pro-

duce of his poppy crop to licensed vendors instead of being compelled to sell it to the state as in other Provinces. Hence the state, not being a monopolist of the drug, has to resort to its taxation, and ever since annexation it has levied a twofold tax upon it : firstly, it levies an acreage duty on the poppy crop ; and secondly, it taxes its sale by putting up to auction the licences to purchase the produce and resell it when made into opium. Under this system of direct taxation opium is but lightly taxed in the Punjab. The acreage duty is low (only Rs. 2 per acre in the tracts in which opium is made, and Rs. 4 in those in which the poppy is cultivated chiefly for the poppy-heads), in order to safeguard the cultivator against failure of the crop or inability to realize it ; and this involves a low rate of import duty, as a high rate would encourage smuggling. On the other hand, the import duty has to be pitched high enough to prevent the home-produce being under- sold.

In the Punjab opium is made only in the following tracts : Shahpur and Ambala Districts, the Thanesar tahsil and Pehowa circle (in Karnal), the Chunian tahsil of Lahore, the Rajanpur tahsil of Dera Ghazi Khan, in the plalns ; and, in the hills, the Kot Khai tahsil of Simla and the Kulu subdivision of Kangra. The plant is also cultivated chiefly for poppy-heads in four tracts : Jullundur and Amritsar Districts, the Hoshiarpur tahsil of Hoshiarpur, the Lahore and Kasur tahsil of Lahore, and the Jampur tahsil of Dera Ghazi Khan. Throughout the rest of British territory in the Province the cultivation of the poppy has now been absolutely prohibited ; but it is cultivated in several Native States, especially in those of the Hima- layan region. The total area cultivated in British territory averaged 10,000 acres between 1891 and 1900, while it was 4,700 acres in 1900-1, and 8,852 acres in 1903-4. The area varies greatly from year to year. In Shahpur, Simla, and Kulu it is fairly constant ; but elsewhere it depends on the price of wheat, a large area being sown only if wheat is cheap. The area cultivated for poppy-heads varies much more than that sown for opium, and their price in consequence also fluctuates greatly.

Opium is imported into British territory from the Native States of the Province, especially the Simla Hill States, Sirmur, Mandi, and the Himalayan area of Patiala; but importation from Bahawalpur and certain plalns tracts of the other Native States is prohibited. It is also imported from Malwa, Bengal, Kashmir, and Afghanistan. The Government of India allows a maximum of 1,116 1/2 maunds of Malwa opium to be imported at a duty of Rs. 280 per chest, compared with the usual duty of Rs. 725. Of this amount, about 330 maunds are delivered annually to the Phulkian States, and the duty on this is credited to the States in order to interest them in the prevention of

smuggling. The Opium department also supplies the Punjab Govern- ment with Bengal opium, not exceeding 176 maunds a year, at Rs. 8-8 a seer; and this is sold by the Government treasuries at Rs. 15 a seer in the Districts of Hissar, Rohtak, and Delhi, and elsewhere at Rs. 17. All other imported opium pays Rs. 2 per seer when it crosses the border. The Punjab exports no opium except to the North-West Frontier Province, but statistics of this export are not available.

Opium-smoking is not common, being practised only by dissipated coteries in the larger towns, and the sale of madak and chandu (prepara- tions for smoking) is illegal. Licences for their sale used to be granted ; but the shops were all closed in 1890, and even their possession for private use is limited to one tola weight.

Prior to annexation the only spirit made in the Punjab was an uncoloured rum from sugar, and this is still the chief alcoholic drink of the people. To control its production, in 1863 no less than 118 state distilleries were established at District and tahsil head- quarters. Each of these was an enclosure in which private distillers were permitted to set up stills, the spirit manufactured being kept in store by the excise officials and issued by them, after payment of the duty, to retail vendors. This system has now been abolished and replaced by six private licensed distilleries at Sujanpur, Amritsar, Rawalpindi, Karnal, and Simla. The last chiefly distils whisky from barley malt. The other four distil uncoloured rum for the majority of the population. At each distillery a resident exciseman supervises the output and vend. A duty of Rs. 4 per gallon (raised in 1906 to Rs. 6 in the case of coloured spirit, and the so-called brandy, whisky, and gin which are prepared from a cane-spirit basis) is levied both at the still-head and on all Indian spirit imported into the Province, European liquors paying customs duty at the port of arrival. There are seven breweries, all of which except one are situated in the hills, and a tax of one anna a gallon is levied on the beer before it leaves the brewery. Spirit-drinking is most prevalent among the Sikhs. The recorded consumption of the Province is about 300,000 gallons a year ; this, however, does not represent nearly the total amount actually consumed, as illicit distillation is extremely prevalent, and, owing to the universal cultivation of sugar-cane, very hard to detect. The consumption of licit country spirit is on the increase.

The figures for imported spirits shown on the next page include the amount consumed by the European population ; the quantity sold to the Indian public is about 25,000 gallons annually, and is increasing. In the cities cheap European spirits compete with native spirits.

Although the hemp-plant grows abundantly, charas, the drug ex- tracted from its leaves and flowers, 'cannot be made in the Province. It is imported from Yarkand and Kashgar, via Leh, to bonded ware-

houses in the Punjab or United Provinces. Before it is sold, a duty of Rs. 6 per seer is levied. Charas-smoking is considered disreputable, and is a dangerous practice, often leading to insanity. Bhang, the dried leaves of the hemp-plant, supplies a medicinal beverage with cooling properties, which is drunk chiefly by Sikh ascetics. The plant grows wild in such quantities in the hills and submontane Districts that it is impossible to prohibit the gathering of its leaf, but any person found in possession of more than one seer is liable to a penalty. Licensed vendors may collect bhang without restriction within their own Districts, but in Districts where hemp does not grow all bhang imported is subject to a duty of Rs. 4 per maund. Thus while the duty on charas is easily realized by guarding the routes of import, that on bhang is very difficult to collect, and where it grows wild cannot be imposed at all.

Details of net excise revenue, &c., are shown below. The figures up to and including the year 1900-1 are for the Punjab as constituted before the separation of the North-West Frontier Province ; those for 1903-4 are for the Punjab as now constituted :

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The incidence of the gross excise revenue, excluding opium, was 1 anna 1 pie per head in 1881, 1 anna 5 pies in 1891, and 1 anna 9 pies in 1904.

Stamped paper of a primitive kind came into use in the Punjab immediately after annexation. In 1872 the present system was in- augurated by the appointment of a Superintendent of Stamps, an office which is now combined with that of Commissioner of Excise. Every Government treasury is a local depot for the sale of stamps, judicial and non-judicial, to the public, and of postage stamps to postmasters. Similarly, sub-treasuries are branch depots. All trea- surers are ex-officio vendors of stamped paper to the public. They are entrusted with stocks of stamps, and are required to meet the

detailed demands for stamps made by the public, indenting upon the Main stock of the local depot when their own runs low. The net revenue from the sale of judicial stamps in the Punjab between 1881 and 1890 averaged 23 lakhs and in the following decade 27 lakhs, while non-judicial stamps in the same periods brought in on an average ii and 14 lakhs respectively. In the year 1900-1 judicial stamps realized 27 lakhs and non-judicial stamps 15 lakhs, and in 1903-4 (after the separation of the North-West Frontier Province) the net revenue was 27 and 13 lakhs respectively.

Local and municipal

The net revenue from income tax rose from an average of 10-1 lakhs between 1886 and 1890 to 11.2 lakhs in the following decade, and amounted to 11.6 lakhs in 1903-4, after the separation of the North- West Frontier Province and the exemption of incomes below Rs. 1,000. The corresponding number of assessees was 40,251, 44,785, and 21,709. The incidence of the tax per head (of the assessees) in 1903-4 was Rs. 53-6-8, and there were i-i assessees per 1,000 of the population.

Local government in the Punjab, as in the rest of India, is of two kinds, the local government of the village and that of the District and town ; the former is an indigenous institution dating from the remotest antiquity, the latter an exotic of Wesstern importation. The Indian village community is described in Vol. IV, chap, ix (pp. 279, 280). All three types of village community there described are in one form or another represented in the Punjab. The Jat village of the south and central plalns is a per- fect type of the joint village, while the villages of the Salt Range, owned by landlords of a dominant race, who have gathered round them dependent communities of cultivators, represent the landlord village. The ryotwdri type of village may be said to exfst in the south-wesstern plalns, where the so-called village is merely a group of isolated home- steads, built wherever a well nab been sunk in the arid desert. Here the village is really a fiscal unit ; and much the same may be said of the villages of the hills, which are in reality only groups of hamlets, loosely held together by certain common interests and joint rights of grazing or pasture in the forests. In these latter cases village self- government has naturally never existed, but the true village community has from time immemorial adininistered its own affairs with little out- side help or interference. The landowners of the village, connected by common descent, real or fictitious, form among themselves a republic, which rules its dependent priests, artisans, and menials with oligarehic authority. The informal assembly of the village, comprising every adult male of the proprietary body, is presided over by a headinan, thaudhri, mukhia (lit. 4 spokesman '), or, to use the modern term, lambarddr. Often there are several headinen. The headinan of a village is appointed by the Deputy-Commissioner, and, if he is

ecognized by the community as its natural leader, his influence equals is authority. If not, his authority is limited to such legal powers as are conferred on him, and in the South-East Punjab a leader of the opposition is regularly chosen. The headinan transacts the business of the community, including the management of its common fund, to vhich all contribute, and to supplement which, in many villages, a Dearth or door tax is imposed on all residents who are not members of the proprietary body. The communal body has no legal powers ; but it is in its power to inflict on recalcitrant members of the com- nunity the punishment of social excommunication, and on the menials and artisans various inconveniences. Only the village banker is beyond ts authority ; and he, by virtue of being the creditor of every man in he village, is able to bring considerable pressure on the council to prder things according to his pleasure. There is, however, but little )rospect of the village council being utilized as a part of the machinery )f Government. As being essentially a tribal organization, it can lever be entrusted with legal powers in a community that is daily ipproaching the industrial stage, and the spread of education makes t increasingly difficult for it to exercise its unauthorized powers of

ontrol.

In some form or other municipal adininistration has existed in the Punjab ever since annexation. In its earliest stage committees of ownsmen were formed to adininister the surplus of the funds raised jy cesses or duties for watch and ward purposes. This system worked well, but it lacked the essentials of municipal government, the funds seing vested in official trustees. A more regular form of municipal idininistration was introduced in Simla and Bhiwani under the Act of 1850; and in 1862 the head-quarters of Districts were formed into 'egular municipalities, with committees, mostly elected, invested with control over local affairs and power to regulate taxation. In 1864 here were 49 committees, of which 28 had elected members. Hitherto the municipalities had been constituted under the executive authority of Government; but in 1866 doubts arose as to their legal status, and more especially as to the validity of the octroi tax from which their Funds were Mainly derived. Accordingly, the first Municipal Act for the Punjab was passed in 1867, and renewed for a year in 1872. In 1873 a new enactment, which made election permissive, was passed; ind under it 190 committees were constituted, 8 of these (Simla, Dharmsala, Dalhousie, Murree, Delhi, Lahore, Amritsar, and Multan) being of the first class, 17 of the second, and 165 of the third. They were controlled by the Local Government, the Commissioner, or the Deputy-Commissioner, according to their class. The Local Bodies Loans Act of 1879 empowered the Local Government to grant loans to approved municipalities for improvements; and in 1884 a new

Municipal Act was passed, with the object of restoring the elective principle and widening the sphere of municipal activity. Two classes of committees were recognized, the first having greater latitude to incur expenditure on public works than the second. The Act of 1867 had, however, been too widely applied, and between 1885 and 1887 no less than 41 committees were abolished. In 1891 was passed an amending Act, which reformed the system of taxation, and provided a simple form of municipal adininistration for towns which it is in- expedient to constitute regular municipalities. The towns to which this form has been applied are termed ‘ notified areas.'

In 1904 the Province contained 8 municipalities of the first class, 131 of the second, and 48 ‘ notified areas; Three of these (Lahore, Delhi, and Amritsar) contained over 100,000 inhabitants, 47 more than 10,000 but less than 100,000, and 137 less than 10,000 inhabitants. The average incidence of municipal taxation in 1903-4 was Rs. 1-8 per head. The population within municipal limits was 2,299,893, including 210,223 in 'notified areas’ according to the Census of 1901. In 1903-4 the members of municipal committees numbered 1,503, of whom 229 were ex officio, 495 nominated, and 779 elected. The committees in the * notified areas' were composed of 186 members, 84 ex officio and 102 nominated. Only 126 Europeans sit on all these committees.

The principal source of municipal income is octroi, which in 1903-4 realized as much as 30 lakhs out of the total of Rs. 55,48,000. Direct taxation of houses and lands is virtually confined to the hill munici- palities and Delhi. Water rate is levied only in Ambala, Simla, Kasumpti, Dharmsala, Lahore, Dalhousie, and Murree, in all of which water-supply schemes have been carried out. The Main fea- tures of municipal finance are shown in Table XII at the end of this article (p. 389).

Local self-government of the District likewise dates from the early days of British rule. Prior to 1871 each District had a District committee, but it was merely an advisory body. The rules under the Local Rates Act of that year made these committees adininistrative bodies, and they did excellent work. In 1883 Lord Ripon's Act extended the elective principle to District boards, and under it local boards were also established in tahsil. The system of election at first promised well ; but it was soon found that membership of a board was not sought for public ends, and men of good position and local in- fluence were reluctant to stand. It is now an accepted fact that the best men prefer nomination by Government to canvassing for election. Local boards were soon found to be superfluous, as the business of the District boards could not with advantage be delegated, and they are rapidly being abolished. In 1903-4 the Province possessed 26 District

boards, excluding Simla, where the Deputy-Commissioner exercises the powers of a District board. These boards were composed of 1,077 members : 207 ex officio (the Deputy-Commissioner being nearly always ex-officio president), 495 nominated, and 375 elected. Only 7 Districts had local boards, 28 in number, with 531 members: 28 ex officio, 161 nominated, and 342 elected.

The District fund is Mainly derived from the local rate a cess ordinarily of 1 anna 8 pies per rupee, or Rs. 1 0-6-8 per cent. 1 , on the land revenue of the District supplemented by grants from Provincial funds. The expenditure of a District board is chiefly devoted to the Maintenance of schools and dispensaries, vaccination, roads and rest- houses, arboriculture, ferries, cattle-pounds, horse-breeding, and horse and cattle fairs. Its expenditure on education, medical relief, and office establishments is largely of the nature of fixed establishment charges. Famine works have been readily undertaken by District boards in time of necessity ; and large expenditure under this head, coinciding as it always must with little or no income from the local rate, has frequently necessitated financial aid from Government. District boards have afforded invaluable assistance to Deputy-Commissioners as consulta- tive bodies, but the necessity of conforming to the rules of the educational, medical, and other departments leaves little scope for local initiative. Even in the case of public works, six-sevenths of the sum available is ear-marked for Maintenance and establishment. The income and expenditure for a series of years are shown in Table XIII at the end of this article (p. 390).

Public works

The Public Works department is divided into two branches : tion, and Buildings and Roads. The former has hitherto been an

Imperial branch under a Chief Engineer, who is

also ex-officio secretary to the Provincial Government.

According to the Provincial settlement which came into force in 1905, the Provincial Government participates in the profits earned by the branch, and bears a share of the working expenses. Under the Chief Engineer are Superintending Engineers, who control circles formed of one or more canals. These circles are again divided into divisions, each in charge of an Executive Engineer. The size of a division varies according to circumstances ; but, excluding head-works divisions, it usually comprises an irrigated area of about 350,000 acres. The Province is divided into 6 circles and 26 divisions. Each division is further divided into 3 or 4 subdivisions in charge of a subdivisional officer, usually an Assistant Engineer. Not only does the department Maintain all the canals in its charge, but its officers are responsible for the registration and measurement of the irrigation and the assessment 1 Now reduced to Rs. 8-5-4 Per cent - by the abolition of -the cess for famine (1906)

of the revenue levied on it. For canal revenue purposes each sub- division is divided into sections, generally three in number, . each in charge of a ziladar, and each section is again subdivided into patwari? circles. For Maintenance purposes, a subdivision is divided into sections, in charge of overseers or sub-overseers. The revenue estab- lishment of a whole division is further supervised by a Deputy-Col- lector, who is also a second-class magistrate. When the supply of water is less than required, the Superintending Engineer controls inter-divisional distribution and the divisional officer that between subdivisions. The internal distribution of water and regulation of supply is primarily in the hands of the subdivisional officers. The ziladar, who is constantly in touch with all his patwaris, indents for water at distributary heads. The subdivisional officer receives reports for all his channels daily and thus controls the distribution. The Executive Engineer supervises the internal distribution by subdivisional officers, and controls the inter-divisional distribution ; and a report on the general state of crops is submitted weekly by each divisional officer direct to the Chief Engineer, who thus controls generally the distri- bution throughout the Province. The efficient distribution on Punjab canals is Mainly due to the very extensive canal telegraph system. The Chief Engineer also controls the irrigation works of the North- West Frontier Province, and is ex-officio secretary to the Agent to the Governor-General and Chief Commissioner of that Province.

The Buildings and Roads branch is under a Chief Engineer, who is likewise cx-offido secretary to Government. It is divided into three circles, each under a Superintending Engineer. The number of divisions varies from time to time according to the funds allotted for expenditure, but is ordinarily between 12 and 13, each under an Executive Engineer. Each division embraces from one to four civil Districts. A division is again divided into subdivisions, usually con- trolled either by Assistant Engineers or by upper subordinates. This branch is Maintained from Provincial funds, and its primary object is the construction and Maintenance of Imperial and Provincial works ; but it also assists municipalities and District boards with advice and the loan of its officers when they can be spared, and all important sanitary works are carried out for such bodies by the branch, a percentage being charged for establishment, tools, and plant, though this charge is frequently remitted.

The appointment of Sanitary Engineer to Government was created in October, 1900, for a period of five years in the first instance, with the rank of Superintending Engineer. The cost of his pay and establish- ment is met from Provincial revenues, which are credited with the fees recovered from the local bodies which utilize his services. The Sani- tary Engineer is a member of the Provincial Sanitary Board, and is its

executive officer and expert adviser to Government and the Board in all matters relating to sanitary engineering.

The only railway built from Provincial funds was the 65 miles of line from Amritsar to Pathankot. Its capital cost up to Mareh 31, 1896, was : direct, 55 lakhs ; indirect, 5 lakhs. The actual cash paid from Provincial funds was 6 lakhs, the balance having been advanced on loan at 4 per cent, from Imperial funds. As the net earnings barely exceeded i per cent, on the capital cost, the undertaking proved a serious financial loss ; and the Government of India took over the proprietorship of the line, including its management, in 1897, the Local Government forgoing the 6 lakhs it had spent on it.

The most important buildings constructed during the decade ending 1901 were the Secretariat offices at Simla and the Chief Court and Jubi- lee Museum at Lahore. District court buildings have been built at Simla, Amritsar, and Lyallpur, a sessions house at Jhelum, and a resi- dence for the Commissioner at Delhi. Six new jails were constructed and one enlarged ; a female penitentiary, nine tahsil buildings, and five combined tahsil and police stations were built, and police accommoda- tion extended in six Districts. The principal educational buildings erected were : the Government College, Lahore, with a boarding- house ; new buildings for the School of Arts, Lahore ; school-rooms for boys and girls, a reception bungalow, band-room, and restoration of buildings at the Lawrence Military Asylum, Sanawar ; a new Techni- cal school at Lahore ; a combined boarding-house for the Central Training College, Lahore ; the normal and central model schools, Lahore ; and normal schools at Jullundur and Rawalpindi. The chief medical buildings at Lahore 'were the following: the new Medical School ; a separate ward for Europeans at the Mayo Hospital ; the Lady Aitchison Hospital for Women ; the Prince Albert Victor wing attached to the Mayo Hospital ; new dissecting rooms in connexion with the Mayo Hospital ; an ophthalmic ward in connexion with the Mayo Hospital ; and a new lunatic asylum for the Punjab. A church was also built at Dalhousie. Additions in the form of realignments, metalling, or bridging have been made on a large number of roads, and feeder roads to the different railways have been extensively constructed.

Since 1901 a General Post Office, a University Hall, a boarding-house attached to the Medical School, and a female ward in the Lunatic Asylum have been erected at Lahore, the Saragarhi memorial and the Victoria Jubilee Hospital at Amritsar, and the Walker Hospital and a new wing to the Foreign Office at Simla. Water-works and drainage works have been carried out at Lyallpur, and extensive im- provements made in the Upper Mali at Lahore.

The most important bridges constructed were as follows ; on the Kangra valley road,. the Lyall viaduct over the Chakki torrent, twenty-

eight spans of 39 1/2 feet, and the Dheri bridge, of 214 feet span; a bridge over the Jhelum at Kohala, two spans of 98 feet and one of 142 feet ; the Banganga bridge in Kangra, 85 feet span ; and the Leh bridge near Rawalpindi, three spans of 60 feet.

Owing to the construction of the Chenab Canal, a large tract of coun- try embracing portions of Jhang and Gujranwala Districts, and known as the Chenab Colony, has been opened up. For the development and proper adininistration of the colony, roads and buildings have been and are being constructed. Large sums have been spent on unsuccess- ful attempts to prevent the encroachment of the Indus in Dera Ghazi Khan.

Army

The following large municipal works have been carried out since 1881 : water-supply of Lahore city and suburbs, Simla, Rawalpindi, Delhi, Amritsar, and Ambala ; drainage and sewage works at Lahore, Delhi, Amritsar, Simla, Ludhiana, and Jullundur.

For thirty-five years, from 1851 to 1886, a military force known as the Punjab Frontier Force was directly under the orders of the Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab. In the latter year it was transferred to the control of the Com- mander-in-Chief. The troops in the Punjab all belong to the Northern Command, with the exception of those quartered at Delhi, which belong to the Meerut division of the Eastern Command. The Lieutenant-General Commanding has his head-quarters at Rawalpindi and Murree; and the Punjab is garrisoned by the Rawalpindi and Lahore divisions and the independent Derajat brigade of the Northern Command, and by the Meerut division of the Eastern Command. The military stations in 1904 were: Rawalpindi division Attock, Campbellpur, Jhelum, several stations in the Murree hills, Rawal- pindi, and Sialkot ; Lahore division Ambala, Amritsar, Bakloh, Dagshai, Dalhousie, Dharmsala, Ferozepore, Jullundur, Jutogh, Kas- auli, Lahore (Fort and Cantonment), Multan, Sabathu, and Solon; Derajat brigade Dera Ghazi Khan; and Meerut division -Delhi. All these (except Bakloh, Dharmsala, Jhelum, Campbellpur, and the stations in Dera Ghazi Khan District) are garrisoned by British infantry, and all but Campbellpur, Murree, Solon, Dagshai, Sabathu, Lahore (Fort), Dalhousie, Kasauli, and Jutogh by Native infantry. British cavalry are stationed at Rawalpindi, Sialkot, and Ambala, and Native cavalry at those places and at Lahore Cantonment, Ferozepore, Multan, Jullundur, and Jhelum. British artillery are stationed at all the foregoing, except Jhelum, and at Campbellpur, Jutogh, and Attock. Sappers and miners are stationed at Rawalpindi, and a military railway company at Sialkot. Transport units are permanently located at the following stations: mule corps and cadres at Rawalpindi, Hassan Abdal, Sialkot, Jhelum, Lahore Cantonment, Ferozepore, Jullundur,

and Ambala; camel corps at Campbellpur, Rawalpindi, Jhelum, Shah- pur, Multan, Montgomery, Lyallpur, and Lahore Cantonment. There are arsenals at Ferozepore and Rawalpindi. The total strength of the British and Native regular army stationed within the Province on June i, 1904, was as follows: British, 17,277; Native, 21,420; total, 38,697. There are four volunteer corps, the total strength of which in 1904 was 2,270. Of these, the Punjab Light Horse, raised in 1893, has its head-quarters at Lahore, with detachments at Delhi, Ambala, Rawalpindi, Lyallpur, and Palampur : its strength in 1904 was 186. The ist Punjab Volunteer Rifle Corps has its head-quarters at Lahore, with detachments at Amritsar, Dharlwal, Gurdaspur, Rawalpindi, Murree, Sialkot, Delhi, Karnal, Ferozepore, and Dharmsala, and Srlna- gar in Kashmir : its strength is 701. The Simla Volunteer Rifle Corps has its head-quarters at Simla, with a detachment at Kasauli : its strength is 363. The North- Wesstern Railway Volunteer Rifles have their head-quarters at Lahore, with detachments at all important 'stations. The corps has a strength of 1,267, but many of these are in other Provinces. There are also detachments of the 2nd Bombay, Baroda, and Central India Railway Volunteers and of the East Indian Railway Volunteers, at Sirsa, Ambala, and Kalka, which have a com- bined strength of no.

The Punjab stands first among the Provinces of India in the number of recruits it supplies for the Native army, and second to none in the fighting quality of the races recruited. The principal classes recruited in the Province are Sikhs, the recruiting centre for whom is at Jullundur; Punjabi Muhammadans, Jhelum; Dogras, Jullundur; and Jats and Hindustani Muhammadans, Delhi.

The forces Maintained by the Native States under the control of the Punjab Government are of two kinds : Imperial Service troops and local troops. Eight of the principal States Maintain the former. Thus, the Patiala contingent consists of a regiment of cavalry and two battalions of infantry ; Jind, Nabha, and Kapurthala each Main- tain a battalion of infantry, and Bahawalpur a transport corps with a mounted escort of camelmen, while Faridkot, Maler Kotla, and Sirmur furnish a company of sappers apiece. No State in India, except Gwalior and Kashmir, furnishes a larger contingent than Pati- ala. The local troops are of all degrees of strength and efficiency. They range in strength from the regiment of cavalry, two battalions of infantry, and one battery of artillery that Patiala can put into the field to the half-dozen soldiers of some of the Hill States. Even in the largest States they are employed more as armed police than as a military force, while in the smaller States their services are utilized in the collection of revenue, as well as in the Maintenance of order and the performance of ceremonial functions.

Police and jails

On the annexation of the Punjab in 1849 a police force was organized in two branches, a military preventive and a civil detec- tive police, the former consisting of 6 regiments of an foot and 27 troops of horse. By the beginning of

1860 its strength had risen from 15,000 to 24,700 men, excluding the Peshawar and Derajat Levies, and the thagi, can- tonment, and canal police, the total cost exceeding 46 1/2 lakhs a year. In 1 86 1 the cis-Indus police were reorganized under the Police Act (V of 1861), which was not completely extended to the six frontier Districts till 1889. Revisions in 1862, 1863, and 1869 reduced the cost of the force to 25 lakhs; and in 1863 the Derajat, Peshawar, cantonment, thagi, and canal police were brought under the general system of the Punjab. The railway police were organized in 1869. The police of the North- West Frontier Province became a separate force on the constitution of that Province in 1901.

The establishment now consists of a single force controlled by an Inspector-General, who is ex-officio under-secretary to Government. He is assisted by three Deputy-Inspectors-General, one of whom is in adininistrative charge of the railway police and the criminal inves- tigation department. Commissioners of Divisions are also Deputy- Inspectors-General ex officio. Each District has a Superintendent, and the larger Districts each have one or more Assistant Superintendents who (with the exception of the officers in charge of two subdivisions) work under the Superintendent at head-quarters. The unit of adininis- tration is the thdna or police station under a sub-inspector, and out- posts and road-posts are established where necessary. Nearly half the force is armed with bored-out Martini-Henry carbines, swords, and batons. The reMainder are armed with swords and batons only. The sole military police now Maintained are in-Dera Ghazi Khan District, which has two forces, each under the command of an Assistant Commissioner : the border military police proper, and a militia raised in 1901 to take the place of the regular troops recently withdrawn. The training of constables is carried out in the Districts in which they are enrolled. Before promotion to head con- stable, constables go through a course of instruction at the Police Training School, established at Phillaur in 1891. Head constables and sub-inspectors have also to go through a course at this school to qualify for promotion to the higher grades, and all men who receive direct appointments are required to qualify at the school before they are conpirmed.

The village watchmen or chaukidars, who are appointed by the district Magistrate on the recommendation of the village headinen, receive on an average Rs. 3 a month as pay from the village com- munity. They are not as a rule armed, though in some places they

carry swords or spears. Their duties are similar to those in other Provinces, but they are regarded as acting under the control of the village headinen, who are jointly responsible for reporting crime. In most municipal towns the regular force is supplemented by a body paid from municipal funds. Cantonments have police paid from Provincial funds, and in some Districts there are ferry police. All these bodies are controlled by the District Superintendent. The railway police, who are responsible for the Maintenance of law and order over the whole North-Wesstern Railway system, are organized under a Deputy- Inspector-General. There is no separate detective staff in the Punjab. The system of identification by means of finger-prints is employed, and the training school at Phillaur includes a criminal identification bureau. The strength of the regular District police is one man to 7 -8 square miles or to 1,647 persons ; the number of village watchmen exceeds 29,600.

Nine tribes have been regibtered under the Criminal Tribes Act. Of these the most important are the Sansis, Baurias, and Mahtams ; they are usually settled in villages under the charge of a police guard, whose duty it is to see that no registered member of the tribe is absent without leave. The imposition of punitive police posts on villages which have misconducted themselves is not an uncommon feature of the adininistration.

The jail adininistration is under an Inspector-General, who is an officer of the Indian Medical Service, as are generally the Super- intendents of Central and District jails. The post of Superintendent of a District jail is generally held by the Civil Surgeon. Jails in the Punjab consist of Central and District jails. There are no subsidiary jails, but their place is taken by large lock-ups. The greater portion of the prisoners are confined in barracks, to which the cubicle system is being gradually applied. A jail on this system is being built at Lyallpur.

Table XV attached to this article (p. 392) shows how mortality in jails has decreased since 1881. It must, however, be noted that tuber- culous diseases have shown a tendency to increase during recent years. It is hoped that this will be checked by improvements now being made in the ventilation of dormitories, and in the arrangements for cleansing and disinfecting clothing and bedding. It is also intended to build special tuberculous wards in the larger jails ; indeed, such accommo- dation is being provided in two of the Central jails. It will be noticed also that the average cost of prisoners has steadily increased since r 88 1. The increase is Mainly due to higher prices of food-grains and of such articles as woollen and cotton yarns used in the manu- facture of clothing and bedding, and also in some measure to expen- diture incurred in effecting a general amelioration of the conditions of prison life.

The chief industries carried on in the Central jails are lithographic printing, weaving woollen and cotton fabrics, carpet-making, brick- making, and expressing oil. The greater portion of the out-turn is supplied to Government departments. When opportunity has offered, prisoners have been employed in carrying out large public works: and temporary jails were built at Chenawan in 1884 and at Mong Rasul in 1898 in connexion with the excavation of the Chenab and Jhelum Canals. In District jails the chief industries are paper-making, expressing oil, rope-making, and weaving cotton carpets.

Education

Until 1903 the Punjab possessed no reformatory, but in that year one was opened at Delhi and placed under the Educational depart- ment. Nothing can be said yet with regard to its working.

Prior to the constitution of the Punjab in 1849, Government schools existed in the Districts of the Delhi territory which then formed part

of the old North-VVestern Provinces, and in the 

rest of the Province indigenous schools afforded a foundation for the present educational system. Under the Sikhs, teaching as a profession was almost entirely in the hands of the Muharnmadans, who, besides teaching the Koran in the mosques, gave instruction in the Persian classics. On these schools were grafted the earliest Government vernacular schools. Purely Hindu schools were rare, being either colleges in which Brahman boys learnt Sanskrit and received a half-religious, half-profes>sional training, or elementary schools where sons of Hindu shopkeepers were taught to keep accounts and read and write the traders' scripts. The few Gurmukhi schools that existed were of a purely religious character. The best feature of the indigenous schools was that they were not confined to the religious and mercantile classes, but were open to the few agriculturists who cared to attend them. After annexation the Christian missions established several schools, that at Lahore as early as 1849. Government soon followed their example and founded schools in the cities and larger towns, while District officers founded and Maintained schools at minor places out of Local funds.

In 1854 the Educational department was first organized. It was adininistered by a Director of Public Instruction, with 2 inspectors, jo deputy, and 60 sub-deputy-inspectors. The schools directly sup- ported by Government numbered 108 (4 District, 100 tahsil> and 4 normal schools). The department cost about 2 lakhs per annum, and in addition a cess of 1 per cent, on the land revenue provided for the Maintenance of numerous village schools. The Persian script, already in use throughout the Wesstern Punjab, and in two-thirds of the indigenous schools of the eastern Districts, was unhesitatingly adopted as the standard ; but the choice of a language offered greater difficulties. Punjabi is not a literary language ; and Urdu, though

unpopular, was so generally in use, especially in the law courts, that it was perforce adopted. Gurmukhi and Hindi schools were, however, to be encouraged wherever the people desired them.

Difficulties in adininistration soon arose. All the schools were under the direct control of the department, and District officers were dissociated from their working. The lower grades of officials were foreigners, imported from Hindustan and without influence over the people. Accordingly, in 1860, all the vernacular schools were entrusted to the Deputy-Commissioners and tahsildars, the unpopular inspecting agency being abolished. But this measure failed to provide for the professional supervision of the schools, and it was soon found necessary to appoint an inspector in each District as the Deputy- Commissioner's executive agent and adviser in their management. In the same year provision was made for the levy of school fees. Superior Anglo- vernacular zila (District) schools were also established, and the personnel and curriculum in all schools improved. In 1864 Government colleges were established at Lahore and Delhi, and in 1865 a scheme for an Oriental University was formulated. In 1868-70 the status of village schoolmaster was improved, the minimum salary being fixed at Rs. 10 a month; but funds ran short, and, as the immediate result of this measure, a number of schools were closed. The decentralization of finances in 1871, however, enabled the Local Government to devote more adequate funds to education, and the village schools rose rapidly in numbers and efficiency.

As now constituted, the inspecting staff of the department consists of a Director of Public Instruction, 5 Inspectors, 2 Inspectresses, 9 assistant inspectors, 28 District inspectors, 24 assistant District inspectors, and 2 assistants to the Inspectresses. The Director and two of the Inspectors are Europeans and members of the Indian Educational Service, as are the principal and three professors of the Government College, the principal and the vice-principal of the Central Training College, the principal of the Mayo School of Art, and the head master of the Central Model School, Lahore, The rest of the staff is drawn from the Provincial service, which also supplies a pro- fessor and five assistant professors to the Government College, the vice-principal of the Mayo School, the assistant superintendent of the Central Training College, the registrar of the office of the Director of Public Instruction, the superintendent, reformatory school, and the reporter on books, Educational department. Four members of this service are Europeans. The assistant inspectors are selected from the Subordinate service, which comprises 197 appointments in all, and supplies teachers to the principal colleges and schools. The majority of the teaching staff, except that of the Government high schools, are, however, employed by local bodies, District boards, and municipal

committees, which engage teachers for the schools under their control subject to certain departmental rules, or borrow members from the Subordinate service for the more important posts.

The Punjab University at Lahore was established in 1882. Prior to that year colleges and schools had been affiliated to the Calcutta University. In 1868 a proposal to establish a Punjab University had been negatived by the Government of India ; but a grant-in-aid of Rs. 21,000, equal to the annual income from private sources, was sanctioned for the improvement of the existing Government College at Lahore, and in 1870 Sir Donald M c Leod inaugurated the new Punjab University College. The senate of this institution established an Oriental school and college at Lahore, its objects being to pro- mote the diffusion of European science, as far as possible, through the medium of the vernacular languages, and the improvement and extension of vernacular literature generally ; to afford encouragement to the enlightened study of Eastern classical languages and literature ; and to associate the learned and influential classes with Government in the promotion and supervision of popular education.

In 1877, on the occasion of the Imperial Assemblage at Delhi, the movement in favour of a Punjab University was revived, and resulted in its incorporation under Act XVII of 1882. The University was empowered to grant degrees in Medicine in 1886, and degrees in Law and Science in 1891. There are five Faculties Oriental Learning, Arts, Law, Medicine, Science and Engineering. The Syndicate is the executive committee of the Senate. Under the Indian Universities Act of 1904 the Senate has been reconstituted. It now consists of 75 ordinary fellows, of whom 60 are nominated by the Chancellor and

15 elected by the Chancellor's nominees. There are also 10 ex-officio fellows, 2 of whom are also ordinary fellows.

Prior to 1870 the Calcutta University had dominated the higher secondary education of the Punjab ; but soon after that year the Lahore College began to hold its own examinations, which were better adapted to the requirements of the Province. After its incorporation as a University the number of graduates was at first very small, only

1 6 qualifying in 1883-4, in which year the expenditure was Rs. 21,000. In the next six years, however, progress was rapid. Diplomas, being passports to higher employment under Government, were eagerly sought after, and in 1889-90 as many as 41 students graduated, and the expenditure had risen to Rs. 60,912.

In 1883-4 there were only three Arts colleges: the Government and Oriental Colleges at Lahore, and St. Stephen's College at Delhi. The number of candidates for matriculation was 551, and of passes 224, the average cost of each student's education being Rs. 400, and the total expenditure on colleges Rs. 79,223. By 1889-90 the number of

Arts colleges had risen to seven, and that of matriculation candidates to 1,016. Passes had increased to 462, and the expenditure to Rs. 2,06,346, while the cost of each student's education had fallen by Rs. 65, owing to the levy of higher fees and the larger number of students. In 1888 the Dayanand Anglo- Vedic School at Lahore, established by the Arya Samaj, was raised to the status of a college, and became in a few years one of the most largely attended in the Province. Another important unaided institution, the Islamia College at Lahore, was opened in 1892 by the Muhammadan community; and in 1897 the Sikhs .established the Khalsa College at Amritsar. By 1900-1 the number of Arts colleges had risen to 12, with 2,148 matriculation candidates aftd 1,214 passes. Expenditure had risen to Rs. 2,89,582, but the average cost of a student's education was only Rs. 185, or less than half its cost in 1883-4.

The only college which imparts higher professional teaching is the Lahore Medical College. Established in October, 1860, it was raised to collegiate status in 1870. In the latter year it had 68 students. In 1887-8 a monthly fee of Rs. 2 was imposed. In 1889 the erection of the Lady Lyall Home for female students added to its usefulness.

The Law School at Lahore is of collegiate status, and prepares stu- dents for the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Founded in 1870 with two departments, an English and a vernacular, and a two years' course, it was remodelled in 1889-90, and the course extended to three years, only graduates in Arts being adinitted to the Licentiate in Law exami- nations. In 1891-2 intermediate and LL.B. classes were formed, and two sets of examinations prescribed, one leading to the Licentiate, the other to the LL.B. degree. In 1897-8 the number of students had reached 434, the highest limit ; but the supply of trained lawyers was in excess of the demand, and in the next three years the numbers fell to 248.

The following table shows the chief results of university examina- tions :

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Secondary schools are either middle or high. A middle school usually contains a primary as well as a middle department. A high school, in addition to its high department, usually contains these two also. The middle course extends over three classes, and terminates in the case of vernacular schools in the middle school examination.

The high-school course extends over two years, and ends with the entrance examination of the Punjab University. English is not taught in the vernacular schools, and is commenced only at the upper primary stage in the Anglo-vernacular schools. The vernacular is thus the medium of instruction for all departments up to the third middle class, English being the medium only in the high department.

The effective organization of secondary education dates from 1860. As education spread, it became easier to obtain men capable of teaching up to the entrance standard, and it was thus found possible to increase the number of high schools at comparatively small cost. The vernacular middle schools progressed even more markedly. In 1877 the Punjab Textbook Committee was appointed to prepare suitable English and vernacular Readers, and in 1880-1 the establishment of the Central Training College helped to provide better qualified teachers.

In 1883-4 there were 25 high schools with 912 scholars, and 198 middle schools with 5,107 scholars. In the next six years the number of high schools had risen to 41, with a satisfactory increase in the num- bers on the rolls ; and though the number of middle schools had decreased, the number of scholars had risen. After 1882, in accor- dance with the recommendations of the Education Commission, all schools except those attached to training institutes were made over to local bodies for management, and rules were framed to encourage their conversion into aided schools, the further extension of secondary education being made dependent on private institutions. Scholarships were made tenable on a uniform system, and Jubilee (now known as Victoria) scholarships and Zamindari scholarships were founded to foster education among Muhammadan and Hindu agriculturists. Fees were raised, and a system of payment by results was introduced into the grant-in-aid rules. Special attention now began to be paid to moral and physical instruction and to school discipline. In furtherance of the new educational policy of the Government of India, one high school in each District has, since 1904, been Maintained as a state institution.

The first step in primary education was an attempt to raise the indi- genous schools of the Punjab to a higher level of efficiency. But this scheme failed; and it was found necessary to convert the principal indigenous schools into Government schools, or branches of mission schools, or to bring them more or less under the influence of District or municipal committees. The educational cess, however, realized so little that salaries sufficient to attract competent teachers could not be offered, although no attempt was made to provide a school for every group of villages. It was accordingly resolved to reduce a number of schools in order to raise the efficiency of the reMainder. The result was that schools were accessible only to a small proportion of the boys of school-going age ; and Sir Charles Aitchison recognized the necessity

of improving the indigenous schools, without destroying their distinctive character, by the offer of liberal grants-in-aid on easy conditions. The system was accordingly reorganized, the management of the schools being transferred to local bodies, which were, on the other hand, re- quired to devote a fixed proportion of their income to primary education* Revised grant-in-aicl rules provided for payment by results and staff grants to certificated teachers employed in aided schools. Specially liberal grants were made to indigenous and low-caste schools. The introduction of inter-school rules and good-conduct registers conduced to the moral, as the gymnastic instruction did to the physical progress of the boys. The recommendations of the Education Commission of 1883 rendered it possible to' give effect in greater detail and with greater precision to the policy inaugurated by Sir C. Aitchison. Schools and scholars increased in numbers and efficiency, though the imposition in 1886 of higher fees on sons of non-agriculturists reduced the number of boys of that class in the lower primary department. By 1889-90 the number of aided schools had risen to 300, with 10,000 pupils; and they continued to progress until 1896-7, when the growing popularity of the Government schools, combined to some extent with the pressure of bad seasons, checked their advance. On the other hand, the District boards, with many pressing calls on their resources, could not meet the demand for primary education. Numerically, primary schools show but a slow advance, but in efficiency their progress has been marked. The abolition of the lower primary examination in 1898 enabled the course 'of instruction to be made continuous for fully five years, and permitted controlling officers to devote more time to questions of organization and discipline, methods of instruction, and so on, at their inspections. In the upper primary department more time was allotted to object lessons and elementary science.

In 1886 the necessity of a simpler and more practical curriculum for sons of agriculturists led to the establishment of Zamindari schools. In these, half-time attendance only is required, and they are closed during each harvest. Elementary reading and writing, in the character chosen by the people, and arithmetic by native methods, are taught. Qualified teachers in these schools received extra pay, and arrangements were also made to train teachers in those subjects in the normal schools. From 1886 to 1892 the schools prospered ; but the people then began to realize that they led to nothing, as they did not fit boys for Govern- ment employ, and ever since they have been losing ground. In 1901 the Zamindari schools numbered only 187, with 3,887 pupils. In view of their increasing unpopularity, steps were taken in 1904 to open village schools with a simpler course of studies, planned with special reference to the requirements of agriculturists. The Punjab possesses a few special low-caste schools. These are Mainly dependent upon

missionary enterprise, and are, like all indigenous schools, eligible for grants-in-aid on easy conditions.

Encouraged by results in the United Provinces, several girls' schools were opened in the Punjab as early as 1855, and in 1862 Sir Robert Montgomery held a great darbdr at Lahore in order to enlist the co- operation of the chiefs and notables of the Province. Under this impulse nearly 1,000 schools with 20,000 girls had been opened by 1866, but the results were unsubstantial and the attendance soon fell off. A sound system of female education was only founded in 1885-6, in which year it was attempted to make the existing schools places of healthy elementary education, adapted to the simple requirements of the people, and rewards for diligent work were substituted for payments for mere attendance. An Inspectress of Schools was appointed in 1889. As yet, however, female education can hardly be said to have taken firm root except in the Central Punjab (Lahore, Amritsar, Gujranwala, Sial- kot, and Jullundur), where Sikh influences are strong, and among the Hindu element in the wesstern Districts. There is, however, throughout the Province much private teaching, almost exclusively religious, by Hindu, Sikh, and Muhammadan women, and, as far as religious objec- tions allow, by the ladies of the Zanana and other Christian missions. And the most gratifying feature of recent years has been the steady increase of private enterprise on behalf of female education, several unaided schools, notably the Kanya Maria Vidyalla at Jullundur, having been opened. The establishment in 1905 of the Normal School for Women at Lahore marks a new era in the development of female edu- cation in the Province. Its success, which depends much on the sym- pathetic co-operation of the educated classes, will to a considerable extent remove one great obstacle in the way of the advancement of the education of girls the lack of qualified women teachers.

The Lahore Central Training College was opened in 1881, the first of its kind in India. Since its foundation most of the secondary schools have been supplied with trained teachers, and a few years ago the Punjab was able to spare a number of trained and experienced men to assist in revising and improving the training school system in the United Provinces. There were at first two classes : the senior English, which prepared teachers for higher work in English secondary schools ; and the senior vernacular, which trained men for all kinds of purely vernacular teaching in secondary schools. In 1883-4 a junior English class was opened, to train teachers for the primary classes of Anglo- vernacular schools. With the extension of university education, the preliminary educational qualifications were raised; and since 1896 only B.A.'s, or those who have read up to that standard in a recog- nized college, are adinitted to the senior English class. For adinission to the junior English class men must have either passed the inter-

mediate examination or attended the classes of a college for two years. In 1904 this institution was completely reorganized. The staff has been strengthened, the period of study has been raised to two years, a clerical and commercial class has been added, and the number of available stipends much increased. A teacher's degree examination, open to all graduates in Arts who have attended the Central Training College for another year after passing the senior Anglo-vernacular certificate exami- nation, has also been instituted.

Normal schools were originally founded to train teachers for both middle and primary schools, but have been restricted to training for the latter alone since the organization of the Central Training College. The schools are under the control of the Inspectors ; and in pursuance of the policy of having otic in each circle, normal schools were estab- lished at Jullundur in 1887 and at Multan in 1891.

Prior to 1886 the Medical and Veterinary Colleges, the Law School, the Engineering Class of the Punjab University, and the Mayo School of Industrial Art were the only real technical institutions in the Province, the few so-called industrial schools being mere workshops in which inferior articles were made at a high cost. In the three following years, however, some progress was made, the chief step being the establishment of the Railway Technical School at Lahore, to provide instruction for the children of the railway workshop employes. This school has a primary and a middle department ; the course of study is much the same as in the ordinary schools, with a progressive course of carpentry, drawing, and practical geometry. The functions of the Mayo School were also extended, and private industrial schools were encouraged. An entrance examination in science and a clerical and commercial examination were also instituted, the one in 1897, and the other in 1900. The movement thus begun bears fruit, and some industrial schools have sprung up at the larger training centres, such as Amritsar, Ludhiana, and Delhi ; but the number of students is still small. In ordinary schools also the course of study has been remo- delled, so as to include practical mensuration and agriculture in primary schools, and to develop the powers of observation by object lessons.

The schools for Europeans and Eurasians in the Punjab were included in the scope of Arehdeacon Baly's inquiry in 1881. No less than 440 children of school-going age were then found to be receiving no education whatsoever. Under the Resolution of the Government of India passed in that year, however, the grants to existing schools were increased, and Rs. 11,945 was given by Government for enlarging school-houses. The absence of an enactment making attendance at school compulsory, the apathy of parents, and the migratory character of the European and Eurasian community have been great obstacles to advancement. The schools, especially in the plalns, labour under

many disadvantages, the lack of trained teachers being especially felt. Of recent years the progress made has, nevertheless, been considerable. In 1903, 46 Europeans and Eurasians passed the matriculation, 94 the middle, and 102 the primary school examination.

When in 1871 attention was first directed to the backwardness of education among Muhammadans in India, inquiry showed that in the Punjab the Musalman community had availed itself of the facilities offered as fully in proportion to its numbers as the Hindus. Much had been done to foster the study of Arabic and Persian. Indeed, the latter had been favoured at the expense of vernacular languages and literatures, and it was felt that no special measures for the advance- ment of Muhammadan education were required. It was, however, found that Muhammadans seldom prosecuted their studies beyond the middle schools, and that few attended colleges. Muhammadan boys spent years in learning the Koran by rote in the mosques, and thus reached manhood before their education could be completed. The poverty of the Muhammadans as a community, and the fact that they were mostly agriculturists, also militated against their higher education. Progress was, however, made, and in 1883-4 the Muhammadan college students were thrice as numerous as in 1870-1. Nevertheless, their number in the secondary schools and colleges reMained proportionately far below that of the Hindus, and the necessity of special measures was realized. In 1887 Jubilee scholarships (now called Victoria scholar- ships), tenable in high schools and colleges, were founded by Govern- ment ; and local bodies were authorized' to establish them for middle schools. In addition, half the free or semi-free studentships in secondary schools and scholarships were reserved for Muhammadan boys. The community itself also began to realize the necessity for self-help, and various societies were started which organized Anglo- vernacular Muhammadan schools in the cities and large towns. The result was a rapid advance in higher Muhammadan education, though the Hindus and Sikhs still retained the lead. In the ensuing decade the community showed a growing preference for the public schools, especially those in which English was taught, and availed itself fully of the scholarships and studentships offered, though the societies continued to Maintain many schools with or without Government grants-in-aid. The following table shows the number of Muhammadans under instruction in public institutions :

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In 1883-4 the proportion of the population of school-going age in the Punjab under instruction was 4-2 per cent., and in the course of the next six years it rose to 7*8 per cent., but since then it has showed no advance. This is Mainly due to the steady decline of private schools which do not conform to any of the departmental standards, and are not inspected by the department. People either send their boys to the public schools, or keep them at home to help in domestic or other work. The percentage of males in British Districts able to read and write was 6-8 according to the Census of 1901, and that of females 0-37. The most advanced Districts are Simla, Amritsar, and Multan ; the most backward are Hissar, Rohtak, and Gurgaon.

Fees in Government schools and colleges are fixed, and the pro- portion of free and half-rate studentships is also specified. Schools and colleges which receive aid from Government are bound to observe the rules lald down for them in this behalf. Unaided schools, however, are quite free in the matter of fees. The majority of them charge very low fees, as compared with the Government and aided institutions.

The following table shows the Main features of educational finance in 1903-4:

EXPENDITURE ON INSTITUTIONS MAINTAINED OR AIDED BY PUBLIC FUNDS

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In 1901 the number of publications registered under the Printing Press and Books Act was 1,478. Of these, 425 were poetical works and 409 religious treatises. Language and pictures came next, with 113 and 82 respectively. Except perhaps in its popular poetry modern Punjab literature displays little originality, and many of its productions are merely translations of English works into the various languages and scripts of the Province.

The number of newspapers published in 1903 was 209. The only important English newspapers are the Civil and Military Gazette and the Morning Post, published daily at Lahore and Delhi respectively. The native-owned newspapers include 31 published in English, 1 in

English and Urdu, 164 in Urdu, 6 in Hindi, and 7 in Gurmukhl. The leading papers are more or less actively political, their columns being devoted Mainly to the criticism of Government measures and policy. Generally speaking, these journals are either sectarian, or the mouthpieces of various classes or cliques of the educated community. Few are of much importance, and many are little more than advertising sheets. The Tribune and the Observer, published in English at Lahore, are the leading Hindu and Muhammadan organs respectively.

Medical

The Civil Medical department is controlled by an Inspector-General of Civil Hospitals. The department was organized in 1880, prior to which year hospitals were under the Inspector-General of Prisons. Each District is under the medical charge of a Civil Surgeon, who is stationed at the District head-quarters (Simla has two officers of this class) ; but in the summer months a Civil Surgeon is stationed also at Murree, and the Civil Surgeon of Gurdaspur District is transferred to Dalhousie. As a rule, the chief hospital of each District is at its head-quarters, and is in charge of a Civil Assistant Surgeon, who after a five years' course at the Lahore Medical College has qualified for the diploma of Licentiate of Medicine and Surgery of the Punjab University ; the minor hospitals and dispensaries in the outlying towns of the District are in charge of Hospital Assistants, who have qualified by a four years' course at the college. The work is super- vised by the Civil Surgeon, who is required to inspect each dispensary four times a year.

The progress made since 1881 may be gathered from Table XVII attached to this article (p. 394). The number of hospitals and dis- pensaries has risen by 44 per cent., and in-patients in much the same ratio, while out-patients have more than doubled. The contribution from Government has slightly decreased ; but the income from Local and municipal funds has more than doubled, and that from fees, en- dowments, and other sources has also increased very largely.

The only institution Maintained by Government is the Mayo Hospital at Lahore, an integral part of the Medical College, to which it affords clinical instruction. Before the establishment of this college the Subordinate medical service was recruited from the Calcutta College, whose candidates were mostly Bengalis. Partly to obtain recruits locally, and partly with the object of popularizing Wesstern medicine throughout the Province, a medical school was established in 1860 at Lahore, and in 1870 its status was raised to that of a college. The buildings consist of one large block, containing three class-rooms, a dissecting room, a chemical laboratory, several museums, and a large central hall, to which have been added in recent years a large and well-equipped dissecting room with a lecture theatre capable of accom- modating 400 students, and pathological and physiological teaching

laboratories, with a post-mortem theatre and mortuary. The teaching staff now consists of 8 professors, 6 lecturers, a demonstrator of anatomy, and 3 class assistants. A hostel for female students was built in 1889 by" the Punjab committee of the Countess of Dufferin's Fund, chiefly from a donation of Rs. 50,000 given by the Maharaja of Kashmir. Arrangements have been made for a similar hostel for male students at a cost of over Rs. 2,00,000. The growth of the college is apparent from the fact that in 1903 it trained 234 students in the English class and 308 in the Hospital Assistant class, compared with 8 and 44 respectively in 1860.

In 1900 a central asylum for lunatics was constructed at Lahore at a cost of 2 lakhs. It is controlled by a commissioned medical officer, with a military Assistant Surgeon as deputy-superintendent. It has accommodation for 468 patients; and in 1903 a separate building, capable of accommodating 120 female lunatics, was erected at a cost of Rs. 74,000. The daily average number of inmates in 1904 was 554. The record of the alleged cause of insanity is usually drawn up by the police and has little scientific value. Of the cases treated in 1904 in which any cause is assigned, 16-59 P er cent. w ^ re attributed ' to the excessive use of Indian hemp in one form or another, 8-09 to epilepsy, 0-71 to heat, and 7-09 to moral causes, such as grief, worry, and disappointment.

At Kasauli, a Pasteur Institute was established in 1901 for the treatment of persons bitten by rabid animals, which now treats patients from all parts of India. In 1906 a central Researeh Insti- tute was founded there, which will provide means for the scientific study of the etiology and nature of disease in India, besides the preparation of curative sera for the diseases of man, and the training of scientific workers. The institution is in charge of a Director, with a staff of assistants.

The practice of inoculation as a protection from small-pox has prevailed in the Punjab from time immemorial. The method adopted was to keep dry crusts from the pustules mixed with grains of rice in a box ; when a mild form of the disease was desired, a few grains of rice were inserted into a wound near the base of the thumb, while a severe attack was procured by inserting a little of the powdered crusts. The practice was most prevalent among Muhammadans, and was per- formed by Saiyids and Mullas as a quasi-religious ceremony. The Hindus of the South-East Punjab did not protect themselves for fear of offending the goddess of small-pox, but elsewhere Rajputs and Nais (barbers) usually acted as inoculators among Hindus. The practice was largely prevalent in Rawalpindi, Jhang, and Shahpur Districts as late as 1887, and to a less extent in Karnal, Hoshiarpur, Kangra, Multan, and Dera Ghazi Khan. With a few exceptions, the attempt

to enlist the inoculating classes as vaccinators was not successful. Vaccination is now under the charge of the Sanitary Commissioner, and Civil Surgeons are primarily responsible for vaccinations in their Districts. The staff consists of 5 divisional inspectors, 28 superinten- dents, and 260 vaccinators. The falling-off of vaccination in 1901 shown in Table XVII attached to this article (p. 394) is chiefly due to plague. Vaccination is compulsory in 23 municipal towns.

The success of the system of selling quinine through the post office in Bengal led to its introduction into the Punjab late in 1894. First introduced experimentally in the Delhi Division, it was extended in 1899 to *h at f Lahore, and it is now proposed to extend it to all the Districts of the Province, although in 1901 the total sales only amounted to 293 pareels, each containing 102 five-grain packets of quinine. The small measure of success which the system has met with is not easily explalned, though it may in part be accounted for by the reluctance of the literate classes, from which the post office officials are drawn, to act as drug-vendors. It is, however, apparent that the people are at present indifferent to the advantages of the sybtem, and, as a rule, little aware of the value of quinine as a prophylactic. In Kangra, however, in 1905 some 2,300 packets, each containing 102 powders of seven grains each, were distributed at a total cost of Rs. 3,669.

The chief defectb of village sanitation are the impurity and contami- nation of drinking-water, the accumulation of filth, the presence of manure-heaps near the houses, and the existence of ponds of stagnant water in or around the village site. It has been considered inadvisable to legislate for the compulsory sanitation of villages, but District boards are empowered to grant rewards in the form of a reduction of revenue to the villages most active in sanitary improvements.

Surveys

Surveys in the Punjab have been carried out by two distinct agencies : the local patwaris effecting the cadastral or field surveys, and the Survey of India compiling maps based on triangulation.

when the revision of a settlement is undertaken, 

the maps, measurements, and records-of-rights of ownership and actual possession are thoroughly revised by the Settlement officer and a special staff of tahsildars, naib-tahsildars, and field kanungos. On the conclusion of the operations these records are transferred to the custody of the Deputy-Commissioner, who is henceforth responsible for their Maintenance, and correction when necessary. Briefly, the system in force is this : the patwdri makes a field-to-field inspection at each harvest, noting all changes in rights, rents, and possession, and all amendinents required in the field map. The changes thus noted are recorded, after attestation by a superior revenue officer, in a revised record-of-rights, which is prepared for each village every fourth year and called the jamabandi. The Deputy-Commissioner is assisted in

this duty by a revenue assistant (Assistant or Extra Assistant Com- missioner), the Director of Land Records acting as his expert adviser in all matters connected with it. The staff consists of a District kanungo, with a number of field kanungos and patwaris or village accountants. In 1904 there were 7,906 patwaris and 386 field kanungos in the Province. Patwaris used to be hereditary village officials, servants of the village community and members of the trading castes ; but they are now enlisted without regard to hereditary clalms, and more than a third in 1903 were of agricultural castes. Two-thirds have passed the middle-school examination. Candidates go through a prac- tical course in field surveying and land record work in the District patwari school. After passing the examination, they may be appointed on salaries usually rising tg Rs. 14 a month. The post is non-pension- able, but a patwari may on retirement receive a gratuity not exceeding Rs. 150. Patwaris also receive a share of the fees levied for mutation entries in the record-of-rights. The cadastral survey is made entirely by the patwaris, and usually during a resettlement of the land revenue. The system used is a scientific one, known as the square system, and its results are remarkably accurate. It consists in laying out the entire village area into squares, which are also shown on the map. The fields are then plotted in, being co-ordinated to the sides of the squares, and the village maps thus show the boundaries of every field. They are tested by comparison with the survey maps.

In the Chenab and Jhelum Colonies, in which large areas of Government waste have been brought under cultivation, the square system has been extended to the formation of all fields into squares, equal to 1/25 th of a survey square, i.e. to i acre 18 poles. This system of square fields greatly facilitates irrigation and revenue management, and is a safeguard against boundary disputes. It is being gradually extended in some localities to old proprietary lands.

The maps of the Survey of India are based on triangulation carried out between 1850 and 1860. Kashmir and the North-western Hima- layas were topographically surveyed between 1848 and 1865, and Jhelum and Rawalpindi Districts (including the recently constituted District of Attock) between 1851 and 1859, These surveys, though excellent, are now out of date in the matter of roads, &c., and do not show village boundaries. The survey of Kangra, Kulu, the hills of Hoshiarpur, and the Simla Hill States was completed in 1903. The whole of the Punjab plalns, with the exception of Hissar, was surveyed between 1846 and 1880, village by village, on the 4-inch scale, and Hissar was surveyed on the 2-inch scale between 1882 and 1884. In 1883 arrangements were made with the Surveyor-General for the revision of the survey maps on the basis of the village maps; and in 1884 a party of the Survey of India began compiling new maps from reductions of these village

plans, checking and revising them in the field, and completed maps of Jullundur, Ludhiana, Ferozepore, Ambala, and Jhang Districts, and of the plalns portions of Hoshiarpur. To enable this work to be extended, traverses were run over Shahpur, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gurdis- pur, and Amritsar Districts. The party was withdrawn in 1889, but in 1901 the work was recommenced. Lahore was completed by 1906, and the work is progressing in Amritsar, Montgomery, Multan, and Mzaffargarh. In addition to this, riverain surveys are being carried out to enable boundaries to be relald in the areas subject to floods. Several lines of spirit-levels have also been run through portions of the Province. The Cis-Sutlej States were surveyed during 1846-7 on the 1 inch to the mile scale, and Patiala, Jind, Nabha, &c., in 1861-2 on the same scale. The large State of Bahawalpur was surveyed during 1869 to 1875, the inhabited area village by village on the 4-inch, and desert tracts on the 2-inch scale. Kapurthala State was resur- veyed when Jullundur was surveyed between 1884 and 1889.

[K. B. Saiyid Muhammad Latif : History of the Punjab (Calcutta, 1891). J. W. MCrindle : The Invasion of India by Alexander (1893). J. D. Cunningham: History of the Sikhs (second edition, 1853). Sir C. Gough and A. D. Innes : The Sikhs and the Sikh War (1897). Sir H. B. Edwardes : A Year on the Punjab Frontier, 2 vols. (1851). Sir L. H. Griffin: The Rajas of the Punjab (second edition, 1873), and Ranjlt Singh (Oxford, 1892). C. J. Rodgers : Revised List of Objects of Arehaeological Interest in the Punjab (Lahore, 1895). H. G. Raverty : Tabakat-i-Nasiri. W. Francklin : Memoirs of George Thomas (Calcutta, 1803). J. B. Fraser: Memoirs of James Skinner , 2 vols. (1851). H. Pearse : Memoirs of Alexander Gardner (1898). Sir J. W. Kaye : Life of Lord Metcalfe: 2 vols. (second edition, 1858). Sir H. M. Lawrence : Adventures of an Officer in the Service of Ranjlt Singh, 2 vols. (1845). L. J- Trotter : Life of John Nicholson (1898). Sir H. B. Edwardes and H. Merivale : Life of Sir Henry Lawrence, 2 vols. (1872). R. Bosworth Smith: Life of Lord Lawrence, 2 vols. (1883). Bhai Maya Singh and H. M. Clark: The Panjabi Dictionary (Lahore, 1895). Rev. E. P. Newton: Panjabi Grammar (Ludhiana, 1898). R. C. Temple : The Legends of the Punjab, 3 vols. (1881-5) ; ‘ Punjab Indus- trial Monographs ' (Lahore) : Cotton (i%%$), Woollen (1886), Silk (1887), Brass and Copper (1888), Wood (1889), Gold and Silver (1890), Fibres (1891), Pottery and Glass (1892), Leather (1893), Silk (1899), Ivory (1900), Stone (1906). Report on the Famine in the Punjab in 1896-7 (Lahore, 1898); The Punjab Famine of 1899-1900 (Lahore, 1901). S. S. Thorburn : Report on Peasant Indebtedness and Land Alienations to Money-lenders in the Rdivalpindi Division (Lahore, 1896). Census Reports, 1885, 1868, 1881 (by D. C. J. Ibbetson), 1891 (by E. D. Maclagan), 1901 (by H. A. Rose). District Gazetteers]

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