Puri District, 1908
Contents |
Puri District, 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.
Southern District in the Orissa Division of Bengal, lying between 19 28' and 20 26' N. and 84 56' and 86 25' R., with an area of 2,499 l square miles. It is bounded on the north and north-east by Cuttack District ; on the south-east and south by the Bay of Bengal; on the west by the Madras District of Ganjam ; and on the north-west by the Tributary States of Nayagarh, Ranpur, and Khandpara.
Physical aspects
Its general shape is triangular, and it may be roughly divided into three tracts west, central, and east. The wesstern extends from the right bank of the Daya river across the stony country of Dandimal and Khurda, till it rises into the hills of the Tributary States. A low range, beginning in Dompara and running south-east in an irregular line towards the Chilka Lake, constitutes a watershed between this tract and the Mahanadi river. The most important peaks are in the Khurda sub- division. On the north of the Chilka Lake they become bold and very varied in shape, and throw out spurs and promontories into the lake, forming island-studded bays, with fertile valleys running far inland between their ridges. The middle and eastern divisions consist entirely of alluvial plalns, the south-wesstern part of the Mahanadi delta. They are watered by a network of channels, through which the most southerly branch of that river, the Koyakhai, finds its way to the sea. The middle tract comprises the richest and most populous portion of the District ; the eastern is less- thickly peopled and in the extreme east loses itself in the jungles around the mouths of the Devi. The following scheme briefly shows the river system of the District :
Only one of these rivers, the Kushbhadra, reaches the sea. It follows a very winding course and is of little value for navigation. Its bed has 1 The area shown in the Census Report of 1901 was 2,472 square miles ; that given above is taken partly from a report of the Districtc Magistrate and partly from p. 47 of the Orissa Settlement Report.
silted up, and in seasons of heavy rainfall its floods devastate the sur- rounding country. The three rivers most important to the people of Puri are the Bhargavi, the Daya, and the Nun, which all enter the Chilka Lake, after running widely diverse courses. During the dry season they die away into long shallow pools in the midst of winding stretches of sand, but in the rains they come down with a great rush of water that often threatens to burst the banks and inundate the surrounding country. Their banks are generally abrupt, and in many parts are artificially raised and strengthened as a pro- tection against floods. The coast-line consists of a belt of sandy ridges, varying from 4 miles to a few hundred yards in breadth. It contains no harbours of any importance. Puri port is simply an unprotected roadstead, open from the middle of September to the middle of Mareh. During the reMainder of the year the surf does not allow of vessels being laden or unladen. The principal lakes are the CHILKA and the Sar. The latter is a backwater of the river Bhargavi, 4 miles long by 2 broad. It has no outlet to the sea, from which it is separated by sandy ridges.
Some of the hills are composed of compact gneiss, most of the others being of garnetiferous rock with occasional bands of quartzose gneiss. Laterite forms a raised terrace-like plaln around the hills, except a few far out in the alluvium, and it probably underlies the whole of the recent alluvium which covers the eastern portion of the District. On the southern bank of the Chilka Lake, in one or two places at an elevation of 20 to 30 feet above the present flood-level, is found a bed of mud with estuarine shells, evidencing an elevation of the land since the comparatively recent period when the Chilka Lake had a freer communication with the sea than it now has. A similar deposit occurs at some places on the spit between the Chilka Lake and the sea.
In the Mahanadi delta, swampy places near the sea have on the banks of rivers and creeks the vegetation of a mangrove forest. Where sand-dunes intervene between the sea and the cultivated land behind, an equally characteristic littoral vegetation is met with, the principal species of which are Spinifex Hydrophylax, and Geniosporum pro- stratum. The cultivated land has the usual rice-field weeds, while ponds and ditches are filled with floating water-weeds or submerged water-plants. Near human habitations shrubberies of semi-spontaneous shrubs are common, and are loaded with a tangled mass of climbing Convolvulaceae. The arborescent portion of these village shrubberies 1 Memoirs, Geological Survey of India, vol. i, pt. iii, ‘ The Geological Structure and Physical Features of the Districts of Bankura, Midnapore, and Orissa * ; and Records, Geological Survey of India, vol. v, ' Sketch of the Geology of Orissa,' by W. T. Stanford.
includes the red cotton-tree (Bombax malabaricum,) jiyal (Odina Wodier), Tamarindus indica, Moringa pterygosperma, pipal (Ficus Religiosa) banyan (Ficus bengalensis) and the palms Boras$us flabcllifer and khajur (Phoenix sylvestris). In the north-west of the District some forests are under the control of the Forest department; these are described below.
Small game is plentiful, but in the open part of the country the larger wild beasts have been nearly exterminated. Puri District is directly on the track of the cyclonic storms which cross Orissa frequently during the monsoon season, but on the whole the sea-breezes ensure an equable climate. In April and May the average maximum temperature is 89. The mean temperature falls from 86 in the kot months to 84 in the monsoon season and to 77 in February. Cyclonic storms occasionally occur in the north of the Bay in May, and with these storms weather of the south-west monsoon type prevails. The humidity ranges from 75 per cent, in December to 86 per cent, in August. The annual rainfall averages 58 inches, of which 8-4 inches fall in June, 10.9 in July, 121 in August, and 10.7 in September.
The river channels near the coast can only carry off a small pro- portion of the flood-water, which enters the low country through the Koyakhai, and the District is liable to disastrous floods. In twenty- four of the thirty-two years ending 1866, such serious floods occurred as to require remissions of revenue exceeding 4 lakhs, while more than 3 1/2 lakhs was expended by Government on embankments and other protective works. In 1866 more than 412,000 persons were driven by the floods from house and home. The years 1872, 1892, and 1896 were also memorable for high floods, those of 1892 being remarkabb for their severity and those of 1896 for their duration. At such times the embankments are of little use, as they are either breached or over- topped. Proposals have been made to limit the floods entering the Koyakhai, but the cost of the schemes hitherto formulated is pro- hibitive.
History
The general history of Puri is that of ORISSA. The only two noteworthy political events that have taken place since the District passed to the British, together with the rest of the province in 1803, are the rebellion of the Raja of Khurda in 1804 and the rising of the paiks in 1817. The Raja of Khurda, although stripped of a considerable portion of his territory, had been left by the Marathas in comparative independence within his own fort. When the British entered the province, the Raja passively espoused their cause, and the decision of the Commissioners to retain the parganas taken by the Mar&thas was acquiesced in by him. But after the European troops had returned to Madras and the native force at Cuttack had been considerably reduced by the necessity of estab- lishing detached outposts in different parts of the country, the Raja's mob of paiks and peons made a raid on the villages in the vicinity of. Pipli. Troops were summoned from Ganjam and a detachment was quickly dispatched from Cuttack. The rebels, driven out of Pipli, retreated to the fort at Khurda, followed by our troops. In three weeks the approaches, which were stockaded and fortified with strong masonry barriers, were carried by storm. The Raja made his escape, but sur- rendered a few days later. His territory was confiscated ; and he was kept in confinement until 1807, when he was released and allowed to reside in Puri town, and an allowance was made for his Maintenance.
In 1817 the paiks or landed militia rose in open rebellion against the oppressions suffered at the hands of the underlings to whom was entrusted the collection of the revenue, and also against the tyrannies of a venal police. The rebels, led by one Jagabandhu, attacked the police station and Government offices at Banpur, where they killed upwards of a hundred men and carried off about Rs. 30,000 of treasure.
The civil buildings at Khurda were burnt to the ground, and another body of the insurgents advanced into the Lembai pargana and there murdered one of the native officials. The authorities at Cuttack at once dispatched a force, one detachment of which marehed direct to Khurda, and another to Pipli. After some severe fighting British authority soon re-established itself everywhere. The Raja, who had joined the rebels, was captured in Puri town, as he was on the point of taking flight, and was removed to Calcutta and placed in con- finement in Fort William, where he died in November, 1817. The country was gradually restored to order and tranquillity ; and at the present day Khurda is a profitable Government property, the cultivators being a contented and prosperous class. The father of the present Raja of Puri was convicted in 1878 of murder and sentenced to penal servitude for life. The present Raja is the hereditary superintendent of the temple of Jagannath, but has delegated all his powers as such to an experienced Deputy-Magistrate-Collector for a period of five years.
The District contains numerous antiquities of surpassing interest, of which the most important are the great temple of Jagannath in PUR! TOWN, the caves and rock sculptures at KHANDGIRI and Udaya- giri, the Lingaraj temple and other reMains at BHUBANESWAR, the black pagoda at KONARAK, and the Asoka inscription at DHAULI.
Population
The population of the District increased from 769,779 in 1872 to 888,592 in 1881, 944,998 in 1891, and 1,017,284 in 1901. The public health has not been good since 1801. Cholera is im- ported annually by pilgrims fever is prevalent during the cold season, while small-pox occasionally appears in a virulent form. The principal statistics of the Census of 1901 are shown below :
The only town is PURI, the head-quarters. The density for the whole District is lower than it would otherwise be owing to the inclusion of the area of the Chilka Lake, the population of the head- quarters thdna in which the greater part of it is situated being only 254 persons per square mile, against 753 in Pipli. Pilgrims were exceptionally numerous at the time when the last Census was taken, but apart from this the ebb and flow of population is very slight. The vernacular of the District is Oriya. Buddhism, for ten centuries the prevailing religion of Orissa, has left no traces beyond the cave- dwellings of the hermits and some recently deciphered inscriptions. Sun-worship was one of the principal forms into which Buddhism disintegrated, and its most exquisite memorial is the temple of Konarak. At the present day no less than 98-2 per cent of the population are Hindus, and 1.7 per cent. Muhammadans.
Chasas, the chief cultivating caste of Orissa, number 300,000, Brah- mans 101,000, Bauris 84,000, Gauras 53,000, Gurias 26,000, and Karans and Kewats 33,000 each. The Gurias are the confectioner and the Karans the writer caste of Orissa. Of the less common castes two hill tribes, the Khonds and Savaras, have a few representatives, Kumutis are a caste practically confined to Puri and the Orissa Tributary States, and Daitas and Kahalias are small castes peculiar to this District. Chris- tians number 1,078, of whom 913 are natives; the only mission is the Baptist Mission, with stations at Puri town and six other places. Of the total population, 60 per cent, are supported by agriculture, 16*5 per cent by industries, 0.4 per cent, by commerce, and 4.0 by the professions.
Agriculture
The greater part of the head-quarters subdivision is subject to floods ; and except in the west, where the subdivision encroaches on the laterite uPlands of Khurda, and along the sea- shore in the south and east, where the sand forms a belt of varying width, the soil is of the normal alluvial type, consisting of every variety of mixture from almost pute sand.to almost pure*cnucL In the north sandy loams are most common, while in the lower levels of the southern parganas black soils are more general. The surface of the Khurda subdivision is composed of the detritus of metamorphic rock, sandstone, and vegetable mould, and is therefore for the most part fertile.
The chief agricultural statistics for 1903-4 are shown below, areas being in square miles :
Rice is the staple food-grain, covering 1,030 square miles, or 87 per cent, of the cultivated area. The most important variety is the sarad or winter crop, which is grown on 923 square miles ; early rice (biali) and spring rice (dalua) are also cultivated, but the proportions are small. The winter rice, which is for the most part transplanted from seedlings, is divided into three classes, known as bara, majhld, and laghu according to the amount of water required. Pulses occupy 124 square miles, or n per cent, of the total cultivated area, the chief kinds being kurthi, miing, and birhi. Marua is grown in parts, chiefly as a second crop ; and castor-oil, sugar-cane, cotton, indigo, fan, tobacco, and vegetables, though occupying small areas, possess some importance.
Cultivation has steadily extended since the settlement of 1837, except in a few tracts where it has been checked by the calamitous floods of recent years. Agricultural experiments have been set on foot in the Khurda Government estate, but the ryots are slow to adopt improvements. Cow-dung is generally used as manure. During the ten years ending 1902, Rs. 48,000 was advanced under the Agricul- turists 7 Loans Act and Rs. 25,000 under the Land Improvement Loans Act.
The cattle are similar to those found in the southern Districts of Lower Bengal. In the head-quarters subdivision about 4 per cent, of the total area in each village was set apart at the recent settlement for grazing purposes.
Irrigation is little resorted to, except for the spring rice and the February pulse crops. The water is derived from the Sar lake and various big reservoirs and tanks, and is raised either by a mat scoop, by a hollow tree-trunk (janta) or by unglazed earthen pots fixed to a bamboo lever (tenda).
The forests of the puri Forest division lie within what is technically known as the dry evergreen forest zone, and comprise sal and mixed forest. They consist of no square miles of 'reserved’ and 371 square miles of ‘ protected' forests in the Khurda Government estate. In the metamorphic region to the south-west the sal (Shorea robusta) is seen at its best, its chief companions being ablus (Diospyros melanoxyl<w\ Careya arborea, asan (Terminalia tomentosa), and Buchanania latifolia. In the mixed forest the chief species are Anogeissus latifolia, jiyal (Odina Wodier) kusum (Schleichera trijuga) Pterospermum suberifolium, and Dillenia Pentagyne, while in the north-west Hylia dolabriformis (the ironwood tree of Pegu and Arakan) is extremely common. Of bamboos, Bambusa arundinacea and Dendrocalamus strictus abound. Climbers are numerous, the most noticeable being Bauhinia Vahlii, Milletia auriculata, Entada scandens, and Combretum decandrum. Teak is being planted with fair success. Strychnos nux vomica seed is collected by the department for sale, and kamalagundi powder (Mal- lotus philippinensis) is gathered as a dye. The total receipts of the Forest department in 1903-4 amounted to Rs. 39,000. Laterite, lime, and sandstone are found in the Khurda subdivision ; but no quarries are regularly worked.
Trade and communications
Tasar and cotton cloth, brass and bell-metal utensils, brass, gold, and silver ornaments, and wickerwork baskets are manufactured. Images of the Hindu gods are carved in stone, often with a considerable degree of skill. Coarse sugar is prepared from sugar-cane.
The chief exports are rice, gram, pulse, unrefined sugar, coco-nuts, brass, and silk ; and the chief imports are raw cotton, cotton piece- goods, refined sugar, spices, nuts, iron, tobacco, kerosene oil, salt, and copper. Puri town, Satyabadi, Pipli, Balkati, Kh ""da, and Banpur are the centres of trade. Rice is shipped in considerable quantities from Puri for the Madras ports and for Colombo and Mauritius, the value of the trade to Colombo and Mauritius in 1903-4 being 6.55 lakhs. With this exception, nearly the whole of the external trade has been absorbed by the railway. During the rains some traffic is carried up and down the rivers in country boats. Trade is chiefly in the hands of people of the Brahman, Teli, Guria, and Tanti castes.
The East Coast section of the Bengal-Nagpur Railway passes through the entire length of the Khurda subdivision. A branch line 28 miles long conects Puri town with Khurda Road station. The District is well supplied with roads, the principal being the pilgrim road from Cuttack to Puri, and the Cuttack-Ganjam road which traverses the Khurda subdivision. These are linked together by two important cross roads; namely, the metalled road from Pipli to Khurda, con- necting these places with the railway at Khurda Road station, and the Patnaika-Khurda road. All these Broads are metalled. Other important roads are those running westwards from Khurda to the Central Provinces, and the road from Madhab to Puri via Gop, a con- tinuation of the Cuttack District road, which takes off from the pilgrim road at Madhab. The Cuttack-Puri and the Cuttack-Ganjam roads, with a length of 107 1/2 miles, are Maintained by the Public Works department; while 108 miles of metalled and 114 miles of unmetalled roads are under the control of the District board. The Kushbhadra, Bhargavi, and Day a rivers are navigable for several months of the year. The most important ferries are those where the Ganjam and Puri trunk roads cross the large rivers.
Famine
The greatest famine within living memory is that of 1866, which was felt with more intensity in Puri than in either Cuttack or Balasore. In 1865 trie r * ce cr P had utterly failed. The rainfall in the District averages a&out 58 inches; but in that year only 36.3 inches fell, of which 5.2 inches fell in September and none at all subsequently. The local supply of rice was wholly inadequate, and prices rose rapidly. Government was compelled to import rice; but in June, 1866, it was selling at 6 seers a rupee, and even when supplies of rice began to find their way into the District, the quantities received were so small that it was impossible to carry on the relief operations without a break. In August the widespread distress was aggravated by a severe inundation, and the mortality became appalling. The position began to improve in November, when large supplies of rice were received, but in certain tracts gratuitous relief had to be continued for many months longer. In October, 1866, it was reported that 210,866 deaths had occurred during the year. These figures, imperfect as they probably are, give a mortality of no less than 360 per 1,000. The total quantity of grain imported by government into Puri in 1866 amounted to 47,383 maunds; of this, 16,626 maunds were gratuitously distributed and 5,940 were sold at cheap rates. A sum of Rs. 1,03,000 was expended by the Public Works department in providing work for the distressed.
Scareities have since occurred in 1884, 1885, 1888, and 1897. During 1896 the rainfall was unseasonable and badly distributed, and some parts of the District were visited by an insect pest. The area affected was 365 square miles with a population of 102,000 persons, chiefly near the Chilka Lake. Relief operations were opened in Feb- ruary and closed in September, 1897. The total recorded mortality during this period was 4,231 ; Rs. 21,000 was spent on relief, of which Rs. 18,000 was contributed from charitable funds. The number of persons relieved was 42,455. In addition Rs. 15,000 was advanced to the Raja of Parikud for the repairs of the embankments in his estate, and Rs. 18,000 was distributed in loans to the cultivators to enablft them to sow their lanok ; Rs. 80,000 of revenue was remitted, and suspensions of the demand were granted to the extent of Rs, 65,000.
Administration
For adininistrative purposes the District is divided into two subdivi- sions, with head-quarters at PURI and KHURDA. The adininistrative staff at Puri, subordinate to the District Magistrate- Collector, consists of three Deputy-Magistrate-Gol- lectors ; the subdivisional officer of Khurda is a Deputy-Magistrate- Collector, and he is assisted by a Deputy-Collector and a Sub-Deputy- Collector. An Inspector of salt is stationed at Puri, and a Deputy- Conservator of Forests at Khurda.
The District and Sessions Judge is also Judge of Cuttack and Balasore ; the only other civil court is that of a Munsif at Puri, assisted occasionally by an additional Munsif from Cuttack. The criminal courts include those of the Sessions Judge, the District Magistrate, and the above-mentioned Deputy-Magistrates. The Oriyas are generally a law-abiding people, and organized crime by professional criminals is almost unknown ; it has hitherto been confined to the occa- sional drugging and robbing of pilgrims on the road to Puri town, and infrequent dacoity.
Under British rule the first settlement of land revenue, excluding Khurda, was made in 1804-5 on tne basis of the assessment papers ob- tained from the record-keeper and sadr kanungo of the Marathas. Puri at this time formed part of the southern division of Orissa, or the tract south of the Mahanadi. In 1837 a settlement was made for thirty years ; this expired in 1867, but owing to the recent famine it was extended till 1897 ; a new settlement for thirty years was then made with effect from 1899, with a current demand of 3.77 lakhs. These figures, as already stated, exclude the Khurda Government estate, the area of which is 1,013 square miles, of which all but 42 square miles con- stitute the Khurda subdivision. The current settlement is for fifteftn years from 1897 ; the demand from this estate is 3.27 lakhs. The total land revenue demand of the District in 1903-4 was 7.27 lakhs, of which Rs. 10,000 was payable by 3 permanently settled estates, 2.60 lakhs by 483 temporarily settled estates, and 4.57 lakhs by 4 estates held direct by Government. There are in many cases inter- mediate tenure-holders with quasi-proprietary rights, known as mukad- dams, padhans, sarbarahkars, and pursethis, who are survivals of the tenures existing before the first British settlement, described in the article on CUTTACK DISTRICT. The average area held by a ryot is about 2 acres, and the incidence of rent per acre is Rs. r-io in the Khurda estate, and Rs. 1-11-7 in the reMainder of the District, the average rate varying from Rs. 1-7-3 for non-occupancy ryots to Rs. 1-15-5 for settled and occupancy ryots; the rate on homestead lands is Rs. 6-9-8 per acre.
The following table shows the collections of Jand revenue and of total revenue (principal heads only), in thousands of rupees ;
Outside the municipality of PURi, the management of local affairs rests with the District board, to which subdivisional local boards are subordinate. In 1903-4 its income was Rs. 82,000, of which Rs. 35,000 was derived from rates ; and the expenditure was Rs. 85,000, including Rs. 40,000 spent on public works and Rs. 30,000 on education.
The District contains 6 police stations and 19 outposts. In 1903 the force subordinate to the District Superintendent consisted of 3 inspec- tors, 32 sub -inspectors, 31' head constables, and 380 constables; there was, in addition, a rural police force of 211 daffadars and 2,149 chaukidars. The District jail at Puri has accommodation for 126 prisoners, and a subsidiary jail at Khurda for 10.
In 1901, 6-2 per cent, of the population (13.9 males and 0-4 females) could read and write. The number of pupils under instruction was about 20,000 in 1884, 20,964 in 18923, and 20,902 in 1900-1. In 19034, 24,342 boys and 2,442 girls were at school, being respec- tively 32-0 and 3i per cent, of the children of school-going age. The number of educational institutions, public and private, in that year was 2,033, including 22 secondary, 1,384 primary, and 627 special schools. The chief educational institution is the Puri District school. For the education of aborigines and depressed tribes four lower primary schools are Maintained. The expenditure on education was Rs. 1,22,000, of which Rs. 17,000 was met from Provincial funds, Rg. 30,000 from District funds, Rs. 1,150 from municipal funds, and Rs. 62,000 from fees.
In 1903 the District contained n dispensaries, of which 8 had ac- commodation for 150 in-patients; the cases of 53,000 out-patients and 1,200 in-patients were treated, and 2,000 operations were performed. The expenditure was Rs. 17,000, of which Rs. 1,600 was met from Government contributions, Rs. 1 2,000 from Local and Rs. 4,000 from municipal funds, and Rs. 700 from subscriptions.
The District often suffers severely from small-pox, the average death- rate from this cause during the last quinquennium being 2-24 per 1,000. Vaccination is compulsory only in Puri municipality. The people generally are averse to vaccination, but in spite of this the number of successful vaccinations rose in 1903-4 to 48,000, or 49 per 1,000 of the population.
[B. K. Ghosh, History of Puri with an Account of Jagannath (Cut- tack, 1848); W. W. Hunter Orissa (1872), and Statistical Account of Bengal, vol. xviii (1877); W. H. Lee, History of Puri (Calcutta, 1898), and Inscriptions in the District of Puri (Cuttack, 1898); J. Taylor, Settlement Report of Khurda Estate (Calcutta, 1900) ; S. L. Maddox, Settlement Report of Orissa (Calcutta, 1900).]
See also
International Puri Beach Festival
Jagannath Puri: temple cuisine
Puri, the pilgrimage (main page)
Puri District, 1908
