Saugor Town
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.
Saugor Town
Head-quarters of the District and tahsil of the same name in the Central Provinces, situated in 23 51' N. and 78 45' E., with a station on the Bma-Ivatni connexion of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, 654 miles from Bombay and 760 from Calcutta. Its population (1901) is 42,33; including the cantonment (10,918), and it is the third largest town in the Province. The popu- lation in 1901 included 32,038 Hindus, 8,286 Muhammadans, 1,027 Jains, and 762 Christians, of whom 406 were Europeans and Eura- sians. The population in 1872 was 45> 6 55 ; in l88l > 44>46i ; and in 1891, 44,676. The garrison consists of one Native cavalry and one Native infantry regiment, a detachment of British infantry, and a field battery.
Saugor is supposed to be the Sageda of Ptolemy, The name is derived from sdgar, 'a lake,' after the large lake round which it is built. The town is picturesquely situated on spurs of the Vindhyan Hills, which surround the lake on three sides and reach an elevation of about 2,000 feet. Saugor has an old fort extending over an area of six acres, which was built by the Marathas, and which the European residents held for several months in 1857, controlling the town while the surrounding country was in the hands of the rebels. A munici- pality was constituted in 1867. The municipal receipts during the decade ending 1901 averaged Rs. 77,600. In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 75,000, the main head of receipt being octroi, while water-supply and conservancy form the largest items of expenditure, which amounted to Rs. 73,000 in the same year. The receipts of the cantonment fund in 1903-4 were Rs. 26,000. Saugor is not a growing town, and each Census has shown its population as either stationary or slowly declining. It has no factories ; and the industries of weaving, brass-working, oil- pressing, and the manufacture of gold and silver ornaments, which formerly contributed substantially to its wealth, are now declining.
There is a printing press with Hindi type. The high school at Saugor was established in 1828 by Captain Paton of the Bengal Artillery from his private funds, and supported by a Maratha gentle- man, Rao Krishna Rao. Lord William Bentinck on his visit to Saugor was so struck by the public spirit displayed by the latter gentleman that he invited him to Calcutta and presented him with a gold medal and an estate of the value of Rs. 1,000 a year. The school was subse- quently removed to Jubbulpore, but was re-established at Saugor in 1885. The town contains various branch and mission schools, three dispensaries, and a veterinary dispensary. A station of the Swedish Lutheran Mission has been established here.
