Talamba

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This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS.

Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.

Talamba

Town in the Kabirwala tahsil of Multan District, Punjab, situated in 30° 31' N. and 72° 15' E., 2 miles from the modern left bank of the Ravi, and 51 miles north-east of Multan city. Population (1901), 2,526. The present town is built of bricks taken from an old fortress, a mile to the south. This stronghold once possessed great strength, and its antiquity is vouched for by the size of the bricks, described by Cunningham as similar to the oldest in the walls and ruins of Multan. It has been identified with a place taken by Alexander, and again with the Brahman city mentioned by Arrian in a similar connexion. Talamba is said to have been taken by Mahmud of Ghazni. Timur plundered the town and massacred the inhabitants, but left the citadel untouched. The site was abandoned, according to tradition, in consequence of a change of course of the Ravi, which cut off the water-supply about the time of Mahmud Langah (1510-25). The town was plundered by Ahmad Shah. Cun- ningham describes the ruins as consisting of an open city, protected on the south by a lofty fortress, 1,000 feet square. The outer rampart of earth has a thickness of 200 feet and a height of 20 feet ; and a second rampart of equal elevation stands upon its summit. Both were originally faced with large bricks. The municipality was created in 1874. The income during the ten years ending 1902-3 averaged Rs. 2,100, and the expenditure Rs. 2,300. In 1903—4 the income was Rs. 1,800, chiefly from octroi; and the expenditure was Rs. 1,800. The town has a vernacular middle school, maintained by the munici- pality, and a dispensary. It is a centre of the local trade, and has some reputation for stamped floorcloths.