Tarn Taran 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.
Tarn Taran Town
Head-quarters of the tahsil of the same name in Amritsar District, Punjab, situated in 31° 27' N. and 74° 56' E., on the Amritsar-Patti branch of the North-Western Railway. Popula- tion (1901), 4,428. A metalled road connects the town with Amritsar, which is 14 miles to the north. Tarn Taran is the chief town in the Amritsar Manjha, or upland tract; but its importance is entirely religious, and centres round the sacred tank, said to have been dug by Arjun, the fifth Guru of the Sikhs, which is 300 yards square, with a paved walk running round it. Ranjit Singh greatly revered the temple at Tarn Taran, which was originally built in 1768, and overlaid it with plates of copper gilt, besides richly ornamenting it. On the north side of the tank stands a lofty column, erected by prince Nao Nihal Singh. The water of the tank is supposed to cure leprosy, and lepers come to it even from places beyond the Punjab. The leper asylum outside and the large leper quarter within the city testify more to the fame of the tank than to its healing qualities. The asylum was handed over to the care of the Mission to Lepers in India and the East in 1903. The Sobraon branch of the Bari Doab Canal flows within a short distance of the town, and from this the great tank is supplied with water through a channel constructed at the expense of the Raja of Jind. A fair is celebrated monthly, especially in the months of Chait and Bhadon, when large crowds assemble. The municipality was created in 1875. The income during the ten years ending 1902-3 averaged Rs. 7,700, and the expenditure Rs. 7,400. In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 10,300, chiefly from octroi ; and the expenditure was Rs. 9,300. The chief industries are the manufacture of iron vessels and wooden cotton- presses. The trade of the town is not important. It has three middle schools, a Government dispensary, and a female mission hospital.
