Banswara 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.
Banswara Town
Capital of the State of the same name in Rajputana, situated in 23 33' N. and 74 27' E., 42 miles from Namli and Ratlam stations on the Rajputana-Malwa Railway. The population in 1901 was 7,038, of whom nearly 60 per cent, were Hindus and 28 per cent. Musalmans. The town was founded in the early part of the sixteenth century by Jagmal, the first chief of Banswara, and is said to have been named after a Bhll chieftain, Wasna, whom he defeated and killed. It is surrounded by a wall which, except on the south, is in very fair repair.
The palace stands on rising ground to the south, and on the crest of a low ridge in its vicinity is a double-storeyed building, called the Shahi Bilas : to the east among the low hills lies the Bai Tal, on the embankment of which is a small summer palace, while in a garden about half a mile distant are the chhatris or cenotaphs of the rulers of the State. Some old ruins on the top of a hill two miles to the south are said to be the remains of a palace which was the residence of Jagmal. A fair is held annually in October, which lasts for fifteen days and is attended by some 2,000 visitors. The town possesses a post and telegraph office, a jail which has accom- modation for 54 convicts and 14 under-trial prisoners and is quite unsuited for a prison, an Anglo-vernacular school opened in 1903 and attended by about 180 boys, and a hospital with accommodation for 4 in-patients.
