Bassein Taluka
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.
Bassein Taluka
Western taluka of Thana District, Bombay, lying between 19° 16' and 19° 35' N. and 72° 44' and 73° 1' E., with an area of 223 square miles. It contains one town, Bassein (population, 10,702), the head-quarters, and 90 villages, including Agashi (8,506).
The population in 1901 was 80,251, compared with 76,110 in 1891. The density, 360 persons per square mile, largely exceeds the District average. Land revenue and cesses amounted in 1903-4 to 1.8 lakhs. The taluka is formed of a portion of the mainland and of territory which was once the island of Bassein, but is now no longer an island, the narrow creek which divided it from the mainland having silted up. With the exception of two small hills, about 200 feet high, the surface of the island portion is flat, with a rich soil, yielding crops of rice, plantain, sugar-cane, and pan. On the mainland portion are the Tungar and Kaman hills, both over 2,000 feet in height, the last named, known as Bassein Peak or Kamandrug, being 2,160 feet above sea-level. On the coast the climate is generally pleasant and equable ; inland the heat is great, and in the rains much fever prevails.
