The Panjab, North-West Frontier Province, and Kashmir Part 19

269,500 (18,000). The Chief of Loharu, Nawab Amir ud din Ahmad Khan, K.C.I.E., is a man of distinction.

4. _Hindu Hill States_

[Sidenote: Area, 1200 sq. m.

pop. 181,110.

Rev.

Rs. 500,000 = 33,333.]

~Mandi~ is a tract of mountains and valleys drained by the Bias. With Suket, with which for many generations it formed one kingdom, it is a wedge thrust up from the Sutlej between Kangra and Kulu. Three-fifths of the area is made up of forests and grazing lands. The _deodar_ and blue pine forests on the Kulu border are valuable. At Guma and Drang an impure salt, fit for cattle, is extracted from shallow cuttings. A considerable part of the revenue is derived from the price and duty. The chiefs are Chandarbansi Rajputs. The direct line came to an end in 1912 with the death of Bhawani Sen, but to prevent lapse the British Government has chosen as successor a distant relative, Jogindar Singh, who is still a child.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 122.]

[Sidenote: Area, 420 sq. m.

Pop. 54,928.

Rev.

Rs. 200,000 = 13,333.]

~Suket~ lies between Mandi and the Sutlej. Its Raja, Ugar Sen, like his distant relative, the Raja of Mandi, came under British protection in 1846. His great-grandson, Raja Bhim Sen, is the present chief.

[Sidenote: Area, 1198 sq. m.

Pop. 138,520.

Rev.

Rs. 600,000 = 40,000.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 123. The late Raja Surindar Bikram Parkash, K.C.S.I., of Sirmur.]

~Sirmur~ (~Nahan~) lies to the north of the Ambala district, and occupies the greater part of the catchment area of the Giri, a tributary of the Jamna. It is for the most part a mountain tract, the Chor to the north of the Giri rising to a height of 11,982 feet. The capital, Nahan (3207 feet), near the southern border is in the Siwalik range. In the south-east of the State is the rich valley known as the Kiarda Dun, reclaimed and colonized by Raja Shamsher Parkash. There are valuable _deodar_ and _sal_ forests. A good road connects Nahan with Barara on the N.W. Railway. In 1815 the British Government having driven out the Gurkhas put Fateh Parkash on the throne of his ancestors. His troops fought on the English side in the first Sikh War. His successors, Raja Sir Shamsher Parkash, G.C.S.I. (1856-98), and Raja Sir Surindar Bikram Parkash, K.C.S.I. (1898-1911), managed their State with conspicuous success. The present Raja, Amar Parkash, is 25 years of age. In the second Afghan War in 1880, Sirmur sent a contingent to the frontier, and the Sappers and Miners, which it keeps up for imperial service, accompanied the Tirah Expedition of 1897.

[Sidenote: Area, 3216 sq. m.

Pop. 135,989.

Rev. 4 _lakhs_ = 26,700.]

~Chamba~ lies to the N. of Kangra from which it is divided by the Dhauladhar (map, p. 284). The southern and northern parts of the State are occupied respectively by the basins of the Ravi and the Chandrabhaga or Chenab. Chamba is a region of lofty mountains with some fertile valleys in the south and west. Only about one-nineteenth of the area is cultivated. The snowy range of the Mid-Himalaya separates the Ravi valley from that of the Chandrabhaga, and the great Zanskar chain with its outliers occupies the territory beyond the Chenab, where the rainfall is extremely small and Tibetan conditions prevail. The State contains fine forests and excellent sport is to be got in its mountains.

There are five _wazarats_ or districts, Brahmaur or Barmaur, Chamba, Bhattoyat, Chaura, and Pangi.

The authentic history of this Surajbansi Rajput princ.i.p.ality goes back to the seventh century. It came into the British sphere in 1846. During part of the reign of Raja Sham Singh (1873-1904), the present Raja, Sir Bhure Singh, K.C.S.I., C.I.E., administered the State as Wazir, filling a difficult position with loyalty and honour. He is a Rajput gentleman of the best type. The Raja owns the land of the State, but the people have a permanent tenant right in cultivated land.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 124. Raja Sir Bhure Singh, K.C.S.I., C.I.E.]

~Simla Hill States.~--The Deputy Commissioner of Simla is political officer with the t.i.tle of Superintendent of nineteen, or, including the tributaries of Bashahr, Keonthal, and Jubbal, of 28 states with a total area of 6355 square miles, a population of 410,453, and revenues amounting to a little over ten _lakhs_ (66,000). The States vary in size from the patch of four square miles ruled by the Thakur of Bija to the 388r square miles included in Bashahr. Only four other States have areas exceeding 125 square miles, namely, Bilaspur (448), Keonthal (359), Jubbal (320), and Hindur or Nalagarh (256). Excluding feudatories the revenues vary from Rs. 900 (or a little over 1 a week) in Mangal to Rs. 190,000 (12,666) in Bilaspur. The chiefs are all Rajputs, who came under our protection at the close of the Gurkha War.

The watershed of the Sutlej and Jamna runs through the tract. The range which forms the watershed of the Sutlej and the Jamna starts from the s.h.i.+nka Pa.s.s on the south border of Bashahr and pa.s.ses over Hattu and Simla. In Bashahr it divides the catchment areas of the Rupin and Pabar rivers, tributaries of the Tons and therefore of the Jamna, from those of the Baspa and the Nogli, which are affluents of the Sutlej. West of Bashahr the chief tributary of the Jamna is the Giri and of the Sutlej the Gambhar, which rises near Kasauli. In the east Bashahr has a large area north of the Sutlej drained by its tributary the Spiti and smaller streams. In the centre the Sutlej is the northern boundary of the Simla Hill States. In the west Bilaspur extends across that river. The east of Bashahr is entirely in the Sutlej basin.

[Sidenote: Area, 448 sq. m.

Pop. 93,107.

Rev. Rs. 190,000 = 12,666.]

~Bilaspur.~--This is true also of Bilaspur or Kahlur (map, p. 284), which has territory on both banks of the river. The capital, Bilaspur, is on the left bank only 1455 feet above sea level. The present Raja Bije Chand, C.S.I., succeeded in 1889.

[Sidenote: Area, 3881 sq. m.

Pop. 93,203.

Rev. Rs. 95,000 = 6233.]

~Bashahr.~--The chain which forms the watershed of the Sutlej and Jamna rises from about 12,000 feet at Hattu in the west to nearly 20,000 feet on the Tibet border. Two peaks in the chain exceed 20,000 feet. Further north Raldang to the east of Chini is 21,250 feet high, and in the north-east on the Tibet border there are two giants about 1000 feet higher. Generally speaking the Sutlej runs in a deep gorge but at Chini and Sarahan the valley widens out. The main valley of the Pabar is not so narrow as that of the Sutlej, while the side valleys descend in easy slopes to the river beds. The Baspa has a course of 35 miles. In the last ten miles it falls 2000 feet and is hemmed in by steep mountains.

Above this gorge the Baspa valley is four or five miles wide and consists of a succession of plateaux rising one above the other from the river's banks. Bashahr is divided into two parts, Bashahr proper and Kunawar. The latter occupies the Sutlej valley in the north-east of the State. It covers an area of about 1730 square miles and is very spa.r.s.ely peopled. In the north of Kunawar the predominant racial type is Mongoloid and the religion is Buddhism. The capital of Bashahr, Rampur, on the left bank of the Sutlej is at an elevation of 3300 feet. The Gurkhas never succeeded in conquering Kunawar. They occupied Bashahr, but in 1815 the British Government restored the authority of the Raja.

The present chief, Shamsher Singh, is an old man, who succeeded as long ago as 1850. He is incapable of managing the State and an English officer is at present in charge.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 125. Bashahr.]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 15: J.=Jain.]

CHAPTER XXVII

THE NORTH WEST FRONTIER PROVINCE

1. _Districts_

~The Province.~--The N. W. F. Province consists of five British districts, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Kohat, Peshawar, and Hazara with a total area of 13,193 square miles, of which rather less than one-third is cultivated. Of the cultivated area 70 p.c. depends solely on the rainfall. In addition the Chief Commissioner as Agent to the Governor General controls beyond the administrative boundary territory occupied by independent tribes, which covers approximately an area of 25,500 square miles. In 1911 the population of British districts was 2,196,933 and that of tribal territory is estimated to exceed 1,600,000. In the districts 93 persons in every hundred profess the creed of Islam and over 38 p.c. are Pathans.

[Sidenote: Area, 3780 sq. m.

Cultd area, 851 sq. m.

Pop. 256,120.

Land Rev.

Rs. 306,240 = 20,416.]

~Dera Ismail Khan~ lies to the north of Dera Ghazi Khan and is very similar to it in its physical features. It is divided into the three _tahsils_ of Tank, Dera Ismail Khan, and Kulachi. It has a long river frontage on the west, and is bounded on the east by the Suliman Range.

The Kachchhi of Dera Ismail Khan corresponds to the Sindh of Dera Ghazi Khan, but is much narrower and is not served by inundation ca.n.a.ls, except in the extreme north, where the Paharpur Ca.n.a.l has recently been dug. It depends on floods and wells. The Daman or "Skirt" of the hills is like the Pachadh of Dera Ghazi Khan a broad expanse of strong clayey loam or _pat_ seamed by torrents and cultivated by means of dams and embanked fields. The climate is intensely hot in summer, and the average rainfall only amounts to ten inches. Between one-fourth and one-fifth of the area is cultivated. The Pachadh is a camel-breeding tract.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 126. Sir Harold Deane.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 127. NORTH-WEST FRONTIER-PROVINCE]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 128. Map of Dera Ismail Khan with trans-border territory of Largha Sheranis and Ustaranas.]

Pathans predominate in the Daman and Jats in the Kachchhi. The Bhittannis in the north of the district are an interesting little tribe.

The hill section lies outside our administrative border, but like the Largha Sheranis in the south are under the political control of the Deputy Commissioner. A good metalled road, on which there is a _tonga_ service, runs northwards from Dera Ismail Khan to Bannu.

[Sidenote: Area, 1641 sq. m.

Cultd area, 818 sq. m.

Pop. 250,086.

Land Rev.

Rs. 304,004 = 20,267.]