Punjab.

Date:: 1908

Credit: Punjab. Source: Wellcome Collection.

34/486 (page 2)

$Boun- daries, con- figuration, and hill and river systems. Geology and botany. (22,022). In commercial importance Lahore and Amritsar dwarf all other towns in the Division, but Sialkot and Batala are considerably more than local centres. The history of Lahore, and the religious importance of Amritsar, are described under those cities. Besides the administrative charge of six British Districts, the Commissioner of Lahore has political control over the Native State of Chamba, which has an area of 3,216 square miles and a population of 127,834. Montgomery District.—District in the Lahore Division of the Punjab, lying between 29° 58'and 31° 21' N. and 72° 27' and 74° 8' E., with an area of 4,771 square miles. It is named after the late Sir Robert Montgomer}^, sometime Lieutenant- Governor of the Punjab. In shape the District is a rough parallelogram, whose south-east side rests on the Sutlej, while the Ravi flows through the District parallel to the Sutlej and not far from the north-west border. It is bounded by the Districts of Lahore on the north-east, Jhang on the north-west, and Multan on the south-west, while on the south-east it marches with the Native State of Bahawalpur and the British District of Ferozepore. Except along the river banks and where watered by canals, the District is practically a waste of sand. The desert strip or Bar to the north of the Ravi is a continuation of the Jhang Bar. The Gugera branch of the Chenab Canal has now been extended to it, and the country is rapidly assuming a fertile appearance, though part of it is still desert. On either bank of the Ravi is a strip of riverain cultivation ; here inundation canals carry the water for varying distances up to 23 miles, population is fairly thick, and cultivation good. South of this tract stretches the Dhaia or central ridge of the District. Absolutely bare in a dry season, this tract produces a good crop of grass if the rains are plentiful. The head-quarters of the District are situated in the middle of it. The Dhaia is bounded on the south by the high bank which marks the ancient bed of the Beas, south of which is the Sutlej valley, watered by the Khanwah and Upper Sohag canals of the Upper Sutlej Canal system. The Deg torrent enters the District from Lahore, and after a course of 35 miles through the Gugera tahsil flows into the Ravi. The District contains nothing of geological interest, being situated entirely on the alluvium. The flora is essentially of the Bar or desert type, ja?id (Rrosopis), van (^Salvadora\ kari {Capparis aphyUa\ and a tamarisk i^Tamarix articulatd), abounding where the soil can support them ; but wide stretches$

Punjab.

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