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Punjab.

Date:: 1908

Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Punjab. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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388/486 (page 356)

Geology. Botany. Fauna. Climate. History. 356 NATIVE STATES dividing it into two natural divisions, the cis-Giri on the south- west and the trans-Giri on the north-east. In the centre of the northern border rises the Chaur peak (11,982 feet), from which radiate several spurs, those on the west and south filling the whole trans-Giri tract with their outliers. These extend far to the south-east, rising to 8,800 feet at HarTpur, 8,233 feet at Gurwana, and 6,691 feet at Guma. On the north-east the Tons, a tributary of the Jumna, forms the boundary, separat- ing Sirmur from Dehra Dun. Thus, the slope of the country is from north to south, the confluence of the Giri with the Jumna being only 1,500 feet above sea-level; and the whole, with hardly an exception, drains into the latter river. The greater part of the State lies on rocks of Tertiary age, with beds belonging to the Carbonaceous system (Krol and Blaini groups) on the north and north-east. The Lower Ter- tiary rocks are particularly well developed; and the Sirmur series, which includes the Sabathu, Dagshai, and Kasauli groups, takes its name from the State. The Upper Tertiary, or Siwalik series, is largely developed in the neighbourhood of Nahan, where the lower beds consist of a great mass of sand- stones, the Nahan group ; these are overlain by sandstones and conglomerates (middle and upper Siwalik) containing a rich mammalian fauna of pliocene age h The lower valleys of the Jumna, Tons, and Giri have a true Siwalik flora, corresponding to that of the Duns and tarai east of the Jumna. The Chaur mountain has a remarkably alpine vegetation at the higher levels—more so, for example, than the ranges intervening between it and the main ridge of the Inner Himalaya in Bashahr. Tigers are occasionally, and elephants rarely, met with in the Dun. Bears abound in the hills, and sdmbar, chital^ hog deer, and musk deer are plentiful, but wild dogs have much diminished the game in the Dun and low hills. The fishing in the Giri is famous. The climate in the Dun is feverish in the rainy season and autumn, but otherwise the country is healthy and the hills enjoy a temperate climate. In the trans-Giri tract snow falls every winter, but it is rarely seen elsewhere. After December it is highly beneficial to the crops. The annual rainfall varies from 59 inches at Paonta to 65 inches at Pachhad, but generally more rain falls trans-Giri than in the west and south. The early history of Sirmur is almost a blank. Tradition * Medlicott, ‘ Geological Structure of the Southern Portions of the Hima- layas,’ &c., Memoirs, Geological Survey of India, vol. iii, part ii.

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