Punjab.

Date:: 1908

Credit: Punjab. Source: Wellcome Collection.

426/486 (page 394)

$until too late, and his accession to the throne in 1866 was followed by confusion in the State. During the rest of his long reign the administration was carried on only with the perpetual assistance and advice of the British Government. Bije Sen died in 1902, and his illegitimate son, Bhawani Sen, was recognized as his successor. He was educated at the Aitchison College, Lahore, and for the first two years after his installation in 1903 had the assistance of an officer of the Indian Civil Service as Superintendent of the State. The Raja of Mandl is entitled to a salute of ii guns. The Besides Mandl town, its capital, the State contains 146 vil- people. lages. The population at the last three enumerations was : (1881) 147,017, (1891) 166,923, and (1901) 174,045. The State is divided into 24 waztrls, and each of these was for- merly divided into mahrais or groups of hamlets {graon or bdsi)^ with head-quarters at a garh or fort in which the revenue in kind was stored. Hindus number 170,304, or about 98 per cent, of the population; and there are 3,187 Muhammadans and 510 Buddhists. The State is sparsely populated. The language is MandiMi, but Saraj has a distinct dialect called Castes and Paharl. By far the most numerous caste is that of the Kanets, dras^^' number 82,000, and are essentially agriculturists. After them come the Brahmans (19,000), Dumnas (Dums or low- castes, 14,000), KolTs (14,000), and Chamars (leather-workers, 11,000). The Rajputs (6,000) form a territorial aristocracy under the Raja. Of the total population 84 per cent, live by agriculture, supplemented by pasture and rude home industries. The industrial castes are few, and numerically small. Agricul- The principal autumn crops are rice, maize, mash (T/iaseo/us radiatus), millets, and potatoes; the principal spring crops are wheat, barley, tobacco, and sugar-cane. The Raja is the sole proprietor of all the land in the State. Lands are leased to ?ndlguzdrs by written leases, which specify the revenue and begdr (if any) due on the holding and its extent, and stipulate that an enhanced rate is to be paid if additional land is brought under cultivation. On the other hand, a mdlguzdr can be ejected only for disloyalty or failure to pay rent, and he is forbidden to sell or mortgage his holding, though he may transfer its possession for a period not exceeding fifteen years. Under the mdlguzdrs tenants cultivate, usually on payment of half the produce. The area for which particulars are on record is 1,130 square miles, of which 550 square miles, or 48 per cent., are forests; 112, or 10 per cent., not available for cultivation ; 68, or 6 per$

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