Punjab.

Date:: 1908

Credit: Punjab. Source: Wellcome Collection.

437/486 (page 405)

$16,126. The Gaddis and others who live at a distance from the capital are engaged in agricultural and pastoral pursuits, but the purists of Chamba and its environs disdain to till the soil themselves. The majority of the population are Rathis, a versatile tribe, which takes with equal readiness to agri- culture, trade, or the service of the State. They seem to be identical wdth the Kanets of Nahan and the Thakkars of Kashmir. Among the lower castes, Halls (18,000), a caste which hardly exists outside Chamba, Chamars (5,000), Kolls (4,000), and Dumnas (2,000) are the most numerous. The vast majority of the people depend for their support on the produce of their fields, their flocks, and their rude home industries. The Church of Scotland Mission has a branch, Christian established in 1863, at Chamba towm, which also contains ’^‘i^sions. a branch of the Church of Scotland Ladies’ Association Mission, established in 1877. In 1901 native Christians numbered 60. The Raja is sole proprietor of all the land. Those who lease land from the State'' for cultivation are called indlguzdrs Agri- (rent-payers). A 7ndlg2tzdr may, however, sell or mortgage his ^^dture. right of occupancy, and is not ejected so long as he pays his revenue, unless his land 'is required for a public purpose. The total area under cultivation is 170 square miles, and the area of the forests leased to the British Government 160 square miles. The staple food-crops grown are rice, maize, pulses, millets, and potatoes. The poppy is grown only in the Chaurah wazdrat. Tea is cultivated in the territory which adjoins Shahpur in Kangra District. The State is absolutely secure against famine. The cultivation of hops promised at one time to be important, but has been aban- doned. The cattle are generally small and of inferior breed. Cattle, &c. Buffaloes are mostly kept by Gujars, but villagers also keep them for domestic use. The ponies of the Lahul hills are well known. Sheep are universally kept, and blankets and clothing are made of the wool. Goats are still more numerous. To Irrigation, irrigate the fields, artificial channels {kuhls) are cut from the hill streams. Their construction and management rest entirely wdth the people. By far the greater and more valuable part of the State Forests, forests were leased to Government in 1864 for a term of ninety-nine years, in return for Rs. 21,000 a year. In 1884 the contract w'as revised, and two-thirds of the net profits were paid to the State during the next twenty years. The forests are alpine, few being below 5,000 feet elevation, and large$

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