Copy 1, Volume 1

The East-India gazetteer; containing particular descriptions of the empires, kingdoms, principalities, provinces, cities, towns, districts, fortresses, harbours, rivers, lakes, &c. of Hindostan, and the adjacent countries, India beyond the Ganges, and the eastern archipelago; together with sketches of the manners, customs, institutions, agriculture, commerce, manufactures, revenues, population, castes, religion, history, &c. of their various inhabitants / By Walter Hamilton.

  • Hamilton, Walter, M.R.A.S.
Date:
1828
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The East-India gazetteer; containing particular descriptions of the empires, kingdoms, principalities, provinces, cities, towns, districts, fortresses, harbours, rivers, lakes, &c. of Hindostan, and the adjacent countries, India beyond the Ganges, and the eastern archipelago; together with sketches of the manners, customs, institutions, agriculture, commerce, manufactures, revenues, population, castes, religion, history, &c. of their various inhabitants / By Walter Hamilton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    year by ] 30,000 rupees, and they have since continued progressively to in¬ crease. Agra with the rest of the province fell under the sway of Madhajee Sin- dia, and continued in the possession of the Maharattas until 1803, when it surrendered to the British army under Lord Lake. Among the ordnance captured here was one enormous piece, weighing about 96,000 pounds, which Lord Lake endeavoured to float down as a trophy to Calcutta, with the view of having it afterwards sent to England, but it broke through the frame of the raft, and sunk in the sands of the river, where it in all pro¬ bability still remains. It is not known by whom it was fabricated. Agra, soon after its capture, was made the head quarters of a civil establishment for the administration of justice and col¬ lection of the revenue, subordinate to the Bareilly court of circuit. A strong garrison is maintained in the fort and military cantonments, and the interior of the fortifications have been much improved, both as to arrangement and cleanliness. The higher parts of the fort are from fifty to sixty feet above the level of the river, and as it is filled with buildings of brick, stone, and marble, the heat is excessive.—{Ful- larton, R. Turner, Ker, Sir D. Och~ terlony, Ahmedabad.—A British district in the province of Gujerat, established about the year 1817, when the Saber- matty river was fixed on as the boundary between the zillah of Ah¬ medabad and the eastern zillah north of the Myhie. Besides the geogra¬ phical advantage of this division a marked difference was discovered in the habits, manners, customs, and even languages of the people on the east and western sides. In 1819, the average of the land jumma was Ru¬ pees 11,36,277; in 1820, Rupees 11,72,331. Ahmedabad.—An ancient city in the province of Gujerat, of which it was the Mahomedan capital, situated on the banks of the Sabermatty, which washes its walls. Lat. 23° 1' N., Ion. 72° 42' E. It is mentioned by Sidi Ali in the journal of his tra¬ vels overland from Gujerat to Con¬ stantinople, A.D. 1554. This was formerly a large city, cele¬ brated for its mosques, minarets, edi¬ fices and manufactures \ but prior to 1820, the heavy and vexatious muni¬ cipal duties exacted by the Maharat¬ tas had reduced it from one of the most opulent and commercial to one of the most miserable cities in the East. During their government a tax was levied on every luxury and ne¬ cessary, from the gold kincob to the wretched bundle of fire-wood or vege¬ tables, either brought into or sent out of the city. On its acquisition from the Peshwa in 1818, the British govern¬ ment abolished all these extortions and simplified the collections, establishing an ad valorem duty of £2^. per cent, on indigo, raw silk, &c., wholly ex¬ empting all articles of consumption, but augmenting the ordinary imposts on opium and tobacco. Besides these alterations all restriction on the tran¬ sit of the agricultural products of the British territories through the district were entirely removed. This city suffered greatly from the earthquake in 1819, but even then its population was roughly estimated at 100,000 souls, and it probably has not since diminished. Travelling distance from Bombay 321 miles; from Poona 389; from Delhi 610; and from Calcutta by Oojein 1,234 miles.—{Public MS, Documents, Carnac, Rennell, Ahmednuggur.—A city and for¬ tress in the modern province of Aurungabad, to which it formerly gave its own appellation; lat. 19° 5'N. Ion. 74° 5,5' E. After the dissolution of the Bha- menee empire of the Deccan, Ahmed Nizam Shah established the inde¬ pendent state of Ahmednuggur, about the year A.D. 1489; in 1493 he laid the foundation of this town, and made it his capital. He died in 1508. Bourahan Shah died in 1553. Hossein Nizam Shah in 1565. Morteza Nizam Shah became in-