The Panjab North West Frontier Province And Kashmir

· 1916 · Public domain (published pre-1930) · archive.org ↗

1274

2THE PANJAB native STATES [ch.

3one of his prisoners. He was a chief of such importance

4that his conqueror gave him the title of Raja and the

5right to coin money. But Ala Singh found it prudent

6to join next year in the capture of Sirhind. From

7the division of territory which followed the separate

8existence of the Phulkian States begins. The manner in

9which they came in 1809 under British protection has

10already been related. The Raja of Patiala was our

11ally in the Gurkha War in 1814, and received the

12Pinjaur tahslL The active loyalty displayed in 1857 was

13suitably rewarded by accessions of territory. The right

14of adoption was conferred, and special arrangements

15made to prevent lapse, if nevertheless the line in any

16state failed.

17Patiala occupies five-sevenths of the Phulkian inherit-

18. * ance. The predominant agricultural tribe is

19culwarea, the Tdts, over three-fourths of whom are

20Sikhs. The cultivated area is four-fifths of

21aa ” M. total area. Over one-fourth of the former

22^^83,00,000 is irrigated, 27 p.c. from wells, and the rest

23=^46,666. irom the two canals. In an area extending

24with breaks from Simla to the Rajputana desert the

25variations of agriculture are of course extreme. The

26state is excellently served by railways.

27Nizamats. — ^There are five nizdmats or districts,

28Pinjaur, Amargarh, Karmgarh, Anahadgarh, and Mohin-

29dargarh. Their united area is equivalent to that of two

30ordinary British districts. The Pinjaur nizdmat with

31headquarters at Rajpura covers only 825 square miles.

32Of its four tahsils Pinjaur contains the submontane and

33hill tract, part of the latter being quite close to Simla.

34The other three tahsUs Rajpura, Bannur, and Ghanaur

35are in the Powadh. The Amargarh nizdmat with an

36area of 855 square miles comprises the three tahsils of

37Fatehgarh, Sihit^arh, and Amargarh. The first two