Report On The Administration Of The Punjab And Its Dependencies, For The Year 1872-73

· 1873 · Public domain (published pre-1930) · archive.org ↗

12 PUNJAB ADMINISTRATION REPORT. “{ 1872-73,

2also was far from healthy. Between May and December

3epidemic cholera prevailed more or less in all the more

4populous districts lying on or near the main routes of

5pilgrims from Hardwdr between the Grand Trunk Road

6and the Himalayas, carrying off 8,727 lives; cholera was

7followed by a very severe form of fever, which proved fatal

8in 264,711 cases—upwards of 50,000 in excess of the preced-

9ing year; small-pox caused 23,728 deaths, chiefly among

10children; ani lastly, dengue, which prevailed extensively in _

11the Punjab under other names in 1869-70, became epidemic

12in the tract between the Jamna and Satlej. Altogether

13the recorded death-rate of the Province rose from 21 per

14thousand in 1871 to 24 per thousand in 1872, and in some of

15the towns the mortality was excessive. In Dehli and Lahore

16it exceeded 50; in Peshawar it exceeded 60 ; and in some

17smaller towns it was upwards of 70 per thousand. These

18ratios give a somewhat exaggerated idea of the mor-

19tality amongst the urban populations, as they are calculated

20upon the census returns of 1868, since which period the popu-

21lation of many of the towns has considerably increased. In

22the case of rural circles the exaggeration resulting from increase

23of population is probably more than made up by omissions

24due to defective registration, but in towns where the mor-

25tuary returns are fairly accurate and the increase of popula-

26tion greater, the recorded death-rate is probably consider-

27ably in excess of the reality. Still there can be no doubt that,

28compared with the preceding year, the mortality in towns in

291872 was great.

308. The relations of the Punjab Government with the

31_independent tribes on the North-West

32Frontier, and the 36 Feudatory States over

33which it exercises political control, were generally satisfac-

34tory. Those of the Feudatory States which, owing to the

35minority of the Chief or other causes, are under the manage-

36ment, for the time being, of British officers, and especially

37the State of Bahawalpur, were very prosperous. In the

38remainder tranquillity prevailed; and in some of them, espect-

39ally in the States of Kashmir, Patiala and Néhan, there

40PoLitTIcAa.L.