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general for the Central Provinces (q.v.). The origin of the name Berar is not known, but may perhaps be a corruption of Vidarbha, the name of a See also:

KINGDOM

kingdom in the See also:

DECCAN (Sans. Dakshina, " the South ")

Deccan of which, in the See also:

period of the Mahabharata, Berar probably formed See also:

PART

part. The See also:

HISTORY

history of Berar belongs generally to that of the Deccan, the See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country falling in turn under the sway of the various dynasties which successively ruled in See also:

SOUTHERN

southern See also:

India, the first See also:

AUTHENTIC (from Gr. aOO 'rns, one who does a thing himself)

authentic records showing it to have been part of the Andhra or Satavahana See also:

EMPIRE

empire. On the final fall of the Chalukyas in the 12th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century, Berar came under the sway of the Yadavas of Deogiri, and remained in their See also:

possession till the Mussulman invasions at the end of the 13th century. On the See also:

ESTABLISHMENT (0. Fr. establissement, Fr. etablissement, late Norm. Fr. establishement, from O. Fr. establir, Fr. etablir, Lat. stabilire, to make stable)

establishment of the Bahmani See also:

DYNASTY (Gr. &vvaareta, sovereignty, the position of a hevnori7r, lord, ruler, from SuvaaBay to be able, Suvaµas, power)

dynasty in the Deccan (1348) Berar was constituted one of the four provinces into which their kingdom was divided, being governed by See also:

GREAT

great nobles, with a See also:

SEPARATE

separate See also:

army. The perils of this See also:

SYSTEM

system becoming apparent, the province was divided (1478 or 1479) into two separate governments, named after their capitals Gawil and Mahur. The Bahmani dynasty was, however, already tottering to its fall; and in 1490 Imad-ul-Mulk, See also:

GOVERNOR (from the Fr. gouverneur, from gouverner, O. Fr. governer, Lat. gubernare, to steer a ship, to direct, guide)

governor of Gawil, who had formerly held all Berar, proclaimed his See also:

independence and proceeded to annex Mahur to his new kingdom. Imad-ul-Mulk was by See also:

BIRTH (a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages from the root of the verb " to bear ")

birth a See also:

KANARESE

Kanarese See also:

HINDU

Hindu, but had been captured as a boy in one of the expeditions against See also:

VIJAYANAGAR, or BIJANAGAR (" the city of victory ")

Vijayanagar and reared as a Mussulman. He died in 1504 and his See also:

DIRECT

direct descendants held the sultanate of Berar until 1561, when Burhan Imad Shah was deposed by his See also:

MINISTER (Lat. minister, servant)

minister Tufal See also:

KHAN (from the Turki, hence Persian and Arabic Khan)

Khan, who assumed the kingship. This gave a pretext for the intervention of Murtaza Nizam Shah of See also:

AHMEDNAGAR, or AHMADNAGAR

Ahmednagar, who in 1572 invaded Berar, imprisoned and put to See also:

DEATH

death Tufal Khan, his son Shams-ul-Mulk, and the ex-See also:

king Burhan, and annexed Berar to his own dominions. In 1595 See also:

SULTAN (an Arabic word meaning " victorious " or " a ruler," sultat, dominion)

Sultan See also:

MURAD, or AMURATH

Murad, son of the See also:

EMPEROR (Fr. empereur, from the Lat. imperator)

emperor See also:

AKBAR, AKHBAR

Akbar, besieged Ahmednagar, and was bought off by the formal cession of Berar. Murad, See also:

FOUNDING (from Lat. fundere, to pour)

founding the See also:

CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city of See also:

SHAHPUR

Shahpur, fixed his seat at Berar, and after his death in 1598, and the See also:

CONQUEST

conquest of the Deccan by Akbar, the province was See also:

UNITED

united with Ahmednagar and See also:

KHANDESH, EAST

Khandesh under the emperor's fifth son, Daniyal (d.

1605), as governor. After Akbar's death (16o5) Berar once more became See also:

INDEPENDENT

independent under the Abyssinian Malik Ambar (d. 1626), but in the first See also:

YEAR

year of Shah Jahan's reign it was again brought under the sway of the See also:

MOGUL, MOCHAL, or MIGHAL

Mogul empire. Towards the See also:

close of the 17th century the province began to be overrun by the See also:

MAHRATTAS

Mahrattas, and in 1718 the See also:

DELHI, DEHLI

Delhi government formally recognized their right to See also:

levy See also:

BLACKMAIL

blackmail (clzauth) on the unhappy See also:

POPULATION (Lat. populus, people; populare, to populate)

population. In 1724 the Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah established the independent See also:

LINE

line cf the nizams of Hyderabad, and thenceforth the latter claimed to be de jure sovereigns of Berar, with exception of certain districts (Mehkar, Umarkhed, $c.) ceded to the See also:

PESHWA (Persian for " leader," " guide ")

peshwa in 1760 See also:

BERARD, JOSEPH FREDERIC (1789-1828)

BERARD 763 and 1795. The claim was contested by the Bhonsla rajas, and for more than See also:

HALF

half a century the miserable country was ground between the upper and the nether millstone. This See also:

CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)

condition of things was ended by See also:

Wellesley's victories at See also:

ASSAYE

Assaye and Argaon (1803), which forced the Bhonsla See also:

RAJA

raja to cede his territories See also:

west of the See also:

WARDHA

Wardha, Gawilgarh and Narnala. By the See also:

PARTITION

partition treatyof Hyderabad (1804) these ceded territories in Berar were transferred to the nizam, together with some tracts about Sindkhed and See also:

JALNA, or JAULNA

Jalna which had been held by Sindhia. By a treaty of 1822, which extinguished the Mahratta right to levy chauth, the Wardha See also:

RIVER

river was fixed as the eastern boundary of Berar, the Melghat and adjoining districts in the plains being assigned to the nizam in See also:

EXCHANGE

exchange for the districts See also:

CAST (from the verb meaning " to throw "; the word is Scand. in origin, cf. Dan. kaste, and Swed. kasta; " cast " in Middle Eng. took the place of the A.S. weor pan, cf. Ger. werf en)

cast of the Wardha held by the peshwa. Though Berar was no longer oppressed by its Mahratta task-masters nor harried by Pindari and Bhil raiders, it remained See also:

long a See also:

PREY (0. Fr. preie, mod. proie, Lat. praeda, booty, from prae and the root hed—seen in prehendere, prendere, to grasp)

prey to the turbulent elements let loose by the sudden cessation of the See also:

WARS

wars. From See also:

time to time bands of soldiery, whom the government was powerless to See also:

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

control, scoured the country, and See also:

REBELLION

rebellion succeeded rebellion till 1859, when the last fight against open rebels took See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place at Chichamba near Risod. Meanwhile the misery of the country was increased by the reckless raising of loans by the nizam's government and the pledging of the revenues to a See also:

SUCCESSION (Lat. successio, from succedere, to follow after)

succession of great farmers-general.

At last the British government had to intervene effectively, and in 1853 a new treaty was signed with the nizam, under which the Hyderabad contingent was to be maintained by the British government, while for the pay of this force and in See also:

SATISFACTION (Lat. salisfacerc, to satisfy)

satisfaction of other claims, certain districts were " assigned " to the See also:

East India See also:

COMPANY

Company. It was these " Hyderabad Assigned Districts " which were popularly supposed to See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form the province of Berar, though they coincided in extent neither with the Berar of the nizams nor with the old Mogul province. In 186o, by a new treaty which modified in the nizam's favour that of 1853, it was agreed that Berar should be held in See also:

TRUST

trust by the British government for the purposes specified in the treaty of 1853. Under British control Berar rapidly recovered its prosperity. Thousands of cultivators who had emigrated across the Wardha to the peshwa's dominions, in See also:

order to See also:

ESCAPE (in mid. Eng. eschape or escape, from the O. Fr. eschapper, modern echapper, and escaper, low Lat. escapium, from ex, out of, and cappa, cape, cloak; cf. for the sense development the Gr. iichueoOat, literally to put off one's clothes, hence to sli

escape the ruinous fiscal system of the nizam's government, now returned; the See also:

AMERICAN

American See also:

CIVIL

Civil See also:

War gave an immense stimulus to the See also:

cotton See also:

trade; the laying of a line of railway across the province provided yet further employment, and the See also:

PEOPLE

people rapidly became prosperous and contented. See Imperial Gazetteer of India (See also:

Oxford, 1908), and authorities there quoted.

End of Article: BERAR

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