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BILASPUR
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BILASPUR , a See also:town and See also:district of See also:British See also:India in the See also:Chhattisgarh See also:division of the Central Provinces. The town is situated on the right See also:bank of the See also:river Arpa. It is said to have been founded by a fisherwoman named Bilasa in the 17th See also:century, and it still retains her name. The See also:place, however, came into See also:note only after 1741, the See also:year of the Mahratta invasion (see below), when a Mahratta See also:official took up his See also:abode there and began to build a fort which was never completed. In 1862 it was made the headquarters of the district. The See also:population in 1901 was 18,937. It is an important junction on the See also:Bengal-See also:Nagpur railway, where the two lines from the See also:west meet on their way to See also:Calcutta, 255 M. from Nagpur. The DISTRICT OF BILASPUR has an See also:area of 7602 sq. M. It forms the upper See also:half of the See also:basin of the river See also:Mahanadi. It is almost enclosed on the See also:north, west and See also:east by ranges of hills, while its See also:southern boundary is generally open and accessible, well cultivated, and closely dotted with villages embedded in See also:groups of See also:fruit trees. The See also:principal hills are—(1) the Maikal range, situated in the north-western extremity of the district; (2) a See also:chain of hills forming See also:part of the Vindhyan range, on the north; (3) the Korba hills, an off-shoot of the Vindhyas, on the eastern boundary; and (4) the Sonakhan See also:block of hills, in the vicinity of the Mahanadi river. The Mahanadi is the principal river of the district, and governs the whole drainage and river See also:system of the surrounding See also:country. It takes its rise in a mountainous region which is described as the wildest of all See also:wild parts of the Central Provinces, crosses the Bilaspur boundary near Seorinarain, and after a course of 25 M. in the See also:south-eastern extremity of the district enters See also:Sambalpur district. Within Bilaspur the river is everywhere navigable for six months in the year. See also:Minor See also:rivers are the Sakri, Hamp, Tesua, Agar, Maniari, Arpa, Kharod, Lilagar, Jonk and Bareri. The most important affluents of the Mahanadi are the Seonath and Hasdu. Besides the natural See also:water See also:supply afforded by the rivers, Bilaspur abounds in tanks. There are large See also:forest areas, those belonging to the See also:government covering over 600 sq. m. Sal (Shorea robusta) is the See also:chief See also:timber See also:tree. TT 930 Bilaspur, which was formerly a very isolated See also:tract, is now traversed in three directions by lines of the Bengal-Nagpur railway. It suffered severely from the See also:famine of 1896-1897. In 1897 the See also:general See also:death-See also:rate was as high as 90 per thousand, rising to 297 in Bilaspur town. It suffered no less severely in 19oo, when in May the number of persons relieved See also:rose to one-See also:fourth of the See also:total population. In 1901 the population was 1,012,972, showing a decrease of 13 %, compared with an increase of 14 % in the preceding See also:decade. In 1906, however, the new district of See also:Drug was formed, which took away 739 sq. m. from Bilaspur; the population on this reduced area of Bilaspur in 1901 was 917, 240. Among the See also:Hindu inhabitants of the district, the Chamars and Pankas deserve particular See also:notice. The former, who See also:form the shoemaker and See also:leather-dealing See also:caste of the Hindu community, had always been held in utter contempt by the other Hindu castes. But between 1820 and 183o a religious See also:movement, having for its See also:object their freedom from the trammels of caste, was inaugurated by a member of the caste, named Ghasi Das, who preached the unity of See also:God and the equality of men. Ghasi Das gave himself out as a messenger of God; he prohibited the See also:adoration of idols, and enjoined the See also:worship of the Supreme Being without any visible sign or See also:representation. The followers of the new faith See also:call themselves Satnamis, or the worshippers of Satnam or God. They do not keep the Hindu festivals and they defy the contempt of the Brahmans. Ghasi Das, the founder of the faith, was their first high See also:priest. He died in r85o; his son succeeded him, but was assassinated (it was said by the See also:Hindus), and the See also:grandson succeeded him. The Pankas, who form about a See also:sixth of the population, are all Kabirpanthis, or followers of See also:Kabir, a religious reformer of the 15th century. There is no See also:great difference between the Kabir Pankas and the Satnamis. They both abstain from See also:meat and •liquo'r, marry at the See also:age of See also:puberty, ordinarily celebrate their ceremonies through the agency of the elders of their own caste and See also:bury their dead. The Pankas worship the Supreme Being under the name of Kabir, and the Chamars under the name of Satnam; while each community has a high priest to whom reverence is paid. At See also:present the See also:majority of the Pankas are cultivators, though formerly all were weavers. The Gonds are the most numerous among the aboriginal tribes, but so great an intermixture has taken place between them and the Hindu races that they have lost their See also:language and most of their ethnical characteristics, such as the See also:flat forehead, squat See also:nose, prominent nostril, dark skin, &c., and are scarcely distinguishable from the other classes of the Hindu labouring population. In addition to some of the Hindu deities which they worship, the Gonds have their own gods—Bara See also:Deva and Dula Deva. The Kan-See also:wars are the next largest See also:section of the aboriginal population. The upper class among them claim to be Rajputs, and are divided into numerous septs. Although an aboriginal tribe, the See also:census returns them as a Hindu caste. All the See also:northern landholders of Bilaspur belong to this tribe, which consequently occupies an influential position. The chief See also:wealth of the district consists in its agricultural produce. See also:Rice, See also:wheat, pulses, See also:millet, See also:mustard, oil-seeds and See also:cotton are the chief crops. Rice, the chief export, is sent to Bombay, See also:Berar and northern India. The tussur See also:silk See also:industry is of considerable importance, and the silk is reputed the best in the Central Provinces. Sal and other timber is exported. See also:Lac is sent in large quantities to Calcutta and See also:Mirzapur. See also:Coal and See also:iron are the chief minerals; See also:sandstone for See also:building purposes is quarried near Bilaspur and Seorinarain. Among See also:local See also:industries the most important is the See also:weaving See also:trade.
The See also:early See also:history of the district is very obscure. From remote ages it was governed by See also:kings of the Haihai See also:dynasty of Ratanpur and See also:Raipur, known as the Chhattisgarh rajas, on See also:account of See also:thirty-six forts (garbs), of which they were the lords. A genealogical See also:list of kings of this dynasty was carefully kept up to the fifty-fifth representative in the year 1741, when the country was seized without a struggle by the See also:Mahrattas of Nagpur. From 1818 to 1830 Bilaspur came under the management of the Britishgovernment, the Mahratta chief of Nagpur being then a minor. In 1854 the country finally lapsed to the British government, the chief having died without issue. During the See also:Sepoy See also:mutiny a See also: Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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