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CHOTA (or CHUTIA) NAGPUR

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Originally appearing in Volume V06, Page 272 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CHOTA (or CHUTIA) See also:NAGPUR , a See also:division of See also:British See also:India in See also:Bengal, consisting of five British districts and two feudatory states. It is a hilly, See also:forest-clad See also:plateau, inhabited mostly by aboriginal races, between the basins of the See also:Sone, the See also:Ganges and the See also:Mahanadi. The five British districts are See also:Hazaribagh, See also:Ranchi, See also:Palamau, See also:Manbhum and Singhbhum. The See also:total See also:area of the British districts is 27,101 sq. m. The See also:population in 1901 was 4,900,429. The tributary states are noticed separately below. The Chota Nagpur plateau is an offshoot of the See also:great Vindhyan range, and its mean See also:elevation is upwards of 2000 ft. above the See also:sea-level. In the W. it rises to 3600 ft., and to the E. and S. its See also:lower See also:steppe, from Boo to r000 ft. in elevation, comprises a great portion of the Manbhum and Singhbhum districts. The whole is about 14,000 sq. m. in extent, and forms the source of the Barakhar, Damodar, See also:Kasai, Subanrekha, Baitarani, Brahmani, Ib and other See also:rivers. Sal forests abound. The See also:principal See also:jungle products are See also:timber, various kinds of medicinal fruits and herbs, See also:lac, tussur See also:silk and mahud See also:flowers, which are used as See also:food by the See also:wild tribes and also distilled into a strong See also:country liquor. See also:Coal exists in large quantities, and is worked in the Jherria, Hazaribagh, Giridih and Gobindpur districts.

The See also:

chief workings are at Jherria, which were started in 1893, and have See also:developed into one of the largest coal-See also:fields in India. Formerly See also:gold was washed from the sands in the See also:bed of the Subanrekha See also:river, but the operations are now almost wholly abandoned. See also:Iron-ores abound, together with See also:good See also:building See also:stone. The indigenous inhabitants consist of non-See also:Aryan tribes who were driven from the plains by the See also:Hindus and took See also:refuge in the See also:mountain fastnesses of the Chota Nagpur plateau. The principal of them are See also:Kola, See also:Santals, See also:Oraons, Dhangars, See also:Mundas and Bhumij. These tribes were formerly turbulent, and a source of trouble to the See also:Mahommedan See also:governors of Bengal and See also:Behar; but the introduction of British See also:rule has secured See also:peace and See also:security, and the aboriginal races of Chota Nagpur are now peaceful and orderly subjects. The principal agricultural products are See also:rice, See also:Indian See also:corn, pulses, oil-seeds and potatoes. A small quantity of See also:tea is grown in Hazaribagh and Ranchi districts. Lac and tussur silk-See also:cloth are largely manufactured. The See also:climate of Chota Nagpur is dry and healthy. The Jherria See also:extension See also:branch of the See also:East India railway runs to Katrasgarh, while the Bengal-Nagpur railway also serves the division. The CHOTA NAGPUR STATES were formerly nine in number.

But the five states of Chang Bhakar, See also:

Korea, See also:Sirguja, See also:Udaipur and See also:Jashpur were transferred from Bengal to the Central Provinces in See also:October 1905, and the two Uriya-speaking states of See also:Gangpur and Bonai were attached to the See also:Orissa Tributary States. There now remain, therefore, only the two states of See also:Kharsawan and Saraikela. At the decline of the Mahratta See also:power in the See also:early See also:part of the 19th See also:century, the Chota Nagpur states came under British See also:protection. Before the rise of the British power in India their chiefs exercised almost See also:absolute See also:sovereignty in their respective territories. See F. B. See also:Bradley-Birt, Chota Nagpore (1903).

End of Article: CHOTA (or CHUTIA) NAGPUR

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