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DEHRA DUN

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Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 932 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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DEHRA DUN , a See also:district of See also:British See also:India, in the See also:Meerut See also:division of the See also:United Provinces. Its See also:area is 1209 sq. m. The district is bounded on the N. by the native See also:state of See also:Tehri or See also:Garhwal, on the E. by British Garhwal, on the S. by the Siwalik hills, which See also:separate it from See also:Saharanpur district, and on the W. by the See also:hill states of See also:Sirmur, Jubbal and Taroch. The valley (the Dun) has an area of about 673 sq. m., and forms a parallelogram 45 M. from N.W. to S.E. and 15 M. broad. It is well wooded, undulating and intersected by streams. On the N.E. the See also:horizon is bounded by the See also:Mussoorie or See also:lower range of the Himalayas, and on the S. by the Siwalik hills. The Himalayas in the See also:north of the district attain a height between 7000 and 8000 ft., one See also:peak reaching an See also:elevation of 8565 ft.; the highest point of the Siwalik range is 3041 ft. above See also:sea-level. The See also:principal passes through the Siwalik hills are the Timli pass, leading to the military station of See also:Chakrata, and the Mohand pass leading to the sanatoriums of Mussoorie and Landaur. The See also:Ganges See also:bounds the Dehra valley on the E.; the See also:Jumna bounds it on the W. From a point about midway between the two See also:rivers, and neat the See also:town of Dehra, runs a See also:ridge which forms the See also:watershed of the valley. To the See also:west of this ridge the See also:water collects to See also:form the Asan, a tributary of the Jumna; whilst to the See also:east the Suswa receives the drainage and flows into the Ganges. To the east the valley is characterized by swamps and forests, but to the west the natural depressions freely carry off the See also:surface drainage.

Along the central ridge, the water-level lies at a See also:

great See also:depth from the surface (228 ft.), but it rises gradually as the See also:country declines towards the great rivers. In 1901 the See also:population was 178,195, showing an increase of 6 % in the See also:decade. A railway to Dehra from See also:Hardwar, on the Oudh and See also:Rohilkhand See also:line (32 m.), was completed in 1900. The district is served by the Dun canals. See also:Tea gardens See also:cover a considerable area, and the valley contains a See also:colony of See also:European tea planters. See also:History.—Dehra Dun only emerges from the mists of See also:legend into See also:authentic history in the 17th See also:century A.D., when it formed See also:part of the Garhwal See also:kingdom. Towards the end of the century the heretical See also:Sikh Guru, Rarn Rai, expelled from the See also:Punjab, sought See also:refuge in the Dun and gathered See also:round him a See also:crowd of devotees. Fateh Sah, See also:raja of Garhwal, endowed the See also:temple which he built, round which See also:grew up the town of Gurudwara or Dehra (q.v.). In the 18th century the fertility of the valley attracted the See also:attention of Najib-ud-daula, See also:governor of Saharanpur, who invaded it with an See also:army of Rohillas in 1757 and annexed it to his dominion. His See also:rule, which lasted till 1770, brought great prosperity to the Dun; but on his See also:death it became a See also:prey to the surrounding tribes, its desolation being completed after its See also:conquest by the Gurkhas in 1803. In 1814 it was taken See also:possession of by the British, and in the following See also:year was annexed to Saharanpur. Under British See also:administration the Dun rapidly recovered its prosperity.

End of Article: DEHRA DUN

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