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ETAWAH

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Originally appearing in Volume V09, Page 804 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ETAWAH , a See also:

town and See also:district of See also:British See also:India, in the See also:Agra See also:division of the See also:United Provinces. The town is situated on the See also:left See also:bank of the See also:Jumna, and has a station on the See also:East See also:Indian railway, 206 m. from See also:Allahabad. Pop. (See also:root) 42,570. Deep fissures intersect the various quarters of the town, over which broad roads connect the higher portions by See also:bridges and embankments. The Jama Masjid (See also:Great See also:Mosque) is the See also:chief architectural See also:ornament of Etawah. It was originally a See also:Hindu See also:temple, and was adapted to its See also:present use by the See also:Mahommedan conquerors. Several See also:fine Hindu temples also stand about the See also:mound on which are the ruins of the See also:ancient fort. Etawah is now only the See also:civil headquarters of the district, the military See also:cantonment having been abandoned in 1861. Considerable See also:trade is carried on by See also:rail and See also:river. The manufactures include See also:cotton See also:cloth, skin-bottles, combs and See also:horn-See also:ware and sweetmeats. The DISTRICT OF ETAWAII has an See also:area of 1691 sq. m.

It form§ a purely artificial administrative division, stretching across the level See also:

plain of the See also:Doab, and beyond the valley of the Jumna, to the See also:gorges of the See also:Chambal, and the last rocky outliers of the Vindhyan range. The district exhibits a striking variety of See also:surface and scenery. The greater portion lies within the Doab or level alluvial plain between the See also:Ganges and the Jumna. This See also:part falls naturally into two sections, divided by the deep and fissured valley of the river Sengar. The See also:tract to the See also:north-east of that stream is See also:rich and fertile, being watered by the See also:Cawnpore and Etawah branches of the Ganges See also:canal, and other important See also:works. The See also:south-western region has the same natural advantages, but possesses no great See also:irrigation See also:system, and is consequently less fruitful than the opposite slopes. Near the See also:banks of the Jumna, the plain descends into the river valley by a See also:series iof See also:wild ravines and terraces, inhabited only by a scattered See also:race of hereditary herdsmen.. Beyond the Jumna again a See also:strip of British territory extends along the tangled gorges of the Chambal and the Kuari Nadi, far into the See also:borders of the See also:Gwalior See also:state. This outlying tract embraces a series of rocky glens and See also:mountain torrents, crowned by the ruins of native strongholds, and interspersed with narrow ledges of cultivable See also:alluvium. The See also:climate, once hot and sultry, has now become comparatively moist and equable under the See also:influence of irrigation and the planting of trees. Etawah was marked out by its See also:physical features as a secure See also:retreat for the turbulent tribes of the Upper Doab, and it was not till the 12th See also:century that any of the existing castes settled on the See also:soil. After the Mussulman conquests of See also:Delhi and the surrounding See also:country, the See also:Hindus of Etawah appear to have held their own for many generations against the Mahommedan See also:power; but in the 16th century See also:Baber conquered the district, with the See also:rest of the Doab, and it remained in the hands of the Moguls until the decay of their See also:empire.

After passing through the usual vicissitudes of Mahratta and Jat conquests during the See also:

long anarchy which preceded the British See also:rule, Etawah was annexed by the See also:wazir of Oudh in 1773. The wazir ceded it to the East India See also:Company in 1801, but it still remained so largely in the hands of lawless native chiefs that some difficulty was experienced in reducing it to orderly See also:government. During the See also:mutiny of 1857 serious disturbances occurred in Etawah, and the district was occupied by the rebels from See also:June to See also:December; See also:order was not completely restored till the end of 1858. In 1901 the See also:population was 806,798, showing an increase of 11% in the See also:decade. The district is partly watered by branches of the Ganges canal, and is traversed throughout by the See also:main See also:line of the East Indian railway from Cawnpore to Agra. Cotton, oilseeds and other agricultural produce are exported, and some See also:indigo is made, but manufacturing See also:industry is slight.

End of Article: ETAWAH

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