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GANJAM

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Originally appearing in Volume V11, Page 452 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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GANJAM , a See also:

district of See also:British See also:India, in the extreme See also:north-See also:east of the See also:Madras See also:Presidency. It has an See also:area of 8372 sq. m. Much of the district is exceedingly mountainous and rocky, but is interspersed with open valleys and fertile plains. Pleasantgroves of trees in the plains give to the scenery a greener See also:appearance than is usually met with in the districts to the See also:south. The mountainous See also:tract known as the Maliyas, or See also:chain of the Eastern See also:Ghats, has an See also:average height of about 2000 ft.—its See also:principal peaks being Singharaj (4976 ft.), Mahendragiri (4923) and Devagiri (4535). The hilly region forms the agency of Ganjam, with an area of 3483 sq. m. and a See also:population (in 1901) of 321,114, mostly See also:wild backward tribes, incapable of being governed under See also:ordinary conditions and therefore ruled by an See also:agent of the See also:governor with See also:special See also:powers. The See also:chief See also:rivers are the Rushikulya, the Vamsadhara and the Languliya. The See also:sea and See also:river See also:fisheries afford a livelihood to a considerable See also:section of the population. The hilly region abounds in forests consisting principally of sal, with satin-See also:wood, See also:ebony and See also:sandal-wood in smaller quantities. Ganjam formed See also:part of the See also:ancient See also:kingdom of See also:Kalinga. Its See also:early See also:history is involved in obscurity, and it was not till after the Gajapati See also:dynasty ascended the See also:throne of See also:Orissa that this tract became even nominally a part of their dominions. Owing to the nature of the See also:country the rising See also:Mahommedan See also:power was See also:long kept at See also:bay; and it was not till nearly a See also:century after the first invasion of Orissa that a Mahommedan governor was sent to govern the See also:Chicacole Circars, which included the See also:present district of Ganjam.

In 1753 Chicacole, with the See also:

Northern Circars, were made over to the See also:French by Salabat Jang for the See also:maintenance of his French auxiliaries. In 1759 See also:Masulipatam was taken by an See also:English force sent from See also:Bengal, and the French were compelled to abandon Ganjam and their other factories in the north. In 1765 the Northern Circars (including Ganjam) were granted to the English by imperial See also:firman, and in See also:August 1768 an English factory was founded at Ganjam, protected by a fort. The present district of Ganjam was constituted in 1802. In the earlier years of British See also:rule considerable difficulty was experienced in the See also:administration of the district; and on more than one occasion the refractory large landholders had to be coerced by means of See also:regular troops. In 1816 Ganjam was overrun by the See also:Pindaris; and in 1836 occurred the Gumsur See also:campaign, when the British first came into contact with the aboriginal Kondhs, the suppression of whose practice of human See also:sacrifice was successfully accomplished. A See also:petty rising of a section of theKondhs occurred in 1865, which was, however, suppressed without the aid of regular troops. In 1901 the pop. of the district was 2,010,256, showing an increase of 20 % in the See also:decade. There are two systems of See also:government See also:irrigation: (1) the Rushikulya project, and (2) the Ganjam See also:minor rivers See also:system. The principal crops are See also:rice, other See also:food grains, See also:pulse, oil seeds and a little See also:sugar-See also:cane and See also:cotton. See also:Salt is evaporated, as a government See also:monopoly, along the See also:coast. Sugar is refined, according to See also:German methods, at Aska, where See also:rum also is produced.

A considerable See also:

trade is conducted at the ports of Gopalpur and Calingapatam, which are only open roadsteads. The district is traversed throughout by the East Coast railway (Bengal-See also:Nagpur system), which was opened from See also:Calcutta to Madras in 1900. There are colleges at Berhampore and Parlakimedi. The headquarters station is Berhampore; the See also:town of Ganjam occupied this position till 1815, when it was found unhealthy, and its importance has since declined.

End of Article: GANJAM

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