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HAMIRPUR

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Originally appearing in Volume V12, Page 893 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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HAMIRPUR , a See also:

town and See also:district of See also:British See also:India, in the See also:Allahabad See also:division of the See also:United Provinces. The town stands on a See also:tongue of See also:land near the confluence of the See also:Betwa and See also:Jumna, I io m. N.W. of Allahabad. Pop. (Igor), 6721. It was founded, according to tradition, in the rrth See also:century by Hamir Deo, a Karchuli See also:Rajput expelled from See also:Alwar by the Mahommedans. The district has an See also:area of 2289 sq. m., and encloses the native states of Sarila, Jigni and Bihat, besides portions of See also:Charkhari and Garrauli. Hamirpur forms See also:part of the See also:great See also:plain of See also:Bundelkhand, which stretches from the See also:banks of the Jumna to the central .Vindhyan See also:plateau. The district is in shape an irregular parallelogram, with a See also:general slope northward from the See also:low hills on the See also:southern boundary. The scenery is rendered picturesque by the artificial lakes of See also:Mahoba. These magnificent reservoirs were constructed by the Chandel rajas before the See also:Mahommedan See also:conquest, for purposes of See also:irrigation and as sheets of ornamental See also:water. Many of them enclose craggy islets or peninsulas, crowned by the ruins of See also:granite temples, exquisitely carved and decorated.

From the See also:

base of this See also:hill and See also:lake See also:country the general plain of the district spreads northward in an arid and treeless level towards the broken banks of the See also:rivers. Of these the See also:principal are the Betwa and its tributary the Dhasan, both of which are unnavigable. There is little See also:waste land, except in the ravines by the See also:river sides. The deep See also:black See also:soil of Bundelkhand, known as See also:mar, retains the moisture under a dried and rifted See also:surface, and renders the district fertile. The See also:staple See also:pro-duce is See also:grain of various sorts, the most important being See also:gram. See also:Cotton is also a valuable See also:crop. See also:Agriculture suffers much from the spread of the kans grass, a noxious See also:weed which overruns the See also:fields and is found to be almost ineradicable wherever it has once obtained a footing. Droughts and See also:famine are unhappily See also:common. The See also:climate is dry and hot, owing to the See also:absence of shade and the bareness of soil, except in the neighbourhood of the Mahoba lakes, which cool and moisten the See also:atmosphere. In 1901 the pop. was 458,542, showing a decrease of 11% in the See also:decade, due to the famine of 1895-1897. Export See also:trade is chiefly in agricultural produce and cotton See also:cloth. See also:Rath is the principal commercial centre.

The Midland See also:

branch of the Great See also:Indian See also:Peninsula railway passes through the See also:south of the district. From the gth to the 12th century this district was the centre of the Chandel See also:kingdom, with its See also:capital at Mahoba. The rajas adorned the town with many splendid edifices, remains of which still exist, besides constructing the See also:noble artificial lakes already described. At the end of the 12th century Mahoba See also:fell into the hands of the Mussulmans. In 168o the district was conquered by Chhatar Sal, the See also:hero of the Bundelas, who assigned at his See also:death one-third of his dominions to his ally the See also:peshwa of the See also:Mahrattas. Until Bundelkhand became British territory in 1803 there was See also:constant warfare between the Bundela princes and the Mahratta chieftains. On the outbreak of the See also:Mutiny in 18J7, Hamirpur was the See also:scene of a fierce See also:rebellion, and all the principal towns were plundered by the surrounding chiefs. After a See also:short See also:period of desultory See also:guerrilla warfare the rebels were effectually quelled and the See also:work of reorganization began. The district has since been subject to cycles of varying agri- cultural ,prosperity.

End of Article: HAMIRPUR

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