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JHANSI

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Originally appearing in Volume V15, Page 413 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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JHANSI , a See also:

city 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 city is the centre of the See also:Indian Midland railway See also:system, whence four lines diverge. to See also:Agra, See also:Cawnpore, Allahabad and See also:Bhopal. Pop. (Igor), 55,724. A See also:stone fort crowns a neighbouring See also:rock. Formerly the See also:capital of a Mahratta principality, which lapsed to the British in 1853, it was during the See also:Mutiny the See also:scene of disaffection and See also:massacre. It was then made over to See also:Gwalior, but has been taken back in See also:exchange for other territory. Even when the city was within Gwalior, the See also:civil headquarters and the See also:cantonment were at Jhansi Naoabad, under its walls. Jhansi is the See also:principal centre for the agricultural See also:trade of the district, but its manufactures are small. The DISTRICT OF JHANSI was enlarged in 18gr by the See also:incorporation of the former district of See also:Lalitpur, which extends farther into the See also:hill See also:country, almost entirely surrounded by native states. Combined See also:area, 3628 sq. m. Pop.

(19o1), 616,759 showing a decrease of ro % in the See also:

decade, due to the results of See also:famine. The See also:main See also:line and branches of the Indian Midland See also:rail-way serve the district, which forms a portion of the hill country of See also:Bundelkhand, sloping down from the outliers of the Vindhyan range on the See also:south to the tributaries of the See also:Jumna on the See also:north. The extreme south is composed of parallel rows of See also:long and narrow-ridged hills. Through the intervening valleys the See also:rivers flow down impetuously over ledges of See also:granite or See also:quartz. North of the hilly region, the rocky granite chains gradually lose them-selves in clusters of smaller hills. The See also:northern portion consists of the level See also:plain of Bundelkhand, distinguished for its deep See also:black See also:soil, known as See also:mar, and admirably adapted for the cultivation of See also:cotton. The district is intersected or bounded by three principal rivers—the Pahuj, See also:Betwa and Dhasan. The district is much cut up, and portions of it are insulated by the surrounding native states. The principal crops are millets, cotton, oil-seeds, pulses, See also:wheat, See also:gram and See also:barley. The destructive kans grass has proved as See also:great a pest here as elsewhere in Bundelkhand. Jhansi is especially exposed to blights, droughts, floods, hailstorms, epidemics, and their natural consequence—famine. Nothing is known with certainty as to the See also:history of this district before the See also:period of Chandel See also:rule, about the 11 th See also:century of our era.

To this See also:

epoch must be referred the artificial reservoirs and architectural remains of the hilly region. The Chandels were succeeded by their servants the Khangars, who built the fort of Karar, lying just outside the British border. About the 14th century the Bundelas poured down upon the plains, and gradually spread themselves over the whole region which now bears their name. The See also:Mahommedan See also:governors were constantly making irruptions into the Bundela country; and in 1732 Chhatar Sal, the Bundela chieftain, called in the aid of the See also:Mahrattas. They came to his assistance with their accustomed promptitude, and were rewarded on the See also:raja's See also:death in 1734, by the See also:bequest of one-third of his dominions. Their See also:general founded the city of Jhansi, and peopled it with inhabitants from See also:Orchha See also:state. In 18o6 British See also:protection was promised to the Mahratta See also:chief, and in 1817 the See also:peshwa ceded to the See also:East India See also:Company all his rights over Bundelkhand. In 1853 the raja died childless, and his territories lapsed to the British. The Jhansi state and the See also:Jalaun and Chanderi districts were then formed into a superintendency. The widow of the raja considered herself aggrieved because she was not allowed to adopt an See also:heir, and because the slaughter of See also:cattle was permitted in the Jhansi territory. Reports were spread which excited the religious prejudices of the See also:Hindus. The events of 1857 accordingly found Jhansi ripe for mutiny.

In See also:

June a few men of the 12th native See also:infantry seized the fort containing the treasure and See also:magazine, and massacred the See also:European See also:officers of the See also:garrison. Everywhere the usual anarchic quarrels See also:rose among the rebels, and the country was plundered mercilessly. The rani put herself at the See also:head of the rebels, and died bravely in See also:battle. It was not till See also:November 1858, after a See also:series of See also:sharp contests with various guerilla leaders, that the See also:work of reorganization was fairly set on See also:foot.

End of Article: JHANSI

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