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LUDHIANA

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 112 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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LUDHIANA , a See also:

town and See also:district of See also:British See also:India, in the See also:Jullundur See also:division of the See also:Punjab. The town is 8 m. from the See also:present See also:left See also:bank of the See also:Sutlej, 228 M. by See also:rail N.W. of See also:Delhi. Pop. (1901) 48,649. It is an important centre of See also:trade in See also:grain, and has manufactures of shawls, &c., by See also:Kashmiri weavers, and of scarves, turbans, See also:furniture and carriages. There is an See also:American Presbyterian See also:mission, which maintains a medical school for See also:Christian See also:women, founded in 1894. The DISTRICT OF LUDHIANA lies See also:south of the See also:river Sutlej, and See also:north of the native states of See also:Patiala, See also:Jind, See also:Nabha and Maler Kotla. See also:Area 1455 sq. m. The district consists for the most See also:part of a broad See also:plain, without hills or See also:rivers, stretching north-See also:ward from the native See also:borders to the See also:ancient See also:bed of the Sutlej. The See also:soil is a See also:rich See also:clay, broken by large patches of shifting See also:sand. On the eastern edge, towards See also:Umballa, the clay is covered by a bed of rich See also:mould, suitable for the cultivation of See also:cotton and See also:sugar-See also:cane. Towards the See also:west the sand occurs in See also:union with the superficial clay, and forms a See also:light friable soil, on which cereals See also:form the most profitable See also:crop.

Even here, however, the See also:

earth is so retentive of moisture that See also:good harvests are reaped from See also:fields which appear See also:mere stretches of dry and sandy See also:waste. These See also:southern uplands descend to the valley of the Sutlej by an abrupt See also:terrace, which marks the former bed of the river. The See also:principal stream has shifted to the opposite See also:side of the valley, leaving an alluvial See also:strip, ro m. in width, between its ancient and its See also:modern bed. The Sutlej itself is here only navigable for boats of small See also:burden. A See also:branch of the See also:Sirhind See also:canal irrigates a large part of the western area. The See also:population in Igor was 673,097. The principal crops are See also:wheat, millets, See also:pulse, See also:maize and sugar-cane. The district is crossed by the See also:main See also:line of the North-Western railway from Delhi to See also:Lahore, with two branches. During the Mussulman See also:epoch, the See also:history of the district is See also:bound up with that of the See also:Rais of Raikot, a See also:family of converted Rajputs, who received the See also:country as a See also:fief under the Sayyid See also:dynasty, about 1445. The town of Ludhiana was founded in 1480 by two of the See also:Lodi See also:race (then ruling at Delhi), from whom it derives its name, and was built in See also:great part from the pre-historic bricks of Sunet. The Lodis continued in See also:possession until 162o, when it again See also:fell into the hands of the Rais of Raikot. Throughout the palmy days of the See also:Mogul See also:empire the Raikot family held sway, but the Sikhs took See also:advantage of the troubled See also:period which accompanied the Mogul decadence to establish their supremacy south of the Sutlej.

Several of their chieftains made encroachments on the domains of the Rais, who were only able to hold their own by the aid of See also:

George See also:Thomas, the famous adventurer of See also:Hariana. In r8o6 Ranjit Singh crossed the Sutlej and reduced the obstinate See also:Mahommedan family, and distributed their territory amongst his co-religionists. Since the British occupation of the Punjab, Ludhiana has grown in See also:wealth and population. See Ludhiana District Gazetteer (Lahore, 1907).

End of Article: LUDHIANA

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