Page:The Imperial Gazetteer of India - Volume 10 (2nd edition).pdf/373

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NORTH-IVESTERN PROVINCES AND OUDII. 361 District, and, passing the city of Lucknow and the towns of Sultanpur and Jaunpur, flows into the Ganges near Sayyidpur, in Ghazipur District. Its tributaries are the Kathna, Sarayan, Sai, and Nand. The Rimgangá rises in the Dudutoli range of Garhwal, and, passing the town of Moradabad, falls into the Ganges opposite Kanauj. Lakes and Jhils.—Kumaun has several mountain lakes, which are known as Naini, Bỉm, Nank uchiya, Malwa, Sát, Khurpá, Khuriya, etc., with the affix túl.' In the Doáb, in Oudh, and especially in the Benares Division, jhils or marshes are numerous, but none are of sufficient importance to deserve mention, except, perhaps, the Surha túl in Ballia In Bundelkhand and Mirzapur there are artificial reservoirs of water, formed by embanking the mouths of valleys. These are attributed to the foriner rulers of the country. The Bundelkhand lakes are now under the Public Works Department, and are capable of irrigating some extent of land. Canals. The irrigation canals of these Provinces are classified as(1) productive ; (2) ordinary; and (3) protective. The first includes the Upper Ganges, the Lower Ganges, the Eastern Jumna, and the Agra Canals; the second, the Rohilkhand, the Dún, and the Bijnor Canals; and the third, the Betwa Canal, which is still under construction. For particulars regarding these canals, see the section on irrigation (pp. 382–3), and also the separate articles on the canals themselves. History: —The earliest settlement of the Aryan race in India was probably in that portion of the Punjab which surrounds the upper waters of the Sarsuti or Saraswati river, still regarded as one of the most sacred spots of Hindu pilgrinage. From this centre, the fairskinned colonists spread over the neighbouring lands, subduing or exterminating the darker aborigines as they advanced. In the Doáb they founded the famous city of Hastinápur, the capital of the Lunar race, who also ruled at Muttra, Kási (or Benares), Magadha, and Behar. The Solar race, on the other hand, gave princes to Ajodhya in Eastern Oudh, and founded colonies in many parts of the North-Western Provinces. The Vedas show us the Aryan settlements as almost confined to the upper basin of the Ganges and the Junna, with a few outlying branches in Northern Behar, Western Bengal, the Vindhya Hills, and the Narbadá (Nerbudda) valley; while the south of the Peninsula still remained almost entirely in the hands of the Dravidians. Throughout the whole historical period, the upper Gangetic valley retained its position as the chief seat of the Aryan supremacy in India, and afterwards the centre of the Muhammadan Empire at Delhi or Agra. Its history, being thus almost co-extensive with that of the central power for several centuries, can only be sketched in very brief outlines. A more detailed history of Oudh appears under that article (q.v.). Of the pre-Aryan kingdoms, as of the pre-Aryan races themselves,