Pop. (1901), 80,889. More than half the inhabitants belong to the aboriginal Bhils. Estimated revenue, £7000; tribute, £1000. Manganese and opium are exported. The chief, whose title is raja, is a Rajput of the Rathor clan, descended from a branch of the Jodhpur family. Raja Udai Singh was invested in 1898 with the powers of administration.
The town of Jhabua (pop. 3354) stands on the bank of a lake, and is surrounded by a mud wall. A dispensary and a guesthouse were constructed to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897.
JHALAWAR, a native state of India, in the Rajputana agency,
pop. (1901), 90,175; estimated revenue, £26,000; tribute, £2000.
Area, 810 sq. m. The ruling family of Jhalawar belongs to the
Jhala clan of Rajputs, and their ancestors were petty chiefs
of Halwad in the district of Jhalawar, in Kathiawar. About
1709 one of the younger sons of the head of the clan left his
country with his son to try his fortunes at Delhi. At Kotah
he left his son Madhu Singh, who soon became a favourite with
the maharaja, and received from him an important post, which
became hereditary. On the death of one of the Kotah rajas
(1771), the country was left to the charge of Zalim Singh, a
descendant of Madhu Singh. From that time Zalim Singh was
the real ruler of Kotah. He brought it to a wonderful state of
prosperity, and under his administration, which lasted over
forty-five years, the Kotah territory was respected by all parties.
In 1838 it was resolved, with the consent of the chief of Kotah,
to dismember the state, and to create the new principality of
Jhalawar as a separate provision for the descendants of Zalim
Singh. The districts then severed from Kotah were considered
to represent one-third (£120,000) of the income of Kotah; by
treaty they acknowledged the supremacy of the British, and
agreed to pay an annual tribute of £8000. Madan Singh received
the title of maharaja rana, and was placed on the same footing as
the other chiefs in Rajputana. He died in 1845. An adopted son
of his successor took the name of Zalim Singh in 1875 on becoming
chief of Jhalawar. He was a minor and was not invested
with governing powers till 1884. Owing to his maladministration,
his relations with the British government became
strained, and he was finally deposed in 1896, “on account of
persistent misgovernment and proved unfitness for the powers
of a ruling chief.” He went to live at Benares, on a pension of
£2000; and the administration was placed in the hands of the
British resident. After much consideration, the government
resolved in 1897 to break up the state, restoring the greater part
to Kotah, but forming the two districts of Shahabad and the
Chaumahla into a new state, which came into existence in 1899,
and of which Kunwar Bhawani Singh, a descendant of the
original Zalim Singh, was appointed chief.
The chief town is Patan, or Jhalrapatan (pop. 7955), founded close to an old site by Zalim Singh in 1796, by the side of an artificial lake. It is the centre of trade, the chief exports of the state being opium, oil-seeds and cotton. The palace is at the cantonment or chhaoni, 4 m. north. The ancient site near the town was occupied by the city of Chandrawati, said to have been destroyed in the time of Aurangzeb. The finest feature of its remains is the temple of Sitaleswar Mahadeva (c. 600).
JHANG, a town and district of British India, in the Multan
division of the Punjab. The town, which forms one municipality
with the newer and now more important quarter of Maghiana,
is about 3 m. from the right bank of the river Chenab. Founded
by Mal Khan, a Sial chieftain, in 1462, it long formed the
capital of a Mahommedan state. Pop. (1901), 24,382. Maghiana
has manufactures of leather, soap and metal ware.
The District of Jhang extends along both sides of the Chenab, including its confluences with the Jhelum and the Ravi. Area, 3726 sq. m. Pop. (1901), 378,695, showing an apparent decrease of 13% in the decade, due to the creation of the district of Lyallpur in 1904. But actually the population increased by 132% on the old area, owing to the opening of the Chenab canal and the colonization of the tract irrigated by it. Within Jhang many thousands of acres of government waste have been allotted to colonists, who are reported to be flourishing. A branch of the North-Western railway enters the district in this quarter, extending throughout its entire length. The Southern Jech Doab railway serves the south. The principal industries are the ginning, pressing and weaving of cotton.
Jhang contains the ruins of Shorkot, identified with one of the towns taken by Alexander. In modern times the history of Jhang centres in the famous clan of Sials, who exercised an extensive sway over a large tract between Shahpur and Multan, with little dependence on the imperial court at Delhi, until they finally fell before the all-absorbing power of Ranjit Singh. The Sials of Jhang are Mahommedans of Rajput descent, whose ancestor, Rai Shankar of Daranagar, emigrated early in the 13th century from the Gangetic Doab. In the beginning of the 19th century Maharaja Ranjit Singh invaded Jhang, and captured the Sial chieftain’s territory. The latter recovered a small portion afterwards, which he was allowed to retain on payment of a yearly tribute. In 1847, after the establishment of the British agency at Lahore, the district came under the charge of the British government; and in 1848 Ismail Khan, the Sial leader, rendered important services against the rebel chiefs, for which he received a pension. During the Mutiny of 1857 the Sial leader again proved his loyalty by serving in person on the British side. His pension was afterwards increased, and he obtained the title of khan bahadur, with a small jagir for life.
JHANSI, a city and district of British India, in the Allahabad
division of the United Provinces. The city is the centre of the
Indian Midland railway system, whence four lines diverge to
Agra, Cawnpore, Allahabad and Bhopal. Pop. (1901), 55,724.
A stone fort crowns a neighbouring rock. Formerly the capital
of a Mahratta principality, which lapsed to the British in 1853,
it was during the Mutiny the scene of disaffection and massacre.
It was then made over to Gwalior, but has been taken back in
exchange for other territory. Even when the city was within
Gwalior, the civil headquarters and the cantonment were at
Jhansi Naoabad, under its walls. Jhansi is the principal centre
for the agricultural trade of the district, but its manufactures
are small.
The District of Jhansi was enlarged in 1891 by the incorporation of the former district of Lalitpur, which extends farther into the hill country, almost entirely surrounded by native states. Combined area, 3628 sq.m. Pop. (1901), 616,759 showing a decrease of 10% in the decade, due to the results of famine. The main line and branches of the Indian Midland railway serve the district, which forms a portion of the hill country of Bundelkhand, sloping down from the outliers of the Vindhyan range on the south to the tributaries of the Jumna on the north. The extreme south is composed of parallel rows of long and narrow-ridged hills. Through the intervening valleys the rivers flow down impetuously over ledges of granite or quartz. North of the hilly region, the rocky granite chains gradually lose themselves in clusters of smaller hills. The northern portion consists of the level plain of Bundelkhand, distinguished for its deep black soil, known as mar, and admirably adapted for the cultivation of cotton. The district is intersected or bounded by three principal rivers—the Pahuj, 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, wheat, gram and barley. The destructive kans grass has proved as 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 history of this district before the period of Chandel rule, about the 11th century of our era. To this 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 Mahommedan governors were constantly making irruptions into the Bundela country; and in
