58 MUZAFFARGARH. or salt-makers have taken to agriculture, and others to charcoalburning Tigers are often met with in the dense jungles on the banks of the Indus, towards the south of the District. They do considerable damage to cattle, but rarely attack man, unless in self-defence Wolves are found throughout the District, and wild hog are extremely common, especially on the banks of the rivers. The only deer in the District are hog-deer, the Indian gazelle, and the swamp-deer. The last is nearly extinct. Jackals and foxes are common. Hares are very rare. Otters are found in the south of the District. Hedgehogs are common. Mungoose are very common. Hog and deer are occasionally taken by nets of munj rope supported on poles driven into the ground. The game birds include floriken, sand-grouse, black and grey partridge, quail, snipe, plover, many varieties of duck and teal, water-fowl, etc. Fish of an excellent quality abound in the rivers, and afford a means of livelihood to a large number of people. History. — Muzaffargarh District hardly possesses any distinct annals of its own, having always formed part of the Múltán Province, whose fortunes it has invariably followed. During the Mughal period, it was included in Akbar's sarkár of Múltán; and when the Duráni Empire superseded that of Delhi in North-Western India, Muzaffargarh fell to the new power, with the rest of the Province. Its last Muhammadan ruler, Muzaffar Khán, the Afghán Governor of Múltán under the Duráni dynasty, gave his name to the present head-quarters town, which he enlarged and surrounded with a wall. The southern and middle portions of the District, however, were in the hands of the Nawab of Baháwalpur, only the extreme north being held by Muzaffar Khán. During the long struggle between the Afghan Governor and the Sikhs (see MULTAN DISTRICT), the Muzaffargarh peasantry suffered niuch in the cause of their ruler; and in 1818, the army of Ranjit Singh, advancing for their final attack upon Múltán, stormed the two towns of Muzaffargarh and Khángarh. Thenceforth the northern portion of the District passed under the rule of the Sikhs, and was administered by Diwán Sáwan Mall and his son Múlráj. The southern half, however, still remained in the hands of the Baháwalpur Nawabs, who held it as independent chiefs up to the conquest of Dera Ghází Khán by Ranjit Singh. But after that date they accepted a lease of the whole District from the Sikh Mahárájá; and the Nawab failing to remit the annual amount in 1830, Ranjit Singhi sent General Ventura to take charge of his conquests, and the river Sutlej (Satlaj) was accepted as the boundary between the Sikh Empire and the territories of Bahawalpur. The Sikh supremacy remained unshaken until the Múltán rebellion and the annexation of the Punjab in 1849. At the first distribution of the Province for administrative purposes by the British authorities,
