Page:The Imperial Gazetteer of India - Volume 10 (2nd edition).pdf/77

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JIUZAFFARGARH TOIVN. 65 quarters, consists of a Deputy Commissioner, 3 Assistant or extraAssistant Commissioners, 1 tahsildir, and I munsif. These officers preside over 6 civil and 5 criminal courts. Number of police circles (thinus), 6; strength of regular police, 102 men; village watch or rural police (chaukidárs), 157 men. Muzaffargarh. - Town, municipality, and administrative heidquarters of Muzaffargarh District, Punjab. Situated in lat. 30° 4' 30 V., and long. 71° 14' E., on the road from Júltán to Dera Ghazi Khán, 6 miles from the present cold-weather bed of the Chenab. The town derives its name from Muzaffar Khán, an Afghán Governor of Múltán, who fixed his residence here about 1795. Population (1881) 2720— namely, Hindus, 1592 ; Juhanmadans, 1064; Sikhs, 36; Jains, 7; others,' 21. Number of houses, 702. Municipal income (1883-84), £422, or an average of 3s. 1d. per head, Muzaffargarh consists of a fort built by Nawab Muzaffar Khán, formed by a circular-shaped wall 30 feet high, enclosing a space with a diameter of 160 yards; and of suburbs, which surround the fort on all sides, so as to nearly conceal it from view. The fort wall has 16 bastions, and battlements all round. It is built with a veneer of burnt brick, which has peeled away in inany places, and a backing of mud over 6 feet thick. The road from Múltán entering the town cuts off a segment at the north end of the fort, which is bisected by the main búzár running tiorth and south. The houses within the fortification are built with burnt bricks where they face the street, but elsewhere generally with mud. They are chiefly occupied by Hindus. The suburbs round the fort are generally nud-built. They are more extensive on the south side, where they are occupied by the poorer Muhammadans. On the north side live the District officials. The principal streets have been paved with brick, but the pavement generally requires renewal. Drinking water is obtained from wells outside and inside the town. Muzaffargarh fort was stormed by the ariny of Ranjit Singh in 1818. It became the head-quarters of the District administration under the British Government in 1859, after Khangarh had been abandoned in consequence of inundation. The floods of the Chenab are now approaching Muzaffargarh, and in 1873 they destroyed a considerable portion of the suburbs. The town possesses no manufactures, and the trade is of a purely local character. The proximity to Múltán city interferes with the function the town would otherwise perform in the collection of agricultural produce and the distribution of European goods. The public buildings consist of the usual Government courts and offices, police station, sarái or native inn, church, post-office, dispensary, travellers' bungalow, and the municipal hall with its public library. The public buildings and dwellings of the European residents are situated about VOL. X. E