B HAND A R A.
365
while those having occupancy rights at either fixed or variable rates
numbered suited grain,
was
rice
pd.
the
1880
In
15,147.
for
4cL
is.
average
the
produce
average
per
per acre
rent
wheat,
for
is.
acre
4|d.
being,
of land
for
rice,
inferior
480
lbs.
208 lbs. 'I’he average number of acres cultivated in 1881 by each head of the agricultural population (258,668, or 37 ’83 per cent, of the District population), was 6 acres the amount of Government land revenue and local cesses and the amount of rental, levied on the landholders was _;^43,o29 including cesses, paid by the cultivators was ;^76,465, or an average Rice sold for 6s. lod. per cwt., and of IS. loid. per cultivated acre. wheat for 5s. 3d. per cwt. In the same year wages averaged for skilled wheat, 380
lbs.
and
inferior grain,
labour
6d. per diem, for unskilled labour 4|d. per diem, being 2d.
is.
or 3d. higher than the rates of four years earlier.
Bhandara Besides
its
especially
the
particularly well stocked,
is
crops,
may be
Carts, with
hired at
is.
the District yields jungle produce of
gums and honey,
the gathering of which
hands of the Gonds.
The timber
is
— Cloth,
and
of
little
is
which
6d. a day.
some
value,
almost entirely in
worth, as the trees
rarely attain a large size.
Commerce and Trade,
etc.
chief manufactures
brass,
and potstone wares
Pauni formerly produced cloth of singularly fine quality ; but the manufacture has now almost ceased, as the weaving classes are day by day decreasing in numbers, and there is now but a small demand for such cloth. A turban of the best sort made to order sometimes costs as much as ^20. The original makers of these magnificent cloths are said to have come to these parts on the invitation of the Raja of Nagpur at the beginning of this century, from Paithau on the Godavari, and from Burhanpur on constitute
the Tapti.
the
They now bear
the
of the
name
District.
of Koshtis.
competition of English piece-goods and the
Of
rise in the
late years, th$
value of cotton
have diminished the price of the inferior kinds of cloth ; but thq export trade from this town to Nagpur, Poona, and Bombay is still
Pauni also produces brass-ware, but Bhandara is the most important seat of this manufacture, sending its exports to Nagpur, Raipur, and Jabalpur (Jubbulpore). The potstone-wares consist of cups, plates, and pipe-bowls, made chiefly at Kanheri and Pendri. Cotton, dyes, and salt from Berar, wheat and rice from Raipur, English piece-goods from Bombay and Mirzapur, silk from Burhanpur, and cattle from Seoni and Mandla Districts, form the chief imports. The direction of the trade is chiefly to and from Nagpur and Raipur by the Great Eastern Road, which enters the District on the west, and, passing through Bhandara, crosses the river Bagh by a substantial and partly by a route through Palandiir bridge into Raipur District to and from Kamthi (Kamptee) by the Tumsar route; and towards
considerable.
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