NAURANGPUR TALUK.
This comprises the north- western most corner of the district, and its southern boundary is the Indrávati river. After Malkanagiri, it is the largest taluk in the Presidency. It consists of a level plain, without hills of note, which lies about 2,000 feet above the sea and in the north falls gradually away to the valley of the Tél. The southern portion of it, round about the Indrávati, contains some of the most fertile land in all the district — wide expanses of paddy, fed by the heavy rainfall and dotted with patches of sugar-cane, wheat and Bengal gram, extending in every direction. The Mális, who are noted for their skill in cultivation, hold much of the best land. Further north the country is equally rich, but is very sparsely populated, hundreds of square miles crying aloud for exploitation. It consists of miles and miles of beautiful jungle, mostly sál, hidden among which are many little swampy glades in which paddy is grown. The road northwards alternately emerges into one of these glades and then buries itself again in the jungle.
About 1880 a number of people immigrated to this country from Kálahandi, because the umbrella-tax and other vexatious imposts had been laid upon them there; but in the decade 1891-1901 the population declined again considerably. Four-fifths of the inhabitants speak Uriya, but in the Tél valley the people resemble those of Kálahandi, being Gónds or Central Provinces traders with their attendant Brinjáris. These Brinjáris are found in this part in great numbers, and many villages are almost entirely occupied by them. From here come the gangs which trade with Sálúr. Two places of interest in the taluk are the following: —
Naurangpur is the station of the deputy tahsildar and of an ámin of the Jeypore estate. Population 3,203; height above the sea, 1,918 feet. It consists of one broad street, in which are the public offices and the residence of the ráni referred to below, with a few lanes on either side. The place is a great centre for the export of grain, and is known for the lac toys (see p. 129) which are made in it and for its splendid avenues and topes, one of which consists of a quadruple row of trees two miles long. It was once a centre for the reeling and weaving of tassar silk.
