Mathura A Gazetteer-8
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MATHURA A GAZETTEER,
edited and compiled by, D.L. DRAKE-BROCKMAN [1911]
DIRECTORY
CHAUMUHA, Tahsil CHHATA
Chaumuha is situated on the high road to Dehli at a distance of 10 miles from Muttra, in 27°37'N. And 77°36'E. The village has a total area of 5,030 acres, and in 1901 the popula tion was returned at 3,735 persons, of whom 272 were Musal mans and 11 of other religions than Hinduism. The predominant Hindu caste was Gaurua Rajputs. Until the year 1816 the vil lage was included in the home tahsil. It contains the remains of a large brick-built sarai, said to have been erected in the reign of Sher Shah; and immediately opposite its upper gate, though at some little distance from it, stands one of the old imperial Kos minars. In the old topographies the sarai is described as situated at Akbarpur. This is still the name of the adjoining village, which must at one time have been of much wider extent, for the name Chaumuha is quite modern and is derived from an ancient sculpture supposed to represent the four-faced (chaumuha) god Brahma, which was discovered in a field close by: it is in reality the pedestal of a Jaini statue or column. There is a small temple in the village dedicated to Bihari Ji, and two ponds known as Bihari Kund and Chandokhar. When Madhoji Sindhia was the paramount power in Muttra, he bestowed the village as an endowment for educational purposes on a pandit by name Gangadhar, and it was confirmed to his sons in 1824. Settle ment was made with the local zamindars, and three quarters of the whole revenue of Rs. 5,120 go to the Agra College. A weekly market is held in the village on Tuesdays; and there is an upper primary school for boys, attended by some 40 pupils. As a punishment for misbehaviour during the Mutiny the village was burnt down, and for one year the revenue demand was raised to half as much again. The village now forms part of the endowment of the great temple of Rangji at Brindaban.
CHHATA, Tahsil CHHATA
The town of Chhata is situated in 27°44,N. and 77°3O,E., on the high road between Muttra and Dehli, at a distance of 21 miles from the district capital. Since the Mutiny it has been the headquarters of the tahsil of thex same name. The principal feature of the town is a large fort-like sarai covering an area of 12 acres, with battlemented walls and bastions and two lofty entrance gateways of decorated stone-work. The interior is now disfigured by a number of mean mud houses and shops, the erection of which has been allowed although the land belongs to the Government. It is locally said to have been built in the reign of Sher Shah but may, with greater probability, be ascribed to that of Akbar, in whose time it was, if not begun, at least almost certainly completed. In 1857 it was occupied by the rebel zamindars, and one of the towers had to be blown down before an entrance could be effected. At the same time the town was set on fire and partially destroyed, and twenty-two of the leading men were shot. It was originally intended to confiscate the whole village; but eventually only one and a half times the revenue was taken for one year. The name is locally derived from Chhatra-dharana-lila, which Krishna is said to have celebrated here; but there is no legend regarding such an event, and in all probability the name refers merely to the stone ceno taphs that surmount the sarai gateways and form prominent objects in the landscape from a, considerable distance. The town contains a police station, post-office, primary school, an inspection house belonging to the Public Works department, and an encamping ground for troops. Weekly market is held on Fridays.
Chhata has been administered under Act XX of 1856, since the year 1859. The income which averages some Rs. 1,235 per annum is raised by the usual house-tax and expended in the maintenance of a small force of police, a staff of sweepers for conservancy and on simple works of improvement. The popula tion has increased of late years; in 1872 it numbered 6,720 persons, and this figure fell to 6,014 in 1881. In 1891 there was a recovery to 6,607, and at the last enumeration in 1901 the population was returned at 8,287 persons, of whom 3,853 were females. The inhabitants comprised 6,691 Hindus, 1,486 Musalmans and 110 others. The Hindus have nine small temples and the Muhammadans four mosques.The Village Sanitation Act (U. P. Act II of 1892) is in force in the town.
CHHATA Tahsil
This subdivision is the north-western tahsil of the district. It lies between the parallels of 27°33', and 27°56'N. and 77°17' and 77°42,E., and is bounded on the north by the Gurgaon district of the Punjab and the Jumna; on the east by the Jumna, which separates it from Mat tahsil; on the south by tahsil Muttra; and on the west by the state of Bharatpur. In shape the tahsil is almost a square twenty miles broad and equally long, but the northern face is somewhat shortened by an easterly bend in the stream of the Jumna near Shergarh ghat. The southern portion differs in some respects from the northern, which formed the old pargana of Kosi; and for purposes of detailed description it is better to keep them separate. The southern or Chhata portion, which is situated between the rocky ranges which obtrude on the district in the west and the Jumna valley on the east, has an exceptionally level and uniform surface. There is no stream or river to break the level of the country, and the one line of drainage known as the western depression, which has already been described, forms a series of depressions only at long and uncertain intervals. At a distance of three miles to the east of it runs a narrow belt of sand which rises slightly above the general level of the country. From this belt to the sand hills and ravines that flank the Janina, the surface is only broken by a line of light sandy soil which runs generally parallel to the Dehli road. With the exception of these sandy ridges the upland soil is a light but firm loam of excellent fertility, containing a sufficient admixture of sand to render it easily workable and friable. The low land along the river, except in the bend in the north-east and between Basai and the border of the Muttra tahsil in the south-east is nowhere extensive. The soil in it is purely alluvial and varies from a pure white sand to a rich and firm dark loam; while the Jumna ravines are not of sufficient extent to form an important physical feature of the tract.
The uplands of the Kosi or northern portion resemble generally those of Chhata; but there are no hills in it except the low rocky outcrop of Charan Pahar. The level is diversified by low sand ridges. One of these runs parallel to the Bharatpur hills, which can be seen from the district border, and forms the boundary of the tahsil on the west and north-west; whilst on the east there are the usual ravines and sandy downs along the Jumna. Besides these two sand ridges, there is a star-shaped system of sand ranges, branching out in four directions from a centre at Goheta. One runs northwards into Gurgaon, another north-eastwards to the Jumna, joining the. ravines of that river near Barhs, a third projects south-westwards into Chhata, and a fourth runs due south. This system divides the upland portion into four distinct plains. The largest of these lies to the west with the Charan Pahar in the centre; it is a level plain of rich friable loam, but the depth of water in it is great and the water itself is brackish. The next largest plain lies between the north-western and north-eastern rays of the star; it resembles the plain just described in many features. The soil is the same, though a trifle lighter, except in depressions; the water also is far from the surface and brackish. The third plain is that on the Chhata side to the south-east; it is a continuation of the great eastern loam plain of Chhata, the description of which applies equally to it. The fourth and smallest plain comprises the northern end of the central loam tract of Chhata and lies between the two southern rays of the star. The surface is not so uniform as in the plains already described but slopes gradually from the edge of the sand hills towards the centre, where there is a depression. In this depression the soil is hard and cloddy, while nearer the sand ranges it become almost bhur. The Jumna khadar is distinctly marked by a line of cliff that rises abruptly out of it to the height of some twenty-five feet; behind this cliff there is a belt of ravines or sandy downs which separates the bangar from the, khadar. All the village sites bordering on the river are built along this cliff.
The total area of the tahsil is 260,013 acres or 406.2 square miles. Of this 15,358 acres or 5.90 per cent. are returned as barren, and 40,582 or 15.61 per cent. as culturable waste. For the five years ending in 1907 the cultivated area averaged 204,073 acres: this represents a proportion of 78.48 per cent. on total area, and exceeds the percentages of both Muttra and Mat tahsils. The Agra canal traverses the tahsil from north to south and irrigation is extensively practised. The average area irrigated between 1903 and 1907 was 74,152 acres or 34.37 per cent. of that cultivated. Practically the whole of this area was watered from canals and wells, the former irrigating over 83 per cent of the whole. The principal harvest is the kharif, averaging 129,522 acres as against 95,161 acres in the Rabi. The double-cropped area amounts on an average to 20,963 or 10.27 per cent of the cultivation. The principal crops in the kharif are juar, alone or in combination with arhar, cotton and bajra, while a fair amount of guar and khurti are also grown. In the Rabi the bulk of the area sown is occupied by barley, alone or intermixed with gram, and by gram alone.
Owing to the introduction of canal irrigation and its subsequent extension to the tract round. Nandgaon the development of agri culture is fairly high. The chief cultivating castes are Jats, Brahmans, Rajputs, Chamars, Kachhis and Gujars. Of the total holdings area in 1908, 18.11 per cent was in the hand of ex-pro prietary and occupancy tenants, 34.49 per cent was tilled by tenants-at-will and 44.60 per cent. by the proprietors themselves, 3,042 acres being rent-free. Chhata contains 172 villages, at present divided into 389 mahals. Of the latter 86, representing 22.07 per cent of the area, are in the hands of single zamindars; 26 or 3.60 per cent are held in perfect and 207 or 63.76 per cent in imperfect pattidari tenure; while 30 or 7.39 per cent. are bhaiyachara and 40 or 3.17 per cent are revenue free. Jats hold the largest area with 70,765 acres; and after them come Rajputs, 55,595; Brahmans 27,270; Kayasths, 17,702; Musalmans, 9,796; and Banias, 9,777 acres. The largest landholders are the Lala Babu, eleven villages paying a revenue of Rs. 23,129; Babu Kalyan Singh of Muttra, the heir of Lala Jagan Prasad, six whole villages and parts of 7 others assessed to Rs. 14,499; Kunwar Mahendra Pratab Singh, 8 villages with a revenue of Rs. 9,414; and the temple of Rangji at Brindaban which owns one village assessed to Rs. 4,000.
In 1881 the two parganas of Chhata and Kosi had a com bined population of 149,891 souls, and since that time the total has steadily increased. At the following enumeration in 1891 the number had risen to 153,465, while at the last census there were 173,756 inhabitants, of whom 82,161 were females. The average density is 428 persons to the square mile-the smallest figure in the district. Classified according to religions, there were 151,306 Hindus, 21,067 Musalmans, 1,203 Jains, 120 Chris tians, 28 Sikhs, 20 Aryas and 12 Parsis. Chamars are the most numerous Hindu caste, numbering 31,294 persons, while after them come Brahmans, 24,864; Rajputs, 24,448; and Jats, 20,843. Other castes with over two thousand members apiece are Banias, 7,206; Gujars, 5,737; Gadariyas, 3,342; Koris, 3,173; Barhais, 3,054; Kumhars, Nais, Kahars and Bhangis. Jadons are the numerically strongest Rajput clan, exceeding all others by a large number: they are followed by Kachhwahas, Chauhans and Tomars. The chief Muhammadan subdivisions are Qassabs, Sheikhs, Mewatis, converted Rajputs, and Bhangis, Pathans, Bhishtis and Faqirs. The tahsil is mainly agricultural in character, though Kosi is a commercial and industrial centre of growing importance, especially with regard to the cotton trade. The number of cattle-breeders and graziers is also larger than in most parts of the district, as Kosi is a famous cattle-market and the whole tahsil has a long-standing reputation for the quality and breed of its cattle
The only towns in the tahsil are the municipality of Kosi and the Act XX towns of Shergarh and Chhata: besides these there are a few places of importance. Kamar, though now a declining place, was once administered under Act XX of 1856 and is the centre of a small local trade. Nandgaon and Barsana are famous places of pilgrimage; and Sahar was from the days of Akbar up to the Mutiny the headquarters of a pargana. Majhoi possesses a police station; and there are several large villages such as Bathan, Taroli, Hatana and others. Lists of the markets, fairs, schools and post-offices in the tahsil are given in the appendix.
Chhata is well supplied with means of communication. The Agra-Dehli Chord railway traverses it from north to south, and close by, parallel to this, runs the metalled road from Muttra to Dehli. Uumetalled roads run from Chhata to Shergarh, where there is a ferry over the Jumna, to Barsana and to Sahar; and from Kosi to Kamar, Nandgaon, Shergarh Majhoi and Shahpur. The south-eastern portion of the tahsil is traversed by the road which leaves the Dehli road at Jait and runs to Shergarh. Besides the ferry at Shergarh, there are other ferries at Chaundras near Shahpur, Majhoi, Bahta, Siyara and Bhaugaon: but that at Shergarh is far the most important.
In early times Chhata was probably occupied by Meos. Next came the Gujars, Rajputs and Jats who settled in it. In the days of Akbar it fell within the mahals of Sahar and Hodal and possibly Kamah in the sarkar of Agra. The Jats appear to have been responsible for the creation of par ganas Shergarh, Kosi and Shahpur out of the Ain-i-Akbari pargana of Sahar, the last of which became later merged in Kosi. At the cession in 1803 Shergarh was given as a revenue-free jagir to Balla Bai, daughter of Madhoji Sindhia; but was resumed in 1808 along with other parganas in lieu of a cash payment. From the cession until the Mutiny the head-quarters of the old Sahar tahsil remained at Sahar; but the records and establishments were removed to Chhata in 1857 and have ever since remained there. The last change came in 1894 when the tahsil of Kosi was abolished and the Kosi pargana was amalgamated with that of Sahar or Chhata to form the Chhata tahsil.
At the present day the tahsil constitutes a revenue and criminal subdivision which is generally entrusted to the senior joint, assistant or deputy magistrate on the district staff. For purposes of police administration there are stations at Chhata, Kosi, Sahar, Barsana, Shergarh and Majhoi.