Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 22.djvu/114

 98 S I B S I B instigated by Hera to vie with the Muses in singing ; the Muses were victorious, and plucked the feathers from the Sirens and made crowns for themselves out of them. In art they are usually represented with the bodies of women and the legs of birds, with or without wings. More rarely they appear as birds with only the heads of women. They seem to have had a funereal significance, and were often represented on tombs. For representations of them see J. E. Harrison, Myths of the Odyssey. SIRICIUS, pope from December 384 till November 398, was the successor of Damasus and was himself suc- ceeded by Anastasius I. See POPEDOM, vol. xix. p. 491. SIRMClR, one of the sub-Himalayan or Simla hill states under the government of the Punjab, lying between 30 24' and 31 N. lat. and between 77 5' and 77 50' E. long. Its area is 1096 square miles, and it is bounded on the N. by the hill states of Balsan and Jubal, on the E. by the British district of Dehra Dun, from which it is separated by the rivers Tons and Jumna, on the S.W. by Ambala district, and on the N.W. by the states of Patiala and Keunthal. Except a very small tract about Nahan, the chief town and residence of the raja, on the south-western extremity, where a few streams rise and flow south-westward to the Saraswati and Ghaggar rivers, the whole of Sirmur lies in the basin of the Jumna, which receives from this tract the Giri and its feeders the Jalal and the Palur. The Tons, the great western arm of the stream called lower down the Jumna, flows along the eastern boundary of Sirmur, and on the right side receives from it the two small streams Minus and Nairai. The surface generally declines in elevation from north to south ; the chief elevations on the northern frontier (Chor peak and station) are about 12,000 feet above the sea. The valley of the Khiarda Dun, which forms the southern part of the state, is bounded on the S. by the Siwalik range, the hills of which are of recent formation and abound in fossil remains of large vertebrate animals. Though the rocks of Sirmur consist of formations usually metalliferous, the yield of mineral wealth is at present but small. The forests are very dense, so much so that the sportsman finds difficulty in making his way through them in search of wild elephants, tigers, leopards, bears, and hyaenas, with which they abound. The climate of Sirmur varies with the elevation ; the northern extremity has very little rain ; but large and excellent crops are everywhere to be obtained by irrigation. The population in 1881 was 112,371 (males 63,305, females 49, 066), the great majority being Hindus. The only town of any importance is Nahan, with a population of 5253. The principal products of the state are opium, tobacco, and cereals, and its gross revenue is estimated at 21,000. Sirmur, which means "a crowned head," was the place of residence of the rajas who ruled over the state before the present dynasty entered the country. The reigning raja (Shamsher Prakash, K. C.S.I.) holds his possessions by a grant made on the expulsion of the Gurkhas by the British in 1815. SIROHI, or SEEBOEE, a native state in the Raj pu tana agency under the Government of India, with an area of 3020 square miles, lying between 24 20' and 25 20' N. lat. and between 72 10' and 73 10' E. long., and bounded on the W. and N. by Marwar or Jodhpur, on the E. by Mewar or Udaipur, on the S. by Palanpur and the Mahi Kantha states of Edar and Danta. The country is much broken up by hills and rocky ranges ; the Aravalli range divides it into two portions, running from north-east to south-west. The south and south-east part of the terri- tory is very mountainous and rugged, containing the lofty Mount Abu, an isolated mass of granite rock, culminating in a cluster of hills, enclosing several valleys surrounded by rocky ridges, like great hollows. The highest peak rises to 5653 feet above sea-level, and is one of the great trigonometrical stations. On both sides of the Aravallis the country is intersected with numerous water channels, which run with considerable force and volume during the height of the rainy season, but are dry for the greater part of the year. The only river of any importance is the Western Banas. A large portion of the state is covered with dense jungle, in which wild animals, including the tiger, bear, and leopard, abound. Many splendid ruins bear witness to the former prosperity and civilization of the state. The climate is on the whole dry ; in the south and east there is usually a fair amount of rain. On Abu the average annual rainfall is about 64 inches, whereas in Erinpura, less than 50 miles to the north, the average fall is only between 12 and 13 inches. The Western Rajputana Railway runs through the length of the state, passing just east of Mount Abu. In 1881 the population numbered 142,903 (males 76,132, females 66,771), of whom 123,633 were Hindus, 2935 were Mohammedans, and 16,137 were Jains. The town of Sirohi, the capital of the state, is situated at the western base of the range of hills north of Mount Abu, and its population (1881) numbered 5699. Wheat and barley are the staple crops ; pulses and cotton are also grown. The present ruling family of Sirohi are Deora Rajputs, a branch of the great Chauhan clan, and are said to be immediately descended from Deo Raj, a descendant of Pirthvi Eaj, the Chauhan king of Delhi. During the early years of the present century Sirohi suf- fered much from wars with Jodhpur and the wild Mina hill tribes. The protection of the British was sought in 1817 ; the pretensions of Jodhpur to suzerainty over Sirohi were disallowed, and in 1823 a treaty was concluded with the British Government. For services rendered during the mutiny of 1857 the reigning "rao" received a remission of half his tribute. StRSA, a British district in the lieutenant-governorship of the Punjab, lying between 29 13' and 30" 40' N. lat. and between 73 57' and 75 23' E. long. It has an area of 3008 square miles, and is bounded on the N. by Firoz- pur district and the native state of Patiala, on the W. by the river Sutlej, on the S.W. by the native states of Bahdwalpur and Bikaner, and on the E. by Hissar district. Lying as it does between the barren deserts of Bikaner and the comparatively fertile though sandy plains of the Cis-Sutlej states, Sirsa district in soil as well as position forms an intermediate link between the two. It forms for the most part a bare and treeless plateau stretching from the valley of the little river Ghaggar on the east to the main stream of the Sutlej on its western border. In the immediate neighbourhood of the Sutlej, however, is a fertile alluvial tract (Jchddar), intersected by numerous branches of the river, and flooded by their outflow during the rainy season. Eastward of the khadar lies the sandy central tableland, which is chiefly employed for purposes of pasturage. East of this plateau is the valley of the Ghaggar, a formidable torrent in the rainy months, but so entirely dependent on the rainfall of the lower Himalayas that it is usually dry from October to July. The Ghaggar expands into three jhils or marshy lakes, the largest of which is 5 miles in length by 2 in breadth. South of the Ghaggar spreads a sandy tract beyond the reach of its fertilizing influence, and of small agricultural value. Formerly the district was covered by an excellent grazing grass, known as dhdman, but with the increase of cultivation it is fast disappearing. The climate of Sirsa is extremely dry, the average annual rain- fall reaching only 15 inches. The Rewari-Ferozcpore Railway passes through the district from south to north. The population of the district, according to the census of 1881, was 253,275 (males 138,691, females 114,584), of whom 130,582 were Hindus, 93,289 Mohammedans, and 28,303 Sikhs. The only town with a population exceeding 10,000 is Sirsa, the administrative headquarters of the district, with 12,292 inhabitants. The modern town of Sirsa was founded in 1837, and the ruins of old Sirsa lie near its south-west corner. It is a considerable entrepot for the trade of the wheat-growing countries to the north and east with Bikaner and Marwar. At the opening of the present century nearly the whole of Sirsa district was a barren almost uncultivated waste. Gradually, however, with more peaceful times