Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 3.djvu/601

Rh the Gdwilgarh range of the Sdtpura hills, which form the northern boundary between Berar and the Central Pro vinces, and on the S. by the Ajanta range, and the Bdldghdt or upland country of the Ajantd hills, occupying the whole southern part of the province. The Payaughat is a wide valley running up eastward between the Ajantd range and the Gdwilgarh hills, from 40 to 50 miles in breadth. This tract contains all the best land in Berar, it is full of deep, rich, black alluvial soil, called regdr, of almost inexhaustible fertility, and it undulates just enough to maintain a natural system of drainage. Here and there are barren tracts where the hills jut out far into the plain, covered with stones and scrub jungle, or where a few isolated flat - topped hills occur. There is nothing picturesque about this broad strip of alluvial country, it is destitute of trees except near the villages close under the hills; and apart from the Piirna, which intersects it from east to west, it has hardly a perennial stream. In the early autumn it is one sheet of cultivation, but after the beginning of the hot season, when the crops have been gathered, its monotonous plain is relieved by neither verdure, shade, nor water. The aspect of the country above the passes which lead to the Bdldghdt is quite different. The trees are finer and the groves more frequent than in the valley below ; water is more plentiful and nearer to the surface. The highlands fall southwards towards the Nizam s country by a gradual series of ridges or steppes. The principal rivers of the province are the Taptf, which forms a portion of its north-western boundary ; the Purna, which intersects the valley of the Payanghat ; the Wardhd, forming the whole western boundary line ; and the Pain-ganga, marking the southern boundary for nearly its whole distance. The only natural lake is the Salt Lake of Sunar. There are no large tanks or artificial reservoirs.

1em 1em 1em 1em

The early history of Berar belongs to that of the Deccan. The province suffered repeated invasions of Mahometans from the north, and on the collapse of the Bdhmani dynasty in 152G, Berar formed one of the five kingdoms under independent Mahometan princes, into which the Deccan split up. In the beginning of the seventeenth century the province was invaded by Prince Murad Mirza, son of the Emperor Akbar, and annexed to the Dehli empire. It did not long enjoy the blessings of tranquillity, for on the rise of the Marhatta power about 1G50, the province became a favourite field of plunder. In 1G71 the Marhatta general, Pratdp Pido, extended his ravages as far east as Karinjd, and exacted from the village officers a pledge to pay chauth. In 1704 things had reached their worst ; the Marhattas swarmed through Berar &quot; like ants or locusts, &quot; and laid bare whole districts. They were expelled in 1704 byZulfikar Khan, one of Aurang- zeb s best generals, but they returned incessantly, levying black-mail in the shape of cJiauth and sardcshmukhi, with the alternative of fire and sword. Upon the death of Aurang- zeb the Marhattas consolidated their predominance in Berar, and in 1817 their demand for chauth, or a fourth, and sardeshmukhi, or a tenth of the revenue of the province, was conceded by the governor. But in 1720-24 the viceroy of the Deccan, under the title of Nizam-ul-mulk, gained his independence by a series of victories over the imperial generals, and from that time till its cession to England in 1853, Berar was always nominally subject to the Haidardbdd dynasty. The Mahrattd rulers posted their officers all over the province, they occupied it with their troops, they collected more than half the revenue, and they fought among themselves for possession of the right to collect ; but, with the exception of a few pargands ceded to the Peshwd, the Nizdm maintained his title as de jure sovereign of the country, and it was always admitted by the Marhattds. In the Marhatta- war of 1803, the British under General &quot;Wellesley, afterwards the duke of Wellington, assisted by the Nizam, crushed the Marhatta power in this part of the country, by utterly defeating them at Argdon on the 28th November 1803, and a few days afterwards at Gawilgarh. On the H th December 