Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 3.djvu/646

628 leather covering is dispensed with, and the resin gathered on the naked bodies of coolies, who brush through the standing stalks. Dr Royle says, &quot; the glandular secretion is collected from the plants on the hills by the natives pressing the upper part of the young plants between the palms of their hands, and scraping off the secretion which adheres.&quot; The preparation known as hashish among the Arabs is similar to the gunja of India, and is used in the same manner. The use of preparations of hemp among the Mussulman and Hindu population of India is very general ; and the habit also obtains among the population of Central Asia, the Arabs, and Egyptians, extending even to the negroes of the valley of the Zambesi and the Hottentots of South Africa. The habit appears to date from very remote times, for Herodotus says of the Scythians, that they creep inside huts and throw hemp seeds on hot stones. The seeds &quot; soon send forth a virulent intoxicating smoke, which fills the close tent, and the people inside, being overpowered with the intoxicating effects, howl with excitement and delight.&quot; The observations of Dr O Shaugh- nessy on the effects of the drug on the native population of India led him to conclude that it alleviates pain, and causes a remarkable increase of appetite, unequivocal aphrodisia, and great mental cheerfulness. Its violent effects are delirium of a peculiar kind, and the production of a cata leptic condition. Sir Robert Christison says, that &quot;for energy, certainty, and convenience, Indian hemp is the next anodyne, hypnotic, and antispasmodic to opium and its derivatives, and often equal to it.&quot; Preparations are used in British pharmacy in the form of tincture and extract prepared from gunja, and it is understood to form an ingredient in the patent medicine chlorodyne.  BHARÁICH, a district of British India, under the jurisdiction of the Chief Commissioner of Oudh, situated between 28 23 and 27 4 N. lat, and 82 11 and 81 9 E. long. It is bounded on the N. by the independent state of NepAl, on the E. and S.E. by the district of GonclA. on the S.W. by the district of BAra BAnki, and on the W. by the districts of SitApur and Kheri. BharAich district consists of three tracts: (1), in the centre, an elevated triangular plateau, projecting from the base of the Himalayas for about 50 miles in a south-easterly direction average breadth 13 miles, area 670 square miles: (2), the great plain of the Ghagra, on the west, about 40 feet below the level of the plateau ; and (3), on the east, another lesser area of depression. The Tardi, or the forest and marshy tracts along the southern slopes of the Hima layas, gradually merge within the district into drier land, the beds of the streams become deeper and more marked, the marshes disappear, and the country assumes the ordin ary appearance of the plain of the Ganges. The Ghagra skirts the district for 114 miles; and the Raptf, with its branch the BhaklA, drains the high grounds.

1em  BHARTPUR, or, a native state of Rájputáná in Upper India, under the political superintendence of the British Government, lying between 26 48 and 27 50 N. lat., and 76 54 and 77 49 E. long. It is bounded on the N. by the British district of GurgAon, on the N.E. by Mathurd, on the E. by Agra, on the S. and S.W. by the Rajput states of Karauli and Jaipur, and on the &quot;W. by the state of Alwar. Length from north to south, about 77 miles; greatest breadth, 50 miles; area, 1974 square miles. The country is generally level, about 700 feet above the sea. Small detached hills, rising to 200 feet in height, occur, especially in the northern part. These hills contain good building stone for ornamental architecture, and in some of them iron ore is abundant. The BangangA is the only river which flows through the state. It takes its rise at Manoharpur in the territory of Jaipur, and flow ing eastward passes through the heart of the Bhartpur state, and joins the Jamnii below Agra.

1em

Bhartpur rose into importance under Suraj Mall, who bore a conspicuous part in the destruction of the Dehli empire. Having built the forts of Dig and Kumbher in 1730, he received in 1756 the title of RAjA, and subse quently joined the great MarhattA army with 30,000 troops. But the misconduct of the MarhattA leader induced him to abandon the confederacy, just in time to escape the murderous defeat at PAniput. Suraj Mall raised the JAt power to its highest point; and Colonel Dow, in 1770, estimated the RAjA s revenue (perhaps extravagantly) at 2,000,000, and his military force at 60,000 or 70,000 men. In 1803 the East India Company concluded a treaty, offensive and defensive, with Bhartpur. In 1804, how ever, the RAjA assisted the MarhattAs against the British. The English under Lord Lake captured the fort of Dig and besieged Bhartpur, but was compelled to raise the siege after four attempts at storming. A treaty, concluded on 17th April 1805, guaranteed the RAjA s territory; but he became bound to pay 200,000 as indemnity to the East India Company. A dispute as to the right of the succession again led to a war in 1825, and Lord Comber- mere captured Bhartpur with a besieging force of 20,000 men, after a desperate resistance, on the 18th January 1826. The fortifications were dismantled, the hostile chief being deported to Benares, and an infant son of the former RujA installed under a treaty favourable to the Company. In 1853 the Bhartpur ruler died, leaving a minor heir. The state came under British management, and the administration has been improved, the revenue increased, 