Page:The Imperial Gazetteer of India - Volume 10 (2nd edition).pdf/42



30 MURSHIDABAD. Murshidabad District has always borne a bad reputation for certain classes of crime, viz. dukáití or gang robbery and housebreaking. In 1883, the total number of persons convicted of any offence, great or small, was 2870, being i person to every 428 of the population. By far the greater proportion of the convictions were for petty offences. The District contains one jail and two lock-ups. In 1883, the average daily number of prisoners was 161'96, of whom 12 were femal These figures show i prisoner to every 7573 of the population. Education has widely extended during recent years. In 1856 there were only 6 inspected schools, attended by 717 pupils. By 1883 these numbers had risen to 430 schools, with upwards of 12,000 pupils, showing an average of 4'9 square miles to each school, and 9.7 pupils to every thousand of the population. This great increase is due to the extension of the grant-in-aid rules to the pathsálás or village schools, a reform inaugurated by Sir G. Campbell in 1872. The above figures are exclusive of uninspected and unaided schools. The Census of 1881 returned 15,845 boys and 423 girls as under instruction, besides 32,967 males and 815 females able to read and write, but not under instruction. Among special institutions may be mentioned — the Barhampur College, founded in 1853, which now teaches up to the first Arts course of the university examination; the Nizámat College, limited to the education of the relatives of the Nawab; and the Nizámat free school in Murshidabad city. In 1883, the average daily attendance at the Barhampur College was 30; the cost to Government was £1075, or an average of £32, 12s. for each pupil. The District is divided into 4 administrative Sub-divisions, containing 23 thánás. There are 68 parganás or Fiscal Divisions, with an aggregate in 1883 of 2383 revenue-paying estates, owned by 10,757 proprietors and coparceners, each estate paying an average land revenue of £52, 8s., and each proprietor £11, ios. to Government. In 1883 there were 8 civil judges and 10 stipendiary magistrates; the maximum distance of any village from the nearest court was 33 miles. There are 5 municipalities in the District — Murshidabad city, Barhampur, Kándi, Jangipur, and Beldangá—-with a total population of 89,442 persons; their aggregate municipal income in 1883-84 was returned at £7418, the average rate of taxation being is. 4d. per head. Medical Aspects.—The climate of Murshidábád does not differ from that common to Lower Bengal, except that it experiences, to some extent, the burning winds of Central India during the hot season. The mean atmospheric pressure of the year is returned at 29715; the annual average temperature at 78:6° F. In 1883, the maximum temperature recorded by day was 105'2°, in the month of May; the minimum by night was 46'2", in December. The average annual