Page:The Imperial Gazetteer of India - Volume 2 (2nd edition).pdf/139

 — BARD WAN. 92,027, or 6'2 per cent., in the nine years.

129 This decrease

is

attributed

by the malarious fever known as the Bardwan fever,’ which has been causing great mortality in the low-lying country [For throughout the Bardwan Division for the last twenty years. further particulars, see Medical Section, The male pp. 135, 136.] population in i88r numbered 668,295, the female 723,528; proportion of males in the total population, 48 '3 per cent. Area of the to the ravages caused

District,

‘

2697 square miles; average density of population, 5i6'o6 per

square mile; number of towns and villages, 3667 ; villages per square mile, I '36; number of occupied houses, 289,047, with an average of 4^82

inmates in each



unoccupied houses, 34,343. The great majority of the of the total population, are

inhabitants, 1,120,676, or 8o'5 per cent,

The

Hindus.

denominations are

other religious

— Muhammadans, —

263,816, or i8'8 per cent.; Christians, 910; Jews, 3; and aboriginal Santals, 6418. The higher castes of Hindus include Brahmans,

7218; and Kayasths, 33,069. numbers 35,305. Of the lower

Rajputs,

107,684;

The

Baniyas, or

the most numerous are the Bagdis, a degraded caste of labourers and fishermen, 148,788; and the Sadgops, the principal cultivating caste, 112,111. Of the remaining Hindu castes, the following are returned as numbering over ten thousand:- -Baun', 82,254; Goala, 70,262; Chamar, trading

caste,

castes,

—

Dom,

49,229; 39,030; Kaibartta, 31,592; Teli, 28,978; Kalu, 22,229; Hari, 22,121; Tanti, 20,776; Lohar, 20,601; Sunn', 19,873; Napit, 18,034; Chandal, 16,887; Kumbhar, 13,045; Madak, 12,353; Barhai, 10,131.

Caste-rejecting

whom

Hindus numbered 28,753,

The Muhammadan community

28,652 were Vaishnavs.

is

divided

according to sect into 256,854 Sunnis and 4274 Shias, while 2688 are returned as unspecified. Of the 910 Christians, 31 1 were Europeans,

259 Eurasians, 138 natives or Asiatics, and the remainder unspecified. occupations of the people (males) are returned in 6 classes, as

The

follows:

—

(i) Professional class, including civil

and

military officials

and

the learned professions, 22,894; (2) Domestic servants, hotel and lodginghouse keepers, etc., 24,035 ; (3) Commercial class, including merchants, etc., 18,003; (4) Agricultural and pastoral class, including gardeners, 255,756 ; (5) Manufacturing, artisan, mining, and other industrial classes, 62,429 ; and (6) Indefinite and unproductive

general dealers, carriers,

(comprising 58,456 labourers, 1430 men of rank and property, and225,292 There are only five unspecified, including male children), 285,178.

towns

in the District containing

the general population

is

each more than 5000 inhabitants, and rural. These towns are:

almost entirely

Bardwan (population, 34,080); Kalna, or Culna (population, 10,463); Raniganj (population, 10,792) Katwa, or Cutwa (population, 6820); and Dain-hat (population, 5789). The total urban population thus

disclosed is 67,944, the balance of 1,323,879 forming the rural populaI VOL. II.