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 ;

BAJ?n IVAiV.

132 rent-free tenures.

200

The

service tenures of the District include nearly

holdings, the nature of which

is

described in the article

on Bankura District. Natural Calamities Before the construction of the railway and the Damodar embankment, floods were common in Bardwan in 1770, 1823, and 1855, serious inundations occurred, causing great damage to property and loss of life. The Damodar and other embankments, which have been constructed by and are under the control of the Government, have secured for the District immunity from this calamity. Drought, occasioned by insufficient rainfall, occasionally occurs and as until recently there was no system of artificial irrigation, and little marsh land in the District capable of being brought into cultivation in a year of drought, such a calamity was in no way provided against. The recent opening of the Eden Canal, and the proposed clearing out of old silted-up channels, will afford means of irrigation in future Bardwan suffered severely in the famine of 1866, seasons of drought. .

—





although the generally prosperous condition of the cultivating classes

In March 1866, which usually sells at 3s. 3d. to 5s. rod. a cwt., was selling The at I2S. 3d., and in June the price had risen to 13s. 8d. a cwt. An equal amount was total amount expended on relief was ;^i455. disbursed by the Maharaja, and an additional sum of The average daily granted, and ;^42i advanced, for special works. number of paupers relieved (exclusive of town paupers supported by the liberality of the Maharaja) was 845 in July, 1490 in August, and 327 in September. The maximum price of common husked rice was 14s. 9d. per cwt., and of unhusked rice about half that amount. The means of communication in Bardwan, Commerce and Trade except in certain tracts bordering on Hugh and Bankura, are sufficient The roads are on the whole in fairly good condition, and the East India Railway has two main lines running through the District, with stations at Memari, Saktigarh, Bardwan, Kanu Junction, Mankur, Panagarh, Durgapur, Andal, Raniganj, Siarsol, Nimcha, Asansol, Several of these Sitarampur, Barakhar, Gushkhara, and Bhedia. places, from being small villages, have developed, since the opening Extensive pottery works of the railway, into thriving centres of trade. enabled them to oppose a great power of resistance.

coarse

rice,

.

—

fire-bricks, tiles, etc., have been established European firm in Calcutta. Although carried on for years at a loss, and amid great difficulties, Messrs. Burn & Co. have succeeded The in successfully competing with imported articles of this nature.

for the

by a

manufacture of pipes,

large

principal native manufacture of the District

and dhutis silver, and crops,

are

there brass.

is

The

more than

local

is

the weaving of silk saris

number

of workers in gold, manufactures as well as the District

also a considerable

sufficient

to

meet the demand of the local