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BENARES.

253

Length Sialkot, and falls into the Ravi almost opposite Dera Ndnak. about 25 miles. Slender thread of water in dry weather; large volume during rains. Much used for purposes of irrigation.

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Benares {Bandras ). A Division under a Commissioner in the North-Western Provinces, comprising the seven Districts of Azamgarh, Mirzapur, Benares, Ghazipur, Gorakhpur, Basti, and Ballia, each of which see separately; lying between 23° 52' 15" and 27° 30' n. and between 82° 9' 45" and 84° 40' 15" e. long.; area, 18,337

lat.,

square miles; population (1881) 9,820,728, namely, Hindus, 8,759,446;

Muhammadans, 1,056,351;

Sikhs,

Christians,

Parsi's, 3.

4237; Jews, 50;

432;

Jains,

Number

207;

Brahmos,

2;

of villages,

29,694; occupied houses, 1,544,433; average density of population, 535 per square mile; villages per square mile, i‘62; houses per scjuare mile, 84'2 ; persons per house, 6^3. Of high -caste Hindus, Brahmans

number 976,718, or ii‘i5 per cent., and Rajputs 590,440, or 674 per cent, of the Hindu population. The Kayasths or writer caste are returned at 134,755; and the Baniyas, or traders, at 211,478. The Bhars, the ancient dominant race in the North-Western Provinces, previous to Rajput and

Muhammadan

ascendancy, but

now

a crushed

depressed remnant of labourers and poor cultivators, are nearly in

the

Benares

Division, where

they

The

other

provincial total of 349,113,

50,000, are

— Chamars,

1,268,993,

or

i4'49

most

the

per

cent,

and

found

number 301,518, out of a Hindu castes numbering over

numerous of

all

the

caste

in

the

Hindu population

Division,

Ahi'rs,

3‘43 per cent; Kdchhis, 423,743; Kurmi's, 428,626; Kahars, 345,195; Mallahs, 343,321 ; Telis, 219,023; Lonias, 211,061 ;

1,176,593, or

i

Bhuinhars, 188,003; Lohars, 177,920; Kumbhars, 166,025; Kalwars, 122,649; Nat's, 114,810; Dhobis, 113,869; Past's, 112,628; Gadariyas,

81,875; Sonars,

Tambuh's, 61,143.

Of

80,454; the

Ron's,

73,750; Barhais,

Muhammadan

66,685; ^rid were

population, 1,034,949

returned by sect as Sunnis, and 21,402 as Shias.

By

race, the

Muham-

madans include 8501 Rajputs, 421 Gujars, i Jat, and 25 Mewdtis. The Christian community consist of 1525 Europeans, 506 Eurasians, i Armenian, and 2205 native converts. The Division contains 45 towns with upwards of 5000 inhabitants, the total urban population being 693,071, against 9,127,657 forming the rural population. Of the 29,694 villages and towns, no less than 15,316 contain less than two hundred inhabitants; 9586 from two to five hundred; 3386 from five hundred to a thousand; 1089 from one to two thousand; 187 from two to three thousand ; and 85 from three to five thousand the remainder being towns of over five thousand inhabitants. As regards occupation, the Census Report classifies the male population into the following (i) Professional class, including civil and military six main groups: officers. Government officials, and the learned professions, 53,636

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