Page:The Imperial Gazetteer of India - Volume 2 (2nd edition).pdf/375

 B HAND A R A.

365

while those having occupancy rights at either fixed or variable rates

numbered suited grain,

was

rice

pd.

the



1880

In

15,147.

for

4cL

is.

average

the

produce

average

per

per acre

rent

wheat,

for

is.

acre

4|d.

being,

of land

for



rice,

inferior

480

lbs.



208 lbs. 'I’he average number of acres cultivated in 1881 by each head of the agricultural population (258,668, or 37 ’83 per cent, of the District population), was 6 acres the amount of Government land revenue and local cesses and the amount of rental, levied on the landholders was _;^43,o29 including cesses, paid by the cultivators was ;^76,465, or an average Rice sold for 6s. lod. per cwt., and of IS. loid. per cultivated acre. wheat for 5s. 3d. per cwt. In the same year wages averaged for skilled wheat, 380

lbs.



and

inferior grain,





labour

6d. per diem, for unskilled labour 4|d. per diem, being 2d.

is.

or 3d. higher than the rates of four years earlier.

Bhandara Besides

its

especially

the

particularly well stocked,

is

crops,

may be

Carts, with

hired at

is.

the District yields jungle produce of

gums and honey,

the gathering of which

hands of the Gonds.

The timber

is

— Cloth,

and

of

little

is

which

6d. a day.

some

value,

almost entirely in

worth, as the trees

rarely attain a large size.

Commerce and Trade,

etc.

chief manufactures

brass,

and potstone wares

Pauni formerly produced cloth of singularly fine quality ; but the manufacture has now almost ceased, as the weaving classes are day by day decreasing in numbers, and there is now but a small demand for such cloth. A turban of the best sort made to order sometimes costs as much as ^20. The original makers of these magnificent cloths are said to have come to these parts on the invitation of the Raja of Nagpur at the beginning of this century, from Paithau on the Godavari, and from Burhanpur on constitute

the Tapti.

the

They now bear

the

of the

name

District.

of Koshtis.

competition of English piece-goods and the

Of

rise in the

late years, th$

value of cotton

have diminished the price of the inferior kinds of cloth ; but thq export trade from this town to Nagpur, Poona, and Bombay is still

Pauni also produces brass-ware, but Bhandara is the most important seat of this manufacture, sending its exports to Nagpur, Raipur, and Jabalpur (Jubbulpore). The potstone-wares consist of cups, plates, and pipe-bowls, made chiefly at Kanheri and Pendri. Cotton, dyes, and salt from Berar, wheat and rice from Raipur, English piece-goods from Bombay and Mirzapur, silk from Burhanpur, and cattle from Seoni and Mandla Districts, form the chief imports. The direction of the trade is chiefly to and from Nagpur and Raipur by the Great Eastern Road, which enters the District on the west, and, passing through Bhandara, crosses the river Bagh by a substantial and partly by a route through Palandiir bridge into Raipur District to and from Kamthi (Kamptee) by the Tumsar route; and towards

considerable.

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