Hissár suffered severely from the disorders which followed on the collapse of the Moghal Empire and its ruin was consummated by the terrible famine of 1783. The starving people died or fled and for years the country lay desolate. It passed into the hands of the British 20 years later, but for another 20 years our hold on this outlying territory was loose and ineffective. In 1857 the troops at Hánsi, Hissár, and Sirsa rose and killed all the Europeans who fell into their hands. The Muhammadan tribes followed their example, and for a time British authority ceased to exist. The district was part of the Delhi territory transferred to the Panjáb in 1858.

The rainfall is scanty, averaging 15 inches, and extremely capricious. No other district suffers so much from famine as Hissár. The crops are extraordinarily insecure, with a large surplus in a good season and practically nothing when the rains fail badly. They consist mainly of the cheap pulses and millets. With such fluctuating harvests it is impossible to collect the revenues with any regularity, and large sums have to be suspended in bad seasons.

Such industries as exist are mostly in Hánsi and Bhiwání, where there are mills for ginning and pressing cotton. Cotton cloths tastefully embroidered with silk, known as phulkárís, are a well-known local product.

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Fig. 86. Delhi Enclave.

Area, 2248 sq. m. Cultd area, 1815 sq. m. Pop. 714,834. Land Rev. Rs. 16,66,364 = £111,091.

Rohtak—became a British possession in 1803, but it was not till after the Mutiny that it was brought wholly under direct British administration. The old district consisted of the three tahsíls of Rohtak, Gohána, and Jhajar, but on the breaking up of the Delhi district the Sonepat tahsíl was added.

Rohtak is practically a purely agricultural tract with large villages, but no towns of any importance. By far the most important agricultural tribe is the Hindu Játs. They are strong-bodied sturdy farmers, who keep fine oxen and splendid buffaloes, and live in large and well organized village communities. 37 p.c. of the cultivation is protected by canal and well irrigation, the former being by far the more important. The district consists mainly of a plain of good loam soil. There have been great canal extensions in this plain, which under irrigation is very fertile, yielding excellent wheat, cotton, and cane. There is a rich belt of well irrigation in the Jamna valley, and in the south of the district there are parts where wells can be profitably worked. Belts of uneven sandy land are found especially in the west and south. The dry cultivation is most precarious, for the rainfall is extremely variable. In the old district it averages 20 inches. But averages in a tract like Rohtak mean very little. The chief crops are the two millets and gram.

Area, 2264 sq.m. Cultd Area, 1701 sq. m. Pop. 729,167. Land Rev. Rs. 15,98,333 = £106,556.