Area, 7599 sq. m. Pop. 1,928,724. Rev. Rs. 118,00,000 = £786,666.
Phulkian States.—The three Phulkian States of Patiála, Jínd, and Nábha form a political agency under the Panjáb Government. They occupy, with Baháwalpur and Hissár, the bulk of that great wedge of light loam and sand which Rájputána, physically considered, pushes northwards almost to the Sutlej. In the Phulkian States this consists of two tracts, the Powádh and the Jangal Des. The former, which occupies the north and north-east of their territory, possesses a light fertile loam soil and a very moderate natural water level, so that well irrigation is easy. The Jangal Des is a great tract of sandy loam and sand in the south-west. Water lies too deep for the profitable working of wells, but the harvests are far less insecure than one would suppose looking to the scantiness of the rainfall. The soil is wonderfully cool and drought-resisting. The dry cultivation consists of millets in the Autumn, and of gram and mixed crops of wheat or barley and gram in the Spring, harvest. The three states have rather more than a one-third share in the Sirhind Canal, their shares inter se being Patiála 83·6, Nábha 8·8, and Jínd 7·6. Portions of the Powádh and Jangal Des are irrigated. In the case of the Powádh there has been in some places over irrigation considering how near the surface the water table is. The Nirwána tahsíl in Patiála and the part of Jínd which lies between Karnál and Rohtak is a bit of the Bángar tract of the south-eastern Panjáb, with a strong loam soil and a naturally deep water level. The former receives irrigation from the Sirsa, and the latter from the Hánsi, branch of the Western Jamna Canal. The outlying tracts to the south of Rohtak and Gurgáon, acquired after the Mutiny, are part of the dry sandy Rájputána desert, in which the Kharíf is the chief harvest, and the millets and gram the principal crops. In addition Patiála has an area of 294 square miles of territory immediately below and in the Simla Hills. The territory of the Phulkian States is scattered and intermixed, and they have islands in British districts and vice versa, a natural result of their historic origin and development.
Fig. 116. Mahárája of Patiála.
Phul was the sixth in descent from Baryám, a Sidhu Ját, to whom Bábar gave the Chaudhráyat of the wild territory to the south-west of Delhi, making him in effect a Lord of the Marches.
Tree showing relationship of the three Houses.
The century and more which elapsed between the grant and Phul's death in 1652 were filled with continual fighting with the Bhattís. Phul's second son Ráma obtained from the Governor of Sírhind the Chaudhráyat of the Jangal Des. When Ahmad Sháh defeated the Sikhs near Barnála in 1762, Ráma's son, Ála Singh, was one of his prisoners. He was a chief of such importance that his conqueror gave him the title of Rája and the right to coin money. But Ála Singh found it prudent to join next year in the capture of Sirhind. From the division of territory which followed the separate existence of the Phulkian States begins. The manner in which they came in 1809 under British protection has already been related. The Rája of Patiála was our ally in the Gurkha War in 1814, and received the Pinjaur tahsíl. The active loyalty displayed in 1857 was suitably rewarded by accessions of territory. The right of adoption was conferred, and special arrangements made to prevent lapse, if nevertheless the line in any state failed.
Area, 5412 sq. m. Cultd area, 4515 sq. m. Pop. 1,407,659; 40 p.c. H. 38 p.c. S. 22 p.c. M. Rev. Rs. 82,00,000 =£546,666.