The Panjab, North-West Frontier Province, and Kashmir

by Sir James McCrone Douie

Area, 3216 sq. m. Pop. 135,989. Rev. 4 lákhs = £26,700.

Chamba lies to the N. of Kángra from which it is divided by the Dhauladhár (map, p. 284). The southern and northern parts of the State are occupied respectively by the basins of the Ráví and the Chandrabhágá or Chenáb. Chamba is a region of lofty mountains with some fertile valleys in the south and west. Only about one-nineteenth of the area is cultivated. The snowy range of the Mid-Himálaya separates the Ráví valley from that of the Chandrabhágá, and the great Zánskár chain with its outliers occupies the territory beyond the Chenáb, where the rainfall is extremely small and Tibetan conditions prevail. The State contains fine forests and excellent sport is to be got in its mountains. There are five wazárats or districts, Brahmaur or Barmaur, Chamba, Bhattoyat, Chaura, and Pángí.

The authentic history of this Súrajbansí Rajput principality goes back to the seventh century. It came into the British sphere in 1846. During part of the reign of Rája Shám Singh (1873-1904), the present Rája, Sir Bhure Singh, K.C.S.I., C.I.E., administered the State as Wazír, filling a difficult position with loyalty and honour. He is a Rájput gentleman of the best type. The Rája owns the land of the State, but the people have a permanent tenant right in cultivated land.

Fig. 124. Rája Sir Bhure Singh, K.C.S.I., C.I.E.

Simla Hill States.—The Deputy Commissioner of Simla is political officer with the title of Superintendent of nineteen, or, including the tributaries of Bashahr, Keonthal, and Jubbal, of 28 states with a total area of 6355 square miles, a population of 410,453, and revenues amounting to a little over ten lákhs (£66,000). The States vary in size from the patch of four square miles ruled by the Thákur of Bija to the 388r square miles included in Bashahr. Only four other States have areas exceeding 125 square miles, namely, Biláspur (448), Keonthal (359), Jubbal (320), and Hindúr or Nalagarh (256). Excluding feudatories the revenues vary from Rs. 900 (or a little over £1 a week) in Mangal to Rs. 190,000 (£12,666) in Biláspur. The chiefs are all Rájputs, who came under our protection at the close of the Gurkha War.

The watershed of the Sutlej and Jamna runs through the tract. The range which forms the watershed of the Sutlej and the Jamna starts from the Shinka Pass on the south border of Bashahr and passes over Hattu and Simla. In Bashahr it divides the catchment areas of the Rupín and Pábar rivers, tributaries of the Tons and therefore of the Jamna, from those of the Báspa and the Noglí, which are affluents of the Sutlej. West of Bashahr the chief tributary of the Jamna is the Girí and of the Sutlej the Gámbhar, which rises near Kasaulí. In the east Bashahr has a large area north of the Sutlej drained by its tributary the Spití and smaller streams. In the centre the Sutlej is the northern boundary of the Simla Hill States. In the west Biláspur extends across that river. The east of Bashahr is entirely in the Sutlej basin.

Area, 448 sq. m. Pop. 93,107. Rev. Rs. 190,000 = £12,666.

Biláspur.—This is true also of Biláspur or Kahlúr (map, p. 284), which has territory on both banks of the river. The capital, Biláspur, is on the left bank only 1455 feet above sea level. The present Rája Bije Chand, C.S.I., succeeded in 1889.