1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Sirsa

SIRSA, a town of British India, in Hissar district of the Punjab, situated on a dry bed of the river Ghaggar, and on a branch of the Rajputana railway, midway between Rewari and Ferozepur. Pop. (1901) 15,800. It occupies an ancient site, and was refounded in 1837 as the head-quarters of a British district. It is an important centre of trade with Rajputana, and has manufactures of cotton cloth and pottery. The former district of Sirsa was part of the territory conquered from the Mahrattas in 1803, when it was almost entirely uninhabited. It required reconquering from the Bhattis in 1818; but it did not come under British administration until 1837. During the Mutiny of 1857 Sirsa was for a time wholly lost to British rule. On the restoration of order the district was administered by Punjab officials, and in the following year, with the remainder of the Delhi territory, it was formally annexed to that province. In 1884 it was subdivided between the districts of Hissar and Ferozepur.