and the people have a tradition that it springs from the top of a temple buried beneath the water.
Shahzadpur, called also Ghar Dewálí, a village in the south of Maydá Fiscal Division, Báruipur Subdivision. The Revenue Survey Report states that the village site was ‘dense jungle in 1822, when Captain Prinsep surveyed in the vicinity. It has since been cleared, and the appearance of the country would lead one to suppose that it must have been a place of some consequence formerly. A tale is told of the fakír of Básrá, Mobrah Ghází, having married a Rájá’s daughter whose Court was held in Sháhzádpur, and having planted four trees to commemorate the occasion, of which three are said still (1857) to remain.’
Comparative Importance of the Town and Rural Population.—It is difficult to give any estimate of the comparative importance of the town and rural population. The Collector reports that the proportion of criminals is less in the interior than in the larger towns. There is also a growing public opinion among the town population, which is wanting among the rural inhabitants. But no marked inclination is perceptible on the people to gather into towns and seats of commerce, and, with the exception of places where any particular industry is carried on, the people do not generally appear to be tending towards city life. Although the Collector states, that with the exception of Calcutta and its suburbs, purely non-agricultural communities do not exist in the District, the Census returns disclose the number of male adult non-agriculturists scattered throughout the District, as considerably in excess of the male adult cultivators. Thus, excluding the town of Calcutta, the number of male adult agriculturists is returned at 356,693, and the male adult non-agriculturists at 420,986. The explanation probably is, that a large number of persons who combine other pursuits with that of agriculture have been classed as non-agriculturists.
Before entering specially upon the agriculture and rural aspects of the District, it may be well to exhibit at a glance the proportion of the town population to the general inhabitants of the 24 Parganas. Including Calcutta, there are only nineteen towns in the District with a population exceeding 5000 souls. The total urban population thus disclosed amounts to 966,384. But from such calculations the city of Calcutta must be excluded, as it owes its existence chiefly to non-native influences and foreign trade. Deducting it, but including its suburbs, a town population of 518,783 remains; exclud-
