the Gdwilgarh range of the Sdtpura hills, which form the northern boundary between Berar and the Central Pro vinces, and on the S. by the Ajanta range, and the Bdldghdt or upland country of the Ajantd hills, occupying the whole southern part of the province. The Payaughat is a wide valley running up eastward between the Ajantd range and the Gdwilgarh hills, from 40 to 50 miles in breadth. This tract contains all the best land in Berar, it is full of deep, rich, black alluvial soil, called regdr, of almost inexhaustible fertility, and it undulates just enough to maintain a natural system of drainage. Here and there are barren tracts where the hills jut out far into the plain, covered with stones and scrub jungle, or where a few isolated flat - topped hills occur. There is nothing picturesque about this broad strip of alluvial country, it is destitute of trees except near the villages close under the hills; and apart from the Piirna, which intersects it from east to west, it has hardly a perennial stream. In the early autumn it is one sheet of cultivation, but after the beginning of the hot season, when the crops have been gathered, its monotonous plain is relieved by neither verdure, shade, nor water. The aspect of the country above the passes which lead to the Bdldghdt is quite different. The trees are finer and the groves more frequent than in the valley below ; water is more plentiful and nearer to the surface. The highlands fall southwards towards the Nizam s country by a gradual series of ridges or steppes. The principal rivers of the province are the Taptf, which forms a portion of its north-western boundary ; the Purna, which intersects the valley of the Payanghat ; the Wardhd, forming the whole western boundary line ; and the Pain-ganga, marking the southern boundary for nearly its whole distance. The only natural lake is the Salt Lake of Sunar. There are no
large tanks or artificial reservoirs.
The total area of the province in 1869-70 was returned at between 17,000 and 18,000 square miles, of which about one-half is culti vated, one-fourth cultivable but not cultivated, and the remaining one-fourth uncultivable waste. The great crops are cotton of a superior quality, and jodr or millet. The acreage under the differ ent crops in 1859-70 is thus returned Jodr, 1,812,693 acres ; cotton, 1,409,430 ; wheat, 478,438 ; pulses, 493,009 ; bajrd, 117,273; rice, 44,793; linseed, 61,394; hemp, 8978; kardi, 57,192; tobacco, 32,284; castor oil, 2605; sugar cane, 7947; opium, 247 ; other crops, 829,992; total, 5,356,275 acres, or 8369 square miles. The uncultivated products consist of dyes, gums, fruits and roots of various trees and creepers, honev and beeswax, and jungle fibres. The land settlement of the province is now being made for a period of thirty years, based upon the Bombay system of survey and settlement according to fields. Manufactures are very few, and consist principally of cotton cloth, mostly of coarse quality, stout carpets, saddlery, and a little silk weaving. In 1869-70 the total value of the imports was returned at 7,350,085, and the exports at 5,755,399. For internal communication six first-class roads have been constructed out of the general revenues of the province : (1), From Amrdoti to Elichpur, 31 miles ; (2), from Badnerd to Morsi, 38^ ; (3), from Karinjd to Murtizapur, 21 ; (4), from Badnerd to Amrdoti, 5 ; (5), from Akold to Basim, 50 ; (6), from Akold to Akot, 31 miles. The Eagpur branch of the Great Indian Peninsular Kailway traverses the province from east to west for about 150 miles, with short off-shoots to the great cotton marts of Khamgdon and Amraoti.
The census of 1867 returned the total population of Berar pro vince at 2,231,565 souls, dwelling in 495,760 houses, comprising 5694 towns and villages ; average density of population, 128 per square mile ; average number of persons per house, 4 5 ; proportion of males in total population, 51 - 7 per cent. Classified according to religion, the Hindus number 1,912,561, or 8570 per cent, of the total population ; Mahometans, 154,951, or 6 "94 per cent. ; aborigines, 163,059, or 7 36 per cent. ; Christians, 903 ; Parsi s, 75 ; and Jews, 16. The Mahometan population of the province is descended from the men who originally accompanied from the north the Musaluian invaders of the Deccan. Among the aboriginal tribes, the most numerous are the Gonds, Ands, Korkus, Kolis, and Kolams. The principal towns in the province n.re (1.) Elichpur, the capital of the old kingdom, and still the most populous town, although not a place of any commercial importance, popula tion 27,782 ; (2.) Amraoti, the richest town in the province, and a rising and flourishing seat of commerce, pop. 23,410 ; (3.) Akold, pop. 12,235 ; (4.) Akot, a large cotton mart, pop. 14,606 ; (5.) Karinjd, pop. 11,750 ; (6.) Khamg: .on, a large and prosperous cotton mart, pop. 9432.
The total imperial revenue of Berar province in 1869-70 amounted, to 704,109, of which the knd revenue gave 457,343 ; excise, 114,513; salt wells, 650; miscellaneous, 39,413; stamps, 45,947; forests, 18,462; and customs (salt), 27,780. Local funds and cesses amounted to 132,229, or a total revenue from imperial and local sources for the province of 536,338. For the protection of person and property Berar province con tains 67 police stations, with 61 outposts total strength of regular police, 2613 of all ranks, exclusive of the village watch. The only troops located in the province are those of the Haidardbdd contingent. At Elichpur a regiment of infantry with a detach ment of cavalry and a battery of artillery is stationed ; infantry detachments are also stationed at Amraoti and Akola. The provi sion for education consisted in March 1870 of 341 schools* attended by 14,898 pupils. Of these 2 are high schools, one at Akold and one at Amraoti, with 217 pupils ; 44 middle-class schools with 374-7 pupils ; 267 primary schools with 10,148 pupils ; 27 female schools with 730 pupils ; and 1 Normal school for the training of masters.
The climate of Berar differs very little from that of the Deccan generally, except that in the Payanghat valley the hot weather is exceptionally severe. Here the freshness of the cold season vanishes after the crops have been taken off the ground, but the heat does not very sensibly increase until the end of March. From May 1st, until about the middle of June when the rains set in, the sun is very powerful, but without the scorching winds of upper India. The nights are comparatively cool. During the rains the air is moist and cool. In the Bdlaghat country above the Ajanta hills the thermometer always stands much lower than in the valley. The average rainfall for the whole province is said to be about 27 inches in the valley, and above 30 inches in the Bdlaghat highlands. In 1869 the rainfall registered in each of the six districts aver aged 33 inches for the whole province. The average mean tem perature registered at Akold in the -same year was nearly 81 Fahr.
Deccan. The province suffered repeated invasions of Mahometans from the north, and on the collapse of the Bdhmani dynasty in 152G, Berar formed one of the five kingdoms under independent Mahometan princes, into which the Deccan split up. In the beginning of the seventeenth century the province was invaded by Prince Murad Mirza, son of the Emperor Akbar, and annexed to the Dehli empire. It did not long enjoy the blessings of tranquillity, for on the rise of the Marhatta power about 1G50, the province became a favourite field of plunder. In 1G71 the Marhatta general, Pratdp Pido, extended his ravages as far east as Karinjd, and exacted from the village officers a pledge to pay chauth. In 1704 things had reached their worst ; the Marhattas swarmed through Berar " like ants or locusts, " and laid bare whole districts. They were expelled in 1704 byZulfikar Khan, one of Aurang- zeb s best generals, but they returned incessantly, levying black-mail in the shape of cJiauth and sardcshmukhi, with the alternative of fire and sword. Upon the death of Aurang- zeb the Marhattas consolidated their predominance in Berar, and in 1817 their demand for chauth, or a fourth, and sardeshmukhi, or a tenth of the revenue of the province, was conceded by the governor. But in 1720-24 the viceroy of the Deccan, under the title of Nizam-ul-mulk, gained his independence by a series of victories over the imperial generals, and from that time till its cession to England in 1853, Berar was always nominally subject to the Haidardbdd dynasty. The Mahrattd rulers posted their officers all over the province, they occupied it with their troops, they collected more than half the revenue, and they fought among themselves for possession of the right to collect ; but, with the exception of a few pargands ceded to the Peshwd, the Nizdm maintained his title as de jure sovereign of the country, and it was always admitted by the Marhattds. In the Marhatta- war of 1803, the British under General "Wellesley, afterwards the duke of Wellington, assisted by the Nizam, crushed the Marhatta power in this part of the country, by utterly defeating them at Argdon on the 28th November 1803, and a few
days afterwards at Gawilgarh. On the H th December