S TATISTIC A. L.

DESCRIPTIVE, AND HISTORICAL ACCOUNT

OF THE

NORTH-WESTERN PROVINCES OF INDIA.

"VOL.

PART II.-ALLAHABAD.
COMPILED BY

C. D. STEEL,
BENGAL CIVIL SERVICE;
AN'D EDITED BY

F. H. FIS a ER,
AND

H.A.,

LOND.,

J. P. H i:\VKTT,
BOTH OF THE BENGAL CIVIL SERVICE.

ALLAHABAD:
P S O V 1 . N C E S A N D O U D H C y T l S . V K I S I P B E S S .

18 84.

MEDICAL.

V"'"^

The mortality from fever in the whole district during 1SSO was 20 2 per thousand, the provincial average being 23 11. In tl e city of Allahabad it was only 16-8. Dr. Jones, formerly Civil Surgeon of Allahabad, writes :" The diseases of this district are those prevailing generally over the province, and indeed over the greater part of India. The chief of them are intermittent and remittent fevers, diarrhoea, dysentery, and colic. Skin diseases of all kinds, especially those of a parasitic character, are exceedingly common. Venereal complaints, rheumatism, ulcers, diseases of the eyes and ears, form a very large proportion of the ailments of the district. Chest complaints are very general in the winter months, and th^y are not unfreqiient at all seasons of the year, particularly phthisis and bronchitis. " The only endemic disease that I know of in this district is paralysis of the lower extremities, caused, it is supposed, by eatNnmerous cripple in . , , . " . 0 . south of district. ing kasari dal \Lothyrus sativua). It exists both in young and old, and does not appear to be benefited by treatment. It is for th most part confined to men, but exists also in women. *It prevails almost entirely in two parganahs, Brah and Aleja, where kasari ddl used to be extensively cultivated. The poorer cultivators are the most afflicted with it. It does not appear to affect the general health or shorten life, as some of those atHicted have been suffering for many years. There are instances of the affection continuing for 50 years or more. It is the locomotive functions only that are deranged ; sensition is unaffected. The functions of the bladder and bowels and those of generation are also unaffected. Its geographical area.is not confined ta this district, but extends to the ilirzapur and Banda districts and Rewah (where also it is attributed to the same cause), and prevails only in localities where kasri ddl is consumed. Its characteristics are those well known in other countries as a special paralysis, the result of the continued use of Lathyrus sativua, and there can scarcely be a doubt that this is its true cause. The discontinuance of the use of the grain does not cure it. Some permanent change in the nervous tissue seems to take place. 1 am not
J

T h e disease is t h u s described by Dr

P e a k in in the j f o r t h - W e s t e r n P r o v i n c e s Censes Keport, e h a r a o i e r u e d i-y a pe<iul<ar g:iu : the feet a p p e a r j The body j are siiuinly uj

1881 : " The inhabitants of B r a h ami K.h*iragarh are afflicted \vTth~7 very prevalent anTserioua form of nervous disease, a ' s p a s t i c ' paralysis is bent f o r w a r d t o c l e a r t h e ground, h i l e t h e toes fiud uUtaele. m f v t y im q u a l i t y , f t h e g r o u n d . and progresses with a UCKIU kind it m o t i o n ; iie lo^s, w h u h

beut forward at k n e e s a n d hip, being close t o g e t h e r , especially at the k n e e s , n liie- m a n n e r .. an English lady whose d r e s s is well tied back ;. i he toes are s l i g h t l y i n i u r i i e d ; : h-rt- is increased reflection in t h e tend ns of t h e muscles affecting locomotion. fully described by Chariot and E r b . I t is kuown as ' J i r b ' s T h e iisea.se it due to a

c h r o n i c inflammation of the l a t e r a l c o l u m n s of the spinal coru, and its p a i l i u i ' ^ v ha* bee a spastic p a r a l y s i s ' aud as y e t uo t r e a t m e u t has hud any bnficiai effect."

ALLAHABAD.

aware of any pathological examination of the special nervp. having been made with the vio'.v of determining1 the nature of the lesion. There is an asylum1 ibr the helpless and hon-el'^s from the disease at 31eja, and their general appearance is that of health v, well-nourished men. The disease generally occurs suddenlv in the rainv wi.-on. and is not accompanied with active symptoms ; excepting a slight, pain in the knees and loins, and that only when an attempt is made to walk or move. About 4 per cant of the population of arah and JJIeja were affected in 1.861.>f There are ten Government hospitals and dispensaries in the Allahabad district, the names of which are given below. The Hospitals and dispensaries. table also shows the expenditure incurred on each one during the year 18^1 :
Name of dispensar/. Total expenditure in 1881. Rs. a p. 11,865 1 4 937 I 6 1,046 11 4 1,161 3 2 26 0 7 6,131 7 2 738 12 10 7a o 41 15 I
867 S 1 7

C!olvin Hospital, Jst class sadr Driranj 2nd class branch Kydganj ditto Katra ditto Government Press branch, 1st class
CTI Hospital

...

... ...
w
~ .

...

. . .

. . .

. .

Fhlpur Hundia Brah Meja

Sad class brandi 1st ditto 1st ditto 1st ditto

... .

. . .

. . .

Total

24,938 10

The patients treated at these dispensaries numbered 62,8^2, or 427 per cent, of the whole population. The number of operations performed was 2,862, of which 209 were classed as major operations. At the Colvin Hospital 1.90 major and 1,533 minor operations took place. In-door patients are received at the Colvin Hospital and the Civil Hospital. These amounted to 1,188 in 1881, and are included in the total number given above, all the rest included in that total being out-door patients. The eye hospital in the city, founded by Dr. Hall, and the Lister Hospital near the railway station, may also be mentioned. They are entirely supported by private charity and municipal grants.
'Kept up by the charity of the local rajas and aud-uoiders under the uupervision of the ansildar.

ALLAHABAD

The principal proprietary classes are Brahmans, Rajputs, Knrms, and Landholder and tenMu?ilm'ins; all those own more than 1,000 acres of ants land. The principal cultivating classes are, in the order of their importance, Brahmans, Rajputs, Ahrs, Kurms, Kehhs, Kewats, Kvaths, Musalmdiis, and Banis. The difference in the soil and the climate of the northern and southern portions of the tahsil affects not only the number, but also the condition of- the tenantry. In the north, with rood climate and soil, we find a dense population, ample command of manure and irrigation, high cultivation, and fairly well-to-do cultivators. In the south, on the other hand, the poorness of the soil necessitates frequent fallows ; irrigation is, as a rale, unobtainable, except in favoured spots; holdings are large, crops scanty, cultivation slack, and the cultivators badly off. The earlier settlements of the tahsil were made with Ll Israj Sinh, who was ruja of Manda at the cession. In
Fiscal historv. . ,

Israj bin h mortgaged the whole tansil to Moti Chand, a banker of Benares. On Israj Sinh's death, he was succeeded by his son, Rudr Partb Sinh, a minor. The Government revenue was then ranch in arrears, and the Board of Commissioners took the property under direct management. In 1219 fasli (1811-12 A.D.) the revenue of the tahsil was raised to Rs. 2,95,025, and from 122 ) to 122 I fasli (A.D. 1812-13 to 1816-17) the demand was progressive, rising in the latter year to Rs. 3,36,604. The tahsil still continued under direct management, the raja being allowed Rs. 2,000 a month for his maintenance. This plan was adhered to till the fourth settlement, when engagements were taken from Rudr Partb Snh for Rs 3,38,725. Up to the end of this settlement there was no complaint of over-assessment; but the raja, having become extravagant to a degree, and having neglected his large and valuable estates, was found hopelessly in debt when Mr. Montgomery began the fifth settlement in 1838. The history of the first year o this settlement was a long list of sales, farms, and attachment for arrears. In 1856 a thorough revision was ordered by Government, but the Mutiny put a stop to the work, and it was not concluded till 18^0, when, as already mentioned in Part III., large remissions had tobe made. These remissions amounted to revenue, Rs. 34,721,or 105 per cent ; and mlikna, Rs. 7,374, or 15"5 per cent The effects of this salutary revision became at once apparent in the decrease of farms, and in the absence of attachments or sales for arrears. Of the current settlement full details are given in Part III., under FISCAL HISTORY. Meja.The tahsili station of parganah Khairgarh; is a small village, 28 miles south-east from Allahabad. Latitude 25-8'-3G" ; lougitude S2-9'-39".

SBS

GAZETTEER.

[Mufti-k-purwa.]

203

Population (SSI) 1,412 (0"3 females). It has an imperial post-office, a firstclass police-station, and a first-class branch dispensary (",612 patients iu 1SS2). Its importance is due to its position, almost in the centre of the tahsil, and connected with all parts of it by uumetalled roads. Here is a poorhouse maintained by the chanty of the local rajas for the wretched cripples so frequently found about here [vide p. 132], There is also a fine tank made as a famine work in 1878, and fed by a sacred spring at the foot of a temple, round about which a considerable fair is held once a year. MioharVillage in parganah Karri ; distant 20 miles west from Allahabad, and 11 south-east from Manjhanpur-PU. Latitude 25-24/-40//; longitude 81-32'-54". Population (1882) 2,8*9 (1,408 females). Mirzpur Chauhri.Small parganah, lying to the north-east of parganah Soron, and forming part of tahsl Soron. Jt consists of only 44 scattered villages, two or three of which adjoin the border of the Soron parganah, two or three others adjoin that of the Sikandra pargauab, and the rest form a group entirely surrounded by Oudh territory. The total area according to the latest official statement (1881) was 18'9 square miles, of which 1U'5 were cultivated, 1*9 cultivable, and 65 barren.. The area paying Government revenue or quit-rent was 18*2 square miles (10*2 cultivated, 1"8 cultivable, 62 barren). The amount of payment to Government, whether land-revenue or quit-rent (including, where such exists, water-advantage, but not water-rates) was Rs. 23,754; or, with local rates and cesses, Rs. 27.932. The amount of rent, including local cesses, paid by cultivators was Rs. 38,163. Population t,18Sl) 19,178 (9,745 females). For further details see SORON TAHSL. Mirzpur Chauhri.Village in the parganah of the same name ; distant 28 miles north-north-east from Allahabad, and 15 north-east from Soron. Latitude 25-47'-30" ; longitude 82-3'-20". Population (1881) 1,016 (519 females). It 3 the parganah capital, aud has a local bzr, with an annual traffic of a value estimated at Rs. 2,300. The place is noted for its manufactures in wood. Elliot says in his Glossary (p. 325; :" The taluka of Mirzpur Chauhri was formerly in the parganah of Jallpur Bbilkar in iluikpur, the rest of which sarkr is in Oudh. It has been included in. Allahabad since the time of Madari Lai, mll." Mohanganj.See GOHR. MotganjSee ALLAHABAD CITY. Mufti-k-purwa or Pura Mufti.Village in parganah Chai!; distant 11 miles west-north-west from Allahabad. Latitude 25-28'-49" ; longitude 81-43'-3". Population (1881) 1,746 (914 females). There is an imperial