CUTCH, a native state of India, in the Western Indian States agency, with an area of 8,25o square m. It is a peninsular tract of land, enclosed towards the west by the eastern branch of the Indus, on the south by the Indian ocean and the gulf of Cutch, and on the north and east towards the interior, by the great northern Rann, a salt morass or lake. The interior of Cutch is studded with hills and a range of mountains runs through it from east to west, many of them of fantastic shapes scattered with large isolated masses of rock. The greater part of Cutch is rocky and wild ; the ground is cold, poor and sterile ; and the whole face of the country bears marks of volcanic action. With the exception of a few fields near the villages, the country is a rocky and sandy waste. Wheat, barley, millet, pulse and cotton are grown. Water is scarce and brackish, and is chiefly found at the bottom of the low ranges of hills ; and the inhabitants of the extensive sandy tracts suffer greatly from the want of it. Owing to the uncertainty of the periodical rains in Cutch, the country is liable to famines, and it has suffered greatly from plague.
The temperature of Cutch during the hot season is high, the thermometer frequently rising to zoo° or 105° F; and in the months of April and May there are frequent storms, with clouds of dust and sand. The influence of the monsoon is greatly mod erated before it reaches this region, and the rains sometimes fail. Bhuj, the capital of the state, is situated inland, and is surrounded by hills. The detached hill of Bhuja, on which the fort is situated, rises to the height of 500 ft. in the middle of the plain. There are many mountain-streams, almost dry except in the rainy sea son, when they are very full and rapid, and discharge themselves into the Rann, all along the coast of which the wells and springs are saline.
Famine, pestilence and tyranny have contributed in the past to thin the population of Cutch. The inhabitants numbered in 1931. One quarter are Mohammedans and the re mainder Hindus of various castes. The Jadeja Rajputs form a particular class, being the aristocracy of the country; they are all more or less connected with the family of the rao or prince, and claim their descent from a prince who reigned in Sind about ',coo years ago. From him also the reigning sovereign is lineally de scended, and he is the liege-lord of whom all the chiefs or nobles hold their lands in feu. They are all termed the brotherhood of the rao or Bhayad, and supposed to be his hereditary advisers, and their possessions are divided among their male children. To prevent the breaking down of their properties the necessary con sequence of this law of inheritance, infanticide was common, but it has been put down. The Jadejas have a tradition that when they entered Cutch they were Mohammedans, but that they afterwards adopted the customs and religion of the Hindus. It is certain, indeed, that they still retain many Mohammedan cus toms. The natives are in general intelligent and more strongly built and handsome than those of western India. The artisans are celebrated for their ingenuity. The palace at Mandvi and a tomb of one of their princes at Bhuj, are fair specimens of their architectural skill. There are special manufactures of silver work, silk and cotton and embroidery. The maritime population supplies good sailors. Since the withdrawal of British military forces, f5,484 is paid in tribute. There is a railway from Bhuj to Tuna, a distance of 37 miles.
History.—Cutch was invaded about the 13th century by Mo hammedans of the Summa tribe, under whose sway it continued tranquil for many years. The succession continued in the same line from Prince Khengayi until 1697, when Pragji murdered his elder brother and usurped the sovereignty. This line of princes continued till 1760 without any remarkable event, when, in the reign of Rao Ghodji, the country was invaded four times by the Sinds. Fateh Mohammed, a native of Sind, continued to rule the country until his death in 1813. It was in the reign of Fateh Mohammed that communication was first made with the British Government. During the contests for the sovereignty between the usurper and the legal heir, the leader of the royal party, Hansraj, the governor of Mandvi, sought the aid of the British.
Fateh Mohammed left several sons by different wives, who were competitors for the vacant throne. Husain Miyan succeeded to a considerable portion of his father's property and power. Jugjevan, a Brahman, the late minister of Fateh Mohammed, also received a considerable share of influence ; and the hatred of these two factions was embittered by religious animosities, the one being Hindu and the other Mohammedan.
The administration of affairs was nominally in the hands of Husain Miyan and his brother Ibrahim Miyan; Jugjevan was murdered and the executive authority was much weakened by the usurpations of the Arabs and other chiefs. In the meantime Ibrahim Miyan was assassinated ; and after various other scenes of anarchy, the rao Bharmulji assumed the chief power. His hostility to the British became evident, and accordingly a force of Io,5oo men crossed the Runn in November, 1815, and were within five miles of Bhuj, the capital of the country, when a treaty was con cluded, by which the rao Bharmulji was confirmed in his title to the throne, on agreeing among other stipulations to cede Anjar and its dependencies in perpetuity to the British. Failing to fulfill the terms of the treaty, he was deposed on his surrender to the British forces and his infant son, Desalji II. was enthroned 0819.) In 1822 the relations subsisting between the ruler of Cutch and the British were modified by a new treaty, under which the terri torial cessions made by the rao in 1816 were restored in considera tion of an annual payment.
Rao Desalji II. did much to suppress infanticide, suttee and the slave trade in his state. His successor Maharao Pragmalji, an excellent administrator, built harbour works at Mandvi and a reservoir. In 1876 he was succeeded by Maharaja Rao Khen garji III. the present ruler, who is also a keen advocate for edu cation. In 1924, Cutch with Kathiawar and Palanpur (formerly under the Government of Bombay) were put in direct relation with the Government of India, through an agent to the Governor General in the States of Western India. See INDIA.