Rajputana

RAJPUTANA, a collection of Indian states, under the political charge of an agent to the governor-general. It lies be tween 23° and 30° N. and between 69° 30' and 75° 15' E., and includes 18 states, 2 chiefships and the small estate of Lawa. For political purposes the agent to the governor-general, with his head quarters at Ajmere and Mount Abu, is himself in charge of Sirohi and Bikaner. Then there are three residencies and four agencies. These are as follows : (I) Mewar residency, with headquarters at Udaipur, comprising the state of Udaipur (Mewar) ; (2) Jaipur residency, with headquarters at Jaipur, comprising the states of Jaipur and Kishangarh, with the estate of Lawa ; (3) Western Rajputana states residency, with headquarters at Jodhpur, corn prising the states of Jodhpur and Jaisalmer; (4) Eastern Raj putana states agency, with headquarters at Bharatpur, comprising the states of Alwar, Bharatpur, Dholpur, and Karauli ; (5) Haraoti-Tonk agency, with headquarters at Deoli, comprising the states of Tonk and Bundi, with the estate of Shahpura; (6) Kotah agency, with headquarters at Kotah, comprising the states of Kotah and Jhalawar; and (7) Southern Rajputana states agency, comprising Dungarpur, Banswara, Partabgarh and Kushalgarh. All of these states are under Rajput rulers, except Tonk, which is Mohammedan, and Bharatpur and Dholpur, which are Jat. The small British province of Ajmere-Merwara is also included within the geographical area of Rajputana.

Physical Features.

The total area of Rajputana is about 129,059 sq.m. It is bounded on the west by Sind, and on the north west by the Punjab state of Bahawalpur. Thence its northern and north-eastern frontier marches with the Punjab and the United Provinces until it touches the river Chambal, where it turns south-eastward for about 200 m. The southern boundary runs in a very irregular line across the central region of India. The Aravalli range of mountains intersects the country in a line run ning from south-west to north-east. About three-fifths of Rajpu

tana lies north-west of the range, and comprises the states of Bikaner, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur. With the exception of the dis tricts of Jodhpur which lie immediately below the Aravallis, this division is sandy, ill-watered and unproductive, improving gradu ally from a desert in the north-west and west to comparatively fertile land in the east. The country to the east and south-east of the Aravallis is blessed with fertile lands, hill-ranges and long stretches of forest, where fuel and fodder are abundant.

The chief rivers are the Luni, the Chambal and the Banas. The Chambal rises in the highlands of the Vindhyas, and discharges itself into the Jumna after a course of 56o m. There are several important artificial lakes, constructed for storing water. The only basin of any extent is the Sambhar salt lake, of about 5o m. in circuit.

Geology.

Geologically considered, the country may be divided into three regions—the central, and largest, comprising the whole width of the Aravalli system, formed of very old sub-metamorphic and gneissic rocks; an eastern region, with sharply defined boun dary, along which the most ancient formations are abruptly re placed by the great basin of the Vindhyan strata, or are overlaid by the still more extensive spread of the Deccan trap, forming the plateau of Malwa ; and a western region, of very ill-defined margin, in which, besides some rocks of undetermined age, it is more or less known or suspected that Tertiary and Secondary strata stretch across from Sind, beneath the sands of the desert, towards the flanks of the Aravallis. Rajputana produces a variety of metals. Ore of cobalt and zinc blende are peculiar to it. Copper and lead are found in several parts of the Aravalli range and of the minor ridges in Alwar and Shaikhawati, and iron ores abound in several states. Alum and blue vitriol (sulphate of copper) are manufac tured from decomposed schists at Khetri in Shaikhawati.