BROACH, Marti* or Baroach, a populous , commercial town on the right bank of the Ner badda, 27 miles in direct distance from the bar. The Nerbadda is here two miles broad, and boats of 50 tons come up the channel. It gives its name to n district lying between lat. 21° 26' and 22°17' N., and long. 32' and 73° 11' E., with an area of 1458 Eq. miles, and a population of 350,322 in 1872. The Hindus, 277,032 in number, are Cotton has been cultivated in India from pre historic times ; but in tho early part of the 19th century, in the Peninsula, much outlay was incurred in efforts to improve the quality. In 1879-80 there were 10,708,031 acres under cotton cultivation, yielding 5,181,550 lbs. of cleaned cotton, or an average of 59 lbs. of cleaned cotton per acre. In the Central Provinces and in Mysore the yield was only 24 and 25 lbs. respectively ; but in the Nizain's dominions, the Panjab, and British Burma, 68, 90, and 147 lbs. respectively were obtained.
Va.—The introduction of tea-planting is wholly a British gift to India. The tea plant was dis covered about the year 1825 growing wild in Assam, and it is now largely cultivated in several parts of British India.
Cinchona trees, another grand gift to India, were introduced in the middle of the 19th century (1860), by Mr. Clements Markham, C.B., who twice visited South America, and twice conveyed to India different species of cinchona, which he and his scientific assistants had obtained there. In
1880-81 the state of the plantations was as under :— divided into 142 distinct castes, and these again into numerous subdivisions, whose customs and modes of life are the same, but who are socially separate. The Mahomedans of the Borah (Vohara), Memon, and Khoja sects are numerous; and other converts from Hinduism arc the Mobs] ami (formerly Rajputs), Malik, Momina, and Shaikhdas, all but the Borah in a depressed condition. The culti vators are Borah, Koli, Kunbi, and Rajput ; the last are a quiet agricultural race. The aboriginal races are Koli, Talavia, Talwada, and Bhil. Baroach town has 36,932 inhabitants. It has a Panjrapol, or hospital for animals. From ancient times it has been an important commercial site, known in the first century of the Christian era as Barugaza, a name said to be from the sage Bhrigu, who founded it, and named it Bhrigupur. It has since been held by many dynasties, Rajput, Maho medan, and, since November 1772, by the British. It was twice (1536, 1546) sacked by the Portu guese. Bombay has since attracted many of its people, and the Bhargao Brahmans claim descent from Bhrigu.--Imp. Gaz.