330 VAIKOT D.L4TRZCT
(washermen, 17,000), Maclihis (fishermen and water-carriers, 15,000),
Meghs (weavers, 34,000), Barwalas and Batwals (village watchmen,
34,ooo), Mirasis (village minstrels, 12,ooo), and Changars (labourers,
6,ooo). There are 22,ooo Fakirs. About 46 per cent. of the popula-
tion are supported by agriculture.
The American United Presbyterian Mission, which was established
at Sialkot in 1855, supports a theological seminary, a Christian training
institute, a female hospital, and an Anglo-vernacular high school. The
Established Church of Scotland maintains two European missionaries
at Sialkot (branch established in 1857) and one in Daska, and also has
a separate female mission, mainly occupied with work in zandnas.
The Church of England Mission at Narowal was founded in 1859, -
and the Zanana Mission at that place in 1884. The Roman Catholics,
who entered the field in 1889, have now three stations. Sialkot has
the largest number of native Christians in the Punjab, amounting to
ro,662, or r per cent. of the population, in igoi.
The soil consists chiefly of loam, but clay is found in depressions,
and the waste lands mostly consist of sandy or salt-impregnated soil.
Owing to the abundant rainfall, and the very large
Agriculture. proportion of the cultivated area which is served by
wells, the District is secure against any serious failure of crops.
The District is held almost entirely on the bhaiydchdrd and pattiddri
tenures, zaminddri lands covering only about 30,ooo acres. The area
for which details are available from the revenue record of 1903-4 is
1,984 square miles, as shown below:-
Tahsil. Total Cultivated. Irrigated. Cultivable
area. waste.
Sialkot 436 333 16o 41
ZafarwRl 310 e50 98 21
Pasrur . 394 303 170 29
Raya 485 305 165 131
Daska . 359 294 265 38
Total 1,984 1,485-.. ...._858 - 260
Wheat is the chief crop of the spring harvest, covering 6or square
miles in 1903-4; barley and gram occupied i 2 o and 64 square miles
respectively. Sugar is the most valuable crop of the autumn harvest,
and the area planted (5o square miles) is surpassed only in Gurdaspur.
Rice, maize, and great millet (jowdr) are the chief autumn food-grains.
The cultivated area has increased by 28 per cent. since 1854 and
by 1 per cent. in the ten years ending igoi-2, the increase being due
to the steady extension of well-cultivation and the great pressure of
population on the soil. Nothing has been done in the way of im-
proving the quality of the crops grown. Loans for the construction
POPULATION
329
during the last decade, the decrease being greatest in the Raya tahsil
and least in Daska. The Chenab Colony is responsible for this fall
in population, no less than 103,000 persons having
left to take land in the newly irrigated tracts. The Population.
District is divided into five tahsils-SIALKOT, PASRUR, ZAFARWAL,
RAYA, and DASKA-the head-quarters of each being at the place from
which it is named. The chief towns are the municipalities Of SInLKOT,
the administrative head-quarters of the District, DASKA, JAMKI, PASRUR,
KILA SOBHA SINGH, ZAFARWAL, and NAROWAL.
The following table shows the chief statistics of population in
1901 :-
I ro Number of o
o.~ Lao o'~2 o. 0,41
'. I'I
Tahsil, C yA a am 8 F'~ 5
~
o az za o~
H m 0.LCd
C ho ~,ara
Sialkot ___ _ _ 312,688 730.5 + 3.2 12,101
428 G3
Zafarwal . 310 1 480 178,887 5771 - 6-3 31950
Pasrur 394 2 443 193,746 491-7 ! - 5,601
5.0
Raya. 485 1 456 192,440 396-8 ' 5,586
-10-4
Daska 360 2 332 206,148 572.6', - o-6 4,103
District total 1,91 7 2,348 1,083,909 544'4 - 31341
3�2
NOTE.-The figures for the areas of tahsils are taken from revenue returns. The total area
of the District is that given in the Census Report.
Muhammadans number 716,953, or over 66 per cent. of the total;
Hindus, 302,012, or 28 per cent. ; and Sikhs, 50,982, or less than
5 per cent. Sialkot town contains the famous shrine of Baba Nanak,
the first Sikh Guru. The density of the population is high. The
language of the people is Punjabi, but the dialect known as Dogri
is largely spoken by Hindus on the Jammu border.
The Jats are in greater numerical strength in Sialkot than in any
other District in the Province, numbering 258,ooo, or 24 per cent.
of the total. Other agricultural tribes include the Arains (67,000),
Rajputs (6o,ooo), Awans (24,ooo), and Gujars (io,ooo). The com-
mercial; classes are Khattris (i9,ooo), Aroras (19,ooo), and Pahari
Mahaja s (r i,ooo). The Bhatias (6,ooo) are stronger in Sialkot than
anywhere else. Brahmans number 35,ooo and Saiyids 15,000. Of
the artisan classes, the most important are the Tarkhans (carpenters,
44,ooo), Kumhars (potters, 32,000), Julahas (weavers, 28,000), Lohars
(blacksmiths, 2 1,000), Mochis (shoemakers and leather-workers, 1 7,000),
Telis (oil-pressers, 14,ooo), and Sonars (goldsmiths, ro,ooo). Kash-
miris number 32,000. Of the menial classes, the Chuhras (sweepers,
64,000) are the most numerous ; other large menial castes are Jhinwars
(water-carriers, 23,ooo), Nais (barbers, 22,000), Chhimbas and Dhobis
328 YIJLffOT DISTRICT
The legendary history of the District is connected with Raja Sali-
vahan, the reputed founder of the town of Sialkot, and his famous son
Rasalu, and is described under SIXLKOT TOWN.
History. PASRUR is also an ancient place. At an early date
the District fell to the Rajas of Jammu, and under the Mughals
formed the Rechna Doab sarkdr of the Subah of Lahore. Under Shah
Jahan the sarkdr was entrusted to Ali Mardan Khan, the famous engi-
neer, who dug a canal through it to bring water from the Chenab to the
imperial gardens at Lahore. On the decline of the Mughal empire
Ranjit Singh Deo, Rajput, a hill chief, extended his sway over the low-
lands, owning a nominal allegiance to Delhi. In 1748 he transferred
his allegiance to Ahmad Shah Durrani, who added Zafarwal and two
other parganas to his fief. Before his death in 1773 Ranjit Deo had
secured possession of the whole District, except Sialkot town and its
dependencies, which were held by a Pathan family. After his death
the Bhangi confederacy of the Sikhs took Sialkot from the Pathans, and
eventually overran the whole country up to the foot of the Jammu
hills, dividing it among a score of leaders. These petty States were,
however, attached by Ranjit Singh in 1791 ; and his annexation of
Pasrflr in 1807 gave him control of the tract, after his general, Diwan
Mohkam Chand, had defeated the Sardars of Sialkot at Atari.
In the Mutiny of 1857 the station was denuded of British troops ;
and the Native regiments which were left behind rose, and, after sacking
the jail, treasury, and courthouse, and massacring several of the Euro-
pean inhabitants, marched off towards Delhi, only to be destroyed
by Nicholson at Trimmu Ghat. The rest of the Europeans took
refuge in the fort, and on the morning after the departure of the
mutineers order was restored. The only events of interest in the
subsequent history of the District are.the plague riots which occurred
at the villages of Shahzada and Sankhatra in 1901.
Numerous mounds are scattered about the District, which mark the
sites of ancient villages and towns. None of them, except that on
which the Sialkot fort stood, has been excavated, but silver and copper
utensils and coins have been dug up from time to time by villagers.
Most of the coins are those of Indo-Bactrian kings. The excavations
in Sialkot revealed the existence of some old baths, with hot-water
pipes of solid masonry. The fort itself, of which very little now
remains, is not more than 1,ooo years old, and is said to have been
rebuilt by Shahab-ud-din Ghori at the end of the twelfth century.
For further information, reference should be made to the articles on
SIALKOT TOWN and PASRUR TOWN.
The District contains 7 towns and 2,348 villages. The population
at the last four enumerations was: (1868) 1,004,695, (1881) 1,012,148,
(1891) 1,119,847, and (1901) 1,083,909. It decreased by 3-2 per cent.
SIALKOT DL~.TRICT
327
which rises in the Jammu hills, traverses the centre of the District.
A torrent in the rains, at other times the Degh dwindles to the merest
trickle ; like the greater rivers it is fringed on either side by a strip of
alluvial soil, but in the upper part of its course through the 7afarwal
lahsil the shifting of its bed has covered a large area with barren sand.
Several other minor streams, of which the Aik is the most important,
traverse the District. Midway between the' Ravi and the Chenab is
a raised dorsal tract, which forms a slightly elevated plateau stretching
from beyond the Jammu border far into the heart of the doib. The
upper portion of the District near the hills wears an aspect of remark-
able greenness and fertility. The dorsal ridge, however, is dry and
sandy; and between the Degh and the Ravi the wild and unproductive
upland grows more and more impregnated with saltpetre as it recedes
from the hills, till near the Lahore border it merges into a tangled
jungle of brushwood and reeds. The District also comprises a small
tract of low hills, called the Bajwat, on the north of the Chenab,
a country of green grass and flowing streams, which presents an
agreeable change from the arid plains of the Punjab.
There is nothing of geological inttrest in Sialkot, which is
situated entirely on the alluvium. Cultivation is close, leaving little
room for an indigenous flora of perennial plants. Towards the Jammu
border, especially in the north-west of the District, plants of the Outer
Himalayan fringe appear. Trees are rare, except where planted about
wells, by roadsides, and in gardens.
A few wolves are the only representatives of the carnivora, while
even hares and deer find little cover in so highly cultivated a tract.
A few wild hog and iailgai are found, but no antelope have been
shot in recent years. In the cold season wild geese, ducks, and other
water-fowl abound in the marshes and on the river banks and islands;
quail are plentiful in spring, but partridges are scarce.
The climate in summer is, for the plains, good; and, though there
are generally a few days of most intense heat, the neighbourhood of
the hills prevents any long-continued spell. The 'cold season resem-
bles that in the Punjab generally, but begins early and ends late.
The low hills are cool but very malarious, as is also the waterlogged
valley of the Degh, while other parts are decidedly healthy. Pneumonia
is common in the winter and fever in the autumn.
Owing to its submontane position the District has an abundant rain-
fall, but this diminishes rapidly in amount as the distance from the
hills increases. The average rainfall varies from 22 inches at Raya
to 35 at Sialkot; at the latter place 28 inches fall in the summer
months, and 7 in the winter. The heaviest rainfall recorded during
the twenty years ending igo1 was 64 inches at Sialkot in 1881-2,
and the lowest ro inches at Daska in 1891-2.
.JPG)
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