Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/553

N I M N I M 509 The liigliest mountain peaks are Dodabetta, 8760 feet ; Kudiakad, 8502; Bevoibetta, 8488; Makurti, 8402; Davarsolabetta, 8380 ; Kunda, 8353; Kimdamoge, 7816; Utakamand, 7361; Tambrabetta, 7292 ; Hokabetta, 7267. Tliereare six well-known passes or ghats by which, the district communicates with the neighbouring provinces, viz., the Kuniir, Segur, Giidalur, Sispara, Kotagiri, and Sundapatti, the first three of which are practicable to wheeled traffic. The chief rivers are the Moyar, Paikara, and Calicut, none of which are navigable within the district. The only lake of note is an artificial one, Utakamand (7220 feet above sea-level), which is nearly 2 miles long. The forests consist of fine timber trees, such as sal (Shorea robusta), kino (Pterocarjms Marsupium), jack (Artocarpus integrifolia), blackwood (Dalhergia latifolia), and teak. Eucalyptus and Australian wattle have been extensively planted in the higher grounds of the Wainad. The hills were first explored by British officers in 1814, and in 1821 the first English house was built on the plateau. The population of the district in 1881 was 91,034. The only town with more than 5000 inhabitants is Utakamand, with a popula tion of 12,335. The most interesting of the hill tribes are the Todas, who regard themselves as autochthonous. They are a tall, well- proportioned, and athletic race, but indolent and dirty. Their sole occupation is cattle herding and dairy work. They practise poly andry, a woman marrying all the brothers of a family. In religion they follow a species of Hinduism, and also worship their dairy buffaloes. The race seems to be gradually dying out, and in 1881 only numbered 675. The most numerous as well as the most wealthy and civilized of the hill tribes are the Badagas. They are occupied in agriculture, dress after the fashion of the natives of the plains, and are fond of ornaments. They profess Hinduism, and in 1881 numbered 24,130. The Kotas, another hill tribe (1065 in 1881), follow agriculture and various handicrafts. They perform menial offices for the Todas and Badagas, and, like the latter, pay a gudu to the Todas. They worship "ideal" gods, which are not represented by any image. The Kurumbas, or shepherds (3185 in 1881), are the most uncivilized of the hill tribes, and officiate as priests to the Badagas. Besides cultivating on a small scale, they collect various sorts of jungle produce, which they barter on the plains for grain and cloth. The Irulas (946 in 1881) live on the lowest slopes and forests, extending from the base of the Nilgiris to the plains. They are an idle and dissolute tribe, although in physique adapted to hard manual labour. The ordinary crops grown on the Nilgiri Hills include wheat, barley, and other cereals, oilseeds, and nearly every variety of English vegetables and fruits. The commercially important pro ducts are coffee, tea, and cinchona. Coffee cultivation was introduced about 1844. One of its chief seats is the beautiful Ochteiiony valley. The Madras Government commenced the experimental cultivation of cinchona on the Nilgiris in 1860, and in 1882 the receipts therefrom amounted to over 50,000. Several private cinchona gardens have been laid out, owing to the success of the Government experiment. There are 190 miles of road, bridged and available for wheeled traffic. The climate of the Nilgiri Hills is almost unrivalled for equability of temperature. The average is 58 F. NIMAR, a district in the Central Provinces, India, tying between 21 4 and 22 26 N. lat. and between 75 50 and 77 1 E. long., and bounded on the N. and W. by Dhar and Indore states, S. by Khandesh and West Berar, and E. by Hoshangabad. The area is 3340 square miles, of which only 659 are under cultivation. The population in 1881 was 231,341 (embracing 199,454 Hindus, 24,426 Mohammedans, 5282 aborigines, the most numerous tribe of these being the Bhils). Khandwa town is the administrative headquarters. The district consists of two portions of the Nerbudda and Tapti valleys, separated by a range of hills, a section of the Satpura range, about 15 miles in breadth. On the highest peak, about 850 feet above the plain and 1800 above sea-level, stands the fortress of Asirgarh, commanding a pass which has for centuries been the chief highway between Upper India and the Deccan. The district con tains extensive forests, but the only tract reserved by Government is the Punasa forest, which extends for about 120 miles along the south bank of the Nerbudda, and contains very fine young teak, besides sdj (Termindlia tomentosa) and anjan (Hardwiclcia binata) of great size. The only towns with a population exceeding 5000, in 1881, were Khandwa, the district capital (15,142), and Burhanpur (30,017). The principal line of road is that from Khandwa to Indore. The Great Indian Peninsular Railway traverses the district. NIMEGUEN, NIMWEGEN, or NYMEGEN (Dutch, Nijme- ffen), probably the oldest of all the cities of the Netherlands, is situated in the province of Guelderland, on the south bank of the Waal, 80 miles from the sea and 17 miles north-west of Cleves. Built partly on a row of five hills Hessenberg or Hezelberg, Marienberg, Gruitberg, Klokken- berg, and Hunnenberg or Hoenderberg so that stairs are necessary to lead to the higher portions, Nimeguen stands out with a boldness quite unusual in a Dutch town. Till past the middle of the present century it was strongly fortified, its old walls, erected in 1447, having been strengthened from time to time with extensive bastions and outworks. The beautiful park the Valkhof at the east end of the town is the site of Charlemagne s palace, which was still habitable in 1787, but, being greatly damaged during the French bombardment of 1794, was in 1796 sold for what it would bring. Two portions were fortunately preserved, the vault of a chapel (" Pagan s Chapel "), with two white marble Corinthian pillars, and an octagonal baptistery ("Roman Chapel"). Near the Valkhof stands a lofty tower, the Belvidere, erected by the duke of Alva. The great church (St Stephen s), which forms one of the most striking features in the general view of the town, was originally built between 1254 and 1273, but in its present condition dates mainly from the 15th and 16th centuries. The immense nave is roofed with circular vaulting and supported by thirty-five slender pillars. In the choir is the monument of Catherine of Bourbon (1469), wife of Adolphus, duke of Guelderland. The town-house, built in 1554, is adorned with medallions representing the kings and emperors who had been bene factors of Nimeguen, and contains the great hall in which the treaty of 1678 was concluded. On the ground-floor is a cumbrous and strong safe in which the town s charters from that of Henry IV. in 1230 were preserved with the most jealous care, the garrison being called out and the gates closed when it was necessary to consult any of them. Other buildings of note are the theatre (1838-39), the old burghers almshouse, the Protestant hospital (1849), and the Roman Catholic or Canisius hospital (1866). Between 1656 and 1679 Nimeguen was the seat of a university ; it has now nothing higher than a gymnasium. Tools, gold and silver work, leather, furniture, tobacco, &c., are the chief products of the local industry ; and a good deal of traffic is carried on both by means of the river and (since 1865) the railway. The population of the town in 1870 was 19,196; that of the commune increased from 22,929 (15,984 Roman Catholics, 5806 Dutch Reformed, 408 Jews) in 1875 to 24,984 in 1879. The name Nimeguen appears for the first time as Noviomagum in the Tabula Peutingeriana, but several antiquaries seek to idcntify the town with the Oppidum Batavorum of Tacitus. Charlemagne s palace continued to be the temporary residence of kings and em perors for many generations. Prince Henry, son of Conrad II. (1026), and the emperor Henry IV. (1164) were both born within its walls. In 1247-48 William, king of the Romans, pawned the town to Reinald of Guelders, but in 1316 the people refused to remain under his authority. The Burgundians, who entered after a four weeks siege in 1473, were expelled in 1477. In 1494 the arch duke Maximilian was successfully repulsed. The duke of Alva, with ten companies of Spanish soldiers, took possession in 1568 ; but in 1579 Nimeguen joined the Union. In 1584 the duke of Parma s attempt to recover the town proved a failure ; next year, the people having expelled the states garrison, he was successful ; and, Martin Schenk having lost his life in a rash coup de main in 1589, the Spaniards were left in possession till 1591. Between 1672