Page:The Imperial Gazetteer of India - Volume 10 (2nd edition).pdf/544

This page needs to be proofread.



532 PAKPATTAN TAHSIL AVD TOILY. miles in area, and is enclosed on three sides by ranges of low and densely wooded hills. On the western side is a strongly constructed embankment about a mile in length. The average depth of the water is between 30 and 40 feet. The lake abounds with fish; and the hills which surround the lake contain game of every description, including a few wild elephants. Pákpattan.-South-western tahsil of Montgomery District, Punjab, lying between 29° 58' and 30° 44' n. lat., and between 72° 39' and 73° 40' E. long., and consisting of a barren tract along the bank of the river Sutlej (Satlaj). Area, 1305 square miles, with 366 towns and villages; number of houses, 14,295 ; number of families, 16,073. Total population (1881) 78,612, namely, males 42,683, and females 35,929. Classified according to religion, there were in 1881–Muhammadans, 57,198; Hindus, 19,951; and Sikhs, 1463. Of the 366 villages comprising the tahsil, 334 contain less than five hundred inhabitants; 19 from fire hundred to a thousand ; 12 from one to two thousand ; and 1 from five to ten thousand inhabitants. The average area under cultivation for the five years 1877–78 to 1881–82 was 91 square miles, or 58,758 acres, the area under the chief crops being as follow :- Wheat, 30,165 acres; joár, 5328 acres; gram, 3002 acres; cotton, 3806 acres; the remainder being taken up with a little rice, bájra, tobacco, and vegetables. Revenue of the tahsil, £9702. The tahsildár is the only local administrative officer, and presides over i civil and i criminal court; number of police circles (thánás), 3; strength of regular police, 62 men, besides a village watch or rural police of 83 chaukidárs. Pákpattan. — Town and municipality in Montgomery District, Punjab, and head-quarters of Pákpattan tahsil. Situated in lat. 30° 20' 40" N., and long. 73° 25' 50" E., on the old high bank of the river Sutlej (Satlai), io miles from its present course, and 29 miles south of Montgomery town. Anciently known as Ajudhan. Identified by General Cunningham with one of the towns belonging to the Sudrakæ or Oxudrakæ of Alexander's historians; important at a later date as the chief ferry over the Sutlej. Meeting place of the two great western roads from Dera Ghazi Khan and Dera Ismail Khan. The Musalman conquerors, Mahmúd of Ghazní and Timúr, and the traveller Ibn Batuta, crossed the river at this point. The modern name of Pakpattan ("Ferry of the Pure") is derived from the saint Farid-ud-din, one of the most famous devotees of Northern India, who was instrumental in the conversion of the whole Southern Punjab to the faith of Islam. Pilgrims from all parts of India, and even from Afghánistán and Central Asia, flock to this shrine; and during the great festival of the Muharram, as many as 60,000 persons have been estimated as present. On the afternoon and night of the last day the characteristic ceremony of the festival