‘BOMBAY 1921-22. A REVIEW OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE PRESIDENCY’ [145v] (286/434)
The record is made up of 1 item (216 folios). It was created in 1923?. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
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BOMBAY, 1921-22
Sahyadris or western Ghats, beginning south of the Tapti about
60 miles from the sea, runs in a south-westerly direction towards Peint,
throwing out spurs to the east between the rich river-bottoms and on the
west foothills nearly up to the sea board. To the east no natural barrier
separates Khandesh from Nimar and Berar. At the foot of the wooded
hills of the trap and basalt the soil is thin and poor, but nearer the rivers
it is a rich alluvium. Until the Tapti Valley Railway was opened the
rich lands of Surat and Khandesh were separated by the wild and wooded
belt of Indian State territory that lies on the western face of the Ghats
and stretches northward across the Tapti.
The Tapti rising at a spot two miles distant from the sacred tank
of Multai on the Satpura plateau, flows in a westerly direction through
the Butel and Nimar districts of the Central Provinces and after enter
ing Khandesh receives on the left bank the waters of the Puma from
the hills of Berar. Thence it flows through a broad and fertile valley,
bounded on the north by the Satpuras and on the south by the Satmalas,
and eventually after descending through wild country it sweeps south
ward to the sea through the alluvial plain of Surat. The other
tributaries, of which the Girna is the most noteworthy, mostly rise in
the Sahyadris.
The rainfall is heavy on the hills and in the forest belt, but varies
in the open country from 40 inches at Surat to 22 inches at Dhulia.
In the coast tract the temperature is equable, but inland it ranges between
52° in the cold weather and 110° in the hot season. Excluding the
building-stone of Khandesh which is not widely known, there are no
mineral products of importance but the forests of Khandesh are the
most important in the Bombay
Presidency
The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent.
after those of Kanara. Teak,
babul, blackwood, anjan, (Hardwickia biuata), khair (acacia catachu)
and salai (Boswellia Serata) are the chief trees. Among field trees the
banian
Merchant of Indian extraction.
, mango, mahua, pipal, palas, umbar and temburni are frequently
seen.
Cotton is the chief crop of the Tapti Valley, the most important
food-crops being rice on the coast and bajri inland. Jowar and wheat
are also widely grown. Castor oil-seed (Ricinus communis) is common
on the coast and sesamum in Khandesh.
The cows and buffaloes of Surat as greatly esteemed—the cows
for their appearance and the buffaloes for their yield of milk. Bulsar
is famous for its breed of patiri goats, which are very good milkers;
and the same district produces a small hardy bullock which is much
usedin harness.
In the hilly and wooded parts of the tract, wild beasts are
numerous, comprising the tiger, leopard, cheetah, bear, caracal,
wolf, bison, sambhar deer, spotted deer, antelope and gazelle.
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About this item
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Annual administration report of the Bombay Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. , providing a summary record of the main events and developments in each department of the Government of Bombay From c. 1668-1858, the East India Company’s administration in the city of Bombay [Mumbai] and western India. From 1858-1947, a subdivision of the British Raj. It was responsible for British relations with the Gulf and Red Sea regions. during the financial year 1921-22.
The report is divided into three parts. Part I (ff 9-22) comprises a report ‘GENERAL SUMMARY’, consisting of: Political; Finance; Trade and Commerce; Agriculture; Department of Agriculture; Education; Law and Justice; Police and Crime; Bombay [Mumbai] City Police; Public Health; Excise; Salt; The Co-operative Movement; Public Works; Irrigation; Development Department.
PART II (ff 23-117) comprises the following headings, which are further divided into sub-headings:
- CHAPTER I ‘INDIAN STATES.’ (ff 23-27), consisting of: I. North Gujarat; II. South Gujarat; III. North Konkan; IV. South Konkan; V. The Deccan; VI. Kolhapur and Southern Maratha Country States; VII. Sind [Sindh]; VIII. Aden; Condition of the people
- CHAPTER II ‘ADMINISTRATION OF THE LAND’ (ff 27-29), consisting of: Land Records; Routine Measurement Work; Revenue Surveys; City Surveys; Revision Settlements; Waste Lands; Wards and Other Estates; Sind
- CHAPTER III ‘LAW AND JUSTICE.’ (ff 29-32), consisting of: Work of the Year; Bills; Resolutions; Civil Justice; Criminal Justice; Registration
- CHAPTER IV ‘POLICE AND CRIME’ (ff 33-38), consisting of: Apathy of the Public; Bombay City Police; Village Police; Aden Police; Government Male Workhouse; Bombay Jails; Prisoners’ Aid Societies; Criminal Tribes
- CHAPTER V ‘AGRICULTURE, WEATHER AND CROPS.’ (ff 39-55), consisting of: Nature of the Crops; Outturn of the Crops; Aid to Agriculture; Research and Investigation; Agricultural Education; Advances to Cultivators; Note on the Weather for 1921-1922; Bombay (Colaba) and Alibag Observatories; Prices; Wholesale Food Prices; Labour and Wages; Forests; Co-operative Movement; Horticulture
- CHAPTER VI ‘TRADE AND COMMERCE’ (ff 56-71), consisting of: [Industries]; the Department of Industries; the Factories Act; Sea-borne Trade; Chief-Port – Bombay; Foreign Trade; Foreign Merchandise; Indian Produce and Manufactures; Trade According to Countries; Shipping; Coasting Trade; Subordinate Ports of the Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. ; the Trade of Sind; Aden; the Labour Office
- CHAPTER VII ‘PUBLIC WORKS’ (ff 72-80), consisting of: Roads and Buildings; Irrigation; Railways
- CHAPTER VIII ‘VITAL STATISTICS AND MEDICAL RELIEF’ (ff 80-87), consisting of: [Births and Deaths]; Epidemic Diseases; Hospitals and Dispensaries; Sanitation; Vaccination; Veterinary; Chemical Analyses; Wild Animals and Venomous Snakes; Lunatic Asylums [psychiatric hospitals]; Acworth Leper Asylum [hospital for people affected by leprosy or Hansen’s Disease], Matunga; Emigration and Immigration
- CHAPTER IX ‘LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT’ (ff 88-92), consisting of: District Municipalities; Bombay Municipality; Local Board Administration; Bombay Improvement Trust; Bombay Port Trust; Karachi Port Trust; Aden Port Trust; Working of the Rent Acts
- CHAPTER X ‘FINANCIAL’ (ff 93-103), consisting of: Financial Review; Public Works Revenue; Customs Administration; Salt Department; Excise Department; Cotton Duties Act; Stamps; Taxes on Income; Miscellaneous Funds
- CHAPTER XI ‘INSTRUCTION’ (ff 103-107), consisting of: Education; Reformatory Schools; Books and Publications; Newspapers; Royal Asiatic Society; Victoria and Albert Museum, Bombay; Prince of Wales Museum; Victoria Museum, Karachi; Bombay Natural History Society
- CHAPTER XII ‘ARCHAEOLOGY’ (f 108), consisting of: Archaeological Survey of India, Western Circle
- CHAPTER XIII ‘MISCELLANEOUS’ (ff 108-117), consisting of: the Established Church of England; the Established Church of Scotland; Stationary; Printing; Bombay Development Department; Military (Indian Auxiliary and Territorial Forces); Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; Visit of the Prince of Wales.
PART III (ff 118-211) comprises the following headings, which are further divided into sub-headings:
- CHAPTER I ‘HISTORICAL SUMMARY’ (ff 118-142), consisting of: Prehistoric Period; I. Hindu Period – 325 BC-1300 AD; II. Early Mahomedan [Muslim] Period; III. Mughal Period, 1600-1739 AD; Shivaji; Bombay and the British; Sind, 1739-1843 AD; British Period, 1803-1911 AD; The War and the Reformed Constitution; The Indian States; Legislation; Famine; Co-operation; Trade and Commerce; Public Works; Public Health; Finance; Education; Boy Scouts; Bombay Development; Labour Problems; Publicity; Agriculture; Irrigation
- CHAPTER II ‘AREA, ASPECT, CLIMATE AND PRODUCTS’ (ff 143-148), consisting of: [Introduction]; Sind; Cutch [Kutch or Kachchh]; Kathiawar; Gujarat; the Tapti Valley; the Deccan; the Konkan; Economic Geography
- CHAPTER III ‘FORMS OF ADMINISTRATION’ (ff 149-168), consisting of: [Government]; Political; Collection of Revenue; Land Records; Registration; Administration of Justice; Organisation of the Police; Local Funds; Municipalities; The Medical Department; Forests; Opium; Excise; Salt; Customs, Bombay and Karachi; Cotton Duties; Co-operative Societies; Civil Veterinary Department; Department of Industries; Public Works Department; Irrigation; Town Planning; Income Tax; Educational Department; The Gujarat Talukdars Act; Encumbered Estates Rules, Kathiawar; Sind Incumbered Estates Act; The Court of Wards Act; The Guardians and Wards Act
- CHAPTER IV ‘CHARACTER OF LAND TENURES: SYSTEM OF SURVEY AND SETTLEMENTS’ (ff 169-173), consisting of: [The Survey Tenure]; The Record of Rights; Remissions of Revenue; System of Land Tenure; Special Tenures; Sind; Area held under different Tenures
- CHAPTER V ‘CIVIL DIVISIONS OF BRITISH TERRITORY’ (ff 173-188), consisting of: Northern Division: Ahmedabad; Kaira [Kheda]; Panch Mahals [or Panchmahal]; Broach [Bharuch]; Surat; Thana [Thane]; Central Division: Ahmednagar; East Khandesh; West Khandesh; Nasik [or Nashik]; Poona [Pune]; Satara; Sholapur [Solapur]; Southern Division: Belgaum [Belagavi]; Dharwar [or Dharwad]; Kanara [Karavali]; Kolaba [Colaba]; Ratnagiri; Bijapur [Vijayapura]; Bombay Suburban Division: Bombay Suburban District; Sind: Karachi; Hyderabad; Sukkur; Larkana; Thar Parkar [Tharparkar]; Upper Sind Frontier; Nawabshah; Town and Island of Bombay
- CHAPTER VI ‘DETAILS OF THE LAST CENSUS’ (ff 189-195), consisting of: Distribution of Population; Movement of the Population; Religion; Age, Sex or Civil Condition; Literacy; Infirmities; Occupations; Textile Industry; Occupations of Women; Caste, Tribe and Race; Languages
- CHAPTER VII ‘LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY’ (ff 196-199), consisting of: [Legislation]
- CHAPTER VIII ‘POWER INDUSTRIES AND HANDICRAFTS’ (ff 200-206), consisting of: [Power Industries]; Handicrafts Manufacture
- CHAPTER IX ‘EDUCATION’ (ff 206-209), consisting of: General System of Public Instruction; Literary Societies
- CHAPTER X ‘ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION’ (ff 210-211), consisting of [Decennial Review of]: the Established Church of England; the Established Church of Scotland; the Roman Catholic Church.
The report includes the following photographs:
- ‘THE SECRETARIAT BUILDING. Administrative Offices of the Government of Bombay’ (f 3)
- ‘The Prince of Wales landing at the Gateway of India, November 17, 1921.’ (f 8v)
- ‘An irrigated Sugar-Cane Plantation.’ (f 40)
- ‘Irrigation channel showing how the water is distributed.’ (f 42)
- ‘“Manjav” sugarcane growing in water-logged land, under advice from the Agricultural Department. Previously this land would not grow sugarcane at all.’ (f 44)
- ‘Two ways of growing jowar [or sorghum]: 1.-Crop from field cultivated by the old method.’ (f 46)
- ‘Two ways of growing jowar. II.-Crop from field where the ridge method of cultivation introduced by Agricultural Department was used.’ (f 48)
- ‘The Bhandadara [Bhandardara] Dam in Ahmednagar District which feeds the Pravara Canal. It will be completed next year.’ (f 71)
- ‘Another view of the great Bhandadara Dam. It is 270 feet high and 1,600 feet long, and is one of the highest dams in the World’ (f 73)
- ‘A photograph taken in 1913, showing the excavation of the river-bed for the foundations of the great new dam at Bhatgar. The old dam is seen in the back ground.’ (f 75)
- ‘Part of the new Lloyd Dam at Bhatgar, viewed from the top of the old dam. It is a mile long, and 190 feet high and, in respect of volume of masonry, is the largest dam in the world.’ (f 77)
- ‘The Old Bhatgar Dam. Waste weir in flood. The new dam will store 24,000 million cubic feet of water.’ (f 79)
- ‘Chankapur Tank and Girna Canal. The Tank holds 1,548 million cubic feet of water and feeds the Girna Left Bank Canal. This commands an area of 19,000 acres.’ (f 81)
- ‘The Godaveri Headworks and Durna Reservoir in Nasik District.’ (f 83)
- ‘The Reclamation of Back Bay involves the building of a sea wall four miles long. This photograph shows the work in progress.’ (f 110)
- ‘The Development Department’s quarry at Khandivli.’ (f 112)
- ‘The Prince replying to the Municipal address.’ (f 114)
- ‘Government Buildings illuminated by the Electrical Engineer’s Department.’ (f 116).
There are also graphs showing the following: total expenditure from revenue for the years 1912-13 to 1921-22 (f 92v); distribution of principal heads of revenue for the year 1921-22 (f 94); distribution of principal heads of expenditure, for the year 1921-22 (f 95); and relative cost of various services in 1915-16 and 1921-22 (f 96).
There are appendices on folios 211-213, and an index on folios 214-217. There is a map of the Bombay Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. on folio 218.
A table of contents listing the headings and sub-headings of the report is on folio 5-7. In a small number of instances, there are discrepancies in the phrasing or inclusion of sub-headings between the table of contents and the body of the report. In these cases, the sub-heading as it appears in the body of the report is included above.
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- IOR/V/10/317/1
- Title
- ‘BOMBAY 1921-22. A REVIEW OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE PRESIDENCY’
- Pages
- 3r:218r, 218r:218v, 218v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
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