12
Amritsar District.
This district comprises 1,558 square miles and is a section of the tract known as the Bári Doáb, or
country lying between the Ravi and Biás rivers. It is bounded on the north-west by the Ravi, and on
the south-east by the Biás. It is divided into three tahsils, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, and Ajnala, the
last named occupying all that portion which fronts the Ravi, and the two former abutting on the Biás.
The district is small, compact, and thickly populated, the total population in 1891 being 992,697. It
has the appearance of a continuous level plain, unbroken by hill or valley, and sparsely wooded, except
near villages and irrigation wells and canals. The formation is distinctly alluvial, and the prevailing
soil is a light reddish yellow loam (Maira), which stiffens into rohi or clay, where the surface drainage
collects on its way down the Doáb from the hills.
In Amritsar, the usual depth of the water from the surface is 30 to 40 feet, except in the high-
lands on the banks of the Biás, where it is from 40 to even 60 feet. In Taran Tarn the depth is ordinarily
from 40 to 60 feet, except in the " Bet ", where it comes to within 12 or 13 feet of the surface. In the
Ajnala Tahsil the ordinary depth is from 20 to 30 feet, but under 20 feet in the ' Sailab' and Sakki lands.
The Biás river takes its rise in the Kulu valley, and passsing through the Kangra District enters
the sandy valley, which divides the Amritsar District from Kapurthala. On the right the Biás valley
is bounded by an abrupt cliff of from 24 to 30 feet. At the foot of this, between it and the cold wea-
ther bed of the river, lies a strip of alluvial land "Bet", which, at some points, is as much as two miles
broad. The left bank, on the other hand, is uniformly low, and on the Kapurthala side there is a stretch
of moist alluvial land running back for several miles into the interior, which is fertile, well wooded,
and liable to inundation. The river itself carries an immense body of water in the rainy season, and in
flood time is often a mile in width.
The Ravi is a river of different character. Both banks are, for the most part, of equal height, and
the river in flood time encroaches impartially on either side.
The Sakki Nála is the only other perennial stream found in the district, and this winds in a deep
tortuous bed between abrupt banks, and damage from floods is slight.
There are other minor drainage lines forming quite a net-work in the southern part of Ajnala, and
these often take the shape of a chain of swamps or chhambs, the principal of which are found at Bhalapind,
Bagga, and Jastarwal.
The rainfall is fairly certain, an annual fall of about 20 inches may be expected in that half of the
district which is nearest Lahore, and one of about 25 inches in the northern half nearest the hills.
The Amritsar District is not a very healthy one, owing to the net-work of canals and distributaries
made in the Tarn Taran Tahsil. Fever is often terribly prevalent throughout the district in the autumn
months, when a hot sun in the day succeeds cold and heavy dews at night. The enfeebled and poorly
clad victims of malarial fever succumb easily to pneumonia and dysentery in winter.
Cattle are largely kept, and buffaloes are almost a speciality in the district. Horses and ponies too
are numerous. Sheep and goats are kept by village menials, chiefly Barais, and mules and donkeys are
largely used in the carrying trade as pack animals. Camels are few, as there is little suitable grazing
ground for them, and these are solely used as beasts of burden.
Ajnala Tahsil.—Three villages of this tahsil suffered very heavy losses from Surra during the
months August—November 1894. The actual number which succumbed were 92 per cent. horses, 40
per cent. asses and 100 per cent. mules possessed by the villagers.
During the rains of 1895 Surra occurred in three villages of this tahsil, one of them, Jastarwal,
losing 15 horses. These villages are said to be low-lying and subject to inundation. Surra is often
named " Gum Zahrbad."
Amritsar Tahsil—Two villages of this tahsil are reported to have lost 50 per cent. horses and 25 per
cent. asses owned, during August and September 1894.
During the months of August and September 1895 the disease appeared in three villages of the
above tahsil, to which 77 per cent. horses and 46 per cent. asses of the villages succumbed.
Veterinary-Captain Gunn, in his Annual Report for 1896-97, remarks as follows :—
" At Shamnagar, a village about three miles south of Tirpai, no less than 26 horses out of 28 died
during the rainy season of 1895. This part of the country is very low-lying, and in the wet season
is really water-logged."
" Surra, locally known as ' Sokra,' would seem to be well known in the neighbourhood of Amritsar,
and in proportion to the number of equines is very destructive. At Wala, out of 10 horses and 100
donkeys, 4 of the former and 25 of the latter died in 1895."
" The disease attacked fatally animals in the villages of Fategarh, Sakarchak and Tungpain. In
the latter place, out of 7 horses and 22 donkeys, no less than 3 horses and 12 donkeys are reported to
have succumbed in August 1895. All this part of the country is low-lying, and the zamindars say that