4
walled hamlet of Saraspur, which is situated about a mile to the north-east of the
town. The area within the walls is estimated to be about 2 square miles, and
Saraspur contains about 52 acres. The city is divided into four wards, named
Kharuya, Dariapur, Shahpur, and Jamalpur, and for municipal purposes each of
these divisions, or as they are called zillahs, is again sub-divided into three
sec-tions, whilst Saraspur forms a distinct section by itself. There are supposed to be
about 50 miles or more of thoroughfares, taking into account all the lanes in the
city ;but there are only 18 miles of made roads, 11¾ miles of which have been laid
with limestone excavated from the bed of the river, and 5 miles with broken tiles
covered with earth, whilst 9¼ miles are formed of earth only. Altogether
there are about 27½ miles of roads for the passage of wheeled vehicles. The
principal streets run north and south, and though there are some running east
and west, they are for the most part interrupted, and do not extend across the
town. The Oliphant road, a fine, broad street, extends from the Ellis Bridge on
the west to the Astoria Gate on the south, butit,does not go through the thickly
populated parts of the city. The houses are chiefly upper-storied, and are built
of brick and mud, with tiled roofs. In many quarters of the town they present
merely a dead wall towards the streets, and the windows of the rooms on the inner
side look outi nto an enclosed courtyard. They are generally built in blocks
which are approached only through a gateway ; and through each block there
often is a central street, from which crooked lanes diverge. Such blocks are called
poles, but the passages in them are not thoroughfares. They vary in size from
those in which there are only 5 or 10, whilst in others there are 50, 60, or even
more houses. For example, in the Jamalpur Division there is the Mandvie's pole,
which is supposed to contain a larger area than the village of Saraspur, and in
which it is said upwards of 10,000 people reside. It is sub-divided into several
smaller poles, but the only approach to it is through two gates. The street through
Mandvie's pole forms the exception to the rule, and is a thoroughfare. Each
pole has, at its entrance, generally speaking, an enclosed space divided into two
partitions, one reserved for males and the other for females, each contain-
ing seats varying in number from 5 to 20. These places, denominated panch-
privies, are devoted to the separate use of the inhabitants of the pole in which
they are situated.
11. The population of the city at the time of the census in 1872 amounted
to 111,680 persons, and that of Saraspur to 5,193 ; so that the total population
living under municipal jurisdiction consisted of 116,873 persons ; of whom
58,477, or 50.03 per cent. of the total, were males, and 58,396, or 49.97 per cent.
were females ; the former exceeding the latter by only 81, so that the equality of
the sexes is, for an Indian city, remarkable.
1.2. The subjoined table shows that the city, together with the hamlet of
Saraspur, is overcrowded:—
Acres to a
Person.
Person to an
Acres.
Persons to a.
Square Mile
In London there are
...
... ...
0.02
41.69
26,682
Bombay
...
...
... 0 . 19
52.14
33,372
Ahmedabad City...
0.12
83.46
53,435
Saraspur
...
0.10
99.86
63,914
•
13. It must be also remembered that in the city are many open spaces,
s u c h a s t h e B h u d d e r , t h e K a r a n j , t h e j u m a M u s j i d , t h e A r s e n a l , a n d e v e n
c u l t i v a t e d
land, &c., so that the above does not represent the density of popula-
tion in certain parts, as will be seen from the following table, where the Sháhpur