The Imperial Gazetteer of India, Volume 16

Overview

Volume 16 of The Imperial Gazetteer of India, published 1907-1909 as part of the second edition’s 26-volume set, provides comprehensive geographical, statistical, and administrative information on specific regions of British India. The 464-page volume contains detailed gazetteers documenting districts, towns, villages, physical geography, economic resources, demographics, and administrative structures. As part of the most comprehensive reference work on colonial India, it served British administrators, scholars, and commercial interests requiring detailed information about the subcontinent’s vast territories.

The Imperial Gazetteer Project

The Imperial Gazetteer originated in Sir William Wilson Hunter’s (1840-1900) vision of systematically documenting India under British rule. The first edition (1881) compiled existing district gazetteers into a multi-volume set. The monumental second edition (1907-1909), completed after Hunter’s death, comprised:

4 volumes: Encyclopedic coverage of Indian history, economics, society, and administration 20 volumes: Alphabetical gazetteer entries for places, regions, and administrative units 1 volume: Index 1 volume: Atlas

The entire set contained approximately 15,000 pages documenting British India at its territorial and administrative zenith.

Content and Organization

Volume 16, as part of the alphabetical gazetteer series, contains entries for locations beginning with specific letters of the alphabet. Each entry typically includes:

Geographical Information:

• Location coordinates, elevation, physical features
• Climate data, rainfall statistics, temperature ranges
• Rivers, mountains, and natural resources
• Transportation routes and distances from major centers

Administrative Details:

• District and subdivision boundaries
• Tahsil and taluk organization
• Municipal and rural governance structures
• Revenue administration and land tenure systems

Demographic Data:

• Population statistics by caste, religion, and occupation
• Literacy rates and educational facilities
• Public health information and mortality statistics
• Migration patterns and urbanization trends

Economic Information:

• Agricultural production (crops, irrigation, land use)
• Trade and commerce
• Industries and manufacturing
• Markets and commercial centers
• Revenue and taxation data

Historical Background:

• Pre-colonial history and archaeological sites
• Events during British conquest and consolidation
• Administrative changes and reorganizations
• Notable historical figures and events

Editorial Methodology

The Gazetteer compiled information from multiple sources:

• Official census reports (1901 Census provided primary demographic data)
• Revenue and administrative records
• District gazetteers compiled by local officials
• Archaeological and geological surveys
• Historical records and chronicles
• Personal observations by British officials

Multiple contributors, including district officers, specialized scholars, and India Office staff, produced entries under editorial supervision ensuring consistency and comprehensiveness.

Purpose and Audience

The Imperial Gazetteer served multiple constituencies:

Colonial Administration: Officials required detailed information about territories under their jurisdiction. The Gazetteer provided standardized data enabling policy formulation, resource allocation, and administrative decision-making.

Commercial Interests: British and Indian merchants, investors, and companies used the Gazetteer to identify economic opportunities, assess market conditions, and plan commercial ventures.

Scholarly Research: Historians, geographers, ethnographers, and other scholars relied on the Gazetteer’s comprehensive documentation for research on Indian society, economy, and history.

General Reference: The work served as standard reference for anyone requiring authoritative information about India, from missionaries to travelers to armchair geographers in Britain.

Historical Significance

The Imperial Gazetteer represents the culmination of 19th-century British efforts to comprehensively document and classify their Indian empire. It embodies:

Knowledge and Power: The project exemplifies how colonial regimes used systematic knowledge production to facilitate control. Detailed documentation of resources, populations, and territories enabled more effective administration and extraction.

Standardization: The Gazetteer imposed uniform categories and classification systems across India’s diverse regions, creating standardized administrative knowledge that homogenized complex local realities.

Historical Record: Despite its colonial perspective, the Gazetteer preserves invaluable historical data. For regions with limited indigenous documentation, it provides essential information about early 20th-century conditions.

Methodological Innovation: The project advanced geographical and statistical methods, influencing subsequent reference works and establishing models for comprehensive regional documentation.

Critical Perspectives

Modern scholars recognize both the value and limitations of the Imperial Gazetteer:

Colonial Bias: The work reflects British administrative priorities and perspectives, often marginalizing indigenous viewpoints and knowledge systems.

Economic Focus: Emphasis on resources, revenues, and commercial potential reflects colonial extractive interests rather than holistic understanding of Indian societies.

Static Representation: The Gazetteer presents India as relatively static, emphasizing administrative order while downplaying dynamic social changes and indigenous agency.

Selective Documentation: Information deemed administratively or commercially relevant received detailed coverage, while aspects of Indian life considered unimportant to colonial interests received minimal attention.

Despite these limitations, historians continue using the Gazetteer as an essential source, read critically with awareness of its colonial context.

Digital Preservation

Volume 16 and other volumes of the second edition have been digitized from university libraries including the University of Toronto and are freely accessible through the Internet Archive, ensuring continued scholarly access to this comprehensive documentation of early 20th-century India under British rule.