Previous Page [Digital South Asia Library] Next Page

Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 11, p. 205.


Graphics file for this page
DECCAN
205
Debhata.-Town in the Satkhira subdivision of Khulna District,
Bengal, situated in 22° 34′ N. and 88° 58′ E., on the Jamuna.
Population (190x), 5,454. There is a local trade in sundri wood
(Heritiera littoralis), and lime is manufactured from shells. Debhata
was constituted a municipality in 1876. The income and expendi
ture during the decade ending 1901-2 averaged Rs. 2,ooo each. In
1903-4 the income was Rs. 2,000, mainly from a tax on persons (or
property tax) ; and the expenditure was Rs. r,8oo.
Debi Patan-Village in the Utraula tahs7l of Gonda District,
United Provinces, situated in 27° 32′ N. and 82° 24′ 1:., on the
Bengal and North-Western Railway. Population (1901), 830. This
is an ancient site connected by tradition, like many other places, with
Raja Karna mentioned in the Mahabharata. It is now occupied
by a celebrated temple built from the ruins of earlier shrines, and
sacred to Siva. Aurangzeb is said to have been attracted by its
popularity and to have sent an officer who slew the priests, broke the
images, and defiled the holy places. A large fair is held in March,
attended by 8o,ooo to 1oo,ooo persons, when many buffaloes, goats,
and pigs are sacrificed. There is some trade in ponies from the hills
and in agricultural produce, while the Nepalese buy piece-goods at the
annual fair.
Deccan (or Dakhin).-This name, a corruption of the Sanskrit
dakshina = `southern,' includes, in its widest sense, the whole of India
south of the Narbada river, or, which is nearly the same thing, south of
the Vindhya mountains. In its narrower sense it has much the same
meaning as MAHARASHTRA, or the country where the Marathi language
is spoken, if the below-Ghat tract be omitted. In this connotation its
southern boundary lies along the course of the Kistna river. In a still
narrower sense the Deccan is regarded as bounded on the north by the
Satmala hills. Adopting the broadest meaning, the Deccan on its
western side descends seaward by a succession of terraces from the
WESTERN- GHATS, which rise in parts to over 4,000 feet in height and
terminate abruptly near Cape Comorin, the extreme southern poilrt of
the peninsula, at an elevation of 2,000 feet. From here, following the
coast-line, the EASTERN GNATS commence in a series of detached
groups, which, uniting in about latitude 11° 40′ N., run north-eastward
along the Coromandel coast, with an average elevation of 1,500 feet,
and join the Vindhyas, which cross the peninsula from west to east, in
nearly the same latitude (13° 20′ N.) as their western counterpart. The
Vindhyan range thus joins the northern extremities of the two Ghats
and completes the peninsular triangle of the Deccan. The eastern side
of the enclosed table-land being much lower than the western, all the
principal rivers of the Deccan--the Godavari, Kistna, and Cauvery--
rising in the Western Ghats, flow eastward, and escape by openings in
Previous Page To Table of Contents Next Page

Back to Imperial Gazetteer of India | Back to the DSAL Page