HOSUR TOWN 205
ing the ends of the two parallel ranges of hills which farther south
enclose the valley Of SANDUR. It was carried out with the aid of
Joāo de la Ponte, a Portuguese engineer whose services had been lent
by the Governor-General of Goa. Immediately south of Hospet, at the
northern end of the big embankment, rises a prominent hill of a curious
conical shape with smooth grass-covered sides, which is called the
Joladardsi, or 'heap of cholam.' The youth among the local Boyas
used to back themselves to run up it without stopping, carrying a bag
of grain on their shoulders. Farther east along this same range is the
bold peak of Jambunath Konda (2,98o feet above the sea) ; and half-
way up this, in a very picturesque glen, standing on a broad artificial
terrace, is the temple of Jambunāth. From Hospet to the foot of the
hill is about 3 miles, and a paved way leads up to the temple.
Hosur Subdivision.-Subdivision of Salem, District, Madras,
consisting of the HOSUR, KRISHNAGIRI, and DHARMAPURI tdluks.
Hosur Taluk-Northern tdluk of Salem District, Madras, lying
between, 12° 9′ and 12° 54′ N. and 77° 29′ and 78° 16′ E., with an
area of 1,217 square miles. The northern and western portions are on
the high level of the Mysore plateau, and form a bare and uninteresting
tract. In the south and east the country is full of beauty, being a series
of plateaux sustained by lines of forest-clad hills and sinking by rapid
descents down to the valley of the Cauvery. The tdlnk is the most
thinly peopled portion of the District; but at the Census of 19o1 it
contained a population of 184,971, compared with 155,768 in 1891,
the increase, at the rate of nearly 19 per cent., being the most rapid in
the District. Much of the country is covered with jungle, and is the
rearing-ground of the so-called Mysore breed of cattle,. The climate
on the table-land is cool and pleasant, resembling that of Bangalore.
The tāluk contains one town, HOsuR (population, 6,fī95), the head-
quarters of the subdivision and the tdluk. The number of villages
is 750. The demand for land revenue and cesses in 1903-4 was
Its. 2,49,000.
Hosur Town.-l-lead-quarters of the subdivision and tdluk of the
same name in Salem District, Madras, situated in 12° 44′ N. and
77° 50′ E. The nearest railway station is Malłr on the Bangalore
branch of the Madras Railway, 201 miles by a good road. It is also
easily accessible from Bangalore, 24 miles distant. Population (rgor),
6,695. To the west of the town stands an old - fort, mentioned
frequently in the history of the wars with Tipfi Sultan, and supposed
to have been built for Tipł by an English engineer named Hamilton.
He and two other prisoners were barbarously beheaded on the
approach of Lord Cornwallis's army in 1791. The divisional officer's
bungalow, locally called the Castle, was built at great cost by a former
Collector, Mr. Brett (1859-62), when Hosūr was the head-quarters of
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