402 KANKANHALLI TOWN
patna about 1577, and taken by the Mysore troops in 1630. Tipu
twice destroyed the town to prevent its giving shelter to the British
army marching on Seringapatam. The name is properly Kanakara-
nahalli, the village of the Kanakara or ' landed proprietor.' To this
family in 1648 was granted Channarayapatna (Hassan District). The
municipality dates from 1870. The receipts and expenditure during
the ten years ending 1901 averaged Rs. 1,800 and Rs. 1,900. In
1903-4 they were Rs. 2,200 and Rs. 2,300.
Kanker.—Feudatory State in the Central Provinces, lying between
20° 6′ and 20° 34′ N. and 80° 41′ and 81° 48′ E., with an area of
1,429 square miles. It is bounded on the north by Drug and Raipur
Districts; on the east by Raipur; on the south by the State of Bastar ;
and 011 the west by Chanda. The head-quarters are at Kanker, a vil-
lage with 3,906 inhabitants, situated on a small stream called the
Dudh, 39 miles by road from Dhamtarl station on the Raipur-Dham-
tari branch of the Bengal-Nagpur Railway. Most of the State consists
of hill and forest country; and except in the eastern portion along the
valley of the Mahanadi there are no extensive tracts of plain land, while
the soil of the valley itself is interspersed with outcrops of rock and
scattered boulders. The Mahanadi enters Kanker at a short distance
from its source, and flows through the eastern part of the State,
receiving the waters of numerous small streams from the hills. Gneiss
of a granitoid character is the prevailing rock formation. The prin-
cipal forest trees are teak, sal (Shorea robusta), sirsd (Dalbergia lati-
folia), and bijasal (Pterocarpus Marsupiimi). The ruling chief belongs
to a very old Rajput family, and according to tradition his ancestors
• were raised to the throne by a vote of the people. During the supre-
macy of the Haihaivansi dynasty of Chhattlsgarh, the chief of Kanker
is shown in an old record as in subsidiary alliance with the ruling power,
and as having held the Dhamtarl tract within their territories. Under
the Marathas the Kanker State was held on condition of furnishing
a military contingent 500 strong whenever required. In 1809 the chief
was deprived of Kanker, but was restored to it in 1818 by the British
Resident administering the Nagpur territories, on payment of a tri-
bute of Rs. 500. This was remitted in 1823 on the resumption by
the Government of certain manorial dues, and since then no tribute
has been paid. The present chief, Lai Kamal Deo, was installed in
1904. The population in 1901 was 103,536, having increased by 26
per cent, during the previous decade. Gonds form more than half the
total, and there are also a number of Halbas. Chhattlsgarhi and
Gondi are the languages spoken.
The soil is for the most part light and sandy. Nearly 300 square
miles, or 21 per cent, of the total area, were occupied for cultivation in
1904, and 284 square miles vere actually under crop. Rice covers |
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