AGRICULTURE
247
In 1905 Tekmāl was merged in Andol, and Rāmāyampet partly in
Medak and partly in the Kāmāreddipet tdluk of Nizāmābād (Indūr)
District. Ibrāhimpatan was transferred from Mahbnbnagar District
and added to Bāghāt, while Siddipet was transferred to this District
from Karimnagar (Elgandal). In its present form the District consists
of five tdluks : Medak, Siddipet, Bāghāt, Kalabgar, and Andol, besides
the four large estates of Hatnara, Narsāpur, Nārsingi, and Nawābpet,
and other minor jāgirs.
The most numerous caste is that of the Kapus (69,ooo). Next
come the Madigas or leather-workers (40,300), and the Malas or Dhers
(32,400), both of whom work also as agricultural labourers. There are
37,4oo Brāhmans, 32,3oo Gollas or shepherds, and 13,6oo Komatis,
who form the trading and money-lending caste. Nearly 42 per cent.
of the population depend directly upon agriculture, and r r per cent. on
general labour and earthwork.
The total number of Christians, according to the last Census, was
373, of whom 327 were natives. A Wesleyan mission at Medak town
was started in 1887, and has a staff of 8 Europeans and 45 natives.
The adherents are chiefly of the Māla caste. The mission maintains
a school and a hospital. The former was opened in 1887 and the latter
in 1895, a large zandna ward being added in 1902.
There is hardly any difference in the agricultural condition of the
several tdluks. The soils on the highlands are mostly sandy and
gravelly, while black soil is found in small patches
in hollows or depressed areas. Agriculture.
The tenure of lands is chiefly ryotwdri. In 1901 the District con-
tained 1,149 square miles of khdlsa lands, of which 489 were cultivated.
Of the remainder, 114 were cultivable waste and follows, 387 were
forests, and 159 were not available for cultivation. The staple food-
crops are rice, bdjra, and jowdr, the areas under which were 106,
207, and 168 square miles respectively. The rice in this District
compares favourably with the finest qualities produced elsewhere.
Next in importance are kodro, lachna, and various pulses. Sugar-
cane is grown in all the tdluks, covering about one square mile.
The cattle are of the ordinary kind, and buffaloes are extensively
employed in rice and sugar-cane cultivation. No special breed of
ponies or horses is indigenous to the District, those found being véry
inferior. At Rājampet, near Sangareddipet, there is a State stud farm,
where several stallions are kept with the object of improving the breed,
but ryots are slow in taking advantage of the facilities offered them in
this respect. Sheep and goats of the ordinary description are reared.
The total area of irrigated land in rgoo-I was 109 square miles, or
more than 22 per cent. of the cultivated area. The different sources of
irrigation and the areas supplied by each are as follows : Canals and
|
![[Digital South Asia Library]](/graphics/thirdlevel.gif)
