3o6 Nf1GPUR .DLSTRICT
and sand-grouse are fairly common; bustard are frequently seen in
the south, and florican occasionally. Snipe and duck are obtained
in the cold season in a few localities.
N-5gpur has the reputation of being one of the hottest places in
India during the summer months. In May the temperature rises
to rib', while it falls on clear nights as low as 7o°°. During the
rains the highest day temperature seldom exceeds 95°, and the lowest
at night is about 70°. In the cold season the highest temperature
is between 8o° and 9o°, and the lowest about 50°°. Except for three
months from April to June, when the heat is intense, and in Septem-
ber, when the atmosphere is steamy and the moist heat very trying,
the climate of Nagpur is not unpleasant.
The annual rainfall averages 46 inches, but less is received in the
west than in the east of the District. Complete failure of the rain-
fall has in the past been very rare; but its distribution is capricious,
especially towards the end of the monsoon, when the fate of the
harvest is in the balance.
There is no historical record of Nagpur prior to the commence-
ment of the eighteenth century, when it formed part of the (pond
kingdom of Deogarh, in Chindwara. Bakht Buland,
History. the reigning prince of Deogarh, proceeded to Delhi,
and, appreciating the advantages of the civilization which he there
witnessed, determined to set about the development of his own terri
tories. To this end he invited Hindu artificers and husbandmen to
settle in the plain country, and founded the city of Nagpur. His
successor, Chand Sultan, continued the work of civilization, and re-
moved his capital to Nagpur. On Chand Sultan's death in 1739
there were disputes as to the succession, and his widow invoked the
aid of Raghuji Bhonsla, who was governing Berar on behalf of the
Peshwa. The Bhonsla family were originally headmen of Deora,
a village in the Satara District of Bombay, from which place their
present representative derives his title of Raja. Raghuji's grand-
father and his two brothers had fought in the armies of Sivaji, and
to the most distinguished of them was entrusted a high military
command and the collection of chauth in Berar. Raghuji, on being
called in by the contending Gond factions, replaced the two sons
of Chand Sultan on the throne from which they had been ousted
by a usurper, and retired to Berar with a suitable reward for his
assistance. Dissensions, however, broke out between the brothers;
and in 1743 Raghuji again intervened at the request of the elder
brother, and drove out his rival. But he had not the heart to give
back a second time the country he held within his grasp. Burhan
Shah, the Gond Raja, though allowed to retain the outward insignia
of royalty, became practically a state pensioner, and all real power
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