354
PALANPUR STATE
274,864 in 189x, and 222,627 in i_9or. It contains one town,
PALANPUR, and 510 villages. The density of population is 70 persons
per square mile. Hindus number x83,495, Muhammadans 26,452,
and Jains 12,602.
To the north and west the soil is light and sandy, needing little
water but usually yielding only one crop a year. To the south and
east, towards the hills, the soil is a rich black capable of giving three
crops a year with a good rainfall. For the first crops slight rain is
sufficient, but in the case of the late harvest heavy rain is required,
when the yield is very abundant. The principal products are wheat,
rice and other grains, and sugar-cane. Four stallions are maintained
at Palanpur for horse-breeding purposes.
The high roads from Ahmadabad to Pali in Marwar, and from
Ahmadabad to Nasirabad, Ajmer, Delhi, Agra, and Deesa, pass through
the State. A considerable trade in cotton, cloth, grain, raw sugar, and
rice is carried on with Pali, Dholera, Ahmadabad, and Radhanpur.
The chief enjoys a gross revenue of 7-3 lakhs, and pays a tribute of
Rs. 38,461-8-7 to the Gaikwar of Baroda. Land revenue in 1903-4
amounted to 2•1 lakhs, and excise revenue to Rs. 55,ooo. No transit
duties are levied. The chief maintains, at an annual cost of about
il.lakhs, a force of 161 horse and 440 foot. The police force of the
State consisted in 1963-4 of 2,935 men, regular and irregular.
The State maintains 22 schools attended by 1,244 pupils, besides
31 girls. About 12,200 persons received relief at hospitals and dis
pensaries in 1903-4. The number of persons vaccinated in the same
year was i i,8oo.
Palanpur Town.-Capital of the State of the same name in
Bombay, situated in 24° io' N. and 72° 28' E., at the junction of the
Palanpur-Deesa branch of the Bombay, Baroda, and Central India
Railway with the main line. Population (igoi), 17,799. It is the
head-quarters of the Palanpur Political Agency, and the residence of
the Diwan or chief of Palanpur State. The town, lying low, is hidden
and commanded by a circle of hillocks. It is surrounded by a brick-
and-mortar wall, built in 1750 by Diwan Bahadur Khanji, from 17 to
20 feet high, 6 feet thick, and 3 miles in circuit. The two suburbs of
Jainpura and Tajpura are surrounded by a ditch, once 12 feet deep
and 22 feet broad. The houses are irregular and closely packed, and,
with few exceptions, the streets and lanes are narrow and dirty. The
supply of water, chiefly from wells, is unwholesome. The public
health is not good, lung diseases and fevers being very prevalent.
Palanpur is a very old settlement. It is mentioned in the eighth
century as the place where Vanaraja (746-8o), the founder of the
Chavada dynasty of Anhilvada, was brought up. Early in the thirteenth
century it appears as Prahladan Patan, the capital of Prahladan Deo of
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