RAIPUR DRSTRICT 49
Central Provinces, lying between 19° 5o' and 21° 53' N. and 8i° 25'
and 83° 38' 1;., with an area of 11,724 square miles. The District
occupies the southern portion of the Chhattisgarh plain, or upper basin
of the Mahanadi, and includes also tracts of the hilly country surround-
ing it on all sides except the north. It was the largest District in the
Province up to rgo6, but since its reconstitution it has a smaller area
than CMnda.
On the north-western border a narrow strip of the Satpura range
enters the District, and after a break of open country comprised
in the Nândgaon and Khairâgarh States the hills
again appear on the south-west. On the south Physical
and west they occupy a much. larger area, stretch- aspects.
ing almost up to the Mahanadi and extending over 5,ooo square miles
of more or less broken country. The greater part of the hilly tract
is included in the three groups of estates known as the north-western,
south-western, and south-eastern zaminddris, the third being much
the largest and most important. The plain country, covering an area
roughly of 5,000 square miles, lies principally to the north-west of the
Mahanadi, with a few isolated tracts to the south. The Government
forests consist practically of two large blocks in the south and east
of the District, but extensive areas in the zaminddris are also covered
with jungle. The hills are generally of only moderate elevation, most
of the peaks having an altitude of a little over 2,ooo feet, while only
a few rise above 2,5oo, and one peak between Bindrâ-Nawâgarh and
Khariar reaches 3,235 feet. The general slope of the plain is to the
north-east, Nândgaon, just beyond the western border, having an
elevation of r,oIi feet, and Bhâtdpdra, beyond the eastern boundary
in Bilâspur, of 888. The two main rivers are the Mahanadi and the
Seonâth. The Mahŕnadi flows in a north-easterly direction for about
125 miles in the District, its principal tributary being the Pair!, which
joins it at Rajim. The Sondhâl, which borders the Bindrâ-Nawâgarh
zaminddri and flows into the Pair!, is also a stream of some importance.
The Seonâth enters the District on the south-west, and flows north
and east in a very tortuous course for about 125 miles, until after
a short bend into Bilâspur it joins the Mahanadi on the border of the
two Districts. The Kharűn river, which flows by Raipur town, is
a tributary of the Seonath. The general character of the Mahanadi
and the rivers in the east of the District is very different from that
three towns-RAIPUR, DHANITARI, and ARANG-and 4,051 inhabited villages. It
includes I I zanzinddri estates with a total area 04899 square miles, of which 2,382
are forest. Outside the zamindaris, Government forest covers 1,337 square miles.
The approximate land revenue demand in 1902-3 on the area now constituting the
District was 6•80 lakhs. The article refers almost throughout to Raipur District
before its reconstitution, material not being available for the treatment of the new
area.
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