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Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 22, p. 25.

SAfITHAR STATE 25 or 13 per cent. ; Brahmans, 3,8oo, or 11 per cent.; Lodhis, 3,000, or 9 per cent. ; Kachhis and Gujars, 2,ooo each, or 7 per cent. ; Gadarias, 1,700, or 5 per cent. The State contains 9o villages and one town, SAMTHAR (population, 8, 286), the capital. For a Hindu State in this part of India the percentage of Musalmans is unusually high. The Muhammadan element also takes a considerable part in the adminis- tration. The prevailing form of speech is Bundelkhandi. About 33 Per cent. of the population are supported by agriculture and 17 per cent. by general labour. The soil is for the most part poor, and the country is singularly devoid of tanks, which are fairly common in the rest of Bundelkhand. The principal soils are nadr, an inferior black soil; kdbar, a grey soil; parua, a yellowish red soil, which is the most prevalent; and riinhar, a stony soil, strewn with boulders of gneiss, and of very little agricultural value. Of the total area, 85 square miles, or 42 per cent., are culti- vated, of which only 519 acres are irrigable; 49 square miles, or 25 per cent., are cultivable but not cultivated ; and the rest is jungle and waste. Of the cropped area, jowdr occupies 30 square miles, or 35 Per cent. ; wheat,' 2o square miles, or 23 per cent. ; gram, i9 square miles, or 22 per cent. ; and cotton, 5 square miles. The only metalled road in the State is 8 miles in length, and leads to Moth, on the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. The opening of the railway in 1888 has greatly facilitated the export of grain, for which there was formerly no market. Saltpetre is exported in some quantity, mainly to Bhopal. The administration is carried on by the chief, assisted by his wazir (minister). The State is divided into four parganas, with head-quarters at Shamshergarh, Amargarh, Maharajganj, and Lohargarh, each under a tahsilddr. In all general administrative matters the wazir has full powers. The chief exercises plenary criminal jurisdiction, and is the final court of reference in other matters. The revenues of the State, before its territories were reduced by the Marathas, are said to have amounted to r2 lakhs. The annual receipts are now 1•5 lakhs, mostly derived from land. The expenditure is about the same. A regular settlement was made in 1895 by Maharaja Chhatar Singh, under which the land is farmed out and the revenue collected in cash from the patta (lease) holders, in two instalments. The incidence of the land revenue demand is Rs. 5 per acre of the cultivated area. No land is alienated in jdgirs. Until Maharaja Chhatar Singh's time, when the British rupee was made legal tender, the currency consisted of the Xdna shdhi rupee of Jhansi and the Datia coin. The troops consist of the chief's body-guard of 12 horsemen and 40 footmen, and an irregular force employed as police, which numbers