Ambála is a submontane district of very irregular shape. It includes two small hill tracts, Morní and Kasaulí. There is little irrigation, for in most parts the rainfall is ample. Wheat is the chief crop. The population has been declining in the past 20 years.

The only town of importance is Ambála. Jagádhrí is a busy little place now connected through private enterprise by a light railway with the N. W. Railway. The district consists of two parts almost severed from one another physically and wholly different as regards people, language, and agricultural prosperity. The Rúpar subdivision in the north-west beyond the Ghagar has a fertile soil, and, except in the Nálí, as the tract flooded by the Ghagar is called, a vigorous Ját peasantry, whose native tongue is Panjábí. The three south-eastern tahsíls, Ambála, Naráingarh, and Jagádhrí, are weaker in every respect. The loam is often quite good, but interspersed with it are tracts of stubborn clay largely put under precarious rice crops. The Játs are not nearly so good as those of Rúpar, and Rájputs, who are mostly Musulmáns, own a large number of estates.

Simla consists of three little tracts in the hills known as Bharaulí, Kotkhai, and Kotgarh, and of patches of territory forming the cantonments of Dagshai, Subáthu, Solon, and Jutogh, the site of the Lawrence Military School at Sanáwar, and the great hill station of Simla. Bharaulí lies south-west of Simla in the direction of Kasaulí. Kotkhai is in the valley of the Girí, a tributary of the Jamna. Kotgarh is on the Sutlej and borders on the Bashahr State. The Deputy Commissioner of Simla is also Superintendent or Political Officer of 28 hill states.

Jalandhar Division.—More than half the area of the Jalandhar division is contributed by the huge district of Kángra, which stretches from the Plains to the lofty snowy ranges on the borders of Tibet. The other districts are Hoshyárpur in the submontane zone, Jalandhar and Ludhiána, which belong to the Central Plains, and Ferozepore, which is part of the South-Eastern Panjáb. Sikhs are more numerous than in any other division, but are outnumbered by both Hindus and Muhammadans. The Commissioner has political charge of the hill states of Mandí and Suket and of Kapúrthala in the Plains.

Kángra is the largest district in the Panjáb. It includes three tracts of very different character:

Lahul, Spití, Kulu, and Saráj form a subdivision in charge of an Assistant Commissioner. The people of Kángra are Hindus. Islám never penetrated into these hills as a religion, though the Rájput Rájas of Kángra became loyal subjects of the Moghal Emperors. In its last days Ranjít Singh called in as an ally against the Gurkhas remained as a hated ruler. The country was ceded to the British Government in 1846. The Rájas were chagrined that we did not restore to them their royal authority, but only awarded them the status of jagírdárs. An outbreak, which was easily suppressed, occurred in 1848. Since then Kángra has enjoyed 65 years of peace. A Gurkha regiment is stationed at the district headquarters at Dharmsála. The cultivation ranges from the rich maize and rice fields of Kulu and Kángra to the poor buckwheat and kulath on mountain slopes. Rice is irrigated by means of kuhls, ingeniously constructed channels to lead the water of the torrents on to the fields.

Spití and Lahul.—Spití, or rather Pití, is a country of great rugged mountains, whose bare red and yellow rocks rise into crests of everlasting snow showing clear under a cloudless blue sky. There is no rain, but in winter the snowfall is heavy. The highest of the mountains exceeds 23,000 feet. Pití is drained by the river of the same name, which after passing through Bashahr falls I into the Sutlej at an elevation of 11,000 feet. Of the few villages several stand at a height of from 13,000 to 14,000 feet. The route to Pití from Kulu passes over the Hamtu Pass (14,200 feet) and the great Shigrí glacier. The people are Buddhists. They are governed by their hereditary ruler or Nono assisted by five elders, the Assistant Commissioner exercising a general supervision. Indian laws do not apply to the sparse population of this remote canton, which has a special regulation of its own. Lahul lies to the west of Pití, from which it is separated by a lofty range. It is entered from Kulu by the Rotang Pass (13,000 feet) and the road from it to Ladákh passes over the Baralácha (16,350 feet). The whole country is under snow from December to April, but there is very little rain. The two streams, the Chandra and Bhága, which unite to form the Chenáb, flow through Lahul and the few villages are situated at a height of 10,000 feet in their elevated valleys. The people are Buddhists. In summer the population is increased by "Gaddí" shepherds from Kángra, who drive lean flocks in the beginning of June over the Rotang and take them back from the Alpine pastures in the middle of September fat and well liking.

Kulu and Saráj.—The Kulu Valley, set in a mountain frame and with the Biás, here a highland stream, running through the heart of it, is one of the fairest parts of the Panjáb Himálaya. Manálí, at the top of the Valley on the road to the Rotang, is a very beautiful spot. Kulu is connected with Kángra through Mandí by the Babbu and Dulchí passes. The latter is generally open the whole year round. The headquarters are at Sultánpur, but the Assistant Commissioner lives at Nagar. In Kulu the cultivation is often valuable and the people are well off. The climate is good and excellent apples and pears are grown by European settlers. Inner and outer Saráj are connected by the Jalaori Pass on the watershed of the Sutlej and Biás. Saráj is a much rougher and poorer country than Kulu. There are good deodár forests in the Kulu subdivision. In 1911 the population of Kulu, Saráj, Lahul, and Pití, numbered 124,803. The Kulu people are a simple folk in whose primitive religion local godlings of brass each with his little strip of territory take the place of the Brahmanic gods. It is a quaint sight to see their ministers carrying them on litters to the fair at Sultánpur, where they all pay their respects to a little silver god known as Raghunáthjí, who is in a way their suzerain.

Kángra proper is bounded on the north by the lofty wall of the Dhaula Dhár and separated from Kulu by the mountains of Bara Bangáhal. It consists of the five tahsíls of Kángra, Palampur, Nurpur, Dera, and Hamírpur. The first two occupy the rich and beautiful Kángra Valley. They are separated from the other three tahsíls by a medley of low hills with a general trend from N.W. to S.E. They are drained by the Biás, and are much more broken and poorer than the Kángra Valley. The tea industry, once important, is now dead so far as carried on by English planters. The low hills have extensive chír pine forests. They have to be managed mainly in the interests of the local population, and are so burdened with rights that conservation is a very difficult problem. In 1911 the population of the five tahsíls amounted to 645,583. The most important tribes are Brahmans, Rájputs, and hardworking Gírths. The hill Brahman is usually a farmer pure and simple.

Hoshyárpur became a British possession in 1846 after the first Sikh War. It is a typically submontane district. A line of low bare hills known as the Solasinghí Range divides it from Kángra. Further west the Katár dhár, a part of the Siwáliks, runs through the heart of the district. Between these two ranges lies the fertile Jaswan Dun corresponding to the Una tahsíl. The other three tahsíls, Garhshankar, Hoshyárpur, and Dasúya, are to the west of the Katár dhár. Una is drained by the Soan, a tributary of the Sutlej. The western tahsíls have a light loam soil of great fertility, except where it has been overlaid by sand from the numerous chos or torrents which issue from the Siwáliks. The denudation of that range was allowed to go on for an inordinate time with disastrous results to the plains below. At last the Panjáb Land Preservation (Chos) Act II of 1890 gave the Government power to deal with the evil, but it will take many years to remedy the mischief wrought by past inaction. The rainfall averages about 32 inches and the crops are secure. The population has fallen off by 93,000 in 20 years, a striking instance of the ravages of plague. The chief tribes are Játs, Rájputs, and Gújars.

Jalandhar District.—Modern though the town of Jalandhar looks it was the capital of a large Hindu kingdom, which included also Hoshyárpur, Mandí, Suket, and Chamba, and in the ninth century was a rival of Kashmír (page 160). The present district is with the exception of Simla the smallest, and for its size the richest, in the province. It contains four tahsíls, Nawashahr, Phillaur, Jalandhar, and Nakodar. About 45 p.c. of the cultivation is protected by 28,000 wells. Behind the long river frontage on the Sutlej is the Bet, divided by a high bank from the more fertile uplands. The soil of the latter is generally an excellent loam, but there is a good deal of sand in the west of the district. The rainfall averages about 26 inches and the climate is healthy. The well cultivation is the best in the Panjáb. Between 1901 and 1911 the population declined by 13 p.c. Játs and Arains, both excellent cultivators, are the predominant tribes. British rule dates from 1846.

Ludhiána on the opposite bank of the Sutlej is also a very small district. It consists of a river Bet and Uplands with generally speaking a good loam soil. But there are very sandy outlying estates in the Jangal Des surrounded by Patiála and Jínd villages. There are three tahsíls, Samrála, Ludhiána, and Jagráon. Of the cultivated area 26 p.c. is irrigated, from wells (19) and from the Sirhind Canal (7). Wheat and gram are the principal crops. Between 1901 and 1911 the population fell from 673,097 to 517,192, the chief cause of decline being plague.

Sturdy hard-working Játs are the backbone of the peasantry. They furnish many recruits to the Army. Ludhiána is a thriving town and an important station on the N.W. Railway. Our connection with Ludhiána began in 1809, and the district assumed practically its present shape in 1846 after the first Sikh War.

Ferozepore is a very large district. The Farídkot State nearly cuts it in two. The northern division includes the tahsíls of Ferozepore, Zíra, and Moga, the last with an outlying tract known as Mahráj, which forms an island surrounded by the territory of several native states. The southern division contains the tahsíls of Muktsar and Fázilka. Our connection with Ferozepore began in 1809, and, when the widow of the last Sikh chief of Ferozepore died in 1835, we assumed direct responsibility for the administration of a considerable part of the district. Two of the great battles of the first Sikh War, Mudkí and Ferozesháh or more properly Pherushahr, were fought within its borders. Mamdot with an area of about 400 square miles ceased to be independent in 1855, but the descendant of the last ruler still holds it in jagír. Fázilka was added in 1864 when the Sirsa district was broken up. Of the cultivated area 47½ p.c. is irrigated by the Sirhind Canal, the Grey Inundation Canals, and wells. For the most part the district is divided into three tracts, the riverain, Hithár or Bet, with a poor clay soil and a weak population, the Utár, representing river deposits of an older date when the Sutlej ran far west of its present bed, and the Rohí, an upland plain of good sandy loam, now largely irrigated by the Sirhind Canal. The Grey Canals furnish a far less satisfactory source of irrigation to villages in the Bet and Utár. In different parts of this huge district the rainfall varies from 10 to 22 inches. The chief crops are gram and wheat. The Játs are the chief tribe. In the Uplands they are a fine sturdy race, but unfortunately they are addicted to strong drink, and violent crime is rife. Ferozepore has a large cantonment and arsenal and a big trade in grain. It is an important railway junction.

Lahore Division.—Lahore is the smallest division, but the first in population. Its political importance is great as the home of the Sikhs of the Mánjha, and because the capital of the province and the sacred city of the Khálsa are both within its limits. It contains the five districts of Gurdáspur, Siálkot, Gujránwála, Lahore, and Amritsar. The Commissioner is in political charge of the Chamba State.

Gurdáspur is a submontane district with a good rainfall and a large amount of irrigation. The crops are secure except in part of the Shakargarh tahsíl. 27 p.c. of the cultivated area is irrigated, 16 by wells and 11 by the Upper Bárí Doáb Canal. Irrigation is only allowed from the Canal for the Autumn harvest. The chief crop is wheat and the area under cane is unusually large. Of late years plague has been very fatal and the population fell from 940,334 in 1901 to 836,771 in 1911. Játs, Rájputs, Arains, Gújars, and Brahmans, are the chief agricultural tribes, the first being by far the most important element. There are four tahsíls, Batála, Gurdáspur, and Pathánkot in the Bárí Doáb, and Shakargarh to the west of the Ráví. Batála is one of the most fertile and prosperous tracts in the Panjáb and Gurdáspur is also thriving. Pathánkot is damp, fever stricken, and unprosperous. It lies mostly in the plains but contains a considerable area in the low hills and higher up two enclaves, Bakloh and Dalhousie, surrounded by Chamba villages. Shakargarh is much more healthy, and is better off than Pathánkot. There is good duck and snipe shooting to be got in some parts of the district, as the drainage from the hills collects in swamps and jhíls.

Siálkot is another secure and fully cultivated submontane district. It lies wholly in the Rechna Doáb and includes a small well-watered hilly tract, Bajwát, on the borders of Jammu. The Ráví divides Siálkot from Amritsar an the Chenáb separates it from Gujrát. The Degh and some smaller torrents run through the district. In the south there is much hard sour clay, part hitherto unculturable. But irrigation from the Upper Chenáb Canal will give a new value to it. There are five tahsíls, Zafarwál, Siálkot, Daska, Pasrúr, and Raya. The chief crop is wheat which is largely grown on the wells, numbering 22,000. The pressure of the population on the soil was considerable, but since 1891 the total has fallen from 1,119,847 to 979,553 as the result of plague and emigration to the new canal colonies. Christianity has obtained a considerable number of converts in Siálkot. The Játs form the backbone of the peasantry. Rájputs and Arains are also important tribes, but together they are not half as numerous as the Játs.

Gujránwála is a very large district in the Rechna Doáb, with five tahsíls, Wazírábád, Gujránwála, Sharakpur, Háfizábád, and Khángáh Dográn. The rainfall varies from 20 inches on the Siálkot border to ten or eleven in the extreme south-west corner of the district. Gujránwála is naturally divided into three tracts: the Riverain of the Ráví and Chenáb, the Bángar or well tract, and the Bár once very partially cultivated, but now commanded by the Lower and Upper Chenáb Canals. Enormous development has taken place in the Háfizábád and Khángáh Dográn tahsíls in the 20 years since the Lower Chenáb Canal was opened. Of late years the rest of the district has suffered from plague and emigration, and has not prospered. But a great change will be effected by irrigation from the Upper Chenáb Canal, which is just beginning. In the east of the district much sour clay will become culturable land, and the Bár will be transformed as in the two tahsíls watered by the older canal. Of the cultivated area 73½ p.c. is irrigated, 36½ from wells and 37 from canals. The chief crops are wheat and gram. There is, as is usual in the Western Panjáb, a great preponderance of Spring crops. The Játs are far and away the strongest element in the population.

Amritsar is a small district lying in the Bárí Doáb between Gurdáspur and Lahore. 62 p.c. of the cultivated area is irrigated, half from 12,000 wells and half from the Upper Bárí Doáb Canal. Unfortunately much waterlogging exists, due to excessive use of canal water and defective drainage. Measures are now being taken to deal with this great evil, which has made the town of Amritsar and other parts of the district liable to serious outbreaks of fever. There are two small riverain tracts on the Biás and Ráví and a poor piece of country in Ajnála flooded by the Sakkí. The main part of the district is a monotonous plain of fertile loam. The two western tahsíls, Amritsar and Tarn Táran, are prosperous, Ajnála is depressed. The rainfall is moderate averaging 21 or 22 inches, and the large amount of irrigation makes the harvests secure. The chief crops are wheat and gram.

The Sikh Játs of the Mánjha to the south of the Grand Trunk Road form by far the most important element in the population. Between 1901 and 1911 there was a falling off from 1,023,828 to 880,728. Besides its religious importance the town of Amritsar is a great trade centre.

Lahore lies in the Bárí Doáb to the south-west of Amritsar. It is a much larger district, though, like Amritsar, it has only three tahsíls, Lahore, Kasúr, and Chúnian. 76 p.c. of the cultivated area is irrigated, 23 from wells and 53 from canals. There has been an enormous extension of irrigation from the Upper Bárí Doáb Canal in the past 30 years. Accordingly, though the rainfall is somewhat scanty, the crops are generally secure. The principal are wheat and gram. The district consists of the Riverain on the Biás and Ráví, the latter extending to both sides of the river, and the plain of the Mánjha, largely held by strong and energetic Sikh Játs. In the Ráví valley industrious Arains predominate. Railway communications are excellent. Trade activity is not confined to the city of Lahore. Kasúr, Chúnian, and Raiwind are important local centres.

The Ráwalpindí Division occupies the N.W. of the Panjáb. It is in area the second largest division, but in population the smallest. Five-sixths of the people profess the faith of Islam. It includes six districts, Gujrát, Jhelam, Ráwalpindi, Attock, Mianwálí, and Sháhpur. This is the division from which the Panjáb Musalmáns, who form so valuable an element in our army, are drawn.

Gujrát lies in the Jech Doáb. The two northern tahsíls, Gujrát and Kharián, have many of the features of a submontane tract. In the former the Pabbí, a small range of low bare hills, runs parallel to the Jhelam, and the outliers of the Himálaya in Kashmír are not far from the northern border of the district. The uplands of these two tahsíls slope pretty rapidly from N.E. to S.W., and contain much light soil. They are traversed by sandy torrents, dry in winter, but sometimes very destructive in the rains. Phália on the other hand is a typical plain's tahsíl. It has on the Chenáb a wide riverain, which also separates the uplands of the Gujrát tahsíl from that river. The Jhelam valley is much narrower. Above the present Chenáb alluvial tract there is in Phália a well tract known as the Hithár whose soil consists of older river deposits, and at a higher level a Bár, which will now receive irrigation from the Upper Jhelam Canal and become a rich agricultural tract. 26 p.c. of the cultivated area is irrigated from wells. Játs and Gújars are the great agricultural tribes, the former predominating. The climate is mild and the rainfall sufficient. The chief crops are wheat and bájra.

The Jhelam district lies to the north of the river of the same name. The district is divided into three tahsíls, Jhelam, Chakwál, Pind Dádan Khán. The river frontage is long, extending for about 80 miles, and the river valley is about eight miles wide. The district contains part of the Salt Range, from the eastern end of which the Nílí and Tilla spurs strike northwards, enclosing very broken ravine country called the Khuddar. The Pabbí tract, embracing the Chakwál tahsíl and the north of the Jhelam tahsíl, is much less broken, though it too is scored by deep ravines and traversed by torrents, mostly flowing north-west into the Sohán river. Two large torrents, the Kahá and the Bunhár, drain into the Jhelam. There are some fertile valleys enclosed in the bare hills of the Salt Range. The average rainfall is about 20 inches and the climate is good. It is hot in summer, but the cold weather is long, and sometimes for short periods severe. There is little irrigation and the harvests are by no means secure. The chief crops are wheat and bájra. The country breeds fine horses, fine cattle, and fine men. Numerically Játs, Rájputs, and Awáns are the principal tribes, but the Janjuas and Gakkhars, though fewer in number, are an interesting element in the population, having great traditions behind them. Awáns, Janjuas, and Gakkhars supply valuable recruits to the army. Most of the villages are far from any railway.

Ráwalpindí is the smallest district in the division. Along the whole eastern border the Jhelam, which runs in a deep gorge, divides it from Kashmír. There are four tahsíls, Murree, Kahúta, Ráwalpindí, and Gújar Khán. The first is a small wedge of mountainous country between Kashmír and Hazára. The hills are continued southwards at a lower level in the Kahúta tahsíl parallel with the Jhelam. The greater part of the district consists of a high plateau of good light loam, in parts much eaten into by ravines. Where, as often happens, it is not flat the fields have to be carefully banked up. The plateau is drained by the Sohán and the Kánshí. The latter starting in the south of Kahúta runs through the south-east of the Gújar Khán tahsíl, and for some miles forms the boundary of the Ráwalpindí and Jhelam districts. The district is very fully cultivated except in the hills. In the plains the rainfall is sufficient and the soil very cool and clean, except in the extreme west, where it is sometimes gritty, and, while requiring more, gets less, rain. The chief crops are wheat, the Kharíf pulses and bájra. The climate is good. The cold weather is long, and, except in January and February, when the winds from the snows are very trying, it is pleasant. In the plains the chief tribes are Rájputs and Awáns. Gakkhars are of some importance in Kahúta. In the Murree the leading tribes are the Dhúnds and the Sattís, the latter a fine race, keen on military service.

Ráwalpindí is the largest cantonment in Northern India. From it the favourite hill station of Murree is easily reached, and soon after leaving Murree the traveller crosses the Jhelam by the Kohála bridge and enters the territory of the Mahárája of Kashmír.

Attock district.—Though Attock is twice the size of Ráwalpindí it has a smaller population. Nature has decreed that it should be sparsely peopled. The district stretches from the Salt Range on the south to the Hazára border on the north. It contains itself the fine Kálachitta range in the north, the small and barren Khairí Múrat range in the centre, and a line of bare hills running parallel with the Indus in the west. That river forms the western boundary for 120 miles, dividing Attock from Pesháwar and Kohát. It receives in the Attock district two tributaries, the Haro and the Soán. There are four tahsíls, Attock, Fatehjang, Pindigheb, and Talagang. The northern tahsíl of Attock is most favoured by nature. It contains the Chach plain, part of which has a rich soil and valuable well irrigation, also on the Hazára border a small group of estates watered by cuts from the Haro. The south of the tahsíl is partly sandy and partly has a dry gritty or stony soil. Here the crops are very insecure. The rest of the district is a plateau. The northern part consists of the tahsíls of Fatehjang and Pindigheb drained by the Soán and its tributary the Sil. The southern is occupied by tahsíl Talagang, a rough plateau with deep ravines and torrents draining northwards into the Soán. In the valleys of the Sil and Soán some good crops are raised. The soil of the plateau is very shallow, and the rainfall being scanty the harvest is often dried up. The chief crops are wheat and bájra. Awáns form the bulk of the agricultural population.

Mianwálí is one of the largest districts, but has the smallest population of any except Simla. The Indus has a course of about 180 miles in Mianwálí. In the north it forms the boundary between the Mianwálí tahsíl and the small Isakhel tahsíl on the right bank. In the south it divides the huge Bhakkar tahsíl, which is bigger than an average district, from the Dera Ismail Khán district of the N.W.F. Province. It is joined from the west by the Kurram, which has a short course in the south of the Isakhel tahsíl. The Salt Range extends into the district, throwing off from its western extremity a spur which runs north to the Indus opposite Kálabágh. Four tracts may be distinguished, two large and two small. North and east of the Salt Range is the Khuddar or ravine country, a little bit of the Awánkárí or Awán's land, which occupies a large space in Attock. West of the Indus in the north the wild and desolate Bhangí-Khel glen with its very scanty and scattered cultivation runs north to the Kohát Hills. The rest of the district consists of the wide and flat valley of the Indus and the Thal or Uplands. In the north the latter includes an area of strong thirsty loam, but south of the railway it is a huge expanse of sand rising frequently into hillocks and ridges with some fertile bottoms of better soil. Except in the north the Thal people used to make their living almost entirely as shepherds and camel owners. There were scattered little plots of better soil where wells were sunk, and the laborious and careful cultivation was and is Dutch in its neatness. Some millets were grown in the autumn and the sandhills yielded melons. The people have now learned that it is worth while to gamble with a spring crop of gram, and this has led to an enormous extension of the cultivated area. But even now in Mianwálí this is a comparatively small fraction of the total area. There is a small amount of irrigation from wells and in the neighbourhood of Isakhel from canal cuts from the Kurram. Owing to the extreme scantiness of the rainfall the riverain depends almost entirely on the Indus floods, to assist the spread of which a number of embankments are maintained. Everywhere in Mianwálí the areas both of crops sown and of crops that ripen fluctuate enormously, and much of the revenue has accordingly been put on a fluctuating basis. The chief crops are wheat, bájra, and gram. Jats[12] are in a great majority Cis-Indus, but Patháns are important in Isakhel.

Sháhpur is also a very large district with the three tahsíls of Bhera, Sháhpur, and Sargodha in the Jech Doáb, and on the west of the Jhelam the huge Khusháb tahsíl, which in size exceeds the other three put together. The principal tribes are Jats Cis-Jhelam, Awáns in the Salt Range, and Jats and Tiwánas in Khusháb. The Tiwána Maliks have large estates on both sides of the river and much local influence. East of the Jhelam the colonization of the Bár after the opening of the Lower Jhelam Canal has led to a great increase of population and a vast extension of the cultivated area, 71 p.c. of which is irrigated. The part of the district in the Jech Doáb consists of the river valleys of the Chenáb and Jhelam, the Utár, and the Bár. The Chenáb riverain is poor, the Jhelam very fertile with good well irrigation. In the north of the district the Utár, a tract of older alluvium, lies between the present valley of the Jhelam and the Bár. It has hitherto been largely irrigated by public and private inundation canals, but this form of irrigation may be superseded by the excavation of a new distributary from the Lower Jhelam Canal. Till the opening of that canal the Bár was a vast grazing area with a little cultivation on scattered wells and in natural hollows. North of the Kirána Hill the soil is excellent and the country is now a sheet of cultivation. In the south of the Bár much of the land is too poor to be worth tillage. The Khusháb tahsíl consists of the Jhelam riverain, the Salt Range with some fertile valleys hidden amid barren hills, the Mohár below the hills with a thirsty soil dependent on extremely precarious torrent floods, and the Thal, similar to that described on page 260. The rainfall of the district is scanty averaging eleven or twelve inches. The chief crops are wheat, bájra and jowár, charí and cotton.

The Multán division consists of the six districts of the S.W. Panjáb, Montgomery, Lyallpur, Jhang, Multán, Muzaffargarh, and Dera Ghází Khán. Muhammadans are in an overwhelming majority. Wheat and cotton are the chief crops.

The Montgomery district takes its name from Sir Robert Montgomery (page 192). It lies in the Bárí Doáb between the Sutlej and the Ráví. It consists of the two Ráví tahsíls of Gugera and Montgomery, and the two Sutlej tahsíls of Dipálpur and Pákpattan. The trans-Ráví area of the Montgomery district was transferred to Lyallpur in April, 1913. It is included in the figures for area and population given in the margin.

The backbone of the district is a high and dry tract known as the Ganjí or Bald Bár. The advent of the Lower Bárí Doáb Canal will entirely change the character of this desert. Its south-eastern boundary is a high bank marking the course of the old bed of the Biás. Below this is the wide Sutlej valley. The part beyond the influence of river floods depends largely on the Khánwáh and Sohág Pára inundation Canals. The Ráví valley to the north-west of the Bár is naturally fertile and has good well irrigation. But it has suffered much by the failure of the Ráví floods.

The peasantry belongs largely to various tribes described vaguely as Játs. The most important are Káthias, Wattús, and Kharrals. The last gave trouble in 1857 and were severely punished. The Dipálpur Kambohs are much more hard-working than these semi-pastoral Játs. There is already a small canal colony on the Sohág Pára Canals and arrangements for the colonization of the Ganjí Bár are now in progress.

The Lyallpur district occupies most of the Sándal Bár, which a quarter of a century ago was a desert producing scrub jungle and, if rains were favourable, excellent grass. It was the home of a few nomad graziers. The area of the district, which was formed in 1904 and added to from time to time, has been taken out of the Crown Waste of the Jhang and Montgomery districts on its colonization after the opening of the Lower Chenáb Canal. Some old villages near the present borders of these two districts have been included. The colonization of the Sándal Bár has been noticed on pages 139-140. The figures for area and population given in the margin are for the district as it was before the addition of the trans-Ráví area of Montgomery.

Lyallpur is divided into the four tahsíls of Lyallpur, Járanwala, Samundrí, and Toba Tek Singh. It consists almost entirely of a flat plain of fertile loam with fringes of poor land on the eastern, western, and southern edges. The cultivated area is practically all canal irrigated. The rainfall of 10 inches does not encourage dry cultivation. The chief crops are wheat, the oil seed called toria, cotton, and gram. The area of the first much exceeds that of the other three put together. There is an enormous export of wheat and oil seeds to Karáchí.

Jhang now consists of a wedge of country lying between Lyallpur on the east and Sháhpur, Mianwálí, and Muzaffargarh on the west. It contains the valleys of the Chenáb and Jhelam rivers, which unite to the south-west of the district headquarters and flow as a single stream to the southern boundary. The valley of the Jhelam is pretty and fertile, that of the Chenáb exactly the reverse. In the west of the district part of the Thal is included in the boundary. The high land between the river valleys is much of it poor. Irrigation from the Lower Jhelam Canal is now available. There is a fringe of high land on the east of the Chenáb valley, partly commanded by the Lower Chenáb Canal. Jhang is divided into the three large tahsíls of Jhang, Chiniot, and Shorkot. The rainfall is about ten inches and the summer long and very hot. The chief crops are wheat, jowár, and charí. The Siáls are few in number, but are the tribe that stands highest in rank as representing the former rulers.