About the Volume

This volume has been compiled from the Report on the Settlement of Balasore, by Mr. D. H. Kingsford, I.C.S. It gives a panoramic description of the district named Balasore, which includes natural divisions of the region, its river system, estuaries and harbours, Geology, Botany, Game birds, climate, rainfall, etc. It further tells about the pre-historic period, the Maurya rule, the Medieval period, the Muhammadan period, the Maratha rule, early English settlements, English conquest and formation of the district. The Gazetteer provides valuable information about its people, their general characteristics, languages, religions and principal castes. It discusses the vital statistics of the people, prevailing diseases, sanitation, the practice of inoculation, etc. Details about the various canals, the embankments and their effects have been mentioned in the volume. The Gazetteer states that land revenue administration included Hindu Revenue system, Muhammadan Revenue system, Maratha Revenue system, early English Administration, Settlement of 1897, land tenures and tenure holders.