Bahawalpur

Bahawalpur, capital of an Indian native state in political connection with the Punjab, lies near the left bank of the Sutlej, which here is crossed by the fine 'Empress Bridge' of the Indus Valley Railway. It has a circuit of four miles—part, however, of the inclosed space being occupied by groves of trees. Bahawalpur has manufactures of scarfs and turbans, silks, chintzes and other cottons, and the immediate neighbourhood is remarkably fertile in grain, sugar, indigo, tobacco, and butter. Population, 14,500.—The surface of the state is remarkably level; but only about one-sixth, skirting the Sutlej and Indus, is capable of cultivation. From 1866 till 1879 the state was under British management, during the young Nawab's minority, and it prospered greatly, waste lands being cultivated, canals increased, the army organised, and the railway carried through a large section of the territory. The great majority of the inhabitants are Mohammedans. Area, 17,285 sq. m.; pop. (1891) 650,042.