Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 3, Athens-BOI

620
B E T-
park, but it lias a very sparse population and little culti¬
vated land. In the extreme north a line of hill rises
abruptly out of the great plain of the Narbadd valley. The
central tract alone possesses a rich soil, well watered by the
Machnd and Sdmpna rivers, almost entirely cultivated and
studded with villages. To the south lies a rolling plateau
of basaltic formation (with the sacred town of Multai, and
the springs of the River Taptl at its highest point), extending
over the whole of the southern face of the district, and
finally merging into the wild and broken line of the Ghdts,
which lead down to the plains. This tract consists of a
succession of stony ridges of trap rock, enclosing valleys or
basins of fertile soil, to which cultivation is for the most
part confined, except where the shallow soil on the tops of
the hills has been turned to account.
The principal rivers of the district are the Tapti, Wardha, Bel
Machna, Sampna, Morar, and Tawa. The Tapti rises a few miles
from Multai, traverses the southern part of the district, and then
plunges into the gorge of the Satpura hills, formed on the one side
by the Chikalda hills of Berar, and on the other side by the wild
Kalibhit hills of Hoshangabad. The Wardha can hardly be called
a river of the district, as it merely takes its rise in the Satpura hills
on the south-eastern boundary. The Biver Bel also rises in the high
plateau of Betul, and forms one of the chief affluents of the Kanhan.
The Machna and Sampna rise among the hills that shut in the rich
basin of the district. They unite their waters at the town of Betiil,
force their way through the Satpura range, and join the Tawa near
Shahpur. The Moran rises in the Satpura hills within the district,
and enters Hoshangabad near the town of Seoul The Tawa rises
in Chhindwara, and flowing for a short distance through the north¬
east corner^ of this district, eventually joins the Narbada above
Hoshangabad. These are the rivers of importance ; but throughout
the district, and more especially amid the trap formation, there are
a number of smaller streams useful for irrigation. The principal
agricultural products of the district are wheat and pulses, more
than three-fourths of the open lands being devoted to these crops.
The other products are cotton, rice, millet, rye, sugar-cane, and
opium. The area under sugar-cane cultivation is estimated at 2400
acres, the juice extracted from it being exported in its raw state.
The principal agricultural tribe is the Kunbis, many of whom are
modern immigrants from Northern India. The aboriginal Gonds are
found in all the wild jungle villages, where they follow the nomadic
system of cultivation known as the ddhya. Extensive forests occupy
some 700 square miles of the district area, and yield teak and
other good timber. Coal occurs in many parts of the district, but
is not worked, as except at one place not a single seam has been
found exceeding 3 feet in thickness, and it is doubtful if a seam of
that thickness can be profitably mined in India. District revenues
in 1868-69—land revenue, £19,159 ; excise, £7219; assessed taxes,
£1136 ; forests, £1218 ; stamps, £2743; total, £31,475. Strength
of regular constabulary and town police, 333 men; cost, £3857
per annum.
Little is known of the early bistory of the district except
that it must have been the centre of the first of the four
ancient Gond kingdoms of Kherlfi, Deogarh, Mandla, and
Ch&ndd. According to Farishtd, these kingdoms engrossed
in 1398 all the hills of Gondwfin^ and adjacent countries,
and were of great wealth and power. About the year 1418
Sultdn Husain ShAh of Mdlwa invaded Kherld, and reduced
it to a dependency. Nine years later the RfijA rebelled, but
although with the help of the Bdhmlni kings of the Deccan
he managed for a time to assert his independence, he was
finally subdued and deprived of his territories. In 1467
Kherld was seized by the Bfihmini king, but was after¬
wards restored to Mfilwa. A century later the kingdom of
Mfilwa became incorporated into the dominions of the
emperor of Delhi. In 1703 a Musdlman convert of the
Gond tribe held the country, and in 1743 Raghuji BhonsU,
the Marhattfi, ruler of Berar, annexed it to his dominions.
The Marhatt&s in the year 1818 ceded this district to the
East India Company as payment for a contingent, and by
the treaty of 1826 it was formally incorporated with the
British possessions. Detachments of British troops were
stationed at MulUi, Betul, and Shfihpur to cut oS the
retreat of Apfi Sfihib, the Marhatta general, and a
military force was quartered at Betul until June 1862.
-B E U
The ruined city of Kherlfi formed the seat of government
under the Gonds and preceding rulers, and hence the dis¬
trict was, until the time of its annexation to the British
dominions, known as the “ Kherk SarkAr.” The town of
Mult&i contains an artificial tank, from the centre of which
the Tapti is said to take its rise; hence the reputed sanctity
of the spot, and the accumulation of temples in its honour.
The climate of Betul is fairly salubrious. Its height
above the plains and the neighbourhood of extensive
forests moderate the heat, and render the temperature
pleasant throughout the greater part of the year. During
the cold season the thermometer at night falls below the
freezing point; little or no hot wind is felt before the end
of April, and even then it ceases after sunset. The nights
in the hot season are comparatively cool and pleasant.
During the monsoon the climate is very damp, and at times
even cold and raw, thick clouds and mist enveloping the sky
for many days together. The average annual rainfall is 40
inches. In the denser jungles malaria prevails for months
after the cessation of the rains, but the Gonds do not
appear to suffer much from its effects. Travellers and
strangers who venture into these jungles run the risk of
fever of a severe type at almost all seasons of the year.
betwA, a river of India, which rises in the native state
of Bhop&l in MAlwa, and after a course of 360 miles, for
the most part in a north-easterly direction, falls into the
Jamna at Hamfrpur in 25° 57' N. lat. and 80° 17'E. long.
BEUDANT, Francois Sulpice, a French mineralogist
and geologist, was born at Paris in 1787, and died in 1862.
He was educated at the Polytechnic and Normal schools,
and in 1811 was appointed professor of mathematics at the
Lyc^e of Avignon. Thence he was called, in 1813, to the
Lyc^e of Marseilles to fill the post of professor of physics.
In the following year the royal mineralogical cabinet was
committed to his charge to be conveyed into England, and
from that time his attention seems to have been directed
principally towards geology and cognate sciences. In the
year 1818 he undertook, at the expense of Government, a
geological journey through Hungary, and the results of his
researches, Voyage Mineralogique et Geologigue en Hongrie,
3 vols. 4to, with atlas, published in 1822, established for
him a European reputation. He was about the same time
appointed to the professorship of mineralogy in the Paris
Faculty of Sciences. His treatises on physics (Traite de
Physique, 6th ed., 1838) and on mineralogy and geology
(Gours Elementaire de Mineralogie et Geologic, 1841) were
very popular. Beudant also, when holding the post of
inspector of the university, published a valuable French
grammar.
BEULE, Charles Ernest, a French archaeologist and
man of letters, was born at Saumur 29th June 1826, and died
4th April 1874. He was educated at the Ecole Normale,
and in 1852 was sent to Athens as one of the professors in
the Ecole Fran^aise established there. At first distinguished
as a man of fashion, he afterwards devoted himself with
intense vigour to archaeological researches. He had the
good fortune to discover the propyltea of the Acropolis, and
his work, EAcropole d’Athenes (2 vols. 1854), was published
by order of the minister of public instruction. Promotion
and distinctions followed rapidly upon his first successes.
He was made doctor of letters, chevalier of the Legion of
Honour, professor of archaeology at the Bibliotheque
Imp6riale, member of the Academy of Inscriptions, and
perpetual secretary of the Academy of Fine Arts. Like
too many French men of letters, he joined eagerly in
political affairs, with which the last few years of his life
were entirely occupied. The most important of his writings
are Etudes sur le Peloponnese, 1855 ; Les Monnaies
d1 Athenes, 1858; Histoire de la Sculpture avant Phidias,
1864 ; Histoire de VArt Grec, 1870.