History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v3.c49.s1: §1. Marwar, its soil and crops.
History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v3.c49.s1
- Language
- English
§1. Marwar, its soil and crops.
v3.c49.s1.1
Westwards beyond the Aravali range lies the kingdom of Marwar, a vast plain broken here and there by bold conical rocks of low elevation. Its northern half is the fringe of the Indian desert, an arid waste of level sands and sand-hills. The eastern and southern districts are formed out of the valley of the Luni, a rainy-weather river which presents a dry bed for ten months in the year. But in a land with an annual rainfall of only five inches, even such a river is of priceless importance, and half the agricultural wealth of the country is dependent on the Luni. In four of the districts the soil is comparatively fertile, wells of good water abound, irrigation is freely practised, and the cultivator is rewarded with two harvests in the year. Elsewhere the water is too far below the surface to permit irrigation, or the alkali in the soil forbids any growth of vegetation. The hardy millet *bajra* and a few pulses are the staple crops of the land.
v3.c49.s1.2
But there are some spots with a soil of greater fertility and a more copious water-supply, especially some shallow marshes, where good crops of wheat, gram and opium are raised. The kingdom abounds in salt lakes and pools, but this source of wealth was of little value in an age when transport was costly and markets distant.*