The census of 1872 gives a population of 529,137—276,196 males and 252,941 females. The Hindus numbered 493,877, and the Mahometans 33,658. The Chandels and Bundelas, the old dominant classes, have now sunk to 548 and 612 respectively; most of these still cling to the neighbourhood of Mahoba, the seat of their former supremacy. The district contains 6 towns with a population of more than 5000 souls—namely, Rath, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Maudha, Sumerρur, and Jaitpur. The staple produce of the district is grain of various sorts, the most important being gram. Cotton is also a valuable crop, whose cultivation le on the increase. Out of a total area of 1,464,641 acres, 762,212 are under cultivation. Irrigation is practised on only 16,000 acres, chiefly in the south, where water can be obtained from the artificial lakes. Agriculturists suffer much from the spread of the kdns grass, a noxious weed which overruns the fields and is found to be almost ineradicable, wherever it has once obtained a footing. The district is little subject to blight or flood; but droughts and famine are unhappily common. The scarcity of 1837 and 1868-69 was severely felt in Hamirpur. Commerce is chiefly carried on by means of its great river highway, the Jumna. Cotton and grain, the main exports, are carried downwards; while rice, sugar, tobacco, and Manchester goods constitute the principal imports upwards. The manufactures consist of coarse cotton cloth and soapstone ornaments. There is only one metalled road, that between Hamirpur and Naugaon, 70 miles in length. The gross revenue in 1870-71 was £184,646; expenditure, £116,416. In 1871 the police force numbered 534 men, supplemented by 1953 village watchmen {chaukid<irs), maintained at a cost of £8058. The district contains only one jail: the average number of prisoners in 1850 was 400; 1860, 72; and 1870, 129. In 1870 the number of schools was 112, with 3066 pupils; the cost, £1354. The district is divided into 8 fiscal divisions {pargands}. The climate is dry and hot, owing to the absence of shade and the bareness of soil, except in the neighbourhood of the Mahoba lakes, which cool and moisten the atmosphere. The rainfall in 1869-70 was 37 ’ 1, and in 1870-71 38T inches.

History.— From the 9th to the 14th century this district was the centre of the Chandel kingdom, with its capital at Mahoba. The raj as adorned the town with many splendid edifices, remains of which still exist, besides constructing the noble artificial lakes already described. At the end of the 12th century Mahoba fell into the hands of the Mussulmans, who retained possession of it for 500 years. In 1680 the district was conquered by Chhatar Sal, the hero of the Bundelas, who assigned at his death one-third to his ally the peshwa of the Mariettas. Until Bundelkhand was constituted a British district in 1803, there was constant warfare between the Bundela princes and the Marhatta chieftains. The land had been impoverished by the long war carried on under Chhatar Sal, overrun and ravaged during the Marhatta aggression, and devastated by robber chiefs, so that in 1842 it was reported to be utterly valueless. On the outbreak of the mutiny, Hamirpur was the scene of a fierce rebellion. All the principal towns were plundered by the surrounding native chiefs. Since then the condition of . the district seems to have improved; but it has not yet recovered from the long anarchy of Marhatta rule.

Hamîrpur, the administrative headquarters of the above district, in 25° 58' N. 1at. and 80° 11' 50" E. long., is situated on a tongue of land at the confluence of the Betwa and the Jumna, on the right bank of the latter river. It was founded, according to tradition, by Hamir Deo, a Karchuli Râjput expelled from Ulwar (Alwar) by the Mahometans. The town possesses little importance; there are no manufactures, and quite a limited trade in grain. Population in 1872, 7007.