JEYPORE, or Jaipur, a native state in Râjputâna, under the political superintendence of the Râjputâna agency and the Government of India, lies between 25° 41' and'28° 27' N. lat. and between 74° 55' and 77° 15' E. long. It is bounded on the N. by Bikaner, Lohâru Jhajjar, and Patiâla; on the E. by Al war, Bhartpur, and Karâuli; on the S. by Gwalior, Bundi, Tonk, and Udâipur; on the W. by Kishangarh, Jodhpur, and Bikaner. Its area is 14,465 square miles. The country is tolerably level and open, although its surface is diversified by groups and ranges of hills and by isolated peaks. The centre of the state is an elevated triangular table-land from 1400 to 1600 feet above sea-level, whose eastern limitis formed by ranges running north and south. On the north and west it is bounded by a broken chain of hills, an offshoot from the Aravalli mountains, which forms the apex of the triangle. To the east, beyond the hills, the country becomes gradually more open as it spreads out towards the alluvial flats of the Jumna. On the north-west stretches the sandy and desert tract of Shaikhawati (or the country of the Shaikhawat clan). The general drainage of Jeypore from the central table-land is to the east and south-east, though a few streams follow the slope to the north-west. Those flowing south are the Banâs and the Bangangâ, the tributary of the Jumna, and their tributaries, the Aman-i-shâh, Bândi, Moril, Dùnd, and Khari. The Sabi and Kâotli flow north. In the south of the state, water is everywhere found at a depth varying from a few feet to 30 or 40 feet; but in Shaikhawati water is always at a great depth, averaging from 80 to 100 feet. The soil is generally sandy. The hills are more or less covered with jungle trees, of no value except for fuel. The hill ...ranges are said to consist in the north chiefly of granite, and in the south and east of sandstones, mixed sometimes with white and black marble, and occasionally with mica. Copper ore and cobalt are found. Salt is largely manufactured and exported from the Sambhar Lake, the average yearly turn-out amounting to nearly 40,000 tons.
In Shaikhawati there is generally but one crop in the year, consisting chiefly of bfjra, mung, and moth. In the north, besides these, a little wheat and barley are grown. Towards the south and east, as the soil becomes richer and firmer, jodr, Indian corn, cotton, til, wheat, barley, gram, sugar-cane, opium, tobacco, ddl, and linseed are extensively grown. Since 1868 the state has spent £5000 annually on irrigation.
In the absence of a census the population has been roughly estimated at about If millions for the whole territory, with the following proportions of the various classes :—Rajputs, ⅛; Hindus, ⅞; Mahometans, τ ⅞; Jains τ ⅛. The most notable feature in the commerce of the state is the large banking and exchange business carried on at the capital and in the large towns. The chief manufactures are marble sculpture, enamel work done on gold, woollen cloths and fabrics. Education has made great progress in the state. Jeypore city is the site of a college, with a daily attendance (1876) of 800 students; also of a school for the sons of thakιirs and higher officials, and a Sanskrit college and industrial school. In the district there are 33 elementary schools, wholly supported by the state, and 379 indigenous schools, with an aggregate attendance of nearly 8000. The coins minted at Jeypore are distinguished from those of other independent states by the jhαr or sprig on the reverse. The Râjputâna State Railway on the metre gauge runs from Agra to Jeypore city, and thence to Ajrnir and Nusseerâbâd. The military force of the state consists of 824 artillerymen, 4450 cavalry, and 15,858 infantry. The number of forts is 38, with an aggregate of 220 guns of all calibres. Some £700,000 from the revenues of the state are alienated in jâgirs and religion grants, but the available receipts are about £475,000. The climate is dry and healthy. The average temperature, taken from a record of five years, is 81° Fahr. The average rainfall is 25⅜ inches.
The maharaja of Jeypore belongs to the Kachhwaha tribe of Rajputs, and claims descent from Rama, king of Ajodhya in Oudh. Jeypore state was founded in 967 by Dhola Rao, who, along with his Kachhwahas, is said to have absorbed or driven out the petty chiefs. On the irruption of the Mahometans, Jeypore state had very soon to succumb to them, and the Jeypore house furnished some of their most distinguished generals. Among them were Man Sinh, who fought in Orissa and Assam, Jâi Sinh, commonly known by his imperial title of Mirza Râjâ, whose name appears in all the wars of Aurangzeb in the Deccan, and Jâi Sinh II., the famous mathematician and astronomer, and the founder of Jeypore city. Towards the end of the 18th century the Jâts of Bhartpur annexed a portion of the state. The chief of Al war reduced the territory of Jeypore. By the end of the century the state was in great confusion, distracted by internal broils, and impoverished by the exactions of the Marhattâs. The disputes between the chiefs of Jeypore and Jodhpur had brought both states to the verge of ruin, and Amir Khan, with the Pindhâris, was exhausting the country. By a treaty in 1818 the protection of the British was extended to Jeypore, and an annual tribute fixed. In 1835, on the accession of the maharaja, then two years old, there was a serious disturbance in the city, after which the British Government took measures to insist upon order, and to reform administration as well as to support its effective action; and the state has become gradually well governed and. prosperous. When the mutiny broke out in 1857, the maharaja assisted the British in every way that lay in his power.
Jeypore, or Jàipur, capital of the state of the same name, is situated in 26° 55' N. lat. and 75° 52' E. long., on the Râjputâna State Railway and the Agra and Ajmere trunk road. It is the largest town and the chief commercial centre of Râjputâna, and in many respects the finest of modern Hindu cities. The city, which takes its name (Jâinagar or Jâipur) from the famous Mahârâjâ Siwâi Jâi Sinh II., by whom it was founded in 1728, stands on a small plain surrounded on all sides except the south by rugged hills, the summits of which are at all important points crowned with forts. At the end of the ridge, overhanging the city on the north-west, is the chief defensive work, the Nahaτgarh, or “Tiger Fort,” the rock face of which is so scarped as to be inaccessible on the south or city side. Jeypore is remarkable for the regularity and wideness of its streets, and the architectural beauty of the mosques, temples, and private residences which adorn them. From east to west the town is a little over 2 miles in length, with a breadth of about 1∣ miles. The main streets are paved, and the city is lighted by gas. The houses of the nobility and the citizens are in the suburbs, while the mahârâjâ’s palace with its pleasure-grounds occupies the centre of the town. In Jeypore there are as many as seven banking firms, w hose aggregate annual business amounts to about £2,500,000, and which possess a capital of upwards of £6,000,000 sterling. Besides these, there are several minor houses, whose collective business may be estimated at £500,000 a year. Exchange and banking form the greater portion of the business of the place. The city is well provided with hospitals, dispensaries, alms-houses, and schools. One of the most interesting antiquities of the state is the Hindu observatory in the capital, erected by the founder of the city. The population in 1870 was 137,847.
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