ROHTAK a British district of India, in the Hissar division, under the lieutenant-governorship of the Punjab, lying between 28° 19' and 29° 17' N. lat. and between 76° 17' and 77° 30' E. long. It contains an area of 1811 square miles, and is bounded on the N. by Karnal, on the E. by Delhi, on the S. by Gurgaon, and on the W. by Hissar and the native state of Jhind. Rohtak district is situated in the midst cf the level tableland separating the J umna and the Sutlej valleys; it is one unbroken plain, consisting of a hard clay copiously interspersed with light yellow sand, and covered in its wild state by a jungle of scrubby brushwood. It possesses no grand scenery, but on the whole the features of the district are more diversified than many of the plain districts of the Punjab. The only natural reservoir for its drainage is the Najafgarh Jhil, a marshy lake lying within the boundaries of Delhi. The Sahibi, a small stream from the Ajmere hills, traverses a corner of the district, and the northern portions are watered by the Rohtak and Butana branches of the Western Jumna Canal, but the greater portion of the central plain, comprising about two-thirds of the district area, is entirely dependent upon the uncertain rainfall. The climate, though severe in point of heat, is generally healthy; the average rainfall is about 19J inches. Rohtak has no railway; it is, however, well provided with roads, which cross it in every direction, and telegraphic communication is now under construction....
In 1881 the population of Rohtak district numbered 553,609 (296,221 males and 257,385 females). By religion Hindus numbered 168,905, or nearly 85 per cent, of the total population, and Mohammedans 79,510. There are only two towns in the district with inhabitants exceeding 10,000, namely, Rohtak (see below) and Jhajjar with 11,650. Rohtak is a purely agricultural district, but its produce hardly more than suffices for its home consumption. Of the total area of 1811 square miles, 1116 were in 1883-81 returned as cultivated and 269 as cultivable. The chief products are food grains, pulses, cotton, and sugar-cane. There are no manufactures of more than local importance excepting ornamental turbans at Rohtak and saddlery at Kalanar. Pretty pottery is made at Jhajjar, and cotton cloth for home use is woven in large quantities. The gross revenue of the district in 1883-84 was £78,346, of which £65,440 was derived from the land-tax.
Rohtak was formerly included within the region known as Hariana, which in 1718 was granted by the emperor Faroksher to his minister Rukhau-ad-Daula, who in his turn made over the greater part of it to a Baluch noble, Faujdar Khan, afterwards created nawab of Farakhnagar. The district, together with the other possessions of Scindia west of the Jumna, passed to the East India Company in 1803. Until 1832 Rohtak was under the administration of a political agent, resident at Delhi, but in that year it was brought under the general regulations and annexed to the North-Western Provinces. The outbreak of the mutiny in 1857 led to the abandonment, for a time, of the district by the British, when the mutineers attacked and plundered the civil station of Rohtak, destroying every record of administration. It was not until after the fall of Delhi that the authority of the British Government was permanently restored. The constitution of the present district was then taken in hand, and Rohtak was transferred to the Punjab Government.
ROHTAK municipal town and headquarters of the above district, lying in 28° 54' N. lat and 76° 38' E. long., with a population in 1881 of 15,699 (males 8155, females 7544). It is situated 44 miles to the north-west of Delhi on the road to Hissar, and, viewed from the sandhills to the south, forms with its white mosque in the centre and the fort standing out boldly to the east a striking and picturesque object. Rohtak is a town of great antiquity, but beyond the fact that it became the headquarters of a British district in 1824 it is of no considerable importance.
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