C l im a t e .
C h a i n o f
M o u n t a in s .
M a n u f a c t u r e s
OF THE C lR -
CARS.
C lR C A R S
GRANTED TO
t h e F r e n c h .
djvifions to. the. little, diftridts. The fertility of many parts is-
owing to tanks, and canals from them, diftributing■-water-to various
parts. The.climate ofrthis and other Circars is excefflvely
hot, and Coup de Solgil frequent and.fatal.: the hillj'ever is alfo
very deftrucjive,
Erpm the fouthern end o f the wooded mountains o f-th is
Circar, commences a barren . lo fty chain inaeceffible almoft to
m a n k in d : it runs nearly due weft to the borders o f Berar, fifty
miles, then turns ihort, and continues- a direit-parallel to this
Circar, t ill it comes oppofite, to the northern extremity ; it-then
curves eaft ward, and w ith the Chilka lake forms an impenetrable
barrier to th e north.
T he manufactures o f the Circars are vario u s ; the different
kinds o f cotton, the muilins o f Chicacole, the beautiful woollen
carpets o f Ellore, and filks o f Burrgmpore, from raw materials
from Bengal and China, and the bay fait exported to Madras,
w h ich alone amounts in value to tw en ty-fiv e lacks o f rupees,
or jC-7>5°°-
T h e Circars were granted to the French by T h e Nizam, in
1753.. The celebrated M. Bujfy, equally great in the capital as
in the field, headed their army, and. by attending his highnefs-
had, full opportunity of influencing his councils. His firft:
campaign opened;, with.exploits full o f horrors, and undertaken
by party motives, againft a brave and potentPolygar. The
country is--governed, by thofet chieftains of- the wooded and
mountainous regions, who, like theBriti/hpttty princes of old,
live in their ftrong holds and. towns buried, in the depth of
woods. We are told by Mr, Orme, that the power of fome could
extend
extend to the raifing three thoufand rtien; one of them, in a
former war, joined either the Bngtifh or French difputahts about
their wrongful pofleffions with that number. All the people
o f this part o f India are Hindoos, and retain the old religion
with all its fuperftition : This makes the pagodas here much
more numerous than in any other part of the peninfula; their
form too is different, being chiefly buildings o f a cylindrical or
round tower fhape, with their tops either pointed or truncated
at the fummit, and ornamented ‘with fomethihg eccentrical,
but frequently with a round ball, ftuck on a fpike : this ball
feems intended to reprefent the fun, an emblem o f the deity o f
the place; fometimes two or more are united, fometiriies they
are fingle.
T h e Potygars o f this country value themfelves highly oh P o i y g a r s .
their antient defcent, and efteem themfelves the firft' o f Hindoos
next to the Brahmins, and equal to the lidipoots. The 'diftria
o f each chieftain is generally about twenty fquake miles; they
have many little towns and* forts, beiides; they haVe here one
fort in the moft difficult part o f the country," intended as’ the
laft retreat o f the Polygar and alibis blood. It is featcd in the
center of the mountainous foreft, and aecefiible only by a narrow
winding path, of the width capable of receiving only three
men abreaft, and five miles- in length, and every turning
guarded by works. Mr. Orme, ii.- 255, defcribes the fort. In
I7S7> Rangarao pofiefled that of Bobilee, in Chicacole, about P o l y c a r or
140 miles to the N. W. o f Vizigapatam: His neighbor, the
Rajah Vizeramrauze, wifhed his deftrutftion, but was too cowardly
to attack him ; b.y fome plaufible arguments he per-
R 2 fuaded