w protected by irrigation, two-fifths of the irrigation
being from wells and three-fifths from the Western Jamna Canal. There
are four _tahsils_, Thanesar, Karnal, Kaithal, and Panipat. The
peasantry consists mostly of hardworking Hindu Jats, but there are also
many Hindu and Muhammadan Rajput villages. The chief towns are Panipat,
Karnal, and Kaithal.

[Illustration: _Fig. 88._]

The district falls broadly into two divisions, the boundary between them
being the southern limit of the floods of the Sarusti in years of heavy
rainfall. The marked features of the northern division is the effect
which the floods of torrents of intermittent flow, the Sarusti,
Markanda, Umla, and Ghagar have on agriculture. Some tracts are included
like the Andarwar and the outlying villages of the Powadh[10] in Kaithal
which are fortunately unaffected by inundation, and have good well
irrigation. The country between the Umla and Markanda in Thanesar gets
rich silt deposits and is generally fertile. The Kaithal Naili is the
tract affected by the overflow of the Sarusti, Umla, and Ghagar. It is a
wretched fever-stricken region where a short lived race of weakly people
reap precarious harvests. The southern division is on the whole a much
better country. It includes the whole of Karnal and Panipat, the south
of Kaithal, and a small tract in the extreme east of the Thanesar
_tahsil_. North of Karnal the Jamna valley or Khadir is unhealthy and
has in many parts a poor soil. South of Karnal it is much better in
every respect. Above the Khadir is the Bangar, a plain of good loam.
North of Karnal its cultivation is protected by wells and the people are
in fair circumstances. South of that town it is watered by the Western
Jamna Canal. Another slight rise brings one to the Nardak of the Karnal
and Kaithal _tahsils_. Till the excavation of the Sirsa branch of the
Western Jamna Canal and of the Nardak Distributary much of the Nardak
was covered with _dhak_ jangal, and the cultivation was of the most
precarious nature, for in this part of the district the rainfall is both
scanty and capricious, and well cultivation is only possible in the
north. The introduction of canal irrigation has effected an enormous
change. Wheat and gram are the great crops.

Historically Karnal is one of the most interesting districts. The Nardak
is the scene of the great struggle celebrated in the Mahabharata. The
district contains the holy city of Thanesar, once the capital