HISSAR, a town of Hindustan, and the principal place of a Pergunnah, situated in the British district of Hurrecanah, within the jurisdiction of the lieutenant-governor of the N.W. provinces. The country is fertile, but labours under a scarcity of water, which detracts from its fertility. It is only watered by one small stream, namely, the Sursutty. In order to supply the means of irrigation, one of the Afghan emperors, who lived in the fourteenth century, caused two canals to be cut, one from the Sutlej, and the other from the Jumna, both of which joined at the city of Hissar, whence they are supposed to have been divided into a number of branches, so that the water was nearly all distributed over the lands, and the remainder fell into a lake called Bhedar. Under the influence of this extensive irrigation the country became fertile, and yielded two abundant crops in the year. These canals were suffered to fall to decay, but in 1825 the branch from the Jumna was cleared out by order of the British government as far as Darbah, 25 miles N.W. of Hissar, to which place it is navigable for timber rafts. The neighbouring country produces horses, camels, and cattle. The inhabitants are chiefly Jauts, with
the exception of a few Rajpoots; there are also villages of Rajpoots who have embraced the Mohammedan religion. This district imports matchlocks, swords, coarse white cloth, salt, sugar, and a small quantity of rice and spices. The exports are horses, camels, bullocks, and ghee. During the prosperity of the Mogul government the town and district were considered the personal estate of the heir-apparent to the throne. Hissar was built by Sultan Feroz, who gave previous directions for the digging of the two canals above mentioned; after which he laid the foundations of the town and fortress, which he built of stone brought from the neighbouring hills of Nosa, and completed it in less than three years. E. Long. 75. 50., N. Lat. 29. 8. (E. T.)