a district of Hindustan, in the province of Gujarat, situated on the S.E. bank of the Nerbudda River. It literally signifies the residence of thieves, which character formerly attached to the inhabitants, who live by plundering their neighbours. Every man who in this turbulent region could muster twenty horsemen, considered himself as an independent chief, and set out on a marauding expedition. When the political control over the Mehwas chiefs became vested in the British government, the best provision practicable was made to meet these evils; and as in such a country crimes attended with violence were most to be apprehended, steps were taken for their suppression with a strong hand, and for the introduction of a well-administered system of criminal justice, to which the country was previously a stranger. It was decided that all persons charged with capital offences, such as gang-robbbery, or murder, within the territories of these chiefs, should be tried before a court of justice, in which the British resident and three or four chiefs should sit as assessors. This court was established in 1839, and the results, it is stated, have been found satisfactory.