DAMOH

damoh, a town and district of british india, in the jubbulpore division of the central provinces. the town has a railway station, 48 m. e. of saugor. pop. (1901) 13,355. it has a considerable cattle-market, and a number of small industries, such as weaving, dyeing and pottery-making. the district of damoh has an area of 2816 sq. m. except on the south and east, where the offshoots from the surrounding hills and patches of jungle break up the country, the district consists of open plains of varying degrees of fertility, interspersed with low ranges and isolated heights. the richest tracts lie in the centre. the gentle declivity of the surface and the porous character of the prevailing sandstone formation render the drainage excellent. all the streams flow from south to north. the sunar and the bairma, the two principal rivers, traverse the entire length of the district. little use has been made of any of the rivers for irrigation, though in many places they offer great facilities for the purpose. damoh was first formed into a separate district in 1861. in 1901 the population was 285,326, showing a decrease of 12% in one decade due to famine. damoh suffered severely from the famine of 1896-1897. fortunately the famine of 1900 was little felt. a branch of the indian midland railway was opened throughout from saugor to katni in january 1899.