HARIANA

hariana, a tract of country in the punjab, india, once the seat of a flourishing hindu civilization. it consists of a level upland plain, interspersed with patches of sandy soil, and largely overgrown with brushwood. the western jumna canal irrigates the fields of a large number of its villages. since the 14th century hissar has been the local capital. during the troubled period which followed on the decline of the mogul empire, hariana formed the battlefield where the mahrattas, bhattis and sikhs met to settle their territorial quarrels. the whole country was devastated by the famine of 1783. in 1797-1798 hariana was overrun by the famous irish adventurer george thomas, who established his capital at hansi; in 1801 he was dispossessed by sindhia's french general perron; in 1803 hariana passed under british rule. on the conquest of the punjab hariana was broken up into the districts of hissar, rohtak and sirsa, which last has in its turn been divided between hissar and ferozepore.