THE PEOPLE

URBAN AND RURAL POPULATION

Like most districts of the State, Satara is Predominantly a rural district. Of the 1,167 inhabited places in the district 1.152 are villages (excluding uninhabited villages and villages which form part of Municipal areas) and 15 towns including the city of Satara. The distribution of the total district population in the urban and rural areas is 1,60,339 and 10,14,970 respectively. The corresponding figures for 1881 were 1,331 villages with 9,46,712 inhabitants and 12 towns with 1,15,638 inhabitants. There are only two towns viz., Karad and Satara with a population of over 25,000 (Karad 27,223 and Satara 38,521). The rest of the towns arranged in the order of their population are as under: Wai (16,099), Phaltan (12,142), Mhaswad (9,145), Rahimatpur (8,055), Koregaon (7,230), Kale (7,116), Vaduj (6,838), Satara Road (Padali) (6,447), Masur (5,814), Kaledhon (5,152), Mahabaleshvar (4,942). Panchagani, 4,538 and Satara suburb (2,549). Of the 1,152 villages 493 had less than 500 people,; 298 between 500 and 1.000 _; 254 between 1.000 and 2,000; 104 between 2,000 and 5,000; and 3 between 5,000 and 10,000.

The corresponding figures for the 1881 census returns were 12 towns (including four with a population of more than 10,000), inhabiting more than 5,000 people and 1,331 villages of which 110 had less than 100 people; 179 between 100 and 200; 410 between 200 and 500; 331 between 500 and 1,000; 224 between 1,000 and 2,000; 49 between 2,000 and 3,000 and 28 between 3,000 and 5,000. These villages are typically representative of the general pattern of the district atmosphere. Most of them were formerly walled but today only the remnants of these fortifications are seen. The hut merits, all built in bricks and mud and having thatched roofs are scattered over the village site. A masonry structure with Mangalore tiles is rare. The streets are all katcha murum, littered with every possible rubbish presenting a not too healthy sight to the eye. Kunbis or husbandmen and Marathas form the bulk of the population. Dhangars (shepherds) and other herdsmen live with their herds in the surrounding hills. On the outskirts of the villages are the quaters of Harijans such as Mabars, Mangs, Chambbars and Dhors.

Except for the tendency on the part of well-built, able-bodied males who go to Bombay in search of work chiefly in the docks or railways as porters and others who join the army, DO drift towards industrial cities as such is noticeable among the Kunbis and Marathas or Mahars in this district. They have generally chosen to stick to their ancestral agricultural occupations. Very few displaced persons from Pakistan have chosen this district as their habitation. Some agriculturists who were displaced on account of the Koyna project were generally provided with alternate lands in the neighbouring district of Kolaba. where they are settling down. Only English educated people leave the district for distant places in the State or the Indian Union in pursuit of jobs.

The following tabular statements give the population statistics regarding: —

1. Area, Houses and Population from 190f to 1951;

2. Civil condition in different age groups during 1911, 1831 and 1951;

3. Comparative picture of the composition of different languages spoken during 1911, 1931 and 1951;

4. Classification of population according to various religions from 1901 to 1951;

5. Division of population according to taluka from 1901-1951;

6. Figures of Houses and Inmates in urban area in 1951:

7. Houses and Inmates in rural area in 1951;

8. Area, Houses and Population in 1951.

TABLE No. I.

AREA, HOUSES AND POPULATION FROM 1901-1951.
DISTRICT SATARA.

TABLE No. II.

CIVIL CONDITION BY AGE PERIODS (ALL COMMUNITIES)
DISTRICT SATARA.
1911

TABLE No. II-contd.
1931*

*Based on data collected from the 10 per cent, sample slips of the general population.

TABLE No. II-contd.
1951*

*Based in data collected from the 10 per cent sample slips of the population.

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