satisfaction of other claims, certain districts were assigned to the British East India Company. It was these "Hyderabad Assigned Districts" which were popularly supposed to form the province of Berar. In 1860, by a new treaty which modified in the Nizam's favor that of 1853, it was agreed that Berar should be held in trust by the British government for the purposes specified in the treaty of 1853. After 1865, the American Civil War gave an immense stimulus to Berar's cotton trade, as did the laying of a railway line across the province. Building Berar's prosperity on cotton however came with a price. During the famine of 1900, for example, nearly 8.5% of the population died, "with the greatest number of deaths", according to the historian Sven Beckert, "occurring in districts most specialized in cotton production". Through an agreement signed on 5 November 1902, 6th Nizam Nawab Mir Mahbub Ali Khan leased Berar permanently to the British against an annual payment of 25 lakhs Rupees. Lord Curzon decided to merge Berar with the Central Provinces, and this was proclaimed on 17 September 1903. Thus the Central Provinces and Berar was born by a Residency Order, dated 30 September 1903, and the administration of Berar was placed under the Chief Commissioner of the Central Provinces. On 1 October 1903, Berar was placed under the administration of the British Commissioner–General of the Central Provinces. In 1936, with the establishment of the legislative assembly of the "Central Provinces and Berar", the territory was renamed as the Central Provinces and Berar. Berar became known as Berar Division. Administration In 1853, after the administration of the province was assigned to the British East India Company by the Nizam following a treaty, it was divided into two districts, South Berar with its headquarters at Hingoli, and North Berar with its headquarters at Buldana. Both were placed under a deputy commissioner. After the Indian Rebellion of 1857, Hingoli and its adjoining areas were restored to the Nizam and the province was reconstituted into two districts, East Berar with its headquarters at Amraoti, and West Berar with its headquarters at Akola. In 1864, East Berar was divided into two districts: Amraoti and Southeast Berar (which was first renamed as Wun district and then in 1905, Yeotmal district), with headquarters at Yeotmal. In 1867, Ellichpur District was also carved out of Amraoti. In 1864, the talukas of Malkapur, Chikhli,