SEONI, or SEONEE, a British district of India, in the Central Provinces, lying between 21° 36' and 22° 58' N.

by Mandla and Balaghat, on the S. by Nagpur and Bhandara, and on the W. by Narsinhpur and Chhindwara. Seoni is a portion of the upland tract formed by the Satpura Hills which extend along the south bank of the Narbada (Nerbudda) from the plains of Broach on the west to the Maikal range in the east ; and it is remarkable part of Seoni consists of trap hills and the south of crystalline rock. The soil of the plateaus is the rich black cotton soil formed by disintegrated trap, of which about two-thirds of the district are said to consist, but towards the south, where cliffs of gneiss and other primitive formations occur, Bijna, and Thanwar ; other streams are the Tin= and the Sher, affluents of the Narbada. The average annual rainfall is about 50 inches.

The census of 1881 returned the population of Seoni district at 334,733 (males 167,925, females 166,808) ; of these 179,705 were Hindus, 13,442 Mohammedans, 99 Christians, and 139,444 aboriginals. SEONI (q.v.) is the only town with a population exceeding 10,000. Of the total district area of 3247 square miles only 1098 are cultivated, and of the portion lying waste 613 are returned as cultivable. Wheat forms the staple crop ; rice and other food-grains are also extensively grown ; and among miscellaneous products are cotton, fibres, and sugar-cane. In 1883.84 the gross revenue of Seoni amounted to £35,419, of which the land-tax yielded £15,379. Trade is chiefly carried on by means of markets in the towns. Manufactures consist of coarse cloth and some pottery of superior quality made at Kanhiwara. At Khawasa, in the midst of the forest, leather is beautifully tanned. The only means of communication is by road, the aggregate length of which is estimated at 90 miles. Seoni came under British rule early in the 19th century, on the downfall of the Nagplir power, and it was formed into a separate district in 1861.