' 
 
 Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2015 
 
 https://archive.org/details/eastindiagazette01hami 
 
EAST-IN DIA GAZETTEER. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
THE 
 
 EAST-INDIA GAZETTEER 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 particular HBcsscriptiotus 
 
 OF THE 
 
 EMPIRES, KINGDOMS, PRINCIPALITIES, PROVINCES, CITIES, TOWNS, 
 DISTRICTS, FORTRESSES, HARBOURS, RIVERS, LAKES, &c. 
 
 HINDUSTAN, 
 
 AND THE ADJACENT COUNTRIES , 
 
 INDIA BEYOND THE GANGES, 
 
 AND THE 
 
 EASTERN ARCHIPELAGO; 
 
 TOGETHER WITH 
 
 SKETCHES OF THE MANNERS, CUSTOMS, INSTITUTIONS, AGRICULTURE, 
 COMMERCE, MANUFACTURES, 
 
 REVENUES, POPULATION, CASTES, RELIGION, HISTORY, &C. 
 
 OF THEIR 
 
 VARIOUS INHABITANTS. 
 
 By WALTER HAMILTON. 
 
 SECOND EDITION . 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR PARBURY, ALLEN, AND CO., 
 
 LEADENHALL STREET. 
 
 1828 , 
 
 s®9 
 
/tw 'L 3 
 
 f 600 • 33 
 
 ~' r ^ r ?° • AC\ ■+■ ’?icrO -SC^ 
 
 LONDON 
 
 PRINTED BY J. L. COX, GREAT QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN’s-INN FIELDS. 
 
 
 THE GETTY RESEARCH 
 INSTITUTE LIBRARY 
 
TO 
 
 WILLIAM ASTELL, Esq., Chairman; 
 JOHN LOCH, Esq., Deputy-Chairman; 
 
 AND 
 
 THE HONOURABLE COURT OF DIRECTORS 
 
 or 
 
 0a8t=Jni»tii Company, 
 
 §-c. fyc. Sfc. 
 
 THIS WORK 
 
 IS, WITH THEIR PERMISSION, RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 
 
 BY THEIR MUCH OBLIGED 
 AND MOST OBEDIENT HUMBLE SERVANT, 
 
 THE AUTHOR 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 ' . 
 
 
 
 ; . , I . J >i r;i i' 1 -• 1 ' 
 
 ' 
 
 
 ; • ' ' " ■ • 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 ‘ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' • -■ r ■ * o. - . 
 
 , 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The following work is intended to form a summary and 
 popular account of India, and its various inhabitants, adapted 
 principally for the perusal of those who have never visited that 
 quarter of the world, and whose leisure has not admitted of 
 their examining the numerous volumes through which the 
 local descriptions are dispersed. Formerly the unceasing 
 changes among the native powers, the vicissitudes of their 
 politics, and the perpetual fluctuation of their boundaries, 
 rendered the most accurate account that could be given, only 
 suited to the particular period in which it was written ; but 
 since the establishment of the British federal system in 1818 , 
 the tranquillity of Hindostan has been rarely disturbed by war, 
 and its territorial mutation quite insignificant. The dominions 
 of several native chiefs continue still perplexed and intermingled, 
 and the extent of their respective jurisdictions ill defined, but 
 these obstacles are not of sufficient weight to preclude an 
 attempt to class the whole alphabetically. 
 
 With respect to India beyond the Ganges, the unexpected 
 result of the late Burmese war, begun about a small muddy 
 island in the bay of Bengal, and concluded with the complete 
 establishment of British predominance in that remote quarter, 
 has been the acquisition of much valuable information regarding 
 the condition of its interior, hitherto a region of speculation 
 and conjecture. In the Eastern Archipelago no change of any 
 importance has taken place since the publication of the first 
 
Vlll 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 edition of this work in 1815, with exception of the interchange 
 of some colonies with the Dutch in 1825, but owing to the tem- 
 porary government of many islands by British functionaries 
 much accurate knowledge, both geographical and statistical, has 
 been since acquired. 
 
 To form a geographical basis, Mr. Arrowsmith’s six sheet 
 map of Hindostan, and his four sheet chart of the Eastern seas 
 have been selected, but other valuable maps and charts subse- 
 quently executed have also been consulted. Within these 
 limits the following countries are comprehended. 
 
 West of the Indus. 
 
 Cabul, Candahar, Baloochistan, Caffristan, and all Afghan- 
 istan. 
 
 In Hindostan Proper. 
 
 t 
 
 The provinces of Bengal, Bahar, Allahabad, Oude, Agra, 
 Delhi, Lahore, Cashmere, Ajmeer, Mooltan, Cutch, Gujerat, 
 and Malwa. 
 
 In the Deccan. 
 
 The provinces of Gundwana, Orissa, the Northern Circars, 
 Candeish, Berar, Beeder, Hyderabad, Aurungabad, and 
 Bejapoor. 
 
 India South of the Krishna River. 
 
 Canara, Malabar, Cochin, Travancore, the Balaghaut Ceded 
 Districts, Mysore, Coimbatoor, Salem and the Barramahal, and 
 the Carnatic. 
 
 In Northern Hindostan. 
 
 The country between the Sutuleje and Jumna, Gurwal or 
 Serinagur, the sources of the Ganges, Kumaon, Painkhandi, 
 Bhutant, the Nepaulese dominions, Sikkim, and also Bootan. 
 
 North of the Himalaya. 
 
 Tibet and Lahdack. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 IX 
 
 India beyond the Ganges. 
 
 Ava and the Burmese Empire, Laos or the Shan country, 
 Pegu, Arracan, the British provinces south of Rangoon, Siam, 
 the peninsula of Malacca, Assam and the adjacent states, 
 Cachar, Munipoor, Tunquin, Cochin China, Cambodia, 
 Siampa, &c. 
 
 The Eastern Isles. 
 
 Sumatra, Java and the Sunda chain, Borneo, Celebes, and 
 Gilolo, the Moluccas, New Guinea and the Papuan Isles, 
 Magindanao, the Philippines, &c., and also the island of 
 Ceylon. 
 
 In order to give distinctness and application to the facts col- 
 lected, Hindostan has been partitioned in the large territorial 
 divisions above enumerated, whose relative positions and extent 
 will be best learned from an inspection of the prefixed map. 
 In Hindostan Proper and the Deccan, the old Mogul provin- 
 ces of Abul Fazel have been continued, as, notwithstanding the 
 many changes they have experienced, they still maintain 
 their place in the public mind, and are sufficiently accurate for 
 the purpose contemplated. With respect to the south of India, 
 as it has been for almost thirty years under the direct govern- 
 ment of British functionaries, their local arrangements have 
 been adhered to. 
 
 In arranging the alphabetical distribution, the usual diffi- 
 culty resulting from the great variety of appellations given to 
 the same place by Hindoos, Mahomedans and Europeans, has 
 been experienced, and not completely surmounted. To obviate 
 it, as much as possible, the whole of Mr. Arrowsmith’s names 
 have been adopted, as being those most universally known, and 
 to facilitate the discovery of their places on the map. In many 
 of the most remarkable instances, the original denomination is 
 
X 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 also given according to Sir William Jones’s orthographical 
 system ; but, although a name be not strictly applicable, it is 
 desirable it should remain permanent, as a deviation even to 
 more appropriate, causes much confusion. Indeed all over the 
 East, owing to the fluctuating boundaries of the native states, 
 the rule has been always to designate rather by the name of city, 
 where the king or governor resided, than by any general name 
 taken from the whole country which he governed. Another 
 objection to an alphabetical description of a country, is that 
 the details are unconnected, being dispersed and separated over 
 different parts of the book, which is certainly against an 
 arrangement in other respects remarkably convenient. To 
 remedy this defect, in some degree, a provincial index has 
 been added, exhibiting the names of the towns, &c. contained 
 within the limits of the large territorial divisions and islands, 
 to which reference may be made for further information regard- 
 ing any particular portions of space. 
 
 The deities of the Hindoos have a still greater variety of 
 names, or rather epithets (Vishnu for example has one thousand) 
 than their towns : the most common have been preferred and 
 adhered to throughout, and the same plan has been followed 
 with regard to the designations of persons, tribes, and castes. 
 In general, what appeared most interesting and important with 
 a view to political application, or illustrative of the state of 
 society, has been selected, and such usages described as have 
 subsisted for the greatest length of time with the fewest varia- 
 tions or infringements. In composing the work, Oriental terms 
 have been usually avoided, but from the nature of the subject 
 could not be wholly dispensed with. A few of the most difficult 
 will be found explained in the short glossary annexed, others in 
 the text within a parenthesis as they occur. The plan usually 
 followed is that of Brooks’, Crutwell’s, and other Gazetteers, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XI 
 
 which on account of the great number of different articles, and 
 the consequent necessity for abbreviation, does not admit of 
 minute detail, or the investigation of disputed facts. From 
 this cause also the historical portion has in many instances 
 been abridged nearly to a chronological series of sovereigns 
 and remarkable events. 
 
 The materials from which this work has been composed, con- 
 sist of printed documents generally accessible to the public, 
 and manuscript records deposited at the India Board, regard- 
 ing which a few explanatory observations will be necessary. 
 The British government in India is one which records and 
 reports to England its most minute transactions, furnishing a 
 basis for accurate history beyond those of any other state. In 
 conformity with this principle, it is the practice of each 
 presidency to transmit half-yearly, or according to the exigence 
 more frequent reports in the political, financial, and judicial, 
 military, public, legal, and ecclesiastical departments, accom- 
 panied with copies of the correspondence that has taken place 
 with their subordinate functionaries. These official records 
 are extremely voluminous, but their contents rarely bear di- 
 rectly on statistical subjects, the discussions having generally 
 originated in some accidental irregularities, such as the robbery 
 of treasure, disputed boundaries, the irruption of foreign tribes, 
 defalcation of the revenue, the pupillage of native chiefs, and 
 other matters of difficult adjustment, brought under the no- 
 tice of the India Board and Court of Directors. Where no 
 event of the nature above alluded to has taken place, and the 
 tranquillity of the province has continued undisturbed by war 
 or controversy, no correspondence has resulted ; and its inter- 
 nal condition has remained so completely unnoticed, that the cir- 
 cumstances of several of the Company’s old districts of great 
 
Xll 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 wealth and population are less generally known than those 
 of remote tracts, the ver}' names of which are recent dis- 
 coveries. 
 
 At the conclusion of the second volume a list of these and 
 other authorities will be found, comprehending a large propor- 
 tion of the ablest of the Company’s servants, civil, military, 
 and medical. Besides “ Public Manuscript Documents,” 
 access to which was procured him by the late Right Honour- 
 able Mr. Canning, while President of the Board of Control, 
 the author has been favoured with two most important private 
 communications, which have greatly enhanced the value of the 
 present edition. The first consists of a series of extracts from 
 the manuscript journal of John Fullarton, Esq. of Great Stan- 
 hope-street, Hyde Park, the only European who has ever made 
 the complete tour of Hindostan, from the Brahmaputra to Bom- 
 bay, from the Himalaya Mountains to the Straits of Ceylon. 
 These travels occupied some portions of 1817 and 1818, the 
 half of 1819, and the whole of 1820, were performed delibe- 
 rately, and with such an establishment of horses, elephants, ca- 
 mels, and tents, as enabled him to encamp on any spot, and 
 leave no worthy object of curiosity uninvestigated. It is to be 
 regretted the original journal from which these extracts were 
 made has never been published, and the estimation attached to 
 them will be proved by the frequency of reference. 
 
 The other document, consisting of seven large folio manu- 
 script volumes, was received from Sir John Malcolm, K.C.B., 
 the indefatigable promoter of every measure that can either 
 benefit or illustrate India. These contain separate descrip- 
 tions of above 6,500 towns, villages, hamlets, rivers, and moun- 
 tains in Central Hindostan and the Deccan ; but the imperative 
 necessity of condensation only permitted the selection of such 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 xiii 
 
 as were remarkable for their size, local situation, temples, pub- 
 lic works, or any other extraordinary feature. 
 
 In specifying the extent of countries, the whole length, but 
 only the average breadth is given, to enable the reader to ascer- 
 tain the probable area in square miles without much trouble. 
 In an arrangement of this nature strict accuracy cannot be ex- 
 pected ; but it appears less vague than the usual mode of stat- 
 ing the extreme length and extreme breadth ; an approxima- 
 tion to the reality being all that is wanted. The same obser- 
 vation applies to the population of countries that have not yet 
 been subjected to strict examination. When such occur, a 
 comparison of their peculiar circumstances is instituted with 
 those of the adjacent provinces, the population of which is bet- 
 ter known, and an estimate computed from the result; where 
 the number of inhabitants has been established on probable 
 grounds, it is particularly mentioned. To facilitate the disco- 
 very of a place on the map, besides its latitude and longitude, its 
 nearest distance from some distinguished city is inserted, and 
 also the province within the limits of which it is comprehended. 
 The east, west, north, and south sides of rivers, and the compass 
 directions, in a great majority of cases, refer to their positions 
 in Mr. Arrowsmith’s map ; the length of the rivers, including 
 windings, are calculated according to the rules laid down in 
 Major Rennell’s Memoir. When not otherwise specified, the 
 standard of distance and dimension is invariably the English 
 mile, sixty-nine and a half to the degree. 
 
 Many of the above particulars, however, will require future 
 correction, as the very best maps hitherto published, although 
 right in the main outlines, are still deficient in accuracy as to 
 the relative position of places. Nor will this defect be ade- 
 quately rectified until the completion of the East-India Com- 
 pany’s Atlas of India, constructed from trigonometrical survey, 
 
XIV 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 begun by Col. Mackenzie, in A.D. 1800, and still in progress 
 under Col. Hodgson, the surveyor-general of India. It is 
 founded on the triangulation which Col. Lambton extended 
 over the south of India, in connexion with his operations for 
 determining the measurement of an arch of the meridian, and 
 continued since his death by Capt. Everest. This noble monu- 
 ment of the Company’s liberality and regard for accurate 
 science is executed on a scale of four English miles to the inch ; 
 and judging from the eleven sheets already published, will, 
 when finished, cover above 1,200 square feet. 
 
 The prefixed map exhibits the large provinces into which 
 Hindostan, for the convenience of reference, has been divided ; 
 but being constructed on so minute a scale, no delineation of 
 the boundaries that distinguish the native and British districts 
 could be attempted. With respect to the first, no native state 
 has yet been brought to understand the advantages we are 
 accustomed to see in a compact territory and well-defined fron- 
 tier ; and with regard to the latter, the limits of none can as yet 
 be considered as finally adjusted. Owing to this uncertainty, a 
 town may be assigned to one jurisdiction, which in reality be- 
 longs to another ; but the mistake is of no essential importance, 
 and many similar corrections must hereafter be required before 
 the official limits acquire such precision as to preclude the 
 necessity of future revision. In like manner, the local func- 
 tionaries may hereafter see much to amend with regard to the 
 comparative importance of the towns selected, some, perhaps, 
 having now no existence, although of great historical notoriety, 
 while others may appear too insignificant to deserve insertion 
 where others of greater modern magnitude have been omitted. 
 
 To each description of any consequence the authorities upon 
 which it is founded are carefully subjoined in succession, accord- 
 ing to their relative importance, the author being particularly 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XV 
 
 desirous to give the credit where it is justly due, as well as to 
 establish the high character of the sources from whence his ori- 
 ginal information has been drawn. But no person is to be con- 
 sidered wholly responsible for any article, the materials being 
 so intimately blended with each other, and the result of the au- 
 thor’s own experience during a ten years’ residence in India, that 
 it would be impossible to define the limits of the respective proper- 
 ties. In various cases the narrative is given as closely as the ne- 
 cessity of condensing many thousand pages into a small compass 
 would permit ; in others it has been necessary to compare con- 
 tradictory and conflicting testimonies, and to select that which 
 appeared to rest on the most solid foundation. Conciseness 
 has been particularly aimed at, and the endeavour to effect it 
 has added greatly to the labour ; for it is easy to write a descrip- 
 tion of a country when the materials are .scanty, not so when 
 the mass has been accumulating for half a century. In the 
 official correspondence of the different presidencies the surveys 
 and reports of one functionary are sometimes incorporated with 
 those of another, so that occasionally the statement of one pub- 
 lic officer cannot be discriminated from those of another ; but 
 notwithstanding these difficulties it will be clearly perceptible 
 that the details of this work were generally collected under 
 circumstances singularly favourable for the acquisition of accu- 
 rate information, and by persons the best qualified, from length 
 of service, residence on the spot, and established reputation, to 
 form a correct judgment of their authenticity. 
 
 London , 23 d April 182$. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 . . . . . ■ > • ‘ ■ 
 
 
 - - *>' . • - ■ 
 ■ • ‘ ' ' ' : 
 
 
 
 
 
 Si’..'..,': 
 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 : , 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE 
 
 EAST-INDIA GAZETTEER, 
 
 Sfc. Sfc. 
 
 ABORS. 
 
 Abdon. — One of the small Papuan 
 isles, about three miles in circum- 
 ference, situated to the north of 
 Wageeoo, and rising 200 feet above 
 the level of the sea. It abounds with 
 fish and turtle, on which the inhabi- 
 tants subsist, as they do not culti- 
 vate the land. Lat. 0° 30' N., Ion. 
 131° 15' E. 
 
 Abdulpoor. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Beeder, sixty-three miles 
 N.E., from Bejapoor, lat. 17° 12' N., 
 Ion. 76° 41' E. 
 
 Aboo ( Abooghur , or Arbuda ). — A 
 town in the province of Ajmeer, 
 situated near a chain of lofty moun- 
 tains, which in 1820 was a depen- 
 dency of the Sarowy Rajas, but 
 generally possessed by some rebel- 
 lious relation. Lat. 24° 36' N., Ion. 
 73° 25' E., fifty-six miles W. by S.from 
 Odeypoor. 
 
 The height of Aboo, indicated by 
 the barometer, has been estimated at 
 5,000 feet, and during the ascent, in 
 thirty-six hours* travelling, the ther- 
 mometer declined from 108° on the 
 plains of Marwar, to 60° Fahrenheit 
 on the summit of Aboo, under an 
 almost vertical sun ; indeed, the tem- 
 perature is so mild that some Euro- 
 pean fruits are indigenous. 
 
 On the Aboo mountains are many 
 Saiva and Jain inscriptions, the most 
 ancient temple having been dedicated 
 to Siva as Achileswara, so early as 
 the seventh century. Jain temples 
 of the eleventh century also occur ; 
 
 VOL. i. 
 
 but the most numerous and impor- 
 tant are monuments belonging to the 
 thirteenth century, erected to deified 
 Jain saints. From the thirteenth cen- 
 tury Jain and Saiva inscriptions pre- 
 dominate alternately until the present 
 century. Those of the Sarowy fa- 
 mily are Saiva. The hill itself is 
 said to have been brought from the 
 Himalaya, by the sage Vasishta, in 
 order that he might continue his 
 devotions on the spot he had been 
 accustomed to. — (Tod, Jackson , El - 
 phinstone , fyc.) 
 
 Abors ( or Aburs ). — A rude tribe 
 bordering on Assam, situated above 
 the junction of the Dihong with the 
 main trunk of the Brahmaputra river. 
 The hills on the right bank of the 
 river belong to the Paisal and May- 
 ing Abors ; those on the left* to 
 Padow, Silloo, Meboo, and Golemar. 
 In 1826, when visited by a British 
 officer, enmity, but not actual war- 
 fare, subsisted between the tribes on 
 the opposite banks. Their weapons 
 are a bow and poisoned arrows, a 
 light spear, and a heavy sharp sword, 
 the dhaw of the Singphos. 
 
 This tribe eat of every thing, pure 
 and impure, except beef, the eaters 
 of which they abhor. They drink a 
 spirituous liquor of their own distil- 
 lation; salt, cloth, and tobacco are 
 in great request. They exhibit few 
 traces of religion, but are said to 
 sacrifice animals at the shrine of a 
 deity named Ap-hoom, possibly the 
 
ACHEEN. 
 
 2 
 
 Om of the Lama Tibetians. Their 
 dress is principally made from the 
 bark of the uddal tree ; they also 
 wear ornamented cane caps, beads, 
 blankets, and blanket cloaks. The 
 Abors appear to have been in the 
 practice of levying contributions on 
 the Assamese of the plains, and of 
 carrying them into captivity. Accord- 
 ing to the latest information the Abor 
 country is situated to the north of 
 the Brahmaputra about lat. 28°, and 
 between 93° and 94° E. 
 
 Acberpoor ( Acbarpura ). — A town 
 in the Nabob of O ude’s territories, 
 thirty-six miles S.E. from Fyzabad. 
 Lat. 26° 26' N., Ion. 82° 25' E. 
 
 Acberpoor^ Acbarpura ). — A town 
 in the Agra province, twenty-five 
 miles W.S.W. from Caunpoor. Lat. 
 26° 23' N., long. 79° 52' E. 
 
 Acesines River. — See Chinaub. 
 
 ACHEEN. 
 
 (Achi ). — A petty state in the 
 north-western extremity of the island 
 of Sumatra, bordering on the country 
 of theBattas,but notextending inland 
 above fifty miles to the south-east. 
 On the western coast, where its in- 
 fluence was formerly predominant, 
 it now possesses no further than Ba- 
 roos, and even there, and at the 
 intermediate posts, the power of the 
 Acheenese chief is little more than 
 nominal. In 1820 Tamiang was the 
 reputed boundary on the eastern and 
 Sinkel on the western coast of Su- 
 matra. 
 
 The air is comparatively healthy, 
 the country being more free from 
 jungle and stagnant water than most 
 other parts of Sumatra- The degree 
 of insalubrity, however, attending 
 localities in this climate, is known to 
 alter so frequently, from inscrutable 
 causes, that a person who has resided 
 two or three years on a spot cannot 
 pretend to form a judgment. 
 
 The soil is light and fertile, and 
 produces abundance of rice, excel- 
 lent vegetables, much cotton, and 
 the finest tropical fruits. Cattle, and 
 
 other articles of provision, are plenty, 
 and reasonable in price. In this 
 province are found almost all the ani- 
 mals enumerated in the general de- 
 scription of Sumatra, and elephants 
 (probably imported ones) are here 
 found domesticated. 
 
 Although no longer the great mart 
 of eastern commodities, Acheen still 
 carries on a considerable trade, both 
 with European merchants and the 
 natives of the coast of that quarter 
 of India called Telinga, but which 
 by the Malays is called Kling, and 
 applied to the whole coast of Coro- 
 mandel. These supply it with salt, 
 cotton piece goods, and receive in 
 return, gold dust, raw silk of an in- 
 ferior quality, betel-nut, patch leaf, 
 pepper, sulphur, camphor, and ben- 
 zoin. In the Acheenese territories 
 there is a considerable manufacture 
 of a thick species of cotton cloth, and 
 of striped and checked stuffs. They 
 also weave rich and handsome silk 
 pieces ; but this fabric has latterly de- 
 clined, owing to the failure of the 
 breed of silk-worms, and also to the 
 decay of industry among the inhabi- 
 tants, who were formerly bold and 
 expert navigators. Payments are 
 commonly made in gold dust, but 
 there is also a small thin adulterated 
 gold coin, rudely stamped with Ara- 
 bic characters, called maas. The 
 crown revenues arise from export 
 and import duties, which are gene- 
 rally levied on the goods in the first 
 instance, and of course fluctuate con- 
 siderably. Besides this source, the 
 king, being the chief merchant, gains 
 considerably by monopolies, managed 
 by the shahbunder, or master atten- 
 dant, under whose jurisdiction all 
 commercial transactions are placed. 
 
 The government is hereditary, and 
 more or less arbitrary, in proportion 
 to the talents of the reigning prince, 
 who usually maintains a guard of 100 
 sepoys from the Coromandel coast. 
 At the king’s feet sits a woman, to 
 whom he makes known his pleasure ; 
 by her it is communicated to an eu- 
 nuch who sits next to her, and by 
 him to an officer named Kajurang 
 Goodang, who proclaims it aloud to 
 
ACHEEN. 
 
 the assembly. Sultan Allah ud Deen, 
 who reigned in 1784, when Capt. 
 Forrest visited his court, had tra- 
 velled, and had been a considerable 
 time in the Mauritius, where he had 
 been driven when proceeding on a 
 pilgrimage to Mecca. Besides the 
 Malay, he spoke the French and Por- 
 tuguese, and understood the casting 
 of cannon and bomb-shells. His vi- 
 zier was a Turk from Constantino- 
 ple. 
 
 The country is populous for a na- 
 tive state, but the number of inhabi- 
 tants has never been satisfactorily 
 ascertained. They are taller and 
 stouter than the generality of Suma- 
 trans ; but they cannot be considered 
 as a genuine people, being rather a 
 mixture of Battas and Malays with 
 Chulias, by whom, in all ages, their 
 ports were frequented. In the city 
 of Acheen their conduct depends 
 much on the example of the reigning 
 monarch, which is often narrow, ex- 
 tortionarj', and oppressive. The lan- 
 guage consists of a mixture of Malay 
 and Batta with all the jargons used 
 by the eastern Mahomedans, whether 
 Hindostany, Arab-Tamul, or Moplay, 
 to which last-mentioned people the 
 Acheenese have a considerable re- 
 semblance ; but in writing they use 
 the Malay character. In religion 
 they are strict Mahomedans, and the 
 severity of their punishments is hor- 
 rible ; but, notwithstanding so much 
 apparent discouragement, both from 
 law and prejudice, all travellers 
 agree in representing the Acheenese 
 as one of the most dishonest and fla- 
 gitious nations of the east, which 
 character the history of their govern- 
 ment tends strongly to corroborate. 
 
 The Acheenese territories were 
 visited by the Portuguese in 1509, 
 when Diego Lopez Siqueira cast an- 
 chor at Pedeer, a principal sea-port 
 on this part of Sumatra. Even at 
 this early stage of their acquaintance, 
 hostilities between the two nations 
 commenced, and continued, with lit- 
 tle cessation, until the Portuguese 
 lost Malacca in 1641. In the course 
 of these wars it is difficult to deter- 
 mine which of the two is the more 
 
 astonishing, the vigorous stand made 
 by such a handful of men as the 
 whole Portuguese force consisted 
 of, or the prodigious resources and 
 perseverance of the Acheenese mo- 
 narch s. 
 
 About A.D. 1586 the consequence 
 of the Acheen monarchy had attained 
 its greatest height. Its friendship 
 was courted by the most considerable 
 eastern potentates, and no city in In- 
 dia enjoyed a more flourishing com- 
 merce. The customs of the port 
 being moderate, it was crowded with 
 merchants from all parts ; and al- 
 though the Portuguese and their 
 ships were continually plundered, yet 
 those belonging to every Asiatic 
 power appear to have enjoyed perfect 
 security in the prosecution of their 
 traffic. With respect to the govern- 
 ment, the nobles, or Orang Cayos, 
 formed a powerful counterpoise to 
 the authority of the king. They were 
 rich, had numerous followers, and 
 cannon planted at the gates of their 
 houses. 
 
 Towards the close of the sixteenth 
 century the Hollanders began to navi- 
 gate the Indian seas, and in the year 
 1 600 some of their ships arrived at 
 Acheen, where they were nearly cut 
 off by treachery. The first English 
 ships, under Capt. Lancaster, visited 
 Acheen in 1602, and were received 
 by the king with abundant respect 
 and ceremony, usually proportioned 
 by the Acheenese sovereigns to the 
 number of vessels and apparent 
 strength of their foreign guests. 
 
 In 1607, Peducka Siri, the reign° 
 ing sultan, assumed the title of sove- 
 reign of Acheen, and of the countries 
 of Aroo, Delhi, Johore, Paham, Que- 
 da, and Pera, on one side; and of 
 Baroos, Passaman, Ticoa, Sileda, and 
 Priaman, on the other. In his an- 
 swer to a letter from King James, in - 
 1613, he styles himself King of all 
 Sumatra, a name and idea which, if 
 they exist in the original, he must 
 have learned from his European con- 
 nexions. In that letter he expresses 
 a strong desire that the King of Eng- 
 land would send him out one of his 
 countrywomen for a wife, and pro- 
 
4 
 
 ACHEEN. 
 
 mised to make her eldest son king of 
 all the pepper countries. The French 
 first visited Acheen under Commo- 
 dore Beaulieu, in 1621. 
 
 In the year 1640 the Dutch with 
 twelve men of war, and the Sultan 
 of Acheen with twenty-five gallies, 
 appeared before Malacca, which they 
 had for so many years harassed, and 
 the following year it was wrested 
 from the Portuguese, who had so 
 long, and under such difficulties, 
 maintained it. But, as if the opposi- 
 tion of the Portuguese power, which 
 first occasioned the rise of Acheen, 
 was also necessary to its continuance, 
 the splendour and consequence of 
 the kingdom from that period ra- 
 pidly declined, and in proportion its 
 history became obscure. Through 
 the subsequent weakness of the go- 
 vernment, and the encroachments of 
 the Dutch, the extent of its ancient 
 dominion was much contracted. 
 
 The year 1641 was marked by the 
 death of Sultan Peducka Siri, one 
 of the most powerful and cruel so- 
 vereigns, who, leaving no male heirs, 
 was peaceably succeeded by his 
 queen, which commences a new era 
 in the history of the state, as the 
 succession continued until 1700 in 
 the female line ; the Acheenese being 
 accustomed and reconciled to this 
 species of government, which they 
 found more lenient than that of their 
 kings. The last queen died in 1700, 
 when a priest found means, by his 
 intrigues, to acquire the uneasy sove- 
 reignty, which, during the whole of 
 the eighteenth century, continued a 
 hot-bed of intrigue, treachery, and 
 sanguinary revolutions. 
 
 In 1813 this principality was in a 
 complete state of anarchy and disso- 
 lution, every port and village having 
 been occupied by petty usurpers, who 
 subsisted by piracy and smuggling. 
 In 1814, Capt. Canning was sent 
 from Bengal to investigate and adjust 
 the existing differences, but was 
 treated by Jowaher Allum (who died 
 in 1823), the reigning sovereign, with 
 the greatest contempt. Soon after- 
 wards this monarch (whose ancestor 
 was, by Queen Elizabeth, designated 
 
 a great and puissant prince) was com- 
 pelled to abdicate the throne in fa- 
 vour of Syf ul Alum, the son of a 
 shop-keeper at Prince of Wales’ Is- 
 land. In this condition matters re- 
 mained until 1819, when the usurper 
 was ordered to return to Prince of 
 Wales* Island, and the deposed chief 
 restored. In 1820 Mr. Sartorius was 
 deputed to Acheen, which he found 
 in the most wretched condition ; the 
 king’s authority being reduced to 
 a mere nullity, and having only no-' 
 minal possession of one small spot 
 within the limits of his reputed do- 
 minions. A commercial treaty had 
 been concluded and ratified, but in 
 the distracted state of Acheen not 
 the slightest good was likely to re- 
 sult, unless supported by military 
 protection to the king, and a direct, 
 active, and continued interference. — 
 {Marsden, Leyden, Forrest , Elmore , 
 Gov. Phillips , Capt . Canning , Sarto- 
 rius, fyc.) 
 
 Acheen. — A town situated at the 
 north-western extremity of Sumatra, 
 the capital of a principality of the 
 same name, lat. 5° 35' N., Ion. 95° 
 45' E. 
 
 This place stands on a river about 
 a league from the sea, near the N.W. 
 point of the island, where the ship- 
 ping lies in a road, rendered secure 
 by the shelter of several islands. 
 It is described as populous, contain- 
 ing about 8,000 houses, built of bam- 
 boos and rough timber, and raised 
 on piles. The sultan’s palace is a 
 rude piece of architecture, calculated 
 to resist the attacks of external ene- 
 mies, and for that purpose sur- 
 rounded with a moat and strong 
 walls. Near the gate are several 
 pieces of ordnance of an extraordi- 
 nary size, of which some are Portu- 
 guese, but two in particular of Eng- 
 lish origin : they were sent by King 
 James the First to the reigning mo- 
 narch of Acheen, and have still the 
 founder’s name and the date legible. 
 The diameter of the bore of one is eigh- 
 teen inches, and the other twenty- 
 two. Their strength, however, does 
 not at all correspond with their 
 calibre, nor do they seem in other 
 
ADJYGHUR. 
 
 5 
 
 respects of adequate dimensions, 
 jymes, who abhorred bloodshed him- 
 self, was resolved that his present 
 should not be the instrument of it in 
 others. 
 
 The commerce of Acheen is now 
 inconsiderable, and the king (when 
 he has the power) the only merchant, 
 as is usual in this quarter of the 
 world. The chief exports are brim- 
 stone, betel-nut, rattans, benzoin, 
 camphor, gold dust, pepper, and 
 horses ; the imports, opium, salt, 
 piece goods, muslin, &c. — ( Marsden , 
 Forrest , Elmore , fyc.) 
 
 Adames Pea k ( named by the na- 
 tives Samanilla). — A lofty mountain 
 in the interior of Ceylon, situated 
 about fifty miles E.S.E. from Colum- 
 bo, and by barometrical observation 
 about 6,152 feet high. Lat. 6° 47' N., 
 Ion. 80° 32' E. 
 
 In ascending the road follows the 
 windings of the Caltura river, which, 
 at the distance of two miles from 
 Batugedera, receives the Magelli, 
 two chains in breadth at the con- 
 fluence. One portion of the ascent 
 is over an enormous rock, into which 
 four flights, consisting of 127 steps, 
 have been cut. The apex of the 
 mountain is a distinct rock, which 
 stands in the middle of an enclosure 
 about seven feet above the level 
 ground. On its top is the impres- 
 sion of the foot of Buddha, stamped 
 by that incarnation when he first 
 visited Ceylon. To mortal eyes it 
 appears a superficial hollow, five feet 
 three and three-quarter inches long, 
 by two feet five inches wide, having 
 a margin of brass studded with a few 
 gems of little value. There is no- 
 thing else on the summit worthy no- 
 tice, but the view from thence is sin- 
 gularly magnificent. On the one side 
 a vast extent of wooded hills like an 
 ocean of forest is seen ; while on the 
 other only the tops of the hills are 
 perceptible, rising over the fogs like 
 a number of small islands covered 
 with trees. 
 
 On the 18th April 1817, at six in 
 the evening, the thermometer stood 
 at 52°, and the barometer (a short 
 
 one) at 23° 70'; next day at seven 
 in the morning, the first stood at 58°, 
 and the last at 23° 75'. About mid- 
 night the thermometer stood at 51°, 
 and never fell lower, the air being 
 agitated by a gentle wind from the 
 N.N.E. The name of Adam’s Peak 
 was probably first applied by the Ma* 
 hommedans, who assert that Adam 
 here lamented his expulsion from 
 Paradise, standing on one foot until 
 he was pardoned. — (J. Davy , fyc.) 
 
 Adanad ( Adinatlia) . — A town ill 
 the province of Malabar, division of 
 Shirnada, celebrated as the throne of 
 the Alvangheri Tamburacul, or chief 
 of the Namburies, who are the Brah- 
 mins of Malabar. 
 
 These Namburies will neither eat 
 nor drink with the Brahmins of other 
 countries ; but, like other Brahmins, 
 they marry and live with their wives, 
 of whom they take as many as they 
 are able to support. A Namburie’s 
 children are always considered as his 
 heirs ; but in order to prevent their 
 losing dignity by becoming too nu- 
 merous, the younger sons of a Nam- 
 burie family seldom marry. They 
 live with their eldest brothers, and 
 assist the wives of the Rajas and 
 other Nairs of distinction to keep 
 up their families. Many Namburies 
 have lost caste by committing mur- 
 der, or by having eaten forbidden 
 things ; and in such cases their chil- 
 dren generally become Mahomedans. 
 
 In the division of Shirnada, the 
 low hills occupy a very large propor- 
 tion of the surface ; the soil in most 
 of them consists of a kind of indu- 
 rated clay, which on exposure to the 
 air becomes as hard as a brick. The 
 continuance of the rain, however, in 
 this neighbourhood, is sufficient to 
 ensure plenty of water for any crop 
 that does not require more than four 
 months to come to maturity. 
 
 Adjyghur ( the impregnable for- 
 tress). — A town in the province of 
 Allahabad, situated at nearly equal 
 distances from Callinjer and Pannah, 
 lat. 24° 50' N., Ion. 80° 3' E. The for- 
 tress consists of a wall of loose stones, 
 raised round the edge of a very high 
 
6 
 
 AENG. 
 
 and steep bill. The table land within 
 the fort is a mile in length, by 700 or 
 800 yards average breadth, and is in- 
 accessible, except by the paths made 
 to the different gates ; which are de- 
 fended by walls and gates, one be- 
 hind the other, and all of difficult 
 ascent. Within the fort are three 
 reservoirs of water cut in the solid 
 rock, and the ruins of three Hindoo 
 temples. 
 
 In 1809 it was besieged by a British 
 detachment, and after a stout resist- 
 ance, in which considerable loss was 
 experienced by the assailants, was 
 evacuated by the garrison. When the 
 family of Lutchman Dowab, the re- 
 fractory zemindar of Adjyghur, was 
 ordered to be removed, an old man, 
 his father-in-law, was sent into the 
 women’s apartments to prepare the 
 females for their removal ; he not 
 returning after some time had elapsed, 
 the house was entered by the roof, 
 when it was found he had cut the 
 throats of all the women and chil- 
 dren, eight in number, and after- 
 wards his own. The deed must have 
 been perpetrated entirely with the 
 consent and assistance of the fe- 
 males, as the persons stationed at 
 the door never heard the slightest 
 cries while the catastrophe was per- 
 forming. — (11 Reg. fyc.) 
 
 Adoni ( Adavani ). — A district in 
 the Balaghaut ceded territories, 
 bounded on the north by the Toom- 
 budra, and intersected by the Hoggry 
 or Vadavati river. The chief towns 
 are Adoni, Chagee, and Gooroor. 
 In 1800, this district, along with the 
 tract of country situated to the 
 south of the Toombudra and Krishna 
 rivers, was ceded to the British go- 
 vernment by the Nizam, and on sub- 
 sequent arrangements taking place 
 was attached to the Bellary collec- 
 torship. 
 
 Adoni. — The capital of the above 
 division, situated in lat. 15° 35' N,, 
 Ion. 77 ° 45' E., thirty-eight miles N. 
 by E. from Bellary. This town was 
 taken in 1568 by Ali Adil Shah of 
 Bejapoor, at which period it stood 
 on the top of a high hill, and con- 
 
 tained within its walls many tanks 
 and fountains of pure water, with 
 numerous princely structures. The 
 Rajas of Bijanagur, to whom it pre- 
 viously belonged, considered it im- 
 pregnable, and an asylum for their 
 families in desperate emergencies: 
 but they lost it, with their empire, 
 after the great battle fought with the 
 Deccany Mahommedans in 1564. For 
 a short interval during the eighteenth 
 century it was the capital of a small 
 independent Patan principality, and 
 subsequently became the jaghire and 
 residence of Bazalet Jung, brother to 
 the late Nizam Ali. In 1787 it was 
 besieged, taken, and destroyed by 
 Tippoo, and in 1800, along with the 
 district, was ceded to Britain by the 
 Nizam. It is now a town of very 
 little importance, and contains but a 
 scanty population. 
 
 Travelling distance from Seringa- 
 patam 243 miles; from Madras 310; 
 from Hyderabad 175; and from 
 Calcutta 1,030 miles. — ( Ferishta y 
 \2tk Register, 5th Report, Rennet, 
 8fc.) 
 
 Adriampatam. — A small town on 
 the sea-coast of Tanjore, twenty- 
 seven miles S. by E. from the city 
 of Tanjore. Lat. 10° 19' N., Ion. 
 79° 26' E. 
 
 Aeng. — A British post in the pro- 
 vince of Arracan, situated on the 
 route from Shembewgewn, on the 
 Irawady, to Amherst harbour in 
 Arracan ; lat. 19° 55' N., Ion. 
 93° 45' E., sixty-six miles S.E. from 
 Arracan town. The Aeng road was 
 completed by the late Burmese sove- 
 reign Minderajee Praw, and does 
 much credit to his energy, and to the 
 skill of his engineers. It was begun 
 J in 1816, and finished gradually. This 
 communication, however, is closed 
 by the monsoon between May and 
 January. In April 1826, when passed 
 through by a battalion of sepoys re- 
 turned from Ava, Aeng and its vici- 
 nity contained few inhabitants, but 
 had previously been the emporium of 
 the inland traffic between the two 
 countries. The tide flows past it, 
 but in April there is not sufficient 
 
AFGHANISTAN. 
 
 water for boats to within six miles 
 of the wharf. A British force from 
 hence might reach the Irawady in 
 ten clays, and the capital of Ava in a 
 month, but the road is not practica- 
 ble for heavy artillery. — ( Trant , fyc.) 
 
 AFGHANISTAN. 
 
 f Afghanis? han ,) — This extensive 
 country is bounded on the north by 
 the Hindoo Cosh mountains, and the 
 Paropamisan range; the Indus is its 
 boundary, as far south as lat. 32° 20' 
 N. The plain on the right bank of the 
 Indus is inhabited by Balooches ; but 
 the chain of the Soliman mountains, 
 with its subordinate ranges, and the 
 country immediately at their base, 
 belong to the Afghans. The hills 
 which bound Sewistan on the north 
 form the southern limit of the Afghan 
 territory. Immediately to the north 
 of these hills the Afghan country does 
 not extend so far west as to reach 
 the table-land of Kelat, but after- 
 wards stretches past it on the north, 
 and reaches to the" desert which is its 
 north-western boundary. 
 
 These countries are extremely va- 
 riable in their level, soil, climate, and 
 productions. The whole of Afgha- 
 nistan west of the Soliman ridge is a 
 table-land, lying higher than most of 
 the neighbouring provinces. The Hin- 
 doo Cosh chain, which forms the 
 northern boundary of Afghanistan, 
 looks down on Bulk ; on the east it 
 is in proportion elevated above the 
 still lower plain of the Indus. On 
 the south it overlooks Sewistan ; 
 the deep valley of Bolaun, on the 
 S.W., runs between it and Baloochis- 
 tan. On the west it slopes gradually 
 to the desert, and on the north-west, 
 the appearance of elevation is lost as 
 it approaches the Paropamisan moun- 
 tains. The Afghans have no general 
 name for the country they inhabit, 
 butthatof Afghanistan, which was pro- 
 bably first applied by the Persians, is 
 frequently used in books, and is not 
 unknown to the natives of the coun- 
 try thus designated. The section of 
 the country to the west of the paral- 
 
 7 
 
 lei of Makloor, Ion. 68° 30' E., is 
 comprehended in the extensive pro- 
 vince of Khorasan. 
 
 For so great a surface of country, 
 Afghanistan possesses but few large 
 rivers ; indeed, except the Indus, 
 there is no river in this region that is 
 not fordable throughout its course 
 during the greater part of theyear, the 
 others more resembling large torrents, 
 which occasionally rush down with 
 a heavy flood, and afterwards leave 
 their hollow bed empty. Their volume 
 is also much reduced by the number of 
 small channels cut for the purposes 
 of irrigation, by which a large stream 
 is sometimes entirely drawn off be- 
 fore it reaches any other river ; and 
 it may be remarked of the rivers of 
 this region, that their bulk at their 
 mouths is never equal to the expec- 
 tations they raise when seen emerg- 
 ing from the mountains. The Indus 
 alone is always navigable, although so 
 little use is made of its channel. The 
 Cabul river, the Cashgar, the Koorum 
 and the Gomul,flow towards the east ; 
 those running to the west are the 
 Helmund or Etymandu, the Urghu- 
 naub, the Khooshrood, the Furrah- 
 rood, and the Lora. There is only 
 one small lake, situated to the S.W. 
 of Ghizni. 
 
 In Afghanistan the south-west 
 monsoon is felt with much less vio- 
 lence than in India, being exhausted 
 at no great distance from the sea, 
 and not at all perceptible at Canda- 
 har. A remarkable exception, how- 
 ever, to this rule is observed in the 
 north-eastern quarter of Afghanistan, 
 which although much more remote 
 from the sea than Candahar, is sub- 
 ject to the monsoon, which it receives 
 from the east. The countries under 
 the Hindoo Cosh, such as Puckely, 
 Beneer, and Sewad, have all a share 
 of the monsoon rains, which diminish 
 as they go west, and at Sewad are 
 reduced to a month of clouds, with 
 occasional showers, about the con- 
 clusion of July and beginning of Au- 
 gust. During this short period the 
 monsoon appears in some clouds and 
 showers at Peshawer and in the Bun- 
 gish and Khuttak countries. It is still 
 
8 
 
 AFGHANISTAN. 
 
 less felt in the valley of the Cabul 
 river, where it does not extend be- 
 yond Lugman ; but in Bajour and 
 Punjcora, under the southern projec- 
 tion of the Hindoo Cosh, in part of 
 the Caffristan, situated on the top of 
 that promontory, and in Teera, near 
 the Tuhkte Soliman, the south-west 
 monsoon is heavy, and forms the 
 principal rains of the year. 
 
 The climate of Afghanistan varies 
 extremely in different parts of the 
 country, partly owing to the differ- 
 ence of latitude, but much more to 
 the greater or less elevation of the 
 various provinces. The direction of 
 the winds also is of material influence; 
 some blow over ridges of snowy 
 mountains, others are heated in sum- 
 mer and rendered cold in winter by 
 their passage over deserts ; some dis- 
 tricts are refreshed in summer by 
 breezes from moister countries, while 
 others are so enclosed by hills as to 
 be inaccessible to any wind. The 
 extremes of heat and cold are also 
 experienced, for while in the sultry 
 valley of Peshawer the thermometer 
 rises to 113° Fahrenheit, the lofty 
 peaks of the Hindoo Cosh within 
 sight remain covered with never- 
 melting snow. The prevailing wind 
 through Afghanistan is from the 
 west ; and it is remarked by the na- 
 tives, that westerly winds are cold, 
 while easterly are hot. The general 
 character of the climate is decidedly 
 dry, being little subject to rain, 
 clouds, or fogs. The annual heat, on 
 an average, is greater than that of 
 England, but less than that of India ; 
 while the difference of temperature 
 between winter and summer, and 
 even between day and night, is 
 greater than in either of these coun- 
 tries. If an inference may be drawn 
 from the size, strength, and activity of 
 the inhabitants, the territory may be 
 pronounced favourable to the human 
 constitution, and many districts are 
 remarkable for their salubrity. 
 
 To the traveller the Afghan coun- 
 try presents wild unfrequented de- 
 serts, and mountains covered with 
 perennial snow. Even among the 
 cultivated districts he will discover a 
 
 wild assemblage of hills and wastes 
 without enclosures, unembellished by 
 trees, and destitute of navigable ca- 
 nals, public roads, and all the elabo- 
 rate productions of human civiliza- 
 tion, while the towns will be found 
 few and remote from each other. On 
 the other hand, he would be struck 
 with the population and fertility of 
 certain plains and vallies, where he 
 would discover the productions of 
 Europe mingled with those of the 
 Torrid Zone, and the land improved 
 with the utmost industry. In other 
 parts the inhabitants would be found 
 following their flocks, dwelling in 
 tents, or stationary in villages, com- 
 posed of mud-built walls with ter- 
 raced roofs. 
 
 In Afghanistan there are five 
 classes of cultivators, viz. first, pro- 
 prietors who cultivate their own 
 lands; second, tenants who hire it 
 for a money rent, or for a fixed pro- 
 portion of the produce ; third, buz- 
 gurs, who are the same as the meta- 
 yers in France ; fourth, hired labour- 
 ers; fifth, vassals, who till their lord’s 
 lands without wages. The land, 'on 
 the whole, is more equally divided 
 than in most countries, Afghanistan 
 containing a great number of landed 
 proprietors. The common lease is 
 one and two years, the best five ; the 
 value of land is estimated at about 
 twelve years’ purchase. In most parts 
 of this territory there are two har- 
 vests in the year, one of which is 
 sown the end of autumn and reaped 
 in summer; the other is sown the end 
 of spring and reaped in autumn. 
 Wheat is the food of the people in 
 the greatest proportion of the coun- 
 try, the barley raised being commonly 
 given to horses ; rice is also gene- 
 rally found, but is most abundant in 
 Sewad, best at Peshawer, and is 
 almost the only food of the inhabi- 
 tants of Cashmere. Garden vege- 
 tables of all sorts are plentiful and 
 excellent, but most of the sugar is 
 brought from Hindostan ; cotton, 
 with a few exceptions, is confined to 
 the hot districts; little, however, is 
 manufactured, a great proportion of 
 the cotton cloth used being imported 
 
AFGHANISTAN. 
 
 9 
 
 from India. The palma christi, or 
 castor-oil plant, is common, and sup- 
 plies a great part of the oil used; 
 madder abounds in the cold climates 
 of the west, where also the assafcetida 
 plant is found wild. Vast quantities 
 of this last-mentioned drug are ex- 
 ported to India, where it forms a fa- 
 vourite ingredient in the cookery of 
 both Hindoos and Mahomedans. To- 
 bacco is produced in most parts of 
 Afghanistan. 
 
 The grain is converted into flour 
 by windmills, watermills, or hand- 
 mills, the first being the most com- 
 mon in the west, where a steady wind 
 can be relied on for at least four 
 months of the year. There are many 
 ruins of old windmills as far east as 
 Cabul and Ghizni, the sails of which 
 appear to have been enclosed within 
 the building, the wind having access 
 by an opening; the wheel of the 
 watermill is horizontal. Horses are 
 employed to draw the plough in Tur- 
 kistan and the Eimauk country, but 
 no where else in Afghanistan ; nor 
 are they employed for this purpose 
 either in Hindostan or Persia, that 
 task in all the three being usually 
 assigned to oxen and buffaloes, al- 
 though in particular parts of the first 
 camels and asses are also used. A 
 considerable number of horses are 
 reared in the Afghan dominions; 
 those from Herat are reckoned par- 
 ticularly good, some of them having 
 the figure of an Arab, with superior 
 size. A good breed of the Indian 
 sort, named tazi, is found in Bunnoo 
 and Damaun, and excellent horses of 
 the same description are bred be- 
 tween the Hydaspes and Indus; but 
 excepting those from the province of 
 Bulk, which are excellent, the horses 
 from the Afghan territories have not 
 a very good character. 
 
 Camels are the animals most em- 
 ployed for carriage ; the dromedary 
 is found in all the plain country, espe- 
 cially in the dry and sandy parts, and 
 is the tall, long-legged animal com- 
 mon to India. The Bactrian camel 
 is more rare, and is a third lower 
 than the other, but very stout ; he is 
 covered with black shaggy hair, and 
 
 has two distinct humps, instead of 
 one bunch like the dromedary. The 
 best oxen are imported from the Raj- 
 poot country. The grand stock of 
 the pastoral tribes is sheep, of the 
 species having tails a foot broad, al- 
 most entirely composed of fat. Va- 
 rious breeds of goats, some with long 
 twisted horns, are common among 
 the mountains. The dogs of Afgha- 
 nistan are excellent, particularly the 
 greyhounds and pointers ; the cats 
 are of the long-haired sort, known in 
 Europe by the name of Persian cats. 
 There are three sorts of eagles, and 
 many kinds of hawks trained to the 
 chase ; the chirk species are trained 
 to strike the antelope, and fasten on 
 its head until the greyhounds come 
 up. Among the other birds, herons, 
 cranes, storks, wild ducks, geese, 
 partridges, pigeons, crows, and spar- 
 rows, are common ; cuckoos rare, and 
 magpies numerous, while peacocks 
 are unknown. The snakes and scor- 
 pions of this country are large ; there 
 are no alligators ; fish are scarce, and 
 turtles and tortoises plenty. Flights 
 of locusts are not of frequent occur- 
 rence ; bees are common ; but mus- 
 quitoes, except in the hot tracts, give 
 but little annoyance. Among the 
 wild animals, lions are said to be 
 found in the hilly country about the 
 city of Cabul, but this appears impro- 
 bable; tigers are principally seen in 
 the low country along the Indus ; 
 wolves, hyaenas, foxes, and hares are 
 common every where. Bears are 
 found among the woody mountains, 
 but they seldom quit their recesses 
 except when allured by a field of 
 sugar cane; there are two kinds, one 
 the common black bear of India, and 
 the other of a dirty white or yellow 
 colour. Wild boars are rare ; but a 
 great variety of deer, including the 
 elk, abound among the mountains. 
 Wild sheep and wild goats are com- 
 mon, besides which there are porcu- 
 pines, hedgehogs, mangooses, ferrets, 
 wild dogs, and monkeys. Elephants 
 are brought from Hindostan, neither 
 that animal nor the rhinoceros being 
 found in a wild state. 
 
 Many European trees are indige- 
 
10 
 
 AFGHANISTAN. 
 
 nous to Afghanistan, where most of 
 the finest European fruits grow wild. 
 The commonest trees are the large 
 coned fir, with seeds resembling pis- 
 taccio nuts ; oaks, cedars, a gigantic 
 species of cypress, the walnut, pis- 
 taccio and the olive, mulberry, tama- 
 risk. English flowers, such as jessa- 
 mines, poppies, narcissuses, tuberoses, 
 hyacinths, &c. are raised in the gar- 
 dens. The country not having been 
 explored, little is known respecting 
 its mineral riches. Gold is said to 
 be found in some of the streams that 
 flow from the Hindoo Cosh moun- 
 tains; silver in Caffristan, rubies in 
 Badukshan, and cliffs containing la- 
 pis lazuli are supposed to overhang 
 the Cashgur river ; lead, iron, and 
 antimony are procured in different 
 tracts ; sulphur, rock salt, from the 
 salt range of mountains; saltpetre 
 every where ; alum is extracted from 
 the clay at Calabaugh, and orpiment 
 is procured from Bulk and the Haza- 
 reh countries. 
 
 Afghanistan being an inland coun- 
 try, destitute of navigable rivers and 
 roads fit for wheel carriages, com- 
 merce is carried with camels in the 
 level country, and with horses and 
 ponies among the mountains. Cara- 
 vans go to Chinese Turkistan from 
 Cashmere and Peshawer ; from Can- 
 dahar and Herat to Persia ; but the 
 trade to Hindostan is more divided. 
 That of the Punjab and the north 
 comes to Peshawer, while that which 
 crosses the desert of Rajpootana 
 and the countries still further south 
 comes to Shekarpoor, Bahawulpoor, 
 and Mooltan. The trade by sea 
 arrives at Corachie, and is thence 
 transported to Shekarpoor and Can- 
 dahar. The chief commercial in- 
 tercourse is with India, Persia, and 
 Turkistan (both independent and 
 Chinese), but the first is by far the 
 most considerable. The exports to 
 India consist principally of horses, 
 furs, shawls, madder, assafcetida, to- 
 bacco, almonds, pistaccio nuts, wal- 
 nuts, hazel-nuts, and fruits both fresh 
 and dried. The imports are coarse 
 cotton cloths, muslins, silken cloths 
 and brocades, indigo in large quan- 
 
 tities, ivory, chalk, bamboos, wax, tin, 
 sandal-wood, and nearly all the sugar 
 used in the country. Spices are large- 
 ly imported from Bombay and the 
 Malabar coast to Corachie ; cowries 
 also come by this route, through 
 which horses are exported. The 
 horse trade is one of considerable 
 importance. A great number of 
 horses are annually sold in the 
 north of India, under the name of 
 Cabul horses, and in the west under 
 that of Candahar horses; but almost 
 the whole of these come from Tur- 
 kistan. No horses are bred at Cabul, 
 except by men of property for their 
 own use, nor are the horses about 
 Candahar exported. Some fine horses 
 from the neighbourhood of Herat are 
 carried to other countries, but few 
 or none to India. A considerable 
 number of horses are exported from 
 Baloochistan, as are also some of the 
 fine breed found on both sides of the 
 Indus, in the county north of the salt 
 range. The great breeding country 
 in the Afghan dominions is Balk, 
 from which quarter, and from the 
 Turkoman country, lower down the 
 Oxus river, a great proportion of 
 the horses exported are brought. 
 There are two sorts of horses mostly 
 dealt in, one rather small but very 
 stout; the other much larger, and 
 more valued on that account, al- 
 though not near so serviceable, ex- 
 cept for war, when, owing to the 
 Asiatic mode of fighting, size is of 
 importance. The first are called 
 Toorkies or Uzbekies, the second 
 Turkomanies. The great marts are 
 Balk and Bokhara, where Toorkies 
 sell for from £5 to £20, and Turko- 
 manies from £20 to <£100 each. Of 
 late years the exportation to India 
 has been rapidly decreasing, owing to 
 the extension of the British posses- 
 sions, where small bodies of disci- 
 plined infantry have been substituted 
 for large bodies of horse; and in 
 proportion as the circle of their de- 
 predations has been contracted, the 
 native armies have been also modi- 
 fied and diminished by a greater 
 admixture of infantry. 
 
 The origin of the term Afghan has 
 
AFGHANISTAN. 
 
 11 
 
 never been satisfactorily traced, but 
 it is probably of modern date, being 
 known to the Afghan nation only 
 thiuugn tne medium of the Persian. 
 The name by which they designate 
 themselves is Pooshtoon, in the 
 plural Pooshtaneh, sometimes pro- 
 nounced Pooktauneh, whence pos- 
 sibly the word Patan, by which the 
 Afghans are known in India, may be 
 derived. By the Arabians they are 
 called Solimanee. They have no 
 general name for their country, but 
 sometimes apply the Persian one of 
 Afghanist’han. The name most usually 
 applied to the whole country is Kho- 
 rassan, which is obviously incorrect. 
 The Afghans describe themselves as 
 having originally sprung in four divi- 
 sions, from the four sons of Kyse 
 Abouresheed, named Serrabun, 
 Ghoorghoosht, Betnee, and Kurleh, 
 from whom originate the innumerable 
 tribes, branches, and subdivisions 
 which at present exist. The term 
 Ooloos is applied either to a whole 
 tribe or to an independent branch, 
 the import of the word meaning a 
 sort of clannish commonwealth. 
 Khail means a band or assemblage, 
 and Zei means sons. Throughout 
 all the tribes, the clannish attachment 
 of the Afghans, unlike that of the 
 Scottish highlanders, is rather to the 
 community than to the chief, who has 
 but little power, and it is but rarely 
 that the personal interests of its 
 khan or chief will influence a tribe 
 to any action inconsistent with its 
 own interest or honour. 
 
 The general law of the empire is 
 that of Mahomed, but their peculiar 
 code is the Pooshtoon-Wallee, or 
 peculiar usages of the Afghans, which 
 authorizes the law of retaliation. 
 Slaves are common in Afghanistan, 
 mostly home-born, the rest imported. 
 Abyssinians and negroes are some- 
 times brought from Arabia ; the Ba- 
 loochies sell Persians and other pri- 
 soners, and many Caffries are pur- 
 chased or made prisoners. The 
 Caffrey prisoners are generally fe- 
 males, and much sought after on 
 account of their beauty. The Afghan 
 men are of robust make, generally 
 
 lean, but strong and muscular, with 
 high noses and cheek bones and 
 long faces. Their hair and beards 
 are generally black, sometimes brown, 
 but rarely red. The western Afghans 
 are stouter than those of the east, 
 and some are of surprising strength 
 and stature, but in the aggregate not 
 so tall as the British nations. Their 
 manners are frank and open, but 
 entirely free from the affectation of 
 military pride and ferocity, so disgust- 
 ing among the Patans of India. By 
 the Persians the Afghans are accused 
 of barbarism and stupidity, because 
 they want the subtlety and mendacity 
 of the former, and are remarkable 
 among eastern nations for their ve- 
 racity. Their ruling passion is the 
 love of gain, and hoarding a favourite 
 system with all classes, the influence 
 of money being nearly unbounded. 
 They are proud of their descent, and 
 great supporters of genealogies. To 
 their immediate dependents they are 
 kind, but the reverse to those who 
 are under them, without any personal 
 connexion, on which account the 
 more remote provinces which they 
 have subdued, such as Cashmere, 
 suffer greatly from their rapacity. 
 Their vices are those of revenge, 
 envy, avarice, rapacity, and obsti- 
 nacy ; but on the other hand they 
 are fond of independence, faithful to 
 each other, kind to their immediate 
 dependents, hospitable, brave, hardy, 
 frugal, laborious, prudent, and are on 
 the whole, at least in their native 
 country, much less debauched, vo- 
 luptuous, and dishonest, than their 
 neighbours the Hindostanees and 
 Persians. 
 
 The above favourable character, 
 however, must in a great degree be 
 restricted to the inhabitants of the 
 country, for the greater part of the 
 sedentary town population are not 
 Afghans. No genuine Afghan ever 
 keeps a shop, or exercises any han- 
 dicraft trade, these vocations being 
 mostly occupied by Tajiks (whose 
 language is Persian) and Hindikies, 
 a people of Indian origin. The only 
 Afghans who reside in great towns 
 are great men and their followers, 
 
AFGHANISTAN. 
 
 12 
 
 soldiers, moollahs, a few who follow 
 commerce, and some of the very 
 poorest who work as labourers. The 
 prohibition in the Koran against true 
 believers taking interest for money, 
 devolves most of the banking busi- 
 ness on the Hindoos, for which, 
 from their cautious and penurious 
 habits, they are admirably suited. 
 The Tajiks of Afghanistan are every 
 where remarkable for their use of 
 fixed habitations, and their disposi- 
 tion to agriculture, and other sta- 
 tionary occupations. They compose 
 the principal part of the population 
 round Cabul, Candahar, Ghizni, He- 
 rat, and Balk, but there are few in the 
 wild parts of the country. The 
 whole number in the Cabul dominions 
 has been estimated at about 1,500,000 
 persons. The Hindikies are more 
 numerous than the Tajiks, and all of 
 Indian descent; their language is a 
 kind of Hindostany, resembling the 
 Punjaub dialect. Brahminical Hindoos 
 are found all over Cabul, especially 
 in the towns, where they carry on the 
 trade of brokers, merchants, bankers, 
 goldsmiths, and grain sellers. They 
 are almost all of the Khetri (military) 
 tribe, yet none follow the martial 
 profession, and they are by no means 
 strict in their adherence to the Brah- 
 minical doctrines of purity and im- 
 purity. 
 
 The food of the common people 
 is leavened bread, rice, flesh, vegeta- 
 bles, sometimes cheese, and after- 
 wards dried curds. Provisions are 
 very cheap, and fruit so abundant, 
 that in the city of Cabul grapes are 
 dear when they sell for more than 
 one farthing per pound. Nuts of all 
 sorts are in profusion ; vegetables are 
 low-priced, as are also coriander 
 seeds, turmeric, and ginger. In the 
 Cohistan or hilly country, the chief 
 subsistence of the people is derived 
 from their numerous plantations of 
 mulberry trees, the fruit of which is 
 dried in the sun, then ground to 
 flour, and afterwards made into bread. 
 It has been calculated that the pro- 
 duce of an acre of mulberries will 
 support a greater number of persons 
 than one under regular tillage. 
 
 The Afghan nation being composed 
 of the aggregate of many different 
 triboo, cannot ho properly described 
 without particularly referring to eacti 
 distinct body ; but these divisions 
 are so minute and extended that it is 
 impossible even to enumerate them, 
 and in point of strength and popu- 
 lation, each tribe fluctuates almost 
 annually. In 1809, those of the most 
 importance were the 
 
 Durranies (formerly the Abdallies), 
 
 Ghiljiesy 
 
 Yusephzeis, 
 
 Deggauns, 
 
 Kizzlebashes (of Persian origin), 
 Turkolanies, 
 
 Khyberies, 
 
 Bungish, 
 
 Otman khail, 
 
 Khuttuks, 
 
 Delazauks, 
 
 Momunds, 
 
 Vizieries, 
 
 Wurducks, 
 
 Caukers, and 
 Naussers. 
 
 The Hazarehs and Eimauks, who now 
 inhabit what is supposed to have been 
 the original Afghan country, differ 
 entirely from that nation in appear- 
 ance, language and manners, but 
 bear a strong resemblance to the 
 Toorky tribes in their neighbour- 
 hood. The king is the natural head 
 of the Durranies, the strongest, brav- 
 est, and most civilized tribe ; but he 
 is obliged to pay great attention to 
 the wishes of the different clans that 
 compose it. The tribes that inhabit 
 the north-eastern quarter, enclosed 
 between the Hindoo Cosh mountains 
 and the Indus, the salt range and the 
 range of Soliman, are comprehended 
 under the general name of Ber Dur- 
 ranies, first given them by Ahmed 
 Shah. They are mostly agricultural, 
 but subdivided into numerous little 
 societies. The Durranies had for- 
 merly the name of Abdallies, until it 
 was changed to Durranies by Ahmed 
 Shah, in consequence of the dream 
 of a famous saint at Chamkunee, and 
 upon this event he assumed the title 
 of Shah Dooree Dooraun. Of all 
 the clans into which this tribe is par- 
 
 / 
 
 Durranies, 
 
AFGHANISTAN. 
 
 13 
 
 titioned, the Populzei is the most 
 eminent, and of this clan the Sud- 
 dozei fills the throne, and is held 
 peculiarly sacred. 
 
 The upper corner of Afghanistan, 
 north of the Cabul river, and west of 
 the Indus, is occupied by the Yu- 
 sephzei tribe, who also inhabit the 
 country among the hills named Be- 
 neer, Sewad, and Punjcora ; some 
 of this tribe extend to the Indus. — 
 They have possessed the countries 
 they now inhabit 300 years, but came 
 originally from the west about Gairah 
 and Nooshky. The territory was 
 then possessed by theDelazauks, who 
 were gradually expelled or extermi- 
 nated by the Yusephzeis. At pre- 
 sent the latter are a very numerous 
 tribe, separated into many little com- 
 munities, chiefly under an apparently 
 democratic constitution, and not- 
 withstanding their turbulence and 
 internal discord, their country is well 
 cultivated, and their villages and 
 water-courses in excellent condition. 
 A renowned saint of their own tribe 
 is said to have left them a blessing 
 and a curse, that “ they should al- 
 ways be free but never united.” In 
 consequence of their interminable 
 feuds, there is scarcely a man of any 
 note, who is not constantly on the 
 watch for his life. In every village 
 men are seen clad in armour, and 
 others are surrounded by hired sol- 
 diers. Each injury produces fresh 
 retaliations, hence ambuscades, sud- 
 den attacks in the streets, murder in 
 their houses, with the consequent dis- 
 trust, alarm, and confusion. It is not 
 possible to enumerate all the little 
 republics of the Yusephzeis indepen- 
 dent of each other. The whole popu- 
 lation has been estimated at 700,000 
 persons, but more than half of these 
 are the mere peasantry (here named 
 Fakeers) who labour for the Yuseph- 
 zeis. These Fakeers have the liberty 
 of removing from the lands of one 
 master to those of another, and even 
 to a distinct community, which privi- 
 lege is their main protection against 
 oppression. 
 
 The crown of Cabul is hereditary 
 in that branch of the Suddozei family 
 
 which is descended from Ahmed Shah 
 Abdalli, but there is no fixed rule for 
 its descending to the eldest son. The 
 whole of the royal family, except 
 those especially favoured by the 
 reigning sovereign, are imprisoned 
 in the upper citadel of Cabul city, 
 where they are well treated but strict- 
 ly confined. The king’s title is Shahy 
 Dooree Dooraun. He has the ex- 
 clusive privilege of coining, and is 
 prayed for in the khootbeh, a part of 
 the religious service of the Mahome- 
 dans. He has the right of making 
 peace and declaring war, but cannot 
 cede any portion of the territory 
 occupied by the Afghan tribes, who 
 have generally shewn no desire for 
 western conquests ; and it was a 
 death-bed injunction of Ahmed Shah 
 to avoid attacking the Uzbeks, whom 
 he designated “a hive without honey.” 
 Indeed the majority of the Afghan 
 tribes meddle little with external 
 politics, and possess but scanty in- 
 formation regarding the neighbouring 
 states, having no news-writers as in 
 Hindostan, and but few ambassadors. 
 The general administration is con- 
 ducted by the King with the assistance 
 of the Great Vizier, who ought to be 
 selected from the clan of Baumzei. 
 Next to the Vizier are the head se- 
 cretary (the Moonshee Bashi), the 
 superintendent of the intelligence 
 department (Harcarah Bashi), and 
 the commandant of punishments or 
 public executioner (Nasukher Bashi). 
 The station of Arz Beggee was here- 
 ditary in the family of Akram Khan. 
 The duty of this functionary is to 
 repeat in an audible voice to the 
 king, any thing that is said by his 
 subjects when admitted to the pre- 
 sence, and his office it may be sup- 
 posed is of considerable importance. 
 
 The whole kingdom in 1809 was 
 subdivided into twenty-seven pro- 
 vinces, eighteen of which had each a 
 separate governor or hakim, who col- 
 lected the revenue and commanded 
 the militia, and a surdar or general 
 who commanded the regulars, but 
 sometimes both of these offices were 
 united. The eighteen provinces thus 
 administered were Herat, Furrah, 
 
u 
 
 AFGHANISTAN. 
 
 Candahar, Ghizni, Cabul, Bamian, 
 Ghoorebund, Jellalabad, Lughman, 
 Peshawer, Dera Ismael Khan, Dera 
 Ghazi Khan, Shekarpoor, Sewee, 
 Sinde, Cashmere, Chuch Hazareh, 
 Leia and Mooltan, some of which at 
 present are totally separated from the 
 Afghan dominions, and others under 
 but little control. In settled times 
 the revenue of Cabul was formerly 
 reckoned at near three millions per 
 annum, but the real revenue seldom 
 exceeded two millions, and of this a 
 large proportion was assigned away 
 in military jaghire. 
 
 In the cities justice is administered 
 by the cauzies, the mufti, the ameeni 
 mekemeh, and the darogah of the 
 adawlut. In the country the land- 
 holders were answerable for the po- 
 lice, which in most parts is very bad. 
 The established army (before the 
 existing anarchy) consisted of Dur- 
 ranies, Gholaumi Shahs, besides which 
 there was a sort of militia named 
 Eeljauree. The conduct of the Dur- 
 ranies (the ruling tribe) in their wars, 
 conveys a very mean idea of their 
 military character. Their armies 
 were always very small, seldom ex- 
 ceeding ten thousand men of a side, 
 and these ill paid and disobedient. 
 The victory was usually decided by 
 some person of consequence going 
 over to the enemy, on which the 
 greater part of the army dispersed, 
 or followed his example. Even when 
 the battle was decided by the sword 
 there was little bloodshed, and that 
 chiefly among the great khans who 
 were interested in the result, the 
 common soldiers shewing much in- 
 difference as to the issue. 
 
 The language of the Afghans is 
 named the Pushtoo ; but its origin 
 is unknown, as a large portion of the 
 words cannot be traced to any of the 
 ancient languages, although Sir Wil- 
 liam Jones considered it to be a dia- 
 lect of the scriptural Chaldaic. For 
 writing they use the Persian alphabet, 
 and generally the Nush character ; 
 but as they have some sounds not 
 expressible by any Persian letter, 
 they denote these by adding a dis- 
 tinctive mark or point to the Persian 
 
 letter, which approaches nearest in' 
 sound. In a specimen of the Lord’s 
 Prayer in the Pushtoo, the mission- 
 aries could scarcely trace four words 
 to the Sanscrit, although half of them 
 were quite familiar as being current 
 in the Hindostany. It is conse- 
 quently evident that the languages 
 derived from the Sanscrit end in the 
 west at Afghanistan, which idea is 
 confirmed by the Baloochy dialect to 
 the south of that region. The Push- 
 too, though rough, is a manly lan- 
 guage, and not unpleasing to an ear 
 accustomed to the oriental tongues. 
 None of the famous authors in this 
 dialect are more than one century 
 and a half old, and there are pro- 
 bably no books in the language more 
 than twice that antiquity, their lite- 
 rature being mostly of Persian origin. 
 Their pure authors are chiefly writers 
 on theology and law; but they have 
 also several histories of particular 
 periods of their own transactions. 
 The books written in Pushtoo, how- 
 ever, arc not to be relied on as giving 
 any standard of the national learning, 
 Persian being still the language in 
 which all scientific works are com- 
 posed. 
 
 The manners of the Afghan tribes 
 differ according as their habits are 
 stationary or migratory. The dwel- 
 lers in tents are chiefly found in the 
 west, much the larger portion of the 
 eastern Afghans living in houses, and 
 circumstances render it probable that 
 all over the empire the erratic tribes 
 are diminishing, no voluntary migra- 
 tion of a tribe from one distant station 
 to another having taken place for 
 above a century. The commonest 
 houses are built of brick, one story 
 high, and roofed, either with terraces 
 or low cupolas, supported by beams. 
 There are neither wheeled carriages 
 nor palanquins in the country, both 
 sexes travelling on horses and camels. 
 One of the most distinguished charac- 
 teristics of the Afghans is their hos- 
 pitality, for which they are justly 
 famous, it being considered a point 
 of national honour. The greatest 
 affront an Afghan can receive is to 
 have his guest carried off. They are 
 
AFGHANISTAN. 
 
 15 
 
 remarkable for their rapacity and 
 predatory habits, and will next day, 
 if they meet him at a distance, plun- 
 der the individual they have before 
 hospitably entertained. They acquire 
 their wives by purchase, and among 
 them, as among the ancient Jews, it 
 is thought incumbent on the brother 
 of the deceased to marry his widow. 
 
 With respect to religion, the Af- 
 ghans are all of the Sooni sect of 
 Mahomedans, which acknowleges the 
 three first Caliphs as the lawful suc- 
 cessors of Mahomed, and opposed 
 to the Shiahs, who reject the three 
 first Caliphs as usurpers of the right 
 of Ali, the nephew of the prophet, 
 and fourth of his successors. A bit- 
 ter enmity between these two sects 
 is the consequence ; and the un- 
 learned portion of the Afghans cer- 
 tainly consider a Shiah as more of 
 an infidel than a Hindoo, yet all the 
 numerous Persians in the country 
 are Shiahs, and many of them hold 
 high offices in the state and house- 
 hold. Another remarkable sect in 
 Afghanistan is that of the Sophies, 
 which ought perhaps to be considered 
 rather as a sect of mystified philoso- 
 phers, than mere sectarians in reli- 
 gion. This class gains ground among 
 the higher orders, and such of the 
 Moullahs as are dabblers in general 
 literature, to whose taste its mysteries 
 and obscure sublimity is admirably 
 suited. Another sect, named the 
 Zukkies from Moullah Zukki, its first 
 patron, hold doctrines hostile to all 
 revelation and the belief of a future 
 state, and are said practically to illus- 
 trate their doctrines by the depravity 
 of their lives. The Roushunea sect 
 was very prevalent in the sixteenth 
 century, but is now nearly extinct. 
 It was founded in the reign of the 
 emperor Acber, by Bajazet Ansari, 
 named by his enemies, the apostle of 
 darkness, in derision to the title of 
 Peeree Roushun, the apostle of 
 light, which he had assumed. 
 
 Like many other eastern nations, 
 the Afghans hold their burial-grounds 
 in high veneration, naming them the 
 cities of the dead. These they peo- 
 ple with the ghosts of the departed. 
 
 each sitting at the head of his own 
 grave, although invisible to mortal 
 eyes. They also pry into futurity by 
 astrological and geomantic calcula- 
 tions, and by all kinds of divination 
 and sortilege. The most approved 
 modes, however, of discovering the 
 arrangements of providence, are either 
 by examining the blade-bone of a 
 sheep, held up to the light, or by 
 opening at random the Koran or the 
 Poems of Hafiz. 
 
 The Afghans assert that they are 
 descended from Afghan, the son of 
 Irmia or Birkia, the son of Saul, 
 king of Israel. The early Mahome- 
 dan chronicles mention Rajas of Ca- 
 bul; but this proves no fact, as the 
 same writers call the Hindoos Gue- 
 bres, and apply the term rajah with- 
 out sufficient discrimination. The 
 first substantial tradition of the 
 Afghans begins in A.D. 997, when 
 Sebuctaghi, a Tartar officer, con- 
 quered Afghanistan, and made Ghizni 
 its capital. His son, Mahmood, 
 greatly extended the limits of the 
 empire, and the dynasty lasted until 
 1159, from which period, until the 
 invasion of Tamerlane, the Afghan 
 history is involved in obscurity. In 
 1506, the emperor Baber seized on 
 Cabul and Ghizni, prior to his inva- 
 sion of Hindoostan. In 1720, the 
 Afghans conquered Persia, and took 
 Ispahan; but in 1737, their own 
 countiy was completely subjugated 
 by Nadir Shah. In 1747, Ahmed 
 Shah ab dalli, the founder of the 
 Durrany dynasty, was crowned at 
 Candahar; in 1773 he was succeeded 
 by his son Timour Shah, who died 
 in 1793. Zemaun Shah reigned 
 until 1800, when he was dethroned 
 by his brother Mahmood, who, 
 in 1803, was expelled by his bro- 
 ther Shuja, who was in his turn 
 expelled by Mahmood in 1809, and 
 sought refuge at Luddeaneh, where 
 he remained in 1817, with a pension 
 of 50,000 rupees per annum ; but in 
 1818, he became restless, and quitted 
 his asylum in hopes of regaining the 
 uneasy crown. Meantime Runjeet 
 Singh, the Seik chief of Lahore, 
 availing himself of the existing con- 
 
16 
 
 AGRA. 
 
 fusion, in 1819-20, conquered Pesha- 
 vver, the modern Afghan capital, and 
 the romantic valley of Cashmere. 
 In 1821, Shah Shuja returned from 
 the Karpoor to Luddeaneh, through 
 Sinde, Jesselmere, and Joudpoor, 
 after failing in attempt to recover his 
 throne by the aid of the Ameers of 
 Sinde. Great lenity was shewn him, 
 and his pension restored, although 
 he had offered to mortgage it to the 
 Rajah of Noorpoor, to raise funds 
 for his adventurous expedition. At 
 the same time a pension was settled 
 on his blind brother, Zemaun Shah, 
 at one period the sovereign of Af- 
 ghanistan, and the terror of north- 
 western India. In 1826, the rival 
 kings, Mahmood and Shuja, were 
 equally fugitives; the first with his 
 son Camran at Herat; the last 
 within the British territories. The 
 Cabul country was then partition- 
 ed among the sons of Futteh Khan, 
 always at variance, and Yar Ma- 
 homed Khan was actual ruler of 
 Peshawer, probably under the pro- 
 tection of Runjeet Singh, the tide of 
 conquest having rolled back for the 
 first time from east to west. — ( Elphin - 
 stone, Foster , Public MS. Documents , 
 
 4*0 
 
 Afzulghur. — A town and stout 
 ghurry in the province of Oude, si- 
 tuated in lat. 29° 25' N., Ion. 78° 40' 
 E. 
 
 Agha deep ( Agha-dwipa). — A 
 small town in the province of Bengal, 
 where there is a celebrated image of 
 Krishna, much venerated by the 
 Hindoos. 
 
 PROVINCE OF AGRA. 
 
 This large division of Hindostan 
 proper is situated principally between 
 the 25th and 28th degrees of N. lat. 
 On the north it is bounded by the 
 province of Delhi, on the south by 
 that of Malwa ; on the east are the 
 provinces of Oude and Allahabad, 
 and on the west that of Ajmeer. In 
 length it may be estimated at 250 
 miles by 180, the average breadth. 
 The principal modern geographical 
 
 and political subdivisons are the 
 following : 
 
 1 . Agra district. 
 
 2. The Doab. 
 
 3. The district of Etaweh. 
 
 4. The Furruckabad district. 
 
 5. Calpee, Gohud, and Gualior. 
 
 6. The Bhurtpoor territories. 
 
 7. Alvar and Macherry. 
 
 8. The Alighur district. 
 
 The surface of this province, to 
 the north-east of the jumna, is in 
 general flat and open, and rather 
 bare of trees; but to the south of 
 the Chumbul, and also towards the 
 western frontier, it becomes more 
 hilly and jungly. The climate, for 
 the greater part of the year, is tem- 
 perate, and during the winter cool 
 during the nights ; but while the hot 
 winds prevail, as in other regions 
 subject to their influence, the heat is 
 intense, and the climate unhealthy, 
 especially in the jungly quarter ; but, 
 fortunately, their continuance is not 
 of very long duration. The chief 
 rivers of the province are the Gan- 
 ges, the Jumna, and the Chumbul, 
 besides many smaller streams, such 
 as the Sinde and Kohary ; but, upon 
 the whole, the country is but indiffe- 
 rently supplied with water, and de- 
 pends much on the periodical rains. 
 To the north of the Chumbul, and 
 on the western frontier, during the 
 dry season, except in the immediate 
 vicinity of the large rivers, which 
 flow with a perpetual current, water 
 for agricultural purposes is procured 
 from wells. A great proportion of 
 the cultivation is consequently re- 
 stricted to such crops as do not, like 
 rice, require a redundant supply of 
 moisture. 
 
 Various streams have their sources 
 in the north-western hills, and during 
 the rains flow with a considerable 
 volume; but even then they do not 
 reach the Jumna, Chumbul, or any 
 large depot of water, being arrested 
 during their progress; either ab- 
 sorbed by the thirsty soil, or ab- 
 stracted by the husbandman for the 
 purposes of agriculture. The soil 
 of this province is particularly well 
 adapted for the cultivation of indigo 
 
AGRA. 
 
 17 
 
 cotton, and sugar, which might be 
 raised in any quantity, and the pro- 
 duction of which, in the British ter- 
 ritories, is annually fast increasing. 
 In those subject to the native chiefs, 
 agriculture still meets with impedi- 
 ments, but nevertheless, during the 
 long tranquillity they have been com- 
 pelled to enjoy, has made con- 
 siderable advances. The Agra pro- 
 vince contains no peculiar mineral 
 productions, and the animals are 
 such as are usually found in other 
 quarters of Hindostan ; but the 
 horses are reckoned much superior 
 to those reared further east, with 
 the exception of those bred in the 
 government studs at Tirhoot and 
 Ghazipoor. While describing the 
 local subdivisions into which the 
 province is partitioned, further par- 
 ticulars of this nature will be noticed. 
 
 The principal article manufactured 
 in the Agra province is coarse cot- 
 ton cloth, which was once largely 
 exported, but has latterly much de- 
 clined. The Bengal and Bahar pro- 
 vinces receive annually an importa- 
 tion of raw cotton, from the country 
 south of the Chumbul, by the route 
 of Kalpee; but a considerable por- 
 tion of it is the growth of Malwa, 
 and the former Maharatta territories 
 to the south-east of Agra. The 
 Doab, or territory included between 
 the Ganges and Jumna, which may 
 be termed the garden of the pro- 
 vince, exports indigo, sugar, and 
 cotton. The country to the north- 
 west of Agra, under the Rajas of 
 Macherry, Bhurtpoor, and other 
 native chiefs, although ill supplied 
 with water, has latterly much im- 
 proved both in industry and cultiva- 
 tion. Upon the whole, the province 
 is but thinly populated, when com- 
 pared with Bengal, Bahar, Tanjore, 
 and the more flourishing of the Bri- 
 tish districts, and does not, probably, 
 in all its dimensions, contain more 
 than, eight millions of inhabitants, of 
 which much the larger portion re- 
 side within the jurisdiction of the 
 British magistrates. 
 
 At present the chief native poten- 
 tates within the limits of the province 
 
 VOL. i. 
 
 are the Rajahs of Macherry and Bhurt- 
 poor ; but, besides these, it contains 
 petty independent chiefs, all under 
 the protection of the British govern- 
 ment, which preserves peace between 
 them, and arbitrates their differences. 
 All the country to the east of the 
 Jumna is directly under British au- 
 thority, and is managed by a regular 
 civil establishment, for the collection 
 of the revenue and administration of 
 justice. The tracts to the south of 
 the Chumbul, comprehending Gua- 
 lior, Gobud, Narwar, &c., with the 
 exception of the town and district of 
 Kalpee, are either in the possession 
 of, or tributary to Dowlet Row Sinclia. 
 
 The chief towns in the Agra, be- 
 sides its capita], are Alvar, the capi- 
 tal of the Macherry Rajah ; Bhurt- 
 poor, the capital of the Jauts ; Deeg, 
 another strong Jaut fortress ; Ma- 
 thura, Bindrabund, Kanoje, Etawah, 
 Gualior, Gohud, Kalpee, Narwar, 
 and Furruckabad. The natives are, 
 in general, a handsome, robust race 
 of men, and consist of a mixture of 
 Hindoos and Mahomedans, few of 
 the Seiks having come so far south. 
 A considerable number of the culti- 
 vators to the west of the Jumna are 
 Jauts, and the country of the Ma- 
 cherry Rajah contains many Mewat- 
 ties, long noted for their thievish 
 propensities. The Hindoo religion 
 is still predominant, although the 
 country has been (until recently) 
 permanently subject to Mahomedan 
 princes since the thirteenth century. 
 Pagodas are numerous, and mosques 
 rare, while the Rajpoot and Brah- 
 minical races prevail among the pea- 
 santry. The woods and jungles are 
 full of peacocks, another symptom of 
 Hindooism ; and most of the names 
 are followed by the affix of Singh, 
 which ought to be peculiar to the 
 Rajpoots of noble descent ; but all 
 the Jauts assume it without cere- 
 mony, as do also the Seiks, who, 
 being apostates from the Brahininical 
 faith, have still less, claim to such a 
 distinction. The language of com- 
 mon intercourse is the Hindostany ; 
 but the Persian (for which English 
 might now be substituted) is used for 
 
18 
 
 AGRA. 
 
 public and official documents, and 
 is also spoken in conversation by 
 the higher classes of Mahomedans. 
 The Bruj dialect is spoken round the 
 city of Agra, and extends to the 
 Vindhya mountains. In the words 
 of the Lord’s prayer in this lan- 
 guage, twenty-eight correspond with 
 those occurring in the Bengalese and 
 Hindostany specimens, besides two 
 or three Sanscrit words of frequent 
 recurrence in the Bengalese. The 
 ancient language of Kanoje, the ca- 
 pital of upper Hindostan, at the 
 period of the first Mahomedan inva- 
 sion, is thought by Mr. Colebrooke 
 to form the basis of the modern Hin- 
 dostany. 
 
 In the remote ages of Hindoo 
 antiquity this province must have 
 formed a very important division of 
 Hindostan, as it contained Kanoje, 
 Mathura, and Bindrabund, the seats 
 of their most famous empires, and 
 still among the most venerated places 
 of pilgrimage. The city of Agra is 
 supposed to have been the birth- 
 place of the Avatar, or incarnation 
 of Vishnu, under the name of Parasu 
 Rama, whose conquests extended to 
 and included Ceylon. After the 
 Mahomedan invasion it followed the 
 fate of Delhi, and during the reign 
 of Acber, as containing the tempo- 
 rary metropolis, was the leading pro- 
 vince of the empire. Subsequent to 
 the death of Aurengzebe in 1707 it 
 was alternately possessed and ra- 
 vaged by the Jauts, Maharattas, and 
 different commanders deputed from 
 Delhi to restore peace and the im- 
 perial authority, neither of which 
 they were ever able to effect. One 
 of the latter, Nadjiff Khan, governed 
 the districts north of the Chumbul 
 from 1777 until his death, indepen- 
 dent of all control from the Delhi 
 sovereign. ( Abut Fazel , Scott , Cole- 
 brooke, Missionaries, Wilford , §c.) 
 
 Agra District. — The modern 
 district of Agra joins the Delhi di- 
 vision a short distance north of 
 Kosee, and extends along the banks 
 of the Jumna to its junction with 
 the Chumbul. On the west it is 
 
 bounded by the pergunnahs of Deeg, 
 the Bhurtpoor territories, and the 
 pergunnahs of Dholpoor, Barree, 
 and Rajakera. That portion si- 
 tuated between the Chumbul and 
 the Jumna is a table land, elevated 
 above the beds of both rivers about 
 sixty feet, and composed of a light 
 soil. In many parts, during the dry 
 season, the tanks, streams, and ri- 
 vulets are without water, which, for 
 agricultural and domestic purposes, 
 is procured from wells. Cultivation 
 in this district, when compared with 
 its condition in the Company’s old 
 provinces, has made but little pro- 
 gress. The waste lands are very 
 extensive, and a portion of them 
 might, without injustice, be set aside 
 for the maintenance of watchmen, 
 or of any other public measure. 
 This backward state of the agricul- 
 ture is in a great measure to be as- 
 cribed to its locality, and the peculiar 
 political relations in which it is cir- 
 cumstanced ; the contiguity of inde- 
 pendent states, separated in many 
 parts from the British territories by 
 an imaginary boundary, and inha- 
 bited by tribes long noted for their 
 habits of rapine, such as the Me- 
 watties and Buddicks, who, after 
 committing crimes within the limits 
 of Agra, find a secure asylum for 
 their persons and plunder in the ad- 
 jacent native states, or among the 
 defiles and ravines which intersect 
 the southern portion of this division. 
 
 The jurisdiction of Chata contains 
 175 villages, and is bounded by that 
 of Delhi, by the dominions of the 
 Nabob Ahmed Buksh Khan, and by 
 Bhurtpoor. The inhabitants of this 
 tract have been, from time immemo- 
 rial, most notorious robbers, and it 
 is only within these fifteen years that 
 their roads could be passed with any 
 degree of safety. This predatory dis- 
 position, in addition to the facilities 
 afforded by its frontier position, and 
 much jungle between the villages, re- 
 quires a more than ordinary share of 
 vigilance and vigour on the part of 
 the magistrate to retain the tract in 
 tolerable subordination. Kosee is a 
 place of consequence, wealth, and 
 
AGRA. 
 
 19 
 
 commercial importance. Nundgaow 
 and Bursana are places of considera- 
 ble resort, owing to the opinion en- 
 tertained by the Hindoos of their 
 sanctity; but the inhabitants of the 
 first and those of Muchhoe have 
 long had an evil reputation, and the 
 latter being situated on the banks of 
 the Jumna, its natives have fallen 
 under the suspicion of exercising their 
 ingenuity and activity in transferring 
 the property of their neighbours in 
 the Alighur division to their own 
 respective dwellings. 
 
 Sonk is a town of considerable size 
 on the immediate frontier of the dis- 
 trict. Hurbola, is situated on the 
 high road to Mathura. Between Se- 
 cundra, near Agra, and Gaowghaut 
 the country is barren, with much 
 jungle, affording no protection to tra- 
 vellers, but extremely well adapted 
 for the concealment of thieves. All 
 is immediately on the Bhurtpoor 
 frontier, and much exposed. The 
 neighbourhood of Jet, lying between 
 Bindrabund and Choumaher, is fa- 
 mous for the bad character of its in- 
 habitants, who too frequently avail 
 themselves of the conveniences af- 
 forded by the neighbouring ravines 
 and jungles. The Hindoo sanctuaries 
 of Mathura and Bindrabund are two 
 populous towns, where for security, 
 and to promote an improved system 
 of police, gates have been erected at 
 the principal entrances, and at the 
 heads of the streets and alleys. Prior 
 to 1812, an attempt was made to in- 
 duce the zemindars to retain a num- 
 ber of watchmen, in proportion to 
 the magnitude of their different vil- 
 lages, but the burthen being found by 
 experience greater than their re- 
 sources could bear, the establishment 
 was ultimately abandoned. In the 
 section of the police division conti- 
 guous to the lands of Rajah Keeruth 
 Singh, a strong police is required; 
 yet in 1812 the only police officer 
 entertained was a Belahur, whose 
 duty it was to report to the head of 
 the tannah the occurrences of his 
 village ; and even this functionary 
 complained that his wages were not 
 paid with due punctuality. 
 
 The prevailing crime in the Agra 
 district is that of robbery on the 
 highway; and the connivance of the 
 zemindars with the robbers, although 
 difficult of direct proof, is an article 
 of universal belief. The presumption 
 is greatly strengthened when the con- 
 dition of the country prior to its 
 coming under the British government 
 is considered. At that period the 
 zemindars openly sheltered thieves, 
 and shared their plunder ; and as the 
 practice avowedly continues in the 
 immediate neighbourhood, the pro- 
 bability amounts almost to a certainty. 
 The land revenue yielded by this dis- 
 trict in 1804 did not exceed 8,500,000 
 rupees, although by Sindia’s minis- 
 ters it had been estimated at thirteen 
 lacks. It was then held by Colonel 
 Hessing, the commandant of Agra, as 
 Jaidad. In 1813, the Agra district 
 was said to contain 1,222,667 cutcha 
 or small begas of land in cultivation, 
 assessed at 1,425,802 rupees, or one 
 rupee two annas per bega of 1,600 
 square yards ; 330,807 begas fit for 
 agriculture, and 902,740 begas en- 
 tirely waste.— {R. Turner , Public 
 MS. Documents , the Marquis of Has- 
 tings, , fyc.) 
 
 Agra ( or Acberabad ). — Thecapital 
 of the preceding province, commo- 
 diously situated on the south west 
 side of the Jumna, which in the month 
 of June is here half a mile broad, and 
 never fordable at any time ; lat. 27° 
 ll'N., Ion. 77° 53' E. The houses of 
 modern Agra like those of Benares 
 consist of several stories, and the 
 streets with the exception of that lead- 
 ing from the fort to the Mathura gate, 
 which is handsome for an Indian city, 
 so narrow as scarcely to admit of a 
 palanquin; but much the greater part 
 of this once flourishing city is now a 
 heap of ruins and almost uninhabited. 
 Six miles to the north, at Secundra, is 
 the mausoleum of the Emperor Ac- 
 ber. From the summit of the mina- 
 ret in front of it, the spectator’s eye 
 may range over a great circuit of 
 country, not less than thirty miles in 
 a direct line. The whole of this space 
 is flat, and filled with the ruins of 
 c 2 
 
20 
 
 AGRA. 
 
 ancient grandeur ; at a distance the 
 Jumna is seen, and the glittering 
 towers of Agra. The fort is large, 
 and strongly built of a red kind of 
 hard sandstone, brought from the 
 quarries at Futtehpoor. It has a ditch 
 of great depth, and double rampart, 
 the inner one being of an enormous 
 height, with bastions at regular dis- 
 tances. 
 
 This city was greatly enlarged and 
 embellished by the Emperor Acber, 
 who made it his capital, and it had 
 also the honour of being the birth- 
 place of Abul Fazel, his prime minis- 
 ter. In 1813, a pension of fifty ru- 
 pees per month was granted by the 
 British government to Mustapha Khan, 
 a resident here, and the reputed li- 
 neal descendant of that meritorious 
 vizier. During the prevalence of the 
 Gallo-Maharatta power in Hindustan, 
 the pension to this individual had 
 been reduced to the miserable pit- 
 tance of fifteen rupees per annum. 
 
 The most remarkable edifice in mo- 
 dern Agra is the Tauje Mahal, built 
 of marble, greatly resembling that of 
 Carrara, and erected by the Empe- 
 ror Shah Jehan for the celebrated 
 Noor Jehan Begum. This edifice, with 
 its light minars, its great gateway, 
 mosque, and Jumaut Khana, forms 
 the most exquisite group of oriental 
 architecture in existence, and al- 
 though the more costly mosaics, of 
 twelve different sorts of stone, with- 
 in the mausoleum, have been partially 
 despoiled of their riches, the general 
 beauty of their structure remains to 
 this day perfectly unimpared. The 
 gardens which occupy the great area 
 in front are adorned with rows of cy- 
 presses, and enlivened with fountains, 
 which are still kept in order at the 
 public expense, and usually play on 
 Sunday evenings. Besides the Tauje 
 Mahal and the apartments of the im- 
 perial palace, there is a small white 
 marble mosque of singular purity of 
 design, named the Mootee Musjeed, 
 or pearl mosque, which with the Jum- 
 na Musjeed, the great chowk conti- 
 guous to the principal gate of the fort, 
 and the tomb of Etimaud ud Dowlah, 
 on the opposite bank of the Jumna, 
 
 with its delicate marble lettice-work 
 and fantastic party-coloured mosaics, 
 are remarkable structures. There is 
 also an old Roman Catholic college 
 still subsisting in the neighbourhood, 
 but in a decayed condition. In 1814, 
 one lack of rupees had been expended 
 by the British government in the re- 
 pairs of the Tauje and the Emperor 
 Acber’s mausoleum at Secundra; but 
 in India, owing to the nature of the 
 climate, the luxuriant vegetation, and 
 other causes, undertakings of this sort 
 may be described as never ending, 
 still beginning. The tomb of Kun- 
 dehree Begum, another of Shah Je- 
 han’s wives, has not been so fortunate, 
 for while that of her rival has been 
 repaired and adorned at a vast ex- 
 pense, the other is polluted by the 
 presence of a court of justice, which 
 holds its sittings there. 
 
 The extensive ruins which surround 
 Agra, added to the celebrity of its 
 name, probably gave rise to the exag- 
 gerated idea entertained of its present 
 magnitude and population ; the por- 
 tion of the town, however, which is 
 inhabited is comprehended within a 
 very small compass. It does not ap- 
 pear that any enumeration of the in- 
 habitants has ever been made, but if 
 the amount of the town duties on the 
 import of grain for their consumption, 
 compared with Furruckabad and Ba- 
 reilly, may be taken as any criterion, 
 the inference would be that Agra is 
 the least populous of the whole. In 
 1813 these duties for Agra were 
 16,251; for Furruckabad 22,000 ru- 
 pees; and for Bareilly 22,101 rupees. 
 The present number of inhabitants is 
 probably within sixty thousand, but 
 this number may eventually be ex- 
 pected greatly to increase, from the 
 facility Agra affords to the commerce 
 of western Hindostan, which is al- 
 ready very great, as will appear from 
 the duties paid into the treasury on 
 account of duties received at the cus- 
 tom-house, viz. in 1812-13, 673,006 
 and in 1813-14, 922,157 rupees. In 
 1818 the increase of duties, in conse- 
 quence of the tranquillization of Raj- 
 pootana, was such that the customs of 
 Agra exceeded those of the preceding 
 
AHMEDNUGGUR. 
 
 21 
 
 year by 130,000 rupees, and they have 
 since continued progressively to in- 
 crease. 
 
 Agra with the rest of the province 
 fell under the sway of Madhajee Sin- 
 dia, and continued in the possession 
 of the Maharattas until 1803, when it 
 surrendered to the British army under 
 Lord Lake. Among the ordnance 
 captured here was one enormous 
 piece, weighing about 96,000 pounds, 
 which Lord Lake endeavoured to 
 float down as a trophy to Calcutta, 
 with the view of having it afterwards 
 sent to England, but it broke through 
 the frame of the raft, and sunk in the 
 sands of the river, where it in all pro- 
 bability still remains. It is not known 
 by whom it was fabricated. Agra, soon 
 after its capture, was made the head 
 quarters of a civil establishment for 
 the administration of justice and col- 
 lection of the revenue, subordinate to 
 the Bareilly court of circuit. . A strong 
 garrison is maintained in the fort and 
 military cantonments, and the interior 
 of the fortifications have been much 
 improved, both as to arrangement and 
 cleanliness. The higher parts of the 
 fort are from fifty to sixty feet above 
 the level of the river, and as it is filled 
 with buildings of brick, stone, and 
 marble, the heat is excessive. — (Ful- 
 larton , R. Turner , Ker, Sir D. Qch- 
 terlony , $c.) 
 
 Ahmedabad. — A British district in 
 the province of Gujerat, established 
 about the year 1817, when the Saber- 
 matty river was fixed on as the 
 boundary between the zillah of Ah- 
 medabad and the eastern zillah north 
 of the Myhie. Besides the geogra- 
 phical advantage of this division a 
 marked difference was discovered in 
 the habits, manners, customs, and 
 even languages of the people on the 
 east and western sides. In 1819, the 
 average of the land jumma was Ru- 
 pees 11,36,277; in 1820, Rupees 
 11,72,331. 
 
 Ahmedabad. — An ancient city in 
 the province of Gujerat, of which it 
 was the Mahomedan capital, situated 
 on the banks of the Sabermatty, 
 which washes its walls. Lat. 23° V 
 
 N., Ion. 7 2° 42 A E. It is mentioned 
 bj' Sidi Ali in the journal of his tra- 
 vels overland from Gujerat to Con- 
 stantinople, A.D. 1554. 
 
 This was formerly a large city, cele- 
 brated for its mosques, minarets, edi- 
 fices and manufactures ; but prior to 
 1820, the heavy and vexatious muni- 
 cipal duties exacted by the Maharat- 
 tas had reduced it from one of the 
 most opulent and commercial to one 
 of the most miserable cities in the 
 East. During their government a tax 
 was levied on every luxury and ne- 
 cessary, from the gold kincob to the 
 wretched bundle of fire-wood or vege- 
 tables, either brought into or sent out 
 ofthe city. On its acquisition from the 
 Peshwa in 1818, the British govern- 
 ment abolished all these extortions and 
 simplified the collections, establishing 
 an ad valorem duty of £2^. per cent, 
 on indigo, raw silk, &c., wholly ex- 
 empting all articles of consumption, 
 but augmenting the ordinary imposts 
 on opium and tobacco. Besides these 
 alterations all restriction on the tran- 
 sit of the agricultural products of the 
 British territories through the district 
 were entirely removed. This city 
 suffered greatly from the earthquake 
 in 1819, but even then its population 
 was roughly estimated at 100,000 
 souls, and it probably has not since 
 diminished. Travelling distance from 
 Bombay 321 miles; from Poona 389; 
 from Delhi 610; and from Calcutta by 
 Oojein 1,234 miles . — ( Public MS. 
 Documents , Carnac , Rennell , fyc.) 
 
 Ahmednuggur. — A city and for- 
 tress in the modern province of 
 Aurungabad, to which it formerly 
 gave its own appellation; lat. 19° 5'N. 
 Ion. 74° 55' E. 
 
 After the dissolution of the Bha- 
 menee empire of the Deccan, Ahmed 
 Nizam Shah established the inde- 
 pendent state of Ahmednuggur, 
 about the year A.D. 1489; in 1493 
 he laid the foundation of this town, 
 and made it his capital. He died 
 in 1508. 
 
 Bourahan Shah died in 1553. 
 
 Hossein Nizam Shah in 1565. 
 
 Morteza Nizam Shah became in- 
 
AHMEDNUGGUR. 
 
 
 sane, and was murdered by his son 
 Meeraun Hossein, A.D. 1487. 
 
 Meeraun Hossein was assassinated 
 after a reign of two months and 
 three days. 
 
 Ismael Shah was taken prisoner 
 and confined by his father, after a 
 short reign. 
 
 Boorahan Shah died in 1594. 
 
 Ibrahim Shah, having reigned 
 four months, was killed in battle. 
 
 Bahadur Shah, an infant, was taken 
 prisoner by the Moguls, and confined 
 for life in the fortress of Gualior, 
 and with him ended the Nizam Shahy 
 dynasty of Ahmednuggur, about the 
 year 1600. Nominal sovereigns of 
 this family existed at Dowletabad 
 until 1634, when it being also taken, 
 the Nizam Shahy dominions became 
 a province of the Mogul empire un- 
 der the name of Aurungabad. 
 
 Ahmednuggur followed the fate of 
 the Delhi empire until the death of 
 Aurengzebe in 1707, when it was at 
 a very early period seized on by the 
 Maharattas, and continued to form a 
 portion of the Peshwa’s dominions 
 until 1797, when Dowlet Row Sindia 
 compelled the Peshwa to cede this 
 important fortress with the sur- 
 rounding district, by which cession 
 he not only obtained the command 
 of the city of Poona, but also the 
 best entrance into the territories of 
 the Peshwa and of our ally the Ni- 
 zam. In 1803 it was taken by the 
 army under General Wellesley, and 
 ceded to the British by Dowlet Row 
 Sindia, at the treaty of peace con- 
 cluded on the 30th December 1803, 
 with the view of being ultimately 
 restored to the Peshwa. 
 
 The existing fort is entirely of 
 stone, of an oval shape, and about a 
 mile in circumference, with a great 
 many round towers, and a glacis (a 
 vain precaution in native forts), to 
 cover such parts of the base of the 
 wall as are exposed. The ditch is 
 deep and broad, and the whole area 
 within is vaulted for stores. The 
 city stands about half a mile from the 
 fort, and is also enclosed by a stone 
 wall, and contains a handsome qua- 
 drangular chowk, and several to- 
 
 lerably well-built streets. The prin- 
 cipal edifices in the vicinity are, an 
 ancient palace of the Ahmednuggur 
 sultans, a massy pile surrounded by 
 a magnificent moat faced by solid 
 masonry, supplied by a cascade of 
 clear water from the adjacent hills ; 
 and the mausoleum of Salabut Jung, 
 situated on the top of a mountain. 
 At present Ahmednuggur is the head 
 station of a civil establishment, and 
 in 1820 was estimated to contain 
 20,000 inhabitants, exclusive of the 
 garrison. 
 
 Travelling distance from Poona, 
 83 miles; from Bombay by Poona, 
 181; from Hyderabad, 335; from 
 Oojein,365; from Nagpoor,403; from 
 Delhi, 830 ; and from Calcutta, 1,1 19 
 miles. — {Scott, Fullarton , Ferishta , 
 Malcolm , Fitzclarence , Elphinstone , 
 $c.) 
 
 Ahmeunuggur — A British dis- 
 trict in the province of Aurungabad, 
 composed of conquests made from 
 the Peshwa in the war of 1818. In 
 1 821 the total extent of land in this 
 collectorate was 5,999,000 begas, of 
 which 3,748,000 were stated to be 
 lost in rivers,' rocks, hills, or in- 
 cluded in enams (charity lands ex- 
 empted from the revenue assess- 
 ment), leaving 2,249,000 begas of 
 arable land in the hands of govern- 
 ment. The total number of villages 
 under the collector’s superintendence 
 was 2,647 ; of which 156 were 
 enam, 198 renewed serinjammy, 
 179 belonged to Sindia and his de- 
 pendants, eighty to Holkar and his 
 dependents, forty-four to the Nizam, 
 and twenty-five recently assigned in 
 jaghire, leaving 1,963 in the hands 
 of government. The jumma or as- 
 sessment to the land revenue was 
 2,169,248 rupees; but the net clear 
 revenue, after deducting charges, was 
 only 1,280,762 rupees. 
 
 The Ahmednuggur district is one 
 of the most elevated and temperate 
 regions of the Deccan, but is scantily 
 peopled, having fallen into decay 
 after the war and famine of 1803-4, 
 aggravated by the more recent des- 
 truction caused by the epidemic. The 
 
AJMEER. C 2S 
 
 neighbourhood of the capital, how- 
 ever, has greatly recovered, and in 
 1820 presented an extensive sheet 
 of the richest cultivation. — ( Pot - 
 tinge r, Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 Ahmedpoor. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Orissa, eleven miles south 
 from Juggernaut. Long. 85° 54' E., 
 lat. 19° 58' N. 
 
 Ahmood ( AmodJ. — A town and 
 pergunnah in the province of Gu- 
 jerat, twenty miles N. by W. from 
 Broach. Lat. 22° 3', Ion. 73° & E. 
 The soil here is generally a rich 
 black earth, suitable for cotton, rice, 
 wheat, and a great variety of Indian 
 grains. — ( Forbes , fyc.) 
 
 Ahmudah ( or Moddha ). — A large 
 fortified village in Bundlecund, thirty- 
 two miles south from Banda. 
 
 Aibecca. — A small town in the 
 province of Travancore, having a 
 bar harbour, 115 miles N.W. from 
 Cape Comorin, lat. 9° 7 N., Ion. 76° 
 39' E. Lime is burned here from 
 muscle and oyster shells, immense 
 quantities of which are found in 
 the neighbouring salt lakes. — {Fra. 
 Paolo , fyc.) 
 
 Aiou Baba.— A Papuan isle five 
 miles in circumference, surrounded 
 by a cluster of smaller ones, and 
 situated to the north of Wageeoo. 
 Lat. 0°24'N.,lon. 131° 10' E. 
 
 The inhabitants of Aiou Baba are 
 mostly Papuas, with bushy frizzled 
 hair. They cultivate little, having 
 plenty of fish and turtle, which they 
 barter at Wageeoo for sago. They 
 also sell tortoise-shell and biche-de- 
 mar to the Chinese traders, and oc- 
 casionally birds of paradise are also 
 to be purchased here. These islands 
 formerly were nominally subject to 
 the Sultan of Tidore. — ( Forrest , fyc.) 
 
 Airyacotta. — A small town in 
 the Coimbatoor district, the resi- 
 dence of a Poligar, pleasantly si- 
 tuated on the banks of the Nagajee 
 river, about twenty miles E. by S. 
 from Daraporam. 
 
 Aite. — A small town in the pro- 
 vince of Agra, eighteen miles S.S.W. 
 
 from Jaloun. Lat. 25° 54 / N., Ion. 
 79° 12' E. 
 
 AJMEER, or RAJPOOTANA. 
 
 ( Rajputana). — This large province 
 is situated in the centre of Hindostan, 
 between the 24th and 31st degrees 
 of north latitude. To the north it 
 is bounded by the provinces of Mool- 
 tan, Lahore, and Delhi; on the 
 south by Gujerat and Malwa; on the 
 east it has Delhi and Agra; and 
 on the west Mooltan, including the 
 long principality of Sinde. In length 
 from north to south, this province 
 may be estimated at 350 miles by 
 200 the average breadth. It is oc- 
 casionally named Marwar, but this 
 appellation ought properly to be re- 
 stricted to the Joudpoor territories. 
 The principal modern geographical 
 and territorial subdivisions are the 
 following, commencing from the 
 north : 
 
 1. The Bhatty country. 
 
 2. Bicanere. 
 
 3. The great Sandy desert. 
 
 4. Jesselmere. 
 
 5. Joudpoor. 
 
 6. Marwar. 
 
 7. Nagore. 
 
 8. Shekawatty. 
 
 9. Jeypoor. 
 
 10. Ajmeer district. 
 
 11. Harrowty. 
 
 12. Odeypoor. 
 
 13. Mewar. 
 
 14. Sarowy. 
 
 The soil of this province may well 
 be called sandy, as it is by Abul 
 Fazel, and its general appearance is 
 sufficiently dismal, a considerable 
 portion of it being absolute desert. 
 From the western frontier of the She- 
 kawutty country to Bahawulpoor, is 
 a distance of 280 miles, of which 
 only the last 100 miles south-west 
 from Bahawulpoor is wholly destitute 
 of inhabitants, water, and vegetation. 
 From Shekawutty frontier to Poogul, 
 a distance of 180 miles, the road is 
 over hills and valleys of loose sand. 
 These hillocks exactly resemble such 
 as are formed by the wind on the 
 sea-shore, but far exceeding them 
 
AJMEER. 
 
 24 
 
 in height, reaching from twenty to 
 one hundred feet. They are said by 
 the natives to shift their position, 
 and to alter their shapes as the wind 
 blows. During the summer the pas- 
 sage of this portion of the desert is 
 dangerous, on account of the clouds 
 of moving sand ; but in winter they 
 exhibit a greater degree of perma- 
 nence, and besides phoke, bear a 
 sort of grass, the thorny bushes of 
 the baubooi, and the bair or jujube, 
 the aggregate presenting an appear- 
 ance somewhat resembling verdure. 
 
 Among these suffocating sand-hills 
 a miserable village is sometimes met 
 with, consisting of a few round straw 
 huts, with low sides and conical roofs, 
 like little stooks of corn, surrounded 
 by hedges of dry thorny branches, 
 the whole extremely combustible. 
 Surrounding these abodes of misery 
 are a few fields, depending for mois- 
 ture on dews and the periodical rains, 
 cultivated with crops of the poorer 
 kinds of pulse, and of bajarry, or 
 the holcus spicatus , which last is 
 raised with great difficulty. The 
 wells are often 300 feet deep, and 
 one in particular was found to be 
 345 feet ; yet with this enormous 
 descent, some are only three feet in 
 diameter. An examination of the 
 strata penetrated would be a curious 
 and useful research. The water pro- 
 cured with so much trouble is always 
 brackish, unwholesome, and ex- 
 tremely small in quantity. Two bul- 
 locks working for one night can 
 always empty a well. These wells 
 are lined with masonrj', and on the 
 occurrence of any exigence, by being 
 covered with boards heaped over 
 with sand, may be effectually con- 
 cealed by the natives from their ene- 
 mies, so that a scarcity of water is 
 at once a source of woe and pro- 
 tection. In the midst of these burn- 
 ing sands, the most juicy of all fruits, 
 the water melon, is found in asto- 
 nishing profusion, growing from a 
 small stalk not thicker than that of 
 the common melon, and attaining a 
 circumference of three and four feet. 
 The optical illusion, termed mirage 
 by the French, is common in this 
 desert, and deceives travellers with 
 
 the appearance of extensive lakes 
 amidst parched and arid sands. 
 
 From Poogul to Bahawulpoor the 
 road is over a hard flat clay, which 
 sounds under the horses’ feet like a 
 board, and is wholly destitute of ve- 
 getation. Except the fort and pool 
 of Moujghur, and two wells sixteen 
 miles from Bahawulpoor, there is 
 neither water nor inhabitants to be 
 found, yet this is the road most fre- 
 quented by caravans. On approach- 
 ing within a few miles of Bahawul- 
 poor, the desert ceases all at once, 
 and a cultivated country, abounding 
 with trees and water, commences. 
 In some parts this desert is 400 miles 
 in breadth, and extends far beyond 
 the limits of Rajpootana. On the 
 north it reaches to the edge of the 
 Chinaub, where it is moderately fer- 
 tile ; on the east it gradually mixes 
 with the cultivated parts of the Delhi 
 and Agra provinces, and on the south 
 is separated from the province of 
 Cutch by the enormous salt marsh 
 named the Runti. Such is the de- 
 scription of this desolate region, 
 which seems to be progressively ex- 
 tending, yet it is within the influence 
 of the periodical rains, which an- 
 nually pour a deluge on its thirsty 
 surface, where it is soon absorbed, 
 and, for want of population and in- 
 dustry, lost to the service of man. 
 
 The common inhabitants of the 
 desert are Jauts, the higher classes 
 Rhatore Rajpoots. The first are lit- 
 tle in stature, black in complexion, 
 and ill-looking, presenting strong ap- 
 
 f >earances of wretchedness and squa- 
 id poverty. The latter are stout 
 and handsome, with hooked noses 
 and Jewish features, haughty in their 
 manners and indolent, and almost 
 continually intoxicated with opium. 
 The stock of the country consists 
 of bullocks and camels, which last 
 are numerous, and sometimes used in 
 the plough. Of the wild animals 
 the desert rat is most numerous, and 
 in shape greatly resembles a squirrel. 
 Foxes of small sizes and different 
 colours also abound. Antelopes are 
 found in some parts, and also the 
 goorkhur, or wild ass, mentioned in 
 the book of Job. This quadruped 
 
AJMEER. 
 
 25 
 
 more resembles a mule than an ass, 
 and is remarkable for its shyness and 
 speed. At a kind of shuffling trot, 
 peculiar to itself, it will leave the 
 fleetest horge behind. 
 
 This province is remarkable as 
 being nearly destitute of rivers, ex- 
 cept in the southern extremity, al- 
 though the natives have traditions of 
 streams that formerly traversed par- 
 ticular parts of it, but of which even 
 the traces have long disappeared. 
 In the more hilly parts of the south 
 some mountain streams descend, but 
 are unable to overcome the arid na- 
 ture of the desert, and it would re- 
 quire infinite labour and a dense po- 
 pulation to conduct canals from the 
 rivers of the Punjab in Lahore. Ex- 
 cept in the hilly districts, also, trees are 
 little seen, though much wanted to 
 shade the parched inhabitants : the 
 consequence is that timber for build- 
 ing purposes is extremely scarce, 
 the nearest supply being procured 
 from Agra. The villages are gene- 
 rally built of a coarse stone brought 
 from the adjacent hills, and even the 
 roofs are usually of the same mate- 
 rial. When of thatch, twisted grass 
 is very often substituted for rafters. 
 In the southern quarter nature has 
 been less severe, as there the Chum- 
 bul, Calysind, and Banass, water a 
 portion of Rajpootana, which also in 
 different spots presents something 
 like an appearance of verdure. The 
 soil of the whole province is remark- 
 ably saline, containing many salt 
 springs and lakes, such as that of 
 Sambher, and generating nitre spon- 
 taneously. The water of a large pro- 
 portion of the wells is also more or 
 less brackish. Notwithstanding the 
 combination of so many circum- 
 stances adverse to the agriculture of 
 this province, it has been remarked, 
 that in ordinary years there is not 
 more variation in the price of grain 
 through Ajmeer from December to 
 December, than in the green and fer- 
 tile province of Bengal, where al- 
 ways before harvest, grain rises to a 
 pitch exceedingly distressing to the 
 poor. Yet in the more sterile parts 
 of Rajpootana there is only one crop 
 
 annually. Towards the south large 
 tracts occur that are wholly of a 
 mountainous character, such as sec- 
 tions of Mewar and Jeypoor (or 
 Dhoomdar), and elsewhere to the 
 east. Between Marwar and Mewar 
 peaks and mountains occur more than 
 2,000 feet above the level of the 
 sea, and towards its western boun- 
 dary the mountains of Aboo are sup- 
 posed to rise (for they have not yet 
 been measured) to treble that height. 
 
 The three grand divisions of Raj- 
 pootana are, 1st. Odeypoor, named 
 also Mewar, and its princes in his- 
 tory the Ranas of Chitore; 2d. Joud- 
 poor, named also Marwar, and its 
 sovereign occasionally described as 
 the Rhatore Raja, being of that 
 tribe; 3dly. Jeypoor, Jyenagur, or 
 Ambher, three names of one state. 
 These appear to have been the ori- 
 ginal Rajpoot states, the others hav- 
 ing been formed from the dismember- 
 ment of territories from the domi- 
 nions of these three : but in the latter 
 days must be added the Rajas of 
 Jesselmere and Bicanere, and the 
 chiefs of Kotah, Boondee, and Bans- 
 wara. Under these heads respec- 
 tively, and of the other modern terri- 
 torial subdivisions, further topographi- 
 cal details will be found, it being in- 
 tended here only to exhibit a general 
 view of the province. Besides these 
 native chiefs, various portions of 
 Rajpootana were until lately possess- 
 ed by intruders, such as Sindia and 
 Holkar, to the first of whom the city 
 of Ajmeer and the forty-six surround- 
 ing pergunnahs belonged, and to the 
 second the district of Tonk Ram- 
 poora, now possessed by Ameer 
 Khan. On the south-eastern quarter 
 are the principalities of Kotah, Boon- 
 dee, and other Rajpoot states, for- 
 merly tributary to Dowlet Row Sin- 
 dia ; and from the whole province of 
 Rajpootana, owing to the discord of 
 their chiefs, every freebooter who 
 could muster sufficient force was long 
 accustomed to levy occasional contri- 
 butions. The ancient Rajpoot families 
 that have exercised power and stand 
 first in reputation are the following : 
 
 The Sesodiyas..,,.. of Odeypoor. 
 
AJMEER. 
 
 26 
 
 The Rhatores Joudpoor. 
 
 Kutchwas Jeypoor. 
 
 Chowhans the Rajas of 
 
 Kotah and Boondee spring from the 
 Hara, a branch of the Chowhans. 
 
 The constitution of these coun- 
 tries resembles the feudal system, 
 each district, town, and even village, 
 being governed by petty chiefs, dig- 
 nified with the title of thakoor or 
 lord, who frequently yield but a no- 
 minal obedience to the person who 
 has the reputation of being their 
 sovereign or superior. The land 
 rents are very low, but every village 
 is obliged to furnish a certain num- 
 ber of horsemen at the shortest no- 
 tice. The Rajpoots are hardy and 
 brave, and extremely attached to 
 their respective chiefs. They are 
 also much addicted to the use of 
 opium, this deleterious drug being 
 produced by them on all occasions, 
 and presented to visitors as betel is 
 in other parts of India. They are 
 usually divided into two great tribes, 
 the Rhatores and the Chohan Seeso- 
 dya Rajpoots. Respecting the num- 
 ber of inhabitants, but a very vague 
 conjecture can be hazarded, the ex- 
 tent of country not absolutely de- 
 sert or uninhabited being so enor- 
 mous. By comparing, however, the 
 area of the province with that of 
 others similarly situated, the popu- 
 lation of which has been better esta- 
 blished, there is great reason to be- 
 lieve the whole does not much ex- 
 ceed four millions of souls, in the 
 proportion of one Mahomedan to 
 ten Hindoos. The principal towns 
 are Jeypoor, Joudpoor, Odeypoor, 
 Ajmeer, Neemutch, Kotah, Boondee. 
 Chitore, Shapoorah, Bicanere, and 
 Jesselmere. 
 
 Although Rajpootana is central to 
 Hindostan, and its eastern frontier 
 be within ninety miles of Delhi, it 
 never was thoroughly subdued either 
 by the Patan or Mogul dynasties. 
 Rajas of Ajmeer are mentioned by 
 Ferishta so early as A.D. 1008, at 
 which period they joined a combina- 
 tion of Hindoo princes against Mall- 
 mood of Ghizni, and in 1193 it was 
 conquered, or rather overrun, by Ma- 
 
 homed the first Gauride sovereign of 
 India. After this date it continued 
 tributary to the throne of Delhi, and 
 on account of the rebellious conduct 
 of its chiefs was frequently invaded 
 by the emperors, who repeatedly 
 took and destroyed all their capital 
 towns. The province notwithstand- 
 ing never became a regularly orga- 
 nized possession like Delhi, Agra, and 
 many other countries much more re- 
 mote from the seat of government, 
 but remained in a sort of half inde- 
 pendent condition, paying a tribute, 
 and furnishing the imperial armies 
 with a certain number of Rajpoot 
 mercenaries, who were always held 
 in high estimation for their bravery 
 and fidelity, and served as a counter- 
 poise to the Mogul and Afghan sol- 
 diery. 
 
 After the death of Aurungzebe in 
 1707, and the dissolution of the Mo- 
 gul empire which ensued, it conti- 
 nued under a nominal subjection to 
 the Delhi throne until about A.D. 
 1748, when total independence was 
 assumed by its chiefs and princes. 
 The interval elapsed since then has 
 been occupied by internal warfare, 
 and by invasions of the Maharattas 
 and other hordes of plunderers. 
 During the latter part of the reign of 
 Madhajee Sindia,and the commence- 
 ment of that of his nephew Dowlet 
 Row, they were near being com- 
 pletely subdued by the disciplined 
 infantry under Generals deBoigne and 
 Perron, in the pay of these two 
 chiefs. They were relieved from 
 their apprehensions of impending 
 subjugation by the depression, in 
 1803, of their grand oppressor Dow- 
 let Row Sindia, whose means of in- 
 flicting evil were greatly curtailed by 
 the war which he then undertook 
 against the British government. 
 
 The Raja of Bicanere is probably 
 the least important of the five princes 
 of Rajpootana. Those of Joudpoor 
 and Jeypoor are at the head of con- 
 siderable states, and the reduced con- 
 dition of the Odeypoor Raja is kept 
 from total insignificance by his high 
 rank, and the respect paid to him as 
 the purest of the Rajpoot race. In 
 
AJMEER. 
 
 1807 a contest arose between the 
 Rajas of Jeypoor and Joudpoor, each 
 pretending to the honour of marry- 
 ing the daughter of this high-born 
 chieftain, and in the mean time al- 
 lowing their dominions to be ra- 
 vaged by Ameer Khan, Holkar and 
 Sindia, who pretended to espouse 
 the cause of each respectively, and 
 in reality plundered both. In fact, 
 for many years this large province 
 was so unceasingly harassed and de- 
 vastated by these depredators, that 
 every one of the Rajpoot chiefs re- 
 peatedly begged and entreated to be 
 admitted into a federal union with 
 the British government, offering in 
 some cases half their dominions for 
 protection to the remainder ; but the 
 non-interfering system adopted by 
 the latter did not permit of these 
 overtures being accepted. A distinct 
 perception of the misery they had 
 suffered, was the sole motive which 
 induced these proud and turbulent 
 tribes so long and so unsuccessfully 
 to seek a connexion with the British 
 nation. This was at length conceded 
 in 1818, when they were admitted 
 into the general federation, by the 
 conditions of which, mutual support 
 in the field was plighted, while by 
 the same instrument the feudal states 
 (each equal and independent) are 
 withheld from disturbing the general 
 tranquillity by attacking each other. 
 Their political differences are in fu- 
 ture to be submitted to the arbitra- 
 tion of the British government, which 
 averts the necessity of resorting to 
 the sword on petty points of ho- 
 nour, heretofore rendered inevitable 
 by the prejudices of the country. 
 Where the government was exercised 
 with any kind of efficiency, there was 
 no difficulty in settling the terms, 
 which were to pay the tribute de- 
 mandable by the Patans or Maha- 
 rattas into the British treasury at 
 Delhi, which would account for the 
 amount to the respective parties. 
 The great mass of the cultivators were 
 highly pleased with these arrange- 
 ments, and the prospect of future 
 safety which it afforded them; but 
 some of the old thakoors, and higher 
 
 27 
 
 classes of nobility, were not equally 
 satisfied with the change, as under 
 the prior anarchy they were fast esta- 
 blishing a species of independence in 
 their respective jaghires. Which they 
 were compelled to relinquish. 
 
 It was an important part of the 
 original plan, not hastily to urge the 
 whole mass of military adventurers 
 to despair, by depriving them at once 
 of their accustomed means of subsis- 
 tence ; accordingly Sir David Och- 
 terlony made the tender of service to 
 eight of the best Patan battalions 
 and to about 3,000 horse. The first, 
 after pensioning off the superior na- 
 tive officers, were formed into four 
 battalions for provincial duties, two of 
 which were sent to the Delhi pro- 
 vince, and the other two retained 
 in Rajpootana, British officers being 
 appointed to command the whole. 
 The horse were formed into risallas 
 of 500 each, and as only the best 
 were taken, rendered good "Service. 
 In this manner was the destruction 
 of the predatory Patan power, which 
 had been expected to require the 
 greatest exertion of military re- 
 sources, wholly accomplished by the 
 extraordinary address with which Sir 
 D. Ochterlony combined negotiation 
 with skilful military movements. 
 
 By these arrangements the Rajpoot 
 states were entirely liberated from 
 Maharatta interference, and placed 
 under General Ochterlony as resi- 
 dent and commander of the forces 
 in Rajpootana, where cantonments 
 have been formed at Neemutch and 
 Nusserabad, near the city of Ajmeer, 
 which, along with the pergunnahs 
 adjacent, was received from Sindia 
 in exchange for a portion of the 
 Peshwa’s territories in Malwa. Since 
 that event multitudes of people have 
 emerged from the hills and fastnesses, 
 where they had sought refuge, and 
 have again occupied their ancient 
 and long-deserted villages. In no 
 part of Hindostan has the British 
 regime had the advantage of so fa- 
 vourable a contrast with that which 
 it supplanted as in Rajpootana, the 
 transition having been so sudden, and 
 no where are the peasantry so uni- 
 
28 
 
 AJMERE. 
 
 versally sensible of the great improve- 
 ment in their condition which has 
 taken place. Security and comfort 
 are now established, where misery 
 and terror before existed, and the 
 ploughshare is again in peace turning 
 up a soil, which for many seasons 
 had never been stirred except by the 
 hoofs of predatory cavalry. But 
 although the Rajpoot states, by the 
 recent course of events, have gained 
 deliverance from an oppression more 
 systematic and brutal, than perhaps 
 ever before trampled on humanity, it 
 is not to be expected they will all at 
 once abandon their irregular habits, 
 or that tribes, who according to their 
 own notions were created for the ex- 
 press purpose of fighting, will so 
 suddenly change their natures as not 
 to require the frequent interference 
 of the British, and their military 
 coercion. — (Elphin stone, Metcalfe , 
 Marquis of Hastings , Prinsep , Ful- 
 larton , fyc.) 
 
 Ajmeer ( Ajamer, from Aja, a 
 goat , and meru , the sacred mountain 
 at the North Pole). — A city in the 
 province of Ajmeer, of which it was 
 the former capital, lat. 26° 31' N., 
 Ion. 74° 28' E., eighty miles W.S.W. 
 from Jeypoor. It stands at the bot- 
 tom of a hill, the summit of which, 
 named Taraghur, is fortified, and 
 was formerly considered impregnable 
 to open force. In 1819 the in- 
 terior was very ruinous, owing to its 
 long misgovernment, but the inha- 
 bitants were again collecting from 
 various quarters. The houses are of 
 masonry, and though decayed, still 
 present indications of former opu- 
 lence. The old palace and gardens 
 of Shah Jehan still exist, and the 
 former contain several habitable 
 rooms. The principal object of at- 
 traction, however, is the tomb of 
 Khoja Moyen ud Deen, a renowned 
 Mahomedan saint, to whose tomb 
 the great and wise emperor Acber 
 made a pilgrimage from Agra (230 
 miles) barefoot, in order to procure 
 male progeny, in which he succeeded. 
 Crowds of pilgrims still frequent the 
 saint’s tomb, and in Malwa it is not 
 
 uncommon for pilgrims who have 
 been at the Ajmeer sanctuary, to set 
 up a brick or stone taken from thf> 
 tomb, near their dwelling, and be- 
 come saints themselves, and have 
 pilgrimages made to them in conse- 
 quence of possessing such a relic. 
 Madhajee and Dowlet Row Sindia, 
 although Hindoos of the Brahminieal 
 persuasion were remarkable for their 
 devotion to Mussulman saints and 
 customs, and bestowed rich gifts on 
 this tomb, and its peerzadas or at- 
 tendant priests. Jehangeer, the 
 son and successor of the emperor 
 Acber, occasionally kept his court 
 here, which caused the embassy of 
 Sir Thomas Row in 1616, at which 
 period the East-India Company had 
 a regular factory established here. 
 Four miles from hence is a remark- 
 able place of Hindoo pilgrimage 
 named Pooskhur (the lake or tank), 
 and at Nusserabad, fifteen miles dis- 
 tant S.S.E. from the city, are the can- 
 tonments of a British brigade. 
 
 This city was acquired by treaty 
 from Dowlet Row Scindia in 1818, 
 and was found by Sir David Ochter- 
 lony in a state of the utmost deso- 
 lation and decay, but when revisited 
 in 1823, he was surprised at the 
 rapid improvement it had expe- 
 rienced under the management of 
 Mr. Wilder the civil commissioner. 
 Commerce had completely revived, 
 and the population more than tripled 
 since 1818 ; new houses and shops 
 were daily erecting, under a system 
 of architectural uniformity, making 
 Ajmeer altogether one of the most 
 regular and handsome cities within 
 the British dominions, and externally 
 only second to Jeypoor, on account 
 of the multitude of religious edifices 
 possessed by the latter, the result of 
 many ages. The native population 
 were fully sensible of their own im- 
 proved condition within so short a 
 space of time, and expressed their 
 consciousness and surprise. Tra- 
 velling distance from Delhi 230 
 miles ; from Bombay 650 ; and from 
 Calcutta 1,030 miles. — (Sir D. Ocli- 
 tcrlony , Broughton , Pennell , Fullar - 
 ton , MS. Sfc.) 
 
ALIGAUM. 
 
 C 2D 
 
 Ajuntee ( Ajayanti, the difficult or 
 impregnable pass ). — A town situated 
 near a celebrated pass through the 
 Berar mountains, fifty-three miles 
 N. by E. from Aurungabad, lat. 20° 
 34' N., Ion. 75° 56' E. The ascent 
 to Ajuntee is by a wide and tolerably 
 well constructed road, protected at 
 the summit by a gateway, leading 
 through a stone fortification that 
 lines the cliff. The town stands on 
 a table land two miles distant from 
 the summit, and covers a large extent 
 of surface, but in 1820 was still 
 thinly inhabited. At the northern 
 entrance of the town there is an 
 octagonal serai of a striking appear- 
 ance, and at six miles distance there 
 are some Hindoo cave temples re- 
 sembling those of Ellora and Ele- 
 phanta, which have not yet been ex- 
 plored. — ( Fullarton , Lt. Bayley , fyc.) 
 
 Akeepoor.— A small town in the 
 province of Malwa, pergunnah of 
 Bewas, which in 1820 contained 200 
 houses. 
 
 Akoat. — A town in Berar, twenty- 
 nine miles W.S.W. from Ellichpoor; 
 lat. 21° 6' N., Ion. 77 ° 9' E. 
 
 Akolait. — A considerable city in 
 the province of Berar, with high 
 handsome walls, and surrounded by 
 extensive ruins ; lat. 20° 42' N., Ion. 
 77° 10' E. 
 
 Akogur. — A town in the province 
 of Agra, thirty-two miles west from 
 Bhurtpoor, lat. 27° 16' N., Ion. 76° 
 52' E. 
 
 Akrauny. — A fortified town in 
 the province of Candeish, among 
 the Satpoora mountains, belonging 
 to a petty Raja lat. 21° 45' N., Ion. 
 74° 24' E. Seventy-five miles E. 
 from Broach, at a short distance to 
 the north of this place, there are 
 passes into theNaundode and Sultan- 
 poor districts. — ( Malcolm , fyc.) 
 
 Akulcotta. — A town and small 
 district in the province of Beeder, 
 bounded by the Seena river. The 
 town stands in lat. 17° 30' N., Ion. 
 76°18 / E., sixty miles N.N.E. from 
 the city of Bejapoor. 
 
 Akyab.— The name of the prin- 
 cipal military station in the province 
 of Arracan, the situation of which 
 has not yet been laid down in any 
 map. 
 
 Alakananda River.— A sacred 
 river of northern Hindustan, which 
 springs from the Himalaya mountains, 
 and joins the Bhagirathi atDevapraya- 
 ga, the junction of the two forming the 
 Ganges. A very short distance above 
 Bhadrinath, the breadth of the Ala- 
 kananda does not exceed twenty 
 feet, and further up the stream is 
 concealed under an immense heap of 
 snow, the accumulation of ages. At 
 Devaprayaga the Alakananda is the 
 largest river, being 142 feet in 
 breadth, and rising during the rains 
 forty-seven feet above its lowest 
 level. In this river are a great many 
 fish of the roher species ( cyprinus 
 denticulatus) four or five feet in length, 
 which are fed daily by the Brahmins, 
 and some are so tame as to take 
 bread out of the hand. There is 
 also a species of fish named soher, 
 six or seven feet long; the scales on 
 the back and sides are large, of a 
 beautiful green, and encircled with 
 a white golden border; the belly 
 white, slightly tinged with a gold 
 colour ; the tail and fins of a dark 
 bronze. The flavour of this fish is 
 equal to its beauty, being remarkably 
 fine and delicate. — ( Raper, fyc.) 
 
 Alforeze or Horaforaz. — -See 
 Borneo. 
 
 Alguarda. — A Portuguese for- 
 tress in the province of Bejapoor, 
 commanding the entrance of the 
 harbour of Goa, situated on a point 
 of land to the north of Goa bay. 
 
 Alibunder. — A town belonging to 
 the Ameers of Sinde, sixty-three 
 miles E. by S. from Tatta ; lat. 24° 
 24' N., Ion. 69° 13' E. At this place 
 a small branch of the Goonee river 
 is stopped by a mound of earth, 
 which separates it from the Lukput- 
 bunder river. — ( Maxfield , fyc.) 
 
 Aligaum. — A town in Berar, six- 
 ty-eight miles S.W. from Ellichpoor, 
 lat. 20°2G / N., Ion. 77 ° 10' E. 
 
30 
 
 ALISHUNG. 
 
 Alighur District. — A district in 
 the Doab of the Ganges and Jumna, 
 situated about the 28th deg. of N. 
 lat. To the north it has the dis- 
 trict of Merut, or South Saharun- 
 poor; to the south those of Agra 
 and Furruckabad ; to the east it has 
 Furi’uckabad and Bareilly ; and on 
 the west, Agra and the Delhi re- 
 served territories. The two boundary 
 streams are the Ganges and Jumna, 
 and in the interior are many water- 
 courses or rivulets, which during the 
 rains have a current, but are dry for 
 the rest of the year. The northern 
 portion of this district extending, 
 from Alighur to the vicinity of Delhi, 
 is one of the most desolate tracts in 
 the Doab. Scarcely a tree is to be 
 seen, but low dark jungle abounds, 
 and afforded at one period a con- 
 venient harbour for the banditti that 
 then infested the province. The 
 country to the southward of Alighur 
 is in general highly cultivated. The 
 principal towns are Alighur, Coel, 
 Hatras, Moorsaun, and Anopshehr, 
 and it fell under the British dominion 
 in A.D. 1803. 
 
 In 1815, this district was estimated 
 to contain 1,640,242 pucka begas in 
 cultivation, assessed at 31,49,809 
 rupees, or one rupee fifteen annas 
 perbega; but the large talooks of 
 Thakoor Diaram were not included, 
 no particulars respecting them being 
 then known. There were also 
 1,147,045 begas fit for cultivatior , 
 and 1,188,665 waste. The soil is 
 fertile and productive under proper 
 cultivation, and the natives a race 
 superior to the Bengalese, and the 
 other more eastern tribes ; but until 
 the conquest of Hatras turbulent, 
 predatory, and difficult to govern. — 
 {Blunt , the Marquis of Hastings , fyc.) 
 
 Alighur ( Alighar ). — The capital 
 of the above district, lat. 27° 56' N., 
 Ion. 77 ° 59' E., fifty-three miles north 
 from the city of Agra. In 1803 it 
 was one of Dowlet Row Scindia’s 
 principal depots for military stores, 
 and was then stormed by the army 
 under Lord Lake, with great slaugh- 
 ter to the assailants. It was soon 
 
 after made the head-quarters of* a 
 civil establishment for the collection 
 of the revenue, and the administra- 
 tion of justice, subordinate to the 
 Bareilly division. 
 
 Properly speaking, there is no 
 town of Alighur. Coel, about two 
 miles distant, is the town and the 
 residence of the civil authorities. 
 The fort is of a square form with 
 round bastions, a formidable ditch 
 and glacis, and a single entrance pro- 
 tected by a strong ravelin. A con- 
 siderable sum, prior to 1820, had been 
 expended in reducing the rampart 
 and otherwise improving the de- 
 fences. The interior is now cleared 
 of all buildings whatever, and of the 
 public and private buildings formerly 
 occupied by General Perron and his 
 officers not a vestige remains. — {Ful- 
 larton, fyc.) 
 
 Alingar. — A wide valley in Af- 
 ghanistan, district of Lughman, 
 chiefly inhabited by Ghiljie Afghans, 
 who to the pastoral employment of 
 shepherds unite the predatory vo- 
 cation of thieves. This valley pro- 
 duces grain of all sorts, and has 
 many glens that open into it on both 
 sides, some of which are separated 
 by narrow summits from the adjacent 
 valley of Cooner. When Abul Fazel 
 wrote in 1582, this tract was subject 
 to the throne of Delhi, and emperor 
 Acber. — ( Elphinstone , Abul Fazel , 
 $c.) 
 
 Alipora. — A town and pergunnah 
 in the province of Allahabad, fifteen 
 miles S.W. from Jeitpoor ; lat. 25° 
 13' N., Ion. 79° 19' E. 
 
 Alipoota. — A town in Ceylon si- 
 tuated on the top of a hill in a popu- 
 lous neighbourhood, and the princi- 
 pal military station in lower Ouva ; 
 lat. 6° 54' N., Ion. 81° 25' E., fifty- 
 three miles S.E. from Candy. 
 
 Alishung. — A valley in Afgha- 
 nistan, division of Lughman, at pre- 
 sent (1809) chiefly inhabited by con- 
 verted CafFres. By Abul Fazel in 
 1582, it is described as follows: 
 u The district of Alishung is sur- 
 rounded by large mountains covered 
 
ALLAHABAD. 
 
 31 
 
 with snow, in which is the source of 
 the river Aiishung; the inhabitants 
 are called Caffres .” — ( Abul Fazel , 
 Elphinstone , fyc.) 
 
 Alkoondara Droog. — A small 
 and decayed fort in the Balaghaut 
 province, situated on a low hill with 
 a miserable village below, six miles 
 S.W. from the town of Bellary.— 
 (Fullarton.) 
 
 ALLAHABAD. 
 
 A large province of Hindostan 
 proper situated between the 24th and 
 26th degrees of north lat. To the 
 north it is bounded by the provinces 
 of Oude and Agra ; on the south by 
 the Hindoo province of Gundwana ; 
 to the east it has the provinces of 
 Bahar and Gundwana ; and on the 
 west Malwa and Agra. In length it 
 may be estimated at 270 miles by 120, 
 the average breadth. At present the 
 principal modern geographical and 
 political subdivisions are the follow- 
 ing: 1. The district of Allahabad; 
 2. Benares; 3. The district of Mirza- 
 poor ; 4. The district of Juanpoor; 
 5. The Rewah territory ; 6. The dis- 
 trict of Bundelcund ; 7* The di- 
 strict of Cawnpoor ; 8. The Manic- 
 poor territory. 
 
 The surface of the province ad- 
 jacent to the rivers Ganges and 
 Jumna is flat and very productive ; 
 but to the south-west, in the Bundel- 
 cund district, the country forms an 
 elevated table-land, diversified with 
 high hills, containing the diamond 
 mines of Pannah, and formerly 
 abounding in strong holds. The flat 
 country is extremely sultry, and sub- 
 ject to the hot winds, from which 
 the more elevated region is exempt- 
 ed. In the north the principal rivers 
 are the Ganges, Jumna, Goomty, 
 and Caramnassa, and their branches, 
 besides innumerable smaller streams. 
 In the hilly country the rivers are 
 fewer, the periodical rains and well 
 water being chiefly relied on for 
 agricultural purposes; but, upon the 
 whole, Allahabad may be reckoned 
 one of the richest and most pro- 
 ductive provinces of Hindostan. 
 
 The principal exports are sugar, 
 cotton, indigo, cotton cloths, opium, 
 saltpetre, diamonds, &c. The im- 
 ports are various, salt from the ma- 
 ritime parts of Bengal being one of 
 the staple articles in regular demand. 
 Within the limits of this province 
 are many large, ancient, and cele- 
 brated towns, such as Benares, Al- 
 lahabad (two holy places of pilgrim- 
 age), Callinjer, Chatterpoor, Juan- 
 poor, Mirzapoor, Chunar, and Gha- 
 zipoor. The population is very 
 great, in the proportion of about one 
 Mahomedan to seven Hindoos. 
 
 We learn from Abul Fazel that 
 the territory composing the modern 
 province of Allahabad was invaded so 
 early as A.D. 1020 by Sultan Mah- 
 mood of Ghizni, who made a few 
 compulsory converts to the Maho- 
 medan faith. He returned again in 
 1023, but made no permanent esta- 
 blishment. It was afterwards wholly 
 subdued by the Patan emperors of 
 Delhi, and during the fifteenth century 
 formed the basis of an independent 
 kingdom, the capital of which was 
 Juanpoor. Along with the other 
 Patan districts it devolved to the 
 Moguls, and was formed into a dis- 
 tinct soubah by the Emperor Acber, 
 who new-named the Hindoo sanc- 
 tuary (or prayaga) Allahabad, an ap- 
 pellation which it still retains. After 
 the fall of the Mogul dynasty, the 
 northern quarter was appropriated 
 bv the Nabobs of Oude ; but in 
 1764 Korah and Allahabad were 
 ceded to Shah Allum, the then no- 
 minal and fugitive sovereign of Delhi, 
 through the interference of Lord 
 Clive with Shuja-ud-Dowlah, the 
 Nabob of Oude. In 1772 they re- 
 verted to the latter, when that ill- 
 advised monarch (Shah Allum) of his 
 own accord returned to Delhi, and 
 became an engine of mischief in the 
 custody of the Maharattas. 
 
 In 1775, the Bengal government 
 acquired the Benares districts by 
 treaty with Asoph-ud-Dowlah, and 
 Allahabad and the adjacent districts 
 in 1801, by cession from Saadet Ali, 
 his successor on the throne of Oude. 
 The south-eastern districts were re- 
 
3 C 2 
 
 ALLAHABAD. 
 
 ceived from the Mahratta Peshwa in 
 1803, in exchange for an equivalent 
 tract in the Carnatic above the 
 ghauts and in Gujerat . — ( Abut Fazel, 
 J. Grant , Fifth Report, Ironside, tyc.) 
 
 Allahabad District. — This ju- 
 dicial subdivision is mostly composed 
 of territory immediately adjacent to 
 the city of Allahabad, and is inter- 
 sected by the great rivers Ganges 
 and Jumna, but the geographical 
 distribution is ill-arranged, as some 
 portions are ninety and one hundred 
 miles from the residence of the ma- 
 gistrate. The soil when properly 
 cultivated is remarkably fertile, and 
 yields large returns to the husband- 
 man. Wheat is the principal crop, 
 and the land most favourable for its 
 production a rich sandy loam, which 
 is a very common soil in this vicinity. 
 During the dry season the land must 
 be artificially watered, which is a 
 much more laborious task than the 
 cultivation. Four bullocks and three 
 labourers are with difficulty able to 
 water an acre in nine days ; the 
 average crop is reckoned fifteen 
 maunds per bega, or about seven 
 quarters per acre. Barley, peas, oil, 
 seeds, and a yellow dye are often 
 mixed with the wheat. The average 
 rent of wheat land is about one 
 pound sterling per acre. 
 
 In this district the breed of sheep 
 is small even for India, and the fleece 
 consists of a coarse black wool, or 
 rather hair, altogether unsuitable for 
 cloth, but which answers very well 
 for the manufacture of shepherd’s 
 rugs. The usual dress of the pea- 
 santry is merely a piece of coarse 
 cloth tied round the middle, one 
 blanket, and a sort of turban made 
 of a cotton clout, these three ar- 
 ticles composing the sum total of 
 their wardrobe. The internal com- 
 merce has progressively increased 
 since 1801, and the culture of many 
 articles, especially indigo and cotton, 
 very greatly augmented, on account 
 of the increased and increasing de- 
 mand from Europe. 
 
 In every subdivision there is a 
 small trade of cloth, grain, and other 
 
 home productions. In the towns of 
 Currah and Shahzadpoor a consider- 
 able quantit}' of cotton cloths and 
 chintzes was formerly manufactured 
 for exportation, but now it is much 
 reduced. In Allahabad and Futteh- 
 poor advances are still made for the 
 species of cloth named baftaes and 
 sullums. The transit commerce 
 through Allahabad consists mostly 
 of Sambher salt, cotton, unwrought 
 iron, and shawl goods, which, after 
 supplying local consumption, are for- 
 warded to the lower provinces. Prior 
 to 1802, a considerable commerce 
 was carried on at Phoolpoor, in per- 
 gunnah Secundra, to the north of the 
 Ganges. The commodities circu- 
 lated were salt, cotton, iron, drugs 
 of various kinds, copper, zinc, lead, 
 broad-cloth, and other articles of 
 Bengal, but the traders then were so 
 much oppressed by the Nabob of 
 Oude’s officers, that they retired 
 with their capital to Mirzapoor, and 
 other places of greater security. 
 Shahzadpoor and Phoolpoor are still 
 much resorted to by traders from the 
 Nabob of Oude’s reserved dominions, 
 and until 1794, while the cloths ma- 
 nufactured in the Doab were much in 
 demand for the European market, 
 many mercantile houses were enabled 
 to invest from fifteen to twenty thou- 
 sand rupees monthly, in the article 
 of cloth alone. Since that time the 
 cloths termed sullums, baftaes, Shah- 
 zadpoor chintzes, and the red kur- 
 wa, have been most in demand. 
 
 The revenue settlement originally 
 formed here, in the fusly or financial 
 year 1216, underwent two subse- 
 quent revisions : 
 
 In 1216 (A.D. 1809-10) the terms 
 were Rupees 2.590,806 
 
 1217 ... 2,667,614 
 
 1218 2,682,084 
 
 1219 ( provisionally and 
 
 in perpetuity) 2,713,081 
 
 Although this settlement exhibits on 
 the face of the account a progressive 
 increase, it greatly falls short of the 
 jumma or assessment to the land 
 revenue which the district was ex- 
 pected to yield on its first acquisition. 
 This has been attributed to mistaken 
 
ALLAHABAD. 
 
 33 
 
 zeal on the first introduction of the 
 British government, by immediately 
 carrying the assessment to the highest 
 point which the land was capable of 
 sustaining. The fatal results of this 
 inconsiderate arrangement, in the 
 first instance, were remissions and 
 irrecoverable balances to a large 
 amount, and a sudden fall of the re- 
 venue at the formation of the second 
 settlement. Added to these evils 
 were numerous transfers of estates 
 by public and private sale, amounting 
 in some pergunnahs to a total devo- 
 lution of the principal and most va- 
 luable portion of the district, into 
 the hands of the actual tehsildars, 
 or subordinate revenue officers. A 
 great shock was in consequence sus- 
 tained by the credit of government, 
 from such persons having been al- 
 lowed to pervert their official in- 
 fluence, and the old proprietors did 
 not disguise their hopes of recover- 
 ing their estates by the termination 
 and subversion of the British pre- 
 dominance. 
 
 On the formation of a subsequent 
 settlement measures were taken by 
 the commissioners, Sir Edward Cole- 
 brooke and Mr. Dean, for cancelling 
 a great number of these illicit and 
 fraudulent transfers, leaving the par- 
 ties, should they consider themselves 
 wronged by this proceeding, to es- 
 tablish their claims in a court of 
 justice : but the relief thus afforded 
 bore a small proportion to the ex- 
 tent of the grievance. In the Alla- 
 habad district, the russud, or pro- 
 gressively increasing jumma, origi- 
 nated probably in the efforts of the 
 local revenue officers to carry the 
 assessment to the highest practicable 
 pitch, having in their view the per- 
 petuity of the land-tax at the ex- 
 piration of the lease. It would, 
 however, have proved more con- 
 ducive to the prosperity of the 
 country, and ultimately to the im- 
 provement of the revenue, if the 
 landholder had at the commencement 
 enjoyed the full benefit of a mode- 
 rate and equal assessment, under the 
 temporary settlements. 
 
 In every district subordinate to 
 
 VOL. i. 
 
 the British authority throughout 
 Hindostan, the state of its police is 
 the next important feature of its 
 history, and its gaol the most im- 
 posing edifice. In the Allahabad ju- 
 risdiction, forty-six gang robberies 
 were committed during the year 1811; 
 but this offence did not generally 
 prevail, being of much more frequent 
 occurrence in the police stations, 
 which are not situated within the 
 Doab, but lie immediately on the 
 borders of the Oude reserved terri- 
 tories, or adjacent to the then in- 
 dependent and turbulent state of 
 Rewah. The two pergunnahs in 
 which gang robberies are still most 
 frequent are Secundra, situated on 
 the north side of the Ganges, near 
 the Nabob of Oude’s dominions, 
 and Barah, situated to the south of 
 the Ganges, contiguous to the Rewah 
 country. With respect to the first, 
 it was clearly ascertained, that not 
 one of the perpetrators lived in the 
 Allahabad district, the atrocities hav- 
 ing been committed by a banditti 
 residing within the Oude boundaries ; 
 and in the last the depredators look- 
 ed for an asylum and market for 
 their booty in Rewah. In some in- 
 stances these crimes were committed 
 by ousted zemindars whose estates 
 had been sold, and were actuated by 
 malice against the purchasers. Al- 
 though many applications had been 
 made to the Rewah Raja for the ap- 
 prehension of the criminals, no steps 
 to effect that object were taken, or 
 probably intended, by that potentate. 
 
 The pasees or village watchmen had 
 long been suspected of not perform- 
 ing the functions of their office with 
 either honesty or vigilance, and in 
 1812, were discovered to be a most 
 numerous class of thieves in the dis- 
 trict. In that year an affray of con- 
 siderable magnitude took place res- 
 pecting disputed boundaries, in which, 
 although the land in dispute amount- 
 ed to only four begahs (or one acre 
 and a-third), 900 men belonging to 
 different villages were engaged. On 
 this occasion 130 were seized and 
 sent to the magistrate for examina- 
 tion, but it may be much doubted 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 ALLAHABAD. 
 
 whether the seizure of so many per- 
 sons is likely to restore good order, 
 or whether so satisfactory a result can 
 be expected, as shall compensate for 
 the time the magistrate must devote 
 to it, to the serious prejudice of his 
 other duties. 
 
 In 1815, the inhabitants generally 
 evinced great hostility to the intro- 
 duction of the chokeydary system 
 (an improved establishment of watch- 
 men), and no respectable inhabitant 
 came forward to receive sunnuds. 
 The class denominated Pragwals, 
 who perform the religious ceremonies 
 at the junction of the great rivers, to 
 the number of four or five thousand, 
 shewed a determination to resist, 
 threatened to cease to officiate, and 
 withdraw altogether, which would 
 have caused a loss to the government 
 of the pilgrim revenue. Many other 
 conspiracies to arrest the progress of 
 the arrangements took place, but by 
 patience and firmness were ultimately 
 dissipated or suppressed. In 1815 
 this district was found to contain 
 1,655,106 small begahs in cultivation, 
 assessed at 2,793,244 rupees, or one 
 rupee eleven annas per begah, which 
 revenue was realized. The number 
 of begahs fit for cultivation was 
 395,012, and 1,109,777 were waste 
 land. This settlement was made 
 with 1811 engaging proprietors, and 
 sixty-four farmers of revenue. — 
 ( Public MS. Documents , Sir Henry 
 Wellesley , Tennant , Gutthrie , Fcr- 
 tescue , Lowther, Sfc.) 
 
 Allahabad. — A fortified town in 
 the province of Allahabad, of which 
 it is the capital. Lat. 25° 27' N., 
 Ion. 81° 50' E. The fort is placed at 
 the distance of a quarter of a mile on 
 a tongue of land, one side being 
 washed by the Jumna, and the other 
 approaching near the Ganges. It is 
 lofty and extensive, and completely 
 commands the navigation of the two 
 rivers; indeed, there are probably 
 few buildings of equal size in Europe. 
 Next the two rivers it is defended by 
 the old walls, beautifully built of 
 polished free stone with semi-circular 
 bastions at intervals, having cannon 
 
 mounted. The third or land-side is 
 perfectly regular, and very strong, 
 consisting of three ravelins, two 
 bastions, and a half bastion. The 
 gateway is Grecian, and elegant. The 
 government-house is spacious and 
 cool, and has some large subterranean 
 rooms overhanging the river. In 
 the angle is a square, where Shah 
 Allum, when he resided here, had 
 his seraglio. The military canton- 
 ments stand at some distance from 
 the fort and the houses occupied by 
 the civil functionaries apart from 
 both. To an European army a re- 
 gular siege would be necessary, but 
 to the tactics of a native army Alla- 
 habad is quite impregnable, and has 
 in consequence been selected as the 
 grand military depot of the upper 
 provinces. The most remarkable 
 buildings in the neighbourhood are 
 the serai and mausoleums of Sultan 
 Khusro and his mother, the Chalees 
 Sittoon (forty pillars) being no longer 
 in existence. A short distance above 
 the town thegovernmenthas establish- 
 ed a gunpowder manufactory. Up to 
 1803, the sum expended on the for- 
 tifications was twelve lacs of rupees. 
 
 The situation of Allahabad being 
 alike adapted for the purposes of 
 internal commerce and defence, must 
 have early pointed it out as an eligible 
 spot for the foundation of a city, 
 and most probably it is the site of 
 the ancient Palibothra. In modern 
 times, from its geographical position, 
 it appears well calculated to be the 
 emporium of Oude, Bundelcund, and 
 Bogalcund. It formerly ranked as a 
 considerable mart for the cotton of 
 the Deccan, and of the countries to 
 the south of the Jumna : but owing 
 to the extortions practised on the 
 merchants by the native revenue 
 officers of the Oude government, the 
 trade gradually resorted to Mirza- 
 poor, and abandoned this port al- 
 though so eligibly situated. Nine- 
 tenths of the present native buildings 
 are of mud, raised on the foundations 
 of more substantial brick edifices, 
 which have long fallen to decay. In 
 1803 the inhabitants, exclusive of 
 the garrison, were estimated at 20,000 
 
ALLAHABAD. 
 
 35 
 
 persons. Much of the soil in the 
 immediate vicinity consists of brick- 
 dust, mortar, and broken pottery. 
 The Ganges here is about a mile 
 broad, and does not appear much 
 augmented by the tribute of the 
 Jumna, although the latter is 1,400 
 yards across. 
 
 By the Brahmins Allahabad is call- 
 ed Bhat Prayag, or by way of dis- 
 tinction, as it is the largest and most 
 holy, is simply designated by the 
 name of Prayaga. The other four 
 Prayagas, o/ sacred confluences of 
 rivers (rolled sungums in the south 
 of India) are situated in Gurwal, at 
 the junction of the Alacananda with 
 other streams, and are named Deva- 
 prayaga, Iiudraprayaga, Carnapra- 
 yuga, and Nandaprayaga. The 
 prayaga of Allahabad owes its ce- 
 lebrity to the junction at this spot of 
 the Ganges, Jumna, and Sereswati. 
 There is no such river as the last 
 now visible in the neighbourhood, but 
 the Hindoos assert that it joins the 
 other two underground, and that 
 consequently by bathing here, the 
 same religious merit is acquired as 
 if the penitent had bathed in the 
 whole three separately. When a pil- 
 grim arrives here, he sits down on 
 the brink of the river, and has his 
 head and body shaved so that each 
 hair may fall into the water, the sa- 
 cred writings promising him one mil- 
 lion of years residence in heaven for 
 every hair thus deposited. After 
 shaving he bathes, and the same day, 
 or the next, performs the obsequies 
 of his deceased ancestors. The tax 
 accruing to government for permis- 
 sion to bathe is only three rupees 
 each person ; but a much greater ex- 
 pense is incurred in charity and gifts 
 to the Brahmins, who are seen sitting 
 by the river side. Many persons re- 
 nounce life at this holy confluence, 
 bv going in a boat, after performance 
 of certain solemnities, to the exact 
 spot where the three rivers unite, 
 where the devotee plunges into the 
 stream, with three pots of water tied 
 to his body. Occasionally also some 
 lose their lives by the eagerness, of 
 the devotees to rush in and bathe 
 
 at the most sanctified spot, at a pre- 
 cise period of the moon, when the 
 expiation possesses the highest effi- 
 cacy. The Bengalese usually perform 
 the pilgrimages of Gaya, Benares, 
 and Allahabad in one journey, and 
 thereby acquire great merit in the 
 estimation of their countrymen. 
 
 Abstract of receipts and disburse- 
 ments for 1812-13, the number of 
 pilgrims being 218,792. 
 
 Amount of collections 223,563 
 
 Repaid to the account of 
 
 Dowlet Row Sindia 175 
 
 223,388 
 
 Fines from persons attempt-*) 
 
 ing to bathe without li- > 1,085 
 censes J 
 
 224,473 
 
 Charges of the establish- 1 q 
 ment J ^ U ' 
 
 Net receipts in 1812-13 221,066 
 
 So great a congregation of people as 
 met in 1812, at the melah or fair, 
 had not occurred for twenty-eight 
 years, on which account many pre- 
 cautions became necessary to pre- 
 serve the lives of the pilgrims from 
 the effects of their own inconsiderate 
 ardour. In 1815-16 the gross col- 
 lections were only 79,779 rupees; 
 charges and commission, 6,726 ru- 
 pees ; net collections, 73,053 rupees* 
 Allahabad is the permanent station 
 of the sudder commission, a body 
 of judges, whose office is the same 
 with regard to these provinces as 
 that of the Sudder Dewanny Adaw- 
 let in Calcutta for the more eastern 
 portions of the empire. Owing to 
 the remoteness of the first, very great 
 frauds and extortions had been com- 
 mitted by the native agents of the 
 local courts, mostly Bengalese, who 
 by the influence of their stations had 
 engrossed much of the landed pro- 
 perty. This commission has suc- 
 ceeded in recovering many of these 
 fraudulent acquisitions to the rightful 
 heir. This court makes circuits dur- 
 ing the months that permit travel- 
 ling, generally pitching their tents 
 " d 2 
 
36 
 
 ALMORA. 
 
 near towns, and holding their courts 
 under trees, an arrangement extreme- 
 ly agreeable to native prejudices, es- 
 pecially those of the lower classes, 
 who always feel afraid a*ad under a 
 constraint in a house, particularly if 
 furnished after the European fashion, 
 where they can neither tell their 
 story well or attend to w r hat is going 
 on. 
 
 The great emperor Acber was 
 always partial to Allahabad, and was 
 the founder of the modern city, in- 
 tending it as a strong-hold to over- 
 awe the surrounding countries, for 
 which purpose, from local circum- 
 stances, it was well adapted. In 
 1765 it was taken by the British 
 army under Sir Robert Fletcher. 
 Following the course of the river 
 Allahabad is 820 miles from the sea, 
 but the travelling distance is only 
 550 miles ; from Benares, 53 ; from 
 Lucknow, 1 27 ; from Agra, 296 ; and 
 from Delhi 212 miles. — ( Lord Va- 
 lentia , Public MS. Documents , Sir 
 Henry Wellesley , Ward , Tennant , 
 Fullarton, Pennell , fyc.) 
 
 Allambady. — A town in the My- 
 sore province, seventy-four miles 
 E.S.E. from Seringapatam, 
 
 Alland.— A town in the province 
 of Beeder, twenty-three miles N. by 
 W. from Calberga, lat. 17° 30' N., 
 Ion. 76° 41' E. 
 
 Allas ( Straits of). — This channel 
 separates the large island of Sum- 
 bhawa from Lombook Isle, and by the 
 natives is called Gilleesee. In ex- 
 tent it is about forty-five miles, and 
 forms the safest and most convenient 
 passage to the east of Java through 
 the Sunda chain of islands. On 
 each side there are soundings where 
 ships may anchor with moderate tides 
 when necessary, and the plantations 
 and villages on the Lambook shore, 
 which is low land, afford ample sup- 
 plies of refreshment. — {Thorn, fyc) 
 
 Allestar. — A populous town in 
 the peninsula of Malacca four hours 
 pull up the Queda river, situated two 
 or three leagues up a river, and in 
 1785 the residence of the king. In 
 
 1823 it contained 2,000 houses ; the 
 inhabitants consisted of Chuleas, 
 Malays, and Chinese, the latter hav- 
 ing a temple. — {Dalrymple, Haensel , 
 Anderson , fyc.) 
 
 Allowalla. — A petty Seik state 
 in the north-eastern quarter of the 
 province of Delhi, which in 1824 
 was held by Futteh Singh, a power- 
 ful chief, much in favour with Run- 
 jeet Singh of Lahore, and possessing 
 lands on both sides of the Sutuleje. 
 
 Allumparva. — A small town in 
 the Carnatic, twenty-five miles N. by 
 E. from Pondicherry; lat. 12° 15'N., 
 Ion. 80° 2' E. It was taken from 
 the French by Col. Coote in 1760. — 
 ( Orme , #c.) 
 
 Ally ( or Ally Mohun). — A town 
 and small principality in the province 
 of Malwa, district of Rath, situated 
 about twelve miles north of the Ner- 
 budda, lat. 22° 5' N., Ion. 74° 18' E. 
 In 1820 this petty state comprehend- 
 ed 176 towns and villages, which 
 yielded a gross revenue of 30,000 ru- 
 pees. The jungles of Ally and Mohun 
 are wild, thinly inhabited, and ex- 
 tremely difficult to penetrate, on ac- 
 count of the badness of the roads 
 and scarcity of water, and were for- 
 merly considered one of the defences 
 of the adjacent province of Gujerat. 
 — ( Malcolm , Burr , fyc.) 
 
 Allygunge (Aliganj). — A town 
 in the province of Bengal, district of 
 Purneah, forty miles N.N.E. from the 
 town of Purneah ; lat. 26° 16' N., 
 Ion. 87° 38' E. 
 
 Almora. — The modern capital of 
 Kumaon, built on the ridge of a 
 mountain 5,337 feet above the level 
 of the sea, ninety miles N. by E. from 
 the city of Bareilly, and about 106 
 miles travelling distance N.E. from 
 Moradabad, by the route of the Ba- 
 mouree pass and Rampoor ; lat. 29° 
 35' N., Ion. 79° 44' E. 
 
 This is a compactly-built town, 
 consisting of a single paved street, 
 fifty feet in width, three-fourths 
 of a mile long, crowning the sharp 
 ridge of a mountain, and is by far 
 the most considerable town, indeed 
 
ALVAR. 
 
 the only considerable one, in the 
 newly-acquired British possessions in 
 northern Hindostan. The houses are 
 built of stone, slated, and generally 
 two, some three stories high, the 
 ground-floors occupied as shops, 
 and open in front, while the upper 
 stories are faced with a frame-work 
 of wood, occasionally carved and 
 painted, supported on the projecting 
 side walls below. The population of 
 Almora does not correspond with its 
 external appearance, at least in 1819, 
 man}' of the largest dwellings were 
 without any ascertained or bona fide 
 proprietor, and had fallen into the 
 hands of persons who had no just 
 claim to them. Small stacks of straw 
 are piled up on the sloping roofs as 
 winter provender for the cattle. 
 
 The old Gorkha citadel, built of 
 stone, stands on a commanding point 
 of the ridge at the eastern extremity, 
 and several martello towers have been 
 erected on peaks to the eastward. A 
 new citadel, named Fort Moira, in the 
 form of a parallelogram with six bas- 
 tions, has been constructed on a 
 small eminence at the western ex- 
 tremity of the town. All these de- 
 fences, however, being built of the 
 loose micaceous schistus, which 
 composes the entire hill of Almora, 
 and most others in its vicinity, their 
 duration is not likely to be remark- 
 able : indeed, in 1820, a party of 
 sappers and miners were sent to de- 
 stroy the works and dismantle the 
 fortress. The surrounding country is 
 remarkably bleak and naked, scarcely 
 a tree being seen within a circuit of 
 four miles from the walls. Almora 
 was acquired by theGorkhas in 1790, 
 who were expelled by the British in 
 1815, at which date the inhabitants 
 were mostly foreigners, emigrants 
 from the low lands. — ( Fullarton , 
 Raper , F. Buchanan, Public MS. 
 Documents, fyc.) 
 
 Aloor. — A large irregular village 
 in the Carnatic, district of Nellore, 
 seventeen miles N.W. from the town 
 of Nellore, lat. 14° 40' N., Ion. 80° 3' 
 E. In the vicinity there is a fine 
 reservoir, and a small bungalow, 
 
 37 
 
 where European travellers may be 
 accommodated. 
 
 Alote. — A small town and per- 
 gunnah in the province of Malwa, 
 belonging to the Raja of Dewass, 
 about twenty-one miles distant from 
 Mahidpoor, lat. 21° 46' N., Ion. 75° 
 37' E. In 1820 the town contained 
 400, and the pergunnah 2,316 houses, 
 of which forty-seven were inhabited 
 by Mahomedans, and 2,269 by Hin- 
 doos ; total population 11,580 souls. 
 — ( Malcolm , fyc.) 
 
 Alumchun. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Allahabad, twenty-two miles 
 N.W. from the city of Allahabad, 
 lat. 25° 34' N., Ion. 81° 31' E. 
 
 Alumpoor. — A town belonging to 
 Holcar, in the province of Allaha- 
 bad, thirty miles N.E. from Ditteah, 
 lat. 26° 3' N., Ion. 78° 45' E. 
 
 Alvar ( Alur or Macherry ). — -A 
 principality in upper Hindostan, 
 mostly situated in the north-western 
 quarter of the Agra province, between 
 the 27th and 28th degrees of north 
 latitude. In the Mahomedan histo- 
 ries it is occasionally named Mewat, 
 and its inhabitants Mewaties,although 
 this appellation ought to have been 
 restricted to the more thievish por- 
 tion of them. Alvar proper, is a 
 hilly and woody tract, lying on the 
 south-west of Delhi, and to the 
 north-west of Agra, confining the 
 low country along the western side 
 of the river Jumna. Although this 
 country is situated in the centre of 
 upper Hindostan, and within twenty- 
 five miles of Delhi, its inhabitants 
 have always been described as singu- 
 larly savage and brutal, and robbers 
 by profession, never to be reformed 
 or subdued. In this last capacity, 
 under the name of Mewaties, they 
 were formerly taken into the pay of 
 the native chiefs, on account of their 
 expertness in the arts of desolation, 
 for the purpose of more effectually 
 ravaging any country which happened 
 to be the seat of war. 
 
 In modern times a new potentate 
 has arisen, named the Macherry Raja, 
 within whose sway Alvar and several 
 
38 
 
 ALVAR. 
 
 adjacent districts, equal to about 
 3,000 square miles, are now compre- 
 hended, but greatly intermingled with 
 those belonging to the British govern- 
 ment, and to contiguous native chiefs. 
 The chief towns in his dominions are 
 Alvar, Macherry, Tejarah, Rajghur, 
 and Alinuggur or Ghosauly. Ma- 
 cherry gives its name to the princi- 
 pality, and its chief is thence called 
 the Macherry Raja, but Alvar or 
 Aloor is the real capital. Tejarah 
 was formerly the capital of Mewat, 
 and, like all other old cities, had se- 
 veral pergunnahs annexed to it. It 
 is now in ruins, but the fort is kept 
 in repair to curb the depredations of 
 the Mewaties. Ghosauly is a large 
 town, whose fields are irrigated by 
 water-conduits from the Laswary 
 river. Six miles west of that town a 
 new fort has been erected by the 
 Raja, named Govindghur. 
 
 The Laswary river has its sourde 
 in the Macherry country, about four 
 miles west of Niranpoor, from whence 
 it proceeds through Acberpoor ghaut, 
 by Mahoor and Bambolee to Laswary 
 town. Near Malpoor an embank- 
 ment has been constructed across 
 the bed of the river, and the current 
 is conducted by numerous water- 
 courses to the interior of the Raja’s 
 country. The former direction of 
 the Laswary stream was by Neano 
 and Ketwaree, through the Ploundah 
 pass to Koh, where it was lost ; but 
 it now seldom passes Deeg, and could 
 never, except during uncommonly 
 heavy rains, have reached Bhurtpoor. 
 In November 1806, the stream of the 
 Laswary was only one foot deep, and 
 the Macherry Raja being desirous of 
 monopolizing the whole, without al- 
 lowing any to proceed to the Bhurt- 
 poor country, a dispute ensued, which 
 could only be amicably adjusted by 
 the interference of the British govern- 
 ment. Considering how hilly a large 
 proportion of the Macherry terri- 
 tories are, they are tolerably well 
 cultivated. 
 
 Row Raja Pertaub Singh, the fa- 
 ther of the Raja who reigned in 1805, 
 was a subject of the Jeypoor Raja’s, 
 and his manager at Macherry about 
 
 the year 1780. He subsequently re- 
 volted from his master, and obtained 
 a grant of lands in the Jeypoor coun- 
 try from Nudjiff Khan, with the title 
 of Row Raja. When Nudjiff Khan 
 was engaged in a war with the Bhurt- 
 poor chief, Pertaub Singh wrested 
 Alvar, the present capital, and other 
 districts, from the Bhurtpoor state, 
 and added them to his own. Some 
 time after he quarrelled with his pa- 
 tron Nudjiff Khan, and was deprived 
 of all his possessions except the for- 
 tress of Luchmenghur, where he was 
 besieged by Nudjiff’ Khan, but saved 
 by the approach of the rainy season ; 
 and the latter, whose hands were al- 
 ways full of business, being called 
 elsewhere, Pertaub Singh remained 
 in the government. After that period 
 he maintained his station by tem- 
 porizing with the strongest party. 
 In 1805 his revenues were estimated 
 at seven lacks of rupees, and it was 
 then said he discouraged cultiva- 
 tion that his country might present 
 fewer temptations to invaders, and 
 to augment its difficuties, built several 
 forts. Latterly his policy has been 
 quite the reverse, for in 1823 his 
 country presented a most flourishing 
 appearance. 
 
 In 1803, a treaty of alliance was 
 concluded by Lord Lake, on the part 
 of the British government, with the 
 Macherry Raja, by the conditions of 
 which he was taken under its protec- 
 tion on the usual terms, with which 
 he seemed well satisfied, as through- 
 out the hazardous and energetic cam- 
 paign of 1804 he continued faithful; 
 for which, in 1805, he was rewarded 
 by a considerable addition of terri- 
 tory, mostly resumed from the Bhurt- 
 poor Raja as a punishment for his 
 treachery. 
 
 The second range of mountains, 
 commencing on the west of Padsha- 
 poor to the Acberpoor Ghaut, beyond 
 Alvar, is inhabited by Mewaties. Te- 
 jarah was the ancient capital of the 
 Mewat country, which contained 
 many pergunnahs, equivalent to an 
 area of about 1,952 square miles. 
 Of this space, in 1807, about 465 be- 
 longed to the British, 263 to Ahmed 
 
ALVAR. 
 
 39 
 
 Buksh Khan, 304 to the Bhurtpoor 
 Raja, and 921 to the Raja of Ma- 
 cherry. On account of the turbulent 
 disposition of the inhabitants, the 
 influence of any chief over them was 
 very feeble, and the authority of the 
 Macherry Raja was but little attended 
 to. In 1807, the predatory incursions 
 of the Mewaties into the British ter- 
 ritories became so daring and fre- 
 quent, that no person could stir out 
 of the military cantonments at Re- 
 wary without an es-cort, and the high 
 road from Delhi and Re wary was no 
 longer practicable for the merchant 
 or traveller unless protected by a 
 strong guard. A band of these ma- 
 rauders, here named Cozauks, had 
 the boldness to attack the town of 
 Rewary, although within three miles 
 of the military cantonments, where 
 three battalions of infantry were usu- 
 ally stationed ; but the plunderers 
 being all mounted, infantry, however 
 active, could not prevent their escape. 
 
 Owing to the physical nature of 
 the Mewat country, jungly, hilly, and 
 abounding with defiles and fastnesses, 
 the extirpation of these was likely 
 to be a work of great difficulty, if at 
 all practicable. It became, therefore, 
 extremely desirable to endeavour to 
 eradicate the evil by measures of a 
 conciliatory nature; for these peo- 
 ple, although from time immemorial 
 addicted to robbery and habits of 
 plunder, were known to be generally 
 faithful when relied on and trusted. 
 During the power of the Delhi throne, 
 and after its decline, the only mea- 
 sures adopted to curb the Mewaties, 
 were the utmost severity, harshness, 
 and cruelty. In order to distress 
 them, they were prohibited from cul- 
 tivating the vallies where alone they 
 could procure food, and their imple- 
 ments of husbandry were seized and 
 destroyed. They were also, when 
 apprehended, subjected to the most 
 cruel punishments, and frequently 
 experienced the doom of being im- 
 mured alive between four walls, a 
 practice which prevailed greatly dur- 
 ing the Gallo-Maharatta power ; but 
 with such little effect, that while these 
 districts were under the charge of M. 
 
 Perron, he maintained in them for 
 five months of the year from two to 
 five battalions of his troops, besides 
 sebundies, a species of local militia. 
 This system of terror, as might have 
 been expected, wholly failed : for not- 
 withstanding the impending tortures 
 that threatened them, the Mewaty 
 outrages continued to increase, and 
 the peaceful part of the community 
 were kept in a state of unceasing alarm 
 and anxiety. In 1807 a correspon- 
 dence was opened with some of their 
 chiefs by Mr. Seton, then resident 
 at Delhi, and some measures of a 
 mild, conciliatory nature adopted to- 
 wards the Mewaties, which, although 
 they did not entirely extinguish, so 
 much repressed their habits of rapine, 
 that we now comparatively hear but 
 little of them. 
 
 In 1808, a dispute arose between 
 the Rajas of Bhurtpoor and Ma- 
 cherry relative to an embankment 
 maintained in the country of the lat- 
 ter, which prevented the flowing of 
 the Laswary river into the country 
 of the former, and consequently im- 
 peded the cultivation of certain lands 
 belonging to the Raja of Bhurtpoor, 
 which depended on that source for 
 irrigation. On this occasion, the 
 British government, as the friend of 
 both parties, interfered, and required 
 the Macherry Raja to open the em- 
 bankment, in conformity with his en- 
 gagement in 1805. 
 
 In 1811, the reigning Raja of Ma- 
 cherry was afflicted with a mental 
 derangement, which after some time 
 subsided, but was after a short period 
 succeeded by a most unfortunate dis- 
 position to persecute his Mahomedan 
 subjects, manifested by the most wan- 
 ton acts of cruelty and outrage. The 
 resident at Delhi, on hearing of these 
 proceedings, adverting to the political 
 relations subsisting between the Raja 
 and the British government, thought 
 it his duty to address several letters 
 of expostulation on the subject to 
 the Raja; but these not having the 
 desired effect, Lord Minto, then 
 governor-general, was obliged to in- 
 terfere. Confidential persons (na- 
 tives) were in consequence despatched 
 
40 
 
 ALVAR. 
 
 to Alvar, to ascertain the real condi- 
 tion of the Raja’s mind, which was 
 apprehended to be still not quite free 
 from insanity. From their researches 
 it appeared that certain Mahomedan 
 devotees had been mutilated by the 
 Raja’s order, and that several tombs 
 and places of worship had been de- 
 stroyed, which act this chief attempt- 
 ed to justify by recriminating on the 
 Mahomedans,that they had destroyed 
 Hindoo images and temples. After 
 mutilating these devotees, the Raja 
 was siezed with a desire, no less sa- 
 vage than curious, of sending their 
 noses and ears to Ahmed Buksh Khan, 
 the chief of Ferozepoor, a most me- 
 ritorious partizan of the British go- 
 vernment : who on receipt of the pot 
 containing the fragments, very pro- 
 perly forwarded it to the British 
 resident at Delhi. Besides this nota- 
 ble exploit, having demolished a 
 number of the most revered Maho- 
 medan tombs, he loaded a multitude 
 of asses and bullocks with the bones 
 and ashes, had them transported out 
 of his country, and ordered the sacred 
 stones of the mosques near Alvar to 
 be smeared with oil and sindhoor. 
 
 The British interposition on this 
 occasion was exerted in so judicious 
 a manner, that the Raja was induced 
 to revert to the unqualified toleration 
 existing in his country before the 
 perpetration of the late acts of vio- 
 lence. It was, however, determined 
 that theRaja’s general conduct should 
 be observed, as it concerned the ge- 
 neral interests of humanity, as well 
 as the credit of the British govern- 
 ment, to prevent the repetition of 
 such barbarities, which were calcu- 
 lated to excite a spirit of sanguinary 
 animosity between the Mahomedans 
 and Hindoos, and create disturbances 
 of all others the most liable to con- 
 tagion, and in their result the most 
 difficult to quell. The interference 
 on this occasion was authorized, both 
 by the great extent of country that 
 had been bestowed on the Macherry 
 Raja by the British government, and 
 by the continuance of its powerful 
 protection, which had preserved his 
 dominions from the dreadful evils 
 
 that had befallen the neighbouring 
 principalities of Jeypoor and Joud- 
 poor. As illustrative of native poli- 
 tics it may be mentioned, that along 
 with the confidential agents, it was 
 necessary to send an emissary well 
 acquainted with the Raja’s person, 
 as otherwise his ministers, with the 
 view of concealing his derangement, 
 might have recourse to the artifice of 
 substituting some other individual, 
 not unlike him in stature and general 
 appearance, the success of which 
 would be favoured by the darkness 
 of the apartment. 
 
 The above acts of religious frenzy 
 were not the only measures which 
 brought the intellectual restoration 
 of the Raja under suspicion ; for to- 
 wards the end of the same year, he 
 had the gratutious folly to become 
 security to the Patan chief, Mahomed 
 Shah Khan, on the part of Khooshaly 
 Ram (formerly prime minister to the 
 Raja of Jeypoor) for the payment of 
 one and a half lacks of rupees per 
 month, on account of a body of 
 troops, to be furnished by the former 
 to the latter for the service of the 
 Jeypoor state, until the expelled mi- 
 nister (Khooshaly Ram) should be 
 again placed at the head of affairs. 
 This transaction was totally incom- 
 patible with the spirit of the relations 
 subsisting between the British go- 
 vernment and the state of Macherry, 
 by the conditions of which the British 
 government, having guaranteed the 
 integrity of the Macherry dominions, 
 the latter was placed in a state of 
 dependence, and virtually precluded 
 from interfering in the concerns of 
 other chiefs and states, unless with 
 the consent of the protecting power. 
 For it appeared evident, that if the 
 Raja were at liberty to contract en- 
 gagements with foreign powers, or 
 concern himself in their disputes 
 and intrigues, the British government 
 might be involved in serious political 
 altercations, and eventually placed 
 in a hostile attitude by the uncon- 
 trolled acts of the Raja. Situated as 
 the parties were, the duty of protec- 
 tion necessarily implied a right of 
 control over all proceedings of the 
 
AMANAPOOR. 
 
 41 
 
 protected party which might have a 
 tendency to compel the active exer- 
 cise of that duty ; and it was wholly 
 inconsistent with the existing politi- 
 cal relations, that a dependent state 
 should be at liberty to form engage- 
 ments with other powers, and to 
 transfer the guarantee of the protect- 
 ing power to concerns in which it 
 had not participated. 
 
 By this act of the Raja, he pledged 
 the security of the British govern- 
 ment to the agreement between 
 Khooshaly Ram and Mahomed Shah 
 Khan, thereby rendering it an instru- 
 ment of public evil, and of injustice 
 to a friendly state, or forced it to 
 engage in a cause of doubtful equity 
 and unprofitable exertion, since in 
 the event of the Raja’s disinclination 
 or inability to fulfil the obligations 
 he had entered into (a circumstance 
 not less probable than the failure of 
 Khooshaly Ram in the performance 
 of his engagement), the Patan chief 
 would naturally be disposed to en- 
 force the satisfaction of his claim. 
 In this event the interference of the 
 British government would become ne- 
 cessary, either to compel the payment 
 of the money, or to protect the Raja 
 against the arms of the claimant, and 
 it would thus have been compelled, 
 through the folly of the Raja, either 
 to contribute to the support of a 
 military Patan adventurer, aiming at 
 the subjugation of a friendly state, 
 or to employ its forces in a cause of 
 dubious justice, where its interests 
 were in no manner concerned. 
 
 This preposterous engagement, as 
 might have been foreseen, was sub- 
 sequently broken, and the agent of 
 Mahomed Shah Khan, residing at 
 Delhi, appealed to the resident for 
 the recovery of the sum due to his 
 master for the time that had elapsed; 
 but the application was immediately 
 rejected, and the chief informed, that 
 the original engagement was altoge- 
 ther incompatible with the political 
 relations subsisting between the Ma- 
 cherry Raja and the British govern- 
 ment. With the view also of pre- 
 venting in future a similar miscon- 
 ception of his duties, and to render 
 
 more clear the treaty of 1803, a 
 positive engagement was procured 
 from the Raja, in 1812, binding him- 
 self not to enter into negociations, 
 or conclude arrangements of any 
 kind with foreign powers, without the 
 knowledge and consent of the British 
 government previously obtained. In 
 times still more recent, the Raja, 
 finding himself in the vicinity of the 
 Jeypoor state, which was torn by 
 civil faction and external warfare, 
 endeavoured to avail himself of its 
 misfortunes, and to aggrandize him- 
 self at its expense. He in conse- 
 quence seized on some forts and 
 villages ; but the British government 
 interfered, and obliged the intruder 
 to restore what he had taken; and 
 symptoms of hesitation appearing, 
 he was fined for delaying instant 
 obdience to the order. — {Public MS. 
 Documents , Lieut. White , Archibald 
 Seton, Metcalfe , Rennell , #c.) 
 
 Alvar ( Alor). — A large town in 
 the province of Delhi, the capital of 
 the Macherry Raja’s dominions; lat. 
 27° 44' N., Ion. 76° 32' E., seventy- 
 five miles S.S.W. from Delhi. 
 
 This place is situated at the base of 
 a steep hill, and is strongly fortified, 
 and on the summit of the hill, about 
 1,200 feet high, is a fortress which 
 contains several tanks. To the south 
 of the town there is a small shallow 
 jeel. The Macherry Raja generally 
 resides here, but his family at Rajghur, 
 a strong-hold situated at the re-enter- 
 ing angle of some mountains, the top 
 of which is also fortified. The adja- 
 cent hills and peaks do not exceed 
 1,000 feet in height. — {Lieut. White , 
 James Fraser , fyc.) 
 
 Alvarcojl. — A town in the Car- 
 natic, district of Tinnevelly, sixty- 
 nine miles N.E. from Cape Comorin, 
 lat. 8° 51' N., Ion. 78° 14' E. 
 
 Amain. — A town in the Agra pro- 
 vince south of the Chumbul, forty-one 
 miles E. from Gualior ; lat. 26° 20' N., 
 Ion. 78° 40' E. 
 
 Amanapoor. — A considerable mili- 
 tary station in the island of Ceylon, 
 twelve miles travelling distance from 
 
42 
 
 AMARAPURA. 
 
 Candy ; lat. 7 ° 15' N., Ion. 80° 45 ' E. 
 The fort here stands on the top of a 
 precipitous hill 2,000 feet above the 
 level of the sea, and at its base are 
 the cantonments, barracks, village, 
 and bazar. — (Davy, fyc.) 
 
 Amarapura ( the city of immor- 
 tals), a city of India beyond the 
 Ganges, and during the reign of Min- 
 derajee Praw the capital of the Bir- 
 man empire ; lat. 21° 55' N., Ion. 96° 
 7' E. It stands on the banks of a 
 deep and extensive lake, about seven 
 miles long by one and a half broad ; 
 when filled by the periodical rains, 
 the lake on one side, and the river on 
 the other, form a dry peninsula, on 
 which the city is placed. On enter- 
 ing the lake when the floods are at 
 the highest, the number and variety 
 of the boats, the great expanse of 
 water, with the lofty surrounding 
 hills, present an extraordinary sight 
 to a stranger. 
 
 The fort of Amarapura is an exact 
 square. There are four principal 
 gates, one in each face; and there is 
 also a smaller gate on each side of 
 the great gate, equidistant between, 
 it and the angle of the fort, compris- 
 ing twelve gates in all. At each 
 angle of the fort there is a large quad- 
 rangular bastion, which projects con- 
 siderably; there are also eleven 
 smaller bastions on each side, includ- 
 ing those over the gateway. Be- 
 tween each of these bastions is a cur- 
 tain, extending 200 yards in length ; 
 from which calculation it results that 
 a side of the fort occupies 2,400 yards. 
 The ditch of the fort is wide, and 
 faced with brick ; the passage across 
 is over a causeway, formed by a 
 mound of earth, and defended by 
 retrenchments'. The rampart, faced 
 by a wall of brick, is about twenty 
 feet high, exclusive of the parapet, 
 which has embrasures for cannon and 
 apertures for muskets ; the body of 
 the ramparts is composed of earth, 
 sustained within and externally by 
 strong walls. Small demi-bastions 
 project at regular distances ; the gates 
 are massive, and guarded by cannon. 
 This fortress, considered as an east- 
 
 ern fortification, is respectable, but 
 insufficient to resist the approaches 
 of an enemy skilled in artillery tac- 
 tics. From the height and solidity 
 of the wall the Burmese consider it 
 impregnable, although a battery of 
 half a dozen well-served cannon would 
 breach it in a few hours. The south- 
 ern face of the fort is washed, during 
 the rainy season, by the waters of 
 the lake, and the houses of the city 
 extend along the bank as far as the 
 extreme point of land. 
 
 In Amarapura there are but few 
 houses of brick and mortar, and these 
 belong to members of the royal family. 
 The dwellings of the chief persons 
 are surrounded by a wooden enclo- 
 sure, and all houses whatever are 
 covered with tiles, and have in the 
 ridge of the roof earthen pots filled 
 with water, in readiness to be broken 
 should fire occur. The splendour of 
 the religious buildings is very striking, 
 owing to the unbounded expenditure 
 of gilding which is applied to the out- 
 side of the roofs as well as within, 
 and must absorb much bullion. The 
 gold leaf used is exceedingly pure, 
 and bears exposure to the air for a 
 long time without suffering injury. 
 These edifices being generally compo- 
 sed of wood and other perishable 
 materials, their existence is not of 
 long duration. Contiguous to the fort 
 is a small street, formerly entirely oc- 
 cupied by shops of silversmiths, who 
 exposed their ware in the open bal- 
 cony, and displayed a great variety of 
 Birman utensils ; but when visited by 
 Captain Canning, in 1810, the greater 
 part of these shops had disappeared, 
 and on the 28th March of that year 
 the entire city and fort, including all 
 the palaces and about 20,000 houses, 
 were destroyed by fire. The pudigaut 
 or royal library is situated in the north- 
 west angle of the fort, in the centre 
 of a court paved with broad flags. 
 The books are kept in wooden chests 
 curiously ornamented, about 100 in 
 number, and well filled. The greater 
 part concern divinity; but history, 
 music, medicine, painting, romance, 
 and mythological fable have also their 
 separate volumes. Across the lake 
 
AMBER, 
 
 48 
 
 there are extensive fields of wheat, 
 which gmin in 179*5 was sold in the 
 city at the rate of one tical (2s. 6d.) 
 for fifty-six pounds weight, and equal 
 in quality to the finest in England. 
 
 Amarapura is subdivided into four 
 distinct subordinate jurisdictions, in 
 each of which a Maywoon presides. 
 This officer, who in the provinces is a 
 viceroy, in the capital performs the 
 functions of a mayor, and holds a 
 civil and criminal court of justice. In 
 capital cases, he transmits the evi- 
 dence with his opinion in writing to 
 the lotoo, or grand chamber of 
 consultation, where the council of 
 state assembles. There are regularly 
 established lawyers, who conduct 
 causes and plead before the lotoo, 
 for which their usual fee is sixteen 
 shillings. 
 
 This city was founded by the Bur- 
 mese monarch Mindarajee Praw so 
 recently as 1783, about six miles east 
 of Ava, the ancient capital; but was 
 latterly abandoned by him through 
 some unaccountable caprice, for some 
 sterile sand-banks seven miles further 
 up the stream of the Irawady. Build- 
 ings in this country are wholly com- 
 posed of wood and bamboos, and the 
 river presenting convenient water car- 
 riage, a capital is soon created, and 
 increases with incredible rapidity. 
 About A.D. 1800, its population was 
 estimated by Captain Cox at 175,000, 
 and the houses from 20,000 to 25,000; 
 but the seat of government having 
 been transferred back to Ava in 1819, 
 by the present king, its population and 
 importance must have diminished in 
 proportion. Indeed the embassy in 
 1827 did not estimate its inhabitants 
 at more than 30,000 persons. 
 
 Every facility being supposed, a 
 communication may be held between 
 the British frontier and the capital of 
 Ava in twelve or fourteen days, viz. 
 to Shembeghewn, two days ; thence 
 to Arracan, eight days ; total twelve 
 days. There is another road from Ar- 
 racan to the Ava territories, which 
 branches off at Padang, a town situ- 
 ated on the Irawady about ten days’ 
 journey above Rangoon. — (Syrnes, 
 Cox, Canning , Crawfurd , #c.) 
 
 Amauavati (or Car oor river ). — 
 A small river that flows past the town 
 and fortress of Caroor in the Coim- 
 batoor province, and after a short 
 course joins the Cavery about ten 
 miles below Caroor. Amaravati is 
 also the name of many other rivers 
 throughout Hindostan. 
 
 Ambahghaut. — A pass from the 
 Concan province, on the west coast 
 up the Western Ghauts, or chain of 
 mountains, to the interior ; lat. 17 ° 1' 
 N., Ion. 73° 56' E. 
 
 Ambaghur. — A fort in the province 
 of Gundwana, situated on a hill, at 
 the base of which is the town, and 
 surrounded by jungle to a considerable 
 distance ; but on the south and east 
 sides, in its immediate vicinity, there 
 is a cultivated valley half a mile broad. 
 It was captured without bloodshed in 
 1818. 
 
 The Golur and Holur tribes are 
 numerous in the districts east of Nag- 
 poor, but have their abodes mostly in 
 the Puttar, a stony portion of Amba- 
 ghur, and in the jungles of Rampyle 
 and Sahangurry. They are a thievish 
 plundering tribe, but perfectly under 
 the control of their naiks or chiefs, 
 and are never troublesome when the 
 latter are conciliated. They speak 
 the Canarese language, but have no 
 tradition respecting their original ex- 
 patriation.— \Jenkins, Blacker , tfc.) 
 
 Ambahlah ( Amhalaya). — The ca- 
 pital of a small Seik state in the pro- 
 vince of Delhi, about 115 miles N. 
 by W. from the city of Delhi, lat. 
 30° 19' N., Ion. 76° 44' E. 
 
 Amber ( or Ambheer). — The an- 
 cient capital of the Jeypoor territo- 
 ries, until Mirza Raja Jeysingh, in 
 the reign of Aurengzebe, built the city 
 of Jeypoor, since which period .the 
 principality takes that name also. 
 Lat. 26° 57' N., Ion. 75° 40' E., five 
 miles N. by E. from Jeypoor. 
 
 The site of this place is singularly 
 romantic, for it stands on the brink 
 of a small lake, surrounded on all 
 sides by steep mountains. The palace 
 of the Rajahs is still in good preser- 
 vation, and contains some noble halls, 
 
44 
 
 AMBOOR. 
 
 built on the very face of the precipice 
 immediately overhanging the lake. 
 The interior of the old palace con- 
 tains one very noble hall of audience, 
 a small garden with fountains, and a 
 long succession of passages, cloisters, 
 alcoves, and small intricate apart- 
 ments, many of them extremely beau- 
 tiful, and enjoying from the windows, 
 balconies, and terraces, a most striking 
 prospect. The carving in stone and 
 marble, the inlaid flowers and orna- 
 ments, in some of these apartments 
 are equal to those of Delhi and Agra, 
 and only surpassed by the beauties of 
 the Tauje Mahal. A great use has 
 been made of stained glass, which 
 from the inaccessible height of the 
 windows has remained in good pre- 
 servation. Higher up is the castle 
 with high towers, and battlements, 
 with a few ornamented windows, 
 many narrow loop-holes, and one tall 
 minaret rising above the whole. The 
 interior is not shewn to Europeans, it 
 having formerly been the depot for the 
 public treasure, and is still occasion- 
 ally used as a state prison. 
 
 It is approached by a steep winding 
 ascent cut in the rock, and passing 
 under three successive gateways. The 
 heights above are crowned with tow- 
 ers and battlements ; and the royal 
 gardens occupy a small island in the 
 lake and part of the eastern bank. 
 The rest of the narrow space between 
 the eastern margin of the lake is 
 crowded with buildings of the ancient 
 eity. The interior is now ruinous 
 and nearly depopulated ; but its lofty 
 picturesque pagodas, with porticoes 
 guarded by marble elephants, its 
 great bowlee, its arches and pavilions, 
 still preserve the recollection of its 
 former grandeur. There are two Jain 
 temples here, one apparently quite 
 new. The road from Jeypoor to Am- 
 bher, until the foot of the mountain 
 that separates the two vallies is 
 reached, presents an almost uninter- 
 rupted succession of villas, gardens, 
 tanks, Hindoo monuments, and other 
 religious edifices.— {Fullarton, Frank- 
 lin, Hunter , $c.) 
 
 Ambloo. — A small island of about 
 
 fifteen miles circumference in the 
 Eastern seas, situated at the oonth- 
 eastern extremity of Booro Isle, lat. 
 3° 55' S., Ion. 127° E. This island is 
 but thinly inhabited, having been 
 much infested by the depredations of 
 the mop-headed Papuas from New 
 Guinea, who plundered it in the year 
 1765, and carried off many of its 
 natives. Beautiful shells are found 
 on the shores of Ambloo. — ( Stavori - 
 nus, Bougainville , fyc.) 
 
 Ambong. — A large and commodi- 
 ous harbour on the north-west coast 
 of Borneo, having great depth of wa- 
 ter, with a button-like island in the 
 centre. Ships keeping this island on 
 the right hand side, will come into a 
 fine harbour on the south side, close 
 to some salt-houses. Lat. 6° 14' N., 
 Ion. 116° 25' E. 
 
 Amboor. — A town in the Carnatic 
 province bordering on the Balaghaut, 
 108 miles W.S.W. from Madras; lat. 
 12° 49' N., Ion. 78° 46' E. The Am- 
 boor division is comprised within a 
 range of hills of moderate height. 
 The river Palaur, declining from its 
 apparent southerly direction, enters 
 this tract about three miles from the 
 eastward, and washes the Amboor pet- 
 tah, distant three miles to the south- 
 ward of the fort. The skirts of the hills 
 are covered with palmyra and date 
 trees, from the produce of which a 
 considerable quantity of coarse sugar 
 is made. The territory is fertilized 
 by numerous rills of water, conducted 
 from the river along the margin of the 
 heights, as a supply to the rice fields, 
 the tobacco, cocoa-nut, and man- 
 goe plantations. In the hot weather 
 in the low country the thermometer 
 under the cover of a tent rises to 
 100° Fahrenheit, and exposed to the 
 rays of the sun, to 120°. 
 
 The village of Amboor is neat mid 
 regularly built; its inhabitants are 
 very industrious, and make a consi- 
 derable quantity of castor-oil, which 
 they export. On the left side of it 
 is a lofty isolated mountain, on which 
 formerly stood a fort almost impreg- 
 nable by nature. The upper works 
 have been destroyed since it came 
 
AMBOYNA. 
 
 45 
 
 into the possession of the British, 
 and the lower is a place of confine- 
 ment for malefactors. The plain on 
 the top is of sufficient extent to have 
 rendered its cultivation an object of 
 importance, and on it are two tanks 
 near to where the barracks formerly 
 stood. The view from hence is noble 
 and extensive, and the air cool in 
 comparison with that below. This 
 district suffered greatly from Hyder’s 
 different invasions of what we call the 
 Carnatic, from which it has not yet 
 altogether recovered. Near Amboor 
 the Barramahal ends, and the Arcot 
 territories commence. — ( Martine , 
 Salt, F. Buchanan , fyc.) 
 
 Ambora. — A town in the province 
 of Gundwana, forty-one miles E. by 
 S. from the city of Nagpoor ; lat. 21° 
 7 N., Ion. 79° 44' E. 
 
 Amboyna ( AmbunJ. — An island in 
 the eastern seas lying off the S.W. 
 coast of the island of Ceram, lat. 3° 
 40' N., Ion. 128° 15' E. In length it 
 may be estimated at thirty-two miles, 
 by ten the average breadth. The name 
 is a Malay word signifying dew. On 
 the S.W. Amboyna is indented by a 
 deep bay, by which it is divided into 
 two limbs or peninsulas, connected 
 together by a very narrow isthmus. 
 Both of these are mountainous, and 
 almost overgrown with trees and un- 
 derwood, between which at intervals 
 some clove trees are cultivated. The 
 soil is mostly a reddish clay ; but in 
 the vallies where there are not any 
 rocks it is darker coloured, and mixed 
 with sand. Many of the hills yield 
 sulphur, with which mineral their sur- 
 face is encrusted. 
 
 This island produces all the com- 
 mon tropical fruits and vegetables, 
 and likewise the cajeput tree, from 
 which the hot and strong oil called 
 cajeput oil is distilled. The clove-bark 
 tree or laurus sassafras , and the teak 
 tree, are also found here, but the lat- 
 ter in small quantities, building tim- 
 ber being mostly imported from Java. 
 Although the quantity is not great, 
 the variety of woods is infinite. Va- 
 lentyn enumerates different species of 
 the ebony tree, the iron tree, the 
 
 casuarina, the wild clove, the samar- 
 natree (a bastard sort of teak), and 
 the nani tree, which the Chinese use 
 for anchors and rudders. He also 
 mentions that, in 1682, Rumphius 
 (the author of theHortus Amboinen- 
 sis) had a cabinet inlaid with 400 choice 
 and handsome woods, all the produce 
 of the island, which he presented to 
 Cosmo, the third Duke of Tuscany. 
 
 The clove tree resembles a large 
 pear tree from twenty to forty feet 
 high. At nine years of age it yields 
 cloves, and continues to bear to about 
 100 years, October and November 
 being the usual period of the clove 
 crop, when from two to three pounds 
 are generally procured from each tree. 
 Indigo of a superior quality is pro- 
 duced in Amboyna, but not in large 
 quantities. The sago tree is found 
 in abundance, and is a principal article 
 of food. An ordinary tree, from its 
 twelfth to its twentieth year, when 
 cut down will yield 350 pounds of 
 sago. They are seven years arriv- 
 ing at full growth, and last about 
 thirty. The woods here swarm with 
 deer and wild hogs, the flesh of 
 which is used by the natives, fresh, 
 salted, and dried. The domestic 
 animals are buffaloes, cows, horses, 
 sheep, goats, and swine. The last 
 only are aboriginal, the others having 
 been imported by the Portuguese and 
 Dutch from Java, Celebes, and the 
 south-western isles. There are no 
 beasts of prey on the island, but plenty 
 of snakes. 
 
 The monsoons are exactly the 
 contrary here to what they are along 
 the islands of Java, Borneo, Bali, 
 Lumbhook, and Sumbhava. When 
 at these the fine season prevails, it 
 is the reverse at Amboyna, Ceram, 
 Banda, the east coast of Celebes, and 
 the adjacent seas. The difference 
 appears to commence to the eastward 
 of the straits of Salayer, which are 
 about Ion. 120° 30' E. The currents 
 are not regular at Amboyna, neither 
 has the moon any constant or equal 
 influence on the tides, high and low 
 water sometimes occurring once, 
 sometimes twice in twenty-four hours, 
 the rise being from six to nine feet. 
 
46 
 
 AMHERST. 
 
 Fort Victoria is situated on the 
 S.E. side of the island, and is an 
 irregular hexagon, with a ditch and 
 covered way on the land side, and a 
 horn-work towards the sea ; but it is 
 commanded by two heights within 
 700 and 1,200 yards distance, the 
 difficulty of anchoring in the bay 
 constituting the chief strength of the 
 island. The town of Amboyna is 
 clean, neatly and regularly built, 
 and well supplied with water. The 
 west end is inhabited by Chinese, 
 and the south end by Europeans, 
 near to which is the tomb of Rum- 
 phius. On account of the frequency 
 of earthquakes, the houses seldom 
 exceed one story in height. The 
 inhabitants are the Horaforas or ab- 
 origines, the Amboynese, Europeans, 
 and Chinese; but of the first there 
 are now very few remaining. The 
 Amboynese were converted to the 
 Mahomedan faith about A.D. 1515; 
 the Portuguese subsequently con- 
 verted a number of them to the Ro- 
 man Catholic religion, and the 
 Dutch to the Calvanistic, but the 
 greater proportion still remain Ma- 
 homedans. The Christians, how- 
 ever, evidently excel the other sects 
 of Amboynese, both as to morals and 
 intelligence, and notwithstanding all 
 the oppression they have endured, are 
 a peaceful inoffensive race. In the 
 Dutch armies they rank above their 
 other Asiatic troops, and receive pay 
 and equipments in proportion. The 
 principal Amboynese Christians still 
 bear Portuguese names ; but their 
 number is not great. The Chinese 
 are not so numerous in proportion 
 as on the other islands, yet they are 
 the only strangers permitted to settle 
 here by the Dutch. They keep shops, 
 sell provisions, and intermarry with 
 each other. One junk of 500 tons 
 arrives from China annually. 
 
 Amboyna was discovered by the 
 Portuguese in A.D. 1515, but was 
 not taken possession of until 1564, 
 and was conquered from them by 
 the Dutch about A.D. 1607. In 
 1546, when St. Francis Xavier was 
 at Amboyna, he observed the inhabi- 
 tants then beginning to learn to 
 
 write from the Arabians. At present 
 they speak the Malay language. In 
 1622, the famous or rather infamous 
 Amboyna massacre took place ; in 
 1796 it was captured by the British, 
 when it was found to contain 45,252 
 inhabitants, of which number 17,813 
 were Protestants ; the rest Mahom- 
 medans, except the Chinese and 
 slaves. It was restored to the 
 Dutch at the peace of Amien3 in 
 1801, recaptured in 1810, and again 
 finally restored after the peace of 
 Paris in 1814.— (Stavorinus and Notes , 
 2 Beg., Bruce , Marsden , Crawfurd, 
 §c.) 
 
 Ameerghur. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Delhi, twenty-two miles 
 N.W. from Pattialah ; lat. 30° 28' N., 
 Ion. 76° 10'E. 
 
 Ameer Khan. — See Seronge. 
 
 Amerkote. ( Amara-cata, the fort 
 of the immortals. ) — A town on the 
 confines of Sinde, about eighty-five 
 miles E. of the Indus, and of Hyder- 
 abad the capital of that province, 
 lat. 25° 20' N., Ion. 69° 49' E. This 
 place was formerly the capital of an 
 independent principality named Dhat, 
 held by the Jada Rajpoots, but being 
 situated on the confines of Joudpoor 
 and Sinde, soon became an object 
 of contention between the two states. 
 In 1813 it had been recently cap- 
 tured by the Ameers. The surround- 
 ing country is arid, sterile, and un- 
 productive, taxes on merchandize, 
 and extortions from travellers, being 
 the only sources of revenue. The 
 Emperor Humayoon, after his expul- 
 sion from Hindostan by Shere Shah 
 the Afghan, in his extreme distress 
 sought refuge in the desert with the 
 Rajah of Amerkote ; and here the 
 Emperor Acber was born, A.D. 1541. 
 — ( Macmurdo , Pottinger , MSS., §c.) 
 
 Amherst. — The town of Marta- 
 ban being restored to the Burmese, 
 under the provisions of the treaty of 
 1826, it became expedient to possess 
 a station on the south bank of the 
 Saluen river, as a military post, com- 
 mercial establishment, and asylum 
 to the numerous refugees preparing 
 
AMJERAHo 
 
 to migrate from the Burmese domi- 
 nions. A recess north of Cape Kyar 
 Kami was selected for this purpose, 
 the British flag hoisted on the 5th 
 April 1826, and the spot (then co- 
 vered with jungle and fruit trees) 
 having no native name, was called 
 Amherst. Lat. 16° 5' N., Ion. 97° 
 25' E. 
 
 This place stands in the north-east 
 angle of the gulf of Martaban, twen- 
 ty-eight miles below the town of that 
 name, on a triangular peninsula, con- 
 taining an area of about four square 
 miles, the apex of the promontory 
 (commanding both town and har- 
 bour) from twenty-five to thirty feet 
 high, the rest about ten feet above 
 high-water mark spring tides, except 
 a narrow mangrove belt, intended for 
 the native quarter. Off Amherst 
 promontory, on a detached rock, is 
 the Buddhist temple of Kyarkami. 
 The apex and the most elevated por- 
 tion are reserved for public purposes, 
 such as fortifications, the church, 
 governor’s house, court of justice, 
 &c.; the lowest grounds are assigned 
 to the natives, being most congenial 
 to their habits; the higher grounds 
 to the European and Chinese quar- 
 ters, to be built of durable mate- 
 rials. The military cantonments are 
 fixed on a spot about one mile and 
 a half from the town, dry, level, and 
 elevated. 
 
 Up to the 7th May 1826, of 431 
 lots marked out, 217 had been given 
 away to Europeans, Chinese, Portu- 
 guese, and others, besides lands as- 
 signed, to Burmese and Peguers; 
 temporary cantonments had also then 
 been constructed, the streets desig- 
 nated by English names, such as 
 Bayley Street, Harington Street, &c. 
 Estimating the native town at only 
 2,000 houses, the quit rents within a 
 year would amount to 7,322 Madras 
 rupees, annually increasing, a great 
 accession of inhabitants being ex- 
 pected, so that its ■* own resources 
 would in a few years defray the civil 
 and military disbursements. From 
 its frontier situation Amherst must 
 become the chief station of the south- 
 eastern Burmese conquered pro- 
 
 47 
 
 vinces. In January 1827 it con- 
 tained 1,600 inhabitants. 
 
 The harbour is spacious and secure, 
 with three fathoms at low water neap 
 tides, and ships may lie within 100 
 yards of the shore ; the steam boat 
 lay within fifty. Rise and fall of the 
 tide about nineteen feet ; flow of the 
 tide about six miles an hour, but 
 without any bore, and on the whole 
 well adapted for wet docks. Owing 
 to its geographical position, the har- 
 bour is still as a lake for two hours 
 before and two after high water, per- 
 mitting an easy communication by 
 boats with the shore. A remarkably 
 noble and beautiful plant, named Ara- 
 herstia, after Lady Amherst, has re- 
 cently been discovered in this neigh- 
 bourhood. Only two trees of it are 
 known to exist, and these were found 
 in the garden of a Buddhist monas- 
 tery on the banks of the Saluen river. 
 A species of oak also grows to a great 
 size in the vicinity of this town, and 
 extensive forests of teak timber fur- 
 ther inland up the river Attran. 
 Good water is found every where 
 within six feet of the surface. 
 
 As a depot from which the Bur- 
 mese, Chinese, Shans, and other 
 ultra-Gangetic nations may be sup- 
 plied with the commodities of Britain 
 and Hindostan, Amherst promises to 
 be a settlement of the first impor- 
 tance. The short run between it and 
 Rangoon well suit the small coasting 
 trading boats, and there is said to be 
 a safe and practicable route to the 
 interior of Ava and the Shan country, 
 through the town and province of 
 Tongho. From Amherst opium may 
 be introduced to the very centre of 
 Ava, Siam, Laos, and through the 
 latter into China. Prior to 1827, 
 several chests had been imported and 
 sold. — ( Crawfurd , Lieut. Low , Capt. 
 Studdert , Sfc.) 
 
 Amherst Harbour. — A harbour 
 thus named in the province of Arra- 
 can, situated between the island of 
 Ramree, towards the southern extre- 
 mity, and the main-land ; lat. 18° 47' 
 N. Ion. 93° 50' E. 
 
 Amjerah^ or Amjherva J . — A small 
 
48 
 
 AMRITSIR. 
 
 town in Malwa, belonging to Sindia, 
 and the head of a district containing 
 175 villages. Lat. 22° 23' N., Ion. 
 75° 13' E., fifty-six miles S.W. from 
 Oojein, and twelve W. of Dhar. It 
 stands in an extensive valley, which 
 expands towards the north, and is 
 1890 feet above the level of the sea. 
 In 1820 it contained 500 houses, 
 with good bazars plentifully supplied. 
 Amjerah is tributary to Sindia, to 
 whom the chief (a Rhatore Rajpoot) 
 pays 35,000 rupees per annum ; his 
 country, however, under proper ma- 
 nagement, is capable of yielding three 
 times that amount. In 1824 the 
 Amjerah gross revenues were ex- 
 pected to reach one lack of rupees. 
 — ( Malcolm , #c.) 
 
 Ammalapoor. — A town in the 
 Northern Circars, situated on a branch 
 of the Godavery, near its junction 
 with the Bay of Bengal, fifty-three 
 miles N.E. from Masulipatam ; lat. 
 1 6° 25' N., Ion. 81° 58' E. About 
 twelve miles E. of this place is a 
 village named Sura-yana-yanam, and 
 close to it a shallow lake, at the bot- 
 tom of which sulphur is found de- 
 posited. The country is flat in its 
 vicinity, there being no hill nearer 
 than fifty miles, and stones are al- 
 most as rare. — ( Heyne , §c.) 
 
 Amran. — A town and fortress, 
 with a small district adjacent, situ- 
 ated in the Guzerat peninsula, twen- 
 ty-two miles S.W. from Mallia, lat. 
 22° 41' N., Ion. 72° 43' E. Near to 
 one of the adjacent villages is a mo- 
 nument erected to commemorate a 
 traga, committed in 1807, by a 
 Rajghur Brahmin. To deter his su- 
 perior, Hirjee Khowas, from depriv- 
 ing him of some land in the vicinity, 
 he led his mother to the gate of Am- 
 ran, and there cut off her head, 
 which had the desired effect. In- 
 stances of this sort are very frequent 
 in Guzerat, and, on most occasions 
 the victim, whether male or female, 
 not only consents to, but glories in 
 the death inflicted. The person who 
 is in many cases the innocent cause 
 of the catastrophe, is considered by 
 the Brahminical code as damned for 
 
 ever; while the wretch who for his 
 own profit perpetrates the murder, 
 is not only held innocent by his fel- 
 low citizens, but suffers no pang either 
 of heart or conscience. — (Mac- 
 murdoj fyc.) 
 
 Amrawutty ( Amaravati). — A 
 large and populous town in the pro- 
 vince of Berar, thirty-four miles S.E. 
 from Ellichpoor, lat. 20° 54' N., Ion. 
 77° 57 7 E. A considerable quantity 
 of cotton, of a good length and 
 staple, was formerly transported from 
 hence to Bengal by land carriage, 
 being a distance of more than 500 
 miles ; and it still carries on a gene- 
 ral inland traffic of considerable ex- 
 tent. 
 
 Amravutty C Amaravati J. — A 
 
 large town in the northern Circars, si- 
 tuated in a plain extending along the 
 south bank of the Krishna, twenty 
 miles N.N.W. from Guntoor, and 
 twelve miles in a direct line S.W. 
 from the fortress of Condapilly. It 
 was built by the late Vencatady Naik 
 in 1796, and for a native town dis- 
 plays considerable neatness and re- 
 gularity. Five hundred yards west 
 from Amravutty are the ruins of the 
 ancient town of Durnaeotta, which 
 is said to have once been the capi- 
 tal of this quarter of Hindostan. 
 The principal curiosities here are the 
 Amreshwar pagoda, one of the chief 
 Siva temples in Telingana, and the 
 great mound of Depaulding, from 
 whence coins, inscriptions, and 
 sculptures are still procured.— (Pub- 
 lic Journals , fyc.) 
 
 Amrooah. — A considerable town 
 in the province of Delhi, a few miles 
 S.W. from Moradabad, with a neat 
 mosque and extensive garden, and 
 surrounded by large plantations of 
 sugar and cotton. The generality of 
 the surrounding country, however, 
 is poor, sterile, and thinly inhabited, 
 and with a very great extent of 
 ground totally waste. 
 
 Amritsir ( Amrita Saras , the foun- 
 tain of nectar).*— The capital of the 
 Seik nation, and holy place of their 
 religion, situated in lat. 31° 33' N., 
 
ANAMBAS. 
 
 49 
 
 long. 74° E., forty-four miles E. 
 
 from the city of Lahore. This is an 
 open town, about eight miles in cir- 
 cumference. The streets are nar- 
 row; the houses in general good, 
 being lofty and built of burnt bricks, 
 but the apartments are confined. It 
 is still the grand emporium of trade 
 for the shawls and saffron of Cash- 
 mere, and various other commodi- 
 ties from the Deccan and eastern 
 part of India, and an excise is le- 
 vied by the Rajah on all the mer- 
 chandize sold in the town according 
 to its value. The manufactures of 
 the place are only a few coarse 
 cloths and inferior silks ; but owing 
 to its being the resort of many rich 
 merchants, and the residence of 
 bankers, Amritsir is a station of con- 
 siderable opulence. Runjeet Singh 
 has built a new fort, named Runjeet- 
 ghur, after himself, and he has also 
 brought a narrow canal from the 
 Ravey, a distance of thirty-four 
 miles. 
 
 Amritsir, or the pool of immor- 
 tality, is a basin of about 135 paces 
 square, built of bricks, in the centre 
 of which stands a temple dedicated 
 to Gooroo Govind Singh. In this 
 sacred place is lodged, under a silken 
 canopy, the book of laws written by 
 that Gooroo ; and from 500 to 600 
 akalies, or priests, who belong to 
 the temple and are supported by 
 contributions, perform its functions. 
 When Ahmed Shah Abdalli con- 
 quered Lahore, he destroyed this 
 temple twice, and killed cows, and 
 threw them into the water, in order 
 to defile it effectually. Runjeet Singh 
 has a mint here, at which coins of dif- 
 ferent value are struck in honour of 
 Baba Nanak Shah, the most eminent 
 Seik saint. Good camels, and occa- 
 sionally horses, are to be purchased 
 here ; the first for fifty rupees each. 
 These valuable, patient, and ill-used 
 animals are brought down loaded 
 with rock salt from a mine about 
 eighty miles north of Lahore. Strings 
 of 600 are seen on the road, with 
 a large lump resembling a block of 
 unwrought marble slung on each 
 side. 
 
 VOL. i. 
 
 Some Seik authorities ascribe the 
 foundation of Amritsir to Gooroo 
 Ramdas (who died A.D. 1581), which 
 is not correct, as it was a very an- 
 cient town, known formerly by the 
 name of Chak. Gooroo Ramdas 
 added much to its population, and 
 built the famous tank or reservoir 
 named Amritsir, which, in the course 
 of time, gave its name to the town, 
 it having at one time been also 
 named Ramdaspoor. — ( Malcolm , 11 th 
 Register , fyc.) 
 
 Amsterdam. — A small island lying 
 off the north-western extremity of 
 Ceylon, and subordinate to the dis- 
 trict of Jaffnapatam, from which it 
 is separated by a narrow strait. It is 
 five miles in length by two in breadth, 
 and affords excellent pasturage for 
 rearing horses and cattle. — ( Percival, 
 $c.) 
 
 Anaje. — A town in the Mysore 
 territories, having a small district 
 annexed, twenty-seven miles N.W. 
 from Chittadroog j lat. 14° 27' N., 
 Ion. 76° 13' E. 
 
 Anak Sunjei. — A district in the 
 island of Sumatra, extending along 
 the sea-coast on the S.W. side, from 
 the Manjuta river to that of Arei. 
 The chief bears the title of sultan, 
 and his capital, if such a place de- 
 serves the appellation, is named Mo- 
 comoco. Although the government 
 is Malayan, yet the ministers of the 
 sultan are named Mantri (a title 
 borrowed from the Hindoos), and 
 the greater proportion of the inha- 
 bitants consist of aborigines.— (Mars- 
 den , Sfc.) 
 
 Analaboo. — The name of a con- 
 siderable pepper district in Sumatra. 
 
 An am. — A town in the Oude ter- 
 ritories, thirty-four miles S.W. from 
 Lucknow, lat. 26° 34' N., Ion. 80° 22' 
 
 E. 
 
 Anambas (north, middle, and 
 south). — Three clusters of very small 
 islands in the China Sea, situated 
 between lat. 2° 20' and 3° 30' N., 
 and about Ion. 130° 30' E. The 
 largest may be estimated at twenty 
 
 £ 
 
50 
 
 ANDAMANS. 
 
 miles in circumference, but a great 
 majority are mere rocky islets. 
 
 Anapectomiou Hills. See Ar- 
 racan. 
 
 Andamans. — The Andaman Is- 
 lands are a continuation of the Ar- 
 chipelago in the Bay of Bengal, which 
 extends from CapeNegrais to Acheen 
 head, stretching from I0°32 / N., to 
 13° 40' N. What has been con- 
 sidered as the great Andaman is the 
 most northerly, and about 140 miles 
 in length by twenty in breadth. This 
 island, however, is separated by two 
 very narrow straits, which have a 
 clear passage into the Bay of Ben- 
 gal, and, in reality, divides it into 
 three islands. The little Andaman 
 is the most southerly, and lies within 
 thirty leagues of the Carnicobar Isles. 
 Its length is about twenty-eight 
 miles, by seventeen in breadth ; but 
 it does not afford any harbour, al- 
 though tolerable anchorage may be 
 found near its shores. Situated in 
 the full sweep of the S.W. monsoon, 
 and the clouds being obstructed 
 by high mountains, these islands for 
 eight months of the year are washed 
 by incessant torrents ; but, upon the 
 whole, the climate is rather milder 
 than in Bengal. The tides are re- 
 gular, the floods setting in from the 
 west, and rising eight feet at the 
 springs. The variation of the needle 
 2° 30' easterly. 
 
 In the centre of the large Anda- 
 man is a lofty mountain, named 
 Saddle Peak, about 2,400 feet high. 
 There are no rivers of any con- 
 siderable size. The most common 
 trees are the poon, dammer, and oil- 
 trees; red-wood, ebony, the cotton 
 and almond trees ; soondry, chingry, 
 and beady ; the Alexandrian laurel, 
 the poplar, a tree resembling satin- 
 wood ; bamboos, cutch, the melon, 
 aloes, ground rattans, and a variety 
 of shrubs. Many of the trees afford 
 timber and planks fit for the con- 
 struction of ships, and others might 
 answer for masts. 
 
 The birds seen in the woods are 
 pigeons, crows, parroquets, kings- 
 fishers, curlews, fishing-hawks, and 
 
 fowls. There are a great variety 5f 
 fish, such as mullet, soles, pomfrets, 
 rock-fish, skate, gurnas, sardinas, roe- 
 balls, sable, shad, aloose, cockup, 
 grobers, seerfish, prawns, shrimps, 
 crayfish, a species of whale, and 
 sharks of an enormous size. During 
 the prevalence of the north-east mon- 
 soon fish are caught in great abun- 
 dance, but in the tempestuous sea- 
 son they are procured with difficulty. 
 There are many sorts of shell-fish, 
 and in some places oysters of an ex- 
 cellent quality. A few diminutive 
 swine are found on the skirts of the 
 forest ; but these are very scarce, and 
 probably the progeny of a stock left 
 by former navigators. Although the 
 ordinary food of the Andamaners be 
 fish, they eat likewise lizards, snakes, 
 guanas, and rats. Within the caverns 
 and recesses are found the edible 
 bird-nests, so highly prized by the 
 Chinese; and the shores abound with 
 a variety of beautiful shells, gorgonias, 
 madrepores, murex, and cowries. 
 
 The vegetable productions are very 
 few, the fruit of the mangrove being 
 the principal. As the natives possess 
 no pot or vessel that can resist the 
 action of fire, they cannot derive 
 much advantage from such esculents 
 as the forest may contain ; and, un- 
 happily for the Andamaners, the co- 
 coa-nut, which flourishes so well at 
 the Nicobar Islands (almost in sight), 
 has never planted itself on their ter- 
 ritory. 
 
 The population of the great Anda- 
 man and all its dependencies does not 
 exceed 2,000 or 2,500 persons, dis- 
 persed in small societies along the 
 coast, or on the lesser islands within 
 the harbour, never penetrating deeper 
 into the interior than the skirts of 
 the forest ; their sole occupation 
 seems to be that of climbing rocks, or 
 roving along the margin of the sea, in 
 quest of a precarious meal, which 
 during the tempestuous season they 
 often seek in vain. 
 
 It is an object of much curiosity to 
 discover the origin of a race of people, 
 so widely differing, not only from all 
 the inhabitants of the neighbouring 
 continent, but also from those of the 
 
ANDAMANS. 
 
 51 
 
 Nicobar Islands, which are so near; 
 hitherto, however, the inquiries of 
 travellers have produced no satisfac- 
 tory conclusion. In stature they sel- 
 dom exceed five feet ; their limbs are 
 disproportionately slender, their bel- 
 lies protuberant, with high shoulders 
 and large heads. In appearance they 
 resemble a degenerate race of ne- 
 groes, with woolly hair, flat noses, 
 and thick lips ; their eyes are small 
 and red ; their skin of a deep sooty 
 black, while their countenances ex- 
 hibit the extreme of wretchedness, a 
 horrid mixture of famine and fero- 
 city; they go quite naked, and are 
 insensible to any shame from expo- 
 sure. 
 
 The few implements they use are 
 of the rudest description. Their prin- 
 cipal weapon is a bow, from four to 
 five feet long ; the string made of the 
 fibres of a tree, or a slip of bamboo, 
 with arrows of reed, headed with fish- 
 bone, or wood, hardened in the fire. 
 Besides this, they carry a spear of 
 heavy wood, sharp-pointed, and a 
 shield made of bark. They shoot 
 and spear fish with great dexterity, 
 and are said to use a small hand-net, 
 made of the filaments of bark. Hav- 
 ing kindled a fire, they throw the fish 
 on the coals, and devour it half 
 broiled. 
 
 Their habitations display little 
 more ingenuity than the dens of wild 
 beasts : four sticks forced into the 
 ground, are bound at the top and 
 fastened transversely to others, to 
 which branches of trees are sus- 
 pended; an opening just large enough 
 to admit of entrance is left on one 
 side, and their bed is composed of 
 leaves. Being much incommoded by 
 insects, their first occupation of a 
 morning is to plaister their bodies 
 all over with mud, which hardening 
 in the sun, forms an impenetrable 
 armour. Their woolly heads they 
 paint with red ochre and water ; and 
 when thus completely dressed, a more 
 hideous appearance is not to be found 
 in the human form. Their saluta- 
 tion is performed by lifting one leg, 
 and smacking with their hand on the 
 lower part of the thigh. 
 
 Their canoes are hollowed out of 
 the trunks of trees by fire and instru- 
 ments of stone, having no iron in use 
 among them, but such as they acci- 
 dentally procure from Europeans, or 
 from vessels wrecked on the coast. 
 The men are cunning and revengeful, 
 and have an inveterate hatred to 
 strangers ; they have never made any 
 attempt to cultivate the land, but 
 subsist on what they can pick up or 
 kill ; they appear to express an ado- 
 ration to the sun and to imaginary 
 beings, the genii of the woods, wa- 
 ters, and mountains. In storms they 
 apprehend the influence of a malig- 
 nant being, and deprecate his wrath 
 by chaunting wild chorusses. Of a 
 future state it is not known that they 
 have any idea, which possibly arises 
 from our imperfect means of disco- 
 vering their opinions. 
 
 The Andamans, together with the 
 Nicobar and lesser islands, were in- 
 cluded by Ptolemy in the general ap- 
 pellation of Insulm Bonae Fortunse, 
 and supposed to be inhabited by a 
 race of Anthropophagi, a description 
 which the barbarity of the modern 
 Andamaners perhaps justifies, as far as 
 refers to them ; for the inhabitants of 
 the Nicobars are a very different race ; 
 they are also mentioned by Marco 
 Polo in the thirteenth century. The 
 language of the Andamaners has not 
 been discovered to possess the slight- 
 est affinity with any spoken in India, 
 or among the islands. 
 
 The first settlement of the English 
 was made in the year 1791, near the 
 southern extremity of the island, 
 which was afterwards removed, in 
 1793, to Port Cornwallis. A more 
 picturesque or romantic view can 
 scarcely be imagined than that which 
 Chatham Island and Cornwallis 
 Island present. Being land-locked 
 on all sides, nothing is to be seen 
 but an extensive sheet of water, re- 
 sembling a vast lake, interspersed 
 with small islands, and surrounded 
 by lofty mountains, covered with 
 trees. The original object of the 
 undertaking was to procure a commo- 
 dious harbour on the east side of the 
 Bay of Bengal, to receive and shelter 
 
 e 2 
 
52 
 
 ANDAMAN. 
 
 ships of war during the continuance 
 of the north-east monsoon. It was 
 also intended as a place of reception 
 for convicts sentenced to transporta- 
 tion from Bengal ; but the settlement 
 proving extremely unhealthy, it was 
 abandoned, and the convicts have 
 since been sent to Prince of Wales’ 
 Island, and prior to its cession to 
 Bencoolen. 
 
 In 1814 Port Cornwallis was visit- 
 ed by Capt. Canning on his way to 
 Acheen, but all his endeavours to 
 establish an intercourse with the 
 natives proved ineffectual. Few ves- 
 tiges then remained of the British 
 settlement withdrawn in 1796. Re- 
 cent fires indicated that the ruins of 
 a brick house on Chatham Island 
 afforded occasional shelter to some 
 of the natives. Close to some muddy 
 water of the worst quality they found 
 the head and back-bone of a shark, 
 the rest of which appeared to have 
 been devoured the same day. 
 
 In 1819, two Andaman negroes, cap- 
 tured by a Burmese fishing-junk, 
 were landed at Prince of Wales’ 
 Island. According to the Burmese 
 account, they belonged to a party of 
 Andamaners that attacked the Bur- 
 mese, and wounded four of the crew 
 with their arrows. In height they 
 were about four feet six inches, and 
 in weight about seventy-six pounds ; 
 their colour jet black, bodies tattooed, 
 and appetites voracious. They ap- 
 peared averse to speak, except when 
 left entirely to themselves, when 
 they made a cackling, like turkies. 
 
 In April 1824, the British arma- 
 ment, under Sir Archibald Campbell, 
 destined against the Burmese, assem- 
 bled at Port Cornwallis in the Great 
 Andaman, where some of the ships 
 remained about a month ; but during 
 their stay never could effect any 
 communication with the few wretched 
 beings who inhabit these sequestered 
 regions. Savages in every sense of the 
 word, they rejected all intercourse ; 
 and if met at any time acciden- 
 tally on the margin of the dense jungle 
 reaching down to the sea-beach, they 
 immediately evinced hostile feelings, 
 by discharging flights of arrows at 
 
 the boats, and then penetrating the 
 interior. On this occasion it was 
 ascertained, that the skulls and bones 
 with which their wigwams were 
 adorned belonged to a species of 
 small island hog, and not to the hu- 
 man species, as had been suspected. 
 — ( Symes , Col. Caleb rooke , Capt. Can- 
 ning , Src .) 
 
 Andaman (the Little) Isle. A flat 
 island covered with high trees, lying 
 due south of the Great Andaman, 
 from which it is distant about forty 
 miles. Lat. 10° 40' N., long. 92° 
 30' E. In length it may be esti- 
 mated at twenty- eight miles by 
 seventeen, the average breadth ; but 
 it does not possess any good har- 
 bour, although tolerable anchorage 
 may be found near its shores. It was 
 visited to procure water, in Novem- 
 ber 1825, by the Earl Kellie trans- 
 port, on her passage to Rangoon, 
 with troops, which were most fero- 
 ciously received by the natives, who 
 obstructed their watering, and fought 
 two pitched battles, in which they 
 lost many killed and wounded ; they 
 would listen to no parley or entreaty, 
 or accept any presents, but discharged 
 showers of arrows, which killed one, 
 and wounded three of the soldiers ; 
 and to the very last they endeavour- 
 ed to cut off the pioneers engaged in 
 watering. One party of them were 
 about sixty in number, wild-looking 
 creatures, with frizzled hair, flat 
 noses, small red eyes, and their skins 
 besmeared with mud, and their faces 
 painted with red ochre; they were 
 all completely naked, except one 
 stout man, about six feet high, who 
 wore on his head a red cloth with 
 white spots, and was probably their 
 chief. 
 
 They appear, however, to have 
 made further advances in civilization 
 than their neighbours on the Great 
 Andaman, as a hut was discovered 
 on the edge of the jungle twenty feet 
 high, of a conical shape, thatched to 
 within one foot and a half of theground 
 with rattan leaves, with just room to 
 crawl in underneath. The floor in- 
 side was strewed with leaves, and 
 
ANJAR. 
 
 53 
 
 there were several sleeping cots made 
 of bamboo grating, raised on posts, 
 while the walls were ornamented with 
 rows of smoked skulls of a diminutive 
 hog. From the roof, a piece of red 
 and white checquered cloth, appa- 
 rently of Madras manufacture, was 
 suspended, and jack fruits and edible 
 roots were discovered in small coni- 
 cal baskets ; the drinking vessels 
 seemed to be the nautilus shell. 
 The weapons were a most formidable 
 bow, about seven feet in length, 
 stretched with the feet, and a hand- 
 bow two feet long, both strung with 
 the dark red fibres of a tree ; the 
 arrows were above three feet long, 
 some with two, three, and four 
 prongs, and so hard, that when dis- 
 charged by the soldiers, they pene- 
 trated two inches into solid timber. 
 No canoes or rafts were seen, and 
 no idols of any description. 
 
 The forest into which our soldiers 
 penetrated was gloomy and dismal ; 
 the trees of vast height, thickly inter- 
 woven with rattans and bushrope, 
 and the air charged with pestilential 
 vapour, from the putrid vegetation 
 with which the swampy ground was 
 covered : parroquets were skreeching 
 over their heads, and poisonous 
 snakes gliding among their feet. The 
 ship’s boats returned on board after 
 this unpleasant expedition, laden 
 with bows, arrows, specimens of 
 shells, and ambergris ; and during the 
 night the savages were heard on the 
 beach, shouting and yelling defiance. 
 Indeed, during the whole adventure, 
 they never evinced the slightest symp- 
 toms of fear, but were always most 
 perversely the aggressors. — ( J . E. 
 Alexander , fyc.) 
 
 Andapoorghur, a town in the 
 province of Orissa, forty-eight miles 
 west from Balasore; lat. 21° 21' N., 
 Ion. 86° 5'E. 
 
 Andia, a town in the province of 
 Malwa, forty-five miles N.N.E. from 
 Bhopaul. Lat. 23° 46' N., long. 78° E. 
 
 Ancstoo, a town in the Nepaulese 
 dominions, supposed to be situated 
 about forty miles north of Jemlah. 
 Lat. 29° 47' N„ long. 81° 25' E. 
 
 Animalaya ( Ani Malaya , or 
 the elephant hill), a town in the 
 Coimbatoor province, twenty-three 
 miles S.E. from Palighautcherry. 
 Lat. 10° 31' N., Ion. 77° T E. This 
 place is situated on the west side of 
 the river Alima, and in A.D. 1800 
 contained 400 houses. It was then 
 a common thoroughfare between 
 Malabar and the southern part of the 
 Carnatic, being situated opposite to 
 the wide passage between the south- 
 ern end of the ghauts of Carnata and 
 the hills that run north from Cape 
 Comorin. The forests here are 
 extensive, and contain abundance of 
 teak and other valuable timber, but 
 unfortunately too remote from water- 
 carriage to permit its exportation. — ■ 
 {F. Buchanan , Sfc.) 
 
 Anjar. — A small district in the 
 province of Cutch, ceded to the 
 British government in 1816, and go- 
 verned by a commissioner deputed 
 from Bombay. 
 
 This is a very arid tract of country, 
 water being very scarce, and in many 
 parts the soil so loose and sandy as to 
 be unfit for tanks. The expense of 
 sinking wells differs according to the 
 nature of the soil and the depth 
 where springs are reached, and, gene- 
 rally speaking, twenty-three cubits 
 must be perforated before water is 
 found. There are some villages 
 where it is necessary to penetrate 
 much deeper, and others where the 
 search is hopeless. Rutnal is one 
 of the largest villages, and Rohur a 
 seaport, yet both are destitute of 
 water. In 1817, out of 201 wells 
 used for irrigation, sixty- six paid no 
 revenue to government, and were 
 much the most productive and pro- 
 fitable. In fact, such is the scarcity 
 of water in Cutch, that any person 
 who sinks a well at his own expense, 
 becomes entitled to the whole of the 
 land it is capable of irrigating. In 
 1817, notwithstanding these obsta- 
 cles, the tillage was on the increase, 
 many applications having been made 
 to Capt. McMurdo, the commis- 
 sioner, by the peasantry for permis- 
 sion to extend the cultivation, and. 
 
54 
 
 ANKAPILLY. 
 
 with a view to the farther improve- 
 ment of the district, the Bombay 
 government ordered the construction 
 of several tanks. At that date, 
 owing to the prior anarchy, the com- 
 merce of Anjar was inconsiderable, 
 but the state of tranquillity it has 
 since enjoyed must have augmented 
 its traffic, as well as its agricultural 
 produce. — ( Macmurdo , Public MS. 
 Documents , #c.) 
 
 Anjar. — The capital of the pre- 
 ceding district, situated on the side 
 of a hill nearly ten miles from the 
 gulf of Cutch. The bunder, or port, 
 named Toonea, is fronted by a creek 
 from the gulf ; lat. 23° 3' N., Ion. 70 a 
 11' E. The fortifications of Anjar 
 form a polygon, but are not strong, 
 being only six feet in thickness and 
 without a ditch. It surrendered to 
 Colonel East in 1816, after a breach 
 had been effected. During the great 
 earthquake of 1819, the half of this 
 town, situated on low rocky ridges, 
 suffered comparatively nothing, while 
 the other half was almost wholly 
 overturned. About 3,000 houses 
 were reported to have been destroy- 
 ed or rendered uninhabitable, and 
 165 persons lost their lives. In 1820 
 the inhabitants were estimated at 
 10,000 persons. — ( Public MS. Docu- 
 ments, tyc.) 
 
 Anjfjdiva Isle (Anjadwipa ). — A 
 small island about one mile in cir- 
 cumference and two from the shore, 
 fifty-four miles S. by E„ from Goa ; lat. 
 14° 44' N., Ion. 74° 13' E. In 1662 
 Sir Abraham Shipman, when refused 
 possession of Bombay by the Portu- 
 guese, landed on this island with his 
 troops, amounting to 500 men, where 
 they continued until 1665, having 
 lost during the interval by sickness 
 all but two officers, and 119 rank 
 and file. — {Bruce, $c.) 
 
 Anjengo {Anjutenga). — A small 
 sea-port town in the province of Tra- 
 vancore, seventy-eight miles N.N.W. 
 from Cape Comorin, lat. 8° 37 A N., 
 Ion. 76° 53' E. A short distance from 
 hence lies Attinga (named in the 
 maps Attancal), the chief residence 
 of the Tam burret ties or princesses of 
 
 Travancore. The interior of the 
 country is inhabited by Hindoos, 
 whereas on the sea-coast much the 
 greater proportion of the people are 
 Christians and Mahometans. In 
 1684, the East-India Company re- 
 ceived permission from the Queen 
 of Attinga to fortify Anjengo and 
 a small strip of land round it ; but in 
 1813, on account of the useless ex- 
 pense, the factory was abolished, by 
 which a saving of 23,000 rupees per 
 annum was effected. The best coir 
 cables on the Malabar coast are 
 made here and at Cochin, of the 
 fibres of the Lacadive cocoa-nut. 
 The other exports are pepper, coarse 
 piece-goods, coir, and some drugs; 
 the imports are of very small 
 amount. — {Fra. Paolo , MS. Docu- 
 ments, Bruce, $c.) 
 
 Anjenwell. — A town and fortress 
 on the sea-coast of the Concan, 100 
 miles S. by E. from Bombay ; lat. 
 17° 33' N., Ion. 73° 18' E. It sur- 
 rendered to a British detachment in 
 1818. 
 
 Anjerie.— A considerable village 
 half way up the straits of Sunda, on 
 the Java shore, where ships may be 
 conveniently supplied with water and 
 other refreshments, such as buffaloes, 
 poultry, turtle, fruit, vegetables, &c. ; 
 lat. 6° 3' S., Ion. 105° 50' E. Anjerie 
 is situated in a bay formed by Fourth 
 Point and the point of Marak Bay, 
 and is the westernmost port on the 
 island of Java. The village is large 
 and populous, and has a good block- 
 house with cannon for the garrison. 
 Towards the interior the country 
 rises gradually, and its fertility is 
 such, that with an adequate popula- 
 tion any quantity of vegetables and 
 fruit might be produced. The shore, 
 with the exception of a few fine bays, 
 is rocky, chiefly of coral, and much in- 
 dented. At this place Colonel Cath- 
 cart, who died on his way to China, 
 as ambassador in 1785, is interred. — 
 {Thorn, fyc.) 
 
 Ankapilly. — A town in the North- 
 ern Circars, twenty-four miles tra- 
 velling distance W. by S. from Viza- 
 gapatam, lat. 17° 41' N, Ion. 83° 11' 
 
APPOLE. 
 
 55 
 
 E. This is a large place, nearly a 
 mile in length and wide in propor- 
 tion, with a good bazar, and thickly 
 interspersed with trees.— {Fullarton, 
 $c.) 
 
 Ankosgerry. — A town in the My- 
 sore territories, forty miles S.E. from 
 Bangalore, lat. 12° 39' N., Ion. 78° 
 8'E. 
 
 Annagoondy. — A small district in 
 the Bejapoor province, south of the 
 Krishna, extending along the north 
 bank of the Toombudra river. The 
 principal towns are Bijanagur (or 
 Annagoondy) and the fortress of Ko- 
 paul. After the conquest of Bijana- 
 gur by the combined Mahomedan 
 princes of the Deccan, in 1564, the 
 nominal Rajas Were allowed to retain 
 Annagoondy and some other districts 
 in jaghire for several generations. 
 From them it passed to the Maharat- 
 tas, to Hyder, Tippoo, the Mysore 
 Dewan Purneah, the Nizam, and at 
 last, in 1803, to the British, this na- 
 tion acting in India as residuary le- 
 gatee to all the others. The surface 
 of this country is wild and hilly, in- 
 terspersed with much wood, amongst 
 which are to be seen groves of the 
 wild date tree. For some miles 
 round the city the soil is encumbered 
 in all directions with vast piles of 
 granitic rock. In 1820 the reigning 
 Raja was a man of weak intellects, 
 about eighty years of age, who con- 
 tinued to support an appearance of 
 mock royalty, and to amuse himself 
 with the expectation of recovering 
 the ancient possessions of his family. 
 His principal residence was at Cam- 
 lapoor, from whence he sallied forth 
 with a pack of 100 dogs, having still 
 sufficient strength, notwithstanding 
 his advanced age, to pursue the 
 chace on foot. — See also Bi jamagur, 
 of which Annagoondy is a section.— 
 ( Munro , Fullarton, fyc.) 
 
 Annicul. — A town in the Mysore 
 territories, twenty miles S.S.E. from 
 Bangalore ; lat. 12° 40' N., Ion. 77 ° 
 45' E. 
 
 Anooradapoor. — This ancient ca- 
 pital of Ceylon is now a mean village 
 
 in the midst of a desert. A large tank, 
 numerous stone pillars, and two im- 
 mense tumuli (probably of temples), 
 are now the principal vestiges ; but 
 the spot is still considered sacred, and 
 resorted to as a pilgrimage, — {Davy, 
 $c.) 
 
 Anopsheher ( Anapa shelter). — A 
 town in the province of Agra, situ- 
 ated on the west side of the Ganges, 
 about sixty-eight miles E.S.E. from 
 Delhi ; lat 28° 23' N., Ion. 78° 8' E. 
 In A.D. 3 SCO Anopsheher was sur- 
 rounded by a strong mud wall, in 
 some parts from twenty to thirty feet 
 thick, and although of no great ex- 
 tent, was thickly inhabited. The 
 houses consisted of a mixture of 
 brick and mud buildings. — ( Tennant , 
 Src.) 
 
 Antery ( Antari). — A walled town 
 of considerable size within the por- 
 tion of the Agra province, tributary 
 to Dowlet Row Sindia, situated on 
 the banks of the small river Dealoo, 
 twelve miles south from Gualior. Lat. 
 26° 5' N. Jon. 78° 5' E. The neigh- 
 bouring hills are of quartzoze rock. — 
 ( Hunter , tyc.) 
 
 Antoorlee.— A village on the 
 Tuptee, in the province and district 
 of Candeish, about ten miles S.W. 
 from Boorhanpoor. In 1820 it was 
 surrounded by a mud wall with brick 
 bastions, and was then divided be- 
 tween Sindia and the British govern- 
 ment as successors to the Peshwa. — 
 (. Fullarton , tyc.) 
 
 Aor. — A very small island in the 
 Eastern seas, lying off the east coast 
 of Malacca; lat. 2° 25' N., Ion. 
 *104° 35' E. The surface is high, and 
 covered with a close lofty wood. 
 A small Malay village here supplies 
 ships with cocoa-nuts and vegetables. 
 — ( Johnson , Elmore , fyc.) 
 
 Apakookit. — A town in the 
 Malay peninsula, district of Queda, 
 chiefly inhabited by Chulias, six miles 
 S.E. from Allestar. 
 
 Appole. — A town in the province 
 of Bengal, district of Dinagepoor, 
 eighty miles N.N.E. from Moorshe- 
 dabad. Lat. 25° 9' N., Ion. 88° 59'E. 
 
56 
 
 ARGOT, 
 
 Arabs. — See Candeish Pro- 
 vince. 
 
 Aracote. — In the province of 
 Mooltan. According to native ac- 
 counts, a few days’ journey to the 
 west of Hyderabad, in the centre of 
 seven ranges of hills, there is a pa- 
 goda dedicated to the goddess Rha- 
 vani, at a place named Aracote. — 
 
 ( Max field, fyc.) 
 
 Arail. — A town in the province of 
 Allahabad, across the Jumna, exactly 
 opposite to the city and fortress of 
 Allahabad. Lat. 25° 24' N., Ion. 8 1° 
 50' E. 
 
 Aravarcourchy. — A small town 
 in the Coimbatoor district, fifty-four 
 miles W. by S. from Trichinopoly ; 
 lat. 10° 41' N., Ion. 77° 54' E. In 
 A.D. 1800 it contained above 300 
 houses, the inhabitants of which spoke 
 the Tamul language. This place was 
 formerly inhabited by a person of the 
 Bayda caste, named Arava, the name 
 signifying the seat of Arava. It af- 
 terwards became subject to Madura, 
 and then to Mysore, the curtur or 
 sovereign of which built a neat 
 fort near the town, and gave it the 
 name of Vijaya Mangalum, by the 
 Mahomedans pronounced Bijaman- 
 gle. About the end of Hyder’s 
 reign an English army took the fort, 
 at which time the town was destroy- 
 ed. — ( F . Buchanan , $c.) 
 
 Arcot, Northern. — A district in 
 the Carnatic under the Madras pre- 
 sidency, which also includes Sativaid, 
 Pulicat, Cooncoody, in the Barrama- 
 hal, part of the Balaghaut, and of 
 the western pollams. The limits of 
 this district are ill defined, but it may 
 be described generally as bounded on 
 the north by Cuddapah and Nellore ; 
 on the south by the southern divi- 
 sion of Arcot ; on the east it has the 
 sea and the district of Chingleput ; 
 and on the west the Balaghaut of 
 Cuddapah. 
 
 In 1809, prior to the introduction 
 of an improved system, this fiscal di- 
 vision was in a very miserable condi- 
 tion ; but it has since been greatly 
 benefited by judicious management, 
 
 and is now comparatively prosperous. 
 In 1810 the rented villages were 
 3,534; villages not rented 65; be- 
 sides deserted villages. The large 
 tanks, the water of which contri- 
 buted to the revenue, were 2,698 in 
 number, of which 451 were out of 
 repair ; smaller tanks 1,322, of which 
 510 were damaged. The water- 
 courses from rivers were 678; from 
 springs 647 ; from anicuts 238 ; and 
 from wells 19,223, of which 548 
 wanted repair ; and from this enume- 
 ration maybe inferred how much the 
 agriculture of Northern Arcot de- 
 pends on irrigation and the good con- 
 dition of the tanks. In 1817 the 
 total gross collection of the public 
 revenue was 734,325 pagodas; and in 
 1822, according to the returns made 
 to government by the collectors, the 
 total population amounted to 892,292 
 persons. The principal river is the 
 Palam, and the chief towns Arcot, 
 Wallajanagur, Vellore, and Tripetty. 
 — ( Public MS. Documents , Hodson f 
 $c.) 
 
 Arcot, Southern. — A district in 
 the Carnatic under the Madras pre- 
 sidency, extending south-east to Por- 
 tonovo, which it includes; and dur- 
 ing the last war it also comprehend- 
 ed Pondicherry and the lands at- 
 tached. To the north it is bounded 
 by the northern division of Arcot ; 
 on the south by Tanjore and Trichi- 
 nopoly ; on the east it has the Chin- 
 gleput district and the sea ; and on 
 the west Salem and the Balaghaut 
 Carnatic. In 1810 it was estimated 
 to contain about 6,400 square miles. 
 
 In 1806 this district was in a very 
 miserable condition, and continued 
 so until 1809, when a triennial set- 
 tlement of the land revenue was in- 
 troduced. The number of villages 
 then rented was 3,742, and those 
 not rented 246 : total 3,988 villages. 
 In 1817 the total gross collection 
 of the public revenue, exclusive of 
 Pondicherry, was 647,954 pagodas ; 
 and in 1822, according to the returns 
 made to government by the collec- 
 tors, the total population amounted 
 to 455,020 persons. The principal 
 trading ports are Cudalore and Porto- 
 
ARGHA. 
 
 57 
 
 novo.-— ( Ravenshaw , Fifth Report , 
 Hodson , #c.) 
 
 Arcot f Arucati). — The Mussul- 
 maun capital of the Carnatic, si- 
 tuated on the south side of the Pa- 
 lar river, sixty-eight miles W.S.W. 
 from Madras. Lat. 12° 52' N., Ion. 
 79° 22' E. The bed of the Palar is 
 here half a mile wide, but in the 
 dry season is almost destitute of 
 water. The nearest hills are those 
 to the north of the cantonments, 
 which at a distance appear clothed 
 with verdure, and do not exhibit the 
 smooth naked masses of granite so 
 frequently met with in the Barra- 
 mahal and Mysore countries. 
 
 The fort is of great extent, and has 
 been a regular formidable citadel ; but 
 its principal defences were blown up 
 above twenty years ago, and its area 
 is now covered with fields of raghy 
 and the castor-oil plant, interspersed 
 with the scattered ruins of a few 
 buildings. On the side towards the 
 Palar, the ramparts protect the place 
 from inundation, and are kept in per- 
 fect repair. The town is enclosed by 
 walls, and contains the former palace 
 of the Arcot Nabobs, of which the 
 principal gateway is still entire, but 
 all the rest is a heap of ruins. The 
 Jumma musjeed is a handsome Maho- 
 medan mosque, with seven open 
 arches in front, and two small but 
 not inelegant minars. Besides this 
 there are four or five other Maho- 
 medan religious edifices of respecta- 
 ble architecture, and their tombs are 
 numerous ; but that of the Nabob 
 Saadut Oolla is the only remarkable 
 one. 
 
 Arcot was formerly the nominal 
 capital of the Carnatic below the 
 ghauts, as the Nabob’s dominions 
 were designated by the Mahomedans 
 and English, and it is said to have 
 been noticed by Ptolemy as the capi- 
 tal of the Sorae, or Soramundalum, 
 whence Coromandel ; but the exist- 
 ing town is quite of modern date. 
 After the Mogul armies captured 
 Gir.jee, they found it so extremely 
 unhealthy that they were obliged to 
 canton on the plains of Arcot, which 
 
 led to the establishment of this ca- 
 pital, about A.D. 1716. At present 
 the town is chiefly inhabited by Ma- 
 homedans, who speak the Deccany 
 dialect, which we name Hindos- 
 tany. 
 
 Anwar ud Been, the Nabob of Ar- 
 cot, was killed in battle A.D. 1749, 
 after which this place was taken by 
 Chunda Saheb, the French candi- 
 date. In 1751 it was retaken by 
 Capt. Clive, with 200 Europeans and 
 300 sepoys; the garrison being panic- 
 struck made no resistance, although 
 they amounted to 1,100 men. He was 
 immediately besieged by the French 
 and their allies, but notwithstanding 
 the garrison consisted of only 120 
 Europeans and 200 sepoys fit for 
 service, he resisted fifty days under 
 every disadvantage, and at last com- 
 pelled the enemy to raise the siege. 
 It afterwards fell into the possession 
 of the French native allies, but was 
 finally taken in 1760 by Col. Coote, 
 after the battle of Wandiwash. In 
 1780 it surrendered to Hyder, and 
 with its vicinity suffered greatly by 
 his different invasions, and also during 
 the misgovernment of the Nabob’s 
 revenue officers. 
 
 Travelling distance from Madras 
 seventy-three miles; from Seringapa- 
 tam 217; from Calcutta 1,070; and 
 from Delhi 1,277- — ( Fullarton , F. 
 Buchanan, Orme, Wilkes, Rennell,fyc.) 
 
 Ardinghy^ UrddhangaJ. — A town 
 in the Tondimans country,province of 
 the Carnatic, fifty-two miles S.S.W. 
 from Tanjore. Lat. 10° 8' N., Ion. 
 79° 3' E. 
 
 Arentjs. — A small rocky island 
 in the Eastern seas; lat. 5° IF N., 
 Ion. 115° 10 / E. 
 
 Arfae. — The name of a very high 
 mountain in Papua, or New Guinea, 
 bearing due south from Dory Har- 
 bour. 
 
 Argha. — A town in the Nepaulese 
 dominions, 110 W.N.W. from Gork- 
 ha; lat. 28° 15' N., Ion 82° 47' E. 
 This place stands on a hill, on the 
 summit of which surrounding the 
 chief’s castle are about 150 houses. 
 
58 
 
 AROO. 
 
 and 350 more near the middle of the 
 ascent, all with mud walls and thatch- 
 ed roofs. The inhabitants, with the 
 exception of a few Brahmins and 
 Rajpoots, are one-half Kasiyas, and 
 the rest impure cultivators and trades- 
 men. — ( F . Buchanan , #c.) 
 
 Argaum ( Arigrama). — A small 
 village in the province of Berar, 
 thirty-eight miles W.S.W. from El- 
 licbpoor ; lat. 21° 7 N., Ion. 77 ° 3' 
 E. On the plains near this place a 
 battle was fought on the 28th Novem- 
 ber 1803, between the British army 
 under General Wellesley and that of 
 the Nagpoor Raja, in which the 
 latter was totally defeated, with the 
 loss of thirty-eight pieces of cannon, 
 all his ammunition, baggage, ele- 
 phants, and a great slaughter of his 
 troops. He soon after sued for peace, 
 which was granted. The village in 
 1820 formed part of the Nizam’s 
 dominions. 
 
 Ariancoopan. — A small town on 
 the sea-coast of the Carnatic, three 
 miles south from Pondicherry ; lat. 
 11° 54' N., Ion. 79° 52' E. In 1748 
 this was a fortified town, and taken 
 by Admiral Boscawen with great dif- 
 ficulty prior to his unsuccessful siege 
 of Pondicherry. The fortifications 
 have long disappeared, but the place 
 still belongs to the French, who re- 
 sort here for recreation on festival 
 days, when tents and temporary 
 booths are erected, and amusements 
 pursued with their characteristic 
 gaiety. The French have a church 
 here, and to the north of the town 
 there is a ferry across the Ariancoo- 
 pan or Vellenore river. — ( Fullarton , 
 Orme, fyc.) 
 
 Arieloor (Aryalar). — A town in 
 the Carnatic twenty-eight miles N, 
 from Tanjore ; lut. 11° 7 N., Ion. 
 79° 10' E. 
 
 Arim ( or Aring). — A town in 
 the province of Gundwana, seventy- 
 five miles W.S.W. from Sambhulpoor ; 
 lat. 20° 37 N., Ion. 82° 36' E. About 
 1775 this place belonged to a Goand 
 chief tributary to the Rajah of Nag- 
 poor. It was then a more flourishing 
 
 village than is usually found in these 
 unwholesome tracts, as it contained 
 some weavers, and was frequented 
 by itinerant merchants.— (Lec/cie,$c.) 
 
 Arinkil. — See Warangol. 
 
 Arippo. — A small village in the 
 island of Ceylon, Bay of Condatchy, 
 where the civil and military authori- 
 ties reside during the season of the 
 pearl fishery. The surrounding coun- 
 try is barren and uncultivated. Lat. 
 8° 40' N., Ion. 79° 47' E., 120 miles 
 N.N.E. from Colombo. 
 
 Arki. — The residence and head- 
 quarters of Ummer Singh, theGorkha 
 commander, during the predominance 
 of that people among the hills be- 
 tween the Sutleje and Jumna; lat. 
 31° 3' N., Ion. 76° 55' E., sixty-eight 
 miles E.N.E. from Luddeeana. 
 
 Armeatie. — A town in the Nabob 
 of Oude’s territories, thirty-seven 
 miles N.E. from Maniepoor ; lat. 
 26° 8' N., Ion. 81° 46' E. 
 
 Armegon. — A town in the Carna- 
 tic, sixty-six miles N. from Madras, 
 lat. 14° N., Ion. 8° ll'E. This was 
 the first English settlement in the 
 Carnatic prior to the acquisition of 
 Madras. In A.D. 1625, the East- 
 India Company’s principal agents hav- 
 ing obtained a piece of ground from 
 the naik or chief of the district, they 
 erected a factor}' at Armegon, which in 
 1628 was described as being defend- 
 ed by twelve pieces of cannon and 
 twenty-eight factors and soldiers. In 
 1822 the Armegon shoal was order- 
 ed to be surveyed, to ascertain if 
 a safe harbour could be made be- 
 tween it and the main-land. — See 
 Blackwood’s Harbour. — Bruce , 8fc. 
 
 Arnee (Arani ). — A town in the 
 Carnatic, seventy-four miles S.W. 
 from Madras ; lat. 12° 46' N., Ion. 
 79°23 / E. During Hyder’s invasion 
 of the Carnatic in 1782, his great 
 magazines were deposited in the for- 
 tress of Arnee. 
 
 Aroo. — A large island in the 
 Eastern seas to the south of Papua, 
 the centre of which lies nearly in the 
 135th degree of east longitude, and 
 
ARRACAN. 
 
 59 , 
 
 the 6th of south latitude. In length 
 it may be estimated at 140 miles 
 by 35 the average breadth. As this 
 island has never been explored, little 
 is known either of the country or 
 its inhabitants. The Chinese mer- 
 chants settled at Banda carry on 
 a traffic with this remote island, 
 from whence they procure pearls, 
 bird-nests, tortoise-shell, and slaves. 
 An aromatic named missoy bark, 
 resembling cinnamon in its flavour, 
 and much used among the Eastern 
 islands, is principally procured here 
 and at Papua ; but it is rarely car- 
 ried to Europe. 
 
 Aroo is conjectured to be one of 
 the places where the bird of paradise 
 breeds, of which seven species are 
 described by Valentyn. They are 
 caught by the Papuas, who draw 
 their entrails and fumigate them, 
 having first cut their legs off, which 
 gave rise to the fabulous report that 
 this bird had no legs, but kept con- 
 stantly on the wing. The arrange- 
 ment of their plumage is such as 
 greatly to facilitate their continuing 
 long in the air, but when they do 
 touch the earth they re-ascend with 
 great difficulty, and a particular spe- 
 cies is said to be unable to rise again. 
 The largest are about thirty inches in 
 length. 
 
 ARRACAN. 
 
 (RekhaingJ. — A maritime pro- 
 vince of India beyond the Ganges, 
 recently acquired by conbuest from 
 the Birman empire. Including its 
 dependencies, Ramree, Cheduba, 
 and Sandowy, it lies between 18° 
 and 21° north lat. On the north 
 it is separated from the Chittagong 
 district by the river Nauf; on the 
 south from Bassein in Pegu by a 
 small hill-stream about lat. 18° N. ; 
 to the east it has the Arracan moun- 
 tains, and on the west the Bay of 
 Bengal. In extreme length it may 
 be estimated at 230, by an average 
 breadth of fifty miles, occupying an 
 area of about 11,500 square miles. By 
 Abul Fazel, in 1582, this country is 
 described as follows : “ To the south- 
 
 east is a large country named Ar- 
 kung, to which the port or bunder of 
 Chittagong properly belongs. There 
 are plenty of elephants, but great 
 scarcity of horses.” 
 
 Between the mountains and the 
 sea this province is covered with thick 
 woody jungles, so inundated and 
 intersected by rivers, lakes, creeks, 
 and inlets of the sea, as to form a 
 chain of peninsulas, isthmuses, and 
 islands, completely interrupting the 
 land communication between villages, 
 which can only be visited by water. 
 The soil is in general argillaceous, 
 but in the vicinity of the hills a rich 
 loam prevails. Rain may be said to 
 fall throughout the whole year, as 
 showers are frequent in February, 
 March, and April, and the periodical 
 rains continue from June to Novem- 
 ber. Even in November and De- 
 cember, occasional and sometimes 
 heavy showers occur. According to 
 one statement, the fall of rain be- 
 tween the first of June and the end 
 of September amounted to 196 inches, 
 and nearly the whole surface of the 
 low country was under water. 
 
 When conquered by the British in 
 1825, Arracan was found partitioned 
 into fifty-five divisions of different 
 sizes, each of which, according to its 
 dimensions, contained from two to 
 sixty paras or small villages. In 
 1826 the total population of Arracan, 
 including Ramree, Cheduba, and 
 Sandowy, was only estimated a 6 
 100,000 persons, of whom six-tenths 
 were Mughs, three-tenths Mahome- 
 dans, and one-tenth Burmese; in- 
 deed not more than 400 square miles 
 of the whole surface were supposed 
 to be under cultivation, presenting 
 a most remarkable contrast to the 
 adjacent district of Chittagong, of 
 which Arracan is only a continuation. 
 The head Mahomedans generally 
 speak good Plindostany, the lower 
 orders of that faith a sort of mixed 
 dialect ; but the prevailing language is 
 the Mugh, which although it differs 
 in some respects (especially pronun- 
 ciation) from the Burmese, is written 
 in the same character. Rekhaing, or 
 Arracan, is rather the vulgar name of 
 
60 
 
 ARRACAN. 
 
 the capital than of the people, who 
 by those of Ava are named Great 
 Mranmas, as being the original source 
 of both races. The Mughs on the 
 sea-coast are not addicted to agricul- 
 ture, preferring hunting, fishing, and 
 trafficking. Slavery is tolerated in all 
 shapes, and when a man wants to 
 raise money he pawns his wife. The 
 Mughs have no invariable mode of 
 disposing of their dead ; some burn 
 the bodies, others bury them, the 
 wealthy in coffins richly gilt. They 
 follow the Buddhist doctrines inter- 
 mixed with many Hindoo supersti- 
 tions, such as bloody sacrifices to 
 conciliate the deities of the rivers, 
 woods, and mountains, but their sa- 
 cerdotal order wear a yellow dress 
 like those of Ava. They do not ap- 
 pear to be much respected by the 
 laity. 
 
 Besides these maritime Mughs, 
 there are many rude tribes of the 
 same name scattered about the in- 
 terior of Arracan, and beyond its 
 eastern limits, as well as those of 
 Chittagong. The territory of the 
 principal chief of the Joomea Mughs 
 in 1794, extended from the south 
 banks of the Sunkar river, over the 
 vallies watered by the branches of 
 the Mamuri and Edgong rivers. The 
 people of this central tribe name 
 themselves Reekrisah, or the sons of 
 sweet water, as they call the Sunkar 
 river. They dwell in villages, and 
 have convents and priests, who in- 
 struct the boys to read and write. 
 Discrepancies exist between their 
 religious doctrines and those of the 
 Burmese Rahaans, but the basis ap- 
 pears the same. They acknowledge 
 a Brahm or supreme being, who they 
 say gave a different religion to each of 
 one hundred and one nations, which 
 would be considered heretical in 
 Ava, but they agree as to their moo- 
 nies or law-givers. The southern 
 tribes of Joomea Mughs, in 1798, 
 occupied six villages on the upper 
 part of the river that passes Ramoo, 
 which the Bengalese name Bakkally. 
 They are poorer, but in other res- 
 pects differ little from the northern 
 Joomeas. The latter have subjected 
 
 still more rude tribes, who although 
 tributary, retain their own chiefs, 
 customs, and languages. A few 
 Saksahs or Tripuras are settled 
 among the southern Joomeas. By 
 the Bengalese they are named Raj- 
 bungsies, which literally translated 
 means the “ descendants of princes,” 
 but all over India is a term denoting 
 a person of low birth. The rude 
 people most numerous among the 
 Joomea Mughs are by the Benga- 
 lese named Mooroong, and by the 
 Arracaners, Mroo, but they designate 
 themselves Moroosa. They are said 
 to acknowledge a supreme chief 
 named Layklang, residing at a dis- 
 tance in the Ava territories ; but each 
 village has a distinct chief, and the 
 different communities are frequently 
 engaged in hostilities. Both the 
 Joomeas and the Bengalese think 
 this tribe so superlatively impure 
 that they will not interfere in their 
 domestic feuds, and let them fight it 
 out. 
 
 A genuine Arracan Mugh may he 
 described as follows. In external 
 appearance he is of moderate stature, 
 but very robust, the face broad, cheek- 
 bones wide and high, nose flat, and 
 eyes somewhat oblique, like those of 
 the Chinese. He differs not more 
 from his feeble neighbour of Bengal, 
 in form, feature, and physical strength, 
 than in general habits, particularly 
 with regard to diet. Although he 
 stands on some ceremony about tak- 
 ing the life of an animal, he makes 
 none of devouring it when it is dead, 
 and from the rat to the elephant 
 inclusive, nothing comes to him 
 amiss. Some species of maggots, and 
 a variety of vegetable productions 
 rejected by most other nations, sup- 
 ply a meal when nothing better can 
 be procured ; in short, it is almost 
 impossible to suppose a situation 
 short of absolute confinement in 
 which a Mugh is likely to be starved. 
 Besides being a most foul feeder, the 
 Mugh is personally foul and filthy, 
 an idea always suggested to a stranger 
 by the disgusting appearance of his 
 black teeth and red saliva. 
 
 In Arracan proper the only land 
 
ARRACAN. 
 
 61 
 
 assessed was that in which sugar- 
 cane, hemp, indigo, onions, garlic, 
 and turmeric were grown. The 
 average number of ploughs employed 
 is said to have been 3,000, chiefly 
 drawn by buffaloes. The teak tree 
 is found near the sources of the 
 Morossy and Kaladyur rivers, but 
 it is so inaccessible, that timber 
 has usually been imported from Ran- 
 goon. Other species of timber, 
 however, are abundant. With re- 
 spect to fruit, the pine-apples and 
 plantains are of a superior quality; 
 mangoes, jacks, sweet limes, cocoa- 
 nuts, and other tropical fruits are 
 plenty ; oranges scarce. The indigo 
 plant grows wild arid flourishes, but 
 the art of extracting the colouring 
 matter is unknown. The staples of 
 the province are rice and salt, and 
 for the culture of the first, the coun- 
 try, on account of its redundant 
 moisture and burning sun, is pecu- 
 liarly adapted ; nothing is wanted but 
 a good government and the human 
 animal. Limestone may be pro- 
 cured from the islands of Ramree, 
 Cheduba, and Juggoo. Gold and 
 silver particles are found in the wa- 
 ter-courses of Basseen, for liberty 
 to collect which the gatherers pay a 
 certain fine. A considerable traffic 
 was formerly carried on between 
 Arracan and Ava ; the first export- 
 ing Hindostany and European goods, 
 such as velvet, broad-cloths, piece- 
 goods, silks, muslins, betel-nut, salt, 
 and other articles ; receiving in re- 
 turn ivory, silver, copper, palmira, 
 sugar, tobacco, oil, and lacquered- 
 ware. 
 
 During the Burmese sway, the 
 custom-house duties were collected 
 at many chokeys, of which Oorea- 
 tung was the principal ; the others 
 being mostly farmed out. The im- 
 port and export duties then realized 
 about 50,000 rupees per annum. 
 The five principal ferries were also 
 farmed, and the profits and produce 
 of seventeen of the largest nullahs 
 or water-courses ; bees’-wax, timber, 
 tobacco, cotton, bamboos, and hill- 
 cloth, were all government monopo- 
 lies. There was also a rude mint, 
 
 equal to the coinage of about 2,000 
 rupees per day. In A.D. 1826 the 
 prospective annual revenue for the 
 next five years was estimated as 
 follows : 
 
 Land revenue 150,000 per ann. 
 
 Import and export 
 
 duties 50,000 
 
 Court fees and fines 20,000 
 
 220,000 rupees. 
 
 besides the monopolies of salt and 
 opium. 
 
 A native history of Arracan begins 
 in A.D. 701, and continues through 
 a series of 120 native princes down 
 to modern times. According to this 
 document, its sovereigns formerly 
 occupied a much more important 
 station in the politics of India than 
 they have recently done : for, ac- 
 cording to these annals, the do- 
 minions of Arracan at one period 
 extended over Ava, part of China, 
 and a portion of Bengal. Certainly, 
 at present, nothing remains to in- 
 dicate such a prior state of power 
 and civilization, for its condition 
 when acquired by the British was to 
 the last degree savage and barbarous. 
 It does not appear, however, until 
 the Burmese invasion, it had ever 
 been so completely subdued as to 
 acknowledge permanent vassalage 
 to a foreign power, although the 
 Moguls and Peguers had at different 
 times carried their arms into the 
 heart of the country. During the 
 reign of Aurengzebe, the unfortu- 
 nate Sultan Shr.ja, his brother and 
 rival, was basely murdered bytheAr- 
 racan Raja. The Portuguese, some- 
 times as allies, at others as open 
 enemies, gained an establishment, 
 which only decayed with the general 
 ruin of their interests in Asia. In 
 1783 (corresponding with the Mugh 
 year 1145) the province was con- 
 quered, after a feeble resistance, by 
 the Burmese, and was followed by 
 the surrender of Cheduba, Ramree, 
 Sandowv, and the Broken Isles. 
 The Mughs subsequently made many 
 efforts to rescue their country, more 
 especially in 1811, under a rebel 
 
62 
 
 ARRACAN. 
 
 chief named Kingberring ; but were 
 unable to withstand the bravery, 
 discipline, and cruelty of the Bur- 
 mese,* who even managed to extort 
 a surplus revenue, of which about 
 ] 8,000 rupees were annually remitted 
 to Ava, for the support of the white 
 elephant and his establishment. Ar- 
 racan proved the grave of General 
 Morrison’s army in 1825, and has 
 continued equally destructive, even 
 to the native regiments stationed 
 on the sea-coast and among the is* 
 lands. Its population is scanty and 
 uncivilized; it possesses no article of 
 export but salt ; yields little revenue ; 
 requires a burthensome civil and mi- 
 litary establishment ; and, in a merely 
 pecuniary point of view, is a most 
 unprofitable acquisition. — ( Capt . C. 
 Baton, F. Buchanan , Lieut. Trant , 
 Byrnes, Morgan , Medical Transac- 
 tions , Cox , Leyden , SfC.) 
 
 Arracan. — The capital of the Ar- 
 racan province, situated on a river 
 of the same name, about forty miles 
 from the sea; lat. 20° 30' N., Ion. 
 92° 5' E. This place stands in a 
 valley surrounded by hills, the high- 
 est not exceeding 500 feet, among 
 which are lakes and marshes, com- 
 municating with a number of small 
 streams, running between low mud- 
 dy banks. A nullah, filled by the 
 tide, flow's through the valley, 
 which separates it at Mahatta from 
 the great Arracan river. The tide 
 overflows the flat borders of the 
 river to a considerable extent; its 
 reflux converts these into a noisome 
 swamp, and in this swamp great part 
 of the town of Arracan is built, the 
 w'ater flowing under the houses, 
 which are raised on posts, after the 
 manner of the Mughs, Burmese, 
 Malays, and other eastern nations. 
 With the exception of the swampy 
 ground, the soil consists of rock, 
 crumbling on the surface, and form- 
 ing itself into gravel, well adapted 
 for roads or the floors of bouses. 
 The hills generally assume a conical 
 shape, some being insulated, others 
 connected by narrow ridges, but all 
 scattered in an irregular manner, 
 
 and separated by many ill-ventilated 
 ravines, vallies, and confined spots 
 of level ground, each occupied by a 
 stream, a lake, or a marsh. A thin 
 layer of loose black soil covers the 
 mouldering rock ; and where this has 
 not been washed away by the rain, 
 grass and jungle shrubs abound; but 
 few or no trees of any considerable 
 growth are to be seen, except in the 
 vallies. Fifteen miles to the eastward 
 a range of mountains, about 2,000 
 feet high, take a direction north and 
 south nearly parallel w'ith the coast, 
 and another range of much less 
 height skirts the shore. Between 
 these the distance varies, but in the 
 parallel of Arracan may be about 
 fifty miles. The alluvial plains that 
 intervene are intersected by a laby- 
 rinth of small rivers, in communi- 
 cation with the principal channel, 
 which takes a northerly course, and 
 diversified by detached groups and 
 ridges of hills, few exceeding 700 
 feet in height. 
 
 The town is composed of bamboo 
 huts, built on each bank of the 
 stream, and connected by wooden 
 bridges. In its centre is a square, 
 surrounded by a wall, and containing 
 pagodas, with images of Gaudma, 
 from an inch to twenty feet in 
 height ; they are also numerous on 
 the adjacent hills, most of them 
 solid like pyramids; 
 
 This town and fort were captured 
 by the Burmese in 1783, after a 
 feeble opposition. They found a 
 considerable booty, but on nothing 
 was a higher value placed than an 
 image of Gaudma (the Gautama of 
 the Hindoos), made of brass and 
 highly burnished. The figure is about 
 ten feet high, in a sitting posture, 
 with the legs crossed and feet in- 
 verted, the left hand resting on the 
 lap, the right pendant. This image 
 is believed to be the original resem- 
 blance of the rishi (saint) taken 
 from life, and it is so highly vene- 
 rated, that pilgrims have for centu- 
 ries resorted to it from the remotest 
 countries where the supremacy of 
 Gaudma is acknowledged, to pay 
 their devotions at the feet of his 
 
ASHTA. 
 
 63 
 
 brazen representative. There were 
 also five images of Racshyas (the 
 demons of the Hindoos), of the same 
 metal, and of gigantic stature, the 
 guardians of the sanctuary. A piece 
 of ordnance of most enormous di- 
 mensions was also found, composed 
 of huge bars of iron beaten into 
 form. This ponderous cannon mea- 
 sured thirty feet in length, two and 
 a half in diameter at the mouth, and 
 ten inches in the calibre. It was 
 transported by the Burmese to Am- 
 merapoora by water, as a military 
 trophy ; and Gaudma, with his in- 
 fernal guards, w 7 as in like manner 
 conveyed to that capital with much 
 pomp and superstitious parade. The 
 town of Arracan has probably much 
 deteriorated since the above era, as, 
 when captured by General Morrison’s 
 army in 1825, it was found in a most 
 miserable condition, and pestilen- 
 tially unwholsome. In 1826, Akyab 
 was the principal station in Arracan. 
 — (i Symes, Morgan , Public MS. Do- 
 cuments , Sfc.) 
 
 Arracan Mountains. — A chain 
 of mountains which commence at 
 Cape Negrais, and proceed in a 
 northerly direction almost to the 
 southern bank of the Brahmaputra 
 in Assam. By the natives they are 
 named the Yomadoung, orAnamec- 
 topiu mountains, and form a strong 
 and well defined boundary for the 
 province on the side of Ava. Their 
 general elevation seems to be from 
 3,000 to 5,000 feet. They were 
 crossed in 1826 from Shembewgewn, 
 on the river Ava, to Amherst Har- 
 bour in Arracan, by Lieut, Trant 
 and a detachment of sepoys, and 
 were found to decline towards the 
 east in a succession of ranges, but 
 more abruptly towards the west. 
 They were supposed to be destitute 
 of water, but abundance of springs 
 were discovered that might be easily 
 collected into reservoirs ; and it ap- 
 peared that a considerable commerce 
 had been carried on by this route 
 before the British invasion. 
 
 These mountains were in the same 
 year crossed further south, from Pa- 
 
 dangmew to Ramree, by Lieut. 
 Browne and a party of sepoys. This 
 route was found much more difficult 
 than the other, and had never been 
 much frequented. One part of the 
 road was found to be 4,000 feet 
 above the level of the sea by baro- 
 metrical mensuration ; but this was 
 not the greatest elevation attained. 
 No human being or cultivated ground 
 was seen on the line of march, the 
 whole country being a succession of 
 hills, jungles, and ravines.— {Lieut. 
 Trant , Dieut. Browne , fyc.) 
 
 Arrah —A large and populous 
 town in the province of Bahar, the 
 capital of the Shahabad district ; lat. 
 25°35 / N., Ion. 83° 57' E., thirty-five 
 miles west from Patna. 
 
 Arratum. — A British division in 
 the province of Gujerat and district 
 of Kaira, extending along the east 
 corner of the gulf of Cambay* and 
 bounded on the south by the Goelwar 
 and Bhownuggur territories. It is in- 
 tersected by various small rivers of 
 short course. The principal towns 
 are Dundooka and Ranpoor. 
 
 Arrawud. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Khandesh, which in 1816 
 belonged to Holcar. Lat. 21° 10' N., 
 Ion. 75° 48' E., thirty-four miles S.W. 
 from Boorhanpoor. The Satpoorah 
 mountains, covered with wood and 
 jungle, are about six miles distant. — 
 ( Sutherland , fyc.) 
 
 Arrundool. — A large town, or 
 rather the remains of one, in the 
 province of Candeish, seventy miles 
 S.W. from Boorhanpoor. In 1816, 
 it contained many large buildings, 
 but in a very ruinous condition. — ■ 
 ( Sutherland , c^e.) 
 
 Arrysir. — A town in the province 
 of Cutch, twenty-six miles N.N.E. 
 from Mallia ; lat. 23° 17' N., Ion .71° 
 3' E. 
 
 Arval. — A town in the province 
 of Bahar, on the south-east side of 
 the Sone river, forty miles S.W. from 
 Patna, lat. -25° 15. N., Ion. 84° 44' E. 
 
 Ashta. — A village near Punderpoor, 
 
64 > 
 
 ASEERGHUR. 
 
 in the province of Bejapoor, where in 
 1818 Goklah, the Peshwa’s comman- 
 der-in-chief was defeated and slain. 
 The Satara Raja, his mother and two 
 brothers were captured, the Peshwa 
 himself escaping with the greatest 
 difficulty. 
 
 Ashta. — A town in the Malwa 
 province fifty-nine miles E. by S. from 
 the city of Oojein ; lat. 23° 3 ' N., Ion. 
 76° 46' E. During the Pindarry war 
 this was the head-quarters of Cheetoo, 
 and was subsequently conferred on 
 the Nabob of Bhopaul. 
 
 Aseerghur ( or Hasser ) . — A town 
 and fortress of great strength in the 
 province of Candeish, the capital of 
 a district belonging to Sindia, but the 
 fort and a few surrounding villages 
 were ceded to the British government; 
 lat. 21° 28' N., Ion. 76° 23' E., twelve 
 miles N.N.E. from Boorhanpoor. By 
 Abul Fazel it is called the capital of 
 Candeish, but native authorities place 
 it half in the Hindoo division of Ne- 
 maur, as it stands on the Satpoorah 
 range of mountains which separates 
 the provinces. Its name is said to 
 originate from the founder Assa, a 
 rich Hindoo zemindar of the Aheer 
 tribe. The upper hill, in its greatest 
 length from east to west, is about 
 1,100 yards, and its extreme breadth 
 about 600, but owing to its irregular 
 shape the area does not exceed 
 300,000 square yards. It crowns the 
 top of a detached hill 750 feet high, 
 and round the base of the wall en- 
 closing the area is a bluff precipice, 
 from eighty to 100 perpendicular 
 depth, and so well scarped as to leave 
 no avenues of ascent except at two 
 places, both of which are strongly 
 fortified. Aseerghur has also the rare 
 advantage of possessing an abundant 
 supply of water ; but it also presents 
 many ravines and hilly ramifications, 
 which greatly facilitate the approaches 
 of an enemy. A sally port of extraor- 
 dinary construction descends through 
 the rock at the south-eastern extre- 
 mity, which can be easily blocked up 
 by dropping down stones at certain 
 stages of the ascent near the top. 
 The principal road to the fort is on 
 
 the south-west side, where, in conse- 
 quence, a double line of works are 
 erected, and the masonry of the whole 
 is uncommonly well finished. A third 
 line of works, called the lower fort, 
 embraces an inferior branch of the 
 hill immediately above the pettah, 
 which has a wall on the south side, 
 but is open elsewhere, being naturally 
 protected by ravines and deep hollows, 
 that extend in every direction. 
 
 Aseerghur was the capital of Can- 
 deish when subdued by the Emperor 
 Acber, and is described by Abul Fazel 
 as situated on a hill and incomparably 
 strong. In AD. 1803 it surrendered 
 to the army under Col. Stevenson with- 
 out much resistance, and the same year 
 was restored to Sindia at the conclu- 
 sion of a peace. In 1819 it became 
 necessary again to besiege this formi- 
 dable strong-hold, Jeswunt Row Lar, 
 the (as Sindia asserted) refractory go- 
 vernor, having rejected all overtures. 
 When all the detachments had joined, 
 the besieging army under Generals 
 Doveton and Malcolm amounted to 
 20,000 men, and it was captured after 
 an obstinate resistance, with the loss 
 of 213 men killed and wounded, in- 
 cluding eleven European officers, and 
 also one company of sepoys, blown 
 up in the explosion of the magazines, 
 containing 300 barrels of gunpowder. 
 The loss of the enemy was only forty- 
 three killed and ninety-five wounded, 
 for they fought under excellent per- 
 sonal cover except from shells. In- 
 deed, it was entirely owing to the 
 havock made in their walls that they 
 were compelled to surrender, such 
 having been the effect of twenty-two 
 heavy-guns, and twenty-six mortars 
 and howitzers, in battery, during six- 
 teen days open trenches. 
 
 In 1820 Aseerghur remained nearly 
 in the same state as when it surren- 
 dered, the trenches in the upper fort 
 still open, and fragments of shells 
 lying scattered about among the ruins. 
 Half of the garrison was in tents and 
 the other half quartered in the great 
 mosque, a spacious structure of grey 
 stone, with two minars, but without 
 any cupola. Close to one of the tanks 
 on the west side off the fort is a re- 
 
ASSAM. 
 
 65 
 
 markable sally port, conducting by a 
 flight of steps cut in the bottom 
 through the body of the rock in which 
 magazines are also excavated. The 
 pettah of Aseerghur, a large irregular 
 village with one good street or bazar, 
 stands at the base of the rock, and in 
 1 822 contained only 2,000 inhabitants. 
 
 The approach to Aseerghur from 
 the northward through the Kuttee 
 pass, is over a wild tract of country, 
 and the vicinity is infested by ti- 
 gers, so numerous and daring, as to 
 enter the lower fort and carry off 
 some of the garrison. The wolves 
 are also exceedingly troublesome. 
 This fortress with a small tract of 
 jungly unproductive land belongs to 
 the British government, but stands in 
 the midst of Sindia’s territories. In 
 1824, the civil and military establish- 
 ments were transferred to Bomba}', 
 having until then been under the Ben- 
 gal presidency. — ( Blacker , Fullarton , 
 Malcolm , Abul Fazel> fyc.) 
 
 Ashnoor.— A large village in the 
 province of Ajmeer, district of Har- 
 rowty, twelve miles E.S.E. of Jalra- 
 putun, which in 1820 contained about 
 1,200 inhabitants, and the surround- 
 ing country was rich and well culti- 
 vated. Lat. 24° 30' N., Ion. 76° 25' E. 
 
 Asia Isles. — A cluster of low is- 
 lands in the eastern seas covered with 
 trees, lat. 1° N., Ion. 131° 30' E. 
 
 Assahan. — This is the name of a 
 town, country, and river on the N.E. 
 coast of the island of Sumatra, the 
 first situated in lat. 3° V N., Ion. 99° 
 52' E. The river at its mouth is about 
 1,500 yards wide, but is shallow and 
 difficult of access on account of an 
 extensive sand-bank. The country is 
 named from the abundance of a sort 
 of long lank grass. 
 
 There was formerly a colony of Ja- 
 vanese and also one of Portugueze 
 settled up the Assahan river, and the 
 remains of an old Javanese fortifica- 
 tion are still visible about seventy 
 miles from its extremity. 
 
 In 1822, commerce had much de- 
 creased, but there were still about 
 eighty prows of various sizes belong- 
 
 VOL. i. 
 
 ing to the community, engaged in 
 trafficking to Malacca, Penang, and 
 Singapoor. The principal imports 
 are salt, opium, and coarse cotton 
 goods : arms and gunpowder are at 
 all times welcome articles. The ex- 
 ports are dye woods, rattans, rice 
 and wax, besides horses and slaves ; 
 the price of the first being from 
 twenty to thirty dollars ; of the last, 
 women, forty; children, twenty, and 
 old men twelve dollars per head. 
 Formerly 300, almost all females, 
 were exported. Tin is said to be 
 abundant in the mountains of the 
 interior. Inland there are many 
 Batta tribes, speaking various dia- 
 lects, some addicted to cannibalism, 
 others not. The names of the chief 
 abstinent tribes are the Karaukarau, 
 the Pedimbanau, and the Tubbas. 
 In 1822, the total population of the 
 Assahan principality of every descrip- 
 tion was estimated at 70,000 souls. 
 — ( Anderson , ^c.) 
 
 ASSAM 
 ( AsamJ. 
 
 This remote country adjoins the 
 province of Bengal at the north-east- 
 ern corner, about the ninety-first de- 
 gree of east longitude, from whence 
 it stretches in an easterly direction to 
 an undefined distance ; but it is pro- 
 bable that about the ninety-sixth de- 
 gree of east longtitude it comes into 
 contact with several barbarous and 
 unknown tribes, who occupy the in- 
 tervening space from thence to the 
 province of Funan in China. In this 
 direction it follows the course of the 
 Brahmaputra, being in fact the valley 
 through which that river flows. The 
 average breadth of this valley may be 
 estimated at sixty miles, although in 
 a few places of Upper Assam, where 
 the mountains recede farthest, the 
 breadth considerably exceeds that 
 distance. In its greatest dimensions 
 Assam may be estimated at 350 miles 
 in length by sixty the average breadth, 
 divided into three provinces : Cam- 
 roop on the west, Assam in the cen- 
 tre, and Seediya at the eastern extre- 
 mity. 
 
 F 
 
66 
 
 ASSAM. 
 
 In 1809 the territory of the Assam 
 raja no where reached the northern 
 hills, the deb raja of Bootan having 
 taken possession of the tracts adja- 
 cent thereto, which is a modern 
 usurpation, since the breaking out of 
 the disturbances that have so long 
 desolated this unhappy country. The 
 western province, named Camroop, 
 with several subordinate or intermix- 
 ed petty jurisdictions, extends from 
 the British boundary to near the cele- 
 brated temple of middle Kamakhya 
 (lat. 26° 30' N., Ion. 93° E.), being 
 about 130 miles in length. From the 
 boundary opposite to Goalpara to 
 Nogurbera, a distance of twenty-one 
 miles, the Assamese then possessed 
 only the northern bank of the Brah- 
 maputra, so that on the south side 
 the length of the Camroop was 
 only 109 miles. Its width on the 
 south side of the river may be reck- 
 oned at from fifteen to thirty, and 
 on the north side, on an average 
 thirty miles. About 104 miles above 
 Gohati, which stands in Ion. 91° 50' 
 E., the Brahmaputra separates into 
 two branches, and encloses an island 
 said to be five days’ journey in length 
 and about one in width. This pro- 
 vince contains many low hills covered 
 with woods, and also a great extent 
 of fine low land, all susceptible of 
 cultivation. 
 
 Assam Proper, the middle province 
 of the kingdom, was then (1809) of 
 greater extent than the western ; but 
 no European having penetrates far 
 beyond the capital (Gohati), situated 
 at its western extremity, there was 
 no data for ascertaining its length. 
 The portion north of the Brahmapu- 
 tra, named Charidwar, was supposed 
 to exceed 200 miles in length, by 
 twenty in average breadth ; but the 
 length on the south side of that river 
 was reckoned less considerable. It 
 commenced near the Middle Kamak- 
 hya, about 130 miles E. from Goal- 
 para, and reached to Upper Kamak- 
 hya, ten miles below Tikliya Potar 
 Mukh. Within these limits it com- 
 prehended the upper half of the west- 
 ern island formed by the Brahmapu- 
 tra, and included the whole of the 
 
 very large island named Majuli, be- 
 tween the Brahmaputra and a large 
 tributary, named the Dehing. The 
 province of Assam Proper was then 
 considered of a higher and better soil 
 than that of Camroop, and not so 
 jungly and hilly. Of the third and 
 most remote province, Seediya, no- 
 thing was then known, except that it 
 was a small tract on the western side 
 of the Dikrong river, about Ion. 95° 
 10' E. In Mahomedan geography 
 Assam is considered as separated in- 
 to three grand divisions, called Oo- 
 trecool, Dukhincool, and Majuli, 
 which by Abul Fazel, in 1582, are 
 described as follows : “ The domi- 
 nions of Assam join to Camroop ; he 
 is a very powerful prince, lives in 
 great state, and when he dies, his 
 principal attendants, both male and 
 female, are voluntarily buried alive 
 along with his corpse.” 
 
 From the confines of Bengal at the 
 Kandar custom-house, the valley as 
 well as the river and boundary moun- 
 tains, preserve a northerly direction 
 to a considerable distance, but after- 
 wards incline to east by north, and 
 the valley through its whole length 
 is divided by the Brahmaputra 
 into longitudinal portions, those to 
 the south having generally the great- 
 est breadth. The river Cailasi is 
 alleged to have been formerly between 
 the British territory and Assam ; but 
 at present no part of that river 
 passes through the British dominions. 
 This encroachment of the Assamese 
 is said to have taken place some time 
 between the years 1770 and 1780, 
 when six small districts were taken 
 from the Bijnee raja, then tributary 
 to Bengal. In 1809 the Assam ter- 
 ritory, where it was entered from 
 Bengal, commenced north of the 
 Brahmaputra at Kandar, and on the 
 south at the Nogurbera hill. On the 
 north Assam was bounded by the 
 successive mountainous ranges of 
 Bootan, Auka, Dophla, and Meeree, 
 and on the south by the Garrow 
 mountains, which rise in proportion 
 to their progress eastward, and 
 change the name of Garrow to that 
 of Naga. 
 
ASSAM. 
 
 67 
 
 Such was the description of Assam 
 in 1809, since which date it has been 
 penetrated even beyond its utmost 
 eastern limits ; but the topographical 
 documents and reports of the different 
 surveying officers having been with- 
 held in Bengal, our information re- 
 garding the interior is not so satis- 
 factory as could be wished, more 
 especially with respect to latitudes 
 and longitudes. In 18.26 an attempt 
 was made to prosecute the inquiry 
 along the Brahmaputra towards its 
 source, which succeeded in penetrat- 
 ing among the mountains, five days’ 
 march beyond Brahmacoond (which 
 was found not to be the source of the 
 Brahmaputra) into the country of the 
 Meeshoo Mismee tribe, and within 
 four days’ journey of the first Lama 
 village. In May 1827 Lieutenants 
 Wilcox and Burlton proceeded from 
 Seediya to the eastward, with the in- 
 tention of crossing theLangtan snowy 
 mountains into the Khampti country, 
 and in the direction of the upper 
 part of the Ira wady river. They 
 crossed the above mountains early in 
 May, when the snow was lying on the 
 surface, and it occupied twelve days 
 to reach the residence of the Bork- 
 hamti raja, on the opposite side of 
 the mountains, during the whole of 
 which time it rained continually, and 
 the travellers were much infested by 
 leeches and a sort of venemous fly, 
 the sting of which always produced 
 a disagreeable sore. 
 
 The Khamties and their raja 
 proved friendly, and they remained 
 at their village until the second of 
 June, during which interval they vi- 
 sited the sources of the Irawady, dis- 
 tant only twelve miles. Although 
 unable to trace it to any single ulti- 
 mate spring, they were satisfied, from 
 the reports of the natives, that it ori- 
 ginated in the mountains covered with 
 perpetual snow, about fifty miles to 
 thenorthof their station, theriverhav- 
 ing, where they examined it (lat. 27° 
 30' N.) every appearance of a moun- 
 tain torrent, and notwithstanding the 
 perpetual rain, it was fordable, and 
 not more than eighty yards broad. 
 The Irawady consequently cannot be 
 
 a continuance of the Sanpoo ; and 
 according to intelligence collected on 
 the spot, there is no considerable 
 stream to the east between the Ira- 
 wady and Loukiang. The country 
 from hence to the frontiers of China 
 is extremely rugged and impracticable, 
 and never traversed even by the hardy 
 Khamti mountaineers. It seems proba- 
 ble, therefore, that both the Loukiang 
 and the Irawady, as well as the Brah- 
 maputra, spring from different faces of 
 the same cluster of snowy mountains, 
 which effectually bar all communica- 
 tion to the north. The Irawady 
 thence to Bhanmo flows through a 
 barbarous and unexplored country, 
 covered with hills, jungles, and moun- 
 tains. The party returned by a dif- 
 ferent and shorter route, but over 
 still loftier mountains, on which the 
 snow was lying, in some parts twelve 
 feet thick, on the fourth of June. 
 
 The number and magnitude of the 
 rivers in Assam probably surpass 
 those of any other country in the 
 world of equal extent. They are in 
 general of a sufficient depth at all ' 
 seasons to admit of a commercial in- 
 tercourse in shallow boats, and during 
 the rainy season boats of the largest 
 size find sufficient depth of water. 
 The total number has been estimated 
 at sixty-one, but the principal are the 
 Brahmaputra or Luhit, the Dihong, 
 the Dibong, the Dikho, and the Dik- 
 rong. 
 
 The Brahmaputra has been traced 
 among the hills five days* journey be- 
 yond Brahmacoond, into the Bor- 
 khamti country, where its size is re- 
 duced to that of an insignificant 
 mountain torrent : its source cannot 
 therefore be very remote, and it pro- 
 bably originates in the same range 
 of hills that give birth to the Louki- 
 ang and Irawady, but on a different 
 face. In lat. 27 ° 54 ' N., Ion. 95° 24 ' 
 E., ten days’ journey below Brahma- 
 coond, this river ceases to be naviga- 
 ble, its channel there being a complete 
 mass of rock, with a depth (in March 
 1825) of only four feet in the deepest 
 part, and with so rapid a current, 
 swelled by every shower, as to pre- 
 clude tracking. At that spot it was 
 
 f 2 
 
68 
 
 ASSAM. 
 
 ]50 yards across, and the distance of 
 the extreme banks about 600 yards. 
 Between the meridians of 94° and 
 96° 30', and lat. 27° and 28° the 
 Brahmaputra bends from a northerly 
 to an E.N.E. direction, bounded by 
 the Meeree, Abor, and Meeshmee 
 hills, behind which various ranges of 
 lofty snowy mountains (the Langtan) 
 extend all along the northern hori- 
 zon, to an unknown depth and alti- 
 tude, apparently like the Himalaya 
 in parallel lines and ridges. Actual 
 observation and the activity of re- 
 cent explorers, has subverted the 
 pre-existing theory that the Brahma- 
 putra was a continuation of the San- 
 poo. It is difficult to account satis- 
 factorily for the mistake into which 
 Major Rennell and other geogra- 
 phers fell respecting the course of 
 this river, for in the time of the 
 Compte de Buffon, the true notion 
 prevailed, as he speaks of a Lake 
 Champe which gives rise to the two 
 great rivers that water Assam and 
 Pegu. These were probably the 
 Brahmaputra and the Irawady, and 
 it must be recollected that until the 
 grand revolution effected byAlompra, 
 the present Burmese empire was 
 subject to Pegu. The head of the 
 Sakato branch of the Brahmaputra 
 was ascertained to be in lat. 27° 51' 
 N. According to Brahminical geo- 
 graphy, the Prabhu mountains form 
 the eastern boundary of Assam, and 
 through them there is a tremendous 
 chasm made by Parasurama Uhe 
 same who conquered Ceylon and ex- 
 tirpated the Khetries of Malabar), 
 which has ever since admitted the 
 Brahmaputra. This cleft is still 
 named Prabhu Kuthara, because it 
 was made with a mighty scimitar. 
 
 Many of the streams contributory 
 to the Brahmaputra are remarkable 
 for the winding of their courses. The 
 Dikrung, although the direct distance 
 be only twenty-five miles, is said to 
 perform a meandering course equal to 
 100, before it falls into the Brahma- 
 putra. It is also noted for the quan- 
 tity and quality of its gold, which 
 metal is likewise found in other 
 rivers of Assam, more especially near 
 
 the mountains. The southern rivers 
 are never rapid ; the inundation 
 commencing from the northern, fills 
 both the Brahmaputra and the chan- 
 nels of the southern ones, so that 
 the water has no considerable cur- 
 rent until May and June. All the 
 streams east of Seedeeya abound * 
 with rapids from the great inclina- 
 tion of their beds. 
 
 Assam is bounded on the north by 
 a chain of very lofty mountains, a 
 continuation of those which, taking 
 their rise at the western extremity of 
 Asia, extend under different names 
 for an unknown distance into China. 
 The Assam northern mountains to- 
 wards the west are inhabited by the 
 Abors and the Mismees, which last 
 extend along to the eastern hills, 
 where they come into contact with 
 the Singhphos. The other tribes ad- 
 jacent to Assam are the Abors, 
 Dophlas, Garrows, Bijnies, Khamp- 
 ties, Nagas, Mismees, Moamareas, 
 Meerees, and Singhphos. The five 
 first-named are described under their 
 respective heads. The Meerees are 
 a small and babarous tribe, who 
 have some villages on the banks of 
 the Brahmaputra, about lat. 28° N., 
 Ion. 94° E. The principal are 
 Motgong and Meereegong. They 
 differ in language and appearance 
 from the inhabitants of Assam pro- 
 per, and are armed with bows and 
 poisoned arrows. Before the British 
 conquest they adhered to Seediya 
 Gohain, and opposed the Singhphos. 
 
 The Mismee tribe inhabit the 
 country about Brahmacoond, and 
 the sources of the Brahmaputra, 
 where they are collected in small 
 but frequent villages, the houses 
 of which are built along the steep 
 faces of the mountains, in such 
 a manner that the rock forms one 
 side of their mansion, and supports 
 one end of the rafter, the other rest- 
 ing on wooden posts ; the space un- 
 der the floor is occupied by their 
 poultry and cattle. Besides swine 
 and their own hill cattle, wealthy 
 individuals have the small oxen of 
 Assam proper, the chowry-tailed cat- 
 tle of Tibet ; young dogs as a luxury 
 
ASSAM. 
 
 t>9 
 
 are held in particular estimation, as 
 is also the musk beetle, which hav- 
 ing been squeezed between two 
 stones, they dress as a grill. After a 
 feast the skulls of the cattle are 
 blackened and suspended in rows to 
 ornament their dwellings. The ve- 
 getable diet of the Mismees consists 
 principally of Indian corn, and a small 
 grain named bubessia; but they culti- 
 vate very small quantities of a white 
 rice, and also maruya, yams, mus- 
 tard, pepper, cotton, and tobacco. 
 Their common dress is a piece of 
 coarse cotton cloth, but they are very 
 dirty in their persons, scarcely ever 
 having recourse to water for the pur- 
 poses of ablution. The Mismees 
 can work rudely in iron and brass, 
 but their culinary utensils are mostly 
 of copper, and are obtained from the 
 Lama country, with which they keep 
 up an active trade. They bring from 
 thence smokingpipes, straight swords, 
 dyed woollens, beads, rock-salt, and 
 the chowry-tailed cows, in exchange 
 for which they give musk, skins, a 
 bitter medicinal root, ivory, and 
 other articles, and formerly slaves 
 captured in Assam. Their pipes are 
 commonly marked with Chinese cha- 
 racters, and as well as the swords and 
 beads, are probably of Chinese ma- 
 nufacture. The Mismee females are 
 not kept concealed, and appear fair 
 and of good stature ; the men are 
 athletic, with tolerably good com- 
 plexions. The country surrounding 
 Brahmacoond is better peopled than 
 most tracts in this region, having a 
 number of villages scattered over it, 
 the chiefs of which share the offerings 
 at the sacred well. 
 
 The Moamareas(Mahamaris) area 
 tribe formerly tributary to Assam, 
 but who revolted about A.D. 1790, 
 and under the command of a priest 
 committed the greatest excesses. 
 They inhabited an island formed by 
 the Boree Dihing river, which de- 
 scending from the east takes a sweep 
 to the southward, before it joins the 
 Luhit or Brahmaputra Proper, and 
 forms a large island about lat. 27° 30' 
 N., Ion. 95° 30' E., conjectured to be 
 100 miles in length by forty in 
 
 breadth. This is probably the Ma- 
 juli of the old maps, for the one now 
 named Majuli is not more than twenty 
 miles long by four or five wide. This 
 last is situated at the confluence of 
 the Boree Dehing and Boree Luhit 
 with the Brahmaputra, the eastern 
 extremity being in lat. 27 ° 20 ' N., 
 Ion. 94° 24 .' E. ; but, as has already 
 been stated, owing to the non-trans- 
 mission of the surveys from Bengal, 
 all these latitudes, longitudes, and 
 dimensions must be considered very 
 uncertain. 
 
 Opposite to Seedee} T a, about lat. 
 27 ° 52 ' N., Ion. 95° 16 E., where the 
 Moamarea country ends, that of the 
 Singhphos commences, intersected by 
 the Now Dehing flowing from the 
 south-eastern hills. These Singhpho 
 tribes were formerly tributary to As- 
 sam, but after the decay of that an- 
 cient kingdom, revolted, and wrought 
 it much woe, plundering the country, 
 and carrying the natives into slavery. 
 In fact, the northern and eastern 
 parts of Assam have been for a con- 
 siderable time (above forty years) 
 wrested from the original inhabitants 
 by these barbarians, who, encouraged 
 by the intestine discords of the As- 
 samese, descended into and con- 
 quered the plains, compelling their 
 new subjects to cultivate them, and 
 transporting so many into the moun- 
 tains, that prior to 1825, when the 
 British commenced operations in 
 Upper Assam, it was estimated they 
 had possession of 15,000 of these 
 wretched beings. In February 1825 
 they were expelled by Colonel 
 Richard’s detachment, and half of 
 the above number of captives res- 
 cued, and negotiations were then car- 
 rying on for the liberation of the 
 rest. 
 
 Before the British invasion the 
 Singhpho tribes occupied the entire 
 space, bounded by the south and 
 south-east hills on the north of the 
 Brahmaputra, and west by a meri- 
 dian line drawn from Seediya to 
 the hills, excluding Theok and 
 Makrooni, and the Dipung nullah. 
 They were then divided into twelve 
 tribes, inhabiting different villages, of 
 
70 
 
 ASSAM. 
 
 which Bhisagong was the most im- 
 portant, and were governed by chiefs 
 acting separately or in concert ac- 
 cording to circumstances, but ac- 
 knowledging no supreme head. They 
 were armed with a short square-ended 
 sword, oblong shield, bows and ar- 
 rows, and were found very desirous 
 of procuring muskets, although but 
 little acquainted with the use of 
 them. According to tradition the 
 Singhphos emigrated from a much 
 more northerly region (somewhere 
 on the borders of China) than that 
 in which we came in contact with 
 them. Their religion is Buddhism 
 intermixed with many remains of 
 their primitive superstitions; in fact, 
 they appear to be a sort of Buddhist 
 Rajpoots, addicted to war, and dele- 
 gating the cultivation of the lands to 
 Assamese helots. 
 
 The district of Seediya is not con- 
 sidered an integral portion of Assam 
 proper, but has for a very long period 
 been subject to that kingdom. In 1825 
 it was found in a most wretched 
 condition, and principally inhabited 
 by refugee Khamties and Mulooks 
 expelled from their own countries to 
 the south-east by the Singhphos. At 
 the above date Seediya was govern- 
 ed by the Seediya Shah, or gohain, 
 a Khamti prince claiming descent 
 from the Hindoo deity Indra, besides 
 whom he worshipped most others of 
 the Brahminical pantheon, after the 
 doctrines of the Assamese heresy, 
 but eat all flesh except that of cows. 
 With the assistance of the Abors, 
 Meeries, and other petty tribes, he 
 attempted to make a stand against 
 the Singhphos. The town or village 
 of Seediya stands at the mouth of 
 the Koondeil nullah ; lat. 27° [52' 
 N. 
 
 Under the native government of 
 Assam, before its decline into anar- 
 chy, a ready access throughout the 
 country was maintained at all sea- 
 sons, by the construction of broad 
 and elevated causeways, practicable 
 to pedestrians when all the rest of 
 the plains was under water. In the 
 course of time, during the subsequent 
 convulsions that so long agitated 
 
 this miserable kingdom, these bunds 
 or causeways nearly disappeared, 
 but in many parts they may still be 
 traced. One of the principal is said 
 to have extended throughout the 
 whole length of Assam from Cooch 
 Bahar to Seediya. In 1826 it was 
 visited at a spot about two miles 
 from a village named Lakhomati Bho- 
 teya, where it runs through a thick 
 jungle following the direction of 
 north 55° east, and dividing the dis- 
 trict of Noa Dewar from the Dophla 
 country. The tract on the north 
 side of the causeway belongs to the 
 Dophla raja, whilst the bund itself 
 and the country to the south are 
 within the boundaries of Assam Pro- 
 per. The causeway at Lakhomati is 
 about eighteen feet broad, and gene- 
 rally eight feet high, but in many 
 parts it is nearly obliterated, and 
 very generally hidden by brushwood 
 and trees of considerable growth. 
 There are no villages along this 
 causeway, probably owing to its hav- 
 ing been so completely overgrown 
 with jungle as to have become im- 
 passable. At a short distance north 
 of it is a small hill rivulet named 
 the Deiring, flowing over a bed of 
 sand and siliceous stones, among 
 which a half-formed coal has been 
 found. 
 
 The animal and vegetable produc- 
 tions of Assam are nearly the same 
 with those of Bengal, which country 
 it much resembles in its physical ap- 
 pearance and the multitude of its 
 rivers. Transplanted rice forms three- 
 fourths of the whole crops. Next to 
 rice a kind of mustard-seed is the 
 most considerable crop, the oil ex- 
 tracted from it being that most in 
 use ; indeed the quantity of sesamum 
 is very inconsiderable. Wheat-barley 
 and millet are very little used. For- 
 merly the cytisus cajan was only cul- 
 vated for the rearing of the lac in- 
 sect, but is now preserved for its 
 pulse, and other plants are employed 
 to rear the insect. The most com- 
 mon pulse in Assam is the hairy- 
 podded kidney-bean. Considerable 
 quantities of black pepper are raised, 
 and also long chilies, choyies, gin- 
 
ASSAM. 
 
 71 
 
 ger, turmeric, capsicums, onions, and 
 garlic. In 1825 English seeds were 
 found to thrive well ; the betel leaf 
 is universal ; there is plenty of 
 areca-nut, tobacco, and opium, both 
 for home-consumption and exporta- 
 tion. The sugar-cane thrives, but is 
 mostly eaten fresh from the field ; a 
 little of the saccharine juice is ex- 
 tracted, but no sugar manufactured. 
 Coco-nuts are very rare ; and no 
 palm-wine is made, but oranges 
 abound. Cotton is reared by most 
 of tbe hill tribes, but is little used 
 by them. 
 
 No less than four different kinds 
 of silk-worms are reared, silks of se- 
 veral varieties forming great part of 
 the native clothing, besides leaving 
 a surplus for exportation. The silk- 
 worm reared on the mulberry is the 
 least common, the most common be- 
 ing that produced on a species of 
 laurus, and called muga. The tree 
 is planted and its branches pruned, 
 but the insect is fed on the tree as it 
 grows,' and yields two crops : that 
 procured in the beginning of the 
 dry season is red; that which is 
 procured towards the end of spring 
 is white, and reckoned the best. The 
 silk called medangori is reared in 
 Assam Proper, on a tree that is culti- 
 vated ; the silk called erendi is reared 
 on the ricinus, in large quantities, in 
 Rungpoor. 
 
 In Camroop the oxen are the 
 common labouring cattle. In Assam 
 Proper many buffaloes are employed 
 in the plough. Sheep are very scarce, 
 and goats not numerous ; there are 
 few horses and no asses. In 1825, the 
 British troops procured fowls, beef, 
 and veal. The Assamese workmen 
 can make locks, padlocks, sacrificial 
 knives, spears, spike-nails, clamps 
 for boat-building, and match-locks. 
 These are innovations ; and in 1809, 
 scissors were still unknown. The 
 best goldsmiths are from Bengal. 
 The person who wishes to have any 
 thing made, furnishes the metal, of 
 which the workmen receive a share 
 for then 4 trouble, as they have no ca- 
 pital, except a few miserable tools. 
 
 The native women of all castes, 
 
 from the queen downwards, wear the 
 four kinds of silk produced in the 
 country, and with which three-fourths 
 of the people are clothed ; the rich 
 only dressing in cottons, mostly im- 
 ported from Dacca. Considerable 
 quantities of the two coarser kinds 
 are exported. The raw material is 
 seldotn purchased, each family spin- 
 ning and weaving the silk which it 
 rears; and petty dealers go round 
 and purchase for ready money what- 
 ever can be spared for exportation, 
 or for the use of the few persons who 
 do not rear their own silkworms. The 
 proper silk, or pata, is only used for 
 dhoties for the persons of high rank, 
 and the same may be said of the 
 Medangori silks ; the Muga silks 
 clothe the middle classes, and the 
 Erendi covers the poor. The cot- 
 ton weavers are mostly foreigners, 
 and the cloth they produce usually of 
 the coarsest quality. In 1809, there 
 were some workers in ivory, in the 
 Chinese fashion, who it was said 
 could straiten the tooth of an ele- 
 phant, by covering it with a thick coat 
 of clay and cow-dung, and then ex- 
 posing it to a fire. According to 
 native report, the useful and simple 
 arts of making butter and cheese were 
 at that date unknown. 
 
 Under the old native government, 
 and prior to the expulsion of the 
 Burmese in 1825, the custom-houses 
 towards Bengal were usually farmbd 
 out to the best bidder ; and the 
 whole trade of the country was., in 
 fact, monopolized by a few indivi- 
 duals, who, agreeably to the terms of 
 a treaty concluded in 1793, ought to 
 have levied only ten per cent, on ex- 
 ports and imports, but in reality ex- 
 torted as much as they could. For- 
 merly, salt was sold by Europeans 
 settled at Goalpara, to the amount 
 of 100,000 maunds annually; but 
 the trade becoming monopolized by 
 the farmers of the customs, that quan- 
 tity in 1809 diminished to 35,000 
 maunds. This Plight also in part be 
 attributed to a decreased demand ; 
 for the population of Assam had been 
 reduced t>y the long-prevailing anar- 
 chy, and those who survived much 
 
72 
 
 ASSAM. 
 
 impoverished. In 1809, the total 
 value of the exports from Bengal to 
 Assam was only 2,28,000 rupees, of 
 which amount salt was 1 ,92,000 rupees, 
 and muslins 10,000 ; the rest a variety 
 of trifling articles, and a few fire-arms 
 secretly smuggled. The value exported 
 amounted to about 1,51,000 rupees, of 
 which sum-total lac was55,000, cotton 
 35,000, mustard-seed 22,000, muga- 
 silk cloth 17,500, and muga-silk 11,350, 
 ivory 6,500, and slaves 2,000 rupees. 
 The balance was usually paid in gold, 
 which is found in all the small rivers 
 of Assam that flow from the bound- 
 ary hills to the north and south, and 
 more especially from the first. Now 
 that the intercource is quite open, 
 and the British power predominant, 
 it is probable that many other va- 
 luable commodities and mineral pro- 
 ductions will be discovered, and a 
 brisk trade pushed towards China 
 and Ava. 
 
 According to native report, the 
 gold comes from the mine called 
 Pakerguri, and is contained in the 
 sand at the junction of the Donsiri 
 or Donhiri river with the Brahma- 
 putra, about thirty-two miles in a 
 strait line from Gohati. The miners 
 begin to work from the 15th Sep- 
 tember to the 14th October, and 
 each man is expected to deliver one 
 and a half rupees weight of gold- 
 dust, and may keep any excess, but 
 must also make up any deficiency. 
 In 1809 it was estimated that one 
 thousand men were employed and 
 paid in land, and that consequently 
 the state received 1,500 rupees 
 weight of gold. A rupee’s weight of 
 gold was then valued at eleven ru- 
 pees* worth of silver; but it was adul- 
 terated, and formed into small balls, 
 which were carried to Goalpara, and 
 sold at the rate of eleven sicca ru- 
 pees for the weight of an Assamese 
 rupee. This matter, however, re- 
 quires further elucidation, which it 
 will ere long no doubt receive. In 
 the province of Seediya, salt is pro- 
 cured from brine pools, and said to 
 be purer and higher-priced than the 
 salt of Bengal. 
 
 While Hindostan was under the 
 
 Mogul emperors, the trade with 
 Assam was a source of considerable 
 national profit, and for many years 
 after the acquisition of the Dewanny 
 in Bengal individuals gained largely, 
 but it afterwards greatly declined. 
 It does not appear that any mer- 
 chants from Assam ever repaired to 
 Lassa in Tibet, but formerly a com- 
 mercial intercourse was carried on 
 in the following manner. At a place 
 called Chouna, two months’ journey 
 from Lassa, on the confines of the 
 two states, there was a mart esta- 
 blished ; and on the Assam side there 
 was a similar mart at Gegunshur, 
 distant four miles from Chouna. An 
 annual caravan then resorted from 
 LassaTo Chouna conducted by about 
 twenty persons, conveying silver bul- 
 lion to the amount of about one lack 
 of rupees, and a considerable quan- 
 tity of rock-salt for sale to the Assam 
 merchants at Gegunshur, to which 
 place the latter brought rice, coarse 
 silk cloths, iron, and lac, the produce 
 of Assam, and otter skins, buflaloe 
 horns, pearls, and coral, previously 
 imported from Bengal. A peshcush 
 or offering was then annually sent 
 from the Assam Raja to the grand 
 or Dalai Lama, but no other public 
 intercourse, with the exception of 
 the commerce above described, ap- 
 pears ever to have subsisted between 
 the Tibet and Assam states. 
 
 All the royal family of Assam have 
 a right to ascend the throne, except 
 such as have on their body some 
 blemish or mark, whether from dis- 
 ease or accident. In order to pre- 
 clude the danger of a disputed suc- 
 cession, it was formerly the custom 
 to mark every youth that was not in- 
 tended for the presumptive heirship 
 by a wound on some conspicuous 
 part, such as the nose or ear; his 
 children, if unblemished, having still 
 a right to the throne. The sove- 
 reign and nobility in Assam live in 
 thatched huts, with walls of bamboo 
 mat, supported by saul posts, and 
 built in the fashion of Bengal with 
 arched ridges and mud floors, each 
 apartment being a separate hut. Ac- 
 cording to the ancient Assamese con- 
 
. ASSAM. 
 
 73 
 
 stitution there are three great officers 
 of state, named Gohaing, which of- 
 fices are hereditary in three great 
 families. The word appears to be 
 derived from the ancient language of 
 Assam, and the title is peculiar to 
 the royal family. The Bura Boruya 
 is the fourth great officer, and next 
 to him come six functionaries deno- 
 minated Phukons. By far the greater 
 part of the land in Assam is granted 
 to persons termed Pykes, each of 
 whom is held bound to work gra- 
 tuitously four months in the year, 
 either for the king or whatever per- 
 son the royal pleasure substitutes. 
 These people either work for their 
 lord in whatever trade they are 
 skilled, or pay him a composition re- 
 gulated by custom. These pykes 
 are placed under four ranks of offi- 
 cers, supposed to command one 
 thousand, one hundred, twenty, or 
 ten men, but these numbers are in 
 general only imaginary, and the 
 whole militia a mere rabble, without 
 arms, discipline, or courage. The 
 most important jurisdiction is the 
 province of Camroop, adjacent to 
 Bengal, the greater part of which 
 .was wrested from the Moguls early 
 in the reign of Aurengzebe. The 
 rajas are the original petty chief- 
 tains of the country, paying a cer- 
 tain tribute, and several of them 
 are Garrows and other unconverted 
 tribes. 
 
 The officers under whom the pykes 
 or serfs of the crown are placed, 
 the rajas, and the farmers of the re- 
 venue, have charge of the police. 
 It is alleged that the guilty who can 
 bribe, escape with impunity, while 
 the punishments of the convicted 
 poor are atrociously cruel. Capital 
 punishments extend to the whole fa- 
 mily of a rebel — parents, sister, wife, 
 and children; it appears probable 
 that it was from this source that the 
 rafts were formerly supplied, which 
 were frequently seen floating down 
 past Goalpara stuck full with human 
 heads. All the domestics are slaves, 
 and they are numerous, every man 
 of rank having several, mostly pro- 
 cured among the necessitous, who 
 
 mortgage themselves. Some were ex- 
 ported ; and before the British pre- 
 dominance, about one hundred of 
 pure caste were annually sold in 
 Bengal. The girls were chiefly 
 bought by professional prostitutes, 
 and cost from twelve to fifteen ru- 
 pees. A Cooch boy cost 25 rupees, 
 a Kolita 50, slaves of impure tribes 
 were sold to the Garrows. No accu- 
 rate estimate of the population can 
 be formed, "but it is known to be ex- 
 tremely scanty in proportion to the 
 extent of surface, more than three- 
 fourths of which is covered with jun- 
 gle. The principal places are Jor- 
 haut, Gerghong, Rungpoor, and 
 Gohati; but they scarcely deserve 
 the name of towns, being mere col- 
 lections of hovels, for in this wretch- 
 ed country, under the old govern- 
 ment, there were no shops and but 
 few markets. There are the remains, 
 however, of several remarkable mili- 
 tary causeways, which must have 
 been constructed with great labour, 
 but it is not known in what era. 
 
 The following are some of the 
 principal castes and tribes of Assam. 
 The Rarhi Brahmins have long ob- 
 tained the spiritual guidance of the 
 raja and his principal functionaries, 
 but there is a distinct race of Brah- 
 mins designated as Assamese. They 
 are vaidikas of Kanoje, and are said 
 to have been introduced from thence 
 by the Cooch raja. Vis wa Singh. — 
 Before their arrival there were learn- 
 ed men among the Kolitas,who were 
 gooroos to the people generally. — 
 Many Camroop Brahmins are now 
 settled in Assam, some of whom are 
 said to be learned in Hindoo science, 
 but very few of either class worship 
 the Sactis, or female destructive 
 energies, although some Pundits are 
 skilled in astrology and magic. Some 
 of the Assamese vaidikas have de- 
 graded themselves, by becoming 
 Varna, and instructing the impure 
 tribes, a degree of turpitude to which 
 none of the Bengal Vaidikas have as 
 yet submitted. 
 
 In the eastern part of Assam Pro- 
 per, beyond Koliyabar, besides the 
 Khamties, Meerees,and Dophlas, the 
 
ASSAM. 
 
 74 
 
 most numerous class are the Ahams 
 or governing nation. Those legiti- 
 mately descended from the compa- 
 nions of Khumtai still retain the 
 principal offices of state, and may be 
 considered the existing nobility. It 
 is generally understood that the 
 Ahams, on their arrival, were not 
 accompanied by any females, but 
 espoused those of the country, and 
 the royal family subsequently fre- 
 quently intermarried with daughters 
 of the adjacent chiefs ; but since the 
 introduction of caste the Ahams have 
 restricted their marriages to their 
 own tribe. The whole have now 
 adopted the language of Bengal as 
 their colloquial dialect, have re- 
 nounced the eating of beef, and 
 three-fourths have adopted the Brah- 
 minical doctrines as taught by the 
 followers of Madhava Acharya. The 
 Kolitas, many of whom are settled in 
 the Rungpoor district, are also a nu- 
 merous tribe in Assam Proper. — 
 Those who can read are called Kay- 
 asthas, and are the religious guides 
 for most of the others, and also for 
 many of the Cooch, with whom they 
 intermarry. They speak the language 
 of Bengal, and have nearly the same 
 customs as the pure Hindoos of that 
 country, only they are still more 
 strict as to eating and drinking. By 
 the Bengalese Brahmins they are con- 
 sidered pure Sudras, and their fea- 
 tures are less strongly marked as be- 
 ing of Chinese origin than those of 
 the Cooch, who are very numerous 
 in the Assamese portion of Cam- 
 roop, more especially in Dorong. 
 There are a considerable number of 
 Heluya keyots who cultivate the 
 ground, and keyots who fish. The 
 first are pure, and assume the title 
 of kaibarta; the latter are impure, 
 but have not adopted the Mahome- 
 dan religion, as those in the British 
 district of Rungpoor have done. The 
 Moriyas speak the Bengalese lan- 
 guage, but have abandoned them- 
 selves to the eating of beef and the 
 drinking of strong liquors. In the 
 province of Camroop there are ma- 
 ny Moslems, but so degenerated into 
 heathen superstition, that even the 
 
 faithful of Goalpara reject their com- 
 munion. 
 
 Nothing satisfactory has as yet 
 been ascertained respecting the an- 
 cient history or religion of Assam, 
 the national traditions having a strong 
 tinge of the fabulous. According to 
 these, many ages ago two brothers, 
 named Khunlai and Khuntai, came to 
 a hill named Khorai Khorong, which 
 is situated south from Ghergong, the 
 ancient capital, Khunlai taking with 
 him some attendants, and the god 
 Cheng went towards the south-east ; 
 Khuntai remained in the vicinity of 
 the hill Chorai Khorong, and kept in 
 his possession the god Chung, who 
 is still considered by his descendants 
 as their tutelary deity. These two 
 brothers are described as having des- 
 cended from heaven, and the sove- 
 reigns of Assam have always assum- 
 ed the title of Swerga Raja, which 
 possibly may have meant some part 
 of Tibet or China. It has been con- 
 jectured that when these strangers 
 first arrived, the country called As- 
 sam proper was governed by twelve 
 petty chiefs, who without opposition 
 submitted to' them being so superior 
 in dignity and education ; this how- 
 ever is disputed by the Cacharies, 
 who allege that prior to this epoch 
 the country belonged to them. The 
 original territory occupied by Khun- 
 tai included two very long islands 
 formed by the windings of the Brah- 
 maputra, together with some of the 
 lands adjacent, on both banks of that 
 great river. 
 
 Thirteen princes in regular suc- 
 cession from father to son, continued 
 to govern these dominions with great 
 success according to the rules of 
 their ancestors. They eat beef, pork, 
 and all other foods that shock the 
 piety of Brahminical Hindoos, and 
 drank wine without restraint or re- 
 morse of conscience. The Deodhaings 
 were then their spiritual guides, per- 
 forming worship to the god Chung 
 with great mystery and secrecy, and 
 possessing some books called Bu- 
 longji, written in a character which 
 appears on the old eoin, and which 
 seems to have a strong affinity to that 
 
ASSAM. 
 
 15 
 
 of Ava. These books are said to be 
 composed in a language which was 
 formerly spoken at the court of As- 
 sam, and are reported to contain a 
 chronicle of their kings, whose names 
 were as follow : 
 
 1. Khuntai, 8. Chupinong, 
 
 2. Chukapha, 9. Chhuchong, 
 
 3. Chutaupha, 10. Churang, 
 
 4. Chubinong, 11. Chujang, 
 
 5. Chuinong, 12. Chupkuk, 
 
 6. Tukophi, 13. Chukum. 
 
 7. Chhachonong, 
 
 All names strongly resembling the 
 Chinese. 
 
 From the beginning of the 17th cen- 
 tury the Brahminical doctrines appear 
 to have been gradually encroaching on 
 the old superstitions, and about the 
 middle of that age effected theconver- 
 version of the sovereign ; since which 
 date the governing party have en- 
 tirely adopted the language of Ben- 
 gal, which has become so prevalent, 
 that the original Assamese, spoken 
 so late as the reign of Aurengzebe, 
 is almost become a dead language. 
 Brahmins of various degrees of purity 
 have long been the spiritual guides 
 of the court and of three-fourths of 
 the people ; but there remain many 
 impure tribes who still abandon 
 themselves to the eating of beef and 
 the drinking of strong liquors. In 
 the parts adjacent to Bengal there 
 are many Mahomedans ; but they 
 have degenerated into heathen su- 
 perstition, so that they are rejected 
 even by those of Rungpoor. It does 
 not appear that the Christian religion 
 has ever penetrated into this region. 
 In 1793, when Capt. Welsh expelled 
 the Mahamari priest and his rabble 
 from the capital, they retired to By- 
 angmara, south from Seediya. 
 
 Although the Assamese have tradi- 
 tions, and it is said books, in the an- 
 cient language, detailing their history 
 before the Mahomedan invasion, the 
 information collected is as yet too im- 
 perfect to be depended upon. They 
 are first noticed by Mogul authorities 
 in 1638, during the reign of Shah Je- 
 han, when they sailed down the 
 Brahmaputra, and invaded Bengal ; 
 but were repulsed by that emperor’s 
 officers, and eventually lost some of 
 
 their own frontier provinces. In the 
 reign of Aurengzebe, his ablest gene- 
 ral, Meer Jumlah, advanced from 
 Cooch Bahar to attempt the conquest 
 of Assam, on which occasion he met 
 with no obstacles to his advance, ex- 
 cept such as were presented by the 
 nature of the country, until he ar- 
 rived at the capital, Gergong. When 
 the season of the rains began, the 
 Assamese came out of their hiding- 
 places, and harassed the imperial 
 army, which became very sickly, and 
 the flower of the Afghans, Persians, 
 and Moguls, perished. The rest tried 
 to escape along the narrow cause- 
 ways through the morasses, but few 
 ever reached Bengal ; and the As- 
 samese re-conquered the western pro- 
 vinces, which had been for some 
 time in the possession of the Moguls. 
 After this no more expeditions were 
 attempted against Assam, which the 
 Mahomedans of Hindostan have ever 
 since viewed with singular horror, as 
 a region only inhabited by infidels, 
 hobgoblins, and devils. 
 
 Hitherto the Assamese had been a 
 warlike and enterprizing people, and 
 their princes worthy of the govern- 
 ment ; but after their conversion by 
 the Brahmins the nation sunk into 
 the most abject state of pusillanimity 
 towards foreigners, and into internal 
 turbulence and confusion. About 
 A.D. 1770 the power of the spiritual 
 teachers had acquired such strength, 
 and their insolence had become so 
 intolerable, that the reigning raja, 
 with the view of curbing their pride, 
 burned a building that had been 
 erected contrary to law by one of 
 them named Mahamari, who guided 
 a multitude of the lowest and most 
 ignorant of the people. A rebellion 
 which ensued was suppressed by the 
 energy of the raja, but the insurrec- 
 tion burst forth with increased force 
 under his son and successor Gauri- 
 nath, who was driven from the 
 throne by the base adherents of the 
 Mahamari priest, who attempted to 
 fill it with his own nephew. The 
 dethroned raja, however, having 
 placed himself under the protection 
 of Lord Cornwallis, that nobleman, 
 a short time before his departure for 
 
ASSAM. 
 
 76 
 
 Europe, sent Captain Welsh, in 1703, 
 with 1,100 sepoys, who placed Gauri- 
 nath on the throne of his ancestors, 
 and shortly afterwards returned to 
 Bengal. 
 
 During the insurrection of the po- 
 pulace under the Mahamari priest, 
 the most horrid excesses were com- 
 mitted, and most of the genuine As- 
 samese men of rank were compelled 
 to fly for refuge to a large island 
 formed by the Brahmaputra. In 
 these disastrous circumstances, the 
 only individual who evinced any cou- 
 rage or enterprize was one of the 
 hereditary counsellors of state named 
 the Bura Gohaing, who, on Captain 
 Welsh’s return to Bengal, seized on 
 the whole authority, expelled the 
 Mahamari, and rendered the future 
 rajas of Assam mere pageants under 
 himself. On the death of raja Gau- 
 rinath, which he is said to have ac- 
 celerated, he expelled the lawful 
 heir, but, to save appearances and 
 conciliate the natives, he set up a 
 boy sprung from a spurious branch 
 of the royal family, whom he kept 
 under the strictest seclusion from 
 public affairs. 
 
 Many years ago the Bengal govern- 
 ment, in consequence of orders from 
 Europe, established a salt agent at 
 Goalpara to monopolize the Assam 
 salt- trade; but after several years’ 
 trial, the loss sustained was so great, 
 that the Marquis Cornwallis, who 
 always abhorred petty traffic, ordered 
 it to be suppressed. Mr. Daniel 
 Raush, a respectable Hanoverian, 
 succeeded as principal merchant, but 
 soon found himself creditor to the 
 raja, the Bura Gohaing, and to many 
 other chiefs, who had the address to 
 get possession of his property, in 
 spite of his caution and long expe- 
 rience of their bad faith. In 1796 he 
 quitted his factory at Goalpara, en- 
 tered Assam, and proceeded to the 
 capital, to endeavour to effect some 
 compromise for his claims, amount- 
 ing to three lacks of rupees ; but on 
 the route he was treacherously as- 
 sassinated by the raja of Dring’s 
 (or Dorong) followers, and had his 
 pinnaces pillaged, and papers de- 
 stroyed. In 1801 the Marquis Wel- 
 
 lesley, compassionating the distress 
 of his widow and destitute family, 
 despatched Comul Lochun Nundy, 
 a native agent, to the court of As- 
 sam, to recover the arrears ; in fur- 
 therance of which object he furnished 
 him with letters to the raja and 
 prime minister explanatory of his 
 mission, and reminding them that 
 they were wholly indebted for the re- 
 establishment of their authority to 
 the British succours under Captain 
 Welsh. The agent Nundy proceeded 
 accordingly to Jorhaut, the existing 
 capital, where he found the raja and 
 his minister ostensibly fully disposed 
 to render him every assistance, but 
 in private obstructing him so effec- 
 tually, that after being for two years 
 amused with promises and sham 
 trials, he would have returned from 
 that miserable court as empty-handed 
 as he went, had he not on a frontier 
 station recovered ten thousand ru- 
 pees from a custom-house officer, 
 who had less power or more honesty 
 than his superiors. Indeed Comul 
 Lochun’s description of the general 
 anarchy, the injustice exercised, and 
 the horrid cruelties perpetrated by 
 whoever had the power, excites sur- 
 prise that all the lower classes who 
 had the means did not migrate into 
 the British territories, which were 
 close at hand, and contained im- 
 mense tracts of unoccupied land. 
 
 In 1806 Sir George Barlow made 
 another effort to recover something 
 for Mr. Raush’s family, who offered 
 to accept twenty thousand rupees 
 in lieu of their whole claims, but with 
 equally bad success. The raja and his 
 minister on this occasion, among other 
 excuses for their want of punctuality, 
 assigned the total anarchy of their 
 country, and solicited the assistance 
 of the British government to subdue 
 the insurgents and tranquillize their 
 subjects, an undertaking that would 
 have cost one hundred times the 
 amount claimed. After this evasive 
 reply, the absolute inutility of addres- 
 sing the Assam state on the subject 
 appeared clearly established ; yet, to 
 leave nothing untried, in February 
 1 813 another letter was despatched, 
 recalling the circumstance to the ra- 
 
ASSAM. 
 
 77 
 
 ja’s, or rather to his minister’s, recol- 
 lection, and expressing the expecta- 
 tion of the British government that 
 he would effect some equitable set- 
 tlement. In his reply, received during 
 the course of 1814, the reigning 
 raja acknowledges the receipt of 
 the letter addressed to his brother, 
 the late raja, and then proceeds to 
 describe the unfortunate condition 
 of his country. From the eastward 
 and northward the people of Nora, 
 Khamti, Dophla, and Mahamari, had 
 assembled and invaded his domi- 
 nions; while on the Bijnee frontier 
 a robber, named Manick Ray, had 
 made repeated inroads, laid waste 
 their pergunnahs, and plundered the 
 Kandar custom-house. The tenour 
 of this reply was as unsatisfactory as 
 the former had been ; but as the case 
 did not warrant a stronger interference 
 than remonstrance, all further proceed- 
 ings on the subject were suspended. 
 
 About and prior to this period the 
 western confines of Assam were much 
 infested by bands of freebooters, 
 principally Burkindauzes from Up- 
 per Hindostan, who, availing them- 
 selves of the local peculiarities of 
 the Bijnee estate, had long been in 
 the practice of waging a system of 
 plunder and incursion on the Assam 
 villages which lie contiguous to the 
 Bijnee frontier. The first regularly 
 organized band of this description 
 consisted of the followers of Gholaum 
 Ali Beg, a Hindostany Mogul, who 
 had been entertained by the Assam 
 rajas to fight against the Mahamari, 
 the inveterate enemies of the Assa- 
 mese principality. The Bura Go- 
 haing, soon after his usurpation, dis- 
 missed Gholaum Ali and his band, 
 and, as they asserted, turned them 
 out of the country without paying 
 them their arrears. On this event 
 Gholaum Ali took up a position on 
 the confines of Bijnee, beyond the 
 Ayi river, from whence he continued 
 to make incursions into Assam. The 
 first attack was on the Kandar cho- 
 key, or custom-house, in 1805, at 
 the head of 150 men, when he storm- 
 ed the post, and carried oft’ such a 
 booty, that on twelve of the gang, 
 who were shortly after seized in 
 
 Mymunsingh, sixteen hundred ru- 
 pees were found. From this time 
 forward Gholaum Ali continued to 
 lurk on the confines of Assam and 
 Bijnee, with about eighty followers, 
 not only ravaging the frontier vil- 
 lages of Assam, but occasionally in- 
 vading the interior, and plundering 
 boats of valuable merchandize as they 
 passed down the Manas river, which 
 separates Bijnee from Assam. 
 
 During this period of anarchy, the 
 above adventurer is said to have ob- 
 tained a kind of sovereignty over 
 sixteen villages on the eastern 
 bank of the Manas, from which he 
 derived a considerable revenue, rea- 
 dily paid by the inhabitants for pro- 
 tection ; but he was at length van- 
 quished by another corps of free- 
 booters, led by a Hindostany Rajpoot 
 named Manick Ray, who drove Gho- 
 laum Ali into Bootan, and usurped 
 his lucrative post on the frontiers of 
 Bijnee, where he long harboured, 
 doing infinite mischief to that branch 
 of the Goalpara trade navigated on 
 the Manas, and making nightly plun- 
 dering incursions into Assam. Both 
 he and his predecessor Gholaum Ali 
 Beg, were frequently pursued by the 
 detachment of British Sepoys sta- 
 tioned at Jughigopa, but the orders of 
 government being peremptory against 
 passing the Ayi river, all their efforts 
 were frustrated ; and from the Bijnee 
 raja no coercion could be looked for, 
 as he was strongly suspected of shar- 
 ing in the profits of their depredations. 
 Under these circumstances, the ha- 
 rassed tenantry of the adjacent per- 
 gunnahs mostly gave up all idea of 
 having a fixed residence, retiring at 
 night into the British provinces, where 
 they kept their women and children, 
 and re-crossing in the morning, to 
 cultivate their fields in Assam. 
 
 Such was the deplorable condition 
 of this fertile country in 1814, at 
 which period the great bulk of the 
 people were extremely anxious to 
 throw off the yoke of the Bura Go- 
 haing, but such on the other hand 
 was his tyranny and their pusillani- 
 mity, that his rule was nevertheless 
 acquiesced in with the most unqua- 
 lified submission. The rightful heir to 
 
78 
 
 ASSYE. 
 
 the throne at that date was Birjinauth 
 Coomar, who was prevented by the 
 magistrate of Rungpoor from levy- 
 ing war against the usurper, with a 
 body of troops raised in Bengal. It 
 was then generally supposed that the 
 Bura Gohaing, knowing that Birji- 
 nauth was the legitimate heir, had 
 disqualified him for the sovereignty, 
 by slitting or otherwise disfiguring 
 one of his ears, in which case he 
 could only reign in the name of one 
 of his children. The next sovereign, 
 Chunder Khant, being dethroned by 
 the Bura Gohaing, fled into the Bri- 
 tish territories, and Poorindra Singh 
 was placed on the throne, but soon 
 after compelled to follow the route 
 of his predecessor. 
 
 The Bura Gohaing then seated 
 himself on the throne ; but the time 
 of this old king-maker was now 
 come, for Chunder Khant having re- 
 paired to Ava, and procured assist- 
 ance from the Burmese, returned 
 with an army and compelled the Bura 
 Gohaing to seek refuge in the Bri- 
 tish territories, where he took up his 
 abode in the vicinity of Jughigopa. 
 In 1821 he re-entered Assam with 
 a body of troops which he had col- 
 lected in Bootan, but was routed by 
 the Burmese auxiliaries of Chunder 
 Khant, who soon after endeavouring 
 to get rid of his too powerful allies 
 by treachery, was driven from the 
 throne and compelled to repair to 
 Bengal. In June, 1822, Menghee 
 Maha Theluah, the commander-in- 
 chief of the Burmese forces, was pro- 
 claimed raja of Assam, the subjuga- 
 tion of which he had now completed, 
 subordinate to the sovereign of Ava. 
 
 Now began the never-failing ag- 
 gressions that invariably take place 
 when a prosperous native power 
 comes in contact with the boundaries 
 of the British dominions, which at last 
 terminated in a rupture about the 
 muddy island of Shapuree, on the 
 coast of Chittagong. A British de- 
 tachment under Colonel Richards, 
 then enteredAssam, andin the course 
 of 1825, expelled the Burmese usur- 
 pers and obtained complete posses- 
 sion of the country, which must 
 henceforward be virtually considered 
 
 an integral portion of the British 
 empire in India. Indeed, without popu- 
 lation and with an unknown frontier, 
 this phantom of a kingdom could not 
 for a year exist on itsown resources, it 
 must consequently be supported by 
 its conquerors ; a civil and military es- 
 tablishment appointed ; a fleet of 
 boats maintained on theBrahmaputra, 
 and many other expensive drains 
 created on the Bengal treasury ; 
 such is the uncontrollable progress 
 of events in India. — {T. Buchanan , 
 Sisson , Public MS. Documents , Wade , 
 Klaproth , Comul Lochun Nundy , 
 Lieutenants Bur It on, Bedford , Ker, 
 N. Jones, Neufville and Wilcox, Abdul 
 Russool, Gardner , fyc.) 
 
 Assodnagur ( Assadnagara , the 
 city of lions.) — A district in the 
 province of Bejapoor, bounded on 
 the north-east by the rivers Neera 
 and Beema. Like the rest of the 
 province, it has an irregular surface, 
 but is nevertheless populous and fer- 
 tile, having many hill streams for the 
 purposes of irrigation. The chief 
 towns are Punderpoor, Khattaow, 
 Nanzereh, and Salpa. 
 
 Asseree. — A town in the province 
 of Aurangabad, forty-five miles S. by 
 E. from Damaun. Lat. 19° 47' N., 
 Ion. 73° S' E. , 
 
 Assewan. — A town in the province 
 of Oude about a mile from Meah- 
 gunge, and overlooking a small lake. 
 Lat. 26° 49' N., Ion. 86° 31' E„ 
 
 Assye. — A small town in the pro- 
 vince of Berar, twenty-eight miles 
 north from Jaulna. On the 23d 
 September 1803, a battle was fought 
 near this place, between the British 
 army under Gen. Wellesley, consist- 
 ing of 4,500 men, 2,000 of whom 
 were Europeans, and the combined 
 armies of Dowlet Row Sindia and 
 the Nagpoor Raja, amounting to 
 30,000. In spite of the disparity of 
 numbers, the British were completely 
 victorious, although with severe loss 
 in proportion to their numbers, viz. 
 
 Europeans killed 198 
 
 Natives ditto 230 
 
 Europeans wounded 442 
 
 Natives ditto 696 
 
 Total 1,566 
 
ATTOCK. 
 
 79 
 
 The confederates fled from the 
 field of battle, leaving about 1,200 
 slain, ninety-eight pieces of cannon, 
 seven standards, their whole camp 
 equipage and a large quantity of am- 
 munition. This victory is the more 
 remarkable, as above 10,000 of Sin- 
 dia’s infantry had been disciplined, 
 and were in part officered by French 
 and other Europeans. 
 
 Astoun. — A small town in the 
 province of Allahabad, eight miles 
 from Teary. Lat. 24° 36' N„, Ion. 
 78° 50' E. 
 
 Atangheery. — A large village in 
 the Carnatic, on the Marawa coast, 
 district of Madura, where there is a 
 commodious choultry, and a ferry 
 across that branch of the Vagaroo 
 which here .disembogues itself into 
 the sea. It stands about twelve miles 
 travelling distance east from Ramnad. 
 — ( Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 Atchera. — A town of consider- 
 able extent in the southern Concan 
 or Bhoonslah country, fifty-six miles 
 north from Goa. Lat. 16° 11' N., 
 Ion. 73° 37' E. It may be approach- 
 ed by sea within two miles, where the 
 anchorage is in five fathoms with a 
 muddy bottom. It was formerly a 
 place of great reputed sanctity, and 
 a notorious depot of pirated goods ; 
 but in 1818 it was captured by a 
 British detachment, which event com- 
 pleted the conquest of Salsee, a dis- 
 trict about 120 miles in circumfe- 
 rence, which had belonged to the 
 Peshwa. 
 
 Attair. — A town in the Agra pro- 
 vince, south of the Chumbul, and 
 forty-six miles S. E. from the city of 
 Agra ; lat. 26° 44' N., Ion. 78° 29' E. 
 
 Attara. — A town in the province 
 of Allahabad, sixteen miles north 
 from Calingerj lat. 25° 2(K N., Ion. 
 80°35'E. 
 
 Attaveesee. — A large district in 
 the southern division of the Gujerat 
 province, between the 20th and 
 21st parallels of north latitude, and 
 bounded on the west by the sea and 
 the city of Surat. It is intersected by 
 many streams flowing from the east- 
 
 ern hills, but not by any river of 
 magnitude. The principal towns are 
 Damaun, Dhurrumpoor and Baunsda. 
 In 1802 this district, which was mort- 
 gaged to the British government by 
 the Guicowar, yielded an annual re- 
 venue of six and a-half lacks of ru- 
 pees. 
 
 Attersoomba.— -A town in the 
 Gujerat province, twenty-four miles 
 E. from Ahmedahad. Lat. 23° 4' N., 
 Ion. 73°3 / E. 
 
 Attock ( Atac 3 a limit. ) This 
 
 town is situated on the east side of 
 the Indus, and to the present day 
 retains the ancient name of Varanas 
 or Benares ; but it is more generally 
 known by that of Attock. The old 
 fortress was built by Acber, A D. 
 1581. Lat. 83° 56' E., Ion. 71° 57' E. 
 
 About ten miles to the north of 
 Attock the Indus is seen issuing 
 through the mountains by a number 
 of channels, which are reduced to 
 two where it receives the Cabul river. 
 At this point of junction there are 
 many rocks, through which both 
 rivers dash with much impetuosity 
 and noise, but afterwards they collect 
 into one bed, and proceed through 
 the mountains with a deep and nar- 
 row stream, between high perpen- 
 dicular ridges of rock. When it 
 reaches the fort of Attock, the Indus 
 is about 260 yards broad (on the 
 18th June 1809), but the channel is 
 too deep, and the current too rapid 
 to admit of its being accurately 
 sounded. The banks are of black 
 stone polished by the force of the 
 stream and the white sand it con- 
 tains, so as to shine like marble. In 
 the midst are the famous rocks of 
 Jemalia and Kemalia, but the re- 
 ported whirlpool does not rage in the 
 month of June. 
 
 The modern fort of Attock (the 
 residence of the Afghan government 
 in 1809) stands on a low hillock on 
 the east bank. Its figure is that of 
 a parallelogram, having the shortest 
 faces (those parallel to the river) 
 about 400 yards long, and other sides 
 about double that extent. The walls 
 are of polished stone,- but although 
 
80 
 
 AUMNlER. 
 
 the place makes a handsome show, 
 it is commaded hy a rough hill, from 
 which it is only separated by a ra- 
 vine, and being situated on a slope 
 almost the whole of the interior, and 
 the reverse of the walls on their 
 faces, are visible from the opposite 
 side. The town was formerly con- 
 siderable, but is very much decayed, 
 having been since 1818 in the pos- 
 session of Runjeet Singh, the Seik 
 Rajah of Lahore. On the Afghan 
 side of the river opposite to Attock 
 is a small village distinguished by a 
 kind of fort erected by Nadir Shah, 
 and a fine aqueduct made by some 
 former chief of the Khuttick tribe to 
 irrigate the contiguous lands. Not- 
 withstanding the rapidity of the river 
 here, it is easily passed, both in 
 boats and on the inflated hides of oxen. 
 
 It is remarkable that the three 
 great invaders of Hindostan, Alex- 
 ander, Timour, and Nadir Shah, in 
 three distant ages, and with views 
 and talents extremely different, ad- 
 vanced by the same route with hardly 
 any deviation. Alexander had the 
 merit of discovering the way : after 
 passing the mountains he encamped 
 at Alexandria Paropamisana, on the 
 same site with the modern city of 
 Candahar, and having subdued or 
 conciliated the natives on the north 
 west bank of the Indus, he crossed 
 the river at Taxila, now Attock, the 
 only place where the stream is so 
 tranquil that a bridge can be thrown 
 over it. — ( Elphinstone , Renncll , Wil- 
 ford , Dr. Robertson, fyc.) 
 
 Attowah Peeplea. — A town, in 
 the province of Malwa, twenty-four 
 miles S.E. from Dewass. In 1820, 
 it contained 500 houses and was the 
 head of a pergunnah ; lat. 22° 48' N., 
 Ion. 76° 25' E. 
 
 Attyah. — A small town in the 
 province of Bengal, district of Jelal- 
 poor, forty-four miles N.W. by N. 
 from Dacca. Lat. 24° 10' N., Ion. 
 89° 48' E. 
 
 Auggur. — A large town in the pro- 
 vince of Malwa, belonging to Sindia, 
 forty miles N. by E. from Oojein ; 
 lat 23° 43' N., Ion. 76° 1'. This 
 
 place is beautifully situated on a 
 rocky eminence, between two lakes 
 or tanks 1,598 feet barometrical mea- 
 surement above the level of the sea. 
 It is surrounded by a stone wall, and 
 has a well-built ghurry or native for- 
 tification within. In 1820 it was 
 the head of a pergunnah, and con- 
 tained five thousand houses ; but with 
 the exception of one street, the in- 
 terior, although of considerable ex- 
 tent, is a mere aggregation of mud 
 buildings. — ( Malcolm , Fullarton, tyc.) 
 
 Augur. — This is the name of a 
 modern geographical subdivision of 
 that portion of the province of La- 
 hore situated between the Indus and 
 Hydaspes ; but little is known re- 
 specting its topography, except that, 
 according to native reports, it con- 
 tains several salt mountains, with 
 which substance the soil of this 
 quarter of Hindostan is every where 
 impregnated. The division of Au- 
 gur lies between the. thirty -second 
 and thirty-third degrees of north lati- 
 tude, has the Indus to the west, and 
 Sinde Sager to the south, is thinly 
 peopled, and comprehends no town 
 of note. In some old maps it is de- 
 nominated Ghepp or Dun Ghepp. 
 
 Aul. — A town in the province of 
 Orissa, district of Cuttack, fifty miles 
 from the town of Cuttack in a north- 
 eastern direction. In 1813 the tri- 
 bute paid by the proprietor was 
 26,680 rupees ; his remaining profit 
 was estimated at 15,000 rupees per 
 annum. This is a valuable property, 
 and although only tributary, is situ- 
 ated within the Mogulbundy, or that 
 portion of the district subject to the 
 British regulations. In extreme di- 
 mensions it is reckoned twenty miles 
 from north to south, by about ten 
 from east to wes t.— (Richardson, #e.) 
 
 Aumnier. — A large and populous 
 town situated in the province of 
 Gundwana, and on the river Wurda, 
 which is here in January a very small 
 stream and easily passed. It runs 
 over a rocky bottom, and forms some 
 small cascades. Lat. 21° 25' N., Ion. 
 78° 30' E., fifty miles N. by W. from 
 the city of Nagpoor. 
 
AURUNGABAD. 
 
 81 
 
 'AURUNGABAD. 
 
 A large province of the Deccan, 
 situated principally between the eigh- 
 teenth and twenty-first degrees of 
 north latitude* To the north it is 
 bounded by the provinces of Gujerat, 
 Candeish, and Berarj on the south 
 by Bejapoor and Beeder ; to the east 
 it has Berar and Hyderabad ; and on 
 the west the Indian ocean. In length 
 it may be estimated at 300 miles, 
 by 160 the average breadth. The 
 courses of the rivers Neera and Beema 
 mark its separation on the south-west 
 from the contiguous province of Be- 
 japoor. 
 
 This province is also known by the 
 names of Ahmednuggur and Dow- 
 letabad ; the first having been its 
 capital during the existence of the 
 Nizam Shahy dynasty, and the latter 
 during a short-lived dynasty esta- 
 blished by Mallek Amber, an Abys- 
 sinian, from 1600 to 1635. Au- 
 rungabad was partially subdued under 
 the reign of Aeber, from which pe- 
 riod its limits were in a constant state 
 of fluctuation, until that of Shah 
 Jehan in 1634, when Dowletabad, 
 the capital, being taken, the whole 
 country was transformed into a sou- 
 bah of the Mogul empire, then at its 
 zenith. On this event the seat of 
 government was removed from Dow- 
 letabad to the neighbouring town of 
 Gurka, which becoming the favourite 
 residence of Aurungzebe while vice- 
 roy of the Deccan, recived the name 
 of Aurungabad, which appellation 
 was subsequently communicated to 
 the province. At present the prin- 
 cipal modern territorial and political 
 subdivisions, beginning from the north- 
 west, are the following, viz. 
 
 1. Jo wau r. 
 
 2. Callianee. 
 
 3. Bombay. 
 
 4. Baglana. 
 
 5. Singumnere. 
 
 6. Dowletabad. 
 
 7. Jalnapoor. 
 
 8. Bheer. 
 
 9. Futtehabad. 
 
 10. Perraindah. 
 
 1 1 . Sholapoor. 
 
 VOL. i. 
 
 12. Ahmednuggur. 
 
 13. Jooneer* 
 
 The surface of this province is very 
 irregular, and in general mountain- 
 ous, particularly towards the western 
 ghauts, where the hills attain a great 
 altitude* The tract to the east of 
 the ghauts, including much the larger 
 portion of the soubab, is also an 
 elevated region, forming part of the 
 table-land of the Deccan, rarely less 
 than 1,800 feet above the level of 
 the sea, and frequently much more. 
 The territory consequently abounds 
 with natural fortresses and strong 
 holds, which enabled the Maharattas, 
 whose native country it is, to give 
 such infinite trouble to Aurengzebe 
 and his generals. Rice is the grain 
 chiefly cultivated; the other vegetable 
 productions are much the same as in 
 other parts of the Deccan* The gar- 
 dens and fields in the immediate 
 neighbourhood of the villages are 
 very generally enclosed by hedges of 
 the prickly pear and the milk plant, 
 the first of which forms an excel- 
 lent fence. The climate is particu- 
 larly favourable for the production 
 of European fruits, which arrive 
 here at a greater degree of perfec- 
 tion than in any other quarter of 
 Hindostan, more especially the peach, 
 strawberry, and a very fine variety of 
 the grape, of a large size and cylin- 
 drical form. The nectarine has been 
 planted and borne fruit at Seroor, 
 near Poona. The figs are delicious, 
 and the melon, which is universal^ 
 reared, rivals in flavour the choicest 
 fruit of an English green-house. The 
 oranges are large, but inferior to 
 those of the Silhet district, and the 
 unrivalled orange of Daoudcaundy in 
 Tipera, in which last the pulp ad- 
 heres to a very thick skin only by 
 fibres. 
 
 Aurungabad possesses no rivers of 
 magnitude, although it contains the 
 sources of many, such as the Beema, 
 Neera, and Godavery, which do not 
 swell to any considerable dimensions 
 until they quit its limits. On the 
 banks of the two first horses for the 
 Maharatta cavalry were formerly 
 reared in great numbers ; but though 
 
 G 
 
82 
 
 AURUNGABAD. 
 
 a hardy breed, they are neither 
 strong nor handsome, although they 
 easily supported the light weight of 
 their predatory riders. The bazars 
 of the cities and larger towns have a 
 sufficiently animated appearance ; but 
 in the smaller communities, the dwel- 
 lings being generally without win- 
 dows, or other apertures towards the 
 streets, and roofed with flat earthen 
 terraces, present scarcely any thing 
 to the eye but dreary masses of dead 
 wall. The religious edifices are dis- 
 tinguished by various architectural 
 peculiarities from the old temples 
 usually seen in Upper Hindostan, as 
 well as from those more to the south ; 
 the porticoes are almost universally 
 large, and occasionally nearly as large 
 as the whole sanctuary. In some 
 towns the pagoda rises in the form of 
 a twelve-sided pyramid, divided into 
 compartments, each ornamented with 
 a mythological device in bas-relief; 
 while in others, where the form is 
 quadrangular, the roof terminates 
 in a huge elevation of a cupola 
 shape. 
 
 Much the larger portion of this 
 province, and almost the entire sea- 
 coast, having long been possessed by 
 the Maharattas, fair maritime com- 
 merce never flourished, piracy by sea 
 and plundering by land having always 
 been their favourite employment, un- 
 til coerced by the strong arm of the 
 British government. Until A.D. 1818 
 three-fourths of Aurungabad were 
 subject to the Peshwa ; and the re- 
 mainder (with some exceptions) to 
 the Nizam ; but since that eventful 
 year, and the overthrow of the for- 
 mer, nearly the whole has, directly or 
 indirectly, become subordinate to 
 the British nation, with reservation 
 of the rights of certain feudatory 
 chieftains, whose territories will be 
 noticed under their respective heads. 
 
 The population of this province, 
 and more especially of the north- 
 eastern quarter, is in proportion 
 much below that of the best British 
 districts, the proportion of religious 
 being about one Mahomedan to 
 twenty Hindoos. The Maharatta 
 language is principally used; but 
 
 there are also various local dialects 
 in common use, while Hindostany 
 and Persian are current among the 
 higher classes ; the first in conversa- 
 tion, and the last in the revenue re- 
 cords. These last (the nobility) have 
 now fallen, probably never to rise 
 again ; but no doubt the great majo- 
 rity of the humbler classes must, in the 
 course of time, have their condition 
 ameliorated by the introduction of 
 British laws and institutions. It is 
 a very remarkable circumstance, how- 
 ever, that although this province has 
 been the grand cradle of the preda- 
 tory bands that for more than a cen- 
 tury past desolated Hindostan, and 
 for two years (1817 and 1818) had 
 been the seat of external invasion 
 and internal warfare, yet in 1820 
 no part of the whole Deccan, or 
 Southern India, exhibited such an ap- 
 pearance of undisturbed tranquillity 
 and repose. Crimes of violence were 
 rare, and highway robbery so un- 
 common, that it was said a single 
 armed man might carry a lack of 
 rupees in perfect security from the 
 Krishna to the Godavery. — ( Fullar - 
 ton , Wilks, Ferishta, fyc.) 
 
 Aurungabad ( the place of the 
 throne ). — The capital of the province 
 above described, situated in lat. 19° 
 54' N., Ion. 75° 33' E. This city, 
 originally named Gurka, stands a few 
 miles from Dowletabad, which being 
 taken from the transient dynasty of 
 Mallek Amber, in 1634, the Moguls 
 removed their head-quarters to Gur- 
 ka; which having subsequently be- 
 come the favourite residence of Au- 
 rungzebe, it received a more sono- 
 rous appellation. It continued for 
 some time a metropolis, after the 
 modern Nizams became independent 
 of Delhi, until they found its vicinity 
 to the Poona Maharattas inconve- 
 nient, and migrated to Hyderabad. 
 It is still within the limits of the Ni- 
 zam’s dominions, but, like many other 
 famous cities of Hindostan, is greatly 
 fallen from its ancient grandeur, pre- 
 senting the usual symptoms of a de- 
 serted capital, a scanty population 
 among extensive ruins. 
 
AUTGHAR. 
 
 83 
 
 The river Kowlah, a mountain 
 stream, over which there are two 
 substantial bridges, separates the city 
 from its principal suburb, the Begum 
 Poora ; on the north side is marshy 
 ground of some extent, in which rice 
 is cultivated ; and on the left, enter- 
 ing by the Delhi gate, is a consider- 
 able tank, overgrown with rank aqua- 
 tic plants, from both of which un- 
 wholesome exhalations arise. The 
 central parts of the city are also very 
 low, indeed almost on a level with 
 the marshy ground. For two-thirds of 
 the year the winds here are from the 
 W.S.W., while easterly winds pre- 
 vail in November, December, and Ja- 
 nuary. The range of the thermo- 
 meter, during these three months, is 
 from 50° to 86°, during the twenty- 
 four hours the alternations of heat 
 and cold being as great as they are 
 sudden. During the hot months 
 the range of the thermometer is from 
 78° to 100° Fahrenheit. The average 
 supply of rain may be taken at thirty- 
 six inches ; but for the three mon- 
 soons prior to 1826 there had not been 
 even twenty-one inches. Intermit- 
 tent fevers are here prevalent at all 
 seasons. The military cantonments 
 stand on a rocky plain about a mile 
 to the south-west of the city, and is 
 reckoned healthy, while the city itself 
 is known to be the reverse. Tropi- 
 cal fruits of every description are pro- 
 duced here in abundance, the grapes 
 and oranges being scarcely inferior to 
 those of Europe. 
 
 Aurungabacl is situated in a hollow, 
 and when approached from the north- 
 east, its white domes and minars are 
 seen rising from below amidst a grove 
 of trees. Its locality has been parti- 
 cularly favourable for ensuring an 
 abundant supply of excellent water, 
 which is brought in stone conduits 
 from the neigbouring hills, and dis- 
 tributed through earthen pipes to the 
 numerous stone reservoirs in every 
 quarter, from some of which foun- 
 tains spring up in the centre. The 
 main street or bazar is nearly two 
 miles long, of good width, and re- 
 sembling in its architecture the prin- 
 cipal street of Oojein ; at one extre- 
 
 mity is the spacious quadrangle of 
 the chowk, and at a short distance a 
 handsome modern market, named the 
 shahgunge. The ruins of Aureng- 
 zebe’s palace still cover an extensive 
 space, but they are rapidly disappear- 
 ing. The celebrated mausoleum, 
 erected by his order to the memory 
 of his daughter, has some resem- 
 blance to the Tauje at Agra, but in 
 every respect less imposing. Its 
 domes are of white marble, and clus- 
 tered like those of the Tauje, but in- 
 ferior in size, fulness, and splendour, 
 and throughout the whole there is a 
 comparative poverty in the materials ; 
 in many places stucco is substituted 
 for marble, and the exquisite mosaic 
 bas-reliefs are wanting. The fakeer’s 
 tomb is an insignificant structure, and 
 chiefly remarkable for its fine reser- 
 voirs, with their numerous jet d'eaus , 
 artificial cascades, and water mills. 
 Connected with this tomb is a mosque, 
 and many other mosques are dispersed 
 over the town, but none of remark- 
 able structure. 
 
 In the bazar, which is extensive, 
 various kinds of commodities, Euro- 
 pean as well as native, particularly 
 silks, are exposed for sale; and the 
 population, although much reduced, 
 is still considerable. In 1820, Rajah 
 Govind Buksh (the brother of Rajah 
 Chundoo Laul, the prime minister at 
 Hyderabad) resided at Hyderabad as 
 governor of the northern portion of 
 the Nizam’s dominions in this quarter. 
 The population of Aurungabad gra- 
 dually decreased until 1815, when 
 without any apparent cause the city 
 began to revive. In 1825 it con- 
 tained about 60,000 persons, and 
 covered a spot of ground about seven 
 miles in circumference. Travelling 
 distance from Poona 186 miles; from 
 Bombay, by Poona, 284 ; from Hyder- 
 abad 295 ; from Madras 647 ; from 
 Delhi 750; and from Calcutta 1,022 
 miles. — ( Fullarton , Calcutta Medical 
 Transactions , Wilks , the Duke of W el- 
 lington , Fitzclarence, fyc.) 
 
 Autghur. — This place stands in 
 the midst of a wild and woody coun- 
 try, about fourteen miles N.W. from 
 
 g 2 
 
84 
 
 AVA. 
 
 the city of Cuttack. On the north it 
 is bounded by the tributary state of 
 Durpun, and on the west by the for- 
 tress of Tigria, and its extreme di- 
 mensions are fifteen miles from east 
 to west, by twelve from north to 
 south. Owing to the quantity and 
 density of the jungle, the country is 
 reckoned very unhealthy, and in 1813 
 the annual tribute paid by the zemin- 
 dar was only 6,868 rupees. The ar- 
 ticles produced are rice, and various 
 sorts of grain, tobacco, cotton, sugar- 
 cane, and oil. — ( Richardson , $c.) 
 
 Autmallick. — A talook in the 
 province of Orissa opposite to the 
 Boad zemindarry,thus named because 
 it was formerly covered by eight per- 
 sons in succession. It consists almost 
 entirely of hills and jungles, and in 
 the triennial settlement of 1818 was 
 assessed at only 800 sicca rupees. — 
 {Roughsedge, fyc.) 
 
 Autoor. — A town in the Hydera- 
 bad province, twenty-five miles west 
 by south from the city of Hyderabad. 
 Lat. 17° 17' N., Ion. 78° 10' E. 
 
 AVA AND THE BURMESE 
 EMPIRE. 
 
 An extensive and once powerful 
 empire in the south-eastern extremity 
 of Asia, where, until the late war, it 
 occupied, either directly or influen- 
 tially, almost half of the region des- 
 cribed in maps as India beyond the 
 Ganges. At present the Burmese 
 empire, strictly speaking, is limited to 
 the kingdoms of Ava and Pegu ; Ar- 
 racan, half of Martaban, Tavoy, Te- 
 nasserim, and the Mergui isles having 
 been ceded to the British government, 
 and Junk Ceylon recovered by the 
 Siamese, while Assam and all the ad- 
 jacent petty states have been liberated 
 from its yoke. How far its influence 
 now extends to the east of the Mar- 
 taban or Saluen river is uncertain, but 
 several of the Shan tribes are known 
 to be tributary, and also to furnish on 
 emergencies a contingency of troops. 
 On the north, Ava is bounded by As- 
 sam and the adjacent petty states ; on 
 
 the south by Siam, the sea, and the 
 British district of Martaban ; to the 
 west it has the sea, Arracan, and Ben- 
 gal ; and on the east, Siam and the 
 Shan nations. In length, including 
 tributaries, it may be roughly esti- 
 mated at 560 miles (from lat. 16° to 
 lat. 24° N.) by an average breadth of 
 about 300 miles. This is given merely 
 as an approximation, for beyond the 
 banks of the Irawady little is known 
 respecting the interior. The genuine 
 Burmese designate themselves Mran- 
 mas, and their country Mranma. 
 
 North from Pegu, on both sides of 
 the Irawady, belongs to the Burmese, 
 who for two centuries have been 
 the most powerful nation in this part 
 of Asia. By Europeans their country 
 is generally called Ava, from a cor- 
 rupt pronunciation of Aenwa, the 
 vulgar name of the capital, and the 
 names Mrama, Burma, Birma, and 
 Brahma, often given to the nation, 
 are probably all corruptions of Mara- 
 ma used by the people of Arracan. 
 The principal rivers are the Irawady, 
 the Kienduem, the Saluen or Marta- 
 ban river, the Pegu river, and the 
 Lokiang. At present the only sea- 
 coast possessed by the Burmese is in 
 the districts of Rangoon and Basseen, 
 at the southern extremity of Pegu. 
 In Ava Proper the difference between 
 the east and west banks of the Ira- 
 wady is remarkable ; the east being 
 barren, arid, and parched up, especi- 
 ally in the neighbourhood of the pe- 
 troleum wells; whilst the west is fer- 
 tile and well supplied with moisture, 
 and yields in abundance almost every 
 tropical production. The country 
 between Prome and Tongho is hilly, 
 without navigable rivers or practica- 
 ble roads, and almost destitute of 
 fresh water. 
 
 The seasons in Ava, which resemble 
 those of Bengal, may be divided into 
 three, the cold, the hot, and the rainy. 
 The first begins in December and 
 lasts until February, during which 
 time the morning fogs are dense, and 
 last until near ten o’clock, when the 
 power of the sun’s rays dissipates 
 them ; the hot weather follows and 
 lasts until May, when the rains set in, 
 
AVA. 
 
 85 
 
 and pour without interruption until 
 October. Judging from the appear- 
 ance and vigour of the natives, the 
 climate must be very healthy. The 
 intense heat which precedes the com- 
 mencement of the rains is short, and 
 incommodes but very little. Exclu- 
 sive of the delta formed by the 
 mouths of the Irawady, there is very 
 little alluvial soil in the Birman do- 
 minions. The soil of Pegu is remark- 
 ably fertile, and produces as abundant 
 crops of rice as are to be found in the 
 finest parts of Bengal. Further north 
 the country becomes irregular and 
 higher ; but at present the Burmese 
 territories south of the capital do 
 not contain a single elevation suffici- 
 ently great to deserve the name of 
 mountain. The plains and vallies 
 near the rivers are exceedingly fer- 
 tile, yielding abundance of wheat, 
 and the various small grains and le- 
 gumes that grow in Hindostan. The 
 sugar-cane, tobacco of a superior 
 quality, indigo, cotton, and the dif- 
 ferent tropical fruits areall indigenous. 
 In a district lying to the north of 
 Amarapura, named Palongmiou, the 
 tea plant grows, but its leaf is very 
 inferior to the article imported from 
 China, and is seldom used but as a 
 piekle. Besides the teak tree, which 
 grows in most parts of Ava, there is 
 almost every description of timber 
 known in India. 
 
 According to former accounts the 
 kingdom of Ava abounded with mi- 
 nerals, but a more close inspection of 
 the country has not confirmed that 
 report. In the mountainous parts, 
 towards the frontiers of China, mines 
 of gold, silver, rubies, sapphires, ame- 
 thysts, garnets, chrysolites, and jas- 
 per are said to abound, but these pre- 
 cious stones do not appear ever to have 
 formed a considerable article of ex- 
 port or of traffic in the bazar. Marble 
 of an excellent texture, and suscepti- 
 ble of the highest polish, is found a 
 few miles from Amarapura, where 
 it is monopolized by the government, 
 and employed in fabricating the innu- 
 merable images of Gaudma scattered 
 over the country. The most remark- 
 able product of the Burmese empire 
 
 is petroleum oil, an article of uni- 
 versal use throughout the provinces, 
 and yielding a large revenue to the 
 government. Neither Pegu nor Ava 
 are rich in metallic ores, with the ex- 
 ception of tin and antimony. The 
 consumption of iron is principally 
 supplied from the great mountain of 
 Pouka, on the east side of the Ira- 
 wady, and near the lat. of 21 ° north. 
 Besides petroleum, the other mineral 
 saline productions are coal, saltpetre, 
 soda, and culinary salt. The moun- 
 tains about twenty miles to the north 
 of the city of Ava, and from 3,000 
 to 4,000 feet high, contain many plants 
 common to the Himalaya chain. The 
 climate, however, of Ava Proper is 
 not very favourable, the rains being 
 seldom sufficiently abundant, so that 
 without artificial irrigation, all the 
 neighbouring countries are more pro- 
 ductive of grain. 
 
 The great internal traffic is that 
 which subsists between the southern 
 and northern provinces, in which the 
 first sends the necessaries of life, rice, 
 salt, and fish to Ava, receiving in re- 
 turn terra japonica, palm, sugar, pe- 
 troleum oil, onions, tamarinds, lime- 
 stone, paper, lacquered-ware, orpi- 
 ment, gold, wrought silk and cottons, 
 brass-ware, coarse cutlerj^, weapons, 
 and vermilion. Formerly the imports 
 consisted of Madras piece goods, but 
 within the last five years these, as 
 well as Bengal piece goods, have 
 given way to British piece goods, 
 principally cheap, coloured handker- 
 chiefs and book muslins, long cloths, 
 and cotton cambrics. The other im- 
 ports are some Madras and Bengal 
 cottons, a small quantity of English 
 woollens, iron-ware, sugar, dates, co- 
 coa-nuts and tobacco. Formerly by 
 far the largest export was teak timber, 
 principally to Calcutta and Madras, 
 the value then estimated at five lacks 
 of rupees annually, independent of 
 what was exported coast-ways from 
 Basseen, and another large trading 
 place called Lewatna, on the same 
 river. The teak of Pegu has hitherto 
 been all procured from the lower dis- 
 tricts, because more accessible, which 
 is probably the chief cause of its ac- 
 
86 
 
 AVA. 
 
 knowledged inferiority to the teak of 
 Malabar. A considerable trade is said 
 to exist between Amarapura and 
 Yunan in China. The principal export 
 from Ava is cotton, which is trans- 
 ported up the Irawady in large boats 
 as far as Bamoo, where it is bartered 
 at the common jee or mart with the 
 Chinese merchants, and conveyed by 
 the latter into the celestial empire ; 
 as also amber, ivory, and gems, betel- 
 nut, and edible nests brought from 
 the Eastern islands. The returns from 
 China are raw and wrought silks, gold 
 leaf, preserves, paper, and some 
 utensils of hardware. The Birmans, 
 like the Chinese, have not any coin, 
 silver in bullion and lead being the 
 current monies of the country. 
 
 The Burmese empire is subdivided 
 into provinces and districts of very 
 unequal magnitude and importance, 
 each governed by a viceroy or mili- 
 tary chief, called Maywoon, aided in 
 his functions by one or more sub- 
 ordinate officers, named Raywoon, 
 according to the exigencies of his 
 command. These form the lotoo or 
 council, in which is vested the power 
 of life and death, for, although ap- 
 peal to Amarapura is permitted, 
 the difficulty and expense render the 
 privilege nugatory. These governors 
 and military commandants have no 
 salaries from the crown, but are 
 allowed certain fees on law-suits, a 
 per-centage on taxes, and may levy 
 and extort contributions at their 
 pleasure. When the king makes war, 
 or the kingdom is invaded, the May- 
 woon provides the quota of men at 
 w hich the province is assessed, and 
 exacts extraordinary taxes for their 
 equipment and support. 
 
 Besides these thereisa subordinate 
 class of functionaries named meu- 
 thogies, or civil chiefs, of whom 
 there is one in every pergunnah, 
 town, and village (like the patells of 
 the Deccan) in the empire. This 
 office is generally hereditary, and 
 the possessors of it have great in- 
 fluence in the management of their 
 respective quarters, as through them 
 the taxes are collected and the vice- 
 roy’s orders promulgated. They also 
 
 hold courts for the trial of petty 
 causes, and derive considerable 
 emolument from the fees they are 
 authorized to levy, and, owing to 
 their utility at home, are usually ex- 
 empted from military service. In 
 1825, as the British army advanced, 
 these useful functionaries returned 
 from the woods and jungles into 
 which they had been driven with 
 their people, and were reinstalled in 
 their former departments, which they 
 administered so effectually, that dur- 
 ing the long halt of the British 
 army at Prome, surrounded by an 
 immense and agitated population, 
 only one instance of capital punish- 
 ment took place, and that a con- 
 viction of robbery accompanied with 
 murder. 
 
 The Burmese administration of 
 justice is at once rude, unskilful, 
 violent, relentless, and rapacious. 
 There is no species of pain or pe- 
 nalty, even death, from which ex- 
 emption may not be purchased by a 
 bribe, the highest bidder being sure 
 to gain his cause in a civil court. In 
 liquidation of fines, wives, daughters, 
 and sons are sold and mortgaged. 
 A minute register of every inhabi- 
 tant above three years of age is kept, 
 containing, from superstitious mo- 
 tives, the day of their nativity, their 
 names and ages, as well as those of 
 their wives and children, that all and 
 each might be rendered responsible 
 in their persons for their relatives. 
 Persons, when they have been in- 
 jured or aggrieved, are fined, even 
 years afterwards, for not having com- 
 plained, having thereby defrauded 
 the government and its officers of 
 the fees and profits that would have 
 accrued from the investigation. On 
 the 7th February 1817 seven per- 
 sons were brought out for execution 
 at Rangoon. The first was fired at 
 four times without being hit, and w'as 
 in consequence declared to be super- 
 naturally protected, and pardoned ; 
 the second was shot dead, and the 
 other five beheaded. It was subse- 
 quently ascertained that the super- 
 natural culprit had paid the gover- 
 nor a large fine. 
 
The names of the most remark- 
 able towns are Ava, the ancient, 
 and now again the modern capital ; 
 Arnarapura, the late capital ; Mon- 
 chaboo, the birth-place of Alompra ; 
 Pegu, Rangoon, Basseen, Syriam, 
 Negrais, Pagahm and Chagain,Prome 
 and Tongho. The two last are rec- 
 koned the keys of the Burmese ca- 
 pital, yet might be suddenly captured 
 by a handful of Europeans ascending 
 the river in a steam-boat. Every 
 town on the river, according to its 
 size and means, is obliged to keep 
 and man a gilt or common war-boat, 
 of which the king can still muster 
 above 200, carrying from forty to 
 fifty men. As they live chiefly on 
 free quarters, and are consequent- 
 ly in a state of hostility with the 
 peasantry, they are violent, auda- 
 cious, and prompt to execute any 
 atrocity, however unjust and cruel, 
 and are, in fact, the most loyal and 
 efficient portion of the Burmese mili- 
 tary establishment. The state boats 
 belonging to the king and queen are 
 gilt all over, the oars and paddles 
 not excepted. According to Bur- 
 mese notions, there are thirty-seven 
 motions of the paddle. 
 
 Five months’ uninterrupted tran- 
 quillity, while quartered at Prome, 
 gave the British officers an opportu- 
 nity of forming a more intimate ac- 
 quaintance with the manners and 
 customs of the Burmese than had 
 hitherto been attained, all prior in- 
 tercourse having been carried on 
 under surveillance. Notwithstanding 
 the Birman’s cruel and sanguinary 
 habits during war, he evinces in his 
 private and domestic habits little of 
 the ferocious arrogance that has ren- 
 dered him the terror of surround- 
 ing nations. At home he is lazy and 
 averse to work, compelling his wife 
 to toil worse than a beast of burthen, 
 while he passes his time in idleness, 
 smoking, and chewing betel. His 
 wants are few and simple ; rice and 
 a little fish, pickled and putrid, forms 
 his daily repast, and water his drink, 
 and he seems happy and contented, 
 bearing all kinds of oppression with 
 apathy and indifference, and kind to 
 
 every body but his wife and daugh- 
 ter, both of whom he works like 
 slaves, and prostitutes for money to 
 strangers. Fortunately for these 
 miserable beings — and females are 
 miserable in all similar stages of so- 
 ciety — the latter custom is not at- 
 tended with the slightest degradation, 
 the victims on their return being re- 
 garded rather as objects of envy than 
 of pity, from the little stock of 
 wealth they bring along with them. 
 
 The Indian nations east of the 
 Ganges, following the maxims of the 
 Chinese, have always been more 
 cautious in their intercourse with 
 foreign states than those of the west. 
 Indeed the courts of Ava and Pekin 
 resemble each other in many respects, 
 and in none more than their vanity 
 and pride, which often manifests 
 itself in a most ludicrous manner. 
 Like the sovereign of China, his ma- 
 jesty of Ava acknowledges no equal. 
 Boa, or emperor, is a title which 
 Minderajee had assumed; the sove- 
 reign of China is styled Oodee Boa, 
 or emperor of Oodee or China. 
 Although deficient in every thing 
 that can render a state formidable, 
 this sovereign and his functionaries 
 are (or rather were) quite inflated 
 with the idea of their own impor- 
 tance, and presented the spectacle 
 of a court at once feeble and arro- 
 gant. In Ava all rank is official, 
 emanating from, continued by, or 
 annihilated by the will or caprice of 
 the sovereign. The lowest Birman 
 may aspire to the highest dignity ; 
 the most elevated may in one day be 
 degraded to a level with the lowest of 
 people, and esteem himself fortunate 
 if he carries his head along with him. 
 This want of a hereditary nobility, to 
 give stability to the government and 
 its institutions, has long preserved it 
 in a state of anarchy, the victim of 
 sudden and sanguinary revolutions. 
 
 The labouring classes of Ava and 
 Pegu have been reckoned by a com- 
 petent judge (Mr. Crawfurd) superior 
 in point of physical strength and 
 activity to any of the eastern Asia- 
 tics, the Chinese excepted ; but he 
 thought the mass of intelligence pos- 
 
88 
 
 AVA. 
 
 sessed by them greatly inferior to 
 that of the Hindostanies, or any na- 
 tion of western Asia, and even worse 
 governed and less civilized than the 
 Siamese and Cochin-Chinese. This 
 may be attributed to the absence of 
 a hereditary nobility, wealthy land 
 proprietors, and of an elevated and 
 intelligent hierarchy. Without thesfe, 
 knowledge cannot accumulate; no- 
 thing is permanently added to the 
 prior fund, which is the natural 
 check to misgovernment. Accord- 
 ing to a Burmese account, the pro- 
 vimfcs south of Prome contain 160 
 townships, and about 2,080 villages, 
 with 175,000 houses, in each of 
 which, according to the Burmese 
 custom, from one to four families 
 reside. Assuming two families, and 
 five to a family, this estimate would 
 give a population of 1,750,000, or 
 about forty to the square mile. The 
 area of the provinces south of Prome 
 occupies about one-third of the 
 whole empire, which, supposing it 
 peopled in the same ratio, would 
 give a total population of 3,500,000 
 persons (including 500,000 Carians), 
 which is probably not very remote 
 from the truth. It appears to have 
 been the usual practice of the Bur- 
 mese, and indeed of the ultra Gan- 
 getic nations generally, to transport 
 the natives of their conquered pro- 
 vinces to another quarter, and re- 
 people them with Burmese. 
 
 There is no doubt the population 
 and resources of the Burmese em- 
 pire had been greatly exaggerated by 
 former travellers, and more espe- 
 cially by Colonel Symes, as may be 
 inferred from the following statistical 
 facts recently acquired. The three 
 towns of Amarapura, Ava, and Sa- 
 kaing, with the districts attached, 
 contain an area of 283 square miles, 
 composing by far the best cultivated 
 and most populous portion of the 
 empire. It is nearly exempted from 
 taxation, being favoured through an- 
 cient and established usage, to the 
 detriment of the rest of the country. 
 According to the public registers, the 
 above space contains 50,000 houses, 
 and each house estimated at seven 
 
 inhabitants, which would furnish an 
 aggregate of 354,200 persons. Ava 
 city certainly does not contain 30,000 
 inhabitants, and in population, wealth, 
 industry, and trade, is greatly below 
 Bankok, the capital of Siam. The 
 other large towns, such as Rangoon, 
 Prome, Monchaboo, &c., not above 
 a dozen in number, do not contain 
 more than 10,000 inhabitants each ; 
 indeed, in 1827, Rangoon was found 
 only to contain between 8,000 and 
 9,000 by an actual census. 
 
 One-tenth of the produce is ex- 
 acted as the authorized due of go- 
 vernment, and one-tenth is the 
 amount of the king’s duty on all 
 foreign goods imported. The re- 
 venue arising from customs on im- 
 ports are mostly taken in kind ; a 
 small part converted into cash, and 
 the rest distributed in lieu of salaries 
 to the various departments of the 
 state. Money, except on the most 
 pressing exigencies, is never dis- 
 bursed from the royal coffers. To 
 one man the fees of an office are 
 allowed ; to another a station where 
 certain imposts are collected ; a third 
 has land granted in proportion to 
 the importance of his employment. 
 On the other hand, every officer of 
 government, from the highest to the 
 lowest, according to his rank and 
 station, makes an annual fixed pre- 
 sent to the king. 
 
 The Burmese may be described as 
 a nation of soldiers, every man in the 
 kingdom being liable to be called on 
 for his military services. In their 
 usual mode of warfare, a Burmese 
 rarely meets his enemy in the open 
 field. Instructed and trained from 
 his youth in the construction and de- 
 fence of stockades, their wars prior 
 to 1824 had been a series of con- 
 quests, all the adjacent nations hav- 
 ing fallen before them. With refe- 
 rence to mere animal strength, a 
 Hindostany sepoy is certainly not a 
 match for a Burmese ; but, alarmed 
 and confounded by the steady ad- 
 vance of the European soldiers close 
 up to their strongest works without 
 firing a shot, distracted by the show- 
 ers of Congreve rockets, shrapnell 
 
AVA. 
 
 89 
 
 shells, and bombs, and astonished by 
 the smoking phenomenon of a steam 
 boat, they fell before superior know- 
 ledge and energy. A Birman soldier 
 has not even the consolation of 
 seeing his general partaking his dan- 
 gers, for after giving direction what 
 to do, this cautious hero usually 
 leaves the stockade. The investment 
 of the Sheo Dagon pagoda at Ran- 
 goon, was the boldest undertaking of 
 the Burmese during the late war. 
 There they advanced within point- 
 blank musket range, and burrowing 
 like rabbits, bore a hot fire of shells, 
 bombs, and shrapnells for six days. 
 Their defence of Donabew also enti- 
 tles them to much praise. Our late 
 ambassador, however, denies their 
 chiefs either courage, intelligence, or 
 public spirit, and insists that the 
 genius of the Burmese institutions, 
 civil and military, are quite hostile 
 to the generation of martial habits 
 and feelings among the mass of the 
 people. Indeed, he did not hesitate 
 to consider them, when compared 
 with the fighting tribes of Hindostan, 
 a people eminently tame and un- 
 warlike. 
 
 In their features the Burmese bear 
 a much nearer resemblance to the 
 Chinese than to the natives of Hin- 
 dostan. They are not tall in stature, 
 but are active and athletic, and have 
 a very youthful appearance, from the 
 custom of plucking the beard instead 
 of using the razor. Both sexes co- 
 lour their teeth, eye-lashes, and the 
 edges of their eye-lids with black, 
 and in their food, compared with 
 the Hindostanies, are gross and 
 uncleanly. The culinary system of 
 the Burmese and other Indo-Chi- 
 nese nations, is nevertheless much 
 more agreeable to a European palate 
 than that of the natives of Hindos- 
 tan. Some of their ragouts, how- 
 ever, are peculiar, one of which, sent 
 with others by the king to the mem- 
 bers of the late embassy by way of 
 refreshment after a boat-race, was 
 a dish of fried crickets. Although 
 their religion forbids the slaughter of 
 animals, yet they apply the interdic- 
 tion only to those that are domesti- 
 
 cated. All game is eagerly sought 
 after, and in many places publicly 
 sold. Reptiles, such as lizards, 
 guanos, and snakes, constitute a part 
 of the subsistence of the lower classes. 
 To strangers they grant the most 
 liberal indulgence, and if they chance 
 to shoot at and kill a fat bullock, it 
 is ascribed to accident. The Bur- 
 mese burn their dead, and place 
 implicit faith in talismans, auguries, 
 and judicial astrology. The first are 
 usually written on sheet gold or 
 silver, and inserted under the skin of 
 the person to be protected. All the 
 Birman soldiers are tattooed, but the 
 Siamese consider the practice as bar- 
 barous. Among this people the sit- 
 ting posture is the most respectful, 
 but strangers are apt to attribute to 
 insolence, what in their view is a 
 mark of deference. The British 
 troops found the Burmese extrava 
 gantly fond of spirits, and they soon 
 acquired the language of their con- 
 querors sufficiently to ask for a glass 
 of English water (gin) and brandy ; 
 but although their country abounds 
 with cattle, they make no use what- 
 ever of their milk. 
 
 In this empire every thing belong- 
 ing to the king has the word “ shoe,” 
 or gold, prefixed to it ; even his ma- 
 jesty’s person is never mentioned but 
 in conjunction with that precious 
 metal. When a subject means to 
 affirm that the king has heard any- 
 thing, he says, “ it has reached the 
 golden ears he who has obtained 
 admittance to the royal presence has 
 been at the “ golden feet and otr 
 of roses is described as being grateful 
 to the “ golden nose.” The Birman 
 sovereign is sole proprietor of all the 
 elephants within his dominions, and 
 here male elephants are preferred to 
 female, which is the reverse of what 
 takes place in Hindostan. The 
 henza, the symbol of the Burmese 
 nation, as the eagle was of the Roman 
 empire, is a species of wild fowl called 
 the Brahminy goose. Men of high 
 rank have their barges drawn by war 
 boats, it being thought inconsistent 
 with their dignity to sit in the same 
 boat with common watermen.. Not- 
 
90 
 
 AVA. 
 
 withstanding the well-formed arches 
 still to be seen in many of the ancient 
 temples, Burmese workmen can no 
 longer turn them : which shews how 
 easily an art once well known may 
 be lost. Masonry in the latter ages 
 has been much neglected ; buildings 
 of wood, thatch, and bamboos, hav- 
 ing superseded the more solid struc- 
 tures of brick and mortar. No chief, 
 however, will enter the house of an 
 inferior, or even of an equal, for to 
 do so implies a diminution of dignity. 
 The king never enters the house of 
 his brother, although he is often seen 
 walking arm in arm with him in the 
 court before his dwelling. 
 
 The Pali language constitutes at 
 the present day the sacred text of 
 Ava, Pegu, and Siam ; the Birman 
 dialect has borrowed the Sanscrit 
 alphabet, in which it is constantly 
 written. But, notwithstanding this 
 appearance of intimacy, the mis- 
 sionaries, in a specimen of the Lord’s 
 Prayer in the Burmese language, 
 could scarcely discover three genuine 
 Sanscrit words. Many syllables, how- 
 ever, according with those of the 
 Chinese colloquial dialect are to be 
 found, and the language adopts two 
 of the four Chinese tones. The San- 
 scrit language is here found arrested 
 in its progress eastward, and con- 
 strained to lend its alphabet to do 
 little more than clothe and express 
 another system, said, by those who 
 have studied it most closely, to be 
 of mere syllabic origin, and retaining 
 tones completely foreign to the San- 
 scrit system. The character in com- 
 mon use throughout Ava and Pegu 
 is a round Nagari, derived from the 
 square Pali, or religious text, formed 
 of circles and segments of circles 
 variously disposed, written from left 
 to right, and usually engraved on 
 palmira leaves. Every place of note 
 in the kingdom has two names, one 
 in the vulgar tongue, and the other 
 in the sacred Pali. The number of 
 dialects spoken in the Birman em- 
 pire is said to exceed eighteen. 
 
 The most remarkable antiquities 
 are to be found at Pagahm, Chagaing, 
 Sanku, and Anglewa. The ruins in 
 
 best preservation, and largest in ex- 
 tent, are those of Pagahm, which ex- 
 tend twelve miles along the bank of 
 the Irawady, and five inland. Many 
 of the temples there are still entire, 
 and exhibit a superior style, far be- 
 yond the utmost efforts of modern 
 Burmese architects. In one of the 
 old temples at Pagahm, Brahminical 
 images of Vishnu, Siva, and Huni- 
 maun were found, when visited by 
 the embassy in 1827, besides many 
 inscriptions in the Deva-nagari cha- 
 racter. In one spot, where the 
 temple of the Arracan image of 
 Gaudma stands, the late king Min- 
 deraja Praw had collected 260 monu- 
 mental inscriptions, some on white 
 marble, but the greater number on 
 sandstone, mostly however referring 
 to the founding of some temple or 
 monastery. 
 
 The laws of the Burmese, like their 
 religion, are Hindoo ; indeed there is 
 no separating their laws from their 
 religion. Their code they name 
 Derma Sath, or Sastra, which is one 
 of Menu’s commentaries. Their sys- 
 tem of jurisprudence, like that of the 
 Chinese, provides specifically for al- 
 most every species of crime that 
 can be committed, and trial by ordeal 
 and imprecation are permitted. They 
 are not shackled by any prejudices of 
 caste, restricted to hereditary occu- 
 pations, or forbidden to associate 
 with strangers, as are the Hindoos of 
 the Brahminical persuasion. A know- 
 ledge of letters is very generally dif- 
 fused, and many can both read and 
 write the vulgar tongue ; but few 
 understand the scientific or more 
 sacred volumes. All kioums or 
 monasteries are also seminaries for 
 the education of youth, to which the 
 surrounding inhabitants may send 
 their children, where they are edu- 
 cated gratis by theRahaans or monks, 
 who neither buy, sell, or accept mo- 
 ney. Their year is divided into 
 twelve months, of twenty-nine and 
 thirty days alternately, which they 
 rectify by an intercalation every third 
 year. They reckon the month from 
 the beginning to the full moon, after 
 which they recede by retrogressive 
 
AVA. 
 
 91 
 
 enumeration until the month is fi- 
 nished. The week is divided into 
 seven days, as in Hindostan and 
 Europe. The Christian year 1795 
 corresponds with the Birman year 
 1157, and with the Hejira of 1209. 
 Througout Ava, and other states to 
 the eastward, the word lack signifies 
 only ten thousand, 
 
 Buddha (of whom the Burmese are 
 sectaries, as the Hindoos are of 
 Brahma) is admitted by Hindoos of 
 all descriptions as the ninth Avatar, 
 or descent of the deity in the cha- 
 racter of preserver ; but the religion 
 of the Buddhists differs greatly from 
 that of the Brahmins, the gods of 
 the Brahmins being in a state of con- 
 stant activity, pervading and animat- 
 ing all nature, while those of the 
 Buddhists remain quiescent, and 
 do not concern themselves about 
 human affairs. The latter teach that 
 from time to time men of surpassing 
 piety and self-denial have appeared 
 on earth, and from their singular 
 worth have after death been trans- 
 ferred to a state of supreme bliss, or 
 absence of pain. These saints, after 
 reforming the world during their life- 
 time, and by their superior sanctity 
 acquiring the power of performing 
 miracles, are imagined after death to 
 possess a command over the living, 
 and it is they who are the direct 
 objects of worship with the Bud- 
 dhists. Buddha, during his incarna- 
 tion, reformed the doctrines of the 
 Vedas, and severely censured the 
 sacrifice of cattle or depriving any 
 thing of life. His birth-place is sup- 
 posed to have been Gaya in Bahar. 
 Gautama or Gautom, according to 
 the Hindoos of India, and Gaudma 
 among the ultra-Gangetic nations, is 
 said to have been a saint and philo- 
 sopher, and is believed by the Bir- 
 mans to have flourished 2,300 years 
 ago. He taught in the Indian schools 
 the heterodox religion and philosophy 
 of Buddha. The image that repre- 
 sents Buddha is called Gaudma, 
 which is a commonly received ap- 
 pellation for Buddha himself. This 
 image is a primary object of worship 
 in all countries (Assam and Cassay 
 
 excepted), situated between Bengal 
 and China. The sectaries of Bud- 
 dha contend with those of Brahma 
 for antiquity, and are certainly in the 
 aggregate, under various denomina- 
 tions, much more numerous. The 
 Cingalese of Ceylon are Buddhists of 
 the purest source, and the Burmese 
 acknowledge to have received their 
 religion from that island. Sir Wm. 
 Jones determines the period when 
 Buddha appeared on earth to have 
 been 1,014 years before the birth of 
 our Saviour. 
 
 The Burmese believe in the me- 
 tempsychosis, and that having under- 
 gone a certain number of migrations, 
 their souls will, at last, either be 
 received into their mount Olympus, 
 on the mountain Meru, or be sent to 
 suffer torments in a place of divine 
 punishment. Notwithstanding the 
 Burmese are followers of Buddha, 
 they greatly reverence the Brahmins, 
 and acknowledge their superiority in 
 science over their own priests. The 
 king and chief officers have always 
 in their houses some of these domestic 
 sages, who supply them with astrolo- 
 gical advice. But the natives of 
 Ava do not inflict on themselves dis- 
 gusting tortures, after the manner of 
 the Brahminical Hindoos, although 
 they deem it meritorious to mortify 
 the flesh by the voluntary penances 
 of abstemiousness and self-denial. 
 The kioums or convents of the Ra- 
 haans differ in their structure from the 
 common houses, and much resemble 
 the architecture of the Chinese. 
 They profess celibacy, abstain from 
 every sensual indulgence, wear yel- 
 low, and never cook, holding it a 
 degradation to perform any of the 
 common offices of life likely to divert 
 them from the contemplation of the 
 divine essence ; yet they are but little 
 reverenced by their respective flocks, 
 and have no political influence. In 
 the various commotions of the em- 
 pire, the Rahaans have never taken 
 any active part, and have in conse- 
 quence rarely been molested by the 
 contending factions. Unshackled 
 by the caste of the Brahminical Hin- 
 doos, or the bigotry of the Mussul- 
 
92 
 
 AVA. 
 
 man, so slight a hold has their 
 present religious creed on the minds 
 of the Burmese, that it has been 
 asserted, and with strong probability, 
 that the king of Ava could in one 
 day, and by a simple order, change 
 the religion of the whole nation, 
 without creating a sensation or occa- 
 sioning a murmur. 
 
 We have hitherto omitted to no- 
 tice a very important personage, half 
 sacred half prophane, who being the 
 second dignitary in the kingdom, has 
 a regular cabinet, composed of a 
 woonghee or prime-minister; a woon- 
 dock or secretary of state ; a song- 
 hee, or inferior secretary ; a nakeen, 
 
 . or transmitter of intelligence, besides 
 other subordinate ministers and func- 
 tionaries, some of whom manage the 
 estates he possesses in the country. 
 This individual is the white ele- 
 phant, to whom presents of muslins, 
 chintzes and silks are regularly made 
 by all foreign ambassadors, the order 
 of precedence in Ava being as fol- 
 lows : 1. The king; 2d. The white 
 elephant ; and 3. The queen. The 
 residence of the white elephant is 
 contiguous to the royal palace, with 
 which it is connected by a long open 
 gallery supported by numerous wood- 
 en pillars, at the further end of which 
 a curtain of black velvet, embossed 
 with gold, conceals the august animal 
 from vulgar eyes, and before this 
 curtain the intended offerings are 
 displayed. His dwelling is a lof'y 
 hall covered with splendid gilding, 
 and supported by sixty-four pillars, 
 half of which are elegantly gilt. To 
 two of these his fore-feet are fixed 
 by silver chains, while his hind ones 
 are secured by links of a baser metal. 
 His bed consists of a thick mattress 
 covered with blue cloth, over which 
 another of a softer composition is 
 spread, covered with crimson silk. 
 His trappings are very magnificent, 
 being of gold studded with large 
 diamonds, pearls, sapphires, rubies, 
 and other precious stones. His betel- 
 box, spitting-pot, ankle rings, and 
 the vessel out of which he feeds, are 
 likewise of gold inlaid with precious 
 stones, and his attendants and guard 
 
 exceed one thousand persons. The 
 white elephant, thus fed, dressed and 
 attended, appears to be a diseased 
 animal, whose colour has been af- 
 fected by a species of leprosy. The 
 one shown to Captain Canning in 
 1810, was of small size, of a sandy 
 colour, and apparently unconscious 
 of his own importance, although his 
 votaries at a distance were humbly 
 bowing their heads nearly to the 
 ground. By the Birmans a white 
 elephant is supposed to contain a 
 human soul in the last stage of many 
 millions of transmigrations, at the 
 conclusion of which he is absorbed 
 into the essence of the deity, and 
 annihilated, — according to Birman 
 faith, the highest state of beatitude. 
 
 The British embassy of 1826-27 
 had a more favourable opportunity 
 of examining the white elephant than 
 had fallen to the lot of the prior 
 ones. It was the same elephant seen 
 by Capt. Canning, of a cream rather 
 than a white colour, and by no means 
 so complete an albino as those be- 
 longing to the King of Siam. The 
 veneration paid to this quadruped Mr. 
 Crawfurd (the ambassador) thinks has 
 been much exaggerated, it not being 
 an object of worship, but only con- 
 sidered as an indispensable part of 
 the regalia, which would be in- 
 complete without it, and its ab- 
 sence would be considered a most 
 inauspicious circumstance, prophetic 
 of evil to the king and nation. Hence 
 the anxiety evinced to obtain them, 
 and the high reward offered for their 
 capture. 
 
 Chronological tables of Burmese 
 history, true or false, were procured 
 by the late embassy, which go as far 
 back as 543 years before Christ. The 
 first monarchs are said to have come 
 from India, from Magadha or Banar, 
 and to have fixed the seat of their 
 government at Prome, where it re- 
 mained for 336 years. In A.D. 107, 
 it was transferred to Pagahm, where 
 it continued for more than twelve 
 centuries ; hence the wonderful ex- 
 tent of the ruins of this metropolis. 
 In 1322 the throne was transferred 
 to Sakaing, and in 1364 to Ava, 
 
AVA, 
 
 93 
 
 where it remained for the 369 years, 
 until the capture of that city by the 
 Taleins or Peguers. Alompra made 
 Monchaboo, his native town, the ca- 
 pital in 1752. His successors changed 
 the capital almost every reign, to Sa- 
 kaing, Ava, Amarapura, and then 
 back again to Ava by his present Ma- 
 jesty in 1822. From the foundation 
 of the monarchy to the present time 
 there has been 128 kings, giving an 
 average of seventeen years to each 
 reign. 
 
 From the testimony of the Por- 
 tuguese historians it appears that in 
 the middle of the sixteenth century 
 four powerful states occupied the 
 regions that lie between the south- 
 eastern provinces of British India, 
 Yunan in China, and the Eastern 
 sea. Their territories extended from 
 Cassay and Assam on the north and 
 west, and as far south as Junk Cey- 
 lon. These nations were known to 
 Europeans by the names of Ava, 
 Pegu, Arracan, and Siam. Ava, the 
 name of the ancient capital of the 
 Birmans, has usually been accepted 
 as the name of the country at large, 
 which is properly Mranina (pro- 
 nounced Myanima), and named by 
 the Chinese Zomien. The Portu- 
 guese authors say that the Burmese, 
 though formerly subject to the kings 
 of Pegu, became afterwards masters 
 of Ava, and caused a revolution in 
 Pegu about the middle of the 16th 
 century. The Portuguese assisted 
 the Burmese in their wars against the 
 Talleins or Peguers, and continued 
 to exercise an influence in the two 
 countries, and still more in Arracan, 
 so long as they maintained an as- 
 cendancy in the East over the other 
 European nations. During the reign 
 of Louis XIV. several splendid at- 
 tempts were made to propagate the 
 doctrines of the church of Rome, 
 and advance the interest of the 
 French nation in the kingdom of 
 Siam ; but little is related of Ava or 
 Pegu. 
 
 The supremacy of the Birmans 
 over the Peguers continued through- 
 out the seventeenth century, and dur- 
 ing the first forty years of the eigh- 
 
 teenth century, about which period 
 the Peguers in the provinces of Dalla* 
 Martaban, Tongho and Prome re- 
 volted ; and a civil war ensued, pro- 
 secuted on both sides with the most 
 savage ferocity. About the years 
 1750 and 1751, the Peguers, by the 
 aid of fire-arms procured from the 
 European vessels trading to their 
 ports, and with the assistance of 
 some renegade Dutch and native 
 Portuguese, gained several victories 
 over the Birmans. In 1752 they 
 invested Ava, the capital, which sur- 
 rendered at discretion. Dwipadi, the 
 last of a long line of Birman kings, 
 was made prisoner with all his family 
 except two sons, who escaped to the 
 Siamese. Bonna Della, or Beinga 
 Della, the Pegu sovereign, when he 
 had completed the conquest of Ava, 
 returned to his own country. 
 
 A man now arose to rescue his 
 country from this state of degrada- 
 tion. Alompra or Alomendra Praw 
 (the founder of the present dynasty), 
 a man of low extraction, then known 
 by the name of the Huntsman, had 
 been continued by the conqueror in 
 the chiefship of Monchaboo, at that 
 time an inconsiderable village. His 
 troops at first consisted of only 100 
 picked men, with which he defeated 
 the Peguers in several small engage- 
 ments, and his forces increasing, he 
 suddenly advanced and obtained pos- 
 session of Ava about the autumn of 
 1753. From this date, after a series 
 of hard-fought actions, he first ex- 
 pelled the enemy from the northern 
 provinces, then pursued them into 
 their own territories, where, after a 
 protracted siege, or rather blockade, 
 he took the city of Pegu, which he 
 abandoned to indiscriminate plunder 
 and massacre. He next invaded 
 Siam, and would have in all proba- 
 bility effected the conquest of that 
 empire if he had not been prevented 
 by a mortal disease, which arrested 
 his career in 1760, in the fiftieth 
 year of his age, after a short and 
 prosperous, but bloody reign, of only 
 eight years. In these wars the French 
 favoured the Peguers, while the Eng- 
 lish chose the conquering side. 
 
94 . 
 
 AVA. 
 
 Alompra was succeeded by his 
 eldest son, Namdojee Praw, who died 
 in 1764, when his brother Shembuan 
 assumed the reins of government, 
 and being of a martial disposition, 
 attacked the Siamese, and took their 
 capital, Yuthia, in 1766, but was un- 
 able to retain permanent hold of so 
 distant a country. In A.D. 17 67, or 
 1131 of the Birman era, the Chinese 
 sent an army of 50,000 men from 
 the western frontier of Yunan, which 
 advanced into the Ava dominions as 
 far as the village of Chiboo, where 
 they were hemmed in by the Bur- 
 mese. The Tartar cavalry, on whose 
 vigour and activity the Chinese army 
 depended for supplies, could no 
 longer venture out either to procure 
 provisions or to protect convoys. 
 Under these circumstances, their 
 army was attacked and wholly des- 
 troyed, except about 2,500, who were 
 sent in fetters to the capital, where 
 they were settled, and encouraged to 
 marry Burmese females. This cus- 
 tom is singular among the civilized 
 countries of the east, and peculiarly 
 remarkable in a people who derive 
 their tenets from a Hindoo source. 
 It is well known that in China even 
 the public prostitutes are strictly 
 prohibited from all intercourse with 
 any other than a Chinese; nor is 
 there any foreign woman permitted 
 to enter their territories, or to visit 
 the ports of this jealous nation. 
 Hindoo women of good caste are 
 equally inaccessible, and admission 
 into a respectable tribe is not attain- 
 able by money. 
 
 The remaining years of Shembuan 
 were occupied in subduing the re- 
 volts of the Peguers, harassing the 
 Siamese, and effecting the conquest 
 of Cassay, and Munipoor its capital, 
 which last event took place in A.D. 
 1774. He died two years afterwards, 
 and was succeeded by his son Chen- 
 guza, aged eighteen, who proving a 
 debauched blood-thirsty monster, was 
 dethroned and put to death in 1782, 
 by his uncle Minderajee Praw, the 
 fourth son of Alompra, the founder 
 of the dynasty. This sovereign in 
 the succeeding year sent a fleet of 
 
 boats against Arracan, which being 
 in a state of anarchy, by the assis- 
 tance of internal traitors, was con- 
 quered after a slight resistance, and 
 was soon followed by the surrender 
 of Cheduba, Ramree, Sandowy, and 
 the Broken isles. The Burmese arms 
 were then turned against the Sia- 
 mese, from whom, between 1784 and 
 1793, they conquered the provinces 
 of Tavoy, Tenasserim, Junk Ceylon, 
 and the Mergui isles. 
 
 In 1795, a Burmese army of 5,000 
 men pursued three distinguished rob- 
 bers into the British district of Chit- 
 tagong, where their progress was 
 opposed by a strong detachment 
 from Calcutta, and after much ne- 
 gociation retreated within their own 
 limits ; the then refugees were sub- 
 sequently given up, and two out of 
 the three executed with tortures. 
 This acquiescence on the part of the 
 British government had a prejudicial 
 effect on the subsequent conduct of 
 the Burmese, for it was impossible 
 to convince this most self-important 
 people that they were given up from 
 any other motive than that of fear ; 
 which occasioned so frequent a repe- 
 tition of violence and insolence, as to 
 render war at last inevitable. Had 
 the invasion of Chittagong been vi- 
 gorously repulsed in 1795, and a 
 direct refusal given to any proposal 
 regarding the insurgents after so hos- 
 tile a proceeding had been adopted, 
 the recent war of 1824 might in all 
 probability have been avoided. 
 
 From the year 1795 until 1809, 
 when Capt. Canning’s mission took 
 place, the condition of this empire, 
 both moral and political, had been 
 progressively deteriorating, and the 
 intellects of its sovereign gradually 
 verging to insanity. The heir-appa- 
 rent, or Engy Tekien, had died the 
 previous year, and also his chief 
 minister, a very respectable old man, 
 both of whom had frequently pre- 
 vented or mitigated the king’s san- 
 guinary orders. Deprived of these 
 checks, his rage became ungovern- 
 able, and he often pursued with his 
 sword and spear any person whose 
 countenance he disliked. Insurrec- 
 
AVA. 
 
 95 
 
 lions and rebellions broke out over 
 the country, while its sovereign was 
 carrying on preposterous intrigues to 
 excite the chiefs and people of Hin- 
 dostan against the British govern- 
 ment. Most of these were detected 
 by the Bengal functionaries, but they 
 were so utterly absurd and irrational 
 that no notice was taken of them. 
 In 1814, this barbarous and ignorant 
 court renewed the wild and extra- 
 vagant scheme of forming a confede- 
 ration of all the native princes of In- 
 dia to effect the expulsion of the 
 British, and, connected with the plan 
 circulated a rumour that the king 
 of Ava meant to make a pilgrimage 
 to Gaya and Benares, at the head of 
 40,000 men. An emissary also, dis- 
 guised as a merchant, was despatched 
 by the route of Dacca, on a clan- 
 destine mission to the Seik country 
 and Upper Hindostan ; while the 
 Shahbunderof Arracan visited Trin- 
 comalee and Madras, to collect in- 
 formation regarding the politics of 
 Southern India. This Burmese in- 
 trigue was from the beginning fully 
 known to the British government, 
 but not the slightest importance was 
 attached to it. About A.D. 1817 
 and the following years, this tur- 
 bulent nation directed their arms to- 
 wards the north, where they made a 
 conquest of the extensive jungly 
 countries of Assam, and the adjacent 
 petty states south of the Brahma- 
 putra, where they established and 
 retained a permanent military force, 
 and threatened the north-eastern 
 quarter of the Bengal province, hi- 
 therto reputed unassailable. 
 
 Minderajee Praw died in 1819, and 
 was succeeded by his grandon, Madu 
 Chew, and son of the Engy Tekien, 
 or heir apparent, favourably mention- 
 ed by Col. Symes in 1795. His as- 
 cension was attended with the cus- 
 tomary bloodshed and massacres ; but 
 these disturbances appear to have 
 been of only transitory duration, for 
 when Ava was invaded by the British 
 in 1824, he was found firmly seated 
 on the throne, and busily engaged in 
 extending his dominions. The un- 
 provoked aggressions of his troops on 
 
 the south-eastern frontier of Bengal, 
 and the contemptuous silence of his 
 court to every remonstrance on the 
 subject, led to a rupture with the 
 British, which commenced in May 
 1824, and lasted until the 24th of 
 February 1826 ; when a treaty of 
 peace was concluded by Sir Archibald 
 Campbell at Yandaboo. By the con- 
 ditions of this treaty the King of Ava 
 renounced all claims on Assam, 
 Cachar, Gentiah, and Munipoor ; 
 ceded the provinces of Arracan, Ye, 
 Tavoy, Tenasserim, and Martaban, 
 south of the Saluen river ; engaged 
 to pay one crore of rupees as an 
 indemnity, and to receive a resident 
 British ambassador in his capital. 
 This war was distinguished from every 
 other by its duration, by its great 
 privations, by difficulties of every 
 kind, arising from the climate and na- 
 ture of the country, by its unceasing 
 and harassing duties, and by its fre- 
 quent conflicts with the enemy. All 
 these a British army, never exceeding 
 5,000 fighting men, surmounted, and 
 dictated peace almost at the gates of 
 the enemy’s capital. 
 
 Impartiality, however, compels us 
 to give the Burmese history of this 
 war, as it stands recorded in the na- 
 tional chronicle of the Burmese em- 
 pire by the court historiographer, to 
 the following purport. “ In the years 
 1186 and 11 87 (Birman era), the kula 
 pyu, or white strangers of the west, 
 fastened a quarrel upon the lord of 
 the golden palace. They landed at 
 Rangoon, took that place and Prome, 
 and were permitted to advance as far 
 as Yandaboo; for the king from mo- 
 tives of piety and regard to life made 
 no preparation whatever to oppose 
 them. The strangers had spent vast 
 sums of money in their enterprize, 
 so that by the time they reached 
 Yandaboo their resources were ex- 
 hausted, and they were in great dis- 
 tress. They then petitioned the king, 
 who in his clemency and generosity 
 sent them large sums of money to 
 pay their expenses back, and ordered 
 them out of the country.” 
 
 His present Majesty is now (1827) 
 forty-four years of age, and came to 
 
A2IMGHUR. 
 
 96 
 
 the throne in 1819. He is of short 
 stature but active form, partial to 
 riding on horseback and on elephants, 
 and more especially on men’s should- 
 ers. In this last species of locomo- 
 tion no saddle is made use of, and for 
 a bridle a strap of muslin is put into 
 the mouth of the biped. His natural 
 disposition is said to be kind and be- 
 nevolent, and he is easily led and 
 ruled by favourites. He is well ac- 
 quainted with the literature of his 
 country, and reads, or rather hears 
 a great deal read to him. The Queen 
 is about two years older than his 
 Majesty ; has a good person and dig- 
 nified address, but never was hand- 
 some. She was the daughter of a 
 chief gaoler, and first taken into the 
 seraglio as a concubine (while the 
 king was heir apparent), where she 
 soon acquired a powerful influence 
 over him, which every year has ap- 
 peared to increase, and is now so un- 
 bounded that the Burmese ascribe it 
 to the power of magic, and call her 
 a sorceress. She goes with all proces- 
 sions, and in 1823 the Chinese am- 
 bassadors were received by the King 
 and Queen on the throne, to the 
 great surprise of that ceremonious na- 
 tion, who seclude the sex on all public 
 occasions. She is not the mother of 
 the existing heir apparent, and is ge- 
 nerally unpopular; but by her devo- 
 tion to her religion, and liberality to 
 pagodas and monasteries, she ac- 
 quired the good opinion of the priest- 
 hood. The proper title of the heir 
 apparent is Ing-she-Men (Engy Te- 
 kien), which literally means “ Lord 
 of the East-house,” but the origin 
 of the phrase is unknown. The pre- 
 sent prince is also named Rungrah, 
 after his government; but the most 
 common name by which he is known 
 is Sakya-men, which the Burmese 
 translate “ Lord of the World.” — 
 ( Crawfurd , Symes, Snodgrass , Trant , 
 Canning , Cox, Leyden , F. Buchanan , 
 Lieut. Low , fyc.) 
 
 Ava ( properly Aingwa). — The 
 ancient, and in recent times again the 
 modern, capital of the Burmese em- 
 pire, six miles south of Amara- 
 
 pura; lat. 21° 45' N., lori. 96° E. 
 When visited by the British officers 
 in 1826 it appeared well-built, but 
 not containing its usual amount of 
 population. It is surrounded by a 
 brick wall, but could have been cap- 
 tured in a few hours. Prior to the 
 rupture with the British, Amara- 
 pura had been the capital ; but hav- 
 ing been almost destroyed by fire, 
 and some evil omens having occur- 
 red, the king resolved on rebuilding 
 and repeopling the ancient metropo- 
 lis, events easily accomplished in Ava. 
 By February 1824, he had finished 
 the present beautiful (so it is called) 
 palace, of which he took possession 
 with much pomp on the fifth of next 
 March, and to this removal the su- 
 perstitious Birmans attributed their 
 subsequent disasters. The audience 
 house or room in the above palace, 
 although little reconcileable to Eu- 
 ropean notions of architecture and 
 decoration, is said to be singularly 
 splendid and brilliant, and there is 
 reason to doubt whether an equally 
 imposing hall exists in any other 
 country. It has the same proportions 
 with that described by Col. Symes, 
 but is larger, being in the proportion 
 of 120 by 90 feet. In 1827 the popu- 
 lation of this city was only estimated 
 at 30,000 persons, and in respect to 
 wealth, industry, trade, and number 
 of inhabitants, greatly inferior to Ban- 
 kok, the capital of Siam. Its Sanscrit 
 name is Ratnapura, or the city of 
 gems. — ( Crawfurd , Snodgrass , Symes , 
 §c.) 
 
 Avenasky. — A large village in the 
 province of Coimbatoor, about thirty- 
 six miles travelling distance N. by W. 
 from Daraporam. At this place there 
 is a bridge constructed of immense 
 flags of stone, and the village con- 
 tains an ancient and very curious 
 Hindoo temple, covered with sculp- 
 tures. — ( Fullarton , Sfc.) 
 
 Azimabad. — A small town in the 
 province of Delhi, seven miles N. by 
 W. from Kurnal; lat. 30° 47 / N.,lon. 
 76° 54' E. 
 
 Azimghuh. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Allahabad, thirty-seven miles 
 
BABREEAWAR. 
 
 N.E. from Juanpoor; lat. 24° 6' N., 
 Ion. 83° 10' E. A considerable quan- 
 tity of cotton goods are manufactured 
 and exported from this place and its 
 vicinity. It was ceded by the Nabob 
 of Oude in 1801. 
 
 Azimnagor.— A large district in 
 theBejapoor province, situated to the 
 south of the river Krishna, about the 
 sixteenth degree of north latitude. It 
 is watered by the Gutpurba and Mal- 
 purba rivers, but much of the sur- 
 face still remains in a state of nature. 
 The chief towns are Gokauk, Bel- 
 gaum, and Shahpoor. 
 
 Azim Sauheb ka Serai.— A serai 
 in the province of Malwa, situated 
 in a little cultivated valley among 
 the wilds of the Vindhyan moun- 
 tains, between the passes called the 
 Jaumun and Koteedee ghauts, about 
 eight miles S. by W. from the ruins 
 of Mandow. This is one of the 
 handsomest and most spacious serais 
 in Hindostan, the outer wall being a 
 massy work of grey granite with a 
 superstructure of brick, and fortified 
 with bastions and loop holes, while 
 the galleries looking into the open 
 square within, are built of the red 
 Mandow marble, and divided into 
 176 cells or compartments, besides 
 two suites of larger chambers in the 
 centre of the east and west ranges. 
 There is a small Bheel village on the 
 skirt of the valley, and others are 
 seen scattered about among the sur- 
 rounding hills, consisting generally of 
 four or five little stone hovels. In 
 former times this serai and the ruins 
 of Mandow were the favourite haunts 
 of the Bheel robbers who then in- 
 fested the neighbouring country. In 
 1820, it was in contemplation to 
 transfer the head-quarters of the 
 Bheel corps from Nalchah hither, as 
 a better position for watching and 
 suppressing the depredations of such 
 of their mountaineer brethren as still 
 remained unreclaimed. — ( Fuliarton , 
 Sfc.) 
 
 Azmerigunge ( Ajamida Ganj ). — 
 A town in the province of Bengal, 
 seventy -five miles N.E. from Dacca, 
 
 VOL. i. 
 
 97 
 
 lat. 24° 33' N., Ion. 91° 5' E. This is 
 a place of considerable inland traffic, 
 with a boat-building establishment 
 for the construction of native craft. 
 
 B 
 
 Baad. — A small town in the pro- 
 vince of Agra, six miles south from 
 the city of Agra, the road to which 
 is through a fertile country inters- 
 persed with clumps of mango trees. 
 Lat. 27° 5' N., Ion. 77° 50' E. 
 
 Baber. — A small island in the 
 Eastern seas, surrounded by several 
 others, scattered between the 130th 
 and 131st degrees of east longitude. 
 In length it may be estimated at eigh- 
 teen miles, by six the average breadth. 
 
 Babhier. — A town in the province, 
 of Gujerat, the coolies of which had 
 long been the terror of the neigh- 
 bourhood, but were at last so effec- 
 tually put down by the British go- 
 vernment, that in 1820 their troops 
 consisted of only two horse and 112 
 foot, whereas in 1809 they amounted 
 to 125 horse and 1,500 foot. 
 
 Baberee. — A town in the province 
 of Malwa, situated on the north 
 bank of the Nerbudda, having little 
 Babere opposite. In 1820 this place 
 belonged to the Nabob of Bhopaul. 
 
 Babra. — A town and petty state in 
 the province of Malwa, district of 
 Rath. In 1820 this was the resi- 
 dence of a Rajpoot chief, a great 
 proportion of whose subjects were 
 Bheels. — ( Malcolm , #c.) 
 
 Babreeawar. — A district in the 
 Gujerat province, comprehending 
 that portion of the Gujerat peninsula 
 terminated by the island of Diu. To 
 the north it is bounded by Kattywar ; 
 on the south by the sea ; to the west 
 it has Soreth ; and on the east the 
 sea and the gulf of Cambay. This is 
 a very barren tract, containing few 
 towns, and producing barely suffi- 
 cient food for its own consumption. 
 
 H 
 
98 
 
 BACKERGUNGE. 
 
 Until lately this portion of the pe- 
 ninsula was almost unknown, partly 
 owing to physical difficulties, and 
 partly to the well-earned reputation 
 of its inhabitants for barbarity. 
 
 The sea-port of Jafferabad is pro- 
 perly in Babreeawar, and the Siddees, 
 who have greatly multiplied in the 
 neighbourhood, have formed several 
 villages, where they live by their in- 
 dustry, and collect for sale a great 
 deal of excellent honey, while the 
 Babreeawar mountains afford a ne- 
 ver-failing pasture, where during 
 the drought of 1812-13 almost the 
 whole cattle of the peninsula were 
 assembled. The country is named 
 after the Babreea tribe of Coolies, 
 which formerly possessed great part 
 of Cattywar and Goelwar, whence 
 they were expelled by the Catties. — 
 
 ( Macmurdo , #c.) 
 
 Babuan. — A small island about 
 twenty-five miles in circumference, 
 the most northerly of the Philippines. 
 Lat. 19° 43' N., Ion. 122° E. 
 
 Babuyanes Isles. — A number of 
 islands thus named, lying off the 
 northern coast of Luzon, the prin- 
 cipal Philippine, between the 19th 
 and 20th degrees of north latitude. 
 The largest are named Babuan, Ca- 
 layan, Dalupiri, Camiguen, and Fu- 
 ga, and are from twenty to thirty 
 miles each in circumference; but be- 
 sides these there are many rocky isles 
 and islets. Although so far north, 
 the Babuyanes, when visited by Capt. 
 Forrest, were much infested by pi- 
 ratical prows from Magindanao. — 
 ( Forrest , fyc.) 
 
 Baeye. — A middle-sized town and 
 fort in the province of Gundwana, 
 thirteen miles S.E. of the confluence 
 of the Towah and Nerbudda, fifteen 
 and a half miles E.S.E. from Hussie- 
 nabad; lat. 22° 40' N., Ion. 77° 57' E. 
 In 1820 it was the head of a per- 
 gunna, and belonged to the Raja of 
 Nagpoor. — ( Malcolm , fyc.) 
 
 Backar ( Bhakar ) .— A fortress in 
 the province of Mooltan, situated on 
 an island of the Indus, dependent on 
 the district of Shekarpoor, and at 
 
 present subject to the Afghans ; lat. 
 27° 20' N., Ion. 68° 37' E. By Abul 
 Fazel this place and the surrounding 
 district are favourably described ; but 
 since his time this portion of Hin- 
 dustan has apparently been under- 
 going a gradual deterioration, owing 
 to misgovern ment, and the encroach- 
 ment of the desert. Backar is also 
 mentioned by Sidi Ali Ben Hossein 
 in the journal of his travels overland 
 from Gujerat to Constantinople, 
 A.D. 1554 .—{Abul Fazel, SidiAlirfc.) 
 
 Backerg unge ( Bakarganj ). — A 
 district in the province of Bengal, 
 formed about the year 1800, from 
 the. southern quarter of the too 
 extensive district of Dacca Jelal- 
 poor. In 1801 the courts of justice 
 and revenue were removed from the 
 town of Backergunge to Burrishol, 
 which was made the capital. A con- 
 siderable portion of this division, 
 formerly named Boklah or Ismael- 
 poor, extends along the western bank 
 of the Puddah (Padma) or great Gan- 
 ges, nearly to its mouth at the island 
 of Rabnabad, which forms the south- 
 eastern angle of the Bengal delta. 
 About A.D. 1584 this tract was 
 overwhelmed and laid waste by an 
 inundation, succeeded by Mugh in- 
 vasions aided by the Portuguese of 
 Chittagong, from the combined effects 
 of which it has not recovered to the 
 present day, and the ruins of three 
 old mud forts, built for defence against 
 these incursions, still remain. In 
 1801, the district was supposed to 
 comprehend 4,564 square miles. 
 
 The lands of Backergunge, not- 
 withstanding their low surface and 
 proximity to the sea, are very pro- 
 ductive, being annually, during the 
 periodical rains, overflowed by the 
 fresh water of, and fertilized by the 
 slimy mould deposited by the Ganges. 
 In consequence of this redundant 
 moisture and a hot sun, it produces 
 annually two abundant crops of rice, 
 and is the granary of Calcutta, both 
 for exportation and consumption. 
 From the contiguity of this division 
 to the Sunderbunds (of which it is 
 almost an integral portion), the nu- 
 
BADRACHELLUM. 
 
 99 
 
 merous rivers that intersect it in 
 every direction, and the quantity of 
 jungle still covering its surface, it not 
 only abounds with alligators and 
 tigers of the most enormous size, but 
 has been from the remotest periods 
 greatly infested by Dacoits, or river 
 pirates. A strong establishment of 
 boats and sepoys has always been 
 maintained ; but their efforts, and 
 those of the magistrates, were for 
 above thirty years wholly unavailing 
 to suppress, or even diminish the 
 number of robberies, every remedy 
 attempted appearing to aggravate the 
 calamity. A long perseverance, how- 
 ever, at last succeeded, for in 1814 
 the judges of circuit reported that 
 the Backergunge district was in a 
 state of security from violent depre- 
 dation, and that offences of other 
 sorts did not prevail to any great ex- 
 tent. Here, as in other parts of 
 Bengal, the obstacles to the suppres- 
 sion of crime do not originate from 
 any open resistance to the magisterial 
 authority, but from the incredible 
 difficulty of distinguishing the inno- 
 cent from the guilty. 
 
 In 1801, the total population was 
 estimated at 926,723 inhabitants, in 
 the proportion of five Hindoos to 
 three Mahomedans, many of whom 
 reside in boats the whole year. In 
 the southern quarter there still exist 
 several Portuguese colonies, of pro- 
 bably two centuries duration, afford- 
 ing a melancholy example to what ex- 
 treme degree it is possible for Euro- 
 peans to degenerate. In June 1822 
 a great inundation occurred, which 
 submerged an extensive tract of coun- 
 try, sweeping away houses and cattle, 
 and drowning above 10,000 of the 
 inhabitants, and even where no lives 
 were lost much valuable property 
 was destroyed. — ( Public MS. Docu- 
 ment 's, .7. Grant , Crisp , fyc.) 
 
 Backergunge. — A town in the 
 province of Bengal, about 120 miles 
 east of Calcutta. Lat. 22° 42' N., 
 Ion. 89° 20' E. It was the head- 
 quarters of the station until 1801, 
 when the courts of justice and re- 
 venue were removed to Burrishol. 
 
 Badaumy.— -A strong hill-fort in 
 the province of Bejapoor, fifty-five 
 miles N.E. from Darwar, which in 
 1820 contained 476 houses and 2,267 
 inhabitants. Lat. 15° 55' N., Ion. 
 75° 49' E. It was taken by storm in 
 1818, by a detachment under Sir 
 Thomas Munro, although it was al- 
 ways reckoned one of the strongest 
 hill fortresses in India, having for- 
 merly made a successful resistance 
 against the whole Maharatta army un- 
 der Nana Furnavese. It consists of 
 fortified hills, with a walled town at 
 the bottom, containing an inner fort. 
 
 The hills in the neighbourhood of 
 Badaumy are broken into various 
 shapes, huge masses of many thou- 
 sand tons being partly detached, or 
 detached and rolled over. Little 
 temples have been built on their sum- 
 mits, and among the chasms, and on 
 two of the greater masses, partially 
 separated, stand the two castles of 
 Badaumy. For further particulars 
 respecting the Badaumy pergunnah, 
 see Bagulcot. — ( Marshall , Blacker , 
 
 4*0 
 
 Badarwal. — A town in the Kohis- 
 tan or high-lands of Lahore, forty 
 miles S.S.E. from the city of Cash- 
 mere; lat. 33° 36' N., Ion. 73° 37' E. 
 
 Badrachellum ( Bhadrachalam , 
 the sacred mountain). — A town in 
 Gundwana, situated on the east side 
 of the Godavery, seventy-eight miles 
 N. by W. from Raj am undry ; lat. 17° 
 $7' N., Ion. 81° 17' E. At this sta- 
 tion the zemindar of Poloonshah 
 collects taxes on all goods passing 
 through his country. The merchan- 
 dize is generally cotton, transported 
 from the interior to the northern 
 Circars, salt and cocoa-nuts being 
 brought from the sea-coast in ex- 
 change. At Badrachellum there is 
 a pagoda of high repute, sacred to 
 Seeta, 200 yards to the south of 
 which is the town, consisting of 
 about 100 huts, the whole surrounded 
 with jungle. In the middle of the 
 Godavery, in this vicinity, the natives 
 assert that a hot spring rises, and 
 diamonds are found in the bed of the 
 river. — ( J . B. Blunt , Heyne, §c.) 
 
 h 2 
 
100 
 
 BAGRODE. 
 
 Badrycasram (VadaricasramaJ. 
 See Sources of the Ganges. 
 
 Badrinath. — See Bhadrinath. 
 
 Badulla. — A town in the island 
 of Ceylon, thirty-eight miles S.E. 
 from Candy, lat. 6° 56', Ion. 81° 15' 
 E. This is the principal station of 
 the Ouva district, and is situated on 
 a gently rising ground about 2,100 
 feet above the level of the sea, within 
 an extensive valley bounded by lofty 
 mountains, and watered by a sluggish 
 stream which nearly surrounds it. 
 As a town it is insignificant, and the 
 fortifications consist merely of a small 
 stone fort, with cantonments for the 
 troops. The adjacent land is fertile, 
 and though so remote from the sea 
 the cocoa-nut tree appears to flourish. 
 The great mountain Numina Cooly 
 Candy, next in elevation to Adam’s 
 Peak, rises in massive grandeur above 
 the Badulla valley, its table summit 
 sloping gently down on every side. 
 On the 21st of March 1819, 1,000 feet 
 from the apex, the thermometer stood 
 at 53° Fahrenheit, before sunrise. — 
 {Davy, #c.) 
 
 Bagalaen (or Bugilin ). — A dis- 
 trict in the south of Java, nearly 
 central from east to west, but res- 
 pecting which scarcely any thing is 
 known. 
 
 Bagaroo. — A town in the province 
 of Ajmeer, eighteen miles S.W. from 
 the city of Jeypoor ; lat. 26° 49' N., 
 Ion. 75° 22' E. 
 
 Bagesur. — A village in northern 
 Hindostan, sixteen miles N.E. from 
 Aim ora ; lat. 29° 49' N., Ion. 79° 24' 
 E. 
 
 Baghul. — Apetty state in northern 
 Hindostan, situated between the Sut- 
 lege and Jumna rivers. It was con- 
 quered by the Gorkhas in 1804, who 
 extorted from it in all shapes a re- 
 venue equal to 23,247 rupees. At 
 present it is under the protection of 
 the British Government. Baheree, 
 a fort erected by the Gorkhas, near 
 Urki, is the Rana of Baghul’s present 
 residence. — {Lieut. Ross, See.) 
 
 BaghpuT ( Bhagapati). — A town 
 in the province of Delhi, seventeen 
 miles north from the city of Delhi ; 
 lat. 28° 56' N., Ion. 77° T E. 
 
 Baglana ( Bhagelana ). — A large 
 district in the province of Aurunga- 
 bad, situated between the 20th and 
 21st degrees of north latitude. This 
 is a remarkably hilly province, but 
 contains many fertile plains and val- 
 lies interspersed, and is studded with 
 fortresses erected on the peaks of the 
 mountains. Baglana is one of the 
 original Maharatta countries where 
 that tribe first emerged into notice, 
 and it is still mostly occupied by petty 
 chiefs of that nation. On account 
 of its great natural strength, and the 
 resistance it was capable of opposing, 
 it does not appear that it was ever 
 thoroughly subdued, either by the 
 Moguls or the Dcccany sovereigns. 
 It was invaded by the Mahomedans 
 in A.D. 1296, under Sultan Allah ud 
 Deen, but it was an acquisition they 
 were never able permanently to re- 
 tain. It continued under a nominal 
 subordination to the Delhi throne 
 until the appearance of Sevajee, the 
 first Maharatta leader, when it was 
 one of the earliest that revolted, and 
 remained, with various vicissitudes, 
 under a Maharatta sovereignity until 
 the fall of the Peshwa in 1818. — 
 ( Ferishta , Rennell, Sj-c.) 
 
 Baglee. — A town in the province 
 of Malwa, which in 1820 contained 
 500 houses ; lat. 22° 39' N., Ion. 76° 
 28' E., fifty-four miles S.E. from 
 Oojein. This place is situated near 
 the Cali Sinde, and has a small well- 
 built ghurry or native fortification. — 
 {Malcolm, fyc.) 
 
 Bagra. — A fort in the province of 
 Lahore, situated on a peak 6,168 
 feet high, in the district of Mundi ; 
 lat. 31° 29' N., Ion. 78° 13' E. 
 
 Bagrode. — A town and small fort 
 in the province of Malwa, situated 
 on the road from Bhilsa to Ratghur, 
 and eleven miles from the latter. In 
 1 820 this place belonged to Sindia, and 
 contained about 600 houses. — {Mal- 
 colm, 8fc.) 
 
BAGUIt. 
 
 101 
 
 Bagulcot ( including Badaumy ) . — 
 A subdivision of the British district 
 of Darwar, in the province of Beja- 
 poor, bounded on the north-east by 
 that part of the river Krishna imme- 
 diately above the Kapen Sungum, or 
 junction of the river Malpurba. The 
 extreme length of this tract is about 
 fifty-four miles, and extreme breadth 
 forty-four ; but from the irregularity 
 of its shape, the square contents do 
 not exceed 1,230 miles. It is badly 
 watered, the annual rains not being 
 sufficient to furnish perennial streams, 
 or to fill the tanks with more than a 
 few months’ supply ; most of the vil- 
 lages are consequently on the banks 
 of the larger rivers. 
 
 Before the rains the climate is in- 
 tensely hot, and the rainy season 
 has not the violent character of a 
 coast monsoon. The whole quantity 
 of rain that fell at Badaumy in the 
 months of July, August and Septem- 
 ber 1820, amounted to only eighteen 
 inches, and the whole annual rain 
 did not exceed twenty-six inches: an 
 astonishingly moderate quantity for 
 an intertropical climate, and often 
 greatly surpassed in one month of 
 the south-west monsoon near the 
 coast, or first range of hills. From 
 the want of running streams and 
 large wells, the garden economy of 
 the district is necessarily limited. 
 
 The pergunnahs of Bagulcot and 
 Badaumy are decidedly in the ancient 
 Carnataca or Canara proper, and the 
 language is universally Canarese. 
 Prior to 1810 they had been long 
 administered by the Rastia family, 
 and in 1820 contained 319 inhabited 
 townships, including the towns of 
 Bagulcot, Badaumy, Keroor, Per- 
 watee, and Seroor. The number of 
 houses as stated in the population 
 returns was 21,654; of inhabitants 
 97,884, or about four and a half to 
 a house, the males usually exceeding 
 the females. The most numerous 
 tribe is the Jungum or Lingawut, who 
 comprise one-third of the whole ; the 
 Dhungur or shepherd caste one-fifth; 
 Mahomedans one-sixth ; the remain- 
 der Beruds, Mooslegeers, and other 
 classes. 
 
 These pergunnahs were among the 
 territories of the Shahnour Nabob, 
 which in 1755 came into the posses- 
 sion of theMaharattas when the elder 
 Balajee Row was Peshwa; but the 
 country was then in a very disorderly 
 state, and the Nabob’s power little 
 more than nominal. During the 
 season of misrule the population ac- 
 quired habits of violence and rapine, 
 and it is quite incredible how sudden 
 and universal a change took place on 
 their transfer to the British govern- 
 ment in 1818. Dr. Marshall, writing 
 on the spot in 1820, declares that in 
 no country had he ever met with 
 such a total absence of crime ; in- 
 deed, he thought it too miraculous 
 to last. — ( Marshall , fyc.) 
 
 Bagulcot. — A town in the British 
 district of Darwar, province of Beja- 
 poor, which in 1820 contained 1,376 
 houses and 7, 523 inhabitants. It is 
 the cusba or chief town of a pergun- 
 nah, and the residence of the prin- 
 cipal merchants and bankers. A 
 mint had been established here prior 
 to the Maharatta conquest in 1755, 
 which continued at work in 1820. 
 It is entirely a private concern, the 
 undertaker purchasing all the bullion, 
 and issuing the coin on his own ac- 
 count. He pays a small tax to go- 
 vernment, and is responsible that his 
 coinage contains no more than the 
 authorized proportion of alloy. — 
 ( Marshall , Sec.) 
 
 Bagur. — This ranks as a minor 
 province in the old division of Hin- 
 dostan, where it still retains its name 
 and dimensions, but in modern geo- 
 graphy is attached to the provinces 
 of Malwa and Gujerat. It compre- 
 hends the hilly tract of country which 
 formerly separated these soubahs ; is 
 bounded on the north by Mewar, and 
 on the south by a narrow strip of 
 Malwa, which extends from Petlawud 
 to Dohud, and divides Bagur from 
 Rath. The aspect is extremely un- 
 couth, consisting almost entirely of 
 ranges of hills running in a northerly 
 and southerly direction, mostly co- 
 vered with thick low jungle forests 
 of teak, black-wood, &c., especially 
 
BAHAR. 
 
 102 
 
 near the western and southern boun- 
 daries. On every side there is a de- 
 scent from the old limits of Malwa 
 to Bagur, and from thence, but more 
 imperceptible, into Gujerat, the res- 
 pective limits being distinctly marked 
 by ridges of woody hills of moderate 
 elevation. The climate for a con- 
 siderable portion of the year is rec- 
 koned unhealthy, and, owing to a 
 deficient supply of water, is com- 
 paratively unproductive. The moun- 
 tain streams soon run themselves dry, 
 and the digging of wells and tanks 
 is attended with great labour and 
 expense ; reservoirs, however, are 
 sometimes constructed by throwing 
 an embankment across the stream of 
 a narrow valley. 
 
 Excepting the towns of Doongur- 
 poor, Banswarra, and Sangwara, this 
 division contains no inhabited places 
 of any importance ; but vestiges of 
 antiquity lie scattered over the sur- 
 face, tending to prove, in particular 
 localities, a prior condition of greater 
 prosperity. At present the great 
 mass of the population consists of 
 Bheels and Meenas (between whom 
 no intelligible distinction has yet 
 been drawn) under various petty tha- 
 koors or chiefs, generally pretending 
 to the dignity of Rajpoots. — ( Mal- 
 colm , Sfc.) 
 
 Bahadra. — A town and petty state 
 in the province of Delhi. In 1819 the 
 chief of this principality requested 
 that the British government would 
 take his small territory under its pro- 
 tection, as it was then claimed by the 
 Rajas of Patiallah and Bicanere. — 
 ( Public Documents , fyc.) 
 
 Bahadurpoor. — A town in the 
 Oujerat province, sixty-two miles E. 
 by S. from Cambay ; lat. 22° 1 1' N., 
 long. 73° 46' E. 
 
 Bahadurpoor. — A town with a for- 
 tified ghui ry, in the province of Guje- 
 rat, seven miles from Dubboi; lat. 22° 
 10' N., long. 73° 45' E. 
 
 Bahadurpoor. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Malwa, district ofChendaree, 
 lat. 24° 15' N., Ion. 78° 4' E. In 1820 
 
 it was the head of a pergunnah be- 
 longing to Sindia. 
 
 BAHAR. 
 
 ( Vihar , a monastery of Buddhists.) 
 
 This large province is principally 
 situated between the twenty-second 
 and twenty-seventh degree of north 
 latitude. Until the conquests of 
 1815, it was separated from the Ne- 
 paulese dominions by a range of hills, 
 and a low woody country; on the 
 south it has the ancient and barba- 
 rous Hindoo province of Gundwana; 
 to the east it is bounded by the pro- 
 vince of Bengal ; and on the west by 
 Allahabad, Oude, and Gundwana. 
 The river Caramnassa was the old 
 line of separation between the Bahar 
 and Benares territories. The space 
 comprehended within these limits is 
 one of the most fertile, highly culti- 
 vated, and populous of Hindostan, in 
 proportion to its extent of plain ara- 
 ble ground, which may be computed 
 at 26,000 square miles, divided natu- 
 rally into two equal portions, north 
 and south of the Ganges, which runs 
 here an easterly course for 200 miles. 
 
 One of these divisions extends nor- 
 therly to the forests of Nepaul and 
 Morung ; is separated from Goruck- 
 poor in Oude on the west by the 
 Gunduck, and a crooked line between 
 that river and the Goggrah. This 
 northern division is bounded on the 
 east by Purneah in Bengal, the whole 
 area being one uninterrupted flat, 
 which was divided by the Emperor 
 Acber in four districts, viz . Tirhoot, 
 Hajypoor, Sarun, with Chumparun or 
 Bettiah. 
 
 The central division of Bahar ex- 
 tends south of the Ganges sixty miles, 
 to the range of hills called in San- 
 scrit Vindya-Chil, which separates 
 the lower plains from the territory 
 above the Ghauts. It is divided on 
 the west from Chunar in Allahabad 
 by the river Caramnassa, and from 
 Bengal on the east by a branch of the 
 southern hills, extending to the pass 
 of Telliaghurry, on the confines of 
 Rajamahal. The district named Ba- 
 har, situated in the midst of this cen- 
 
BAHAR. 
 
 103 
 
 tral tract, occupies about one-half of 
 the whole level area, the plains of 
 Monghir one- sixth more, the rest 
 being mountainous, Rhotas, the 
 most south-westerly division, lies 
 chiefly between the rivers Sone and 
 Caramnassa, the remaining district 
 extending along the south side of the 
 Ganges. This central division, on 
 account of the superiority of its soil 
 and climate, yields nearly two-thirds 
 of the total annual produce of opium. 
 Exclusive of these two divisions 
 there is a straggling hilly country, 
 which yields but little. 
 
 Still further south there is a third 
 and elevated region, comprehending 
 18,000 square miles, though compa- 
 ratively of inconsiderable value. This 
 highland includes the modern sub- 
 divisions of Palamow, Ramghur, and 
 Chuta Nagpoor; bounded on the 
 west by the province of Allahabad, 
 on the south by Gundwana and 
 Orissa, and on the east by Bengal. 
 This last division is geographically 
 termed the three bellads or cantons, 
 and is also, by Mahomedan writers, 
 sometimes described under the appel- 
 lation of Kokerah, but more com- 
 monly Nagpoor, from the diamond 
 mines, real or imaginary, it is sup- 
 posed to contain. The following 
 were the superficial contents of this 
 
 province in 1784, viz. 
 
 The lands of eight districts, 
 
 containing 26,287 
 
 The lands belonging to Pa- 
 lamow, Ramghur, and 
 
 Chuta Nagpoor 18,553 
 
 Portion of hilly country in 
 
 Monghir, Rhotas, &c.... 7,133 
 
 51,073 
 
 The province of Bahar enjoys great 
 natural advantages : a temperate cli- 
 mate, high and fertile soil, well- 
 watered, productive of the drier 
 grains, and all the luxuries required 
 for the more active inhabitants of the 
 north. Its geographical position also is 
 central, having easy communications 
 internally, and serving as a thorough- 
 fare for the commerce of Bengal with 
 the upper provinces of Hindostan. 
 
 These advantages brought Bahar into 
 a high state of prosperity before the 
 Patan conquest, and which has con- 
 tinued without interruption amidst 
 all its political vicissitudes. In Ba- 
 har Proper and the contiguous dis- 
 tricts, a parching wind from the west 
 prevails during a large portion of the 
 hot season, blowing with consider- 
 able strength during the day, but 
 commonly succeeded at night by a 
 cool breeze from an opposite direc- 
 tion ; sometimes it ceases for days or 
 weeks, giving way to easterly gales. 
 Beyond the limits of the Bahar dis- 
 trict to the west, refreshing breezes, 
 and cooling showers of hail and rain, 
 are still more rare. During the cold 
 season a blighting frost is sometimes 
 experienced in Bahar and Benares, 
 at which period, among the hills, the 
 wind is singularly bracing to Euro- 
 pean constitutions, the thermometer 
 at sun-rise ranging from 35° to 40°, 
 Fahrenheit, and frequently in the 
 afternoon of the same day rising to 
 70°. 
 
 Agriculture, manufactures, and 
 commerce have always flourished in 
 this province. Opium may be con- 
 sidered as its peculiar produce, and 
 the staple commodity of the country. 
 Saltpetre is principally manufactured 
 in the divisions of Hajypoor and Sa- 
 run. Cotton cloths for exportation 
 are fabricated every where; in addi- 
 tion to which are the ordinary pro- 
 ductions of grain, sugar, indigo, oil, 
 betel-leaf, and a variety of flower es- 
 sences, especially rose-water and otr 
 of roses. Like the greater part of 
 Upper Hindostan, Bahar was formerly 
 supplied with salt from the Sambher 
 lake in Rajpootana; but its inhabi- 
 tants now consume the Bengal salt, 
 with a portion of that imported from 
 the coast of Coromandel. 
 
 The manufacture of saltpetre 
 scarcely passes the eastern limits of 
 Bahar ; and it is a practical remark, 
 that the production of nitre is 
 greatest during the prevalence of 
 the hot winds, which are perhaps 
 essential to its formation. These 
 parching winds from the west did not 
 formerly extend beyond the eastern 
 
104 
 
 BAHAR. 
 
 limits of Bahar ; but by the change of 
 seasons, which have been remarked 
 within these forty years, the influence 
 of the hot winds is now felt in Ben- 
 gal, where, on that account, the ma- 
 nufacture of saltpetre might now be 
 attempted with success* One hun- 
 dred parts of nitre earth from the 
 Tirhoot district, when analyzed by 
 Dr. John Davy, was found to con- 
 
 tain 
 
 Nitrate of potash 8 3 
 
 Nitrate of lime 3 7 
 
 Sulphate of lime .. 0 8 
 
 Common salt 0 2 
 
 Carbonate of lime 35 0 
 
 Earthy matter, insoluble in 
 
 water and nitric acid ... 40 0 
 Water, with a trace of vege- 
 table matter 12 0 
 
 100 0 
 
 Artificial nitre beds consist of the 
 refuse of vegetable and animal mat- 
 ter undergoing putrefaction, mixed 
 with calcareous and other earths. 
 The air furnishes the oxygen and 
 nitrogen (or azote), which are the 
 component ingredients of nitric acid ; 
 but how lime contributes to their 
 union, is not known, and the appear- 
 ance of potash is equally extraor- 
 dinary. 
 
 The opium produced in the pro- 
 vinces of Bahar and Benares is mono- 
 polized by government, to be sold in 
 Calcutta by public auction ; and, for 
 various reasons, this monopoly seems 
 less exceptionable than many others. 
 At present, the opium agent at Patna 
 makes his purchases in the districts 
 of Bahar, Ramghur, Shahabad, Sarun, 
 and Tirhoot; but Dr. F. Buchanan 
 is of opinion, that, with some pains, 
 the whole quantity might be procured 
 from the Bahar district alone, which 
 would tend greatly to the suppression 
 of the contraband trade in this nar- 
 cotic. In the evening, each capsule 
 of the poppy, as it attains the proper 
 stage of maturity, has a slight inci- 
 sion made in its whole length, and 
 next morning what opium has exud- 
 ed is collected. After two or three 
 days another incision is made, at 
 
 some distance from the first, and ac- 
 cording to the size of the capsule, it 
 admits of being cut from three to five 
 times ; but the crop lasts six weeks, 
 as the capsules advance at different 
 periods. The extraction of the opium 
 does no material injury to the seed, 
 which is chiefly reserved for future 
 sowing ; but a little is also used in 
 native sweetmeats. Formerly the 
 opium sent to Calcutta was much 
 adulterated by the intermixture of 
 foreign ingredients, and it was diffi- 
 cult to discover the nature of the 
 adulteration ; it has, however, been 
 supposed, that it is usually vitiated 
 with an extract from the leaves and 
 stalks of the poppy, and with gum of 
 the mimosa. Although the soil and 
 climate are so singularly adapted for 
 the production of this intoxicating 
 drug, yet in 1815, the Board of 
 Trade reported that the two agencies 
 of Bahar and Patna had never been 
 able to supply a greater quantity of 
 opium, in the most favourable sea- 
 sons, than was sufficient to satisfy 
 the demand for foreign trade, and 
 that during unfavourable seasons 
 (which frequently occur) the quantity 
 had never been equal to meet that 
 object. 
 
 In the nature of landed property, 
 there are several distinctions between 
 Bengal and Bahar, of which the fol- 
 lowing are some of the principal. In 
 Bengal the zemindarries are, or rather 
 were, very extensive ; and that of 
 Burdwan alone was equal in produce 
 to three-fourths of Bahar, in which 
 the zemindarries are comparatively 
 small. The power and influence of 
 the principal zemindars in Bengal 
 were proportionally great, and they 
 were able to maintain a degree of 
 independence, which the inferior 
 zemindars of Bahar soon lost. The 
 latter also, having been placed under 
 a provincial administration, from dis- 
 tance as well as comparative inferio- 
 rity, have been precluded from that 
 degree of information which the 
 zemindars of Bengal, from their vici- 
 nity to Calcutta and access to the 
 officers of government, have been able 
 to attain. The lands of Bahar have 
 
BAHAR. 
 
 105 
 
 from time immemorial been let to 
 farm, and no general settlement, since 
 the acquisition of the Dewanny, had 
 been concluded between government 
 and the possessors of the soil, until 
 the final and perpetual settlement in 
 1792. There are few instances of 
 jaghire in Bengal, probably not more 
 than three or four, but they are fre- 
 quent in Bahar. The custom of divid- 
 ing the produce of the lands in 
 certain proportions between the cul- 
 tivator and government was almost 
 universal in Bahar ; but in Bengal 
 this custom was very partial and 
 limited. Upon the whole, the pro- 
 prietors of the soil in Bahar were in 
 a degraded state as compared with 
 those of Bengal. In Bahar there are 
 but three principal zemindarries ; 
 those of Shahabad, Tirhoot, and 
 Tickary. 
 
 Here, as in Bengal, by the too 
 precipitate conclusion of the perpe- 
 tual revenue settlement, and the 
 abolition of the Canongoe office, the 
 tenant was apparently left at the 
 mercy of the zemindar ; but experi- 
 ence has shewn that he does not in 
 practice suffer the hardships to which 
 in theory he would appear exposed, 
 the reciprocal wants of the parties 
 driving them to something like an 
 amicable compromise. The landlord 
 can no more do without the tenant, 
 than the tenant can do without the 
 landlord. The obligation of the 
 latter to pay his land-tax is peremp- 
 tory, his failure, ruin. Starvation is 
 equally the lot of the cultivator, if 
 he cannot get employment. Nature, 
 however, in this climate requires lit- 
 tle ; and although frequent instances 
 have occurred of zemindars having 
 been ruined, none have been recorded 
 of a cultivator being starved for want 
 of employment. In reality, the te- 
 nants both of Bahar and Benares are 
 certainly in a better condition than 
 during the time of Cossim Ali. One- 
 half of the produce is still the usual 
 share of the cultivators, and the de- 
 mand for them is so great, that they 
 can and do make better terms. A 
 tenant who had one plough at the 
 time of the perpetual settlement, will 
 
 now have two or three ploughs, and 
 since that date the hire of a plough- 
 man has nearly doubled, while grain 
 is, on an average, cheaper. And 
 although cloth and some other arti- 
 cles of necessary use are dearer, the 
 cultivator, who was formerly almost 
 naked, is now seen clothed. 
 
 The principal rivers of Bahar are 
 the Ganges, the Sone, the Gunduck, 
 the Dummodah, Caramnassa, and the 
 Dewah, the two last being boun- 
 dary rivers : besides these, there are 
 innumerable smaller streams, the 
 province in general being abundantly 
 supplied with moisture. In the drier 
 tracts south of the Ganges, irrigation 
 is usually effected by water drawn 
 from wells by means of a lever and 
 buckets, and conducted to the fields 
 through sloping channels. In other 
 parts, tanks for the same purpose are 
 formed by damming up a hollow', 
 through which a stream runs, with a 
 mound of earth, as is practised in 
 Mysore and the Carnatic on a larger 
 scale. The towns of the greatest 
 magnitude are Patna, Chuprah, 
 Daoudnagur, Gaya, Boglipoor, Mon- 
 ghir, Arrah, Chittra, and Muzuffer- 
 poor. As we advance north through 
 Bahar, the race of natives improve 
 in stature and appearance, as com- 
 pared with the Bengalese ; but they 
 are much more addicted to intoxicat- 
 ing drugs, the deplorable effects of 
 which every village exhibits melan- 
 choly evidence ; and as to religion, 
 no sanctuary in Hindostan can ex- 
 hibit so depraved and degraded a 
 crew as the priesthood of Gaya. 
 In respect to their domestic econo- 
 my, also, the Baharians are decidedly 
 inferior to their neighbours in clean- 
 liness, for nothing can surpass the 
 filthiness of the mud-huts in a Bahar 
 village. These, however, are gene- 
 rally larger than the matted dwellings 
 of the Bengalese, and in towns 
 are not unfrequently of two stories. 
 The connexion betwixt Bengal and 
 Bahar has always been so intimate 
 that it is difficult to separate their 
 histories and statistics, more espe- 
 cially with regard to revenue and 
 population, on which topics the 
 
106 
 
 BAHAR, 
 
 reader will find some additional in- 
 formation under the head of Bengal. 
 
 In a remote era of Hindoo history, 
 as conveyed down by their mytholo- 
 gical legends, Bahar appears to have 
 been the seat of two independent 
 sovereignties; that of Magadha, or 
 South Bahar, and that of Mithila 
 (Tirhoot) or North Bahar. Although 
 Gaya, the birth-place of Buddha, the 
 great prophet and legislator of east- 
 ern Asia, be within the limits of this 
 province, and is still a revered place 
 of pilgrimage, yet among the resident 
 inhabitants no Buddhists are to be 
 found, so completely has the race 
 been either converted or eradicated, 
 for there is some reason to believe 
 that until the first Mahomedan inva- 
 sion, the Buddhist religion was pro- 
 fessed by the chiefs, and the Jains 
 assert that they were predominant 
 prior to the Buddhists. A specimen 
 of the Lord’s Prayer in the Magadha, 
 or dialect of South Bahar, when exa- 
 mined by the missionaries, was found 
 to contain twenty-four of the words 
 used in the Bengalese and Hindos- 
 tany translations, besides some words 
 of pure Sanscrit. At present it is 
 supposed that more than one-third 
 of the inhabitants profess the Ma- 
 homedan faith. 
 
 The tranquillity enjoyed by this 
 tract of country, since its transfer to 
 the British, is probably unexampled 
 in the history of India, the roar of 
 the cannon at Buxar, in 1764, being 
 the last hostile sound that has reach- 
 ed the ears of its inhabitants. The 
 consequence has been, that the cul- 
 tivation of the soil, more especially 
 since the decennial settlement, after- 
 wards rendered perpetual, has been 
 progressively increasing, and the 
 population of particular tracts (for 
 it is difficult to get the natives to 
 transfer their labour to contiguous 
 wastes) absolutely overflowing. On 
 the other hand, religious buildings are 
 visibly on the decline, the followers 
 of the two rival persuasions having 
 no longer, as they formerly had, the 
 wealth necessary for the construction 
 of such edifices. The few which at 
 present piety or superstition finds 
 
 means to erect are generally poor 
 and insignificant ; an observation 
 which also applies to domestic build- 
 ings of every description. — (J. Grant , 
 F. Buchanan , Colebrooke t Fullarton , 
 Sir E. Colebrooke y Lord Teignmouth, 
 Gholaum Hossein , 4~c.) 
 
 Bahar. — A large district in the 
 Bahar province, of which it occupies 
 the central portion. On the north 
 it is bounded by the Ganges ; on the 
 south by the districts of Ramghur 
 and Boglipoor; to the east it has 
 Boglipoor; and on the west Shaha- 
 bad. Its whole length is about 120 
 miles, and its extreme width eighty ; 
 but the superficial contents do not 
 exceed 5,3.58 square miles, of which 
 403 belong to the city of Patna’s 
 jurisdiction. 
 
 A great proportion of this division 
 is level and highly-cultivated land ; 
 but there are also many hills, most 
 of which are extremely rugged, and 
 their sterility rendered more conspi- 
 cuous by their nakedness. Many of 
 these are scattered about with the 
 utmost irregularity, and stand quite 
 insulated among the soil of the plains. 
 In the heart of the district are three 
 remarkable clusters, one on the west 
 of the Phalgu ; one on the east side 
 of that river ; the third along narrow 
 ridge adjacent to Shukpoorah ; the 
 whole, however, of inconsiderable ele- 
 vation, the highest probably not ex- 
 ceeding 700 feet. The hills towards 
 the southern boundary are more 
 considerable, and some of them pro- 
 bably twice that height. Frdm hence 
 a continuation of hills and narrow 
 vallies reaches, with little or no in- 
 terruption, to Cape Comorin, all of 
 which are considered portions of the 
 Vindhyan mountains that bound the 
 vast Gangetic plain. The hills of 
 the Bahar district no where approach 
 the Ganges, and the interior, reckon- 
 ing from the Ganges, is in general 
 flat, but not subject to inundation. 
 The term terriani is here applied to 
 the banks of the Ganges, whether 
 high or low, and great pains are taken 
 by cultivators- in the collecting and 
 conducting of water. 
 
BAHAR. 
 
 107 
 
 The Canges is no where fordable 
 within the limits of this division, at 
 any season of the year, and its chan- 
 nel when clear of islands is general ly 
 a mile broad. Besides that noble 
 stream, the chief rivers are the Sone, 
 the Punpun, the Phalgu, the Saeri, 
 and the Panchane, with their nu- 
 merous branches. The district con- 
 tains nothing that can be called a 
 lake, nor are the permanent marshes 
 any where extensive. During the 
 rainy season, for the purposes of 
 cultivation, a great proportion of the 
 soil is converted into a marsh; but 
 in the dry season, even the low lands 
 parellel to the Ganges, from Patna 
 downwards, become devoid of mois- 
 ture. On the banks of the Ganges 
 towards the Sone, west winds pre- 
 vail from the 13th of January to the 
 26th of March, from which period 
 until the 12th of June the east and 
 west winds are nearly equal. From 
 the last date until the end of July 
 the east wind prevails, and from then 
 until the end of August the west 
 winds prevail. From that time un- 
 til the end of October the east winds 
 return, and finally, from that period 
 until the 13th of January, the east 
 and west winds are nearly balanced ; 
 many irregularities, however, take 
 place in the periods and duration of 
 these winds. The rainy season is 
 generally of the same length as in 
 Boglipoor; but when the fall has 
 not been very copious from the 15th 
 September to the 15th October, the 
 rice crops suffer, unless there is a 
 good deal of rain towards the end of 
 October. Rains that happen in Ja- 
 nuary are injurious to most crops, 
 especially to wheat, although the 
 fields of that grain require at that 
 season to be artificially watered. 
 Two or three days of cloudy wea- 
 ther, with drizzling rain, will at that 
 season entirely burn up a crop of 
 wheat. 
 
 Although the winters are not se- 
 vere, fires are extremely comfortable, 
 and all the natives who can procure 
 one, sleep by it : yet frosty nights are 
 rare. The heats of spring are exces- 
 sive, and much aggravated by the 
 
 dust, there not being at that time a 
 vestige of vegetation, and not only 
 the west winds, but also those from 
 the east, are hot and parching. The 
 heat of the Bahar district is on the 
 whole much higher than that of Tir- 
 hoot. Even the difference between 
 Patna and Hajypoor, two places 
 situated opposite to each other on 
 the Ganges, is very perceptible, and 
 between Gaya and Muzufferpoor is 
 much greater than might be inferred 
 from the trifling difference of latitude ; 
 yet by the natives Bahar is consider- 
 ed a healthy country, while Tirhoot, 
 except its northern parts, is not con- 
 sidered such. Both Patna and Gaya 
 are found to be hotter than most 
 other parts of the district. The 
 heat of the first seems owing to a 
 great extent of naked sand on an 
 island immediately fronting the town ; 
 and that of Gaya, partly to the sands 
 of the Phalgu, and partly to the re- 
 flection of the sun from the arid 
 rocks that surround it. 
 
 In this district there is much land, 
 of a poor soil, but the proportion 
 absolutely unfit for the plough is not 
 great. Close up to the hills is gene- 
 rally arable, but most of the hills 
 are utterly unfit for tillage of any 
 sort. Near the large rivers of the 
 interior, especially near the immense 
 channels of the Sone and Phalgu, 
 the strong, dry, west winds of spring 
 have blown from the parched beds of 
 the torrents large heaps of sand, 
 that form little hillocks of moving 
 sand, perfectly barren ; but in the 
 vicinity of the Ganges a great deal 
 of the land gives two crops a year. 
 The transplanted rice is all fine ; 
 but the very finest, named basin ati, 
 does not exceed one-fourth of the 
 whole, and is always in great de- 
 mand among the Baboos of Calcutta. 
 In 1811 there were 24,000 begas 
 under cultivation for cotton, and a 
 great deal was besides imported from 
 the west. The cultivation of to- 
 bacco was not great, and that of 
 indigo of little importance. 
 
 The rents here are heavy, amount- 
 ing usually to one-half of the crop, 
 after deducting the expenses of 
 
108 
 
 BAHAR. 
 
 the harvest, and sometimes to nine- 
 sixteenths ; but, except in the cities 
 of Patna and Gaya, or other large 
 market-places, the ashraf or high 
 ranks pay no rent for the land oc- 
 cupied by their houses, nor can 
 any landlord refuse to allot land for 
 the purpose to any ashraf who re- 
 quires it. The natives of the British 
 isles, however, not being dignified 
 with the title of ashraf, find great 
 difficulty in procuring land to build 
 on, and must always pay an extra- 
 vagant rent, a circumstance (as Dr. 
 F. Buchanan observes) by no means 
 the usual practice of successful in- 
 vaders. These ashrafs consist of 
 high castes, both Mahomedan and 
 Hindoo, such as Seids, Patans, Mo- 
 guls, Brahmins, Khetries, Rajpoots, 
 Kayasthas, and Vaisyas. Although 
 the rent of land is much higher than 
 in the districts further east, where 
 some pay next to nothing, the gene- 
 rality of the people are in much 
 better circumstances. The extent of 
 land here exempted from revenue is 
 quite enormous, and in 1801 was 
 estimated by the collector as equal 
 to half the amount of those paying 
 a land-tax ; yet the last were reported 
 to be in the best state of cultivation. 
 Many of these rent-free portions are 
 still large, but, owing to the esta- 
 blished rules of succession, are fast 
 frittering away into petty portions. 
 This minute subdivision of property 
 has reduced a great majority of the 
 zemindars to the condition of mere 
 peasants, just a stage above beggary. 
 The profit on the assessed lands is 
 supposed greatly to exceed ten per 
 cent., indeed probably exceeds the 
 whole amount of the revenue (which 
 in 1814 was 1,748,006 rupees); yet 
 the assessed lands up to 1811 had 
 not become saleable property, many 
 of the lots put up to auction by the 
 collector having for want of pur- 
 chasers fallen into the hands of go- 
 vernment, which tends to prove that 
 the settlement made by Lord Corn- 
 wallis is not a security even for the 
 revenue which he rendered perpetual. 
 The tricks, chicanery, and roguery, 
 by which this apparently unaccount- 
 
 able predicament has been effec- 
 tuated, would require, to detail them, 
 a volume of most enormous dimen- 
 sions, and when narrated, would put 
 to the blush, conjointly and several- 
 ly, all the pettifoggers in Europe. 
 
 The villages here usually consist 
 of mud-walled houses, closely hud- 
 dled together, so as to render a pas- 
 sage through them on an elephant or 
 in a palanquin often impracticable ; 
 but the district being populous, and 
 the inhabitants of a gregarious dis- 
 position, it contains a remarkable 
 number of considerable towns, such 
 as Patna, Gaya (the residence of the 
 civil establishment), Daoudnagur, 
 Bar, Dinapoor, Bahar town, &c. &c. 
 In 1811 the population of this dis- 
 trict, excluding Patna and its juris- 
 diction, was estimated by Dr. Fran- 
 cis Buchanan at 724,159 Mahome- 
 dans, and 2,030,991 Hindoos ; total 
 2,755,150 persons. In 1801 Mehedi 
 Ali Khan, the son of Gholaum Hos- 
 sein Khan the historian, resided in 
 this district. Slaves of the descrip- 
 tions called Nufur and Laundi are 
 very numerous, often liberated, sel- 
 dom sold, and frequently, owing to 
 the poverty of their owners, left to 
 find a subsistence for themselves. 
 Considering how many large towns 
 there are in Bahar, the number of 
 prostitutes is small; and the petty 
 town of Rungpoor, with the small 
 tract immediately adjacent, contains 
 more than the immense city of 
 Patna with the territory attached to 
 it. The convicts here, as in most 
 other districts, are employed on the 
 roads, which, in fact, is doing little 
 more than making a place agreeable 
 to those who keep carriages, and 
 next to nothing to the public, if the 
 natives be considered as forming any 
 part of it. 
 
 The six great places of pilgrimage 
 in this district are the river Punpun, 
 Gaya, Rajagripa, Baikuntha on the 
 Panchane, Lohadanda near Geriyak, 
 and Chyaban Muni ; but the two last 
 are little frequented. It deserves re- 
 mark, that the Buddhists and Jains 
 both agree in placing within the li- 
 mits of South Bahar, and its immediate 
 
BAHAR. 
 
 109 
 
 vicinity, the locality of the death and 
 apotheosis of the last Buddha, as of 
 the last Jina, and of his predecessor, 
 and his eldest and favourite disciple. 
 Both religions have preserved for 
 their sacred language the same dia- 
 lect, the Pali or Pracrit, closely re- 
 sembling the Magadhi, or vernacular 
 language of Magadha, or South Ba- 
 har. Between these dialects (the 
 Pali and the Pracrit) there is but a 
 shade of difference, and they are 
 often confounded under a single 
 name. 
 
 In this district the feet of a dying 
 person are not put into the river, 
 and the low and ignorant are allowed 
 to die in their houses; but men of 
 rank and learning turn their parents 
 and children out of doors when they 
 think they are about to die. They 
 are then placed on a mat, under 
 every inclemency of the weather, 
 and some sacred herb (the tulsi) or 
 stone (the salgram) is placed by 
 them, while prayers are read until 
 they die. If the expiring person be 
 rich, they put into his hands the tail 
 of a cow, which he gives as his last 
 offering to the Brahmins. Natural 
 affection has in general struggled 
 very hard against the barbarity of 
 this exposure; and although no man 
 can avoid the ceremony, natives of 
 rank, from frequent observation, 
 have acquired a very great skill in 
 marking the symptoms which precede 
 dissolution ; so that here their kin- 
 dred are very seldom exposed until 
 not only all hope of recovery, but 
 until sensation is over. Where cus- 
 tom renders it necessary that they 
 should die with their feet in the 
 river, and their house is at some dis- 
 tance, more suffering must arise from 
 the practice, and conjecture cannot 
 be so certain, because the kindred 
 cannot await the last symptom. In 
 general, when a man is exposed to 
 suffer long, the conduct of the kin- 
 dred requires investigation, for there 
 can be no doubt that occasionally, 
 though very rarely, this custom has 
 been made the instrument of most 
 atrocious purposes. 
 
 Marriage in this country ought ra- 
 
 ther to be called betrothing, as the 
 wife never enters her husband’s 
 house, and does not cohabit with 
 him, until she arrives at the years of 
 maturity, when she is conducted 
 home with great expense and cere- 
 mony. In Bengal the wife does not 
 live with her husband until the time 
 of maturity, but she is carried to his 
 house immediately on marriage ; and 
 although she returns to her parents, 
 the marriage is always consummated 
 so soon after ten years of age as the 
 astrologer declares the time propi- 
 tious. All widows here are admit- 
 ted to the privilege of burning when 
 they receive accounts of their hus- 
 bands’ death, when he has died at a 
 distance. In Bengal, the widows of 
 Brahmins can only burn when they 
 accompany the corpse. A widow 
 at Tikari, in this district, went be- 
 yond the custom, as she burned her- 
 self ten years after her husband’s 
 death, and thereby gained the praise 
 of all, although the action was not 
 strictly legal. 
 
 Hindoos of rank and learning here 
 have a great objection to take an 
 oath ; and it is said, according to 
 the Gayatri Tantra, it is equally sin- 
 ful to speak truth as falsehood, when 
 sworn to on the Ganges’ water, the 
 toolsee, or the salgram, cows’-dung, 
 or the dust of cows’ feet. It is said 
 they have no objections to swear on 
 their sacred books. The Radha Bal- 
 lavies worship Radha and Krishna, 
 but they differ from the Gossains of 
 Bengal, who worship the same dei- 
 ties, in addressing the goddess before 
 her husband. This sect is most nu- 
 merous in the countries between 
 Bindrabund and Gujerat. 
 
 This district is universally allowed 
 to be in the old Hindoo territory 
 called Magadha, governed in ancient 
 times by Jarasandha, who in the 
 Brahminical legends is called an 
 asur, or enemy of the gods. Ac- 
 cording to tradition, this prince, 
 being of considerable dimensions, 
 used to stand on two hills in this 
 district, having a foot on each, and 
 look across Hindostan to Dwaraca 
 in Gujerat, at the thousand wives of 
 
no 
 
 BAHAR. 
 
 his kinsman Krishna, as they bathed 
 in the western ocean, and also pelted 
 them with brick-bats. To revenge 
 these incivilities, Krishna sent his kins- 
 manBheem topunish Jarasandha, who 
 killed him in a valley near his own 
 house, towards the conclusion of the 
 third age of the world. At present 
 the Hindoo inhabitants, when they 
 wish for an image, take the first that 
 comes to hand in a ruin, and in the 
 selection pay little or no regard, 
 either to the sex or the attribute. 
 Many of the old images are in a su- 
 perior style for Indian productions, 
 but very far removed from approach- 
 ing European ideas of perfection. 
 
 In the police division of Durya- 
 poor there was a temple on a hill, 
 which the natives told Dr. Francis 
 Buchanan had contained a lingam, 
 which they complained had been re- 
 moved by Mr. Cleveland to Bogli- 
 poor, a proceeding very unlike the 
 conciliatory conduct for which that 
 gentleman was so justly celebrated. 
 On subsequent inquiry, however, it 
 appeared that it had not been a 
 lingam, but an image of the sun, 
 and that it had not been carried 
 away by Mr. Cleveland to Boglipoor ; 
 on the contrary, it had been carried 
 away by the late Mr. Davis, one of the 
 directors of the East-India Company ; 
 but this gentleman did not consider 
 that he was carrying the sun’s image 
 from these villagers, but from a bear 
 that made the ruined temple his 
 abode, and did not appear to have 
 any occasion for an image of that 
 luminary. In fact, the number of 
 images scattered throughout this dis- 
 trict is quite incredible. 
 
 The era in this district is called 
 Sumbut, but that word implies era, 
 or rather juncture The Pundits 
 consider their era as that of Vicrama. 
 The year of the Sumbut 1869 began 
 on the first day of the waning moon, 
 in the lunar month Phalgun, which 
 was on the 28th of February 1812. 
 The year consists of twelve lunar 
 months, but after every thirty luna- 
 tions an intercallary month is added. 
 This year is used every where by the 
 Hindoos in their ceremonies, but 
 
 is here also used in their civil affairs, 
 which is attended with some incon- 
 venience, as at different years the 
 same months happen at somewhat 
 different seasons. 
 
 The great leprosy is found here in 
 two varieties, one of which attacks 
 the small joints, and the other the 
 skin, of which it renders large por- 
 tions perfectly insensible. The pre- 
 judice against the unfortunate per- 
 sons seized with this dreadful ma- 
 lady is so great, that some of the 
 lower castes, when seized with it, 
 have destroyed themselves. These 
 are placed in a boat, and a pot of 
 sand being tied to their neck, they 
 are conducted to the middle of 
 the Ganges, and there thrown over- 
 board. The people thus destroyed 
 are perfectly willing, both because 
 they are helpless and miserable, and 
 because they think that the sin, to 
 which the disease is attributable, will 
 be removed by dying in the sacred 
 stream, and they cannot afford to 
 pay for the prescribed forms of ex- 
 piation by prayers and ceremonies. 
 The books of law condemn this spe- 
 cies of expiation by drowning: but a 
 passage of the Mahabharat is inter- 
 preted in support of it, and where 
 perfectly voluntary, it certainly saves 
 the miserable wretch from much suf- 
 fering in this world. 
 
 Chronic swellings of the legs and 
 throat are not more common than 
 in Boglipoor. That of the throat is 
 generally ascribed to the persons 
 having resided long on the north side 
 of the Ganges, and certainly the vast 
 disparity in the proportion of those 
 affected on the two sides of the 
 Ganges cannot be accounted for on 
 an) 7 other principle than some pecu- 
 liar condition of the water flowing 
 from the Northern mountains, for in 
 every part where this water flows 
 the disease is common. 
 
 In the division of Newada, the Jain 
 sect have two places of pilgrimage; 
 one a tank choked up with weeds, 
 especially the Nelumbuim, The tem- 
 ple stands on a small square island, 
 and contains two stones, on each of 
 which there is an inscription, and 
 
BAHAWULPOOR. 
 
 Ill 
 
 the representation of two human feet; 
 but no tradition exists from what 
 cause its reputation for sanctity ori- 
 ginated. The Mahomedan popula- 
 tion of the district has been esti- 
 mated at 724,000, and occasionally 
 they still make converts from the pa- 
 gans, especially by the purchase of 
 slaves, who are usually treated with 
 great kindness ; but, for want of mo- 
 ney, this mode of conversion now 
 proceeds slowly. The Shiah sect 
 form but an inconsiderable portion 
 of the whole, probably not exceeding 
 
 3.000 families, mostly of rank. The 
 number of Brahmins is immense, 
 
 80.000 families, most of them having 
 betaken themselves to agriculture 
 and arms ; and there are also a con- 
 siderable number of Hindoos belong- 
 ing to the sect of Nanock, the Seik 
 lawgiver. The division of Jains 
 named Shrawaks amount to about 
 350 families. On the annual festival 
 called Dewali, the Gowalas or cow- 
 herds tie the feet of a pig, and drive 
 their cattle over the wretched animal 
 until it is killed, after which they 
 boil and eat it ; but at other times 
 they do not use pork. On this occa- 
 sion every rich -man sends his cattle 
 to assist in the ceremony, and poor 
 men paint the horns of their cattle 
 in order to make them look handsome. 
 
 When the British took possession 
 of this district by far the greater 
 part of it was in a wild state, and 
 the southern half, after being re- 
 peatedly plundered by the Maha- 
 rattas, had fallen into a predatory 
 anarchy. The Mahomedan chief of 
 the tribe of Mayi, and the rajas of 
 Tickary, were the principal leaders 
 in these dissensions ; but being co- 
 erced by the British power, tranquil- 
 lity was restored, and a more ade- 
 quate land-tax imposed. At present 
 most parts of the district are over- 
 flowing with population, and the 
 whole would have probably been so, 
 had not the very great extent of rent- 
 free land tended in some divisions to 
 encourage sloth and negligence. — (F. 
 Buchanan , J. Grant , Tufton 3 $c.) 
 
 Bahab. — A town in the province 
 
 and district of Bahar, thirty-five 
 miles S.E. from Patna; lat.- 25° 13' 
 N., Ion. 85° 35' E. This city was 
 probably at some remote era the 
 capital, but it has since been super- 
 seded, first by Patna and afterwards 
 by Gaya. The existing town is a 
 large scattered place, surrounding 
 the ditch of an ancient city, now in 
 a great measure deserted. The most 
 compact part is a long narrow bazar 
 or street, paved in a rough manner 
 with bricks and stones, but of a mi- 
 serable appearance. In the centre 
 of the town are the remains of a 
 massy stone building, roofed with a 
 number of diminutive domes, which 
 partition its interior into as many 
 cells, resembling the Patau mosques 
 of the upper provinces. Although 
 much decayed it still contains about 
 
 5,000 houses, and the vicinity is re- 
 markably well cultivated and arti- 
 ficially irrigated. — (F. Buchanan , Ful- 
 larton , fyc.) 
 
 Bahawulpooh. — A principality of 
 considerable extent in the province 
 of Mooltan, but thinly peopled, situ- 
 ated principally about the twentieth 
 degree of north lat. The town of 
 Bahawulpoor stands about sixty- 
 two miles S. by E. from the city of 
 Mooltan; lat. 29° 19' N., Ion. 71° 
 29' E. 
 
 This territory extends (or did 
 extend in 1809) 280 miles from 
 north-east to south-west, and about 
 120 miles in the other direction at 
 the extreme points, and for a certain 
 distance includes both banks of the 
 Indus, the Jhylum, and the Chinaub. 
 The banks of the rivers are every 
 where rich, but to the west of the 
 Chinaub the soil at a distance from 
 the river is poor, and towards the 
 east a mere desert. For four or five 
 miles on each side of the Hyphasis 
 the surface is formed of the sedi- 
 ment deposited by the, river and is 
 very rich, but so soft as scarcely to 
 support a horse. Some portions are 
 highly cultivated ; others covered 
 with coppice of low tamarisk trees, 
 abounding with wild hogs ; hog-deer, 
 wild geese, partridges, and floricans, 
 
BAIDYANATH. 
 
 112 
 
 are also plenty on the banks of the 
 river. Further east, approaching Bi- 
 canere and the Bhatty country, the 
 soil degenerates to an arid sand, 
 destitute of vegetation ; to travel 
 through which an establishment of 
 camels is as requisite to carry water, 
 as in the deserts of Arabia. 
 
 The principal towns are Bahawul- 
 poor, Ahmedpoor, Seedpoor, and 
 Ooch. The strongest place is the 
 fort of Derawul, which owes its 
 ability of resistance to the utter 
 sterility of the sands that surround 
 it ; yet it was the usual residence of 
 Bahawul Khan, the founder of the 
 dynasty. The inhabitants of this 
 district are Juts, Baloochies, and 
 Hindoos, which is the usual mixture 
 of population in the adjacent terri- 
 tories, but within the limits of the 
 principality the Hindoos are the most 
 numerous class. 
 
 The town of Bahawulpoor stands 
 within a short distance of the united 
 streams of the Beyah and Sutuleje, 
 here named the Gurrah, which winds 
 very much and is muddy ; but the 
 water when filtered is of an excellent 
 quality. In circumference it ex- 
 tends about four miles, but the walls 
 include gardens and mangoe groves. 
 The houses are built of unburned 
 bricks, with mud terraces, and very 
 thin walls of the same material. It 
 is noted for the manufacture of 
 silken girdles and turbans, and the 
 camels being fleet and strong, are in 
 great demand for hunting. The resi- 
 dent inhabitants are principally Juts 
 and Baloochies, both professing the 
 Mahomedan faith : the number of 
 Hindoos is also considerable. Ba- 
 hawul Khan, the founder of this state, 
 was rather a tributary prince than a 
 governor delegated by the Afghan 
 sovereign. He died in 1811, leaving 
 a son of very inferior abilities, and 
 the state has since fallen a prey to 
 the rapacity of Runjeet Singh, the 
 Seik Raja of Lahore.— [Elphinstone, 
 Registers, Smith , § c.) 
 
 Bahdoriah. — A subdivision of 
 the Agra province, intersected by 
 the river Chumbul, partly within 
 
 the British territories and partly in 
 those belonging to Dowlet Row Sin- 
 dia. 
 
 Baidyanath ( orDeoghur ) — A ce- 
 lebrated place of Hindoo pilgrimage 
 in the province of Bengal, district of 
 Birbhoom, said to have been built by 
 Raja Praun Mull of Ghiddore ; lat. 
 24° 32' N., Ion. 86° 40' E., 1 10 miles 
 W. by N. from Moorshedabad. The 
 town of Deoghur is situated on a 
 rising ground, and for many miles in 
 extent is surrounded by forests. The 
 temple here is famous for a lingam it 
 contains, respecting which a strange 
 story is told in the puranas, where 
 mention is also made of a river. At 
 present there is no stream whatever, 
 although there are several sacred 
 pools. Pilgrims resorting to Baidya- 
 nath usually bring water with them 
 from the prayagas,or sacred junctions 
 on the Ganges, and pour it over the 
 lingam, round which they walk a cer- 
 tain number of times, while others 
 lie down and continue fasting until 
 they have had a favourable dream. 
 Prayers of various sorts are addressed 
 to the presiding deity. Some pray to 
 be kings in the next transmigration, 
 or for such worldly enjoyments as 
 they prefer; others pray for hap- 
 piness in the heaven of the divinity 
 they address; while some, tired and 
 harassed by the miseries of succes- 
 sive births, pray to be released from 
 existence altogether. 
 
 At a particular season the roads 
 are crowded with pilgrims of both 
 sexes and all ages, on horseback and 
 on foot, dressed in quilted cotton, 
 dyed green or yellow, and presenting 
 a most cheerful and animated sight. 
 On his shoulders every man bears a 
 semicircular frame of bamboo, with 
 a basket at each end, decorated with 
 peacocks* feathers and other orna- 
 ments. In one of these baskets the 
 pilgrim’s baggage is deposited, in the 
 other his stock of Ganges water, in 
 small glass phials holding two or 
 three ounces each, and as many bring 
 an overplus, strangers who have come 
 unprovided are enabled to purchase 
 a small supply of the sacred fluid for 
 
BALAGHAUT. 
 
 113 
 
 which they pay a high price. — ( Ward , 
 Fidlarton, fyc.) 
 
 Bailuru. — A town in the territory 
 of the Mysore Raja ; lat. 12° 55' N. 
 Ion. 76° 3' E. In A.D. 1800, co- 
 chineal to the weight of 1,500 pounds 
 w r as made here, upon nopals raised 
 by the farmers as a prickly fence for 
 their gardens ; but the insect was of 
 the inferior sort that had been intro- 
 duced from America. — ( F . Bucha- 
 nan, #c.) 
 
 Baitmah. — A town in the province 
 of Mai wa, fifteen miles N.W. from the 
 cantonments at Mow : lat. 22° 38' N., 
 Ion. 75° 46' E. In 1820 it was the 
 capital of a pergunnah belonging to 
 Holcar, and contained about 1,500 
 houses. — ( Malcolm , fyc.) 
 
 Baitool. — A fortified town be- 
 longing to the Nagpoor Raja, in the 
 province of Gundwana near the 
 sources of the Tuptee, which springs 
 from the Nyardy hills, fifty-six miles 
 N.N.E. from Ellichpoor ; lat. 21° 55' 
 N., Ion. 78° 4' E. It stands near the 
 hill-fort named Kierlah, on the road 
 from Hussingabad to Nagpoor, and 
 is the capital of a pergunnah. — ( Mal- 
 colm , fyc.) 
 
 Bajitpoor. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Bengal, district of My- 
 munsing, forty-eight miles N.E. 
 from Dacca; lat. 24° 14' N., Ion. 
 91° E. 
 
 Bala b ac. — A small island in the 
 Eastern seas, about eighteen miles in 
 length, by four the average breadth, 
 lying off the southern extremity of 
 the island of Palawan ; lat. 8° N., 
 Ion. 117° 10' E. 
 
 Balabalagan. — A cluster of thir- 
 teen small flat islands in the straits 
 of Macassar, covered with trees, and 
 having navigable channels between 
 them. They are also named the little 
 Paternoster Isles. The Biajoos fish 
 here for biche-de-mar, which they 
 strike on the sand at the bottom 
 in eight and ten fathoms, with an 
 iron pronged instrument. — ( Forrest , 
 $c.) 
 
 VOL, I. 
 
 BALAGHAUT CEDED DIS- 
 TRICTS. 
 
 In the south of India a stupendous 
 wall of mountains, named the ghauts, 
 rises abruptly from the low country, 
 supporting, in the nature of a terrace, 
 a vast extent of level plains, which 
 are so elevated as to affect the tem- 
 perature, and render the climate 
 cooler. This table-land extends from 
 the Krishna to the southern extre- 
 mity of Mysore, and is named Bala- 
 ghaut, or above the ghauts, in con- 
 tradistinction to Payeenghaut, or be- 
 low the ghauts. This extensive and 
 fruitful region formed the ancient 
 Hindoo empire of Karnata, no part 
 of which was below the mountains, 
 although in modern times the term 
 has been so misapplied by Europeans 
 and Mahomedans, as to signify ex- 
 clusively the country (Carnatic) be- 
 low the ghauts. Under the present 
 head, the term Balaghaut is restricted 
 to the territories acquired by the Bri- 
 tish government in 1800, and since 
 subdivided into the collectorships of 
 Bellary and Cuddapah. They were 
 acquired by treaty with the Nizam, 
 dated the 12th October 1800, and 
 comprehend all the territory si- 
 tuated south of the Krishna and 
 Toombudra rivers, which fell to the 
 Nizam’s share by the treaties of Se- 
 ringapatam in 1792, and Mysore in 
 1799, together with the talook of 
 Adoni, and all his Highness’s other 
 districts south of these rivers. This 
 large tract of country now composes 
 the Balaghaut ceded districts, and to 
 these two-thirds of Punganoor were 
 added, and part of Goodeput, having 
 been exchanged for certain districts, 
 which had been reserved by the treaty 
 of Mysore as the eventual portion of 
 the Peshwa, but which by the sup- 
 plemental treaty of Mysore fell into 
 the possession of the British govern- 
 ment. Under the ancient native so- 
 vereigns, this quarter of the Bala- 
 ghaut was subdivided into many sec- 
 tions, the chief of which were Kur- 
 noul, Adoni, Cummim, Harponelly, 
 Rydroog, Bellary, Gooty, Ghazi- 
 
 1 
 
114 
 
 BALAGHAUT. 
 
 poor, Cuddapah, Dupaud, Gurrum- 
 condah, Punganoor, and Sidhout. 
 
 The ceded districts contain more 
 ground than Scotland, and occupy 
 the centre of what is improperly 
 termed the peninsula, which inland 
 position seems to occasion the fre- 
 quent droughts experienced in these 
 territories. The northern boundary 
 is well defined, and the Toombudra 
 river formerly afforded a sure pro- 
 tection for many months of the 
 year. It also fills some water-courses 
 that irrigate the country about Bija- 
 nagur, the ancient Hindoo capital, 
 and about Rampoor in Adoni. Owing 
 to the elevated surface of this region, 
 it has no large rivers, except the 
 Krishna and Toombudra, which mark 
 its boundaries to the north. The 
 southern portion of the ceded dis- 
 tricts consists of vallies lying be- 
 tween the eastern ghaut mountains, 
 which extend from Colar to Gurrum- 
 condah, and from thence stretch in- 
 land as far west as Sera. To the 
 north of these divisions are Cudda- 
 pah, Gooty, and Bellary, which lie 
 lower than the mountain vallies to 
 the south, but are intersected in 
 different directions by many ranges of 
 low hills. 
 
 The soil of these territories is ge- 
 nerally good, especially the black 
 land, which when cleaned and pro- 
 perly ploughed requires nothing more 
 than a harrowing for the next twenty 
 years ; in fact, a farmer may cultivate 
 a field of this description for his 
 whole life, without perhaps plough- 
 ing it more than once. The black 
 soil is most common in the western 
 divisions, where a noble plain of this 
 description is seen from the top of 
 Adoni hill, stretching north-west and 
 south-east from Gooty to the Toom- 
 budra, fifty miles long by from six- 
 teen to twenty broad, which, whe- 
 ther it be considered as an object of 
 agriculture, or as a landscape, pre- 
 sents a grand prospect. This rich 
 soil appears to be pure black mould 
 from two to twelve feet deep, but 
 how and when first collected remains 
 unknown. It contains no vestiges 
 of decayed branches or trees, while 
 
 the red and black soils are often ab- 
 ruptly mixed ; the latter, indeed, is 
 found among rocks where trees never 
 could have grown. Round the hills 
 and rocks, which abound, the soil 
 is usually a red gravel, and both 
 black and red soils are mixed with 
 sand and calcareous stones. In some 
 red fields they do not even attempt 
 to clear the land of stones, as every 
 successive ploughing raises a new 
 crop of stones, which in some re- 
 spects are not detrimental. 
 
 The soil here is in general more 
 fertile than either Canara or Mala- 
 bar. Two or three nights’ rain will 
 ensure a greater crop, in proportion 
 to the extent of surface and seed, 
 than six months’ drizzling in Canara. 
 The black soil is the most fertile, 
 and when once ploughed requires 
 little further trouble ; but as the red 
 soil is worked with slighter and 
 cheaper tools, the poorer classes of 
 farmers are generally settled on it. 
 Drill husbandry is universal. The 
 rains are uncertain, but ought to fall 
 in June, at which period all the pea- 
 santry are looking up to the heavens 
 for a shower, as one good night’s 
 rain is sufficient to enable the culti- 
 vator to sow his seed : but if it fails 
 in June, the whole crop is in dan- 
 ger of being lost. If a little of the 
 rain which deluges Canara, tears up 
 the soil, and injures the agriculture, 
 could be transferred to the ceded 
 districts, they would be among the 
 most fertile of Hindostan. As it is, 
 the rains are heavy in September and 
 October, when they often do as much 
 damage by bursting the tanks as their 
 absence occasions during the earlier 
 months. 
 
 The labour and expense of clear- 
 ing black land are very great. Hav- 
 ing cut down the shrubs and bushes 
 on 100 acres, the farmer proceeds to 
 plough east and west for one month, 
 and then north and south for another. 
 The succeeding month is employed in 
 grubbing up the roots, after which it is 
 harrowed by a ponderous machine for 
 one month and a half. This last- 
 mentioned implement is so heavy as 
 to require twelve or sixteen bullocks. 
 
BALAGHAUT. 
 
 115 
 
 which work from morning until noon 
 and then rest. After the first great 
 harrowing they again harrow with 
 two smaller machines and six bul- 
 locks for a fortnight, and finally with 
 a still smaller drawn by two bullocks, 
 The work, however, does not finish 
 here, for labourers are required 
 for two weeks longer to clear the 
 ground of roots ; after which light 
 harrows are again employed. This 
 previous preparation being complet- 
 ed, cotton and koraloo are sown . 
 together by a drill machine, after 
 which it undergoes repeated harrow- 
 ing, hoeing, and drilling, and about 
 three or four months afterwards the 
 crop is ripe, when it is reaped by 
 three or four gatherings in the course 
 of a month. If it be taken care of 
 there will be no occasion to plough a 
 field prepared in this manner for 
 twenty years ; but it must be annually 
 harrowed with four bullocks before 
 the seed is scattered, for if this be 
 neglected, the great plough and heavy 
 machinery must be again brought 
 out. There is still much waste land 
 in this province, where poverty 
 cramps and deadens the efforts of 
 the cultivator. In some parts the 
 seed is put into the ground without 
 any previous process, and pressed 
 down by a bush on which a large 
 stone has been placed instead of a 
 harrow. 
 
 The red soil requires turning up 
 and ploughing, ten or twelve bul- 
 locks being necessary for one hun- 
 dred acres. It is first cleared by 
 hand labour with the hoe and hatchet, 
 and then well ploughed. It is in 
 general full of stones, which in some 
 places they do not attempt to move. 
 Sometimes they manure by folding 
 sheep, one thousand being necessary 
 to manure six acres, when kept on it 
 ten nights, which process however 
 must be annually repeated. At other 
 times they manure with fhe dust, 
 ashes, and refuse of the village, which 
 is thinly spread after a shower and 
 ploughed in; this will last four years. 
 The seed is then deposited by a drill 
 of a simple construction, consisting 
 of three shares, which make their fur- 
 
 rows about an inch deep. Three hol- 
 low bamboos are placed directly over 
 the shares, joined at the top in one 
 cup, from whence the seed drops 
 through the bamboos into the furrow. 
 A woman follows the plough holding 
 a hollow bamboo perpendicularly, 
 with a cup at the top, into which she 
 pours seed of a large size. The bam- 
 boo is dragged along by the drill ma- 
 chine, to which it is fixed by a string 
 five or six feet long, the female hold- 
 ing it steady with one hand while 
 she pours in the seed with the other. 
 The plough with a horizontal share 
 drawn by two bullocks follows, cut- 
 ting the earth horizontally and filling 
 up the furrow. To manage the drill 
 and horizontal ploughs, four persons 
 and four bullocks are necessary. 
 One person drives the bullocks ; ano- 
 ther pours in the seed, of which eight 
 different kinds are frequently sown 
 together; a woman conducts the 
 hollow cylinder dragged after, and a 
 man or boy drives the bullocks that 
 follow with the horizontal plough. 
 Before they begin to work, the ma- 
 chine is painted and consecrated. 
 
 The great armies that have so often 
 traversed this province have destroy- 
 ed the trees, except a few clumps 
 which are chiefly found among the 
 hills : no expense thereforeshoulu be 
 spared in promoting the planting of 
 trees, especially of palmiras. Ac- 
 cording to the survey accounts there 
 are 50,258 wells in the Balaghatit 
 ceded districts, of which, in 1807, 
 above 13,914 were out of repair. 
 Garden produce was then supposed 
 only to pay about six and one-eighth 
 per cent, of the land rent. The bare 
 rocks and absence of wood gives the 
 surface a rugged and savage appear- 
 ance, which well agrees with the 
 character of the people, who are 
 more laborious and hardy, and at the 
 same time more ferocious, than the 
 natives below the ghauts; their food, 
 dress, and weapons, are also more 
 manly than those of their lowland 
 neighbours, and on the first acqui- 
 sition of the territory, every inhabi- 
 tant not only carried, but was accus- 
 tomed to the use of arms, while 
 
116 
 
 BALAGHAUT. 
 
 every village was fortified. At that 
 era they were also, probably, the 
 poorest people under the British go- 
 vernment. So far were they from 
 having any property in the soil, like 
 the landholders of Canara and Ma- 
 labar, they were seldom even fixed 
 tenants, but migrated from farm to 
 farm, and from village to village, 
 where they clubbed together to carry 
 on their cultivation. Even the houses 
 were government property, and the 
 only proprietors of land were the 
 enaumdars. The enaum, or charity 
 lands of the village, were established 
 during the Hindoo empire of Bijana- 
 gur, and tolerably well tilled. These 
 lands had been resumed and mea- 
 sured by Tippoo, who laid his hands 
 on every thing ; but the ingenuity of 
 individuals rendered the resumption 
 little more than nominal. 
 
 The troubles that so long prevailed 
 in the ceded districts before they 
 were transferred to the Madras pre- 
 sidency, occasioned the destruction 
 of all the ancient revenue accounts ; 
 there is reason, however, to conclude, 
 from the tenour of all tradition, from 
 existing documents, and from in- 
 quiries, that the land has all along 
 been the property of government. 
 The ancient princes were accustomed 
 to grant away the property in the 
 soil, as well as the government rent, 
 a proof that the land entirely be- 
 longed to government. Tradition 
 states that the Bijanagur dynasties 
 took half the produce estimated in 
 kind, and converted it into money 
 at a rate unfavourable to the farmers 
 and cultivators. The avowed prin- 
 ciple of the Mahomedans, after the 
 conquest of Bijanagur in A.D. 1564, 
 was an equal division of the produce 
 between the government and culti- 
 vator, the share of the first being 
 converted into money at the average 
 of ten preceding years, but the last 
 was further burthened with the pay- 
 ment of fees. It is said that, at the 
 period above-mentioned, there were 
 few chiefs like the present poligars. 
 The chiefs of Anantpoor, Raydroog, 
 and Ouke, were great officers of state 
 under the Bijanagur sovereigns, and 
 
 held their districts as personal jag- 
 hires for their maintenance. Even 
 the Annagoondy Rajas, the descen- 
 dants of the royal race who so long 
 ruled the south of India, were at 
 last subdued, and though permitted 
 to hold a few districts, were subjected 
 to pesheush. The brood of poligars, 
 that afterwards did so much mischief, 
 sprung up between the period above 
 alluded to and the reign of Aureng- 
 zebe. 
 
 War, famine and bad management, 
 all combined for many years to de- 
 populate the ceded districts and di- 
 minish their revenue; but the inces- 
 sant rebellions of the poligars seem 
 to have been the main cause of their 
 decline. These poligars were origi- 
 nally either public officers of govern- 
 ment, who held villages for their per- 
 sonal maintenance, or they were 
 renters who set up for themselves, 
 or lastly they were usurpers. Some 
 were merely potails or head villagers, 
 who, taking advantage of the strength 
 of the country and weakness of the 
 government, withheld the revenue 
 and levied troops. These self-created 
 chiefs kept up all the state, and were 
 installed with all the formality of 
 legitimate sovereigns, although their 
 incomes did not exceed from two to 
 three hundred pagodas per annum, 
 and their pretensions were never ac- 
 knowledged by any of the different 
 governments that preceded the British 
 in the administration of the province. 
 Neither the Cuddapah nabobs, how- 
 ever, nor the Maharattas, could keep 
 them in subjection, or compel them 
 to pay their tribute with regularity ; 
 while the struggles to enforce it on 
 one side, and to resist it on the other, 
 produced unceasing broils, and dis- 
 tracted the country during the whole 
 of the eighteenth centuty. In fact, 
 neither Hyder, Tippoo, or the Nizam, 
 made the slightest progress in restor- 
 ing tranquillity, and anarchy had at- 
 tained its utmost perfection in these 
 districts when they were transferred 
 to the British government. During 
 this period of distraction the poligars 
 withheld the revenues in order to 
 raise a force to defend themselves ; 
 
BALAGHAUT. 
 
 117 
 
 the army sent against them plundered 
 on all sides, so that their rebellion 
 and reduction were equally destruc- 
 tive to the miserable cultivators. 
 
 In A.D. 1800 the British function- 
 aries entered the Balaghaut ceded 
 districts, where they found confusion 
 worse confounded. The inhabitants 
 had been plundered, not only by the 
 revenue officers, but by every person 
 who could pay a bribe for the privi- 
 lege of trying to extort money. The 
 chief inhabitants had not only been 
 permitted, but encouraged to carry 
 on a predatory warfare against each 
 other on the same terms. The indo- 
 lence and corruption of the Nizam’s 
 officers influenced them to abandon 
 the collection of the revenue to poli- 
 gar zemindars, and the head-men of 
 villages. Every village was a gar- 
 rison, the inhabitants of which fre- 
 quently turned out and fought a 
 pitched battle with the village nearest 
 to them. The Nizam’s troops were 
 always engaged in the siege of some 
 place, while the exactions of those 
 thus armed with authority, and the ha- 
 bitual obstinacy of the village people, 
 made it difficult to say which was in 
 the right. Murders were so common 
 that few families of note had escaped 
 assassinations, or were themselves 
 unpolluted with blood. In those 
 times the head-man acted the part of 
 a little potentate in his own village, 
 and the anarchy that pervaded the 
 province might in some measure jus- 
 tify his taking on himself the dic- 
 tatorship of his little republic ; but 
 the impunity which a few hundred 
 rupees secured for the most atrocious 
 crimes, tempted every man who could 
 afford it, to indulge his rapacity, ma- 
 lice, or ambition. In most parts the 
 head-man of the village, the head 
 cultivator, and the village accountant, 
 so peaceable in the Company’s old 
 territories, had become leaders of 
 banditti, chiefs of robbers, and san- 
 guinary ruffians, garrisoning dens and 
 strong-holds. To the east matters 
 were still worse, for there the poli- 
 gars had generally resumed their 
 former situations and depredations. 
 The impotence, in short, of the 
 
 Nizam’s officers, the predatory and 
 military habits of the natives, so fre- 
 quently overrun by large armies, the 
 frequent transfers from one govern- 
 ment to another, and the frontier 
 situation which enabled offenders to 
 escape, had introduced a state of 
 anarchy scarcely ever excelled in the 
 annals of India. 
 
 The strong arm of the British 
 power established a reluctant tran- 
 quillity, and the country was begin- 
 ning to recover from its state of de- 
 solation, when a severe drought, in 
 1803, greatly injured it. In many 
 parts the failure of the dry crop was 
 so complete, that the blade never 
 appeared above ground ; in others it 
 never produced an ear, but withering, 
 was abandoned to the cattle. Un- 
 fortunately, the same drought that 
 prevailed in 1803, continued with 
 unabating severity throughout 1804, 
 when the evils were infinitely aggra- 
 vated. The continuance of the 
 drought for two years had parched 
 up the ground; there was no grass in 
 the pastures, straw was enormously 
 dear; a great proportion of the cattle 
 perished, and many of the poorer 
 inhabitants were forced to quit their 
 houses. During this year the drought 
 was so severe, that nothing but the 
 prudent measures adopted by the 
 principal collector (Sir Thomas, then 
 Colonel Munro) to alleviate, and 
 more especially his abstaining from 
 all the measures which so frequently 
 aggravate a scarcity, could have saved 
 the country from the horrors of a 
 famine, such as then desolated the 
 Nizam’s country, and such as had in 
 former seasons, not so bad, desolated 
 the ceded districts. The rice here, 
 in June 1804, was eight seers per 
 rupee, while on the opposite side of 
 the Krishna, at the distance of only 
 thirty miles, it was five seers. The 
 soil and produce of Adoni in the 
 British territory, and of Raichoor in 
 that of the Nizam, are nearly the 
 same, and they are only separated by 
 the Krishna; yet in Raichoor there 
 was a famine, when in Adoni there 
 was only a scarcity, and both were 
 equally protected by the army under 
 
118 
 
 BALAGHAUT. 
 
 General Campbell. In 1805, a great 
 increase of revenue took place in 
 consequence of a favourable season 
 following the two preceding years of 
 dearth, and ever since these districts 
 have greatly improved, notwithstand- 
 ing the recurrence of bad seasons, 
 and other serious obstacles from a 
 turbulent population. 
 
 The ceded districts, when obtain- 
 ed in 1800, were placed under Col. 
 Thomas Monro, and were valued in 
 the deed of cession at 1,651,545 star 
 pagodas, including all heads of reve- 
 nue. The collector, in the first in- 
 stance, fixed his rate much below 
 what had been the former demand, 
 increasing it only as the means of 
 the cultivator and the state of the 
 country improved. In the course of 
 seven years the land revenue alone 
 increased from 1,006,593 to 1,517,272 
 pagodas, and under the able manage- 
 ment of Col. Munro, the inhabitants 
 of the province, from disunited 
 hordes of lawless freebooters, became 
 as far advanced in civilization, sub- 
 mission to the laws, and obedience 
 to the magistrates, as any other sub- 
 jects under the Madras presidency. 
 In 1817, the total gross collections 
 of the two districts (Bellary and 
 Cuddapah) into which this province 
 was divided amounted to 1,740,304 
 star pagodas. 
 
 In 1806, after the survey of the 
 province was completed, instructions 
 were issued to make out new returns 
 of the number of inhabitants in every 
 village, as far as was practicable by 
 actual muster, except with those 
 castes who seclude their women 
 from public view. The total number 
 of inhabitants, according to the lists 
 returned, amounted to 1,917,376 per- 
 sons, which shewed an increase of 
 one-fourth of the population in five 
 years of tranquillity, partly arising 
 from the return of persons who had 
 emigrated during the Nizam’s domi- 
 nation ; but the remainder must be 
 attributed to the falsity of former 
 returns. These records of the popu- 
 lation tended to prove that the males 
 exceeded the females in number one- 
 tenth. The number of cattle, sheep, 
 
 and goats could not be ascertained with 
 the same accuracy, their owners hav- 
 ing a superstitious prejudice against 
 their being counted by others, or even 
 by themselves. 
 
 Within the limits of this province 
 districts are subdivided into villages, 
 under the guidance of potails, or 
 head farmers, by whom the peasantry- 
 are guided. In all villages the latter 
 are in the habit of meeting and debat- 
 ing on the subject of rent, and there 
 are many villages where they settle 
 among themselves the exact propor- 
 tion of the whole rent that each in- 
 dividual is to pay; they are called 
 veespuddi, or sixteenth villages, from 
 the land rent being divided into six- 
 teenth shares. A great part of the 
 Cuddapah district is composed of 
 these villages, and they are scattered, 
 though more thinly, over other parts 
 of the country. When the season for 
 cultivation draws near, the peasantry 
 of the veespuddi villages assemble to 
 regulate their several rents for the 
 year ; the pagoda is usually the place 
 chosen for this purpose, from the 
 idea that its sanctity will render the 
 engagements with each other more 
 binding ; every village, being in this 
 manner a small colleetorate, con- 
 ducted by a potail or head farmer. 
 This quarter having been brought 
 under subjection by the Mahomedans 
 at a comparatively late period, and 
 never thoroughly subdued or settled, 
 a very great proportion of the inha- 
 bitants follow the Bralnninical per- 
 suasion ; but in the larger places, 
 such as Cuddapah, Bellary, Adoni, 
 and Curnoul, many Mahomedans are 
 to be found. That the courts of jus- 
 tice in the Balaghaut ceded districts 
 have but few causes is partly ac- 
 counted for by their poverty, law 
 being as yet too expensive a luxury. 
 
 Indigo is here raised and exported 
 in considerable quantities, and the 
 coarse sugar manufactory is also on 
 the increase. Cotton is one of the 
 chief productions, which although it at 
 first languished, is now rapidly on the 
 increase; the peasantry, in general, 
 being a very industrious race, and 
 most of them cultivators by Gaste. 
 
BALASORE. 
 
 119 
 
 Diamond mines are found in many 
 parts of the ceded districts, espe- 
 cially in the eastern and central divi- 
 sions. In the Chinoor pollam, not 
 far from Cuddapah, there are two 
 places, called Condapetta and Ova- 
 lumpally, where these gems are 
 found; and in the next talook, at 
 Lamdoor and Pinchetgapadoo,as also 
 in the Gooty division. All the dia- 
 mond mines in this part of India, 
 with a few exceptions, lie between 
 the Krishna and Pennar rivers, from 
 which tract the famous Golconda dia- 
 monds were procured, the country 
 so called not producing any. 
 
 In remote times this province 
 formed part of the last existing Hin- 
 dostan empire of Bijanagur, to which 
 article the reader is referred for some 
 historical particulars. A great pro- 
 portion of the modern poligars claim 
 descent from the officers of the Bija- 
 nagur dynasties, and some, direct 
 from the royal family. After the fall 
 of the Mogul emperors of Delhi it 
 contained several independent Maho- 
 medan states, especially the Patan 
 nabobs of Adoni and Cuddapah, and 
 suffered encroachments from the cur- 
 turs, or chiefs of Mysore. It was 
 mostly conquered by Hyder, between 
 17G6 and 1780, and in 1800 was, by 
 treaty with the Nizam, as before 
 related, transferred to the British 
 government. In a political and mili- 
 tary point of view, these districts are 
 at present of great value, for they are 
 now what the Carnatic formerly was, 
 the countries from which our armies 
 in the Deccan must draw their sup- 
 plies of cattle and provisions. While 
 under the Nizam, their revenue de- 
 clined every year, and an army was 
 constantly in the field, the expense 
 of which consumed the collections ; 
 indeed, the country was then in so 
 distracted a state, that the Nizam 
 seemed to have given it up to the 
 British because he could not retain 
 it in subjection. — ( Thackeray , Sir 
 Thomas Munro , 5th Report , Hodg- 
 son, Rennell, fyc.) 
 
 Balambangan ( properly Beroban- 
 gan ). — A small island in the Eastern 
 
 seas, about fifteen miles in length by 
 three in breadth, lying off the northern 
 extremity of Borneo ; lat. 7° 15' N., 
 Ion. 117° 5' E. The harbour called 
 the north-east is the largest ; but 
 at that on the south side, where 
 the English settled, the ground is 
 swampy. The soil is rich and fruit- 
 ful ; the harbour abounds with fish, 
 and is very convenient for watering. 
 In 1774 the East°India Company 
 formed a settlement here with a 
 view to the spice trade; but next 
 year were treacherously expelled by 
 the Sooloos, who surprised the Bug- 
 gess centinels, turned the guns against 
 the guard, and drove the settlers on 
 board their vessels. The settlement 
 was re-established in 1803, but after- 
 wards abandoned. The island was 
 uninhabited prior to 1774, and has 
 probably remained so ever since the 
 British quitted it. — ( Forrest , tyc.) 
 
 Balangode. — A town in the island 
 of Ceylon, district of Suffragam, fifty 
 miles S. byE. from Candy, and 1742 
 feet above the level of the sea ; lat. 
 6° 23' N., Ion. 80° 50' E. 
 
 Balasinore. — A town and petty 
 state in the province of Gujerat, 
 whose chief is named the Babi of 
 Balasinore. It stands near the Seyrei 
 river, about forty-one miles east from 
 Ahmedabad ; lat. 22° 59' N., Ion. 73° 
 25' E. 
 
 Balasore ( V alesivara) . — A large 
 straggling town in the province of 
 Orissa, situated on the south side of 
 the Boori Balang river, 125 miles 
 S.W. from Calcutta ; lat. 21° 32' N., 
 Ion. 86° 56' E. A group of five 
 rocky hills project boldly forth to 
 within seventeen miles of the bay of 
 Bengal, known to old navigators as the 
 Nelligreen (neel gheree, blue moun- 
 tains). This was formerly a flourish- 
 ing town, and at an early period of 
 European intercourse, the Portu- 
 guese, Dutch, and English had fac- 
 tories here. It has since much fallen 
 off; but what remains, though mean- 
 ly built, forms a town of considerable 
 extent, here and there exhibiting a 
 deserted European-built house, de- 
 noting its former miscellaneous in- 
 
120 
 
 BALLY. 
 
 habitants. Indeed the sites of seve- 
 ral factories may still be traced, by a 
 ruined gateway, a group of tomb- 
 stones, or some such memorial, and 
 the foreign flags are still hoisted on 
 the respective premises by a Portu- 
 guese writer, who for sixteen rupees 
 per month officiates on behalf of the 
 different sovereigns, who have long 
 ceased to have any other representa- 
 tive. The salt agent for the Cuttack 
 district usually resides at Chunde- 
 poor, on the sea-beach, a few miles 
 from hence, where salt is manufac- 
 tured by lixiviating the mud accord- 
 ing to the process practised in the 
 Sunderbunds. Formerly a consider- 
 able quantity of grain was exported 
 to the south ; but this branch of 
 trade has of late years declined, owing 
 to the long-continued peace enjoyed 
 by the Madras territories, which 
 has enabled them to supply their own 
 consumption without importation. 
 Balasore, however, is still the princi- 
 pal port of the Cuttack district, and 
 is provided with dry docks, to which 
 vessels not drawing more than four- 
 teen feet of water can be floated at 
 spring tides. In 18 22 it was esti- 
 mated to contain 10,000 inhabitants, 
 and was frequented chiefly by Mal- 
 dive vessels, salt boats, and a class 
 of sloops that carry rice to Calcutta 
 during the cold season. Travelling 
 distance from Calcutta 141 miles. — 
 ( Fullarton, Stirling , 10 Reg., Leckie, 
 Bruce , #c.) 
 
 Bali Isle. — See Bally. 
 
 Balij. — A town in the province of 
 Gujerat, Kaira district, thirty-three 
 miles S.E. from Ahmedabad; lat. 22° 
 40' N., Ion. 73° 10' E. This place, 
 until 1817, although completely in- 
 sulated by the British dominions, be- 
 longed to the Guicowar, from whom 
 it was obtained in exchange for ano- 
 ther tract of equal value. — ( Public 
 MS. Document s, fyc.) 
 
 Balky ( Phalaki ). — A town in the 
 province of Beeder, twenty-two miles 
 N.W. from the city of that name; 
 lat. 18° N., Ion. 77° 19' E. Fifty 
 years ago this was a large town, but 
 
 it is now much decayed, and an- 
 swers better to the description of a 
 village. — ( Upton, Register , fyc.) 
 
 Ballapoor. — A town in the Be- 
 rar province, fifty-eight miles S.W. 
 from Ellichpoor ; lat. 20°39'N., Ion. 
 76° 56' E. 
 
 Balliaghaut. — This place is now 
 comprehended within the limits of 
 Calcutta, being properly its port for 
 the eastern inland navigation, al- 
 though within the memory of inha- 
 bitants still alive a jungle intervened 
 two miles in extent, infested by 
 tigers and other ferocious animals. 
 A remarkable change has since taken 
 place, there being a handsome avenue 
 of gardens and houses the whole 
 way. It is situated near the western 
 extremity of two shallow muddy salt 
 lakes, which at low water are nearly 
 empty, but when full admit native 
 craft of considerable burthen. — 
 (Fifth Report, § c.) 
 
 Bally ( Bali or Little Java ) . — An 
 island in the Eastern seas, separated 
 from Java by the strait of Bally, 
 and lying between the eighth and 
 ninth degrees of south latitude. The 
 south-eastern extremity of Java is 
 in lat. 8° 41' S., Ion. 114° 25' E. 
 Table Point, the southern promontory 
 of Bally, is in lat. 8° 50' S. In length 
 it may be estimated at seventy miles, 
 by thirty-five the average breadth. 
 The coast rises gradually for ten 
 miles towards the interior, to a ridge 
 of mountains which stretches across 
 from east to west, and terminates at 
 the eastern end in the peak of Bally, 
 which is volcanic. The straits are 
 narrow in some parts, and a six-knot 
 tide runs at full and change. 
 
 This island exhibits the same geo- 
 logical features as Java, but it has an 
 iron-bound coast, and is destitute of 
 harbours, and even of safe anchorage. 
 The lands are irrigated by abundant 
 streams and rivulets from the moun- 
 tains, and are remarkably productive. 
 In the lower tracts the chief article 
 of food is rice, but in the upper maize 
 and sweet potatoes; the animal food is 
 mostly swine’s flesh and beef, the price 
 
BALLY, 
 
 121 
 
 of an ox seldom exceeding 12s. 
 sterling. A considerable number of 
 ox and buffaloe hides are in con- 
 sequence exported, but the natives 
 have not yet learned the art of salt- 
 ing their hides. Besides these the 
 chief exports are rice, birds’-nests, 
 coarse cloths, cotton yarn, salted 
 eggs, dingding, gambir, and oil; the 
 principal imports, opium, betel-nut, 
 ivory, gold, and silver. Unlike the 
 Malays, the Balinese abhor a sea- 
 faring life, nor are they much addicted 
 to merchandizing, the Buggess prows 
 (in 1824, about fifty) being the grand 
 carriers of the Archipelago. The 
 most profitable trade not long ago 
 was that of slaves, which has since 
 much diminished : yet from 300 to 
 1,000 are still annually exported, 
 mostly by the Chinese, who prefer 
 them on account of their superior 
 strength and intelligence. 
 
 The natives of Bali excel the Ma- 
 lays and Javanese in stature and mus- 
 cular strength, and appear a superior 
 race to the generality of the Eastern 
 islanders. The Chinese population 
 is also considerable, especially at 
 Blelling. The demand of the chiefs 
 for a share in the erops rests on the 
 peculiar husbandry of the country, 
 which depending greatly on irrigation, 
 of which he is the distributor, he 
 claims in consequence for the water 
 expended. The constitution is es- 
 sentially despotic, as modified by the 
 system of village government, which 
 prevails here as in Java. In 1815, 
 the ordinary price of rice was 133 
 pounds for three-fourths of a Spanish 
 dollar. 
 
 In Java, the establishment of a Ma- 
 homedan government for nearly four 
 centuries has tended to obliterate 
 the general knowledge of the better 
 educated; but in Bali the Hindoo 
 faith, however perverted by local 
 superstitions, is still the paramount 
 religion, the Mahomedan doctrines 
 having made little progress, and no 
 portion of the island having ever 
 been permanently subjected to Euro- 
 pean authority. The grent majority 
 of the Balinese are Hindoos, of the 
 sect of Siva, subdivided in the four 
 
 great castes of Brahmins, Khetries, 
 Vaisyas, and Sudras. There are 
 also a few Buddhists, and a class of 
 outcasts held impure, and designated 
 by the Hindoo name of Chandala. 
 The Balinese Brahmins may be con- 
 sidered as genuine adherents ofVyas; 
 but the great mass of the populace, 
 like those of Bengal, worship their 
 tutelary gods, every village, moun- 
 tain, forest, and river having its 
 peculiar deity. The Brahmins are 
 treated with great respect, and con- 
 duct the administration of justice, 
 civil and criminal. They have their 
 hair bound up in a knot, but do not 
 wear the distinguishing thread ; the 
 three inferior castes crop their hair 
 short. Princes are usually, but not 
 invariably, of the military caste, as 
 in 1815 the Raja of Carang Assem, 
 the most powerful on the island, was 
 of the mercantile class. Little at- 
 tention is paid by the great mass of 
 inhabitants to the Brahminical doc- 
 trines of purity and impurity of food, 
 for they eat beef without remorse, 
 and hogs and poultry are among 
 their daily luxuries. The sacerdotal 
 class, however, are more scrupulous, 
 and restrict themselves to a vegetable 
 diet. 
 
 In Bally there are no religious 
 mendicants, or ascetics addicted to 
 extravagant acts of mortification, but 
 the practice of sacrificing the widow 
 and concubine at the fyneral pile of 
 the husbands, is carried to an excess 
 unknown in Hindostan. These im- 
 molations are most frequent among 
 the military and trading castes, for a 
 female of the servile class rarely un- 
 dergoes the sacrifice ; and, what is 
 more extraordinary, one of the sacred 
 order never does. When the father 
 of the present Raja of Blelling was 
 burned, seventy-four women mounted 
 the pile along with the corpse. The Ba- 
 linese language is a rude, simple, and 
 peculiar dialect, besides which there 
 is a copious and refined language of 
 deference, borrowed from the Sanscrit 
 and Javanese. The Hindoo era of 
 Salivahana or Saca, seventy-eight 
 years date after the birth of Christ, is 
 universally used here, under the de- 
 
122 
 
 BALOOCHISTAN. 
 
 nomination of Saca-warsa-chandra. 
 It is said that the Brahmins here are 
 able to calculate eclipses from tables 
 in their possession, but this fact has 
 not yet been well established. 
 
 In A.D. 1815 the island of Bally 
 was divided into eight states, each in- 
 dependent, and governed by its own 
 chief. At that date the total popula- 
 tion was loosely estimated at 800,000 
 souls ; but as the computation was 
 founded on the number of males 
 whose teeth had been filed, no great 
 accuracy is to be expected ; viz. 
 
 InKlongkong 30,000 
 
 Carrang-assem 50,000 
 
 Badong 20,000 
 
 Blelling... 30,000 
 
 Tabanan 40,000 
 
 Mergui 20,000 
 
 Giangur 50,000 
 
 Taman Bali 10,000 
 
 At present the state of Klongkong is 
 allowed to be of the highest antiquity; 
 yet in 1633, when the Dutch solicited 
 assistance at Bally, the prince of Gel- 
 gel appears to have been paramount. 
 In 1814, the Raja of Blelling’ s bro- 
 thers having insulted the British post 
 at Blambangan, in Java, an expedition 
 called at Java on its way to Celebes, 
 and received the submission of several 
 Rajas, and during some time the town 
 and crattan of Blelling were occupied 
 by a British garrison. — ( Crawfurd , 
 Raffles, Thorn , Forrest , Leyden , fyc.) 
 
 BALOOCHISTAN, 
 
 £ Or the Country of the Baloochies ) . 
 — The boundaries of Baloochistan, in 
 their widest acceptation, are, the In- 
 dian ocean to the south ; Seistan and 
 Afghanistan to the north ; the pro- 
 vinces of Laristan and Kerman to the 
 west ; and to the east Shekarpoor and 
 the Sinde territories. Within these 
 limits are comprehended the provin- 
 ces of Jhalawan and Sarawan, Mek- 
 ran and Lus, Cutch Gundava, and 
 Hurrund Dajel, Kohistan, and the 
 desert. The space may be described 
 as being included between the lati- 
 tudes of 24° 50' and 30° 40' north, 
 and the longitudes of 58° 55' and 
 67° 30' east ; but some sections of 
 
 country exceed these limits east and 
 west. The whole of this extensive 
 region composed the dominions of 
 Nassir Khan, the father of the late 
 Khan of Kelat; but since his death, in 
 1795, it has undergone many political 
 and territorial changes. 
 
 To the south, Baloochistan Proper 
 commences atBayla, from which place 
 it extends northward to Nooshky, 
 seventy-nine miles N.W. from Kelat. 
 This country is described as a confused 
 heap of mountains, through which the 
 roads generally lead in water-courses 
 and the dry beds of small rivers. 
 Jhalawan is the most southerly dis- 
 trict of Baloochistan, and Sarawan 
 the most northerly. They are a mass 
 of mountains from Kohunwat, on the 
 frontiers of Lus, to the desert which 
 separates them from Candahar; the 
 length of this stupenduous range is 
 350 miles, but varies in breadth at 
 different places. These mountains are 
 barren, being chiefly composed of 
 coarse, black stone; the vallies of 
 Wudd, Khozdar, and Sohrab are ca- 
 pable of cultivation. The climate of 
 this alpine region assimilates in a con- 
 siderable degree to that of Europe, 
 experiencing four distinct seasons: 
 spring, summer, autumn, and winter. 
 The heat is seldom unpleasantly great, 
 but during the months of December, 
 January and February, cold is intense. 
 
 The plains of Wudd, Khozdar, and 
 Sohrab, produce, in favourable sea- 
 sons, plentiful crops of wheat, barley 
 and jowaree, and in some of the les- 
 ser vallies grass grows abundantly. 
 Flocks of sheep and cattle are nume- 
 rous in every part of the country. 
 Jhalawan and Sarawan are subdivided 
 into smaller districts, and every dis- 
 trict into innumerable khails or so- 
 cieties, each of which furnish their 
 quota of troops, according to the po- 
 pulation or the exigence of the ser- 
 vice. Shal and Mustung, two stages 
 to the north of Kelat, were given to 
 Nassir Khan by Nadir Shah for his 
 services at Mished, and Hurrund Da- 
 jel for those in Hindostan. Nooshky 
 is a small tract of about thirty-six 
 square miles, at the base of the Kelat 
 mountains. It is an arid tract, the 
 
BALOOCHISTAN. 
 
 1°23 
 
 sandy hills of which are continually 
 shifting with the winds. A slender 
 stream called the Xysur issues from 
 the hills, and irrigates a small portion 
 of the country ; and there are also 
 small patches of land capable of cul- 
 tivation in different parts of the sand, 
 but which frequently become quite 
 sterile for want of rain. The inhabi- 
 tants of this tract dwell under black 
 felts, stretched over wicker-work made 
 of the guz plant. This species of 
 village is named tooman or khail, and 
 in most of them a few Hindoos are 
 to be found. 
 
 The soil of Nooshky being so sandy, 
 the heat in the summer months is ex- 
 cessive : on which account the inha- 
 bitants migrate to the mountains for 
 cool air and water, as the stream at 
 that season fails in the valley. The 
 inhabitants import grain from Cutch 
 Gundava, and Seistan, and dates from 
 Mekran. The Baloochies here are 
 called Nharroes and Rukhsani, and 
 are related to those of the same tribe 
 in Seistan and Bunpoor. In appear- 
 ance they are tall men, with small 
 bones ; are extremely idle and disso- 
 lute, and addicted to thieving. They 
 undertake predatory incursions to 
 Mekran, and carry off into slavery 
 every person they capture worth the 
 trouble ; some they sell at Kelat and 
 Candahar, the remainder are brought 
 into the horde, and incorporated with 
 it. In this part of the country all the 
 Baloochies understand Persian ; but 
 they speak a dialect of the Baloochy 
 among themselves, different from the 
 Koorgalee spoken by the Brahooees. 
 Sohrab is a fine valley, extending 
 north and south fifty miles, by about 
 twelve in breadth. The middle, 
 through which the water runs from 
 the hills, is well cultivated* with 
 many villages scattered about half a 
 mile asunder. The mountains in many 
 parts of Baloochistan are inhabited by 
 shepherds, who reside in temporary 
 huts, erected on any spot that offers 
 good pasturage. 
 
 The general soil of Baloochistan 
 is sandy, stony, and arid, and the 
 mountainous tracts consist mostly of 
 hard black rock. The earth on the 
 
 plains is mixed with such a profusion 
 of pebbles and small stones that the 
 mould is scarcely visible : yet this 
 most unpromising mixture produces, 
 when properly tilled and irrigated* 
 abundant crops of wheat and barley, 
 and where uncultivated, grass of a 
 luxuriant growth. In the parched 
 and desert portion of Baloochistan 
 the date tree bears the first rank in 
 point of importance. The best tim- 
 ber is procured from the apoor tree 
 (greatly resembling the teak) and the 
 tamarind, both remarkably hard and 
 durable, and of great dimensions, 
 to which may be added, the babool, 
 tamarisk, and mulberry. The neem, 
 peepul, sissoo, chinar,mangoe, walnut 
 and sycamore, are also found in dif- 
 ferent tracts ; but the oak, ash, and 
 fir are unknown. Almost every de- 
 scription of mineral is said to be 
 found here, but our information on 
 this head is as yet defective. Rock- 
 salt is common to the westward, and 
 on the road from Cutch Gundava 
 there is a range of hills, containing 
 salt of a perfectly red colour and 
 aperient quality. In that vicinity 
 sulphur and alum are also found, 
 and to the west of Nooshky white 
 and grey marble. 
 
 The wild and domestic animals of 
 Baloochistan are very numerous, com- 
 prehending both tropical and Euro- 
 pean classes. The horses are strong, 
 well boned, and large, but usually 
 vicious. Those exported to India 
 are mostly reared to the south of 
 Kelat, and in Cutch Gundava. The 
 sheep are of the fat-tailed species. 
 The camel and dromedary are highly 
 prized by the Balcoochies ; the first 
 for burthen, the last for speed. 
 
 There are few countries so wholly 
 without commodities suited to com- 
 mercial exchange as Baloochistan ; 
 partly owing to the aversion of the 
 natives to regular industry, and partly 
 to the physical nature of the country, 
 consisting either of stupendous moun- 
 tains, or arid plains destitute of mois- 
 ture, vegetation, or navigable rivers, 
 the roads being generally nothing but 
 the dry beds of torrents. The popu- 
 lation is also dispersed into small 
 
BALOOCHISTAN. 
 
 124 , 
 
 societies, hostile to each other, and 
 yielding scarcely a nominal obedience 
 to any chief. The exports from Kelat 
 are at present insignificant, but it was 
 once the great channel of merchan- 
 dize from Khorasan, Candahar,Cabul, 
 and India. The imports from Hin- 
 dostan consist of iron, tin, lead, 
 steel, copper, indigo, betel-nut, co- 
 chineal, sugar, spices, silks, kincaubs, 
 gold cloths, chintzes, and coarse 
 woollens. Land watered by wells 
 pays one-twentieth of the produce ; 
 that by the rains from one-tenth to 
 one-sixteenth ; and that by natural 
 springs a still higher proportion. 
 
 The inhabitants are divided into 
 two great classes, severally known 
 by the appellations of Baloochy and 
 Brahooee, which are again subdivided 
 into an infinite number of tribes, 
 khails, and tomuns. Between these 
 two great classes there are leading 
 distinctions of language and appear- 
 ance, but the national aggregate is 
 exclusively denominated Baloochies, 
 partitioned into three distinct tribes, 
 the Nharooees, the Rinds, and the 
 Mughsees. These are mostly sta- 
 tionary, but the Brahooees are more 
 migratory and unsettled. The latter 
 have tall persons, long visages, and 
 high features; the former short, thick 
 bones, round faces, and flat linea- 
 ments, and the hair and beards of 
 both are brown. In husbandry and 
 domestic occupations the Brahooees 
 are hard workers. Those residing 
 near the plains till large tracts of 
 land, and dispose of the produce to 
 the Hindoos for exportation. This 
 and the sale of cheese and ghee, the 
 produce of their flocks, with a few 
 coarse blankets, carpets, and felts, 
 form the only traffic in which the 
 Brahooees engage. Their food is the 
 same as that of the Baloochies, ex- 
 cept that they prefer flesh meat half 
 cooked, without bread, salt, or vege- 
 tables, to any other species of nou- 
 rishment. 
 
 The Brahooees and Baloochies are 
 equally noted for their hospitality; 
 but the latter are less addicted to 
 rapine and predatory violence, yet are 
 fully equal in personal bravery and 
 
 the endurance of hardships. They are 
 also considerably exempted from the 
 worst traits of the Baloochy charac- 
 ter, which are avarice, a vindictive 
 disposition, and proneness to cruelty. 
 All the Baloochies are excellent 
 marksmen, but the Brahooees excel 
 in strength and courage. They train 
 greyhounds with great care, and fre- 
 quently exchange them for one or 
 two camels, or pay 400 rupees for 
 one of superior quality. The breed 
 of shepherds’ dogs is also excellent. 
 The broad-sword exercise and shoot- 
 ing at a mark are favourite amuse- 
 ments with the Brahooees, and, as 
 swordsmen, they are said to surpass 
 most of their neighbours. Their 
 common dress is an under coat which 
 fits close to the body, and is worn 
 over the pyrahun or shirt ; their 
 trowsers are gathered up at the ancle, 
 and they wear a small round flat- 
 topped cap of felt silk. The shep- 
 herds wear a covering of white felt 
 above the shirt in winter, with cloth 
 trowsers and a small felt cap. Petty 
 quarrels are usually adjusted by the 
 chief of the khail or society ; but an 
 appeal in capital cases may be made 
 to Kelat, except when a traveller has 
 been murdered, on which emergencies 
 the nearest chief is authorized to 
 carry the law into execution. 
 
 In religion, both the Baloochies 
 and Brahooees are of the orthodox 
 Soonee sect of Mahomedans, and 
 strenuous adversaries to the Shias. 
 Neither the Baloochy nor the Bra- 
 hooee are written languages, and the 
 early history of both tribes is entirely 
 traditional. On examining the trans- 
 lation of the Lord’s Prayer into the 
 Baloochy dialect, the missionaries 
 found only four words of Sanscrit 
 origin. The Baloochy partakes con- 
 siderably of the idiom of the modern 
 Persian, from which at least half its 
 words are borrowed, but greatly dis- 
 guised by a peculiar pronunciation. 
 The Brahooee, on the contrary, in 
 no respect resembles the Persian in 
 sound, but contains a great many 
 Hindu words, having a strong re- 
 semblance as they strike the ear to 
 the Punjabee dialect. The Dehwars 
 
BALOOCHISTAN. 
 
 of Baloochistan speak pure Persian, 
 and resemble in every respect the 
 Tajiks of Afghanistan. Among the 
 dispersed societies of Baloochistan 
 there are a few Hindoos scattered, 
 who carry on the miserable traffic of 
 the country, and act as money- 
 changers, and agents to the native 
 chiefs. It is probable that long after 
 the first Mahomedan invasion, a great 
 proportion of the country still con- 
 tinued in the occupation of the Hin- 
 doos ; but for more than a century 
 past, the Mahomedan tribes have 
 been progressively so increasing in 
 barbarity that no medium could be 
 observed, and the native Hindoos 
 have either undergone compulsory 
 conversion, or deserted the country. 
 A converted tribe of Hindoos, at 
 present settled in Cutch Gundava, 
 still retain the name of Gooroowanee, 
 or disciples of the Gooroo, or Brah- 
 minical priest. The few Hindoos 
 who migrate to this quarter from 
 Hindoostan, for the purposes of 
 trade, seldom bring their families, 
 and have probably degenerated, as 
 travellers have not observed among 
 them that repugnance to flesh meat 
 which characterizes most of the purer 
 castes of India. 
 
 More than two centuries ago the 
 city of Kelat, with the surrounding 
 country, was possessed by Sewah 
 Raja, a Hindoo, at which period the 
 Baloochies (as at present) tended 
 flocks in the mountains. The inha- 
 bitants were then much infested by 
 the depredations of the people resid- 
 ing in the low country tying between 
 Kelat, Sinde, and Shikarpoor; and 
 to protect them, the Raja sent for 
 Kumbar (which in the Baloochy signi- 
 fies an Abyssinian) a Baloochy chief, 
 and took him into his service, allow- 
 ing him five bundles of grass and 
 wood daily for each man. In pro- 
 gress of time this chief increased his 
 followers, and seizing on the govern- 
 ment, raised the tribute to 100 bun- 
 dles of grass and wood per day, 
 besides a contribution of horses, 
 camels, and foot-runners. This tri- 
 bute is still occasionally exacted by 
 the khans of Kelat, and paid by the 
 
 125 
 
 dehwars, or peasantry, in the neigh- 
 bourhood, who are said to have come 
 originally from Persia, although they 
 have much the appearance of Hin- 
 doos. 
 
 Kumbar, the first usurper, was 
 succeeded by his son 
 
 Sumbur, the father of the next 
 prince, 
 
 Mahomed Khan ; who was suc- 
 ceeded by his son, 
 
 Abdallah Khan, the father of 
 
 Nassir Khan, who ascended the 
 throne after putting to death his 
 brother Hadjee Khan. Nassir Khan 
 performed some important services 
 to Nadir Shah, who rewarded him 
 with the donation of several pro- 
 vinces ; and being a man of consi- 
 derable abilities, greatly extended 
 the Baloochistan dominions, which 
 he left in a comparatively flourishing 
 state, at his death in 1795, to his 
 eldest son, Mahmood Khan, who 
 then ascended the throne. Since 
 that period the territories subject 
 to Kelat have been greatly curtailed 
 by the Ameers of Sinde and other 
 neighbouring princes, the talents of 
 Mahmood Khan being very inferior 
 to those of his father. In conduct- 
 ing affairs he was greatly assisted by 
 his brother, Mustapha Khan, who 
 proved of an active and martial dis- 
 position ; but since 1810 Baloochis- 
 tan has been involved in such inces- 
 sant broils and revolutions, that the 
 semblance of government has also 
 disappeared. In 1811, Mustapha 
 Khan above-mentioned was assassi- 
 nated by his younger brother, who, 
 in 1812, was killed in battle against 
 the forces of Mahmood Khan, the 
 eldest brother. 
 
 In 1815 the territory immediately 
 subject to Mahmood Khan com- 
 prised the high hilly country of Se- 
 wistan, and the low country of 
 Cutch Gundava and Hurrund I)a- 
 jil, to the eastward ; bounded on 
 the north by the ill-defined province 
 of Khorassan ; south by Lus and 
 Sinde ; on the west by Mekran : 
 and on the east by Sinde. In 1810 
 his whole clear revenue was only 
 350,000 rupees, collected from Hur- 
 
BAMIAN. 
 
 126 
 
 rund Dajil, Cutch Gundava, and the 
 bazar tolls of Kelat. The Khans 
 of Baloochistan acknowledge the pa- 
 ramount authority of the Cabul so- 
 vereigns, to whom they are feudato- 
 ries ; but the degree of their sub- 
 mission is in proportion to the ta- 
 lents of the reigning prince, and the 
 political circumstances of the Cabul 
 government. Formerly it was sup- 
 posed that, upon a grand emergency, 
 that the Baloochistan dominions 
 could produce 25,000 infantry and 
 cavalry; but so large a number has 
 never yet been collected together, 
 nor would it be an easy matter, in so 
 barren a country, without navigable 
 rivers, to subsist them if they were. 
 — ( Pottinger, Christie , Macdonald , 
 
 Baiavunt. — A village in the pro- 
 vince of Orissa, district of Cuttack, 
 thirteen miles south from the city of 
 Cuttack. At this place there is a 
 choultry for the accommodation of 
 the Juggernaut pilgrims, having a 
 temple of Narsingh (the man lion) in 
 the centre. 
 
 Balumba. — A town in the Gujerat 
 peninsula, situated on the Gulf of 
 Cutch ; lat. 22° 40' N., Ion. 70° 36' E. 
 
 Bambauah. — The ruins of a city in 
 the province of Mooltan, lying on the 
 west side of the city of Tatta, and 
 conjectured to be those of an ancient 
 city named Brahminabad by Persian 
 authors, who report it to have been 
 the capital of a flourishing Hindoo 
 kingdom in the tenth century. They 
 also name it Mahaura and Manhawar. 
 The site of Bambarah was on a hill 
 covered with trees and bushes, and 
 exhibits in the neighbourhood many 
 tombs of Sindian warriors, v/ho fell 
 in a battle between Gholaum Shah and 
 Meer Ali. — ( Maxficld , tyc.) 
 
 Bameeny (Vamani ). — An island in 
 the province of Bengal formed by the 
 sediment deposited by the waters of 
 the great Ganges and Brahmaputra, 
 where they unite with the ocean in 
 the Bay of Bengal, under the name of 
 the Megna. In length it may be esti- 
 mated at twelve miles, by five the 
 
 average breadth ; but its surface is 
 very little raised above the level of 
 the tide, which here runs with fright- 
 ful strength and rapidity. At Bameeny 
 there is a government establishment 
 for the manufacture of salt, subordi- 
 nate to the Bulwa and Chittagong 
 agency. 
 
 Bamian. — A city subject to the 
 Afghan sovereigns of Cabul, W'hich, 
 although so far to the west, was sub- 
 ject with the district to the Delhi 
 throne during the reign of the great 
 Emperor Acber, as appears by the 
 following extract from Abul Fazel, 
 A D. 1582. “ In the district of Zo- 
 hak Bamian is the castle of Zohak, 
 a monument of great antiquity, which 
 is in good condition, while the fortress 
 of Bamian is in ruins. Tooman Zohak 
 Bamian 861,750 dams.” 
 
 This famous city, the Thebes of the 
 east, is situated in lat. 34° 30' N., Ion. 
 66° 57' E., on the road between Cabul 
 and Bahlac, eight days’ journey from 
 the latter place. Like Thebes of Egypt 
 it is entirely cut out of an insulated 
 mountain. To the south of it, at the 
 distance of two miles, are the ruins 
 of an ancient city named Ghulguleh, 
 whieh according to tradition was des- 
 troyed at a very early period by the 
 Mahomedans. The city of Bamian 
 consists of a vast number of apart- 
 ments and recesses cut out of the rock, 
 some of which, on account of their ex- 
 traordinary appearance, are supposed 
 to have been temples. By Abul Fazel 
 there were reckoned to be 12,000 of 
 these recesses in the district of Bamian. 
 The attention of travellers, however, 
 is principally attracted by two collos- 
 sal statues, fifty cubits high, which 
 are erect, and adhere to the mountains 
 in niches. At some distance from 
 these two is a smaller one, fifteen 
 cubits high. One of the large statues 
 is supposed to represent a male, and 
 the other a female, and the small one 
 their son. They are all much disfi- 
 gured, and the legs of the male bro- 
 ken; for the Mahoinmedans never 
 march that way without firing two or 
 three shots at them, but owing to 
 their want of skill they seldom do 
 
BANASS RIVER. 
 
 127 
 
 much mischief. From the numerous 
 fragments remaining, it would appear 
 as if there had been many hundred 
 statues, the existence of which, and 
 of the excavations, would indicate 
 that the inhabitants had at one time 
 followed some branch of the Hindoo 
 religion. When Praun Poory, the 
 noted Hindoo ascetic, visited this 
 place between 1770 and 1780, he was 
 struck with the number of statues 
 that still remained, although the place 
 had long been deserted by its inhabi- 
 tants. In A.D. 1220 it was taken 
 and destroyed by Gengis Khan. — 
 ( Wilfurd, Duncan, Abul Fazel, Sfc.) 
 
 Baminee River. — A considera- 
 ble stream, formed by the junction 
 of several others which rise in the 
 mountains of Gundwana. It tra- 
 verses the province of Cuttack, and 
 uniting with a branch of the Maha- 
 naddy called the Beroopa, proceeds 
 with it to the sea, which it joins 
 near Point Palmiras. 
 
 Baminwas. — A small town in 
 the province of Agra, about fifty- 
 eight miles travelling distance from 
 the city of Jeypoor. It covers both 
 slopes of a steep and rocky ridge, 
 insulated from the plain. The inte- 
 rior is meanly built, but it contains 
 several Hindoo temples. — ( Fidlarton , 
 $c.) 
 
 Bamoo. — (See Bhanmo.) 
 
 Bamori ( or Bamouree.) — A small 
 village in the province of Delhi, situ- 
 ated on the northern confines of the 
 Bareilly district, forty-one miles tra- 
 velling distance S. from Almora; 
 lat. 0 N., Ion. ' E. It is now the 
 principal thoroughfare between Ro- 
 hilcund and Kumaon, an excellent 
 road twelve feet wide having been 
 constructed, with great labour and 
 expense, between Bamori and the 
 fortress of Almora. This road in 
 some places is cut out of the solid 
 rock ; in others supported by parapet 
 walls winding round the face of a 
 hill. It is carried directly over the 
 crest of the great Goggar mountain, 
 which rises to the height of 7,696 
 feet above the level of the sea, the 
 
 road crossing at an elevation of 7,200 
 feet. The village itself is situated 
 in the great Saul forest, near the base 
 of the Kumaon hills, and close under 
 them, two miles from the village, 
 there is a cleared spot, with a com- 
 missariat depot for troops and tra- 
 vellers. — ( Fidlarton , fyc.) 
 
 Bampoor. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Malwa, fifty -five miles S.S.E. 
 from the city of Oojein ; lat. 22° 40' 
 N., Ion. 78° S' E. 
 
 Bampooiia. — A considerable town 
 in the province of Malwa, situated on 
 the Rewa river, 1,344 feet above the 
 level of the sea ; lat. 24° 31' N., 
 Ion. 75° 50' E. The fort of Bampoo- 
 ra has never been finished, but the 
 walls are well built, and within them 
 is a palace (also unfinished) begun 
 by Jeswunt Row Hoi car, of whom it 
 contains a statue sculptured in white 
 marble. In 1820 the number of 
 houses was estimated at 4,000, and 
 the city with the pergunnahs attached 
 formed part of the dominions of 
 Mulhar Row Holcar. — ( Malcolm , $c.) 
 
 Bamraghur. — ■ A town in the 
 Orissa province, eighty miles N.W. 
 from Cuttack ; lat. 21° 3' N., Ion. 
 85° 2 ' E. To the south of this place 
 are some iron mines and forges. 
 
 Banass River (Vanasa.) — -The 
 source of this river is in the province 
 of Ajmeer, but the exact spot has 
 never been ascertained. In passing 
 through that tract it attains to a 
 considerable bulk, and even when 
 pursuing its course from Deesa 
 through the Mehwas, its size is not 
 insignificant ; but it afterwards loses 
 itself in the Kakreze, and by the time 
 it reaches Rahdunpoor is reduced 
 from various causes to a small stream. 
 Three miles below Rahdunpoor the 
 bed of the Banass is half a mile broad, 
 but during the dry season not more 
 than twenty yards of this space con- 
 tains water, the current being two 
 feet and a half deep, and the water of 
 an excellent quality. In this part of 
 its course the banks are nearly on a 
 level with the surrounding country, 
 which is inundated during the rains 
 
128 
 
 BANCA. 
 
 to the extent of two miles. Twenty- 
 five miles below Rahdunpoor the 
 Banass is wholly lost in the great 
 salt morass named the Runn. — {Mac- 
 murdo , fyc.) 
 
 Banaganapilly. — A town in the 
 Balaghaut ceded districts, situated at 
 the northern extremity of the Cur- 
 noul plain, commencing at the south- 
 ern range of hills near Cuddapah ; 
 lat. 15° 18' N., Ion. 7«° 18' E. This 
 village stands at the foot of a low 
 range of hills where the diamond 
 mines are found. The miners here 
 are content to sift and examine the 
 old rubbish, from a prevailing opi- 
 nion, common also elsewhere, that 
 the diamond is always growing, and 
 that the chips and small pieces re- 
 jected by former searchers, actually 
 increase in size, and in process of 
 time become large diamonds. The 
 matrix of the diamonds produced 
 in the south of India is the sandstone 
 breccia of the clay slate formation, 
 and those found in alluvial soil are 
 produced from the debris of that rock. 
 — ( Heyne , Voysey , fyc.) 
 
 Ban aul. — A small district or valley 
 in the province of Cashmere, situated 
 among the southern hills. The village 
 thus named stands in lat. 33° 56' N., 
 Ion. 75° 13' E., forty miles S.E. from 
 the city of Cashmere. Five miles 
 distance to the south-east of Banaul 
 begins a boundary of a division of 
 the Cashmere territory, lying beyond 
 the great circle of mountains. The 
 governors of Cashmere permit the 
 fertile valley of Banaul, ten miles in 
 length, to remain uncultivated, that 
 it may not afford food or shelter to 
 the neighbouring Hindoo states in 
 the kohistan of 1 jahore, who at some 
 former period penetrated through 
 this tract to the interior passes of 
 Cashmere. The Banaul district is 
 elevated, and looks down on the 
 plains of Cashmere. — ( Foster , Sf c.) 
 
 Banca. — An island lying off the 
 north-eastern coast of Sumatra, from 
 which it is separated by the straits of 
 Banca. In length it may be estimated 
 at 135 miles by thirty-five the average 
 
 breadth. Monopin, a high mountain 
 with a peak a few miles north of 
 Mintaow, the capital, is an excellent 
 landmark for the entrance to the 
 straits. 
 
 The geological formation of this 
 island is a primary rock, the principal 
 mountains being granite, those of 
 an inferior elevation a red iron-stone ; 
 and between these two the tin is 
 found in alluvial deposits, seldom 
 lower than twenty-five feet from the 
 surface. As yet only about 3,400 
 geographical square miles have been 
 surveyed, the mines now worked 
 being confined to the north-west 
 quarters ; but from one extremity to 
 the other, the existence of tin has 
 been ascertained in all the alluvial 
 tracts, and it probably abounds also 
 in the mountains. The ore found is 
 the common oxide of tin, mostly of 
 a reddish brown colour, and it is 
 washed in the numerous mountain 
 streams that distinguish the scenery 
 of Banca. A great majority of the 
 miners are natives of China, and not- 
 withstanding the difference of cli- 
 mate, and the severity of their occu- 
 pation, they appear to enjoy good 
 health. 
 
 Tin in every language of the east- 
 ern islands is known by the name of 
 timah, a word presumed to be of 
 Malay origin. Its geographical dis- 
 tribution comprehends Banca, the 
 Malay peninsula and its isles, and 
 Junkceylon, whereas in Europe its 
 range is confined to a very few places. 
 It is so abundant in this island, that 
 in 1813 the British government, by 
 paying an additional price per picul, 
 increased the quantity to 2,083 tons, 
 or about half the whole produce of 
 Cornwall. China and the continent 
 of India are the principal markets 
 for exportation. 
 
 The inhabitants of Banca are Ma- 
 lays, Chinese, and indigenes, the last 
 subdivided into mountaineers and 
 men of the sea. The first are few r 
 and indolent ; the second laborious 
 and active ; the third remarkable for 
 laziness and rude simplicity. These 
 live dispersed over large tracts of 
 country in the interior, subsisting 
 
BANCA. 
 
 129 
 
 nearly in a state of nature, and averse 
 to European society, and all restraint 
 or habits of regular industry. The 
 men of the sea (Rayads or Orang 
 Laut) appear to be the remains of a 
 peculiar people, who with their fa- 
 milies and household gods inhabit 
 small prows along the sheltered bays 
 of the coast, and procure their food 
 by fishing. 
 
 Banca lies opposite to the river 
 Palembangin Sumatra, where the no- 
 minal sovereign of the island resides, 
 at his capital, named Palembang. In 
 1813 the island and mines were 
 ceded by the Sultan to the British 
 government, and taken possession of 
 with a view to the suppression of 
 piracy. In 1817 they were made over 
 to the King of the Netherlands. The 
 chief town is named Mintow. — 
 ( Crawfurd , Raffles, Marsden , Thorn , 
 Staunton , Stavorinus , Elmore , Sf-c.) 
 
 Banca ( Straits of). — The island 
 of Sumatra forms the western, and 
 that of Banca the eastern side of the 
 straits, in passing through which the 
 Sumatran coast may be approached 
 nearer than the other. The country 
 is covered with wood down to the 
 water’s edge, and the shores so low 
 that the sea overflows the land, and 
 washes the trunks of the trees. The 
 depth of water is very irregular, at 
 some parts shoaling in one cast of the 
 lead from twelve to seven fathoms, 
 and in others from seven to four. 
 There are also coral banks so near 
 the surface, as to be easily distin- 
 guished by the white colour of the 
 water over them. The straits of 
 Banca should always be entered with a 
 favourable monsoon, according to the 
 destination of the vessel. — ( Staunton , 
 King , fyc.) 
 
 Banca. — A very small island in 
 the Eastern seas, surrounded by a 
 cluster still smaller lying off the 
 north-eastern extremity of Celebes; 
 lat. 1° 50' N., Ion. 125° E. This 
 island abounds in cocoa-nuts, limes, 
 jacks, fish, turtle, and rattans, has a 
 harbour at its south end, and is well 
 inhabited. Near Banca is the har- 
 bour of Tellusyang, called Talesse by 
 
 FOIL. i. 
 
 Valentyn, at which are . some wild 
 cattle, but no inhabitants. These 
 islands are much frequented by pira- 
 tical cruizers from Magindanao and 
 Sooloo. — ( Forrest , §c.) 
 
 Banc allan. — A town on Madura, 
 the residence of the sultan of the 
 island; lat. 7° & S., Ion. 112° 45' E. 
 This place is large and populous. 
 The fort is close to the palace, and 
 the environs are pleasant, having 
 good roads, interspersed with country- 
 seats and pleasure grounds. — {Thorn, 
 Sfc.) 
 
 Bancafoor. — This district occu- 
 pies the southern extremity of the 
 Bejapoor province, and was formerly 
 distinguished by the name of Shah- 
 noor or Savanore. It extends along 
 the north bank of the Wurda and 
 Toombuddra rivers. The principal 
 towns are Shahnoor and Bancapoor. 
 
 BANCAPOORf' orBenkypoor) . — This 
 was formerly a place of importance, 
 and strongly fortified until dismantled 
 by Tippoo during one of his cam- 
 paigns against the Maharattas. It lies 
 about six miles N.E. from the city of 
 Shahnoor, in the Bejapoor province. 
 
 Bancoorah. — The civil station of 
 the Jungle Mehals, situated on the 
 verge of the hilly tract that forms 
 the western boundary of Bengal, 
 about ninety-eight miles from Cal- 
 cutta, and in a beautiful healthy 
 country. The town itself is quite of 
 modern construction, and as yet of 
 small dimensions, but unusually open 
 and neat for a Hindoo population. 
 The most remarkable public building 
 is an excellent serai, built at the 
 charge of government for the accom- 
 modation of travellers, and exhibit- 
 ing almost a solitary exception to 
 their niggardly neglect of similar in- 
 stitutions. — ( Fidlarton, fy e.) 
 
 Bancoot. — ( See Fort Victoria.) 
 
 Band. — A town in the province of 
 Allahabad, situated on a small bund 
 or lake, fifteen miles east of Teary. 
 Lat. 24° 44' N., Ion. 79° 3' E. 
 
 Banda. — The Banda isles, situated 
 about 120 miles E.S.E. from Amboy- 
 
 * * 
 
130 
 
 BANDITTI ISLE. 
 
 na, are twelve in number, viz. Banda 
 Neira, Goonong Api, Banda Lantoir, 
 Pulo Way, Pulo Run, Roysyngen, 
 Pulo Pinang, Craka, Capella, and 
 Souangy. Banda Neira, lying in 
 lat. 4° 30' S., Ion. 130° E., is the 
 seat of the supreme government of 
 the whole. It has a spacious har- 
 bour, but of difficult entrance, with 
 a seven feet rise of tide. Ships 
 anchor under the cannon of two 
 forts, named Belgica and Naussau. 
 
 The next island is that of Lantoir, 
 or Banda proper, which is about 
 eight miles in length, and at the 
 eastern extremity five miles in breadth. 
 The third and fourth isles in im- 
 portance are those of Pulo Way and 
 Pulo Run, and at these four only 
 did the Dutch East-India Company 
 permit the cultivation of the nutmeg- 
 tree. On Rosyngen there is a re- 
 doubt, to which state prisoners were 
 formerly banished ; and Goonong Api 
 has a volcano constantly vomiting 
 smoke, and often flame. Under the 
 Dutch there were several other islands 
 known by the appellation of the 
 South-Western and South-Eastern 
 islands, whose inhabitants supplied 
 the Dutch colonists with provisions 
 in exchange for piece goods and other 
 articles. 
 
 The Banda isles are all high and 
 volcanic. The soil is a rich black 
 mould covered with trees, chiefly 
 nutmegs, of which the Dutch East- 
 India Company were the absolute 
 proprietors, as well as of the slaves 
 who took care of them. The rearing 
 of nutmegs being the grand object, 
 the isles were subdivided into a cer- 
 tain number of plantations, under 
 the management of a mixed breed of 
 Europeans and Indians, either as 
 temporary proprietors or lessees. 
 The nutmeg tree grows to the size 
 of a pear tree, with a leaf like the 
 laurel, and although two out of three 
 turn out barren, it cannot be dis- 
 covered until the twelfth or four- 
 teenth year, and it dies about the 
 twenty-fourth year. Each tree, while 
 bearing, will on an average produce 
 ten pounds per annum. The total 
 quantity of nutmeg* and mace (a 
 
 membraneous substance that enve- 
 lopes the nutmeg) produced has never 
 been clearly ascertained. 
 
 Besides provisions furnished an- 
 nually from Batavia by the Dutch, 
 pi£ce goods, cutlery, iron, and other 
 commodities, were imported. The 
 Dutch burghers and Chinese re-export 
 these articles to Aroo, Papua, Ceram, 
 and the south-east islands, and re- 
 ceive in return from Ceram, sago in 
 bread and flour, and sometimes salted 
 deer ; from Aroo and the others, 
 pearls, birds’ -nests, birds of paradise, 
 tortoiseshell, and from all slaves. 
 The Banda isles were captured by 
 the British in 1796; restored at the 
 peace of Amiens in 1801; re-taken 
 in 1810, and restored in 1817. — 
 ( Stavorinus , Asiatic Register , fyc.) 
 
 Banda. — A town in the province 
 of Allahabad, situated about ninety 
 miles west from that fortress, and as 
 the residence of the public func- 
 tionaries, at present the modern ca- 
 pital of Bundelcund. Lat. 25° 30' N., 
 Ion. 80° 20' E. This place, which a 
 few years ago was a moderate sized 
 village, is now become a large and 
 bustling town, its prosperity having 
 been greatly accelerated by the gunge 
 or mart, and some other works 
 erected by Mr. Richardson while 
 judge and magistrate. The Banda 
 cotton has obtained of late years in 
 the European market a superiority 
 over the Jaloun. — ( F '. Buchanan, 
 Gulthrie , §c.) 
 
 Banda.— A small town, the head 
 of a pergunnah in the province of 
 Gujerat and district of Surat. It is 
 a jungly country, inhabited by Dooblas 
 and Dooreas. The Raja’s revenue is 
 about 60,000 rupees, and pays a 
 tribute to the British government of 
 7,800 rupees. — ( Elphinstone , $c.) 
 
 Bandeix. — An old Portuguese 
 town in the province of Bengal, dis- 
 trict of Hooghly, and immediately 
 adjoining the town of Hooghly. At 
 this place there is a good Roman 
 Catholic church, and also a monas- 
 tery. 
 
 Banditti Isle. — A small island 
 
BANGALORE. 
 
 131 
 
 about twenty miles in circumference 
 situated in the straits of Lombhook, 
 but why it received its present evil 
 appellation, in preference to many 
 others similarly situated, does not 
 appear. Lat. 8° 50' S., Ion. 115° 25' 
 E. 
 
 Bandon. — A seaport town belong- 
 ing to the Siamese, situated on the 
 west side of the gulf of Siam, at the 
 mouth of a river navigable for ves- 
 sels not drawing more than fourteen 
 feet of water. — ( Crawfurd , fyc*) 
 
 Bandong. — -An inland town of Ja- 
 va situated in a swampy country, 
 on the high road from Ruitzenzorg to 
 Cheribon, E.S.E. from Batavia. Lat. 
 6° 45', Ion 107° 35' E. 
 
 Bandoogur. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Gundwana, district of Bog- 
 hela, eighty miles north from Mund- 
 lah. Lat. 23° 50' N., Ion. 81° E. In 
 the time of Aurungzebe, Baundhoo 
 or Bhatta was the name of the 
 northern portion of Gundwana, then, 
 although actually independent, an- 
 nexed by edict to the Mogul province 
 of Allahabad.— (Jas. Grant , <^c.) 
 
 Bandora. — A village on the island 
 of Salsette, opposite to Mahim, on 
 the island of Bombay, with which it 
 communicates by a regular ferry. 
 
 Bangalore ( Bangalura ), — A large 
 fortified town in the Mysore Raja’s 
 territories, seventy miles N.E. from 
 Seringapatam ; lat. 12° 57' N., Ion. 
 77° 38' E. The surface here* is an 
 undulating table land, nearly 3,000 
 feet above the level of the sea, but 
 there are no high hills within many 
 miles. The fall to the north of Ban- 
 galore, after passing Nundydroog, is 
 very rapid, and the summit of Pau- 
 ghur, which rises from its base, is 
 nearly on a level with the plateau of 
 Bangalore. In the country further 
 west, after passing the range of hills 
 on which Severndroog, Paughur, and 
 other elevated stations are situated, 
 the surface has a sudden descent, and 
 continues low considerably to the 
 west of Seringapatam, where it begins 
 (to ascend again, on approaching the 
 
 western ghauts. In A.D. 1800 the 
 thermometer here never rose higher 
 than 82°, or fell below 56° Fahrenheit. 
 The cypress and vine grow luxuri- 
 antly, the apple and peach produce 
 fruit, and strawberries are raised in 
 the sultan’s garden. 
 
 The fortress of Bangalore is a re- 
 gular work of great extent, entirely 
 detached from the town, and con- 
 structed of the most solid materials. 
 It is surrounded by a ditch of remark- 
 able depth cut in the solid rock, with 
 a spacious glacis, and but for its round 
 bastions and intricate entrances, might 
 pass for a Europen citadel. Tippoo’s 
 palace, built of mud, with halls en- 
 closed by high pointed Saracenic 
 arches and painted walls and ceilings, 
 has still a lively appearance, and it 
 has lately been patched in an incon- 
 grous style of architecture by the 
 Mysore Raja, being occasionally used 
 for public entertainments. The town 
 or pettah of Bangalore is composed 
 of tolerably well sized houses, some 
 of two stories, but universally built 
 of the red earth of the country, and 
 roofed with tiles. The principal ba- 
 zar is wide and regular, and orna- 
 mented on both sides by rows of 
 cocoa-nut trees. The pettah is en- 
 closed with a double line of fortifica- 
 tion, the walls also of red mud, the 
 space between the inner and outer 
 defences being protected by a thick 
 bound hedge of bamboos and jungle. 
 The cantonment stands about two 
 miles from the pettah, and is remark- 
 ably extensive and complete, the 
 squares of barracks being on a great 
 scale, and hedged gardens attached 
 to the officer’s bungalows. Besides 
 these accommodations for the mili- 
 tary, there is a handsome race-stand, 
 an assembly and reading-room, and 
 several well-stocked Europe shops. 
 In 1805 the total population was esti- 
 mated at .60,000 souls. 
 
 The cloths made here being entirely 
 for country use, and never exported 
 to Europe, are made of different 
 sizes to adapt them to the uses of the 
 natives. The Hindoos seldom employ 
 tailors, but wrap round their bodies 
 the web as it comes from the loom. 
 
 k 2 
 
132 
 
 BANJARMASSIN. 
 
 The silk-weavers make cloth of a very 
 strong fabric of the silk that is im- 
 ported in a raw state, but which in 
 time may be raised in the country. 
 The introduction of the silk-worm has 
 not yet succeeded in the lower Car- 
 natic, but there is reason to believe 
 the country above the ghauts, having 
 a more temperate climate, will be 
 found more suitable. At the weekly 
 markets cotton is bought up by the 
 poor women of all castes, except the 
 Brahmin, for these never spin, nor do 
 their husbands ever plough the soil. 
 The females of all other castes spin, 
 and at the weekly markets sell the 
 thread to the weavers. 
 
 At Bangalore there are many inha- 
 bitants of the Mahomedan religion, 
 and owing to the change of govern- 
 ment many of them at first suffered 
 great distress. Above the ghauts, 
 that species of leprosy in which the 
 skin becomes white is very common 
 among the natives. The persons 
 troubled with it enjoy in every other 
 respect good health, and their children 
 are like those of other people. The 
 only year used above the ghauts is 
 the chandramanam or lunar year, by 
 which among the Brahmins all reli- 
 gious ceremonies are performed. At 
 Bangalore the Christian era of A.D. 
 1 800 corresponded with the year 4893 
 of the Cali Yug, and 1722 of Sali- 
 vahanam, which last is in universal 
 use in the south of India. This place 
 was first acquired by the Mysore 
 state in 1687, during the reign of 
 Chick Deo Raj, and was stormed by 
 the army under Lord Cornwallis in 
 1791. Travelling distance from Se- 
 ringapatam seventy-four miles ; from 
 Madras 215; and from Hyderabad 
 352 miles. — ( F . Buchanan , Fullarton , 
 Wilks , Lord Valentia , Col. Lambton, 
 A. H. Hamilton , 8jC.) 
 
 Bangitey. — A small island situated 
 off the northern extremity of Borneo, 
 twenty-three miles in length, eleven 
 the average breadth, on which there 
 is a small fresh-water river and plenty 
 of turtle. Lat.7° 15'N., Ion. 1 1 7°25'E. 
 
 Baniack ( or Pulo Baniack). — A 
 small island lying off the west coast 
 
 of Sumatra, lat. 2° 10' N. In length 
 it may be estimated at seventeen miles 
 by seven the average breadth. This 
 island is known by a peaked hill re- 
 sembling a sugar-loaf on the north 
 end of it, and it has a chain of islets 
 to the north east. 
 
 Banjarmassin. — A town and dis- 
 trict on the south-eastern coast of 
 Borneo, lat. 3° S., long 1 1 4° 55' E. 
 The river Banjarmassin has a shallow 
 bar at the entrance, over which a 
 boat, though light, cannot float until 
 after the first quarter of the flood. 
 Ships anchoring in the harbour of 
 Tombanjou and Tombornio near the 
 mouth of the river can be supplied 
 with water, poultry, and fish. Many 
 Chinese reside permanently here and 
 in the neighbourhood, from whence 
 they carry on a considerable trade 
 with the mother country. The im- 
 ports to Banjarmassin consist of opi- 
 um, piece goods, coarse cutlery, gun- 
 powder, small cannon, and fire-arms ; 
 the exports are pepper, camphor, gold- 
 dust, wax, rattans, birds’-nests, biche 
 de mar, and some spices. The steel 
 procured here has always been rec- 
 koned of a superior quality. 
 
 In 1706 the East-India Company 
 settled a factory and expensive es- 
 tablishment, but next year were ex- 
 pelled by the natives, instigated, it 
 was supposed, by the Chinese, with 
 considerable slaughter, and a loss of 
 fifty thousand dollars. The Dutch 
 also continued as profitless a settle- 
 ment here from 1747 to 1810, when 
 it was by agreement abandoned to 
 the Malay sultan by Marechal Daen- 
 dels, for the sum of 50,000 Spanish 
 dollars. After the conquest of Java, 
 however, the British appear to have 
 claimed a predominance, as Banjar- 
 massin had again become dependent 
 on Java, and was garrisoned by co- 
 lonials under the British resident. 
 It was restored to the Dutch in 1817, 
 and in 1825 (with Pontianat, Sambas, 
 and Mamoowah) was described as 
 enjoying tranquillity, trade flourish- 
 ing, the pepper culture reviving, and 
 the newly elected sultan friendly. — 
 {Bruce, Stavormus, Raffles, Thorn, Sfc.) 
 
BANKOK 
 
 133 
 
 Bankee. — A town in the province 
 of Cuttack, the capital of a tributary 
 zemindarry thirty miles west from 
 the city of Cuttack. The extreme 
 dimensions of this estate from north 
 to south are thirty miles, and twenty- 
 five from east to west. The produce 
 consists of coarse rice, sugar-cane, 
 cotton, oil, tobacco, and different 
 sorts of grain. The annual tribute 
 paid to government is 4,162; the 
 supposed profit to the zemindar 
 20,000 rupees. — ( Richardson , fyc.) 
 
 Bankok. — This is an ancient port 
 but modern capital, having been se- 
 lected for the seat of government by 
 the Chinese king Piatac, after the 
 capture and plunder of Juthia by the 
 Burmese in 1766. Lat. 13° 40' N., 
 Ion. 101° 10' E. It extends along 
 the hanks of the Menam river, which 
 is here about a quarter of a mile 
 broad, without including the space 
 on each side occupied by the floating 
 houses. It carries down a large body 
 of water mixed with soft mud, and 
 its depth even close to the banks is 
 from five to ten fathoms; the rate of 
 its current about three miles per hour. 
 
 This place is almost entirely built 
 of wood, the king’s palaces, the 
 temples, and the houses of a few 
 favoured chiefs being the only edifices 
 of brick or mud : fires are in conse- 
 quence frequent and destructive. Tt 
 has scarcely any fortifications, but the 
 bar at the mouth of the river pre- 
 vents the ascent of large ships. The 
 houses rarely extend more than two 
 hundred yards from the river ; indeed 
 by far the greater number float on 
 bamboo rafts moored along the banks. 
 Those on shore are built on posts 
 driven into the mud, and raised 
 above high flood and the annual in- 
 undation. There are consequently 
 scarcely any roads, or even pathways, 
 a small boat or canoe being the usual 
 locomotive vehicle, the few streets in 
 Bankok being only passable during 
 dry weather. The floating houses 
 are moored in rows of eight, ten 
 or more in depth from the bank. 
 They are of an oblong form, built of 
 boards, and towards the river pro- 
 
 vided with a covered platform, on 
 which merchandize, fruits, rice, meat, 
 &c. are displayed, composing alto- 
 gether a sort of floating bazar. At 
 one end they are bound to strong 
 bamboos driven into the river, and 
 every one has a small attendant boat 
 or canoe. 
 
 A large proportion of the inha- 
 bitants are Chinese, who appear in 
 fact to compose three-fourths of the 
 population, which has been estimated 
 to amount to from 36,000 to 40,000 
 persons. The most common trades 
 are tinsmiths, blacksmiths, and cur- 
 riers, all Chinese. The manufacture 
 of tin vessels is very considerable, 
 and deer and buffaloe hides are tan- 
 ned and prepared for exportation. 
 Nearly all the junks that carry on the 
 trade between the eastern islands and 
 China are built here, the station 
 being selected as well for the con- 
 venience of the harbour, as for the 
 extraordinary abundance and cheap- 
 ness of fine timber, especially teak, 
 supplied by the Siamese forests. The 
 food of the Chinese here is so ex- 
 cessively gross and fat, that it is sur- 
 prising their stomachs can digest it. 
 Pork is their favourite diet, oil in 
 large quantities is swallowed, and 
 the vegetables are brought to table 
 floating in a sea of fat. The food of 
 the native Siamese is principally rice 
 and balachang. Besides the Chinese, 
 the miscellaneous population of 
 Bankok consists of Siamese, native 
 Christians of Siam and Cambodia, 
 Burmese, Peguers, Malays, and na- 
 tives of Laos. 
 
 The chief temple here is of a 
 pyramidical form, terminating in a 
 slender spire about 200 feet high. 
 The interior is a single lofty chamber 
 about fifty feet long, and nearly as 
 much in breadth, paved with stones, 
 and having in the centre numerous 
 small figures of Buddha, intermingled 
 with small bits of looking-glass, scraps 
 of gilt paper, and Chinese paintings. 
 Fabulous legends from Hindoo my- 
 thology are delineated on the interior 
 walls of the temples, and in one of 
 them two coarse paintings of French 
 ladies as shepherdesses were seen 
 
134 
 
 BANTAM, 
 
 suspended by the members of the 
 embassy in 1823. Gilt figures of 
 Buddha are innumerable, made of 
 cast iron, brass, wood or clay, but 
 all of a wonderful uniformity. Some 
 are of enormous size, one in par- 
 ticular thirty feet high, of gilt wood, 
 intended to pass for copper. The 
 Prachadi (called by the Buddhists of 
 Ceylon Dagoba) is a solid building of 
 masonry, without an aperture or 
 hollow of any sort. It is generally 
 built in the neighbourhood of some 
 temple, but is not itself an object of 
 worship. In Bankok there are a few 
 Brahmins, who are supported by the 
 king, and have a small temple of 
 their own . — ( Finlay son , Crawfurd , 
 Singapoor .Chronicle, fyc.) 
 
 Bankybazar. — A small town on 
 the east side of the Hooghly river, 
 eighteen miles north from Calcutta ; 
 lat. 22° 46' N., Ion. 38° 28' E. The 
 Dutch last century had a factory 
 here, from which they were expelled 
 by Aliverdi Khan ; of both factory and 
 town hardly a vestige is now to be 
 seen. Within a short distance from 
 hence are the remains of a once 
 strong and extensive fortress named 
 Simookghur, of which a plan is given 
 by Major Rennell in the Bengal Atlas. 
 ( Fullarton , tyc.) 
 
 Bansbarea.—A town in the Ben- 
 gal province, situated on the east 
 bank of the Hooghly, three miles 
 and a half N.N.W. from the town of 
 Hooghly. Including two adjoining 
 villages it forms a considerable town. 
 To the north are some ruins of Ma- 
 homedan buildings of stone, a ma- 
 terial very rarely met with in this 
 part of India. — ( Fullarton , Sec.) 
 
 Banswara. — The capital of a small 
 independent native state in the pro- 
 vince of Gujerat, district of Bagur. 
 Lat. 23° 31' N., Ion. 74° 32' E. The 
 town of Banswara is a handsome 
 place for this quarter of India, and 
 the walls include a large circuit, but 
 a good deal of the space is occupied 
 by gardens. There are also some 
 handsome temples, and a tolerable 
 bazar, in which a considerable num- 
 ber of Mahomedans are seen. At 
 
 some distance is a pool of water, with 
 some ruinous temples on it, and a 
 stately flight of steps overhung by 
 palms, peepuls, and tamarind-trees ; 
 and beyond it on the crown of a 
 woody hill, the towers of a large 
 castle. This formerly was the pa- 
 lace of Banswara. The territories 
 attached are divided into seven dis- 
 tricts, yielding in 1820 an annual 
 revenue of about 2,07,860 rupees, of 
 which amount 1,01,625 go to the 
 treasury, 96,547 to the subordinate 
 Rajpoot chieftains, and 9,694 rupees 
 to religious mendicants. In 1820 
 there were one thousand families of 
 Gujerat Brahmins in Banswara. Ira 
 1824 the gross revenue was expected 
 to reach five lacks. 
 
 This principality is mentioned by 
 Abul Fazel, and was formerly pos- 
 sessed by a branch of the Odeypoor 
 Rajpoots, but the two families have 
 been long separated. The present 
 Rawul (of the Doongurpoor family), 
 or prince of Banswara, named Bho- 
 wanny Singh, in 1820 had thirty-two 
 dependent Rajpoot chiefs, who kept 
 their quotas of fighting men in readi- 
 ness for the service of the state, 
 amounting to 179 horse and 660 
 foot, besides 200 of the Rawul’s own 
 troops. His authority is paramount 
 throughout the whole state, as he 
 alone has authority to inflict capital 
 punishment; but he is himself tri- 
 butary to the British government. 
 In the immediate vicinity of Bans- 
 wara the lands are irrigated from 
 tanks. In the wilder districts the 
 Bheels, who follow no regular plan 
 of agriculture, compose the bulk of 
 the inhabitants. When Malwa and 
 the neighbouring provinces fell into 
 their late state of anarchy, the 
 Banswara principality was reduced 
 to a condition of extreme misery ; 
 from which it was relieved by the 
 British government, to which it pays 
 a small tribute for protection. In 
 1824 the Raja of Banswara was 
 twenty-four years of age, and had 
 been on the throne five years. — 
 {Malcolm, §c.) 
 
 Bantam ( Bantan ). — A town in 
 
BANYUWANGY. 
 
 135 
 
 Java, once the capital of a district 
 of the same name, containing 3,428 
 square miles, situated at the western 
 extremity of the island ; lat, 6° S., 
 Ion. 106° 13' E,, forty-seven miles 
 west from Batavia. This once flou- 
 rishing city has now nothing to ex- 
 hibit but ruins, the fortifications, both 
 native and European, as well as the 
 sultan’s palace, having been long 
 levelled with the ground. The bay 
 of Bantam also, which in early times 
 was the principal rendezvous of fo- 
 reign shipping, is so choked up with 
 daily accessions of new earth washed 
 down from the mountains and coral 
 shoals, that it is now inaccessible. 
 Placed on a low swampy beach, sur- 
 rounded by jungle, and intersected 
 by stagnant water, its climate has 
 always been signally destructive to 
 European constitutions, and even 
 the natives suffer extremely from the 
 marsh fever. 
 
 In A.D. 1674 the King of Bantam 
 equipped ships on his own account, 
 and sent them with produce to the 
 coast of India, and even into the 
 Persian Gulf; but Bantam had lost 
 all its importance long before the 
 British conquest of Java. The suc- 
 cession to the throne was generally 
 dispensed by the Dutch, but until 
 the beginning of the present century 
 the administration of the police and 
 collection of the port duties was 
 confided to the chief. In 1808, in 
 consequence of an insurrection, the 
 reigning prince was banished to Am- 
 boyna, and a relative placed on the 
 throne ; but disturbances not ceasing, 
 a new sultan was installed in the high 
 country, while the Dutch function- 
 aries assumed the direct management 
 of the low. Notwithstanding these 
 precautions, a rebellion under the 
 Pangeran Ahmed continued to agitate 
 the interior until the arrival of the 
 British army in 1811, when it became 
 necessary to make a general settle- 
 ment of the district under European 
 control. 
 
 In 1813 the sultan voluntarily made 
 over all his rights to the British go- 
 vernment in consideration of an am- 
 nual pension of 10,000 dollars. An 
 
 accurate survey of the province was 
 then completed, and a settlement of 
 the land revenue effected with each 
 individual cultivating on the ryotwar 
 system, and in this condition it was 
 delivered over to the functionaries 
 delegated by his majesty the King of 
 the Netherlands, 
 
 When the Portuguese first visited 
 Java, in A.D. 1511, they found a Hin- 
 doo kingdom in Bantam, which sub- 
 sequently declined on the arrival and 
 establishment of theMahomedan sul- 
 tan some time in the sixteenth cen- 
 tury, certainly prior to the settlement 
 of the Dutch at Batavia in 1620. In 
 1690 the Danes and English were 
 expelled from Bantam. According 
 to a census taken by the British go- 
 vernment in 1815, the province of 
 Bantam contained 231,604 persons, 
 of whom 628 were Chinese, all noted 
 cock-fighters. The Java fighting- 
 cocks are of a very large breed ; the 
 fowl which we improperly call the 
 Bantam cock is not found in Java, 
 except as a curiosity. Since the 
 Dutch reassumed the government in 
 1817 they have abandoned Bantam, 
 the native capital, and retired to a 
 more elevated station seven miles 
 inland, named Sirang or Ceram. — ■ 
 ( Raffles , Stavorinus, Thorn , fyc.) 
 
 Banyuwangy. — A town and dis- 
 trict in the island of Java, situated 
 at the eastern extremity on the straits 
 of Bally, 728 miles travelling distance 
 from Batavia ; lat. 8° T S., Ion. 114° 
 15' E. The town is a military post of 
 some consequence, being necessary 
 to restrain the depredations of the 
 pirates who infest the neighbouring 
 seas and straits. The town is popu- 
 lous, the country well cultivated, 
 and reputed healthy. According to 
 a census taken by the British govern- 
 ment in 1815, the division of Banyu- 
 wangy (1,274 square miles) contained 
 8,873 inhabitants, of which number 
 319 were Chinese. This district 
 contains the great volcanic mountain 
 named Goonong mar-api, which is 
 said to be of such a height that near 
 the summit water freezes. All the 
 volcanoes of Java afford sulphur, but 
 
136 
 
 BARCELORE. 
 
 the most abundant supply is obtained 
 from hence, and in such a state of 
 purity, as to require no further pre- 
 paration. The country in its imme- 
 diate vicinity is uninhabited. — ( Craw - 
 ford , Raffles, 'Thorn , Sfc.) 
 
 Bar. — A town of considerable 
 trade and great extent in the province 
 of Bahar, but of mean appearance. 
 It stands on the south bank of the 
 Ganges, in lat. 25° 28', Ion. 85° 46' 
 E. Including Masurgunge, it is esti- 
 mated to contain 5,000 houses. 
 
 Bara. — A town in the province of 
 Ajmeer belonging to the Raja of 
 Kolah, which in 1820 contained .2,000 
 houses. 
 
 Barabutty f Barabati ). — An an- 
 cient fortress in the province of 
 Orissa, situated about a mile from 
 the town of Cuttack, and supposed 
 to have been built in the fourteenth 
 century. Its square sloping towers 
 and bastions, and general style, be- 
 speak a Hindoo origin. The Maho- 
 medans or Maharattas subsequently 
 added a round bastion and some 
 other works. The fort has double 
 walls of stone, which enclose a rec- 
 tangular area of 2,150 feet by 1,800 
 feet. A noble ditch faced with ma- 
 sonry surrounds the whole, measur- 
 ing in the broadest part 220 feet 
 across. From the centre rises a huge 
 square cavalier supporting a flag-staff, 
 which, combined with the loftiness 
 of the battlements towards the river, 
 give the whole an imposing castel- 
 lated appearance when viewed from 
 the opposite side of the Mahanuddy. 
 No traces of the famous palace of 
 Raja Mukund Deo, nine stories high 
 as narrated by Abul Fazel, are now to 
 be found. — ( Stirling , See.) 
 
 Barahat. — A town in northern 
 Hindostan, the modern capital of 
 the Gurwal Raja, forty-eight miles 
 N.N.W. from Serinagur ; lat. 30° 45' 
 N., Ion. 78° 22' E. It stands on the 
 north-west bank of the Ganges, and 
 in 1815 was a most wretched place, 
 consisting of only five or six houses, 
 surrounded with filth, and almost 
 buried in a jungle of nettles, thorns, 
 
 and other rank weeds. At a bend of 
 the river below Barahat there is a 
 jhoola or hanging bridge of ropes, 
 over which the direct road leads to 
 Serinagur. It is said at some former 
 period to have been in a more flou- 
 rishing condition, and it is probable 
 that since the Nepaulese war, and 
 the political vicissitudes which raised 
 it to the rank of a metropolis, its 
 circumstances have improved. — (Ja- 
 mes Fraser , fyc.) 
 
 Baraitche. — A district in the 
 province of Oude, extending along 
 the north side of the Goggra river, 
 and separated from the Nepaulese 
 dominions by a lofty range of hills. 
 A section of this country was ceded 
 to the British government in 1800; 
 but the greater proportion remains 
 with the reserved territories of the 
 nabob of Oude. The northern tracts 
 towards the hills are covered with 
 primeval forests, never visited by the 
 axe ; but towards the Goggra the 
 country is open, fertile, and to- 
 lerably well cultivated. The princi- 
 pal rivers are the Goggra and Rapty, 
 and the chief towns Baraitche and 
 Bulram. Many of the old Patan 
 race are found scattered over this 
 district, and one of their chiefs still 
 dignified with a title, as Khan of Ba- 
 raitche. 
 
 Baraitche. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Oude, sixty-four miles north- 
 east from Lucknow ; lat. 27° 33' N., 
 Ion. 81° 30' E. In 1582 Abul Fazel 
 describes it as a large city delighfully 
 situated on the river side where 
 Sultan Massaood and Rejib Sillar 
 were buried and held in high estima- 
 tion. 
 
 Barce. — A town belonging to the 
 Rana of Dholpoor in the province of 
 Agra, forty-two miles S.S.W. from 
 Agra; lat. 26° 42' N., Ion. 77° 28' E. 
 The streets are narrow, but many of 
 the houses, built of red stone, are 
 two stories high, and have a com- 
 fortable appearance. It is chiefly in- 
 habited by Patans, and contains se- 
 veral handsome Mahomedan tombs. 
 — ( Broughton , Sfc .) 
 
 Barcelore. — A .own on the sea- 
 
BAREILY. 
 
 13 ? 
 
 coast of the Canara province, fifty- 
 five miles north by west from Manga- 
 lore; lat. 13° 37' N., Ion. 74° 47' E. 
 By some this place has been conjec- 
 tured, probably on account of its 
 name, to have been the port Barace 
 of the ancients. 
 
 Bareily ( Barali .). — A large dis- 
 trict in the Delhi province, situated 
 principally between the 28th and 
 29th degrees of north latitude. To 
 the north it is bounded by the Ku- 
 maon hills ; on the south by the 
 Onde reserved territories, and the 
 districts of Furruckabad and Alighur ; 
 on the east it has the Nabob’s re- 
 served territories, and on the west 
 Moradabad, Alighur, and Furrucka- 
 bad. When the institutes of Acber 
 were compiled by Abul Fazel in 1582, 
 it was comprehended in the circar of 
 Budayoon, and described under that 
 name ; but the original appellation 
 appears to have been Kuthair before 
 the Rohilla conquest, subsequent 
 to which it was incorporated with 
 the province of Rohilcund. 
 
 The surface of the Bareily district 
 is in general level, and plentifully 
 watered by many small rivers, besides 
 the Ganges bounding it to the west. 
 To the north of Rampoor the Kosila 
 river is navigable during the rains, 
 and serves to float down large tim- 
 ber. In the neighbourhood of Ac- 
 berabad the country is well culti- 
 vated, and cloth of a good quality is 
 there manufactured. Around Cossi- 
 poor is moderately cultivated with 
 sugar-canes and grain ; but advancing 
 towards Chilkiya much jungle is 
 passed. Chilkiya is a considerable 
 mart, to which the natives of the 
 Kumaon hills, while still under the 
 Gorkha tyranny, used to resort to ex- 
 change their goods for the produce 
 of the plains. In 1803 the chief 
 supplies brought from below were 
 chintzes, gudjoes, salt, coarse sugar, 
 cotton goods, coarse cutlery, cheap 
 trinkets, coral, beads, and slave girls. 
 The goods from above at that period 
 were mostly transported on goats, 
 by which mode they were conveyed 
 from very great distances, even from 
 
 Tibet. A kind of salt, called kurrah 
 salt, was there extracted during the 
 nitre-making process, and large quan- 
 tities exported. 
 
 After the conquest of Rohilcund 
 by the British troops for Shuja ud 
 Dowlah in 1774, Bareily declined 
 rapidly, from misgovernment; and ex- 
 tensive wastes, formerly under cul- 
 tivation, were every where to be 
 seen. In 1801 it was received in 
 cession from the Nabob of Oude, and 
 regularly partitioned into revenue 
 and judicial subdivisions ; since which 
 its prosperity has progressively in- 
 creased. In 1808 the jumma, or land 
 assessment, yielded only 14,92,640 
 rupees ; in 1813 the district of Ba- 
 reily was stated to contain 4,458,380 
 cucha begas of land in cultivation, 
 assessed with a jumma of 22,66,280 
 rupees, which was realized, being an 
 average of about half a rupee per 
 bega. It also contained 3,362,022 
 begahs fit for cultivation, but not in 
 actual tillage, and 3,558,899 entirely 
 waste. The jumma of 1 813, for Ba- 
 reily and Shahjehanpoor, amounted 
 to about thirty-three lacks of rupees, 
 and was collected from more than 
 1,200 landholders and renters. In 
 summer, notwithstanding its north- 
 ern latitude, the heat of this region 
 is intense ; but during the winter 
 months, when the winds blow from 
 the snowy mountains, the thermo- 
 meter falls below 30°, and water 
 freezes in the tents. There is no- 
 thing peculiar in the vegetable pro- 
 ductions, except that Bareily is noted 
 for a species of rice of excellent fla- 
 vour named the basmati (pregnant 
 with perfume), which is greatly su- 
 perior to the finest sort of what is 
 called Patna rice. The common 
 hackery or cart in use throughout 
 the Bareily district, and in most 
 parts of Rohilcund, is a much larger 
 and more commodious vehicle than 
 that of Bengal, and capable of trans- 
 porting a heavy load ; but the roads 
 and bridges here are better than in 
 most parts of the Company’s pro- 
 vinces. 
 
 The tribe of Banjaries (carriers 
 and bullock drivers) are particularly 
 
138 
 
 BAREILY. 
 
 numerous in this district, having 
 been estimated at 14,000. They are 
 all converts from Hindooism to the 
 Mahomedan faith, and boast of being 
 descended from some of the most 
 noble Rajpoot tribes, priding them- 
 selves on the warlike exploits of their 
 Hindoo ancestors. Many of them 
 repeat from memory long traditional 
 poems, recording their martial deeds 
 prior to the first Mahomedan inva- 
 sion, or above eight centuries back. 
 Besides carrying merchandize, the 
 Banjaries find employment in culti- 
 vating lands and winnowing rice by 
 contract with the neighbouring farm- 
 ers. 
 
 The district of Bareily, including 
 Shahjehanpoor, contains several large 
 and populous towns, the chief of 
 which are the two capitals. Pillibeet, 
 Chandowsy, and Budayoon are also 
 large towns, and the whole territory 
 formerly swarmed with a race of war- 
 like Mahomedans, ready to join any 
 leader. Some thousands of this de- 
 scription served under Holcar, Jes- 
 wunt Row, and many with their 
 countryman Ameer Khan. They 
 were formerly disaffected to the Bri- 
 tish government, not because it was 
 unjust or oppressive, but because 
 there was no employment for them, 
 and they were left inactive, without 
 distinction or even subsistence. This 
 turbulent race has gradually disap- 
 peared, having either sought employ- 
 ment elsewhere, or been gradually 
 lost in the great mass of the popula- 
 tion; at least crimes of a violent 
 or heinous nature are not now more 
 frequent in Bareily than elsewhere. 
 The Rohillahs or Patans (for they 
 go by both names) of this district 
 are a tall and handsome race, and 
 when compared with their more 
 southern neighbours, are white and 
 well-featured. There are but few 
 Hindoo temples, and the two sects are 
 probably on an equality in point of 
 number ; but classification or enume- 
 ration of the inhabitants has never 
 taken place. — ( Deane , Gott, the Mar- 
 quis of Hastings , Guthrie , Tennant , 
 Sir H. Stracliex /, bth Report , Fullar- 
 totij Glyn , Sec.) 
 
 Bareily. — A large town in the 
 province of Delhi, the capital of the 
 above district, situated on the banks 
 of the united streams of the Jooah 
 and Sunkra, about forty-two miles 
 N.W. from the Ganges ; lat. 28° 23' 
 N., Ion. 79° 16' E. The site of Ba- 
 reily is elevated and pleasant, but 
 the British civil station and canton- 
 ments are to the south of the town. 
 The principal street or bazar is nearly 
 two miles long, and tolerably well 
 built ; consisting, however, almost 
 entirely of booths only one story 
 high. One mosque, from its style of 
 architecture and high position, has a 
 striking appearance, and there are 
 several other tolerable buildings of 
 the same class. The old fort, situ- 
 ated at the western extremity of the 
 main street, is crumbling to ruin, but 
 after the insurrection of 1816, go- 
 vernment judged it advisable to erect 
 a small regular citadel on the plain 
 to the south of the town, for the 
 eventual protection of the European 
 inhabitants should any similar com- 
 motion again occur. It is of a quad- 
 rangular form, has a good ditch, and 
 two bastions projecting from oppo- 
 site angles, an arrangement which 
 gives the whole rather an odd appear- 
 ance; but it is quite of sufficient 
 strength for the object contemplated. 
 
 The lands in the vicinity of Bareily 
 are not more elevated than eight 
 feet above the Ramgunga, while the 
 mountain streams by which the dis- 
 trict is intersected lessen the expense 
 and labour of cultivation, and by 
 their annual inundations fertilize the 
 soil. In A.D. 1822 the number of 
 brick and mud houses and huts was 
 12,263; shops of ditto 1,663; total 
 13,926. The population then con- 
 
 sisted of 
 
 Hindoos , 40,205 
 
 Mahomedans 25,585 
 
 65,790 
 
 Add Christians 5 
 
 Total population 65,795 
 
 The industry of the Mahomedans 
 of Bareily is mostly confined to ma- 
 
BARODA. 
 
 139 
 
 nufactures having relation to war, 
 such as sword cutlery, bow and arrow 
 making, saddlery, farriery, elephant, 
 camel, or bullock-driving, horse-deal- 
 ing, &c.; or to certain fine arts, inven- 
 tions, and luxuries, probably imported 
 by their forefathers from Persia and 
 Arabia, such as the manufacture of 
 fine carpets, embroidery, hookas, 
 book-binding, and the trades of to- 
 bacco and beer dealers, engravers, 
 turners, &c. ; or, lastly, to trades 
 which the Hindoos are prevented 
 from exercising by religious obstacles, 
 such as shoemakers, curriers, but- 
 chers, bakers, tailors, water-carriers, 
 and milk dealers. Besides, Bareily is 
 noted for the manufacture of brazen 
 water-pots, and a particular descrip- 
 tion of European furniture, brilliantly 
 varnished, black, and ornamented with 
 a sort of yellow pigment, which pre- 
 sents so exact an imitation of gild- 
 ing as scarcely to be distinguished 
 on the closest inspection, and from 
 hence many of the stations in the 
 upper provinces are supplied with 
 many household articles, both con- 
 venient and beautiful. 
 
 At present the inhabitants of the 
 upper provinces, both Hindoos and 
 Mahomedans, expend the greater 
 part of their savings in ornaments, 
 wearing much more silver and gold 
 on their persons, and burying less in 
 the ground, being now secure from 
 robbers, and not, as formerly, exposed 
 to the rapacity of native officers. 
 The investment of money in orna- 
 ments and jewellery, in proportion to 
 its amount, is probably much great- 
 er in the upper than the lower pro- 
 vinces of India, the wealthy classes 
 in the latter preferring the govern- 
 ment funds and other securities. Ba- 
 reily having been the capital of a Ma- 
 homedan state, cows and oxen have 
 been slaughtered here from time im- 
 memorial ; at present the Hindoos 
 are constantly petitioning and pro- 
 testing against the perpetration of 
 such sacrilege. 
 
 Bareily was the capital of Hafez 
 Rehmut, a Rohillah chief, slain at 
 the battle of Cutterah, and here he 
 lies interred. In 1774 it was added 
 
 along with the district to the domi- 
 nions of Shujah ud Dowlah, then Na- 
 bob of Oude ; and in 1801 transferred 
 to the British, when it was made the 
 head-quarters of a civil establishment 
 and court of circuit, to which nine 
 other districts are subordinate. In 
 1816 an alarming insurrection broke 
 out here, which originated in an at- 
 tempt to impose a small tax for the 
 support of the police, and which was 
 not suppressed without considerable 
 difficulty and bloodshed. Travelling 
 distance from Delhi, 142 miles ; from 
 Calcutta by Moorshedabad, 910; by 
 Birbhoom, 805; and from Lucknow, 
 156 miles. — ( Fullarton , Glyn, Ker , 
 Ross , Hardwick , the Marquis of Has- 
 tings, fyc.) 
 
 Bariat (or Birat J . — A fortified 
 peak in northern Hindostan, between 
 the rivers Jumna and Tonse, 6,508 
 feet above Saharunpoor, which is 
 visible from it ; lat. 30° 35' N., Ion. 
 77 ° 55' E. Invalids from the plains, 
 requiring a cold climate, would find 
 it here ; for the redoubt during the 
 winter is almost buried in snow, 
 which remains in shady places until 
 April. — ( Capt . Hodgson , fyc.) 
 
 Barnagore ( Varanagara J. — A 
 small town in the province of Ben- 
 gal, situated on the east side of the 
 Hooghly river, about three miles 
 above Calcutta. It was originally a 
 Portuguese settlement, but after- 
 wards came into the possession of 
 the Dutch, and by the earlier British 
 authorities is described as being the 
 Paphos of Calcutta. 
 
 Baroad. — A small walled town in 
 the province of Delhi, situated within 
 the Begum Sumroo’s territories. 
 
 Baroda. — The capital of a Maha- 
 ratta chieftain, known by the family 
 name of Guicowar (Gaikevad), who 
 divides with the British government 
 the largest and finest portion of Gu- 
 jerat, his portion (in 1818, about 
 12,000 square miles), lying mostly in 
 the northern quarter ; lat. 22° 21' N., 
 Ion. 73° 23' E. 
 
 This place is mentioned by Abul 
 Fazel, and in Aurungzebe’s reign was 
 
140 
 
 BARODA. 
 
 a large and wealthy town ; nor does 
 it appear to have since undergone the 
 great vicissitudes to which all the an- 
 cient capitals of India have been sub- 
 jected. In 1780 (for we have no 
 more recent description) the fortifica- 
 tions consisted of slight walls, with 
 towers at irregular distances, and 
 several double gates. The town is 
 intersected by two spacious streets, 
 dividing it into four equal parts, and 
 crossing at the market-place. The 
 ruins of some handsome Mogul build- 
 ings are still to be seen, but the Ma- 
 haratta structures are mean and con- 
 temptible. Near the city there is a 
 stone bridge over the river Viswa- 
 mitra, which is remarkable as being 
 the only one in Gujerat, where the 
 streams are usually crossed in ferry 
 boats, or on a light platform, floated 
 by empty earthen pots. In the envi- 
 rons are several magnificent wells, 
 with steps down to the bottom. In 
 1818 the total population of the city 
 was estimated at 100,000 persons. 
 
 The Baroda district, though still 
 labouring under all the defects of a 
 native system, and notoriously op- 
 pressed for the last ten years, is rich, 
 well cultivated, and in many places 
 enclosed and adorned with hedges of 
 mangoe and tamarind trees ; in fact, 
 the appearance of the country vil- 
 lages and inhabitants surpasses any of 
 the British pergunnahs in its neigh- 
 bourhood. Perhaps this may be at- 
 tributed to some prior and perma- 
 nent good government ; but when 
 the history of the Guicowar family 
 is recollected, it would be difficult to 
 say at what period that state of good 
 government could have existed. Tran- 
 quillity and the vicinity of a capital 
 may have assisted ; but be the cause 
 what it may, the Baroda division in 
 1821 was decidedly one of the most 
 flourishing tracts in Hindostan. It is 
 remarkable, that the Guicowar terri- 
 tories south ofBroach, although simi- 
 larly farmed and managed, were at 
 that same date oppressed and impo- 
 verished. 
 
 The wilder tracts of the Guicowar’ s 
 territories (as well as those with 
 which they are intermixed) are mostly 
 
 occupied by Bheels ; the other and 
 more sedentary inhabitants are Maho- 
 medans, Hindoo Banyans, and Raj- 
 poots of a spurious description, chiefly 
 occupied in the cultivation of the soil 
 (there are not many Mahomedans, ex- 
 cept about Baroda), and lastly, Coo- 
 lies, who form more than half of the 
 whole, and by some conjectured to be 
 the aborigines of Gujerat. This claim, 
 however, may be disputed by the 
 Bheels, if they be not the same peo- 
 ple in different stages of civilization. 
 They themselves pretend to be de- 
 scended from the Rajpoots ; but this 
 pretension is constantly asserted by 
 the wild and martial tribes all over 
 India. The Coolies here are acknow- 
 ledged by the Hindoos as their kin- 
 dred, while the Bheels have rejected, 
 and they occasionally intermarry with 
 the Rajpoots. 
 
 At present the chief ostensible em- 
 ployment of the Coolies is agricul- 
 ture, and when well-treated and kept 
 under, they are punctual in their pay- 
 ments, and not bad tenants. They 
 live, however, under their own tha- 
 koors and chiefs, whose authority 
 alone they willingly acknowledge ; 
 and pay little respect to the laws, 
 unless they happen to coincide with 
 their interests. Until quite recently, 
 they have been one of the most tur- 
 bulent and predatory tribes in India, 
 and with the Bheels were for a long 
 time the incessant disturbers of Gu- 
 jerat. The courts of justice and 
 dwelling-houses of the European 
 functionaries are still placed within 
 the walls of towns, to escape the 
 desperate attacks to which they 
 were liable ; and the magistrates 
 have constantly large bodies of armed 
 men in their employ, and even the 
 regular infantry and European ca- 
 valry are frequently called out to 
 repress these Coolies, who are hardy 
 men, and in their plundering excur- 
 sions frequently display a most des- 
 perate courage. Their usual dress is 
 a petticoat round the waist, like that 
 of the Bheels, and a cotton cloth 
 wrapped round their head and shoul- 
 ders, to which, in cold weather, they 
 add a quilted kirtlo or lebada, over 
 
BARODA. 
 
 141 
 
 which they wear a shirt of mail, with 
 vaunt bearers and gauntlets ; and 
 never consider themselves properly 
 accoutred without a sword, buckler, 
 and bow and arrows, to which horse- 
 men add a long spear and a battle- 
 axe. The cotton lebada is generally 
 stained and iron-moulded by the shirt 
 of mail ; and such tokens of their 
 martial occupations being reckoned 
 honourable, the young warriors used 
 to counterfeit them with charcoal 
 and oil ; in other respects, they are 
 fond of finery. In their marauding 
 expeditions they are very secret, col- 
 lecting at night under some popular 
 chief, by the circulation of a token 
 passed from one to the other; and 
 when any of the party are slain, the 
 parents are only informed of it by 
 finding some sprigs of the peepul 
 tree scattered in a particular manner 
 before the doors. In fact, even now 
 (1824) their turbulence continues 
 such, that scarcely a year elapses 
 without some sieges of Cooly forts 
 and fastnesses. 
 
 The rise of the Guicowar’s power 
 was almost contemporaneous with 
 that of the Peshwa in the Deccan. 
 Pillajee Guicowar was patel, or ma- 
 naging proprietor of a village, who, 
 after many struggles and intrigues, 
 established his own power by the 
 same artifices that had been practised 
 by his superior, the Peshwa, towards 
 the pageant Raja of Satarah. His 
 son Damajee Guicowar succeeded in 
 A.D. 1747, and reigned until 17G8 ; 
 Futteh Singh Guicowar, until 1789; 
 Manajee Guicowar, until 1792; Go- 
 vind Row, until 1800; Anund Row 
 Guicowar, until 1819, when he was 
 succeeded by his brother, Syjee Row 
 Guicowar, who had previously acted 
 as regent. 
 
 The Guicowar dynasty was first 
 noticed in the political transactions 
 of the British nation about 1782; by 
 the treaty of Bassein in 1802 the 
 intercourse became more frequent, as 
 the British government then under- 
 took to arbitrate and adjust all dif- 
 ferences between the Guicowar and 
 Peshwa ; cessions of territory to the 
 value of eleven lacks of rupees were 
 
 received and a subsidiary force of 
 3,000 troops furnished. Subsequent 
 events produced a still more intimate 
 union between the two states, the 
 Guicowar’s affairs being involved in 
 such confusion, and the debt accu- 
 mulating so rapidly, as to threaten 
 the absorption of the whole revenue. 
 Colonel Alexander Walker was in 
 consequence deputed to Baroda to 
 endeavour to extricate the Guicowar 
 from his embarrassments, and to re- 
 store order to his finances. This he 
 so effectually accomplished, that after 
 providing for every branch of the 
 family, adjusting the Peshwa’s pe- 
 niary claims, paying the tumultu- 
 ary troops, and easing the revenue 
 assessments, the total debt in 181(J 
 amounted to only fifty-five lacks of 
 rupees. This incumbrance has pro- 
 bably been since wholly liquidated ; 
 at least Anund Row Guicowar, when 
 he died in 1819, was reported to have 
 left a treasure in money and jewels 
 exceeding one crore of rupees. 
 
 In 1815, in consequence of the ex- 
 isting confusion, the Bombay govern- 
 ment endeavoured to effect an altera- 
 tion in the mode of administering 
 justice throughout the Guicowar’s 
 dominions, without introducing too 
 great a change in the judicial system 
 of the country. Punchaits, or arbitra- 
 tion by a jury of five, first occurred; 
 but this method of settling disputes, 
 however beautiful in theory, is evi- 
 dently adapted for a more primitive 
 state of society than exists in Gu- 
 jerat, where the employment of the 
 people are diversified, their habits 
 industrious yet licentious, and where 
 rights had not previously been de- 
 cided by any written law, but by the 
 innumerable intricacies of local usage. 
 Judicial establishments with positive 
 powers appearing necessary, both to 
 regulate and assist the punchaits, a 
 new court was created to take cog- 
 nizance both of civil and criminal 
 cases, an arrangement deemed eligi- 
 ble to withdraw the sovereign from 
 the direct administration of criminal 
 justice. The judges, however, soon 
 became corrupt, partly owing to the 
 inadequacies of their salaries ; at the 
 
BARRAMAHAL. 
 
 U2 
 
 same time it may be doubted whe- 
 ther any salary could entirely era- 
 dicate this inherent defect of the 
 native character, while the sovereign 
 himself openly practises the most un- 
 disguised peculation. The reigning 
 Guicowar in 1824 was said to be a 
 man of talents, but so desperately 
 fond of money that he used to lend 
 it to himself. — ( Public MS. Docu- 
 ments , Walker , Carnac , Elphinstone , 
 the Marquis Wellesley , tf-c.) 
 
 Baroo ( or Barye). — A small town 
 in the province of Gundwana, near 
 the hills on which Chowraghur is 
 built, from which it is distant S.S.E. 
 about thirteen miles ; lat. 22° 45' N., 
 Ion. 78' 50° E. In 1820, it was the 
 head of a pergunnah belonging to the 
 Nagpoor Raja.— (Malcolm, $c.) 
 
 Barooly Ghaut. — A passthrough 
 the hills which bound the Berar pro- 
 vince ori the north, and through 
 which there is an ascent to a table 
 land. The source of the Wurda 
 river lies two miles from hence. 
 
 Baroos. — A town on the west 
 coast of Sumatra, the inhabitants of 
 which have benzoin and gold, and 
 procure camphor from the interior. 
 The imports are the same as specified 
 under the article Sinkel ; to which 
 may be added white beads, pulicat 
 handkerchiefs, chintzes with large 
 flowers and grounds, white dun- 
 garee, salt, rice, ghee, oil, a few me- 
 tal watches, and gilt hilted swords. 
 — ( Elmore , #c.) 
 
 Barrabuttee.— A fortress in the 
 province of Orissa, about a mile 
 from the city of Cuttack. Lat. 20° 
 27' N.. Ion. 86° 6' E. This fortress 
 is of a rectangular form, the ram- 
 parts next the river being double the 
 height of the other sides of the 
 quadrangle. It has no glacis, and 
 the walls are going fast to decay, but 
 it is surrounded by a ditch 130 feet 
 wide and twenty deep, filled from the 
 Mahanuddy, and inhabited by a nu- 
 merous and ancient stock of alli- 
 gators. Within are an old mosque, 
 a barrack, magazines, and the house 
 of the conductor of ordnance, who 
 
 in 1820 was the only European resi- 
 dent. It was stormed in 1803 by a 
 British detachment from Bengal, and 
 captured with little loss. — ( Public 
 Journals , Fullarton y heckle , Upton , 
 $c.) 
 
 Barrackpoor. — A military canton- 
 ment in the province of Bengal, situ- 
 ated on the east side of the river 
 Hooghly, about sixteen miles above 
 Calcutta, where the sepoy battalions 
 composing the presidency division 
 have their quarters. Here are the 
 unfinished arches of a house begun 
 by the Marquis Wellesley, but dis- 
 continued by orders from the Court 
 of Directors. Horse races are run 
 here during the cold season. This 
 place may be described as a large mi- 
 litary village inhabited by soldiers, 
 with bungalows for the European 
 officers and other Europeans, who 
 are attracted here by the salubrity of 
 the air, the vicinity of the Governor 
 General’s residence, and the beauty 
 and convenience of the river. 
 
 Barragurry. — A town in North- 
 ern Hindostan belonging to the Ne- 
 paulese, forty-five miles S.S.E. from 
 Catmandoo ; lat. 27° 5' N., Ion. 85° 
 55' £. The situation of this place is 
 so unhealthy that Capt. Kinloch’s 
 detachment suffered greatly by their 
 stay here, during the attempt to pe- 
 netrate into Nepaul A.D. 1769. In 
 1792, \Vhen General Kirkpatrick went 
 to Catmandoo, it was the residence 
 of the Gorkha governor of the west- 
 ern Teriani. — ( Kirkpatrick , Sfc.) 
 
 Barramahal. — A principal sub- 
 division of the Salem province under 
 the Madras presidency, of which it 
 occupies the northern extremity, con- 
 sisting properly of the following twelve 
 places, which are all within the Hin- 
 doo geographical division of Dravida, 
 a tract bounded on the west by the 
 ghauts. These cantons are Krishna- 
 giri, Jacadeo, Varina Ghada, Bunjun- 
 ga Ghada, Tripatura, Veniambady, 
 Ghangana Ghada, Sudarshana Ghada, 
 and Tutucallu. Although not so ele- 
 vated, the Barramahal is on the whole a 
 wilder and more mountainous region 
 
BARREN ISLE. 
 
 143 
 
 than the Mysore, and was once stud- 
 ded with formidable hill forts. After 
 the fall of Seringapatam in 1799, se- 
 veral important sections of upper 
 Carnata were annexed, and all the 
 poligars restored to their estates, and 
 put on a similar footing with the ze- 
 mindars of Bengal. They pay a fixed 
 rent or tribute for their lands, but 
 have no jurisdiction over the inha- 
 bitants. The property in the soil is 
 mostly vested in the sovereign, ex- 
 cept in the polyams and a few small 
 free estates. 
 
 In the annexed districts the rice 
 cultivation is not important, dry 
 seeds, kitchen-gardens, and planta- 
 tions of cocoa-nuts and palms, being 
 the principal articles cultivated. The 
 manufactures are coarse and only 
 suited for the lower classes. When 
 a rich man undertakes to construct a 
 reservoir at his own expense for the 
 irrigation of land, he is allowed to 
 hold in free estate, and by hereditary 
 right, one-fourth of the land so wa- 
 tered, but he is also bound to keep 
 his reservoir in repair ; and experience 
 proves that tanks of this description 
 are notoriously kept in better condi- 
 tion than those supported by govern- 
 ment. The peasantry assert that they 
 can compel the holder to perform his 
 duty, but that the sovereign has no 
 master; every encouragement should 
 therefore be given to induce rich na- 
 tives to invest their money in works 
 of such utility. The Barramahal was 
 ceded to the British government by 
 the treaty of Seringapatam in AJD. 
 1792, and it was then in a most mi- 
 serable state ; but the good manage- 
 ment of Colonel Alexander Read in 
 the course of five years more than 
 doubled the revenue, while the rents 
 were diminished in proportion. The 
 villages, howevef, are evidently infe- 
 rior in neatness, cleanness, and com- 
 fort to those of the Mysore, or of up- 
 per Coimbatoor, and even to many in 
 the Carnatic. The inhabitants have 
 in general a miserable appearance, 
 and beggars are unusually numerous. 
 Never having been subdued by Ma- 
 homedans until the inroads of the 
 Cuddapah Nabobs, it still contains a 
 
 very great proportion, perhaps nine- 
 teen-twentieths, of genuine Hindoo 
 inhabitants. — ( F . Buchanan , Syden- 
 ham, Sir Thomas Munro , bth Re- 
 port, Sfc.) 
 
 Barrambad. — -A village belonging 
 to the Bhurtpore Raja in the pro- 
 vince of Agra, near to Biana, and 
 remarkable for the ruins of sepul- 
 chres, pavilions, bOwlies, and other 
 Mahomedan structures, all formed of 
 the red sand-stone of the country. — • 
 ( Fullarton , &c.) 
 
 Barreah. — -The capital of a small 
 independent principality in the pro- 
 vince of Gujerat, eighty miles E.N.E. 
 from Cambay, lat. 22° 44/ N., Ion. 
 74' E. This town stands in a valley 
 near the river Pannah, in a narrow 
 spot just sufficient to contain the 
 houses, which are neat and many 
 built of brick, between the river 
 and the hill. The extensive wilds 
 of Barreah comprise almost the 
 whole space from Godra to Dohud, a 
 distance of almost forty miles, of 
 which scarcely a single spot is culti- 
 vated, the only inhabitants being a 
 few wandering and predatory Bheels. 
 Although this great jungle is tole- 
 rably open in most places, so as to 
 offer little impediment to light troops, 
 yet it would be almost impervious to 
 baggage and heavy guns. 
 
 This principality may be described 
 as one of the few independent petty 
 states now existing in Hindostan, 
 beiqg not only exempted from the 
 payment of any established tribute, 
 but claiming a chout from all the 
 neighbouring districts, of which it is 
 very tenacious. These chouts, with 
 certain moderate duties on trade, 
 compose nearly the whole of the 
 Raja’s revenues, which in 1819 
 amounted to about 57,000 rupees. — 
 {Burr, fyc.) 
 
 Barren Isle. — An island and vol- 
 cano about 1,800 feet high, in the 
 Bay of Bengal, situated in lat. 12° 
 1 5' N., and fifteen leagues east of the 
 northernmost Andaman. The erup- 
 tions are very violent, stones of the 
 weight of three or four tons being 
 sometimes discharged. When visit- 
 
144 
 
 BASOUDA. 
 
 ed in 1822, the high cone continued 
 to send forth volumes of white flame, 
 and the sea close to it was almost 
 boiling. The more distant parts of 
 the island are thinly covered with wi- 
 thered shrubs and blasted trees. — 
 {Col. ColebrooJce , fyc.) 
 
 Barripoor. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Bengal, about sixteen miles 
 S.E. from Calcutta, formerly the resi- 
 dence of the salt agent for the Twen- 
 ty-four pergunnahs. 
 
 Barwah. — A village in the pro- 
 vince of Allahabad, district of Bun- 
 delcund, ten miles S.S.E. from Jhan- 
 si. Lat. 2.5° 25' N., Ion. 78° 39' E. 
 
 In 1790 the Hindoo soubahdar of 
 this district was an uncommonly ac- 
 complished person, and had acquired 
 a considerable knowledge of Euro- 
 pean sciences. At the advanced age 
 of sixty he had formed the project 
 of studying the English language, in 
 order to comprehend the Encyclo- 
 pedia Britannica, of which he had 
 acquired a copy, Such, however, is 
 the inconsistency of human nature, 
 and the strength with which Hindoo 
 prejudices adhere, that about five 
 years afterwards, having been seized 
 with some complaint which he con- 
 sidered incurable, he repaired to Be- 
 nares and there drowned himself in 
 the Ganges.— {Hunter, fyc.) 
 
 Barw allah. — A large brick town 
 to the north of Hansi, in the pro- 
 vince of Delhi, given up to Saiieb 
 Sing, the Raja of Pattiallah. 
 
 Barwarrah. — A mud fort with 
 round bastions and a ditch, in the 
 province of Ajmeer, ten miles west 
 of Rantampoor ; lat. 26° 3' N., Ion. 
 75° 3' E. 
 
 Bary (Ban ). — A town in the 
 Oude territories, thirty miles north 
 from Lucknow; lat. 27° 15' N., Ion. 
 80° 50' E. 
 
 Bashee Isles. — A cluster of small 
 rocky islands lying due north of 
 Luzon, the great Philippine between 
 the 20th and 21st degrees of north 
 latitude. These islands, situated be- 
 tween the Philippines and Formosa, 
 
 are five in number, besides four small 
 rocky islets. — Dampier gave the fol- 
 lowing names to the five largest, viz. 
 Grafton Isle, Monmouth Isle, Groat 
 Isle, Orange Isle, and Bashee Isle. 
 They are inhabited by a race of 
 strong athletic men. Grafton Isle is 
 about thirteen leagues in circumfe- 
 rence, and has good anchorage on 
 the west side. It produces fine yams, 
 sugar-cane, taro, plantains, and ve- 
 getables, besides hogs and goats in 
 plenty. Iron is the favourite me- 
 dium of exchange, but money is now 
 also understood. The water is very 
 fine and in great abundance close to 
 the beach. 
 
 The Spaniards took possession of 
 the Bashee islands in 1783 in order 
 to procure gold, which is washed 
 down by the torrents in conside- 
 rable quantities, and is worked by the 
 natives into a thick wire, which they 
 wear as an ornament. They are an 
 inoffensive race of people, whose 
 chief delight consists in drinking a 
 liquor named bashee, distilled from 
 rice and sugar-cane, after which they 
 engage in dancing with every mark of 
 satisfaction and gratification. The 
 Spanish governor resides on Grafton 
 Island, with about 100 soldiers, se- 
 veral officers, a few priests, and some 
 cannon. 
 
 These islands were visited by 
 Dampier, who gives a favourable ac- 
 count both of the civility of the in- 
 habitants and the abundance of hogs ; 
 they were afterwards seen by Byron 
 and Wallis, who passed without land- 
 ing . — {MeareSy King , $c.) 
 
 Basouda ( or Gunge Basouda ). — 
 A town in the province of Malwa, 
 situated on a river that runs into 
 the Betwah, twenty-five miles north 
 from Bhilsah ; lat. 23° 53' N., Ion. 
 78° E. In 1820 it was the head of 
 a pergunnah belonging to Sindia, and 
 contained 2,000 houses. 
 
 Basouda. — A town in the province 
 of Malwa, with a strong ghurry on 
 the top of a hill in the vicinity, six- 
 teen miles S.W. from Ratghur; lat. 
 23° 35' N., Ion. 78° 23' E. In 1820 
 it contained 500 houses. 
 
BATANG. 
 
 145 
 
 Basseelan, — An island lying off 
 the south-western extremity of Ma- 
 gindanao, and surrounded by a clus- 
 ter of smaller ones. In length it 
 may be estimated at forty miles, 
 by six the average breadth. In the 
 centre there is a range of mountains, 
 but it is low towards the coast, and 
 destitute of good harbours. Grain 
 is the chief production, which the 
 soil yields plentifully; cowries are 
 also abundant. The population is 
 scanty, and the sovereignty is claim- 
 ed by the Sooloos. — ( Forrest , Dai- 
 ry mple, fyc.) 
 
 Bassein (BassinJ . — A seaport 
 town in the province of Aurungabad, 
 separated from Salsette by a narrow 
 strait, and situated about twenty- 
 seven miles north from the fort of 
 Bombay; lat. 19° 20' N., Ion. 72° 56' 
 E. The surrounding country here 
 presents an improved state of culti- 
 vation, notwithstanding it has been so 
 many years under a Maharatta govern- 
 ment, and long exhibited a striking 
 contrast to the desolation that pre- 
 vailed in the British island of Sal- 
 sette. Many of the cultivators are 
 Roman Catholic Christians. The 
 teak forests that supply the marine 
 yard at Bombay lie along the western 
 side of the ghaut mountains, to the 
 north and north-east of Bassein, the 
 numerous mountain streams afford 
 ing the means of water-carriage. 
 
 The Portuguese obtained posses- 
 sion of Bassein by treaty with the 
 Sultan of Cambay, so early as 1531, 
 and with them it continued until 
 captured by the Maharattas in 1750, 
 having been more than two centuries 
 in their undisturbed possession. It 
 was taken from the last-mentioned 
 race by General Goddard’s army, 
 but restored at the peace of Salbye ; 
 and here, on the 31st Dec. 1802, 
 was signed the celebrated treaty be- 
 tween the Peshwa and the British 
 government, which annihilated the 
 Maharattas as a federal empire. In 
 1824 this was a considerable place, 
 and surrounded by a regular fortifi- 
 cation of ramparts and bastions, but 
 without a glacis, which from the 
 
 VOL, i. 
 
 marshy state of .the surrounding 
 country is not much wanted. There 
 was then a small garrison stationed 
 in one of the gates, under an English 
 conductor of ordnance, and the place 
 was kept locked up, but within at 
 the above date it was completely 
 uninhabited, containing nothing but a 
 pagoda in good repair, and a melan- 
 choly display of ruined houses and 
 churches. Of the latter there were 
 no fewer than seven, some of consi- 
 derable size, but all of mean archi- 
 tecture, although they are striking 
 from the lofty proportions usual in 
 Roman Catholic places of worship, 
 and from the singularity of Christian 
 and European ruins in India. — (i Mal- 
 colm, Rennell , Bruce , Malet , fyc.) 
 
 Basseen for Palhein ). — A town 
 and district in the dominions of Ava, 
 province of Pegu, the first situated 
 about 102 miles west from Rangoon ; 
 lat. 16° 50' N., Ion. 94° 45' E. This 
 port has a greater depth of water 
 than Rangoon, but is less centrally 
 situated for trade, for the streams 
 that connect the Basseen river with 
 the Irawady are navigable only part 
 of the year, so that for the remainder 
 it is precluded from free intercourse 
 with the northern quarters of the 
 Burmese empire. 
 
 Bassum ( or Wausim.J — A district 
 in the Hyderabad territories, division 
 of Nandere, situated between the 
 twenty-first and twenty-second de- 
 grees of north latitude. It has an 
 uneven hilly surface, intersected by 
 small streams that flow into the Go- 
 davery. Respecting this part of the 
 Deccan very little is known, although 
 it is particularized by Abul Fazel in 
 the institutes of Acber. At Houn- 
 dah Nagnath, a village south of Bas- 
 sum town, is an ancient temple co-< 
 vered with statues and sculpture, 
 evidently belonging either to the 
 Buddhists or Jains. Among the sta- 
 tues are three large simple-looking 
 figures, in a contemplative position, 
 with curled wigs,— (Erskine, fyc.) 
 
 Batang. — An island in the east- 
 ern seas lying off the south-eastern 
 
 L 
 
146 
 
 BATAVIA, 
 
 extremity of the Malay peninsula, 
 and surrounded by numberless small 
 rocky islets. It is separated from the 
 island of Bintang by a narrow strait, 
 and may be estimated at twenty-five 
 miles in length, by ten the average 
 breadth. 
 
 Batang ( or Patany Hook .) — A 
 port in the Gilolo passage, situated 
 on the east coast of the island of 
 Gilolo; lat. 0° 9' S., Ion. 128° 48' E. 
 On this hook or point is a very strong 
 capacious natural fortress, only ac- 
 cessible by ladders, up the face of a 
 perpendicular rock. The top is level 
 ground three miles in circumference, 
 containing houses and gardens. In 
 2770 the natives here supplied the 
 French with clove-plants, which do 
 not thrive further east than Gebby 
 isle, on which account the Dutch 
 formerly maintained cruizers here to 
 prevent the smuggling of spices. — 
 ( Forrest fyc.) 
 
 Batalin. — An island in the east- 
 ern seas situated off the coast of Ce- 
 lebes, about the 124th degree of east 
 longitude, and between the first and 
 second degree of south latitude. In 
 length it may be estimated at twenty- 
 five miles, by seven the average 
 breadth ; but it does not appear to 
 have been ever explored. 
 
 Batavia. — A large city in the 
 island of Java, the capital of the 
 Dutch possessions in the Eastern 
 Archipelago ; lat. 6° 8' S., Ion. 100° 
 54' E. The ground plan of the town 
 is in the shape of a parallelogram ; 
 the length of which from north to 
 south is 4,200 feet, and the breadth 
 3,000 feet. The streets are laid out 
 in straight lines, and cross each other 
 at right angles. This city, however, 
 is greatly changed since the British 
 conquest in 1811, prior to which all 
 the fortifications had been destroyed 
 by General Daendels, who demolish- 
 ed the ramparts in order to admit a 
 free circulation of air. Of the splen- 
 dour and magnificence which formerly 
 procured for this city the appellation 
 of Queen of the East, little is now to 
 be seen, whole streets of houses hav- 
 ing been pulled down, canals filled 
 
 up, forts destroyed, and palaces le- 
 velled. The stadthouse, where the 
 supreme courts of justice and police 
 assemble, still remains ; but all the 
 wealthy inhabitants after having trans- 
 acted the business of the day, retire 
 to the more elevated stations of the 
 interior ; and although the richest 
 productions of Java continue to be 
 deposited in the warehouses of Ba- 
 tavia, few Europeans venture to sleep 
 within the limits of its pestilential 
 atmosphere. 
 
 The great church, built in 1769, 
 has been also pulled down, in conse- 
 quence of the foundation having gi- 
 ven way, so that the new Lutheran 
 is the only one frequented by the 
 Protestant part of the community, 
 the native Christians resorting mostly 
 to the Portuguese church. Accord- 
 ing to a census taken by the British 
 government in 1815, the district of 
 Batavia, including Buitzenzorg, con- 
 tained a population of 408,327 per- 
 sons, of which number 55,027 were 
 Chinese. A poll-tax however being 
 levied on the Chinese, and other du- 
 ties rendering it the interest of all 
 parties to withhold accurate returns, 
 it is probable the real amount exceeds 
 the above estimate. 
 
 Population of Batavia and its sub- 
 urbs within two miles distance, A.D. 
 1815. 
 
 Europeans 
 
 543 
 
 Descendants of ditto born’' 
 
 j> 1,485 
 
 in the colony 
 
 Arabs 
 
 318 
 
 Moormen 
 
 319 
 
 Malays 
 
 . 3,155 
 . 3,331 
 
 Javanese 
 
 Buggesses 
 
 , 1,863 
 
 Macassars 
 
 , 2,029 
 
 Balinese 
 
 . 7,720 
 
 Sumbhawese 
 
 232 
 
 Madhurese 
 
 223 
 
 Amboynese and Bandese 82 
 
 Timorese and Bootonese 24 
 
 Pernakans (a half-caste ) 
 Chinese J 
 
 605 
 
 Chinese 
 
 . 11,249 
 
 Slaves 
 
 . 14,239 
 
 Total...., 
 
 .. 47,217 
 
BATAVIA. 
 
 147 
 
 According to an official valuation in 
 1813, the value of property in houses 
 and lands belonging to individuals 
 in this town and its environs ex- 
 ceeded eleven millions of silver rix- 
 dollars, on which amount the taxes 
 were levied. 
 
 The whole city of Batavia has long 
 been proverbially unhealthy, not so 
 much from the heat of the climate, as 
 from its injudicious situation and 
 misplaced embellishments. It was 
 not only surrounded with water 
 nearly stagnant, but every street had 
 its canal and row of evergreen trees. 
 These canals became the reservoir of 
 all the offals and filth collected in 
 the city, and having scarcely any 
 current, required constant labour and 
 attention to prevent their being 
 choaked up altogether. On the land- 
 side were, and still are, gardens and 
 rice grounds, intersected in every 
 direction by ditches and canals, and 
 the entire shore of the bay is a mud 
 bank, mixed with putrid substances, 
 sea-weed, and other vegetable matter, 
 in a state of fermentation. To these 
 swamps, morasses, and mud banks, 
 add the intemperate habits of the 
 old Dutch colonists, and the insalu- 
 brity of Batavia will be adequately 
 accounted for. 
 
 A circular range of islands protects 
 the harbour from any heavy swell, 
 and ensures safe anchorage ; some 
 of them, such as Anrust, Edam, Coo- 
 per’s isle, are fortified, and contain 
 warehouses, hospitals, and naval ar- 
 senals. On the inland side of the 
 town the industrious Chinese carry 
 on their various manufactures, such 
 as tanning leather, burning shell lime, 
 baking earthenware, boiling sugar, 
 and distilling arrack. Their rice 
 grounds, sugar-cane plantations, and 
 well stocked gardens, surround the 
 city, the markets of which abound 
 in all sorts of tropical fruits, pine 
 apples being in such profusion that 
 they are sent to the market in carts, 
 piled up, like turnips to Covent Gar- 
 den. A great majority of the trades- 
 men, butchers, fishmongers, green- 
 grocers, upholsterers, tailors, shoe- 
 makers, masons, carpenters, and 
 
 blacksmiths, are Chinese, who also 
 contract for whatever is wanted in the 
 civil, military, or marine departments. 
 They also farm from the Nether- 
 lands government the several imports, 
 the export and import duties, and 
 the taxes. Their campong or town, 
 close to the city walls, is an active 
 scene of bustle and business, resem- 
 bling a bazar in China. It consists 
 of about 1,500 mean houses, huddled 
 together, containing 14,000 inhabi- 
 tants and 400,000 swine. In 1740 
 the Dutch murdered 10,000 of them. 
 
 The commerce of Batavia is con- 
 siderable, but is principally a trade of 
 barter, bullion not being much ex- 
 changed in large payments. From 
 Bengal the principal imports are 
 opium, drugs, and Patna cloths of 
 different kinds. From Sumatra, 
 camphor, benzoin, birds’-nests, calin, 
 and elephant’s teeth. From China, 
 porcelain, teas, silks, nankeen, alum, 
 borax, brimstone, cinnabar, mother- 
 o*-pearl, paper, sweetmeats, and to- 
 bacco. Three Chinese junks of 
 about 1,000 tons from Amoy, and 
 four from Changlin of 500 each ar- 
 rive annually in Java, six at this 
 port, and one at Samarang. 
 
 The staple articles of export from 
 Batavia are rice, coffee, sugar, pepper, 
 and arrack. Java is the only island 
 of the archipelago that exports rice, 
 the best loading ports being Indra- 
 mayu, Cheribon, Tagal, Paccalongan, 
 Japara,Gressic,and Sourabhaya. A.D. 
 1815 it might be exported for about 
 3s. 8 d. sterling per cwt., but in the 
 European market it is reckoned of 
 inferior quality to the Carolina and 
 the Bengal, the first selling for 18s., 
 and the second for ID. 3d. when 
 the Java brings only 9s. 9d., which 
 is more attributable to the clumsy 
 mode of preparing the grain, than to 
 any real inferiority. Besides the 
 quantity distributed among the East- 
 ern islands, in 1818 above 27,000 
 tons were»exported to Europe, pro- 
 bably not above one-twentieth of the 
 whole production. Coffee is also an 
 important article, and may be raised 
 with profit for four Spanish dollars 
 per Java picul of 136 pounds avoir- 
 
 l 2 
 
148 
 
 BATE ISLE. 
 
 dupois. In 1818 the total produc- 
 tion of this berry in Java was esti- 
 mated at 25,840,000 pounds. Sugar 
 is usually sold to the exporters at 
 eight Spanish dollars the white, and 
 six or seven the brown, per Java 
 picul. In 1818 the total quantity 
 produced amounted to 27,200,000 
 pounds, ranking in quality with that 
 of the Brazils. Teak grows so abun- 
 dantly in Java, that in 1818 it was 
 estimated that the hull of a teak 
 ship, well-fastened and sheathed with 
 copper, might be constructed for <£12 
 per ton. 
 
 The Dutch being the only nation 
 that keeps up an intercourse with 
 Japan, a ship is annually despatched 
 from Batavia laden with kerseymeres, 
 fine cloths, clock-work, spices, ele- 
 phant’s-teeth, sapan-wood, tin and 
 tortoiseshell. The returns from Japan 
 consist principally of ingots of the 
 finest red copper, which is converted 
 into a clumsy sort of coin for paying 
 the native and European troops. Va- 
 rious other articles are smuggled in 
 by the officers, such as sabre-blades 
 of an excellent temper, Japan cam- 
 phor, soy, china-ware, lacquered ware, 
 and silk goods. The cargo always 
 contains a present for the emperor of 
 Japan, and he in return sends one 
 to the Governor-general, consisting 
 usually of desks, drawers, and close- 
 stools of valuable inlaid wood, covered 
 with the celebrated Japan varnish, and 
 incrustated with flowers and other de- 
 signs in variously coloured mother-o’- 
 pearl. 
 
 A.D. 1619, John Pieterson Coen, 
 the Dutch governor, took the town of 
 Jacatra by assault, and in a great 
 measure destroyed it. He afterwards 
 founded another city, not exactly on 
 the same spot, to which he gave the 
 name of Batavia. In 1811 it sur- 
 rendered at discretion to the British 
 army under Sir Samuel Auchmuty, 
 General Jansens having retired to the 
 fortified camp at Cornelis, where on 
 the 25th August of the same year he 
 was attacked, totally routed, and the 
 island subsequently was completely 
 subdued. Of the strong camp at Cor- 
 nelis there are now few traces, the 
 
 fortifications having been all rased, 
 the works destroyed, and their site 
 soon covered by the exuberant vege- 
 tation of a tropical climate. During 
 the . British possession of Batavia, 
 which lasted until the 19th August 
 1816, its condition was greatly im- 
 proved, and even its pestilential atmo- 
 sphere somewhat ameliorated by the 
 great pains bestowed on the draining 
 of the marshes, the cleaning of the 
 town, and the removing of the Euro- 
 peans to the elevated tracts of the in- 
 terior. — ( Stavorinus , Barrow , Raffles , 
 Crawfitrd, Thorn , Staunton , fyc.) 
 
 Batchian. — One of the Molucca 
 islands, separated from Gilolo by a 
 narrow strait, and situated between 
 the equator and the first degree of 
 south latitude. It is of an irregular 
 figure, but in length may be estimated 
 at fifty-two miles, by twenty the ave- 
 rage breadth. In 1775 the Sultan of 
 Batchiair claimed dominion over the 
 islands of Ooby, Ceram, and Goram, 
 but was himself held in vassalage by 
 the Dutch. The inhabitants are nearly 
 all Malay Mahomedans. — ( Forrest , 
 &c.) 
 
 Bate Isle. — An island situated at 
 the western extremity of the Gujerat 
 peninsula; lat. 22° 27' N., Ion. 69° 
 19' E. Bate signifies an island of any 
 kind, the proper name of this one 
 being Shunkodwar. There is a good 
 harbour here, well secured from the 
 prevailing winds, but the anchorage 
 is rocky. Although the port has been 
 improved, it is and has always been 
 an insignificant place : yet in 1803 it 
 repulsed a British attack with consi- 
 derable slaughter. In 1809 about 150 
 vessels belonged to Bate, and, until 
 the interference of the Bombay pre- 
 sidency, were the piratical vessels so 
 much dreaded by native craft along 
 the western coast of India. 
 
 The island does not produce suffici- 
 ent food for its own subsistence, large 
 quantities of ghee, sugar, grain, &c. 
 are consequently imported and con- 
 sumed by the numerous pilgrims that 
 resort to the holy places. In 1809 
 Bate contained about 2,000 houses, 
 mostly inhabited by Brahmins ; but it 
 
BATTAMANDE. 
 
 149 
 
 also possessed Amramra, Positra, 
 Bhurwalla, and some other fortified 
 places, since dismantled. The whole 
 revenue arising from the temples, port 
 duties, and pirated property, probably 
 never amounted to two lacks of ru- 
 pees per annum. In 1807 its chiefs 
 were fined for their piracies, and com- 
 pelled to sign an engagement to ab- 
 stain from robbery in future. It was 
 taken and sacked by Sultan Mahmood 
 Begra, of Ahmedabad ancfGujerat, in 
 A.D. 1462. 
 
 Shunkodwara is the proper denomi- 
 nation of this island, being derived 
 from that of a Hindoo demon, thus 
 named from his dwelling in a large 
 chank, conch-shell, or buckie, within 
 which he concealed the sacred vedas, 
 recently stolen from Brahma. An in- 
 carnation of Vishnu, under the name 
 of Shunk Narayan, cut open the shell, 
 and restored the vedas to their law- 
 ful owner. The demon pleaded as 
 his excuse, that he hoped to have 
 been put to death by Vishnu for the 
 theft, which would have insured him 
 future beatitude. In consequence of 
 this exploit, Shunk Narayan (Vishnu), 
 or the destroyer of the shell demon, 
 established his own worship on the 
 island, where it flourished until the 
 flight of another Hindoo god, named 
 Runchor, from Dwaraca, to escape 
 the fury of a Mahomedan army, since 
 which the latter has taken the lead 
 and engrossed all the offerings. — 
 ( Macmurdo , Treaties , fyc.) 
 
 Baticalo. — A town and district on 
 the east coast of Ceylon, situated on 
 an island three miles in circumference, 
 sixty-six miles S.S.E. from Trinco- 
 malee ; lat. 7° 43' N., Ion. 81° 45' E. 
 The fort here is of a square form with 
 a few bastions, on which, in 1803, 
 twenty-four guns were mounted. The 
 inlet of the sea that surrounds Bati- 
 calo penetrates thirty miles into the 
 country, and comprehends several 
 other islets of still smaller dimensions. 
 In many places this frith is a mile 
 broad, but unfortunately a sand bar 
 stretches across the entrance and pre- 
 cludes all but craft under eighty tons. 
 The inhabitants are mostly Hindoos 
 
 and Mahomedans, the native Chris- 
 tians being comparatively few in num- 
 ber. The interior remains covered 
 with primeval forests and thick jungle, 
 where wild in woods the noble savage 
 man, here a very miserable animal, 
 ranges unmolested under the name of 
 bedah or vedah. Beyond the first 
 chain of hills are the still more rug- 
 ged mountains of Ouva, renowned 
 for ages as the last asylum of the 
 Candian monarchs ; and it was amidst 
 them that, in 1631, the Portuguese 
 army and their general Constantine 
 de Saa, in attempting to track the 
 king to his den, were overpowered, 
 and perished to a man. — {Cor diner, 
 Bertolacci , Major Johnston , Percival , 
 $c.) 
 
 Batindah. — A large town in the 
 province of Ajmeer, about seventy-five 
 miles S.W. from the British canton- 
 ments at Luddeeanna, lat. 30° 12' N., 
 Ion. 74° 48' E. Formerly the sur- 
 rounding country was known by the 
 name of the Lacky jungle, much 
 celebrated for the goodness of its 
 pasture, and the excellent breed of 
 horses, said to have been improved 
 by the Persian and Tartar horses, 
 introduced during the invasions of 
 Nadir Shah and Ahmed Shah Ab- 
 dalliof Cabul. Forty years ago this 
 jungle was described as forming a 
 circle forty miles in diameter, and 
 the then Raja of the Lacky jungle 
 paid a tribute to the Seik chief of 
 Pattiallah. The soil being sandy, a 
 great depth must be perforated before 
 water is reached. — {George Thomas , 
 £yc.) 
 
 Battalah for Vatala). — A large 
 town in the province of Lahore, 
 situated in an open plain twenty-six 
 miles N.E. from Amritsir. Lat. 31° 
 48' N., Ion. 75° 6' E. It is sur- 
 rounded by groves of mangoe-trees 
 and tanks of water, and is considered 
 the healthiest place in the Punjab. 
 The hills lie about seventy miles off, 
 and in winter are covered with snow. 
 — (11 th Reg. fyc.) 
 
 Battamande. — A point on the 
 north-west coast of Borneo, lat. 5° 
 6' N., Ion. 116° 45' E, To the south 
 
150 
 
 BATTAS. 
 
 of Battamande is a commodious bay 
 at the mouth of the Pandoosan river. 
 From Pirate’s Point, which lies in 
 7° N., are several bays, where ship- 
 ping may anchor safely, and get water 
 from the shore. — ( Elmore , fyc.) 
 
 Battanta. — A small island in the 
 Eastern seas, about the 131st degree 
 of eastern longitude, and separated 
 from the island of Sallawatty by 
 Pitt’s Straits. In length it may be 
 estimated at thirty-five miles, by five 
 the average breadth. 
 
 Battanpally Isles. — Two small 
 isles lying off the western coast 
 of Wageeoo, about the 130th degree 
 of east longitude ; both comprehend- 
 ed within a circumference of eighteen 
 miles. 
 
 Battecollah^ Batucala ). — A con- 
 siderable town on the sea-coast of 
 Canara, the name of which signifies 
 the round town. Lat. 13° 56' N., Ion. 
 74° 37' E. It stands on the north 
 bank of a small river, the Scanda- 
 holay, which waters a very beautiful 
 valley, surrounded on every side by 
 hills, and in an excellent state of 
 cultivation. 
 
 Battas (Batak ). — The space in 
 the island of Sumatra known by the 
 name of the Battas country, may be 
 described generally as comprizing 
 that portion of the island situated 
 between the equator and 2° 30' north 
 latitude, with the exception of a few 
 Malay settlements at the mouths of 
 the rivers on the coasts. On the 
 north-west it is bounded by Acheen, 
 and on the south-east by the Malay 
 countries of Rawa and Menancabow. 
 It is partitioned into numerous dis- 
 tricts, the principal of which are 
 Toba, Mandeling, Angkola, Hum- 
 bang, and Si Nambila The district, 
 or rather province of Toba, which is 
 much the largest, is again subdivided 
 into Silindung, Holbang, and Linton. 
 
 Proceeding in a north-easterly di- 
 rection across the island, we meet 
 with the Batta district of Looboo 
 and Manambin. Following the same 
 direction from Natal, we meet with 
 the divisions of Palampungan and 
 
 Mandeling. Going from Batang Ta- 
 ra, we meet with those of Angkola, 
 Barumim, and Sama Jambu ; from 
 Tapanooly with those of Pangaran, 
 Lambung, Silendung, Butur, Hol- 
 bang, and the district of Humbang. 
 Proceeding north-east from Baroos, 
 we meet with the districts of Linton 
 and Si Nambila; from Sinkel, with 
 the district called Dairi ; and from 
 Tarumo, with the divisions of Alas, 
 Karaw, and Ria, extending inland 
 nearly to the northern extremity of 
 the island. The great lake of Toba, 
 the middle of which bears about 
 north-east from the settlement of 
 Tapanooly, is situated nearly in the 
 centre of the Batta country, and the 
 best peopled tracts are those on its 
 borders. The total population of the 
 Batta country has been estimated at 
 1,500,000 persons. 
 
 The Battas (properly Bataks) con- 
 sider themselves the earliest settlers 
 on the island, but all traditions of 
 that event are lost, except a notion 
 that the mother country lay to the 
 east of their present domicile beyond 
 the sea. The Sultan of Menanca- 
 bow appears subsequently to have 
 obtained a supremacy over them, 
 which they acknowledge to the pre- 
 sent day. In their persons they much 
 resemble the Hindoos, are of middle 
 stature, robust and well made, with 
 rather prominent noses. Their teeth 
 are carefully filed down to the stumps, 
 and blackened. 
 
 Rice and sweet potatoes, with an 
 unusually large proportion of salt, 
 form their principal sustenance, animal 
 food being only indulged in on par- 
 ticular occasions, when they are not 
 very scrupulous as to the animal, the 
 mode in which it lost its life, nor its 
 state of sweetness or putridity. The 
 well established practice of canni- 
 balism, led both Malays and Euro- 
 peans to the conclusion that the 
 Battas were a ferocious and martial 
 people, than which, however, nothing 
 can be more remote from the fact, 
 for in quietness and timidity they 
 surpass the Hindoos, and even al- 
 though they eat each other during 
 their wars, they commit no excesses 
 
BATTAS. 
 
 151 
 
 on crops or cattle. This people are 
 by the same authorities described as 
 cruel, cowardly, and sordidly avari- 
 cious. 
 
 With respect to religion, the Battas 
 believe in the existence of a Supreme 
 Being, who after completing the 
 creation of the world, committed its 
 government to his three sons, but 
 even they have become averse to the 
 trouble, and now perform the duties 
 of their office by vakeels and proxies. 
 In their different gradations they are 
 described as the gods above, the 
 gods of the middle, and the gods 
 below, the whole with their names, 
 savouring strongly of Hindoo de- 
 rivation. Besides these they have a 
 fabulous serpent, with horns like a 
 cow, on which it supports the earth ; 
 but every village has also its guardian 
 deity, whom they conciliate by pro- 
 pitiatory sacrifices. Besides these 
 general interferences with the affairs 
 of the community, each individual 
 Batta is constantly watched over by 
 a number of good and evil genii, 
 called Bogus and Saitans. These are 
 chiefly the souls of departed ances- 
 tors, who possess great power over 
 the living, either to protect or annoy 
 them, but much the most inclined to 
 the latter. By this host of genii, 
 ghosts, spirits, and divinities, the su- 
 perstitious Batta is held in such per- 
 petual dread, that danger threatens 
 him on every side, not the less real 
 in his opinion from being invisible. 
 To others the path may seem clear 
 and unobstructed, but the teeming 
 imagination of the Batta meets a 
 phantom at every corner he turns. 
 Not a village but has its brigade of 
 demons, protecting its interests and 
 avenging its injuries, besides squa- 
 drons of ghosts and other disem- 
 bodied spirits wandering about to 
 retaliate any insult they or their an- 
 cestors may at any prior period have 
 received. 
 
 To obviate these constantly im- 
 pending evils recourse is had to the 
 priest, who not unusually is also the 
 Raja and village astrologer, and of 
 course consulted on every occasion of 
 importance. Owing to their penurious 
 
 habits, the Battas do not willingly 
 offer sacrifices, but on adequate 
 emergencies, and while under severe 
 fears or sufferings, when they invoke 
 the shades of their ancestors, and 
 make offerings to the gods. The 
 priest by inspecting his books disco- 
 vers the animal proper to be offered, 
 whether buffalo, pig, kid or fowl, 
 and also the nature of the crime 
 committed. The suppliant is in- 
 formed that his affliction is a visita- 
 tion from one of the invisble genii 
 for the misconduct of some of his 
 ancestors, to obviate which he must 
 celebrate a feast in honour of his 
 father or grandfather, and thereby 
 obtain his forgiveness. Of a future 
 state of reward and punishment these 
 people have not the slightest idea, and 
 consequently look forward to death 
 without terror, except that excited 
 by the apprehension of bodily pain. 
 Although they believe in a constant 
 and immediate interposition of super- 
 natural agents in human affairs, it 
 has no influence on their morals, for 
 it ma} ? be safely asserted that the cor- 
 ruptions of the heart, so inherent 
 in savage nature, exists among them 
 without restraint; 
 
 The language of the Battas bears 
 so great a resemblance to the Malay, 
 that they may be considered dialects 
 of the same origin, but the language 
 of conversation differs more from 
 the Malay than that usually written. 
 Like the Malay also, the grammatical 
 relation of its words are eminently 
 simple, and rarely admitting the use 
 of either conjunctions or personal 
 pronouns, and its intonation is deep 
 sounding, and harmonious. The 
 written characters are remarkably 
 simple and distinct, easily formed, and 
 fully capable (with the exception of 
 a single instance) of expressing every 
 sound that occurs in the language. 
 They are written, like the Sanscrit, 
 from the left to the right, horizon- 
 tally (not perpendicularly) in one 
 continued line, without separating 
 the words. As they are undoubtedly 
 of Sanscrit derivation, they partake 
 of the nature of that system, each 
 consonant containing an inherent 
 
152 
 
 BATTAS. 
 
 vowel sound in addition to its proper 
 organic sound, by which it has uni- 
 formly the power of a distinct pure 
 syllable. Probably about one Batta 
 in fifty can read. Their books are 
 chiefly astrological, religious, fables, 
 omens, predictions, charms, &c. ; 
 they are said, however, to possess a 
 history of the creation, and an ac- 
 count of their own origin; but these 
 have not yet been seen by any Euro- 
 pean. They seldom commit their 
 poetry to writing, but their memories 
 are so loaded with it, that they can 
 support alternate contests in qua- 
 trains for many hours. 
 
 Almost all crimes are punished 
 with fines proportioned to the offence 
 and rank of the perpetrator, but the 
 chief who presides may always be 
 bribed. They have no written code 
 universally received, but in most dis- 
 tricts one or more books of law and 
 usages is to be found, which vary in 
 weight of authority according to the 
 degree of estimation bestowed on the 
 individual by whom they were first 
 indited. 
 
 Persons caught in the act of house- 
 breaking or highway robbery are 
 publicly executed with the knife or 
 matchlock, and then eaten forthwith; 
 no money can then save them : but if 
 the delinquents be fortunate enough to 
 escape immediate detection, they are 
 only fined. A man taken in adultery 
 is instantly devoured, and may be law- 
 fully eaten piece-meal, without being 
 previously killed. Men killed or 
 taken prisoners during a great war, 
 are also publicly eaten ; but if only 
 two villages be engaged, this is not 
 allowed: in the last case the dead 
 are left on the field, to be buried by 
 their respective parties, and the pri- 
 soners may be redeemed. In May 
 1821 twenty persons were entirely 
 eaten in one day, in the village in the 
 Silindung district, where Messrs. Bur- 
 ton and Ward resided for a short 
 time in May 1822, and their skulls 
 These criminals were 
 of a village situated near 
 the path leading to the coast, and 
 in the habit of plundering travellers 
 and traffickers. It does not appear, 
 
 preserved. 
 
 inhabitants 
 
 however, that any European has yet 
 seen cannibalism actually practised. 
 
 Interest on small debts is some- 
 times so high as 100 per cent, per 
 mensem, and a man and his whole 
 family are sometimes sold to discharge 
 a debt, the principal of which only 
 two years before was a single dollar. 
 In cases of debt incurred at games 
 of chance, their usages are singularly 
 barbarious and inhuman ; yet these 
 infatuated and sordid people will 
 frequently risk their all on a single 
 throw of the dice. Domestic slavery 
 exists to a considerable extent, but 
 they import no foreigners ; the slaves 
 are principally orphans, debtors, and 
 prisoners of war. A man may have 
 as many wives as he can purchase, 
 but seldom has more than two, who 
 are mere labouring slaves, the hus- 
 band doing comparatively little. The 
 dead are generally buried outside the 
 village, and a funeral feast is a neces- 
 sary accompaniment. 
 
 The Battas are on the whole a 
 more industrious race than the Ma- 
 lays of the sea-coast, who are mostly 
 supplied from the interior, both with 
 the necessaries of life and articles 
 for commercial interchange. Prior 
 to A.D. 1820 the Battas could not 
 be prevailed on to accept in payment 
 of any other dollars than those of 
 Carolus the Third and Fourth, which 
 have a remarkably large and full bust, 
 while those of Ferdinand the Seventh 
 are small and spare. To these last 
 they were consequently averse, while 
 the Caroli bore a premium of two 
 and three per cent., which subse- 
 quently increased as the Battas either 
 hoarded them up and concealed them, 
 or melted them to fabricate personal 
 ornaments. 
 
 Exclusive of the general deference 
 to the ancient sovereign of Menan- 
 cabow, the Battas acknowledge the 
 supremacy of a single chief, residing 
 at the north-west extremity of the 
 lake of Toba, but the dependence 
 seems entirely founded on supersti- 
 tion, as he interferes in no lay affairs, 
 which are* settled by the head-men of 
 the villages, whom he usually ap- 
 points as deputies. Indeed, the actual 
 
BATU BARA. 
 
 153 
 
 existence of this personage requires 
 confirmation. Besides this extra- 
 neous influence, every village is a 
 distinct community, possessing within 
 itself every civil and political power, 
 like the ancient municipal towns of 
 Europe. The chief, with the assis- 
 tance of the leading men, frames 
 laws, declares war, concludes peace, 
 and administers justice. His power 
 greatly depends on his personal cha- 
 racter, and the degree of address 
 with which he manages the super- 
 stitious fear of his people. 
 
 That this extraordinary nation has 
 preserved its stationary barbarity, and 
 the rude genuineness of its character 
 and manners, may be attributed to 
 various causes : such as the want of 
 the precious metals; the vegetable 
 riches of the soil easily obtained; their 
 ignorance of navigation ; the divided 
 nature of their government, which 
 are circumstances unfavourable to 
 the propagation of new opinons and 
 customs ; and lastly, the ideas enter- 
 tained of the ferocity of a people, 
 practising anthropophagi, which may 
 well be supposed to have damped the 
 ardour, and restrained the zeal of 
 religious innovators. — ( Burton and 
 Ward , Marsden , Anderson , fyc.) 
 
 Battu ( or Pulo Batu .) — An is- 
 land lying off the western coast of 
 Sumatra, situated immediately south 
 of the equinoctial line, and in length 
 about forty miles, by ten the average 
 breadth. It is inhabited by a colony 
 from the island of Neas, who pay a 
 yearly tax to the Raja of Baluaro, a 
 small fortified village in the interior, 
 belonging to a different race, whose 
 number is said to be limited to 100, 
 which it is not allowed to exceed, 
 exactly as many children being reared 
 as are sufficient to supply the deaths. 
 They are reported to resemble the 
 Macassars and Buggesses, and may 
 have been originally adventurers 
 from Celebes. The influence of the 
 Baluaro Raja over the Neas colonists, 
 who out-number his subjects by 
 twenty to one, is founded on a su- 
 perstitious belief with which they are 
 impressed, that all the water in the 
 
 island will become salt if they neglect 
 to pay the tax. He, in his turn, 
 being in danger from the Malay 
 traders, who resort hither from Pa- 
 dang, and are not equally credulous, 
 is obliged to pay them an annual 
 tribute of sixteen ounces of gold. 
 
 The food of the people here, as on 
 the other south-western Sumatran 
 isles, is mostly sago, and their ex- 
 ports cocoa-nuts, oil in considerable 
 quantities, and sea-slug, or biche de 
 mar. No rice is cultivated. Pulo 
 Batu is visible from Natal Hill, on 
 the main-land of Sumatra, and is 
 entirely covered with wood. — ( Mars- 
 den , fyc.) 
 
 Battulaki. — A harbour situated 
 at the northern extremity of the is- 
 land of Magindanao ; lat. 5° 42' N., 
 Ion. 125° E. This port is known by 
 a remarkable rock about the size of a 
 large dwelling-house, of a pipe-clay 
 colour, between which and the main 
 is a reef of rocks, that boats may 
 pass over at high water; within these 
 is ten fathoms water. The Dutch 
 once attempted a settlement here, 
 but were expelled by the natives. — 
 ( Forrest , fyc.) 
 
 Batu Bara. — A petty town and 
 state of some note on the north- 
 eastern' coast of Sumatra, situated 
 on both sides of a river of the same 
 name ; lat. 3° 13' N., Ion. 99° 37' E. 
 The name Batu Bara originates from 
 a large stone in the interior, which 
 at night has the appearance of being 
 red hot. The country is subordi- 
 nate to Siak, from whence the local 
 chiefs receive their chops and digni- 
 ties ; but being rich and commercial, 
 their allegiance is not very submis- 
 sive. In 1822 salt-fish, rattans, and 
 silk cloths were the principal exports; 
 about seventy chests of opium and 
 some raw silk the chief imports ; 
 slaves and horses are brought down 
 from the interior. The inhabitants 
 are considerable prow-owners, and 
 general carriers of the traffic between 
 this part of Sumatra and Penang, &c. 
 Some are in consequence wealthy, 
 according to Malay ideas, and own 
 several large vessels. They also ma- 
 
154 
 
 BAUGREE. 
 
 nufacture rich silk and gold cloths, 
 and coarse cotton cloths. In 1822 
 the stationary Malay population was 
 estimated at 1 0,000 ; the Batta cul- 
 tivators of the interior, most of them 
 cannibals, were also numerous. The 
 Batta chiefs sell their daughters to 
 the Malay nobles for between 300 
 and 400 dollars, and usually present 
 along with her ten or twelve slaves, 
 a few horses, and some buffaloes. 
 The blood-money for murder here is 
 444 dollars and 44 pice, and wounds 
 of various degrees of severity are 
 expiated in proportion. — ( Anderson , 
 $c.) 
 
 Baug. — A town in the province of 
 Malwa, situated at the confluence of 
 the rivers Girna and Waugney, about 
 eighty miles S.W. from Oojein; lat. 
 22° 26' N., Ion. 74° 54' E. The 
 mountainous tract on which Baug 
 stands stretches for a considerable 
 distance along the course of the Ner- 
 budda, but leaving in general an in- 
 termediate plain between the ridge 
 and the river of about ten miles in 
 breadth. There are few towns or 
 even villages on this range, which is 
 thinly peopled by miserable Bheel 
 tribes, some still in the migratory 
 stage. 
 
 The town of Baug is built on ho- 
 rizontal beds of sand-stone, at the 
 foot of a range of low hills about 
 100 feet high, forming the western 
 boundary of a pleasant valley, three 
 miles long by one in breadth. In 
 1818 it contained only 400 houses; 
 but prior to the desolation of the last 
 twenty years is said to have con- 
 tained 2,000. It lies on the road 
 from Malwa to Gujerat by what is 
 termed the Oudipoor pass, and from 
 hence two roads diverge ; one east- 
 ward through the Tanda pass, the 
 other by the Tirella ghaut, leading 
 to Indore and Oujein. In 1820 the 
 town and pergunnah belonged to 
 Sindia, but yielded him only 9,000 
 rupees per annum. Iron ore abounds, 
 and is fused by the native black- 
 smiths, who procure above fifty per 
 cent, even by their imperfect pro- 
 cesses. 
 
 Four miles S.S.E. of Baug are the 
 sculptured cave temples, four in 
 number, but only the most northern 
 remains in a state of preservation. 
 The open area of one cave is eighty- 
 four feet square, besides which there 
 are many side rooms, and others fur- 
 ther advanced into the hill; but 
 without plates it would be impossible 
 to render the subject intelligible. 
 Mr. Erskine is of opinion that these 
 excavations are of Buddhist origin, 
 and present another example of 
 temples dedicated to that religion, in 
 countries where we have no histori- 
 cal record that it ever existed, and 
 where not a single individual of the 
 sect is now to be found. Through- 
 out the whole there is no trace of 
 Brahminical mythology, there being 
 no unnatural or distorted figures with 
 many limbs or heads, except a mu- 
 tilated figure of Ganesa, which has 
 the appearance of being a much 
 more recent piece of sculpture than 
 the others. — (Dangerfield y Malcolm , 
 Erskine , fyc.) 
 
 Bauglee. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Malwa, situated on the 
 Keiree nullah, five miles north of 
 Soondursee, and containing a stone 
 ghurry, or native redoubt. In 1820 
 it belonged to Raj Rana Zalim Singh, 
 and contained about 1,000 houses. 
 
 Baugree ( Baghhari). — A wild 
 and jungly pergunnah in the province 
 of Bengal, district of Midnapoor, 
 situated towards the north-eastern 
 quarter. Although within sixty miles 
 of Calcutta, up to A.D. 1816, owing 
 to peculiar local obstacles, the au- 
 thority of government had never 
 been properly established in this 
 tract, nor had the peaceably disposed 
 inhabitants ever enjoyed that pro- 
 tection which had been so effectually 
 extended to all the other parts of the 
 old British provinces. In Baugree 
 the leaders of the Choars continued 
 to act as if they had been indepen- 
 dent of any government, and endea- 
 voured to maintain their indepen- 
 dence by the most atrocious acts, 
 and frequently by the murder of in- 
 dividuals in revenge for evidence 
 
BEACUL. 
 
 1 55 
 
 given against them. Besides thus 
 perpetrating rapine and murder in 
 the prosecution of their ordinary vo- 
 cation, these miscreants were gene- 
 rally ready to become the instru- 
 ments of private malice among the 
 inhabitants, when the malignity of 
 their hatred stimulated them to as- 
 sassination, which they were too 
 cowardly to perform with their own 
 hands. Every attempt to establish 
 an efficient police having failed, it 
 became necessary to concentrate the 
 powers usually vested in different 
 local authorities in one functionary, 
 under the immediate direction of the 
 Governor-general, which was accord- 
 ingly done, and Mr. Oakley deputed 
 to execute this arduous commission. 
 
 The first measure adopted by this 
 gentleman was to ascertain the prin- 
 cipal ringleaders of the banditti, in 
 order that they might be specifically 
 excluded from the general amnesty 
 to be offered to the great majority of 
 the Choars ; the next was to deprive 
 them of their accustomed supplies of 
 food ; to encourage a spirit of active 
 co-operation among the inhabitants; 
 and generally to diminish the terror 
 which the cruelty of these robbers 
 had impressed on the neighbouring 
 villagers and cultivators. The suc- 
 cess of these measures was becoming 
 daily more conspicuous, when it was 
 unfortunately arrested by the insur- 
 rection of the Pykes in the adjacent 
 pergunnah of Bhunjbhoom. The ef- 
 fect, however, of this commotion was 
 only temporary, for by the middle of 
 1816 the gang of plunderers had 
 been dispersed, and crimes of enor- 
 mity nearly suppressed, while the 
 current revenue due to government 
 was realized. In February 1816 the 
 Choar banditti consisted of nineteen 
 leaders and about 200 accomplices. 
 In the course of a few months, all the 
 chiefs except two were apprehended, 
 or fell in the attempts to apprehend 
 them their frequent and pertinacious 
 resistance being partly ascribable to 
 their long habits of ferocity, and 
 partly to their expectation of capital 
 punishment if taken alive . — ( Public 
 M.S. Documents, Oakley, fyc.) 
 
 Baukasir. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Mooltan, near the mouth of 
 the Lonee, which together with the 
 whole country under Parkur in 
 1820 belonged to the Ameers of 
 Sinde. — ( Elphinstone , tyc.) 
 
 Bauleah. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Bengal, situated on the north 
 side of the Puddah (Padma),or grand 
 trunk of the Ganges, twenty-one miles 
 N.E. from Moorshedabad ; lat. 24° 
 23' N., Ion. 88° 44' E. This is a 
 large and populous place, and of con- 
 siderable commercial importance. It 
 is also the seat of a commercial resi- 
 dent on the part of the East-India 
 Company. In 1814 a plantation of 
 teak-trees, which had been effected 
 here, had a thriving appearance. 
 
 Bauntwah. — A town in the Gu- 
 jerat peninsula, twenty-seven miles 
 west from Junaghur ; lat. 21° 29' N., 
 Ion. 70° 17' E. 
 
 Baupettah.— A town in the north- 
 ern circars, thirteen miles W.N.W. 
 from Nizampatnam ; lat. 15° 58' N., 
 Ion. 80° 30' E. 
 
 Bayhutt. — A town belonging to 
 Sindia in the province of Malwa, 
 twenty miles from Chendaree. 
 
 Baypoor (Vaypura) . — A seaport 
 town on the Malabar coast, seven 
 miles south from Calicut; lat. 11° 
 10' N., Ion. 75° 52' E. Tippoo new 
 named this place Sultanpatnam, and 
 intended to have made it a commer- 
 cial emporium. Teak ships of 400 
 tons are built here, of timber pro- 
 cured in the neighbourhood, and from 
 the chips and saw-dust, teak tar is 
 extracted. Some saw-mills were 
 erected here on speculation, with the 
 view of supplying the dock-yards at 
 Bombay with planks ; but the mov- 
 ing power being wind, it appeared too 
 precarious for the heavy machinery 
 required. 
 
 Beacul ( Vyacula ). — A native fort 
 on the Malabar coast, thirty-seven 
 miles S. by W. from Mangalore, and 
 placed, like Cananore, on a high 
 point, projecting into the sea towards 
 the south, and having a ba}' within 
 it ; lat. 12° 23' N., Ion. 75° 5' E. The 
 
156 
 
 BEEANS. 
 
 town stands north from the fort, and 
 in 1800 contained 100 houses. The 
 inhabitants are chiefly Moplays and 
 Mucuas, with a few Tiars (cultiva- 
 tors) and people of the Concan, who 
 had long settled in Malabar as shop- 
 keepers. — (F. Buchanan , tyc.) 
 
 Beara. — A considerable town in 
 the province of Gujerat, forty miles 
 E. by S. from Surat Castle, where a 
 small detachment of troops is usually 
 stationed. 
 
 Bedaghur (Vedaghar ). — A town 
 in the province of Gundwana, nine 
 miles south-west from Gurrah ; lat. 
 23° 5' N., Ion. 80° 9' E. 
 
 Bednore ( Beidururu ) . — A district 
 in the north-western extremity of the 
 Mysore Raja’s territories, situated on 
 the summit of that range of western 
 hills which overlooks the provinces of 
 Canaraand Malabar, and is named the 
 Western Ghauts. These mountains, 
 elevated from 4,000 to 5,000 feet above 
 the level of the sea, present to the 
 west a surface in many places per- 
 pendicular to the horizon, and their 
 height intercepts the clouds of the 
 western monsoon. Nine rainy months 
 in the year are usually calculated on 
 in this climate, and for six of that 
 number it is usual to make the same 
 preparatory arrangement for provi- 
 sion, water excepted, as are adopted 
 in a ship proceeding on a long voy- 
 age. This redundant moisture not 
 only favours the peculiar products of 
 the soil, but also covers the face of 
 the country with timber of great di- 
 mensions, and underwood scarcely 
 to be penetrated. 
 
 The exports from Bednore consist 
 principally of pepper, betel-nut, san- 
 dal-wood, and cardamums; the im- 
 ports salt, rice, cocoa-nuts, oil, tur- 
 meric, and cotton cloths. The roads 
 being bad, most of the exports are 
 carried to Mangalore by porters ; the 
 most important article is betel-nut. 
 The difference of elevation makes 
 this climate a month later than on 
 the sea-coast. The cattle are small ; 
 but the number reared exceeding that 
 required for domestic purposes, the 
 surplus is exported. When con- 
 
 quered by Hyder, in 1762, the Bed- 
 nore dominions comprehended the 
 maritime province now named Cana- 
 ra, and to the east a tract of open 
 country, reaching to Sunta Bednore 
 and Hoolukera, within twenty miles 
 of Chittledroog. — (Wilks, F. Bucha- 
 nan, $c.) 
 
 Bednore. — A town in the Mysore 
 territories, the capital of the preced- 
 ing district, and situated in lat. 13° 
 50' N., Ion. 75° 6' E. It was origi- 
 nally named Biderhully, or bamboo 
 village, until the seat of government 
 was transferred from Ikery, after 
 which it was called Bideruru, or bam- 
 boo place. On this removal, the 
 whole revenue being expended here, 
 Bednore became a city of great mag- 
 nitude and commerce, and is said to 
 have contained 20,000 houses, besides 
 huts, defended by a circle of woods, 
 hills, and fortified defiles. When 
 taken by Hyder in 1763, it was esti- 
 mated at eight miles in circumference, 
 and the plunder realized was reported 
 (by native authorities) at twelve mil- 
 lions sterling. Being, like his son 
 Tippoo, a great changer of names, he 
 called it Hydernuggur, in which it 
 rejoiced until 1 783, when it was taken 
 and plundered by a detachment of 
 Bombay troops under General Mat- 
 thews; but they were soon after 
 attacked by Tippoo and his French 
 auxiliaries, and all destroyed or made 
 prisoners. At Tippoo’s death, Bed- 
 nore still contained 1,500 houses, be- 
 sides huts, and it has since greatly 
 recovered, being a convenient tho- 
 roughfare for goods. During the 
 Ranny’s government, one hundred 
 families of Concan Christians settled 
 here, and subsisted by distilling and 
 vending spirituous liquors ; but Tip- 
 poo carrried them all off to Seringa- 
 patam. Travelling distance from Se- 
 ringapatam, 187 miles; from Madras, 
 445 ; and from Poona, 382 miles. — 
 (F. Buchanan , Wilks , Rennell, fyc.) 
 
 Beeans.— A small and extremely 
 mountainous district in Northern 
 Hindostan, situated about lat. 30° 
 15'N., Ion. 80° 50' E., and bordering 
 on the Nepaulese territories, east of 
 
BEEDER. 
 
 157 
 
 the Cali River, by which it is tra- 
 versed. 
 
 Beeawul. — A town belonging to 
 the British government in the pro- 
 vince of Candeish, situated at the 
 confluence of the Soornuddy and 
 Arkye, at the N.W. angle of which 
 is a small fort; lat. 21°10 / N,, Ion. 
 75°48 / E. In 1820 it was the head 
 of a pergunnah containing 184 vil- 
 lages.— {Malcolm, fyc.) 
 
 Beecholee. — A Portuguese town 
 with a small fort, situated on a nar- 
 row creek communicating with the 
 harbour of Goa, from which it is 
 thirteen miles N. by E. distant. It 
 stands within the limits of the Goa 
 territories, and is the usual place of 
 embarkation for travellers who have 
 come down the Ram Ghaut from the 
 Deccan. — ( Fullarton , ^-c.) 
 
 Beechiaco ( Beechakor ) . — A mi- 
 serable village in the Nepaulese do- 
 minions, with a substantial dhurrum- 
 sala, situated on an elevated bank 
 above the bed of the Beechiaco tor- 
 rent, twenty-seven miles south from 
 Catmandoo; lat. 27° 19' N., Ion. 84° 
 55' E. This place consists of about 
 a dozen huts, but affords no supplies 
 to the traveller except wood and wa- 
 ter, of which last there is a very fine 
 spring, besides several small streams 
 in a wide stony channel ; yet there is 
 no cultivation in the vicinity, the 
 only inhabitants being a few Parbut- 
 ties or mountain Hindoos, who col- 
 lect duties and supply travellers. 
 The name Bichakor signifies a place 
 abounding with scorpions. During 
 the last campaign against the Nepau- 
 lese Beechiaco was taken by Sir Da- 
 vid Ochterlony, who established a 
 depot, and fortified it with a stock- 
 ade. — (F. Buchanan , fyc.) 
 
 Beechipoor. — A village in the pro- 
 vince of Mooltan, division of Sinde, 
 situated on the west bank of the 
 Goonee, on the road from Hydera- 
 bad to Mandavie, in Cutch ; lat. 24° 
 35' N., Ion. 69° 5 / E. 
 
 BEEDER. 
 
 A province of the Deccan situated 
 
 principally between the seventeenth 
 and twentieth degrees of north lati- 
 tude, and at present comprehended 
 in the dominions of the Nizam. To 
 the north it is bounded by Aurunga- 
 bad and Berar ; on the south by the 
 large province of Hyderabad ; to the 
 east it has Hyderabad and Gundwa- 
 na ; and on the west Aurungabad and 
 Bejapoor. The surface of this pro- 
 vince is uneven and hilly, but not 
 mountainous, and it is intersected by 
 many small streams, which having fer- 
 tilized the soil, flow into the Beema, 
 Krishna, and Godavery. The coun- 
 try in general is very productive, and 
 under the old Hindoo government 
 contained a redundant population, 
 but it is uow thinly inhabited com- 
 pared with the British provinces. 
 Although long the seat of a Maho- 
 medan sovereignty, and still subject 
 to princes of that persuasion, the 
 Hindoos exceed the rival sect in the 
 proportion of three to one. The 
 junction of three languages, the Te- 
 linga, the Maharatta, and the Ca- 
 narese, takes place in this province 
 some where near the capital. The 
 largest rivers are the Godavery and 
 Manjera ; the chief towns, Beeder, 
 Calberga, Nandere, and Calliany. 
 The principal modern subdivisions 
 are 
 
 1. Calberga. 5. Beeder. 
 
 2. Naldroog. 6. Nandere. 
 
 3. Akulcotta. 7. Patree. 
 
 4. Calliany. 
 
 After the Mahomedan conquest the 
 province was the seat of the Bhame- 
 nee dynasty of Deccany sovereigns, 
 the first of whom was Allah ud Deen, 
 Houssun Kangoh Bhamenee, A.D. 
 1347, whose capital was Calberga. 
 Besides the princes of the Nizam 
 Shahy, Adil Shahy, and Cuttub 
 Shahy families, founded on the ruins 
 of the Bhamenee dynasty, there were 
 two others composed of sections of 
 their once extensive dominions. One 
 was founded by Ameer Bereed (about 
 1518), the prime minister or rather 
 the confiner of the two last Bhame- 
 nee sultans, and called after him the 
 Bereed Shahy. His dominions were 
 small, consisting of Beeder, the capi- 
 
158 
 
 BEERGUR. 
 
 tal, and a few districts round the city. 
 The royal dignity did not remain long 
 in his family, his territories being 
 wrested from his grandson by the 
 other princes of the Deccan, and the 
 short-lived kingdom of Beeder de- 
 stroyed. Along with the other Dec- 
 cany provinces, it was subjugated by 
 the Moguls towards the conclusion 
 of the seventeenth century, during 
 the reign of Aurengzebe, from whose 
 successors it was abstracted in 1 71 7 > 
 by Nizam ul Mulk, and has ever since 
 been occupied by his successors the 
 Nizams of Hyderabad. But the 
 Peshwa had always large claims for 
 choute on this territory, which, when 
 regularly paid, yielded seventeen lacks 
 of rupees ; but when by the fortune 
 of war the Maharatta claims devol- 
 ved to the British government, the 
 arrears had so accumulated, that in 
 1820 they amounted to two and a 
 half crores of rupees. — ( Ferishta , 
 Scott, Mackenzie , Elphinstone , fyc.) 
 
 Beeder ( Bider ). — The capital of 
 the preceding province, situated in 
 lat. 1 7° 49' N., Ion. 77° 46' E., seven- 
 ty-three miles N.W. from Hyderabad. 
 According to descriptions given forty 
 years ago, and we have none more 
 recent, this place is fortified with a 
 stone wall, a dry ditch, and many 
 round towers. The wall is six miles 
 in circumference, and the town it en- 
 closes stands in an open plain, except 
 the east side, which is on a ground 
 that rises about 100 yards. The 
 whole is much decayed, but the re- 
 mains of some good buildings are still 
 visible. It was formerly noted for 
 works of tutenague inlaid with silver, 
 and near the ruins of old Beeder, Ah- 
 med Shah Bhamenee founded the city 
 of Ahmedabad, which he made his 
 capital instead of Calberga, and this 
 is the modern Beeder. Travelling 
 distance from Hyderabad seventy- 
 eight miles ; from Delhi 857 ; from 
 Madras 430; and from Calcutta 980 
 miles. — ( Upton , Scott , Rennell, Src.) 
 
 Beejalpoor. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Malwa, three miles and a 
 half south from Indore, which in 
 1820 contained 300 houses. 
 
 Beejapoor ( Vijayapura) . — A town 
 and pergunnah in the province of 
 Gujerat, division of Chowal, at pre- 
 sent subject to the Guicowar ; lat. 
 23° 37' N., Ion. 72° 46' E., forty miles 
 north from Ahmedabad. This tract 
 had been transferred to the British 
 government prior to 1810, but up to 
 that period not the least progress had 
 been made in eradicating the turbu- 
 lent and rapacious habits of the na- 
 tives. In 1811 it was let in farm 
 for five years at an annual rent of 
 171,647 rupees ; and in 1817, after 
 many endeavours, was given in ex- 
 change to the Guicowar for some more 
 peaceable pergunnahs. — ( Rowles , Car- 
 nac , Src.) 
 
 Beejnote. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Ajmeer, situated about fif- 
 teen miles east of the city of Jessel- 
 mere. 
 
 Beema River ( Bhima terrific ). — 
 This river has its source in the moun- 
 tains about forty miles north of Poo- 
 na, which it passes at a distance of 
 fifteen miles. From hence, with many 
 windings, it flows in a south-easterly 
 direction, receiving the accession of 
 various hill streams, until after a 
 course of about 400 miles it joins the 
 Krishna near Firozeghur. The horses 
 most esteemed by the Maharattas are 
 bred on the banks of the Beema. 
 They are of a middle size and strong, 
 are rather a handsome breed, gene- 
 rally dark bay with black legs, and are 
 named from the country that breeds 
 them,Beemarteddy horses. — ( Rennell , 
 bth Register , Src.) 
 
 Beenishehr. — See Malebum. 
 
 Beerat. — A town in the province 
 of Agra, sixty miles N.N.E. from Jey- 
 poor; lat. 27°42'N., Ion. 75°59'E. 
 
 Beeranah. — An open village in 
 the province of Ajmeer, situated to 
 the south of the Cuggur, sixty miles 
 N.W. of Hansi, encompassed by a 
 ruinous mud wall without a ditch. 
 In 1810 it contained about 3,000 in- 
 habitants, and had sixteen wells in 
 the vicinity. — ( E . Gardner , Src.) 
 
 Beergur. — An open village in the 
 
BEJAPOOR. 
 
 159 
 
 province of Ajmeer, thirty-five miles 
 from Hissar and three from Futteh- 
 abad, situated on the south side of 
 the Cuggur river. 
 
 Begumabad.— -A village in the 
 province of Delhi, district of Meerut, 
 about twenty-three miles E.N.E. from 
 Delhi. To the west of this place 
 there is an old but spacious serai. 
 
 Begum Somroo. — See Seerdhuna. 
 
 Behar Katra. — A fortified town 
 in the province of Malwa, situated 
 within a narrow defile of hills on the 
 left bank of the Parbutty river. In 
 1820 it contained about 1,100 inha- 
 bitants. 
 
 Behduroo. — A small district in 
 the Kohistan of Lahore, situated to 
 the north of Chamba, but respecting 
 which nothing further is known. 
 
 Behone. — A town in the province 
 of Allahabad, seventeen miles N.W. 
 from Punnah. Lat. 25° l'N., Ion. 80° 
 5' E. 
 
 Behree. — A town and pergunnah 
 in the province of Agra, nineteen 
 miles S.E. from Kalpee. Lat. 25° 
 54' N., Ion. 79° 54' E. 
 
 Behut. — A town and small per- 
 gunnah in the province of Allaha- 
 bad, seventeen miles N.W. from Jeit- 
 poor. Lat. 26° 26' N., Ion. 79° 18' 
 E. 
 
 Behut. — A town in the province 
 of Delhi, district of Saharunpoor, 
 about fifteen miles N.W. from the 
 town of Saharunpoor. 
 
 Beilkeira.— -A village situated on 
 an eminence in the province and 
 district of Candeish, about fifty miles 
 S.S.W. from Boorhanpoor, and re- 
 markable for a well-built stone fort, 
 a rare object in this district, where 
 the village forts are usually of the 
 most wretched description. — ( Ful - 
 larton, <%c.) 
 
 Beirouhnghur. — An extensive but 
 unfinished fortress in the province of 
 Malwa, situated on the left bank of 
 the Sipra, a short distance below 
 Oojein. Its outer wall comprehends 
 
 a smaller fort, also incomplete, which 
 encloses an area with apartments 
 ranged in galleries like a serai, and a 
 pagoda of ancient appearance de- 
 dicated to Bhairava, one of the forms 
 of Siva much venerated by the Maha- 
 rattas. — ( Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 Be jaghur^ Vijayaghara ).— A large 
 hill-fort in the province of Candeish, 
 situated among the Satpoora range 
 of mountains, and formerly the ca- 
 pital of the old Hindoo province of 
 Nemaur. Lat. 21° 36' N., Ion. 75° 
 30 r E. By Abul Fazel it is called 
 the capital of Candeish. The modern 
 district of Bejaghur took its name 
 from this fortress, which, however, 
 has long been neglected, Kurgoon 
 being now considered the principal 
 town, as the manager on the part of 
 the Holkar family resides there. With 
 the exception of the small division 
 of Burwannee, the circar of Bejaghur 
 comprizes nearly the whole of south- 
 ern Nemaur. In 1796 it yielded a 
 revenue of one lack and a half, in 
 1820 only 50,000 rupees, per annum. 
 — ( Malcolm , Sfc.) 
 
 BEJAPOOR. 
 
 A large province of the Deccan, 
 extending from the 15th to the 18th 
 degrees of north latitude. On the 
 north it is bounded by the province 
 of Aurungabad ; on the south by the 
 Toombuddra, Wurda, and district of 
 Canara ; to the east it has Aurunga- 
 bad and Hydrabad along the course 
 of the Beema river, and to the west 
 the Indian ocean. In length it may 
 be estimated at 320 miles, by 200 the 
 average breadth. 
 
 The western districts of this pro- 
 vince are very mountainous, espe- 
 cially in the vicinity of the ghauts, 
 where hill fortresses of great natural 
 strength abound. The site selected 
 for these strongholds are nearly all 
 of the same character, namely, isolated 
 eminences, with flat summits, and 
 sides perpendicular for fifty or a hun- 
 dred feet from their upper margin, or 
 easily made so by scarping. Being 
 thus rendered inaccessible from be- 
 
160 
 
 BEJAPOOK. 
 
 low, except by one narrow and diffi- 
 cult path, all necessity for outworks 
 is superseded, and the fortress usually 
 presents only a wall cresting the edge 
 of the precipice, instead of the nu- 
 merous and intricate lines of defence 
 which connect rock with rock from 
 the base to the summit of the for- 
 tified droogs in the south of India. 
 Although less alpine, all that extent 
 of surface to the east of the ghauts 
 is also greatly elevated above the 
 level of the sea. In such tracts as 
 are flat and arable the black soil 
 prevails, particularly along the courses 
 of the principal rivers, such as the 
 Krishna, Toombuddra, Beema,- and 
 Gutpurba. 
 
 There is nothing remarkable in the 
 agriculture or productions of Beja- 
 poor, and the local peculiarities will 
 be discussed under the principal 
 heads respectively. The horses rear- 
 ed on the banks of the Beema were 
 held in great estimation by the Maha- 
 rattas, and mounted their best ca- 
 valry. Until recently the whole sea- 
 coast was possessed by that race, 
 which being little addicted to ma- 
 ritime commerce, whatever traffic did 
 subsist was mostly carried on by 
 means of land carriage ; but the 
 amount of this species of interchange 
 all over the Deccan has always been 
 considerable. As this section of Hin- 
 dostan did not come under the sway 
 of the Mogul emperors until long- 
 after the death of Abul Fazel, and 
 remained but a short time in sub- 
 jection, we have no ancient descrip- 
 tion of its condition ; at present the 
 principal modern geographical and 
 territorial subdivisions are the follow- 
 ing, beginning at the south-west. 
 
 1 . The Concan. 
 
 2. Colapoor. 
 
 3. Mortizabad. 
 
 4. Assodnagur. 
 
 5. Bejapoor district. 
 
 6. Sackur. 
 
 7. Raichoor. 
 
 8. Mudgul. 
 
 9. Gujunderghur. 
 
 10. Annagoondy. 
 
 11. Bancapoor. 
 
 \2. Gunduck. 
 
 13. Noorgool. 
 
 14. Azimnagur. 
 
 15. Ryebaugh. 
 
 16. Darwar. 
 
 In this province, approaching the 
 Krishna from the southward, the 
 Maharatta tongue becomes more and 
 more in use; leaving this river to the 
 south, the Canara dialect declines in 
 a similar proportion : so that the 
 Krishna may be deemed the dividing 
 boundary of the two languages, but 
 the Canara is rather more spoken to 
 the northward than the Maharatta to 
 the south of that river. The Krishna 
 is remarkable also for separating dif- 
 ferent styles of building. To the 
 south the houses of the lower classes 
 are flat-roofed, and covered with mud 
 and clay ; northward the roofs are 
 pitched and thatched. At present the 
 principal towns are Bejapoor, Satara, 
 Goa, Bijanagur, or Annagoondy, 
 Warree, Colapoor, Darwar, Shah- 
 noor, Hoobly, and Meritch. 
 
 South of Poona the Bheels are 
 succeeded by the Ramooses, a more 
 civilized and thoroughly subdued 
 tribe, who principally inhabit the de- 
 tached branches of the western ghaut 
 mountains stretching to the east- 
 ward. They have the same thievesh 
 habits as the Bheels, but no peculiar 
 language, and being more intermin- 
 gled, approach the lower castes of 
 Maharattas. They are a numerous 
 community spread over the Bejapoor 
 province, thieves by trade, yet often 
 employed as police servants and vil- 
 lage watchmen. They are without 
 caste, but abstain from eating beef, and 
 dislike husbandry and mechanic la- 
 bour, but are much addicted to hunt- 
 ing and other idle recreations. Like 
 the Bheels, Coolies, and other depre- 
 dators, the Ramooses are quiet under 
 a vigorous government, but the re- 
 verse when the state reins are in the 
 least relaxed, as they then unite in 
 bands and subsist by plunder. Their 
 principal strongholds are in the hills 
 joining the ghauts to the south-west 
 of Satara, but they do not reach fur- 
 ther south than Colapoor, or further 
 east than the parallel of the latitude 
 of Bejapoor city. 
 
BEJAPOOR. 
 
 iGl 
 
 After the dissolution of the Bha- 
 menee empire of the Deccan, Abou- 
 ul-Muzuffir Adil Shahy founded the 
 Adil Shahy sovereignty of Bejapoor, 
 which, in A.D. ] 489, comprehended 
 within the circle of its government 
 all the country from the river Beema 
 to Bejapoor. In 1502 he introduced 
 the ceremonies of the Shiah sect of 
 Mahomedans, which did not, prior to 
 that era, exist in the Deccan. He died 
 A.D. 1510. His successors were: 
 
 Ismael Adil Shah ; died 1534. 
 Mooloo Adil Shah ; died in 1557. 
 During his last iliness, this prince put 
 to death several physicians who had 
 failed in effecting his cure, beheading 
 some, and treading others to death 
 with elephants, so that all the sur- 
 viving medical practitioners, being 
 alarmed, fled his dominions. 
 
 Ali Adil Shah, assassinated 1579. 
 In the year 1564, the four Maho- 
 niedan sultans of the Deccan formed 
 a confederacy against Ram Raja, the 
 Hindoo sovereign of Bijanagur ; and 
 having totally defeated and slain him 
 in battle, took and plundered his ca- 
 pital. With that raja ended the long- 
 established and powerful Hindoo dy- 
 nasty of Bijanagur. 
 
 Ibrahim Adil Shah the second ; 
 died in 1626. During his reign the 
 Mogul power began to be severely 
 felt in the Deccan. 
 
 Mahomed Adil Shah ; died A.D. 
 1660. In this reign Sevajee the 
 Maharatta revolted, which with the 
 Mogul conquests reduced the Beja- 
 poor principality to the last extremity. 
 
 Ali Adil Shah the second. This 
 prince died in 1672, after a turbulent 
 reign, during the course of which he 
 enjoyed little more of royalty than 
 the name, his country having been 
 usurped by Sevajee and other vassals. 
 
 Secunder Adil Shah succeeded, but 
 never acquired any real power, being 
 merely an instrument in the hands of 
 his nobility. With him ended the 
 Adil Shahy dynasty, in 1689, when 
 the city of Bejapoor was besieged 
 and taken by Aurengzebe, and Se- 
 cunder Adil Shah made prisoner. 
 This Mahomedan dynasty of Beja- 
 poor was remarkable for the practice 
 
 VOL. i. 
 
 of conferring Hindoo titles, they be- 
 ing in general exclusively Arabic. 
 
 The decay and destruction of the 
 Bejapoor Deccany empire, and the 
 rise of that of the Maharattas, hap- 
 pened so nearly at the same time, that 
 this province cannot with strictness 
 be said ever to have been subject to 
 the throne of Delhi, although re- 
 gularly enumerated in the list of sou- 
 bahs. During the reign of Aureng- 
 zebe its possession was disputed with 
 much slaughter; but his successors 
 early abandoned it to the Maharattas, 
 and with them, until very recent 
 events, the larger portion of it re- 
 mained. 
 
 After the conclusion of the war 
 with DowlutRow Sindiain 1804, the 
 Maharatta territories in this province 
 exhibited a scene of the most extra- 
 ordinary anarchy, and although no- 
 minally subject to the Peshwar, his 
 authority scarcely extended beyond 
 the city of Poona, and was resisted 
 by every petty head of a village. The 
 different chiefs and leaders of banditti 
 by whom the country was occupied 
 were almost innumerable; the names 
 and designations of the principal were 
 Goklah (afterwards generalissimo to 
 the ex-Peshwa and killed in battle), 
 Appa Saheb and Bala Saheb (the sons 
 of Purseram Bhow, and heads of the 
 Putwurden family), Appah Dessaye, 
 Furkia, Bapocjee Sindia, the Vinchoor 
 Cur, Madarow Rastia, the Raja of 
 Colapoor, Futteh Singh Bhoonsla, 
 Chintamun Row (the nephew of Pur- 
 seram Bhow), Tantia, Punt Pritty 
 Niddy, and others of inferior note 
 depending on these leaders. These 
 assumed the title of jaghiredars, al- 
 though they were properly only se- 
 ringjamy sirdars of the Poona state. 
 In fact, there were very few of the 
 southern jaghiredars who had any 
 just pretensions to the territories they 
 occupied in 1803. 
 
 In A.D. 1818 the whole of this 
 vast province, with the exception of 
 the territory reserved for the Satara 
 Raja, became subordinate to the Bri- 
 tish government, which established 
 the district of Darwar, and new 
 modelled the political relations of the 
 
 M 
 
162 
 
 BEJAPOOR. 
 
 different petty chiefs and jaghiredars, 
 the most noted of whom in 1821, 
 besides the powerful Putwurden fa- 
 mily and the Colapoor Raja, were the 
 chiefs of Kittoor, Moodhole, Nepau- 
 nee, Nurgoond and Ramdroog, Gu- 
 junderghur, Shanoor, and Jambhotee, 
 all coerced (most unwillingly) into 
 peaceful habits by the strong arm of 
 the British power. — ( The Duke of 
 Wellington , Ferishta , Elphinstone, 
 Malcolm , Moor , Wilks , fyc.) 
 
 Bejapoor ( Vijayapura , the impreg- 
 nable city J . — The ancient capital of 
 the province of Bejapoor. In old 
 books of European travels it is gene- 
 rally written Viziapoor. Lat. 16° 46' 
 N., Ion. 75°47'E. 
 
 When taken by Aurengzebe in per- 
 son, A.D. 1689, the fortifications 
 from description appear to have been 
 of immense extent, for between the 
 wall of what is usually called the fort 
 and the outer wall of the old city, 
 there was said to have been room for 
 
 15.000 cavalry to encamp. Within the 
 citadel, or inner fort, were the king’s 
 palace, the houses of the nobility, and 
 large magazines, besides extensive gar- 
 dens, and round the whole a deep 
 ditch always filled with water. It is 
 still asserted by the natives, with their 
 usual proneness to exaggeration, that 
 Bejapoor while flourishing contained 
 
 984.000 inhabited houses, and 1,600 
 mosques. After its surrender the 
 reservoirs and wells in the fort de- 
 creased, and the country around be- 
 came waste to a considerable distance. 
 At present it exhibits to the view a 
 vast expanse of ruins, which prove the 
 original magnitude of the city when 
 it was the capital of an independent 
 monarchy. 
 
 The great dome of Mahomed Shah’s 
 tomb is discerned from the village of 
 Kunnoo, fourteen miles distant, and 
 from the numerous spires, cupolas, 
 and minarets that strike the eye, a 
 great population is anticipated ; but 
 on entering the gate the illusion va- 
 nishes, for, excepting the receptacles 
 of the dead, all the other buildings are 
 more or less in a state of ruin. The 
 walls of the outer fort extend eight 
 
 measured miles by the counterscarp of 
 the ditch, and though decayed in many 
 parts, there is not yet a complete 
 breach through any part of them ; in- 
 deed, in 1819 guns were still mounted 
 on them, and centinels stationed at 
 the gates. Of these there are seven, 
 viz. the Mecca, Shahpoor, Bhaminy, 
 Padshapoor, Allahpoor, and Futteh 
 gates, one being shut up. There were 
 formerly a ditch, covered way, and 
 glacis on the eastern face, but time 
 has scarcely left a vestige of them. 
 The inner fort or citadel is fast crumb- 
 ling into ruins, and within its enclo- 
 sure, the palace, or rather its ruins, is 
 situated. 
 
 About five miles from the great 
 western gate is a village called Toor- 
 vee, built on the outskirts of the for- 
 mer city. At this spot are still to be 
 seen the remains of a royal palace, of 
 a mosque, and of various other erec- 
 tions of less note. To the east of this 
 stands the Dirga of Chunda Saheb, 
 a Mahomedan mosque — a mean struc- 
 ture, but still the resort of devotees ; 
 and in a hollow near it are the ele- 
 gant mausoleum and mosque of Ab- 
 dalla Khan, minister to one of the 
 Bejapoor sovereigns. From hence to 
 the glacis of the fort is a succession 
 of ruins, chiefly Mahomedan tombs, 
 forcibly reminding the traveller of the 
 space between Delhi and the Cuttub 
 Minar. The mausoleum and mosque 
 of Ibrahim Adil Shah stand among the 
 other ruins of the old city, at a short 
 distance without the western wall of 
 the fort. They are built on a base- 
 ment 130 yards in length and fifty- 
 two in breadth, and raised fifteen feet; 
 inside 1 15 by seventy-six, covered by 
 an immense dome raised on arches. 
 The mausoleum is a room fifty-seven 
 feet square, enclosed by two verandas 
 thirteen feet broad and twenty-two 
 feet high. The central chamber of 
 the latter is quite plain, as is also the 
 interior of the mosque, but in other 
 respects these buildings excel in ela- 
 borate architectural elegance, and 
 might be advantageously compared 
 with the most celebrated Mogul sepul- 
 chres in upper Hindostan. The fret- 
 work of the ceilings of the verandas. 
 
BEJAPOOR. 
 
 163 
 
 their panels covered with passages 
 of the Koran in bas-relief, and stone 
 trellices pierced with a meshwork of 
 Arabic characters, are all in the high- 
 est style of oriental sculpture. The 
 rich overlapping cornices and small 
 minarets, terminating in a globe or 
 pinnacle instead of open square tur- 
 rets, as in the north of India, are re- 
 markable architectural features which 
 seem peculiar to the ruins of Beja- 
 poor. 
 
 The number of buildings remaining 
 in a tolerable state of preservation 
 within what is called the fort of Be- 
 japoor (for it is properly a great city 
 separated by fortifications from ano- 
 ther still larger) is still very conside- 
 rable. One entire and very regular 
 street for nearly three miles, about 
 fifty feet wide, paved throughout, and 
 presenting many stone buildings, both 
 private dwellings and mosques. There 
 is also another street of this descrip- 
 tion, which runs parallel to the north, 
 but somewhat more obstructed with 
 rubbish. The most remarkable edifices 
 within the fort are the tombs of Ab- 
 dul Reza and Shah Newauz, the jum- 
 raa musjeed or great mosque, the ce- 
 lebrated mausoleum of Sultan Mah- 
 mood Shah, the bowlee of the Nao 
 Bagh, the town called the Ooperee 
 Boorj, besides eedgahs, mosques, and 
 mausoleums innumerable. There is 
 also a low Hindoo temple, supported 
 by numerous pillars of single stones, 
 in the earliest and rudest style ofBrah- 
 minical architecture, supposed to have 
 been the work of the Pandoos ; and 
 this is almost the only Hindoo struc- 
 ture extant in or about Bejapoor. The 
 military Khajoos, said to have been 
 built by a sweeper, is another of the 
 curiosities, on account of the massy 
 stone chains that hang from its angles, 
 which must have been cut from solid 
 blocks, as no joining in the links is 
 perceptible. 
 
 The inhabited portion of the fort 
 is chiefly in the vicinity of the great 
 mosque. There are also groupes of 
 houses scattered over its vast area, 
 and mud hovels are seen stuck up 
 among the massy ruins. There are 
 also some enclosed and cultivated 
 
 fields; but the space generally is a 
 wilderness, covered with grass and 
 shrubs and interspersed with trees. 
 Without the western gate there is 
 a well-frequented bazar, neatly built 
 of stone, which is now almost the 
 only inhabited quarter of what is 
 called the city. Bejapoor as it now 
 subsists may be described as two ci- 
 ties adjoining each other, that which 
 is called the fort lying to the east, 
 and the old city to the west. On the 
 southern side of the fort there are no 
 traces of any ancient buildings or of 
 the city walls, the walls of the fort 
 being the ultimate boundary of Be- 
 japoor in that direction. Most of 
 the large edifices (the palaces in the 
 citadel excepted) appear to have had 
 little or no wood used in their con- 
 struction, the prevailing character of 
 the architecture being rather massive 
 solidity, than elaborate workmanship 
 or elegant design. There are some 
 enormous guns still remaining here, 
 corresponding with the Cyclopean 
 magnitude of the fort. Formerly 
 there were twelve, but in 1820 only 
 the great brass gun (cast in 1549) 
 and the long iron one remained. 
 For the calibre of the first an iron 
 bullet weighing 2,646 lbs. would be 
 required. In 1823 the Bombay go- 
 vernment was extremely desirous of 
 sending it to England, as a present 
 to the King, but until the roads are 
 improved it would be almost impos- 
 sible to transport such a ponderous 
 mass to the sea-coast. 
 
 Until 1818 this city was compre- 
 hended in that portion of the Beja- 
 poor province belonging to the Poona 
 Maharattas, during which the ruins 
 were the noted haunts of thieves, 
 who have been extirpated since the 
 introduction of the British authority. 
 No regular; urvey of this quarter 
 having ever been executed, the posi- 
 tion of this city is laid down in the 
 maps full twelve miles nearer the 
 junction of the Malpurba and Krish- 
 na than it ought to be, and two-thirds 
 of the towns and villages placed in 
 its vicinity have either no existence, 
 or are misnamed or misplaced. The 
 district of Bejapoor is inhabited by 
 m 2 
 
164 
 
 BELGAUM. 
 
 Canarese, who retain their own lan- 
 guage and manners, and in 1818 join- 
 ed Sir Thomas Munro to expel their 
 Maharatta rulers. By Mr. Chaplin in 
 1820 the Maharattas were reckoned 
 to compose only one-eighth or one- 
 tenth of the population, and were 
 mostly soldiers and Brahmins. — ( Ficl- 
 larton, Moor , Scott, Sykes, Elphin - 
 stone, fyc.) 
 
 Bejapoor. — A large subdivision of 
 the Bejapoor province, bounded on 
 the north, west, and south, by the 
 Beema, Maun, Angurry, and Krish- 
 na rivers. The chief towns are Be- 
 japoor (already described), Huttany, 
 and Mangulwara. 
 
 Bejawer. — A town in the province 
 of Allahabad, district of Bundelcund, 
 twenty-four miles S. by W. from 
 Chatterpoor ; lat. 24° 37' N., Ion. 79° 
 32' E. Ruttun Singh, the chief, is a 
 dependent of the British government. 
 
 Bejighur. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Agra, situated on the south 
 side of the Kohurry, and within the 
 Maharatta territories south of the 
 river Chumbul ; lat. 26° 4' N., Ion. 
 77° 13' E., eighty miles S.W. from 
 the city of Agra. 
 
 Bejour. — A town in the province 
 of Allahabad, twenty-two miles 
 S.S.W. from Chatterpoor; lat. 24° 
 38' N., Ion. 79° 27' E. 
 
 Bei.ah. — A town in the province 
 of Agra, twenty-one miles S.S.W. 
 from Kanoje ; lat. 26° 49' N., Ion. 79° 
 33' E. 
 
 Belapoor. — An old Maharatta for- 
 tress in the province of Aurunga- 
 bad, division of Callianee, now in a 
 decayed state, which defends the en- 
 trance of the river Pan, below Pan- 
 well. — ( Fullarton , $c.) 
 
 Belaspoor ( Belaspura ). — A town 
 in the province of Delhi, district of 
 Moradabad, comprehended within the 
 Rampoor jaghire ; lat. 28° 55' N., 
 Ion. 79° 9' E. 
 
 Belaspoor. — A town in the north- 
 ern Hindostan, the capital and resi- 
 
 dence of the Raja of Cahlore, si- 
 tuated on the left bank of the Sutu- 
 leje (which is here about 100 yards 
 broad when the waters are at the 
 lowest), 1,465 feet above the level of 
 the sea; lat. 31°19'N., Ion. 76° 45' 
 E. By Mr. Foster, who visited it in 
 1783, Belaspoor is described as a 
 well-built town, exhibiting a regula- 
 rity not often met with in this quarter 
 of Hindostan, and in 1819 it retain- 
 ed the same character. The streets 
 are paved, though roughly, and the 
 houses are built with stone and mor- 
 tar. The Ranny, or princess of Cah- 
 lore (written by him Calour) there 
 resided, and possessed an income 
 which he estimated at twelve lacks of 
 rupees ; but a tenth part of the sum 
 would, probably, have been nearer 
 the truth. In 1810 Belaspoor was 
 said to contain 3,000 houses. In 
 1820 Joudh Singh, a turbulent Seik 
 chief, was fined and punished for 
 systematic disobedience, and more 
 particularly for aggressions commit- 
 ted against the Ranny of Belaspoor 
 and her dependents. In A.D. 1822 
 this dependent Seik state of Belas- 
 poor devolved to the British govern- 
 ment, on the death of the Ranny 
 Deo Koonwur. It was offered to 
 Sobha Singh Kulsea, on condition 
 that he relinquished all lands held un- 
 der Runjeet Singh, on the north side 
 of the Sutuleje, who declined ac- 
 cepting it on these terms. It was in 
 consequence retained at the disposal 
 of government, with the view of 
 being exchanged for some debateable 
 tracts in the Bhatty country. — ( Fos- 
 ter , Public MS., Sfc.) 
 
 Belemcheroo. — A small fortress 
 of a compact form in the Balaghaut 
 ceded districts, situated on an emi- 
 nence about fifty miles N.E. of Goo- 
 ty, in the division of Curnoul. 
 
 Belgaum ( Balagrama ) . — A small 
 subdivision (or talook) in the Darwar 
 district, province of Bejapoor, which 
 consists of only three small hamlets, 
 besides the cusba, or capital, being 
 nearly surrounded by the Shahpoor 
 pergunnah belonging to the Putwur- 
 den family. In Hindoo geography it 
 
BELGAUTCHY. 
 
 165 
 
 is considered within the ancient re- 
 gion of Canara, but very near the 
 borders of Maharashtra, and it is 
 decidedly in the tract of country 
 distinguished among the natives as 
 the “ Kokun.” The languages are 
 Canarese and Maharatta. The Ochry 
 gravel is here so hard as to approach 
 the nature of stone, and when cut a 
 few feet from the surface is capable 
 of being formed into a natural brick, 
 and it is of this substance that nearly 
 the whole town of Belgautn is built. 
 The contrast between the bareness 
 of the gravelly hills during the dry 
 months, with their verdure in the 
 rainy season, is very great. 
 
 Nearly the whole population in 
 the town of Belgaum, which in 1820 
 contained 1,309 houses inhabited by 
 7,652 persons ; one-third Maharattas, 
 one-sixth Mahomedans (mostly con- 
 nected with religious establishments), 
 one-eighth Jains, who have a pagoda 
 here ; one-ninth Brahmins, and one- 
 sixteenth the Jungum or Lingayut 
 sect ; the remainder consist of va- 
 rious descriptions of artizans. The 
 houses are better than in most parts 
 of India, those of the upper classes 
 being uniform, substantial, and roomy, 
 and the lower classes respectable 
 cottages. 
 
 Formerly few coins were known 
 in the bazar, but in 1820 the British 
 troops here were paid in no less 
 than twenty-one sorts of different 
 coins, affording an ample harvest to 
 the money changer. The working 
 days of a Hindoo weaver in this 
 talook are estimated at 280 days per 
 annum ; eighty-five being dedicated 
 to religious festivals, deaths, mar- 
 riages, commemoration of ancestors, 
 &c. Belgaum is said to be the oldest 
 town, but most of the merchants and 
 bankers reside at Shahpoor. Both 
 exports and imports are confined to 
 the six fair months of the year, the 
 violence of the rains and badness of 
 the roads putting a stop to all fur- 
 ther locomotion. In 1820 there was 
 an excellent road making to the 
 Ramghaut, to be continued from 
 thence to the sea-coast. — ( Marshall , 
 #c.) 
 
 Belgaum. — A town and fortress 
 in the British district of Darwar, pro- 
 vince of Bejapoor, 115 miles travel- 
 ling distance S.W. from the city of 
 Bejapoor, and forty-three N.W. from 
 Darwar ; lat. 15° 52' N., Ion. 74° 42' 
 E. This place was captured in 1818, 
 after the longest resistance made by 
 any of the Peshwa’s forces. It was 
 found in complete repair, the walls 
 massy and solid; the ditch broad and 
 deep, surrounded by an esplanade of 
 600 yards, and garrisoned by 1,600 
 men, who only lost seventy killed 
 and wounded during the siege, the 
 interior being so extensive as to af- 
 ford abundant room to avoid shells. 
 It had been long famous for the salu- 
 brity of its climate, equable tempe- 
 rature, and the invigorating fresh- 
 ness of its atmosphere, which pecu- 
 liarly pointed it out as a suitable can- 
 tonment for troops, the water also 
 being excellent, and it was in conse- 
 quence selected as a permanent mili- 
 tary station. 
 
 This fort stands in a plain, and is 
 a work of great strength and extent. 
 The ramparts are faced with stone, 
 flanked by massy round bastions, 
 and protected by an admirable wet 
 ditch cut out of the rock, with a sort 
 of glacis and advanced work in front 
 of the principal gateway. Two an- 
 cient temples and the ruins of some 
 native dwellings are still perceptible 
 among the heaps of rubbish which 
 encumber its large interior area. 
 The town of Belgaum (which in 1821 
 contained 7,652 persons) stands high, 
 and is within the influence of the sea 
 breeze. Westerly winds prevail for 
 almost seven months of the year, 
 and are succeeded for a short time 
 by a north wind ; during the rest of 
 the year the winds are variable, but 
 mostly from the east and south-east. 
 — {Fullarton, Blacker , Marshall, Sfc.) 
 
 Belgautchy. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Bengal, district of Rajshahy, 
 about forty-six miles E. of Nattore, 
 and formerly the station of the com- 
 mercial resident of Hurrial, after- 
 wards incorporated with Commer- 
 colly. 
 
166 
 
 BELLARY. 
 
 Belgram ( Balagrama.) — A town 
 in the province of Oude, fifty-eight 
 miles N.W. from Lucknow ; lat. 27° 
 10' N., Ion. 80° 5' E. This town, 
 though now reduced, is of some anti- 
 quity, being described by Abul Fazel 
 in 1582, as very healthy and famous 
 for producing men with melodious 
 voices, and it is still distinguished by 
 a ruinous fort and moat. The de- 
 cayed buildings appear to have been 
 in the best style of Mogul architec- 
 ture, but the present inhabitants, 
 few in number, dwell in small houses 
 either of mud or wood. This place 
 is remarkable as having been the sta- 
 tion first fixed upon for the British 
 “ advanced . force,” in this quarter, 
 which was afterwards transferred to 
 Cawnpoor. — ( Abul Fazel , Tennant , 
 Sfc.) 
 
 Belinda. — A small town in the 
 province of Allahabad, sixty-six miles 
 south from Lucknow ; lat. 25° 53' 
 N., Ion. 80° 49' E. 
 
 Bellary (Valahari.J — This reve- 
 nue and judicial subdivision of the 
 Balaghaut ceded districts occupies the 
 western section of the province, but 
 its limits have not yet been defined 
 with sufficient accuracy. Besides the 
 lands attached to the capital, it com- 
 prehends Harponelly, Adoni, Rai- 
 droog, Gooty, and Curnoul, under 
 which heads respectively further de- 
 tails will be found ; and for a general 
 view of the country, the reader is 
 referred to the article Balaghaut. 
 The principal towns are Bellary, Bi- 
 janagur, Harponelly, Adoni, Gooty, 
 and Curnoul; the chief rivers, the 
 Krishna, Toombuddra, and Vadavati. 
 Cotton is generally cultivated but not 
 in large quantities, on account of the 
 precarious nature, and the uncertainty 
 as to its future sale. In 1812, the 
 quantity raised was estimated at 2,000 
 maunds, but it is supposed since to 
 have greatly decreased. In 1817, the 
 total gross collection of the public 
 revenue amounted to 981,221 pago- 
 das, and in 1822, according to the re- 
 turns made to government by the col- 
 lectors, the total population amount- 
 ed to 927,857 persons. In 1815, the 
 
 Madras government granted a remis- 
 sion of 2,092 pagodas, on account of 
 the injury done to the crops by the 
 pilgrimage of his Highness the Pesh- 
 wa and attendants through the dis- 
 trict to the temple at Soondoor. 
 This, however, was not the whole 
 loss sustained by the inhabitants who 
 happened to reside within the tract 
 of these locusts, who had besides 
 plundered them of their forage, poul- 
 try, and various other articles. In 
 1814, the judge of Bellary stated in 
 his report to government that not a 
 single application had been made to 
 him for a punchait by any individual 
 whatever. — ( Hodson , Chaplin , Public 
 MS. Documents , tyc.) 
 
 Bellary. — A hill fort with a for- 
 tified pettah in the Balaghaut ceded 
 districts, and at present the head-quar- 
 ters of a civil establishment and mili- 
 tary division ; lat. 15° 5' N., Ion. 76° 
 59' E. The fort is a quadrangular 
 building on the summit of an isolated 
 mass of rock, not remarkably high, 
 but protected by three distinct ranges 
 of works one above the other. There 
 is but one ascent to the top, partly 
 formed by steps cut in the rock, and 
 partly by scaling its irregular surface 
 and taking advantage of its cavities. 
 The pettah below is spacious, and 
 contains a handsome bazar, besides 
 barracks for the European troops, 
 and houses for some of the officers, 
 the principal cantonments, however, 
 are without the walls. The general 
 aspect of the spot is rather naked, 
 but the officers’ bungalows are neat 
 white buildings, with tiled roofs, and 
 gardens enclosed by little hedges of 
 the milk plant. The cantonment ba- 
 zar is ornamented with rows of trees, 
 and is perhaps the widest, cleanest, 
 and most regular military bazar in 
 India. The lower fort at this place 
 is considered by competent judges to 
 be stronger than that at Gooty. — 
 ( Fullarton , Sir Samuel Auchmuty, fyc.) 
 
 Bellary ( Valahari.) — A decayed 
 town in the province of Allahabad, 
 thirty miles north from Gurrah ; lat. 
 23° 46' N., Ion. 80° 20' E. From the 
 extent of ruins seen round this place, 
 
BENARES. 
 
 167 
 
 it probably at some former period 
 was of greater importance than it has 
 lately been ; but it suffered greatly 
 by the repeated incursions of the 
 Pindarries. In the neighbourhood are 
 some fine Hindoo temples. A little 
 to the south of Bellary, the province 
 of Gundwana commences. 
 
 Bellany Pass. — A pass in Ceylon 
 on the road from Columbo to Candy, 
 situated about ten miles S.W. from 
 the last. The Bellany mountain is 
 3,000 feet above the level of the sea, 
 yet the summit is shaded by noble 
 forest trees, the scenery beautiful, 
 and the air cool and fresh. — (Davy, 
 
 Bellumcondah. — A town in the 
 Northern Circars, district of Gun- 
 toor, thirty-six miles N.W. from that 
 place; lat. 16° 31' N., Ion. 80° 3'E. 
 At this place the country begins to 
 assume a hilly appearance as it re- 
 cedes from the sea. The soil is black 
 and covered with stones of different 
 kinds, among which grow Indian corn 
 and cotton, but the tract generally 
 may be considered as very unproduc- 
 tive, In the adjacent villages, salt- 
 petre is manufactured. — ( Hayne , fyc.) 
 
 Bember. — A town in the province 
 of Lahore, 105 miles north from the 
 city of Lahore ; lat. 33° 4' N., Ion. 
 74° E. 
 
 Bempoka Island. — One of the Ni- 
 cobar Islands, which see. 
 
 Benares District for zemindary.) 
 — This large division of the Allaha- 
 bad province, is situated principally 
 between the twenty-fourth and twen- 
 ty-sixth degrees of north latitude. 
 When ceded in 1775 by Asoph ud 
 Dowlah, the Nabob of Oude, it was 
 subdivided into sixty-two pergunnahs 
 containing 12,000 square miles, of 
 which 10,000 compose a rich culti- 
 vated flat on both sides of the Ganges. 
 The chief modern subdivisions are 
 the city and district of Benares, and 
 the districts of Juanpoor and Mirza- 
 poor. In the institutes of Acber, 
 A.D. 1582, Abul Fazel describes the 
 province as follows : “ Circar Be- 
 nares, containing eight mahals ; mea- 
 
 surement 136,663 begas; revenue 
 8,169,318 dams. This circar fur* 
 nishes 830 cavalry, and 8,400 infan- 
 try.” 
 
 The climate of Benares, which in 
 winter is so severe as to render fires 
 agreeable, becomes so heated for 
 three months after March, by the 
 setting in of the hot. winds, as to de- 
 stroy all verdure, and would pro- 
 bably be destructive to all European 
 artificial grasses were they intro- 
 duced. Turnips, radishes, and a va- 
 riety of greens and garden stuffs, are 
 raised by the natives, but mostly 
 for the consumption of Europeans. 
 There is not much land under rice 
 cultivation, the chief agricultural 
 productions being barley, wheat, and 
 a species of the pea. A small quan- 
 tity of flax is raised on the skirts of 
 almost every field on account of the 
 oil, its use as an article of clothing 
 not being understood here. Every 
 field of barley contains a mixture of 
 grain or peas ; and at the distance of 
 eight or ten feet a beautiful flowering 
 shrub, used in dyeing, is planted. A 
 considerable quantity of sugar is pro- 
 duced in this district, and manufac- 
 tured by a very simple process ; a 
 stone mortar and wooden piston, 
 turned by two bullocks, the whole 
 not worth twelve rupees, constitute 
 the most expensive part of the ma- 
 chinery, and the boiling pots are 
 of the most common earthenware. 
 Here, as in the West-Indies, the 
 sugar harvest is the joyous and busy 
 season. The jumma or land assess- 
 ment to the land revenue in 1813 
 was 40,79,124 rupees, and the gross 
 receipts of the whole zemindary 
 45,62,707 rupees. Notwithstanding 
 the advantages that were supposed 
 to attend a settlement in perpetuity, 
 the land revenue of the Benares dis- 
 tricts continued to fluctuate in its 
 amount without improving, and at 
 the above date was nearly half a 
 lack below the rate originally asses- 
 sed by Mr. Duncan. 
 
 From Patna to Buxar, G hazi- 
 poor, Benares, and Mirzapoor, a rich 
 country and much cultivation are 
 seen, while the numerous clumps of 
 
168 
 
 BENARES. 
 
 of mango trees give the surface t he 
 appearance of a forest, and afford an 
 agreeable retreat to the cattle. Both 
 sides of the Ganges, a short distance 
 above Mirzapoor, belong to the Na- 
 bob of Oude, and exhibit a marked 
 contrast to the Benares districts, 
 which in the general scale of pros- 
 perity yield to. few within the British 
 dominions, and are still gradually 
 advancing in population, cultivation, 
 commerce, and buildings, both do- 
 mestic and religious. The stone 
 quarries at Chunar and Mirzapoor 
 were formerly monopolized by the 
 government, and either let in farm 
 or managed by an agent ; but in 1 799, 
 in order to encourage the excavation 
 of the quarries, the whole were 
 made free, subject to a moderate 
 duty, which in 1815 yielded 37,000 
 rupees. 
 
 Plain and flowered muslins, adapt- 
 ed to common uses, are manufac- 
 tured in the northern, baftaes in the 
 western, and sanaes in the eastern 
 parts of the province. Tissues, bro- 
 cades, and ornamented gauzes are 
 the general manufacture. A species 
 of bitterish salt is made in different 
 places, but much the greater propor- 
 tion of what is consumed is now im- 
 ported from Bengal, and from Sam- 
 bher in Ajmeer. A great quantity 
 of excellent indigo is annually raised 
 and exported from Benares, which also 
 furnishes a proportion of the govern- 
 ment opium. The principal rivers are 
 the Ganges, theGoompty, theCaram- 
 uassa, and the Sone, the two last 
 being boundary rivers, and the coun- 
 try in general is tolerably well sup- 
 plied with water. The largest towns 
 are Benares, Mirzapoor, Juanpoor, 
 and Ghazipoor. In 1801 the total 
 population was estimated at three 
 millions of inhabitants (probably un- 
 derrated), in the proportion of ten 
 Hindoos to one Mahomedan in the 
 towns, and twenty to one in the 
 country. 
 
 The code of Bengal regulations 
 has, with very little alteration, been 
 extended to Benares ; but in con- 
 sideration of the high respect paid 
 by the Hindoos to their Brahmins, 
 
 they have received some special in- 
 dulgences in the mode of proceeding 
 against them on criminal charges ; 
 and it has been further provided in 
 their favour, that in all cases where 
 by law a Brahmin would be adjudged 
 to suffer death, the sentence shall be 
 changed to transportation, or miti- 
 gated, at the discretion of govern- 
 ment. At the same time some evil 
 practices of the Brahmins were put a 
 stop to; one of which was the hold- 
 ing out a threat of obtaining spiri- 
 tual vengeance on their adversaries by 
 suicide, or by the exposure of the 
 life, or actual sacrifice of one of their 
 own children or near relations. It 
 was then ordered that atrocities of 
 this nature should not be exempted 
 from the cognizance of the magis- 
 trate (as they had hitherto been), or 
 the usual process of the criminal law. 
 The consequence- of this interference 
 was, that the frequency of the crime 
 diminished so imperceptibly, that in 
 1801 only one instance had occurred 
 in the populous district of Juanpoor 
 within six months, on which occa- 
 sion a Brahmin destroyed himself, 
 and a relation buried his body at the 
 door of the zemindar of the village, 
 with whom he had a dispute. Vo- 
 luntary suicide, however, still con- 
 tinued frequent, four or five persons 
 destroying themselves in the same 
 district each solar month. Another 
 tribe of Hindoos, named Rajcoomars, 
 were accustomed to destroy their 
 female infants in consequence of the 
 difficulty of procuring suitable match- 
 es, as is still the practice among the 
 Jhareja chiefs of Cutch and Catty- 
 war. From this practice Mr. Dun- 
 can, the resident, prevailed on them 
 to desist, and his injunction has pro- 
 bably been effectual, as the continu- 
 ance of it has ever since subjected 
 the offender to the ordinary punish- 
 ment for murder. 
 
 Mansuram, thegrandfather of Cheit 
 Singh, possessed originally but half 
 the village of Gungapoor, by addition 
 to which, after the usual Hindostany 
 forms, he laid the foundation of this 
 enormous zemindary. He died in 
 A.D. 1 740, and was succeeded by his 
 
BENARES, 
 
 169 
 
 son Bulwunt Singh, who, in thirty 
 years of his own management, ac- 
 cumulated acquisitions to the pre- 
 sent extent of the province. Cheit 
 Singh received the zemindary in 1770, 
 was expelled during the government 
 of Mr. Hastings in 1781, and died 
 at Gualior the 29th of March 1810. 
 The lands were transferred to a col- 
 lateral branch, the representative 
 of which in 1801 was Raja Oodit 
 Narrain. — ( Tennant , J. Grant , Wel- 
 land, the Marquis of Hastings, Sfc.) 
 
 Benares City (Varanashi .) — The 
 Sanscrit name of this place is Vara- 
 nashi, from Vara and Nashi, two 
 streams ; and its geographical posi- 
 tion is in lat. 25° 30' N., Ion. 83° 1' 
 E. The Ganges here makes a fine 
 sweep of about four miles in length, 
 and on the convex side of the curve, 
 which is also the most elevated, 
 stands the holy city of Benares. The 
 margin is covered with houses to the 
 water’s edge, and the opposite shore 
 being level, the whole may be viewed 
 at once. Ghauts or landing-places, 
 built of large stones, are frequent, 
 and some thirty feet high before they 
 reach the streets. The erection of 
 them is reckoned by the Hindoos an 
 act of useful piety, which perpetuates 
 their name. 
 
 The streets here are so extremely 
 narrow, that it is difficult to pene- 
 trate them, even on horseback. The 
 houses are built of stone, some six 
 stories high, close to each other, some 
 of them fantastically painted with 
 groups of mythological figures from 
 the Hindoo pantheon, with terraces 
 on the summit, and very small win- 
 dows to prevent glare and inspection. 
 The opposite sides of the streets, in 
 some parts, approach so near to each 
 other as to be united by galleries. 
 The number of stone and brick 
 houses from one to six stories high 
 exceeds 12,000, and the mud houses 
 to above 16,000, besides garden 
 houses. In general each story of a 
 house is rented by a distinct family, 
 and a great many of the large houses 
 contain 200 persons. In 1803 (ac- 
 cording to Mr. Dean) the permanent 
 
 inhabitants, by enumeration and esti- 
 mate, amounted to 582,000, and we 
 may now with safety add 50,000 to 
 that number, which was exclusive of 
 the attendants on their Mogul princes 
 and several other foreigners ; during 
 festivals, the concourse is almost be- 
 yond calculation. The Mahomedans 
 are not supposed to be more than 
 one in ten, and there are said to be 
 8,000 houses occupied by Brahmins, 
 who receive contributions, although 
 each has a property of his own. Be- 
 sides natives from all parts of India, 
 considerable numbers of Turks, Tar- 
 tars, Persians, Armenians, and even 
 Europeans, are found in Benares. 
 
 The mosque, with its minars, was 
 built by Aurungzebe to mortify the 
 Hindoos. Not only is it placed on 
 the most elevated site, and conspi- 
 cuous from being close to the river, 
 but the foundations are laid on a 
 sacred spot, where before stood a 
 Hindoo temple, which was destroyed 
 to make room for the Mussulmaun 
 edifice. From the top of the minars 
 there is an extensive view of the 
 town and adjacent country, and of 
 the numerous Hindoo temples scat- 
 tered over the city and its environs. 
 The European houses at Seroli are 
 handsome, although they look naked 
 for want of trees : but this bareness 
 is requsite in India, on account of 
 the myriads of musquitoes, and other 
 insects winged and unwinged, which 
 their foliage would harbour. The 
 Raja’s residence is at Ramnagur, on 
 the opposite side of the river, about 
 a mile from the city. The European 
 residents are not numerous; a judge, 
 collector, register, and assistants, 
 the members of the courts of circuit, 
 and medical men, compose the whole 
 government establishment ; to which 
 may be added a few private mer- 
 chants, indigo-planters, and persons 
 attached to the government mint. 
 Amidst such a crowd of natives, and 
 in so sacred a town, it may be sup- 
 posed that mendicants are numerous ; 
 many of the natives, however, pos- 
 sess large fortunes, and are actively 
 engaged as bankers and diamond- 
 merchants, for which gems (brought 
 
BENARES, 
 
 170 
 
 mostly from Bundelcund) Benares 
 has long been a noted mart. The 
 land in and about the town being 
 high priced and much sought after, 
 and the natives constitutionally liti- 
 gious, law-suits respecting their pro- 
 prietary rights are unceasing. 
 
 At this city is still to be seen one 
 of the observatories founded in dif- 
 ferent quarters of Hindostan by the 
 celebrated Raja Jeysingh of Jeypoor. 
 The greater part of the instruments 
 are of stone, and some of them evi- 
 dently intended for the purposes of 
 judicial astrology ; but the whole 
 establishment has long been utterly 
 neglected. Some miles to the east 
 of Seroli there is an extraordinary 
 monument, called the Saranath. It 
 appears to be a solid mass of masonry, 
 from forty to fifty feet in diameter, 
 originally shaped like a bee-hive ; but 
 the upper part has since crumbled 
 down. Externally it is cased with 
 large blocks of stone, exceedingly well 
 fitted and polished, and decorated 
 near the base with a broad belt of 
 ornamental carving, representing a 
 wreath, and differing greatly from 
 purely Hindoo sculpture. Indeed, it 
 much more resembles the building 
 seen by Mr. Elphinstone during his 
 embassy to Cabul, of which he has 
 given an engraving, and to which he 
 ascribes a Greek origin. At Benares 
 the Saranath is supposed to have 
 been a Buddhist structure, from its 
 resemblance to certain tumuli dis- 
 covered in Ceylon, and in the Bud- 
 dhist cave temples in the west of 
 India. 
 
 Benares, or Casi, orVaranashi, the 
 first being merely the Mahomedan 
 misnomer adopted by Europeans, is 
 held by the Hindoos to be sacred for 
 ten miles round, and the famous 
 lingam it contains is said to be a 
 petrifaction of Siva himself. Another 
 legend of equal authenticity informs 
 us that Benares was originally built 
 of gold, but in consequence of the 
 sins of the people became stone; and 
 latterly, owing to their increasing 
 wickedness, has degenerated into 
 thatch and clay. The Brahmins as- 
 sert, that Benares is no part of the 
 
 terrestial globe, for that rests on 
 the thousand-headed serpent Ananta 
 (Eternity), whereas Benares is fixed 
 on the points of Siva’s trident ; as a 
 proof of which fact, they assert that no 
 earthquake is ever felt within its holy 
 limits, and that in consequence of 
 its peculiar situation it escaped de- 
 struction during a partial cataclysm 
 or overwhelming of the world. Most 
 persons stay but a short time at Be- 
 nares and then return to their families: 
 but even so transient a visit secures 
 the pilgrim entrance into the heaven 
 of Siva. Some visit this sanctuary 
 repeatedly, and one devotee is men- 
 tioned who had been sixteen times 
 from Benares to Ramisseram, in the 
 straits of Ceylon. There are regular 
 guides or cicerones, who meet the 
 pilgrims in the different villages 
 through which they have to pass, and 
 conduct them collectively to Benares, 
 and many votaries resort here to 
 finish their days, the Brahmins admit- 
 ting that even the beef-eating Eng- 
 lish who die within its sacred limits 
 may obtain absorption into Brihm. 
 Some learned Hindoos relax so far 
 as to admit the possible salvation of 
 Englishmen in two other cases ; if 
 they become firm believers in Gunga 
 (the Ganges), or die at Juggernauth ; 
 and they even name an Englishman 
 who went strait to heaven from Be- 
 nares — but it appeared that he had 
 also left money for the construction 
 of a temple. 
 
 The country opposite to Benares 
 is called Vyasa Casi from the follow- 
 ing legend. At a certain time, the 
 great saint Vyasa, the compiler of the 
 Vedas, being angry with Siva, began 
 to found a city which should eclispe 
 Benares. The destroyer (Siva) being 
 alarmed, sent his son Ganesa, the 
 god of wisdom, to thwart by artifice 
 this intention, and he, in prosecution 
 of the design, became the saint’s 
 disciple, and asked him daily what 
 would be the result of living and 
 dying in the new city. The query 
 was repeated so often that at last 
 the holy man lost his temper, and in 
 a fit of rage exclaimed that in the 
 succeeding transmigration they would 
 
BENARES. 
 
 I?! 
 
 be born asses, and in consequence 
 abandoned his design. At present 
 some ruins of temples are to be seen, 
 but on account of the above anathe- 
 ma, and an unnecessary apprehension 
 of Future deterioration, few persons 
 choose to reside on a spot thus cir- 
 cumstanced. 
 
 Benares has been long celebrated 
 as the revered seat of Brahminical 
 learning, and is still reckoned so holy 
 that several foreign Hindoo rajas 
 keep vakeels or delegates residing 
 here, who perform for their em- 
 ployers’ benefit the requisite sacri- 
 fices and oblations. In 1801, besides 
 the public college for Hindoo litera- 
 ture, instituted during the residency 
 of Jonathan Duncan, Esq., there 
 were in the city private teachers of 
 the Hindoo and Mahomedan law ; 
 and of the first 300 were stated to 
 be eminent ; the aggregate of their 
 pupils amounted to 5,000. From a 
 prevailing idea that if they were to 
 receive any remuneration from their 
 disciples the religious merit of teach- 
 ing the vedas would be lost, they 
 accepted of nothing from their scho- 
 lars, trusting to donations from pil- 
 grims of rank, and to regular salaries 
 assigned them by different Hindoo 
 princes, such as the Rajas of Jeypoor, 
 Tanjore, and some Maharatta chiefs. 
 
 In 1811 it was found necessary to 
 revise and new model the regulations 
 of the Hindoo College, to adapt them 
 to the prevailing habits and opinions 
 of the natives, and to correct abuses, 
 of which the following were the most 
 remarkable. The same prejudice ex- 
 isted then, as in 1801, against the 
 function of professor, considered as 
 an office, or even a service ; and the 
 most learned pundits had invariably 
 refused the employment, although 
 the salary was liberal. That part of 
 the plan that supposed the attend- 
 ance of teachers and pupils in a pub- 
 lic hall was found altogether incon- 
 sistent with the Brahminical tenets, 
 and in reality not only never took 
 place, but tended to prevent the pro- 
 fessors giving instruction at their 
 own houses. And lastly, feuds had 
 arisen and embezzlements taken place 
 
 among the native members of the col- 
 lege. Various measures were then 
 adopted by Lord Minto, with the 
 view of remedying these defects, and 
 renovating the taste for Hindoo lite- 
 rature ; but, under existing circum- 
 stances, this appears to be a hopeless 
 task, and a misdirection of the native 
 studies, which might be much more 
 profitably applied to the English lan- 
 guage, and European science and lite- 
 rature. In 1801 there were thirty 
 persons eminent as instructors in the 
 Mahomedan law ; but they were 
 mostly persons of independent pro- 
 perty, who held public employments, 
 and gave instructions gratis. Read- 
 ing and writing are taught here at 
 the same time. The boys are col- 
 lected on a smooth flat of sand, and 
 with the finger, or a small reed, form 
 letters in the sand, which they learn 
 to pronounce at the same time ; when 
 the space before each scholar is filled 
 up with writing, it is effaced and pre- 
 pared for a new lesson. 
 
 A considerable tract of country 
 adjacent to Benares is subordinate to 
 the jurisdiction of its magistrate, and 
 in a progressive state of improve- 
 ment. The cultivation has every 
 where extended, an observation that 
 may be applied to the whole zemin- 
 dary, as except in pergunnah Chown- 
 sah, and among the hills to the south- 
 east of Chunar, there is hardly a suf- 
 ficient quantity of uncultivated land 
 for the grazing of cattle. The most 
 valuable articles of produce are sugar- 
 cane, opium, tobacco, betel-leaf, and 
 indigo. 
 
 The ancient name of Benares was 
 Casi, or the splendid, which it still 
 retains ; but there are not any no- 
 tices of it in the works of the ancient 
 geographers, although they specify 
 Mathura and Clisobara, which lay 
 near the Jumna. It is probable, that 
 at the period of the Mahomedan inva- 
 sion it was subject to the Hindoo em- 
 pire of Kanoje. In A.D. 1017 Sul- 
 tan Mahmood of Ghizni took Benares 
 and the town of Cassam or Cassima, 
 now Patna, and penetrated as far as 
 the country of Ouganam, or Unja, 
 to the west of the Cossimbazar river. 
 
BENCOOLEN. 
 
 172 
 
 Next year he overran these coun- 
 tries again, proceeding east as far as 
 Kisraj, or Cachcha Raja, or Cooch 
 Bahar. From that date the Hin- 
 doos remained long unmolested, as it 
 does not appear that the Mahome- 
 dans made any permanent conquests 
 in this quarter before the end of the 
 twelfth century, or about A.D. 1190, 
 from which era it followed the for- 
 tunes of the Delhi sovereigns until it 
 devolved to the British, with the rest 
 of the zemindary, in 1775. 
 
 This celebrated town has enjoyed 
 the most undisturbed tranquillity 
 since it came under the direct go- 
 vernment of the British nation, by 
 the expulsion of Cheit Singh, in 
 1781. It has, in consequence, annu- 
 ally expanded in size, the buildings 
 having united the neighbourhood with 
 the body of the town, and as it stands 
 at present, it is probably the largest 
 and most populous city of Hindostan. 
 The inhabitants, generally, are better 
 informed than the common Hindos- 
 tanies, and are fully sensible of the con- 
 trast between the British dominions 
 and those of the native powers, with 
 respect to security of person and pro- 
 perty, and the tale of every foreign 
 pilgrim assists to refresh their atten- 
 tion. The Benare9 court of circuit 
 comprehends the following districts, 
 viz. l.Mirzapoor; 2. Allahabad; 3. 
 Bundelcuna; 4. Juanpoor; 5. Go- 
 ruckpoor ; 6*. the city of Benares. 
 
 The travelling distance from Cal- 
 cutta to Benares is 460 miles ; by 
 Moorshedabad, 565; from Allaha- 
 bad, 83 ; Buxar, 70 ; Bareily, 345 ; 
 Calpee, 230 ; and Kanoje, 259. — 
 ( Ward , Lord Valentia , Tennant , Lord 
 MintOf Fullarton, Routledge , fyc.) 
 
 Bencoolen ( Bencaulu ) , or Fort 
 Marlborough. — The chief establish- 
 ment possessed by the British East- 
 India Company on the island of Su- 
 matra, until it was delivered up, with 
 all their other settlements on that 
 island, to the Dutch, in A.D. 1825. 
 
 The town and district of Bencoolen 
 comprehend an area of about ten 
 square miles, with a population of 
 rather less than 20,000 persons, half 
 
 of which is concentrated in the town, 
 and consists mostly of Europeans 
 and their descendants, Chinese, Nee- 
 assies (from Neas Isle), Malays, and 
 negroes. Neither cattle nor sheep 
 are natives of the spot, the buffalo 
 being the only indigenous animal of 
 domestic pecora, but it has not ever 
 been subdued to the yoke. The only 
 species of cultivation that has thriven 
 has been that of the nutmeg and 
 clove. In 1825 it was expected that 
 the first crop would yield 89,0001bs., 
 and the second 34,0001bs., besides 
 22,0001bs. of mace. The best and 
 most extensive plantations are work- 
 ed by slaves, without whose aid the 
 cultivation could not be prosecuted. 
 The majority of these are from the 
 island of Neas, some ooloo or country 
 people, others Chinese, and some na- 
 tives of Bally. Menghering debtors 
 are also a species of slaves, being 
 obliged to exist and work entirely for 
 the benefit of their creditors. 
 
 The imports consist of cloths, rice, 
 and salt, by the Buggesses and Bally 
 traders, who take in return opium, 
 English printed cottons, piece-goods, 
 iron, steel, and dollars. From Bata- 
 via are imported salendangs, hand- 
 kerchiefs, tobacco, sugar, and various 
 smaller articles ; from Bengal, opium, 
 taffaties, coarse cloths, chintzes, and 
 white cloths ; from Coromandel, salt, 
 and blue and white piece goods and 
 chintzes; from Europe, iron, steel, 
 Aurora cloth, beads, brass wire, cut- 
 lery, and printed cottons ; and from 
 the northern parts of Sumatra, gam- 
 bir, salt-fish, oil, salted eggs, poultry, 
 salted fish-roes, timber, and planks. 
 There is little or no intercourse with 
 Bombay ; the inland trade is insigni- 
 ficant, and the eastern trade in 1821 
 had greatly declined. Such was the 
 description of Bencoolen immediately 
 prior to its delivery to the Dutch, on 
 the 5th April 1825. 
 
 This settlement was acquired in 
 A.D. 1685, and so early as 1698 had 
 already cost the East-India Company 
 £"200,000, and continued a most use- 
 less, unprofitable colony, until it was 
 fortunately got rid of. So unenter- 
 prizing also were the settlers, that 
 
BENGAL. 173 
 
 until A.D. 1821 the mountain of 
 Goonong Benko, eighteen miles N.E. 
 from Fort Marlborough, had never 
 been ascended, nor even its exact 
 position correctly ascertained ; in 
 that year it was ascended by a party, 
 who estimated its height at about 
 3,000 feet above the level of the sea. 
 - — ( Malay Miscellanies , Marsden , 
 Bruce , 
 
 Bendikee. — A small town in the 
 province of Allahabad, eleven miles 
 S.E. from Korah ; lat. 26° 2/ N., Ion. 
 80° 30' E. 
 
 Beneer ( or Booneer .) — A sub- 
 division of the Sewad province, which 
 from its geographical position ap- 
 pears to have been described by Abul 
 Fazel in 1582 under the name of 
 Bembher, viz . “ the length of Bem- 
 bher is sixteen and the breadth twelve 
 coss. On the east lies Puckely, on 
 the north Kinore and Cashgur, on 
 the south Attock Benares ; and Se- 
 wad is the western extremity. There 
 are two roads from it to Hindostan ; 
 one by the heights of Surkhaby, and 
 the other by the Molundery hills 
 Neither of these roads are good, but 
 the first is the most difficult to pass.” 
 
 According to the information col- 
 lected by Mr. Elphinstone in 1809, 
 Beneer is a rugged country, composed 
 of a number of little vallies, all open- 
 ing into the river Burrindroo, which 
 traverses the centre, and enters the 
 Indus near Derbend, about twenty 
 miles above Torbela. The banks of 
 this river are fertile, and produce rice, 
 but they are not above a mile in 
 breadth. Some of the wide vallies 
 also produce better sorts of corn, but 
 a species of millet is the most gene- 
 ral. Much of this last is grown on 
 the slopes of the hills, which are 
 formed into terraces one above ano- 
 ther, and are cultivated with the hoe, 
 and watered by the rains. The hills 
 of Beneer greatly resemble those of 
 Sewad, as they enclose many little 
 valleys, which all open into one great 
 valley, which extends south-east, and 
 contains the brook of Burrindoo. 
 These vallies are narrower and not 
 so well watered as those of Sewad ; 
 
 consequently less fertile.— (Elphin- 
 stone, Leyden , Abul Fazel, fyc.) 
 
 BENGAL. 
 
 ( Bangala , or Bangga Desa.) 
 
 A large and important province of 
 Hindostan, situated towards the east- 
 ern extremity, between the twenty- 
 first and twenty-seventh degrees of 
 north latitude. To the north it is 
 bounded by the dominions of Nepaul, 
 Sikkim, and Bootan ; on the south 
 by the bay of Bengal ; to the east it 
 has Assam and the Burmese territo- 
 ries ; and on the west the province of 
 Bahar. In length it may be esti- 
 mated at 350 miles, by 300 the aver- 
 age breadth. 
 
 The geographical position of Ben- 
 gal is singularly happy with respect 
 to security from the attacks of foreign 
 enemies. Along the whole northern 
 frontier, from Assam westward, there 
 runs a belt of lowland from ten to 
 twenty miles in breadth, covered with 
 the most exuberant vegetation, par- 
 ticularly a rank weed, named in Ben- 
 gal augeah grass, which sometimes 
 grows to the height of thirty feet, 
 and is as thick as a man’s wrist, and 
 mixed with these are tall forest trees. 
 Beyond this belt rise the lofty moun- 
 tains of northern Hindostan, the po- 
 pulation of which is but thinly scat- 
 tered, and partially civilized. On the 
 south of Bengal is a sea-coast guard- 
 ed by shallows and impenetrable 
 woods, with only one port, and that 
 of difficult access. It is only on the 
 west that an enemy is to be appre- 
 hended, and there also the natural 
 barrier is strong, and the adjacent 
 countries sterile and thinly peopled. 
 The river Ganges intersects Bengal 
 in a south-easterly direction, and se- 
 parates it into two territorial divi- 
 sions, nearly equal in extent, and so 
 protected, that in case of invasion 
 the eastern tract would remain ex- 
 empted from the ravages of war, and 
 present an asylum to the inhabitants 
 of the other, more especially from the 
 ravages of cavalry. 
 
 The area of Bengal and Bahar is 
 149,217 square miles, and with Be- 
 
174 
 
 BENGAL. 
 
 nares not less than 162,000 square 
 miles. The following proportions of 
 this surface are grounded upon many 
 surveys, after making allowance for 
 large rivers. 
 
 Parts 
 
 Rivers and lakes (one-eighth)... 3 
 Deemed irreclaimable and barren 
 
 (one-sixth) 4 
 
 Sites of towns and villages, high- 
 ways, tanks, & c. (one-twenty- 
 
 fourth) 1 
 
 Free lands (three-twenty-fourths) 3 
 Remain liable to revenue : 
 
 In tillage (three-eighths) 9 
 
 Waste (one-sixth) 4 
 
 24 
 
 According to another calculation 
 Bengal contains 97,244 square miles ; 
 if from this that portion of Tipera 
 which is independent, the woods 
 called the Sunderbunds, and other 
 wastes, equal to 13,244 square miles, 
 be dedubted, the remaining inhabited 
 country will be equal to 84,000 square 
 miles ; but the extent of waste and 
 surface occupied by rivers, marshes, 
 &c. seems here greatly underrated. 
 
 Prior to the cessions made by the 
 Nabob of Oude in 1801, the country 
 immediately subordinate to the pre- 
 sidency of Calcutta, or, as it is termed 
 in the official records, Fort William, 
 comprehended the entire soubahs of 
 Bengal and Bahar, with the large 
 zemindary of Benares (in Allahabad), 
 and Midnapoor (in Orissa), besides 
 some tracts of country which had 
 maintained their independence dur- 
 ing the most flourishing periods of 
 the Mogul empire. For many years 
 after the British conquest, the reve- 
 nue being collected, and justice ad- 
 ministered through the medium of 
 native agents, the original Mahome- 
 dan fiscal divisions into large zemin- 
 daries were allowed to continue un- 
 altered; but subsequently, when it 
 was determined to introduce an im- 
 proved system of police and jurispru- 
 dence, the province was subdivided 
 into the following seventeen districts, 
 each of which will be found described 
 in its place. 
 
 Backergunge, 
 
 Birbhoom, 
 
 Burdwan, 
 
 Chittagong, 
 
 Hooghly, 
 
 Jessore, 
 
 Mymansingh, 
 
 Moorshedabad, 
 
 Nuddea, 
 
 Purnea, 
 
 Rajshahy, 
 
 Rungpoor, 
 
 Silhet, 
 
 Tipera, 
 
 24 Pergunnahs, 
 Midnapoor, 
 
 The Jungle Ma- 
 hals. 
 
 The average area of a district may 
 be estimated at 5,500 square miles ; 
 when they greatly exceed this, it is 
 owing to the extent of waste and 
 wood lands ; when less, to their being 
 attached to city courts, or being other- 
 wise peculiarly circumstanced. 
 
 The first aspect of Bengal suggests 
 for it the designation of a flat cham- 
 paign country. The elevated tracts 
 it contains are only an exception to 
 the general uniformity, and the inun- 
 dation which annually takes place in 
 the regions watered by the Ganges 
 seems the consequence of a gradual 
 descent, and does not any further 
 invalidate the notion of a general 
 level. The tract of annual inunda- 
 tion was anciently called Beng, 
 whence probably the name Bengal 
 was derived ; the upper parts of the 
 province not liable to inundation 
 were called Barendra. 
 
 Rice, which is luxuriant in the 
 tract of inundation, thrives in all the 
 southern districts, but ascending the 
 Ganges, it is observed gradually to 
 yield the first place in husbandry to 
 wheat and barley. The mulberry ac- 
 climated in the middle districts of 
 Bengal, shews a better defined limit 
 when it meets the poppy, which is 
 peculiar to the northern and western 
 provinces. In the opinion of the 
 Hindoos, the resort of the antelope 
 sanctifies the country graced by his 
 presence : a sentiment more connect- 
 ed with physical observation than 
 with popular prejudice. The wide 
 and open range in which the antelope 
 delights, is equally denied by the 
 forests of the mountain and the in- 
 undation of the fen. 
 
 Throughout the whole province 
 there are not any hills of considerable 
 elevation to be found, and but for the 
 extreme flatness of the southern quar- 
 
BENGAL. 
 
 ter, would more deserve the name of 
 inequalities than hills. These rising 
 grounds are mostly situated in the dis- 
 tricts of Birbhoom, Silhet, Chittagong, 
 and near the eastern boundaries of 
 Tipera, and cover but a small space 
 of the whole area. 
 
 Bengal from its north-western boun- 
 dary to the sea is watered by the 
 Ganges, and is so intersected in every 
 direction by navigable streams, which 
 ultimately join that river, that there is 
 no district wholly destitute of inter- 
 nal navigation during the rains ; and 
 even in the driest season there is scarce- 
 ly any part twenty miles distant from a 
 navigable river. In most of these tracts, 
 lakes, streams, and water-courses 
 communicating with the great rivers 
 conduct boats to the peasant’s door; 
 but his most valuable produce being 
 reaped at other seasons, and from ne- 
 cessity disposed of as soon as gather- 
 ed, he derives less benefit from the 
 inland water communication than the 
 survey of its extent would lead us to 
 suppose. Land carriage conveys great 
 part of the produce from the place of 
 its growth to its embarkation on the 
 Ganges. 
 
 In a country so level as Bengal, and 
 where the soil consists of loose mate- 
 rials, upon which running water has a 
 powerful action, the rivers are not 
 only gradually and constantly chang- 
 ing their places, by wearing down their 
 banks, but very often a small obstacle 
 placed in one of these channels forces 
 the water into another, and as that 
 by degrees becomes wider, the first is 
 wholly abandoned in the dry season, 
 and ceasing to have a current, becomes 
 a stagnant marsh. These unceasing 
 aberrations of the river are attended 
 with much inconvenience to the land- 
 holders, one person’s ground being 
 carried away, and that of another en- 
 larged, while the land assessment on 
 both continues the same. No build- 
 ings intended for duration can be 
 raised on so unstable a foundation, 
 so that the wealthy have little comfort 
 in their dwellings, and the country is 
 destitute of ornament. With regard 
 to those of the poor classes, a village 
 in Bengal is removed with very little 
 
 17 5 
 
 inconvenience, such a change of place 
 being considered an ordinary casualty, 
 frequently occasioned by an unsea- 
 sonable shower. These migrations 
 affect the inhabitants but very little, 
 for even in common there are not 
 many houses that last three years, 
 partly owing to the slightness of the 
 materials, and partly to the frequency 
 of fires. The principal rivers of the 
 province are the 
 
 Ganges, 
 Brahmaputra, 
 Roopnarrain, 
 Dummooda, 
 Teesta, 
 Kooram, 
 
 Korotaya, 
 Manas, 
 Cosi 
 Conki, 
 Manas, and 
 Jhinayi. 
 
 There are not any lakes in Bengal re- 
 sembling those of Scotland or Cana- 
 da, but there is a profusion of exten- 
 sive jeels, which may be either de- 
 nominated shallow lakes or deep mo- 
 rasses. A large proportion of these in 
 the dry season contain little water, 
 but during the rains present immense 
 sheets, over which boats of the great- 
 est magnitude may be navigated, and 
 some are navigable to a certain extent 
 throughout the whole year. There is 
 reason to believe that nearly all these 
 stagnant sheets of water rest in what 
 were at a remote period the channels 
 of large rivers, which have since al- 
 tered their courses, and now flow in 
 another direction. 
 
 The periodical winds that prevail 
 in the Bay of Bengal, extend their 
 influence over the flat country, until 
 they are diverted by chains of moun- 
 tains into another direction, nearly 
 correspondent, however, with the 
 course of the Ganges ; for when a 
 province is traversed by large rivers, 
 it is probable that the winds are much 
 influenced by the tendency of their 
 course. In the south of Bengal the 
 prevailing winds are north and south ; 
 in Bahar east and west ; and the same 
 takes place in Assam, following the 
 direction of the Brahmaputra. In 
 Bengal northerly and southerly winds 
 blow alternately, during unequal por- 
 tions of the year, over that quarter of 
 the province that faces the head of 
 the bay. The seasons of Bengal con- 
 form nearly with these changes of the 
 
BENGAL. 
 
 176 
 
 prevailing winds, and are usually dis- 
 tinguished by the terms cold, hot, and 
 rainy. 
 
 In the beginning of April, and some- 
 times earlier, particularly in the south- 
 eastern quarter of Bengal, there are 
 frequent storms of thunder, light- 
 ning, wind, and rain, from the north- 
 west, which happen more frequently 
 towards the close of the day than at 
 any other time. During this, much 
 attention is required in navigating the 
 rivers. These squalls moderate the 
 heat, and continue until the setting 
 in of the periodical rains, which ge- 
 nerally commence early in June. If 
 the rains break up in the beginning of 
 September, the weather is intensely 
 hot, and the inhabitants, especially 
 the European part, become very sick- 
 ly. The natives from the result of 
 their own experience assign six sea- 
 sons to the year, each containing two 
 months. The spring and dry sea- 
 son occupy four months, during which 
 the heat progressively increases, until 
 it becomes almost intolerable, even 
 to those born in the country. In the 
 middle districts it is lessened by occa- 
 sional thunder storms, named north- 
 westers, and in the eastern mild 
 showers of rain are still more fre- 
 quent, and refresh the earth. 
 
 The scorched inhabitants are at 
 length relieved by the rainy season, 
 which in general commences nearly at 
 the same season throughout the whole 
 province. During the two first months 
 the rain is heavy and continual. In this 
 period an interval of several successive 
 days is rare, and the rain pours with 
 such force and perseverance, that 
 three, four, and even five inches of wa- 
 ter, have been known to fall in a single 
 day. In the two following months the 
 intermissions are more frequent, and 
 of longer duration, and the weather 
 more sultry. The rivers, and especi- 
 ally the Ganges, which begin to rise 
 even before the commencement of the 
 rainy season, continue to increase dur- 
 ing the two first months of it, and the 
 Ganges reaches its greatest height in 
 the third. By this time the rivers of 
 Bengal are much swollen, and the 
 Delta of the Ganges overflowed. 
 
 The average annual fall of rain in the 
 lower parts of Bengal is seldom short 
 of 70, and as rarely exceeds 80 inches. 
 
 About the middle of autumn the 
 rivers begin to decrease, and as winter 
 approaches the showers cease to fall, 
 and the inundation gradually drains 
 off and evaporates. Fogs, the natural 
 consequence of such evaporation in 
 cold weather, are frequent in most 
 parts of Bengal Proper. Dew at this 
 season is every where abundant and 
 penetrating; and in the higher lati- 
 tudes of India, as well as in the moun- 
 tainous tracts, frost and extreme cold 
 are experienced. Even in the flat 
 country it is obtained by the simple 
 artifice of assisting evaporation in po- 
 rous vessels, although the atmosphere 
 be much warmer than the freezing 
 temperature. Throughout the whole 
 winter in Bengal, dews continue co- 
 pious, and greatly assist vegetation, 
 affording nearly as much moisture as 
 corn requires in so loose a soil. The 
 barometer here is remarkably station- 
 ary, standing within a few tenths of 
 an inch of the same height throughout 
 the year, and exhibiting within these 
 narrow limits the phenomenon of di- 
 urnal tides. 
 
 As the damp of the climate cannot 
 be ascribed to any inherent moisture 
 of the earth, it must originate from 
 causes on or above the surface; to 
 the want of a general system of 
 drainage in so level a country ; to the 
 luxuriant vegetation, and to the 
 closeness of the woods, which, not 
 being adequately opened, obstruct 
 the ventilation of the surface, and 
 retain a redundant and unwholesome 
 quantity of moisture, amidst rotten 
 leaves and putrid vegetable substan- 
 ces. In the cold and dry seasons the 
 heavy dews are probably not more 
 than sufficient to supply the daily ex- 
 haustion of the sun, and probably 
 rather contribute to salubrity than 
 otherwise. Under these circumstan- 
 ces the principal experiments should 
 be directed to draining on a general 
 plan, and the cutting of broad, straight 
 roads through the forests and jungles, 
 as much as possible in the direction 
 of the prevailing winds. 
 
BENGAL. 
 
 177 
 
 The general soil of Bengal is clay 
 with a considerable proportion of 
 siliceous sand, fertilized by various 
 salts, and by decayed substances, 
 animal and vegetable. In the flat 
 country sand is every where the basis 
 of this stratum of productive earth, 
 which indicates an accession of soil 
 on land that has been gained by the 
 dereliction of the water. A period 
 of thirty years scarcely covers the 
 barren sand with soil sufficient to 
 reward the labours of the husband- 
 man ; the lapse of half a century 
 does not remove it half a span from 
 the surface. In tracts that are an- 
 nually inundated the progress is more 
 rapid, because the superincumbent 
 water deposits sand, and keeps the 
 clay, calcareous matter, and other 
 fertilizing substances, suspended. If 
 the various proportions of clay and 
 sand, and the circumstance of fre- 
 quent alterations in the channels of 
 rivers be considered, great inequali- 
 ties of soil may be expected, although 
 it be composed of few substances. 
 In sinking a well near the banks of 
 the Hooghly, in the vicinity of Cal- 
 cutta, no springs of fresh water 
 were reached at the depth of 140 
 feet, although it had always been a 
 commonly received opinion that the 
 soil of Bengal was particularly moist 
 and full of springs. The first ap- 
 pearance of damp was at the depth 
 of seventy-one feet, and below se- 
 venty-six feet was as dry as on the 
 surface; and in this experiment the 
 borer must have descended nearly to 
 the level of the sea. Throughout 
 the whole of these strata no traces 
 of volcanic matter was discovered, 
 which renders it probable that the 
 shocks of earthquakes about Cal- 
 cutta, if they have any sympathy 
 with volcanoes, do not originate 
 from any very proximate cause, which 
 is also corroborated by the general 
 feebleness of the shocks. The Mon- 
 ghir hills, which are said to contain 
 volcanic matter, lie at the distance 
 of 250 miles from Calcutta. 
 
 In the tracts subject to annual in- 
 undation, insulated habitations, and 
 fields considerably raised above the 
 
 VOL. r. 
 
 level of the country, exhibit the ef- 
 fects of patient industry. In the 
 same space during the rainy season, 
 a scene presents itself interesting by 
 its novelty : a navigation over fields 
 submerged to a considerable depth, 
 while the ears of rice float on the 
 surface, and stupendous dykes, not 
 altogether preventing inundation, but 
 moderating its violence. The pea- 
 sants repairing to the markets, and 
 even to the fields, on embarkations, 
 accompanied by their families and 
 domestic animals, from an apprehen- 
 sion that the water might rise sud- 
 denly, and drown their children and 
 cattle in the absence of their boats. 
 When the peasant’s habitation is 
 passed, and the height of the flood 
 observed nearly to the level of the 
 artificial mound on which it stands, 
 his precaution does not appear su- 
 perfluous. 
 
 The assemblage of peasants in 
 their villages, their small farms, and 
 the want of enclosures, bar all great 
 improvements in husbandry, especi- 
 ally in a country so infested with 
 tigers and gang robbers (dacoits) 
 or river pirates, that solitary dwel- 
 lings and unattended cattle would 
 be insecure. Another obstacle to im- 
 provement is the mixture of trades ; 
 the peasants indifferently quitting the 
 plough to use the loom, and the 
 loom to resume the plough. 
 
 In Bengal and Bahar only one- 
 third of the land is estimated to be 
 tilled, but this is exclusive of lays 
 and fallows. In England there are 
 four acres of arable and meadow land 
 for every inhabitant ; in Bengal little 
 more than one acre of tilled land for 
 each individual. The natural sea- 
 sons of rice are ascertained from the 
 progress of the wild plant, which 
 sows itself in the first months of the 
 winter, and vegetates with the early 
 moisture at the approach of the rains. 
 During the period of the rains it 
 ripens, and drops its seed with the 
 commencement of winter. But the 
 common husbandry of Bengal sows 
 the rice at the season when it would 
 naturally vegetate, to gather a crop 
 in the rains ; it also withholds seed 
 
 N 
 
178 
 
 BENGAL, 
 
 until the second month of that sea- 
 son, and reaps the harvest the be- 
 ginning of winter. The rice of this 
 crop is esteemed the best, not being 
 equally liable with the other to decay. 
 The several seasons of cultivation, 
 added to the influence of soil and 
 climate, have influenced the different 
 species of rice to an endless diversity. 
 
 Other corn is more limited in its 
 varieties and seasons. Of wheat and 
 barley few sorts are distinguished j 
 they are all sown at the commence- 
 ment of the cold season, and reaped 
 in spring. A great variety of diffe- 
 rent kinds of pulse (such as pease, 
 chiches, pigeon pease, kidney beans) 
 finds its place also in the occupations 
 of husbandry, no season being with- 
 out its appropriate species, but most 
 sorts are sown and reaped in winter. 
 These thrive on poor soils, and re- 
 quire but little culture. Millet and 
 other small grain are also of impor- 
 tance ; several sorts, restricted to no 
 particular season, and vegetating ra- 
 pidly, are useful, because they occupy 
 an interval after a late harvest which 
 does not admit the usual course of 
 husbandry. Maize is less cultivated 
 in Bengal than in most countries 
 where it is acclimated. It is the most 
 usual produce of poor soils in hilly 
 countries, and is consequently very 
 generally cultivated in the more west- 
 ern districts, which are of an irregu- 
 lar surface. 
 
 The universal and vast consump- 
 tion of vegetable oils throughout 
 Bengal is supplied by the extensive 
 cultivation of mustard-seed, linseed, 
 sesamum, and palma christi, besides 
 what is procured from the cocoa-nut. 
 The first occupy the cold season ; the 
 sesamum ripens during the rains, 
 or early after their close. Among 
 the most important productions of 
 Bengal are tobacco, indigo, cotton, 
 the mulberry, and poppy, most of 
 which require land solely appro- 
 priated to the cultivation of each. 
 It is a well-known fact, that newly 
 cleared land, for the first four or five 
 years, yields the most productive 
 crops of indigo. The grand object 
 of the farmer in Bengal is to have an 
 
 equable supply of water; and the 
 rains in general are so copious, that 
 if the water were confined on the 
 spot where it fell, the supply would 
 never fail, and it never would be too 
 great, as the power of vegetation 
 would always surpass the rise of the 
 water. But as even in Bengal there 
 are inequalities of surface, the lower 
 parts are often drowned by sudden 
 rains and the upper frequently scorch- 
 ed by too long intervals of fair wea- 
 ther. The natives have in conse- 
 quence an opinion, which appears 
 well-founded, that there cannot be 
 too many small embankments. 
 
 The plough in this province is 
 drawn by a single yoke of oxen guided 
 by the ploughman, and two or three 
 yokes of oxen,assigned to each plough, 
 relieve each other until the task is 
 completed. Several ploughs in suc- 
 cession deepen the furrows, or rather 
 scratch the surface, for the implement 
 used throughout India wants a con- 
 trivance for turning up the earth, and 
 the share has neither width or depth 
 sufficient to stir a new soil. A se- 
 cond ploughing crosses the first, and 
 a third is sometimes given diagonally 
 to the preceding. These frequently 
 repeated, and followed by a branch 
 of a tree, or some other substitute 
 for a harrow, pulverize the soil and 
 prepare it for the reception of seed. 
 The field must be watched several 
 days to defend it from the flocks of 
 birds, and it is necessary still longer 
 to prolong the defence of the field in 
 such tracts as are much infested by 
 wild deer, boars, buffaloes, and ele- 
 phants. For this purpose a bamboo 
 stage is erected, and a watchman sta- 
 tioned on it, to scare away wild ani- 
 mals should any approach. In all 
 districts, maize, and some sorts of 
 millet, when nearly arrived at ma- 
 turity, generally need defence from 
 the depredations of birds by day, and 
 of large bats by night. The sickle 
 (for the scythe is unknown) reaps 
 every harvest? as with it the peasant 
 picks out the ripest plants. 
 
 The practice of stacking corn re- 
 served for seed is very unusual, the 
 husk that covers rice preserving it 
 
BENGAL. 
 
 179 
 
 so effectually. At the peasant’s conve- 
 nience the cattle tread out the corn, or 
 his staff threshes out the smaller seeds. 
 The practice of storing grain in sub- 
 terraneous hoards, which is frequent 
 in Benares and the upper provinces, 
 and also in the south of India, is not 
 adapted to the damp climate and moist 
 soil of Bengal, where grain is hoarded 
 above ground in round huts, raised 
 from the ground and in large piles, 
 the self-generated heat of which will 
 not allow insects to live within the 
 heap. If rice be used too soon after 
 it is gathered (for instance, one or two 
 months) it has been found experimen- 
 tally to be very unwholesome food. 
 
 In the management of forced rice 
 irrigation, dams and embankments re- 
 tain the water on extensive plains, or 
 preserve it in lakes, to water lower 
 land as occasion may require. Re- 
 servoirs, ponds, water-courses, and 
 dykes are more generally in a progress 
 of decay than improvement. The ro- 
 tation of crops which engrosses so 
 much the attention of enlightened cul- 
 tivators in Europe, is not understood 
 in Hindustan, and a course of hus- 
 bandry extending beyond the year 
 was never dreamed of by a Bengal 
 farmer. Neither is he, in the suc- 
 cession within the year, guided by any 
 choice of an article adapted to res- 
 tore fertility to land impoverished by 
 a former crop. The Indian cultivator 
 allows his field a lay, but never a fal- 
 low. The cattle kept for labour and 
 subsistence are mostly fed on small 
 commons, or other pasturage, or at 
 home on cut grass. The cattle for 
 breeding and for the dairy are grazed 
 in numerous herds in the forests or 
 on the downs. The dung, in place of 
 being applied to the fields, is care- 
 fully collected for fuel. The Bengal 
 farmer restricts the use of manure to 
 sugar-cane, mulberry, tobacco, poppy, 
 and some other articles. 
 
 In Bengal many tanks have been 
 dug, which are frequently used in 
 supplying the inhabitants with water, 
 not only for domestic purposes, but 
 also for irrigation. But ostentation, 
 and the love of fame, have in some 
 parts increased the number and size 
 
 of these excavations to a destructive 
 extent, no one being interested in 
 their repair, which is not productive 
 of any reputation. Almost every 
 tank, therefore, is soon choked up 
 with aquatic plants, and becomes a 
 source of vile smells, bad water, and 
 distempers; and there being many 
 more tanks than are requisite, much 
 land is thereby lost to agriculture. In 
 some parts of the province the evil 
 has reached to such a pitch, that the 
 digging of a new tank ought to be 
 prohibited, unless the necessity for 
 its construction be previously esta- 
 blished, and security ought to betaken 
 for its being kept in proper repair, 
 and free from noxious weeds. At 
 present the only measure taken by the 
 natives for this purpose in large tanks, 
 is to place a quantity of mercury at 
 the bottom of the tank on its first 
 formation ; and although numberless 
 examples of the inefficacy of this ab- 
 surd expedient daily occur, the exca- 
 vators continue perfectly credulous. 
 
 The simple tools employed by the 
 native in every art are so coarse, and 
 apparently so inadequate to his pur- 
 pose, that it creates surprise how he 
 can effect his undertaking ; but the 
 long continuance of feeble efforts ac- 
 complishes what, compared with the 
 means, appears impracticable. The 
 plough is the instrument that stands 
 most in need of improvement. The 
 readiness with which the Indian can 
 turn from his usual occupation to any 
 other branch of the same art, or to a 
 new profession, is characteristic of his 
 country, and the success of his ear- 
 liest efforts, in any employment new 
 to him, is daily remarked with won- 
 der. The want of capital in ma- 
 nufactures and agriculture prevents 
 the subdivision of labour, every ma- 
 nufacturer and artist working on his 
 own account, conducts the whole 
 process of his art, from the formation 
 of his tools to the sale of his pro- 
 duction, Every labourer and artizan 
 who has frequently occasion to recur 
 to the labours of the field, becomes a 
 husbandman. 
 
 A cultivator in Bengal who employs 
 servants, employs one for each plough, 
 
 V % 
 
180 
 
 BENGAL. 
 
 anti pays him monthly wages, which 
 on an average do not exceed one ru- 
 pee per month, and in a very cheap 
 district, the wages are so low as half 
 a rupee ; but the task on the medium 
 of one-third of an acre per day is 
 completed by noon. The cattle are 
 then left to the herdsman’s care, and 
 the ploughman follows other occupa- 
 tions during the remainder of the day. 
 Generally he cultivates some land on 
 his own account, and this he com- 
 monly rents from his employer for a 
 payment in kind. If the herd be 
 sufficiently numerous to occupy one 
 person, a servant is entertained, and 
 receives in food, money, and clothing 
 to the value of one rupee and a-half 
 per mensem. The plough itself costs 
 less than a rupee. The cattle em- 
 ployed in husbandry are of the small- 
 est kind, the cost on an average not 
 being more than five rupees each. 
 The price of labour may be computed 
 from the usual hire of a plough with 
 its yoke and oxen, which may be 
 stated on the medium to be about 
 4 d. per day. The cleaning of the rice 
 is executed with a wooden pestle and 
 mortar, the allowance for husking it 
 being nearly uniform, the performer 
 contracting to deliver back five- 
 eighths of the weight in clean rice, 
 the surplus, with the chaff or bran, 
 paying for the labour. Five quarters 
 of rice per acre are reckoned a large 
 produce, and a return of fifteen for 
 one on the seed. 
 
 As a middle course of husbandry, 
 two yearly harvests may be assumed 
 from each field : one of white corn, 
 and another of pulse, oil seed, or 
 millet. The price of corn fluctuates 
 much more here than in Europe, and 
 has a considerable influence on the 
 value of most other articles, though 
 it cannot regulate the price of all. 
 When the crops of corn happen to be 
 abundant, it is not only cheap, but 
 wants a ready market ; and as the 
 payment of the rent is regulated by 
 the season of the harvest, the culti- 
 vator thereby sustains considerable 
 detriment. In Bengal, where the re- 
 venue of the state has had the form 
 of land rent, the management of the 
 
 public finances has a more direct in- 
 fluence on agriculture than any other 
 branch of the administration. The 
 price of rice has rather diminished 
 than increased since British conquest, 
 nor has Bengal suffered a famine of 
 any severity since A.D. 1770. 
 
 The orchard of this province is 
 what chiefly attaches the peasant to 
 his native soil, although the seasons 
 in Bengal are not favourable for the 
 production of many kinds of fruit, 
 owing to the rains occupying great 
 part of the summer ; and the heat of 
 the spring is not sufficient to bring 
 them to maturity before the rainy 
 season commences. But he feels a 
 superstitious veneration for the trees 
 planted by his ancestors, and derives 
 comfort and profit from their fruit. 
 Orchards of mangoe trees diversify 
 the plain in every part of Bengal, and 
 the palmyra abounds in Bahar. The 
 cocoa-nut thrives in those parts of 
 Bengal that are not remote from the 
 sea, and the date tree grows every 
 where, but especially in Bahar. Plan- 
 tations of areca are common in the 
 central parts of Bengal ; the bassia 
 thrives even in the poorest soils, and 
 abounds in the hilly districts. Its 
 inflated corollas are excellent and 
 nutritious, and yield by distillation an 
 intoxicating spirit. The oil expressed 
 from its seeds, in mountainous tracts, 
 is a common subtitute for butter. 
 Clumps of bamboos abound and flou- 
 rish as long as they are not too has- 
 tily thinned. This gigantic grass is 
 remarkable for the rapidity of its 
 growth. Its greatest height (from 
 forty to fifty feet) is completed in a 
 single year, and during the second, 
 its wood acquires all the hardness 
 and elasticity which render it so 
 useful. They supply the peasant with 
 materials for building and may also 
 yield him a profit, as it is probable 
 a single acre of thriving bamboos 
 produces more wood than ten of any 
 other tree. 
 
 Potatoes have been introduced into 
 Bengal, and apparently with the most 
 beneficial effect. The quantity pro- 
 cured by Europeans at almost every 
 season of the year proves that they 
 
BENGAL. 
 
 181 
 
 are not unsuited to the climate, and 
 the small potatoe is little if at all in- 
 ferior to that of England ; but the 
 crop being less abundant, in the mar- 
 ket this root is generally dearer than 
 rice. The watery insipidity of tro- 
 pical vegetables, is a circumstance 
 universally remarked by Europeans 
 on their arrival in India. Asparagus, 
 cauliflower, and other esculent plants, 
 are raised for European consumption, 
 but they are comparatively tasteless. 
 
 The profits of cattle consist in the 
 increase of stock, and the milk of 
 buffaloes, which are grazed at a very 
 small expense. The milk of the lat- 
 ter is universally preferred by the Ben- 
 galese and most other Hindostanies, 
 to that of cows, which is compara- 
 tively little used, although to a Euro- 
 pean taste the first is insipid, and the 
 butter made from it disagreeable. Cat- 
 tle constitute a considerable portion of 
 the peasant’s wealth, and the profits 
 of stock would be much greater did 
 the consumption of animal food take 
 off the barren cows, and oxen that 
 have passed their prime. This is not 
 sufficient to render sheep an object 
 of general attention. Their wool 
 supplies the home consumption of 
 blankets, but it is too coarse, and 
 brings too low a price to afford a 
 large profit on this species of stock. 
 
 The native Bengally horse or tat- 
 too, is a thin, ill-shaped, vicious, and 
 every way contemptible animal, and 
 is never used in a team, bullocks 
 being better adapted for that species 
 of labour. The Bengally cart is 
 nearly as bad as their plough, with 
 clumsy wheels and axletrees, which 
 never being oiled, make a loud 
 creaking noise; nor can the native 
 driver be prevailed on to alter what 
 was the custom, of his forefathers. 
 The elephants, camels, and oxen at- 
 tached to the commissariat, are kept 
 in excellent condition. The buffa- 
 loes are generally of a dirty black 
 colour, with long semicircular horns, 
 which instead of standing or bending 
 forward, are laid backwards on the 
 neck, so that when he attacks he is 
 obliged to put his snout between his 
 forelegs, to enable him to point his 
 
 horns forward. The Bengalese sheep 
 are naturally a thin, lank, and dimi- 
 nutive breed, of a dark grey colour, 
 beside which, a European sheep 
 seems a monster in size ; but when 
 fattened for table, the mutton equals 
 the best of Europe, and greatly sur- 
 passes the generality. 
 
 Pariah dogs infest the streets of all 
 the towns in Bengal, and the ap- 
 proach of evening is announced by 
 the howling of jackalls, which then 
 quit their retreats in the jungles. 
 Apes and monkeys swarm in the 
 woods, and sometimes plunder the 
 fruit shops of a village. Being a sa- 
 cred animal, the natives often volun- 
 tarily supply their wants, and seldom 
 injure them. The Brahminy or sa- 
 cred bull of the Hindoos, also ram- 
 bles over the country without inter- 
 ruption. He is caressed and pampered 
 by the people, to feed him being 
 deemed a meritorious act of religion. 
 The crow, kite, mayana (or grakle) 
 hop about the dwellings of the Ben- 
 galese with a familiarity and sense 
 of safety unknown in Eorope. Gi- 
 gantic herons (ardea ardgala) are 
 seen in great numbers, and from their 
 solemn military strut, are named 
 adjutants by the European soldiers ; 
 toads, snakes, frogs, lizards, and 
 other reptiles* which are their food, 
 abound. 
 
 The abundance of fish affords a 
 supply almost attainable by every 
 class, and in the Ganges and its in-, 
 numerable branches are many differ- 
 ent kinds. Their plenty at some sea- 
 sons is so great that they become the 
 food of the poorest natives, who are 
 said to contract diseases from a too 
 liberal indulgence. The smallest kind 
 are all equally acceptable in a curry, 
 the standing dish of every native fa- 
 mily throughout Hindostan ; and in 
 fact, with a pilau, comprehends their 
 whole art of cookery. The bickty 
 or cockup, is an excellent fish ; as is 
 also the sable fish, which is uncom- 
 monly rich, and eats best as a tama- 
 rind pickle. But the highest flavour- 
 ed fish, not only in Bengal but in 
 the whole world, is the mangoe fish, 
 thus named from its appearing in the 
 
182 
 
 BENGAL 
 
 rivers during the mangoe season, 
 when it is a favourite dish (especially 
 in roe) at every European table. It is 
 remarkable that the mangoe fish, al- 
 though a sea fish, and found exclusive- 
 ly within the influence of the tides, 
 has never been observed in the Krish- 
 na, Godavery, or any of the Deccany 
 rivers, nor in fact any where along the 
 bay except in Bengal and the rivers of 
 Ava. The sable fish is also found in 
 the Cavery. Mullet abound in all 
 rivers within a certain distance of the 
 sea, and may be killed with small shot 
 as they swim against the stream with 
 their heads partly out of the water. 
 Oysters are procured from the south- 
 ern coast of Chittagong, not so large, 
 but fully as well flavoured as those of 
 Europe; turtle of a good quality 
 from Cheduba and the coast of Ara- 
 can. Porpoises abound in all the 
 large rivers within 200 miles of the 
 sea, and alligators in almost every 
 river, where there are also incredible 
 quantities of small turtle, which are 
 eaten by the inferior castes. 
 
 The staple productions of Bengal 
 for exportation are sugar, tobacco, 
 silk, cotton, and indigo. 
 
 Tobacco, it is probable, was un- 
 known to India as well as to Europe 
 before the discovery of America. It 
 appears from a proclamation of the 
 Emperor Jehanghire, mentioned by 
 that prince in his own memoirs, that 
 it was introduced by Europeans, ei- 
 ther during his own reign (the begin- 
 ning of the seventeenth century) or 
 in that of his father Acber. The 
 Hindoos have names for the plant in 
 their own languages; but these names, 
 not excepting the Sanscrit, seem to 
 be corrupted from the European de- 
 nomination of the plant, and not to 
 be found in ancient compositions. 
 The practice, however, of inhaling 
 the smoke of hempdeaves, and of 
 other intoxicating drugs, is of long 
 standing, so that tobacco, when once 
 introduced, soon became general 
 throughout India, and the plant is 
 now one of universal cultivation 
 throughout Hindostan. 
 
 The sugar-cane, the name of which 
 was scarcely known to the ancient 
 
 inhabitants of Europe, grew luxu- 
 riantly throughout Bengal in the re- 
 motest times. From India the plant 
 was carried to Arabia, and from 
 thence to Europe and Africa. From 
 Benares to Rungpoor, and from the 
 borders of Assam to Cuttack, there 
 is scarcely a district in the province 
 where the sugar-cane does not flou- 
 rish. It thrives most especially in 
 Benares, Bahar, Rungpoor, Birbhoom, 
 Burdwan, and Midnapoor, is suc- 
 cessfully cultivated in all, and there 
 seems to be no other bounds to the 
 possible production of sugar in Ben- 
 gal than the limits of the demand, 
 and consequent vent for it. The 
 growth for home consumption and 
 inland trade is immense, and it only 
 needs encouragement to provide for 
 Europe also, being cheaply produced 
 and frugally manufactured. 
 
 Cotton is cultivated in Bengal, but 
 the enormous quantity exported by 
 sea is almost exclusively the produce 
 of the northern provinces and of the 
 Deccan, which also furnish a consi- 
 derable portion of that used for in- 
 ternal consumption. The names of 
 cotton in most European languages 
 are obviously derived from the Ara- 
 bic word kutn, pronounced cootn. 
 Some sorts are indigenous to Ame- 
 rica, others are certainly natives of 
 India, which has at all times been 
 the country most celebrated for cot- 
 ton manufactures. 
 
 Europe was anciently supplied with 
 silk through the medium of Indian 
 commerce. The dead language of 
 India (the Sanscrit) has names for 
 the silk-worm and manufactured silk, 
 and among the numerous tribes of 
 Hindoos derived from the intermix- 
 ture of the original races, there are 
 two classes mentioned whose appro- 
 priate occupation was the feeding of 
 silk-worms, and the spinning of silk. 
 A person who feeds his own silk- 
 worms has full employment for his 
 family. The rearing of them is prin- 
 cipally confined to a section of Burd- 
 wan, and to the vicinity of the Bha- 
 girathi and great Ganges, from the 
 fork of these rivers, for about 100 
 miles down their streams. The sta- 
 
BENGAL. 
 
 183 
 
 tions where the East-India Company’s 
 investment of silk is mostly procured 
 are Commercolly, Jungeypoor, Bau- 
 leah, Malda, Radanagore, Rungpoor, 
 and Cossimbazar. There is also a 
 considerable quantity of silk obtained 
 from wild silk-worms, and from those 
 reared on other plants besides the 
 mulberry. Much silk of this kind 
 supplies home consumption ; much is 
 imported from the countries situated 
 on the north-west border of Bengal, 
 and the southern frontier of Benares; 
 much is exported, wrought and un- 
 wrought, to the western parts of 
 India, and some enters into manu- 
 factures much esteemed in Europe. 
 Four crops of mulberry-leaves are 
 obtained from the same field in the 
 course of each year — the best in 
 December. 
 
 The manufacture of indigo appears 
 to have been known and practised in 
 India from the earliest period. From 
 this country, whence it derives its 
 name, Europe was anciently supplied 
 with it, until the produce of America 
 engrossed the market. The spirited 
 exertions of a few individuals re- 
 stored this commerce to Bengal, 
 solely by the superior qualities of 
 their manufactures ; for so far as re- 
 gards the culture no material change 
 has taken place in the practice of the 
 native. 
 
 The principal food of the great 
 body of people who inhabit this pro- 
 vince is rice, of which, from the fer- 
 tility of the soil, the combined result 
 of an ardent sun, and the saturating 
 periodical rains, two crops are ob- 
 tained annually, besides a variety of 
 other cerealia and pulse. The first 
 harvest is gathered about the end of 
 August; the second, which is the 
 greatest, in December ; the lesser 
 articles from February until the end 
 of April ; so that the land yields its 
 fruits almost the whole year. In 
 general, the supply is so abundant as 
 to render Bengal the granary of India, 
 and it is at very distant intervals that 
 a season is not bountiful. The na- 
 tives, from their indolent and impro- 
 vident habits, never practised the 
 precaution of keeping a stock of 
 
 grain in reserve, the knowledge of 
 which, under a native government, 
 would have exposed them to its ex- 
 tortions. When a season of drought, 
 therefore, intervenes, the ground is 
 parched up, and a scarcity ensues, 
 which is aggravated to the poor by 
 the artifices of the grain-dealers; 
 should a deficiency of rain continue 
 through two succeeding seasons, the 
 grain in store would be wholly un- 
 equal to the supply of a people whose 
 subsistence is almost entirely vege- 
 table. 
 
 The exportation of grain from the 
 corn districts, and the returns of salt, 
 constitutes the principal objects of 
 internal trade. The importation of 
 cotton from the western provinces, 
 and the exchange of betel-nut, toge- 
 ther with a few articles of less note, 
 complete the supply for internal con- 
 sumption. Piece-goods, silk, salt- 
 petre, opium, sugar, and indigo, for- 
 merly passed almost wholly through 
 the Company’s hands ; but now all 
 sorts of traffic are much more open, 
 and practised generally by every de- 
 scription of merchant. Grain, the 
 internal commerce of which is en- 
 tirely conducted by the natives, sup- 
 plies the consumption of the cities 
 and the export trade of Bengal ; but, 
 except in cities, the great mass of 
 the population is every where sub- 
 sisted from the produce of their im- 
 mediate neighbourhood. 
 
 Plain muslins, distinguished by 
 their various names, according to the 
 closeness or fineness of their texture, 
 as well as flowered, striped, or 
 checkered, denominated from their 
 patterns, are fabricated chiefly in the 
 province of Dacca. The manufacture 
 of the thinnest sort of that muslin is 
 almost confined to that quarter; other 
 kinds, more closely woven, are manu- 
 factured on the western side of the 
 Delta of the Ganges ; and a different 
 sort, distinguished by more rigid tex- 
 ture, does not seem to be limited to 
 any district. Coarse muslins in the 
 shape of turbans, handkerchiefs, &c. 
 are made in almost every district, 
 and the northei.. parts of Benares 
 afford both plain and flowered mus- 
 
184 
 
 BENGAL. 
 
 tins, which are not ill adapted for 
 common use, though, like the Euro- 
 pean article, incapable of sustaining 
 any competition with the beautiful 
 and inimitable fabrics of Dacca. 
 
 Under the general name of calicoes 
 are included various sorts of cotton 
 cloth, such as baftaes, cossaes, &c.* to 
 which no English names have as yet 
 been affixed ; they are found every 
 where, and are, for the most part, 
 known in Europe by their Indian deno- 
 minations. Pack-thread is woven in 
 sackcloth in many places, more espe- 
 cially on the northern frontier of Ben- 
 gal, where it is employed as clothing 
 by the mountaineers. A sort of can- 
 vas is made from cotton in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Chittagong, Patna, and 
 some other places, and blankets for 
 common use are made every where. 
 A coarse cotton cloth, dyed red with 
 cheap materials, is chiefly manufac- 
 tured in the centre of the Doab ; 
 other sorts, more especially blue, are 
 prepared for inland commerce and 
 exportation; both fine and coarse cali- 
 coes receive a topical dyeing, with 
 permanent and fugitive colours. The 
 zemindary of Benares, the city of 
 Patna, and the neighbourhood of 
 Calcutta, are the principal seats of 
 this manufacture of chintzes, which 
 appears to be an original art in India, 
 invented long ago, and brought to a 
 perfection not yet surpassed in Eu- 
 rope. Dimities of various kinds, and 
 damask linen, are made at Dacca, 
 Patna, Taunda, and other places. 
 
 The neighbourhood of Moorshe- 
 dabad is the chief seat of the manu- 
 facture of wove silk and taffeta, both 
 plain and flowered ; tissues, brocades, 
 and ornamented gauzes, are the ma- 
 nufacture of Benares ; plain gauzes 
 are woven in the western and south- 
 ern corners of Bengal. The weaving 
 of mixed goods of silk and cotton 
 flourishes chiefly at Maulda, at Bogli- 
 poor, and at some towns in the dis- 
 trict of Burdwan ; a considerable 
 quantity of filature silk is exported 
 to the west of India, and much is 
 sold at Mirzapoor, passing thence to 
 Central Hindostan. 
 
 Tusser, a wild silk, is procured in 
 
 abundance from countries bordering 
 on Bengal, and also from districts in- 
 cluded within its limits. The wild 
 silk-worms are there found on various 
 sorts of trees, common in the forests 
 of Silhet, Assam, and the Deccan ; 
 the cones are large, but sparingly 
 covered with silk, which in colour 
 and lustre is greatly inferior to that 
 of the domesticated insect. Its cheap- 
 ness renders it useful in the fabrica- 
 tion of coarse silk; the production 
 may be greatly increased by encou- 
 ragement, and a very large quantity 
 might be exported at a moderate ex- 
 pense. It might be applied in Europe 
 to the preparation of silk goods, and, 
 mixed with wool or cotton, form, as 
 it does in India, a beautiful and ac- 
 ceptable article of dress. The manu- 
 facture of saltpetre scarcely passes 
 the eastern limits of the Bahar pro- 
 vince, under which head (as also that 
 of opium) it will be found described. 
 
 The export of hides from Bengal 
 may be greatly increased. Including 
 buffaloes, it is calculated that the 
 Company’s old provinces (Bengal, 
 Bahar, and Benares) contain fifty 
 millions of cattle ; but until recently 
 the demand was so small, that the 
 currier frequently neglected to take 
 the hide off' the cattle that died a na- 
 tural death. About 1797 some Eu- 
 ropeans engaged in the tanning of 
 leather, and the manufacture of boots 
 and shoes, which although not so 
 strong and water-proof as the British, 
 answer so well that they have greatly 
 reduced the exportation. The natives 
 have also arrived at considerable per- 
 fection in the fabrication of saddles, 
 harness, and military accoutrements, 
 and other articles composed princi- 
 pally of leather. An excellent can- 
 vass is now manufactured in Cal- 
 cutta, and sold much cheaper than 
 that imported from Europe. Now 
 that freight is reduced to its mini- 
 mum, corn of various kinds, and 
 more especially rice, admits of expor- 
 tation, as also rum, little inferior to 
 that of Jamaica, with liquorice and 
 ginger, which last is annually export- 
 ed in increasing quantities. 
 
 It is extremely probable that an- 
 
BENGAL. 
 
 185 
 
 liotto, madder, coffee, cocoa, cochi- 
 neal, and even tea, would thrive in 
 British India, which now compre- 
 hends every variety of climate. The 
 plant from the seeds of which annot- 
 to is prepared is already cultivated 
 in Bengal, and coffee plants have 
 thriven in botanical and private gar- 
 dens. Madder is a native of the 
 mountainous regions bordering on 
 Bengal, and under the name of mun- 
 jeet is already a considerable article 
 of export. Various drugs used in 
 dyeing are sent to England, such as 
 galls, turmeric, safflower, and also 
 myrobalans, which are here used in 
 preference to galls. Morinda roots, 
 which give a permanent colour to 
 cotton, and blossoms of the nyctan- 
 ches, which give a durable colour to 
 silk. 
 
 Gum-arabic, and many other sorts 
 of gums and resins for manufactures, 
 are the produce of trees that grow 
 spontaneously in Bengal, besides a 
 multitude of medicinal drugs and 
 gums, which abound in Hindos- 
 tan and the adjacent countries. Ve- 
 getable oil, more particularly linseed, 
 might be supplied from these pro- 
 vinces, which are also adapted for 
 the cultivation of flax. Tincal, brought 
 from the table-land of Tibet, is among 
 the exports from Bengal, and vege- 
 table and mineral alkalies may here- 
 after become a considerable article of 
 commerce. The fossil alkali is found 
 in abundance, and the forests of Ben- 
 gal are capable of furnishing potash 
 in large quantities. The preparation 
 of sal-ammoniac might be advanta- 
 geously connected with the manufac- 
 ture of saltpetre. 
 
 Besides the articles above enume- 
 rated, having reference principally to 
 Bengal, the Indian markets furnish 
 .some previously imported from Chi- 
 na, the Eastern Isles, and Gulf of Per- 
 sia, aloes, assafoetida, benzoin, cam- 
 phor, cardamoms, cassia lignea, cas- 
 sia, and cassia buds, arrangoes, cow- 
 ries, China root, cinnabar, cloves, cin- 
 namon, nutmegs, mace, elephants’ 
 teeth, rattans, mother-o’-pearl, pep- 
 per, quicksilver, rhubarb, sago, scam- 
 mony, senna, and saffron ; and might 
 
 supply anise, coriander, cummin- 
 seed, and many other commodities 
 which would occupy too much room 
 to enumerate. Of hemp and flax, in 
 all their varities, and also of the dif- 
 ferent substitutes for these articles, 
 Bengal produces a greater abundance 
 than any other country. The true 
 hemp is found in many parts, but is 
 little used by the patives, except for 
 the seed oil as a medicine, and for an 
 intoxicating ingredient, often mixed 
 with the tobacco of the hooka. 
 
 The exports to Europe and the 
 United States of America still con- 
 stitute the most considerable portion 
 of the foreign commerce of Bengal. 
 The trade to China and the east- 
 ward now takes precedence of that 
 to the coast of Coromandel, which 
 last has dwindled away since the con- 
 quest of Mysore and settlement of 
 the Carnatic, events that have eman- 
 cipated Madras, with respect to grain, 
 from her former dependence on Ben- 
 gal. 
 
 Owing to its admirable facility of 
 transportation by water the internal 
 commerce of Bengal is very great, 
 but, as may be supposed in a country 
 so productive and thickly populated, 
 by far the most important interchange 
 is in the article of rice. Of this grain 
 in Bengal there is annually a great 
 variation of price, the difference be- 
 tween the months of July and De- 
 cember respectively being very re- 
 markable, and a source of great profit 
 to opulent speculators, but to the 
 indigent classes of cultivators of 
 infinite damage. These last obtain 
 rice for seed, and for the consump- 
 tion of their families, either by a 
 ruinous mortgage of the ensuing crop, 
 or at an exorbitant rate of interest in 
 the month of July, a period when the 
 price is almost uniformly at the high- 
 est. In January, when the principal 
 harvest is gathered, they are under 
 the immediate necessity of selling 
 the produce of their fields to dis- 
 charge the instalments then due, as 
 they have neither means to convey 
 the grain to a distant market, nor 
 resources to enable them to postpone 
 its sale until a more favourable pe- 
 
186 
 
 BENGAL. 
 
 riod. They are thus compelled at 
 once to glut a confined market with 
 the whole produce of their village, 
 where the only purchasers are the 
 rich speculators, who are conse- 
 quently enabled to fix the prices at 
 their own discretion. The evil is less 
 felt in the vicinity of great towns or 
 navigable rivers, nor does the Cal- 
 cutta price essentially vary at those 
 periods which in the interior of the 
 province are the cheapest and dearest 
 of the year. An investigation, made 
 in 1815, tended to prove that the 
 ten years from 1793 to 1803 were 
 collectively cheaper than the ten 
 preceding and following, and that the 
 price of rice and similar articles has 
 not experienced any permanent aug- 
 mentation since A.D. 1761. Since 
 1793, the average prices of ploughing 
 cattle have experienced a rise of 
 seventy-five per cent. ; but the hire 
 of coolies, or day labourers, in the 
 country, has not altered, being still 
 four and a half and five pons of cow- 
 ries per day. The rise of wages paid 
 to labourers by natives who cultivate 
 their own lands has been, on the 
 other hand, considerable. In 1793, 
 an able servant received about four 
 rupees per annum with his clothing 
 and diet, whereas in 1814 they re- 
 ceived six and eight rupees yearly, 
 and in some situations even more. 
 Near Calcutta in harvest time, the 
 usual price of 640 seers of paddy or 
 rice in the husk, is five rupees five 
 annas. 
 
 The inland navigation employs a 
 great many vessels, and it is interest- 
 ing to note, at a mart of great resort, 
 the various constructions of boats 
 assembled from different quarters, 
 each adapted to the nature of the 
 rivers they usually traverse. The flat 
 clinker-built vessels of the western 
 districts would be ill adapted to the 
 wide and stormy navigation of the 
 lower Ganges. The unwieldy bulk 
 of the lofty boats used on the Ganges 
 from Patna to Calcutta, would not 
 suit the rapid and shallow rivers of 
 the western tracts, nor the narrow 
 creeks that the vessels pass in the 
 eastern navigation ; and the low but 
 
 deep boats of these districts are not 
 adapted to the shoals of the western 
 rivers. In one navigation, wherein 
 the vessels descend with the stream 
 and return with the track rope, their 
 construction consults neither apti- 
 tude for the sail nor for the oar. In 
 the other, wherein boats are assisted 
 by the stream of the creek, and op- 
 posed by the current of the next, as 
 in the Sunderbunds, and under banks 
 impracticable for the tracking rope, 
 their principal dependence is on the 
 oar, for a winding course in narrow 
 channels permits no reliance on the 
 sail. Often grounding in the shal- 
 lows, vessels with keels would be 
 unsafe, and all Bengalese boat con- 
 structions want this addition so ne- 
 cessary for sailing. 
 
 These useful vessels are also very 
 cheaply found. A circular board tied 
 to a bamboo forms an oar, a wooden 
 triangular frame, loaded with some 
 heavy substance, is the anchor ; a few 
 bamboos lashed together supply the 
 mast ; a cane of the same species 
 serves as a yard for the sail, which 
 is made of coarse sackcloth ; some 
 from the twine made of the stem of 
 the rushy crotularia, or of the hibi- 
 scus. The trees of the country af- 
 ford resins to pay the vessels, and 
 a platform of mats, thatched with 
 straw, supplies the stead of a deck 
 to shelter the merchandize. The 
 vessels are navigated with equal fru- 
 gality ; the boatmen receive little 
 more than their food, which is most 
 commonly supplied in grain, together 
 with an inconsiderable allowance of 
 money, for the purchase of salt and 
 the supply of other petty wants. 
 Fifty years ago. Major Rennell esti- 
 mated the number of boatmen em- 
 ployed on the inland navigation of 
 Bengal and Bahar at thirty thou- 
 sand, but ten times that number 
 would apparently be nearer the mark 
 in such a region of rivers, where al- 
 most every cultivator and fisherman 
 is also occasionally a navigator. 
 
 In the land carriage the owners of 
 the cattle are also the principal traf- 
 fickers, oftener purchasing at one 
 market to sell at another, than let- 
 
BENGAL. 
 
 187 
 
 ting their cattle to hire to resident 
 merchants. They transport their 
 merchandize on oxen trained to bur- 
 then ; sometimes, but not frequently, 
 on horses of the tattoo breed, and 
 still more rarely on buffaloes. The 
 latter, although more docile are 
 more sluggish and slower travellers 
 than the ox, and do not bear a much 
 greater burthen ; besides which they 
 are too fond of lying down in the 
 many waters they have to wade 
 through with their loads. 
 
 The highways throughout Bengal, 
 except in the immediate vicinity of 
 the principal civil and military sta- 
 tions, are not generally in a condi- 
 dition for wheel carriages or for dis- 
 tant journies. At present the beaten 
 pathway through Bengal directs the 
 traveller, but no artificial road or 
 any accommodation, and in the rainy 
 season his progress is almost wholly 
 barred. The total decay of the pub- 
 lic roads must be ascribed to the 
 want of substantial and durable ma- 
 terials for their construction. The 
 Bengal government have completed 
 a road from Calcutta to Benares, but 
 even this road, for the space of about 
 seventy miles through the plains of 
 Bengal, is not passable for wheeled 
 carriages during several months of 
 the year. A road to Juggernauth 
 has been recently constructed, and 
 an officer is now employed in open- 
 ing a direct communication between 
 Calcutta and Nagpoor, by a road 
 intended to traverse the wilds and 
 fastnesses of Gundwana, which have 
 for ages formed an impenetrable bar- 
 rier between Bengal and the Deccan. 
 
 As yet Bengal may be said to have 
 but one harbour of maritime export, 
 which is Calcutta, although square- 
 rigged vessels of moderate burthen 
 occasionally load rice in some of the 
 Sunderbund rivers, and vessels of 
 large dimensions are built at, and 
 sail from Islamabad, the capital of 
 Chittagong. But the aggregate is in- 
 significant compared with the com- 
 merce of the great metropolis, under 
 which head some further details will 
 be found. 
 
 The original manner in which all in- 
 
 ternal commerce seems to have been 
 conducted in Bengal was at hauts 
 or open markets, and this practice is 
 still very prevalent. These hauts 
 are held on certain days only, and 
 are resorted to by petty venders and 
 traders, who wish to dispose of their 
 commodities by retail. They are 
 usually established in open plains, 
 where a flag-staff is erected, to the 
 vicinity of which the farmer brings 
 the produce of his lands, the me- 
 chanic of his workshop, and the fish- 
 erman of his net. On the festivals 
 of certain Hindoo gods, and of per- 
 sons reputed saints by the Mahome- 
 dans, a great number of persons as- 
 semble at spots esteemed peculiarly 
 sacred, and traders embrace these 
 opportunities of finding a market for 
 their goods, in supplying the wants 
 of the multitude. In Bengal a bazar 
 is a daily market, where things in 
 common use are regularly sold, and 
 it is not unusual to have them in a 
 haut, where a number of petty ven- 
 ders besides the established shop- 
 keepers frequent them. In gunges 
 or bunders the chief commodities 
 sold are grain and the necessaries of 
 life, and they often include bazars 
 and hauts, where the articles are 
 sold by retail and in great variety. 
 It is a very common termination for 
 the names of towns in Bengal, where 
 it is usually restricted to places that 
 have water-carriage. Dokan a shop, 
 and dokandar a shopkeeper, are Per- 
 sian words ; but until the arrival of 
 the Mahomedans such establishments 
 were probably very rare, or did not 
 at all exist in Bengal, where a vender 
 sitting in the open air, surrounded by 
 his goods, was the original native 
 manner of selling commodities ; and 
 in many parts of the province the 
 number of shops is still remarkably 
 small. 
 
 Out of Calcutta, and the two large 
 cities of Dacca and Moorshedabad, 
 the usual currency of Bengal is silver 
 and cowries ; gold seldom appears, 
 and copper has never been intro- 
 duced. Some years ago gold in the 
 provincial tracts was abundant, but 
 has since become very scarce, which 
 
188 
 
 BENGAL. 
 
 is a fortunate result for the poor, 
 who were greatly cheated in this ar- 
 ticle by the money-changers. The 
 most common silver currency is the 
 new milled coinage of Calcutta, of 
 which, however, a considerable por- 
 tion becomes speedily depreciated. 
 In the country there is still a con- 
 siderable number of the old un- 
 milled coinage, which is subjected to 
 a heavy batta or exchange ; but there 
 all minor transactions, and even some 
 of considerable magnitude, are set- 
 tled by cowries, which shell forms 
 an excellent medium of exchange 
 among many nations widely sepa- 
 rated from each other, and has the 
 recommendation of being altogther 
 inimitable. 
 
 Throughout the province there is 
 no uniformity of weights and mea- 
 sures, which not only vary in every 
 market, but are different in the same 
 market for different kinds of goods. 
 There are even different weights for 
 the same species, rice being sold by 
 one weight and bought by another. 
 Neither are there any stamps on the 
 weights, which are usually bits of 
 stone. There is no denomination of 
 weight greater than a maund, which 
 is subdivided into forty seers. In 
 Bengal a factory maund weighs se- 
 venty-four pounds ten ounces, and 
 a factory seer one pound thirteen 
 ounces ; but the bazar maund is ten 
 per cent, heavier, and equals eighty- 
 two pounds two ounces avoirdupois. 
 Liquids are sold by the seer or maund, 
 that is, by vessels supposed to con- 
 tain these weights. The grain mea- 
 sures are of basket-work in the shape 
 of a hemisphere, and are supposed, 
 when heaped, to contain a certain 
 quantity of rice in the husk. 
 
 During the Hindoo government, 
 bankers, or dealers in money, were 
 probably of small importance, and 
 low in rank ; but on the Mahome- 
 dan conquest, commerce seems to 
 have increased, and to facilitate its 
 operations bankers were introduced 
 from the west of India. During the 
 Mahomedan sway the revenue was 
 remitted to Moorshedabad by these 
 bankers, but since the British ascen- 
 
 dancy this branch of profit has been 
 lost to them in the provincial parts, 
 where they are now chiefly employed 
 by the landholders in keeping their 
 rents, paying the revenue, and taking 
 care of the surplus. Potdars, or mo- 
 ney-changers, are a very numerous 
 class, but many of them, having no 
 shop, sit in the open air with heaps of 
 cowries placed before them. In the 
 more rural tracts the money-changer 
 goes to market with a bag of cowries 
 on his head; if a rich man, with a load- 
 ed ox, which, if strong, may carry to 
 the value of 150 rupees. All the early 
 time of the market he sells cowries for 
 silver to the people, and in the even- 
 ing the various hucksters bring back 
 their cowries and exchange them for 
 silver, paying a batta in exchange 
 each way to the potdar. In Calcutta 
 cowries are reckoned thus, but in 
 the country parts they are much 
 cheaper : 
 
 4 cowries 1 gunda. 
 
 20 gundas 1 pon. 
 
 32 pons 1 current rupee, less 
 
 than 2s. (2,560 cowries). 
 
 It is customarjr with the money- 
 changers to lend to all servants who 
 have monthly wages, and at the end 
 of the month, when the wages be- 
 come due, they return the loan 
 in silver; for all this class, if trust- 
 ed, anticipate their income. La- 
 bourers among the natives receive 
 their daily pay in cowries ; the daily 
 markets, even of Europeans, are 
 made with these shells; they are 
 distributed in alms, used on all oc- 
 casions, and are, in fact, an excel- 
 lent unforgeable circulating medium, 
 and a proof of cheapness in what- 
 ever country they form the common 
 currency. The natives of course be- 
 come well acquainted with their qua- 
 lity, and a Bengalese huckster refuses 
 as stoutly a cowry with a hole in it, 
 as in England a shopkeeper does a 
 Birmingham shilling. 
 
 The inhabitants of Bengal Proper 
 are certainly numerous in proportion 
 to the tillage and manufactures that 
 employ their industry. It has, how- 
 ever, met with checks, as happened 
 in 1770, w,hen it is supposed nearly 
 
BENGAL. 
 
 189 
 
 one-fifth perished by famine. In 1784 
 the same calamity prevailed, but in 
 a much less degree; in 1787 many 
 lives were lost in the eastern districts 
 by inundation, and in 1788 by a par- 
 tial scarcity; but since the period 
 last mentioned, an interval of thirty- 
 nine years, famine and even scarcity 
 have been unknown, a fact probably 
 not to be paralleled in Asiatic his- 
 tory. Various estimates of the total 
 population have been made at differ- 
 ent times, but until 1801, during the 
 administration of the Marquis Wel- 
 lesley, no approach to actual investi- 
 gation was ever attempted. An in- 
 quiry of this description requires to 
 be conducted with peculiar delicacy, 
 the natives in general being averse 
 to even the semblance of innovation, 
 and to any new arrangement that 
 tends to bring them more immedi- 
 ately under the observation of the 
 magistrate, or to impose on them 
 either additional duties or expense. 
 Neither can accurate returns be ex- 
 pected from the zemindars, who are 
 jealous of the intentions and views 
 of government. Different indirect 
 expedients have in consequence been 
 resorted to, such as, a computation 
 from the quantity of salt consumed, 
 which, being a monopolj 7 , could be 
 ascertained with tolerable preci- 
 sion. 
 
 In 1801, by the directions of the 
 Marquis Wellesley, then governor- 
 general, the Board of Revenue in 
 Bengal circulated various questions 
 on statistical subjects to the magis- 
 trates and collectors of the different 
 divisions, with the view of ascertain- 
 ing the population and resources of 
 their respective districts. The re- 
 turns to these were, with some valu- 
 able exceptions, rather hastily made, 
 and without due consideration of the 
 subject ; but it is remarkable, that all 
 these public functionaries, either from 
 the fear of appearing to exaggerate, 
 or from the novelty of the subject, 
 kept greatly within the real amount, 
 which we shall exemplify by a com- 
 parison of their estimates with others 
 subsequently made, and under more 
 favourable circumstances, by Dr. Fran- 
 
 cis Buchanan. In 1807, 1808, and 
 1809, this gentleman was deputed by 
 the government to survey and report 
 on the Bengal districts of Rungpoor, 
 Dinagepoor, and Purneah, in the pro- 
 secution of which the public officers 
 of government, European and native, 
 were directed to render him every 
 assistance, and to furnish him with 
 every requisite record and docu- 
 ment. 
 
 The results of his survey were 
 most voluminous, and minute reports 
 on the resources and actual condition 
 of each district, accompanied by sta- 
 tistical tables of the most elaborate 
 description, comprehending not only 
 the population of the whole, but of 
 every police subdivision and town of 
 any importance or magnitude ; and 
 on the whole, he was of opinion that 
 the total amount, as given in his 
 tables, was not materially wrong, al- 
 though they might err in particular 
 instances. Dr. Buchanan was selected 
 by the government for this deputa- 
 tion, on account of the well-earned 
 reputation he had already acquired 
 for general knowledge, soundness of 
 judgment, and habits of laborious 
 research ; and certainly no person of 
 equal abilities, with the exception of 
 Mr. Bayley, ever directed so much 
 attention to this particular object, 
 or executed it with so many col- 
 lateral advantages. The result of 
 his investigation, however, gives so 
 enormous a population, when com- 
 pared with prior estimates, as utterly 
 to astonish the mind ; yet his con- 
 clusions succeeded a most severe 
 examination of all the existing cir- 
 cumstances, while others were made, 
 mostly after very superficial considera- 
 tion, and some were evidently the effu- 
 sions of mere fancy and conjecture. 
 When we add to this, that Mr. Bay- 
 ley’s subsequent investigation of the 
 population of Burdwan, in 1814, tend- 
 ed completely to corroborate Dr. Bu- 
 chanan’s calculations, we must think 
 them entitled to a decided preference. 
 To render the subject more intelligi- 
 ble, we subjoin the respective esti- 
 mates cf the magistrate, collector, 
 and Dr. Francis Buchanan. 
 
190 
 
 BENGAL. 
 
 Rungpoor District : 
 
 The Magistrate’s estimate, 1801 1,000,000 
 
 The Collector’s ditto, 1801 400,000 
 
 Dr. Francis Buchanan’s ditto, 1809 2,735,000 
 
 Dinagepoor District : 
 
 The Magistrate’s estimate, 1801 700,000 
 
 The Collector’s ditto, 1801 1,000,000 
 
 Dr. Francis Buchanan’s ditto, 1808 3,000,000 
 
 Purneah District : 
 
 The Magistrate’s estimate, 1801 1,400,000 
 
 The Collector’s ditto, 1801 1,450,000 
 
 Dr. Francis Buchanan’s ditto, 1810 2,900,000 
 
 We now proceed to give a detailed 
 statement of the number of inhabi- 
 tants in Bengal, Bahar, and Benares, 
 extracted from the returns of the 
 magistrates and collectors in 1801, 
 with the exception of the three dis- 
 tricts above-mentioned, and Bogli- 
 poot and Bahar, which are taken 
 from Dr. Francis Buchanan’s statisti- 
 
 cal tables, and of Burdwan from Mr. 
 Bayley’s essay in the Asiatic Re- 
 searches. It will immediately strike 
 the reader, that if the population of 
 the other districts be as much under- 
 rated as of those surveyed by Dr. 
 Buchanan and Mr. Bayley, great as 
 the sum-total is, it might be almost 
 doubled. 
 
 Population of the Province of Bengal: 
 
 The twenty-four pergunnahs, including Calcutta, 1801 1,625,000 
 
 Midnapoor district, 1801 1,500,000 
 
 Hooghly district, 1801 1,000,000 
 
 Burdwan district, 1814 1,450,000 
 
 Jessore district, 1801 1,200,000 
 
 Nuddea district, 1801 800,000 
 
 7,575,000 
 
 Dacca Jelalpoor district and city, 1801 1,140,000 
 
 Backergunge district, 1801 926,000 
 
 Chittagong district, 1801 1,200,000 
 
 Tipera district, 1801 750,000 
 
 Mymunsingh district, 1801..... 1,360,000 
 
 Silhet district, 1801.. 500,000 
 
 5,876,000 
 
 Moorshedabad district and city, 1801 1,020,000 
 
 Birbhoom district, 1801 700,000 
 
 Rajeshahy district, 1801 1,500,000 
 
 Rungpoor district, 1809 2,735,000 
 
 Dinagepoor district, 1808 3,000,000 
 
 Purneah district, 1810 2,900,000 
 
 11,855,000 
 
 Total Bengal...... 25,306,000 
 
 Population of Bahar Province: — 
 
 Boglipoor district, 1811 2,755,000 
 
 Bahar district, 1812 2,019,000 
 
 Saran district, 1801 1,200,000 
 
 Shahabad district, 1801 2,000,000 
 
 Tirhoot district, 1801 2,000,000 
 
 Ramghur district, by estimate, 1801 1,000,000 
 
 10,974,000 
 
 Benares province, 1801, by estimate 3,000,000 
 
 Total population of the British old provinces of Bengal, Bahar, ? ^70 non 
 
 and Benares, containing 162,000 square miles ............ > ’ ' ’ 
 
BENGAL. 
 
 191 
 
 Bengal comprehends within its 
 geographical limits three large cities, 
 Calcutta, Dacca, and Moorshehabad, 
 besides many prosperous inland trad- 
 ing towns, such as Hooghly, Seraje- 
 gunge, Bogwangola, and Cossimbazar, 
 each containing a great population, 
 but of which no authentic returns 
 have as yet been published. The fol- 
 lowing is the number of inhabitants 
 reported on very probable grounds 
 to be resident in the cities and towns 
 respectively, to which the numbers 
 
 are attached : — 
 
 Calcutta 500,000 
 
 Dacca 180,000 
 
 Moorshedabad 150,000 
 
 Burdwan 53,000 
 
 Chandernagore 41,377 
 
 Purneah 33,000 
 
 Rajamahal 30,000 
 
 Dinagepoor 28,000 
 
 Naraingunge 20,000 
 
 Malda 18,000 
 
 Gour 18,000 
 
 Chandercona 18,145 
 
 Villages of from 100 to 500 inha- 
 bitants are astonishingly numerous, 
 and in some parts form a continued 
 chain of many miles along the banks 
 of the rivers, similar to what we find 
 described in the most populous tracts 
 of the Chinese empire. While passing 
 them on the inland navigation, it is 
 pleasing to view the cheerful bustle 
 and crowded population by land and 
 water; men, old women, children, 
 birds and beasts, all mixed and in- 
 timate, evincing a consciousness of 
 safety and security from oppression, to 
 be seen in no native governed terri- 
 tory. Nor have the inhabitants of 
 Bengal any real evils to complain of, 
 except such as originate from their 
 own propensity to litigation, and from 
 the occasional predatory visits of gang 
 robbers and river pirates. To protect 
 them from the last, partly owing to 
 their own want of energy, the exer- 
 tions of the government and their 
 servants in the magistracy have been 
 most strenuous, and continued with 
 such increasing vigour, that there is 
 at last a prospect of this desirable ob- 
 ject being accomplished. With respect 
 to the first, the Bengalese are, from 
 
 some inherent peculiarity, extremely 
 prone to legal disputation; and, poli- 
 tically pacific, seem socially and do- 
 mestically martial. Among them war 
 seems frittered into law, and the fero- 
 cious passions dwarfed down to the 
 bickering and snarling of the hut and 
 village. In this vociferation they are 
 greatly assisted by the females, who 
 after the age of thirty generally turn 
 termagants, and become agitated by 
 a furious spirit of discord, which they 
 vent in such loud, virulent, and inde- 
 cent railings as are no where else to 
 be paralleled. 
 
 In the revenue system of Bengal, 
 the ryot, or cultivator, is described as 
 a tenant paying rent, and his superior 
 as a landlord or landholder; but, 
 strictly speaking, his payment hereto- 
 fore was a contribution to the state, 
 levied by officers named zemindars, 
 standing between him and the govern- 
 ment. In the rule for the division of 
 the crop, whether under special en- 
 gagements or by custom, their pro- 
 portions are known, viz . 
 
 Half to the landlord, and half to 
 the tenant. 
 
 One-third to the landlord, and two- 
 thirds to the tenant. 
 
 The standard for the regulation of 
 rates has been lost, but we learn from 
 other sources, that the assessment 
 was limited not to exceed in the whole 
 a fourth part of the actual gross pro- 
 duce of the soil. In early times the 
 demands of the Hindoo sovereigns 
 were still more moderate. The Ma- 
 habarat states that the prince was to 
 levy a fiftieth part of the produce of 
 mines, and a tenth of corn. Menu 
 and other legislators authorize the 
 sovereign to exact an eighth, a tenth, 
 or a twelfth of grain, according to cir- 
 cumstances, and a sixth of the clear 
 annual produce of trees. 
 
 With respect to the much-disputed 
 nature of landed property in Bengal, 
 in one point of view, the zemindars, 
 as descendants of the ancient inde- 
 pendent Rajas, seem to have been tri- 
 butary princes, in another light only 
 the officers of government ; but pro- 
 bably their real character partook of 
 the nature of both. This, however, 
 
192 
 
 BENGAL. 
 
 must be obviously restricted to Rajas 
 who possessed great zemindaries. 
 Numerous landholders subordinate to 
 these, as well as others independent 
 of them, cannot evidently be traced 
 to a similar origin, and the Mahome- 
 dan sovereigns and governors of Ben- 
 gal seem to have been altogether in- 
 different with respect to the muta- 
 tions of landed property, provided the 
 new proprietor paid his revenue. 
 
 The zemindars are now acknow- 
 ledged, for various reasons, and from 
 considerations of expediency, which 
 decided the question, as proprietors 
 of the soil. Yet it has been admitted 
 from high authority, that anciently 
 the sovereign was proprietor of the 
 soil ; that the zemindars were officers 
 of revenue, justice, and police, and 
 that their office was frequently, but 
 not necessarily, hereditary. To collect 
 and assess the contributions regulated 
 as they were by local customs or par- 
 ticular agreements, but varying at the 
 same time with the necessities of the 
 state, was the business of the zemin- 
 dar, as a permanent, if not as a here- 
 ditary officer. For the due execution 
 of his charge, he was checked by per- 
 manent and hereditary officers of re- 
 venue and account. 
 
 Various changes have taken place 
 since the British conquest, in the mode 
 of collecting the land revenue of Ben- 
 gal. From 1767 to 1769 the collec- 
 
 tion was entirely under Mahomed 
 Reza Khan. Mr. Verelst, in 1769 sent 
 supervisors into several districts. In 
 1770 two boards of revenue were 
 appointed, one at Moorshedabad and 
 one at Patna. In 1772 Mr. Hastings, 
 in consequence of instructions from 
 home, deprived Mahomed Reza of 
 all power, and made Calcutta the seat 
 of fiscal government. In 1773 the col- 
 lectors were withdrawn, and six pro- 
 vincial councils appointed. In 1781 
 these councils were withdrawn, col- 
 lectors again deputed, and a supreme 
 board of revenue appointed in Cal- 
 cutta, which still continues. The total 
 amount of the land revenue collected 
 from 1772 to 1789 was remarkably 
 equal, averaging about 295 lacks of 
 current rupees. 
 
 In 1793, during the administration 
 of Lord Cornwallis, the territorial re- 
 venue of the Company’s old provinces 
 (Bengal, Bahar, and Benares), which 
 had before fluctuated, were perma- 
 nently and irrevocably fixed, at a cer- 
 tain valuation of the property mode- 
 rately assessed ; but this permanent 
 settlement has notyet been introduced 
 into the territories subsequently ob- 
 tained by cession and conquest. The 
 mighty mass of papers, * with which 
 the agitation of this question crowd- 
 ed the East-India Company’s records, 
 proves the ability, labour, and anxiety 
 with which it was discussed. 
 
 An account of the Indian debts and credits on the 30th April 1822 : — 
 
 Amount of bond, register, and other debts bearing interest £31,623,780 
 
 Arrears and debts not bearing interest 6,966,877 
 
 Gross amount of the territorial debt on the 30th April 1822. ..£38, 590, 657 
 
 Deduct Territorial Assets : 
 
 Cash in the public treasuries £10,634,459 
 
 Bills receivable 449,475 
 
 Stores 3,027,818 
 
 Debts owing to Government 6,412,023 
 
 Salt, opium, grain, &c. in store 1,680,929 
 
 22,204,704 
 
 Net excess of territorial debts in India, beyond the assets ...£16,385,953 
 
 Total revenue of the Bengal Presidency, 1821 -22... £18, 340, 502 
 
 Ditto Madras ditto ditto ... 5,557,129 
 
 Ditto Bombay ditto ditto ... 2,855,741 
 
 Total, 1821 -22... £21, 753, 372 
 
BENGAL. 
 
 193 
 
 In 1821-22 the gross receipts on account of salt amounted to current 
 rupees 2,06,07,680; the charges to 59,71,710 current rupees. The quantity 
 of salt formerly sold within the year was from 4,000,000, to 4,500,000 
 maunds, but it has been gradually increased, and of late years the sales have 
 extended to 4,800,000 maunds. 
 
 In 1821-22 the gross receipts on account of opium amounted to current 
 rupees 1,12,57,275. The cost and charges to 9,86,722 current rupees. 
 
 Current rupees. Current rupees. 
 Stamp duties, 1822-23 (per estimate) ... 21,57,600. Charges 5,80,000 
 Customs, old territory, 1821-22 do...... 47,90,014. Ditto 7,06,651 
 
 Customs in the Conquered and Cededj 8474490 . Ditt0 12,01,932 
 Territories, 1821-22 J ’ 5 * 
 
 In the ceded provinces the public 
 revenue has always been satisfacto- 
 rily collected, if compared with the 
 collection only a few years ago in 
 the lower districts, even under all the 
 advantages arising from a permanent 
 settlement. For a considerable period 
 of time subsequent to the conclusion 
 of that settlement, the ultimate ar- 
 rears stood in a much higher ratio 
 to the jumma, than they did in the 
 ceded districts a very few years after 
 their acquisition, nor was it until the 
 year 1800 that they were reduced 
 within a moderate compass. Hence 
 a new argument arises against a pre- 
 mature settlement in perpetuity of 
 the upper provinces, which under their 
 present constitution are sufficiently 
 prosperous, the cultivation extending, 
 and the population increasing, and 
 becoming daily more contented and 
 tractable, all of which improvements 
 have taken place under a system of 
 temporary leases, and in spite of ad- 
 verse and precarious seasons. 
 
 The Mahomedans, from the begin- 
 ning of their power, employed the 
 Persian language in the affairs of go- 
 vernment, and, notwithstanding its 
 clumsy and cumbersome arithmetic, 
 in the collection also of the revenue. 
 This practice aided them in maintain- 
 ing their authority, and enabled 
 them, instead of blindly depending 
 on native functionaries, to look into 
 the conduct and details of public bu- 
 siness, as well as to keep intelligible 
 registers of the income and expen- 
 diture of the state. The native Hin- 
 doos, finding that a knowledge of the 
 language of government was neces- 
 sary to every concern of revenue and 
 
 VOL. r. 
 
 justice, made exertions to acquire it, 
 and in process of time became teach- 
 ers of it throughout the whole Mo- 
 gul empire. At present, owing to the 
 paucity of European agency, and its 
 enormous expense, the size of the 
 districts, and the multifarious duties 
 of the collectors, it appears mani- 
 fest that these officers can only in- 
 spect much the greater portion of 
 business through the medium of na- 
 tive servants, that is to say, through 
 the falsest medium possible. 
 
 Among the various pretexts adopt- 
 ed by the landowners in this pro- 
 vince for reducing the revenue to a 
 trifle, one of the most common and 
 successful is, to write down a large 
 portion of their estates as destroyed 
 by rivers. This furnishes a good 
 plea, not only for a deduction from 
 the revenue assessment, but keeps 
 open a claim for the lands that might 
 be afterwards recovered. In many 
 cases this has succeeded, as no addi- 
 tional revenue is exacted when a ri- 
 ver adds new lands to a zemindary; 
 a gradual diminution of the aggre- 
 gate revenue must be constantly tak- 
 ing place. Under these circum- 
 stances, the most substantial advan- 
 tages would be derived from regular 
 surveys of each district respectively, 
 undertaken by professional persons, 
 and executed in a scientific manner. 
 
 In Bengal the class of needy land 
 proprietors is very numerous; but 
 even the greatest zemindars are not 
 in a situation to allow that indulgence 
 and accommodation to their tenants, 
 which might be expected on view- 
 ing the nominal extent of their in- 
 come. Responsible to government 
 
 o 
 
194 
 
 BENGAL. 
 
 for a tax originally calculated at ten- 
 elevenths of the expected rents, and 
 owing to their own dissolute habits, 
 they have not usually any consider- 
 able surplus after their expenditure 
 to compensate for their risk. Any 
 accident, any calamity, may involve 
 a zemindar in difficulties from which 
 no economy or retrenchment can re- 
 lieve him. Prior to 1790 half the 
 revenues of Bengal were paid by six 
 large zemindaries, viz. Rajeshahy, 
 Burdwan, Dinagepoor, Nuddea, Bir- 
 bhoom, and Calcutta. 
 
 Free lands are distinguished ac- 
 cording to their appropriations, for 
 Brahmins, bards, encoiniastics, asce- 
 tics, priests, and mendicants, or as a 
 provision for several public officers. 
 The greater part of the present free 
 lands in Bengal were originally grant- 
 ed in small portions of waste ground. 
 The more extensive tracts of free 
 land are managed in the same mode 
 as estates assessed for revenue, and 
 the subject is adverted to in each 
 district respectively. 
 
 Sayer revenue of the nature of land 
 rent, consists of ground rent for the 
 sites of houses and gardens ; revenue 
 drawn from fruit trees, pastures, 
 mathes, rent of fisheries, and other va- 
 riable imposts. Many articles of sayer 
 formerly collected within the village 
 have been abolished ; such, for ex- 
 ample, as market tolls and personal 
 taxes. Ground-rents never were ge- 
 nerally levied from cultivators en- 
 gaged in husbandry. No branch of 
 administration requires more pru- 
 dence and circumspection, or a more 
 accurate knowledge of the temper 
 and character of the people of India, 
 than the imposition of new taxes, 
 and it is always preferable to seek an 
 increase by the renewal of old, ra- 
 ther than the establishment of new 
 taxes. The civil and domestic usages 
 of the natives are so interwoven with 
 their religious rites, and they are so 
 particularly alive to every innovation 
 or departure from established cus- 
 tom, that in fixing a tax on articles 
 of general consumption, it is not to 
 be considered whether it really be 
 more or less oppressive than a tax 
 
 directly collected from the individual, 
 but whether it be so felt by him By 
 an impost on articles of consumption, 
 the subject who is compelled by his 
 inclination or necessities to the use 
 of it, thus gradually and almost im- 
 perceptibly contributes to the reve- 
 nue of the state ; while a personal 
 demand on him for the payment of 
 a sum much less than the aggregate 
 of what he indirectly contributes, 
 may be considered by him an extor- 
 tion, which he is warranted in evad- 
 ing if he can. Owing also to the 
 abuses inseparable from all transac- 
 tions carried on by native officers 
 with small salaries, placed beyond 
 the inspection and control of the 
 Company’s European functionaries, 
 the community when a duty is laid 
 on, have in general to pay almost 
 twice as much as ever finds its way 
 into the public treasury. 
 
 A poll-tax called jaziyeh was im- 
 posed by the Khalif Omar, on all 
 persons not of the Mahomedan faith. 
 The Mussulmaun conquerors of Hin- 
 dostan imposed it on the Hindoos 
 as infidels, but it was abolished by 
 the emperor Acber. At a subsequent 
 period Aurungzebe attempted to re- 
 vive it, but without success. In ad- 
 dition to the other sources of reve- 
 nue, the British government levy a 
 tax on Hindoo pilgrims, in conti- 
 nuance of former usage, at Gaya, 
 Juggernauth, and Allahabad. 
 
 The civil and military government 
 of the territories under the Bengal 
 presidency, now comprehending the 
 richest portion of Hindostan proper, 
 is vested in a Governor-general and 
 three councillors. Vacancies in the 
 council are supplied by the Court of 
 Directors, with the sanction of the 
 India Board, from civil servants of 
 not less than twelve years* standing. 
 For the administration of justice 
 throughout the subordinate provinces, 
 there are in the civil and criminal de- 
 partments one supreme court, sta- 
 tioned in Calcutta, and limited in its 
 jurisdiction to the Maharatta ditch ; 
 six courts of appeal and circuit : the 
 Calcutta, Moorshedabad, Dacca, Pat- 
 na, Benares, and Bareilly ; and forty- 
 
BENGAL. 
 
 195 
 
 seven zillali and city courts, stationed 
 as follows : 
 
 Agra, 
 
 Juanpoor, 
 
 Allahabad, 
 
 Jungle Mahals, 
 
 Alighur, 
 
 Meerut, 
 
 Baekergunge, 
 
 Midnapoor, 
 
 Bahar, 
 
 Mirzapoor, 
 
 Bareilly, 
 
 Moorshedabad, 
 
 Benares, 
 
 Moradabad, 
 
 Birbhoom, 
 
 Mymunsingh, 
 
 Boglipoor, 
 
 Nuddea, 
 
 Bundelcund, 
 
 Purnea, 
 
 Burdwan, 
 
 Rajeshahy, 
 
 Caunpoor, 
 
 Ramghur, 
 
 Chittagong, 
 
 Rungpoor, 
 
 Cuttack, 
 
 Sarun, 
 
 Dacca Jelalpoor, 
 
 Shahabad, 
 
 Dinagepoor, 
 
 Saharunpoor, 
 
 Etawah, 
 
 Shahjehanpoor, 
 
 Furruckabad, 
 
 Silhet, 
 
 Goruckpoor, 
 
 Tiperah, 
 
 Hooghly, 
 
 Tirhoot, 
 
 Jessore, 
 
 24-Pergunnahs. 
 
 The city courts are : 
 Benares, Moorshedabad, 
 
 Dacca, Patna. 
 
 The courts of circuit consist of 
 three judges with a register, together 
 with native officers, Mahomedan and 
 Hindoo. The judges make their cir- 
 cuits at stated periods, and also hold 
 regular and frequent gaol deliveries. 
 They try criminal offences according 
 to the Mahomedan law ; but when the 
 sentence is capital, or imprisonment 
 is awarded beyond a defined period, 
 it does not take effect until it receives 
 confirmation from the superior cri- 
 minal court stationed in Calcutta, 
 and named the Sudder Nizam ut 
 Adawlut, or chief criminal court. 
 The principal business of this court 
 is to revise trials ; but it is in no case 
 permitted to aggravate the severity 
 of the sentence. 
 
 In the provincial districts, the offi- 
 cer who in his criminal capacity has 
 the appellation of magistrate, is also 
 the civil judge of the district or city 
 in which he resides. He tries ail 
 suits of a civil nature, provided the 
 cause of action has arisen, the pro- 
 perty concerned be situated, or the 
 defendant be resident, within his ju- 
 risdiction. To try suits of a small 
 amount the judge may appoint na- 
 
 tive commissioners, from whose de- 
 cisions an appeal lies to the judge; 
 and, with a few exceptions, the de- 
 cisions of the judges are appealable 
 to the provincial courts of circuit 
 within the bounds of which he re- 
 sides. Each district court has a re- 
 gister, with one or more assistants from 
 among the junior civil servants, and 
 each court is provided with natives 
 duly qualified to expound the Hindoo 
 and Mahomedan law. 
 
 In criminal matters the magistrates 
 of districts are vested with powers 
 to apprehend and examine all offen- 
 ders. On slight offences they may 
 pass and execute sentence ; in cases 
 of greater atrocity, it is their business 
 to secure the supposed delinquents 
 for trial before the court of circuit, 
 which is effected by committing or 
 holding to bail. Each zillah or dis- 
 trict is subdivided into portions usu- 
 ally about twenty miles square, and 
 in each of these a darogah, or head 
 police-officer, is established, with 
 armed followers, who is empowered 
 to apprehend on a written charge, 
 and to take security when the offence 
 is bailable for appearance before the 
 magistrate. The average size of a 
 Bengal district may be taken at 6,000 
 square miles ; but in particular in- 
 stances, owing to the great extent of 
 waste and woodlands or the reverse, 
 the dimensions vary extremely. Burd- 
 wan contains only 2,400, and Ramghur 
 above 10,000. 
 
 The ultimate court of appeal in 
 civil matters sits in the city of Cal- 
 cutta, and is styled the Sudder De- 
 wanny Adawlut, or chief civil court. 
 To this court all causes respecting 
 personal property beyond 5,000 ru- 
 pees value, are appealable : with re- 
 gard to real property, it is calculated 
 by certain rules, differing according 
 to the nature and tenure of the pro- 
 perty. From this court an appeal 
 lies to the King in council, if the value 
 of the property concerned amounts 
 to £5,000. 
 
 Under the Mahomedan government 
 suitors pleaded their own causes, and 
 the practice continued until 1793, 
 when regular native advocates were 
 
 o 2 
 
196 
 
 BENGAL. 
 
 appointed. These pleaders are usually 
 selected from the Mussulman college 
 at Calcutta, and Hindoo college at 
 Benares, and the rate of fees is fixed 
 by public regulation. This institution 
 ensures suitors against negligence or 
 misconduct, on the part either of the 
 judge or his native assistants, the 
 advocates being often as conversant 
 in the business of the court as any 
 of the public officers. As an ultimate 
 security for the purity of justice, pro- 
 visions have been made against the 
 corruption of those who administer 
 it. The receiving of a sum of money 
 or other valuable gift, or under colour 
 thereof, by a British subject in the 
 service of the government, is deemed 
 to be taken by extortion, and is a 
 misdemeanor at law. 
 
 Written pleadings in the native lan- 
 guages have been introduced, for the 
 purpose of bringing litigation to a 
 point, and enforcing in legal proceed- 
 ings as much precision as the habits 
 of the people will admit. Before this 
 modification, the charge and defence 
 consisted of confused oral complaints, 
 loudly urged on the one side, and as 
 loudly contradicted on the other. In 
 receiving evidence great indulgence is 
 granted to the scruples of caste, and 
 the prejudices against the public ap- 
 pearance of females so prevalent in 
 eastern countries. Select cases, civil 
 and criminal, are annually published, 
 which reports, by diffusing a know- 
 ledge of the legal principles establish- 
 ed in the courts of the Sudder De- 
 wanny and Nizamut Adawluts, are 
 productive of essential benefit in the 
 general administration of justice, and 
 tend to prevent litigation, to which 
 the natives are so prone, that in some 
 districts they might almost be reduced 
 to two classes, plaintiffs and defen- 
 dants. The Marquess Cornwallis, 
 about 1793, allowed all causes to be 
 filed without expense, and the con- 
 sequence was that the courts were 
 soon overloaded. An institution fee 
 was in consequence established, with 
 a retrospective operation, and the 
 result was that in one day, and in 
 one court, no less than 14,000 causes 
 were struck off'. What must the 
 
 effect have been in the whole pro- 
 vince ! 
 
 The Mahomedan law constitutes 
 ostensibly the ground-work of the 
 criminal jurisprudence of the country ; 
 but although the name and many of 
 the external forms of that code be 
 retained, its execution is so corrected 
 in essentials that it may more pro- 
 perly be regarded as the administra 
 tion of British criminal justice. A fc 
 present the system of criminal law, as 
 promulgated in the provinces subor- 
 dinate to the Bengal presidency, is 
 in reality a system of jurisprudence 
 founded on the natural principles of 
 justice ; which form, or ought to form, 
 the base of every criminal code. In 
 civil matters the Hindoos and Mahc- 
 medans substantially enjoy their res- 
 pective usage. The prejudices of both 
 are treated with indulgence, and the 
 respect that Asiatic manners enjoin 
 to females of rank is scrupulously 
 enforced. 
 
 In the criminal department, no of- 
 fence has occupied so much of the 
 time and attention of the government 
 and its functionaries as dacoity or 
 gang robbery, which for an astonishing 
 length of time baffled the united efforts 
 of every department; but at length, 
 by unremitted preseverance and vi- 
 gilance, if not wholly eradicated, it has 
 been greatly diminished. Indeed, ge- 
 nerally speaking, this scourge, under 
 which Bengal suffered from the first 
 acquisition of the province until it 
 had reached its acme in 1807, has 
 been generally suppressed. Robberies, 
 in the ordinary sense of the expres- 
 sion, are still committed ; but dacoity, 
 considered as a crime distinguished 
 from all others by its peculiar malignity 
 and by involving the perpetrators in 
 other crimes of a most atrocious and 
 sanguinary character, has been nearly 
 extinguished. The Sunderbunds have 
 always been regarded as peculiarly 
 adapted for the reception and con- 
 cealment of river pirates: yet even in 
 this labyrinth of wood, water, and 
 rank vegetation, great progress has 
 been made in the xtirpation cf gang 
 robbery. 
 
 In the ceded and conquered pro- 
 
BENGAL. 
 
 197 
 
 vinces, although less progress has ap- 
 parently been made in the suppres- 
 sion of crimes than in the old terri- 
 tories, yet manifest traces are per- 
 ceptible of the influence of a regular 
 system of civil polity on the great 
 mass of the people. On the first ac- 
 quisition of these provinces, one of 
 the greatest evils was the private 
 war which the proprietors of estates 
 and individuals carried on against 
 each other. Vindictive assassination, 
 for real or imaginary injuries, was 
 also a crime of frequent occurrence ; 
 and both enormities had their origin 
 in the same cause, viz. the weakness 
 of the preceding governments, and 
 the want of regular tribunals to take 
 cognizance of wrongs committed by 
 individuals on their fellow subjects. 
 Considerable progress has been made 
 towards the suppression of both these 
 crimes ; but murders, perpetrated by 
 a class of people named Thugs, still 
 continue in spite of the increased ex- 
 ertions of the police. In the upper 
 provinces, highway robbery and gang 
 robbery are seldom known to prevail 
 together ; the first usually commenc- 
 ing when an effectual check has been 
 given to the last. 
 
 As dacoits or gang robbers occupy 
 so prominent a part in the criminal 
 jurisprudence of Bengal, a few more 
 observations towards the develop- 
 ment of their character may be use- 
 fully employed. Sixty years ago the 
 rivers of Bengal were nearly impassa- 
 ble for unarmed boats, on account of 
 the immense bands of pirates who 
 roamed unchecked through every part 
 of the province ; at present, except 
 occasionally in some large rivers near 
 the sea, the inland navigation is 
 wholly free from every perilous ob- 
 struction. Among the dacoits in Ben- 
 gal, many instances occur of whole 
 families practising robbery from gene- 
 ration to generation, and individuals 
 among them boast that their proge- 
 nitors were hanged, or died in perpe- 
 tual imprisonment. Their leaders 
 succeed each other like officers of a 
 regular establishment, and being all 
 predestinarians, they are indifferent 
 as to the result of their hazardous 
 
 career. Nor do they attach obloquy 
 to the name of dacoit : in that cha- 
 racter they are something ; as la- 
 bourers or cultivators, nothing. Be- 
 sides this, they to the last entertain 
 hopes of escaping punishment, either 
 by flying for concealment to the 
 creeks, woods, jungles, or low is- 
 lands overgrown with rank weeds-; 
 or when captured, by the expecta- 
 tion that the terror their name in- 
 spires will prevent evidence appear- 
 ing against them. When they are at 
 last brought to the fatal tree, the 
 dacoits who suffer capital punish- 
 ment meet their fate with the great- 
 est fortitude, and the exhibition is 
 considered by the lookers-on as a 
 sort of gratis entertainment. The 
 penitence and contrition shewn by 
 criminals in England, when the sen- 
 tence is on the point of execution, 
 and which makes such a serious and 
 salutary impression on the spectators, 
 is never observed in this country, 
 where in fact felons are much more 
 afraid of transportation than of death. 
 
 In Bengal, robbers are not shunned 
 and hated as in Europe. On the con- 
 trary, they have homes, often land and 
 cattle, and are not only associated 
 with, but are frequently men of in- 
 fluence in their villages, although 
 their profession be universally known. 
 This can only be ascribed to a gene- 
 ral absence of the moral principle, 
 which applies to the Mahomedans as 
 well as to the Hindoos, the lower 
 classes of the former having evidently 
 adopted many of the worst practices of 
 Hindoo idolatry. The dacoits of both 
 religions are not only unrestrained by 
 terrors of conscience, but affect to 
 sanctify their execrable deeds by of- 
 ferings and invocations to the god- 
 dess Cali ; and that human blood is 
 now seldom shed on these occasions, 
 is to be attributed to the introduc- 
 tion of the British system of police, 
 which, with all its defects, is perfec- 
 tion compared with that which pre- 
 coded it. The great mass of Benga- 
 lese are certainly not constitutionally 
 brutal or inexorable, on the contrary, 
 they are usually mild and placable ; 
 yet it must be admitted, that the eri* 
 
398 
 
 BENGAL. 
 
 minal records of the province will 
 furnish such instances of cruelty and 
 ferocity, as perhaps the history of no 
 country in Europe can parallel. 
 
 To the universal prevalence of per- 
 jury may also be attributed the long 
 continuance and existing frequency 
 of gang robbery ; and to such a pitch 
 of shameless audacity has this crime 
 long attained, that the judge is often 
 obliged to investigate the character 
 of the witness with more anxiety 
 than that of the prisoner. In 1 800, 
 a zemindary dewan, by caste a Brah- 
 min, after having circumstantially 
 sworn to the nature, number, and 
 authors of the wounds inflicted on 
 two of his cutcherry (office) servants, 
 alleged to have been murdered in an 
 attempt to dispossess him of the cut- 
 cherry, scarcely blushed when the 
 two men were produced alive and 
 unhurt in court, and merely pleaded 
 in extenuation, that if he had not 
 sworn as he was instructed he would 
 have lost his place. The little obli- 
 gation attached by the natives to an 
 oath, appears in a great degree to 
 proceed from the nature of their su- 
 perstition, and the degrading attri- 
 butes of their deities, as well as the 
 total absence of moral instruction 
 from their system of education, and 
 Its necessarian tendency. Hence ori- 
 ginates the general exclamation of 
 criminals, when convicted of murder, 
 that it was their destiny, and they 
 seldom or never acknowledge any 
 other motive. It is probable that : .n 
 time the exemplary punishments in- 
 flicted will deaden the alacrity with 
 which crimes have hitherto been com- 
 mitted, and the steady andjust admi- 
 nistration of the laws go a certain 
 way towards imbuing the inhabitants 
 with a moral principle, or something 
 resembling it* At present they have 
 neither, at least in the true Christian 
 sense of the word ; but sufficient time 
 has not yet elapsed, so as to occasion 
 any solid improvement of character. 
 
 There is no crime more frequent 
 in Bengal and Hindostan generally, 
 than the murdering of children for 
 the sake of the gold and silver orna- 
 ments, with which, in spite of every 
 
 exhortation on the part of the Bri- 
 tish functionaries, they persevere in 
 adorning them. These horrid crimes 
 are usually perpetrated by friends, 
 neighbours, and relations, unable to 
 resist the tempting opportunity, and 
 the parents would almost appear vo- 
 luntarily to dress out their child for 
 a victim. The frequent occurrence 
 of the crime, attracted at different 
 periods the attention of the govern- 
 ment, and the courts of circuit were 
 consulted as to the possibility of 
 suggesting any preventive expedient, 
 not likely to excite dissatisfaction 
 among the natives by such interfer- 
 ence with their domestic usages. 
 Nothing, however, could be devised 
 except increased vigilance in detect- 
 ing, and rigorous enforcement and 
 publicity of the punishment. 
 
 Constituted as the government now 
 is, the zemindars could not with jus- 
 tice be made responsible for the pro- 
 perty plundered on their estates, un- 
 less they were authorized and re- 
 quired to retain establishments for 
 the seizure of public offenders : an 
 arrangement that would in effect 
 transfer the charge of the police to 
 the zemindars, and again open a door 
 to all the abuses committed by them 
 in former times, when they were en- 
 trusted with the police of their res- 
 pective estates. At present it scarce- 
 ly ever happens that the zemindars 
 resist the execution of a decree of 
 the civil court, or assemble their peo- 
 ple afterwards for the purpose of 
 fighting and dispossessing the person 
 in whose favour the decree had been 
 awarded. By this class, however, the 
 large portion of lands, allotted during 
 the Mogul government for the main- 
 tenance of village watchmen, have 
 been long ago appropriated, and have 
 wholly disappeared from the public 
 records. It is consequently to be 
 apprehended that if waste lands were 
 again set apart for that purpose, a 
 similar absorption would take place 
 as soon as they had attained a cer- 
 tain stage of cultivation. 
 
 Much might be said respecting the 
 character of the Bengalese zemindars, 
 a most important class of natives, blit 
 
BENGAL. 
 
 it is very difficult to render the sub- 
 ject intelligible to European readers. 
 Like the great mass of the people, a 
 Bengalese zemindar enjoys only the 
 present hour, is improvident of the 
 future, and most of them are mere 
 puppets in the hands of the unprinci- 
 pled managers of their estates. They 
 are consequently soon involved in 
 difficulties, from which they are un- 
 able to extricate themselves, and 
 their estates are sold ; but their ruin 
 they impute to the strictness and 
 severity of government in the exac- 
 tion of the revenue. It was, no doubt, 
 the intention of government to con- 
 fer an important benefit on this class 
 of subjects, by abolishing the custom 
 of imprisoning them for arrears of 
 revenue ; but they assert it has been 
 found, from melancholy experience, 
 that the system of sales and attach- 
 ments, substituted in its stead, has 
 in the course of a very few years 
 reduced more of the great zemindars 
 in Bengal to distress and beggary, 
 and effected a greater mutation of 
 landed property in the province, than 
 perhaps ever happened in any age or 
 country as the mere consequence of 
 internal regulations. Blind and in- 
 sensible as the natives are to conse- 
 quences, they will hardly give them- 
 selves the trouble of guarding against 
 a distant evil, or undertake anything 
 for the sake of a remote advantage, 
 more than the mere stimulus of mo- 
 ney being necessary to rouse them. 
 To this apathy and supineness in 
 their dispositions, joined to habits of 
 dissipation, extravagance, and dis- 
 union, is to be ascribed the ruin of 
 many zemindars ; but in other cases 
 this effect has resulted from their 
 estates being over-assessed, and the 
 difficulties in realizing the rents due 
 by sub-tenants and cultivators. 
 
 In this province there are many 
 female zemindars, generally subser- 
 vient to, and under the management 
 of the family Brahmin, who controls 
 their consciences. This person has 
 his own private interests to attend 
 to, and, without appearing, exerts 
 an influence over the public business 
 of the zemindary. The ostensible 
 
 managing agent submits to the con- 
 trol of a concealed authority, which 
 he must conciliate, and the interests 
 of the state and zemindar equally 
 bend to it. A Brahmin in Bengal not 
 only obtains a lease of land on better 
 terms than any other caste, but also 
 enjoys exemption from various impo- 
 sitions and extortions, to which the 
 less sacred classes are subjected. 
 
 Throughout the whole of Bengal, 
 there is very little distinction to be 
 observed between the houses of the 
 meanest peasant and those of the 
 zemindar, which is probably in part 
 owing to the rule of inheritance that 
 prevails, both with Mahomedans and 
 Hindoos, and in families is an inter- 
 minable source of jealousy, enmity, 
 and dispute. Property of every sort 
 being universally liable to equality 
 of partition among the heirs, must; 
 if persevered in, soon reduce all to 
 the same level, and its progress to 
 the lowest degree be accelerated with 
 an increasing momentum. Another 
 evil consequence of this community 
 of property is, that it deadens all 
 individual exertions for its improve- 
 ment. 
 
 Religious buildings and public edi- 
 fices of great size are now seldom 
 constructed in Bengal. What wealth 
 remains with the natives is more 
 widely diffused than formerly, and 
 the fortunes accumulated by Euro- 
 peans are invariably remitted to Eu- 
 rope. This latter class now occupy 
 the stations of those native officers 
 who in former times, either from mo- 
 tives of charity or ostentation, raised 
 those buildings of utility, which are 
 now to be traced out only by their 
 ruins ; and in fact the light soil, allu- 
 vial situation, and exuberant vege- 
 tation of Bengal, are hostile to the 
 permanence of any erections, however 
 well constructed originally. With a 
 particular class of natives it is a 
 very general complaint that they can- 
 not now procure a livelihood in the 
 British provinces. They allege that, 
 under former governments, the num- 
 ber of troops entertained, and the 
 various descriptions of servants re- 
 quired for state and for the revenue 
 
BENGAL. 
 
 200 
 
 collections, afforded means of em- 
 ployment which are now lost; the 
 troops and officers under the British 
 government being circumscribed to 
 the smallest possible scale. On this 
 account, and probably also the equa- 
 lity of ranks in the distribution of 
 justice, some of the principal inhabi- 
 tants, especially the Mahomedans, 
 cannot be reconciled to any foreign 
 government ; and, reflecting with re- 
 gret on the loss of their former pri- 
 vileges, view with disgust the im- 
 partial system of British jurispru- 
 dence, which has wholly neutralized 
 their importance in society. In the 
 course of time it is to be expected 
 that this sensation will subside, and 
 either give place to a convietion of 
 the advantages resulting from the ex- 
 change, or be wholly forgotten, b} r 
 people nearly insensible either to the 
 past or the future. One thing is cer- 
 tain, that owing to the long duration 
 of domestic quiet, they have already 
 forgotten their former condition of 
 turbulence and anarchy, when scarce 
 a year passed over without their being 
 disturbed by the rumour, or terrified 
 with the atrocities, of actual warfare. 
 
 The great increase of law suits has 
 been the subject of much animad- 
 version : yet it may be traced to a 
 cause highly honourable to the Bri- 
 tish government, viz. to the increased 
 value of every description of pro- 
 perty, but more especially of landed 
 property, and to the confidence felt 
 by the natives in that security. This 
 consequence leads them to prosecute 
 for the recovery of rights, real or 
 imaginary, which in other times, and 
 under other circumstances, they would 
 have abandoned as unworthy of at- 
 tention ; which sentiment has been 
 greatly strengthened by the strict 
 adherence on the part of government 
 to the terms of the decennial settle- 
 ment of the land revenue, afterwards 
 rendered nerpetual. Formerly the 
 cultivators of the soil when oppressed 
 beyond endurance, were accustomed 
 to assemble in crowds, with ploughs 
 and other implements, and demand 
 justice with violent and outrageous 
 clamour ; at present they proceed by 
 
 regular process, and harass each 
 other through the forms of law in 
 the civil and criminal courts. 
 
 It is difficult to say whether the 
 great bulk of the natives be decided- 
 ly attached to the British government 
 or not, their common speech to Eu- 
 ropean functionaries being a mere 
 rant of praise and flattery ; and it may 
 be presumed that those inhabitants 
 with whom the British associate, are 
 not deficient in extolling the happy 
 effects of the British domination. 
 Generally speaking, it is probable that 
 the first class of Hindoo inhabitants 
 are dissatisfied, chiefly from motives 
 of ambition ; the middling satisfied 
 and the lower well pleased with the 
 British government, which has so es- 
 sentially meliorated their condition. 
 On the other hand the higher ranks 
 of Mahomedans, whose government 
 we have subverted, in addition to 
 their religious prejudices, have many 
 political reasons to detest our predo- 
 minance. The men of opulence now 
 in Bengal are the Hindoo merchants, 
 bankers, and banyans of Calcutta, 
 with a few others at the principal 
 stations. The greatest men formerly 
 were the Mahomedan rulers, whom 
 we have superseded, and the Hindoo 
 zemindars. These two classes are 
 now reduced to poverty, and the 
 lower classes now look up to the offi- 
 cial servants and domestics of the 
 the English gentlemen. No native 
 has any motive to distinguish himself 
 greatly in the army where he cannot 
 rise higher than a soubadar, a rank 
 inferior to an ensign. 
 
 It has always formed part of the 
 British system to endeavour to raise 
 up a class of respectable landed pro- 
 prietors, on which account great en- 
 couragement has always been given to 
 the permanence in families of landed 
 property ; but it is to be feared with- 
 out success, principally owing to the 
 invincible folly of the native proprie- 
 tors, and the nature of their law of 
 inheritance, which parcels out their 
 estates into the minutest fragments. 
 At present, it must be confessed there 
 ie no intermediate class between the 
 sovereign and the common people, 
 
BENGAL. 201 
 
 and the distance between the two is 
 consequently infinite. Notwithstand- 
 ing the long duration of the Maho- 
 medan sway, it had very little effect 
 on the mass of the people ; and our 
 government must have still less, be- 
 cause we do not, like the Mahome- 
 dans, mix and coalesce with them ; 
 they consequently appear as remote 
 from adopting English customs as the 
 English are from adopting theirs. 
 Respecting the nature of the British 
 government the natives remain super- 
 latively ignorant. In Calcutta a de- 
 gree of curiosity may sometimes be 
 observed, and a desire to converse on 
 state affairs : but on these occasions 
 the best-informed natives always be- 
 tray an extreme ignorance. The most 
 learned have no knowledge of the law 
 of nations, nor do they suppose the 
 measures of the supreme power to 
 be founded in equity or moderation, 
 the notion of a supreme executive 
 government prescribing laws and li- 
 mits to its own authority, not pre- 
 senting a very intelligible idea to a 
 native. On this account many of 
 them still consider the regulations of 
 government as only temporary, and 
 liable to be altered and rescinded by 
 the interest or caprice of the power 
 that enacted them. 
 
 Although the bulk of the natives 
 cannot be described as decidedly at- 
 tached to the British government, 
 which they certainly do not under- 
 stand, that government is neverthe- 
 less very strong, and secure from any 
 serious internal commotion, for none 
 ever stood more independent of pub- 
 lic opinion. To the inhabitants, the 
 political state of the country is a 
 complete incomprehensible mystery ; 
 yet it is probable that, since our effec- 
 tual establishment in 1765, no native 
 ever dreamed of subverting the go- 
 vernment. In this point of view the 
 mass of natives are most ignorant 
 and helpless, without concert or com- 
 bination, and no oppression of the 
 ruling power would produce any re- 
 sistance that might not be quelled 
 by a company of sepoys. The power 
 of the British government in Bengal 
 is completely despotic, and the sub- 
 
 mission of its subjects perfect and 
 unqualified. This is, in fact, so com- 
 plete as to preclude the necessity of 
 coercion or intimidation of any kind ; 
 all appearance consequently of mili- 
 tary interference may be kept wholly 
 out of sight, and it will be only when 
 European laws, religion, and litera- 
 ture, come to be disseminated, tliat 
 it will be necessary to draw the reins 
 tighter, to prove that we possess pow- 
 er irresistible to command obedience. 
 
 The army is powerful, and may be 
 with certainty depended on, so long 
 as they are regularly paid. The se- 
 poys, like the rest of the people, are 
 entirely uninstructed as to the form 
 of government, policy of their rulers, 
 or justice of their wars, and in this 
 ignorance and apathy consists our 
 strength. 
 
 It is a truth perfectly obvious, that 
 the peculiar interests of the British 
 nation recommend the happiness of 
 its native subjects. On the acquisi- 
 tion of these territories, the primary 
 object certainly was to discover what 
 could be obtained from them, not 
 how they might be most benefited. 
 In process of time, however, it be- 
 came necessary to devise how they 
 might be benefited, in order that the 
 same amount of resources might con- 
 tinue to be drawn from them. Per- 
 sons who remembered the state of 
 this province in 1769 and 1789, the 
 thirtieth of the revolution, were in- 
 clined to think that it exhibited more 
 appearance of opulence at the first 
 than at the last period : an opinion 
 confirmed by the records of the pro- 
 vince for the twelve years subsequent 
 to 1769; the decline continuing long 
 after the effects of the famine had 
 ceased to operate. But, without re- 
 sorting to local mismanagement, the 
 nature of the connexion which binds 
 Bengal to Britain, will sufficiently ac- 
 count for the tendency of its inter- 
 nal condition to deteriorate. All the 
 offices of trust and emolument, civil 
 and military, and the highest lines of 
 commerce, are in the hands of stran- 
 gers, who, after a temporary resi- 
 dence, depart with the capital they 
 have accumulated, while under native 
 
202 
 
 BENGAL. 
 
 rulers, even the extortions of rapa- 
 city and the drains of tribute again 
 entered circulation, and promoted in 
 some form the territorial industry. 
 Under its present constitution, the 
 remittance, or rather tribute, to Bri- 
 tain, carries off every year a large 
 share of the produce, for which no- 
 thing is returned. 
 
 Beyond Bengal the natives of the 
 northern mountains prove by their 
 features a Tartar origin ; they peo- 
 ple the northern boundary of Ben- 
 gal. On the eastern hills and adja- 
 cent plains the peculiar features of the 
 inhabitants shew with equal certainty 
 a distinct origin; and the elevated 
 tract that Bengal includes on the west 
 is peopled from a stock obviously dis- 
 tinct, or rather by several races of 
 mountaineers, the probable aborigines 
 of the country. The latter are most 
 evidently distinguished by their reli- 
 ligion, character, language, and man- 
 ners, as well as by their features, from 
 the Hindoo natives. Under various 
 denominations, they appear formerly 
 to have peopled the vast mountain- 
 ous tract that occupies Central India, 
 and some of their tribes have not yet 
 emerged from the savage state. In 
 the mixed population of the middle 
 districts the Hindoos may be easily 
 distinguished from the Mahomedans ; 
 and among the latter the Mogul, Af- 
 ghan, and their immediate descen- 
 dants, may be discriminated from the 
 naturalized Mussulmaun. Among the 
 Hindoos may be recognized the pecu- 
 liar features of the Bengalese, con- 
 trasted with those of the Hindostany. 
 
 In this province the first rudiments 
 of education are generally given in 
 small day schools, under the tuition 
 of teachers, who are little respected 
 and poorly rewarded, and are quite 
 different from the gooroos (family 
 priests) who instruct in religion. Chil- 
 dren usually go to school at five, and 
 are instructed to read and write at the 
 same time. They begin by tracing 
 letters on the floor with a pencil of 
 steatite, and in five or six months 
 they are thus able to read and write. 
 They then begin to write cyphers on 
 palmyra leaves with a reed and ink, 
 
 and at the same time learn numera- 
 tion and the subdivisions of weights 
 and measures, and of time belonging 
 to astronomy, or rather to astrology, 
 the whole occupying about eighteen 
 months. After this progress they be- 
 gin to write on paper, and to learn to 
 keep accounts, and at the same time 
 to multiply, divide, and subtract, with 
 the rule of practice, in which the 
 usual arithmetic consists. 
 
 In this scheme of instruction, ac- 
 counts and arithmetic are divided into 
 two distinct departments: one for 
 agriculture, and the other for com- 
 mercial affairs. When both are learn- 
 ed, the former is taught first ; but 
 not many of the natives acquire that 
 knowledge, or are able to tell how 
 many begas or fractions a rectangled 
 parallelogram contains : for the Hin- 
 doo geometry, as far as is known, in 
 practice proceeds no further. Prac- 
 tical surveyors have no mode of ascer- 
 taining the extent of irregular figures 
 but by reducing them to rectangled 
 parallelograms, in which they are 
 guided merely by the eye or by rough 
 estimation ; and even in measuring 
 parallelograms, they are destitute of 
 any instrument that can ascertain 
 whether or not all the angles be 
 equal. 
 
 The Bengal year 1232 began on 
 the 11th April 1824. When this era 
 was instituted is uncertain ; but, ac- 
 cording to tradition, is said to have 
 been introduced by one of the Maho- 
 medan kings ofBengal, and seems ori- 
 ginally to have had reference to the 
 year of the Hejira, but without ad- 
 justing the Bengal solar to the Heji- 
 ra lunar year, consequently, in three 
 centuries it will have lost about eight 
 years. 
 
 In Bengal, parents are generally sa- 
 tisfied with instructing their children 
 in mercantile accounts, and in keep- 
 ing a very full day or waste-book, in 
 which every transaction is carefully 
 recorded, and to which is added a 
 kind of ledger ; but their books do 
 not admit of striking a regular ba- 
 lance, like the Italian method. It is 
 only arithmetic commercial and prac- 
 tical that is taught at school ; the ap- 
 
BENGAL. 
 
 203 
 
 plication to mensuration and to the 
 keeping of books, either of a mer- 
 chant or landholder, are acquired in 
 some office or shop, where the youth 
 commences as an assistant, and learns 
 the style and manner of correspond- 
 ence. The use of the sharp iron style 
 for writing on bark and leaves, al- 
 though the original manner of Hin- 
 doo writing, has been entirely aban- 
 doned, and the reed pen and bam- 
 boo inkstand, introduced by the Ma- 
 homedans, are now universally em- 
 ployed, even in writing on the pal- 
 myra leaf, which substance is still 
 used for works of value, being more 
 durable than the paper fabricated in 
 the province. Besides paper, the 
 natives pay for writing rather less 
 than one rupee for every 32,000 let- 
 ters of the alphabet. 
 
 It has long been remarked that sci- 
 ence and literature are in a progressive 
 state of decay among the natives of 
 India, the number of learned men 
 being not only diminished, but the 
 circle of learning, even among those 
 who still devote themselves to it, 
 greatly' contracted. The abstract 
 sciences are abandoned ; polite litera- 
 ture neglected ; and no branch of 
 learning cultivated but what is con- 
 nected with the peculiar religious 
 sects and doctrines, or with the as- 
 trology of the people. The principal 
 cause of this retrograde condition of 
 literature may be traced to the want 
 of that encouragement which was 
 formerly afforded to it by princes, 
 chieftains, and opulent individuals, 
 under the native governments, now 
 past and gone. Influenced by a de- 
 sire to retrieve native learning from 
 its prostrate condition, Lord Minto, 
 in 1811, adopted certain measures for 
 the encouragement of erudition and 
 science, by a system of liberal sala- 
 ries and donations ; but it is greatly 
 to be doubted whether, under exist- 
 ing circumstances, it be practicable to 
 reimbue the natives with a taste for 
 their own literature, or if practicable, 
 desirable. With the prospect before 
 them of a long and intimate con- 
 nexion with their present rulers, it 
 would probably prove a much more 
 
 advantageous measure to direct their 
 views to European learning and 
 science, by the establishment of 
 schools for the study of the English 
 language in all the principal towns, 
 cities, and civil and military stations. 
 The practicability of such a change 
 has already been demonstrated, in the 
 universal diffusion of the Persian, also 
 a foreign language, and the natives 
 have a peculiar facility in acquiring 
 the English, both as to idiom and 
 pronunciation. Their studies would 
 then assume a more elevated direc- 
 tion, tending to the improvement of 
 their moral and intellectual character, 
 which would gradually wean them 
 from the attachment they still evince 
 to their absurd mythological super- 
 stitions, and lead ultimately to the 
 tranquil adoption of a purer and 
 more rational system of religion. 
 
 The genuine Bengalese towns are 
 not arranged into streets, but into 
 divisions of east, west, north, south, 
 and centre. In one part the Hindoos 
 reside, in another the Mahomedans, 
 and in a third the native Portuguese, 
 &c. The Hindoo portion is farther 
 subdivided into the quarters of Brah- 
 mins, scribes, weavers, oil-makers, 
 washermen, barbers, cultivators, pot- 
 ters, &c., but this distribution is not 
 always strictly observed. It is not 
 the custom to build one house suf- 
 ficient for the whole family ; on the 
 contrary, except among the great, a 
 separate house or hut is generally 
 allotted for each particular purpose, 
 and these huts collectively are sur- 
 rounded by a fence. The houses of 
 the rich are of brick, and flat-roofed, 
 generally two stories high, but the 
 windows are mere air-holes. In the 
 first story the idol is set up ; the up- 
 per rooms are occupied by the family. 
 Throughout the province, except in 
 large towns, there are no inns, nor 
 place of accommodation for the mere 
 traveller ; yet in every small town he 
 may procure an empty house or hut 
 where he may have shelter. 
 
 Many intelligent persons have been 
 of opinion that vegetable food, sea- 
 soned with capsicum, and water to 
 drink, is the diet best adapted for a 
 
204 
 
 BENGAL. 
 
 warm climate : but the justice of this 
 notion there is much reason to ques- 
 tion. The natives of Bengal, who 
 subsist exactly in this manner, have 
 extremely weak constitutions, inca- 
 pable of resisting the slightest change 
 of air or water. It is more probable 
 that those who enjoy a diet which 
 includes animal food, and strong 
 liquors in moderate quantities, are 
 best able to support the influence of 
 unwholesome climates, and the sud- 
 den alterations of the atmosphere. 
 The Arabian prophet has also had 
 encomiums for his prohibition of 
 strong liquors, upon the supposition 
 that excessive inebriety would throw 
 the natives of warm climates into 
 most ungovernable paroxysms of 
 fury. The fact, however, is here ex- 
 actly the reverse, for nothing can be 
 quieter than a drunken Bengally. 
 On these occasions he either retires 
 with his wife or mistress to some 
 private place, where both parties 
 drink until satiated, or he swallows 
 so much liquor at once as to deprive 
 himself both of reason aud voluntary 
 motion, and falls down prone on the 
 earth a stupid block. It is seldom 
 or never that, like the Centaurs and 
 Lapithse, he engages in that boisterous 
 conviviality which generates feuds, 
 broils, and quarrels. 
 
 The extracts of poppy and hemp 
 are considered by native moralists 
 more innocent than spirituous liquors, 
 yet they are much more apt than dis- 
 tilled spirits to lead to the most 
 beastly private intoxication. A Brah- 
 min who intoxicates himself with 
 these drugs is considered blameable, 
 but it does not involve loss of caste. 
 Many of the lower tribes use them 
 whenever they can, but it is only the 
 very lowest that will drink spirits 
 openly. All women chew tobacco, 
 but it is only the females of unclean 
 tribes and prostitutes that will smoke. 
 No man loses caste by smoking to- 
 bacco, and all practise it except a 
 few pundits, who content themselves 
 with snuffing, which is considered 
 more dignified than smoking. Men 
 seldom chew tobacco. 
 
 In general a Hindoo man of rank 
 
 or high caste passes a great part of 
 his time cooking : but the ceremonies 
 which this operation involves being 
 very troublesome, many of the natives 
 kindle afire but once a day, generally 
 in the evening, when they make their 
 principal meal. In the morning and 
 at noon they eat some food that does 
 not require cooking, such as parched 
 rice, or rice parboiled and afterwards 
 beaten flat and dried. Those who 
 can afford the expense, mix it with 
 molasses, and form cakes or balls ; 
 and some mix it with milk, sour or 
 curdled, or with tamarinds. The 
 poor either eat it without any addi- 
 tion, or moisten it with a little water, 
 and, if such luxuries be attainable, 
 with a little salt or some acid fruit. 
 The preparations of milk are various, 
 consisting of boiled butter (ghee), 
 curdled sour milk, butter-milk, in- 
 spissated milk, and curds. The na- 
 tives use only boiled milk, the taste 
 as it comes from the cow being con- 
 sidered unpalatable. Neither is the 
 butter ever used without having been 
 boiled, which process converts it into 
 an oil that keeps much better than 
 butter. Even in the climate of Ben- 
 gal, it undergoes little change for a 
 month, and may be used after having 
 been kept a year. The Bengal sweet- 
 meats please neither the eye nor 
 palate of Europeans, but the rich 
 natives use large quantities, mostly 
 fried in oil or butter. 
 
 Dogs, the humble ally of man, are 
 little honoured in India, and no em- 
 ploy can be more disgraceful than 
 the taking care of this faithful brute; 
 yet the breed in Bengal is very nu- 
 merous, and every village swarms 
 with half-starved curs, which eat 
 every sort of carcase and filth, and 
 are not reckoned the property of any 
 body. The natives rarely enter into 
 any familiarity with them, nor are the 
 children ever seen either caressing 
 or tormenting them, as in Europe. 
 They are in fact merely tolerated ; 
 one or two, according to the wealth 
 of a family, being permitted to eat 
 the scraps, in return for which they 
 sleep in the yard, and bark when a 
 stranger approaches. The bitches 
 
BENGAL. 
 
 205 
 
 are few in number, and commonly 
 more starved than the dogs, being 
 weaker, and the natives observing a 
 strict neutrality in their quarrels. 
 These creatures are so prolific that 
 the number of dogs always exceeds 
 that of the houses which give them 
 shelter, and a large proportion have 
 no resource but to roam about in 
 misery like jackals. But, under all 
 their hardships, they retain the affec- 
 tionate nature of their kind : the 
 least feeding attaches them, and when 
 the pangs of hunger are deadened, 
 the slightest notice delights them, 
 and they soon discover who is the 
 chief person of a party, though he 
 neither caresses nor feeds them. Cats 
 are not numerous, and are, like dogs, 
 just tolerated, and live in a half-do- 
 mestic half-wild state. 
 
 The Bengalese are in general, when 
 young, a lively, handsome race of 
 men. There is also a softness in their 
 features, corresponding to the gene- 
 ral mildness, or perhaps, pusillanimity 
 of their character, and were it not 
 for the uncharitable operation of 
 caste, they would, comparatively, be 
 a friendly, inoffensive race. They have 
 a thorough contempt for all other 
 nations and castes (which seems re- 
 ciprocal), whom they consider impure 
 and degraded, originally Hindoos, but 
 in consequence of their sins and 
 enormities, fallen from that high 
 estate. The contrast between the 
 bluntness of a European and the 
 smooth easy polish of a Bengalese 
 is very striking ; the latter are na- 
 turally polite, and frequently exhibit 
 a suavity and suppleness of manner 
 that surprises a stranger. This ob- 
 servation, however, is only applicable 
 so far as regards their conduct to- 
 wards their superiors, for to inferiors, 
 of whatever nation, they are usually 
 insolent and contumelious. Their 
 youths are lively, inquisitive, and 
 of quick perception, and the common 
 people noisy and loquacious. These 
 are of a dark brown colour, middling 
 stature, thin but well made, of an 
 oval countenance, many with aquiline 
 noses, and all with black eyes and hair. 
 
 The genuine natives of this pro- 
 
 vince never were a martial race, or 
 disposed to a military life, for which, 
 indeed, their want of personal strength 
 and constitution almost incapacitates 
 them ; the army is in consequence 
 entirely recruited from north and 
 western Hindostan. In 1822 three- 
 fourths of the Bengal cavalry were 
 Mahomedans, for, with the exception 
 of the Maharattas, the Hindoos in 
 general are not partial to the duties 
 of a trooper. The reverse is the case 
 in the Bengal infantry, three-fourths 
 of which is composed of Hindoos, 
 who are usually more docile and less 
 dissipated than the Mahomedans. 
 The standard below which no recruit 
 is taken is five feet six inches, but a 
 large proportion of the grenadiers 
 are six feet and upwards. 
 
 The dress of the Hindoo men of 
 rank has become nearly the same with 
 that of the Mahomedans. The mar- 
 ried Hindoo females use red-lead as 
 an ornament ; but instead of painting 
 their cheeks like the European ladies, 
 they rub it on their foreheads, fingers, 
 and nails, and also paint round the 
 soles of their feet with red. In com- 
 pliment a woman is commended when 
 she is discribed as walking like a duck 
 or an elephant, which is also a sort 
 of waddle. The teeth are beautiful 
 when like the seed of the pomegra- 
 nate (black and red) ; the nose, when 
 like the beak of a parrot ; the hands 
 and feet like the water lily ; the hair 
 when black as a cloud ; the chin when 
 resembling the mangoe ; and the lips 
 when like the fruit of the talacucha. 
 The hardships imposed on Hindoo 
 widows of pure caste are so severe 
 and degrading, that women of high 
 spirit often prefer the funeral pile ; 
 while others submit with patience, and 
 act as menial servants to the vain 
 beauties who are decked in the orna- 
 ments of which they have been de- 
 prived ; others, to escape these harsh 
 regulations, renounce caste and seek 
 refuge in a brothel. In 1823, the num- 
 ber of suttees, or widow burnings, 
 within the Bengal presidency, was, 
 Brahmins 234 ; Khetries 35 ; Vaisyas 
 14 ; Sudras 292 ; total 575. But the 
 real number is probably much greater 
 
206 
 
 BENGAL. 
 
 as the returns are only given with 
 accuracy about Calcutta, within the 
 limits of the Calcutta court of circuit, 
 where 340 out of the above sum total 
 were perpetrated. The ages were, un- 
 der twenty years of age 32 ; from 
 twenty to forty years 208 ; from forty 
 to sixty years 226 ; above sixty years 
 of age 109; total 575 widows. 
 
 To the ear of a European the na- 
 tive music sounds harsh and disagree- 
 able, and to the professed musician is 
 altogether insufferable. The perfor- 
 mers, however, are numerous, and 
 the variety of noises they are able to 
 produce, considerable. The highest 
 description consists of bands of instru- 
 mental music, which accompany the 
 voices of girls who sing and dance. 
 The latter is quite as bad as their 
 music, being slow, lifeless, and with- 
 out grace or meaning. The greatest 
 art is to jingle time with some chains, 
 or hollow rings, called goongooroos. 
 which are tied round their ancles, 
 During the Mussulmaun Mohurrem, 
 some persons are employed to sing the 
 praises of Fatima, the daughter of 
 Mahomed, and of her unfortunate 
 sons, Hassan and Hossein. But it is 
 principally at marriages, and during 
 religious processions and grand so- 
 lemnities, that the full din of harmony 
 is heard, proceeding from eight diffe- 
 rent kinds of drums, besides gongs, 
 hautboys, buffaloe horns, and brass 
 trumpets, performed by the lowest 
 dregs of the people. From these for- 
 midable implements of sound each 
 man extorts as much noise as he can, 
 paying little or no attention to what 
 his comrades are about. Sometimes 
 the men amuse themselves singing 
 hymns or love songs, accompanied by 
 small drums ; but it is considered as 
 very disgraceful for a modest woman 
 to sing, or play on any musical instru- 
 ment. While rowing, the native boat- 
 men endeavour to lessen their fatigue 
 by singing the adventures of Krishna 
 and Radha, and it is among them that 
 any real melodj r is to be found, some 
 being sweet and plaintive, and strongly 
 resembling the national airs of Scot- 
 land and Ireland. 
 
 In Bengal the common washermen 
 
 are almost all Hindoos of a low tribe ; 
 but nearly all the tailors are Maho- 
 medans, the needle apparently having 
 been totally unknown to the Hindoos 
 before the Mahomedan invasion. A 
 great proportion of the barbers are a 
 pure tribe, and shave without soap. 
 Rich men often retain barbers, who 
 shave them, pick their ears, cut their 
 nails, and knead their bodies, common- 
 ly called shampooing, an operation to 
 which the natives are much attached. 
 Ten days after a woman has been de- 
 livered, the nails both of her and her 
 child must be cut. No native woman, 
 except a prostitute, will allow their 
 hair to be cut, such care of her per- 
 son being deemed incompatible with 
 modesty. Of the medical profession 
 there are here three sects of native phy- 
 sicians; the Yunani (Ionians) among 
 the Mahomedans ; the Saka dwipi in 
 Bahar ; and the Vaidyas in Bengal. 
 
 Domestic slavery is very generally 
 prevalent in Bengal, among both Hin- 
 doos and Mahomedans. More trusty 
 than hired servants, slaves are almost 
 exclusively employed in the interior 
 of the house. Every opulent person, 
 every one raised above the condition 
 of the simplest mediocrity, is provi- 
 ded with household slaves, and from 
 this class are chiefly taken the con- 
 cubines of the Mahomedans and Hin- 
 doos ; in regard to whom it is to be 
 remembered, that concubinage is not 
 among people of these religions an 
 immoral state, but a relation which 
 both law and custom recognize with- 
 out reprehension, and its prevalence 
 is only liable to the same objections as 
 polygamy, with which it has a near, 
 and almost necessary connection. In 
 the lower districts under the Bengal 
 presidency, the employment of slaves 
 in the labours of husbandry is almost 
 unknown. In the upper provinces be- 
 ginning from Western Bahar, and Be- 
 nares, the petty landlords, who are 
 themselves cultivators, are aided in 
 their husbandry by slaves, whom they 
 very commonly employ as herds and 
 ploughmen. Landlords of a higher class 
 have in a few instances the pretensions 
 of masters over a part of the tenants 
 long settled on their estates, and re- 
 
BENGAL. 
 
 £07 
 
 puted to be descended from persons 
 who were the acknowledged slaves of 
 their ancestors. 
 
 It would be difficult to form a com- 
 putation of the number of slaves 
 throughout the country, or the pro- 
 portion born to the free population. 
 In a general point of view it may be 
 stated, that slaves are neither so few 
 as to be of no consideration, or so 
 numerous as to compose a notable 
 proportion of the inhabitants. The 
 number, which certainly is not rela- 
 tively great, has been kept up, first 
 by propagation ; secondly, by the sale 
 of free children into slavery; and 
 thirdly, by importation from abroad, 
 by sea or land, but this has been long 
 prohibited. Slavery, however, in its 
 severest sense, may be said to be un- 
 known, the domestic slave being usu- 
 ally rather a favourite and confiden- 
 tial servant, than an abject drudge, 
 and held superior to the hireling, both 
 in the master’s estimation and in his 
 own. Opulent persons frequently 
 emancipate but rarely sell their slaves ; 
 and the manumission of slaves being 
 deemed an act of piety, it frequently 
 takes place from religious motives, 
 and slaves are expressly redeemed by 
 purchase. The number of slaves con- 
 tinually diminishing by these proces- 
 ses, a demand constantly exists for 
 the purchase of them, which is chiefly 
 supplied by the sale of children by 
 their parents during famines, or under 
 circumstances of peculiar calamity. In 
 such exigencies, parents have been 
 known to sell their children for prices 
 so very inconsiderable, and so little 
 more than nominal, that they may 
 frequently have credit for a better mo- 
 tive than that of momentarily reliev- 
 ing their own necessities ; namely, the 
 saving of the children’s lives, by in- 
 teresting in their preservation persons 
 able to provide that nourishment, of 
 which they are themselves destitute. 
 There is no reason for believing that 
 they are ever sold through avarice, or 
 the want of natural affection ; indeed 
 the known character of the people in 
 all their relations exempt them from 
 the suspicion of such conduct. The 
 pressure of want, therefore, alone sti- 
 
 mulates the sale ; and so long as no 
 established fund, or regulated system 
 for the relief of the indigent exists, 
 it does not seem practicable to prevent 
 the disposal of children by their pa- 
 rents, which is permitted by their own 
 laws. 
 
 There are two classes of purchasers, 
 however, by whom larger prices are 
 given. The one comprehends various 
 religious orders, the members of which 
 purchase children to initiate them in- 
 to their own class; but being restricted 
 in their selection to the higher classes 
 of Hindoos, they do not readily find 
 persons willing to part with their chil- 
 dren ; they are in consequence oblig- 
 ed to bribe the cupidity of parents 
 by a large pecuniary consideration, 
 which their opulence, derived from 
 the union of the commercial with the 
 religious profession, enables them to 
 hold out. The greatness of the reward 
 has been supposed, in some instances, 
 to lead to kidnapping; but this cannot 
 occur frequently, as the purchaser re- 
 quires always to have the parentage of 
 the child clearly established. The 
 other description of purchasers alluded 
 to consists of the owners of sets of 
 dancing women, who buy female chil- 
 dren, and instruct them for public ex- 
 hibition, and as they generally become 
 courtezans, prohibitory laws might be 
 enacted. Yet it would perhaps be 
 going too far, to presume in all cases 
 the intention of prostitution, and to 
 interdict all instruction in the art of 
 dancing, which forms a regular and 
 necessary part of their religious fes- 
 tivals and celebrations. 
 
 The remaining source for the sup- 
 ply of slaves, until prohibited by law, 
 was the importation by sea and by 
 land. By the first-mentioned channel 
 a few African slaves, never amount- 
 ing to one hundred, were brought to 
 Calcutta in the Arab ships. The im- 
 portation by land was principally from 
 the Nepaulese dominions, where the 
 oppressive administration of the Gork- 
 has drove the wretched inhabitants to 
 the sad resource of selling their chil- 
 dren, or themselves, into slavery, 
 when all other expedients of meeting 
 the insatiable exactions of their rulers 
 
208 
 
 BENGAL. 
 
 were exhausted. At present the ex- 
 istence of slavery, as sanctioned by the 
 Hindoo and Mahomedan law, is tole- 
 rated and maintained by the courts of 
 judicature under the British govern- 
 ment in India, nor does it appear that 
 any legislative enactment is called for. 
 Although the native laws have not 
 provided against the barbarity of an 
 inhuman master, the British local re- 
 gulations have, by expressly annulling 
 the exemption from kisas, or retalia- 
 tion for murder, in 1798, since which 
 period slaves have not been considered 
 out of the protection of the law, either 
 in the cases of murder or of barba- 
 rous usage. 
 
 Among the native population of 
 the eastern districts of Bengal, the 
 Mahomedans are almost equally nu- 
 merous with the Hindoos, and in 
 some particular parts, such as Ghora- 
 ghaut, a majority of the cultivators 
 appear to have embraced the Arabian 
 faith. In the central districts the 
 Mahomedans do not compose a fourth 
 of the inhabitants, and to the west- 
 ward the disproportion is still greater. 
 As an average of the whole, the Ma- 
 homedans may be computed at one- 
 sixth of the total population of Ben- 
 gal and Bahar. Of the four great 
 castes, the aggregate of the Brahmin, 
 and Khetri, may amount at the most 
 to one-fifth of the Hindoo population ; 
 but, except families that have evident- 
 ly migrated into Bengal, there are 
 none that pretend to be genuine 
 Khetris or Vaisyas, so that the origi- 
 nal Bengalese may be considered as 
 divided into Brahmins and Sudras. 
 
 In this province the highest Sudras 
 are the Vaidyas, or medical tribe. 
 The Kayasthas (pronounced kaist, 
 hence the word caste), or writer tribe, 
 follow next; then come nine tribes 
 of tradesmen, who, although greatly 
 inferior to the scribes, are considered 
 pure Sudras, as a Brahmin will con- 
 descend to drink water offered by 
 them, nor is he degraded by attend- 
 ing to their spiritual concerns. The 
 nine trades are druggists, shell-work- 
 ers, coppersmiths, cultivators of betel- 
 leaf, weavers, makers of garlands, 
 blacksmiths, potters, barbers. By 
 
 some strange caprice, not only the 
 bankers, but also the goldsmiths, are 
 excluded from the pure castes of ar- 
 tificers ; while barbers, pot-makers, 
 copper and blacksmiths, obtained 
 that much-envied dignity. 
 
 When Raja Bollal Sen arranged 
 the castes of Bengal, it does not ap- 
 pear that he promulgated any code 
 of written regulations, at least no 
 book answering to this description is 
 now extant. In this province com- 
 merce and agriculture are permitted 
 to all classes ; and, under the desig- 
 nation of servants to the three other 
 tribes, Sudras are allowed to prosecute 
 any manufacture. In practice little 
 attention is paid to the limitation of 
 castes, daily observation shewing 
 Brahmins exercising the martial pro- 
 fession of a Khetri, and even the 
 menial one of a Sudra. It may, 
 however, be received as a general 
 maxim, that the occupation appoint- 
 ed to each tribe is entitled merely to 
 a preference, every profession, with 
 a few exceptions, being open to every 
 description of persons. Many tribes 
 of Hindoos, and even some Brah- 
 mins, have no objection to the use 
 of animal food, and at their enter- 
 tainments it is generally introduced. 
 By some, animal food is daily eaten, 
 and the institutes of their religion 
 require that animal food should be 
 tasted even by Brahmins at solemn 
 sacrifices, forbidding the use of it 
 unless joined with the performance 
 of such a sacrifice. 
 
 In this province, and throughout 
 Hindostan generally, every caste, in 
 order to preserve purity, form them- 
 selves into clubs or lodges, consisting 
 of individuals of that caste residing 
 within a small distance, and in Ben- 
 gal termed collectively do / ’, which 
 govern themselves by particular rules 
 and customs, or bye-laws. At the 
 head of each dol is a chief, whose 
 office among the higher ranks is he- 
 reditary, and whose duty it is to 
 punish all transgressions, either by 
 excommunication or by fine; but his 
 decision must be guided by the sen- 
 timents of the principal persons com- 
 posing the society. In large towns 
 
BENGAL. 
 
 209 
 
 there are commonly two or three 
 chiefs of dols, whose adherents in 
 general quarrel and annoy each other 
 as much as circumstances will per- 
 mit. Each caste, when it is nume- 
 rous in any place, has, besides, one or 
 more distinct dols or societies for 
 enforcing the observation of its rules. 
 Each kind of Brahmin and each sub- 
 division of Sudra has its own, and 
 most of these are parcelled out into 
 diverging branches, which dispute 
 about purity and precedence. In the 
 various tribes the chiefs of castes are 
 called by different names, but the 
 most common is paramaniks. The 
 crimes usually punished by these 
 combinations are the eating of for- 
 bidden things, or the eating in com- 
 pany with forbidden persons, and co- 
 habiting with those who are impure 
 or forbidden. 
 
 To describe the ceremonies of 
 each, or of any one of the Bengal 
 castes, would be impracticable within 
 any reasonable limits, and if practi- 
 cable, would only prove in how pre- 
 posterously frivolous a manner time 
 may be wasted. In the observance 
 of these ceremonies, however, every 
 Hindoo seems to place his chief gra- 
 tification, and glories in an establish- 
 ed reputation for their strict per- 
 formance. Except the bodies of 
 children, the dead of all castes are 
 burned ; but the funeral pile being 
 expensive, many of the poor cannot 
 afford to be reduced to ashes. As a 
 substitute, a torch or whisp of straw 
 is put into the mouth of the corpse, 
 and afterwards, if near a large river, 
 it is thrown into the water, or, if at 
 a distance, buried ; but the first is 
 always preferred, and fills the Gan- 
 ges and its branches with disgust- 
 ing objects. The Bengalese Hindoos 
 have in general a great terror of the 
 dead, and will seldom venture to in- 
 habit a house or hut where a person 
 has died. This seems connected with 
 their custom of exposing their sick 
 to perish on the banks of rivers, 
 which tends to aggravate the last 
 pangs of nature, and sometimes not 
 only accelerates death, but exhausts 
 that strength which might possibly 
 
 VOL. i. 
 
 have enabled nature to overcome the 
 disease. The custom also furnishes 
 an opportunity of practising other 
 horrid crimes, and it has probably 
 been to guard against the possibility 
 of such events that Hindoo legisla- 
 tors have imposed such severe hard- 
 ships on widows. 
 
 Of the existence of Bengal as a 
 separate kingdom, with the limits as- 
 signed to it at present, there is no 
 other evidence than its distinct lan- 
 guage and peculiar written character. 
 At the time of the war of the Maha- 
 bharat, it formed part of the empire 
 of Magadha, or Bahar, from which, 
 however, it was dismembered before 
 the Mahomedan invasion ; but it is 
 rarely in Hindoo books of any kind 
 termed Bangala; Gour and Banga 
 Desa being the usual distinctive ap- 
 pellations. Traditions still current in 
 Bengal, make Bollal Sen, the imme- 
 diate successor of Adisur, a person 
 of the Vaidya, or medical tribe, who 
 procured the government of the pro- 
 vince, but subject to the monarch of 
 the north-west. He is said to have 
 resided partly at Gour, but chiefly at 
 Bikrampoor, eight miles south-east 
 from Dacca. 
 
 Adisur’s wife had a son named 
 Bollal Sen, begotten by the river 
 Brahmaputra, under the form of a 
 Brahmin. This offspring of the flood 
 succeeded Adisur, and regulated the 
 different castes as they now exist in 
 Bengal, and it is probably owing to 
 this circumstance, that the medical 
 tribe, being that of the prince, is 
 placed next in rank to the Brahmins. 
 Indeed, of the five dynasties that are 
 said to have ruled Bengal prior to 
 the Mahomedan invasion, the four 
 last are said to have been Kaists,and 
 on the first Khetri. 
 
 Bollal Sen was succeeded by Lak- 
 hyaman Sen, who according to tra- 
 dition had a son named Madhava 
 Sen, who had a son named Su Sen, 
 usually considered by the Hindoos 
 as the last of their kings; but ac- 
 cording to the Ayeen Acberry, Lak- 
 hyaman Sen was the last. In A.D. 
 1203, during the reign of Cuttub 
 ud Deen on the Delhi throne, Ma- 
 
210 
 
 BENGAL. 
 
 homed Bukhtyar Khillijee was des- 
 patched with an army by that sove- 
 reign to invade Bengal, and inarched 
 with such rapidity that he surprised 
 and took the capital. On the ap- 
 proach of the Mahomedans, Raja 
 Lakhyaman, who resided at Nuddea, 
 made his escape in a boat and fled 
 to Juggernauth, where, according to 
 Mahomedan authorities, he died ; but 
 the traditions of the country state 
 that the Raja, dreading the destruc- 
 tion ofBrahmins and sacred animals, 
 which a protracted existence might 
 occasion, by a power holy men are 
 supposed to possess, deserted his vi- 
 sible body. It is possible that the 
 Raja only retired to his remote capi- 
 tal, Bikrampoor, near Dacca, where 
 there still resides a family possessing 
 considerable estates, who pretend to 
 be his descendants. We also find 
 that Soonergong, in the vicinity of 
 Bikrampoor, continued to be a place 
 of refuge to the Gour malcontents, 
 and was not finally subjugated until 
 long after the overthrow of Raja Lak- 
 hyaman. 
 
 The kingdom being in this das- 
 tardly manner abandoned by its so- 
 vereign, fell an easy prey to the 
 Mahomedan general, who having de- 
 stroyed Nuddea proceeded to Gour, 
 w'here he established his capital, and 
 reared his mosques on the ruins of 
 Hindoo temples. According to Ma- 
 homedan authorities, the conquest of 
 this large province only occupied one 
 year; but it would appear that after 
 the capture of Gour, the Mahome- 
 dans were unable to extend their do- 
 minion over the whole Hindoo king- 
 dom of Bengal, not only towards the 
 north and east, but even towards the 
 west ; nor did they acquire posses- 
 sion of the whole, constituted as it 
 is at preseiit, until a late period of 
 the Mogul government. . 
 
 From this era Bengal was ruled 
 by governors delegated from Delhi, 
 until A.D. 1340, when Fakher ucl 
 Deen, having assassinated his master, 
 revolted, and erected the indepen- 
 dent kingdom of Bengal. After a 
 short reign he was defeated and put 
 to death, and was succeeded by 
 
 A.D. 
 
 1343. Ilyas Khan. 
 
 1358. Secunder Shah, killed in an 
 engagement with his son. 
 
 1367. Gyas ud Deen. He eradicated 
 the eyes of his brothers. 
 
 1373. Sultan Assulateen. 
 
 1383. Shums ud Deen ; defeated and 
 killed in battle by 
 
 1385. Raja Cansa, who ascended the 
 throne, and was succeeded by 
 his son, 
 
 1392. Cheetmul Jellal ud Deen, who 
 became a convert to the Ma- 
 homedan religion. 
 
 1409. Ahmed Khan, who sent an 
 » embassy to Shahrokh, the son 
 of Timour. 
 
 1426. Nassir Shah ; succeeded by his 
 son, 
 
 1457- Barbek Shah. This prince in- 
 troduced mercenary guards, and 
 troops composed of negro and 
 Abyssinian slaves. 
 
 1474. Yuseph Shah, son of the last 
 monarch, succeeded by his uncle, 
 
 1482. Futteh Shah, who was mur- 
 dered by his eunuchs and Abys- 
 sinian slaves; on which event 
 one of the eunuchs seized the 
 crown and assumed the name of 
 
 1491. Shah Zadeh ; but after a reign 
 of eight months he was assassi- 
 nated, and the vacant throne 
 taken possession of by 
 
 1491. FerozeShah Hubshy, an Abys^ 
 sinian slave ; succeeded by his 
 son, 
 
 1494. Mahmood Shah. This prince 
 was murdered by his slave, an 
 Abyssinian ; who ascended the 
 throne under the name of 
 
 1495. MuzefFer Shah, who proved a 
 cruel tyrant, and was slain in 
 battle. 
 
 1499. Seid Hossein Shah. This 
 prince expelled the Abyssinian 
 troops, who retired to the Dec- 
 can and Guzerat, where they 
 afterwards became conspicuous 
 under the appellation of Sid- 
 dhees. He afterwards invaded 
 Camroop and Assam, but was 
 repulsed with disgrace. Upon 
 the whole, however, he may be 
 considered the most powerful 
 
I 
 
 BENGAL. 
 
 A.D* 
 
 and tolerant of the Bengal kings. 
 He was succeeded by his son, 
 
 1520. Nusserit Shah, who was as- 
 sassinated by his eunuchs, and 
 his son, Feroze Shah, placed on 
 the throne; but after a reign of 
 three months he was assassinat- 
 ed by his uncle, 
 
 1533. Mahmood Shah ; subsequently 
 expelled by Shere Shah, the Af- 
 ghan, and with him, in 1538, 
 ended the series of independent 
 Mahomedan monarch s of Ben- 
 gal. Some Portuguese ships had 
 entered the Ganges as early as 
 A.D. 1517, and in 1536 a squa- 
 dron of nine ships was sent to 
 the assistance of Mahmood Shah ; 
 but these succours arrived too 
 late, and Bengal once more be- 
 came an appendage to the throne 
 ofDelhi. The nature of the go- 
 vernment of the independent 
 kings is little known, but they 
 appear to have enjoyed but lit- 
 tle security for their persons, 
 and were in general furious bi- 
 gots, greatly under the influence 
 of Mussulmaun saints. Shere 
 Shah and his successors occu- 
 pied Bengal until 1576, when it 
 was conquered by the armies of 
 the Emperor Acber, and in 1580 
 formed into a soubah, by Raja 
 Tooder Mull. 
 
 The Governors of Bengal under the 
 Mogul dynasty, were 
 
 1576. Khan Jehan. 
 
 1579. Muzuffer Khan. 
 
 1580. Raja Tooder Mull. 
 
 1582. Khan Azim. 
 
 1584. Shahbaz Khan, 
 
 1589. Raja Maun Singh. 
 
 1606. Cuttub ud Deen Kokultash. 
 
 ] 607* Jehangir Cooly. 
 
 1608. Sheikh Islam Khan. 
 
 1613. Cossim Khan. 
 
 1618. Ibrahim Khan. 
 
 1622. Shah Jehan. 
 
 1625. Khanezad Khan. 
 
 1626. Mokurrem Khan. 
 
 1627- Fedai Khan. 
 
 1628. Cossim Khan Jobung. 
 
 1632. Azim Khan. During the go- 
 vernment of this viceroy, A.D. 
 
 ill 
 
 A.D. 
 
 1634, the English obtained per- 
 mission to trade with their ships 
 to Bengal, in consequence of a 
 firmaun from the emperor Shah 
 Jehan, but were restricted to 
 the port of Pipley, in Orissa, 
 where they established their fac- 
 tory. 
 
 1639. Sultan Shujah, the second son 
 of Shah Jehan, and brother of 
 Aurungzebe. In 1642 Mr. Day, 
 the agent who had so success- 
 fully established the settlement 
 at Madras, proceeded on a voy- 
 age of experiment to Balasore; 
 from whence he sent the first 
 regular despatch received by the 
 Court of Directors from Bengal, 
 recommending a factory at Ba- 
 lasore. In 1656, owing to the 
 extortion and oppression which 
 the Company experienced, their 
 factories were withdrawn from 
 Bengal. 
 
 1660. Meer Jumla. 
 
 1664. ShaistaKhan. During the go- 
 vernment of this viceroy, the 
 French and Danes established 
 themselves in Bengal. He ex- 
 pelled the Mughs of Arracan 
 from the island of Sundeep, and 
 his administration was in other 
 respects able and prosperous, al- 
 though described by the East- 
 India Company’s agents of that 
 period in the blackest colours. 
 
 1677. Fedai Khan. 
 
 1678. Shaista Khan was re-appoint- 
 pointed. This year Mr. Job 
 Charnock was restored to the 
 situation of chief at Cossim- 
 bazar; and in 1681 Bengal was 
 constituted a distinct agency from 
 that of Fort St. George or Ma- 
 dras. On the 20th December 
 1686, in consequence of a rupture 
 with the foujdar, or native mili- 
 tary commander at Hooghly, the 
 agent and council returned from 
 Hooghly to Chuttanuttee or 
 Calcutta, considering the latter 
 as the safest station. 
 
 1689. Ibrahim Khan. In 1693 Mr. 
 Job Charnock died, and was suc- 
 ceeded by Mr. Eyre ; the sea of 
 
 p 2 
 
BENGAL. 
 
 212 
 
 A.D. 
 
 the Company’s trade continuing 
 at Chuttanuttee. In 1693 Sir 
 John Goldesborough was sent 
 out as general superintendent 
 and commissary of all the Com- 
 pany’s possessions ; but he died 
 in Bengal in 1694, having con- 
 firmed Mr. Eyre as chief. In 
 1696, during the rebellion of 
 Soobha Singh, the Dutch at 
 Chinsura, the French at Chan- 
 dernagore, and the English at 
 Chuttanuttee, requested permis- 
 sion to put their factories in a 
 state of defence, and the viceroy 
 having in general terms assented, 
 they proceeded with great dili- 
 gence to raise walls, bastions, 
 and regular fortifications ; the 
 first permitted to foreigners by 
 the Moguls within their domi- 
 nions. 
 
 169/. Azim Ushaun, the grandson of 
 Aurengzebe. In 1700 this prince, 
 in consideration of a valuable 
 present, permitted the agents of 
 the East-lndia Company to pur- 
 chase their townships, with the 
 lands attached, adjacent to their 
 fortified factory, viz. Chuttanut- 
 tee, Govindpoor, and Calcutta, 
 Mr. Eyre, the chief, in conse- 
 quence of instructions from 
 home, having strengthened the 
 works of the fort, it was named 
 Fort William, in compliment to 
 the king. 
 
 1704. Moorshed Cooly, or Juffier 
 Khan. This nabob in 1704 trans- 
 ferred the seat of government 
 from Dacca to Moorshedabad, 
 as being more central. The an- 
 nual surplus revenue during his 
 administration, which compre- 
 hended also Cuttack, amounted 
 from 130 to 150 lacks of rupees 
 (£1,500,000), and was regularly 
 transmitted to Delhi every Fe- 
 bruary, accompanied by valuable 
 presents. In 1706 the whole 
 stock of the United East-lndia 
 Company had been removed to 
 Calcutta, where the garrison con • 
 sisted of 129 soldiers, of whom 
 sixty-six were Europeans, ex- 
 
 clusive of the gunner and his 
 crew. 
 
 17^5. Shujah-ud-Deen, son in law 
 of the late governor, who was 
 succeeded by his son, 
 
 1732. Serferaz Khan ; who was de- 
 throned and killed in battle by 
 
 1740. Aliverdi Khan. It does not 
 appear that this nabob ever re- 
 mitted any part of the revenue 
 to Delhi. After the invasion of 
 Hindostan by Ahmed Shah Ab- 
 dalli of Cabul, and the death of 
 the Emperor Mahomed Shah in 
 the following year, the Mogul 
 empire may be considered as 
 annihilated beyond the immediate 
 vicinity of Delhi. 
 
 1756. Seraje-ud-Dowlah, grandson 
 to the late nabob, in April this 
 year took undisputed possession 
 of Bengal, Bahar, and a portion 
 of Orissa ; but it does not appear 
 that he ever applied for, or re- 
 ceived investiture from Delhi. 
 On the 20th June he captured 
 Calcutta, and shut up the pri- 
 soners, 146 in number, in a room 
 twenty feet square, where they 
 all perished except twenty-three. 
 On the 1st January 1757, Cal- 
 cutta was retaken by Admiral 
 Watson and Col. Clive; on the 
 20th June the nabob was defeat- 
 ed at Plassey, and early in next 
 July was assassinated by order 
 of Meerun, the son of his suc- 
 cessor, in the twentieth year of 
 his age, and fifteenth month of 
 of his reign. On learning, in 
 1757, this important conquest, 
 the Court of Directors establish- 
 ed a sort of rotatory government, 
 by the enactments of which, four 
 of their civil servants were ap- 
 pointed directors in Calcutta, to 
 succeed each other every three 
 months, from which favoured 
 list of periodical rulers the name 
 of Clive was excluded; but this 
 nondescript constitution, as may 
 be supposed, was of very tran- 
 sient duration. For the subse- 
 quent native princes of Bengal, 
 see the article Moorshedabad, 
 
BENGAL. 
 
 213 
 
 as from this era may be dated 
 the commencement of the British 
 government of this province, al- 
 though the dewanny, or authority 
 to collect the revenue, was not 
 obtained from the Delhi sovereign 
 until 1765. 
 
 On taking a retrospect of the pre- 
 ceding century, it appears that from 
 the establishment of Aurengzebe on 
 the imperial throne until the invasion 
 of Nadir Shah, a period of eighty 
 years, Bengal enjoyed profound peace 
 without, and experienced only a few 
 transient commotions internally. Un- 
 der the government of the two last 
 legitimate viceroys, Jaffier Khan and 
 Shujah Khan, who ruled in succession 
 nearly forty years, the state of the 
 country was eminently flourishing, 
 and the taxes little felt, although the 
 annual tribute remitted to Delhi was 
 usually a crore (ten millions) of ru- 
 pees; the zemindars paying their 
 land-tax directly into the royal trea- 
 sury, without the intervention of 
 local collectors on the part of the so- 
 vereign. Even after the usurpation 
 of Aliverdi Khan, the zemindars were 
 so opulent, as at one time to make 
 him a donation of a crore of rupees, 
 and another of fifty lacks, towards 
 defraying the extra expenses incurred 
 in repelling the incursions of the Ma- 
 harattas. Bengal had then few po- 
 litical relations to maintain, and was 
 never exposed to invasion at any time 
 except from the west ; the military 
 establishment was consequently in- 
 considerable, and the general arrange- 
 ment of the civil administration re- 
 markable for economy, simplicity, 
 and despatch. 
 
 In the first period of British ad- 
 ministration, from 1757 to 1765, the 
 provinces, with the exception of a 
 few districts ceded to the Company, 
 were continued under thegovernment 
 of the nabobs, to whom the distri- 
 bution of civil and criminal justice, 
 the collection of the revenue, and 
 the general powers of internal super- 
 intendence, were delegated ; the Bri- 
 tish reserving the direction of foreign 
 policy, a controlling military influ- 
 ence, and more considerable commer- 
 
 cial advantages than had ever been 
 conceded by the grants of emperors, 
 or the prior usages of the country. 
 In 1765 the dewanny was obtained 
 by Lord Clive from the Emperor 
 Shah Allum, under the condition of 
 paying him twenty-six lacks of rupees 
 annually, besides securing him a con- 
 siderable tract of territory in Upper 
 Hindostan, both which he forfeit- 
 ed in 1771 by putting himself vo- 
 luntarily into the power of the Ma- 
 harattas. This important and most 
 valuable acquisition, observes a na- 
 tive historian (Seid Gholaum Hos- 
 sein), was settled without hesitation 
 or argument, as easily as the purchase 
 of an ass or any other animal, with- 
 out envoys or reference, either to the 
 King of England or to the Company. 
 
 Lord Clive returned to England in 
 1767, and was succeeded in the go- 
 vernment by Mr. Verelst; and on his 
 departure, in December 1769, by Mr. 
 Cartier. The crops of 1768 and 1769 
 proved scanty, and throughout the 
 month of October 1769 scarcely a 
 drop of rain fell. The almost total 
 failure of a third crop, after the de- 
 ficiency of two preceding ones, filled 
 the miserable inhabitants with con- 
 sternation and dismay. Some reliance 
 was still placed on the crops of infe- 
 rior grain, usually reaped between 
 February and April : but the refresh- 
 ing showers that commonly fall be- 
 tween these months also failed, no 
 rain descending until late in the 
 latter month. The heat in conse- 
 quence became insupportable, and 
 every sort of herb was in a great de- 
 gree dried to a powder. The result 
 was universal despondence, and a too 
 well-founded apprehension of im- 
 pending destruction, for the same ca- 
 lamity extended to Upper Hindostan, 
 and no adjacent country was capable 
 of furnishing an adequate supply. 
 
 The British administration and the 
 native officers took the alarm at an 
 early period, and adopted such pre- 
 cautionary measures as were in their 
 power. In September 1769 the Bri- 
 tish and all their dependents were 
 absolutely prohibited from trading in 
 grain, and strict injunctions were. 
 
BENGAL. 
 
 with doubtful policy, promulgated 
 against the hoarding of grain, or 
 dealing in it clandestinely ; and as a 
 measure of necessity, 60,000 maunds 
 were stored for the subsistence of the 
 army. For these exertions the na- 
 tives were principally indebted to Mr. 
 Becher, of the civil service, who yet 
 on his return to England found him- 
 self traduced as the author of the 
 famine, and the purchase of a stock 
 of rice for the army may have assisted 
 to suggest the notion of a monopoly. 
 
 In the northern districts of Bengal 
 the famine raged so early as Novem- 
 ber 1769, and before the end of April 
 had spread universal desolation. Rice 
 rose gradually to four, and at length 
 ten times its usual cost, and even at 
 these prices was to a vast multitude 
 unattainable. Thousands crawled 
 forth to the fields, and endeavoured, 
 by knawing the bark and chewing the 
 bitter and astringent leaves of trees, 
 to prolong their miserable existence. 
 In the country the highwaj r s and 
 fields were strewed with the dying 
 and the dead; in towns the streets 
 and passages were choked up with 
 them. Vast numbers flocked to 
 Moorshedabad, the capital, and sup- 
 plies for that quarter were eagerly 
 sought. Subscriptions were liberally 
 made, and the Company, the Nabob, 
 the ministers, and European and na- 
 tive individuals, largely contributed 
 to the feeding of the poor. In Moor- 
 shedabad alone 7,000 were daily fed 
 for several months, and the same 
 practice was adopted in other places ; 
 but the good effect of these charitable 
 endeavours was scarcely perceptible 
 amidst the general mortality. In 
 and around the capital, it became 
 necessary to keep a set of persons 
 constantly occupied in removing the 
 dead, who were placed on rafts by 
 hundreds and floated down the river. 
 At length, the persons employed in 
 this sad vocation fell victims to the 
 noxious effluvia, and for a time, dogs, 
 vultures, and jackals were the only 
 scavengers. The air became offen- 
 sive, and resounded with the frantic 
 cries of all ages and sexes in the 
 agonies of death. In many places 
 
 entire families, in others whole vil- 
 lages, became extinct ; forbidden and 
 abhorrent food was resorted to ; the 
 child fed on its dead parent, and the 
 mother on her child. A gloomy calm 
 at length succeeded, and it was found 
 that death had ended the miseries of 
 so great a proportion of the cultiva- 
 tors, that when the new crop reached 
 maturity, in many parts no proprietor 
 remained to claim it. The number 
 cut off during this period of horror 
 has been variously estimated, but 
 probably exceeded three millions ; 
 and although the desolation was of 
 such uncontrollable magnitude as to 
 be evidently beyond the power of man 
 either to prevent or inflict, yet in 
 England it was ascribed to the very 
 persons who endeavoured to alleviate 
 its ravages, and even to others who 
 were not in the country when it com- 
 menced. Nor did the total impos- 
 sibility of establishing a monopoly of 
 grain, prevent a general belief in the 
 western world, that the inhuman ex- 
 pedient had been resorted to by the 
 servants of the East-India Company. 
 The calumny originated in the French 
 settlement of Chandernagore, and 
 from thence was transmitted to Paris, 
 London, and Europe generally, where 
 it has been registered as truth in the 
 page of history, has been made the 
 subject of religious lamentation, has 
 been immortalized in verse, and, such 
 is the power of perverse credulity, is 
 still considered as an indelible stain 
 on the British character ; yet is wholly 
 a phantom, and never had the slightest 
 foundation in fact. 
 
 In 1772 Mr. Hastings was ap- 
 pointed governor, and next year, by 
 the interference of the British legis- 
 lature, a new constitution was given 
 to Bengal, and a majority of the 
 members that were to administer it 
 sent from England, the others being 
 selected from the existing council. 
 About the same period, 1772, Eng- 
 lish supervisors were sent into the 
 districts to superintend the collection 
 of the revenue, by which measure 
 the British government stood forward 
 as dewan, an office hitherto executed 
 by native functionaries, residing at 
 
BENGAL. 
 
 21 5 
 
 Moorshedabad, the old seat of go- 
 vernment, and of the public exche- 
 quer. These native ministers, with 
 the officers they employed in the pro- 
 vinces, were now laid aside, and the 
 Company, by the aid of their own Eu- 
 ropean servants, undertook the col- 
 lection of the revenue. Along with 
 their former controlling power, the 
 governor and council joined the ac- 
 tual cognizance and executive ma- 
 nagement, which until then had re- 
 mained vested in the native ministers. 
 The ostensible seat of government 
 and of the exchequer was removed 
 to Calcutta, the province subdivided 
 into collectorships, and a European 
 civil servant stationed in each district 
 as a revenue collector. 
 
 This alteration transferred to the 
 English the civil administration of 
 justice, and every interposing me- 
 dium between them and their Indian 
 subjects being displaced, they came 
 to transact business immediately with 
 each other. The direct authority of 
 the British now pervaded the inte- 
 rior, and the native or country go- 
 vernment was abrogated, both in form 
 and fact, with the exception of the 
 nabob’s remaining function, that of 
 chief criminal magistrate. The pub- 
 lic functionaries then (1772) com- 
 menced their operations, and ap- 
 parently with a very strong desire to 
 alleviate the sufferings of the people : 
 but, owing to the novelty of the 
 task, committed many errors, both in 
 finance and the administration of 
 justice, which rather tended to aggra- 
 vate them. On this occasion suffi- 
 cient attention was not paid to the 
 essential distinction between the land- 
 holder, having an interest in the soil, 
 and the revenue servant, whose ob- 
 ject was of course, not the permanent 
 welfare of the district under his ma- 
 nagement, but the temporary realiza- 
 tion of the greatest possible revenue. 
 
 Mr. Hastings continued in the go- 
 vernment until 1785, when he re- 
 turned to Europe, and was succeeded 
 by Sir John Macpherson. From the 
 period of the revolution in 1757, the 
 British in Bengal entered into no 
 external offensive alliances, pursuing 
 
 the system recommended by Lord 
 Clive, which was, to avoid schemes 
 of conquest and political intrigue, to 
 improve the domestic condition of 
 the provinces, and to procure respect 
 by moderation and good faith. A 
 deviation from this principle, how- 
 ever, began in 1774, having for ob- 
 ject the pecuniary advantage of the 
 Company; and in 1778 a much wider 
 deviation took place, by the carrying 
 on of offensive war, with a view t<& 
 the acquisition of territory in the 
 west of India. By these measures 
 an enormous debt was incurred, and 
 the public resources greatly exhausts 
 ed ; to which evils succeeded the at- 
 tack of Hyder Ali on the Carnatic* 
 and a defensive war against him and 
 his allies, the French, the support of 
 which fell wholly on Bengal. On this 
 emergency the legislature again inter- 
 fered, and regulations were enacted 
 to correct the evils then prevalent, 
 and also to invigorate the authority 
 of the home administKation of Indian 
 affairs. 
 
 Lord Cornwallis reached Bengal in 
 September 1786, and during his go- 
 vernment the last period took place of 
 the British territorial administration of 
 Bengal, the land revenue having been 
 permanently fixed, and the same en- 
 joyment of rights secured to all the 
 inferior occupants of the soil. Very 
 essential reforms were also made in 
 the administration of justice. Up to 
 this date the high station of supreme 
 criminal judge remained vested in the 
 nabob, represented by some Maho- 
 medari delegate, who filled the infe- 
 rior courts by sale with his own mean 
 retainers, who, to reimburse them- 
 selves, exercised every extortion and 
 oppression. 
 
 Under this destructive system the 
 country groaned, and with its exist- 
 ence the British government was just- 
 ly reproached. But, reluctant to touch 
 the last remaining prerogative of the 
 nabob, it long temporized, until the 
 evil became insupportable, when an 
 arrangement took place, by the con-4 
 ditions of which the nabob appoint- 
 ed the Governor-general in council 
 his delegate in the office of supreme 
 
216 
 
 BENGAL. 
 
 criminal judge. Lord Cornwallis and 
 the other members of that body then 
 took upon themselves the duties of 
 the office, removed the chief criminal 
 court from Moorshedabad to Cal- 
 cutta, invested the collectors of dis- 
 tricts with magisterial powers, and 
 established courts of circuit for the 
 principal divisions of the country. 
 This great department was in fact 
 wholly renovated, and filled with men 
 of principle and ability, having ade- 
 quate salaries, and subject to the 
 strongest responsibilities. Even Eu- 
 ropeans were placed under the cogni- 
 zance of these provincial laws, and 
 the authority of the collector subse- 
 quently restricted to the mere receipt 
 and disbursement of the revenue, 
 (since modified), the distribution of 
 justice being transferred to a distinct 
 class of magistrates. Henceforward 
 the law became the arbiter in all mat- 
 ters of property between the go- 
 vernment and its subjects. For the 
 administration of justice, the Hin- 
 doo and Mahomedan codes were in 
 general made the standard for the re- 
 spective sectaries of these religions, 
 modified in some instances where 
 they were barbarous and cruel, and 
 improved in others having a relation 
 to political economy ; but continuing 
 in force, so far as regards religious 
 tenets, marriage, caste, inheritance, 
 and some other points. During this 
 important period the arrangement of 
 the Company’s army was new mo- 
 delled, and its constitution greatly 
 improved. 
 
 The government of the Marquis 
 Cornwallis lasted until August 1793, 
 when he was succeeded by Sir John 
 Shore, afterwards Lord Teignmouth ; 
 who pursued the beneficial measures 
 of his predecessor, which were sub- 
 sequently nearly completed by the 
 Marquis Wellesley. This nobleman 
 reached India the 26th April 1788, 
 and left Madras for England the 20th 
 August 1805. 
 
 The Marquis Cornwallis arrived at 
 Calcutta on his second mission in 
 July 1805, and died at Ghazipoor, 
 near Benares, the 5th of next Oc- 
 tober. He was succeeded by Sir 
 
 George H. Barlow, who held the 
 reins of government until the arri- 
 val of Lord Minto in July 1807- 
 Lord Minto returned to Europe in 
 1813, and was succeeded by the 
 Earl of Moira, afterwards Marquis 
 of Hastings, who reached India in 
 the October of that year. This no- 
 bleman held the reins of govern- 
 ment until the 9th January 1823, 
 when he resigned, and was succeed- 
 ed provisionally by Mr. Adam, until 
 the arrival of Lord Amherst, which 
 took place on the 4th of August 
 1823. — ( Colebrooke , F. Buchanan > 
 Public MS. Documents , Sir H. Stra- 
 chey , C. Grant , Fullarton, Ward, 
 Wilson , Steivart, Crisp , J. D. Pater- 
 son, Harington , Mill , R. Grant, 
 East, Gholaum Hossein, fyc.) 
 
 Bengal, Bay of. — This portion of 
 the Indian ocean has the figure of an 
 equilateral triangle, very much re- 
 sembling in shape, though larger in 
 size, that formed by the continent of 
 the Deccan and Southern India, and 
 usually, but improperly, denominated 
 the peninsula. On the w'est, one limb 
 extends from Bengal to Ceylon ; on 
 the east from Bengal to Junk Ceylon j 
 and the third across the bay from 
 Ceylon to Junk Ceylon. Each limb 
 may be estimated at 1,120 miles in 
 length, and the whole is comprehend- 
 ed within the latitudes of 8° and 20° 
 N. At the bottom of the bay the 
 difference of longitude between the 
 towns of Balasore and Chittagong on 
 the opposite sides is 4° 53'. 
 
 The eastern coast of the bay is 
 strewed over with numerous islands 
 and chains of islands, varying in di- 
 mensions, elevation, and other cir- 
 cumstances, while on the western 
 coast not one is to be found from 
 Ceylon to Bengal. Neither does the 
 west coast possess one good harbour 
 for large ships, whereas the opposite 
 coast affords abundance, such as Ar- 
 racan, Cheduba, Negrais, Syriam, 
 Martaban, Tavoy, King’s Island, Junk 
 Ceylon, Pulo Lada, and the Mergui 
 Archipelago. In other respects also 
 the two shores differ considerably ; 
 Coromandel, thirty miles from the 
 
BERAR. 
 
 217 
 
 beach, has no soundings; the east 
 coast has soundings two degrees off. 
 Coromandel is comparatively a clear 
 country ; the east coast of the bay is 
 covered with wood. Coromandel is 
 often parched with heat, from the 
 winds blowing over barren sands; 
 the east coast is always cool. On the 
 west coast the mouths of the rivers 
 are barred with sand; on the east 
 coast they are deep and muddy. Co- 
 romandel has often destructive gales ; 
 the east coast has seldom any. 
 
 The numerous rivers that flow into 
 the bay bring down such vast quan- 
 tities of slime, mud, and sand, that 
 the sea appears turbid at a great dis- 
 tance from the shore. In these parts 
 the tides and currents run with great 
 velocity ; and when counter currents 
 meet a rippling is formed, extending 
 several miles in a straight line, attend- 
 ed with a noise resembling breakers. 
 
 The winds in the bay of Bengal are 
 said to blow six months from the 
 north-east, and the other six from the 
 south-west ; this is not precisely the 
 case, but it is sufficiently accurate for 
 general purposes. It is remarkable 
 that in many parts of India, during 
 March and April, there are on shore 
 strong winds blowing directly from 
 the sea, while in the offing it is a per- 
 fect calm ; thus at Bengal there are 
 in that season very strong southerly 
 winds, while in the bay calms prevail 
 until May and June. On the coast 
 of Malabar the south-west monsoon 
 does not commence blowing with 
 strength until the beginning of the 
 rainy season ; but on shore there 
 are strong westerly winds from about 
 the vernal equinox. — ( Foi'rest , John- 
 son, Renncl , F. Buchanan , Finlay- 
 son, Sf c.) 
 
 Bengermow. — A considerable town 
 in the Nabob of Oude’s territories, 
 situated on an elevated spot of 
 ground, forty-four miles W. from 
 Lucknow; lat. 26° 54' N., Ion. 80° 
 
 7 E. 
 
 Bensuode. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Malwa, fifty-one miles E.N.E. 
 from Oojein ; lat. 23° 25' N., Ion. 76° 
 
 •37' E. 
 
 Bentotte. — A village on the west 
 coast of Ceylon, much celebrated for 
 the excellence of its oysters; lat. 6° 
 24' N., Ion. 79° 56' E., thirty-eight 
 miles S.S.E. from Columbo. 
 
 BERAR. 
 
 A large province of the Deccan, si- 
 tuated between the nineteenth and 
 twentieth degrees of north latitude, 
 the limits of which do not appear to 
 have ever been correctly defined. To 
 the north it is bounded by Candeish 
 and Malwa ; on the south by Aurung- 
 abad and Beeder ; to the east it has 
 the extensive province of Gundwana ; 
 and on the west Candeish and Aurung- 
 abad. In 1582 it was described by 
 Ab-ul Fazel, in the Institutes of Acber, 
 as follows : “ The ancient names of 
 this soubah are Durdatutt, Rooda- 
 voodyatt, and Fitkener. It is situ- 
 ated in the second climate ; the length 
 from Puttaleh to Beeragurh is 200 
 coss, and the breadth from Bunder to 
 Hindia measures 180 coss. On the 
 east it joins to Beeragurh ; on the 
 north is Settarah ; on the south Hin- 
 dia ; and on the west Telingana. It 
 is divided into the following districts, 
 viz. 1 . Kaweel ; 2. Poonar ; 3. Kehr- 
 leh ; 4. Nernalah ; 5. Kullem ; 6. Bas- 
 suin ; 7- Mahore ; 8. Manickdurg ; 
 9. Patna; 10. Telinganeh ; 11. Ram- 
 gur ; 12. Bheker; 13. Puffyaleh.” 
 
 It will be perceived that the pro- 
 vince of Berar, as described by Abul 
 Fazel, differs materially from the mo- 
 dern acceptation of the name ; the 
 former including (but improperly) the 
 whole region from Dowlatabad to 
 Orissa, the eastern portion of which 
 was certainly not subdued, and pro- 
 bably but very indistinctly known to 
 the Emperor Acber or his function- 
 aries. Nagpoor has generally been 
 considered the capital, and its sove- 
 reign named the Berar Raja ; but this 
 is a mistake, as the city of Nagpoor 
 stands in Gundwana, the proper 
 capital of Berar being Ellichpoor. 
 The soubah of Berar was formed 
 while AcLer reigned, from conquests 
 made south of the Nerbudda; but the 
 
218 
 
 BERAR. 
 
 eastern quarter of the Deccan, as as- 
 signed by Abul Fazel, was never tho- 
 roughly subdued, or even explored, 
 by any Mahometan ruler. The prin- 
 cipal geographical subdivisions of 
 note at present are, 
 
 1. Beytalbarry. 5. Waussim. 
 
 2. Nernallah. 6. Mahore. 
 
 3. Gawelghur. 7. Kullum. 
 
 4. Maihker. 
 
 The modern province is centrally 
 situated, being nearly at an equal dis- 
 tance from the Bay of Bengal and the 
 western coast of India. Berar Pro- 
 per is an elevated valley, ascended by 
 a chain of ghauts or mountain passes, 
 extending from Adjunteeto the Wur- 
 da river, which were surveyed in 
 1816 by engineer officers from Ma- 
 dras. The section of this chain, ex- 
 tending from Adjuntee to Lucknawa- 
 nee, a distance of fifty-seven miles, 
 having been the routes of ingress 
 and egress of the Pindarries, was 
 subject to stricter investigation than 
 the rest ; a description, therefore, of 
 this portion will furnish a tolerable 
 idea of the whole. 
 
 The general circumstances of the 
 range are entirely the same, and their 
 aspect nearly so, presenting merely a 
 succession of high grounds, with here 
 and there a small peak visible above 
 the rest; the deep breaks and ravines, 
 which lead in some places to a gentle, 
 and in others to an abrupt descent 
 into the valley of Berar, being only 
 perceived when nearly approached. 
 Some of these ghauts are impassable 
 for carriages, laden camels, or bul- 
 locks; some for horses, and some 
 are mere hill paths. The surface of 
 the hills in this section of the chain 
 is covered with loose stones and low 
 jungle, and but little cultivation is 
 seen ; neither is there any timber 
 large enough for building, although 
 enough may be found for stockades, 
 or revetments for an earthen parapet, 
 if wanted to barricade a pass. About 
 Botalghaut some trees of larger size 
 occur. The Badoolah ghaut is the 
 easiest ascended, and is the one most 
 frequented by natives and travellers. 
 In 1816 a great proportion of the vil- 
 lages near the hills were found unin- 
 
 habited; and the tract of country 
 along their summits, from Buldaunah 
 to Murr, was equally desolate, the 
 soil being apparently unappropriated. 
 A considerable proportion of the vil- 
 lages are subject to the Nizam ; but 
 others towards the north-west be- 
 longed to the Peshwa, and have of 
 course devolved to the. British go- 
 vernment. In the vicinity of Soulut 
 the range between Ajuntee and Luck- 
 nawaree attains its greatest elevation, 
 and with the exception of a few pro- 
 jecting points, the face in general re- 
 sembles a perpendicular wall. Owing 
 to the extent of these chains, and 
 their numerous openings, which per- 
 mit horse to pass in almost every 
 part, any plan of defence against pre- 
 datory cavalry is impracticable. 
 
 Even before the desolating inva- 
 sions of the Pindarries, the Nizam’s 
 portion of Berar between Jaulna and 
 the Tuptee was thinly inhabited and 
 little cultivated, although the soil is 
 naturally rich, as is proved by the 
 abundance of fine grass it sponta- 
 neously produces. The soil in this 
 quarter is the black cotton, so gene- 
 rally prevalent through the Deccan 
 and south of India. The grains most 
 cultivated in Berar are wheat, Indian 
 corn, Bengal gram, peas, and vetches ; 
 flax also is raised. These are all 
 sown about the end of the rains in 
 September and October, and are ripe 
 in January. The Nagpoor wheat is 
 reckoned the most productive and 
 nutritious in India, and requires only 
 three months to come to perfection. 
 When distilled it yields an excellent 
 spirit resembling whiskey, but not 
 quite so good. The second crop, 
 which is Indian corn, is sown after 
 the violent rains of June and July, 
 ripens in October, and with wheat 
 forms the chief subsistence of the in- 
 habitants. 
 
 i The largest rivers of Berar are 
 the Tuptee; two streams both named 
 Poorna, one flowing east and the 
 other west ; the W urda, the Pain 
 Gunga. The towns of most note are, 
 Ellichpoor, Mulcapoor, Baulapoor, 
 Akoat, Akolah, Nernallah, Gawel- 
 ghur, and Omrawutty. A great pro- 
 
BERAR. 
 
 219 
 
 portion of the inhabitants are Hin- 
 doos, but from various causes the 
 country has never attained any re- 
 markable degree of prosperity; indeed 
 for many years past its decline has 
 been progressive, more especially of 
 the portion transferred to the Nizam 
 in 1804. Such commerce as exists, 
 is merely that of itinerant inland car- 
 riers, so numerous all over the Dec- 
 can, and in one particular instance is 
 promoted by a singular practice pre- 
 valent among the lowest tribes of 
 Berar and Gundwana, who not un- 
 frequently vow to perform suicide in 
 gratitude for boons solicited from 
 idols, and in their opinion obtained. 
 In fulfilment of their promise the 
 successful votary throws himself from 
 a precipice named Cala Bhairava, si- 
 tuated in the mountains between the 
 Tuptee and Nerbudda. The annual 
 fair held near the spot early in spring, 
 usually witnesses eight or ten victims 
 to this superstition, and at the same 
 time much business is transacted by 
 merchants and others attracted to the 
 spot by the expected immolations. 
 
 Among the states that arose on 
 the ruins of the Bhamenee empire of 
 the Deccan, A.D. 1510, one consisted 
 of the southern portion of Berar, and 
 was named the Ummad Shahy dy- 
 nasty, from its founder Ummad ul 
 Mulk ; but it only lasted four genera- 
 tions, when it fell under the dominion 
 of Ahmednugger, A.D. 1574, and un- 
 der the Mogul sway towards the con- 
 clusion of the seventeenth century. 
 When that great empire relaxed the 
 strength of its grasp, the province 
 was overrun by rapacious hordes of 
 Maharattas, and was for some years 
 almost equally divided between the 
 Peshwa and the Raja of Nagpoor. 
 The latter, having in an evil hour put 
 himself forward as the Ally of Dow- 
 lul Row Sindia, his share was, in 
 1804, transferred to the Nizam, with 
 whom great part of the modern pro- 
 vince still remains, and suffers much 
 misgovernment. 
 
 The whole of the Nizam’s posses- 
 sions north of the Godavery had for 
 many years been infested by bands of 
 freebooters, known by the names of 
 
 Naiks and Bheels, who deprived the 
 cultivators of their harvest, com- 
 pelled merchants and travellers to 
 hire large escorts, and by their cruel- 
 ties and depredations kept the Berar 
 province in a state of incessant com- 
 motion. The ranges of hills inter- 
 secting Berar had long been possessed 
 bv robbers, who either subsisted on 
 direct plunder, or by levying contri- 
 butions on the inhabitants and tra- 
 vellers, an exemption from rapine 
 being purchased by stipulated pay- 
 ments in money. The cultivators 
 secured their crops by giving a share 
 to the freebooters, and travellers 
 consented to a tax for permission to 
 prosecute their journey in safety. In 
 the course of time these duties be- 
 came established and defined, and 
 entitled the inhabitants to protection 
 from all extraneous depredation. The 
 Nizam’s government, knowing from 
 experience the difficulty of extirpat- 
 ing these marauders, whose dens were 
 situated in the fastnesses of moun- 
 tains inaccessible to the operations 
 of regular troops, considered it good 
 policy to acquiesce in a settlement 
 which it had not power to prevent, and 
 which, to a certain degree, protected 
 the traders and cultivators. The 
 ministers at Hyderabad in conse- 
 quence not only sanctioned the en- 
 gagements, but provided for the re- 
 gular payment of the compulsory du- 
 ties, gave lands to the Naiks, and 
 occasionally employed them in the 
 service of the state. 
 
 Owing to the famines of 1807 and 
 1808, many villages in Berar were 
 deserted, and the Naiks and Bheels 
 lost the contributions they had so 
 long been accustomed to exact. To 
 make up the deficiency they took 
 advantage of the distracted state of 
 the country, and extended their ra- 
 vages, in which proceeding they were 
 joined by many needy adventurers 
 from all parts of the province, and by 
 some troops from the disbanded ar- 
 mies of Sindia, Holkar, and the Nag- 
 poor Raja. Their parties gradually 
 became more formidable, and as the 
 difficulty of subsistence increased 
 with their numbers, their predatory 
 
BERAR. 
 
 2 C 20 
 
 excursions became more extended, 
 more frequent, and more destructive. 
 Different bands occasionally quar- 
 relled about the distribution of the 
 booty when acquired, and many san- 
 guinary engagements took place dur- 
 ing the adjustment of their respective 
 pretensions ; but the result was, that 
 large tracts of land were abandoned 
 to wild beasts, and a great proportion 
 of the villages deserted. The culti- 
 vators, finding no peace without, 
 flocked eagerly to the walled towns, 
 and even in their immediate vicinity 
 the crops were not secure from the 
 attacks of the Bheels, large bodies of 
 whom ranged unrestrained through- 
 out the country. Raja Mohiput Ram, 
 the Nizam’s viceroy in Berar, either 
 from indolence, despair of success, 
 or with the view of employing them 
 for his own exigencies, not only took 
 no measures to suppress them, but 
 was suspected of affording them se- 
 cret encouragement, and of sharing 
 their plunder. Raja Govind Buksh, 
 another of the Nizam’s officers, often 
 endeavoured to check their rapine ; 
 but the Bheels managed always to 
 evade such bodies of troops as they 
 could not resist. The service against 
 them was of so fatiguing and dan- 
 gerous a description, that the Nizam’s 
 officers either shunned it, or under- 
 took the task with apathy and reluc- 
 tance. Cavalry could not act in the 
 strong and rugged country to which 
 the Bheels retreated, and even in- 
 fantry could not penetrate their more 
 secluded haunts. 
 
 These difficulties, however, might 
 have been overcome, had not a still 
 greater remained, which was the en- 
 couragement given to the banditti by 
 many officers in the Nizam’s service, 
 and more especially by the Nabob 
 Soobhan Khan. This faithful digni- 
 tary of the Nizam’s court not only 
 concerted the plundering expeditions 
 of the Naiks, and supplied them with 
 provisions and ammunition, but ac- 
 tually employed some of the govern- 
 ment troops to assist them, receiving 
 the plunder into the fortresses where 
 he commanded as an officer of go- 
 vernment, and retaining a share for 
 
 his own benefit, estimated in common 
 years at five lacks of rupees. The 
 Nizam’s prime minister, Meer Allum, 
 had often expressed his desire to li- 
 berate Berar from these oppressions, 
 which had so absorbed the revenue 
 that scarcely enough was left to pay 
 the few troops stationed there. All 
 efforts were found ineffectual so long 
 as Soobhan Khan was permitted to 
 retain his jaghires in the province, 
 his conduct being so insolent and con- 
 tumacious, as well as secretly favour- 
 able to the disorders he was employed 
 to suppress. 
 
 In addition to these evils this mi- 
 serable province suffered much from 
 the Nizam’s own troops, especially 
 the cavalry, although ostensibly main- 
 tained for its defence at an enormous 
 expense. These cavalry corps were 
 of two descriptions : first, such as 
 were paid directly by the local go- 
 vernment of Berar from the reveuues 
 of the province ; secondly, those 
 supported by different chieftains in 
 consideration of military jaghires 
 conferred on them. The first des- 
 cription, by far the most numerous, 
 was composed, like all the irregular 
 horse of India, of small independent 
 squads, raised and commanded by 
 different sirdars. On any emergency 
 these squads were united into one 
 large body, when the command was 
 generally bestowed either on some 
 favourite, or on some individual able 
 to conciliate by bribery the good-will 
 of those in power. Although this 
 faulty organization was sufficient of 
 itself to render such corps unservice- 
 able, a still greater cause of their in- 
 sufficiency arose from their mode of 
 payment. Each jemadar of a squad 
 hired his party to the chieftain, for a 
 sum varying from forty-five to fifty- 
 five rupees per horseman, for which 
 the jemadar engaged to furnish a 
 horse, rider, accoutrements, and am- 
 munition. Every loss or casualty 
 was borne by himself, so that it was 
 not only his interest to avoid danger, 
 but also to maintain his party at the 
 smallest possible expense. To coun- 
 teract this tendency a muster-master 
 was appoinled by the Nizam,* but 
 
BERAR. 
 
 221 
 
 this functionary was not unfrequently 
 prevailed upon to connive at the im- 
 position on the government, and was 
 nearly as often imposed on himself. 
 Hence many of these horses had no 
 existence but on paper, and many 
 others were never visible but on mus- 
 ter day. The second description of 
 cavalry above alluded to was that of 
 the jaghiredars, organized in the same 
 manner as the first, and, with some 
 honourable exceptions, equally ineffi- 
 cient. The muster-roll of the first 
 description gave 7,150, and of the se- 
 cond 4,340 ; but the effective num- 
 bers never were ascertained ; and in 
 addition to these Salabut Khan, one 
 of the jaghiredars, was bound to main- 
 tain 2,000 infantry. When Colonel 
 Doveton repaired to Berar and took 
 charge, he found that any endeavours 
 to improve these corps, constituted 
 as they were, would be unavailing, 
 and that in point of fact they were as 
 much dreaded as the Pindarries, by 
 the peaceful inhabitants they were 
 sent to protect. 
 
 The Nizam’s regular infantry sta- 
 tioned in Berar were considered the 
 most effective of his forces, and com- 
 posed the contingent he was bound 
 to furnish in the event of a joint war 
 taking place. Those, however, serv- 
 ing under Raja Mohiput Ram could 
 not be depended on, as they consisted 
 of sepoys who had formed the corps 
 of M. Raymond, and never could be 
 brought to adopt the British disci- 
 pline, but remained dressed in the 
 French costume, practised the French 
 exercise, and employed French 
 words of command. The person who 
 in reality commanded these troops, 
 and possessed considerable influence 
 over them, was a Spaniard named 
 dementi D’Avila, steadily attached 
 to Mohiput Ram, and, as well as his 
 troops, notoriously hostile to the Bri- 
 tish cause. Most of the other officers 
 were low adventurers, ready to engage 
 in any dispute; and the half-caste men 
 were distinguished from the natives 
 merely by wearing a hat. 
 
 Under these untoward circum- 
 stances, Meer Allum, the Nizam’s 
 prime minister in 1807, nominated 
 
 Raja Govtnd Buksh (the brother of 
 Raja Chundoo Loll) to supersede 
 his enemy Raja Mohiput Ram in the 
 civil government of Berar, and at the 
 same time recommended that a pro- 
 portion of the British subsidiary force 
 should be stationed in that province. 
 The good effects that had been anti- 
 cipated from this measure by the 
 minister, were very soon made mani- 
 fest by a succession of events. Raja 
 Mohiput Ram, on receiving notice 
 of his supersession, attempted to col- 
 lect troops under pretence of having 
 been ordered with them to Hydera- 
 bad ; but the leading jaghiredars and 
 military chieftains disregarded his 
 orders. Being thus frustrated in his 
 martial projects, he entertained the 
 design of escaping with his trea- 
 sure ; but subsequently relinquished 
 it, probably on account of his family 
 being at the capital, where he endea- 
 voured by intrigues to obtain permis- 
 sion to join them ; but Suggur was 
 fixed on for the future place of his 
 residence. The restless nature of his 
 ambition, however, ere long drove 
 him into open rebellion, when his 
 troops, amounting to 6,000 men, 
 were attacked by a Nizam’s detach- 
 ment, consisting of 3,000 cavalry and 
 1,300 infantry; when, owing to the 
 dastardy conduct of the cavalry, the 
 rebels proved victorious, killing and 
 wounding nearly the whole of the 
 infantry. Upon this disaster, a part 
 of the British subsidiary force was 
 marched against him, and in a very 
 short campaign effectually subdued 
 his troops, and compelled himself to 
 surrender. After infinite difficulty, 
 from the caprice and perverseness of 
 the Nizam’s character, which could 
 only be surmounted by the direct 
 interference of the British govern- 
 ment, Soobhan Khan, the other dis- 
 affected nabob, was removed from 
 Berar to the capital ; and Clement 
 D’Avila, from whom resistance had 
 been expected, submitted in the most 
 peaceable manner, merely requesting 
 permission to proceed to Goa. — 
 ( Captain Sydenham , Lieut. Bayley , 
 Abut Fazel , Rennell , Heyne, Ferishta , 
 Colebrooke , Lec/cie , Sfc.) 
 
BETWA. 
 
 <222 
 
 Bereng. — A town in Cashmere, 
 thirty-seven miles E. from the city 
 of Cashmere, near to which is a long 
 defile in a mountain, containing a 
 reservoir of water seven ells square, 
 considered by the Hindoos a place of 
 great sanctity. 
 
 Berhampoor ( Barhanpura). — A 
 town in Bengal, situated on the east 
 bank of the Bliagirathi, or Cossim- 
 bazar river, about six miles south 
 from Moorshedabad ; lat. 24° 4' N., 
 Ion. 89° 14' E. A brigade of native 
 and European troops are stationed 
 here in commodious barracks, which 
 form a noble square, separated from 
 the river by a fine esplanade, with a 
 hospital, bazar, and other buildings 
 to the north. 
 
 Bernagur ( Virnagara ). — A small 
 town in the province of Bengal, dis- 
 trict of Moorshedabad, five miles 
 north from the city; lat. 24° 16' N., 
 Ion. 88° 13' E. 
 
 Bernaver. — A town in the Delhi 
 province, thirty-three miles N. by E. 
 from the city of Delhi ; lat. 29° 8' N., 
 Ion. 77 ° 16' E. 
 
 Berodeh. — A town in the province 
 of Agra, twenty miles E. from Alvar; 
 lat. 27° 44' N., Ion. 76° 50' E. 
 
 Berud ( tribe ). — See Padshah- 
 poor. 
 
 Beroli. — A town in the province 
 of Allahabad, fourteen miles north 
 from Ditteah ; lat. 25° 51' N., Ion. 78° 
 28' E. 
 
 Berowni. — A small native fortifi- 
 cation in the province of Allahabad, 
 five miles north from Ditteah ; lat. 
 25° 51', Ion. 78° 21' E. 
 
 Besuki f Vasuki ). — A town and 
 small district in Java, situated near 
 the eastern extremity of the island. 
 It is but indifferently supplied with 
 water, and has very little land fit for 
 cultivation that is not already under 
 cultivation ; but it is better peopled 
 in proportion than the adjacent dis- 
 tricts. The town of Besuki stands 
 in lat. 7°40'S., Ion. 113° 35' W., 
 
 633 miles E. from Batavia. — ( Raffles , 
 $c.) 
 
 Bess River. — This river issues 
 from the great tank of Bhopaul, in 
 the province of Malwa, and proceed- 
 ing in a north-easterly direction, joins 
 the Betwah or Betwuntah, one mile 
 north of Bhilsa. At Islamghur it is 
 joined by the Patna, a small river 
 that flows from the lesser tank of 
 Bhopaul. 
 
 Bessely Ghaut (Bisavali Ghat). 
 —•A pass through the western range 
 of mountains leading from Mysore 
 to the maritime province of Canara. 
 
 Betaisor. — A town and place of 
 pilgrimage in the Agra province, 
 situated on the Jumna, thirty-five 
 miles S.E. from Agra ; lat. 26° 57', 
 Ion. 78° 24' E. Near to this place 
 are the remains of Sarapura, an an- 
 cient Hindoo city. — {Tod, Sf-c.) 
 
 Bettiah ( Bhattia, named also 
 Chumparun) . — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Bahar, district of Shahabad, 
 ninety miles N.N.W. from Patna ; 
 lat. 26° 47' N., Ion. 84° 40' E. 
 
 Bettoortah ( Bhitoria ). — A sub- 
 division of the great zemindarry of 
 Rajeshahy, in the province of Bengal. 
 A.D. 1396, Raja Cansa, the Hindoo 
 zemindar of this tract, rebelled against 
 Shums ud Deen, the Mahomedan so- 
 vereign of Bengal, who was defeated 
 and slain. On this event Raja Cansa 
 seated himself on the vacant throne, 
 which, after a reign of seven years, 
 he transmitted to his son Cheetmul; 
 who turning Mahomedan, reigned 
 under the more sonorous appellation 
 of Sultan Jellal ud Deen. 
 
 Betwa ( Vetava ), or Betwuntee 
 River. — This river rises in the pro- 
 vince of Gundwana, three miles south- 
 west of the Shahpoor ghaut, enters 
 Malwa about sixteen miles east of 
 Bhopaul, and afterwards receives the 
 accession of many streams until it 
 reaches Erich, where it winds east- 
 ward through a broken rocky ridge, 
 which causes a rapid, and afterwards 
 joins the Jumna below Calpee, hav- 
 ing completed a serpentine course of 
 
BEZOARA. 
 
 ns 
 
 about 340 miles in a north-easterly 
 direction. Although during the rains 
 a considerable body of water flows 
 through its channel, it does not ap- 
 pear to be navigable at any time of 
 the year. 
 
 Beyah (Vipasa) River ( the Hy - 
 phasis ). — This is the fourth river of 
 the Punjab of Lahore, and the Hy- 
 phasis of Alexander’s historians. 
 The Beas ( vyas ) Gunga and the Ban 
 ( vana ) Gunga are said to form the 
 Beyah, the first passing Kote Kaun- 
 grah to the south, and the latter to 
 the northward, both in a westerly 
 direction, joining at Hurreepoor, one 
 march below the fort, one passing 
 on each side and uniting below so as 
 to form an island. Abul Fazel writes 
 that the source of the Beyah, named 
 Abyekoond, is in the mountains of 
 Keloo, pergunnah of Sultanpoor. 
 
 After issuing from the hills this 
 river flows in a south-westerly di- 
 rection, and at Bhirowal ghaut in 
 1809, when the floods were at the 
 highest, measured 740 yards across, 
 the stream passing with a rapid cur- 
 rent, and a high bank on the right 
 side. In the cold season it is ford- 
 able here at most places, but in its 
 bed are many quicksands, and when 
 the waters are low many islands and 
 sandbanks are left exposed. The 
 Beyah joins the Sutuleje thirty-five 
 miles below Bhirowal, near Hurra- 
 ka, and not far from Ferozepoor; 
 after which conjunction the united 
 streams are first named Beas, and fur- 
 ther on Gurrah, by which appellation 
 it is also known at Gordeean ghaut, 
 near Pakputtun, 160 miles above Ba- 
 hawulpoor, and 100 S.S.W. from 
 Lahore. The Beyah and Sutuleje, 
 at their confluence, are nearly the 
 same size, but the last is rather the 
 largest. Their course also is nearly 
 the same from the snowy ridge, 150 
 miles, to their junction, and 260 
 more to where they unite with the 
 aggregated waters of the Jhylum, 
 Chinaub, and Ravey. The total length 
 of its course, including windings, 
 may be estimated at 590 miles.- In 
 1805 Lord Lake pursued Jeswunt 
 
 Row Holkar to the banks of this 
 river, where he sued for peace and 
 concluded a treaty. — ( Macartney , 
 Rennet , fyc.) 
 
 Beykaneer. — See Bicanere. 
 
 Beylah. — A town in the province 
 of Cutch, district of Wagur, situated 
 towards the northern extremity, fifty- 
 eight miles N.E. from Anjar; lat. 
 23° 41' N., Ion. 70° 50' E. The site 
 of Beylah is commanding, as a mi- 
 litary post, to check the plunderers 
 from the desert. 
 
 Beyhar ( Vihar ).- — A town in Ben- 
 gal, the modern residence of the 
 Cooch Bahar rajas, thirty-two miles 
 N.E. from Rungpoor; lat. 26° 18' N., 
 Ion. 89° 22' E. 
 
 Beyrusia. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Malwa, pergunnah of Oojein, 
 which in 1820 had a small stone 
 ghurry, and contained 300 houses. 
 
 Beytulbarry. — A small district 
 in the Berar province, situated south 
 of the Ajuntee ghaut, between the 
 twentieth and twenty r -first degrees 
 of north latitude, respecting which 
 scarcely any thing is known. Except 
 Ajuntee, it does not appear to contain 
 any place of note. 
 
 Bezoara ( Bijora ). — A town in 
 the Northern Circars, forty-one miles 
 N.W.from Masulipatam ; lat. 16° 30' 
 N., Ion. 80° 43' E. The stream of 
 the Krishna is here confined between 
 two bold projecting mountains, which 
 form a strait 1,100 yards broad. 
 Lower down the river expands to 
 the width of a mile, but is still 
 bounded on all sides by fine moun- 
 tain scenery. The great thorough- 
 fare between the Circars and the Car- 
 natic is by the ferry of Bezoara, 
 which is provided with some large 
 deep boats, besides abundance of 
 catamarans, formed by two palmyra 
 trunks lashed together and platformed 
 with boards. 
 
 The town, or rather village of Be- 
 zoara, is peopled with Brahmins and 
 beggars. At one extremity is a well- 
 built Mahomedan serai and mosque, 
 in the style of Upper Hindostan, 
 
BHAIRAVA MATH. 
 
 224 , 
 
 and apparently a modern erection. 
 The rocks above are also embellished 
 with picturesque Hindoo temples, 
 and several cave temples have been 
 formed in the body of the mountain, 
 and another in a conical hill on the 
 opposite side of the Krishna. They 
 are, however, very inferior to the 
 meanest of the Hindoo excavations 
 in the west of India. The bunga- 
 low maintained here for the accom- 
 modation of travellers commands a 
 fine prospect over the surrounding 
 country. — ( Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 Bhadrinath ( V adarinatlia ) . — A 
 town and temple situated on the west 
 side of the Alacananda river, in the 
 centre of a valley about four miles 
 long, and one where broadest ; lat. 
 30° 43' N., Ion. 79° 39' E., eighty 
 miles north from Almora in Kumaon, 
 10,294 feet above the level of the 
 sea. The town is built on the sloping 
 bank of the river, and in 1808 con- 
 tained only about thirty huts for the 
 accommodation of the Brahmins and 
 other attendants on the temple, which 
 is about forty-five feet high, of a co- 
 nical form, with a small cupola, sur- 
 mounted by a copper roof, over 
 which is a golden ball and spire. 
 The principal idol is three feet high, 
 cut in black stone or marble, dressed 
 in a suit of gold and silver brocade, 
 the hands and feet only being un- 
 covered. This temple, in 1808 was 
 said to possess 700 villages in differ- 
 ent parts of Gurwal and Kumaon, 
 and the high priesthood is restricted to 
 the remote Deccany Brahmins of the 
 Chauli or Namburi tribes ; indeed, lat- 
 terly, the pontificate used to be put up 
 to sale by the Gorkas. During the 
 months of pilgrimage the deity is well 
 clothed, fares sumptuously, and has 
 a large establishment of servants ; 
 but on the approach of winter he is 
 packed up in a vault along with the 
 treasure, and the priests take their 
 departure. The number of pilgrims 
 who visit Bhadrinath annually has 
 been estimated at 50,000, mostly re- 
 ligious mendicants and devotees from 
 all quarters of India. The surround- 
 ing country is of the most gigantic 
 
 altitude. The middle peak at the 
 head of the Bhadrinath district, 
 marked as No. 19 B. in Capt. Hodg- 
 son and Lieut. Herbert’s survey, 
 lat. 30° 44' N., Ion. 79° 16' E., was 
 found to be elevated 23,441 feet 
 above the level of the sea. 
 
 At this place there is a warm bath, 
 supplied by a spring of hot water 
 that issues from the mountain with 
 a thick steam and sulphurous smell ; 
 and close to it there is a cold spring. 
 On the 29th of May 1808 masses of 
 snow seventy feet thick remained 
 undissolved, and the tops of the 
 high mountains have probably never 
 lost their white covering since the 
 beginning of the world. A great 
 majority of Hindoos, who know no- 
 thing of Bhadrinath except from 
 books, imagine that many holy per- 
 sons have retired to this asylum, 
 where they have been living for seve- 
 ral thousand years in quiet expecta- 
 tion of better times. To pilgrims who 
 arrive with hopes of meeting these 
 personages, a cavern is pointed out 
 as the place of their residence : but 
 as the excavation is choked up with 
 snow, there is no danger of its in- 
 habitants being disturbed until the 
 return of the golden age. — ( Rape )' , 
 F. Buchanan , Capt. Hodgson , Lieut. 
 Herbert , fyc.) 
 
 Biiaga Singh. — A temple in North- 
 ern Hindostan, thirty-eight miles N.E. 
 from Almora ; lat 29° 48' N., Ion. 80° 
 13' E. ; 7,635 feet above the level of 
 the sea. 
 
 Biiagesur ( Bhagisivarn ) . — A mart 
 in Northern Hindostan, district of 
 Kumaon, situated west of the Cali 
 branch of the Goggra river, twenty- 
 two miles E.N.E. from Almora ; lat. 
 29° 52' N., Ion. 79° 53' E. Fairs 
 are held here three times in the year, 
 and are attended by traders from the 
 low country. 
 
 Bhagwuntghur. — A Rajpoot vil- 
 lage in the province of Ajmeer, six- 
 teen miles N.W. from Rantampoor ; 
 lat. 26° 10' N., Ion. 76° 5'E. 
 
 Bhairava Math. — A Hindoo 
 place of worship in Northern Hindos- 
 
bhattia. 
 
 %Z5 
 
 tan, situated among the sources of 
 the Ganges, eight miles W.S.W. from 
 Gangoutri. 
 
 Bhallode. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Gujerat, situated on the 
 south bank of the Nerbudda, fifteen 
 miles N.E. from Broach ; lat. 21° 50', 
 Ion. 73° 15' E. 
 
 Bhambhora Ghur.— >A fort in 
 Northern Hindostan, district of Bus- 
 saher, situated on the lofty ridge be- 
 tween the Andryti and Matroti, two 
 feeders of the Paber river ; lat. 31° 
 14' N., Ion. 77 ° 47' E. Elevation 
 above the sea, 9,844 feet. 
 
 Bhanmo C or Panmo ). — A town in 
 the Burmese dominions situated on 
 the banks of the Irawaddy, 170 miles 
 north from the city of Ava ; lat. 24° 
 10' N., Ion, 96° 45' E., twenty miles 
 from the province of Yunan in China. 
 This is the capital of one of the nine 
 principalities of the Shans or Mrelap 
 Shans, as they are designated by the 
 Burmese. This principality is said 
 to occupy the space between the Ira- 
 waddy and China, and is said to have 
 been taken from the Chinese since 
 the accession of the present Birman 
 dynasty. — ( Symes , F. Buchanan , #c.) 
 
 Bhanfoor.^A town in the pro- 
 vince of Orissa, sixty-five miles S.W. 
 from Cuttack ; lat. 19° 48' N. Dur- 
 ing the insurrection of the Pykes, 
 this was for some time the head- 
 quarters of the second battalion, 
 eighteenth regiment of Bengal Native 
 Infantry, commanded by Major Wil- 
 liam Hamilton, who along with nearly 
 all his detachment fell a victim to 
 the unhealthiness of the post. This 
 officer joined the Bengal army in 
 1797, when only fifteen years of age, 
 and on the 4th of May 1799 entered 
 the breach at the storming of Serin- 
 gapatam, with the grenadiers of his 
 battalion. He afterwards served as 
 a subaltern in many other quarters, 
 during the intervals of leisure devot- 
 ing his attention to the study of the 
 Asiatic languages, in some of which 
 (the Arabic, Persian, and Maharatta) 
 he attained so remarkable a profi- 
 ciency, that he was appointed under 
 
 VOL. 1. 
 
 Mr. Elphinstone to the escorts at 
 Poona and Nagpoor, with a view to 
 his assistance in the diplomatic de- 
 partment. After taking the usual, 
 furlough to Europe, he rejoined the 
 Bengal army, and served through the 
 Nepaulese campaign ; but, as hap- 
 pened to many other officers, with- 
 out any opportunity of distinguishing 
 himself. From the Himalaya moun- 
 tains he was marched south to the 
 salt swamps of Cuttack, where he 
 met his fate on the 19th April 1818, 
 at the premature age of thirty-seven, 
 and now lies buried at Juggernauth. 
 Like almost all really brave men, 
 his manners were singularly gentle 
 and inoffensive, and his disposition 
 so kind and charitable, that he pro- 
 bably never had an enemy. By his 
 personal friends he was sincerely be- 
 loved, and among these may be men- 
 tioned, as best known to fame, Sir 
 John Malcolm and Sir James Mack- 
 intosh. 
 
 Bkanpoora. — A large town in the 
 province of Malwa belonging to Hol- 
 kar, situated on the Rewa river, dis- 
 trict of Rampoora ; lat. 24° 31' N., 
 Ion. 75° 30 / E. The fort here has 
 never been completed. The walls 
 are built of stone, and there is a 
 palace within also unfinished. They 
 were both begun by Jeswunt Row 
 Holkar, of whom there is a carved 
 marble statue, and the walls are like- 
 wise ornamented with sculpture. It 
 is one of the best built towrns in this 
 quarter, and in 1820 was estimated 
 to contain a population of 13,406 
 persons. — ( Malcolm , fyc.) 
 
 Bhatee. — A small town in the 
 province of Allahabad, twenty-one 
 miles north from Banda ; lat. 25° 45' 
 N., Ion. 80° 20' E. 
 
 Bhatta. — A considerable town in 
 the province of Ajmeer, district of 
 Harrowty, forty-five miles S. by E. 
 from Bhanpoora; lat. 24° 15' N., 
 Ion. 7S° 30' E. 
 
 Bhattia. — A town situated near 
 the western extremity of the Guje- 
 rat peninsula; lat. 22° 9' N., Ion. 
 69° 26' E. 
 
 Q 
 
 \ 
 
226 
 
 BHATTIES. 
 
 Bhatneer. — This town, the mo- 
 dern capital of the Bhatty tribe, is 
 of some antiquity, as it was taken 
 and destroyed by Timour, when he 
 invaded Hindostan in 1398, when the 
 •surrounding country must have been 
 in a much superior condition, or it 
 would neither have attracted his no- 
 tice or subsisted his vast army. It 
 stands on the eastern verge of the 
 great sandy desert, in lat. 29° 36' N., 
 Ion. 74° 12' E.; about 130 miles 
 N.N.E. from Bicanere, and 100 N.W. 
 from Hissar. The whole country 
 west of Hissar to Bhatneer is an im- 
 mense plain, in travelling over which 
 the stages are long and water scanty. 
 By the natives the soil is described 
 as of a hard substance and blueish 
 colour, so as at a distance to have 
 the appearance of water. This town 
 was taken from the Bhattees in 1807 
 by the Raja of Bicanere, who in 
 1810 still retained possession. — 
 C Lieut . White , E. Gardner, fyc.) 
 
 Bhatgong. — A city in northern 
 Hindostan, and, before the Goorka 
 conquests, the seat of an indepen- 
 dent chief; lat. 27° W N., Ion. 85° 
 SHE. ; eight miles E.S.E. from Cat- 
 mandoo. It ranks the third of the 
 Nepaulese valley, and thirty years 
 ago was estimated to contain 12,000 
 houses; but, probably, the number 
 was exaggerated by the native infor- 
 mant. The palace and other build- 
 ings have rather a striking appear- 
 ance, owing chiefly to the excellent 
 quality of the bricks and tiles, in the 
 manufacture of which the Nepaulese 
 excel. Its ancient name was Dhar- 
 mapatan, by the Newars it is called 
 Khopodais, from its resemblance to 
 the dumbroo or guitar of Siva. Bhat- 
 gong is the Benares of the Gorkha 
 dominions, and was supposed to con- 
 tain many valuable Sanscrit manu- 
 scripts ; but none have as yet been 
 brought to European notice. It is 
 also the favourite residence of the 
 Nepaulese Brahmins, containingmore 
 families of that caste than Catman- 
 doo and Lalita Patan together, but 
 they are not in great repute either for 
 learning or devotion. Of the lower 
 
 classes a great proportion are Ne- 
 wars, the Khetri or military tribe 
 flocking to the capital for employ- 
 ment.— {Kirkpatrick, F. Buchanan, 
 Sfc.) 
 
 Bhatties. — The country of the 
 Bhatties is situated in the north- 
 eastern quarter of the Ajmeer pro- 
 vince, about the thirtieth degree of 
 north latitude, and, until the pro- 
 gress of events brought the British 
 arms into their vicinity, were scarcely 
 known even by name. It is difficult 
 to assign limits to such a country and 
 such a people, both abhorrent of de- 
 finition, but the following may be 
 considered an approximation towards 
 accuracy. To the north it may be 
 described as limited by the combined 
 streams of the Sutuleje and Beyah 
 (the Hysudrus and Hyphasis), here 
 named the Gurrah ; on the south by 
 the territories of the Bicanere Raja 
 and the Shekawutties ; on the east 
 it has the district of Hurrianna, and 
 protected chiefs in the Delhi pro- 
 vince ; and on the west the great 
 sandy desert, of which it is almost 
 an integral portion. The north-east 
 corner,in some old maps named Latty 
 Afghany, is still wholly unknown, 
 although within a short distance of 
 the British cantonments at Luddee- 
 anna. This extensive tract of waste 
 country forms a natural boundary to 
 the British possessions in this quarter 
 of Hindostan. 
 
 From the town of Futtehabad to 
 Bhatneer, along the banks of the 
 Cuggur river, is the part of the Bhat- 
 ty territories best adapted for culti- 
 vation, being (it is reported) bene- 
 fitted by the overflowing of that river; 
 but respecting its source, course, and 
 termination, our knowledge is still 
 very imperfect. The land within the 
 influence of this inundation is said 
 to produce wheat, rice, and barley ; 
 the remainder of the Bhatty country, 
 owing to the want of moisture, is 
 mostly unfit for agricultural pur- 
 poses. The Cuggur is now lost in 
 the sands to the west of Bhat- 
 neer, although it is supposed for- 
 merly to have joined the Sutuleje in 
 
BHATTIES. 
 
 227 
 
 the vicinity of Ferozepoor. In the 
 month of March the tanks dry up 
 rapidly, after which deep wells are 
 the only resource for the parched 
 cattle and their owners. Bhatneer 
 and Batindeh are the principal Bhat- 
 ty towns; but those best known to 
 Europeans are situated in the vicinity 
 of Hurrianna (where in some parts 
 this tribe claim a right of pasturage), 
 and are named Futtehabad, Sirsah, 
 Raneah, Beerghur, and Beeranah. 
 There is but little trade carried on in 
 this community, the members of 
 which have hitherto preferred thiev- 
 ing to every other vocation. With 
 the exception of the sale of the sur- 
 plus grain, ghee, and cattle (all insig- 
 nificant except the last), they main- 
 tain but little intercourse with the 
 neighbouring states, and that chiefly 
 through petty traffickers of the 
 Sheikh Furreed sect. Their imports 
 are white cloth, sugar, and salt. 
 
 The Bhatties were originally shep- 
 herds, of whom various tribes are 
 still found in the Punjab, and scat- 
 tered over the high grounds east of 
 the Indus from the sea to Ooch. In 
 the institutes of Acber these hordes 
 are by Abul Fazel named Asham- 
 batty. Their chiefs were originally 
 Rajpoots, but now Mahomedans; 
 which faith has also been adopted by 
 the lower castes, who were originally 
 Jauts. They have long been noted 
 as a plundering people, remarkable 
 in Hindostan for carrying on their 
 depredations on foot, and for the 
 length and rapidity of their pedestrian 
 excursions. The Bhatty females ap- 
 pear in public unveiled, and are not 
 compelled to observe the strict seclu- 
 sion so universal elsewhere among 
 the followers of Mahomed. 
 
 Prior to the cession of Hurrianna 
 to the British, the chief of the Bhat- 
 ties was Khan Bahadur Khan, who 
 in 1810 held twenty-one villages, in- 
 cluding Futtehabad, Sirsah, and Ra- 
 neah. It was then estimated that 
 the force which the Bhatties could 
 collect would not exceed 10,000 
 men, of whom not one-sixteenth pos- 
 sessed fire-arms. They were found, 
 however, very expert in conducting 
 
 a night attack, and would travel on 
 their expeditions to a very unexpect- 
 ed distance. In the year above-men- 
 tioned Raneah formed the western 
 boundary of Khan Bahadur’s country, 
 having an extensive tract of waste 
 land on the north, west, and south. 
 Bhatneer, the nearest town, is dis- 
 tant about forty road miles to the 
 west. The town of Nehar lies forty- 
 three road miles to the south, and 
 belongs to a Shekawutty chieftain. 
 The town of Tulwunda, subject to 
 Raja Saheb Singh, stands about forty 
 road miles to the north. Some years 
 prior to the British conquests in this 
 part of Hindostan, the revenues of 
 Futtehabad, Sirsah, and Raneah were 
 estimated at 40,000 rupees per an- 
 num. It is said to have since become 
 less productive, on account of the 
 banks which have been constructed 
 across the Cuggur river by the Seik 
 chiefs to the north-west, which have 
 prevented these pergunnahs from re- 
 ceiving their due share of the stream. 
 It was also calculated, that if the 
 Bhatty country taken possession of 
 had been retained, it would have 
 yielded a revenue of 80,000 rupees 
 per annum, although distress had 
 been caused by a deficiency of rain 
 in that arid region. 
 
 On the first occupation of Hurri- 
 anna in 1809, nothing was left un- 
 done by the British authorities to 
 conciliate the Bhatties, who were as- 
 sured that their frontier would no 
 longer be disturbed by banditti from 
 thence, as had hitherto been the case 
 under all native governments. The 
 Bhatty chiefs were in their turn soli- 
 cited to restrain the predatory habits 
 of their subjects, and suppress all 
 aggressions on a friendly territory ; 
 but it was eventually found that they 
 contemned all authority that inter- 
 fered with their schemes of plunder. 
 Bahadur Khan also declined affording 
 his assistance, declaring he was ap- 
 prehensive of being entrapped and 
 made prisoner, as had happened dur- 
 ing the Gallo-Maharatta sway in up- 
 per Hindostan. 
 
 All amicable overtures being reject- 
 ed, and the aggressions on the inhabi- 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 
 
 BHAWUR. 
 
 tants of Hurriaraia continuing, an ex- 
 pedition was marched into theBhatty 
 country in December 1810, under the 
 command of Col. Adams : when Ba- 
 hadur Khan was expelled, and Futte- 
 habad and other refractory towns sub- 
 mitted without resistance. On this 
 occasion Zabeta Khan (the son of 
 Bahadur Khan) joined the British 
 camp, without stipulating for any 
 terms ; in consideration of which un- 
 conditional submission, all his coun- 
 try was restored to him, with the 
 exception of Futtehabad, which was 
 retained as a frontier post, from 
 whence a garrison could superintend 
 the motions of this unquiet race, 
 whom it was difficult to wean from 
 the predatory habits to which they 
 had been accustomed from time im- 
 memorial. The towns of Beerghur 
 and Beeraneh were also re-annexed 
 to the district of Hurrianna, from 
 which they had been separated. In 
 making these experiments, it was 
 judged expedient that Zabeta Khan 
 should receive back his territories 
 unencumbered by any tributary en- 
 gagement, as the payment of a tribute 
 virtually implied an obligation on the 
 superior power to protect its tribu- 
 tary, w'hich might eventually have 
 proved embarrassing, and was at the 
 same time completely at variance with 
 the fundamental maxim of British 
 policy, as referring to the native prin- 
 cipalities of Hindostan. For some 
 time afterwards tranquillity prevailed 
 through the Bhatty country, but in 
 1818 they again became restless, and 
 possessed themselves of Futtehabad, 
 which had been held by the Seiks un- 
 der the British authority. A strong 
 detachment was in consequence again 
 marched into the country, for the 
 purpose of destroying all the petty 
 forts, and expelling the agitators, 
 which service was effected without 
 encountering any serious opposition. 
 — {Lieut. White, George Thomas , 
 Col . Adams , Archibald Seton , $•<?.) 
 
 Bhavani River. — A river in the 
 Coimbatoor province which flows past 
 the town of Sattimungalum, and 
 afterwards joins the Krishna at Bha- 
 vani Kudal. 
 
 Bhavani Kudal. — A town in the 
 Coimhatoor province, fifty-eight miles 
 N.E. from the town of Coimbatoor ; 
 lat. 11° 26'N., Ion. 77° 44' E. It 
 stands at the conflux of the Bhavani 
 and Cavery, on which account it is 
 considered a place of superior sanc- 
 tity, and much resorted to by the 
 Hindoos. It also contains two cele- 
 brated temples, one dedicated to 
 Vishnu, and the other to Siva. — {F. 
 Buchanan , fyc.) 
 
 Bhawur. — A pergunnah in north- 
 ern Hindostan, situated between the 
 Sutuleje and Jumna. The section of 
 this pergunnah situated to the west of 
 theTonse was formerly named Bucan, 
 but now Dewghur, from being the 
 spot where the sect and tenets of the 
 Mahassoo Dewtah religion originated, 
 since which epocha the Dewghur di- 
 vision has been considered holy land. 
 
 According to Brahminical tradi- 
 tions, at a remote era of time, a man 
 ploughing in the pergunnah of Bucan 
 saw a snake, which, erecting itself 
 before him, said, “ I am the divinity 
 of the place : raise near this spot an 
 image to be worshipped, and call it 
 Mahassoo Dewtah, and it will reveal 
 to you laws that are to be obeyed. ,, 
 On learning this vision of the culti- 
 vator some Brahmins made an image, 
 and placed it in the field where the 
 snake had appeared, and after some 
 time had passed away, it was inspired 
 to give them thefollowinginstructions, 
 the observance of which secures the 
 devout from the evils of the present 
 world, and insures their happiness in 
 that which is to come, viz. 
 
 1st. Never to sleep in a bed with 
 four legs. 
 
 c 2d. Never to drink pure milk. 
 Butter-milk is permitted, but it is 
 meritorious to abstain from the eating 
 of butter, it being more praiseworthy 
 to burn it at the shrines of the Ma- 
 hassoo Dewtah or demigod. 
 
 3d. Always to sacrifice the finest 
 goats on the demigod’s altar, and if 
 similar sacrifices elsewhere be ab- 
 stained from, so much the better. 
 
 Some time after the promulgation 
 of this specimen of supernatural wis- 
 
BHIRKOT. 
 
 229 
 
 dom, the Brahmins removed the image 
 to Oonooree, on the east bank of the 
 Tonse, where it still remains, much 
 venerated by the people, and its 
 priesthood amply supplied with of- 
 ferings. — {Public MS. Documents , 
 Birch , $c.) 
 
 Bheekungaum. — A walled village 
 with a mud fort belonging to Holcar, 
 in the province of Candeish, pergun- 
 nah of Kurgoond, fifty-two miles 
 N.N.W. from Boorhampoor. This 
 was formerly a large town, but so 
 entirely ruined by the Pindarry incur- 
 sions, that only seventy-five houses 
 remained.. In 1820 the inhabitants 
 were returning, and one street was 
 re-occupied. — ( Fullarton, Malcolm , 
 Sfc.) 
 
 Bheels. — .See Malwa and Can- 
 deish, 
 
 Bheemfed. — A small village in the 
 Nepaulese territories situated on the 
 Rapty, whence a road leads over the 
 Cheesapany mountain ; lat. 27° 33' 
 N., Ion. 84° 50' E., fourteen miles 
 S.W. from Catmandoo, At this 
 place the valley of the Rapty finishes, 
 and the high mountains of Lama 
 Dangra separate it from the country 
 on the north, watered by the branches 
 of theBogmutty. — ( F.Buchanan , fyc.) 
 
 Bheemtal Lake. — A small but 
 picturesque lake in northern Hin- 
 dostan, among the mountains of 
 Kumaon, twenty-nine miles travelling 
 distance south from Almora, and 
 on the high road from thence to 
 Bamouri. The shape of this lake 
 approaches the figure of a triangle, 
 the length of the longest side being 
 a mile, and of the shortest five fur- 
 longs ; but it appears at some former 
 period to have been considerably 
 larger, and its decrease has been 
 attributed to the depositions from 
 the different streams flowing into it. 
 About the centre its depth is eleven 
 fathoms, and its elevation above the 
 sea 4,271 feet. On the margin is a 
 temple of Mahadeva or Siva, and 
 the remains of an old Gorkha fort 
 on an eminence to the south, below 
 which stands the village of Bheemtal, 
 
 consisting of a few miserable huts, 
 with a government house for the ac- 
 commodation of travellers, having a 
 commissariat depot attached. About 
 two miles to the east of Bheemtal 
 there is another small lake, equally 
 beautiful, named the Naokoochea 
 Tal, and the natives report that there 
 are many others in the vicinity.— 
 
 ( Fullarton , Webb , fyc.) 
 
 Bheindur. — A small town in the 
 Ajmeer province, division of Chitore, 
 situated on the Goompty river, thirty 
 miles E. by S, from Odeypoor. In 
 1820 it was the head of a pergunnah, 
 yielding a revenue of about 30,000 
 rupees per annum, to a relative of the 
 Odeypoor Ranas ; but the town did 
 not contain more than 600 houses. — 
 ( Malcolm , 8fc.) 
 
 Bheer. — A small district in the 
 Nizam’s dominions in the province of 
 Aurungabad, situated between the 
 18th and 19th degrees of north lati- 
 tude. This is a hilly tract of country, 
 thinly peopled and ill governed ; but 
 respecting which almost nothing is 
 known, as is theuase with the Nizam’s 
 dominions generally. It is intersected 
 by two small streams, the Sindpuna and 
 Kundya. Bheer, the principal town, 
 stands in lat. 19° 1' N., Ion. 75° 58' 
 E., seventy miles E. from Ahmednug- 
 gur. 
 
 Bhilarah. — A town in the Ajmeer 
 province, forty-seven miles N.E. from 
 the city of Odeypoor; lat. 25° 26' N.,. 
 Ion. 74° 47' E. In 1818 this place 
 presented vestiges of former opulence 
 and industry, but at that period, owing 
 to the anarchy so long prevalent in 
 Rajpootana, it was nearly roofless and 
 depopulated. 
 
 Bhind, — A town in the Agra pro- 
 vince south of the Chumbul, forty- 
 six miles N.E. from Gualior ; lat 26° 
 27' N., Ion. 77° 20' E. 
 
 Bhindur.— A town in the province 
 of Ajmeer, thirty-four miles E.S.E. 
 from Odeypoor. Lat. 24° 3' N., Ion. 
 74° 13'E. 
 
 Bhirkot.— A petty state in nor- 
 thern Hindostan, consisting of moun- 
 tains, and containing neither mines or 
 
230 
 
 BHOOJ. 
 
 mart ; formerly one of the twenty-four 
 rajaships, but at present subject to 
 the Nepaulese; lat. 27° 58' N., Ion. 
 83° 48' E. 
 
 Bhira. — A town in the Lahore pro- 
 vince, eighty-two miles N.W. from the 
 city of Lahore; lat. 32° 10' N., Ion. 
 72° 50' E. 
 
 Bhirowal. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Lahore, situated on the north 
 side of the Beyah river, which when 
 the floods are at the highest is here 
 740 yards over. Lat. 31° 20' N., Ion. 
 75° 5' E., twenty-four miles S.E. 
 from Amritsir. 
 
 Bhisagong. — A village in the Sing- 
 pho country adjacent to Assam, situ- 
 ated about lat. 27° 28' N., Ion. 95° 
 40' E. 
 
 Bhobaneser ( Bhavaneswara ) . — 
 At Bui wanta, in the province of Orissa, 
 on the new road, sixteen miles from 
 the town of Cuttack, a lofty massive 
 tower is seen rising among the thickets 
 that skirt the frontiers of Khoorda, 
 six miles within which are the remains 
 of the ruined city of Bhobaneser, 
 consisting of deserted and dilapidated 
 towers and temples sacred to the wor- 
 ship of Mahadeva. From amidst the 
 whole rises the great pagoda of the 
 Ling Raja (Siva), conspicuous for size, 
 loftiness, and the superiority of its 
 architecture. 
 
 The natives say there were origi- 
 nally more than 7,000 places of wor- 
 ship consecrated here to Mahadeva, 
 and that it contained no less than a 
 crore of lingams. The vestiges of 
 many places of this description are 
 still visible, mostly mere shapeless 
 masses of brick, buried amongst brush- 
 wood and rank vegetation. The build- 
 ings are constructed of a reddish gra- 
 nite, resembling sandstone, in the 
 form of towers rounded towards the 
 summit, seldom less than sixty, and 
 one rising to even 180 feet in height. 
 The stones are held together by iron 
 clamps, but no wood is to be seen 
 throughout. The exterior is adorned 
 with a profusion of sculptured orna- 
 ments, and the ruined courts scattered 
 over with an infinite variety of bulls, 
 
 lingams, and other symbols of Maha- 
 deva, mixed with the forms, energies, 
 and attributes of the whole Hindoo 
 Pantheon. 
 
 About the centre the great tower 
 or sanctuary rises to the elevation of 
 180 feet, crowned by an ornamented 
 crest or head-piece, resembling a tur- 
 ban, which figure forms a distinguish- 
 ing feature in the temple architecture 
 of Orissa. The local traditions and 
 histories concur in fixing the date of 
 its completion in A.D. 657. The city 
 of Bhavaneser was founded by Raja 
 Lalat Indra Kesari, who reigned be- 
 tween A.D. 617 and 660. A small 
 establishment is still kept up here by 
 the Khoorda Rajas, and the ruins are 
 occasionally visited by Bengalese pil- 
 grims on their way to Juggernauth. 
 Among the curiosities of the neigh- 
 bourhood is a huge figure of the lin- 
 gam, forty feet high, consisting of one 
 single shaft of sandstone. — ( Stirling , 
 $c.) 
 
 Bhojipoor. — A town in the Oude 
 territories, 102 miles N. from Luck- 
 now ; lat. 28° 20' N., Ion. 80° 53' E. 
 
 Bhonsla. — An old subdivision of 
 the Concan, in the province of Beja- 
 poor, bounded on the north by the 
 Dewghur river, on the south by the 
 Portuguese territories attached to 
 Goa, and on the west by the sea. Like 
 the rest of the Concan it resembles an 
 inclined plane, with an irregular sur- 
 face, declining in height from the 
 western ghauts as it approaches the 
 sea. It is traversed by many mountain 
 streams, such as the Dewghur and 
 Atchera, and formerly the resort of 
 the piratical fleets that infested the 
 west coast of India. The principal 
 town is Warree, or Sawuntwarree, the 
 chief of which is usually denominated 
 the Bhonsla. The other towns of note 
 are Malwan, Vingorla, and Raree. It 
 is now comprehended within the Bri- 
 tish Concan districts. 
 
 Bhooj. — The modern capital of 
 Cutch, founded about two centuries 
 ago by Row Bharra; lat. 23° 15' N., 
 Ion. 69° 52' E. It stands on the S.W. 
 side of a hill, on which extensive but 
 
BHOWNUGGUR. 
 
 23 1 
 
 ill planned fortifications have been 
 erected, as they afford no protection 
 to the town. Viewed from the north, 
 Bhooj has an imposing appearance 
 from the display of white buildings, 
 mosques, and pagodas, interspersed 
 among plantations of date trees ; but 
 a nearer approach detracts from the 
 prior respectability of its appearance. 
 The Row’s palace, however, is a cas- 
 tle of good masonry, the cupolas and 
 roofs of which are encrusted with a 
 sort of enamel that gives it a Chinese 
 appearance. To the west of the town, 
 and covering two short faces of the 
 fort, is a large tank, with stairs down 
 to the water, and in the centre an 
 elevated terrace. Inl818 the town 
 contained about 20,000 inhabitants, 
 among whom are artists remarkable 
 for their ingenuity in working gold 
 and silver. In 1819 the hill-fort of 
 Bhooj was taken by escalade by a de- 
 tachment under Sir William Keir, and 
 on the 16th June of the same year 
 both town and fort were nearly de- 
 stroyed by an earthquake.— {Mac- 
 murdoy fyc.) 
 
 Bhooteas.— See Bhutant. 
 
 Bhopaul. — See Bopaul. 
 
 Bhopawur. — A ruinous town in the 
 province of Malwa belonging to 
 Dowlet Row Sindia, situated on the 
 right bank of the Mhye river; lat. 22° 
 37' N., Ion. 75° 5'E, 
 
 Bhorassa. — A small town in the 
 province of Ajmeer, division of Har- 
 rowty, situated on the left bank of 
 the Cali Sind river. The inhabitants 
 manufacture mill-stones from excel- 
 lent free-stone found in the neigh- 
 bourhood. 
 
 Bhoreghaut (the great). — A 
 ghaut or pass in the province of Au- 
 rungabad through the western range 
 of mountains, ascended on the road 
 from Bombay to Poona. Since the 
 expulsion of the Peshwa this pass has 
 been greatly enlarged and improved, 
 and an excellent carriage road, five 
 miles in length, now forms the com- 
 munication between the maritime dis- 
 trict of Callianee and the table-land 
 
 of the Deccan, exhibiting the most 
 magnificent scenery. — ( Fullarton , Sfc.) 
 
 Bhoreghaut ( the less). — A pass 
 through the mountains that stretch 
 across the division of Jooneer in the 
 Aurungabad province, commencing 
 about nineteen miles SJS. by E. from 
 Poona. The ascent is rather steep 
 and stony, but neither difficult or 
 long, and leads to a region elevated 
 about 600 feet above the more nor- 
 thern tract of table-land, where stands 
 the city of Poonah. In travelling 
 southward, a marked improvement of 
 the temperature is experienced imme- 
 diately after clearing this pass, — {Ful~ 
 larton , fyc.) 
 
 Bhowanipoor. — A town, or rather 
 market-place, in the province of Ben- 
 gal, district of Dinagepoor, situated in 
 the division of Ranny Sonkol. At the 
 festival of Nekmundun (a Mahome- 
 dan saint) a great meeting is held here, 
 from the 7th to the 1 7th of April. A 
 military guard and civil officers at- 
 tend to preserve peace, for the mul- 
 titude is great, and consists chiefly of 
 rogues, thieves, prostitutes, swin- 
 dlers, musicians, jugglers, showmen, 
 and religious mendicants, augmented 
 by idlers, pilgrims, and traders from 
 Bootan, Nepaul, Purneah, Benares, 
 Patna, Rungpoor, and Moorsheda- 
 bad, the aggregate sometimes amount- 
 ing to 100,000 persons. — ( F . Bucha- 
 nan, fyc.) 
 
 Bhowanny (Bhavani). — A town 
 in the Delhi province, eighty-two 
 miles W. from the city of Delhi. 
 Lat. 28° 37' N., Ion. 75° 40' E. In 
 1809 it was stormed in open day by 
 a British detachment under Col. Ball, 
 and captured with the loss of 1 36 killed 
 and wounded, the inhabitants being 
 confident of their strength from hav- 
 ing repelled all former attacks by the 
 native powers. — ( Public MS. Docu- 
 ments, fyc.) 
 
 Bhow Begum. — See Fyzabau. 
 
 Bhownuggur. — A seaport town in 
 the province of Gujerat, situated on 
 the west side of the Gulf of Cambay, 
 lat. 21° 48' N., Ion. 72° 16'E. It was 
 
BHURTPOOR. 
 
 232 
 
 named after the grandfather of the 
 present Rawul, who founded it on 
 the site of a village called Joona 
 Wurwa. These princes had the good 
 sense to encourage trade and extir- 
 pate piracy: the town in consequence 
 waxed rich, and is now the chief 
 mart for the export and import trade 
 of Cattywar, Ahmedabad, and Mar- 
 war. One curious and not very cre- 
 ditable manufacture has long been 
 established here, which is a mint for 
 the fabrication of base money, where 
 every sort of rupee current on the 
 west side of India is so well coun- 
 terfeited, that even native bankers 
 have been deceived. In 1812 the 
 Raja was not only suspected of con- 
 niving at the practice, but also for 
 sharing in the profits. From 1810 to 
 1814 thirty-eight Arabian vessels ar- 
 rived here aggregating 2,716 tons, 
 Surat and Bhownuggur being their 
 chief places of resort. In 1821 the 
 harbour was injured by the bursting 
 of embankments. 
 
 In 1807, with the voluntary con- 
 currence of the Raja, the tribute he 
 used to pay to the Guicowar, amount- 
 ing to 74,500 rupees, was transferred 
 to the British government ; but this 
 change did not authorize any inter- 
 ference with the internal concerns of 
 the genuine Bhownuggur territory. 
 In 1809 it was discovered that its 
 chieftain, although tributary, and ac- 
 tually under the protection of the 
 British government, connived at the 
 depredations of the turbulent Catties, 
 and was in consequence fined. In 1816 
 his military establishment amounted 
 to 900 infantry and 1,090 horsemen, 
 a large proportion of whom he sub- 
 sequently discharged ; but kept the 
 remainder in so effective a state, that 
 in 1820, after a long and persevering 
 pursuit, they attacked and nearly 
 destroyed a considerable party of Ko- 
 maun Catties, whose depredations, 
 however, the Bhownuggur cabinet 
 was strongly suspected of having in- 
 stigated. This being an extraordinary 
 instance of effectual aid derived from 
 a native ally, Mr. Elphinstone, the 
 governor of Bombay, addressed a 
 suitable complimentary letter to the 
 
 thakoor. His connivance, however, 
 with the plunderers, having been sub- 
 sequently clearly proved, he and his 
 dewan were fined in the mitigated 
 penalty of 100,000 rupees, for having 
 originally created the insurrection, 
 which his troops took so active a 
 part in suppressing. — ( Public MS. 
 Documents , A. Robertson , Carnac , 
 Walker , fyc.) 
 
 Bhugwaneea. — A small insulated 
 district in the province of Candeish, 
 bounded on the west by Nemaur, and 
 on the north and south by the Sat- 
 poora and Vindhya ranges of moun- 
 tains, and on the east by Gundwana. 
 It is nearly bisected by the Nerbudda 
 river. The principal towns are Hin- 
 dia and Hurdah. — ( Malcolm , #c.) 
 
 Bhugwuntgur. — A fortress in the 
 province of Bejapoor, situated on a 
 steep rocky hill close to the Mas- 
 soora river, which is about 400 yards 
 wide with a deep muddy bottom. Lat. 
 16° 8' N., Ion. 73° 38' E., fifty-seven 
 miles N.W. from Goa. 
 
 Bhujee. — A petty state in northern 
 Hindostan, situated between the Su- 
 tuleje and Jumna. It contains no 
 fort except that of Kungur, which is 
 possessed by the Cahlore Raja. 
 Bhujee was conquered in 1811 by the 
 Gorkhas, who were expelled in 1814 
 by Sir David Ochterlony. In 1815 
 the total revenue was estimated at 
 6,500 rupees per annum. — ( Lt . Ross , 
 Src.) 
 
 Bhurasoo. — A village in northern 
 Hindostan, one of the remotest T’hats 
 or divisions of Roween. Lat. 31° 17' 
 N.,lon. 78° 25' E., seventy-seven miles 
 N. by W. from Serinagur. 
 
 Bhurtpoor ( Bharatapura.) The 
 capital of an independent native chief 
 in the province of Agra, thirty-one 
 miles W. by N. from the city of 
 Agra. Lat. 27° 17' N., Ion. 77° 23' E. 
 The Bhurtpoor territory, including 
 the small pergunnah of Tanua, is 
 superior in extent to that of the 
 Macherry Raja, and reaches from Go- 
 paulghur, in lat. 27° 39' N. to Biana, 
 and forms the western boundary of 
 
BHURTPOOR. 
 
 233 
 
 the Agra district. In 1818 the total 
 area was rather less than 5,000 square 
 miles. Bhurtpoor, Deeg, Combhere, 
 Weyre,and Biana are the chief towns. 
 Gopaulghur is a strong fort, and the 
 town of Kurnau is of great extent, 
 with a large brick fort in the centre, 
 but in a ruinous condition ; only the 
 eastern quarter of the town being in- 
 habited. Nuggar, Robass, Whee- 
 guish, Roodawah, Nudbharee, Phur- 
 ser,and others, are of little note. The 
 country from Deeg to Bhurtpoor is 
 so low, that during the heavy rains it 
 may be said to be completely inun- 
 dated.' In 1823 the Bhurtpoor ter- 
 ritory was in a most flourishing con- 
 dition, the villages numerous and well 
 constructed, and the crops waving 
 abundance, yet the peasantry went 
 constantly armed, which did not in- 
 dicate such consciousness of personal 
 safety as is to be seen within the Bri- 
 tish districts. The peacock is here 
 held in such veneration, that it is 
 dangerous to kill it. The Bhurtpoor 
 Raja is one of the principal chieftains 
 of the Jauts, which are a tribe of 
 low Sudras, who, presuming on their 
 temporary importance, venture to 
 assume the title of Khetri (the mi- 
 litary caste). They must, however, 
 be carefully discriminated from the 
 Jauts or Juts, who are the old Ma- 
 homedan peasantry of the Punjab, 
 j The tribe of Jauts first attracted 
 notice in Hindostan about A.D. 1700, 
 when having migrated from the banks 
 of the Indus, in the lower part of the 
 province of Mooltan, they were al- 
 lowed to settle in the avocations of 
 industry in several parts of the Doab, 
 of the Ganges, and Jumna. Their 
 subsequent progress was uncommonly 
 rapid ; and during the civil wars car- 
 ried on by the successors of Aureng- 
 zebe, they found means to secure 
 themselves a large portion of country, 
 in which they built forts and accu- 
 mulated treasure. The title of raja 
 is a Hindoo distinction some of them 
 have assumed, but to which they 
 have no more real right than their 
 ancestors had to the contents of the 
 imperial caravans, which they were 
 in the habit of plundering. During 
 
 Aurengzebe’s last march to the Dec- 
 can, Churamun, the Jaut, pillaged 
 the baggage of the army, and with 
 part of the spoil erected the fortress 
 of Bhurtpoor. Sooraj Mull, one of 
 his successors, new modelled the go- 
 vernment, and w as afterwards killed 
 in battle with Nudjiff Khan, A.D. 1 763. 
 He was succeeded by his son Jewar 
 Singh, who was secretly murdered in 
 1768, at which period the Jaut do- 
 minions extended from Agra to within 
 a few miles of Delhi on the north, 
 and near to Etaweh on the south. 
 They also possessed a tract south of 
 the Jumna ; and, besides places of 
 inferior strength, had three forts, then 
 deemed impregnable. About 1780, 
 Nudjiff Khan subdued great part of 
 the Jaut country, and left the raja 
 little besides Bhurtpoor, and a small 
 district of about seven lacks of ru- 
 pees per annum. 
 
 On, the death of Jewar Singh in 
 1768, his brother Ruttun Singh as- 
 cended the throne, and being also 
 assassinated, was succeeded by his 
 brother Kairy Singh, on whose death 
 Runjeet Singh assumed the sove- 
 reignty. When Madhaje Sindia first 
 undertook the conquest of Upper 
 Hindostan, he experienced essential 
 assistance from Raja Runjeet Singh, 
 who on this account was treated with 
 great comparative lenity by the Ma- 
 harattas. 
 
 In September 1803 a treaty of per- 
 petual friendship was concluded by 
 General Lake, on the part of the Bri- 
 tish government, with the Bhurt- 
 poor Raja, and so sincere was the 
 union on the part of the former, 
 that districts yielding a revenue of 
 754,000 rupees per annum were 
 made over to the latter in full sove- 
 reignty, Notwithstanding so regu- 
 lar a compact, ratified in the most 
 solemn manner with all the custom- 
 ary formalities, and in the mainte- 
 nance of which both the Raja’s in- 
 terest and honour seemed concerned, 
 in 1805 this prince most unaccounta- 
 bly espoused the declining cause of 
 Jeswunt Row Holcar, recently dis- 
 comfited by Lord Lake, and admitted 
 him with the shattered remains of 
 
BHURTPOOR. 
 
 234 
 
 his army into the fortress of Bhurt- 
 poor, before which the British army 
 arrived on the 3d of January 1805. 
 
 Bhurtpoor is a town of great ex- 
 tent, and every where strongly forti- 
 fied, being surrounded by a mud-wall 
 of great height and thickness, with a 
 very wide and deep ditch. The fort 
 stands at the eastern extremity, and 
 is of a square figure, one side over- 
 looking the country, the other three 
 within the town. It occupies a site 
 that appears more elevated than the 
 town ; its walls are also said to be 
 higher, and its ditch of greater width 
 and depth. The circumference of 
 both town and fort is about eight 
 miles, and their walls, in all their ex- 
 tent, are flanked with bastions at 
 short distances, on which are mount- 
 ed very numerous artillery. When 
 Lord Lake’s army approached Bhurt- 
 poor a large expanse of water at 
 the north-west side of the town sud- 
 denly disappeared, and it was sub- 
 sequently discovered that the whole 
 had been admitted into the ditch that 
 surrounds the town and fort. 
 
 Within these fortifications the 
 whole forces of the Bhurtpoor Raja 
 were concentrated. The infantry of 
 Jeswunt Row had taken a position 
 and entrenched themselves under the 
 walls, and all the inhabitants of the 
 adjacent country, who were in any 
 way capable of aiding the defence, 
 were thrown into the place. The 
 assembly of such a multitude created 
 the most serious obstacles to the 
 operations of the British army. Mea- 
 sures were speedily executed to re- 
 tard its progress, and the effects of 
 the battering train were almost im- 
 mediately repaired, which probably 
 constituted the most efficient source 
 of that resistance which was expe- 
 rienced during the siege. 
 
 The town and fort were amply pro- 
 vided with all kinds of military stores, 
 Bhurtpoor having long been the 
 mart of Hindostan for these articles, 
 which had also been accumulated by 
 the Raja. The great extent of the 
 place, and the smallness of the be- 
 sieging army, confined the operations 
 to one point ; the besieged had con 
 
 sequently an opportunity of procur- 
 ing supplies from the neighbouring 
 country, which would have been 
 precluded could the place have been 
 completely invested. In the course 
 of this siege, also, the British engineer 
 officers, however zealous in the per- 
 formance of their duty, were found, 
 neither in abilities, knowledge, or 
 experience, adequate to the magni- 
 tude of the exigence; which defi- 
 ciency doubtless had considerable 
 effect in impeding the progress of the 
 besieging army. And, finally, due 
 credit must be given to the bravery of 
 its defenders, and to the military 
 conduct of their leaders. But there 
 is reason to believe that, with the 
 exception of Holcar’s forces encamp- 
 ed under the walls, and which were 
 attacked and routed with the loss of 
 all their artillery, the garrison and in- 
 habitants sustained but. a trifling loss 
 compared with the enormous carnage 
 which destroyed the flower of the 
 British army, amounting to 3,100 
 killed and wounded, viz. 
 
 1st storm 456 
 
 2d do 591 
 
 3d do. 894 
 
 4th do 987 
 
 2,928 
 
 Casualties 1 72 
 
 Total 3,100 
 
 Notwithstanding so obstinate a de- 
 fence, and the slaughter which thin- 
 ned the ranks of the besiegers, the 
 Raja, perceiving that their persever- 
 ance must ultimately prevail, sent his 
 son to Lord Lake’s camp with the 
 keys of the fortress, and agreed to 
 compel Holkar to quit Bhurtpoor. 
 On the 17th April, the siege being 
 thus concluded, a second treaty was 
 arranged, but with stipulations cal- 
 culated to enforce a stricter perform- 
 ance of its conditions. The territory 
 conferred on him was resumed, he 
 engaged to pay twenty lacks of ru- 
 pees towards the expenses of the 
 war, and to leave his son as a 
 hostage until events proved that his 
 fidelity could be relied on. From 
 
BHUTANT. 
 
 235 
 
 this date his policy seems to have 
 been to thwart and irritate the Bri- 
 tish government to the utmost verge 
 of its forbearance, and to concede 
 immediately when a crisis seemed 
 impending. While M. Perron go- 
 verned Upper Hindostan, he made 
 the petty chiefs instantly obey his 
 most dictatorial mandate ; but they 
 have been treated by the British with 
 such delicacy and liberality that their 
 dependent condition has wholly dis- 
 appeared, and, with a native perver- 
 sity of disposition, they think it una- 
 ble to enforce, what it hesitates to 
 command. 
 
 Raja Runjeet Singh, who so well 
 defended his capital, died early in 
 1824, and was succeeded by his son 
 Baldeo Singh : who died suddenly on 
 the 28th February, at Goubherdon, 
 having scarcely sat a month on the 
 throne; leaving a son, Bulwunt Singh, 
 then seven years of age, who was 
 recognized by Sir David Ochterlony 
 as the legitimate successor. In March 
 1825 his mother and uncle, his 
 guardians, were attacked by Durjunt 
 Sal, a cousin of the young Raja’s, 
 the uncle murdered, many lives lost, 
 and the boy taken possession of by 
 the usurper. Lord Amherst, then 
 Governor-general, forbore resorting 
 to coercion as long as hopes could 
 be reasonably entertained of accom- 
 plishing by means of negociation the 
 restoration to power of the legiti- 
 mate prince ; but every effort having 
 been exhausted, and a powerful army 
 assembled, siege was laid to the place : 
 which, after six weeks of open trench- 
 es, was captured by storm on the 
 18th January 1826, with the loss of 
 sixty-one Europeans and forty-two 
 natives killed, and 283 Europeans 
 and 183 natives wounded; total 569 : 
 while the garrison lost about 4,000 
 men, mostly killed. Durjunt Sal and 
 his family were caught during their 
 flight, and sent prisoners to Allaha- 
 bad. The principal bastions, curtains, 
 and other important parts of the for- 
 tification, were subsequently blown 
 up and demolished, and the fortresses 
 of Biana, Deeg, Weyre, Kumbhere, 
 and Kama, having surrendered with- 
 
 out opposition, were occupied by Bri- 
 tish garrisons. — ( Lord Lake , the 
 Marquis Wellesley , Public MS. Do- 
 cuments , Lieut. White , Hunter , Frank- 
 lin , fyc.) 
 
 Bhutant.' — A tract of country in 
 Northern Hindostan which formerly 
 composed the Bhote provinces of Ti- 
 bet, which commence on the north from 
 the table-land beyond the mountains. 
 They comprise different passes into 
 Tibet, and some of the loftiest peaks 
 of the Himalaya, and are now attached 
 to the districts of Gurwal and Ku- 
 maon. A great proportion of the 
 surface is above the line of perpetual 
 congelation, and an interval of four 
 months without a fall of snow is a 
 rare occurrence. The population, es- 
 timated at 10,000, consists almost 
 wholly of Bhooteas, almost perfect 
 Tibetians ; yet some are said to be 
 the descendants of Mogul Tartars 
 left by Timour. They were formerly 
 all Buddhists of the Lama sect, but 
 since then many have partially adopted 
 the Hindoo religion, employing both 
 Brahmins and Lamas. They have 
 no distinction of caste, but still tribes 
 and villages will not intermarry. They 
 monopolize the trade in this quarter 
 between Hindostan and Tibet. The 
 name Bhutant is retained to distin- 
 guish it from Bootan, the country of 
 the Deb Raja. The country of Bhote 
 in this direction may be said to com- 
 mence at the village of Jelam, lat. 
 30° 38' N., Ion. 79° 51' E., as the 
 inhabitants are able to continue in 
 their houses throughout the whole 
 year at the villages below. 
 
 After passing Jelam upwards, all 
 access and passage is prevented by 
 the snow from October to May, dur- 
 ing which interval the higher Bhoo- 
 tea villages are entirely deserted. 
 On the 27th June 1818 spring had 
 just commenced in this quarter, where 
 the productions of the lower hills are 
 replaced by cypress, hazel, and birch 
 trees ; the bushes, consisting princi- 
 pally of gooseberry, currant, a dwarf 
 species of cypress and juniper, with 
 dog-roses red and white. The only 
 grains that ripen are papira (peculiar 
 
236 
 
 BIANA. 
 
 to Bhote, and resembling French 
 wheat), cheena (the panicum milia- 
 ceum) and awa and jawa, two species 
 of barley. As the spots adapted for 
 cultivation in Bhutant are few, the 
 villages are necessarily small in size 
 and much dispersed : yet the climate 
 is much warmer than might have 
 been expected from its elevation. 
 At Gamsali, lat. 30° 44', about the 
 end of June, Fahrenheit thermometer 
 in the shade ranged during the hot- 
 test time of the day from 60° to 75°, 
 and at daylight from 45° to 50°. 
 After the middle of August none of 
 the inhabitants are suffered to ascend 
 the tops of the surrounding moun- 
 tains, or to use fire-arms near the 
 villages, such incidents being known 
 from experience to occasion a fall of 
 snow from above, and a frost below, 
 both tending to injure the ripening 
 crops. 
 
 Besides the countries we call Tibet 
 and Bootan, theBhooteas every where 
 between the Cali and the Teesta oc- 
 cupy the alpine region adjacent to 
 the snowy peaks of Himalaya, on 
 both sides of the mountains, which 
 tract is by the natives of the south 
 termed Bhote, and the inhabitants 
 Bhooteas. According to native ac- 
 counts the Bhooteas neglect agricul- 
 ture, chiefly practising commerce, and 
 a life of monkish austerity, occasion- 
 ally but unwillingly wielding the 
 sword. Their principal support pro- 
 ceeds from the produce of their 
 mines, and of the numerous flocks of 
 sheep, goats, and cattle, the quantity 
 of grain raised being quite inconsi- 
 derable. With respect to their com- 
 plexion, it has been remarked by Dr. 
 Francis Buchanan, that the Bhooteas 
 he saw at Catmandoo (the capital of 
 Nepaul) from the elevated regions of 
 Mustung, Kuti, Lassa, and Digar- 
 cheh, were all fully as black as the 
 natives of Canton or Ava. 
 
 Prior to the Nepaulese war this 
 tract paid tribute to the Gorkhas, and 
 its inhabitants were kept in a misera- 
 ble state of slavery and oppression. 
 The genuine Bhooteas here are cer- 
 tainly of Tartar origin, and such is 
 their own opinion ; indeed the migra- 
 
 tion is so recent, that the natives of 
 Niti still enjoy from the Chinese go- 
 vernment, as Tartars, certain immu- 
 tities from duties paid by other tra- 
 ders. In language and personal ap- 
 pearance there is also a striking re- 
 semblance, and although they no 
 longer intermarry, yet the Bhooteas 
 do not hesitate to eat and drink with 
 the Tartars. Their religions are near- 
 ly the same, except that the former 
 have adopted several Hindoo super- 
 stitions, still retaining a great venera- 
 tion for their lamas. Until conquered 
 by the Gorkhas, bulls and cows were 
 annually sacrificed in great numbers : 
 but since that event, buffaloes and 
 the chowry cattle have been substi- 
 tuted. TheBhooteas, however, by the 
 other hill tribes are still considered 
 cow-killers, and, as such, outcasts of 
 the worst description. — {Trail, F, 
 Buchanan , #c.) 
 
 BhutkotPeak. — A mountain peak 
 in Northern Hindostan, eighteen 
 miles N.N.W. from Almora ; lat. 29° 
 49' N., Ion. 79° 29' E., 9,133 feet 
 above the level of the sea. 
 
 Bhynturee. — A native fortified 
 post in Northern Hindostan, kingdom 
 of Nepaul, four miles east of the Cali 
 river ; lat. 29° 35' N., Ion. 80° 23' 
 E., 5,615 feet above the level of the 
 sea. 
 
 Bhysouda. — A small town in the 
 province of Malwa, near the frontier 
 of Harrowty, which in 1820 contained 
 2,400 inhabitants. 
 
 Biana (By ana ). — A town in the 
 province of Agra belonging to the 
 Bhurtpoor Raja, situated on the Ban 
 Gunga river, fifty miles W.S.W. from 
 the city of Agra ; lat. 26° 57' N., Ion. 
 77° 8' E. Biana preceded Agra as 
 the capital of the province, Secunder 
 Lodi having kept his court here 
 while Agra was a mere village, and it 
 is frequently mentioned by the Em- 
 peror Baber in his memoirs. It was 
 first conquered by the Mahomedans 
 A.D. 1197. The town is still con- 
 siderable, and contains many large 
 stone houses, and the ridge ^of the 
 hill, at the foot of which it is situated. 
 
BICANERE. 
 
 237 
 
 is covered with the remains of build- 
 ings, among which is a fort contain- 
 ing a high pillar, conspicuous at a 
 great distance. The bazar of Mo- 
 dern Biana is large, and in 1820 
 shewed signs of reviving commerce 
 and an active population. The for- 
 tifications also on the neighbouring 
 hill had then been just renovated, 
 and strengthened with new works of 
 masonry . — ( Abul Fazel, Hunter , Ful- 
 larton , Sfc.) 
 
 Bickeyhaut. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Bengal situated on the right 
 bank of the Bhagirati or Cossimbazar 
 river, further down named the Hoogh- 
 ly. On the opposite bank there is a 
 building occupied as a college of By- 
 raggies. — ( Fullarton , &fc.) 
 
 Bicanere f Bicanir , or Bakanair.J 
 —A Rajpoot principality in the Aj- 
 meer province, of which it occupies 
 the centre, and situated principally 
 between the twenty-seventh and twen- 
 ty-ninth degrees of north latitude. 
 Like all other states in this waste of 
 moving sand, its limits are difficult to 
 settle, vast tracts being claimed and 
 rejected by all parties, as political cir- 
 cumstances happen to support or op- 
 pose their pretensions. To the north 
 it is bounded by the great Ajmeer 
 desert and the Bhatty country ; to 
 the south by the Joudpoor and Jey- 
 poor dominions ; on the east it has 
 the British district of Hurriana and 
 the Shekawutty country ; and on the 
 west Jesselmere and the great desert, 
 into which it merges. Considering 
 their local peculiarities, and the total 
 absence of streams, rivers, and lakes, 
 it is a curious fact that the Hindoos 
 of Bicanere should particularly ob- 
 ject to the eating of fish, as sinful. 
 
 The country is rather elevated, 
 but the surface flat, and the soil a 
 light-brown sand, that absorbs the 
 rain as soon as it falls ; wells are con- 
 sequently indispensable, are lined 
 with brick, and from 100 to 200 feet 
 deep. Each family has a cistern for 
 the preservation of rain water. With 
 the exception of a few villages on 
 the eastern frontier, the crops are 
 very precarious, and greatly depen- 
 
 dent on the periodical rains. Beju- 
 rah and other kinds of Indian pulse 
 are almost the only produce, the in- 
 habitants trusting in a great measure 
 for a supply of provisions to the 
 neighbouring provinces. Horses and 
 bullocks of an inferior breed are 
 nearly the sole exports ; the imports 
 are coarse and fine rice, sugar, opium, 
 and indigo. The first articles are 
 usually brought from Lahore by the 
 way of Rajghur and Chooroo. Salt 
 is procured from Sambher; wheat 
 from the Jeypoor country ; spices, 
 copper, and coarse cloth, by the road 
 of Jesselmere. The chief stronghold 
 is the city of Bicanere ; but Chooroo, 
 Rajghaum, and Bahudra, are reckon- 
 ed strong places by the natives. 
 
 The Bicanere Raja is a Rhatore 
 by caste, and of the same family with 
 the Joudpoor chief, the elder branch 
 having established itself at Joudpoor, 
 and the junior at Bicanere. He is 
 the least important of the five Raj- 
 pootana princes ; but it does not ap- 
 pear that he ever paid tribute to the 
 Maharattas, for which he was proba- 
 bly indebted to the distance and 
 sterility of his principality. In 1809 
 his revenue amounted to only five 
 lacks of rupees per annum ; but as his 
 troops are paid by assignments of 
 land, he is enabled to maintain 2,000 
 horse and 8,000 foot, with thirty -five 
 pieces of ordnance. His first fron- 
 tier town towards the Shekawutty 
 country is Chooroo, which may rank 
 as the second in importance. The 
 cultivators are mostly Jauts, some 
 converted to the Mahomedan faith 
 and some not. In the Lord’s Prayer, 
 as given in the Bicanere language, 
 twenty-nine v/ords out of thirty-two 
 were identified by the missionaries 
 as radically the same with those in 
 the Hindostany and Bengalese spe- 
 cimens. 
 
 In 1808 these miserable territories 
 were invaded by five different armies : 
 when the Bicanere chief, as a mea- 
 sure of defence, filled up all the wells 
 within ten miles of his capital, and 
 trusted for deliverance to the desola- 
 tion that surrounded him. Next year, 
 in his distress, he earnestly solicited 
 
238 
 
 BEDOULY. 
 
 the favourable mediation of the Bri- 
 tish government with his enemy the 
 Joudpoor Raja; but he was informed 
 in reply, that although the governor 
 in council entertained a high sense 
 of the friendly attention paid to the 
 British envoy (Mr, Elphinstone) while 
 passing through the Bicanere coun- 
 try, they could not deviate from their 
 system of non-interference in the af- 
 fairs of other states, which consti- 
 tuted a fundamental maxim of their 
 general policy. Although apparently 
 sufficiently employed in the defence 
 of his own dominions against the ag- 
 gressions of more powerful neigh- 
 bours, the reigning chief has made 
 several external conquests ; amongst 
 others, Bhatneer, the Bhatty capital, 
 of which in 1810 he still retained 
 possession ; his existence as an inde- 
 pendent prince was further secured 
 by his admission, in 1818, within the 
 pale of British confederacy and pro- 
 tection ; and having never before 
 paid any tribute, he was on this occa- 
 sion only required to defray the ex- 
 pense of any British troops he might 
 solicit. 
 
 In 1818 the army under General 
 Arnold reduced several fortified places 
 in the Bicanere territory, occupied by 
 persons in a state of rebellion against 
 the authority of the Raja, who, accord- 
 ing to the stipulations of the treaty, 
 paid all the expenses of the detach- 
 ment. — ( Public MS. Documents , El- 
 phinstone ^ Prinsep , George Thomas , 
 Metcalfe , tyc.) 
 
 Bicanere. — A fortified town in the 
 province of Ajmeer, situated about 
 260 miles W. by S. from Delhi ; lat. 
 27° 57' N., Ion. 73° 2' E. It stands 
 within a tract of more than ordinary 
 desolation, but owing to its contrast 
 with the surrounding ocean of sand, 
 presenting externally an appearance of 
 magnificence that closer inspection 
 does not justify. Within ten yards 
 of the wall the country is as waste 
 as the wildest tract of Arabia ; but on 
 the northern side there is something 
 that looks like a woody valley. The 
 most remarkable and pleasing sight 
 here is a well of fine water, immedi- 
 
 ately under the fort where the Raja 
 .resides, 300 feet deep, and from fif- 
 teen to twenty in diameter; four 
 buckets, each drawn by a pair of bul- 
 locks, are worked at once, and when 
 a bucket is thrown down, the noise 
 made by its striking the water is like 
 the report of a great gun. 
 
 Bicanere is surrounded by a fine 
 wall, strengthened with many round 
 towers, and crowned with the usual 
 Indian battlements. It contains some 
 elevated houses and some temples, 
 one of which has a lofty spire, and at 
 one corner there is a high showy cita- 
 del. The town is distinguished by 
 the whiteness of its buildings and the 
 absence of trees, which give most In- 
 dian cities the appearance of woods 
 rather than inhabited places ; most of 
 the dwellings are mere huts, with 
 mud walls painted red. The fort is a 
 confused assemblage of towers and 
 battlements, overtopped by houses 
 crowded together ; in extent it is 
 about a quarter of a mile square, en- 
 compassed by a wall thirty feet high, 
 and a good dry ditch. By the natives 
 it is reckoned a place of considerable 
 strength, but its chief security is the 
 scarcity of water in the surrounding 
 country. In the Raja’s service are 
 usually several Europeans of differ- 
 ent nations, who reside within the fort. 
 The native inhabitants wear loose 
 clothes, of white cotton or muslin, like 
 the Hindostanies, but are distinguish- 
 able by their Rajpoot features and 
 remarkable turban, rising high on the 
 head like a mitre. — ( Elphinstone , G. 
 ThomaSy 1 \th Reg. fyc.) 
 
 Bidjeeghur ( Vijayaghar ) . — A 
 ruinous fortress in the province of 
 Allahabad, district of Mirzapoor, fifty 
 miles S. from Benares ; lat. 24° 37' 
 N., Ion. 83° 10' E. Bidjeeghur was 
 formerly the principal stronghold of 
 the Benares Rajas, and was taken by 
 the British in 1781, during the revolt 
 of Cheet Singh, and has ever since 
 been neglected, partly on account of 
 its insalubrity.— {Foster , Rennell , $c.) 
 
 Bedouly. — A town in the province 
 of Delhi, thirteen miles N ; E. from 
 
BIJANAGUR. 
 
 m 
 
 Paniput; lat. 29° 3 & N., Ion. 77 ° 6 ' 
 E. 
 
 Bijanagur ( Vijayanagara ). — A 
 Hindoo city of great fame aud anti- 
 quity in the province of Beejapoor, 
 named in the Canarese Annagoondy, 
 and occasionally Alpatna, these names 
 being sometimes applied to the city, 
 and at others only to certain por- 
 tions ; lat. 15° 14' N., Ion. 76° 37' E., 
 twenty-nine miles N.W. from Bellary. 
 The remains of this city occupies 
 both sides of the Toombuddra ; and 
 it is to the division on the south-east 
 of the river that the name of Bijana- 
 gur is usually applied, while that on 
 the north-west bank is called Anna- 
 goondy. 
 
 The spot selected for the erection 
 of this famous capital is a very singu- 
 lar one. It is a plain, enclosed by 
 and encumbered with stupendous 
 masses of granite, which in some 
 places swell up from the surface to 
 the form and magnitude of hills, and 
 in others present detached blocks of 
 various forms, piled over one ano- 
 ther in all sorts of fantastical combi- 
 nations, occasionally surrounding lit- 
 tle isolated vallies, and elsewhere ob- 
 structing all passage except through 
 the narrow-winding defiles which se- 
 parate the fragments. The commu- 
 nications from street to street, and 
 in some cases the streets also, follow 
 the mazes of these chasms, and in one 
 quarter the principal thoroughfare is 
 under a naturally covered passage, 
 formed by the rocks ; the ancient 
 battlements, turrets, and gateways 
 are still in a high state of preserva- 
 tion ; the main streets, paved with 
 immense flags of granite, are inter- 
 sected at intervals by aqueducts ; and 
 tanks and wells are excavated in the 
 rock. Temples, choultries, and many 
 other edifices, public and private, of 
 the purest style of Hindoo architec- 
 ture and great dimensions, are seen 
 perched on the most conspicuous emi- 
 nence of the naked rock, or ranged 
 in long lines on the plain. The walls, 
 pillars, arches, and even the flat roofs 
 and beams of all these structures, are 
 composed of the granite, which is so 
 
 abundant on the spot, cut into such 
 enormous masses, that it is difficult 
 to imagine how a people ignorant of 
 mechanics could have transported 
 them to their present positions. Some 
 blocks are from twelve to fifteen feet 
 broad, and thick in proportion ; and 
 though of unequal bulk and various 
 shapes, are universally well cut, fitted 
 to each other with the greatest nicety, 
 and display at this day an exterior 
 lustre surpassing that of most build- 
 ings of twenty years’ standing. It is 
 owing to this superiority of material, 
 and the cyclopean style of their ma- 
 sonry, that the ruins of Bijanagur so 
 far excel in extent and grandeur those 
 of any other ancient city, purely Hin- 
 doo, from Hurdwar to Cape Como- 
 rin. 
 
 The Toombuddra, where it sepa- 
 rates Annagoondy from Bijanagur, is 
 about one-third of a mile broad, with 
 a rapid irregularly winding course 
 among the granite hills, and much in- 
 terrupted by detached rocks rising 
 above its surface, surmounted by an 
 image of the bull Nundy, an open 
 portico, or choultry, or some other 
 religious edifice. At the principal 
 ferry there is a picturesque group of 
 temples, and a huge figure of Hooni- 
 maun, the gigantic monkey, carved 
 in basso relievo ,* on the eastern pro- 
 montory similar sculptures abound 
 among the ruins. Opposite to the up- 
 per portion of the Bijanagur section of 
 the town the river contracts greatly, 
 and was formerly traversed by a stone 
 bridge. 
 
 Bijanagur Proper is enclosed, part- 
 ly by natural barriers and partly by 
 strong stone walls, on the south and 
 east, and by the Toombuddra on the 
 north and west, encompassing a cir- 
 cumference of at least eight miles ; 
 but a large portion of this area is 
 encumbered by inaccessible acclivi- 
 ties. There is a continued succes- 
 sion of paved streets, now nearly 
 uninhabited, for three miles, from 
 the Toombuddra ferry to Hum pa, 
 near the western extremity ; and the 
 appearance of the ruins about Cam- 
 lapoor on the south-west, indicate 
 that they also were once included 
 
240 
 
 BIJANAGUR. 
 
 within the city boundaries. At Hum- 
 pa there is a magnificent temple de- 
 dicated to Mahadeva, standing in 
 the midst of a vast area, surrounded 
 by the cells for the devotees, and 
 having a pyramidical portico facing 
 the east of ten stories, and about 
 160 feet in height. This edifice ter- 
 minates a noble street about ninety 
 feet wide, stretching east and west 
 nearly parallel to the Toombuddra 
 (from which it is separated by rows 
 of venerable trees) to another tem- 
 ple near its opposite extremity, with 
 an image of the bull Nundy, twelve 
 feet high, carved out of the rock. 
 The temple of the destroyer (Ma- 
 hadeva) is well endowed, and attend- 
 ed by numerous Brahmins; and the 
 street itself is lined by a row of hand- 
 some stone buildings, decorated with 
 sculptures, and intended for the ac- 
 commodation of pilgrims during the 
 annual festival. 
 
 Between Humpa and Camlapoor 
 there intervenes a ridge of lofty 
 rugged rocks, traversed by a steep 
 causeway, and studded with pagodas. 
 The most remarkable are the great 
 temple of Krishna, and one of smaller 
 dimensions dedicated to Ganesa, but 
 containing a colossal granite image 
 of that deity, sixteen feet high by ten 
 in breadth. Beyond this is the fort 
 entrance, a kind of inner city, con- 
 taining the remains of four palaces, 
 all within view of each other, built 
 at different periods, and by different 
 rajas. The temple of Rama is dis- 
 tinguished by its pillars of black horn- 
 blende which support the porticoes, 
 and are covered with mythological 
 sculptures of the minutest elegance. 
 There are also some columns of the 
 same material in a building near the 
 river at Annagoondy. 
 
 But the most extraordinary of all 
 the religious edifices, in respect to 
 elaborate workmanship, dimensions, 
 and freshness of condition, is the 
 group dedicated to Wittoba (an in- 
 carnation of Vishnu) near the centre 
 of the city, which has sustained no 
 injury from time, although ransacked, 
 and in parts dilapidated by Mahome- 
 dan rancour. They consist, besides 
 
 the principal temple, of four subor- 
 dinate buildings or choultries, and 
 several lesser pagodas, the whole 
 contained in an area of about 400 by 
 200 feet, environed by cells, and en- 
 tered through a painted pyramidical 
 portico. The columns are clustered 
 with figures of the singh (lion), sup- 
 porting the entablature, and, like the 
 ceiling, covered with various sculp- 
 tures ; but the greatest curiosity is a 
 rath, or native chariot, in which the 
 image of the god is exposed on ho- 
 lidays. It is formed, wheels and all, 
 entirely of granite, is complete in all 
 its parts, and delicately finished, but 
 probably was never intended for lo- 
 comotion. 
 
 The site of Annagoondy, on the 
 opposite bank of the Toombuddra, 
 resembles that of Bijanagur. The 
 approach to the city on this side is 
 by a defile several miles in length, 
 winding among the rocks, in some 
 spots so narrow as barely to permit 
 the passage of loaded cattle; formerly 
 fortified at certain points, and closed 
 by a gate. There are also the re- 
 mains of another barrier gateway at 
 a short distance beyond the city 
 walls, and thence a passage under 
 these lofty massive gateways still en- 
 tire, before the centre of the place is 
 reached. A similar line of fortifi- 
 cation appears to have been partially 
 extended between this division of 
 the city and the river, for three 
 other gateways must be passed in de- 
 scending to the Toombuddra. The 
 extent of Annagoondy from north 
 to south is about a mile and a half, 
 which space, like the site of Bija- 
 nagur, comprehends many fine re- 
 ligious edifices, sculptures of the Hin- 
 doo pantheon in relievo, and other 
 architectural vestiges ; but with the 
 exception of a small village be- 
 tween the second and third gateway, 
 built of stones collected from the 
 ruins, it is wholly uninhabited. Near 
 to this village is a temple of Krish- 
 na, at which worship is still per- 
 formed, and which in 1820 was un- 
 dergoing a thorough repair, at the ex- 
 pense of the reigning raja, who some- 
 times resides in a miserable hovel in 
 
BIJNEE* 
 
 241 
 
 Its vicinity, his principal habitation 
 being at Camlapoor. In one of the 
 ruins near the Toombuddra a speci- 
 men of a painted ceiling after the 
 Indian manner is to be seen, the 
 colours of which are still remarkably 
 vivid. 
 
 The building of this metropolis 
 was begun A.D. i 336, and completed 
 in 1343, by Aka Hurryhur and Bucca 
 Hurryhur, two brothers, the first of 
 whom reigned until 1350, and the 
 last until 1378. Their priest and 
 prime minister was the learned Mad- 
 hava Acharya. It was first named 
 Vi dy an agar a, but afterwards Vijeya- 
 nagara, the city of victory. The 
 Chola (Tanjore), the Chera, and the 
 Pandian (Madura) dynasties were all 
 conquered by Nursingh Raja and 
 Krishna Raja of Bijanagur, in the 
 period between 1490 and 1515. The 
 kingdom was then called Bisnagar 
 and Narsinga in old European maps, 
 and comprehended the two Carnatics 
 above and below the ghauts, when 
 visited by Caesar Frederick, who de- 
 scribed the city as having a circuit of 
 twenty-four miles, and containing 
 within its walls many hills and pa- 
 godas. 
 
 A state of perpetual war subsisted 
 between the Mahomedan sovereigns 
 of the Deccan and this Hindoo em- 
 pire, which at last terminated its 
 existence. In A.D. 1564 the four 
 Mahomedan Deccany kings of Ah- 
 mednuggur, Bejapoor, Golconda, and 
 Beeder, combined, and totally dis- 
 comfited Ram Raja, the reigning so- 
 vereign of Bijanagur, on the plains 
 of Tellicotta, and afterwards ad- 
 vanced on the capital, which they 
 took, and so completely sacked, that 
 it was deserted by his successor, who 
 retired to Pennaconda. About 1663 
 the SreeRung Rayeel,or royal house 
 of Bijanagur, became extinct, at least 
 no more is heard of it subsequent to 
 that era. Of the modern nominal 
 rajas some details will be found under 
 the article Annagoondy. The latter 
 are said for many years to have kept, 
 and still continue to keep, an exact 
 register of all the revolutions in the 
 Deccan and south of India, in the 
 
 VOL. i. 
 
 vain hope of being, by some future 
 turn of the wheel, reinstated in their 
 ancient possessions. — ( Fullarton , 
 Wilks, Ferishta, Scott , $c,) 
 
 Bijnf.e (Bijni ).— A principality 
 (named also Khungtaghaut) beyond 
 the limits of Northern Hindostan, 
 and confining on Assam, the pos- 
 sessions of which are situated on 
 both sides of the Brahmaputra, and 
 consist partly of independent terri- 
 tory, and partly of lands within the 
 limits of British jurisdiction. Bijnee 
 or Khungtaghaut is situated to the 
 north of the great river, and Howera- 
 ghaut to the south, bordering on the 
 Garrows. 
 
 Bijnee is a very extensive, beauti- 
 ful, and, were it cultivated, would 
 be a most valuable estate. Much of 
 the level country is inundated, but 
 there is also a great extent of land 
 fit for the cultivation of transplanted 
 rice. A considerable number of vil- 
 lages are consequently permanent, 
 and have plantations of betel-nut 
 and sugar-cane ; but of the cultiva- 
 tors many are migratory, and on the 
 least dispute withdraw to the con 
 terminous territories of Boo tan and 
 Assam. Howeraghaut, the other di- 
 vision to the south of the Brahma- 
 putra, is a still more valuable estate, 
 being but partially flooded, and con- 
 taining much excellent soil suited 
 for the production of summer rice, 
 wheat, barley, mustard-seed, pulse, 
 betel, sugar-cane, and mulberry trees. 
 It does not appear, however, that 
 any silkworms are reared. The vil- 
 lages are stationary, and much neater 
 than is usual in Bengal ; and near 
 the hills, where the streams are co- 
 pious and perennial, some of the 
 land returns annually two crops of 
 transplanted rice. 
 
 After the Assam country declined 
 to its late anarchical condition many 
 natives withdrew to Howeraghaut, 
 and many more, although they held 
 lands in Assam, brought their fami- 
 lies to the British side of the river, 
 where they rented as much ground 
 as sufficed for a house and garden. 
 In this asylum the women and chil- 
 
 fit 
 
BIJNEE. 
 
 242 
 
 dren were deposited, while the men 
 risked themselves and cattle in the 
 Assamese territory, ready for a re- 
 treat in case of annoyance. 
 
 In consequence of their remote 
 situation and the general wildness of 
 the country, the history of the es- 
 tates in this quarter was long but im- 
 perfectly known, even to the public 
 functionaries at Rungpoor; and so 
 long as the Bijnee Raja paid the cus- 
 tomary tribut e, no inquiry was made 
 as to the state of the country, or 
 even to ascertain the original nature 
 of its connexion with the Mogul em- 
 peror, to whose authority the British 
 government had succeeded. The no- 
 tion so long prevalent, that the fort 
 of Bijnee with a considerable tract 
 of the circumjacent country lies be- 
 yond the Bengal boundar}', was sub- 
 sequently found to be quite erroneous, 
 the Bijnee Raja having an evident 
 interest in curtailing the extent of 
 British influence . In the early surveys, 
 Bijnee and Bid yagong, although en- 
 tirely distinct, w ere confounded under 
 the name of B ootan Bijnee, and the 
 Bijnee estates were carried as far as 
 the frontiers of Cooch Bahar. In 
 1785 the collector of Rungpoor was 
 instructed to settle with the Rajas of 
 Bijnee and Bidyagong for a certain 
 payment in money, instead of the 
 customary present of elephants, by 
 which a loss was annually sustained, 
 and 2,000 rupees were ultimately ac- 
 cepted as a compensation. In 1790 
 a succeeding and over-zealous col- 
 lector prevailed on the raja to aug- 
 ment his tribute to 3,000 rupees : but 
 the increase was rejected by the Bri- 
 tish government, which ordered the 
 additional 1 ,000 rupees to be restored 
 to the raja, who was entitled, it he 
 chose, to resume his payment in 
 elephants. 
 
 The peculiar circumstances of Bij- 
 nee appear to have been first brought 
 to the notice of government about 
 A.D.l791,in which year Mr.Douglas, 
 the commissioner in Cooch Bahar, 
 reported that Havindra Narrain, the 
 zemindar of Bijnee, had been assas- 
 sinated, and that he had directed the 
 Naib of Rangamatty, in conjunction 
 
 with the late zemindar’s dewan, to 
 take temporary charge of the property. 
 Before an answer could arrive, the 
 commissioner was informed by the 
 Deb Raja of Bootan that he had 
 nominated Mahindra Narrain (related 
 to the defunct) to the vacant throne, 
 the friendship between him (the Deb 
 Raja) and the Honourable East-India 
 Company rendering his appointment 
 quite the same as if it had been made 
 at Calcutta. He was soon apprized, 
 however, that so precipitate and in- 
 formal a proceeding could on no ac- 
 count be sanctioned; but in the mean 
 time Mahindra Narrain having got a 
 party of Bootanners from one of the 
 Deb Raja’s governors, entered Bijnee, 
 and there committed a variety of 
 outrages. At this time the only con- 
 nexion that subsisted between Bootan 
 and Bijnee consisted of a sort of 
 exchange of the productions of the 
 two countries, which the Bootan 
 functionaries were pleased to describe 
 as the payment of a tribute, the ad- 
 vantage being considerably in their 
 favour. 
 
 The result of the investigation was, 
 that the Bengal government deter- 
 mined that the right of investiture to 
 the zemin darry belonged to them ; 
 but as the candidate brought forward 
 by the Deb Raja appeared to have 
 the best founded pretensions, his 
 choice was confirmed, and his protege 
 nominated to the succession. 
 
 The Bijnee chief also holds lands 
 in Assam ; but the British government 
 assert the right of investiture to his 
 own hereditary zemindarry. In 1809 
 the two divisions of Bijnee Proper 
 and Howeraghaut were estimated to 
 contain 32,400 ploughs, each of which 
 ought, on an average, to have paid 
 the raja five rupees per annum, be- 
 sides customs, duties, forests, fishings, 
 pastures, and all manner of illicit 
 and irregular exactions ; yet his po- 
 verty was such that he was accus- 
 tomed once in three years to raise 
 some additional money by absolute 
 begging, which however conveys no 
 degrading idea to a Hindoo. He 
 formerly paid his tribute in elephants, 
 but as few survived, and were seldom 
 
BIJNEE. 
 
 24S 
 
 of a good size, a value was put on 
 the number, and the amount as 
 above-mentioned taken in money. 
 The Bootan tribute is principally 
 paid in dried fish. One half of his 
 rents are paid in coarse cotton cloth 
 woven by the females of the tenantry, 
 on which the raja suffers great loss. 
 His affairs, as may be supposed, are 
 extremely ill-managed, and his pro- 
 perty plundered by needy retainers 
 from the south and the west, who 
 harass the cultivators by unjust ex- 
 actions and ruin the commerce by 
 their iniquitous monopolies. Being 
 one of the highest chiefs of the 
 Gooch tribe, almost every cultivator 
 under him is called a rajbungsi ; but 
 they are divided into two kinds : the 
 Bhakat or worshippers of Krishna, 
 and the Gorami, who eat pork and 
 unutterable food, and openly abandon 
 themselves to strong drink. Raja Bolit 
 Narrain reigned in 1809, and was 
 reckoned the seventh from the foun- 
 der of the family . — {Sis con, F. Bu- 
 chanan, Wade , Turner , tyc.) 
 
 Bijnee. — The capital of the above- 
 mentioned principality, situated twen- 
 ty-five miles east from Goalpara, in 
 Bengal ; lat. 26° 29' N., Ion. 89° 47' 
 E. The fort or castle of Bijnee is 
 defended by a brick wall, and is 320 
 cubits long by 1 GO broad, and in the 
 form of a parallelogram. On the 
 outside is a ditch and strong hedge of 
 the prickly bamboo, and in each face 
 there is a gate ; but in 1809 there 
 were not any doors by which the 
 gate might be shut. The area is di- 
 vided into an outer and inner apart- 
 ment, in which the raja’s females 
 dwell. It is also surrounded by a 
 brick wall, which includes a small 
 brick house erected by a servant 
 from Dacca; but up to the date above- 
 mentioned the raja had never entered 
 it, lest it should fall and kill him. 
 There are also a few small brick 
 temples for household gods, and 
 about one hundred thatched huts. 
 
 The town of Bijnee, where the raja 
 resides, and from whence he derives 
 his title, is described as a sort of 
 neutral ground. To the English the 
 
 raja says it belongs to Bootan, and 
 to the Bootanners he represents it as 
 British property : so that although he 
 has a guard of Booteas, and some 
 sepoys whom he probably represents 
 as British, the officers of neither go- 
 vernment interfere at Bijnee. Here 
 (in 1809) he was accustomed to har- 
 bour lawless persons, especially a cer- 
 tain Mahomedan jemadar, whose 
 men, under the name of Burkindauzes 
 (lightning-throwers), ravaged Assam, 
 and made havoc in that unfortunate 
 and besotted country. 
 
 The reigning raja in 1809 had 
 a four-wheeled carriage constructed 
 after the European fashion, and also 
 a superb palanquin, besides some glass 
 furniture. He kept two male ele- 
 phants for the accommodation of his 
 deity, and four female ones on which 
 he occasionally rode, but which were 
 more frequently employed to catch 
 wild ones for sale. His band of music 
 consisted of two drums, one fife, and 
 one hautboy of the native fashion. 
 Besides other servants, he had fifty 
 male and seventy female slaves. The 
 detail of his manner of living may be 
 given as conveying an idea of the mode 
 of life and customs of a native prince 
 unadulterated by European inter- 
 course. 
 
 The raja was then (1809) thirty 
 years of age, and had been taught to 
 read and write the polite dialect of 
 Bengal. He had only two wives and 
 two concubines. He usually rose 
 about noon, and occupied One hour 
 in cleaning himself and smoking to- 
 bacco, At one o’clock his officers 
 were admitted into a hut near the 
 gate in the outer apartments, and re- 
 ceived audience seated on the bare 
 ground, while the raja sat on a low 
 stool, and was rubbed with oil, which 
 unction occupied an hour. He then 
 prayed for a short time, after which 
 he went to the interior to eat such 
 food as his aunt, in whose affection 
 he could confide, had prepared for 
 him. This employed another hour, 
 and was succeeded by a short nap, 
 which occupied about the same space 
 of time. 
 
 After this the Bijnee potentate 
 a 2 
 
244 
 
 BILLETON. 
 
 was accustomed to emerge, and make 
 his appearance in a large hut, where 
 any pundit who happened to be at 
 hand detailed to him the news and 
 scandal of the day, or read some 
 poetry to him in the vulgar tongue. 
 At sunset he again prayed, and then 
 the pundits, his officers, or any fa- 
 cetious person disposed to be plea- 
 sant, talked to him until midnight. Af- 
 ter this he retired to the female apart- 
 ments to eat and talk with them 
 until daylight, for he had been so 
 alarmed by the fate of his uncle and 
 predecessor, that through the whole 
 night be never ventured to sleep. 
 Once a month he took the air in his 
 carriage, or on an elephant, or horse- 
 back, or in a palanquin, but he never 
 ventured beyond the bounds of his 
 estate, nor had he ever been visited 
 by any person of a rank approaching 
 to his own. — (F. Buchanan , #c.) 
 
 Bijore ( Bajawer ) . — A small sub- 
 division of the Sewad province, si- 
 tuated principally between the thirty- 
 fourth and thirty-fifth degrees of 
 north latitude. By Abul Fazel, in 
 1582, it is described as follows : “ Bi- 
 jore is in length twenty-five coss, and 
 in breadth from five to ten coss. 
 On the east lies Sewad, on the north 
 Kenore and Cashgur, on the south 
 Beckram, and on the west Guznoor- 
 gul. The air of this district resem- 
 bles that of Sewad, excepting that 
 the heat and cold are rather more 
 severely felt here. It has only three 
 roads : one leading to Hindostan call- 
 ed Danishcote, and two that go to 
 Cabul, one of which is named Sum- 
 mej, and the other Guznoorgul. 
 Danishcoteis the best road. Adjoin- 
 ing to Bijore, and confined by the 
 mountains of Cabul and Sinde, is a 
 desert measuring in length thirty coss, 
 and in breadth twenty-five coss.’* 
 
 The modern district of Bijore is 
 an undulating plain, about twenty- 
 five miles from east to west, and 
 twelve from north to south, and re- 
 sembles the plain of Peshawer, which 
 it equals in fertility, the principal 
 produce being wheat. The two chief 
 towns, Bijore (or Bajour), and Ma- 
 
 wagye, each contain about 1,000 
 houses. The contiguous forests are 
 so thick as to exclude the sun and 
 almost the rain. Bijore belongs to 
 the Afghan tribe of Turcolani, but it 
 has also other inhabitants, the upper 
 hills being peopled by Caffries; the 
 lower by Hindikees, and the plain by 
 a mixture of all nations under the 
 general denomination of Roadbatt- 
 rees. The town of Bijore stands in 
 lat. 34° 47' N., Ion. 71 ° 14' E. ; fifty- 
 five miles N.N.W. from Peshawer. 
 
 A tradition long existed, that this 
 district had at one period been inha- 
 bited by a certain tribe who claimed 
 descent from the army of Alexander 
 the Great; but the inquiries of Mr. 
 Elphinstone, in 1809, did not tend to 
 confirm the rumour, although their 
 neighbours the Caffries, in the moun- 
 tains north of Bijore, present many 
 points of semblance. The reported 
 colony was celebrated by the adjacent 
 Asiatics for their beauty and Eu- 
 ropean complexion, their worship- 
 ping of idols, drinking wine out of 
 silver cups and vases, using chairs 
 and tables, and speaking a language 
 unintelligible to their neighbours. 
 The Emperor Baber says in his Me- 
 moirs (about A D. 1520), that as the 
 men of Bijore were rebels to Islam, 
 and followed the usages and customs 
 of the infidels, even the name of Is- 
 lam being extirpated among them, 
 he put them all to the sword, and 
 made their wives and children pri- 
 soners ; but he does not mention 
 what other religion or superstition 
 they followed . — ( Abul Fazel , Elphbi- 
 stone , Baber , #c.) 
 
 Bikkur. — A town in the province 
 of Allahabad, forty-five miles S.S.E. 
 from Gualior ; lat. 25° 46' N., Ion. 
 78° 30' E. 
 
 Billeton. — A rocky sterile island 
 in the eastern seas, situated about 
 the third degree of north latitude, 
 hetween Sumatra and Borneo. In 
 length it may be estimated at fifty 
 miles, by forty-five the average 
 breadth. Iron ore, generally a scarce 
 fossil in all tropical countries, is here 
 abundant, and the metal procured 
 
BINDRABUND. 
 
 $245 
 
 from it is said to be of an excellent 
 quality. Some of it is manufactured 
 on the spot into nails and tools for 
 exportation ; and it is from hence 
 that the Malays procure much of 
 their iron and steel. In 1812, after 
 the conquest of Palembang, the new 
 sultan ceded this island to the Bri- 
 tish, but it does not appear to have 
 ever been taken possession of. The 
 armed eruizers stationed in these 
 seas, and the re-establishment of the 
 Dutch authority in Billeton, in con- 
 junction with the arrangements en- 
 tered into with the Sultans of Lingen 
 and Rhio, had, prior to 1826, greatly 
 reduced the extent of piracy in this 
 part of the archipelago. — ( Crawfurd , 
 Thorn , fyc.) 
 
 Billawul. — A town on the sea- 
 coast of the Gujerat peninsula, twen- 
 ty-nine miles N.W. from Diu ; lat. 
 20°53'N., Ion. 70° 34' E. 
 
 Billounjah. — A small district in 
 the province of Gundwana, extend- 
 ing along the south bank of the Sone 
 river, and bounded on the east by 
 the zemindary ofPalamow, in Bahar. 
 The principal towns, or rather vil- 
 lages, are Oontarree and Ranka, and 
 the whole tract is comprehended 
 within the pale of British protection. 
 
 Bilsa ( Bilvesa ). — A large town 
 in the province of Malwa belonging 
 to Sindia, situated on the east side 
 of the Betwa, near its junction with 
 the river Bess, thirty-two miles N.E. 
 from Bopaul; lat. 23° 33' N., Ion. 
 77° 55' E. It is surrounded by a 
 stone wall, and in 1820 contained 
 5,000 houses. Bilsah was first con- 
 quered by the Mahomedans in A.D. 
 1230, and again in 1292. The adja- 
 cent country is celebrated all over 
 India for the excellent quality of the 
 tobacco it produces, which is eagerly 
 bought up and exported. It belongs 
 to Sindia, and in 1817 was rented 
 for 40,000 rupees ; in 1821, after the 
 restoration of tranquillity, it yielded 
 two and a half lacks of rupees. — 
 {Hunter y Malcohiy $c.) 
 
 Bima.— A town on the island of 
 Sumbhawa, situated at the east end, 
 and comprehending under its juris- 
 
 diction the straits of Sapy, the whole 
 of Mangeray, and the island of Goo- 
 nong Api. The Bima language ex- 
 tends over the eastern division of 
 Sumbhawa, and the western portion 
 of the island was denominated Floris 
 by the early Portuguese navigators. 
 
 Bimlipatam ( JShimalapatana ). — • 
 A small seaport town in the north- 
 ern circars, sixteen miles N.N.E. 
 from Vizagapatam ; lat. 17° 53' N., 
 Ion. 83° 34' E. A considerable trade 
 is carried on from hence in native 
 craft, and the traces of a Dutch fort 
 still remain. A few tolerable Eu- 
 ropean houses stand near the beach, 
 and a temple on the declivity of a 
 mountain that bounds the town to 
 the southr In 1819 an old Dutch 
 functionary continued in charge of 
 the factory. — ( Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 Bindrabund ( Vrindavana) . — A 
 large town in the province of Agra, 
 situated on the west bank of the 
 Jumna, thirty-five miles N. N.W. from 
 the city of Agra; lat. 27° 34' N., 
 Ion. 77° 34' E. The name Vrinda- 
 vana signifies a grove of tulsi trees, 
 and the place is famous for having 
 been the scene of the youthful sports 
 of Krishna, to whom many temples 
 still existing were dedicated. Some 
 of these are remarkable for their 
 style of architecture, and the great 
 cruciform pagoda is certainly one of 
 the most elaborate and massy works 
 of Brahminical superstition. Besides 
 these there are several sacred pools, 
 distinguished by the names of Radha, 
 Syama, and Jeyacha, where the pil- 
 grims perform their ablutions and 
 wash away their sins. A flight of 
 steps leading to the river is much 
 revered, as having been the spot 
 where Krishna defeated a serpent of 
 large dimensions ; and a cadamba tree, 
 as the place where he used to sit 
 and play on the flute, the marks of 
 which are still perceptible among the 
 branches. Different parts of the 
 woods are pointed out as the haunts 
 of Krishna, Radha, and the milk- 
 maids, and others as the residence of 
 ancient Hindoo saints and sages ; 
 but are qow, as they probably were 
 formerly, the dens of religious men- 
 
246 
 
 BIRBHOOM. 
 
 dicants (chobees), existing in filth and 
 idleness. — (Ward, Turner, Fullarton, 
 $c.) 
 
 Binsur Temple. — A small math 
 or temple in Northern Hindostan, 
 thirteen miles S. by E. from Serina- 
 gur; laf. 30° 4' N., Ion. 78° 40' E. 
 
 Bintang. — An island (thus named 
 by Europeans) lying off the south- 
 eastern extremity of Malacca, about 
 the first degree of north latitude, 
 surrounded by innumerable small 
 rocky isles and islets. In length it 
 may be estimated at thirty r five miles, 
 by eighteen the average breadth. 
 The chief town is Rhio, formerly a 
 port of considerable trade. 
 
 Birbhoom ( Virabhumi, the land of 
 heroes ). — A district in the province 
 of Bengal, situated on the north- 
 western extremity, about the twen- 
 ty-fourth degree of north latitude. 
 To the north it is bounded by the 
 district of Boglipoor, on the south 
 by Burdwan and the Jungle Mahals j 
 to the east it has Rajeshahy, and on 
 the west Boglipoor and the Jungle 
 Mahals. By Abul Fazel, in 1582, it 
 is named Sircar Madarun, and in 
 1814 it was estimated to contain 
 7,000 square miles, a considerable 
 portion of it hilly, jungly, and thinly 
 inhabited. 
 
 The most important articles pro- 
 duced in this district are rice, sugar, 
 and silk. Coal has been discovered 
 of so good a quality that it now 
 supplies the Calcutta forges, and is 
 carried to sea as ship stock. Iron 
 ore is also found, not in veins, but 
 in strata mixed with clay, whence it 
 is dug. It is very rich in the metal, 
 but cannot compete in cheapness 
 with European iron, as was proved 
 from an experiment instituted by go- 
 vernment in 1814. The cultivation 
 and population of Birbhoom are gra- 
 dually increasing : but the absence of 
 navigable streams is a great impedi- 
 ment to the extension of its com merce. 
 Roads and bridges are consequently 
 more attended to, mostly kept in 
 order by the government convicts. 
 The number of native iron forges in 
 Birbhoom and Boglipoor, together 
 
 with the supply required for Moor- 
 shedabad and the adjacent towns, 
 renders the demand for fuel more 
 considerable than usual in Bengal j 
 but the extent of forest throughout 
 the province is immense, and its 
 power of reproduction rapid. In 
 Birbhoom, besides the coal, there are 
 large forests lying close to the forges, 
 which occasion thegreatest consump- 
 tion. 
 
 When first acquired by the British, 
 this was the largest Mahomedan ze- 
 mindary in the province, and was 
 originally conferred on Assud Ullah, 
 who was allowed to settle here about 
 the time of Shere Shah, for the po- 
 litical purpose of guarding the fron- 
 tier of the west against the incur- 
 sions of the barbarous Hindoo tribes 
 of Jeharcund. A warlike Mahome- 
 dan militia were entertained as a 
 standing army, with suitable territo- 
 rial allotments, under a principal 
 landholder of the same faith. In 
 some respects it corresponded with 
 the ancient military fiefs of Europe, 
 certain lands being exempted from 
 rent, and solely appropriated to the 
 maintenance of the troops. This pri- 
 vilege was resumed by Cossim Ali in 
 1763, and under existing circum- 
 stances is become still more unneces- 
 sary. So late as 1814 an arrange- 
 ment was made with the ghautwalls, 
 or petty hill chiefs, of the western 
 jungles, to secure their own absti- 
 nence from plundering, and also their 
 assistance towards the suppression 
 of robberies perpetrated by others. 
 Highway depredations are frequent, 
 chiefly committed on Hindoo pil- 
 grims journeying through the forests 
 to the sanctuary at Baidyanath, 
 where there is a celebrated temple 
 dedicated to Siva, and it is probable 
 that many of these robberies are ac- 
 companied by murders, the know- 
 ledge of which never reaches the po- 
 lice officers. The head-quarters of 
 the judicial establishment are at 
 Soory, which is the residence of the 
 magistrate. In 1801 the population 
 of Birbhoom was estimated at 700,000, 
 in the proportion of thirty Hindoos 
 to one Mahomedan. — (J. Grant , Po - 
 
BLACKWOOD’S HARBOUR. 
 
 247 
 
 Vice Reports, Colebrookc, Fullarton , 
 !). Campbell, Cowell, Sfc.) 
 
 Bircha. — A small town in the pro- 
 vince of Allahabad, principality of 
 Ditteah, thirty-two miles N.N.E. from 
 the town of Ditteah ; lat. 26° T N., 
 Ion. 78° 39' E. 
 
 Birmangydroog. — A hill fort in 
 the territories of the Mysore Raja, 
 situated about ten miles W. by S. 
 from the town of Sera. 
 
 Bisano. — A small island in the 
 Eastern seas, twenty miles in circum- 
 ference, lying off the north-eastern 
 extremity of Celebes ; lat. 2° W N., 
 Ion. 125° 5' E. 
 
 Bisramghaut. — A pass or road 
 over a range of mountains near Ad- 
 jyghur, leading from Callinjer to Pan- 
 nah. It is a mile in length, and of very 
 difficult ascent for artillery or wheel- 
 ed carriages. 
 
 Bissolee ( VisavaliJ . — A town in 
 the province of Lahore, situated on 
 the north-west bank of the Ravey, 
 here about 120 yards broad at the 
 lowest, and very rapid, being so near 
 the hills; lat. 32°5 / N., lon.75°5 y E., 
 forty-two miles N.N.E. from Amrit- 
 sir. From Belaspoor fertile vallies, 
 though not wide, extend to Bissolee, 
 where high hills commence, which 
 extend with little interruption to 
 Cashmere. In 1783 this town was 
 fortified, and commanded the en- 
 trance to the hills, but at that date both 
 town and district were tributary to 
 the Jamboe Rajpoots, as they are at 
 present to Raja Runjeet Singh of La- 
 hore. — ( Foster , fyc.) 
 
 Bissolie (Visavali) . — A town in 
 the province of Delhi, thirty-one 
 miles west from Bareily ; lat. 28° 19' 
 N., Ion. 78° 46' E. During the early 
 reigns of the Mogul emperors Bis- 
 solie flourished, and its prosperity 
 continued under the Rohillahs, but it 
 is now in comparison waste and de- 
 solate. Several of the family of Ma- 
 homed Ali, the Rohillah founder, are 
 buried here. 
 
 Bissunpoor (Vishnapura) . — An 
 ancient town in the province of Ben- 
 gal, seventy-seven miles N.W. from 
 Calcutta; lat 23° 4' N., Ion. 87° 25' 
 
 E. This place is situated in a tract 
 of ferruginous soil, which rises here 
 about thirty feet above the alluvial 
 gangetic plains, and continues with 
 little interruption to the margin of 
 the adjacent hills. It is still a consi- 
 derable town, and much frequented as 
 a mart by the inhabitants of the jun- 
 gle mahals and Ramghur districts, to 
 interchange their commodities for the 
 productions of the plains. The old 
 fort where the Raja resides has been 
 a work of considerable strength and 
 magnificence, as is proved by the re- 
 mains of massy stone gateways, pa- 
 godas, and other decayed buildings 
 within its ramparts. For about eight 
 miles to the east the country is 
 covered with a thick palass jungle. 
 Formerly Bissunpoor was the chief 
 town of a large and ancient zemin- 
 dary, in 1784 containing 1,256 square 
 miles ; but a small portion now re- 
 mains to the Raja, nearly the whole 
 having been sold or attached for 
 unliquidated arrears.— {Fullarton, J. 
 Grant , $c.) 
 
 Bitorah. — A village in the pro- 
 vince and district of Allahabad, situ- 
 ated on the right bank of the Gan- 
 ges about sixty miles south from 
 Lucknow, where the joint magistrate 
 for the Futtehpoor division of the 
 zillah usually resides. 
 
 Bittoor. — A town in the province 
 of Allahabad, nine miles N. by W. 
 from Cawnpoor. This place has been 
 selected for the residence of Bajerow, 
 ex-Peshwa of the Maharattas. The 
 British civil station was in 1820 re- 
 moved from hence to Cawnpore, and 
 the public buildings appropriated for 
 the accommodation of himself and 
 followers, and others erected for the 
 same purpose. — ( Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 Biswah fViswa ). — A town in the 
 Oude territories, forty- three miles 
 north from Lucknow ; lat. 27° 28 y N., 
 Ion. 80° 6' E. 
 
 Black Pagoda. — See Kanarak. 
 
 Blackwood’s Harbour. — A new 
 harbour named after Sir H. Black- 
 wood, lately discovered on the coast 
 of Coromandel, situated to the north 
 
248 
 
 BOBILEE, 
 
 of Point Poondy, and sheltered from 
 the eastward by the Armegon shoal. 
 It is about forty-six miles from Ma- 
 dras roads, and bears from the flag- 
 staff at Fort George about N. 50° E. 
 The surf is here so moderate, that for 
 four or five days in the week a ship’s 
 yawl may land with safety, and it is 
 not at any time so violent as on the 
 adjacent coasts. During the N. E. 
 monsoon the sea breaks high on the 
 Armegon shoal, and consequently 
 renders the anchorage within compa- 
 ratively smooth. — ( Maxjield , fyc.) 
 
 Blambangan. — A small division 
 in the island of Java, situated at the 
 eastern extremity, which down to a 
 comparatively late period was subject 
 to the Balinese, and chiefly inhabited 
 by that people. In A.D. 1588 Tho- 
 mas Cavendish, the circumnavigator, 
 touched at Blambangan. — ( Craivfurd , 
 Sfc.) 
 
 Blelling ( or Boleeling). — A prin- 
 cipal town in the island of Bally, 
 the Raja of which having permitted 
 his troops to attack, in 1814, a British 
 post at Banywangi, in Java (where 
 they were routed), an expedition then 
 proceeding to Celebes under General 
 Nightingale, was ordered to call at 
 Bally and exact satisfaction. The 
 expedition terminated without the 
 necessity of proceeding to hostilities 
 by the submission of the Raja : but a 
 British garrrison continued to occu- 
 puyfor sometime the town and crat- 
 tan (or citadel) of Blelling. — ( Thorn , 
 Crawfui'd, fyc.) 
 
 Bo (or Hod).— A cluster of small 
 islands in the Eastern seas, lying 
 E.S.E. from the southern extremity 
 of Gilolo. They are inhabited, and 
 supplies of cocoa-nuts, salt, and dried 
 fish may be procured here. 
 
 Boad ( Bodha ). — A large fenced 
 village in the province of Orissa, si- 
 tuated on the south side of the Ma- 
 hanuddy river which at this place in 
 the month of October is one mile and 
 a half broad ; lat. 20° 32' N, Ion. 84° 
 10' E., 124 miles west from Cuttack. 
 The face of the country in this 
 neighbourhood is mountainous, in- 
 
 terspersed with valleys from four to 
 sixteen miles in circumference. The 
 villages are fenced with bamboos to 
 protect the inhabitants and their cat- 
 tle from wild beasts, and in the fields 
 the women are seen holding the 
 plough, while the female children 
 drive the oxen. The Boad estate 
 commands one of the principal pas- 
 ses into the Cuttack district, and the 
 best road to Nagpoor and Gurrah 
 Mundlah is through Boad. 
 
 This is an extensive Zemindary, 
 reaching almost to Goomsur, through 
 one of the wildest tracts of woods 
 (abounding wdth teak) and mountains 
 in India, scantily inhabited by savage 
 Gonds, who acknowledge subordina- 
 tion to the Raja, but pay no revenue. 
 He had been expelled by the Berar 
 Mahrattas who garrisoned his fort, 
 but he was restored by the British, 
 and his money assessment, on ac- 
 count of the miserable condition of his 
 country, reduced to 2,000 rupees. — 
 ( Roughsedge , 1 st Reg. y fyc.) 
 
 Boadjoos ( or Biajoos ). — See Bor- 
 neo. 
 
 Bobeena. — A small town in the 
 province of Allahabad, seventeen 
 miles S. by W. from Jansi ; lat. 25° 
 15' N., Ion. 78°24 / E. 
 
 Bobilee. — A town and zemindary 
 in the northern Circars, thirty-five 
 degrees W.N.W. from Cicacole; lat. 
 18° 25', Ion. 83° 31' E. In 1757 the 
 first in rank of the polygars of this 
 country was Rangaroo of Bobilee. 
 His fort stood about sixty miles 
 N.E. of Vizagapatam, close to the 
 mountains, the dependent zemindary 
 being about twenty square miles. 
 There had long been a deadly hatred 
 between this polygar and Vizeram 
 Rauze, an adjacent polygar, whose 
 person, how much soever he feared 
 his power, Rangaroo held in the ut- 
 most contempt, as of low extraction, 
 and of no note. Vizeram Rauze per- 
 suaded the French commander M. 
 Bussy to espouse his side of the quar- 
 rel ; and the latter not foreseeing the 
 terrible event to which he was pro- 
 ceeding, determined to reduce the 
 
BOBILEE. 
 
 249 
 
 whole country, and to expel the poly- 
 gar and his family. 
 
 A polygar, besides his other towns 
 and forts, has always one situated in 
 the most difficult part of his country, 
 which is intended for the last refuge 
 for himself and all his blood. The 
 singular construction of this fort is 
 adequate to all the intentions of de- 
 fence, among a people unused to can- 
 non, or the means of regular battery. 
 Its outline is a regular square, which 
 rarely exceeds 200 yards ; a round 
 tower is raised at each of the angles, 
 and a square projection in the middle 
 of each of the sides. The height of 
 the wall is generally twenty-two feet, 
 but the rampart within only twelve, 
 which is likewise its breadth at the 
 top, although it is much broader at 
 the bottom. The whole is of tem- 
 pered clay, raised in distinct layers, 
 of which each is left exposed to the 
 sun, until thoroughly hardened before 
 the next is applied. The parapet 
 rises ten feet above the rampart, and 
 is only three feet thick. It is indented 
 five feet down from the top, in inter- 
 stices six inches wide, which are three 
 feet asunder. A foot above the bot- 
 tom of these interstices and battle- 
 ments runs a line of round holes, 
 another two feet lower, and a third 
 two feet from the rampart. These 
 holes are usually formed with pipes 
 of baked clay, and serve for the em- 
 ployment of fire-arms, arrows, and 
 lances. The interstices are for the 
 freer use of these arms, instead of 
 loop-holes, which cannot be inserted 
 or cut in the clay. 
 
 The towers of the square projec- 
 tion in the middle have the same 
 parapet as the rest of the wall, and 
 in two of the projections in the op- 
 posite sides of the fort are gateways, 
 of which the entrance is not in front, 
 but on one side, from whence it is 
 continued through half the mass, and 
 then turns by a right angle into the 
 place. On any alarm the whole pas- 
 sage is choked up with trees, and the 
 outside surrounded, to some distance, 
 with a strong bed of thick brambles. 
 The rampart and parapet is covered 
 by a shed of strong thatch, supported 
 
 by posts ; the eves of this shed pro- 
 ject over the battlement. This shed 
 affords shelter to those on the ram- 
 part, and guards it against the sun 
 and rain. An area of 500 yards or 
 more, in every direction round the 
 fort, is preserved clear, of which the 
 circumference joins the high wood, 
 which is kept thick, three or four 
 miles in breadth, around this centre. 
 Few of these forts permit more than 
 one path through the woods. The 
 entrance of the path from without is 
 defended by a wall exactly similar in 
 construction and strength to one of 
 the sides of the fort, having its round 
 towers at the ends, and the square 
 projection in the middle. 
 
 From natural sagacity, they never 
 raise this redoubt on the edge of the 
 wood, but at the bottom of a recess 
 cleared on purpose; and on each side 
 of the recess raise a breast-work of 
 earth, or a hedge, from whence to 
 gall the approach. The path admits 
 of only three men a-breast, winds 
 continually, is every where command- 
 ed by breast-works in the thicket, 
 and has in its course several redoubts 
 similar to that of the entrance, and, 
 like that, flanked by breast-works on 
 each hand. Such were the defences 
 of Bobilee, which are given at length 
 as a specimen of all polygar forts ; 
 against which M. Bussy marched with 
 750 Europeans, of whom 250 were 
 horse, four field-pieces, and 11,000 
 peons and sepoys, the army of Vize- 
 ram Rauze, who commanded them in 
 person. 
 
 The attack commenced at day- 
 break on the 24th of January 1757, 
 with the field-pieces against the four 
 towers, and by nine o’clock several 
 of the battlements were broken. All 
 the leading parties of the four divi- 
 sions then advanced at the same time 
 with scaling ladders ; but, after 
 much endeavour for an hour, not a 
 man had been able to get on the 
 parapet, and many had fallen wound- 
 ed. Other parties followed with little 
 success, until all were so fatigued that 
 a cessation was ordered, during which 
 the field-pieces, having beaten down 
 more of the parapet, gave the second 
 
250 
 
 EOGGAH. 
 
 attack greater advantage ; but the 
 ardour of the defence increased with 
 the danger. The garrison fought with 
 the indignant ferocity of wild beasts 
 defending their dens and families, 
 and several of them stood as in de- 
 fiance on the top of the battlements, 
 and endeavoured to grapple with the 
 first ascendants, hoping, with them, 
 to twist the ladders down, and this 
 failing, stabbed with their lances j 
 but being wholly exposed, were easily 
 shot by aim from the rear of the 
 escalade. The assailants admired, 
 for no European had seen such ex- 
 cess of courage in the natives of 
 Hindostan, and continually offered 
 quarter, which was always answered 
 by menace and intention of death. 
 Not a man had gained the rampart at 
 two in the afternoon, and another 
 cessation of attack ensued. On this 
 Rangaroo assembled the principal 
 men, and told them there was no 
 hopes of maintaining the fort ; and 
 that it was immediately necessary to 
 perserve their wives and children 
 from the violation of the Europeans, 
 and the still more ignominious au- 
 thority of Vizeram Rauze. 
 
 A number called without distinc- 
 tion were allotted to the work. They 
 proceeded every man with his lance, 
 a torch, and his poinard, to the ha- 
 bitations in the middle of the fort, 
 to which they set fire indiscriminately, 
 plying the flame with straw prepared 
 with pitch or brimstone, and every 
 man stabbed, without remorse, the 
 woman or child, whichsoever at- 
 tempted to escape the flame and suffo- 
 cation. The massacre being finished, 
 those who accomplished it returned 
 like men agitated by the furies, to 
 die themselves on the walls. 
 
 Mr. Law, who commanded one of 
 the divisions, observed, while looking 
 at the conflagration, that the number 
 of defenders was considerably dimi- 
 nished, and advanced again to the 
 attack. After several ladders had 
 failed, a few grenadiers got over the 
 parapet, and maintained their footing 
 in the tower, until they obtained more 
 secure possession. Rangaroo hasten- 
 ing to the defence of the tower, was 
 
 killed by a musket ball. His fall in- 
 creased the desperation of his ad- 
 herents, who crowding to revenge 
 his death, left other parts of the 
 rampart bare. The other divisions of 
 the French troops having advanced, 
 numbers on all sides got over the 
 parapet without opposition ; never- 
 theless none of the defenders quitted 
 the rampart, or would accept quarter, 
 but each advancing against, or strug- 
 gling with, an adversary, would resign 
 his poinard only with death. 
 
 The slaughter of the conflict being 
 over, another much more dreadful 
 presented itself in the area below. 
 The transport of victory lost all its 
 joy ; all gazed on each other with 
 silent astonishment and remorse, and 
 the fiercest could not refuse a tear to 
 the destruction spread before them. 
 Four of the soldiers of Rangaroo, on 
 seeing him fall, concealed themselves 
 in an unfrequented part of the fort 
 until night was far advanced ; when 
 they dropped down from the walls, 
 and speaking the same language, 
 passed unsuspected through the quar- 
 ters of Vizeram Rauze. They con- 
 cealed themselves in the thicket, and 
 the third night after, two of them 
 crawled into the tent of Vizeram 
 Rauze, and stabbed him in thirty-two 
 places, and were immediately cut to 
 pieces. Had they failed, the other 
 two remaining in the jungle were 
 bound by the same oath to perform 
 the deed, or perish in the attempt. — 
 (Or me, tyc.) 
 
 Bodur. — A village of considerable 
 extent in the province of Candeish, 
 about forty miles travelling distance 
 S.S.W. from Boorhanpoor. It is of 
 considerable extent, but in 1819 was 
 in a very decayed condition. — (Fal- 
 larton, $c.) 
 
 Bodytunrayadroog. — A stupen- 
 dous fortified mountain in the Bar- 
 ramahal province, situated about six 
 miles west from Cavrypatam. — ( Ful - 
 larton , #c.) 
 
 Boggah. — A town in the province 
 of Bahar, situated on the east side 
 of the G unduck river, about 120 
 
BOGLIPOOR. 
 
 miles N.N.W. from Patna ; lat. 27° 
 4' N., Ion. 84° 13' E. A great tract 
 of country to the north of this place 
 is still covered with primeval forests, 
 from which excellent timber for ship 
 building is procured, and floated 
 down the Gunduck and Ganges to 
 Calcutta. 
 
 Bogartah. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Bengal, district of Bogli- 
 poor, 130 miles N.W. from Moor- 
 shedabad; lat. 24° 53' N., Ion. 86° 
 52' E. 
 
 Boghela ( or Baghelcund ). — A 
 district in the province of Gund- 
 wana, but during the reign of Aurerig- 
 zebe annexed by edict to the province 
 of Allahabad, although it never was 
 actually subdued by his forces. The 
 produce of the country is wheat, 
 barley, and different kinds of peas, 
 and the inhabitants possess large 
 flocks of cattle and sheep. There is, 
 however, but little cultivation, the 
 natives scarcely raising grain enough 
 for their own subsistence. A portion 
 of this territory is tributary to the 
 British government, and the whole 
 is under its protection. The princi- 
 pal towns are Bandoogur and Muc- 
 kondabad. 
 
 Boglipoor ( Bhagclpoor ). — A dis- 
 trict in the province of Bahar, where 
 it is situated between the twenty- 
 fourth and twenty-sixth degrees of 
 north latitude, occupying the south- 
 eastern corner of that province, toge- 
 ther with a small section from Bengal. 
 On the north it is bounded by the 
 districts of Tirhoot and Purneah ; 
 on the south by Ramghur and Bir- 
 bhoom ; to the east it has Purneah 
 and Moorshedabad ; and to the west 
 Bahar and Ramghur. Its greatest 
 length, from the boundaries of Bir- 
 bhoom on the Dwaraca, to that of 
 Tirhoot on the Tilaw, is about 133 
 miles in a N.N.W. and S.S.E. direc- 
 tion, and its greatest breadth, crossing 
 the above line at right angles, is about 
 eighty miles. By tracing the boun- 
 daries on Major Rennel’s map, Dr. 
 F. Buchanan estimated its contents 
 at about 8,225 square miles. 
 
 25 1 
 
 In 1784 this district, then denomi- 
 nated Monghir, contained in all its 
 dimensions 8,270 square miles, of 
 which only 2,817 were in the Bogli- 
 poor division, on both sides of the 
 Ganges ; and the whole territorial 
 outline still continues very unsatis- 
 factory, except where final decisions 
 of the courts of justice have deter- 
 mined the disputed boundaries of the 
 different zemindaries. The modern 
 capital is situated towards one of its 
 extremities, and the whole section 
 which is beyond the capital towards 
 the north is separated from it by the 
 Ganges, which is attended with much 
 inconvenience and some danger. 
 
 The hills of Boglipoor, in a few 
 parts, compose regular chains of con- 
 siderable length, in most parts there 
 being passages, at very short inter- 
 vals, through which a traveller might 
 penetrate without any great ascent ; 
 but in the most hilly parts these 
 apertures have been allowed by the 
 natives to be choked up with trees to 
 protect their strongholds in former 
 times. In the great cluster near 
 Rajamahal, the hills, notwithstanding 
 the ruggedness of the soil, are toler- 
 ably well occupied. In other clusters 
 the hills are entirely waste. Many 
 parts of the western cluster would 
 admit of cultivation, and some have 
 been tilled by the mountaineers; but 
 the encouragement of the latter is 
 very doubtful policy, and the inhabi- 
 tants of the plain will on no account 
 cultivate the hills, lest the purity of 
 their birth should be suspected. The 
 whole of these clusters, and even 
 the hills of Rajamahal, compose, in 
 the opinion of the natives, a part of 
 the Vindhyan mountains. Besides 
 the hilly tracts, there is a consider- 
 able extent of swelling ground divid- 
 ed into two portions, that exempted 
 from the influence of the Ganges, 
 and that liable to be affected by its 
 floods. 
 
 The streams that flow into the 
 Ganges from the south side, differ 
 greatly from those to the north of 
 that river. Although the channels 
 of some of them are of great width, 
 none of them in this district are at 
 
252 
 
 BOGLIPOOR. 
 
 any time navigable, except in the 
 eastern corner, where, during the 
 floods, the water of the Ganges filling 
 the lower part of their beds, renders 
 them penetrable for small boats. 
 Even the largest of them, having 
 channels from 200 to 400 yards broad, 
 are in general fordable throughout 
 the rainy season, at which period, 
 however, several of them are deep 
 enough to assist in floating down 
 bamboos and timber. 
 
 In the dry season, it is chiefly near 
 their sources that these rivers con- 
 tain any visible stream, and then each 
 of the small branches appears to con- 
 tain a greater quantity of water, than 
 the vast channel worn by the united 
 force of these torrents, when swollen 
 by the periodical rains. In spring 
 the widest channels appear perfectly 
 dry sand, but by digging a foot or 
 two deep, good water may at all times 
 be procured ; and this subterraneous 
 water has in some cases a sort of cur- 
 rent, as canals dug across the channel 
 collect a small stream. Above Mon- 
 ghir the Ganges forms the boundary 
 between Boglipoor and Tirhoot. 
 The principal rivers south of the 
 Ganges, are the Keyul, the Maura, 
 theUlayi, the Nagini (female serpent), 
 the Augjana, which last river having 
 been impregnated by Pavana (Eolus) 
 the god of the winds, produced Hu- 
 nimaun (Pan), the prince of monkies 
 (Satyri), and the prime minister and 
 companion of the great Rama (Bac- 
 chus). The others are the Nacti, the 
 Baghdar (tiger-catcher), the Ghor- 
 ghat, the Mohane, the Baruya, the 
 Bilasi, the Dobee, and the Mootee- 
 jharna, or pearl stream, which falls 
 down a precipice four miles south 
 from Sicrygully. 
 
 The pieces of stagnant water may 
 be divided into jeels, that contain 
 water throughout the year, and the 
 chaongre, which dry up during the 
 cold season. Some of the jeels are 
 evidently the old channels of large 
 rivers, which at both ends have lost 
 all communication with the stream, 
 but are so filled with water during 
 the periodical rains, that even in 
 spring they do not become dry. The 
 
 principal jeels, however, are low 
 lands, which collect a great quantity 
 of water from floods and torrents, and 
 never become dry. The most con- 
 spicuous of these is Domjala, south 
 from Rajamahal, which in the rainy 
 season is seven and a half miles long 
 by three and a half broad, and in the 
 dry season four miles by one and a 
 half. 
 
 Certain places of the fourth, or 
 northern intermediate division, are 
 found covered with carbonate of soda, 
 called by the natives kurwa mati, and 
 collected occasionally by the washer- 
 men of the vicinity. The most re- 
 markable spot is in Hebipoor, about 
 ten miles west of Pointy, on the edge 
 of the plain inundated by the Ganges, 
 and extends about fifty yards in one 
 direction, by thirty in the other. Dur- 
 ing the flood, this place is completely 
 inundated by the Ganges for three 
 or four days ; but in the month of 
 October the saline matter begins to 
 effloresce on the surface, which is 
 covered with short grass. The 
 washermen scrape the surface, and 
 beat the saline matter from among 
 the roots, which operation may be 
 repeated; but in the rainy season, 
 even when the spot is not covered 
 with water, no saline matter is pro- 
 curable. By digging to a very small 
 depth clear water is obtained, not- 
 withstanding the saline nature of the 
 surface. 
 
 South winds are very uncommon in 
 Boglipoor, east and west winds being 
 most prevalent for a great portion of 
 the year. The former begin about 
 the middle of June, and the latter 
 about the middle of February, so that 
 the east winds last double the time 
 of those from the west, but they blow 
 with less violence ; many remarkable 
 deviations, however, take place. The 
 winters are less cold than in Purneah; 
 and the heats of spring, when the 
 winds are westerly, very severe, these 
 winds being hot and parchingly dry, 
 and the hills are no where of a suffi- 
 cient height to reduce the tempera- 
 ture of the atmosphere. 
 
 In this district there is a great 
 variety of surface, but, on the whole, 
 
BOGLIPOOR. 
 
 253 
 
 the portions of it fit for the plough 
 appear rich, and capable of being 
 rendered productive. A considerable 
 extent is occupied by mere rock, to- 
 tally incapable of cultivation ; and a 
 still greater space is covered with 
 fragments of rock of various sizes. 
 On the hills these masses are so large 
 and numerous, that, could the plough 
 be used, on account of the declivity, 
 the nature of the ground would ren- 
 der its agency impracticable. It has 
 been estimated that in woods, thickets 
 of bushes, and deserted villages, which 
 have become totally wild, there are 
 ] ,731 square miles of land sufficiently 
 level for the plough, and that there 
 are 1,146 square miles of hills that 
 are covered with woods, including 
 the ground covered with tamarisks ; 
 therefore there are in all, for forests 
 and thickets, almost 3,100 square 
 miles; by far the greater part of 
 which is kept, owing to various causes 
 in a very stunted condition. The 
 teak tree has been planted near Bo- 
 glipoor by some gentlemen, but it 
 has not thriven. In many parts of 
 the southern central division iron 
 ore has been found, but generally in 
 such small masses, that it would not 
 answer for European manufacture. 
 The most noted hot spring is at See- 
 tacoond, near the town of Monghir, 
 and there is another at Bhurka, six 
 miles south from Seetacoond. The 
 finest hot spring is at Bheembund, 
 about seventeen miles south from 
 Bhurka, in which, on the 21st March 
 1810, the thermometer stood at 144 
 Fahrenheit ; but there are many 
 others of various temperatures. 
 
 The rent-free lands in this district 
 are very considerable, and abstract 
 greatly from the revenue, as it is 
 usually the best soil, and situated in 
 the most populous parts of the coun- 
 try. Another burthen has tended to 
 reduce the revenue of this large terri- 
 tory to an insignificant sum, which is 
 the assignment of lands to invalid 
 soldiers as part of their subsistence, 
 and a reward for their services. It 
 has, however, been found, after an 
 enormous expenditure, that the ex- 
 pectation of rendering this a comfort- 
 
 able provision for the veteran was 
 fallacious, and the plan has been most 
 judiciously abandoned. For the fu- 
 ture, the invalids will be rewarded 
 with money, which is much better 
 suited to their habits and infirmities, 
 less expensive, and more easily regu- 
 lated. The whole land purchased by 
 government on account of invalids, 
 amounts to 234,000 Calcutta begas, 
 which may be converted into three 
 zemindaries. The existing zemin- 
 dars, notwithstanding the indulgence 
 that has been shewn them in the re- 
 venue assessment, in 1810, had not 
 the least confidence in the perpetual 
 settlement made in 1794, and had re- 
 course to every stratagem to conceal 
 their profits, which, where any pains 
 had been taken to cultivate the land, 
 was probably enormous. In 1814 
 the jumma, or land assessment to the 
 revenue, amounted to only 3,85,916 
 rupees, and the abkarry, or tax on 
 spirituous liquors, to 44,569 rupees. 
 
 The most destructive of the wild 
 quadrupeds, or rather of the wild 
 four-handed animals, is the Huni- 
 maun (a species of baboon), an ani- 
 mal held so sacred by the Hindoos, 
 that it is reckoned almost as great a 
 sin to kill a cow as one of this ge- 
 nus; such an action is reckoned ex- 
 tremely unlucky, and the same evil 
 fortune attends its bones, which, if bu- 
 ried under a house, render its owner 
 and inhabitants unfortunate. The 
 discovery of such bones, and the as- 
 certaining that no such are concealed 
 where the erection of a house is con- 
 templated, forms one of the arts of the 
 Jyotish, or astronomical philosophers 
 of India. It is probably owing to this 
 apprehension of ill luck that no na- 
 tive will acknowledge his having seen 
 a dead hunimaun : for it can scarcely 
 be supposed that the animals conceal 
 their dead, as many of the natives be- 
 lieve. The short-tailed monkey (ra- 
 tuya) is also common : but being less 
 sacred, is not permitted to take such 
 liberties with the crop as his long- 
 tailed brother, the hunimaun, is in- 
 dulged in ; his bones, however, are 
 equally unlucky, and persons who 
 have long frequented the woods, will 
 
254 - 
 
 BOGLIPOOR, 
 
 no more allow that they have seen a 
 dead ratuya than a dead hunimaun. 
 
 The black bear is found in the 
 woods, and does little harm, although 
 they occasionally kill a man ; but 
 they rarely attack cattle. Another 
 species is called by the natives the 
 hard bear (because it may be beaten 
 very much without being killed). 
 These animals live in pairs or fami- 
 lies, and subsist on frogs, white ants, 
 and other insects, which they dig up; 
 but they have never been detected 
 digging up graves, or eating dead car- 
 cases, as is reported by the natives. 
 
 The drains on population in this 
 district are not great ; yet after so 
 long a peace, and with so much unoc- 
 cupied territory, the increase of in- 
 habitants is not so great as might 
 have been expected. In 1810 the 
 total number of Mahomedans within 
 the limits of the jurisdiction were es- 
 timated by Dr. Francis Buchanan at 
 460,000, the Hindoos at 1,559,900, 
 making a total for the whole district 
 of 2,019,900 persons. The Monghir 
 and Surjegurry pergunnahs are over- 
 flowing with inhabitants, yet the 
 surplus cannot be persuaded to settle 
 in the adjacent wastes of Mallepoor. 
 The following are the principal towns, 
 besides Rajamahal, which contains 
 25,000 inhabitants. 
 
 Houses. 
 
 Boglipoor 5,009 
 
 Champanagur 1,500 
 
 Nathnagur 900 
 
 Serasin 500 
 
 Surjegurry 500 
 
 Arjungunge 500 
 
 Caligunge 600 
 
 Atapoor * 500 
 
 Colgong 400 
 
 Besides Monghir and Oudanulla 
 there are the remains of a consider- 
 able number of brick and mud for- 
 tresses, some of which, belonging to 
 the Cunsickpoor and Ghiddore fami- 
 lies, were destroyed by Capt. Brooke, 
 who was sent to reduce the chiefs to 
 subordination during the government 
 of Mr. Hastings. The best-looking 
 modern edifices are the indigo fac- 
 tories. Real slaves of the male sex 
 are here called nufur, and their wo- 
 
 men laundies; they may be sold in 
 whatever manner the master chooses ; 
 but they are not often brought to 
 market, and are all either of the Dha- 
 nak or Rawani castes. The slaves 
 here are in general industrious, sel- 
 dom run away, and are rarely beaten. 
 Prostitutes are few in number, and 
 mostly of the Mahomedan religion. 
 The general character of the inhabi- 
 tants of the district is far superior 
 to that of the south-eastern natives 
 of Bengal ; and one magistrate, in his 
 report to government, declares that, 
 in comparison with the people of 
 Backergunge, they may be termed 
 saints. 
 
 Boglipoor is a remarkable thorough- 
 fare for travellers, both by land and 
 water, who expend a great deal of 
 money in the purchase of necessaries, 
 such as rice, pulse, salt, oil, season- 
 ing, fire- wood, tobacco, and betel. Up- 
 on an average, it may be estimated that 
 one hundred boats stop daily at Ra- 
 jamahal, besides those at Pointy, Col- 
 gong, Sultangunge, Surjegurry, Bogli- 
 poor, and Monghir; while by land 
 multitudes of pilgrims, troops, and Eu- 
 ropean travellers are continually pass- 
 ing. The East-India Company’s deal- 
 ings, however, in this district are in- 
 considerable, consisting of a little 
 silk, Boglipoor cloth, and saltpetre. 
 
 A substance which naturalists in- 
 clude among the clays, but called 
 khari by the natives, is very generally 
 diffused through the hills ; when per- 
 fect, it is a matter resembling chalk, 
 but it is not calcareous ; women in 
 many parts, eat it when breeding, as 
 in Bengal they eat baked clay ; 
 and some of it, for this purpose, is 
 exported to Moorshedabad. Boys, 
 when taught to write, rub it with wa- 
 ter into a white liquid, with which 
 they form letters on a black board ; 
 and native painters and gilders cover 
 with this liquid the wooden work on 
 which they are about to operate. 
 
 The mountaineers within the Bo- 
 glipoor jurisdiction are supposed to 
 occupy a space of about 1,600 square 
 miles, and are exempted from all 
 taxes, and the ordinary course of the 
 law. An enormous establishment of 
 
BOGLIPOOR. 
 
 255 
 
 nearly 2,500 men is retained to 
 check this handful of barbarians, who 
 are besides bribed, by annual pen- 
 sions, to abstain from the commis- 
 sion of outrages, such as robbery and 
 murder. The rajas or chiefs, who 
 receive pensions of ten rupees per 
 month from government, and some 
 of the naibs or deputies, are of the 
 rank of Singhs ; the remainder of the 
 naibs, and all the majhis, who are 
 pensioned at the rate of two rupees 
 per month, are of the rank of Majhi. 
 The land which appears to be the 
 property of the cultivators is tilled 
 for two years, and then abandoned 
 for five or six. In the low lands that 
 are ploughed, they raise the same ar- 
 ticles as on the hills, with the addi- 
 tion of rapeseed and sesamum; they 
 collect wild yams, and, besides cows, 
 for milk and labour, they rear swine, 
 goats, fowls, and pigeons, for eating. 
 Many still retain a superstitious wor- 
 ship of their own ; but a great num- 
 ber of the wealthiest have fallen un- 
 der the spiritual dominion of a low 
 caste of Brahmins, who have instruct- 
 ed them to worship Durga, and say 
 prayers before a bheel tree. Both 
 sexes are much addicted to intoxica- 
 tion, and the amount of the govern- 
 ment pensions is generally spent in 
 liquor at Boglipoor, the chiefs return- 
 ing to the hills as bare of money as 
 they came. The exports of the 
 mountaineers consist of grain, indu- 
 rated clay, timber, firewood, charcoal, 
 wax, and cotton ; their imports are 
 cloths, iron, copper, brass, and bell- 
 metal wares, rice, fish, cattle, oil, 
 spices, and salt. 
 
 From the time of the Mahomedan 
 invasion until the British obtained 
 possession, the greater part of this 
 district appears to have been in a 
 constant state of anarchy. Some of 
 the original tribes seem never to have 
 been subdued by the Hindoo follow- 
 ers of the Brahmins, and it is only 
 lately that many have put themselves 
 under the guidance of the sacred 
 order ; even under the sway of Sul- 
 tan Shuja, when the Mogul empire 
 still flourished in full vigour, and 
 when that prince actually resided in 
 
 the district, some portions of the 
 plains were subject to petty chiefs, 
 who contemned his authority, and 
 incessantly agitated the country by 
 their incursions and refractory ha- 
 bits. Mogul officers of rank com- 
 monly resided at Rajamahal, Bogli- 
 poor, and Monghir, and the first still 
 continues a favourite place of resi- 
 dence with the Mahomedans. Cos- 
 sim Ali, after his quarrel with the 
 English, dwelt for some time at Mon- 
 ghir, and intended to secure his inde- 
 pendence by a line of fortifications 
 erected at Oudanulla. The forcing 
 of these by Major Adams, in 1763, 
 dissipated this vision ; but the turbu- 
 lence of the chiefs of the interior in- 
 creased, and Captains Brooke and 
 Brown were for several years em- 
 ployed in a miserable warfare with 
 these tribes ; but the forces employed 
 were never of such strength as to 
 bring the matter to a conclusion. At 
 length Capt. Brown, of course with 
 the assent of government, by enor- 
 mous concessions, induced the dis- 
 contented to become quiet, and his 
 concessions were confirmed by Mr. 
 Cleveland, the civil functionary who 
 succeeded him in authority over the 
 wilder parts of the district. The re- 
 sult was a ruinous settlement and 
 establishment, which still forms part 
 of the Boglipoor economy, and which 
 in the opinion of competent judges 
 (Dr. Francis Buchanan and Mr. Sis- 
 son) has produced but little ultimate 
 benefit, those hills in which there is 
 no establishment of the kind (ghaut- 
 wallas) having continued as tranquil 
 as those into which that establish- 
 ment was introduced. Jn 1814 the cor- 
 porate establishment of the Boglipoor 
 hills consisted of thirteen sirdars or 
 chiefs, thirty naibs or deputies, and 400 
 manjhis. The pension of a sirdar is 
 ten rupees ; of a naib, three : and of 
 a manjhi, two rupees per month. 
 Although the great extent and phy- 
 sical composition of this district ne- 
 cessarily tend to weaken the control 
 of the magistrate, yet in 1815 few 
 crimes of magnitude occurred, the 
 most noted being a murder perpe- 
 trated among the hills, on a woman 
 
256 
 
 BOMBAY. 
 
 by her husband; who confessed the 
 crime, and attempted to justify it on 
 the plea that she was a bad house- 
 wife, and neglected her domestic du- 
 ties. TheBoglipoor district, although 
 not so populous as some others, is of 
 such extent that it is difficult for the 
 magistrate to exercise an efficient 
 control, some of the tannahs, or po- 
 lice stations, being 100 miles distant 
 from head-quarters. — (F. Buchanan , 
 Sisson , J. Shake spear, Tennant, fyc.) 
 
 Boglipoor. — The modern capital 
 of the above district, situated in lat. 
 25° 13' N., Ion. 86° 58' E., 110 miles 
 N.W. from Moorshedabad. This 
 town has a mean appearance, al- 
 though placed in a beautiful situation. 
 The European houses and Mahome- 
 dan mosques are ornamental ; but 
 the town consists of scattered bazars 
 wretchedly built, and, owing to the 
 declivities, inconveniently placed. In 
 1810, the total number of houses was 
 estimated at 5,000, inhabited by about 
 30,000 persons, a majority Mahome- 
 dans, who have still a college here, 
 but in a state of great decay. There 
 is also a small Roman Catholic church 
 here, and about fifty Christians of that 
 church, half of them the descendants 
 of Portuguese, the rest native con- 
 verts, who in other respects retain 
 their own dress and manners. In 
 1810 the priest was a native of Mi- 
 lan, sent by the Societas de Propa- 
 gande Fide, who had also charge of 
 the Purnea flock of Papists. There 
 are two very singular round towers 
 (the Padoka) about a mile N.W. 
 from the town, supposed to be of 
 Jain origin. The Raja of Jeypoor, 
 in whose dominions the Jain sect 
 abounds, considers them so holy, that 
 he has erected a building to shelter 
 such of his subjects as visit them. 
 Near Goganullah, one stage from 
 hence, is a monument resembling a 
 pagoda, erected to the memory of 
 Mr. Cleveland by the officers and 
 zemindars of the jungleterry of Bogli- 
 poor, as a mark of gratitude for his 
 mild and conciliatory conduct. — (F. 
 Buchanan, Fullarton, fyc.) 
 
 Bogpoor. — A small town in the 
 
 province of Delhi, situated between 
 two branches of the Ganges, twelve 
 miles south from Hurdwar ; lat. 29° 
 48' N., Ion. 78° 9' E. 
 
 Bogwangola ( Bhagavan Gola.J — 
 A large inland town in the province 
 of Boglipoor, eight miles N.E. from 
 the city of Moorshedabad ; lat. 24° 
 21' N., Ion. 88° 29' E. This is a very 
 busy emporium for the inland naviga- 
 tion, having sufficient water at all 
 seasons ; and from hence the capital 
 of the district is chiefly supplied with 
 grain. The town, which is entirely 
 built of bamboos, mats, and thatch, 
 has been removed more than once on 
 account of the encroachments of the 
 Ganges, and exhibits more the ap- 
 pearance of a temporary fair or en- 
 campment, than of a solid commer- 
 cial mart carrying on a most exten- 
 sive traffic. — ( Colonel Colehr ooke, fyc.) 
 
 Bokinagur. — A small town in the 
 Bengal province, district of Myman- 
 singh, seventy-one miles N. by E. 
 from Dacca ; lat. 24° 43' N., Ion. 90° 
 40' E. 
 
 BOMBAY, 
 
 A small island, formerly compre- 
 hended in the Mogul province of Au- 
 rangabad, but now the seat of the 
 principal British settlement on the 
 west coast of India; lat. 18° 56' N., 
 Ion. 72° 57' E. This island is formed 
 by two unequal ranges of whinstone 
 rocks, running nearly parallel to and 
 at the distance of about three miles 
 from each other. The western range 
 of hills is little more than five miles 
 long; the eastern, exclusive of Co- 
 labba, may exceed eight in length. 
 At their northern and southern ex- 
 tremities they are united by two belts 
 of sand, now forming a kind of stone, 
 rising but a few feet above the level 
 of the sea. These natural boundaries 
 were formerly breached in several 
 places, where they admitted the sea, 
 and, according to Fryer’s account of 
 Bombay in A.D. 1681, about 40,000 
 acres of good land were then over- 
 flowed. It appears also that the Go- 
 per river, which rises among the hills 
 
V 
 
 BOMBAY. 
 
 257 
 
 of Salsette, and disembogues itself 
 into the channel between that island 
 and Bombay, when swollen by floods, 
 used to enter the breaches at the 
 northern extremity, and after tra- 
 versing the whole extent of the lat- 
 ter, discharge itself into the ocean. In 
 fact, Bombay originally was nothing 
 but a group of small islands, with 
 numerous back waters, producing 
 rank vegetation, at one time dry, and 
 at another overflowed by the sea. 
 So unwholesome in consequence was 
 the vegetation reckoned, that the old- 
 er travellers agreed in allotting not 
 more than three years for the average 
 duration of life at this presidency. 
 
 The fort of Bombay stands on the 
 south-eastern extremity of the island, 
 on a narrow neck of land, formed by 
 Back Bay on the western side, and 
 by the harbour on the eastern. The 
 Worlee sluices are at the north end 
 of the island, a distance of nearly six 
 miles from the fort. Formerly a 
 cocoa-nut wood not only covered the 
 esplanade, but the fort also, down to 
 the channel between Bombay and 
 Colabba. At that remote period of 
 time Mahim was the principal town 
 on the island, and the few houses of 
 the present town then in existence, 
 were interspersed among the cocoa- 
 nut trees, with the exception of those 
 built on Dungaree Hill, adjoining the 
 harbour, which appears to have been 
 then occupied by fishermen. When 
 the fortifications were erected, but 
 very little more land was cleared of 
 the cocoa-nut trees beyond what was 
 absolutely indispensable, leaving the 
 space within the body of the fort, 
 and without its walls, up to the very 
 glacis, a cocpa-nut grove. From time 
 to time, and by various means, the 
 esplanade was gradually cleared of 
 trees to within 600 yards distance 
 of the fort : but cadjan huts were 
 still tolerated until the close of 1802, 
 when they were also removed. In 
 the following year the great fire hap- 
 pened within the fort, and the espla- 
 nade was extended to 800 yards. 
 
 By this time the more wealthy in- 
 habitants had built houses in a de- 
 tached irregular manner, throughout 
 
 VOL. i. 
 
 the cocoa-nut woods contiguous to 
 the esplanade ; and the Dungaree w as 
 also built on to the extent of two 
 miles and upwards from the fort ; the 
 little vacant ground remaining had in 
 consequence risen to an enormous 
 price. In this state of things the suf- 
 ferers by the fire, and the indigent 
 from the esplanade, had no alterna- 
 tive but to resort to the Honourable 
 Company’s salt batty ground, scarce- 
 ly r recovered from the sea ; neither 
 had government any ground to give 
 in exchange for the valuable land 
 taken when extending the esplanade. 
 All these causes combined, serve to 
 account for what is called the new 
 town of Bombay being built in such 
 a low, muddy, unwholesome tract of 
 land, which during the wet monsoon 
 has the appearance of a shallow lake, 
 many of the houses being then sepa- 
 rated from each other by water, so 
 that the inhabitants suffer from the 
 inundation and its effects during 
 seven or eight months of the year. 
 At all seasons the ground floor of 
 many of its houses are on a level 
 with high-water mark, some below, 
 and but few actually above it at full 
 spring tides. Much also of the rain- 
 water that falls on the old town and 
 the esplanade, passes through the new r 
 town and thence across the breach- 
 hollow to the sluices at Worlee. 
 
 Under these circumstances, the 
 surface of the island is so circum- 
 scribed, rocky, and uneven (except 
 where a considerable part is over- 
 flowed by the sea), that it does not 
 produce a sufficiency of grain in the 
 year to supply its population for one 
 week ; yet each spot that will admit 
 of tillage is brought under cultivation 
 of some sort, or planted with Cocoa- 
 nut trees. The vellard that commu- 
 nicates between Beach Candy, and 
 Lovegrove, has prevented the ocean 
 from making a breach through the 
 centre. This substantial work, with 
 smaller ones of the same construc- 
 tion, have preserved the low lands of 
 the island from being inundated by 
 the spring tides, which, but for them, 
 would have destroyed all but the bar- 
 ren hills. Although the sea be now 
 s 
 
258 
 
 BOMBAY. 
 
 excluded, the rain water still collects 
 in the lower parts of the island, where 
 the surface is said to be twelve feet 
 under high water mark, and during 
 the rains forms an unwholesome 
 swamp. In 1805 Mr. Duncan com- 
 pleted a vellard, or causeway, across 
 the narrow arm of the sea that sepa- 
 rated Bombay from the contiguous 
 island of Salsette : an operation of 
 infinite utility to the farmers and gar- 
 deners who supply the markets, but 
 which is said to have had a prejudicial 
 effect on the harbour. 
 
 The fortifications of Bombay have 
 been improved, but are considered 
 too extensive, and would require a 
 numerous garrison. Towards the 
 sea they are extremely strong, but 
 on the land side do not offer the 
 same resistance ; and to an enemy 
 landed, and capable of making regu- 
 lar approaches, it must surrender. 
 The town within the walls was built 
 by the Portuguese, and even the 
 houses that have been since built are 
 of a similar construction, cased in 
 wood, with wooden pillars support- 
 ing wooden verandas, shut up with 
 Venetian blinds, the roofs sloped and 
 covered with tiles ; the consequence 
 of which is, that Bombay bears no 
 external resemblance to the other 
 presidencies. The floors are planked 
 with wood. 
 
 There are three government resi- 
 dencies at Bombay. The one within 
 the walls of the fort, although large 
 and convenient, is little used except 
 for holding councils, public courts, 
 and despatching business, of a dismal 
 aspect, looking like a stadthouse in 
 a German free city. At Malabar 
 point, eight miles from the town, is 
 a cottage in a beautiful situation, on 
 a rocky, woody promontory, and ac- 
 tually washed by the sea spray ; here 
 the governor resides during the hot 
 weather. The third and principal is 
 Pared, about six miles from Bombay, 
 ^it a short distance from the eastern 
 shore of the island. The interior 
 of the house is very handsome, hav- 
 ing a fine staircase, and two noble 
 rooms, one over the other, about 
 eighty feet long, and very handsome- 
 
 ly furnished. The lower of these, 
 used as a dining-room, is said to 
 have been an old desecrated church 
 belonging to a Jesuits’ college, which 
 had fallen into the hands of a Par- 
 see, from whom it was purchased by 
 the government about sixty years ago. 
 
 The northern portion of the fort 
 is inhabited by Parsee families, who 
 are not remarkably cleanly in their 
 domestic concerns, nor in the streets 
 where they dwell. The view from 
 the fort is extremely beautiful to- 
 wards the bay, which is here and 
 there broken by islands, many co- 
 vered with trees, while the lofty and 
 curiously shaped hills of the table- 
 land on the continent form a striking 
 background. The sea is on three 
 sides of the fort, and on the fourth 
 is the esplanade, at the back of which 
 is the black town amidst cocoa-nut 
 trees. Substantial buildings now' ex- 
 tend to very nearly three miles from 
 the fort. 
 
 Bombay appears for many years to 
 have been left to itself, and indi- 
 viduals were permitted to occupy 
 what land they pleased, nor was 
 there any system or regulation esta- 
 blished for the security of the public 
 revenue. In A.D. 1707 the greater 
 part of the present limits of the fort 
 had become private property ; but, by 
 purchases and exchanges between 
 that date and 17S9, it became again 
 the property of the Company, yet 
 was subsequently transferred to pri- 
 vate persons. It is certainly an ex- 
 traordinary fact that the principal, 
 if not the whole of the landed pro- 
 perty which the Company now pos- 
 sesses within the walls of Bombay, 
 has been recently acquired by pur- 
 chase, having, within the memory of 
 many persons still alive, bought it of 
 individuals, who were always con- 
 sidered to be merely the Company’s 
 tenants at wifi. The property thus 
 acquired to the Company by pur- 
 chase and exchanges cost, since 176*0, 
 altogether about 7,37,927 rupees. 
 
 The buildings within the walls of 
 the fort, including the barracks, ar- 
 senal, and docks, may be valued at 
 one crore five lacks of rupees; the 
 
BOMBAY. 
 
 259 
 
 rent of houses within the fort in 
 1813 amounted to 5,27,360 rupees, 
 including the Company’s property. 
 The great price given for ground 
 within the fort, which is daily in- 
 creasing, the buildings carried on in 
 every part of the European quarter, 
 the commodious and costly family 
 dwellings constructed by many of the 
 natives, and the immense shops and 
 warehouses belonging both to natives 
 and Europeans, furnish the strongest 
 evidence of the high price of ground 
 within the fortress of Bombay, and 
 that it might afford to pay 1 00 gui- 
 neas per acre for the support of the 
 police, which, upon 259,244 square 
 yards, would yield 22,036 rupees an- 
 nually. 
 
 Bombay is literally a barren rock, 
 and presents no encouragement to 
 agricultural speculations; but its 
 commercial and maritime advantages 
 are great. It is the only principal 
 settlement in India where the rise of 
 the tides is sufficient to permit the 
 construction of docks on a large 
 scale; the very highest spring tides 
 reach to seventeen feet, but the usual 
 height is fourteen feet. The docks 
 .are the Company’s property, and 
 the king’s ships pay a high monthly 
 rent for repairs. They are entirely 
 occupied by Parsees, who possess the 
 absolute monopoly in all depart- 
 ments ; the person who contracts for 
 the timber being a Parsee, and the 
 inspector on delivery of the same 
 sect. Since 1810, when the Minden 
 seventy-four was launched, many of 
 the best ships of the line and frigates 
 in the British navy have been con- 
 structed entirely by Parsees, without 
 the least assistance, and mostly by 
 the Jumsetjee family. The teak fo- 
 rests from whence these yards are 
 supplied lie along the western side 
 of the western ghaut mountains, and 
 other contiguous hills on the north 
 and east of Bassein; the numerous 
 rivers that descend from them afford- 
 ing water-carriage for the timber. 
 The ships built at Bombay are rec- 
 koned one-third more durable than 
 any other India-built ships. 
 
 The coasting trade of the west of 
 
 India is very extensive, and it was 
 principally with a view to its protec- 
 tion that such strenuous exertions 
 were made for the suppression of 
 piracy. Taking Bombay as the em- 
 porium, it may be divided into north- 
 ern and southern. The number of 
 vessels of various denominations, 
 from ten to 175 tons, registered in 
 1820 as being employed in the north- 
 ern trade, amounted to 730, the ton- 
 nage to 39,978. These vessels na- 
 vigate coastwise from Cape Comorin 
 to the Gulf of Cutch, and some- 
 times cross the sea to Muscat and 
 the Arabian Gulf. During the eight 
 fair months, that is from October to 
 May, the largest sized vessels per- 
 form five or six trips to Damaun, 
 Surat, Cambay, Broach, Jumbosier, 
 and Cutch, bringing from these ports, 
 where they sometimes winter, and 
 where many of their owners reside, 
 cotton, ghee, oil, pulse, wheat, cot- 
 ton cloths, timber, fire-wood, put- 
 chok, mowah, &c., and return to the 
 northern ports laden with the pro- 
 duce of Europe, Bengal, and China. 
 The capital employed in the northern 
 trade, even in the minor articles of 
 commerce, is immense, certainly to 
 the amount of 150 lacks of rupees, 
 and including cotton to double that 
 amount. 
 
 Besides these there is a number of 
 smaller boats, from two to thirty-se- 
 ven tons, that trade in firewood, hay, 
 <&c. ; their total burthen amounting 
 to 6,580 tons. These are exclusive 
 of a still smaller description of boats, 
 that make occasional trips to Bassein 
 northward, and to Chord southward. 
 The southern staples may be con- 
 fined to timber, pepper, cocoa-nuts, 
 and coir from Malabar, and besides 
 these, from Canara rice and some 
 cotton ; from the Southern Concan, 
 hemp, pulse, fire-wood, and minor 
 articles. Cotton is the grand export 
 to distant countries from Bombay, 
 but the quantity fluctuates remarka- 
 bly. In 1818 its export from hence 
 to all parts of the world amounted 
 to 208,900 bales ; in 1819 to 105,340 
 bales; and in 1820 to only 20,171 
 bales. 1,500 pounds of cotton are 
 
 s.2 
 
260 
 
 BOMBAY. 
 
 here screwed into fifty feet, or one 
 ton. For the European market 
 Bombay is an excellent market to 
 procure gums and drugs of all 
 sorts, Mocha coffee, barilla, corne- 
 lians, agates, and Surat cotton goods. 
 The external commerce of Bombay 
 in 1815-16, exclusive of the Com- 
 pany’s, amounted to, total imports 
 3,06,02,230 rupees, total exports 
 -2,67,24,749 rupees ; since which it has 
 probably increased at least one-fourth. 
 With the luxuries or conveniences of 
 European production the shops were 
 very indifferently supplied, even so 
 late as 1820, at which date very few 
 European tradesmen were settled at 
 Bombay. 
 
 In 1814 the Company’s marine at 
 Bombay consisted of eighteen armed 
 -cruizers, besides armed boats, advice 
 boats, and other craft ; but since then 
 great additions and improvements 
 have taken place. The maintenance 
 of this force was originally rendered 
 necessary by the swarms of pirates 
 that infested the western coasts of 
 India from the shores of the Persian 
 Gulf to Goa, and who were distin- 
 guished, more especially those of the 
 more northerly tracts, by their cun- 
 ning, courage, and ferocity. These 
 nautical banditti have haunted these 
 regions since the time of Alexander 
 the Great, and probably longer, and, 
 although for the present suppressed, 
 would soon relapse into their old 
 practices were the pressure that keeps 
 them under removed. 
 
 Within a century the population of 
 Bombay has increased more than ten- 
 fold. In 171 6 it was estimated at 
 16,000 souls; in 1816 the result of 
 a census made by government gave 
 the following numbers, which may be 
 depended on, viz. 
 
 British not military 1,840 
 
 Ditto, military and marine 2,460 
 
 Native Christians, Portu-'l ^ 
 guese, and Armenians ...J ’ 
 
 Jews 800 
 
 Mahomedans 28,000 
 
 Hindoos 103,800 
 
 Parsees 13,150 
 
 161,550 
 
 The number of houses was then 
 20,786, or about eight persons to a 
 house. The above statement does not 
 include the temporary sojourners and 
 floating population, resorting to the 
 island for transitory and commercial 
 purposes, but not making it their per- 
 manent residence. The aggregate of 
 these was computed by Mr. Warden, 
 in 1814, at 60,000 persons, and by the 
 missionaries, in 1816, at from 60,000 
 to 75,000 persons annually. The float- 
 ing population above alluded to, con- 
 sists of Carnatas, Ghauties, Carvas, 
 Maharattas, Arabs, Persians, Goa 
 Portuguese, Parsees, and a large pro- 
 portion of seafaring men. The num- 
 ber of crimes committed by this mis- 
 cellaneous population is remarkably 
 small; in May 1821 there were only 
 ninety-three prisoners of every des- 
 cription, and of these only twenty- 
 four were under criminal charges. 
 
 Among the Europeans the rage for 
 country houses prevails as generally 
 as at Madras, and is attended with 
 the same inconveniences, all business 
 being necessarily transacted in the fort. 
 The generality of the country houses 
 are comfortable, and even elegant, and 
 though not so splendid as those of 
 Calcutta and Madras, are equally well 
 adapted to the climate, and enjoy 
 more beautiful views. Some of the 
 rich natives have houses of great ex- 
 tent, the children of the family con- 
 tinuing to live under the same roof, 
 even after they are married. The 
 lower classes have small huts, mostly 
 of clay, covered with a mat made of 
 palmira leaves. Their wages are a 
 great deal higher than in Bengal, but 
 food is dearer ; palanquin bearers re- 
 ceive seven and eight rupees each per 
 month. The only English church is 
 in the fort. The Portuguese and Ar- 
 menian churches are more numerous, 
 both within and without the walls ; 
 but of the native Christians in Bom- 
 bay by far the greater number are 
 usually termed Portuguese, and fre- 
 quent Portuguese chapels. Besides 
 these religious edifices there are three 
 or four synagogues, with many 
 mosques and Hindoo temples. The 
 largest of these is in the Black 
 
 Total 
 
BOMBAY. 
 
 <26 1 
 
 Town, one mile and a half from the 
 fort, and is dedicated to the worship 
 of Mamba Devi. 
 
 The Armenians form a part of 
 these eastern societies of Christians, 
 who differ in point of faith, disci- 
 pline, and worship, both from the 
 Greek and Latin churches, and have 
 shewn an inviolable attachment to the 
 opinions and institutions of their an- 
 cestors, under the severest trials of 
 oppression. They are not numerous 
 in Bombay, but form a very respecta- 
 ble class of Christians, and have one 
 church within the fort. They are oc- 
 casionally visited by one of the forty- 
 two archbishops, who are subject to 
 the Patriarch of Eckmiazin. By far 
 the greater proportion of these arch- 
 bishops are titular prelates, whose 
 chief duty is the visiting of their nu- 
 merous churches dispersed over the 
 eastern world. Besides the church at 
 Bombay they have within the limits 
 of their society churches at Surat, 
 Bussora, Bagdad and Bushire. 
 
 The Parseeinhabitants possess near- 
 ly the whole of the island, and seem 
 to have perfectly domesticated them- 
 selves in their new abode, since their 
 •expulsion from Persia by the Maho- 
 medans. They are an active, lojal 
 body of men, and contribute greatly 
 to the prosperity of the settlement. 
 In general they are a tall, comely race, 
 athletic and well-formed, and much 
 fairer than the natives of Hindostan ; 
 but the females are more remarkable 
 for their chastity than cleanliness. 
 The girls are delicate and pleasing, but 
 the bloom of youth soon disappears, 
 and before twenty they grow coarse 
 and masculine, in a far greater degree 
 than either the Hindoos or Mahome- 
 dans. In every European house of 
 trade there is a Parsee partner, who 
 usually supplies the largest portion of 
 the capital. They wear an Asiatic 
 dress, but they eat and drink like the 
 English. In the morning and evening 
 they crowd to the esplanade to pay 
 their adoration, by prostration, to the 
 sun ; on these occasions, however, the 
 females do not appear, but they still 
 go to the well for water. 
 
 Most of the original Parsee cus- 
 
 toms continue unaltered, particularly 
 their mode of sepulture, which is as 
 follows. The body of the defunct is 
 deposited in a cylindrical building, 
 open at the top, about fifty-five feet 
 in diameter, and twenty-five in height, 
 filled up solid to within five feet of 
 the top, excepting a well fifteen feet 
 in diameter in the centre, the part so 
 filled being terraced with a slight de- 
 clivity towards the well. Two circu- 
 lar grooves, three inches deep, are 
 raised round the well, the first at the 
 distance of four, the second at the 
 distance of ten feet from the well. 
 Grooves of the like depth and height, 
 and four feet distant from each other, 
 at the outer part of the circle, are car- 
 ried straight from the wall to the well, 
 communicating with the circular ones, 
 to carry off the water. The tomb by 
 this means is divided into three cir- 
 cles or partitions, the outer for the 
 men, the middle for the women, the 
 inner for the children. There they are 
 respectively placed, wrapped loosely 
 in a piece of cloth, and left to be de- 
 voured by the vultures ; which is 
 soon done, as numbers of these birds 
 are always seen watching and hover- 
 ing round the charnel-houses for 
 their prey. The friends of the de- 
 ceased, or the person who has charge 
 of the tomb, come at the proper 
 time, and throw the bones into their 
 receptacle, the well in the centre. 
 From the bottom of the well sub- 
 terranean passages lead, to remove 
 the bones and prevent the well from 
 being filled. Men of large property 
 build one of the above sort for them - 
 selves. The public tombs are five in 
 number, but not all in use, and are 
 situated about three miles north- 
 westerly from Bombay fort. The sun 
 and sea partake with fire in the ado- 
 ration of the Parsees. Their year con- 
 sists of twelve lunar months, but 
 they have no subdivision of time into 
 weeks. 
 
 The markets of Bombay cannot be 
 expected to equal those of Calcutta, 
 but in variety and qualities of the 
 articles they certainly excel those of 
 Madras. The bazar mutton is hard 
 and lean, but w hen well fed and taken 
 
262 
 
 BOMBAY. 
 
 care of, is as good as the English ; 
 kid is always good, and poultry abun- 
 dant, but not good unless fed for the 
 purpose. The fish are excellent, but 
 the larger kinds not plentiful. The 
 bumbelo resembles our large sand- 
 eel, and after being dried in the sun, 
 is usually eaten at breakfast with a 
 dish of rice, butter, and split-pease 
 coloured with turmeric, and named 
 kedgeree. The prawns are uncom- 
 monly fine. The island is too small 
 to furnish much game, but the red- 
 legged partridge is not uncommon, 
 and snipes are sometimes seen. 
 The frogs here are large, and are 
 eaten by the Chinese and Portuguese. 
 The common and sweet potatoe are 
 very good at Bombay : but the vege- 
 table for which Bombay is celebrated 
 all over the east is the onion. Po- 
 tatoes are now produced in this 
 quarter of India in the greatest abun- 
 dance, although so recently intro- 
 duced ; the Bombay market is sup- 
 plied with this root from Gujerat, 
 and also with some cheese, which is 
 hard and ill-flavoured. The buffaloe 
 furnishes milk and butter, and occa- 
 sionally beef: but Europeans in ge- 
 neral are prejudiced against it. 
 
 There is a great difference in the 
 character and habits in society of the 
 natives of our capitals and those of 
 the interior ; indeed a person who 
 has resided solely at Bombay cannot 
 have an intimate knowledge respect- 
 ing the habits and manners of the 
 natives of the distant provinces of 
 India. Not many years ago a Hindoo 
 widow at Bombay wanted to burn 
 herself along with her husband’s 
 corpse, which being prevented, she 
 applied to the governor, who refused 
 permission ; upon which she crossed 
 the harbour to the Maharatta shore, 
 and there performed the sacrifice. 
 The European society is here less nu- 
 merous, and the salaries of the public 
 servants smaller, than at the two 
 other presidencies : economy is con- 
 sequently more attended to ; but the 
 style of living is frequently elegant, 
 and always comfortable and abun- 
 dant. The position of Bombay ap- 
 parently ought to be healthy, but it 
 
 is said to be the reverse, the liver 
 complaint being more frequent and 
 fatal here than in any other part of 
 India. Exposure to the land breeze 
 which sets in every evening is fre- 
 quently followed by a fever ; moderate 
 living, and cautiously avoiding all sorts 
 of extremes, is found by experience 
 most conducive to longevity. A lite- 
 rary society has been for many years 
 established at Bombay similar to that 
 of Bengal, and in 1825 no less than 
 three English newspapers and one 
 native newspaper were published 
 weekly. Many charitable and reli- 
 gious institutions have also been es- 
 tablished. 
 
 As a place of consequence Bombay 
 owes its origin to the Portuguese, to 
 whom it was ceded in A.D. 1530, 
 having been before a dependency on 
 a chief residing at Tanna in Salsette. 
 On account of its fine harbour, a 
 fort was erected by that nation ; but 
 the vicinity of Goa, the Portuguese 
 capital of the Indies, prevented its 
 becoming in their hands a station of 
 importance. Two derivations are 
 assigned to the name, one from the 
 Portuguese, Bom Bahia (a good bay), 
 and the other from the Hindoo god- 
 dess Bomba Devi. 
 
 This island was ceded to Charles 
 the Second in June 1661, as part of 
 Queen Catherine’s fortune ; and in 
 March 1662 a fleet of five men of 
 war, commanded by the Earl of 
 Marlborough, was despatched with 
 500 troops under Sir Abraham Ship- 
 man, and arrived at Bombay on the 
 18th September 1662, but the Por- 
 tuguese governor evaded the cession. 
 The English admiral demanded Bom- 
 bay and its dependencies, compre- 
 hending Salsette and Tanna; while 
 the Portuguese interpreted the treaty 
 to signify Bombay only. The troops 
 were removed to the island of An- 
 jediva, where the mortality was so 
 great that the surviving commanding 
 officer, Mr. Cooke, was glad to ac- 
 cept the island of Bombay on any 
 terms, and to this place thej' were 
 transferred in February 1664-5, the 
 survivors mustering only 119 rank 
 and file. Such was the inauspicious 
 
BOMBAY. 
 
 <263 
 
 commencement of this afterwards 
 flourishing settlement, which in the 
 bands of the Portuguese had remained 
 almost a desert. Mr, Cooke may be 
 considered the first English governor 
 of Bombay ; on the 5th Nov. 1666 he 
 was succeeded by Sir Gervase Lucas. 
 
 It was soon discovered that his 
 Majesty had made an unprofitable 
 acquisition, and that the East-India 
 Company were much injured by the 
 trade carried on by persons in the 
 king’s service, who sold European 
 goods for which they paid no freight. 
 In consequence of these and other 
 reasons, the king, on the 27th of 
 March 1668, by letters-patent, trans- 
 ferred the island of Bombay from the 
 crown to the East-India Company, in 
 free and common soccage, as the 
 manor of east Greenwich, on the 
 payment of the annual rent of ,£10 
 in gold, on the 30th of September 
 of each year. The revenue of the 
 island, shortly after the cession, was 
 estimated at £2,823 per annum. 
 
 Sir Gervase Lucas died the 23 st 
 of March 1667, and was succeeded 
 by the deputy-governor, Capt. Henry 
 Geary. At the commencement of the 
 government Mr. Cooke, the first go- 
 vernor, endeavoured to assemble a 
 force at Salsette, assisted by the Je- 
 suits, in order to re-establish himself 
 at Bombay: but ineffectually, the first 
 governor proving also the first re- 
 bel. In 1667-8, the revenue had in- 
 creased to £6,490 ; the garrison was 
 285 men, of which number ninety- 
 three were English ; the rest Por- 
 tuguese, French, and natives. On 
 the 23d of September 1668, Bombay 
 was taken possession of for the East- 
 India Company by Sir George Oxen- 
 den, the Company’s chief governor, 
 and the troops were transferred from 
 the King’s to the Company’s service 
 along with the arms, ordinance, and 
 stores. Sir George died in 1669, and 
 was succeeded by Mr. Gerald Augier 
 as chief at Surat, and governor of 
 Bombay, which place continued ex- 
 tremely unhealthy, and much molest- 
 ed by the depredations of the Maha- 
 ratta pirates. In 1672-3 a strong 
 Dutch fleet appeared oft’ Bombay, and 
 
 created much alarm ; but after re- 
 connoitring, it disappeared without 
 making any attack. In the succeed- 
 ing year there were 100 pieces of 
 cannon mounted on the fortifications, 
 and the garrison consisted of 400 re- 
 gulars, of which the greater number 
 were Topasses, and 300 militia. In 
 1676 letters-patent were obtained 
 from the king to establish a mint at 
 Bombay, at which they were era- 
 powed to coin rupees, pice, and 
 budgerooks. 
 
 Mr. Augier died in 1677, and was 
 succeeded at Bombay by Mr. Henry 
 Oxenden. At this period Bombay 
 continued of little commercial or. po- 
 litical importance, which proceeded 
 in part from the vigorous government 
 of Aurengzebe, then on the throne of 
 Delhi, and the rising power of the 
 Maharattas under the martial Sevajee. 
 In 1679 the island of Henery was 
 occupied by the troops of Sevajee, 
 and the beginning of next year the 
 island of Henery was taken posses- 
 sion of by the Siddee or Mogul ad- 
 miral ; the Bombay government not 
 daring to oppose either, although kept, 
 from their proximity, in a constant 
 state of alarm. In 1681 Mr. John 
 Child, the brother of Sir Josiah 
 Child, was appointed president of 
 Surat, one of the junior counsellers 
 being appointed to act as deputy go- 
 vernor of Bombay. In 1683-4, in 
 consequence of the capture of Ban- 
 tam by the Dutch, the Court of 
 Directors constituted Bombay an in- 
 dependent English settlement, and 
 the seat of the power and trade of 
 the English nation in the East-Indies. 
 
 On the 23d December 1683 Capt. 
 Richard Kegwin, who commanded 
 the Company’s garrison, assisted by 
 Ensign Thompson and others, seized 
 on Mr. Ward, the deputy governor, 
 and such members of the council as 
 adhered to him, and assumed the 
 government. The garrison, consist- 
 ing of 150 English soldiers and 200 
 Topasses, were joined by the inha- 
 bitants of the island, who elected 
 Capt. Kegwin governor, and declared 
 they would only acknowledge the 
 King’s authority, although during the 
 
264 
 
 BOMBAY. 
 
 interval between the acquisition of ships, Aurengzebe insisting that all 
 the island and this date, the East-India the loss sustained by his subjects 
 Company had expended .£300,000 at should be made good by the East- 
 Bombay, on fortifications and im- India Company. These pirates, in 
 provements. In 1684-5, Capt, Keg- 1698, possessed two frigates of thirty 
 win negoeiated a treaty with Raja guns, cruizing off Cape Comorin un- 
 Sambajee, from whom he recovered der Capt. Kidd, who was afterwards. 
 12,000 pagodas due to the Company taken and hanged ; one of fifty guns, 
 and on the 19th November 1684, he one of forty, and one of thirty guns, 
 surrendered the island to Sir Thomas off the Malabar coast. 
 
 Grantham, on condition of a general In 1698 Sir Nicholas Waite was 
 pardon to himself and adherents, appointed resident at Surat, on the 
 He had not, it afterwards appeared, part of the new, or English East- 
 embezzled any of the Company’s India Company ; andinlJOO, by his 
 money in the fort, which was restored intrigues, procured the imprisonment 
 to them entire, but had subsisted of Sir John Gayer and Mr. Colt, the 
 during bis rebellion on the fiscal re- old or London Company’s servants, 
 
 sources of the island. At this time, Bombay was in a very 
 
 In 1686 the seat of government weakly condition, and under constant 
 was ordered to be transferred from alarm of invasion from the Maha- 
 Surat to Bombay, and Sir John Child rattas, Arabs, and Portuguese. In 
 dying next year, the office of presi- 1702-3 it was again visited by the 
 dent devolved on Mr. Harris, then a plague, which carried off many hun- 
 prisoner at Surat, but liberated by dreds of the natives, and reduced 
 the Mogul government next year, the garrison to seventy-six men. In 
 In 1688-9 the Siddee’s fleet (the Mo- 1708, the rival Companies having; 
 gul admiral’s} invaded Bombay, and united, Sir Nicholas Waite was dis- 
 got possession of Mahim, Mazagong, missed ; but Sir John Gayer, the 
 and Sion, and kept the governor legitimate governor, still continuing 
 and garrison besieged in the castle, in confinement at Surat, Mr.Aislabie 
 An order was soon after obtained was appointed; and such was the con- 
 front Aurengzebe, directing the Sid- tinued feebleness of the settlement, 
 dee to withdraw his troops ; but the that the Bombay government this, 
 evacuation did not take place until year declined receiving an envoy 
 the 22d June 1690, when the lands from the King of Persia, for fear he 
 belonging to the Portuguese Jesuits should observe the weakness of the 
 were seized, they having been active place, both by sea and land. With 
 in promoting the views of the Siddee the junction of the rival East-India 
 during the invasion. In 1691-2 the Companies Mr. Bruce’s authentic 
 population of Bombay was much re- narrative concludes, and no docu- 
 duced by the plague, so that of thecivil ments have as yet been discovered to 
 servants only three remained alive, fill up the intervening period until 
 In 1694 Sir John Gayer arrived as A.D. 1748, from which date the fol- 
 governor at Bombay, which he found lowing governors have occupied the 
 in a most disastrous state, principally chair, but the necessity of conden- 
 caused by the depredations of the sation does not permit the insertion 
 English pirates on the Mogul trading of historical details. 
 
 Governors. Assumed the government. Quitted it. 
 
 William Wake, Esq. . 1748 1 7th Nov. 1 750 
 
 Richard Bouchier, Esq... 19th Nov. 1750 27th Feb. 1760 
 
 Charles Crommelin, Esq 27th Feb. 1760 27th Jan. 1767 
 
 Thomas Hedges, Esq... 28th Sept. 1767 23d Feb. 1771 
 
 William Hornby, Esq 25th Feb. 1771 1st Jan. 1784 
 
 Rawson Hart Boddam, Esq 1st Jan. 1784 9th Jan. 1788 
 
 Alexander Ramsay, Esq 9th Jan. 1788 6th Sept. 1788 
 
 Major-General Medows 6th Sept. 1788 ...... 21st Jan. 1790 
 
BOMBAY. 
 
 265 
 
 Governors. Assumed the government. Quitted it. 
 
 Sir Robert Abercromby 21st Jan. 1790 28th Oct. 1793 
 
 George Dick, Esq Nov. 1793 5th Sept. 1795 
 
 John Griffiths, Esq 6th Sept. 1795 27th Dec. 1795 
 
 Jonathan Duncan, Esq 27th Dec. 1795 died 11th Aug. 1811 
 
 George Brown, Esq 11th Aug. 1811 12th Aug. 1812 
 
 Sir Evan Nepean 
 
 Hon. Mountstuart Elphinstone 
 
 Sir John Malcolm 
 
 At present Bombay rules the whole 
 north-western coast of India, and its 
 influence is felt along the shores of 
 Persia and Arabia. The territorial 
 possessions under its immediate juris- 
 diction received, in 1818, an immense 
 augmentation by the extinction of 
 the late Peshwaship, and now com- 
 prehend the following^ important and 
 populous collectorates, viz. 
 
 South of Bombay : 
 
 Darwar, Southern Concan, 
 
 Candeish, Poona. 
 
 Northern Concan, 
 
 North of Bombay : 
 Ahmedabad, Surat, and 
 
 Kaira, Broach. 
 
 Besides these, the whole of Gujerat 
 is more or less tributary, and both 
 Cutch and Cattywar pay for subsi- 
 diary forces. The natives of the 
 above districts are among the most 
 intelligent and industrious of Hin- 
 dostan, and from hence large quanti- 
 ties of cotton and cotton goods have 
 long been exported. The British 
 provinces being interspersed by the 
 territories of numerous petty native 
 states, it is difficult to define with 
 precision the superficial extent under 
 its direct control ; but in the present 
 circumstances of Hindostan, the dis- 
 tinction is of little importance, and 
 the bonds of connexion must inevi- 
 tably be drawn closer every 3-ear, until 
 at last all discrimination will become 
 unnecessary. In 1813 the annual 
 revenue of the Bombay presidency 
 amounted to 64,20,569 rupees ; in 
 1824 to 1,62,06,900 rupees. 
 
 The Bombay native army, although 
 the fewest in number, is the most 
 ancient of the three presidencies, 
 sepoys having been disciplined to- 
 wards the close of the seventeenth 
 century. One hundred from Bombay 
 and 400 from Tellicherry joined the 
 
 12th Aug, 1812 — 
 
 1st Nov. 1819 
 
 1827 - — 
 
 Madras army in 1747, and a company 
 of Bombay sepoys were present at 
 the battle or route of Plassey. The 
 lowest height taken is five feet three 
 inches, and the average height is only 
 five feet five inches; but the men are 
 active, patient, steady, and capable 
 of supporting great fatigue on a slen- 
 der diet. From its origin to the pre- 
 sent day, the Bombay army has been 
 composed of all sects and castes, 
 Mahomedans, Hindoos, Jews, Raj- 
 poots, Coolies, Borahs, Maharattas, 
 &c. Possibly it is owing to this inter- 
 mixture that the Bombay sepoys have 
 always been prompt to volunteer for 
 any distant expedition, while it goes 
 against the grain with the Bengal and 
 Madras native soldiers. But this is 
 not their only merit, for they are 
 patient under privations, brave in ac- 
 tion, and faithful to their employers, 
 exhibiting, in the last respect, a me- 
 ritorious example to the sepoys of 
 the other presidencies. 
 
 A court of judicature is held at 
 Bombay, which has lately been assi- 
 milated to those of Calcutta and 
 Madras ; and numerous religious, 
 charitable, and literary institutions 
 have also been established within the 
 last ten years. The distance from 
 Calcutta to Bombay by the post road 
 is 1,308 miles, which has been done 
 by express in thirteen days and a 
 half ; and it would be easy now to ar- 
 range telegraphic stations that would 
 communicate intelligence within a 
 fraction of that time, but the increased 
 celerity could only be of importance 
 during the exigencies of some dan- 
 gerous hostility. Travelling distance 
 from Calcutta 1,308 miles, from Delhi 
 965, from Hyderabad 480, from Ma- 
 dras 770, from Poona ninety -eight, 
 from Seringapatam 620, and from 
 Surat 177 miles. — {Lord Valentia , 
 
266 
 
 BONY. 
 
 Bruce , Lieut. Hawkins , Warden , Af. 
 Graham , Fullarton , Public Docu- 
 ments , fyc.) 
 
 Bombra. — A pergunnahin the pro- 
 vince of Gundwana, seventy miles E. 
 by S. from Sumbhulpoor. In 1818 
 it was dependent on Nagpoor, and in 
 a state of great desolation, the land 
 assessment, notwithstanding its ex- 
 tent, being only 1,050 Sumbhulpoor 
 rupees. 
 
 Bomori.— A small town and ghar- 
 ry in the province of Allahabad, 
 thirty-three miles S.W. from Jeit- 
 poor ; lat. 25° 10 / N., Ion. 79° 4' E. 
 
 Bomrauzpollam. — A town in the 
 Carnatic, fifty miles from Madras; 
 lat. 13° 25' N., Ion. 79° 30' E. 
 
 Bonaa. — A small island in the 
 eastern seas, twenty-five miles in cir- 
 cumference, lying off* the north-west 
 extremity of Ceram ; lat. 8° S., Ion. 
 128° 5'E. 
 
 Bonaratte. — A small island in 
 the eastern seas due south of Saleyer, 
 principally inhabited by Buggesses, 
 who in 1822 possessed fifty trading 
 prows. On this island and Calawa 
 (a small one in the neighbourhood), 
 fifty years ago the Buggess sovereign 
 was said to have had an establish- 
 ment for the education of dancing 
 girls. 
 
 Bonawasi. — A town in the Canara 
 province, division of Soonda, forty- 
 seven miles north from Bednore : 
 lat. 14° 32' N., Ion. 75° 8'E. This 
 place is noted by Ptolemy, “and is said 
 to have had a dynasty of kings who 
 ruled 1,450 years before the Chris- 
 tian era. — (F. Buchanan , #c.) 
 
 Bong. — A wild unknown country 
 thus named, situated east of Assam, 
 and due north of Ava, adjacent to 
 Yunan in China, and between the 
 latitudes of 26° and 27° N., and 96° 
 and 97° E. Ion. The chief branch of 
 the Irawady is supposed to pass 
 through this district. 
 
 Bongheer ( Vanaghiri , a woody 
 mountain). — A small district in the 
 province of Hyderabad, occupying 
 
 the tract north-east of the capital, 
 and bounded on the south by the 
 Mussy river. It is rather in a better 
 condition with regard to agriculture 
 and population than the residue of 
 the Nizam’s territories, and contains 
 a considerable number of small towns 
 and villages. The town of Bon- 
 gheer stands in lat. 17° 28' N., Ion. 
 79° 10'E., twenty-five miles E.N.E. 
 from Hyderabad. 
 
 Bontain. — A small district in the 
 island of Celebes, situated at the 
 southern extremity. The bay of 
 Bontain (lat. 5° 33' S., Ion. 119° 47' 
 E.), is described by Capt. Carteret 
 as large and capacious, and safe an- 
 chorage for ships during both mon- 
 soons. On the coast of this bay are 
 several small towns ; that named 
 Bontain lies to the north, and had 
 then a small palisadoed fort. Wood, 
 water, and fresh provisions, fowls, 
 fruit, and rice, may be procured 
 here in abundance ; and the woods 
 swarm with wild hogs, the Mahome- 
 dans abstaining from such unclean 
 food. The tides here are very irre- 
 gular : commonly it is but once high 
 water and once low water in twenty- 
 four hours, the difference seldom 
 exceeding six feet. — ( Stavorinus , Wil- 
 cocke , Sf-c.) 
 
 Bony for BoniJ . — A principality 
 in the island of Celebes, extending 
 twenty leagues along the western 
 shore of the Gulf of Bony, from the 
 river Chinrana to the river Salinico. 
 This gulf, or arm of the sea, is by 
 the natives called Sewa, by Euro- 
 peans Buggess Bay, and deeply in- 
 dents the island of Celebes to the 
 south. To the north of Bony, along 
 the bottom of the bay, the country 
 is well inhabited, and abounds in 
 sago, cassia, and pearls. Near the 
 bottom of the gulf, at the river Loo, 
 boat-building is carried on ; also some 
 traffic in gold, sago, cassia, and 
 pearls. The inhabitants along the 
 coast fish for biche de mer, which 
 they carry to Macassar and sell to the 
 Chinese. On the east side of the 
 bay the country is not so well inha- 
 bited, its navigation being extremely 
 
BOOBOOAN. 
 
 hazardous to vessels of burthen, on 
 account of the numberless shoals 
 and small rocky islets it contains. 
 
 This is the proper country of the 
 Buggesses (named also Bugis and 
 Bouginese), who have always been 
 noted as a very superior race to the 
 generality of the Eastern islanders 
 in courage, enterprize, and intellect. 
 They are the universal carriers of 
 the archipelago, and have been long 
 noted for the fairness of their deal- 
 ings and the magnitude of their spe- 
 culations, more especially theWadjo 
 or Tuadjo tribe; and when trade is 
 mentioned, it may generally be con- 
 sidered as having reference to this 
 race of Buggesses. Yet in naviga- 
 tion and the art of ship-building they 
 have remained stationary for a great 
 length of time ; the early voyagers 
 describing their prows and equipments 
 exactly as they exist now. Many of 
 these prows are lost at sea ; few 
 taken by pirates, as they defend them- 
 selves to the last extremity. They 
 were formerly also noted for fidelity 
 as well as courage, and, like the 
 Swiss in Europe, were employed as 
 mercenaries in foreign armies, in 
 which capacity they served in Siam, 
 Cambodia, and throughout the is- 
 lands. 
 
 The federal government of Bony 
 consists of eight states, each govern- 
 ed by its own hereditary despot, 
 the executive power being vest- 
 ed in one of their number selected 
 from the rest. The office of presi- 
 dent has long been elective in the 
 family of the Prince of Bontuallah, 
 even now little more than a consi- 
 derable village. The chiefs in the 
 Buggess language are named Arung, 
 and the president Arunga; but he 
 can do nothing without the consent 
 of the other members of the elec- 
 toral college, and is not entrusted 
 with the care of the public treasury. 
 The individuals composing the coun- 
 cil of seven hold also executive 
 offices, and choose the prime minis- 
 ter, through whose agency justice is 
 administered, and decrees issued in 
 the name of the king and people of 
 Bony. Any individual of the privi- 
 
 267 
 
 leged families, even a female or in- 
 fant, may be elected into the coun- 
 cil, and ultimately to the supreme 
 government. Such is the constitu- 
 tion of Bony, which may be consi- 
 dered as the prototype of all the 
 principalities in Celebes, of which 
 the Buggess may be reckoned the 
 original language. On the sea-coast 
 it is much mixed with Malay, and 
 is to be found pure only among the 
 tribes of the interior and in ancient 
 books. The alphabet consists of 
 twenty-two letters ; the form of the 
 character is peculiar, but resembles 
 the Batta and Tagala. The koran 
 has been translated into the Buggess 
 language, and they also possess tra- 
 ditional songs and romances in that 
 dialect. 
 
 According to Stavorinus the first 
 monarch of the Buggesses, affirmed 
 by them to be of celestial origin, in- 
 stituted the code of laws which is 
 still observed. Early in the seven- 
 teenth century they were compelled 
 by the Macassars to adopt the Ma- 
 homedan, but we have no account 
 of their prior religion or supersti- 
 tions. Raja Polaeca, a powerful 
 prince who died in A.D. 1796, had 
 rendered himself paramount over all 
 the other native tribes, and nearly 
 independent of the Dutch. From 
 this date a regular succession of 
 princes and queens took place until 
 1823, when Arung Polacca died, and 
 was succeeded by his sister, Arung 
 Datoo. In 1814, in consequence of 
 the insulting conduct of the Bony 
 Raja, he was attacked by the British 
 army under General Nightingale, and 
 defeated with much slaughter, his 
 camp and residence being stormed, 
 and himself ultimately deposed. In 
 1825 the capital of Bony was taken 
 by the Dutch, apparently without re- 
 sistance. — ( Stavorinus , Forrest , Ley- 
 den, Crawfurd , Raffles , Thorn , tye.) 
 
 Boobooan. — A small island in the 
 eastern seas, lying off the south end 
 of the island of Basseelan, and hav- 
 ing a small hummock at the northern 
 extremity, which is woody, but inha- 
 bited. 
 
2G8 
 
 BOONDEE. 
 
 Bool. — One of the southernmost of 
 the Philippines, situated about the 
 tenth degree of N. latitude. In length 
 it may be estimated at thirty-five 
 miles, by thirty the average breadth. 
 
 Boolacoomba. — A district subject 
 to the Dutch, situated at the south- 
 ern extremity of the island of Cele- 
 bes. The land is fertile in rice, 
 abounds in game, and has extensive 
 forests ; .but the timber is not well 
 adapted for the construction of 
 houses. During the west monsoon 
 the anchorage before Boolacoomba is 
 dangerous for ships ; small vessels, 
 however, can run into the river Kali- 
 kongaung. Near the mouth of this 
 river stands the Dutch pallisadoed 
 fort Carolina, which in 1810 was 
 captured by a party of 100 men land- 
 ed from the Cornwallis; next day 
 they were unexpectedly attacked by 
 a numerous body of confederated na- 
 tives, good fighters, both by sea and 
 land, and with difficulty managed to 
 repulse them. — ( Stavorinus , Thorn , 
 
 4*0 
 
 Boondee ( Bundi ). — A principality 
 of Rajpootana, situated at the south- 
 eastern extremity. The Boondee Ra- 
 ja is of the Hara tribe, and was for- 
 merly a power of consequence ; but 
 by the loss of the greater part of his 
 territories, which were formed into 
 the distinct government of Kotah, 
 under one of the Raja’s own family, 
 his revenue was greatly reduced and 
 boundaries circumscribed. Prior to 
 1818 this principality was bounded 
 on the south and east by the Chum- 
 bul, on the west by the pergun- 
 nah of Jehajghur, on the north by 
 certain parts of Jeypoor and the par- 
 tially independent state of Ooniara. 
 The present Boondee frontier con- 
 fines, with that of Kotah, about five 
 miles north-west of the Chumbul. 
 The whole, in peaceable times, was 
 supposed capable of yielding six lacks 
 of rupees per annum; but in 1817 
 more than half was usurped by Sindia 
 and Holcar, so that not more than 
 60,000 rupees came into the Boondee 
 treasury, besides one lack assigned to 
 the Raja’s relations and military re- 
 
 tainers, while the peasantry were im- 
 poverished by the endless exactions 
 extorted from them by every chief- 
 tain who had sufficient power. These 
 sufferings were in a great measure 
 brought on the Raja and his subjects 
 on account of the services rendered 
 by them in 1804 to Colonel Monson 
 and his army during their disastrous 
 retreat ; in return for which, at the 
 pacification in 1805, he was abandon- 
 ed by the British government to the 
 tender mercies of the Maharattas. 
 Though late, his reward came at last : 
 for by the arrangements of 1818 he 
 was released from all foreign intru- 
 ders, and received so considerable an 
 addition of territory, including the 
 town of Patun (altogether about 
 2,500 square miles), as stamped him 
 an efficient member of the general 
 federation of Hindostan, under the 
 protection of the British government. 
 — {Tod, Malcolm, Hunter, fyc.) 
 
 Boondee. — A city in Rajpootana, 
 or Ajmeer, the capital of the above- 
 mentioned principalit}' ; lat. 25° 28' 
 N., long. 75° 30' E. It consists of 
 two parts, Old Boondee and New 
 Boondee. New Boondee is enclosed 
 by a high stone wall, extending up 
 the acclivity behind it, and connected 
 with the fortifications on the cliff’ 
 above ; it is built of stone, and most 
 of the houses are two stories high. 
 The natural situation of Boondee, its 
 air of antiquity and numerous tem- 
 ples, its spacious chowk and magnifi- 
 cent fountains, together with the lake 
 at the north-east quarter, combine to 
 render it an interesting city ; and for 
 picturesque effect, the great street 
 opening up to the palace is, of its 
 kind, almost without a parallel. At 
 the lower extremity stands the great 
 temple dedicated to Krishna, covered 
 with groups in relievo, and close bv is 
 the figure of a horse cut in stone ; and 
 still higher a stone elephant, as large 
 as life, raised on a pedestal ; rows of 
 grotesque shops, lining each side of 
 the avenue, extend to the hill, on 
 which the palace, with its turreted 
 windows and battlements, is seen in 
 its full dimensions. It is elevated to 
 
BOORHANPOUR. 
 
 269 
 
 a height of perhaps 400 feet, partly 
 supported by the perpendicular rock, 
 but principally by solid piers of ma- 
 sonry ; the appearance of this edifice, 
 when viewed from without the walls, 
 is not less striking. 
 
 Old Boondee is situated to the 
 west of the present town, covers a 
 considerable surface, and contains 
 also some fine fountains and pagodas ; 
 but it is in a state of general decay, 
 and almost deserted by its popula- 
 tion. The pass through the hills to 
 the north of Boondee is nearly seven 
 miles in length, and at the most con- 
 tracted point is defended by three 
 distinct barrier gateways; between 
 these straights the hills expand into 
 successive amphitheatres of remark- 
 able beauty, in the basins of which a 
 series of artificial lakes have been 
 formed, communicating with each 
 , other, and supported by a great dam 
 raised in the gorge of the pass imme- 
 diately above Boondee. In one of 
 ihese amphitheatres the Raja has a 
 summer-house and garden, with some 
 Hindoo temples and other buildings. 
 Near the second gateway is the an- 
 cient cemetery of the family, contain- 
 ing several handsome chiteries, highly 
 finished, with figures of elephants in 
 combat, caparisoned horses, &c. in 
 very bold relief ; and adjoining the 
 gate, on the Boondee side, is a pa- 
 lace called the Sook Mahal, built on 
 a terrace that stretches from hill to 
 hill, and forming the embankment of 
 the great lake, which during the rainy 
 season pours a cataract into the deep 
 pool below. — ( Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 Boongra. — A town, the head of a 
 pergunnah, in the province of Mal- 
 wa, belonging to the principality of 
 Banswara, and situated on the left 
 bank of the Mhye river, nine miles 
 N.E. by N. from that town ; lat. 23° 
 35' N., Ion. 74° 40' E. It stands on 
 the high road to Pertaubghur.— (Mal- 
 colm, fyc.) 
 
 Booransee Peak. — A mountain 
 peak in Northern Hindoostan, thirty 
 miles N.E. from Serinagur ; lat. 30° 
 24' N., Ion. 79° 15' E.; 8,644 feet 
 above the level of the sea. 
 
 Booreea. — A small town in the 
 province of Delhi, fifteen miles N.W. 
 from Saharunpoor ; lat. 30° 9' N., 
 Ion. 77° 20' E. 
 
 Booriiana. — A town in the Delhi 
 province, forty-five miles N. from the 
 city of Delhi ; lat. 29° 19' N., Ion. 77° 
 16' E. 
 
 Boorhanpour ( BarhanpuraJ . — 
 The ancient capital of the Candeish 
 province, situated on a fine plain on 
 the north-west bank of the Tuptee; 
 lat. 21° 19' N., Ion. 76° 18' E. About 
 fifteen miles to the S.E. is a range of 
 hills that separate Candeish from Be- 
 rar. This is one of the largest and 
 best built cities in the Deccan, most 
 of the houses being built of brick, 
 and many three stories high, with 
 neat facades, framed in wood as at 
 Oojein, and universally roofed with 
 tiles. The handsomest portions of 
 Boorhanpour are the market-place, a 
 square of considerable extent, and a 
 street called the Raj Bazar; but 
 there are many other wide and regu- 
 lar streets, paved with stone. The 
 Tuptee here is a clear and beautiful 
 stream, but of no great breadth, and 
 easily fordable in the dry season. On 
 a high bank, close to the river, are 
 the ruins of the fort and palace of 
 its ancient sovereigns, now only re- 
 markable for the great space they 
 cover, the shapeless masses of broken 
 masonry, and the court-yards choked 
 up with weeds and rank vegetation. 
 The vicinity of Boorhanpour for 
 some distance is likewise strewed 
 with the ruins of Mahomedan tombs, 
 mosques, and chapels ; yet the city, 
 taken as a whole, is remarkably de- 
 void of architectural interest. Al- 
 most the only public edifice worthy 
 of observation is the Jumma Mus- 
 jeed, a fine pile of masonry, con- 
 structed of grey stone in a style pe- 
 culiar to this quarter of India, with 
 an extended facade supported on 
 low arches ; two handsome octago- 
 nal minars, with a grand terrace and 
 reservoir in front, but destitute of 
 cupolas, which form the distinctive 
 feature of the mosque in almost 
 every other part of Hindostan. 
 
BOOTAN. 
 
 £70 
 
 Boorhanpour is abundantly sup- 
 plied with water brought from four 
 miles distance by aqueducts, and dis- 
 tributed through every street, the 
 stream being conveyed at a certain 
 depth below the pavement, and the 
 water drawn up through apertures 
 by means of leather buckets attached 
 to a windlass. This is the head- 
 quarters of a singular sect of Ma- 
 homedans named Bohrah, whose 
 moullah or chief priest resides at Su- 
 rat. They distinguish their own sect 
 by the name of Ismaeeliah, deriving 
 their origin from one of the follow- 
 ers of Mahomed who flourished in 
 the age succeeding that of the pro- 
 phet, from whose native country, 
 they assert, they originally came, via 
 Gujerat. The Bohrahs are the great 
 merchants in this quarter of Hindos- 
 tan, as the Parsees are at Bombay, 
 and here occupy about 500 of the 
 best houses, being the most wealthy 
 of the commercial class. They are 
 of a goodly exterior, with Arab phy- 
 siognomies, and wear a sort of Ara- 
 bian costume. About two miles 
 from the city they have a small 
 mosque, with extensive cemetries ad- 
 joining, crowded with tombs. 
 
 This city, along with the rest of 
 the province, was acquired by the 
 Maharattas about A.D. 1760, during 
 the viceroyalty of Islam Khan, since 
 which period it has been progres- 
 sively decaying, and in 1816 every 
 village in its neighbourhood was in 
 ruins, owing to the unceasing in- 
 cursions of Bheels and Pindarries. 
 It was captured by a British army in 
 1803, but restored to Dowlet Row 
 Sindia, with whom it still remains. 
 The grapes grown in the vicinity of 
 Boorhanpour and Asseerghur (where 
 they are in great profusion) surpass 
 those of Malwa, and are probably 
 the most delicious in India. Travel- 
 ling distance from Oojein 154 miles; 
 from Nagpoor 256 ; from Poona 288 ; 
 from Bombay 240 ; from Agra 508 ; 
 and from Calcutta by Nagpoor 978 
 miles. — ( Fullarton , Hunter , Suther- 
 land , 8( C .) 
 
 Booro. — An island in the eastern 
 
 seas, situated between the third and 
 fourth degrees of south latitude, and 
 the 126th and 127th of east longi- 
 tude. In length it may be estimated 
 at seventy-five miles, by thirty-eight 
 miles the average breadth. The 
 principal Dutch settlement on this 
 island is Fort Defence, situated in a 
 marshy plain on the S.E. of Cajelli 
 or Booro Bay, where ships are under 
 shelter during both monsoons, while 
 the land winds which prevail at night 
 facilitate their departure; on which 
 account it is much frequented by 
 South Sea whalers. Wood, water, 
 buffaloes, rice, a profusion of tropical 
 fruits, sago, and the best cajeputty 
 oil (the trees abounding), may be pro- 
 cured here, as also various sorts of 
 cabinet, dye, and aromatic woods, 
 which the Chinese junks come in 
 search of. A portion of the inhabi- 
 tants are Mahomedans, and possess 
 a mosque ; but the interior is peopled 
 by the aboriginal Horaforas, who live 
 dispersed among the mountainous 
 jungles, subsisting on sago, wild 
 fruits, and the produce of the chace. 
 The south of Booro was formerly 
 much infested by the mop-headed 
 Papuas of New Guinea. — ( Forrest , 
 La Billardiere, Bougainville , Stavori- 
 nus , Thorn t 8(C.) 
 
 Boosnah.- — A town in the province 
 of Bengal, district of Jessore, fifty 
 miles W. by S. from Dacca ; lat. 23° 
 31' N., Ion.* 89° 39' E. 
 
 BOOTAN. 
 
 ( Bhutan .) 
 
 This country on the west is sepa- 
 rated from the Raja of Sikkim’s ter- 
 ritories by the course of the eastern 
 branch of the Teesta, from whence 
 it stretches easterly to an undefined 
 extent. To the north it is divided 
 from Tibet by the Himalaya moun- 
 tains ; and to the south it is bounded 
 by Bengal, and a number of rude 
 tribes scattered along the northern 
 side of the Brahmaputra. In its 
 greatest dimensions it may be esti- 
 mated at 250 miles in length, by 
 ninety the average breadth. The 
 term Bhote is applied by the Hindoos 
 
BOOTAN. 
 
 271 
 
 not only to the country named Boo- 
 tan by Europeans, but also to the 
 tract extending along and imme- 
 diately adjoining both sides of the 
 Himalaya, in which sense it is a very 
 extensive region, occupying the whole 
 mountainous space from Cashmere 
 to China. In the present article, 
 however, the word Bootan is restrict- 
 ed to the country of the Deb Raja, 
 comprehended within the limits above 
 specified, and the name of Bootan- 
 ners confined to his subjects, in or- 
 der to distinguish them from the 
 more expanded tribe of Bhooteas 
 ( Bhotyas ), although in aspect, man- 
 ners, and religion, there is so entire 
 a resemblance as to leave little doubt 
 of their descent from the same ori- 
 gin. 
 
 The northern portion of this pro- 
 vince presents nothing to the view 
 but the most misshapen irregularities ; 
 some mountains covered with per- 
 petual snow, others with perennial 
 verdure, and rich with abundant fo- 
 rests of large and lofty trees; Al- 
 most every mountain has a rapid tor- 
 rent at its base, and many of the 
 most elevated have populous villages 
 amidst orchards and other planta- 
 tions. In its external appearance it 
 is the reverse of Tibet, which is a 
 level table-land. The mountainous 
 boundary of Bootan towards Tibet 
 forms part of the great chain which 
 geographers term Mount Imaus, or 
 Emodus, and of which frequent men- 
 tion is made in the mythological tales 
 of the Brahmins by the name of Hi- 
 malaya. At the base of the hills to- 
 wards the Bengal frontier is a plain 
 of about twenty-five miles in breadth, 
 choked up with the most luxuriant 
 vegetation, and which, from its in- 
 aptitude to supply the wants or fa- 
 cilitate the functions of human life, 
 was for a long time properly con- 
 sidered as belonging to neither. The 
 exhalations arising from the multi- 
 tude of springs which the vicinity of 
 the mountains give rise to, are col- 
 lected and confined by the woods, 
 and generate a most pestilential at- 
 mosphere. The trees are large, and 
 the forests abound with elephants 
 
 and rhinoceroses; but the human 
 animal is much debased in form, size, 
 and strength. 
 
 The climate of Bootan exhibits 
 every degree of variation, for at the 
 time the inhabitants of Poonakha are 
 cautious of exposing themselves to an 
 almost vertical sun, those of Ghas- 
 sa feel all the rigours of winter, and 
 are chilled by never-melting snows ; 
 yet these places are within sight of 
 each other. Where the climate is 
 temperate, almost every favourable 
 aspect of the mountains coated with 
 the smallest quantity of soil, is clear- 
 ed, and adapted for cultivation by 
 being cut into horizontal beds. The 
 country abounds with excellent lime- 
 stone, but the natives appear unac- 
 quainted with its uses for agricultural 
 purposes. The season of the rains 
 about Tassisudon, the capital, is re- 
 markably moderate; there are fre- 
 quent showers, but none of those 
 heavy torrents which accompany the 
 S.W. monsoon in Bengal. In the 
 hilly tracts of Bootan strawberries, 
 raspberries, and blackberries are 
 found growing wild, and there are 
 also apple, peach, pear, and apricot 
 trees. The forests abound with a 
 variety of handsome timber trees, 
 such as the ash, birch, maple, yew, 
 pine, and fir, but no oak trees. The 
 fir is often seen eight and ten feet in 
 girth. The turnips of Bootan are 
 remarkably good, being large, free 
 from fibres, and very sweet. The 
 best fruits are oranges, peaches, apri- 
 cots, pomegranates and walnuts. For 
 the purposes of agriculture the Boo- 
 tanners conduct water across the 
 chasms in the mountains through the 
 hollow trunks of trees. In this 
 country a large proportion of the 
 field labour is performed by females, 
 who plant and weed ; and on them 
 eventually the task falls of applying 
 the sickle and brandishing the flail. 
 In all these laborious offices they are 
 exposed to the inclemencies of the 
 weather, and to many other grievous 
 hardships. 
 
 Wild animals are not numerous in 
 Bootan, but monkeys of a large and 
 handsome kind abound, being held 
 
BOOTAN. 
 
 272 
 
 sacred by the Bhooteas as well as by 
 the Hindoos. The species of horse 
 indigenous to Bootan is called Tan- 
 yan, or Tangun, from Tangust’han, 
 the general appellation of the assem- 
 blage of mountains that constitutes 
 Bootan Proper, the breed being al- 
 together confined within its limits. 
 They are usually thirteen hands high, 
 and remarkable for their symmetry 
 and just proportions. They are in 
 general distinguished by a tendency 
 to piebald, those of one colour being 
 rare. They are short-bodied, clean 
 limbed, and although deep in the 
 chest, extremely active. Accustomed 
 among their native mountains to 
 struggle against opposition, they 
 seem to inherit this spirit as a prin- 
 ciple of their nature, and hence have 
 acquired among Europeans a cha- 
 racter of being headstrong and un- 
 governable, though in reality it pro- 
 ceeds from an excess of eagerness to 
 perform their task. 
 
 A caravan despatched by the Deb 
 Raja visits annually the Rungpoor 
 district, bringing the coarse woollen 
 manufactures of Bootan, Tibet cow- 
 tails, bees*-wax, walnuts, ivory, musk, 
 gold-dust, silver in ingots, some Chi- 
 nese silks, tea, paper, and knives, 
 besides the Tanyan horses that carry 
 the goods. These adventures are 
 entirely on account of the Deb Raja, 
 to whom the goods belong, having 
 been mostly received in kind in pay- 
 ment of the revenues; but the sum 
 total in a national point of view is 
 quite insignificant. The returns usual- 
 ly consist of English woollens, indigo, 
 dried fish, quicksilver, cloves, nut- 
 megs, incense, sandal-wood, sheet 
 and wrought copper, tin, gunpowder, 
 otter-skins, rhinoceros’ horns and 
 hides, cotton cloth, coral, and swine. 
 The aggregate amount of the whole 
 seldom exceeds 30,000 rupees, of 
 which indigo alone engrosses half 
 the value. The privilege of thus 
 sending a caravan into Bootan Proper 
 has nevei been conceded even to the 
 Bengalese, by this jealous and timid 
 government, but the latter are allowed 
 an unrestricted trade in the low 
 country, through which they drive 
 
 up many swine to the mountains. 
 Small as this trade formerly was, it 
 is said to have latterly declined, al- 
 though the heavy duties formerly le- 
 vied on the Bootan imports were 
 abolished by Lord Cornwallis. It seems 
 probable, however, that this insig- 
 nificant traffic, so eagerly sought after 
 by the British authorities, both at 
 home and abroad, has not so much 
 actually declined as taken a different 
 direction. The presents sent by the 
 Deb Raja to Calcutta in 1772, when 
 afraid of his ears, consisted of sheets 
 of gilt copper, stamped with the 
 black eagle of the Russian armorial, 
 talents of gold and silver, and bulses 
 of gold-dust ; bags of genuine musk ; 
 narrow woollen cloths, the manu- 
 facture of Tibet ; and silks from 
 China. The narrainee, a base silver 
 coin struck in Cooch Bahar, about 
 tenpence in value, is current through- 
 out Bootan, where there are local 
 prejudices against a mint. 
 
 The military weapons of the Boo- 
 tanners are a bow and arrow, a short 
 straight sword,and afaulchion reflected 
 like a pruning knife. In war they use 
 arrows tainted with a poison pro- 
 cured from a plant as yet unknown 
 to Europeans. In appearance it is 
 an inspissated vegetable juice, much 
 resembling crude opium. Their match- 
 locks are very contemptible, and of 
 no use but in such weather as will 
 admit of the primings taking fire in 
 an open pan. They are dexterous in 
 the management of the sword and 
 shield, and excel in archery ; they 
 have wall pieces, but no cannon. A 
 strong jealousy of all intercourse 
 with Hindostan has long prevailed 
 throughout this region, which has not 
 been diminished by the recent pro- 
 gress of the British arms, among 
 mountains which had never been 
 conquered, or even seriously invaded 
 by any of the Mahomedan powers. 
 
 In person there is a remarkable 
 dissimilarity between the feeble-bo- 
 died, meek-spirited natives of Bengal, 
 and their active and Herculean neigh- 
 bours the mountaineers of Bootan, 
 many of whom are six feet in height. 
 A strong similarity of feature per- 
 
BOOTAN. 
 
 ^73 
 
 vades the whole Bhootea race, who, 
 though of a dark complexion, are 
 more ruddy and robust than the Ben- 
 galese, with broader faces <and higher 
 cheek bones. They are greatly af- 
 flicted with glandular swellings in the 
 throat, from which the natives of 
 Bengal are exempt, it being calculated 
 that one person in six is more or less 
 disfigured by goitres. The eye of 
 the Bootanners is a very remarkable 
 feature, being small and black, with 
 long pointed corners, as if stretched 
 and extended by artificial means. 
 Their eye-lashes are so thin as to be 
 scarcely perceptible, and the eyebrow 
 is but slightly shaded. Immediately 
 below the eye is the broadest part of 
 the face, which is rather flat, and 
 narrows from the cheek-bone to the 
 chin, a character of countenance pre- 
 valent among the Tartar tribes, and 
 more particularly among the Chinese, 
 The skins of the Bootanners are 
 smooth, and most of them arrive at 
 a very advanced age before they have 
 even the rudiments of a beard ; their 
 whiskers are also of very scanty 
 growth. 
 
 Their houses are in general only 
 one story high, but the palace of the 
 Deb Raja at Tassisudon consists of 
 many floors, the ascent to which is 
 by lofty stairs, an unusual circum- 
 stance in Bootan. In a country 
 composed of mountains, and inter- 
 sected by torrents, bridges must ne- 
 cessarily be of such frequent occur- 
 rence, that a traveller has usually 
 several to pass in a day’s journey. 
 These are of various construction, 
 generally of timber, but sometimes 
 swung on iron chains. Woollen cloth 
 for raiment, meat, Spirits, and tea, are 
 in use among the Bootanners, who 
 are strangers to the subtle niceties 
 and refined distinctions of the Bra'h- 
 minical Hindoos. As a refreshment, 
 tea is as common in Bootan as in 
 China, but it is made by a very dif- 
 ferent process from that which Eu- 
 ropeans are accustomed to follow. 
 In preparing this beverage (if it may 
 be so called) the Bootanners make a 
 compound of water, flour, salt, but- 
 ter, and Bohea tea,, with some other 
 
 vol. 1 . 
 
 astringent ingredients, all boiled and 
 beat up together. When they have 
 finished a cup, they lick it with their 
 tongue on all sides, in order to make 
 it clean, after which they wrap it up 
 in a piece of scarlet silk. In some 
 cases their medical practice is ren- 
 dered inconvenient to the physician, 
 who, when the Deb Raja takes a 
 dose of physic, is obliged to swallow, 
 however unseasonably, a proportion- 
 ate quantity of the same medicine. 
 
 The ministers of religion in Bootan 
 are of the Lama Buddhist sect, and 
 form a distinct class, confined solely 
 to performing the duties of their 
 faith. The laity, pretending to no 
 interference in matters of spiritual 
 concern, leave religion with all its 
 rites and ceremonies to those who 
 are attached by early obligations to 
 its doctrines and austerities. Although 
 there is no distinction of caste among 
 the Bootanners, yet they are not 
 without differences in religious opi- 
 nions, the precepts of Sakhya Singh 
 (the school to which they adhere) 
 differing essentially from that of Gau- 
 tama, and permitting the consump- 
 tion of every species of food that is 
 considered impure and abominable by 
 the Brahmins. Om manni paiini om, 
 an invocation to which ideas of pe- 
 culiar sanctity are attached by the 
 inhabitants of Bootan and Tibet, are 
 words inscribed on most of their 
 public buildings. They are also fre- 
 quently engraved on rocks in large 
 and deep characters, and sometimes 
 rendered legible on the sides of hills, 
 by means of stones fixed in the earth 
 of so large a size as to be legible at a 
 considerable distance. In the per- 
 formance of any religious duty, the 
 Bootan functionaries admit of no in- 
 terruption whatever, which strictness 
 has always proved a source of infinite 
 delay and inconvenience to the Bri- 
 tish diplomatists who have had bu- 
 siness to transact with them. 
 
 The Deb Raja, who resides at Tas- 
 sisudon, is usually considered to be 
 the supreme head of the province, 
 but in strict sense he is only the 
 secular governor, the legitimate so- 
 vereign being the Dharma Raja, a 
 
BOOTAN. 
 
 274 
 
 supposed incarnation of the deity; 
 but as this sacred person never inter- 
 feres in lay affairs, he is only known 
 to foreigners through the transactions 
 of his deputy the Deb Raja. There 
 are said to be eighteen passes from 
 the low countries to the mountains ; 
 some of the most important are placed 
 under the control of officers named 
 subahs, the extent of whose power 
 is uncertain. In the hot and rainy 
 season the subah usually resides at a 
 fortress among the mountains; but in 
 the cold season he descends to the 
 lower hills, and often visits the plains, 
 either to enforce obedience or to in- 
 vade the neighbouring states, on which 
 occasions their attacks exhibit a com- 
 bination of cowardice, perfidy, and 
 the most fiend-like cruelty. Both the 
 lower hilly country and the plain be- 
 longing to Bootan are partitioned 
 into small domains, each having a 
 distinct officer for the collection of 
 the revenue, and the superintendence 
 of the police. Some of these are 
 chiefs of the subdued communities, 
 for no genuine Bhootea has settled in 
 these parts ; others are native Boo- 
 tanners of the mountains. The here- 
 ditary chiefs pay a fixed revenue, 
 while the Bootan officers collect the 
 land tax on account of government. 
 
 The Deb Raja’s authority is best 
 established in the plain, and in the 
 country adjacent to the line of road 
 leading from Bengal to Tassisudon 
 the capital ; for with the country to 
 the east and west we are but little 
 acquainted. The principal towns are 
 Tassisudon, Poonakha, Wandipoor, 
 Ghassa, and Murichom. The nearest 
 governor to the Sikkim frontier is the 
 subah of Dellamcotta; next to him 
 the subah of Luckidwar; then the 
 subah of Buxedwar; and east from 
 the Gudhadar river is the subah of 
 Burradwar. The next governor to- 
 wards the east is the subah of Re- 
 pudwar, who has under him a jungly 
 district named Raymana, bounded 
 on the east by the Sonkosh; and still 
 further east is the subah of Cherang, 
 a place at the head of a pass, four 
 days’ journey from Cutchubarry. The 
 country between the Sonkosh and the 
 
 Ayi belongs to a tributary, and be- 
 yond the river last mentioned the 
 Bij nee territories commence. InA.D. 
 1820 the Deb Raja claimed a princi- 
 pal portion of the lands of Maraghaut, 
 occupied by the Raja of Cooch Bahar, 
 which, after investigation, were de- 
 clared by the British government to 
 belong to Bootan. 
 
 In ancient Brahminical legends the 
 denomination of the country we call 
 Bootan is Madra, but respecting its 
 early history we have no record or 
 tradition. The first intercourse of 
 its government with the British na- 
 tion happened in 1772, in which year 
 the Deb Raja suddenly invaded the 
 principality of Cooch Bahar, and 
 meeting with little opposition from 
 the natives, rapidly gained possession 
 of the country. This was decidedly 
 the first instance of hostility between 
 the two states, and it had proceeded 
 to the last extremity before the go- 
 vernment of Bengal, which had hi- 
 therto derived no benefit from the 
 contested territory, was apprized of 
 what had befallen it. The invaders 
 were easily driven back by two bat- 
 talions of native infantry, and next 
 year pursued by a detachment under 
 Capt. John Jones into their own ter- 
 ritories, where the fortress of Del- 
 lamcotta was taken by storm. This 
 exploit greatly alarmed the Bootan 
 Raja for his own safety, and induced 
 him to apply to the Teshoo Lama, 
 through whose mediation a peace 
 was subsequently arranged. After 
 the defeat and flight of the Bootan- 
 ners in 1772, Durp Deo, the chief of 
 Bykantpoor, who had joined them, 
 sent a messenger from the jungles, to 
 which he had fled, begging to be re- 
 stored to his estate, in consideration 
 of which he engaged to pay a tribute 
 of 25,000 rupees per annum in place 
 of 10,000 rupees, which had hitherto 
 been his stipulated payment. These 
 terms were accordingly acceded to, 
 and the zemindar was put in posses- 
 sion, not only of his former estate, 
 but also of what had been alienated 
 by the Bootanners. 
 
 The present possessions of Bootan 
 to the south-west are separated from 
 
BOOTAN. 
 
 27 5 
 
 the Bengal districts by the river 
 Teesta, as far south as Gopaulgunge, 
 a village situated on the eastern bank 
 of that river. To the south of this 
 point the British territories cross the 
 Teesta, and intermix with those of 
 Bootan in a most irregular manner, 
 the boundary line in this quarter be- 
 ing altogether imaginary. Portions 
 of territory belonging to each state 
 are completely insulated by the pos- 
 sessions of the other, as exemplified 
 in the extensive tract named Phula- 
 eotta, which lies to the west of the 
 Teesta, and is completely surrounded 
 by the Bengalese zemindary of By- 
 kantpoor, without any intelligible or 
 even perceptible land-marks. The 
 retention of Phulacotta, however, is 
 attended with such lucrative advan- 
 tages to the subah of Dellamcotta 
 and the local officers, that no hopes 
 are entertained of being able to effect 
 its purchase or exchange for some 
 other space of adequate value. 
 
 The European reader will scarcely 
 believe, that along the whole line of 
 British frontier, from the Sutuleje to 
 the Brahmaputra, there exists, and 
 always has existed, a regular and 
 persevering system of encroachment 
 on the British possessions, which, al- 
 though frequently detected and baf- 
 fled, has in many instances proved 
 successful. In these attempts, no 
 nation has proceeded more prospe- 
 rously than the Bootarmers, whose 
 encroachments have not been con- 
 fined to that part of the boundary 
 west of Cooch Bahar, although it 
 began there. The line of frontier 
 east of the Sonkosh, to the confines 
 of Assam, has been still more sub- 
 jected to their intrusions, as in this 
 quarter they have managed to appro- 
 priate to themselves the large estate 
 of Bidyagong, immediately adjacent 
 to Bijnee, where their interference, 
 as will be seen under that head, was 
 still more irregular. The Bidyagong 
 estate was obliged originally to deliver 
 annually forty elephants to the British 
 government, which last, as the feudal 
 superior, had the sole right of nomi- 
 nating to the succession. It is true 
 that the Bidyagong chief gave the 
 
 Bootanners yearly about 400 rupees 
 worth of cotton cloths and dried fish; 
 but this was done merely to conciliate 
 the good-will of a tribe, which from 
 its position was always able to harass 
 his estate. The Bootan government 
 never dared to dispute the sovereignty 
 of the estate with the Moguls, from 
 whom the delivery of the goods above- 
 mentioned was kept a profound secret* 
 The Deb Raja, while the attention of 
 the British presidency was directed 
 elsewhere, got possession of the Bid- 
 yagong zemindary, and some years 
 after, when the circumstances of the 
 case were reported, it was determined 
 to forego all claim 0 to an object that 
 appeared of such trivial importance. 
 During the correspondence that took 
 place before that resolution was defi- 
 nitively adopted, the Deb Raja, on 
 being required to produce his docu- 
 ments* replied that it was not cus- 
 tomary for the Bootanners to be 
 regulated by writings, but by posses- 
 sion. 
 
 In 1815 Kishen Khant Bos, a na- 
 tive agent, was deputed to Lassa by 
 the Bengal government to negociate 
 some boundary arrangements with the 
 Deb Raja, but could not get any fur- 
 ther than Bootan, where he remained 
 above a year. On his return he gave 
 in a report of his journe} T and descrip- 
 tion of the country he had visited, 
 which document, however, threw lit- 
 tle or no light on the history of this 
 singular country, although it is most 
 particular in recording the monthly 
 wages paid to the government ser- 
 vants. In 1816 the advance of the 
 Chinese forces towards Nepaul ex- 
 cited a considerable sensation at the 
 court of the Deb Raja, where it was 
 ascribed to the intrigues and misre- 
 presentations of the Gorkhas, and 
 the Deb expressed his hopes of as- 
 sistance, in case he incurred the 
 displeasure of the Chinese govern- 
 ment by refusing to act against the 
 British. These amicable professions, 
 however, were probably elicited by 
 the existing state of affairs in Bootan, 
 where in consequence of some dif- 
 ference between the Dharma, or spi- 
 ritual, and the Deb or 6ecuiar Raja, 
 
 t 2 
 
BOPAUL. 
 
 276 
 
 the deposition of the latter was con- 
 templated, and a civil war expected. 
 To prevent this extremity the Deb 
 Raja declared he would resign the 
 reins of government, after the ap- 
 proaching month of June, to Lama 
 Sree Tap, who before had disputed 
 with him the succession to the office 
 of Deb Raja, and had been deposed 
 after having actually assumed that 
 dignity; but the sincerity of these 
 protestations was much questioned, 
 and it was not generally supposed 
 that he would actually perform what 
 he had professed in the moment of 
 danger. In the event of a contest, 
 one party will endeavour to conciliate 
 the favour of the British, the other 
 that of the Chinese, whose direct 
 authority will probably be ultimately 
 established throughout Bootan, as it 
 has been in Tibet. — ( Capt . Turner , F. 
 Buchanan , Sisson , Public MS. Docu- 
 ments ^ D. Scotty Kishen Khant Bos f 
 $c.) 
 
 Booton. — An island in the eastern 
 seas, lying off the south-eastern ex- 
 tremity of Celebes, about the fifth 
 degree of south latitude.. In length 
 it may be estimated at eighty-five 
 miles, by twenty the average breadth. 
 It is separated from the island of 
 Pangansane by a strait which is passa- 
 ble for square-rigged vessels. 
 
 This island is high and woody, but 
 well cultivated, producing rice, maize, 
 yams, a variety of tropical fruits, and 
 abundance of the wild bread-fruit 
 tree, the kernel of which is indigesti- 
 ble. Fowls, goats, buffaloes, and fish 
 may also be procured. The inhabi- 
 tants are ugly and of short stature, 
 their religion? the Mahomedan, and 
 language (on the sea-coast) the Ma- 
 lay. The Dutch had formerly a set- 
 tlement in the bay of Booton, where 
 they sent annually an officer, named 
 the extirpator, to inspect the woods 
 and destroy the clove trees. On the 
 east-side Booton is indented by a 
 bay called Dwaal, or Mistake Bay, by 
 the Dutch, into which, if a ship be 
 drifted by the currents, she cannot 
 get out again until the west monsoon 
 sets in, and even then it is difficult. 
 
 A Dutch governor going to Ban- 
 da, was detained in this vexatious 
 state for a whole year. — ( Stavorinus , 
 LabillardierCy Forrest y Bougainville , 
 $c.) 
 
 Bopaui. ( Bhupala , a lord or 
 king .) — The capital of a small inde- 
 pendent Mahomedan principality in 
 the province of Malwa, which forms 
 the exact boundary of the old Hindoo 
 province of Malwa, one gate being 
 within its boundaries, and the other 
 inGundwana; lat. 23° 17' N., Ion. 
 77 ° 30' E., 100 miles E. from Oojein. 
 It has the possessions of Sindia and 
 of Kotah to the north, the territories 
 of Sindia to the east ; the Nerbudda 
 to the south, and the districts of 
 Sindia and Holcar to the west. The 
 surrounding country is an uneven 
 jungly tract, but the soil is generally 
 fertile, especially in the vallies, and it 
 is well watered by numerous streams 
 of which the Betwa is the most con- 
 siderable.. In 1820 the whole prin- 
 cipality contained 1,571 jaghire and 
 khyrat (charity), and 2,559 khalsa or 
 crown villages, of which last 714 
 were uninhabited. In 1819 the gross 
 revenue of Bopaul amounted to nine 
 Jacks of rupees, but it was expected 
 to reach twenty lacks in 1824. 
 
 The town of Bopaul is surrounded 
 by a stone wall ; but presents a rui- 
 nous appearance, notwithstanding it is 
 the residence of the Nabob Foujdar 
 Khan. On the outside is a suburb 
 equally decayed, and on the south- 
 west a ghurry or native fortification, 
 built on the solid rock, with a stone 
 wall and square towers, but all much 
 dilapidated. Under the south-west 
 angle of this fort is a large tank, 
 formed by an embankment at the con- 
 fluence of several streams, one mile 
 and a half in breadth, and extending 
 to the west four miles and a half, 
 whence issues the river Bess. On 
 the east of the city there is a smaller 
 tank having two dams across, extend- 
 ing in length about two miles from 
 north to south, the source of the 
 small river Patra. 
 
 The town and territory of Bopaul 
 are occupied by a colony of Patans, 
 
BORKHAMPTI. 
 
 S77 
 
 to whom they were assigned by Au- 
 rengzebe, in whose service was Dost 
 Mahomed, an Afghan adventurer, the 
 founder of this petty state, who reign- 
 ed in A.D. 1723. After his death 
 the usual mixture of usurpation, as- 
 sassination, and other irregularities 
 inherent to all native dynasties, took 
 , place, but some member of the first 
 chief continued to occupy the throne, 
 with more or less vigour, until the 
 end of the eighteenth century, when 
 the superior energy of Vizier Maho- 
 med (although of an illegitimate ori- 
 gin) raised him to the musnud. In 
 1812 he made a long and successful 
 defence of Bopaul against the com- 
 bined forces of Sindia and the Nag- 
 poor Raja. In the urgency of his 
 distress, he earnestly solicited assist- 
 ance from the British government 
 but, notwithstanding the testimonials 
 he produced from General Goddard 
 in favour of his predecessors, a deaf 
 ear was turned to his supplications. 
 Being thus abandoned to his fate, and 
 harder pressed than ever, he was ap- 
 parently on the eve of being subdued, 
 when he died in 1816*. The Pindarry 
 power having now attained its acme, 
 interference became unavoidable, and 
 the Bopaul state was not only taken 
 under the protection of the British, 
 hut its territories so greatly aug- 
 mented, that in 1817 Capt. Henley 
 estimated that in five years they 
 would yield the Nabob an annual 
 revenue of from twenty- five to thirty 
 lacks of rupees. Nusser Mahomed 
 Khan, the reigning Nabob, died in 
 1819, and was succeeded by Moneer 
 Mahomed Khan, twelve years of age. 
 The eldest son of the late Nabob’s 
 brother was raised to the throne, 
 and affianced to Nusseer Mahomed’s 
 daughter, his widow being continued 
 in administration of Bopaul, now a 
 substantive state of Central India. 
 The affairs of this state appear to 
 have been tolerably well managed by 
 Nusser Mahomed’s ministers, and the 
 British interference has been little 
 called for ; the most convincing proof 
 that can be given of the good condi- 
 tion of a dependent ally.— ( Malcolm, 
 Prinsep, Henley , Hunter , fyc.) 
 
 Borasambah. — A pergunnah in 
 the province of Gundwana, dependent 
 on Patna, eighty miles S.W. by W. 
 from Sumbhulpoor. In 1817 Raja 
 Beneer Neehil Singh was assessed by 
 Major Roughsedge at 500 Nagpoor 
 rupees. 
 
 Boregaum. — -A town surrounded 
 by a mud wall in the province of Can- 
 deish, one mile south of the Sookta 
 river, which separates Asseer from 
 Cundwah, eleven miles N. by E. from 
 Asseerghur. In 1820 it contained 500 
 houses. Lat. 21°37 / N., Ion. 76°30 / E. 
 
 Boriah. — A small petty chiefship 
 in the province of Delhi. In 1820 
 the British government interfered to 
 settle a dispute between the tw 7 o 
 rannys of Bhugwunt Singh, the de- 
 ceased Raja, and entrusted the ma- 
 nagement of affairs to Dya Kooar, 
 the senior Ranny . — ( Public MS. Do- 
 cuments , fyc,) 
 
 Borkhampti. — This country is si- 
 tuated adjacent to Assam beyond the 
 Langtan mountains, which are said to 
 give rise to the Dihong or western 
 branch of the Brahmaputra; but as 
 yet scarcely any thing respecting it 
 is known. The south-eastern por- 
 tion of the Langtan mountains are 
 said to be visible from Seedeeya. It 
 is supposed by some to lie along the 
 upper course of the Irawady river, 
 and to be a district of Moonkoong, or 
 Mogoun, and tributary to the Burmese. 
 It is said to be separated on the east 
 from China, and on the north from 
 Tibet by lofty mountains covered with 
 snow, and accessive from the south 
 by the course of the Irawady. The 
 mountains, according to the same au- 
 thority, are inhabited by Khunoong 
 Mismees, who trade with China and 
 Tibet. Silver abounds in the north- 
 eastern, and iron in the south-eastern 
 portion of these mountains. Of the 
 iron they fabricate the Khampti 
 dhaws or axes, which are held in 
 great estimation. These Borkhamp- 
 ties are said to have come from that 
 part of the Shan country situated 
 east or south-east of Mogoun. — 
 {Public Journals, fyc.) 
 
278 
 
 BORNEO. 
 
 BORNEO. 
 
 ( Varunt.) 
 
 The largest of the Asiatic isles, ex- 
 tending from the seventh parallel of 
 north, to the fourth parallel of south 
 latitude, and from the 109th to the 
 118th of east longitude. The king- 
 dom of Borneo, or Burni, by Euro- 
 peans termed Borneo proper, having 
 been the first state visited by them, 
 may have given rise to the erroneous 
 application of the name to the whole 
 island, which by the native inhabi- 
 tants, and throughout the eastern 
 archipelago, is universally termed 
 Pulo Klemantan. It is of a solid, 
 compact, egg-like figure, and not so 
 deeply indented by arms of the sea 
 as the Eastern islands generally are, 
 yet it possesses many spacious bays 
 and harbours, and is surrounded by 
 muddy shores, and numberless isles 
 and rocky islets, many of the latter 
 not larger than a common European 
 house. In length it may be estimated 
 750 miles, by 350 the average breadth, 
 giving a superficial area of 262,500 
 square miles. 
 
 The interior of this island being 
 still wholly unexplored, we are com- 
 pelled to trust to the inaccurate com- 
 munications of the ignorant natives 
 to Europeans formerly settled at the 
 different factories, or occasionally vi- 
 siting the sea-coast on trading voy- 
 ages. This species of information is 
 obviously not entitled to much atten- 
 tion; from a concurrence of testi- 
 mony, however, we may infer, than 
 in general, for above thirty miles in- 
 land, it continues marshy and alluvial, 
 interspersed with small hills, almost 
 covered with jungle, but to a certain 
 degree cultivated. Further inland it 
 becomes mountainous, and is covered 
 with forests, swarming with wild 
 animals, and producing that species 
 of large ape, named by Malays orang 
 outang, or man of the woods. These 
 mountains are said to stretch in ranges 
 running north and south, between 
 which rivers flow, and extensive lakes 
 stagnate. If we may credit Malay 
 accounts, this central tract is also 
 partially inhabited, as they assert that 
 
 many of the articles, both of traffic 
 and subsistence, sold on the sea-coast 
 to Europeans, are brought from a dis- 
 tance of twenty days up the country. 
 
 The rivers of Borneo best known 
 to Europeans are those of Banjar- 
 massin, Passir, and Borneo proper, 
 which were ascertained to be navigable 
 for boats above fifty miles from their 
 junction with the sea; but they have 
 never been ascended higher by Euro- 
 peans, and rarely even by the resident 
 Malays. In a country drenched by 
 the solstitial rains there are probably 
 many other streams and rivers, but 
 of a short course, and seldom navi- 
 gable, which is an additional obstacle 
 to the exploring of the interior, to 
 those interposed by the Mahomedan 
 natives of the coast, who endeavour 
 to monopolize the traffic by prevent- 
 ing all communication between the 
 inland natives and the Chinese or 
 Europeans. 
 
 The climate of the northern por- 
 tion of Borneo much resembles that 
 of Ceylon, being from the abundance 
 of verdure always cool, and not sub- 
 ject to the hot land winds that pre- 
 vail on the coast of Coromandel. It 
 is watered also by numerous fine 
 streams, several of which fall into the 
 bay of Malloodoo without bars. In 
 this quarter are the high mountain 
 and large lake of Keeneebaloo, near 
 to which live the wild Idaan, named 
 also Maroots, Horaforas or Alforeze, 
 and Dayaks. According to native 
 accounts the lake of Keeneebaloo is 
 100 miles in circumference, and its 
 waters (which are represented to be 
 of a whitish colour) from five to six 
 fathoms deep. On the main-land of 
 the north coast, opposite to Balam- 
 bangan and Banguey, are forests of 
 tall timber without underwood, and 
 free-stone is also found in abundance. 
 Here are large flocks of cattle pamed 
 lisang, and flocks of deer and wild 
 hogs feed in the plains without fear 
 of the tiger. The country produces, 
 when properly cultivated, all sorts of 
 tropical fruits, grains, and vegetables, 
 but the climate has hitherto proved 
 very destructive to European consti- 
 tutions. 
 
BORNEO. 
 
 279 
 
 The coasts of this island are pos- 
 sessed by a number of petty Mahome- 
 dan states, some of which are said to 
 be of long duration. The resident 
 population of these is a mixture of 
 Malays, Japanese, Buggesses, and 
 Macassars, a few Arabians, and 
 some converted aboriginals. They 
 have in all ages been a rapacious, 
 treacherous race, much addicted to 
 piracy, with whom Europeans have 
 never yet been able to establish a 
 secure intercourse. A considerable 
 number of Chinese are always found 
 among them ; and it is a remarkable 
 fact, that their unarmed and unpro- 
 tected junks trade without difficulty, 
 along a coast so fatal to Europeans, 
 yet their cargoes are valuable, and 
 their vessels defenceless. The in- 
 terior is chiefly occupied by the agri- 
 cultural tribes named Dayaks, very 
 few of whom have as yet embraced 
 the Mahomedan religion ; that of the 
 Dayaks is but little understood, al- 
 though some of their usages have at- 
 tracted attention from their singu- 
 larity. In many places the posses- 
 sions of these Dayaks extend quite to 
 the sea-shore, more especially on the 
 eastern coast within the straits of 
 Macassar. There are also consi- 
 derable colonies of Chinese settled 
 along the principal rivers in the in- 
 terior, where in some instances they 
 appear to have established a sort 
 of independence. The lofty central 
 mountains of Borneo are represented 
 as occupied by tribes of Punams, 
 who, like the Bedahs of Ceylon, are 
 said to exist in the very rudest stage 
 of savage life. At present the mari- 
 time states are chiefly the following, 
 viz. 1. Borneo Proper, 2. Coti, 3. Pas- 
 sir, 4. Banjarmassin, 5. Matten, 6. 
 Pontiana, 7 . Sambas. The chiefs or 
 rajas of these piratical states possess 
 each one or more strong-holds, from 
 which, with the assistance of a pesti- 
 lential climate, they have frequently 
 repulsed European troops with severe 
 loss. 
 
 On the north coast of Borneo, 
 about Malloodoo Bay, is a consider- 
 able territory, the sovereignty of 
 which has been long claimed by the 
 
 Sooloos, but which, along with the 
 adjacent islands of Balambangan, &c. 
 was regularly ceded to the British, 
 and at different periods assumed 
 without any opposition from the Sul- 
 tan of Borneo Proper. Although 
 possessing a fertile soil, and irrigated 
 by various small rivers running from 
 the interior, it still remains nearly in 
 a state of nature, and almost unin- 
 habited; yet it is said to communi- 
 cate by land carriage of about fifty 
 miles with the great lakes of the in- 
 terior, in the vicinity of the gold-pro- 
 ducing formations. Should any settle- 
 ment be hereafter made on this coast, 
 which appears to be British property, 
 it ought to be fixed on a territorial, 
 and not on a commercial basis, for 
 all the latter have failed. There has 
 been a colony of Cambodians, one 
 thousand in number, established in 
 Borneo for above fifty years. 
 
 Some notices have been received of 
 ruins of temples and dilapidated cities 
 in Borneo, and of the existence of in- 
 scriptions in characters unintelligible 
 to the Chinese, Malays, and Dayaks ; 
 but the information is quite inconclu- 
 sive, and it still remains uncertain whe- 
 ther this island had ever attained a 
 higher degree of civilization than it at 
 present exhibits. That Borneo was vi- 
 sited many centuries ago by the Chi- 
 nese and Japanese, is well establish- 
 ed; but whether it was ever (until 
 recently) permanently colonized by 
 either of these nations, is not satis- 
 factorily ascertained. Porcelain jars, 
 plates, vases, and earthen utensils, 
 the manufacture of China and Japan, 
 are frequently discovered in different 
 parts of the country ; and such is the 
 veneration in which these articles 
 are held, that a single antique jar has 
 been known to be purchased by the 
 Dayaks of the interior for a sum little 
 short of .£200 sterling; these are prized 
 as the supposed depositories of the 
 ashes of their ancestors, by the un- 
 converted Dayaks, and appear to be 
 their sole objects of veneration, for 
 at present they know not the use of 
 priests, images, temples, or even of 
 brick, mortar, and stones. 
 
 In the province of Luccadow, up 
 
BORNEO. 
 
 £80 
 
 the great river Lawai, and nearly in 
 the centre of Borneo, according to 
 Malay information, there are twenty- 
 four tribes of different appellations, 
 whose bodies are not tattooed, and 
 six that have this distinguishing mark £ 
 a tribe like the Papua negroes ; and 
 another as fair as the Chinese, and, 
 like them, wearing trowsers. The 
 natives call their island Klemantan, 
 of Quallamontan; and the names of 
 many of the rivers, mountains, and 
 districts, greatly resemble those of 
 the Ultra Gangetic provinces. When 
 the Portuguese first visited this island, 
 in A.D. 1530, they found the Malio- 
 medan religion regularly established 
 ©n the sea-coast. 
 
 Borneo has long been known to 
 abound in gold, principally in alluvial 
 deposits, from whence it is procured 
 by the natives and Chinese, but most 
 effectually by the latter, who carry- 
 on their operations principally in a 
 territory situated between Sambass 
 and Pontiana, named Montradak, 
 from the chief mining village, situated 
 inland two days* journey by water. 
 The whole tract here specified is 
 alluvial, being intersected by nume- 
 rous rivers flowing from the interior, 
 of considerable size. The Chinese 
 population in this division have been 
 estimated at 36,000, including 4,000 
 women of a mixed breed j of this 
 number 6,000 work the mines, while 
 the rest are occupied in trade and 
 agriculture. They are almost inde- 
 pendent of the native chiefs, paying 
 a tax to the Sambass Raja, in whose 
 territories the mines are, of about 
 4,000 Spanish dollars per annum. 
 The mines usually consist of longi- 
 tudinal excavations, following the 
 course of the mineral strata, and of 
 very superficial depth, seldom exceed- 
 ing sixteen feet j the auriferous earth 
 is washed every thirty-five days, in 
 which space of time a mine wrought 
 by 200 labourers will yield from 250 
 to 500 ounces of the precious metal 
 in dust. The annual produce of the 
 great mines of Montredak have been 
 estimated at 83,362 ounces of gold, 
 and the total number of Chinese in 
 or near the gold districts at 200,000 
 
 persons. Antimony is found accu- 
 mulated in large masses or mountains 
 at Sadarrg and Sarawa, from whence 
 it is exported to Singapoor in large 
 quantities ; indeed the supply appears 
 inexhaustible. 
 
 Borneo is the only island of the 
 Eastern archipelago in which the 
 diamond is found, and principally li- 
 mited to the territories of the Ban- 
 jarmassin and Pontiana chiefs. The 
 most productive mines are at a place 
 named Landak, from which the dia- 
 monds of Borneo are designated to 
 distinguish them from those of Hin- 
 dostan ; and it is remarkable that the 
 same alluvial tract is also the richest 
 in gold. These mines appear to have 
 been long wrought by the Dayaks, or 
 aboriginal savages, but probably with 
 little skill or industry ; and even now 
 diamonds are little prized by the Chi- 
 nese, the resident Buggess merchants 
 being the great traffickers in these 
 gems. In 1815 the petty chief of 
 Mattan possessed one of the largest 
 diamonds in the world, obtained 
 about a century ago in the mines of 
 Landak ; in the rough state it weigh- 
 ed 367 carats, equal to I83f when 
 cut and polished, only eleven carats, 
 and a half less than the Emperor of 
 Russia’s diamond, and forty-six ca- 
 rats and three quarters heavier than 
 the Pitt diamond ; its real value is 
 .£269,378, which is £34,822 less than 
 the Russian, but £119,773 more than 
 the Pitt diamond. It is reported 
 since the above date to have fallen 
 into the hands of the ambitious chief 
 of Pontiana. 
 
 The inhabitants of the interior, or 
 aborigines, have received various ap- 
 pellations, in the south and west Da- 
 yaks, in the north Idaan, and in the 
 east Tiroon ; but they appear in 
 every respect to resemble the Hora- 
 foras, or Alforese, of the Dutch and 
 Portuguese. The latter are indi- 
 genous in nearly all the eastern isles, 
 and are sometimes found in the same 
 island with the Papuas, or oriental 
 negroes ; but the latter have never 
 yet been discovered by Europeans in 
 Borneo. The Dayaks are often lighter 
 in colour than the Mahomedans of 
 
BORNEO. 
 
 281 
 
 the sea-coast, and generally excel them 
 in strength and activity ; they are 
 divided into a great variety of tribes, 
 independent of each other, and vary- 
 ing in dialect, but they have a gene- 
 ral resemblance in language, customs, 
 and manners. Europeans have, as 
 yet, had few opportunities of investi- 
 gating the condition of the Dayaks, 
 as the Malay and Buggess traders, who 
 alone frequent the interior, can give 
 little account of the country, beyond 
 the distance of one place from ano- 
 ther, and the articles of traffic to be 
 procured at the different marts. 
 
 In appearance the Dayaks are 
 handsomer and fairer than the Malays, 
 of a more slender make, with higher 
 foreheads and noses ; their hair long, 
 strait, and coarse, and generally cut 
 close round their heads. They wear 
 a small wrapper round their loins, and 
 frequently tattoo their bodies. Their 
 houses are wooden erections of such 
 a size as to contain several families, 
 sometimes amounting to 100 persons. 
 They cultivate rice, collect gold dust 
 and diamonds, and trade in rattans, 
 dammer, and the other products of 
 their forests. In their diet they are 
 subject to few restrictions, hogs, rats, 
 snakes, and all kinds of vermin, being 
 equally welcome. Their arms are a 
 sampit or blow-pipe, and poisoned 
 arrows, and a large heavy knife. Few 
 are acquainted with fire-arms except 
 in the immediate vicinity of the Ma- 
 lay states. Their riches consist in 
 the number of jars, gongs, porcelain, 
 cups and saucers, &c. ; but the first 
 are most valued : some from super- 
 stituous motives, as high as 1,000 
 dollars. As subjects they are indus- 
 trious, particularly disposed to agri- 
 culture, and so docile, that in many 
 parts a handful of Malays tyrannize 
 over thousands of these peaceful cul- 
 tivators of the soil. 
 
 In their manners the most singular 
 feature is, the necessity imposed on 
 every person of some time in his life 
 imbruing his hands in human blood, 
 no person being permitted to marry 
 until he can show the skull of a man 
 he has slaughtered. It is not ne- 
 cessary, however, that this trophy 
 
 should be the result of his own prow- 
 ess, on the contrary, the head hun- 
 ter proceeds with his party to the vi- 
 cinity of another tribe, where he lies 
 in ambush until he can surprise some 
 unsuspecting wretch, whose head is 
 immediately chopped off. Occasion- 
 ally they pounce on a solitary fisher- 
 man, who is in like manner decapi- 
 tated forthwith. He then returns to 
 the village in triumph, is joyfully re- 
 ceived, and the head hung up over 
 the door. When a death occurs the 
 corpse is reduced to ashes, and a slave 
 killed, in order that he may act in 
 the same capacity in the next world. 
 Rich men purchase slaves when they 
 are cheap, to have them at hand in 
 case of emergency. The heads they 
 preserve with great care, and some- 
 times consult in divination. The reli- 
 gious, orrather superstitious, opinions 
 connected with these barbarous prac- 
 tices are not yet correctly understood. 
 
 As may be supposed, the practice 
 of head-stealing, so universal with 
 these petty tribes, must cause end- 
 less wars and feuds among them ; but 
 the men are stimulated by the con- 
 tumely they experience, both from the 
 females and their more fortunate 
 comrades, if they cannot perpetrate a 
 murder and carry off the head. Mr. 
 Burn relates that he saw a person 
 who had the reputation of having 
 obtained eleven heads, while his son, 
 although only a lad, had obtained 
 three. When a married woman com- 
 mits adultery, the husband in order 
 to wipe off the disgrace kills one, 
 two, or three of his slaves, and some- 
 times also beats his wife, or if he can 
 procure a head, he may quit her and 
 get another. In short, no transaction 
 of importance appears to take place 
 in which the possession of a human 
 head is not considered a necessary 
 element. 
 
 The Biajoos may be considered as 
 the same race with the Dayaks, Idaan, 
 and Horaforas, with their manners 
 somewhat diversified by the nature of 
 their pursuits, which are those of a 
 maritime life. They are in reality a 
 kind of sea gipsies, or itinerant fish- 
 ermen, who live in small covered 
 
232 
 
 BORNEO. 
 
 boats, and enjoy a perpetual summer 
 on the Indian ocean, shifting to lee- 
 ward from island to island, with the 
 variations of the monsoon. In some 
 of their customs this singular race 
 resemble the natives of the Maldives, 
 like whom they annually perform a 
 sacrifice to the god of evil, by launch- 
 ing a small bark loaded with the sins 
 and trespasses of the people, which 
 are imagined to be transferred to the 
 unfortunate crew that may be so un- 
 lucky as to meet with it. 
 
 The Biajoos on the north-west 
 coast are more civilized than the 
 others, and while the English colony 
 at Balambangan existed, used to sup- 
 ply it with rice, fowls, and other pro- 
 visions. By the Malays they are 
 named Oranglaut, or men of the sea. 
 These fishing Biajoos have boats of 
 about five tons, with whole families 
 on board, who catch sea slugs in seven 
 and eight fathoms water. They also 
 dive for it; the best, which is the 
 black sort, being only found in deep 
 water, some of the weight of half 
 a pound each. They arc sold to the 
 Chinese at the rate of five dollars per 
 picul, or 133y pounds. Some Bia- 
 joos dwell close to the sea on the 
 islands scattered round Borneo, and at 
 the mouths of the rivers, where their 
 houses are raised on posts. Many of 
 this sedentary class have become con- 
 verts to the Mahomedan religion. 
 
 On the north-east coast is a savage 
 people named Orang Tidong, or Ti- 
 roon, supposed to be another variety 
 of the Biajoo race. These reside up 
 the river, and fit out vessels to cruize 
 among the Philippines, and on the 
 north-eastern seas of Borneo. They 
 are a hardy race, and subsist mostly 
 on sago during their voyages. The 
 Malays of Magindanao affect to 
 despise them, but when they meet 
 among the Philippines, which are 
 their common prey, they do not mo- 
 lest each other. These are described 
 as occasional eaters of human flesh. 
 Their boats are small and the planks 
 being merely sewed together, they 
 can easily take them to pieces and 
 carry them overland when cooped up 
 in any bay by the Spanish guarda 
 
 costas. Their conduct to their pri- 
 soners is cruel in the extreme, often 
 mutilating the strongest, or leaving 
 them to perish on some desert sand- 
 bank.. They sell a great deal of sago 
 to the Sooloo islanders, who after- 
 wards dispose of it to the Chinese 
 junks. There remains another class 
 of Biajoos, who wander about Ce- 
 lebes, Borneo, and the Philippines, 
 and who are composed of a medley 
 of different nations ; such as Chinese 
 with long plaited hair ; Javanese with 
 bare throats, plucked beards, and 
 whiskers ; and Macassars with black 
 shining teeth. They are said mostly 
 to follow the Mahomedan and Chi- 
 nese religions. 
 
 Comparing the condition of this 
 island, in civilization and cultivation, 
 with other parts of India, the popu- 
 lation of which is better known, al- 
 though of so immense a size, we 
 cannot assign it a greater number of 
 inhabitants than from three to four 
 millions; not including in the esti- 
 mate the orang outangs, which 
 some authors assert is also a cook- 
 ing animal. The inhabitants of the 
 north coast have a tradition that their 
 country was once subject to China, 
 and in modern times it has become 
 a grand receptacle for the surplus po- 
 pulation of that overflowing empire. 
 In 1818 the Dutch commissioners at 
 Pontiana put forth claims to the 
 whole of the island, which, if admit- 
 ted, would in addition to Java, which 
 they have long possessed, ancl Suma- 
 tra, which they acquired by treaty in 
 1823, give them dominion over three 
 of the largest islands in the world, 
 besides two-thirds of Timor and 
 Ceram. In 1824 the Chinese gold 
 miners at Sinkawang were in a state 
 of insurrection against the Dutch, 
 who at the commencement were un- 
 successful, and obliged to evacuate 
 that portion of the coast. At this 
 date all the Dutch establishments on 
 the west coast of Borneo depended 
 on the residencies of Pontiana and 
 Sambass, or on the subordinate resi- 
 dencies of Mampava and Landak ; 
 the chief of which was to bear the 
 title of Resident on the west coast of 
 
BORNEO. 
 
 %83 
 
 Borneo. Mr. Muller, who was em- 
 ployed by the Batavian government 
 (about 1823), surveyed the whole 
 north-western coast of the island, 
 and also fixed many important geo- 
 graphical points of the interior ; but 
 many of these surveys were subse- 
 quently lost, in consequence of his 
 having been murdered by the natives. 
 — ( Forrest , Dalrymple , Leyden , Raf- 
 fles y Crawfurdy Hunt , Stavorinus , 
 Wilcocke , Elmore , #c.) 
 
 Borneo Proper (pronounced Bru- 
 nai). — A Malay kingdom on the 
 north-west coast of Borneo, and the 
 most civilized portion of the island. 
 The sea-coast of this state extends 
 about 700 miles, with a depth of 
 territory inland of from 100 to 150 
 miles. To the west it confines on 
 Sambas at Tajong Data, lat. 3° N., 
 Ion. 110° 36' E.; to the east it is 
 bounded by the tract claimed by the 
 Sooloos, marked by the mouth of 
 the Sandakan river in lat. 5° 50' N., 
 Ion. 118° 15' E. To the south Bor- 
 neo Proper has various savage tribes, 
 such as the Kayan, the Dusum, the 
 Marut, and the Tatao. To this prin- 
 cipality also belong the following is- 
 lands, viz. Malaweli, Banguey, Ba- 
 lambangan, Balabak, and Babullan, 
 among which are several fine har- 
 bours. 
 
 The most important rivers on the 
 north-west coast are those of Rayung 
 and Batavia, which lead to Sibeta, 
 the capital of the Kayan, the most 
 powerful of the unconverted tribes 
 in this quarter of the island. The 
 others are the Mahori, and that of 
 Borneo, which is navigable for ves- 
 sels of 300 tons twenty miles above 
 its junction with the sea. On the 
 north-eastern coast is the Sandakan, 
 or China Batangun river. 
 
 The interior of the Bornean do- 
 minions present extensive chains of 
 mountains, the most remarkable of 
 which, named Keeneebaloo, in lat. 
 6° north, owing to its great elevation, 
 is visible from both sides of the is- 
 land, which is here comparatively 
 narrow. The geology of Borneo Pro- 
 per, as far as European knowledge 
 
 goes, is primitive, and destitute of 
 the trap formations so common in 
 the Sunda chain ; neither have any 
 volcanoes been discovered within the 
 limits of this kingdom. Further west, 
 between the second and third de- 
 grees of north latitude, the districts 
 of Sarawak and Kasinloka abound in 
 gold, and the semi-metals antimony 
 and zinc. In the Kayan country iron 
 and tin are found, and even wrought 
 by the natives. 
 
 The land animals of this territory 
 hitherto discovered are the elephant, 
 rhinoceros, and leopard, but not the 
 royal tiger ; the bear, horse, buffalo, 
 ox, hog, dog, cat, duck, and common 
 fowl. The three animals first men- 
 tioned are only found in a single cor- 
 ner of this vast island, the districts 
 of Ungsang and Paitna ; nor are they 
 to be found in the archipelago fur- 
 ther east. The horse, the goat, and 
 the dog have been imported and do- 
 mesticated, and the range of the first 
 is still limited to the districts of Pan- 
 dasan and Tampasok, between the 
 fifth and sixth degrees of north lati- 
 tude. The ox and hog are natives 
 of the forest, and the jungles of Bor- 
 neo furnish an endless variety of the 
 ape and monkey tribes, some of them 
 nearly approaching the human form. 
 The seas yield the turtle, pearl 
 oyster, mother-of-pearl oyster, and 
 the biche de mer, or esculent sea 
 slug ; the land, rice, sago, black pep- 
 per, camphor, cinnamon, bees’-wax, 
 and many woods, useful and orna- 
 mental. 
 
 Besides the Malays and other Ma- 
 homedans, Borneo Proper is inha- 
 bited, or rather infested by numerous 
 tribes of barbarian savages, differring 
 in dialect, and carrying on an inces- 
 sant warfare. A small district, or 
 even a village, here constitutes a na- 
 tion, desiring nought but the heads 
 of its neighbours. The races of 
 most note are the following: — the 
 Malays, Sooloos, Biajoos, Dasuns, II- 
 lanos, Kadayans, Bisayans, Maruts, 
 Kalamuts, Tutungs, Kyajoos, Ka- 
 yans, Dayaks, Tataos, Kanawuts, and 
 Melandos. The unconverted tribes, 
 in manners and customs bear a close 
 
284 
 
 BORNEO. 
 
 resemblance to each other. They 
 wear only one piece of cotton or 
 bark cloth round their loins, and 
 usually nothing else ; but the Kayan 
 warriors occasionally wear also bear 
 and leopard skin coats and caps. 
 Their arms consist of a blow-pipe 
 for discharging poisoned arrows, 
 swords, spears, and long shields. 
 At the chief town of the Kayan, who 
 in the scale of Bornese greatness are 
 a, powerful people, some cannon and 
 muskets are to be found. Some of 
 the tribes are mischievous and fero- 
 cious, others less so, a few inoffen- 
 sive, and even industrious ; but in 
 one ruling passion they are unani- 
 mous, viz. the pleasure of cutting off 
 human heads, and then hoarding 
 them as a family treasure. The ori- 
 gin of this practice, so universal 
 among all the savage tribes from Ben- 
 gal to the extremity of Papua, has 
 not yet been traced, or its motives 
 satisfactorily explained. Some of 
 these tribes dwell in miserable huts 
 covered with leaves ; but the majority 
 in houses of immense size, capable 
 of accommodating from 50 to 200 
 persons ; security from hostile at- 
 tacks being apparently the object. 
 Indeed the Bornean savages are far 
 from the lowest stage of social ex- 
 istence, for they have all some know- 
 ledge of agriculture, and several un- 
 derstand even the smelting and ma- 
 nufacture of metals. They do not 
 appear to have any system of reli- 
 gious belief, nor any gods, idol«, 
 priests, or temples; but apparently 
 abundance of superstitious fears. 
 None of the native Bornese tribes 
 have any alphabet, which is remarka- 
 ble, considering how universal al- 
 phabetical symbols are in all the 
 other large islands, and argues a per- 
 manent inferiority, originating pro- 
 bably from its geographical figure, 
 Borneo, like Africa, being a solid 
 mass, without indenture by gulfs, bays, 
 -or inland seas. 
 
 In Borneo Proper the ruling and 
 most civilized race is the Malay ; yet, 
 with all their converts to the Ara- 
 bian faith, they are said not to com- 
 pose more than the tenth part of the 
 
 whole population. The Malayan 
 emigration to this island is supposed 
 to have taken place about the middle 
 of the thirteenth century. The king 
 is designated by the Hindoo title of 
 rada (raja), with the epithet of iangdi 
 per tuan (be who lords it) ; but his 
 despotism is modified by select mi- 
 nisters who form his council, and 
 from thirty to forty hereditary pan- 
 gerans or nobles. This principality 
 is generally reckoned of some du- 
 ration, as it is alluded to in the an- 
 nals or legends of Malacca as a proud 
 and independent state. One proof 
 of its antiquity is the high venera- 
 tion for the prince’s authority, found 
 in all ancient Malay states, but in „ 
 very few of recent origin. — ( Singa - 
 poor Chronicle , Forrest , Crawfurd, 
 $c.) 
 
 Borneo Town. — This place is si- 
 tuated on the north-west coast of 
 the island, ten miles up a river 
 of the same name ; lat. 4° 56' N., 
 Ion. 114° 44' E. The river is na- 
 vigable for ships of burthen above 
 the town, but the mouth is narrow, 
 and has a bar, over which there is 
 scarcely seventeen feet water at high 
 tide. Up to the town the water is 
 salt, and the flood runs at the rate of 
 four miles per hour. In the middle 
 there is six fathoms water, and here 
 the Chinese junks lie moored, head 
 and stern. 
 
 The houses of Borneo are built on 
 each side of the river on posts, and 
 are ascended to on stairs and ladders. 
 It resembles Venice in having small 
 water channels instead of streets. 
 All the traffic is transacted on board 
 of boats, which float up and down 
 the river with the tide, and are in ge- 
 neral managed by women. This city 
 has long carried on a trade with Chi- 
 na, the Sooloo Isles, the Philippines, 
 the Straits of Malacca, the west coast 
 of Borneo, and with the small prin- 
 cipalities on the east side of the 
 Malay peninsula. For some time 
 past the China trade has been inter- 
 rupted, but when in activity, two 
 junks came from the province of 
 Nanking, two from Limpo, two from 
 
BOTOL TOBAGO. 
 
 285 
 
 Amoy, one from Canton, and two 
 Portuguese vessels from Macao. The 
 intercourse between Borneo and Ma- 
 nilla was also formerly brisk : but of 
 late years, on account of the pre- 
 vailing anarchy, has declined like 
 that of China. The Manilla trade 
 was conducted chiefly by Bornese 
 boats, who made the voyage from 
 one place to the other in seven days. 
 At present by far the most consi- 
 derable commerce is that with Sin- 
 gapoor, which in 1825 employed forty 
 prows. 
 
 Last century there was an English 
 factory here, but for a number of 
 years past Europeans have desisted 
 from visiting this city, on account of 
 its violent and anarchical govern- 
 ment ; but apparently the trade might 
 be now with safety renewed. The 
 commodities best adapted to this 
 market are the following, viz. British 
 and Indian cotton and woollen fa- 
 brics; opium for the native and Chi- 
 nese markets, with iron, arms, and 
 ammunition. The staple native ex- 
 ports are fine camphor, pepper (equal 
 to 20,000 piculs), tortoiseshell, escu- 
 lent roots, sea slug, mother of pearl 
 shells, pearls, sago, woods for dyeing, 
 for perfumes, and for ship-building. 
 To these exports may be added teas, 
 wrought and raw silks, nankins, cam- 
 phor, and cassia, imported in the first 
 instance from China. The Chinese 
 traders construct their own junks 
 here at a remarkably moderate ex- 
 pense per ton. The teak tree is not 
 produced here ; but a variety of ex- 
 cellent and durable woods, fit for all 
 the purposes of naval architecture 
 (more especially the camphor tree), 
 are found in abundance. 
 
 In October 1825 a prow belonging 
 to the king of Borneo Proper, above 
 200 tons burthen, arrived at Singa- 
 poor, having on board a diplomatic 
 mission, consisting of the Orang 
 Kaya Kayong, or lord of Kayong, 
 the ambassador, and a suite of be- 
 tween 200 and 300 persons, who 
 landed with much barbaric splen- 
 dour. At that time there were six- 
 teen Bornean trading vessels in the 
 harbour of Singapoor, and the object 
 
 of the embassy was to draw closer 
 the bonds of amity between his Bor- 
 nese majesty and the British nation; 
 the whole indicating a material ad- 
 vance in civilization. The reigning 
 raja was described by his subjects 
 as a person of superior capacity, 
 speaking Chinese, and deciding im- 
 partially . — ( Singapoor Chronicle , For- 
 rest, Elmore , fyc .) 
 
 Boro Budor.— A remarkable Bud- 
 dhist temple in the island of Java, 
 eighteen miles N.W. from Yugya- 
 carta. Lat. 7° 4 4' S.,lon. 110° 8' E. 
 This edifice is supposed to have been 
 built about A.D. 1338, and is a square 
 structure of a pyramidical shape end- 
 ing in a dome, situated in the moun- 
 tainous province of Kedu. It embraces 
 the summit of a small hill rising per- 
 pendicularly from the plain, and con- 
 sists of a series of six square ascending 
 walls, with corresponding terraces; 
 three circular rows of latticed cages 
 of hewn stone in the shape of bee- 
 hives ; and finally of the dome already 
 mentioned, which, although without 
 the apex that once crowned it, in 
 1815 was still twenty feet high. The 
 height of the whole building is lift 
 feet, and at the base each side mea- 
 sures in extent 526 feet. The hill 
 is in fact a sort of nucleus to the 
 temple, having been cut away to suit 
 the purpose, and there is no cavity 
 in the whole mass except the dome. 
 The outer and inner side of each wall 
 are covered with a profusion of sculp- 
 ture, and in various parts are niches 
 containing above 300 figures of Bud- 
 dha, and altogether within the pre- 
 cincts there were in 1815 near 400 
 images of that deity. There are four 
 entrances to the temple facing the 
 cardinal points of the compass, guard- 
 ed by lions (an animal that never 
 existed in Java) as warders.— {Craw- 
 furd, $c.) 
 
 Botol Tobago. — An island in the 
 China seas, lying within sight E.S.E. 
 from Formosa ; but which does not 
 appear to have been visited by any 
 European navigator. Lat. 21° 50' 
 N., Ion. 121° 57' E. 
 
286 
 
 BRAHMAPUTRA RIVER. 
 
 Bourasinghv. — A town in the 
 Northern Circars, thirty-seven miles 
 S.W. from Ganjam. Lat. 19° N., 
 Ion. 84° 45' E. 
 
 Bout an. — A high round island, 
 with several smaller ones near it, 
 lying off the north-east coast of the 
 Malay peninsula. Lat. 6° 32' N., 
 Ion. 99° 10' E. 
 
 Bowal. — A small village in the 
 province of Bengal, district of Dacca 
 Jelalpoor, twenty miles N. by E. 
 from the city of Dacca ; lat. 23° 
 57' N., Ion. 90° 23' E. The country 
 surrounding this hamlet swarms with 
 game of all sorts, among which may 
 be enumerated elephants, tigers, 
 leopards, bears, buffaloes, wild bears, 
 deer of many varieties, foxes, hares, 
 jackals, tiger-cats ; and of the fea- 
 thered tribes floricans (the otis hou - 
 bara of Linnaeus), peacocks, the do- 
 mestic fowl in a wild state, different 
 kinds of partridges, snipes, quail, 
 wild ducks, teal, and wild pigeons. 
 
 Brahmaputra River. — ( Brahma - 
 putra, son or offspring of Brahma.) 
 — For many years past this river, on 
 the authority of Major Rennell and 
 Capt. Turner, has been supposed to 
 be a continuation of the Sanpoo of 
 Tibet ; but recent discoveries have 
 tended to bring this conjecture into 
 disrepute, at least so far as refers to 
 the eastern branch, or Luhit, the 
 course of which has been traced un- 
 til it diminishes to a shallow rockv 
 stream, broken by rapids, among the 
 range of mountains that bound As- 
 sam to the north-east. It has also 
 been ascertained that Brahmacoond 
 is not its source. Some geographers, 
 however, expect that a connexion 
 between the Brahmaputra and San- 
 poo will still be established by means 
 of the Dihong oi western branch ; 
 but this appears improbable, both 
 from the inconsiderable size of the 
 Dihong at the furthest point to which 
 it has been explored, and the moun- 
 tainous chain (apparently a prolonga- 
 tion of the Himalaya) which seems 
 to extend without interruption east- 
 ward far beyond the longitude of the 
 
 Dihong. The question, however, will 
 not remain much longer undecided, 
 and it would be lost time at present 
 to balance probabilities ; for further 
 information therefore respecting the 
 upper course of this river the reader 
 may examine the articles Assam and 
 Sanpoo, what follows having prin- 
 cipally reference to its lower course. 
 
 Proceeding west, the Brahmaputra 
 reaches Goalpara, formerly the fron- 
 tier town, where its expanse is mag- 
 nificent and the scenery grand ; but 
 the water is extremely dirty, and the 
 surface during the floods covered 
 with a dusky foam, intermixed with 
 logs of wood, vast floats of reeds, 
 and a great variety of dead bodies, 
 especially of men, deer, and cattle, 
 which are scarcely less offensive to 
 the senses than the half-burned hu- 
 man carcasses on the banks of the 
 sacred Ganges. 
 
 Having quitted Assam, the Brah- 
 maputra rushes to the notice of Eu- 
 ropeans in the Rungpoor district 
 with increased rvolume, a channel at 
 least a mile broad, and when not en- 
 cumbered with islands, continues in 
 many places nearly the same width ; 
 but in many places these subdivide 
 the channel into many parts and en- 
 large its size, so that from bank to 
 bank there is often a distance of five 
 miles. During the dry season in this 
 part of its course, the water no 
 where fills its channel, even where 
 narrowest ; in the wet season, except 
 where there are a few scattered hills, 
 the river everywhere overflows its 
 banks, and in many parts deluges an 
 extent of from twenty to thirty miles, 
 insulating such small hills as are in 
 the vicinity. 
 
 In the Rungpoor district the rise 
 of the Brahmaputra usually com- 
 mences in April, and in the beginning 
 of May increases still further. This 
 may be partly owing to the melting 
 of the snow in the mountains ; but in 
 general the swelling of the river and 
 the inundation are chiefly affected by 
 the rains in the immediate neighbour- 
 hood. A few fair days always di- 
 minish its size, and it never rises 
 much except after very heavy rain. 
 
BRAHMAPUTRA RIVER. 
 
 287 
 
 The rapidity and bulk of the river 
 continue gradually to increase, and 
 it attains its greatest elevation about 
 the beginning of August, towards the 
 end of which it subsides, and the 
 current loses much of its force. The 
 inundation contracts at the same 
 time, and although the river rises 
 once or twice in September and the 
 beginning of October, it has never 
 been known in these months to pass 
 the bounds of its regular channel. 
 Within the limits of Bengal the Brah- 
 maputra is not fordable at any sea- 
 son, but its navigation is rendered 
 difficult by the great number of sand- 
 banks, and the trunks of trees half 
 buried in its bed. . Within the British 
 territories the numberless islands and 
 channels are undergoing incessant 
 changes, and the like mutations may 
 be expected to continue. 
 
 After entering Bengal the Brah- 
 maputra makes a circuit round the 
 western point of the Garrow moun- 
 tains, and then altering its course to 
 the south in the Dacca province, is 
 joined by the Megna, which although 
 not the tenth part of its magnitude, 
 most unaccountably absorbs its name, 
 and communicates its own to the 
 huge mass of water, until they in- 
 termix with those of the Ganges near 
 the Bay of Bengal. In 1809, the 
 Brahmaputra threatened by a change 
 of its course to carry away all the 
 vicinity of Dewangunge, and perhaps 
 to force its current into the Nattore 
 jeels in the Rajeshahy district, which 
 would very much disturb the modern 
 geography of Bengal by submerging 
 a vast extent of surface, while its old 
 bed would become a morass. 
 
 During its journey through Bengal 
 the Brahmaputra bears so intimate a 
 relation to the Ganges, that one de- 
 scription suits both, except that dur- 
 ing the last sixty miles above their 
 junction, under the name of Megna, 
 it forms a stream which is regularly 
 from four to five miles wide, and but 
 for its freshness might pass for an 
 arm of the sea. The union of these 
 two mighty rivers below Luckipoor 
 now forms a gulf, interspersed with 
 many islands, some equal in size to the 
 
 Isle of Wight. The. bore, which is a 
 sudden and abrupt influx of the tide 
 into a river or narrow strait, prevails 
 in the principal branch of the Ganges 
 and in the Megna ; but the Hooghly 
 river, and the passages between the 
 islands and sandbanks situated in the 
 gulf, formed by the confluence of the 
 Ganges and Brahmaputra, are more 
 subject to it than other rivers. 
 
 Notwithstanding the great magni- 
 tude of the latter, it was unknown in 
 Europe until 1765, as a capital river 
 of India ; nor did it ever among the 
 Hindoos attain the same reputation 
 for sanctity, or conciliate the same 
 interest, as its female neighbour the 
 Ganges. Among the Hindoos of 
 Nepaul the name Brahmaputra is 
 said to be applied to the Sanpoo ; and 
 in Assam, although the term is known, 
 the great river, or at least that 
 portion running south-west towards 
 Bengal, is more commonly called 
 Luhit. The name first mentioned 
 signifies son or offspring of Brahma, 
 the creator of the world, and its vast 
 bulk in a figurative sense might en- 
 title it to that appellation ; but such 
 is not the derivation of Hindoo my- 
 thologists. According to these sages, 
 it owes its origin to an intrigue which 
 took place between Brahma and Ome- 
 gha, the wife of a holy man named 
 Santona, the particulars of which, on 
 account of their extravagant inde- 
 cency, do not admit of narration. 
 
 Since the expulsion of the Bur- 
 mese from Assam it has been found 
 eligible to establish steam-boats on 
 the Brahmaputra, and in 1826 the 
 Court of Directors authorized the 
 construction of machinery for two 
 steamers of twenty-five horse power 
 each, and drawing only three feet 
 water. It was soon discovered that, 
 owing to peculiar circumstances, these 
 inventions were much more wanted 
 on the Brahmaputra than even the 
 Ganges, as on the first there is not 
 only a vast space to be traversed, 
 and a still more rapid current to be 
 overcome ; but it is also wholly with- 
 out the favourable wind which for 
 so many months in the year blows 
 against the stream of the Ganges, 
 
288 
 
 BRAMBANAN. 
 
 During the rains the prevailing wind 
 along the Brahmaputra is quite ad- 
 verse, being in the same direction 
 with the stream, at least beyond the 
 point of Dhombree, where it takes an 
 easterly direction. The difficulty of 
 tracking is also much greater along 
 the Brahmaputra than the Ganges, 
 as the continual traffic along the lat- 
 ter, and the uninterrupted occurrence 
 of villages and cultivation, have made 
 a regular road along its banks ; where- 
 as the channel of the Brahmaputra is 
 bounded through very considerable 
 intervals by dense and inhospitable 
 jungles. One mile per day in such 
 situations, and under such circum- 
 stances, is a fair average rate of ad- 
 vance ; and a voyage from Dacca to 
 Rungpoor, the former capital of As- 
 sam, has been found fully equal in 
 duration to a voyage to Europe. 
 Steam-boats will be able to overcome 
 many obstacles that oppose the pro- 
 gress of common boats which they 
 can drag up the river, carrying sup- 
 plies of stores, troops, and function- 
 aries. — ( F . Buchanan , Capt. Turner , 
 Rennell , Public Journals , fyc.) 
 
 Brala. — A small island lying off 
 the eastern coast of Malacca ; lat. 4° 
 55' N., Ion. 103° 40' E. 
 
 Bramadeo ( Brahma Deva ). — A 
 sacred spot on the west bank of the 
 Goggra, in the great Saul forest at 
 the foot of the Kumaon mountains, 
 province of Delhi, about seventy-five 
 miles N.E. from the town of Bareily. 
 The river Goggra here penetrates 
 the great northern barrier, and en- 
 ters the plains of Rohilcund. In 
 sublimity of scenery it yields nothing 
 to the Ganges at Hurdwar, although 
 the landscape has less expanse, and 
 is of a wilder and darker character. 
 The Goggra here rushes in a deep 
 and beautiful rapid through a narrow 
 ravine confined by precipitous moun- 
 tains, over a bed of white pebbles, 
 reflecting from its surface the vivid 
 green hue of the primeval woods that 
 overshadow it. 
 
 Bramadeo, however, has not been 
 so fortunate as Hurdwar in attract- 
 ing the notice of superstition, for one 
 
 sacred peepul tree, with a small stone 
 basement built round its trunk, is not 
 only the sole temple, but almost the 
 only memorial of time or humanity 
 to be found here. The most direct 
 thoroughfare between Bareily, and 
 the British stations of Chumpawut 
 and Lohoo ghaut, in Kumaon, is by 
 this sequestered spot, in consequence 
 of which a small commissariat depot 
 was soon after its conquest establish- 
 ed here, and a pathway five feet wide 
 opened through the hills, which al- 
 though steep and difficult, is still prac- 
 ticable to foot passengers during the 
 greater part of the year. More re- 
 cently the depot has been withdrawn ; 
 the jungle has re-spread to the mar- 
 gin of the river, and the spot aban- 
 doned to the wild beasts, its prior 
 inhabitants. — ( Fullarton y &c.) 
 
 Brambanan. — A village in the is- 
 land of Java, province of Mataram, 
 between the two native capitals of 
 Suracarta and Yugyacarta, and three 
 miles N.N.E. from the latter; lat. 
 7° 49' S., Ion. 110° 25' E. 
 
 At this place are many extraordi- 
 nary remains of Hindoo images, tem- 
 ples, and inscriptions, and more 
 especially of the remarkable group 
 named the “ thousand temples,” 
 which occupies an oblong area of 
 600 feet by 550, and consists of four 
 rows of small temples, enclosing in 
 the centre a great edifice sixty feet 
 high. The temples are pyramidical 
 buildings, all of the same character, 
 covered with a profusion of sculp- 
 ture, and consisting of large blocks 
 of hewn stone. Each of the small 
 temples contained an image of Bud- 
 dha, and in the great centre one, 
 divided into several apartments, Siva 
 figures, or some of his attributes. 
 To the whole group there are four 
 entrances, facing the cardinal points 
 of the compass, each guarded by 
 two gigantic statues representing 
 warders, which measure, in a kneel- 
 ing posture, not less than nine and a 
 half feet high by eleven in girth. 
 
 The constructors of Brambanan 
 evidently possessed the art of turn- 
 ing an eliptical arch and vault, but a 
 
BROACH. 
 
 289 
 
 circular arch or vault is no where 
 found among the ruins. There is 
 manifestly a regular design, not only 
 in every group or cluster, but also in 
 every single temple ; and the excel- 
 lence of the materials, their great 
 solidity, and the labour exerted to 
 complete them, are deserving of ad- 
 miration. The walls are covered with 
 innumerable ornaments in alto and 
 basso-relievo, yet without indecen- 
 cy, and scarcely any thing fantastical 
 or absurd, except the deities them- 
 selves. There are a great many 
 images of Buddha, but the temples 
 of Brambanan appear to have been 
 consecrated to Siva, his images, to- 
 gether with those of Durga and Ga- 
 nesa (his wife and son), being found 
 in such extraordinary abundance. 
 It has been conjectured that the ear- 
 liest temples of Brambanan were 
 built about A.D. 1188, and the most 
 recent about 1218. — ( Crawfurd , fyc.) 
 
 Brewer’s Straits. — Narrow straits 
 in the eastern seas, that separate the 
 large island of Panchu from the 
 north-eastern coast of Sumatra. The 
 northern entrance is formed by the 
 island of Baucalis and the main land 
 of Sumatra ; lat. 1° 36' N., Ion. 102°E. 
 
 Broach ( Barigosha ). — A British 
 district in the Gujerat provinces, si- 
 tuated principally between the twen- 
 ty-first and twenty-second degrees of 
 north latitude, and bounded on the 
 west by the Gulf of Cambay. This 
 is one of the best cultivated and po- 
 pulated tracts on the west coast of 
 India, and was finally acquired by the 
 Bombay presidency at the treaty of 
 peace concluded with Dowlet Row 
 Sindia, in December 1803. As a par- 
 ticular favour the Peshwa was then 
 allowed to retain Ahmood Jumbosier 
 and Dubboi, being old fiefs of his fa- 
 mily ; but after his expulsion in 1817, 
 these also, together with Dejbarah 
 and Bahadurpoor, were incorporated 
 with the Broach zillah. 
 
 Being so conveniently situated, the 
 Bombay presidency made many, and 
 not very honest, attempts to obtain 
 this district, and had possession of 
 it for a short time prior to 1782, 
 
 vol. r. 
 
 but were compelled to offer it pri- 
 vately as a bribe to Madhajee Sindia, 
 to procure his concurrence to the 
 treaty of Salbey. Since its final ces- 
 sion in 1803, with the exception of 
 a few Bheel incursions, it has enjoy- 
 ed uninterrupted tranquillity; but 
 so many changes have taken place in 
 its territorial dimensions, that a 
 statement of its revenue conveys lit- 
 tle information as to its real condi- 
 tion. In 1818 the jumma or assess- 
 ment to the land revenue, was ru- 
 pees 17,35,085; in 1819, rupees 
 17,55,872; and in 1820, rupees 
 21,91,576. 
 
 In the old portion of the Broach 
 district there are no Mewassies, 
 few Grassias ; little variety in the 
 soil, produce, or modes of assess- 
 ment; no unauthorized alienations, 
 and no taxes of the slightest im- 
 portance except the land-tax. The 
 revenue system has been long esta- 
 blished, and preserved unaltered, and 
 the courts of justice work well, and 
 are sufficiently comprehended by all 
 classes. The country, however, has 
 not improved in appearance so much 
 as might have been expected ; hedges 
 and trees are rarely seen except close 
 to villages, which last are clumsily 
 built of unburned bricks, and very 
 inferior to those seen beyond the 
 Myhie. In 1812 the population of 
 the Broach pergunnah consisted of 
 
 Hindoos 60,448 ? 
 
 Mahomedans 15,895 $ ' 5 
 
 Broach town 32,716 
 
 Oclaseer pergunnah and 
 
 town 29,969 
 
 Hansoot do do 18,955 
 
 Total 157,983 
 
 ( Elphinstone , Romer , fyc.) 
 
 Broach. — A large and ruinous city 
 in the province of Gujerat, the capi- 
 tal of the above district, situated on 
 an eminence on the banks of the 
 Nerbudda, twenty-five miles from its 
 entrance ; lat. 21° 46' N., Ion. 73° 
 14' E. It is said to derive its appel- 
 lation from the Hindoo saint, de- 
 votee, or demigod, Bhrigu, and o 
 U ught 
 
290 
 
 BROOANG PASS. 
 
 properly to be written Bhrigu Khetra, 
 or Bhrigupura, the town or place of 
 Bhrigu. It is also thought to have 
 been the Barygaza of the ancients, 
 and when it surrendered to the Em- 
 peror Acber, in 1572, still continued 
 a port of great trade. It is men- 
 tioned by Sidi Ali in A.D. 1554. 
 
 The houses are here built like 
 those at Surat and Cambay, the 
 streets generally narrow and dirty, 
 and in the vicinity are many dila- 
 pidated mosques and mausoleums. 
 Being situated in a fertile country, it 
 is plentifully supplied with provisions 
 and game, and the Nerbudda, which 
 washes its southern wall, abounds 
 with carp and other fish. A consi- 
 derable traffic is carried on with Su- 
 rat and Bombay, principally in raw 
 cotton, grain, and seeds of all sorts, 
 in boats with large lateen sails. 
 In 1812 the population by actual 
 enumeration was found to be, Hin- 
 doos 19,836; Mahomedans 9,888; 
 Parsees 2,992; total 32,716 persons. 
 Since the above period, however, it 
 has probably much declined, as in 
 1824 it is described as a poor, dila- 
 pidated, hot and unhealthy place. The 
 Nerbudda here is two miles across at 
 ebb tide, but very shallow, and ad- 
 mits only vessels of small burthen 
 beyond the bar at Tunkaria. A sea- 
 breezo sometimes comes up with the 
 flowing tide, but is not always to be 
 depended on. The climate of Gu- 
 jerat, and of the other provinces un- 
 der the Bombay presidency, Poona 
 perhaps excepted, are more generally 
 unfavourable to the preservation of 
 European health and strength than 
 those of the other two presidencies. 
 
 In 1807 there were twenty-five 
 nats or societies in Broach, of the 
 Banyan caste, comprehending 5,261 
 individuals of both sexes. At this 
 place there is a pinjrapole, or hospi- 
 tal for animals, supported by dona- 
 tions from the Hindoo inhabitants. 
 Every marriage and mercantile trans- 
 action is taxed for the pinjrapole, by 
 which above £ 1,000 is raised an- 
 nually ; a great proportion of which 
 is absorbed into the coffers of the 
 managers. The only expensive ani- 
 
 mals it at present contains are milch 
 cows, which repay the expense of 
 their keeping. It was formerly re- 
 ported that beggars were hired by 
 the managers, that the lice and simi- 
 lar insects might feed on them ; but 
 in 1824 the officiating Brahmins de- 
 clared this to be a calumny, in as 
 much as every animal whatever was 
 fed on vegetable food. 
 
 By the treaty concluded with the 
 Peshwa and the combined Maharatta 
 powers in June 1782, the city and 
 pergunnah of Broach were ceded to 
 the East-India Company; but next 
 month of the same year they were 
 made over to Madhajee Sindia, osten- 
 sibly as a recompense for his hu- 
 mane treatment of the British priso- 
 ners and hostages who surrendered 
 at Wurgaum ; but in reality for his 
 assistance in bringing about the paci- 
 fication, which at that period, on ac- 
 count of Hyder’s invasion of the Car- 
 natic, was most urgently wanted. In 
 1772 Broach was besieged by an army 
 from Bombay, commanded by Gen. 
 Wedderburne (Lord Loughborough’s 
 brother),, who was killed under the 
 walls ; but a few days after the gene- 
 ral’s death, although then a place of 
 considerable strength, it was taken by 
 storm. After the death of Madhajee 
 Sindia, it devolved to his nephew and 
 successor, Dowlet Row Sindia, from 
 whom it was taken in 1803, and has 
 ever since remained with the British 
 government. Travelling distance from 
 Bombay, 221 miles ; from Oojein, 
 266 ; and from Poona, 287 miles. — 
 ( Drummond, Wilford , Moore , Rennell , 
 Romer , §c.) 
 
 Brooang Pass ( or Burendo ). — A 
 pass through the Himalaya moun- 
 tains, near the course of the Sutuleje, 
 15,095 feet above the level of the 
 sea ; lat. 31° 23' N., Ion. 78° 12' E. 
 The country in this neighbourhood 
 is extremely rugged, and the popula- 
 tion thinly scattered, in villages situ- 
 ated at a great distance from each 
 other ; they are, however, in general 
 large, and the houses (built of stone 
 and wood, and sometimes slated) spa- 
 cious. The people are described as 
 
BUDDHA GAYA. 
 
 291 
 
 dark in their complexions and dirty 
 in their habits, but their temples are 
 said to be of a superior description. 
 — {Lieut. Gerard , §c.) 
 
 Buboorara. — A village in the pro- 
 vince of Sinde, situated on the road 
 from Hyderabad to Luckputbunder, 
 about twenty-four miles to the north 
 of the latter; Iat. 24° 10'N., Ion. 69° 
 2 ' E. This place stands on the edge 
 of the Runn, and during the dry sea- 
 son is abandoned by the inhabitants. 
 — {Maxfield^ Sfc.) 
 
 Bubrooa. — A town in the province 
 of Ajmeer, belonging to the Jeypoor 
 Raja, fifteen miles distant from his 
 capital. In 1820 it was said to con- 
 tain 2,000 houses. 
 
 Bucclesore. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Bengal, district of Birbhoom, 
 seven miles from the ruins of the an- 
 cient city of Nagore. At this place 
 is the most copious hot springs met 
 with in this quarter of the Vindhyan 
 range, its waters forming a running 
 stream of considerable size ; it is 
 also the hottest, as in January 1819 it 
 raised a thermometer, immersed, to 
 152° Fahrenheit. The water exhales 
 a strong sulphureous smell, and re- 
 servoirs have been built to receive 
 them. A street of above 100 diminu- 
 tive pagodas has been raised along 
 the margin, with the usual pictu- 
 resque accompaniment of venerable 
 burgot trees, and a host of officiating 
 Brahmins. — {Fullarton, fyc.) 
 
 Buchone. — A town in the province 
 of Allahabad, twenty-seven miles W. 
 by S. from Callinjer; lat. 25° 2' N., 
 Ion. 80° 7 E. 
 
 Buckar (or BhuJcJcurJ. — A small 
 town in the province of Lahore, fre- 
 quently the residence of the hakim, 
 or governor of the Leia district, situ- 
 ated within a few miles of the Indus ; 
 lat. 31° 38' N., Ion. 70° 40' E. — {El- 
 phinstone , fyc.) 
 
 Buckatghur (or Wuckutghur ). — 
 A town and small fort in the province 
 of Malwa, situated on the north bank 
 of the Nerbudda; lat. 22° 15' N., 
 Ion. 76° 21' E. 
 
 Buckrah. — A town in the province 
 of Bahar, district of Tirhoot, thirty- 
 two miles north from Patna ; lat. 26° 
 4' N., long. 85° 10' E. 
 
 Buckrah. — A town in the province 
 of Oude, district of Goruckpoor, si- 
 tuated on the banks of the Buckrah 
 jeel, or Lackshmisar lake, the theme 
 of a popular and indecent Hindos- 
 tany song ; twenty-three miles north- 
 west from Goruckpoor; lat. 26° 4' 
 N., Ion. 85° 10' E. 
 
 Budanghur. — A fortified post in 
 Northern Hindostan, twenty-six miles 
 N. by W. from Almora, lat. 30° N., 
 Ion. 79° 31' E., 8,242 feet above the 
 level of the sea. 
 
 Budayoon ( BudavanJ . — A town 
 in the province of Delhi, district of 
 Bareily, twent} r -nine miles south-west 
 from Bareily ; lat. 28° 4' N., Ion. 78° 
 58' E. It was first conquered by the 
 Mahomedans in A.D. 1203, when it 
 was in a flourishing condition ; and it 
 is mentioned by Abul Fazel in the in- 
 stitutes of Acber, as a place of cele- 
 brity ; but its importance has long 
 ceased, and it is remarkable only for 
 its antiquity. 
 
 BuddhaGaya. — Remarkable ruins 
 in the province and district of Bahar, 
 situated a few hundred yards west of 
 the Nilajan river, in a plain of great 
 extent, about five miles from Gaya 
 Proper. They now consist of confused 
 heaps of brick and stone, which ex- 
 hibit some traces of having been once 
 regularly arranged ; but im mense quan- 
 tities of the materials have been re- 
 moved, and the remainder are almost 
 shapeless. The building here called 
 the temple of Buddha is a lofty brick 
 edifice, resembling at a distance a 
 huge glass-house, and now so honey- 
 combed with age, as to excite surprise 
 that it continues erect. Buddha Gaya 
 was probably at one time the centre 
 of a religion, and capital of a powerful 
 king ; but the sect of Buddha in this 
 neighbourhood may be considered as 
 completely extinct, yet a few persons 
 come occasionally from distant coun- 
 tries to visit its monuments. The 
 most remarkable modern edifice is a 
 convent of Sanyassies. 
 
 u 2 
 
BUDGEROONS. 
 
 292 
 
 On the terrace behind the temple a 
 peepul tree is growing which the or- 
 thodox suppose to have been planted 
 by Brahma; the Buddhists, on the 
 contrary, assert that it was planted 
 by Dugdha Kamini, king of Singhal 
 Dwipa, 414 years before the birth of 
 our Saviour, and 125 before the 
 building of the temple, and that it 
 is placed exactly in the centre of 
 the earth. The tree in 1812 was in 
 full vigour, and appeared to be about 
 100 years of age; but a similar one 
 may have existed in the same place 
 when the temple was entire ; a circu- 
 lar elevation of brick has been raised 
 round its root, in various concentric 
 circles, and on one end of these has 
 been placed a confused heap of 
 images and carved fragments of stone, 
 taken from the ruins. Indeed the 
 number of images scattered about 
 this place, for fifteen or twenty miles, 
 in all directions, is almost incredible ; 
 yet they all appear to have originally 
 belonged to the great temple or its 
 vicinity, which seems to have been 
 the grand quarry for the whole, and 
 carried from thence to different 
 places. Many of these images are 
 now worshipped by the Brahminical 
 Hindoos, and many of the attributes 
 of their gods have apparently the same 
 origin ; but this people, with all their 
 religious zeal, are most unaccount- 
 ably careless in many respects, wor- 
 shipping males under female names, 
 and unequivocal images of Buddha, 
 as an orthodox deity. Besides in- 
 scriptions establishing the Buddhist 
 origin of many of these images, they 
 may be distinguished by the enor- 
 mous size and distension of their ears, 
 and also by a mark on the palm of 
 the hand and soles of the feet, which 
 is supposed to resemble the lotus 
 flower. — ( F. Buchanan, Fullarton , Sf-c.^ 
 
 Buddegaum (BuddhagramaJ. — A 
 town in the province of Agra, district 
 of Narwar, with a stone ghurry. In 
 1820 it belonged to Sindia, and con- 
 tained about 1,000 houses. 
 
 Buddoo ( Buddha J. — A village in 
 the Lahore province, formerly tribu- 
 tary to the Raja of Jamboe, sixty-one 
 
 miles N. by E. from Amritsir; lat, 
 22° 26' N., Ion. 75° E. An annual 
 fair is held here on the 5th April. 
 
 Buddruck ( Vadarica ). — A town 
 in the province of Orissa, situated on 
 the north bank of the Cew'ah or So- 
 lundee river, which at one season of 
 the year is fordable here, and at ano- 
 ther 300 yards broad; lat. 21° T N., 
 Ion. 86° 26' E., thirty-eight miles 
 S.S.W. from Balasore. From this 
 part of Orissa come most of the peo- 
 ple termed in Calcutta Balasore bear- 
 ers. — (Is/ Register , fyc.) 
 
 Budgebudge ( Bhujabhuj ) . — A 
 small town in the province of Ben- 
 gal, situated on the east side of the 
 Hooghly, ten miles below Calcutta 
 in a straight line, but almost double 
 that number following the windings 
 of the river ; lat. 22° 29' N., Ion. 88° 
 20' E. 
 
 During the reign of Seraje ud Dow- 
 lah, the last independent nabob of 
 Bengal, this station had a separate 
 fortress, which on the 29th of De- 
 cember 1756 was besieged in form, 
 and a breach effected, by the forces 
 under Admiral Watson and Colonel 
 Clive, who intended a general assault 
 before day break. During the night, 
 however, it was most informally 
 stormed by a sailor named Strahan, 
 who happening to get drunk, wander- 
 ed up to the breach and fired a pistol 
 at some of the garrison : who not 
 doubting but he was followed by the 
 whole army, fled out by the opposite 
 side, and left him in possession of the 
 place. This little fort is still in ex- 
 istence, and may be traced, but with 
 difficulty, its area being so choked up 
 with grass jungle as to be scarcely 
 accessible. A more exotic and useful 
 structure at Budgebudge in 1820 was 
 a good English tavern, the only one 
 on the banks of the Hooghly except 
 at Calcutta. — {Ives, Fullarton, fyc.) 
 
 Budgeroons. — Three small islets 
 in the Eastern seas in the straits of 
 Salayr, off 1 the southern extremity of 
 Celebes. The passage is between the 
 southernmost and central one, and is 
 about a mile broad. 
 
BULDEAH. 
 
 293 
 
 Budhan Dhoora. — A mountain 
 peak in Northern Hindustan, eighteen 
 miles S.W. from Almora ; lat. 29° 
 28' N., Ion. 79° 20' E. ; 8,502 feet 
 above the level of the sea. 
 
 Budnawur. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Malwa, thirty-one miles north 
 from Dhar, which in 1820 contained 
 734 houses. Lat. 23° 2' N., Ion. 76° 
 17' E. It is the head of a pergunnah 
 of the same name which at the above 
 date comprehended 150 villages, and 
 a population of 31,119 persons. Of 
 these villages twenty-two belonged to 
 the Dhar principality ; the rest to 
 twelve Rajpoot families tributary to 
 that chief, but each independent 
 within his own limits. The town of 
 Budnawar is surrounded by a mud 
 wall in bad repair, and there is also a 
 fort where the Mundlovee resides. 
 In 1820 the town and district afford- 
 ed a revenue of 92,271 rupees, which 
 was on the rise, as the villages were 
 flourishing and population increasing. 
 — ( Malcolm , fyc.) 
 
 Budnapoor. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Aurungabad, twenty-six miles 
 E. of the city of Aurungabad; lat. 
 19° 54' N., Ion. 75° 57' E. 
 
 Budra River ( 'bhadra , excellent). 
 — This river has its source in a hilly 
 district of the Mysore province, not 
 far from the frontiers of Coorg, from 
 whence it flows in a northerly direc- 
 tion until it joins the Tunga river ; 
 their junction forming the Tunga- 
 bhadra or Toombudra river. 
 
 Bugano. — An island about fifty 
 miles in circumference, lying off the 
 south-eastern coast of Sumatra ; lat. 
 5° 20' S., Ion. 102° 25' E. There is 
 no fresh water to be had on the east 
 side of this island. 
 
 Buggesses. — S eeBoN y and Celebes. 
 
 Buggroo.— A small town in the 
 province of Ajmeer, eighteen miles 
 S.W. from Jeypoor ; lat. 26° 5 O' N., 
 Ion. 75° 15' E. This place is sur- 
 rounded by groves of the tara palm, 
 a rare sight in these inhospitable 
 plains ; yet the soil does not appear 
 radically bad, and water is found not 
 far from the surface. 
 
 Bughat. — A petty lordship (one 
 of twelve) in Northern Hindostan, 
 situated in the tract between the Su- 
 tuleje and Jumna; bounded on the 
 west by the Pinjore valley, and to 
 the east and south by Sirmore. It 
 contains the forts of Rajghur, Aj- 
 manghur, Tuxal, Lukchaynpoor, and 
 Thuroo. Mahindra Singh, who reign- 
 ed in 1817, prior to the British con- 
 quest, paid the Gorkhas a tribute of 
 2,000 rupees per annum ; but having 
 by his conduct during the war for- 
 feited all claim for the restitution of 
 his territories, a certain portion was 
 retained to compensate for the ex- 
 pense incurred. — {Lieut. Ross , Public 
 MS. Documents , fyc.) 
 
 Bugwah. — A small town and ghur- 
 ry in the province of Allahabad, twen- 
 ty-five miles S.E. from Teary; lat. 
 24° 25' N., Ion. 79° 9' E. 
 
 Bugwara. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Candeish, eighty-seven miles 
 west from Boorhanpoor; lat. 21° 21' 
 N., Ion. 74° 56' E. In 1816 it be- 
 longed to Holcar, and contained 300 
 houses. — ( Sutherland , fyc.) 
 
 Buitenzorg. — A district in the is- 
 land of Java, which, according to a 
 census taken by the British govern- 
 ment in 1815, contained 76,312 per- 
 sons, of which number 2,633 were 
 Chinese. It then occupied an area 
 of 2,41 1 square miles. The village of 
 Buitenzorg, the country residence of 
 the governor of Java, stands in lat. 6° 
 39' S., Ion. 106° 50' E., thirty-six miles 
 travelling distance south from Bata- 
 via. Being placed at the base of the 
 blue mountains, the air here is cool 
 and healthy, but invalids suffer from 
 the profusion of rain which falls here 
 almost every evening. — {Thorn, Raf- 
 fles, $c.) 
 
 Bujana. — A. town in the province 
 ofGujerat, division of Jutwar, situated 
 on the banks of the Runn, which here 
 in the month of December is in many 
 places merely moist sand, and in 
 others an extensive sheet of shallow 
 water; lat. 23° 5' N., Ion. 71° 50' E. 
 
 Buldeah. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Malwa, surrounded by a mud 
 
BULU CHINA. 
 
 294 
 
 wall, and containing a ghurry or na- 
 tive fortification, ten miles N.N.W. 
 from Turrote. 
 
 Bulindshehr ( the lofty city ) . — A 
 town in the Delhi province, forty-one 
 miles S.E. from the city of Delhi ; 
 lat. 28° 25' N., Ion. 77 ° 43' E. 
 
 Bulluah. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Oude, district of Goruckpoor, 
 forty-two miles S.E. from the town 
 of Goruckpoor; lat. 26° 45' N., Ion. 
 83° 19' E. 
 
 Bullum. — A small district in My- 
 sore, situated about lat. 13° N. above 
 the western ghauts, partly compre- 
 hended in the British jurisdiction of 
 Canara, and partly within the territo- 
 ries of the Mysore Raja. The exter- 
 nal appearance of the three divisions 
 of Bullum, Coorg, and Bednore near- 
 ly resemble each other, being all com- 
 posed of high hills and deep vallies. 
 The mountains are mostly bare, but 
 the ravines are covered with jungle, 
 and in many places by primeval fo- 
 rests, inhabited by a great variety of 
 wild animals. In fact, although no- 
 minally under subjection to the for- 
 mer sovereigns of Mysore, it never 
 was effectually conquered until mili- 
 tary roads were made through it by 
 the Duke of Wellington, in 1801-2. 
 The duration of the rains, which 
 commence about the middle of May 
 and continue until November, give 
 rise to a multitude of rivers, which 
 flow in various directions the whole 
 year. The waters that descend from 
 these elevated regions to the west- 
 ward, proceed to the Indian ocean 
 through the provinces of Malabar 
 and Canara. Bullum contains no 
 town, or even village of any conse- 
 quence. 
 
 Bullumghur. — A town and for- 
 tress in the province of Delhi, twen- 
 ty-one miles south from the city of 
 Delhi; lat. 28° 23' N., Ion. 77 ° 10' 
 E. The fovt has high brick walls, 
 strengthened with a deep ditch and 
 high mud bastions. Within is a small 
 crowded, but tolerable well-built 
 town, with narrow streets, tall houses, 
 and many temples. The raja has a 
 
 neat palace built round a small court, 
 with a marble fountain in the centre. 
 The Bullumghur chief holds a consi- 
 derable territory as feudatory to the 
 British government, on condition of 
 maintaining a body of troops to as- 
 sist the police, and repress all incur- 
 sions of the Mewatties and other 
 predatory tribes. The family and 
 most of the people are Jauts. In 
 1819 the late Raja of Bullumghur 
 died, leaving an infant son ; in conse- 
 quence of which the management of 
 this small principality was entrusted 
 by the British government to Raja 
 Kooar Singh, the great uncle of the 
 deceased Raja. 
 
 Bulrampour. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Oude, forty-two miles N. 
 from Fyzabad ; lat. 27° 24' N., Ion. 
 82° 4' E. 
 
 Bulsaur. — A large and populous 
 seaport on the high road to Bombay, 
 forty-five miles S. by W. from Surat ; 
 lat. 20° 36' N., Ion. 73° 5' E. A con- 
 siderable trade is carried on in grain, 
 jaggry, and timber. The manufac- 
 tures consist mostly of coarse doties, 
 baftaes, and ginghams. The princi- 
 pal produce of the pergunnah is rice 
 and sugar-cane ; but there is still a 
 large proportion of waste and unoc- 
 cupied land. — ( Morrison, fyc.) 
 
 Bulsun. — A petty chiefship in 
 Northern Hindostan, situated be- 
 tween the Sutuleje and Jumna, on 
 the left bank of the Girree river, 
 whence it extends eastward to the 
 frontiers of Joobul, by which it is 
 also bounded to the south; to the 
 north it joins Koteghur. Lat. 31° 5' 
 N., Ion. 77 ° 28' E., forty-two miles 
 N. by E. from Nahan. 
 
 Bulteira Ghaut. — A ghaut on 
 the Nerbudda river, province of Mal- 
 wa, fordable in March. The river 
 here is wide but shallow, and on its 
 south bank stands the small village 
 of Bulteira. In this neighbourhood 
 there are many other fords formerly 
 well known to the Pindaries. — ( Mal- 
 colm , Sfc.) 
 
 Bulu China ( named from a spe- 
 cies of bamboo ). — A small native state 
 
BUNDLECUND. 
 
 29 5 
 
 on the east eoast of Sumatra, subor- 
 dinate to Delli, situated on a river of 
 the same name, flowing almost paral- 
 lel with the Delli river. In 1823 this 
 village contained only eighty houses, 
 but there were many others scatter- 
 ed along the river banks, of which 
 Soonghal was the largest and most 
 commercial. Further inland the Bat- 
 tas and the Karankaran tribes are nu- 
 merous, and industrious cultivators. 
 The exports are pepper (raised by the 
 Battas), gambir, tobacco, and slaves ; 
 the imports are small quantities of 
 every thing, but more especially 
 opium and cotton goods. A traffic is 
 also carried on quite across Sumatra 
 to Sinkel, on the opposite shore. 
 The country is naturally rich and pro- 
 ductive, but, except on the banks of 
 the rivers, seantily populated. A 
 Malay here is reckoned rich who pos- 
 sesses 2,000 dollars. — ( Anderson , fyc.) 
 
 Bunahee. — A good-sized town in 
 the province of Ajmeer, situated at 
 the foot of a range of hills nineteen 
 miles south from Nusseerabad ; lat. 
 26° 8'N., lon.74°38'E. On an ad- 
 joining rock is a little old castle, with 
 some trees round its base, which are 
 very ornamental in this parched coun- 
 try. 
 
 Bunaisor ( Vaniswara J . — -A de- 
 cayed town in the province of Orissa, 
 district of Cuttack, situated some 
 miles west of the great Juggernauth 
 road, and about eighteen miles S. by 
 W. from the town of Cuttack. The 
 temple of Mahadeva (or Siva) at this 
 place is said to surpass in dimensions 
 the pagoda at Juggernauth, and nu- 
 merous other temples and ruins of an 
 ancient city are dispersed throughout 
 the neighbouring jungles,— (Fullar- 
 ton , fyc.) 
 
 Bunchang. — A town in the inte- 
 rior of Siam, situated on the Meklong 
 river, which flows south into the Me- 
 nam, and in 1826 contained about 
 4,000 inhabitants, mostly Chinese. 
 It is supposed to be the Banxang of 
 the Lettres edifiantes. 
 
 Bunchiom. — A considerable town 
 in the interior of Siam, above 
 
 Bankok, situated at the junction of 
 the Meklong with the Sissovat river, 
 which here comes from the north. 
 In 1826 it contained about 5,000 in- 
 habitants. — (Leal, #c.) 
 
 Bunchoola.— A ruined native fort 
 In Northern Hindostan, twenty-three 
 miles north of Almora ; lat. 29° 53' 
 N., Ion. 79° 6'E., and 4,083 feet 
 above the level of the sea. 
 
 Bundara.— A town in the province 
 of Gundwana, dominions of Nag- 
 poor, situated on the Wyne Gunga 
 river, 8 72 feet above the level of the 
 sea. 
 
 Bundlecund ( the country of the 
 BundelasJ . — A large division of the 
 Allahabad province, situated princi- 
 pally between the twenty-fourth and 
 twenty-sixth degrees of north lati- 
 tude. On the north it has the river 
 Jumna; on the south parts of Berar 
 and Malwa; on the east Baghelcund ; 
 and on the west Sindia’s territories. 
 It extends from 77° 48' to 81° 33' E., 
 and from 24° 3' to 26°26'N., and 
 contains altogether 23,817 miles, with 
 a population of 2,400,000 persons. 
 
 The mountains of this tract ex- 
 tend in continuous ranges parallel to 
 each other, each successively but- 
 tressing a table-land, one above the 
 other, and here designated by the 
 name of ghauts. The first of these 
 ranges is called the Bindhyachal (or 
 Vindhya) mountains, which com- 
 mence at Kesoghur, and make a cir- 
 cuitous sweep until they approach the 
 Ganges at Surajghur and Rajamahal. 
 The plains of Bundlecund resemble a 
 vast bay of the ocean, formed by na- 
 tural barriers and crowned with for- 
 tresses. The progressive elevation 
 from the Jumna is towards the apex 
 of the bay, but the highest sum- 
 mit does not exceed 2,000 feet above 
 the level of the sea. The second 
 range, called the Panna ghauts, runs 
 parallel to the Vindhyachal, pre- 
 serving a distance of about ten miles ; 
 the third, named the Bandair, is the 
 most elevated portion of the pro- 
 vince. 
 
 The principal rivers are the Ken, 
 Desan, and Betwa. Large artificial 
 
296 
 
 BUNDLECUND. 
 
 reservoirs, such as the lakes of Bur- 
 wa Saugor, Arjal, Birsangur, Nan- 
 danvvar, Bomori, Jhatara, Gurrah, 
 and Bhind. These are immense piles 
 of masonry, in some instances con- 
 structed to stop the current of a 
 stream, in order to raise it to a higher 
 level and force it to expand for the 
 purposes of irrigation. There are 
 not any forests in this district, the 
 most valuable productions of the 
 hills (besides diamonds) being bam- 
 boos, iron, drugs, gums, the chironja 
 nut, and catechu or terra japonica. 
 The diamond mines are situated in 
 the table-land near Panna, and are 
 the exclusive property of the Panna 
 Raja ; but no gems of superior qua- 
 lity have been discovered for many 
 years past. A coarse cotton cloth 
 dyed red is the principal manufacture ; 
 at Calpee sugar-candy and paper, and 
 at Jhansi a carpet manufactory. A 
 coarse kind of sacking is woven along 
 the banks of the Betwa, and at Chat- 
 terpoor, which supplies wrappers for 
 the merchandize passing from the 
 Deccan. 
 
 The soil of Bundlecund exhibits 
 every variety, from the rich black 
 loam to the sterile conkar. The val- 
 leys and low lands are generally of 
 the first, and when properly watered, 
 produce in abundance almost every 
 grain and plant of Hindostan. In the 
 more barren tracts millet, panic, and 
 paspelum are grown ; but even these 
 inferior sorts, in times of scarcity, are 
 not attainable by the poorer classes, 
 with whom the fruit of the bassia 
 latifolia, sometimes mixed with the 
 deleterious bark of the katbal tree, is 
 the wretched, and almost poisonous 
 substitute. In 1815, according to 
 the returns made to the Marquis of 
 Hastings, the district of Bundlecund 
 contained 21,18,991 small begas in 
 cultivation, which yielded a revenue of 
 29,01,510 rupees, or about one rupee 
 six annas per bega. There were also 
 8,94,387 begas fit for cultivation. 
 
 There are not any remarkable 
 buildings now extant, but some re- 
 markable ruins, such as those at 
 Mahoba; Cajram, near Rajanagur; at 
 Malhan above the hills, near Jodh- 
 
 poor; and at Sirswaghur, near Saleya, 
 on the Pohawaj. Among the natural 
 curiosities may be reckoned the sub- 
 terraneous cavern near Chittracote ; 
 another in the hills near Bijawer ; 
 the cataract of Bedhak, near Calyan- 
 ghur ; and of the rivers, Paisuni, Bha- 
 gi, and Ranj rivers; but the objects 
 most deserving of notice are certainly 
 the hill forts of Callinjer and Ajy- 
 ghur. 
 
 The principal Hindoo religious es- 
 tablishment is at Chittracote, on the 
 Paisuni river, and there are Jain tem- 
 ples at Senawal and Kandalpoor; 
 but the most singular is at Panna, 
 founded by an enthusiast named Jee 
 Sauheb, who declared himself to be 
 the Imaum Mehedi mentioned in 
 the koran, to which Jee Sauheb’ s 
 book, named the Kulzam, is intended 
 to be a sort of appendix. His fol- 
 lowers, named also Dhamians, are 
 to be found in the Punjab, in Gujerat, 
 Delhi, Lucknow, Benares, Mathura, 
 Fyzabad, Nagpoor, and Hyderabad : 
 but Panna is their Mecca. The pecu- 
 liar dialect called Bundlecundy is 
 spoken in a tract lying due west of 
 Allahabad, and along the banks of 
 the Jumna from Meno to Calpee. 
 It is a Sanscrit derivative, and meets 
 the Malwa on the west, the Bruj on 
 the north, and the Maharatta on the 
 south. 
 
 The principal towns of Bundle- 
 cund are Banda, the head-quarters of 
 the magistrate, Callinjer, Teary, 
 Jyhtpoor, Chatterpoor, Jhansi, Dul- 
 teen, and Bejaour. The British pos- 
 sessions extend along the line of the 
 river Jumna, from the Allahabad dis- 
 trict to that of Etaweh, and from the 
 Jumna southward to the frontier of 
 the native states. They contain 
 4,685 square miles, including the per- 
 gunnah of Koonch, and have a po- 
 pulation of about 700,000 inhabi- 
 tants. The states of the native chiefs 
 or rajas of Bundlecund occupy the 
 remainder of the space, under dif- 
 ferent chiefs, protected by the British 
 government. These small princi- 
 palities are numerous, and some of 
 them extensive. For the convenience 
 of fiscal and political arrangements 
 
BUNWOOT. 
 
 297 
 
 the whole province has been recently 
 divided into two districts, named 
 north and south Bundlecund. The 
 British government, in their treaties, 
 took care never to relinquish the 
 right of interference for the correc- 
 tion of acts of gross and flagrant 
 violence and oppression committed 
 by any of the dependent Bundelah 
 chiefs, even against their own sub- 
 jects, such a right necessarily flowing 
 from the relations subsisting between 
 the parties, and cannot be renounced 
 without depriving the British govern- 
 ment of one of the most powerful 
 means of rendering its paramount au- 
 thority conducive to the welfare and 
 tranquillity of the country : to be ex- 
 ercised, however, with extreme for- 
 bearance and circumspection. — ( Cap- 
 tain T. Franklin, Public MS. Docu- 
 ments, fyc.) 
 
 Bundermalanca ( Bander maha 
 LancaJ . — A town in the Northern 
 Circars, fifty-four miles E.N.E. from 
 Masulipatam. Lat. 16° 26' N., Ion. 
 81° 59' E. 
 
 Bunderpooch ( A monkey's tail). 
 — The third peak of the JumnoWtri 
 or Bunderpooch mountain, in the 
 Himalaya, marked black E. in Capt. 
 Hodson and Lieut. Herbert’s survey, 
 is thus named by the natives. It 
 stands in lat. 31° 1' N., Ion. 78° 33' 
 E., and is a conspicuous object viewed 
 from Saharunpoor. Elevation above 
 the level of the sea 21,155 feet. The 
 name of Bunderpooch applies only 
 to the highest peak, all the subor- 
 dinate peaks and ridges having pe- 
 culiar names. — ( Hodson , Herbert , fyc.) 
 
 Bunghur.-— A town and pergunnah 
 in the province of Gundwana, depen- 
 dent on Sumbhulpoor, seventy-two 
 miles N.W. from Sumbhulpoor. In 
 1818, it was assessed in money by 
 Major Roughsedge at 1,500 Sumbhul- 
 poor rupees. 
 
 Bunhutghaut. — A pass in the 
 province of Malwa through a chain 
 of jungly hills lying in a north-west 
 direction from Ratghur. Lat. 23° 
 26' N. 
 
 Bunjaree Ghaut. — A pass among 
 the hills in the province of Gund- 
 wana, 115 miles S.W. from Ruttun- 
 poor. Lat. 21° 8' N., Ion. 81° 7' E. 
 This spot is of such an elevation that 
 it causes the rivers to take opposite 
 courses. — ( Leckie , fyc.) 
 
 Bunkora. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Gujerat, principality of Hoon- 
 gerpoor, about seventeen miles E. by 
 S. from that town. In 1821 it be- 
 longed to a Rajpoot chieftain named 
 Pertaub Singh. 
 
 Bunkoulee. — In 1815 a large and 
 apparently populous village in north- 
 ern Hindostan, sixty-six miles N.W. 
 from Serinagur. Lat. 30° 49' N., Ion. 
 78' E. — ( Jas . Frazer, fyc.) 
 
 Bunnee (Bhuni ). — A section of 
 the Runn thus named, extending 
 along the northern boundary of Cutch 
 and skirting the desert, which in some 
 places is seven miles broad. This 
 space is never cultivated, being re- 
 served for the grazing of cattle on 
 account of its excellent pasturage. 
 The Bunnee is the receptacle of the 
 water accumulated by the monsoon 
 torrents, and by the stream of the 
 Luckput river, after the subsidence of 
 which it becomes an extensive and 
 luxuriant meadow. In ancient times 
 the river Indus is said to have flowed 
 into this space, where it formed the 
 lake of Narrain Sir, now a small foun- 
 tain worshipped by the Hindoos. 
 
 Bunraree Temple. — A small tem- 
 ple in Northern Hindostan, ten miles 
 S.E. from Serinagur. Lat. 30° 9' N., 
 Ion. 78° 53' E. ; 6,950 feet above the 
 level of the sea. 
 
 Buntwalla. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Canara, fifteen miles E. from 
 Mangalore. Lat. 12° 54' N., Ion, 74° 
 50' E. 
 
 Bunwoot. — An island about eigh- 
 teen miles in circumference, lying off 
 Pollok harbour, in Magindanao ; lat. 
 7° 14' N., Ion. 124° 28' E. On the 
 12th of September 1775, this island 
 was ceded to Capt. Thomas Forrest, 
 by the sultan and government of Ma- 
 gindanao, the grant being written in 
 
298 
 
 BURDWAN. 
 
 Spanish by a native of Pampanga, 
 once a slave, but who obtained his 
 liberty by turning Mahomedan. Bun- 
 woot is covered with tall trees, clear 
 of underwood, and at the date of the 
 grant was uninhabited. There are few 
 springs, but many ponds of fresh rain 
 water, and the interior abounds with 
 wild hogs, monkeys, guanas and small 
 snakes about eighteen inches long. 
 In this state it probably remains, as 
 it never was taken possession of. — 
 (Forrest, fyc.) 
 
 Buragong.— A small town in the 
 province of Agra, fifteen miles S. by 
 E. from Jaloun. Lat. 25° 58' N., 
 Ion. 79° 20' E. 
 
 Burdaiwud. — A small town in the 
 province of Malwa, belonging to 
 GhufFoor Khan, which in 1820 con- 
 tained 400 houses, nine miles and a 
 half N.N.W. from Khachrode. 
 
 Burdee. — A town in the province 
 of Gundwana, situated on the south 
 bank of the Sone river, here a very 
 diminutive stream, thirty-eight miles 
 S. from the city of Mirzapoor. Lat. 
 24° 36' N., Ion. 82° 27' E. The 
 Burdee fort is of stone, and stands 
 on a high abrupt hill washed by the 
 Goput. There is another small fort 
 not far off, named Bhoparee. The 
 Burdee Raja’s territories are much 
 intermixed with those of the British 
 government, and in some parts are 
 tolerably well cultivated ; but in the 
 vicinity of the chief town the sur- 
 rounding country has a most desolate 
 aspect.— (J. B. Blunt , S^c.) 
 
 Burdwan (Varhdaman , produc- 
 tive J . — A district in the province of 
 Bengal, situated between the 22d and 
 24th degrees of north latitude. On 
 the north it is bounded by Birboom 
 and Rajeshahy ; on the south by Mid- 
 napoor and Hooghly; and on the west 
 by Midnapoor and Ramghur. In 
 1784 this district contained 5,174 
 square miles, according to Major 
 Rennell’s mensuration; but it has 
 since undergone various modifica- 
 tions, which have so greatly reduced 
 its dimensions, that in 1814 Mr. 
 
 Bailey computed its area at only 
 2,400 square miles. 
 
 Along with the other ceded lands 
 it became subject to the British go- 
 vernment so early as 1760, since 
 which it has thriven so prosperously, 
 that, in proportion to its extent, it 
 may safely be considered as the most 
 productive and populous territory of 
 India. It is environed by the jungles 
 of Midnapoor, Pachete, and Birboom, 
 appearing like a garden surrounded 
 by a wilderness. The most valuable 
 articles are : sugar, indigo, pawn, 
 cotton, tobacco, and mulberry trees, 
 all of which have progressively in- 
 creased in quantity. Many of the 
 principal zemindars reside in Cal- 
 cutta, and have their estates managed 
 by agents. There are a considerable 
 number of native merchants, who 
 deal in tobacco, salt, grain, and cloth, 
 and commerce has been greatly fa- 
 cilitated by the opening of three 
 grand roads from the interior, Burd- 
 wan, although so opulent, not having 
 the advantage of inland navigation, 
 like most of the adjoining districts. 
 
 The original zemindary or estate, 
 known by the name of Burdwan, 
 came to the present family about 
 A.D. 17 22, and in 1790 paid a yearly 
 rent to government of .£400, 000, but 
 at present no property of any mag- 
 nitude belongs to the raja, except 
 the zemindary, greatly curtailed, and 
 scarcely yielding him more than five 
 per cent, on the land tax. The other 
 chief, the Raja of Bissunpoor, has 
 nothing left but his title, a great pro- 
 portion of his estate having been sold 
 for arrears of revenue, and the rest 
 usually continuing under attachment 
 from the same cause. There are few 
 villages here in which there is not a 
 school where children are taught to 
 read and write ; but there are no re- 
 gular schools for instruction in the 
 Hindoo or Mahomedan law. The 
 most learned professors of the first 
 are procured from the district of 
 Nuddea, on the opposite side of the 
 Hooghly, from whence and from Be- 
 nares the other stations are also sup- 
 plied. The Mahomedans bear a con- 
 siderable proportion to the mass of 
 
BURRAMPOOR. 
 
 299 
 
 the inhabitants, and receive their edu- 
 cation in the common branches from 
 the village schoolmasters. 
 
 In 1814 Mr, Bayley, then judge and 
 magistrate of Burdwan, endeavoured 
 to ascertain, with an approach to ac- 
 curacy, the exact number of inha- 
 bitants within his jurisdiction. In 
 prosecution of this undertaking, the 
 proprietors of every village were fur- 
 nished, through the police officers of 
 each division, with a form in the Ben- 
 galese language, in which to insert the 
 total number of dwelling houses in 
 each village, and the proportion re- 
 spectively occupied by Mahomedans 
 and Hindoos. These papers were 
 accordingly circulated, and after being 
 thus prepared, were attested by the 
 proprietor or his agent, and also by 
 some of the most respectable village 
 occupants, no reluctance to commu- 
 nicating information appearing on the 
 part of any of these individuals. The 
 result of these statements, when col- 
 lected and examined, tended to esta- 
 blish the following facts, viz. that in 
 1814 the Burdwan district contained 
 262,634 dwelling-houses, of which 
 218,153 were occupied by Hindoos, 
 and 43,781 by Mahomedans ; and al- 
 lowing five persons and a half to each 
 house, that the total population of 
 Burdwan amounted to 1,444,487 per- 
 sons. 
 
 In 1814 the area of the Burdwan 
 district, as it then existed, compre- 
 hended 2,400 English square miles, 
 giving an average of 600 persons per 
 square mile. The total population 
 of England in 1811 gave an average 
 of nearly 200 inhabitants to the 
 square mile ; but on examining the 
 county of Lancaster exclusively, with 
 an area of 1,800 square miles, it then 
 contained 856,000 inhabitants, or 476 
 to the square mile ; and in the census 
 of 1821 the proportion was above 
 500 persons. — ( W . B. Bayley, J. 
 Grant , Colebroolce, fyc.) 
 
 Burdwan. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Bengal, the capital of the 
 preceding district, and head-quarters 
 of the government establishment; 
 sixty miles N.N.W. from Calcutta ; 
 
 lat. 23° 15' N., Ion. 87° 57' E. In 
 1814, when its circumstances were 
 investigated by Mr. Bayley, 7,651 
 houses were found inhabited by Hin- 
 doos, and 2,154 by Mahomedans, 
 total 9,805 ; which, at the rate of 
 five and a half persons to each dwel- 
 ling, gave a total population of 
 53,927 persons. The Burdwan raja 
 has a palace (a vast heavy pile of 
 buildings) here, where he usually re- 
 sides, and also spacious gardens, laid 
 out after the native fashion ; but with 
 a sort of summer-house fitted up 
 after the English manner by the side 
 of a magnificent tank. — {W.B. Bay- 
 ley, Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 Burgundah. — A town in the Hy- 
 derabad province, ninety-seven miles 
 N. from Ellore; lat. 18° 5 / N. Ion. 
 81° 4' E. 
 
 Burias. — One of the Philippine 
 Isles, lying due south of Luzon; lat. 
 13° N., Ion. 123° E. In extreme 
 length it may be estimated at forty- 
 three miles, but the average breadth 
 does not exceed nine. Although 
 this island is situated in the very cen- 
 tre of the Philippines, and so near 
 the great island of Luzon, and its ca- 
 pital Manilla, yet, in 1775 it was 
 possessed by a colony of piratical 
 Illanois cruizers from Magindanao, 
 the Spaniards not having been able 
 to dislodge them. Burias is sur- 
 rounded with rocks and shoals to a 
 considerable distance. — ( Forrest , fyc.) 
 
 Burnuggur. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Gujerat, fifty-eight miles N. 
 from Ahmedabad; lat. 23° 52' N., 
 Ion. 72° 39' E. 
 
 Burode.— A small town surround- 
 ed by a strong wall, and possessing 
 a stone ghurry, in the province of 
 Malwa, and pergunnah of Gungrar ; 
 lat. 23° 47' N., Ion. 75° 52' E. In 
 1820 this place contained 300 houses, 
 and belonged to Zalim Singh of Ko- 
 tah. — ( Malcolm , fyc.) 
 
 Burpureer. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Ajmeer, which in 1820 con- 
 tained 400 houses ; five miles N. by 
 E.from Neemutch. 
 
 Burrampoor.— -A town of consi- 
 
300 
 
 BURWA. 
 
 derable extent, population, and com- 
 merce in the Northern Circars, district 
 of Ganjam, twenty-one miles travel- 
 ling distance S.W. from the town of 
 Ganjam. The bazar is about three 
 quarters of a mile in length, composed 
 of good tiled shops ; and there is be- 
 sides an excellent street entirely oc- 
 cupied by weavers, and distinguished 
 by the red colour of their huts. The 
 architecture of the Hindoo temples 
 here (of which there are several) is 
 peculiar, each temple being composed 
 of a group of low buildings, in some 
 instances detached, in others joined; 
 but each with a sort of graduated 
 pyramidical roof, terminating in an 
 ornamented conical cupola. Jugger- 
 nauth is the incarnation worshipped. 
 When it became necessary to remove 
 the government establishment from 
 Ganjam, in consequence of its ex- 
 treme unhealthiness they were trans- 
 ferred to this place, and cantonments 
 erected on a high spot in the vicinity. 
 — ( Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 Burrishol. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Bengal, the modern capital 
 of the Backergunge district, seventy- 
 two miles S. from Dacca ; lat. 22° 46' 
 N., Ion. 90° 17' E. It stands on the 
 point of an oblong island, formed by 
 the broad branches of the great Gan- 
 ges, which here presents an immense 
 expanse of water, and a wonderful 
 facility of inland navigation. 
 
 Burrounda. — A small town in the 
 province of Allahabad, thirty-seven 
 miles S. from Banda ; lat. 25° 3' N., 
 Ion. 80° 87' E. 
 
 Burseah. — A town in the province 
 of Malwa, twenty-four miles N. from 
 Bopaul ; lat. 23° 40' N., Ion. 77° 31' 
 E. This is the cusba or head of a 
 pergunnah of the same name, nearly 
 thirty miles in length and twenty in 
 breadth ; and in 1820 contained 315 
 villages, yielding the proprietor, the 
 Raja of Dhar, a revenue of 77,445 
 rupees. The Salunkee Rajpoots oc- 
 cupy a tract in Burseah, extending 
 along the right bank of the Parbutty ; 
 but the villages were in ruins, and 
 the land covered with jungle. In 
 1817 this place was the principal 
 
 cantonment of Kurreem Khan, the 
 Pindarry ; in 1820 it was subject to 
 the Raja of Dhar, but farmed to Bo- 
 paul, and contained 3,000 houses; 
 but the surrounding country was thin- 
 ly inhabited. — ( Malcolm , fyc.) 
 
 Burtapoor ( Bharatpura J . — A 
 town in the province of Oude, 100 
 miles N. by E. from Lucknow ; lat. 
 28° 15' N., Ion. 80° 53' E. 
 
 Burudda ( or Jaitwar ). — A dis- 
 trict extending along the south-west- 
 ern coast of the Gujerat peninsula, 
 and situated principally between the 
 twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth de- 
 grees of north latitude. The coun- 
 try, which is still known by the name 
 of Burudda, and which composes the 
 present territory of the Rana of 
 Poorbunder, is bounded on the north 
 by the Serteeannee river, which falls 
 into the Meeannee by Hallaur. On 
 the east it has the Burudda hills, and 
 on the west the sea. At present the 
 chief towns are Poorbunder, Navyee, 
 Bunder, and Meeannee, and there 
 still exist the ruins of a town named 
 Ghoomty, the debris of which con- 
 tinue to attract the devotion and ex- 
 cite the curiosity of the Hindoos. 
 The surface of the country is in ge- 
 neral flat ; the soil light earth mixed 
 with rock, and not very rich. The 
 want of wood, so common through- 
 out the Gujerat peninsula, is equally 
 felt here, and the water is in many 
 places brackish. By the conditions 
 of Colonel Walker’s arrangement in 
 1807, the chieftains of Poorbunder 
 or Burudda were bound to pay the 
 Guicowar an annual tribute of 30,000 
 rupees, which is quite as much as the 
 district could afford. — ( Walker , Pub- 
 lic MS. Documents , fyc.) 
 
 Burwa. — A village in the province 
 of Orissa, district of Cuttack, about 
 thirty-nine miles travelling distance 
 N. by E. from the city of Cuttack. 
 A mile and a half to the south-west 
 of this place there is a fine Mogul 
 bridge of three arches, ornamented 
 with four open square towers or pa- 
 vilions, thrown across a small stream 
 named the Narussua. On the other 
 side of the village, distant about a 
 
BUSSAHER. 
 
 301 
 
 mile, is the ferry of the Kursora, a 
 considerable river, crossed in decked 
 boats. — ( Fullarton , $r.) 
 
 Burwah. — A town and zemindary 
 in the province of Bahar, district of 
 Ramghur, 240 miles W.N.W. from 
 Calcutta. The town in the vicinity 
 is usually named Hazary Baugh, and 
 is the head-quarters of the Ramghur 
 provincial corps of sepoys. In 1801 
 the territories of Hurry Ram Sahy 
 were overrun and conquered by the 
 neighbouring Raja of Sirgooja, and 
 not being supported by his immediate 
 superior, the Raja of Chuta Nag- 
 poor, he was obliged to submit to the 
 invader, whose troops kept posses- 
 sion several years, but retreated on 
 learning the approach of a British 
 detachment under Colonel Jones. 
 Conceiving this to be a favourable 
 opportunity, the Raja of Chuta Nag- 
 poor determined to attempt its re- 
 conquest ; but he stood not the least 
 chance of success, had not the Bri- 
 tish commander and the magistrate 
 of Ramghur advised the Burwah chief 
 to submit on the assurance of per- 
 sonal safety. He was in conse- 
 quence induced to trust himself in 
 the hands of the raja’s officers, 
 who two days afterwards sent him 
 under escort to Palcote, within a 
 mile of which place he was taken out 
 of his palanqueen, and put to death 
 in cold blood by the party guarding, 
 who had been selected for this atro- 
 cious purpose. On this occasion no 
 judicial inquiry was instituted, nor 
 did it come to the knowledge of the 
 Bengal government until 1807, so im- 
 perfectly was this portion of our 
 Eastern dominions subdued, or even 
 explored. — ( Roughsedge , fyc.) 
 
 Burwannee. — A large town in the 
 province of Candeish, the residence 
 of Raja Mohun Singh ; lat. 22° 4' 
 N., Ion. 74° 58' E. It is surrounded 
 with a double wall, having a ditch 
 to the outer one, and enclosing a 
 ghurry and palace, the latter six 
 stories high ; but the place generally 
 is in a ruinous condition. The Bur- 
 wannee district extends along the 
 south bank of the Nerbudda, and 
 
 may be roughly estimated at sixty- 
 five miles in length by forty-five in 
 breadth, a great proportion of which 
 is covered with jungle, and in a com- 
 plete state of desolation ; but of 
 this space the Satpoorah range of 
 hills occupy a considerable extent. 
 The table-land of this elevated tract, 
 interspersed with many pleasant val- 
 leys, comprehends the divisions of 
 Borut and Nervallee, which former- 
 ly contained eighty-two flourishing 
 towns and villages ; but of these, in 
 1820, only the vestiges remained, 
 and the gross revenue of this large 
 district amounted to only 16,039 ru- 
 pees. — ( Malcolm , fyc.) 
 
 Bussaher (Basehar ). — A princi- 
 pality in northern Hindostan, occu- 
 pying a tract of mountainous land, 
 bounded on two sides by the Sutuleje 
 and Jumna, and extending eastward 
 until it meets the district of Roween; 
 and north, including Kunawur, be- 
 yond the snowy mountains of Hima- 
 laya. It is named also Bishur, Bes- 
 seer, Biser, and Besariya, and in 1815 
 contained the following subdivisions. 
 1st. Kunawur ; 2d. the tract that in- 
 cludes Rampoor (the capital), and 
 Seran, which stretches along the val- 
 ley of the Sutuleje, with the smaller 
 glens and ravines that drain into it ; 
 3d. the valley of the Pabur, with all 
 the territory on its left bank, includ- 
 ing Sambracote, Nawur, Teekur, and 
 many other smaller vallies. Dasau 
 is also one of the great divisions of 
 Bussaher, to which state likewise the 
 Tartar pergunnah of Hangarang be- 
 longs. 
 
 The division that includes the glen 
 of the Pabur river is by far the most 
 productive in the Bussaher territories; 
 but the upper part of that glen, and 
 of some others that converge into it 
 on the north, is generally barren and 
 savage; but for a distance of fifteen 
 or twenty miles above Raeengudh, 
 the Pabur runs comparatively through 
 a level valley, containing much corn 
 land, as does also the valley of Sam- 
 bracote. The Nawur and Teekur 
 are next in fertility, and also contain 
 iron ore, which is worked and ex- 
 
302 
 
 BUSSEE. 
 
 ported to the Seik countries. The 
 tract named Chohara, or Swara, con- 
 sists of paddy or low rice-lands, 
 already cultivated to the utmost, and 
 some ridges of invincible sterility. 
 Besides the districts above-named, the 
 Bussaher Raja exercises a sort of 
 feudal superiority over several of the 
 adjacent petty states, who purchase 
 protection or forbearance with an 
 annual tribute. 
 
 The staple commodities of Bus- 
 saher, are sheep, wool, cattle, ghee, 
 and iron, some grain, tobacco, opium, 
 and musk. The fruits are apples, bad 
 pears, apricots, peaches, wild grapes, 
 currants, and the eatable seeds of the 
 pine cone. From the grapes they 
 procure a sort of strong liquor, much 
 used by those who can afford to pur- 
 chase it. Their woollen cloths are of 
 an excellent fabric, their wool being 
 of a superior quality, besides much 
 imported from Tibet. With these 
 materials they weave blankets of dif- 
 ferent sizes and fineness, cloth for 
 trowsers, fine webs for waistbands and 
 plaids, a sort of well-napped cloth 
 named Seik cloth, and for the black 
 bonnets which the natives wear as a 
 covering for the head. They also 
 manufacture a small quantity of shawl 
 wool, occasionally mixed with that of 
 the sheep. The trade of Bussaher, 
 owing to its geographical position, 
 has always been considerable, being 
 an entrepot between Hindostan and 
 Tibet : from the first, sugar, cotton, 
 cloths, small quantities of iron and 
 brass ware, and indigo ; the returns 
 are iron, blankets, opium, a little 
 tobacco, bang, and turmeric. The 
 exports to Tibet and the Chinese 
 territories, are grain to the more bar- 
 ren tracts, ghee, iron, opium, tobacco 
 and wooden cups for tea; besides 
 being the thoroughfare for all the 
 commodities from the plains, such as 
 sugar, sugar-candy, cotton cloths of 
 various degrees of fineness, and in- 
 digo. The returns from the north 
 are almost entirely wool, both shawl 
 and the common sort, salt, a little 
 tea, Chinese silks, musk, and borax. 
 Prior to 1815, during the Gorkha 
 sway, a great proportion of the traffic 
 
 with Tibet and Chinese Tartary pass- 
 ed through the Lahore province, the 
 best roads being then through Cham- 
 ba and Jellamookhee to Amritsir, and 
 the next through Cooloo, by its capi- 
 tal Stanpoor. 
 
 This principality was subdued about 
 1810 by the Gorkhas under Ummer 
 Singh Thappa, and remained subject 
 to that nation until 1814, when it 
 was freed by the efforts of the British 
 arms, without any active co-operation 
 on the part of the government or its 
 inhabitants, in consequence of which 
 a tribute of 1,500 rupees per annum 
 was imposed. In 1816 its total reve- 
 nue was estimated at 80,000 rupees per 
 annum. Of the population no rational 
 estimate can be formed, but it is 
 known to be scanty, and the climate 
 for a considerable portion of the year 
 in many tracts precludes cultivation. 
 
 Ooghur Singh, the late Raja of Bus- 
 saher, was only twelve days old at 
 the death of his father and prede- 
 cessor Rooder Singh. During his 
 long minority the affairs of govern- 
 ment were conducted by the Ranny 
 mother, assisted by three viziers 
 (whose functions are hereditary), the 
 principal distinguished by the title 
 of Mokhtar. In 1816, the reigning 
 raja being a minor, the principality 
 was governed by a regency established 
 under the authority of the British 
 government : which, however, did not 
 interfere with the internal administra- 
 tion of the country . — ( James Fraser , 
 Lieut. Ross , Sir D. Ochterlony , Public 
 MS. Documents , fyc.) 
 
 Busseah. — A small town in the 
 province of Bahar, district of Ram- 
 ghur, 210 miles W.N.W. from Cal- 
 cutta; lat. 22° 58' N., Ion. 85° 1 1' E. 
 
 Bitssee. — A town in the province 
 of Ajmeer, principality of Jeypoor, 
 about eighteen miles S.W. from the 
 city of Jeypoor. This town presents 
 a striking and picturesque appearance 
 to the traveller, owing to its white 
 pagodas within, and old stone pavi- 
 lions without. — ( Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 Bussee. — A town in the province 
 of Delhi, four miles north from Sir- 
 hind; lat. 30° 37' N., Ion. 76°25'E. 
 
BUTOOL. 
 
 303 
 
 Bustar (or Wasatairee ). — A town 
 and district in the province of Gund- 
 wana, 170 miles from Ganjam ; lat. 
 19° 31' N., Ion. 82° 28' E. This sa- 
 vage tract has as yet been very imper- 
 fectly investigated, its difficult access 
 and unhealthy climate presenting no 
 attractions to travellers, while its 
 poverty holds out no temptation to 
 fiscal or military rapacity. The moun- 
 tains of Bustar and Kuronde are 
 branches of the great range that runs 
 north and south parallel to the bay 
 of Bengal, in the rear of Cuttack 
 and the northern Circars. The In- 
 derowty is the principal river of Bus- 
 tar. Teak abounds in this territory, 
 and is of sufficient size for the con- 
 struction of such vessels as navigate 
 the Coromandel coast. The river 
 Inderowty affords facilities for floating 
 it down from the interior to particular 
 points, where it might be formed into 
 rafts, and conveyed down the Goda- 
 very to Coringa. Jungly hills and 
 pestilential morasses compose nine- 
 tenths of the country, and the re- 
 mainder is but little cultivated by the 
 wild Gonds, who are described as 
 living in a state of nature on the na- 
 tural productions of the earth, and 
 water, and the chase. Some of the 
 inhabitants, however, must have at- 
 tained a higher stage of civilization, 
 as it appears that in 1812 the Nag- 
 poor government, which claims supe- 
 riority by right of conquest, attempted 
 to levy 25,000 rupees from Maha Pal 
 Deo, zemindar of Bustar, a portion 
 of which they actually succeeded in 
 extorting through the medium of 
 Ramehunder Wag, the Nagpoor com- 
 mander. 
 
 Prior to this, disputes subsisted 
 between the Jyepoor proprietor and 
 the Bustar chief, which led to mutual 
 depredations. The first accused his 
 antagonist of having seized the large 
 estates of Ryagudda, Ameracotta, 
 and Peddagudda; but the loss in a 
 pecuniary view does not appear to 
 have been a heavy one, the revenue 
 of the whole amounting to only 150 
 rupees per annum, and their posses- 
 sion extremely undesirable. The 
 Bustar country has in recent times 
 
 been more than once held by the 
 Poospati family, from which, from 
 various causes, it reverted to the 
 Nagpoor state. The tribute paid to 
 the Maharattas was originally 10,000 
 rupees per annum ; but afterwards 
 increased to 15,000 rupees. In 1819 
 the country was described by Major 
 Agnew as unproductive, overspread 
 with jungle, and almost uninhabited. 
 Until lately human sacrifices to Dew- 
 teshweeree Devee (Devata Iswari 
 Devi) prevailed in Bustar among the 
 wild Gond tribes ; but these being 
 performed in public, have probably, 
 by the interference of the British func- 
 tionaries, been suppressed. Culprits, 
 prisoners of war, and sometimes in- 
 nocent persons, were formerly sacri- 
 ficed at the shrine of this sanguinary 
 goddess ; and it was customary with 
 the Gond chiefs to order an offender 
 to pay his devotions before some idol 
 of importance, when he was put to 
 death the moment he prostrated him- 
 self. — ( Jenkins , J. B. Blunt , F. W. 
 Robertson , fyc.) 
 
 Bus tee ( Basti, a dwelling). — A 
 town in the province of Oude, dis- 
 trict of Gorucpoor, forty miles west 
 from the town of Gorucpoor; lat. 
 26° 48' N., Ion. 82*41' E. 
 
 Buswagon. — One of theCalamaine 
 isles belonging to the Philippines, 
 situated about the twelfth degree of 
 north latitude. In length it may be 
 estimated at fifty miles, by thirteen 
 the average breadth. 
 
 Butchers Island.— A low green 
 island in the harbour of Bombay, si- 
 tuated between the islands of Ca- 
 ranja and Salsette. 
 
 Butlul. — A native fortification 
 in Northern Hindostan, twenty-eight 
 miles south of Serinagur : lat. 29° 
 50' N., Ion. 78° 44' E. 
 
 Butool ( Butaul). — A small sub- 
 division of the Oude province, which 
 is within the British limits, although 
 the village of Butool, from whence 
 the name originates, be within those 
 of the Gorkhas. In 1802 a consi- 
 derable portion of the lands belonged 
 
304 
 
 BUXEDWAR. 
 
 to the Palpah Raja, and were tole- 
 rably well cultivated, principally by 
 emigrants from the Oude territories; 
 but on the cession of Gorucpoor to 
 the British this migration ceased, and 
 the tide turned the opposite way. 
 In 1812 the value of Butool and 
 Sheoraj were assumed at 40,000 ru- 
 pees per annum. 
 
 The village of Butool is situated 
 at the base of the hills on the west 
 bank of the Tenav}*, lat. 27° 37' N., 
 Ion. 83° 31' E., sixty-four miles 
 north from the town of Gorucpoor. 
 It stands on the plain, and is the only 
 place so circumstanced that was left 
 to the Gorkhas west of the Gun- 
 duck by the treaty of 1815. In rea- 
 lity it is a most undesirable pos- 
 session, for it stands in the recess of 
 a mountain, and is so destructively 
 unhealthy, that nobody remains there 
 during the rainy season. Besides 
 this, during the discussions preced- 
 ing the treaty, it was clearly esta- 
 blished that the town of Butool had 
 never belonged to the Nabob of 
 Oude ; of course the British, who 
 only succeeded to the just rights of 
 that prince, had no claims to its pos- 
 session. The Butool Raja formerly 
 possessed extensive dominions among 
 the hills, where he was known as the 
 Raja of Palpa ; but of these and his 
 dignity he was stripped by the Gor- 
 khas of Nepaul, when the wheel rose 
 and rendered them predominant. — 
 ( Ahmuty , Routledge , $c.) 
 
 Butur. — A Batta district in the 
 island of Sumatra, situated inland 
 from the bay of Tapanooly. It con- 
 sists of the space between Silindung 
 and Toba, an elevated tract of coun- 
 try apparently thirty miles long by 
 twenty broad, bounded on the north- 
 cast by Toba, on the north-west by 
 a range of lofty mountains running 
 east and west, on the south-west by 
 Silindang, and on the south-east by 
 a broken hilly tract, extending south- 
 ward to the hill of Angkola. The 
 whole plain is free from wood, and 
 in 1822 presented a wide field of 
 verdure, with detached straw huts 
 and patches of mountain rice. — ( Bur- 
 ton and Ward , tyc.) 
 
 Buxar (Bagsar). — A town and 
 fortress in the province of Bahar, 
 district of Shahabad, situated on the 
 east side of the Ganges, fifty-eight 
 miles E.N.E. from Benares. The fort 
 is constructed on a small mound of 
 conker soil, which here projects into 
 the river, and no where from hence 
 to the sea does the Ganges flow 
 through so confined a channel. The 
 works are kept in good repair, and 
 garrisoned by Sepoy invalids. 
 
 A celebrated victory was gained 
 here in October 1764 by the British 
 forces under Major (afterwards Sir 
 Hector) Munro, over the united ar- 
 mies ofShuja ud Dowlah and Cossim 
 Khan. The first consisted of 856 
 Europeans and 6,215 sepoys, of 
 whom eighty-seven Europeans and 
 712 sepoys were killed and wounded. 
 The combined army was computed at 
 40,000 men, 2,000 of whom are sup- 
 posed to have been slain in the bat- 
 tle. The flight of the allies was so 
 tumultuous that they did not stop at 
 Buxar, but hastened to a nullah be- 
 yond it, which being full, many were 
 drowned and slaughtered in attempt- 
 ing to pass. The plunder was great, 
 as they left their tents standing; and 
 their whole train of artillery, con- 
 sisting of 133 pieces, of various sizes 
 was taken. A native historian (Gho- 
 laum Hossein) describes the camp of 
 the two chiefs while advancing in 
 the following terms : “ a bridge of 
 boats being thrown over the Ganges, 
 the allied armies began their march, 
 in numbers not to be reckoned ; but, 
 from the ignorance of their comman- 
 ders and want of discipline, murder- 
 ing and plundering each other. It 
 was not an army, but rather a moving 
 nation.” Travelling distance from 
 Benares seventy miles, from Calcutta 
 by Moorshedabad 485 miles, by Bir- 
 boom 408 miles.— (Gholaum Hossein, 
 Fullarton, Bennell, fyc.) 
 
 Buxedwar ( Bakshedwara) . — Are- 
 markable pass leading from the belt 
 of low land that separates Cooch Ba- 
 har from Bootan ; lat. 26° 52' N., 
 Ion. 89° 38' E., eighty miles north by 
 east from the town of Rungpoor in 
 Bengal. Buxedwar is a spot of great 
 
BYTURNEE. 
 
 30 5 
 
 natural strength, and being a frontier 
 station in this quarter, has also been 
 rendered strong by art. In 1783 the 
 village consisted of ten or twelve 
 houses, invisible until the moment of 
 entrance. It stands on a second ta- 
 ble of levelled rock, upon which 
 there is very little soil; yet it is co- 
 vered with verdure in consequence of 
 its sheltered position, surrounded on 
 three sides by lofty mountains, and 
 open only to the south, where the 
 prospect looks down on Bengal. The 
 country, coming from the south, con- 
 tinues flat to the foot of the Buxed- 
 war hill. The ascent to Santara- 
 bary is easy, but t he road afterwards 
 becomes abrupt and precipitous ; yet 
 the hills are covered with trees to 
 their summits. At Santarabary are 
 extensive orange groves, and rasp- 
 berry bushes are found in the jungles. 
 — ( CapU Turner , fyc ) 
 
 Buxwah. — A town in the province 
 of Allahabad, twenty miles north-west 
 from Huttah ; lat. 24° 15' N., Ion. 79° 
 16' E. 
 
 Buxygunge ( Baksheganj ) . — A 
 town in the province of Bengal, dis- 
 trict of Dinagepoor, eighty-four miles 
 N.N.E. from Moorshedabad. 
 
 Bydell. — A town and small per- 
 gunnah in the province of Bengal, 
 ninety-five miles north from Moor- 
 shedabad; lat. 25° 32 ' N., Ion. 88° 
 10' E. 
 
 Bygonbarry (Vaicantha Bari ). — 
 A. town in the province of Bengal, 
 district of Mymunsingh, situated on 
 the west side of the Brahmaputra, 
 seventy- five miles north by east from 
 Dacca ; lat. 24° 46' N., Ion, 90° E. 
 This place was the head-quarters of 
 the district for some time after its 
 formation, but at present the actual 
 residence of the judge and magistrate 
 is at Nusserabad, eight miles further 
 south. In 1821 it contained one in- 
 digo factory. 
 
 Byoram. — A town in the Hydera- 
 bad province, forty-nine miles north 
 from Cummumait ; lat. 17° 57' N., Ion. 
 80° 24' E. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 Byraghur ( Vairaghar ) .■ — A town 
 in the province of Gundwana, seven- 
 ty-five miles S.W. from Sumbhul- 
 poor ; lat. 20° 18' N., Ion. 82° 55' E. 
 This place formerly belonged to 
 Chanda, and the country still bears 
 that name, although they subsequent- 
 ly became separate governments. In 
 1794 it contained 300 thatched and 
 tiled houses, and was considered by 
 the Maharattas, to whom it then 
 belonged, as a strong place. It had 
 then a stone fort on the north-west 
 side, under the east face of which 
 runs the Kobragur, a stream that 
 afterwards joins the Wainy or Raum- 
 gunga. At the above date Byraghur 
 was a place of some traffic, princi- 
 pally in cotton from the interior, 
 which was carried to the sea-coast of 
 the northern circars, and exchanged 
 for salt, betel, and cocoa-nuts. — (J. 
 B. Blunt , fyc.) 
 
 Byraghur.— A large village in the 
 province of Ajmeer, district of Har- 
 rowty, which in 1820 contained 1,200 
 inhabitants ; five miles west from Dil- 
 lanpoor. 
 
 Byramghaut. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Oude, situated on the west 
 side of the Goggra, thirty-six miles 
 N.E. from Lucknow ; lat. 27° 6' N., 
 Ion. 81° 21' E. 
 
 Byrath. — A pass in northern Hin- 
 dostan, thirty-seven miles east by 
 north from Nahan, and 7,599 feet 
 above the level of the sea; lat. 30° 
 35' N., Ion. 77° 55' E. 
 
 Byrria. — A town in the province 
 of Malwa, sixteen miles from Oojein. 
 In 1820 it had a good bazar, and con- 
 tained about 1,000 houses.— -(Mal- 
 colm, fyc.) 
 
 Bvt urnee ( V aiturani ) River. — 
 A river of Cuttack, which ranks se- 
 cond after the Mahanuddy. It rises 
 in the mountainous region of Chuta 
 Nagpoor, in the province of Bahar, 
 and after a course of between 300 
 and 400 miles, and receiving various 
 contributary streams, joins the Bay 
 of Bengal a little to the north of 
 Point Palmyras. — ( Fullarton , $c.) 
 
 x 
 
306 
 
 CABUL. 
 
 c 
 
 Cabo. — A rocky promontory at 
 the western extremity of the island 
 of Goa, opposite to the fort of Al- 
 guarda, and the site of the ancient 
 Portuguese church and monastery of 
 Nostra Senhora del Cabo. This spot 
 commands a magnificent view of the 
 harbour of Goa on the one side, 
 and on the other the bay of Marma- 
 gra, studded with islets and white 
 monastic buildings. There are also 
 several large convents between this 
 point and Panjim, or new Goa, while 
 the intermediate country presents 
 one continued grove of cocoa-nut 
 trees. — ( Fullarton , Sfc.) 
 
 CABUL. 
 
 The kingdom of Cabul, while flou- 
 rishing, comprehended the greater 
 part of Afghanistan ; but at present 
 it is difficult to establish its limits, or 
 even its existence. Assuming its ex- 
 tent as described by Mr. Elphinstone 
 in 1809, we find it bounded on the 
 east by Hindostan (where it pos- 
 sessed Cashmere, and some tracts on 
 the left bank of the Indus); on the 
 south it may be roughly consider- 
 ed (including tributary countries) as 
 bounded by the sea; on the west a de- 
 sert extends along the whole frontier ; 
 its northern limit is marked by the 
 mountains of the Eastern Caucasus. 
 According to the nomenclature of 
 the latest maps, it includes Afghanis- 
 tan and Segistan, with part of Kho- 
 rasan and Mekran ; Bulk, with To- 
 karistan and Kilan, Caffristan, Cabul, 
 Candahar, Sinde, and Cashmere, to- 
 gether with a portion of Lahore, and 
 the greater part of Mooltan. The 
 total population of these extensive 
 regions, in 1809, was estimated by 
 Mr. Elphinstone at fourteen millions, 
 in the following proportions, viz. 
 
 Afghans 4,300,000 
 
 Balooches 1,000,000 
 
 Tartars of all descriptions 1,200,000 
 
 Persians and Tajiks 1,500,000 
 
 Hindostanies (Cash me- > 5 700 „„„ 
 
 rians, Juts, &c.) ) 5 * 
 
 Miscellaneous tribes 300,000 
 
 Total ... 14,000,000 
 
 With respect to its geography, the 
 modern province of Cabul (occasion- 
 ally named Zabulistan) is divided into 
 two parts, separated by a ridge of 
 very high mountains, usually covered 
 with snow, which runs from east to 
 west from the neighbourhood of 
 Ghizni to that of Deenkote. Distant 
 as the time is, however, so little has 
 it been explored, that the best de- 
 scription of this romantic country, 
 the cradle of so many of the con- 
 querors of Hindostan, is that given 
 by the Emperor Baber, in his per- 
 sonal memoirs, where he treats of 
 his adventures from A.D. 1500 to 
 1510. The northern tract is named 
 Lughmanat, the southern Bungishat, 
 each having one or more considera- 
 ble streams intersecting their whole 
 length. The valley of the Cabul ri- 
 ver separates the southern projec- 
 tion of the Hindoo Cosh, from the 
 Soliman mountains on the south; the 
 interval having the appearance of a 
 breach in a continued chain once 
 formed by these ridges. The breach 
 between them is in some places 
 twenty-five miles wide. This valley 
 towards the east is occupied by hills 
 that stretch from mountain to moun- 
 tain, but with inferior elevation. 
 West of these hills is Jellalabad, and 
 still further west the surface rises so 
 much, that although Gundamak be 
 in a valley with respect to the south- 
 ern projection, or to the lofty emi- 
 nences of Soliman, it is on a moun- 
 tain when compared to Jellalabad. 
 The Cabul river flows through the 
 centre of this space, and into its 
 basin all the vallies in this quarter of 
 Hindoo Cosh open. 
 
 The aspect of Cabul is highly diver- 
 sified, being an aggregate of snowy 
 mountains, moderate sized hills, and 
 extensive plains and forests ; but from 
 the city of Cabul to the Indus there 
 is an invariable deficiency of wood. 
 The principal towns are Cabul, Pesha- 
 wer (the modern capital), and Ghiz- 
 ni. The central districts about the 
 first, possessing few Indian commo- 
 dities, receive sugar and cotton cloths, 
 mostly from Peshawer, whither they 
 send leather, iron, and tobacco. To 
 Candahar are exported iron, leather. 
 
CABUL. 
 
 307 
 
 and lamp oil, whence tire returns are 
 nsade in sundry manufactures of Per- 
 sia and Europe. The Tartars of 
 Bokhara bring to Cabul the horses of 
 Turkistan, furs, and hides; the latter 
 resembling those in Europe termed 
 Bulgar ; the proceeds are invested in 
 indigo and other productions of Hin- 
 dustan. 
 
 In A.D-.BD7, when Cabul was in- 
 vaded by Sebuctaghi, the first sove- 
 reign of the Ghizni dynasty, the east- 
 ern section of the province, although 
 west of the Indus, was still occupied 
 by Hindoos, subject to a prince of 
 that religion named Jypal, whose ca- 
 pital was named Batinda, and whose 
 dominions extended in a north-west 
 direction to Lughmanat, and in a 
 south-east line from Cashmere to 
 Mooltan. The whole was finally sub- 
 dued by Sultan Muhmood about A.D. 
 I#08, and its subsequent history will 
 be found under the articles Ghizni 
 and Afghanistan. In modern times, 
 Cabul attracted attention in 1809, 
 when the French projected the inva- 
 sion of Hindostan through the Afghan 
 dominions, to counteract which, Mr. 
 Elphinstone was sent to Peshawer 
 by the Bengal government, and con- 
 cluded arrangements which complete- 
 ly neutralized the projected expedi- 
 tion. In 1826 Cabul was parti- 
 tioned amongst the sons of the late 
 Vizier Futteh Khan, who were always 
 at variance. — ( Elphinstone , Forster , 
 Fennell, §<c.) 
 
 Cabul.— -A city of Afghanistan, the 
 capital of the Cabul province ; lat. 
 M° W N., Ion. 69° 15' E. By Abul 
 Fazel, in 1582, it is described as fol- 
 lows : “ Cabul is a very ancient and 
 beautiful city, of which Pusheng is 
 said to be the founder. There are 
 double walls of considerable strength, 
 on the south-east side of a small hill 
 named Shah Cabul. From early an- 
 tiquity Cabul andCandahar have been 
 reckoned the gates of Hindostan ; one 
 affording entrance from Tooraun, the 
 other from Iran.” 
 
 The modern city of Cabul is the 
 capital, and usually the residence of 
 the Durr any sovereigns of Afghanis- 
 
 tan. It stands in a plain abundantly 
 watered, and interspersed with walled 
 villages. Jt is divided by the Cabul 
 river, and in its vicinity has many 
 groves and gardens, especially on the 
 north and west. The most pleasing 
 spot is the tomb of the Emperor Ba- 
 ber, which stands on the top of a hill 
 over the city, commanding a noble 
 view. The town is compact and 
 handsome, but not of great magni- 
 tude. It is enclosed on three sides 
 by a semicircle of low hills, protected 
 on the top by a wall of little strength. 
 On the east there is an opening, for- 
 tified by a rampart, and here the 
 principal road enteis by a gate, after 
 passing over the river on a bridge. 
 The Balia HIssar, which stands on 
 that portion of the hill north of the 
 entrance, is a kind of citadel, contain- 
 ing the king’s palace, and there is 
 also an upper citadel used as a state 
 prison. 
 
 Ali Merdan Khan, a celebrated 
 Mogul sovereign of Jehangir’s reign, 
 erected in the centre four spacious 
 bazars, two stories high, arched over, 
 and supplied with fountains, now 
 choked up with filth. Owing to the 
 frequency of earthquakes, most of the 
 other buildings are of wood. The 
 bazars are well supplied ; and the 
 town, while the seat of government, 
 was an emporium of considerable 
 trade, frequently crowded with CJs- 
 beek Tartars, resembling in feature 
 the Chinese and Malays, but with a 
 harsher expression. Here is also to 
 be found a colony of Armenians, cap- 
 tured by Nadir Shah during his Turk- 
 ish campaigns. Many Hindoos fre- 
 quent Cabul, mostly from Peshawer ; 
 and as by their industry they contri- 
 bute greatly to its prosperity, they 
 are carefully cherished by the Afghan 
 government. 
 
 This city being lower than Ghizni, 
 and more enclosed by hills, does not 
 suffer so much from extreme cold, 
 the winter not being severe, while it 
 is steadier than the winter of Eng- 
 land ; but, on the other hand, the 
 heat of summer is much more intense. 
 The climate and scenery of Cabul 
 have been celebrated by many poets 
 
 x 2 
 
308 
 
 CACHAR. 
 
 of Persia and Hindostan, who extol 
 the beauty and abundance of its flow- 
 ers and fruits, the latter of which, 
 when dried, are transported to the 
 remotest parts of India. Travelling 
 distance from Delhi, 839 miles; from 
 Agra, 976; from Lucknow, 1,118; 
 and from Calcutta, 1,815 miles. — 
 
 ( Elphinstone , Foster , Rennell, fyc.) 
 
 Cabyna. — A small island about 
 twenty-one miles in length by fifteen 
 in breadth, lying due south of the 
 eastern limb of Celebes; lat. 5° 18' 
 S, Ion. 121° 53' E. 
 
 Cachar for Hairumbo). — The 
 province of Cachar, or more properly 
 Hairumbo, lies within lat. 24° to 27° 
 N., and from 92° to 94° E., compre- 
 hending an area of about 140 miles 
 from north to south, and about 100 
 from east to west ; on the north it is 
 bounded by the Brahmaputra river 
 and kingdom of Assam ; on the west 
 by the territory of Gentiah ; on the 
 south by Silhet and Tipera ; while 
 eastward it extends to the small prin- 
 cipality of Munipoor. The ancient 
 and peculiar distinctive name of this 
 territory is Hairumbo, although the 
 inhabitants are described as Cacha- 
 ries. The province comprehends two 
 divisions, that of Cachar Proper, 
 which borders on Bengal ; and that of 
 Dharmapoor, which lies north of the 
 main ridge of mountains, which are 
 difficult to pass. The ancient capital 
 of Hairumbo was Grobarge, situated 
 about lat. 25° 45' N., and twenty 
 miles north from Cospoor, the mo- 
 dern capital. It is separated from 
 Silhet by theDullasery nullah and the 
 Soorma or Barak river. 
 
 The principal rivers of Hairumbo are 
 the Capili and the Barak, both ofwhich 
 spring in the eastern mountains, and 
 ultimately join the Megna, carrying 
 with them the waters of nearly all 
 the smaller streams. The tract of 
 country lying under the mountains 
 abounds with bogs and marshes, and 
 during the rainy season presents se- 
 veral large sheets of water. The 
 mountains are covered with forest 
 trees, long grass jungles and occa- 
 sionally bamboos. The northern 
 
 mountains are a branch of these, call- 
 ed the Garrow mountains ; those in 
 the south and south-east are a conti- 
 nuation of the Tipera hills, which 
 after stretching northward as far as 
 Cospoor, turn abruptly to the west 
 until they meet the Brahmaputra. 
 The height of these hills is from 600 
 to 1,000 feet; but the faces of some 
 of them towards the west being pre- 
 cipitous, many small waterfalls are 
 seen. Through these mountains there 
 are said to be three passes, practicable 
 at all seasons of the year : two lead- 
 ing to Dharmapoor, and the third to 
 Cospoor. So savage and inaccessible 
 a country requires few artificial forti- 
 fications, yet there are said to be some 
 redoubts and stockades. About forty 
 miles to the south-east of Cospoor 
 are the Bhavani mountains, through 
 which there is a pass leading 
 to Munipoor and the kingdom of 
 Ava. 
 
 This country being much overrun 
 with jungle, there is a great want of 
 practicable roads. This, however, as 
 far as commerce is concerned, is com- 
 pensated by the internal navigation 
 the Barak affords, along which the 
 British troops and stores always 
 moved in boats. The breadth of this 
 river varies in different parts of its 
 course ; at Tilyn it is 150 yards broad, 
 but where the road from Attingah 
 to Acquee crosses it, only seventy 
 yards. In the dry season it is ford- 
 able in many places, but soon after 
 the commencement of the rains it 
 rises rapidly, and has then thirty to 
 forty feet depth of water. At Ilchar, 
 near Doodputlee, a number of broken 
 rocks reach acioss the channel, and 
 during the dry season cause rapids ; 
 but in the rains they are covered with 
 twenty feet of water. The Barak be- 
 gins to rise so early as February ; but 
 meeting no check from the Megna, 
 runs off immediately, so that there is 
 no permanent inundation until the 
 beginning of June, after which the 
 country remains almost impracticable 
 for an army until November ; indeed, 
 from the middle of that month until 
 the end of February is the only fit 
 season for military operations. 
 
CACHAR. 309 
 
 The population of Hairumbo is 
 scanty in proportion to its area ; one 
 estimate, probably much exaggerated, 
 states it at 80,000 families. The most 
 populous tract is in the level coun- 
 try adjacent to Dharmapoor, and in 
 the parts most contiguous to Bengal. 
 The revenues of Hairumbo were for- 
 merly estimated at one lack of rupees 
 per annum, but in 1817 had dwindled 
 down to 30,000 rupees. Among other 
 sources of revenue to the Cachar 
 Raja are the produce of certain salt- 
 pits, which not only furnish a quan- 
 tity equal to the wants of the princi- 
 pality, but also a surplus for exporta- 
 tion. The other exports consist of 
 commodities the indigenous products 
 of the country, such as the coarse 
 silk named Moong and Tusser, wax, 
 cotton, timber, limestone, and iron 
 ore, which last they have not yet 
 learned the art to fuse and convert 
 into a metallic state. 
 
 The inhabitants of both sexes are 
 strong and robust, with countenances 
 more of a Chinese than Bengalese as- 
 pect, and in complexion fairer than 
 the latter ; they have no peculiar 
 written character, having borrowed 
 that of Bengal, as well as its language. 
 The original Hairumbian dialect is 
 said to have been monosyllabic, but 
 it may be said to be now extinct ; 
 such of the inhabitants as can read 
 apply themselves principally to the 
 legendary and mythological poems 
 of Bengal. The Cacharies are a nu- 
 merous tribe, who are scattered over 
 this quarter of Asia, although the 
 name is usually limited to the petty 
 state of Cachar, which although fer- 
 tile, is thinly inhabited, and much 
 overgrown with jungle. Before the 
 reign of Hari Chandra, about A.D. 
 1780, the distinction of caste was un- 
 known ; but during his reign the brah- 
 minical system of religion was intro- 
 duced, and of course the sacerdotal 
 superiority. Durga, the wife of Siva, 
 is the principal object of adoration, 
 under various characters, but more 
 especially under that of Cali, a de- 
 structive female energy, whom they 
 are said occasionally to propitiate 
 with human sacrifices ; the guardian 
 
 deity, however, of Hairumbo is said 
 to be Ramchandra. 
 
 Cachar was first invaded by the 
 Burmese in 1774, during the reign of 
 Shembuan ; but their troops being 
 seized with the jungle fever, a disease 
 fatally known to the British army, 
 the detachment was dispersed, cut off 
 in detail, or perished by disease. A 
 second expedition from Ava was more 
 successful, the Raja being so intimi- 
 dated that besides the payment of a 
 sum of money, he engaged to send a 
 maiden and also a tree with the roots 
 bound in the native clay, as an un- 
 equivocal mark of subjugation. It is 
 probable that the Burmese soon after 
 evacuated this unprofitable country, 
 as we do not hear of them until 1810, 
 when they again interfered with the 
 affairs of Cachar, having previously 
 placed Marjeet on the throne as a 
 tributary. In 1810 they summoned 
 him to Ava: but declining compliance, 
 Munipoor was captured by the Bur- 
 mese, and Marjeet retiring into Ca- 
 char with 5,000 followers, expelled 
 Govind Chandra (who had in his ser- 
 vice Gumbheer Singh, the brother 
 of Marjeet, who betrayed him), 
 who fled into the British territories.. 
 Choorjeet (the brother of Marjeet 
 and Gumbheer Singh) afterwards ex- 
 pelled all the others and governed 
 Cachar for five years. In 1823, find- 
 ing himself quite unable to control 
 his own subjects or resist the Bur- 
 mese, he offered to place Cachar 
 under the British protection, which 
 was conceded ,* but before the treaty 
 could be concluded, he (Marjeet) was 
 expelled by Gumbheer Singh, and re- 
 tired to Silhet. The negociation was 
 renewed with Gumbheer Sing; but 
 after much evasion he withheld his 
 consent, even when a Burmese inva- 
 sion was impending, confiding in the 
 natural difficulties of his country, and 
 believing that he would always be 
 sure of the aid of the British govern- 
 ment. It was then determined to re- 
 store the legitimate raja, Govind 
 Chandra, the descendant of Raja 
 Krishna Chandra, who had governed 
 Cachar for forty years, and assign 
 pensions to the Munipoor brothers, 
 
eio 
 
 CAFFRISTAR 
 
 Marjeet and Gumbheer Singh, the 
 last of whom, on the advance of the 
 Burmese, in January 1824, fled into 
 Silhet. A British cTetaehment now 
 penetrated the Cachar province, and 
 after several sharp actions, expelled 
 the Burmese, who subsequently at 
 the treaty of Yandaboo, relinquished 
 all pretensions to tire province, or 
 any right of interference; its Raja 
 then became wholly dependent on Bri- 
 tish protection, for which he agreed 
 to pay a tribute of 10,000 rupees per 
 annum . — ( Friend to India > Public 
 Journals , Symes, $c.) 
 
 Cachar. — A town of India beyond 
 the Ganges, province of Tunquin, of 
 which it is said to be the modern 
 capital. It stands on the river Tun- 
 quin, about 120 miles from its mouth. 
 
 Caffristan. — An elevated region 
 to the north of the Cabul dominions, 
 which occupies a great part of theHin- 
 doo Cosh mountains, and a portion 
 of those of Beloot Taugh. On the 
 north-east it is bounded by Cashgar ; 
 on the north by Badukshan ; and on 
 the north-west by Koondooz, in Bulk. 
 On the west it has Inderaub and 
 Khost, also in Bulk, and the Cohistan 
 of Cabul ; on the east it extends for 
 a great distance towards the north of 
 Cashmere, where its boundary is not 
 distinctly ascertained. There is a 
 curve which is observed from the 
 south of Hindoo Cosh, which rises 
 over Bijore. This projection, with 
 the nearest portion of Hindoo Cosh 
 and some of the neighbouring branch- 
 es, is inhabited by the Siaposh, or 
 black-wearing Cadres. The ascent 
 to their country leads along frightful 
 precipices, and through deep and nar- 
 row chasms, where the traveller is en- 
 dangered by the rock}' fragments that 
 roll down from above, either loosened 
 by the wind and rain, or by the goats 
 and other wild animals that browze 
 on the overhanging cliffs. These 
 Caffres inhabit narrow, but rich and 
 pleasant spots, producing abundance 
 of grapes, and for the most part sur- 
 mounted by snowy peaks. The Caf- 
 fre country extends beyond the west- 
 ern angle formed by the curve, and 
 
 the ridge that proceeds to the wes f, 
 until it disappears among the Paro- 
 pamisan mountains. 
 
 The whole alpine region of Caf- 
 fristan consists of snowy mountains, 
 deep pine forests, with small but fer- 
 tile valleys, which produce large 
 quantities of grapes, both wild and 
 cultivated, and furnish pasture for 
 sheep and cattle, while the hills sub- 
 sist numerous flocks of goats. Grain, 
 as an article of food, is inferior both 
 in quantity and importance, the com- 
 monest kinds being wheat and millet. 
 The roads are only fit for foot tra- 
 travellers, and are often interrupted 
 by rivers and torrents, which are 
 crossed either on stationary wooden 
 bridges, or by bridges swinging on 
 ropes made of the pliant withes of 
 some tree. The villages are built on 
 the slopes of hills, so that the roo’f 
 of one house forms the path leading 
 to the one above it. The valleys are- 
 said to be well-peopled : that of the 
 Camojee tribe, containing ten villages, 
 had one named Camdesh consisting 
 of 500 houses. 
 
 This people are named Caffres or 
 infidels by their Mahomedan neigh- 
 bours, and their country Caffristan ; 
 but among themselves have no gene- 
 ral name for their own nation, being 
 divided into many tribes, each hav- 
 ing its peculiar designation. The 
 Mahomedans call one division black 
 infidels, and another white infidels ; 
 but both epithets are taken from 
 their dress, the Caffres being noted 
 for their fairness, and the beauty of 
 their complexion. Those of the 
 largest division wear a sort of vest 
 of black goat skins, while the lesser 
 dress in white cotton. There are 
 several dialects among the Caffres, 
 which have many words in common', 
 all having a near connexion with the 
 Sanscrit, which derivation renders 
 their conjectured Greek origin ex- 
 tremely improbable, neither do their 
 traditions furnish any satisfactory ac- 
 count of their origin. The most 
 credible is, that they were expelled 
 by the Mahomedans from the neigh- 
 bourhood of Candahar, at which era 
 they are said to have consisted of 
 
CAFFRISTAN. 
 
 811 
 
 four tribes, named Camoze, Hilar, 
 Silar, and Comoje. The three first 
 are reported to have become converts 
 to the Mahomedan religion ; while 
 the last, adhering to its ancient rites, 
 migrated from their native county. 
 One peculiarity among the Caffre ar- 
 rangement of numbers is, that they 
 count by scores instead of hundreds, 
 and that their thousand (which they 
 call by the Persian and Afghan name) 
 consists of 400, or twenty score. 
 
 By their neighbours, the Afghans, 
 the Caffres are said to believe in one 
 God, named by the villagers of Cam- 
 desh, Iinra, and by those of Tso- 
 kooe, Dagun ; but they also worship 
 many idols, which they say represent 
 great men of former days, who in- 
 tercede with the Deity in favour of 
 their votaries; in this respect coin- 
 ciding with the Jains and Buddhists. 
 The idols are of stone or wood, and 
 always represent men or women, 
 mounted or on foot ; the Caffre pan- 
 theon, however, is not of difficult 
 access. In Camdesh, one of the 
 largest villages, a principal inhabitant, 
 repowned for his hospitality and good 
 cheer, during his life-time erected a 
 statue to himself, which on his de- 
 cease was as much worshipped as 
 any of the more ancient gods by his 
 tribe venerated. This facility of dei- 
 fication must augment the aggregate 
 number of gods, but many must be 
 confined to particular localities and 
 tribes : accordingly the gods of Cam- 
 desh appear quite different from 
 those of Tsokooe, although there is 
 one common to both. The chief 
 gods or deified heroes of Camdesh 
 are, 1st. Bugheesh (probably Bhage- 
 sa or Bacchus) ; 2d. Mani, who ex- 
 pelled Yoosh, or the evil principle, 
 from the world ; 3d. Urrum ; 4th. 
 Pursoo; 5th. Geesh ; 6th. seven bro- 
 thers, having the appellation of Para- 
 dik, who were created from a golden 
 tree, and had golden bodies; 7th. 
 seven golden brothers of the same 
 description ; 8th. Koomyee, by Ma- 
 hometans called the wife of Adam ; 
 9th. Dessaunee, the wife of Geesh; 
 10th. Dohee; 11th. Surijoo (probably 
 the sun) ; 12th. Nishtee. 
 
 On the other hand the gods of 
 Tsokooe ate Maunde (perhaps Mani 
 before-mentioned), Marraist, Murra- 
 sooree, and Inderjee (pfobably the 
 Hindoo deity Indra) ; and, like these 
 names, many of their rites have a 
 Hindoo character ; but their eating 
 beef and sprinkling with blood, even 
 that of cows, cannot be reconciled 
 with the Brahminical religion, al- 
 though fire be a requisite at every 
 ceremony, and some of their idols 
 have a resemblance to the lingam or 
 emblem of Siva. The Caffres have a 
 hereditary priesthood, but their in- 
 fluence is not great. They detest 
 fish, which, from the inland and moun- 
 tainous nature of their country, they 
 can but seldom have an opportunity 
 of seeing ; but they hold no other 
 animal impure, eating indiscriminate- 
 ly beef, mutton, and the flesh of bears. 
 Their festivals are often accompanied 
 with a sacrifice, and always with a 
 feast, but many of their other cere- 
 monies have no connexion with re- 
 ligion. A wife is procured by pur- 
 chase from the father, which some- 
 times amounts to twenty cows. The 
 females are not concealed. Adultery 
 is not much reprobated, although 
 there is a punishment enacted for it. 
 Besides their wives, the rich inhabi- 
 tants of Caffristan have male and fe- 
 male slaves, who are also Caffres, 
 for in their wars with the Mahome- 
 dans they take no prisoners. Some 
 of these slaves are captured in battle 
 from hostile tribes; others from tribes 
 with which they are at peace ; but 
 the greater proportion belong to their 
 own tribe, it being quite common for 
 powerful men to seize on children, 
 and either sell them to the Maho- 
 medans, or retain them for their own 
 service. A person who loses his re- 
 lations is soon made a slave. The 
 Afghans purchase Caffres for slaves, 
 and some are made prisoners by the 
 Yusephzei tribe on the borders of 
 Caffristan ; but the trade between the 
 two countries is in other respects 
 trifling. The captives are generally 
 females, who are much sought after 
 on account of the remarkable beauty 
 of their nation. 
 
3U 
 
 CAFFRISTAN. 
 
 The civil and political government 
 of the Caffres is almost wholly un- 
 known. It is uncertain whether or 
 not there are any magistrates ; the 
 probability is that there are none, 
 and that the public business is car- 
 ried on by the chief men of each 
 tribe, where the law of retaliation is 
 firmly established. They have no 
 honorary titles, but have borrowed 
 that of khan from the Afghans. 
 Their property consists mostly of 
 cattle and slaves. In 1810, at the 
 village of Camdesh, one rich man 
 possessed 800 goats, 300 oxen, and 
 eight families of slaves. Among the 
 black-wearing Caffres, the dress of 
 the lower classes consists of four 
 goat skins, two forming a vest, and 
 the other two a sort of petticoat, 
 with the hair outside. Until they 
 have slain a Mahomedan they go 
 bareheaded, shave their heads ex- 
 cept a long tuft on the crown, and 
 wear beards four or five inches long. 
 The dress of the women differs little 
 from that of the men, except that 
 their hair is plaited on the top of 
 their heads, with a small cap over it, 
 round which is a turban. They have 
 also silver ornaments, and many 
 cowry shells. Both sexes have ear- 
 rings, rings round their necks, and 
 bracelets, sometimes of silver, but 
 more frequently of pewter or brass. 
 The Caffre funerals differ in many 
 respects from those of other nations. 
 When an individual dies he is dress- 
 ed in his best clothes, extended on a 
 bed, and his weapons placed beside 
 him. After being carried about for 
 some time by his relations, the male 
 dancing and singing, and the female 
 lamenting, he is shut up in a coffin and 
 deposited in the open air under the 
 shade of trees, or some other ap- 
 propriate situation. 
 
 The Caffre dwelling-houses are ge- 
 nerally of wood, and they have others 
 where they keep their cheeses, clari- 
 fied butter, wine, and vinegar. In 
 every house there is a wooden bench 
 fixed to the wall with a low back to 
 it, and there are stools shaped like 
 drums, but smaller in the middle 
 than at the ends. Partly owing to 
 
 their dress and partly to custom, the 
 Caffres cannot sit like other Asia- 
 tics, so that when forced to sit on 
 the ground they are compelled to 
 stretch out their legs like Europeans. 
 The stools are made of wicker-work, 
 and they have also beds constructed 
 of wood and thongs of neaps leather. 
 Their food is usually cheese, butter, 
 and milk, with bread, or a sort of 
 suet pudding ; but they also eat flesh, 
 which they prefer half raw. Their 
 fruits are walnuts, grapes, apples, al- 
 monds, and a sort of wild apricot. 
 Both sexes are said to drink wine to 
 great excess ; of this they have three 
 kinds, red, white, and dark-coloured, 
 besides a sort of a jelly consistence, 
 and very strong. They drink during 
 meals, and when elevated become 
 quarrelsome. They are all exceed- 
 ingly hospitable, hunt but little, their 
 favourite amusement being dancing, 
 which is prosecuted with great vehe- 
 mence by all ages and sexes. Their 
 instruments are a pipe and tabor, 
 their music quick, wild, and varied. 
 
 One of the most distinguishing 
 characteristics of the nation, is their 
 unceasing war with the neighbouring 
 Mahometans. The latter frequently 
 invade their territories in small par- 
 ties, and carry off slaves ; but about 
 1780 a species of general crusade 
 against them was undertaken. The 
 Khan of Badukshan, one of the 
 princes of Cashgar, the Padshah 
 (king) of Cooner, the Bauz ofBijore, 
 and several Yusephzei Khans, having 
 confederated, formed a junction in 
 the heart of the Caffre country ; but 
 they were unable to retain posses- 
 sion, and compelled to evacuate with 
 considerable loss. The Caffre weapons 
 are a bow about four and a half feet 
 long with a leathern string, and light 
 arrows of reed with barbed heads, 
 which they sometimes poison. They 
 wear a dagger on the right side and 
 a sharp knife on the left, along with 
 which they carry a flint, and tinder 
 made of bark. They have also be- 
 gun to learn the use of swords and 
 fire-arms from their Afghan neigh- 
 bours. Sometimes they attack their 
 enemy openly, but their usual mode 
 
CAHLORE. 
 
 313 
 
 is by ambush and surprise. On many 
 occasions they give no quarter, but 
 their chief glory is the destruction 
 of a Mahomedan, as until a young 
 Caffre has performed this exploit he 
 is precluded from various privileges. 
 Their customs in this respect and 
 some others greatly resemble those 
 of the Garrow mountaineers on the 
 north-eastern frontier of Bengal. In 
 solemn dances, in the festivals ofNu- 
 minaut, each man wears a turban, 
 into which a long f;ather is stuck 
 for every Mahomedan he has slain ; 
 the number of bells which he is au- 
 thorized to wear round his waist is 
 also regulated in the same ratio. 
 A Caffre who has not killed his man, 
 is not permitted during the dance to 
 flourish his axe above his head. 
 Such as have the good luck to kill a 
 Mahomedan are visited and congra- 
 tulated by their neighbours, and have 
 afterwards a right to wear a little 
 red woollen cap, or cockade, tied to 
 his head ; those who have slain many 
 may erect a high pole before their 
 doors, in which are holes to receive 
 a pin for every Mahomedan the 
 owner has destroyed, and a ring for 
 each he has wounded. It is said, 
 however, that notwithstanding the 
 inveteracy of their hatred, they 
 sometimes conclude a truce or peace 
 with the Mahomedans, accompanied 
 by strange ceremonies. 
 
 Such are the principal details that 
 have reached us of the manners and 
 customs of these Asiatic Caffres; 
 but as the information comes to us 
 through the medium of the neigh- 
 bouring Mahomedans, at once the 
 objects and narrators of the alleged 
 barbarities, it must be received with 
 considerable allowance for exaggera- 
 tion, more especially as the same 
 authorities inform ys that the Caf- 
 fres are in general a harmless, affec- 
 tionate, warm-hearted people, who, 
 although quick and passionate, are 
 easily appeased,and naturally gay and 
 sociable, and kind even to Mahome- 
 dans, whom they admit as guests to 
 share their hospitality. By old Ma- 
 homedan writers this tract is fre- 
 quently termed Kuttore, and the ex- 
 
 pedition of Timour to the mountains 
 of Kuttore is particularly related by 
 Sheriffedin. From his narrative, it 
 appears that Timour first proceeded 
 from Badukshan to Kawuk or Kha- 
 wick, the furthest or most eastern 
 of the passes leading through the 
 Hindoo Cosh mountains into the 
 province of Cabul. In order to ar- 
 rive at the fortress of Kuttore he 
 crossed several ranges of high moun- 
 tains, rising one above the other, 
 some of them covered with snow. 
 The fortress was situated at the foot 
 of the further range, having a river 
 of great depth and rapidity close un- 
 der its walls. — ( j Elphinstone, #c.) 
 
 Caggar Rivers — The Camphylis, 
 now Cambali, is a considerable stream 
 four miles west of Ambala, in the 
 Delhi province towards Sirhind, and 
 it falls into the Dreshadvati now the 
 Caggar, which is the common divi- 
 sion of the east and north-west divi- 
 sions of Hindostan, according to a 
 passage in the commentaries on the 
 V edas. — ( Wilford, $c.) 
 
 Cahlore ( Cahalar). — A small 
 principality (named by Abul Fazel 
 Ghahlore) in northern Hindostan, si- 
 tuated on both banks of the Sutu- 
 leje, the capital of which, Relaspoor, 
 stands in lat. 31° 14' N., Ion. 76° 43' 
 E., seventy miles N.E. from Ludee- 
 ana. Its chief is also frequently 
 named the Belaspoor Raja. 
 
 In 1803 the possessions of Cahlore 
 were reduced to the capital and per- 
 gunnah of Tuhawat, the rest having 
 been seized by the Hindoor Raja. 
 Subsequently, by the assistance of 
 the Gorkhas, Raja Mahachund of 
 Cahlore recovered all the twelve lord- 
 ships, and restored the principality to 
 nearly its former magnitude ; but in 
 1807 Runjeet Singh of Lahore again 
 stripped him of a large portion of his 
 territory. During the Nepaulese war, 
 the country of Belaspoor was left en- 
 tirely at the mercy of the British 
 army, when General Ochterlony of- 
 fered terms to the Cahlore Raja, who 
 had adhered to the Gorkhas with ex- 
 emplary fidelity : which he joyfully 
 accepted, and having ever since per- 
 
314 
 
 CAJORI RIVER. 
 
 formed his new duties with punc- 
 tuality, has been exempted from tri- 
 bute. In 1816, Cahlore possessed 
 on the east of the Sutuleje (the only 
 tract guaranteed by the British go- 
 vernment) the forts of Ruttunghur, 
 Bahadurghur, Futtehpoor, Taem, 
 and Mookur. The revenues beyond 
 the Sutuleje were estimated at 32,000 
 rupees, east of it 28,000, making a 
 total of 60,000 rupees. The inha- 
 bitants of this little principality are 
 of a more martial disposition than 
 those of Hindoor and Baghul. Every 
 Cahlorian zemindar possesses a sword, 
 and almost every village contains 
 some fire-arms. — {Lieut. Ross, Public 
 MS. Documents , <$ c.) 
 
 Cailas Mountains. — This ridge of 
 high mountains is situated about the 
 31st degree of north latitude, slanting 
 to the north-west and south-east, and 
 almost parallel to the Himalaya, but 
 its eastern and western limits are un- 
 known. West from lake Manasa- 
 rovara for about two hundred miles, 
 the separation is very distinctly mark- 
 ed by the course of the Sutuleje, the 
 intervening space, from thirty to forty 
 miles in breadth, being the valley 
 through which that river flows to the 
 north-west, until it winds to the 
 south, and penetrates the Himalaya 
 at lat. 32° north. It has been thought 
 by some that the northern ridge is 
 distinguished by the name of Cailas, 
 while the southern retains that of Hi- 
 malaya, but the mountaineers make 
 no such distinction. They, as well 
 as the dwellers on the plains, appear 
 to call every high place crowned with 
 snow, Cailas, and apply it equally to 
 the southern and to the northern 
 ridge. 
 
 It is probable that the Cailas range 
 is little, if at all, loftier than the 
 Himalaya ; but behind the surface 
 evidently declines, as the waters there 
 have a northerly course through Tar- 
 tary towards the icy sea of Asia. 
 A lofty peak on the north-west, co- 
 vered with never-melting snow, is 
 supposed to be the favourite throne 
 of Siva, who must find it rather a 
 cool seat at any season of the year. 
 
 Some mountain torrents rise in the 
 Cailas range, and disembogue into 
 the Rawan Hrad lake. The princi- 
 pal of these are the Siva Gunga, the 
 Gauri Ganga, the Dharchan Gadra, 
 and the Catyayani. 
 
 The portion of Tibet between the 
 Cailas and Himalaya mountains ap- 
 pears to be a sort of oblong table- 
 land, yet studded with irregular hills 
 and ridges, some covered with ever- 
 lasting snow, others only partially 
 concealed, but the whole bare of ver- 
 dure, rocky and barren. The inter- 
 vening vallies are of a better descrip- 
 tion, and afford, during the height of 
 summer and beginning of autumn, 
 pasturage to the flocks of the inha- 
 bitants, who, with the exception of 
 a few gylums (monks) and their asso- 
 ciates, seem to be migratory, as on 
 the approach of winter they seek re- 
 fuge with their cattle in a milder 
 climate. During the whole summer 
 the heat is such as to admit of their 
 raising a small quantity of grain, but 
 not sufficient even for the few inha- 
 bitants of this desolate region ; which 
 on the other hand is rich in gold, and 
 probably other metals, and steams 
 with springs, hot, saline, calcareous, 
 and sulphurous. This tract also in- 
 cludes the two holy lakes of Ma- 
 nasarovara, and Rawan’s Hrad, and 
 with the Hindoos the whole is sa- 
 cred ground, on account of its sterile 
 soil, horrible climate, and difficult 
 access. 
 
 Caithal. — A town in the province 
 of Delhi, which in 1817 was the 
 principal town and residence of the 
 Seik chief Bylal Singh ; lat. 29° 49' 
 N. It is mentioned as one of the 
 marches of Timour on his route from 
 Samana to Delhi. — {Captain Hodgson , 
 4-c.) 
 
 Cajori River. — A large branch of 
 the Mahanuddy river, which separates 
 at Cuttack, and terminates principally 
 in the Alankar, which is deep and 
 narrow, and pursues a singularly 
 winding course, until it is lost amidst 
 a variety of lesser ramifications. 
 About half way between Cuttack and 
 the sea the Cajori sends off a large 
 
315 
 
 CALCUTTA. 
 
 branch, which after dividing, doubling 
 on itself, and again branching out 
 into a labyrinth of fantastical intri- 
 cacies, enters the sea at last in a 
 broad channel, about forty miles 
 north of the black pagoda, under the 
 appellation of the Debnuddy. Ano- 
 ther large stream leaves the Maha- 
 nuddy opposite to Cuttack, and after- 
 wards separates into three principal 
 streams, the Bhargabi, Daya, and 
 Kusbadra, which flow south, inclining 
 a little to the east. The last enters 
 the sea between the black pagoda and 
 Juggernauth. The two first uniting 
 again into one channel, discharge 
 their waters into the Chilka lake* 
 called by different names at different 
 stages of their course, and finally the 
 Harchundi. During the heavy rains 
 of 1817 5 the waters of the Cajori rose 
 eighteen feet in one night, overtop- 
 ping the general level of the town 
 and station at least six feet. — {Stir- 
 ling, $c.) 
 
 Calamaines Isles. — A number of 
 small islands in the eastern seas 
 belonging to the Philippines, situated 
 half way between Mindoro and 
 the island of Palawan, about the 
 twelfth degree of north latitude. 
 The two largest are named Busvagon 
 and Calamaine, the last being about 
 twenty-three miles long by five in 
 breadth. The coast around these 
 is'ands is strewed with numberless 
 shoals, rocks, and fragments of islets, 
 that render the navigation dangerous. 
 
 Calanore. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Lahore, where the emperor 
 Acber, on the death of his father 
 Humayoon, in 1556, was first pro- 
 claimed. Lat. 32°1'N., Ion. 74° 53' 
 E., thirty miles north from Amritsir. 
 
 Calantan. — A petty state on the 
 east coast of the Malay peninsula, 
 extending from the river Basut to 
 that of Banara, where it borders on 
 Patna. It comprehends fifty muk- 
 kims or parishes, with a population 
 of 50,000 inhabitants besides Chinese. 
 It exports gold, tin, and pepper; the 
 second to the amount of 3,000 piculs, 
 and the last to 12,000 piculs annually. 
 
 Besides those Chinese who are other- 
 wise occupied, it is said that within 
 the three states of Pahang, Tringanu, 
 and Calantan, 15,000 are engaged in 
 working the gold mines, from which 
 they extract to the value of 420,000 
 dollars yearly. A great portion of 
 this goes to Singapoor, and another 
 across the mountains to Penang and 
 Malacca. — ( Singapoor Chronicle , fyc.) 
 
 Calamundeeghur.— A fortress oc- 
 cupying the summit of a high moun- 
 tain in the province of Bejapoor, 
 about twenty-three miles travelling 
 distance west of Belgaum. It was 
 acquired from the Peshwa, and in 
 1820 was garrisoned by a small party 
 of British sepoys. At the base of 
 the mountain stands the hamlet of 
 Patna. — ( Fullarton , §c.) 
 
 Calayan.— A small island in the 
 eastern seas, one of the Philippines, 
 twenty-three miles in circumference, 
 situated due north of the large island 
 of Luzon or Lu£onia. 
 
 Calberga (Calbarga).— A town 
 in the province of Beeder, the capi- 
 tal of a district, situated 107 miles 
 west from the city of Hyderabad ; 
 lat. 17° 19' N., Ion. 76° 56' E. This 
 is now a place of little note, but was 
 famous in ancient times, having been 
 the capital both of a Hindoo and 
 Mahomedan sovereignty. Rajas of 
 Calberga are mentioned as indepen- 
 dent princes when the Deccan was 
 invaded by Allah ud Deen, in A.D. 
 1295 ; and when the founder of the 
 Bhamenee dynasty erected the stan- 
 dard of rebellion in 1347, this was his 
 capital. 1 — ( Ferishta , Scott , Sfc.) 
 
 CALCUTTA. 
 
 ( Calicata.) 
 
 This city is situated about 100 
 miles from the sea, on the east side 
 of the western branch of the Ganges, 
 named by Europeans the Hooghly, 
 or Calcutta river, but by the natives 
 the Bhagirathi and true Ganges, and 
 considered by them peculiarly holy. 
 Fort William, its citadal, stands in 
 lat. 22° 23' N., Ion. 88° 28' E. 
 
316 
 
 CALCUTTA. 
 
 The locality of this capital is not 
 fortunate, for it has extensive muddy 
 lakes, and an immense forest close to 
 it, and was at first deemed scarcely 
 less unhealthy than Batavia, which it 
 resembled in being placed in a flat and 
 marshy country. The English, it has 
 been remarked, are more inattentive 
 to the local advantages of situation 
 than the f'rench, who have always, 
 in India, selected better stations for 
 founding their foreign settlements. 
 The jungle has since been cleared 
 away to a certain distance, the streets 
 properly drained, and the ponds filled 
 up, by which a vast surface of stag- 
 nant water has been removed ; but 
 the air of the town is still much af- 
 fected by the vicinity of the Sunder- 
 bunds. At high water the river is 
 here a full mile in breadth, but dur- 
 ing the ebb-tide the opposite shore 
 exposes a long range of drv sand- 
 banks. On approaching Calcutta 
 from the sea the stranger is much 
 struck with the magnificence of its 
 appearance; the elegant villas on 
 each side of the river, the government 
 botanical gardens, the spires of the 
 churches and temples, and the strong 
 and regular citadel of Fort William. 
 
 In A.D. 1717 it exhibited a very 
 different appearance. The present 
 town was then a village appertaining 
 to the district of Nuddea, the houses 
 of which were scattered about in 
 clusters of ten or twelve each, and 
 the inhabitants chiefly husbandmen. 
 A forest existed to the south of 
 Champaul Ghaut, which was after- 
 wards removed by degrees. Between 
 Kidderpoor and the forest were two 
 villages, whose inhabitants were in- 
 vited to settle in Calcutta by the an- 
 cient family of the Seats, who were at 
 that time merchants of great note, and 
 very instrumental in bringing Calcutta 
 into the form of a town. Fort William 
 and the esplanade are the site where 
 this forest and the two villages above- 
 mentioned stood. In 1717 there was 
 a straggling village consisting of small 
 houses, surrounded by puddles of 
 water, where now stand the elegant 
 houses of Chowringhee; and Calcutta 
 may at this period be described as 
 
 extending to Chitpoor bridge, but the 
 intervening space consisted of ground 
 covered with jungle. In 1742 a ditch 
 was dug round a considerable portion 
 of Calcutta, to prevent the incursions 
 of the Maharattas; and it appears 
 from Orme’s History of the War in 
 Bengal, that at the time of its cap- 
 ture by Seraje ud Dowlah, in 1756, 
 there were about seventy houses in 
 the town belonging to the English. 
 What are now called the esplanade, 
 the site of Fort William, and Chow- 
 ringhee, were so late as 1756 a com- 
 plete jungle, interspersed with huts, 
 and small pieces of grazing and arable 
 land. 
 
 The modern town of Calcutta ex- 
 tends along the east side of the river 
 above six miles, but the breadth varies 
 much at different places. The espla- 
 nade between the town and Fort 
 William leaves a grand opening, along 
 the border of which is placed the new 
 government house, erected by the 
 Marquis Wellesley; and continued on 
 a line with this edifice is a range of 
 magnificent houses, ornamented with 
 spacious verandas. Chowringhee, for- 
 merly a collection of native huts, is 
 now an entire village of palaces, and 
 extends for a considerable distance 
 into the country. The architecture of 
 the houses is Grecian, which does not 
 appear adapted for the country or 
 climate, the pillars of the verandahs 
 being too elevated to keep out the 
 sun during the morning and evening, 
 while in the wet season it is deluged 
 with rain. Perhaps a more confined 
 Hindoo style of building, although 
 less ornamental, might be found of 
 more practical comfort. The princi- 
 pal square extends about 500 yards 
 each way, and contains in the centre 
 an extensive tank, surrounded by a 
 handsome wall and railing, and having 
 a gradation of steps to the bottom, 
 which is sixty feet from the top of its 
 banks. A range of indifferent-looking 
 houses, known by the name of the 
 W riters* Buildings, occupies one side 
 of the square. The famous black 
 hole no longer exists, it having been 
 taken down in 1818 with all that re- 
 mained of the old fort, to make room 
 
CALCUTTA. 
 
 317 
 
 for some new improvements, when its 
 substantial solidity was particularly 
 remarked ; but this consolidation is 
 probably the usual effect of time, 
 being generally apparent in all old 
 buildings of long duration. 
 
 The government house is the most 
 remarkable public edifice in Calcutta. 
 The lower story forms a rustic base- 
 ment, with arcades to the building, 
 which is Ionic. On the north side 
 there is a flight of steps, under which 
 carriages drive to the entrance, and 
 on the south side there is a circular 
 colonnade with a dome. The four 
 wings, one at each corner of the 
 building, are connected with it by 
 circular passages, so long as to secure 
 their enjoying the air all round, from 
 whatever quarter the wind blows. 
 These wings contain all the private 
 apartments ; and in the north-east 
 corner is the council room, decorated 
 like the other public rooms, with por- 
 traits. The centre of the building 
 contains two uncommonly fine rooms; 
 the lowest is paved with dark grey 
 marble, and supported by doric co- 
 lumns, chunamed, resembling mar- 
 ble. Above this hall is the ball-room, 
 floored with dark polished wood, and 
 supported by Ionic pillars. Both 
 rooms are lighted by a profusion of 
 cut-glass lustres, suspended from a 
 painted ceiling, which having been 
 destroyed by the white ants, was re- 
 placed by a plain white ceiling with 
 gilt mouldings. 
 
 Besides the government house, the 
 other public buildings are, a town-hall, 
 a court of justice, and two churches 
 of the established religion, and one 
 for the Scotch Presbyterian worship, 
 which is a very handsome edifice : 
 there are also churches for the Por- 
 tuguese Catholics, another of the 
 Greek persuasion, an Armenian 
 church, many small Hindoo pagodas, 
 Mahomedan mosques, and a Seik 
 temple. The hospital and gaol are to 
 the south of the town. The botanic 
 garden is beautifully situated on the 
 west bank of the river, and gives the 
 name of Garden Reach to a bend of 
 the Hooghly. Above the garden 
 there is an extensive teak plantation, 
 
 which is not a native of this part of 
 India, but which appears to thrive 
 well. There are several private dock- 
 yards opposite to Calcutta, and others 
 above and below it, on the western 
 bank of the river. 
 
 The black town extends along the 
 river to the north, and exhibits a 
 striking contrast to the portion in- 
 habited by Europeans. Persons who 
 have only seen the latter, which is 
 probably the case with a great many 
 individuals, have little conception of 
 the remainder of this externally mag- 
 nificent city. The streets here are 
 generally narrow, dirty, and unpaved; 
 the houses of two stories are of brick, 
 with flat terraced roofs; but the great 
 majority are mud cottages covered 
 with small tiles, with side walls of 
 mats and bamboos, and other com- 
 busible materials, the whole swarming 
 with population within and without. 
 Fires, as maybe inferred from the con- 
 struction, are of frequent occurrence, 
 but do not in the least affect the Eu- 
 ropean quarter, which from the mode 
 of building is quite incombustible. 
 Although brick, mortar, and wood, 
 are not scarce in Calcutta, yet the 
 money sunk in building a house is 
 very considerable, and being a perish- 
 able commodity, requiring constant 
 repair, house-rent is proportionally 
 high. The white ants are also so 
 rapid and silent in their destructive 
 operations, that sometimes every 
 beam in a house may be completely 
 excavated internally, while outside it 
 appears perfectly sound. 
 
 Fort William stands on the banks 
 of the river about a quarter of a mile 
 below the town, and is superior in 
 strength and regularity to any for- 
 tress in India. It is of an octagon 
 form, five of the sides being regular, 
 while the forms of the other three 
 next the river are according to local 
 circumstances. As no approach by 
 land is to be apprehended on this 
 side, the river coming up to the gla- 
 cis, it was merely necessary to guard 
 against attack by water, by providing 
 a great superiority of fire, which pur- 
 pose has been attained by giving the 
 citadel towards the water the form 
 
318 
 
 CALCUTTA. 
 
 of a large salient angle, the faces of 
 which enfilade the course of the river. 
 From these faces the guns continue 
 to bear upon the objects until they 
 approach very near to the city, when 
 they would receive the fire of the 
 batteries parallel to the river. This 
 part is likewise defended by adjoining 
 bastions, and a counterscarp that co- 
 vers them. 
 
 The five regular sides are towards 
 the land; the bastions here have all 
 very salient orillons, behind which 
 are retired circular flanks, extremely 
 spacious, and an inverse double flank 
 at the height of the berme. This 
 double flank would be an excellent 
 defence, and would retard the pas- 
 sages of the ditch, as from its form 
 it cannot be enfiladed. The orillon 
 preserves it from the effect of ricochet 
 shot, and it is not to be seen from 
 any parallel. The berme opposite to 
 the curtain serves as a road to it, 
 and contributes to the defence of the 
 ditch like a fausse-braye. 
 
 The ditch is dry with a cunette in 
 the middle, which receives the water 
 of the ditch by means of two sluices 
 that are commanded by the fort. The 
 counterscarp and covered way are 
 excellent ; every curtain is covered by 
 a large half-moon, without flanks, 
 bonnet, or redoubt ; but the faces each 
 mount thirteen pieces of heavy artil- 
 lery, thus giving to the defence of 
 these ravelins a fire of twenty-six 
 guns. The demi-bastions, which ter- 
 minate the five regular fronts on each 
 side, are covered by a counterguard, 
 of which the faces, like the half-moons, 
 are pierced with thirteen embrasures. 
 These counterguards are connected 
 with two redoubts, constructed in 
 the place of arms of the adjacent 
 re-entering angles ; the whole is faced 
 and palisadoed with care, kept in ad- 
 mirable condition, and capable of 
 making a vigorous defence against 
 any army, however formidable. The 
 advanced works are executed on an 
 extensive scale, and the angles of the 
 half-moons being extremely acute, 
 project a great way, so as to be in 
 view of each other beyond the flanked 
 angle of the polygon, and capable of 
 
 taking the trenches in the rear at an 
 early period of the approach. 
 
 This citadel was commenced by 
 Lord Clive soon after the battle of 
 Plassey, and was intended by him to 
 be complete in every respect ; but it 
 has since been discovered, that it is 
 erected on too extensive a scale to 
 answer the purpose for which it was 
 intended, that of a tenable post in 
 case of extremity, as the number of 
 troops required to garrison it pro- 
 perly would be able to keep the field. 
 It is capable of containing 15,000 
 men, and the works are so extensive 
 that 10,000 would be required to de- 
 fend them efficiently, and from first 
 to last have cost the East-India Com- 
 pany two millions sterling. The works 
 are very little raised above the level of 
 the surrounding country, and of course 
 do not make an imposing appearance, 
 nor are they even perceptible until 
 closely approached. This excites 
 great surprise in natives coming from 
 the interior, who always associate the 
 idea of strength with that of eleva- 
 tion, and usually mistake the barracks 
 for the fort ; which, however, only 
 contains buildings that are absolutely 
 necessary, such as the residence of 
 the commandant, quarters for the offi- 
 cers and troops, and the arsenal. The 
 interior of the fort is perfectly open, 
 presenting to the view large grass 
 plots and gravel walks, kept cool by 
 rows of trees, and in the finest order 
 intermixed with piles of balls, bomb- 
 shells, and cannon. Each gate has a 
 house over it, destined for the resi- 
 dence of commandants of corps, and 
 the principal staff officers of the gar- 
 rison. Between the fort and town 
 an extensive level space intervenes, 
 called the esplanade. 
 
 The garrison is usually composed 
 of one or two European regiments, 
 one of artillery with artificers, and 
 workmen for the arsenal. The native 
 corps, amounting to about 4,000 men, 
 are generally cantoned at Barrackpoor, 
 fifteen miles higher up the river, and 
 supply about 1,200 monthly to per- 
 form the duty of the fort. The wells 
 in the different outworks of Fort 
 William, some of which are five him- 
 
CALCUTTA. 
 
 319 
 
 dred yards from the river, during the 
 hot season become so brackish, as to 
 be unfit for culinary purposes or for 
 washing; government has in conse- 
 quence formed an immense reservoir, 
 occupying one of the bastions, to be 
 filled when required with rain water. 
 
 Until 1814, it had always been a 
 commonly received opinion, that the 
 soil in the vicinity of Calcutta was 
 particularly moist and full of springs; 
 but the reverse was proved in that 
 year, as after boring to the depth of 
 140 feet, no springs of any descrip- 
 tion were perceptible. In 1817, 
 while deepening a tank facing the 
 corner of Esplanade Row, numerous 
 massy trunks of trees were discovered, 
 about sixty feet under the surface, 
 standing in an erect position, with 
 the roots and branches diverging; 
 and similar phenomena occurred in 
 18 22 , while deepening the great tank 
 on the Chowringhee road. During 
 the boring operations above-men- 
 tioned, a thin stratum of coal and 
 blue clay was reached, fifty-three feet 
 below the surface, facts all tending to 
 prove a great accumulation of alluvial 
 soil. The acknowledged improve- 
 ment of the climate in and about 
 Calcutta of late years, may be ascrib- 
 ed to the attention paid by the police 
 to a general system of drainage, and 
 to the cutting of broad straight roads 
 through the contiguous woods, in the 
 direction of the prevailing winds, 
 which act as ventilators and purify 
 the air. If some less swampy pro- 
 duction could be substituted in the 
 neighbourhood for rice, perhaps a still 
 greater degree of salubrity might be at- 
 tained. The rainy season at Calcutta 
 usually begins about the 12th of June, 
 and ends about the 14th of October. 
 
 Calcutta possesses the advantage 
 of an excellent inland navigation, fo- 
 reign imports being transported with 
 wonderful facility, on the Ganges 
 and its subsidiary streams, to the 
 north-western quarters of Hindostan, 
 while the valuable productions of the 
 interior are received by the same 
 channels. The quantity of merchan- 
 dize at all times deposited in Calcutta 
 is enormous, and the amount of na- 
 
 tive capital employed in the govern- 
 ment funds, loans to individuals, in- 
 ternal and external trade is very large. 
 The formerly timid Hindoo now lends 
 money on respondentia, on distant 
 voyages, engages in speculations to 
 remote parts of the world, ensures as 
 an underwriter, and erects indigo 
 works in different parts of the pro- 
 vinces. He has the advantage of 
 trading on his own capital with much 
 greater frugality than a European, 
 and exclusive of his property, enjoys 
 the most perfect toleration of his re- 
 ligion. Besides the government bank 
 there are also three private banks 
 established in Calcutta, which circu- 
 late to a considerable amount; and 
 one of these has branches in the Rajes- 
 hahy district, with offices at Bau- 
 leah, Moorshedabad, and Nattore. 
 It may be computed that the paper 
 circulation in Bengal, from these dif- 
 ferent sources, exceeds a crore of 
 rupees, or one million sterling. 
 
 There are three artificial canals in 
 the vicinity of Calcutta, and it is 
 highly desirable that the water com- 
 munication with the upper provinces 
 should be uninterrupted, without 
 passing through the unhealthy and 
 dangerous channels of the Sunder- 
 bunds ; but, owing to the difficulties 
 that beset hydraulic operations in 
 Bengal, no feasible plan has as yet 
 been devised to keep it permanently 
 open. Through these canals, and 
 along the various streams of flowing 
 water, innumerable small craft daily 
 arrive from the interior, loaded with 
 the produce and manufactures of 
 their respective countries, while the 
 shipping collected opposite to the 
 town presents a magnificent spec- 
 tacle. The river in many places reaches 
 almost to the base of the houses, 
 and the people descend by flights of 
 steps built of brick masonry. Owing 
 to the custom of throwing dead bo- 
 dies into it, the water is sufficiently 
 dirty; yet it is resorted to in crowds 
 by the natives for the purposes of 
 ablution. The rapidity of the tides 
 up and down causes a constant cir- 
 culation both of air and water, and 
 tends to prevent the deleterious ef- 
 
320 
 
 CALCUTTA. 
 
 fects which would otherwise result 
 from a body of water containing such 
 putrid infusions, were it in the slight- 
 est degree stagnant, or even torpid 
 in its motions. In 1826, besides the 
 government steam-vessel the Enter- 
 prize, there was the Diana and the 
 Comet of twenty-four horse power, 
 fitted up as packets to proceed up 
 and down the river with passengers, 
 effecting in three weeks what used to 
 occupy as many months. Besides 
 these were two armed government 
 steam-boats getting ready, and one 
 for deepening the river. 
 
 There have been various opinions 
 regarding the population of Calcutta, 
 but it does not appear that any very 
 correct census has yet been taken. 
 In 1752 Mr. Holwell estimated the 
 number of houses within the Com- 
 pany’s bounds at 51,132, and the 
 constant inhabitants at 409,056 per- 
 sons, without reckoning the multi- 
 tude daily coming and going. In 
 1802 the police magistrates reckon- 
 ed the population of Calcutta at 
 600,000 ; in 1810 Sir Henry Russell, 
 the chief judge, computed the popu- 
 lation of the town and its environs 
 at one million ; and General Kyd 
 the population of the city alone at 
 between 400,000 and 500,000 inhabi- 
 tants. The adjacent country is also 
 so densely peopled, that in 1802 the 
 police magistrates were of opinion 
 that Calcutta, with a circuit of twen- 
 ty-miles, comprehended 2,225,000. 
 In 1819 the School Society estimated 
 the native population of Calcutta at 
 750,000 : yet in 1822 we have the 
 following details. 
 
 The returns of the population given 
 for the four divisions are : Chris- 
 tians 13,138; Mahomedans 48,162; 
 Hindoos 118,203; Chinese 414 — 
 total 179,917. It has been ascer- 
 tained that the extent of Calcutta 
 from the Maharatta ditch at the 
 northern extremity, to the circular 
 road at the southern circuit of Chow- 
 ringhee, is not more than four miles 
 and a-half, and that its average 
 breadth is only one mile and a-half. 
 The lower or south division of the 
 town, which comprizes Chowringhee, 
 
 is but thinly peopled, the European 
 houses being widely dispersed ; but 
 the portion named Colingah is chiefly 
 inhabited by natives. The divisions 
 between Durramtollah and the Bhow 
 bazar has a denser population, as it 
 comprehends the most thickly inha- 
 bited European quarter, besides a 
 great many Creole Christians. The 
 northern section between the Bhow 
 and Mutchua bazars certainly swarms 
 with population, but the upper di- 
 vision to the north of the Mutchua 
 Bazar is comparatively thinly covered 
 with houses, presenting towards the 
 north and east extensive gardens, 
 large tanks, and ruinous habitations. 
 The number of persons entering the 
 town daily from the suburbs and 
 across the river, has been estimated 
 by stationary peons and sircars placed 
 to count them, at 100,000. Upon 
 the whole, therefore, in June 1822, it 
 appeared to be the opinion of the 
 magistrates from the returns laid be- 
 fore them, that taking the resident 
 population at about 200,000 persons, 
 and those entering the town daily at 
 100,000, the sum total (300,000) 
 would give a tolerably accurate ap- 
 proximation to the real number. 
 
 By some strange arrangement in 
 the above calculation, the population 
 of the suburbs of Calcutta appears 
 to be excluded and separated from 
 that of the town, a process which, if 
 adopted in England, would reduce 
 London to a very moderate number ; 
 nor w'as the simple expedient of 
 counting the houses resorted to. So 
 long ago as 1798 these amounted by 
 enumeration to 78,760, and there is 
 no reason to suppose they have since 
 decreased. A great number of the 
 adult sojourners in Calcutta leave 
 their families in the adjacent villages, 
 so that the proportion of children 
 within the body of the town is re- 
 markably small. 
 
 The Calcutta society is numerous, 
 gay, and convivial, and the fetes given 
 by the Governors-general splendid 
 and well arranged. Each of the prin- 
 cipal officers of government have also 
 their public days for the reception of 
 their friends, independent of which 
 
CALCUTTA. 
 
 321 
 
 not a day passes, particularly during 
 the cold season, without several large 
 dinner parties of from thirty to forty. 
 Besides the public subscription as- 
 semblies, there are select evening 
 meetings at regular intervals, under 
 the name of conversaziones, accom- 
 panied by music, dancing, cards, and 
 other amusements. There is like- 
 wise a handsome new theatre, sup- 
 ported principally by amateurs ; but 
 although the performances only take 
 place once a fortnight, they are often 
 but thinly attended. Public concerts 
 have also of late been very much in 
 vogue, and, like the theatre, are partly 
 supported by amateur talent. 
 
 It is usual to rise early to enjoy the 
 cool air of the morning, which is par- 
 ticularly pleasant before sunrise. Be- 
 twixt one and two a meal is taken 
 which is called tiffin, after which 
 many retire to bed for two or three 
 hours. The dinner is commonly after 
 sunset, which necessarily keeps the 
 guests up till midnight. The viands 
 are excellent, and served in great pro- 
 fusion ; and as the heat of the climate 
 does not admit of their being. kept, 
 great part is at last thrown out to the 
 pariah dogs and the birds of prey. 
 The lower orders of Portuguese, to 
 whom alone they could be serviceable, 
 cannot consume the whole; and the 
 religious prejudices of the native ser- 
 vants prevent their tasting any food 
 prepared by persons not of their 
 caste or religion. To this circum- 
 stance is to be attributed the amazing 
 flocks of crows, kites, and vultures, 
 which, undisturbed by man, live to- 
 gether in amicable society, and almost 
 cover the houses and gardens. In 
 their profession of scavengers, the 
 kites and crows are assisted during 
 the day by the voracious stork ad- 
 jutant, and after sunset by pariah 
 dogs, foxes, and jackals, which then 
 emerge from the jungles, and with 
 their howling make night hideous. 
 
 The wines chiefly drank are Ma- 
 deira and claret: the first, which is 
 excellent, during dinner, the latter 
 afterwards. The claret being me- 
 dicated for the voyage, is by some 
 considered too strong, and both sorts 
 
 VOL. r. 
 
 (more especially Madeira, which is 
 bottled in the country) incur great 
 danger from the contiguity of musk- 
 rats, which impart so disgusting a 
 flavour as to render it undrinkable. 
 As a general maxim the latest im- 
 ported claret is always the best. 
 
 The Calcutta market supplies a 
 great variety of game, such as snipes, 
 wild ducks, teal, and different species 
 of the ortolan tribe, the whole com- 
 paratively cheap. The wild venison 
 is much inferior to that of Britain, 
 but the park or stall-fed is equally 
 good. The hare is a very poor crea- 
 ture, and differs in many qualities 
 from that of England, being deficient 
 in size, strength, and swiftness; an 
 observation also applicable to the 
 Bengal fox, which is every way a 
 contemptible animal. The tables of 
 the gentlemen in Calcutta are distin- 
 guished by an infinite variety of de- 
 licious fruits, procured at a moderate 
 expense, such as pine-apples, plan- 
 tains, mangoes, pomeloes or shad- 
 docks, melons of all sorts, oranges, 
 custard apples, guavas, peaches, to 
 which of late years strawberries of 
 European, and leechees, loquats, and 
 whampees, of Chinese origin, have 
 been added. But the grand luxury 
 of Calcutta is the mangoe-fish (so 
 named from its appearing during the 
 mangoe season) the taste and flavour 
 of which can never be sufficiently- 
 extolled. By the natives they are 
 named tapaswi, or penitent, fish (ab- 
 breviated by Europeans to tipsy), from 
 their resembling a class of religious 
 penitents who ought never to shave. 
 
 The usual mode of visiting in Cal- 
 cutta is in palanquins, but many gen- 
 tlemen have carriages adapted to the 
 climate, and the breed of horses by 
 the government stud and importation 
 has been greatly improved. It is uni- 
 versally the practice to drive out be- 
 tween sunset and dinner, and as it 
 becomes dark servants with torches 
 go out and meet their masters, and 
 run before the carriages with asto- 
 nishing swiftness, and for a wonderful 
 length of time. It is still the custom, 
 except at public places, or very formal 
 evening-parties, for the gentlemen to 
 
 v 
 
3Q2 
 
 CALCUTTA. 
 
 dress in short white cotton jackets, 
 which are well suited to the heat of 
 the climate ; but on ceremonious oc- 
 casions in coats of English broad- 
 cloth. 
 
 The British inhabitants stationary 
 in Calcutta and scattered through 
 the provinces, are generally hospi- 
 table in the highest degree, and most 
 liberal where their assistance is want- 
 ed. When an officer of respectability 
 dies, in either service, leaving a wife 
 or children, a subscription is imme- 
 diately commenced, which in every 
 instance has proved generous, and 
 not unfrequently has conferred on 
 the parties a degree of affluence that 
 the life of the parent or husband 
 could not for many years have ac- 
 complished. Their zeal for the pro- 
 motion of religion, science, and lite- 
 rature, will be best estimated, after 
 perusal of the following list of learn- 
 ed and benevolent institutions esta- 
 blished by them and the government 
 in Calcutta and the upper province, 
 within the last half century. 
 
 The Asiatic Society was planned 
 by Sir Wm. Jones on the outward 
 voyage from England, and formed 
 into a regular institution on the 15th 
 January 1 784. Its principal object is 
 to concentrate in one focus the va- 
 luable knowledge that may be occa- 
 sionally attained of Asia, or at least 
 to preserve many little tracts and 
 essays, the writers of which might not 
 think them of sufficient importance 
 for separate publication. From this 
 period may be dated the commence- 
 ment of all accurate information re- 
 garding India in general, and Hin- 
 dostan in particular, which even at 
 the present day is but imperfectly un- 
 derstood by European readers. Re- 
 cently a medical and a phrenological 
 society have been established, which 
 publish their works periodically : the 
 other learned and benevolent insti- 
 tutions are so numerous in Calcutta 
 and the provinces that nothing more 
 than their names can be given. 
 
 The college of Fort William, for 
 finishing the education of the civil 
 servants commenced at Haileybury, 
 the Government Sanscrit College, the 
 
 Madrissa or Government Mahome- 
 dan College, the Vidalaya or Anglo- 
 Indian College, the Benares College, 
 the Agra College, the Government 
 schools at Chinsura and Benares, the 
 free school at Cawnpoor, the school 
 at Ajmeer, the Boglipoor School, the 
 Calcutta Grammar School, the Ar- 
 menian Academy, the Benevolent In- 
 stitution, the Parental Academic In- 
 stitution, the School for Trades, the 
 Committee of Public Instruction, the 
 School-Book Society, the Female Ju- 
 venile Society, the Ladies* Society 
 for Native Female Education, the In- 
 stitution for the Instruction of Indi- 
 gent Children at Serampoor, the 
 United Charity and Free School. 
 
 The religious and charitable in- 
 stitutions are : the Auxiliary Bible 
 Society, the Bible Association, the 
 Committee of the Church Mission- 
 ary Society, the Church Missionary 
 Association, the Diocesan Commit- 
 tee for promoting Christian Know- 
 ledge, the Auxiliary Missionary So- 
 ciety, the Bishop’s College, the Be- 
 thel Union, the Seaman’s Friend So- 
 ciety, the Military Orphan Society, 
 the Military Widows’ Fund, Lord 
 Clive’s Fund, the King’s Military 
 Fund, the Marine Pension Fund, 
 the Civil Fund, the Mariners* and 
 General Widows’ Fund, the Presi- 
 dency General Hospital, the Native 
 Hospital, the Hospital for Native 
 Lunatics, the Government Establish- 
 ment for Vaccination, the School for 
 Native Doctors, the Charitable Fund 
 for the Relief of Distressed Euro- 
 peans, the European Female Orphan 
 Society. 
 
 In 1825 the following newspapers 
 were published in Calcutta, viz. “ The 
 John Bull,” “ the Bengal Harcarrah 
 and Scotsman,” daily papers ; “ the 
 Government Gazette,” and “ the In- 
 dia Gazette,” twice a week, and 
 “ the Bengal Weekly Messenger,” 
 published on Sunday. The native 
 newspapers then were the “ Merat 
 ul Akbar,” the “ Jami Jehan Nama,” 
 “ the Sungbaud Cowmuddy,” and 
 “ the Sumochar Chundrica,” all week- 
 ly ; the two first in Persian, and the 
 two last in Bengalese. In 1826 two 
 
CALCUTTA. 
 
 323 
 
 additional Bengalese weekly newspa- 
 pers were added to those before ex- 
 isting. 
 
 The government grants a princely 
 allowance to their civil servants; 
 but, large as it is, it does not always 
 suffice for the expenses of the ju- 
 niors, many of whom on their arrival 
 set up an extravagant establishment 
 of horses, carriages, and servants, and 
 thereby involve themselves in embar- 
 rassments at a very early period of 
 their lives. To support this profuse 
 mode of living they are obliged to 
 borrow from their dewan, generally 
 a monied native, who seeks the ad- 
 vancement of his family through the 
 influence of his debtors, whose extra- 
 vagance and dissipation he encou- 
 rages until their difficulties are al- 
 most inextricable. While the civi- 
 lian remains in an inferior situation, 
 the debt to the dewan continues to 
 accumulate, and when higher appoint- 
 ments are at length reached, it re- 
 quires years to clear off the incum- 
 brances of his juvenile thoughtless- 
 ness. Of late these responsible si- 
 tuations have been rendered of 
 still more difficult attainment, by 
 the determination of government to 
 regard extravagance as an essential 
 drawback from the claims of all can- 
 didates for offices of trust. Those 
 who are incapable of exercising self- 
 denial at the commencement of their 
 career, have only themselves to 
 blame if they are denied that confi- 
 dence in the strength and integrity 
 of their characters, which every one 
 seeking important public trusts ought 
 to possess ; nor can the government 
 sacrifice the duty it owes to the peo- 
 ple, through any consideration for 
 the interest of incautious servants. 
 Instances of this species of insanity 
 (for it deserves no other name) are 
 now rare, compared with what they 
 were at an earlier period of the Bri- 
 tish acquisitions; and, notwithstand- 
 ing the multiplied temptations, a 
 very great majority of those who ar- 
 rive at the higher stations wholly 
 escape the contagion, and are distin- 
 guished by the most unsullied inte- 
 grity of character. Whenever a 
 
 deviation has occurred, it may inva- 
 riably be traced to the imprudence of 
 the young man on his first arrival, 
 and his subsequent slavery to his 
 dewan, 
 
 Calcutta is in every point of view 
 a new city, almost as much so with 
 regard to its native gentry as to its 
 European population. The great na- 
 tive families, who now contribute to 
 its splendour, are of very recent origin ; 
 indeed, scarcely ten could be named 
 who possessed wealth before the rise 
 of the English power, it having been 
 accumulated under our sovereignty, 
 chiefly in our service, and entirely 
 through our protection. 
 
 The British merchants are a nu- 
 merous and respectable body of men, 
 many of whom have acquired large 
 fortunes by their industry and en- 
 terprize, and conduce essentially to 
 the prosperity of the province. Here 
 they display a liberality in their man- 
 ner of living, seldom equalled in other 
 parts of the world; and their acts of 
 charity and munificence to persons in 
 distress, and generosity and forbear- 
 ance towards each other, have per- 
 haps never been surpassed. 
 
 The Armenians were formerly a 
 numerous and affluent class of fo- 
 reign traders, but latterly this nation 
 has rather been on the decline. The 
 number of Greek merchants is not 
 considerable, whereas the Portuguese 
 houses of agency rank next, in point 
 of number, to the English. A very 
 considerable number of the progeny 
 of that nation reside in Calcutta and 
 its environs, and have approximated 
 very closely to the natives in man- 
 ners and appearance. Among the 
 various classes of money changers, 
 no mention is made of the Jews, 
 few? of whom for many centuries have 
 settled in Hindostan ; and Calcutta 
 is, probably, the only very opulent 
 town that is almost wholly without 
 them. The practices and occupa- 
 tions they follow in Europe are here 
 engrossed by the native Sirkars, ban- 
 yans, and writers, who are quite a 
 match for any Jew. The shops of 
 these petty traffickers, although bet- 
 ter than their houses, are mean and 
 
CALCUTTA, 
 
 3M 
 
 disagreeable; the European shops 
 are singularly splendid. Some of the 
 native traders have made or inherit- 
 ed large fortunes, and the public 
 apartments of a few are furnished 
 after the European fashion, with 
 elegant chandeliers, pier glasses, 
 couches, chests of drawers, writing- 
 desks, and two or three hundred 
 chairs; while in the other rooms the 
 images of their gods are seen deco- 
 rated with gilding, red paint, and 
 precious stones. Some have taken 
 to the drinking of tea, some keep 
 English coaches and equipages, and 
 one individual was noted for having 
 also an English coachman. 
 
 Without being attached to some 
 department of the service, or train- 
 ed up to some mechanical trade, 
 there is little hope of prosperity to 
 a young man migrating on chance 
 from Europe. Here all the inferior 
 situations of clerks, overseers, &c. 
 are necessarily occupied by the na- 
 tives, and it is by these gradations 
 in Europe, that young men rise to 
 opulence in the commercial world. 
 It is scarcely in the power, even of a 
 governor-general, to assist a person 
 of respectable connexions who does 
 not belong to the service, or one of 
 the liberal professions; and, although 
 the climate of the province is not 
 essentially improved, Europeans are 
 now much better acquainted with 
 the means of counteracting its effects, 
 and deaths are far from being so fre- 
 quent as formerly. Regularity of 
 living, avoiding too much exposure 
 to the sun, and all extremes, even of 
 abstinence, are much more practised 
 by the modern inhabitants than they 
 were by the earlier adventurers ; va- 
 cancies consequently in any line or 
 trade are of much rarer occurrence. 
 
 It is in Calcutta that the effect of 
 the intercourse between Europeans 
 and the natives is in any degree visible, 
 as there alcne an indistinct sort of 
 link may be discerned between the 
 rulers and the people. The lowest 
 and poorest Europeans, and the na- 
 tive-born Christians and Portuguese, 
 do in some slight degree, mix with 
 the natives in their ordinary concerns 
 
 and amusements, just sufficient to 
 produce a very inconsiderable change 
 in their manners and character. The 
 establishment of the supreme court, 
 and the intercourse between the na- 
 tives and the lowest officers of that 
 court, must be considered another 
 cause of the same nature ; but by 
 these causes their morals have not 
 been in the slightest respect improved; 
 on the contrary, they have learned 
 all the mean arts of European chi- 
 canery, imposture, and litigiousness, 
 in addition to their aboriginal stock, 
 without acquiring a particle of plain 
 dealing, firmness, independence of 
 spirit, or useful knowledge. They 
 appear to imbibe only those principles 
 of the European character which tend 
 to impair the mildness and simplicity 
 of their own ; and whenever, in the 
 behaviour of the natives, insolence, 
 ill-nature, coarseness, brutality, or 
 drunkenness (qualities hostile to their 
 national character) are observed, the 
 change may be invariably traced to 
 their intercourse with low Euro- 
 peans. 
 
 The supreme court of judicature 
 in Calcutta consists of a chief jus- 
 tice and two puisne judges, nominated 
 to their situations in India by the 
 king. Its cognizance extends to all 
 British subjects, that is, natives, or 
 the descendants of natives of the 
 British isles in India, and to all inha- 
 bitants within the parochial limits of 
 Calcutta, as enclosed by the Maharat- 
 ta ditch, beyond which, however, the 
 suburbs now extend. In suits to 
 which the natives are parties, the 
 judges are enjoined by act of parlia- 
 ment to respect the usages of the 
 country; in matters of inheritance 
 or contract, the rule of decision is to 
 be the law acknowledged by the liti- 
 gant parties. Should only one of the 
 parties be a Mahomedan or Hindoo, 
 it is to be the law acknowledged by 
 the defendant. Criminal offences are 
 tried by a jury consisting exclusively 
 of British subjects ; in trials of a civil 
 nature, the judge decides both the 
 law and the fact. The supreme court 
 also tries criminal charges against the 
 government servants, and civil suits 
 
CALICUT. 
 
 325 
 
 In which the government or its ser- 
 vants are concerned. 
 
 Little morality is learned in a court 
 of justice; and, notwithstanding the 
 severity of the police and of the En- 
 glish laws, it appears probable that 
 the morals of the native inhabitants 
 are worse in Calcutta than in the pro- 
 vincial districts. This is not to be 
 attributed solely to the size, popula- 
 tion, and indiscriminate society of the 
 capital, but in part to the supreme 
 court, every native connected with 
 which appearing to have his morals 
 contaminated by the intimacy. In 
 mentioning this evil, it is not intend- 
 ed in the remotest degree to attribute 
 it to any individual, or body of men, 
 or to speak with disrespect of the in- 
 stitution itself; but merely to men- 
 tion a fact, which has probably been 
 remarked by every judge who ever sat 
 on the bench. Within the last forty 
 years the natives have attained a sort 
 of legal knowledge, as it is usually 
 denominated, consisting of a skill in 
 the arts of collusion, intrigue, subor- 
 nation and perjury, which enables 
 them to perplex and baffle the magis- 
 trate with infinite facility. 
 
 But notwithstanding the tempta- 
 tions to which the natives are ex- 
 posed, it is surprising how seldom 
 thefts and burglaries are committed 
 on the property of Europeans, who 
 seldom in Bengal take any precautions 
 to prevent their occurrence. In some 
 families thirty or forty domestics, 
 many of them natives of distant pro- 
 vinces, sleep all night within the en- 
 closure, or in the passages and veran- 
 das of the house, where every door is 
 open, and detection almost impossible. 
 Owing to their extreme timidity, they 
 seldom venture to rob openly or on a 
 large scale, preferring a more indirect 
 and complicated system of small pil- 
 fering and cheating. 
 
 Besides the supreme court, Calcut- 
 ta is the head-quarters of a court of 
 appeal and circuit, which comprehends 
 the following districts, viz. Burdwan, 
 the Jungle Mahals, Midnapoor, Cut- 
 tack, Jessore, Nuddea, Hooghly, and 
 the twenty-four pergunnahs. — ( Public 
 Documents MS. and printed, Sir Hen- 
 
 ry Strachey , Lord Valentia , Fullarton , 
 Tennant , Milburn , Harrington , M. 
 Graham , Major Rennell, fyc.) 
 
 Calicoulan. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Travancore, 116 miles N.W. 
 from Cape Comorin; lat. 9° IT N., 
 Ion. 76° 33' E. 
 
 Caliadeh. — A village In the pro- 
 vince of Malwa, situated on the river 
 Sipra, five miles north from the city 
 of Oojein. This place is remarkable 
 for a lofty, heavy and whimsical struc- 
 ture, called the water-palace, built on 
 an insular eminence in the channel of 
 the Sipra. This edifice, of which se- 
 veral very inaccurate and exaggerated 
 descriptions have been given (believed 
 to have been constructed by the Ma- 
 homedan kings of Malwa) is entirely 
 devoid of architectural attractions, 
 and its quadrangular tank of masonry 
 in the bed of the Sipra, including a 
 terrace and two square pavilions with 
 a low arched bridge of communication, 
 in no respect corresponds with the fan- 
 ciful pictures that have been given of 
 them. — ( Fullarton , Sfc.) 
 
 Calicut ( CalicoduJ. — A subdivi- 
 sion of the Malabar province, extend- 
 ing along the sea-coast between the 
 parallels of 10° and 12° north lat., 
 and one of the principal countries of 
 that extraordinary Hindoo race, the 
 Nairs, the Calicut Raja (the Zamorin 
 of Europeans) being one of their most 
 respected chiefs. By his own tribe, 
 and the other natives, he is styled the 
 Tamuri Raja. All the males of the 
 family are called Tamburans, and the 
 females Tamburetties. All the chil- 
 dren of every Tamburetti are entitled 
 to these appellations, and rise accord- 
 ing to seniority to the highest digni- 
 ties that belong to the family. These 
 ladies are generally impregnated by 
 Nambouries (Brahmins) and some- 
 times by the higher rank of Nairs ; but 
 the sacred character of the Namburies 
 always insures them a preference. 
 They live in the houses of their bro- 
 thers, and never have any intercourse 
 with their husbands, which would be 
 reckoned scandalous. 
 
 The oldest man of the family by 
 
CALL1ANEE. 
 
 326 
 
 the female line is the Tamuri Raja, or 
 Zamorin, and is regularly crowned. 
 He pretends to be of higher rank than 
 the Brahmins, and inferior only to the 
 invisible gods, which pretensions are 
 admitted by his subjects, but held to 
 be absurd and abominable by the 
 Brahmins, who treat him as a sudra. 
 The Zamorin, although of a caste in- 
 ferior to the Cochin Raja, and pos- 
 sessed of less extensive dominions, 
 was commonly reckoned of equal 
 rank, which is attributed to the supe- 
 rior prowess of his people. In 1767, 
 when Hyder invaded Malabar, the 
 Cochin Raja quietly submitted to pay 
 tribute, while the pride of the Za- 
 morin refused any kind of submission, 
 and after an unavailing resistance, 
 being made prisoner, set fire to the 
 house in which he was confined, and 
 burned along with it. Several of his 
 personal attendants, who were acci- 
 dently excluded when he shut the 
 door, afterwards threw themselves 
 into the flames and perished with their 
 master. — ( F . Buchanan , fyc.) 
 
 Calicut. — A town in the province 
 of Malabar, of which it was the for- 
 mer capital, 103 miles S.W. from 
 Seringapatam ; lat. 11° 15' N., Ion. 
 75° 50' E. The Portuguese, under 
 Vasco de Gama, arrived at Calicut 
 on the 18th of May, A.D. 1498, ten 
 months and two days after their de- 
 parture from Lisbon. In 1509 Don 
 Fernando Continho, marechal of Por- 
 tugal, attacked Calicut with 3,000 
 troops, but was slain in the assault, 
 and his army repulsed with much 
 slaughter. In 1766 it was invaded 
 and conquered by Hyder, who en- 
 larged and improved the fort ; but 
 Tippoo afterwards destroyed both 
 fort and town, removing the inhabi- 
 tants to Nellura, which he called Fur- 
 ruckabad, being, like all the Maho- 
 medans of India, a great changer of 
 the old Pagan names. Fifteen months 
 after this compulsory migration the 
 English conquered the province, and 
 the inhabitants returned with great 
 joy to their old residence. The town 
 in 1800 contained above 5,000 houses, 
 and was rapidly improving; the inha- 
 
 bitants, chiefly Moplays, named Chu* 
 lias among the Eastern Islands. The 
 principal exports are pepper, teak, 
 sandal-wood, cardamoms, coir, cord- 
 age, and wax. Travelling distance 
 from Seringapatam, 129 miles south- 
 west.— (F. Buchanan , Wilks , Bruce , 
 Rennell , fyc.) 
 
 Calicoote. — A town in the north- 
 ern circars, twenty-one miles N. from 
 Ganjam; lat. 19° 23' N., Ion. 85° 
 IF E. 
 
 Calingapatam. — A small seaport 
 in the northern circars, sixteen miles 
 E. from Cicacole ; lat. 18° 15' N., Ion. 
 85° IF E. In 1820 this place con- 
 sisted of about thirty cottages, clus- 
 tered round the master-attendant’s 
 bungalow ; yet there is a European 
 burying-ground here, and small coast- 
 ing vessels are still built and repaired 
 in mud docks. The river Paddair 
 joins the sea near Calingapatam, by 
 a debouchure almost a mile wide, 
 which is with difficulty forded. — ( Ful - 
 larton, fyc.) 
 
 Callacoil. — A town in the Car- 
 natic division of Marawa, sixty miles 
 S.S.W. from Tanjore ; lat. 9° 55' N., 
 Ion. 78° 54' E. 
 
 Callacaud. — A town in the Car- 
 natic, district of Tinnevelly, thirty- 
 nine miles N. by E. from Cape Co- 
 morin ; lat. 8 ° 36' N., Ion. 77 ° 53' E. 
 
 Callao. — An island in the Eastern 
 seas lying opposite to the coast of 
 Cochin-China, and about eight miles 
 east of a considerable river, on the 
 banks of which stands the town of 
 Faifoo, and not far from the harbour 
 of Turon ; lat. 15° 53' N. In length 
 it may be estimated at five miles by 
 two the average breadth. This is a 
 picturesque island of considerable 
 altitude, one of the mountains ex- 
 ceeding 1,400 feet; but it is only inha- 
 bited on the south-west coast, where 
 there is a beautiful spot of about 200 
 acres, covered with neat houses, tem- 
 ples, clusters of trees, and small hil- 
 locks covered with shrubs. — (Staun- 
 ton, fyc.) 
 
 Callianee (Calyani). — A strong 
 hilly country, extending along the sea- 
 
CALSL 
 
 coast of the Aurangabad province, 
 opposite to the island of Bombay, 
 bounded on the east by the western 
 ghauts. The principal towns are Cql- 
 lianee, Bassein, Panwell, Chowl, Ra- 
 japoor, Dassgong, and Mhar ; the 
 largest streams, the Tanja, Cailas, 
 the Bhagirati, and Savatri. When 
 conquered from the Peshwa, the 
 towns were described as large and 
 well-peopled ; in 1820, however, the 
 villages were generally small, thinly 
 scattered, and of a poor appearance, 
 consisting principally of clusters of 
 ill-built and rudely thatched huts.~ 
 ( Public MS, Documents , Fullarton , 
 $c.) 
 
 Callianee. — The capital of the 
 above district, situated in the pro- 
 vince of Aurangabad, on the south 
 side of the Cailas river, thirty miles 
 N.E. from Bombay ; lat. 19° 15' N,, 
 Ion. 73° 15' E. This town sustained 
 many sieges during the wars between 
 the Moguls and Maharattas, and is 
 surrounded by ruins of various sorts. 
 It is, notwithstanding all its vicissi- 
 tudes, still a populous town, and car- 
 ries on some traffic in cocoa-nuts, 
 oil, coarse cloths, brass, and earthen- 
 ware. — (M. Graham, Rennell , fyc.) 
 
 Calliany (Calyani). — A small 
 division of the province of Beeder, 
 bounded on the north by the Tierna 
 river, and on the east by the Beeder 
 district. The town of Calliany, from 
 which it derives its name, stands in 
 lat. 17° 50' N., ion. 77° 5' E., thirty- 
 five miles west from the city of Bee- 
 der. 
 
 Calliandroog ( Calyanadurga ). 
 — A town in the Balaghaut ceded dis- 
 tricts, forty-two miles S. by E. from 
 Bellarv ; lat. 13° 42' N., Ion. 77° 13' 
 E. 
 
 Callinger ( Calinajara) . — A town 
 and fortress in the Allahabad province, 
 district of Bundelcund ; lat. 25° 6' N., 
 Ion. 80° 25' E. By Abul Fazel, in 
 1582, it is described as follows : 
 “ Callinger is a stone fort, situated 
 on a lofty mountain. Here is an idol 
 named Kalbihroop, eighteen cubits in 
 height ; at the distance of twenty 
 
 coss from the fort husbandmen some- 
 times find small diamonds, and in the 
 neighbourhood is an iron mine.” 
 
 The summit of the table-land of 
 Callinger is at least 1,200 feet in ele- 
 vation above the neighbouring plains, 
 and the base of the mountain covers 
 above ten miles in circumference. At 
 the foot of the northern front of the 
 hill stands the town, which in 1820 
 was still of considerable size, although 
 of a ruinous exterior and unfortified. 
 The walled plain comprehends the 
 whole summit of the hill, and con- 
 tained the public buildings, the quar- 
 ters for the garrison, and several large 
 tanks, always filled with water. This 
 plain, or interior plateau, is almost 
 five miles in circumference, and com- 
 pletely encompassed by a wall of Ma- 
 homedan construction, at some places 
 elevated above the level of the sum- 
 mit, and others on a level with it; 
 the great body of this immense mural 
 rampart is composed of rough, uncut, 
 and unplastered stones, and its con- 
 struction must have required both 
 great time and labour. The fortress 
 of Callinger resembles in its situation 
 that of Gualior, but surpasses it both 
 in size and strength ; it was taken by 
 the British in 1812, after a bloody 
 siege ; and in 1820 a party of sappers 
 and miners were sent there from Cal- 
 cutta, to destroy the works and dis- 
 mantle the fortress. 
 
 Calowr. — See Cahlore. 
 
 Calpee. — See Kalpee. 
 
 Calpenteen. — A peninsula, or 
 neck of land, which extends almost 
 sixty miles along the west coast of 
 Ceylon, and during the north-east 
 monsoon becomes an island. The 
 surface is level, the soil sandy, and 
 covered with cocoa-nut trees, the fruit 
 of which is here the chief article of 
 food. The population is considerable, 
 and a small trade in the export of 
 salted fish and fish roes is carried on 
 to Columbo, from whence rice is 
 brought in large canoes, made from 
 the trunk of a single tree brought 
 from the continent. — (Cordiner,fyc.) 
 
 Calsi. — A large village in North- 
 ern Hindostan, situated four miles 
 
328 
 
 CAMBAY. 
 
 above the confluence of the Tonse 
 and Jumna, within the mountains 
 of Jaunsar, of which district it is the 
 capital ; lat. 30° 31' N. It is also a 
 mart of trade between the mountai- 
 neers and people oftheplains. — ( Capt . 
 Hodgson , #c.) 
 
 Caltura. — A town and small fort 
 in the island of Ceylon, twenty-six 
 miles south from Columbo ; lat. 6° 34' 
 N., Ion. 79° 53' E. Here, as at every 
 village on the west coast of Ceylon, 
 arrack is distilled from the juice of 
 the palmira and cocoa-nut trees, and 
 is an article of considerable traffic. 
 The travelling distance from Columbo 
 is twenty-eight miles, by an inland 
 navigation consisting of rivers con- 
 nected by canals. — ( Cordiner , $c.) 
 
 Calygong Hills. — A range of hills 
 in the Deccan, which separate the 
 Gundwana province from that of 
 Candeish, and situated between the 
 Tuptee and Nerbudda rivers. 
 
 Calymere Point. — A promontory 
 on the sea-coast of the Carnatic, dis- 
 trict of Tinnevelly, near to which 
 some pagodas are visible from the 
 sea; lat. 10° 18' N., Ion. 79° 56' E. 
 
 Camao. — A town in the province 
 of Cambodia, near to its southern ex- 
 tremity, mostly inhabited by Cochin 
 Chinese; lat. 8° 50' N., Ion. 104° 
 56' E. 
 
 Cambay fCambajaJ . — An ancient 
 city in the province of Gujerat, situ- 
 ated at the upper part of the Gulf of 
 Cambay, and mentioned by Marco 
 Polo about A.D. 1295. Lat. 22° 21' 
 N., Ion. 72° 48' E. Near the town 
 the tides rush with much turbulence, 
 and rise and fall forty feet, so that at 
 high water ships can anchor near the 
 town, but at low water the channel 
 becomes dry, and vessels must lie in 
 the mud until it returns. When Ah- 
 medabad flourished as the capital of 
 an opulent and independent state, 
 Cambay was its sea-port, and expe- 
 rienced great commercial prosperity ; 
 but it decayed with its metropolis, 
 and is now much reduced. Various 
 Hindoo and Mahomedan edifices, 
 however, are still to be seen, and the 
 
 ruins of many more, especially of the 
 Jain sect, which appears at one period 
 to have been predominant in this 
 neighbourhood. In a Jain subter- 
 ranean temple at Cambay, in 1780, 
 there were two massy statues of their 
 deities, one white and the other black. 
 The inscription on the first intimated 
 that it was the image of Parswanatha, 
 a Jain deity, or rather deified saint, 
 carved and consecrated in the reign 
 of the Emperor Acber, A.D. 1602. 
 The black one had merely the date 
 inscribed, with the names of the two 
 Banyans who brought it there. 
 
 The surrounding country is plea- 
 sant, and when properly cultivated, 
 yields ample returns of wheat and 
 Hindostany grains, indigo, cotton, 
 and oil seeds; but it has been long 
 managed in an indolent and slovenly 
 manner. It is said that in the city 
 and adjacent country there were for- 
 merly 50,000 wells and tanks ; but 
 the inhabitants, to prevent the Ma- 
 haratta armies encamping in their 
 vicinity, drained most of the tanks, 
 and filled many of the wells up. 
 Cambay formerly exported fabrics of 
 silk, chintz, gold stuffs, cornelian 
 stones, and indigo ; but these manu- 
 factures have gradually dwindled 
 away, and the staples now are wheat 
 and other grains to Bombay. The 
 silversmiths here still emboss very 
 neatly. Their process is to fill the 
 cup, watch-case, box, or other ves- 
 sel with gum-lac, after which they 
 punch with a small chisel the figures 
 of flowers, elephants, and such dif- 
 ferent varieties of birds and animals 
 as are required. The Persian lan- 
 guage was formerly spoken here in 
 great purity, on account of the num- 
 ber of emigrants who settled here 
 during the civil wars of Persia, and 
 also many of Nadir Shah’s soldiers, 
 who deserted and retired with their 
 plunder to Cambay. In 1780 this 
 city and territory were governed by 
 a native prince named Mohmaun 
 Khan, who paid a heavy tribute to 
 the Maharattas, whose Peshwa exer- 
 cised a divided jurisdiction, both civil 
 and criminal. Since the fall of that 
 potentate these rights have devolved 
 
CAMBODIA. 
 
 329 
 
 to the British government, to whom 
 the present nabob pays tribute, and 
 acknowledges his subordination. — 
 ( Forbes , Drummond, Wilford, Public 
 MS. Documents , Elmore , Mallet , 
 Rennell, fyc.) 
 
 Cambay ( Gulf of). — A gulf on 
 the north-west coast of India, which 
 penetrates about 150 miles into the 
 province of Gujerat. The tides in 
 this arm of the sea run with amazing 
 velocity, and at low water leave the 
 bottom of the gulf dry from lat. 22° 
 3' N. to Cambay town. No vessel 
 attempts to go above Gongway in 
 one tide from Jumbosier : for if they 
 cannot get into Cambay creek they 
 must return to Gongway, which is 
 five leagues distant. In many places 
 the current is so rapid, that if a ship 
 takes the ground she immediately 
 upsets, and in all probability the 
 whole crew perish. It is supposed 
 the depth of water in this gulf has 
 been progressively decreasing for more 
 than two centuries. Fifteen miles 
 east of Cambay city the bed of the 
 gulf is reduced to six miles in breadth, 
 and is dry at ebb-tide ; but the cross- 
 ing either on horse or foot is dan- 
 gerous, the tide rushing furiously in, 
 like the bore in the Calcutta river. — 
 ( Elmore , Drummond , fyc.) 
 
 Cambing. — A small island about 
 thirty miles in circumference, lying 
 off the north coast of Timor, between 
 the eighth and ninth degrees of south 
 latitude. 
 
 Cambodia ( Camboja ). — A country 
 of India beyond the Ganges, extend- 
 ing from Cape St. James in the China 
 sea, to near the same parallel in the 
 Gulf of Siam, thus comprehending 
 the whole peninsula of Cambodia. 
 In the interior, and along the great 
 river of Cambodia, it stretches much 
 further, reaching as far north as lat. 
 14°. The whole coast from Camao 
 point, the southern extremity, up to 
 the Cape Liaut of the Europeans, is 
 an uninterrupted archipelago of beau- 
 tiful islands, which appear like the 
 tops of a chain of mountains, some 
 above 1,000 feet high, extending 
 
 along the coast of Cambodia, while 
 the continent is low alluvial land; 
 without hill or elevation. Among 
 these islets the tides, which are strong 
 and irregular, rise to unusual heights 
 for such latitudes, in some places 
 above fifteen feet. A mud flat com- 
 mences at Cambodia point, and gra- 
 dually increases in breadth from the 
 land, until it terminates at the mouth 
 of the Donnai river, where it spreads 
 out to sea for above four leagues, 
 the southern extremity of Asia here 
 sinking into the ocean by very slow 
 gradations. 
 
 The Cambodia river is said to have 
 its source from a lake within the Chi- 
 nese province of Yunan, and to be 
 navigable for boats before it enters 
 Laos, between the twenty-second and 
 twenty-third degrees of north lati- 
 tude. It is evidently one of the 
 largest rivers of Asia, with a course 
 (if the above conjecture be correct) 
 of 1,500 miles, including windings; 
 but it probably does not deliver to 
 the ocean so large a body of water 
 as the Ganges. It flows through the 
 territories of Laos and Cambodia, 
 joining the sea by three mouths about 
 lat. 10° N. 
 
 The vegetable productions of this 
 province are the same as those of the 
 neighbouring countries of Siam and 
 Ava. The colouring matter named 
 gamboge derives its name from hence, 
 being the concrete resinous juice of 
 certain trees found here of a superior 
 quality, but produced likewise in 
 other parts of India. At present 
 the exportable commodities are gam- 
 boge, cardamoms, eagle-wood, areca, 
 ivory, sticklac, hides, horns, bones, 
 dried fish, dye-woods, and timber for 
 domestic and naval purposes. The 
 quantity of teak-wood, however, is 
 very small ; the sort most used for 
 ship and house-building and the artil- 
 lery, is called in the native language 
 sao, and is strong and durable, but 
 its botanical character has not yet 
 been ascertained. A hard black wood 
 named quo, of large dimensions, and 
 susceptible of a fine polish, is much 
 used in cabinet work. This province 
 also yields the Portuguese rose-wood. 
 
33 0 
 
 CAMLAPOOR. 
 
 which the Chinese export in consi- 
 derable quantities. The Chinese and 
 Macao Portuguese carry on a small 
 traffic, importing silk goods, china, 
 and lacquered ware, tea, sweetmeats, 
 tin and tutenague, and exporting dried 
 fish and the articles above-enumerated 
 in return. Chantiban is one of the 
 principal trading ports of Cambodia, 
 and a considerable emporium for car- 
 damoms and pepper. It stands a 
 short distance inland, up a river only 
 navigable for small boats. Cancao, 
 or Athien, on the frontier of Cochin 
 China, is the next mart of importance, 
 and is also situated up a river which 
 cannot be ascended by large vessels. 
 
 The Khomen language is used by a 
 nation of that name who reside on 
 the banks of the Mekon, or river of 
 Cambu Cha’t, or Cambodia. The 
 Khomen are reckoned an ancient and 
 learned people, and were formerly 
 subdued by the T’hay J’hay, or an- 
 cient Siamese race. The modern 
 T’hay, or Siamese, still denominate 
 the Pali character Nangou Khom, or 
 the Khomen letter, from this nation. 
 They are not, however, supposed to 
 have existed as a polished people so 
 early as the Law (Laos), but are be- 
 lieved to have derived their origin 
 from the warlike race of mountai- 
 neers named Kho, the Gueos of the 
 Portuguese historians. The name of 
 Camboja is often mentioned in the 
 Ramayuna and other ancient Hindoo 
 poems, where its horses are cele- 
 brated ; but the designation probably 
 refers to Cambay in Gujerat, as an 
 intercourse is described as then sub- 
 sisting between Camboja and Oude, 
 the capital of the great Rama. 
 
 With the present condition of the 
 interior we are still but little ac- 
 quainted, and its religion can be only 
 conjectured. Surrounded on all sides 
 by nations professing the doctrines of 
 Buddha, the majority of the inhabi- 
 tants are also probably votaries of 
 the same prophet. The accounts we 
 have of th<j mountaineers assimilate 
 them to the savage aborigines found 
 all over the continent of India, where 
 the Hindoo and Mahomedan religions 
 have not penetrated, or made any 
 
 lasting impression. The most nume- 
 rous portion of the inhabitants on 
 the sea-coast are native Cambodians; 
 but the Anam, or Cochin Chinese, 
 compose the governing class. The 
 aborigines to the west of the great 
 river, and bordering on Laos, are 
 termed Mew. 
 
 In A.D. 1590 the king of Cambodia 
 sent a mission to the governor of the 
 Philippines, begging his assistance 
 against the king of Siam. In 1820 
 this province was divided into three 
 parts : one tributary to Siam, another 
 to Cochin China, and a third inde- 
 pendent. The two first-named divi- 
 sions comprehend all the sea-coast ; 
 the third is several days’ journey up 
 the great river Cambodia. Its capi- 
 tal, named Panompin, is said to be 
 populous, and inhabited besides na- 
 tives by a considerable number of 
 genuine Chinese. In 1819 the king 
 of Cochin China interdicted to fo- 
 reigners all direct commerce with his 
 portion of Cambodia, having pro- 
 claimed Saigon the emporium of that 
 province, and of all the southern di- 
 visions of Cochin China. — ( Singapoor 
 Chronicle , Leyden , Lieut. White , Craw- 
 furdy Staunton , De Bissachere, fyc.) 
 
 Cambodia. — A town of India be- 
 yond the Ganges, the ancient capital 
 of the preceding province, but now 
 in a decayed condition; lat. 13° N., 
 Ion. 104° 35' E. By the Birmans it 
 is named Lowaick, and stands on the 
 river of Cambodia or Mekon, about 
 150 miles from the sea. It does not 
 appear to have been visited since the 
 time of the Portuguese ascendancy, 
 and before the fervour of their mis- 
 sionaries had abated. — See also Pa- 
 nompin, the name of the modern 
 capital. 
 
 Camigten. — A small island, one 
 of the Philippines, about ten miles 
 in length by four the average breadth, 
 situated due north of the Luzon. 
 There is some trade carried on here 
 for wax, gold, cocoa-nuts, and cassia. 
 
 Camlapoor. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Bejapoor contiguous to the 
 ruins of Bijanagur, of which it pro- 
 
CAMROOP. 
 
 33 1 
 
 bably at one period formed an in- 
 tegral part ; the fortified pass through 
 the mountains, which was the barrier 
 of that ancient city, lying about two 
 miles to the south of Camlapoor ; 
 lat. 15° 13/ N., Ion, 76° 48' E. Near 
 to this place there are two magnifi- 
 cent Hindoo temples, greatly re- 
 sembling the principal pagodas of Bi- 
 janagur; also a mud fort, with a 
 ditch and glacis, which has been a 
 place of some strength, but is now 
 no longer occupied. The traveller 
 from the north observes here, for the 
 first time, the mud cottages painted 
 with alternate stripes of red and 
 white, according to the prevailing 
 practice in the villages south of the 
 Krishna. The old Raja of Bijanagur 
 resides principally at Camlapoor. — 
 ( Fullarton , Sfc.) 
 
 Campar. — A trading town on the 
 north coast of Sumatra, principality 
 of Siak, mentioned by the early Por- 
 tuguese writers, and still one of the 
 most flourishing Malay settlements 
 in the straits of Malacca. Its prin- 
 cipal export to Singapoor is coffee, 
 which is annually increasing. Some 
 part is grown in the neighbourhood, 
 but much the largest proportion is 
 brought down from the mountains of 
 Menancabow, where it was cultivated 
 for the first time about fifteen years 
 ago . — ( Singapoor Chronicle , fyc.) 
 
 Campouly. — A small village, with 
 a fine tank and temple, situated at 
 the foot of the great Bhore ghaut, in 
 the province of Aurungabad, division 
 of Callianee, about forty-eight miles 
 E.S.E. from Bombay. 
 
 Camroop ( Camarupa t the aspect of 
 desire J . — This was formerly an ex- 
 tensive Hindoo geographical division, 
 extending from the river Korotoya, 
 where it joined the ancient kingdom 
 of Matsya, to the Dekkor basini, a 
 river of Assam, which enters the 
 Brahmaputra a short distance to the 
 east of the eastern Kamakhya, said 
 to be fourteen days’ journey by water 
 above Jorhaut, lately the modern 
 capital. On the north Camroop ex- 
 tended to the first range of Boo tan 
 hills; the southern boundary was 
 
 where the Lukhiya river separates 
 from the Brahmaputra, where it ad- 
 joined the country called Bangga 
 (Bengal). According to this descrip- 
 tion, Camroop, besides a large di- 
 vision of Assam (which still retains 
 the name), included the whole of the 
 modern divisions of Rungpoor and 
 Rangamatty, a portion of the My- 
 munsing district, and Silhet, together 
 with Munipoor, Gentiah, and Cachar. 
 
 The early history of this region is 
 involved in obscurity, but it has the 
 reputation of having been in early 
 times a sort of Paphian land, the 
 seat of promiscuous pleasures : which 
 description the loose manners of its 
 modern inhabitants, as may be seen 
 under the article Rungpoor, tend 
 strongly to justify. Besides this, a 
 mysterious awe hangs over it, as 
 having been the grand source of the 
 Tantra system of magic, the doctrines 
 of which permit many indulgences to 
 new converts, and enable the Brah- 
 mins to share sensual gratifications, 
 from which they would otherwise be 
 excluded. The Tantras chiefly in- 
 culcate the worship of irascible fe- 
 male spirits, whose hostility is to be 
 appeased by bloody sacrifices, to be 
 eaten afterwards, in consequence of 
 which the Tantras are held in great 
 estimation by the Brahmins of Ben- 
 gal. Jadoo, or witchcraft, is sup- 
 posed to be still generally understood 
 by the old women, who are em- 
 ployed by the young to secure the 
 affection of their paramours. 
 
 At present, however, the Brah- 
 mins of this region are not considered 
 very profound conjurors, although 
 formerly held in great estimation for 
 their knowledge of the black art. 
 There are still some pretenders, and 
 rich people sometimes give five and 
 six rupees for casting out a devil. 
 In some divisions of Camroop few 
 have of late been affected in this way, 
 owing, it is said, to the great impor- 
 tation of learned men from the south; 
 in others, the facility with which the 
 demon allows himself to be expelled 
 is attributed to his being of a low 
 caste. The bites of serpents are 
 cured in the name of Bishahari, and 
 
332 
 
 CAMROOP. 
 
 the small-pox in that of Sitola, but 
 other diseases and devils are removed 
 in that of Kamakhva, and occasion- 
 ally of the old goddess of the Teesta 
 river. 
 
 In the north-eastern extremity be- 
 yond Rangamatty the temples are 
 miserable huts, and few are suffici- 
 ently high to admit any thing larger 
 than a goat or a pig. The only two 
 of celebrity in the neighbourhood are 
 Kamakhya, and one at Haldola de- 
 dicated to Rama, both of which have 
 endowments in land. Among the 
 natives of Camroop the village gods 
 are the principal objects of worship, 
 as by offering sacrifices they have an 
 excuse for eating meat. By the 
 purer tribes of Bengal the household 
 gods are more followed, and most of 
 them have also salgrams. The houses 
 of such persons may be discriminated 
 from those of the aborigines by their 
 having in the vicinity a rude heap of 
 earth for receiving the sacred stone 
 (the salgram) on festivals. 
 
 The chief object of worship and 
 veneration among the Mahomedans, 
 in which they are joined by many 
 Hindoos, is Ismael Gazi, a conquer- 
 ing saint, who first reduced the coun- 
 try to the faith of the Koran. He 
 lies buried at Goraghaut, but several 
 precious relics are said to have been 
 buried in Camroop, over which mo- 
 numents have been erected. This 
 holy person issued three orders to 
 the zemindars and to the officers em- 
 ployed under them in the collection 
 of the revenue; lstly, never to sleep 
 in bedsteads ; 2dly, not to beat the 
 inhabitants ; and 3dly, not to suffer 
 milk to be adulterated with water. 
 At present the two last are very ge- 
 nerally disregarded, and the first 
 evaded, which is done by sleeping on 
 a bed with a bottom of plank, it 
 being supposed that the saint’s prohi- 
 bition was confined to a bedstead 
 with a bottom of cords. 
 
 Although Camroop is considered 
 by the natives as very distinct from 
 Bengal, and although all its original 
 tribes have features indicative of a 
 common origin with the Chinese, and 
 the more eastern races of the ancient 
 
 continent, yet the language of Ben- 
 gal, in different stages of purity, pre- 
 vails almost universally. The dia- 
 lects differ very considerably at short 
 distances, and are reckoned six in 
 number. There is great reason, how- 
 ever, to believe that it is not the 
 original language of Camroop, and 
 that it did not make any great pro- 
 gress till of late. It does not ap- 
 pear, however, that the ancient Hin- 
 doos had any record of a kingdom 
 intervening between Camroop and 
 Assam. The modern Hindoos are 
 of opinion that Camroop is bounded 
 by Chin, by which, however, is pro- 
 bably meant the country between 
 Hindostan and China. According to 
 Abul Fazel, the Chinese empire is 
 the Mahachin of the Hindoos. Until 
 quite recently, the Birman empire of 
 Ava in fact separated Camroop from 
 the Chinese empire. 
 
 This ancient province was invad- 
 ed by Mahomed Bukhtyar Khilijee, 
 in A.D. 1204, immediately after the 
 Mahomedan conquest of Bengal ; 
 but after losing nearly the whole of 
 his army, he was compelled to retreat. 
 From the prodigious ruins of public 
 works still extant, and the magnifi- 
 cent public roads that had been con- 
 structed, it is probable that this re- 
 mote corner of India in ancient times 
 enjoyed a superior form of govern- 
 ment to any that it has since expe- 
 rienced. Between the date last-men- 
 tioned and the reign of Acber, the 
 Musulmauns of Bengal made many 
 attempts to accomplish the subjuga- 
 tion of Camroop, but were invariably 
 frustrated. The mode of defence 
 adopted by the princes of the coun- 
 try, when attacked, was to retire with 
 their families and effects into the jun- 
 gles, until the violence of the rains, 
 the inundation of the country, and 
 the pestilential effects of an unwhole- 
 some climate, compelled the invaders 
 to capitulate, or to attempt a de- 
 structive retreat. At length, about 
 A.D. 1603, towards the conclusion 
 of Acber’s reign, the Moguls took 
 permanent possession of the western 
 portion of Camroop, which they 
 partitioned in four divisions, viz. 
 
CANARA. 
 
 333 
 
 Ootrecul, Dukhincul, Bengal Bhumi, 
 and Camroop Proper. 
 
 An officer, with the title of nabob, 
 continued to reside at Rangamatty 
 with some troops ; but it seems to 
 have been the ’wish of the Delhi so- 
 vereigns to encourage the growth of 
 reeds and forests, to serve as a bound- 
 ary against the incursions of the As- 
 samese, and henceforward the tribute 
 paid by the native chiefs in this quar- 
 ter was little more than nominal. 
 Left to themselves, the petty chiefs 
 would have been entirely uninter- 
 rupted in the process of cutting each 
 other’s throats and reducing the 
 country to a desert, if they had not 
 been assisted in the task by the Boo- 
 tanners, who subdued several, and 
 continued advancing until they were 
 met by the gigantic power of the 
 Company, which suppressed all rival 
 invasions. — (F. Buchanan , fyc.) 
 
 Camupaud. — A town in the north- 
 ern Circars, district of Guntoor, for- 
 ty-seven miles north from Angoli; 
 lat. 15° 56' N., Ion. 79° 55' E. 
 
 CANARA. 
 
 A large province on the west coast 
 of India, extending from the 12th to 
 the 15th degrees of north latitude. 
 To the north it has Goa and the dis- 
 trict of Gunduck in Bejapoor ; to the 
 south the Malabar province ; on the 
 east Mysore and the Balaghaut ceded 
 territories; and on the west the sea. 
 It extends 180 miles along the sea- 
 coast, and in 1807, according to Mr. 
 Thackeray, contained 4,022 square 
 miles below the ghauts; 2,758 (in- 
 cluding Bilghy, Soonda, and Soopah) 
 above the ghauts : making a total of 
 7,380 square miles of wild, rocky, 
 and uneven country. The tract dis- 
 tinguished in our maps as the pro- 
 vince of Canara, by a fatality unex- 
 ampled in history, neither is nor ever 
 was known by that name to the peo- 
 ple of the country, or of any part of 
 India. Voyagers and Mahomedan 
 strangers, finding that it was a de- 
 pendency on the kingdom of Canara, 
 and probably that the officers of go- 
 vernment spoke that language, gave 
 
 the name of Canara to the division 
 called by the natives Tulava, which 
 name, however, applies more parti- 
 cularly to the country north of the 
 river Chandraghiri. Canara is a cor- 
 ruption of Carnata, the table-land 
 above the ghauts. The British pro- 
 vince thus named is composed of the 
 maritime countries of Tulava, Haiga, 
 and the adjacent parts of Malabar, 
 and the Hindoo Kankana (the Con- 
 can). It was transferred to the Bri- 
 tish government in 1799, and now 
 forms one of the collectorships under 
 the Madras presidency, but in geogra- 
 phical description is usually distin- 
 guished as north and south Canara, 
 under which heads further topogra- 
 phical details will be found. 
 
 In this province the western ghauts 
 in some places approach near to the 
 sea ; in others, branches of rocky 
 hills stretch from the ghauts towards 
 the sea, occupying great part of the 
 surface. The village lands, however, 
 are well cultivated with rice, espe- 
 cially those through which a river 
 runs, or an arm of the sea ; but where 
 there is no inland navigation, im- 
 provement is backward. The rugged 
 surface of the country renders it ne- 
 cessary to transport the produce on 
 the heads of the peasantry, bullocks 
 being seldom used. The climate and 
 soil of Canara are much like those of 
 Malabar. The rains set in about the 
 middle of May ; fall heaviest, with 
 squalls of wind, in July; and continue 
 to the end of September, during 
 which season all trade is interrupted. 
 Ships quit the coast and insurances 
 are void until the end of September ; 
 on shore, during the interval, work 
 of every sort is executed within doors, 
 and bargains and accounts are set- 
 tled. As in Malabar, the natives here 
 live mostly every man under his own 
 tree ; but in the interior there are 
 some villages, peopled chiefly by 
 Brahmins and shopkeepers. The 
 roads in Canara are passable, though 
 inferior to the military highways in 
 Malabar, but they are less necessary, 
 as the trade is greatly conveyed by 
 water, the population and cultivation 
 following the courses of the rivers. 
 
334 
 
 CANARA. 
 
 As the natives do not require roads, 
 it would be oppressive to compel the 
 inhabitants to make them, as govern- 
 ment alone would benefit by their con- 
 struction, in facilitating the progress 
 of troops, stores, and travellers. 
 
 The soil of Canara is red and gra- 
 velly on the high grounds, sandy near 
 the sea, and in valleys well adapted 
 for the cultivation of rice; but it is 
 the climate rather than the soil that 
 renders the province so productive. 
 The crops are usually watered by the 
 rains, but streams are sometimes 
 dammed up to preserve the water for 
 the late crops. The land is divided 
 into two classes : the first is capable 
 of producing two, or even three crops 
 of rice ; the second a crop of rice and 
 one of some other coarser grain ; the 
 third a crop of rice only. Manure is 
 scarce, and the incessant wet and 
 want of good pasture so deteriorate 
 the cattle, that they are not much 
 taller than long-legged goats. The 
 cultivators sow and plant rice from 
 May to July, and reap from Septem- 
 ber to December inclusive. An acre 
 of good land requires by computation 
 eighty-eight seer of seed, and may 
 produce 1,269 seers. There are co- 
 coa-nut gardens in Canara, but not so 
 many as in Malabar, rice being justly 
 thought the surest and most valuable 
 production. Some sandy ground 
 along the beach and banks of rivers 
 is, when not too wet, peculiarly 
 adapted for the growth of cocoa-nuts. 
 In such situations the trees are 
 planted either in a scattered manner, 
 or in regular gardens, where they 
 have been left untaxed, and ought to 
 remain so. When a proprietor plants 
 a garden, he usually manages it him- 
 self, letting off a few trees to a toddy 
 drawer, who pays a pagoda annually 
 for ten, twelve, or fifteen trees. Good 
 trees are said to yield from fifty to 
 one hundred nuts annually, in four 
 crops ; weak trees less than fifty nuts. 
 Betel and pepper are produced above 
 the western ghauts, where the soil 
 and climate are more fitted for their 
 production than in Malabar. 
 
 The greater proportion of the lands 
 in Canara are private property, and ori- 
 
 ginal inscriptions on stone and copper 
 establish the antiquity of the institu- 
 tion. These consist of the donations of 
 ancient princes to pagodas, &c., grant- 
 ing the land-tax accruing from certain 
 lands and villages, and thus transfer- 
 ring it from the treasury to the indivi- 
 dual specified ; but the property in 
 the soil was not conferred, because 
 not claimed or possessed by the sove- 
 reign. In instances where the abso- 
 lute property in the soil is granted, 
 the deed of gift expressly mentions 
 the prior purchase of the right. These 
 inscriptions on stone and copper are 
 found in every part of Canara, and in 
 every pagoda, and complete investi- 
 gation of them would tend to illus- 
 trate the ancient history of Canara, 
 perhaps of India. The different 
 princes of Bednore, Bijanagur, and 
 even of Mysore, seem never to have 
 questioned the general rights of the 
 people, although arbitrary assess- 
 ments, and particular acts of oppres- 
 sion, may have rendered private es- 
 tates of less value. The culture be- 
 stowed by the land-owners on their 
 estates, proves that they always con- 
 fided in the justness of their title; 
 and in fact that they have been chiefly 
 rendered valuable by the pains de- 
 voted to their improvement. Land 
 is frequently pledged, and is, generally 
 speaking, deeply encumbered. The 
 usual practice of pledging land ren- 
 ders its sale less common ; but, not- 
 withstanding the aversion felt to the 
 total alienation of their patrimony, 
 there are many instances of its actual 
 sale. On these occasions it usually 
 brings from eight to twelve years* 
 purchase money on the clear rent ; 
 but the inequality of the land-tax, 
 and the distance from great towns 
 cause the value to vary, and to ren- 
 der it in some places not saleable. 
 The land-tax is heavier than in the 
 northern parts of Malabar, and the 
 soil is more completely cultivated, 
 which is probably the cause of the 
 comparatively higher price of land in 
 Malabar. 
 
 The lands are leased to tenants at 
 will, or fixed tenants. The proprie- 
 tors have power to turn out or raise 
 
CANARA. 
 
 335 
 
 the rents of the first, but it is seldom 
 done. The rent lies between one quar- 
 ter and one half of the gross produce. 
 Hands and stock are scarce, and as 
 the country gets more populous, 
 rents will probably rise. The fixed 
 tenants are a kind of sub-proprietors, 
 and are in some respects more inde- 
 pendent than the proprietors from 
 whom they hold. The great differ- 
 ence between the la ids in the Mala- 
 bar and Canara provinces, and those of 
 the other British districts in the south 
 of India, is, that there they are vested 
 in communities, here in individuals. 
 The villages above the western ghauts 
 are like corporations, communities, 
 municipalities, or republics, possess- 
 ing the whole of the lands, subject to 
 certain contributions to the sovereign, 
 who draws the whole land rent. If 
 the government exacted the whole 
 land rent from Malabar and Canara, 
 the present proprietors would not be 
 common, but individual tenants. 
 
 The rent at present received by the 
 proprietors from fixed tenants and 
 tenants at will is estimated to be ge- 
 nerally about one half of the gross 
 produce, the government tax being 
 about sixty per cent, of the landlord’s 
 rent, and thirty per cent, of the gross 
 produce. With respect to landed te- 
 nures, and the proportions which the 
 landlord’s and the government share 
 bear to the whole produce, it is very 
 difficult for the collector, assisted by 
 a complete staff of native revenue of- 
 ficers, to come to any satisfactory 
 conclusion. If the collector cannot 
 ascertain this point with accuracy, 
 notwithstanding his daily intercourse 
 with the cultivators, it cannot be ex- 
 pected to be effected by a deputed 
 itinerant, who calls in an individual 
 to be interrogated, which person 
 comes prepared with a series of sto- 
 ries, the offspring of his own genius 
 for invention. In Canara the village 
 accountant keeps a statement of the 
 public revenue, but the peasant sel- 
 dom keeps an account of his own 
 profits and expenses, he therefore 
 rarely can tell what they have been ; 
 and if he be desired to guess, he will 
 answer most guardedly, especially 
 
 when he is led into the tent for the 
 purpose of being questioned, and 
 magnify his losses and diminish his 
 gain. On entering a field with him, 
 it is the same exaggeration of loss 
 and absence of gain, which are placed 
 before the official inquirer in so strong 
 a point of view, that he is surprised 
 to find the worthy man alive and in 
 good case under such horrible cir- 
 cumstances. 
 
 In a country so rocky and uneven 
 as Canara, where cattle are not only 
 scarce, but can seldom be employed ; 
 where every spot, before it can be 
 cultivated, must first be levelled with 
 great labour by the hand of man; the 
 expense of the first preparation of 
 waste land must have been so great, 
 that it never would have been at- 
 tempted unless the revenue assess- 
 ment had been moderate. But even 
 after the land is brought into cultiva- 
 tion, if it be neglected for a few 
 years, it is soon broken by deep gul- 
 lies, formed by the torrents which 
 fall during the monsoon. In this 
 province, and also in Malabar, the 
 proprietor of land bestows on his 
 little spot all that minute labour and 
 attention which is so important to 
 Indian husbandry. Each man lives 
 on his estate ; and the neatness of the 
 culture and of the enclosures, shews 
 the ardour with which the proprietor 
 improves and embellishes his ground. 
 In countries similar to Canara in 
 climate, manners, and institutions, 
 the arguments and examples adduced 
 by Arthur Young in favour of large 
 farms do not apply, because there is 
 a want of stock, and general poverty, 
 which at present keeps farms small ; 
 but even after stock has accumulated, 
 the Hindoo system of an equal divi- 
 sion among coheirs, will always have 
 a tendency to keep them small. At 
 present, in one district only of this 
 province, this subdivision is so ex- 
 treme, that the petty estates exceed 
 22,000 in number, some of them 
 yielding only one fanam of rent. 
 
 In 1807 Canara was supposed to 
 contain 576,640 persons, of which 
 number the Brahmins were computed 
 at 98,610. This great proportion of 
 
836 
 
 CANARA. 
 
 Brahmins has probably conduced to 
 the superior civilization of the pro- 
 vince. The Jains are also more nu- 
 merous than in the adjacent districts. 
 The slaves resemble those of Malabar, 
 and the Christians are numerous, but 
 they are said to be of an inferior 
 description to those in Travancore. 
 Prior to the acquisition of this pro- 
 vince by the Company, the popula- 
 tion was much reduced in conse- 
 quence of wars and internal feuds, the 
 destruction of many principal towns 
 by Tippoo Sultan, and his sending 
 above 60,000 Christian captives into 
 Mysore, from whence but a small 
 number ever returned. The country 
 was consequently found in a state of 
 desolation, with large tracts of un- 
 claimed waste, overgrown with jun- 
 gle, especially in the vicinity of the 
 ghauts. 
 
 This territory will probably never 
 be a manufacturing country, because 
 it produces none of the raw materials 
 necessary to render it such, and be- 
 cause the heavy rains, which last so 
 great a part of the year, are insur- 
 mountable obstacles to all operations 
 which require to be carried on in the 
 open air under a clear sky. But the 
 same rains that deny it manufactures, 
 give it a succession of never-failing 
 crops of rice, and render it the gra- 
 nary of Arabia, Goa, Bombay, and 
 Malabar, which would still continue 
 to receive their supplies from hence, 
 were even a heavy duty laid on ex- 
 portation. A duty of this descrip- 
 tion would compel the rich Arabian 
 (for there is no other depot) who can 
 afford to eat the rice of Canara, to 
 contribute to the revenue of the pro- 
 vince, nor would the amount exported 
 be affected by a considerable impost, 
 although it would by any interference 
 of the civil power. The rise of price 
 does not much alarm these traders ; 
 but the uncertainty of getting the 
 article at all, which the intervention 
 of the magistrate always occasions, 
 would effectually drive the traders 
 from its ports. Even if some appre- 
 hension of famine be occasioned by 
 a great exportation, this ought not to 
 be restrained until certain symptoms 
 
 of scarcity appear, and even then the 
 export to the other provinces under 
 the British government ought never 
 to be either prohibited or limited. 
 The officers of government are gene- 
 rally more liable, in their zeal for the 
 people under their immediate protec- 
 tion, to forbid exportation before ne- 
 cessity calls for so strong a measure, 
 than the grain merchants to export 
 too much ; and by a free export the 
 hardships of scarcity would be equally 
 shared by the common subjects of 
 the British empire. 
 
 When an embargo on grain is laid 
 in Canara, the market there will be 
 either overstocked or much better 
 stocked than at Madras, so that the 
 people of Canara may be surfeiting 
 themselves with food, while their fel- 
 low subjects at the presidency are 
 starving, and the lives of the people 
 at the latter may be sacrificed to the 
 groundless fears of the local autho- 
 rities in Canara. Although even a 
 famine should be a certain conse- 
 quence of great exportation from 
 Canara to Madras, the government 
 must act for the general benefit of all 
 their subjects, and it is the same thing 
 to the sovereign whether his subjects 
 die of hunger in Madras or Canara. 
 Suppose a squadron of ships at sea to 
 run short of water, and it happened 
 through any accident that one had 
 abundance: the commander would act 
 very unjustly if he did not compel 
 that ship to share her store with the 
 others; in like manner the govern- 
 ment ought to make the plenty of 
 one assist the deficiencies of another, 
 and a free communication is almost 
 certain of preventing the extremities 
 of dearth. In some particular cases 
 government is justified in interfering 
 to prohibit exportation to foreign 
 states, but never to their own pro- 
 vinces, and all their public functiona- 
 ries and inferior officers should be for- 
 bidden at all intermeddling, whatever, 
 with bazars, markets, exports, and 
 imports. The land customs in Canara 
 bear hard on the people, and ought 
 to be abolished, and a frontier duty, 
 if necessary, substituted. A trifling 
 revenue is raised by a toll on ferries, 
 
CANARA. 
 
 337 
 
 which ought to be suppressed, for, as 
 in India nobody travels for pleasure, 
 it is a tax on industry. The shark 
 fin duties are trifling in amount and 
 vexatious in the collection, and ought 
 to be erased, while the passes should 
 he kept in good order, to encourage 
 the merchants, who. bring down san- 
 dal and other upland articles, and 
 take away salt. 
 
 The province of Canara continued 
 undisturbed under a Hindoo dynasty 
 until 1763, when it was subdued by 
 Hyder, On his taking possession it 
 was a highly improved country, filled 
 with industrious inhabitants, who en- 
 joyed greater advantages than their 
 neighbours above the ghauts. The 
 small estates into which it was then 
 subdivided, were considered the ac- 
 tual property of the holders, and the 
 assessment was fixed and moderate. 
 In I 799 , it was transferred to the 
 British authority., and- has ever since 
 continued a solitary example of tran- 
 quillity, of an easy and regular rea- 
 lization of the revenue, and of gene- 
 ral prosperity. This has been attri- 
 buted to the nature of the tenures by 
 which the lands are held, to the 
 moderate revenue exacted, and to its 
 local situation, which is advantageous 
 for the disposal of its produce. Since 
 the cession a great improvement has 
 been exhibited among the people in 
 dress, mode of living, and other per- 
 sonal comforts ; the aggregate reve- 
 nue has increased, and is realized 
 with singular punctuality, notwith- 
 standing the numberless estates from 
 which it is collected. The total pub- 
 lic revenue collected in the Canara 
 district from the 12th July 1816 to 
 the 11th July 1817, was 718,085 
 pagodas. 
 
 The atrocities which were formerly 
 so common in Malabar and Canara, 
 are now much less frequent. The 
 rebellions in Malabar were not so 
 much objects of police, as civil wars, 
 which burned with a smothered flame 
 many years after the country devolved 
 to the British. Canara has been quiet 
 ever since it was acquired, because 
 Major Munro took measures to se- 
 cure tranquillity when the country 
 
 VOL. 1. 
 
 was first subdued. The police of 
 Canara has since been excellent, and 
 compared with the former state of 
 these countries, the property and 
 persons of the people are secure, of 
 which fact they are at length con- 
 vinced. The collectors of the re- 
 venue ought to superintend the police, 
 but should not be too much bur- 
 thened with minute ordinances, which 
 only tend to distract their attention 
 from objects of greater importance. 
 The judges would then be relieved 
 from the vexatious and tedious duty 
 of the criminal department, and 
 would have more time and a less ha- 
 rassed mind to attend to the decision 
 of civil suits, which are certainly 
 more difficult, and perhaps as impor- 
 tant, as the investigation of thefts and 
 robberies. If the decision of civil 
 suits be delayed, property becomes 
 less valuable, and the defalcations of 
 the revenue proportionally greater. 
 As there is no immediate urgency for 
 the decision of civil suits, they are 
 sometimes postponed by the judges, 
 but the courts of circuit come round 
 and keep the district judge so on the 
 alert in the criminal departments, that 
 the civil judicature is liable to become 
 a secondary consideration. — [Thacke- 
 ray , Wilks , Munro , F. Buchanan , 
 Ilodson, fyc.) 
 
 Canara, North. — The northern 
 division of the Canara province is si- 
 tuated between the 13th and 15th de- 
 grees of north latitude, and was for- 
 merly partitioned into the three small 
 sections of Cundapoor, Onore, and 
 Ancola. On leaving Devakara the 
 Karnata country begins, which ex- 
 tends below the ghauts, and occupies 
 all the defiles leading up to the moun- 
 tains. The portion of the Hindoo 
 Kankana (Concan) comprehended in 
 this division, forming the Ancola sec- 
 tion, is larger than either of the de- 
 partments into which Haiga is sub- 
 divided. All the country from Onore 
 inclusive, as far as Gaukarna, is called 
 Haiga, and is said to have been for- 
 merly under the authority of Ravana, 
 king of Lanca or Ceylon. 
 
 North Canara produces sandal- 
 z 
 
338 
 
 C ANAR A. 
 
 wood trees, sugar-canes, teak, wild 
 cinnamon, and nutmegs, pepper, and 
 cut or terra japonica, the mimosa ca- 
 techu growing spontaneously on all 
 the hills of North Canara. About 
 1800, the number of teak-trees cut 
 down each year amounted to 3,000. 
 About Beiluru are many groves of 
 the calophyllum inophyllum, from 
 the seed of which the common lamp 
 oil is expressed. The sea-coast is 
 principally occupied by Brahmin 
 houses, the interior by villages of the 
 Buntar caste, but it is not customary 
 for the inhabitants to congregate in 
 towns. A few shops are collected 
 together in one spot, but the other 
 natives of what is called a village are 
 scattered about on their farms. Ac- 
 cording to the Abbe Dubois, between 
 Tellichery and Onore there are no 
 less than five different nations, who, 
 though intermingled from time im- 
 memorial, still preserve their distinct 
 languages, character, and national 
 spirit. 
 
 Batticolla is principally in the Haiga 
 country, and the most common farm- 
 ers are a kind of Brahmins named 
 Haiga, after the country, and a low 
 caste of Hindoos, named Halepecas. 
 The Comarapeca are a tribe of Con- 
 can descent, apparently sudras of 
 pure birth, all soldiers and cultiva- 
 tors, with a strong inclination to 
 robbery. From the long prevailing 
 anarchy they became so impiously 
 ferocious, that they compelled many 
 Brahmins to adopt their caste and 
 customs. A Brahmin of this division, 
 who had written a narrative of the 
 capture of Seringapatam, although he 
 knew it happened on a Saturday, yet, 
 because Saturday was an unlucky 
 day, altered it to a Monday, as it 
 now stands in his history. Such dis- 
 crepancies, therefore, in Hindoo chro- 
 nology, must not be considered by 
 the antiquary as any proof either of 
 ignorance or error. — (F. Buchanan > 
 
 Canara, South. — The southern 
 division of the province is situated be- 
 tween the 12th and 14th degrees of 
 north latitude. The country to the 
 
 north of the river Chandraghiri, where 
 Malabar ends, is called Tulava by the 
 Hindoos, and South Canara by the. 
 British. The soil of Tulava grows 
 worse for grain as it recedes from the 
 sea, but to judge from appearances, 
 its occupiers are richer than those of 
 Malabar, who are probably in easier 
 circumstances than those above the 
 ghauts. The universal cry of poverty 
 in India, and the care with which 
 every thing is concealed, render it 
 very difficult to ascertain the real cir- 
 cumstances of the cultivator. A good 
 slave sells for about ten pagodas, or 
 four guineas ; free men of low caste, 
 if they be in debt or trouble, some- 
 times sell their sisters* children, for 
 they have no authority over their 
 own progeny, who belong to their 
 maternal uncles. In the northern 
 parts of South Canara there are two 
 castes, called Bacadura and Batadura, 
 both slaves, with exactly the same 
 customs ; yet each disputes for pre- 
 eminence, and will not eat or inter- 
 marry with the other. The Brahmins 
 of Tulava, like the Namburies (Brah- 
 mins) of Malabar, pretend that the 
 country was created expressly for 
 their use by Parasu Rama, and that 
 they are the only persons entitled to 
 be called proprietors of the soil. 
 
 Along the sea-coast from Cavai to 
 Urigara, the inhabitants are princi- 
 pally Moplays (Mahomedans), who 
 nqw possess the sea-coast as the 
 Nairs do the interior. Although the 
 Nairs are more numerous than the 
 Moplays, yet during Tippoo’s reign, 
 when not protected by government, 
 they were obliged to skulk in the 
 woods, and all such as could be 
 catched were circumcized. This mode 
 of conversion, however involuntary, 
 is perfectly effectual, and the convert 
 becomes a good Mahomedan,as other- 
 wise he would have no caste at all ; 
 and although the doctrine of caste 
 be no part of the Mussulman faith, 
 yet it has been generally adopted by 
 the lower ranks of Mahomedans in 
 India. 
 
 The chief towns in this division of 
 the Canara province are : Mangalore, 
 Barcelore, and Calliampoor ; there 
 
CANARA. 
 
 339 
 
 &*rh no rivers of importance, but many 
 mountain streams. The language of 
 Tulava, or South Canara, has a strong 
 resemblance to that of Malabar, and 
 the written characters are the same ; 
 but in the language of Tulava there 
 is a great admixture of words from 
 all the countries containing the five 
 southern nations of India, viz. Te- 
 iinga, Maharashtra, Karnataca, Gu- 
 jura, and Dravida. In Tulava the 
 era of Salivahanam is in use, by which 
 A.D. 1800 corresponds with 1722. 
 The year is solar. 
 
 The former sovereigns of Tulava, 
 princes of the house of Ikeri, had 
 always given great encouragement to 
 the Christians, and had induced 
 80,000 of them to settle there. They 
 were all of Concan descent, and re- 
 tained the language, dress, and man- 
 ner of that country. The clergy 
 adopted the dress of the country in 
 which they were domiciled ; but they 
 were all natives descended from Con- 
 can families, and were purposely edu- 
 cated in a seminary at Goa, where 
 they were instructed in the Portu- 
 guese and Latin languages, and the 
 doctrines of the Romish church. 
 In Tulava they had twenty-seven 
 churches, each provided with a vicar, 
 the whole under the control of a 
 vicar-general, subordinate to the 
 Archbishop of Goa. Tippoo threw 
 the priests into prison, forcibly con- 
 verted the laity, and destroyed the 
 churches. The Christian religion 
 does not, like the Hindoo, forbid the 
 re-admission of such delinquents, and 
 these involuntary Mahomedans have 
 in general reconciled themselves with 
 the clergy, more than 15,000 having 
 returned to Mangalore and its vicinity 
 since the conquest of Seringapatam, 
 and 10,000 more made their escape 
 to Malabar. These poor people have 
 none of the vices usually attributed 
 to the native Portuguese, and their 
 superior industry is acknowledged by 
 the neighbouring Hindoos. 
 
 The Jain sect are remarkably abun- 
 dant in this province, and at no re- 
 mote period must have been the pre- 
 vailing sect, many Jain temples still 
 remaining in tolerable perfection. The 
 
 proper name of the Jain sect is 
 Arhita, and they acknowledge that 
 they are one of the twenty-one sects 
 who are considered heretical by San- 
 cara Acharja. Like other Hindoos, 
 they are divided into Brahmin, Khetri, 
 Vaisya, and Sudra. These castes 
 cannot intermarry, nor should wi- 
 dows burn with their husbands. The 
 Vedas and eighteen puranas of the 
 Brahmins the Jains reject as heretical, 
 asserting that these books were com- 
 posed by a saint named Vyasa, whom 
 the orthodox Brahmins consider to 
 have been an incarnation of the deity. 
 The Jain chief book of doctrine, 
 named Yoga, is written in the Sans- 
 crit language and Karnata character, 
 and is explained by twenty-four pu- 
 ranas, all written by an author named 
 Vrishana Sayana, a saint who by 
 long continued prayer and austerity 
 had obtained a knowledge of divine 
 things. The gods of the Jains are 
 the spirits of perfect men, who on 
 account of their great virtue have be- 
 come exempt from change, and are 
 all of equal rank and power. They 
 are called collectively by various ti- 
 tles, such as Jineswara, Arhita (the 
 w'orthy), Siddha (the holy), and reside 
 in a heaven named Mocsha. Con- 
 cerning the great gods of the eighteen 
 Puranas of the orthodox Brahmins, 
 the Jains say that Vishnu was a raja, 
 who having performed certain good 
 works was born a second time as a 
 raja named Rama. At first he was a 
 hero and conqueror, but afterwards 
 withdrew from worldly pleasures, be- 
 came a sanyassi, or solitary devotee, 
 and lived a life of such purity that he 
 obtained Siddha, under the name of 
 Jina, which he had assumed when he 
 renounced his earthly kingdom. 
 
 « By the orthodox Brahmins who 
 follow the doctrines of Vyasa, the 
 Jains are frequently confounded with 
 the Sangata, or worshippers of Bud- 
 dha, and in fact their tenets have in 
 many points a strong resemblance to 
 those taught in Ava by the adherents 
 of Buddha. The Jain Brahmins ab- 
 stain from lay affairs ; and their goo- 
 roos or chief priests have authority 
 to punish such of their followers as 
 z 2 
 
340 
 
 CANDAHAR. 
 
 lie, cheat, commit adultery, or mur- 
 der. The fines are given to the god, 
 that is to say, to the priest. They 
 are scattered throughout Hindostan, 
 but at present they are no where 
 comparatively numerous except in 
 South Canara. 
 
 The Jains have two sorts of tem- 
 ples : one covered with a roof, named 
 Busty ; the other an open area called 
 Betta, which signifies a hill. In the 
 Betta temples the only image of a 
 saint is that of Gomuta Raya, said 
 while on earth to have been a power- 
 ful king. His images are naked, and 
 always of a colossal size. The one 
 at Carculla is made of a single piece 
 of granite, the extreme dimensions 
 of which above ground are thirty- 
 eight feet in height, and ten feet in 
 thickness. An inscription on it in- 
 dicates that it was constructed in the 
 year A.D. 1431. 
 
 Travancore, Malabar, and South 
 Canara (or Tulava) alone escaped 
 Mahomedan conquest, until the two 
 latter were invaded by Hyder A.D. 
 1765-6. — {F. Buchanan, 3fc.) 
 
 Cananore ( CanuraJ . — A town on 
 the sea-coast of the Malabar province ; 
 lat. 11° 42' N., Ion. 75° 27' E. This 
 place was purchased from the Dutch 
 by the ancestor of the Biby, or female 
 sovereign, who is a Moplay (Maho- 
 medan). Prior to this, their family 
 were of little consequence; but having 
 acquired a fortress, considered by 
 the Nairs impregnable, they became 
 powerful, and were looked up to as 
 the head of the Moplay s of Malabar. 
 The succession goes on in the female 
 line, according to the custom of the 
 country, under which system the Bi- 
 by’s son will have no claim to the 
 sovereignty, the heir apparent being 
 the son of his neice, who is the 
 daughter of his sister. The territory 
 of this female sovereign on the con- 
 tinent, in 1800, paid 14,000 rupees of 
 land tax to the British government, 
 which also receives all the customs 
 of her port. Most of the Laccadives 
 are also subject to her authority : but 
 they are wretched islands, producing 
 no grain, nor any thing beyond co- 
 
 coa-nuts, betel-nut and plantains. At 
 the above date the Biby possessed 
 several vessels, with which she traded 
 to Arabia, Bengal, and Sumatra. 
 
 The town of Cananore lies at the 
 bottom of a small bay, one of the 
 best on this coast, and contains several 
 good houses belonging to Mahomedan 
 merchants. The people here have lit- 
 tle or no communication with the 
 Maldives, although the sultan and his 
 islanders are also Moplays. The small 
 division attached to Cananore ex- 
 tends no where more than two miles 
 from the glacis of the fort, and the 
 surface of the whole is high and un- 
 even. In 1800, the number of houses 
 in Cananore and the district of Che- 
 rical was 10,386, and of slaves there 
 were 4,67 0, mostly of the Poliar and Pa- 
 riah castes ; but a great proportion of 
 the cultivation is carried on by hired 
 men. A trade is carried on from hence 
 with Bengal, Arabia, Sumatra, and 
 Surat, from which quarters horses, 
 almonds, piece goods, sugar, opium, 
 silk, benzoin, and camphor, are im- 
 ported ; the exports are principally 
 pepper, cardamoms, sandal-wood, coir 
 and shark fins. So early as A.D. 1505 
 the Portuguese had a fort at Cana- 
 nore. — (F. Buchanan , Bruce , #c.) 
 
 Cancao. — A town in Cambodia, 
 which in 1820 was the frontier of 
 the Cochin Chinese dominions. Lat. 
 11° N., Ion. 104° E. This is a port 
 of considerable commerce, although 
 situated on a river not navigable for 
 large vessels. 
 
 Cancoupa. — A town and small dis- 
 trict in the Mysore territories, twenty- 
 one miles N. by W. from Chitteldroog, 
 Lat. 14° 30' N., Ion. 76° 23' E. 
 
 Candahar ( Gandhara ). — In rank 
 this is the second province of the Af- 
 ghan empire, and by Abul Fazel in 
 1582 is described as follows : “ Cuv 
 car Candahar is situated in the second 
 climate. The length from Kelat Buja- 
 seh is 300 coss, and it measures in 
 breadth from Sinde to Furreh 266 
 coss. On the east lies Sinde; on the 
 west Gour and Ghourgistan; on the 
 south, Sewee; and on the west. Fur- 
 
CANDAHAR. 
 
 34.1 
 
 Teh and Cabul ; on the north-west, it 
 is bounded by Ghuzneen. The wheat 
 of Candahar is very white, and is sent 
 to a distance as a great rarity. In 
 the vicinity of Candahar town are the 
 ruins of a great city, the native place 
 of the Ghorian sultans. Between Her- 
 mund and Candahar is situated the 
 well known city of Meymund, men- 
 tioned in old astronomical tables.” 
 
 This province having in recent 
 times been little explored, its modern 
 boundaries are quite unascertained, 
 and many of the stations mentioned 
 by Abul Fazel have quite disappeared 
 from the maps. Compared with other 
 quarters of Afghanistan, it is a hot 
 climate, no snow falling in winter, and 
 the small quantity of ice formed dis- 
 solving with the mid-day sun. The 
 summer temperature is great, hot 
 winds not unusual, or the fatal si- 
 moom unknown ; yet the climate on 
 the whole has been noted for its sa- 
 lubrity. North-east of the capital, 
 Candahar has the aspect of a desert, 
 and except small portions contiguous 
 to inhabited places, no cultivation is 
 seen. The buildings, from a scarcity 
 of timber, are constructed, as in Cabul, 
 of sun-burned bricks, and covered 
 with a flat roof of the same material. 
 The country immediately round the 
 city is well cultivated and fertile ; fur- 
 ther south it is poor, and deteriorates 
 so much as it extends west, that for 
 many days’ march towards the left 
 bank of the Helmund river it is a 
 complete desert. 
 
 This quarter of Afghanistan hav- 
 ing been rarely visited by Europeans, 
 % our information respecting its pro- 
 duce and inhabitants is very deficient. 
 A native traveller of 1795 (Seid Mus- 
 tapha), among other productions men- 
 tions wheat, rice, joaree, gram, pease, 
 and seeds of different sorts, dates, al- 
 monds and otr of roses. The culti- 
 vators he asserts are Moguls and Af- 
 ghans, and the vernacular language 
 the Pushtoo. Among the inhabitants 
 he reckons a considerable number of 
 Hindoos (partly Kanoje Brahmins), 
 both settled in the town as traffickers, 
 and cultivating the fields and gardens 
 in the vicinity. Like the rest of Af- 
 
 ghanistan, the country is thinly peo- 
 pled, a considerable portion of the 
 natives still leading a pastoral and 
 migratory life. The principal domes- 
 tic animals are camels and dogs, the 
 last a superior breed for courage, 
 strength, and sagacity. Among the 
 wild animals are tigers, buffaloes, 
 deer, and antelopes. With respect to 
 religion, a great majority of the inha- 
 bitants are Mahomedans of the Sooni 
 persuasion, and the country abounds 
 with mosques, in which Seid Musta- 
 pha asserts both Hindoos and Mus- 
 sulmans worship, and in other res- 
 pects nearly assimilate. Candahar has 
 in general been considered as an inte- 
 gral part of the Persian empire, but 
 it was, with some intervals, almost 
 two centuries subject to the Delhi 
 emperors, until finally wrested from 
 them by Nadir Shah. On the death 
 of that bold, bad man, it became sub- 
 ject to Ahmed Shah Abdalli, the Af- 
 ghan chief of Cabul, and has ever 
 since remained attached to that state, 
 though with a very fluctuating degree 
 of obedience . — (Seid Mustapha , El~ 
 pkinstone , Forster , #c.) 
 
 Candahar. — A fortified town in 
 Afghanistan, the capital of the Can- 
 dahar province; lat. 36° IP N., Ion. 
 66° 28' E. By Abul Fazel, in 1582, it 
 is described as follows : “ Candahar is 
 the capital of this circar ; it has two 
 forts. The heat is very severe and the 
 cold temperate, except in the months 
 of December and January, when wa- 
 ter freezes. Here are flowers and fruits 
 in abundance.” 
 
 According to one tradition Canda- 
 har was founded by Lohrasp, a Per- 
 sian monarch of great antiquity, but 
 whose own existence is worse than 
 doubtful ; while another ascribes it 
 with more probability to Secunder 
 Zulkurnein (Alexander the Great). 
 The ancient city stood until the pre- 
 dominance of the Ghiljies, when Shah 
 Hussein founded a new city under the 
 name of Husseinabad. Nadir Shah 
 destroyed the old fortress, and at- 
 tempted once more to alter the site 
 of the town, for which purpose he 
 built Naderabad. Ahmed Shah found- 
 
342 
 
 CANDALLA. 
 
 ed the present city in 1753, and also 
 gave it a new name : but the natives 
 still retain the old one of Candahar. 
 During that sovereign’s reign it was the 
 Durrany capital, but his son Timour 
 Shah transferred the seat of govern- 
 ment to Cabul, whence it was subse- 
 quently transferred to Peshawer. The 
 surrounding country is level, and na- 
 turally fertile ; and being irrigated both 
 by conduits and wells, and indus- 
 triously cultivated, the production of 
 grain is abundant. The gardens con- 
 tain vegetables, and excellent fruits 
 and melons, cucumbers, &c, are raised 
 in the fields. Madder, assafcetida, lu- 
 cerne, and clover are plentiful, and the 
 Candahar tobacco has long had an 
 excellent reputation. 
 
 The form of Candahar is an oblong 
 square, and as it was built at once on 
 a fixed plan, is very regular. Four 
 long and broad bazars meet in the 
 middle of the town, and at their point 
 of junction is a circular space, about 
 forty-five yards in diameter, covered 
 with a dome, into which all the four 
 streets lead. The central space, called 
 Chassoo, is surrounded by shops, and 
 here proclamations are read, and the 
 bodies of criminals exposed. The town 
 is plentifully supplied by two canals 
 with water drawn from the Urgun- 
 daub, and crossed in different places 
 by little bridges. From these canals 
 lateral conduits are carried, both 
 above and below ground, to almost 
 every street in the town. 
 
 Candahar is divided into many 
 quarters, each occupied by one of the 
 numerous tribes, the aggregate of 
 which composes its population, in 
 1809 estimated at 100,000 persons. 
 Almost every Durrany chief has a 
 house here, some of which are said 
 to be large and elegant ; and there are 
 besides many large caravanserais and 
 mosques; but none of the last hand- 
 some except one near the palace, in 
 the vicinity of which stands the tomb 
 of Ahmed Shah. This is not a large 
 edifice, but has a handsome cupola, 
 elegantly painted, gilt, and ornament- 
 ed, and held in such veneration by 
 the Durranies, that it is a sacred asy- 
 lum for fugitives. Although, from the 
 
 regularity of its plan, Candahar is su- 
 perior to most European cities, it is 
 far from magnificent, being for the 
 most part built of brick, in many in- 
 stances cemented with mud. Among 
 the commonalty the Hindoos have 
 the best dwellings. Contrary to what 
 is the case in other cities of Afgha- 
 nistan, a great proportion of the in- 
 habitants are genuine Afghans ; of 
 these the greater number are Durra- 
 nies. The other residents are Tajiks, 
 Eimauks, Hindoos, Persians, Seista- 
 nies, and Balooches, with a few Us- 
 becs, Arabs, and Armenians. Among 
 the stationary population are a few 
 Jews, but it "has been frequently ob- 
 served that this race is never nu- 
 merous where Hindoos have settled 
 as brokers and money-changers. 
 
 While the Persian and Mogul em- 
 pires flourished, Candahar was a fron- 
 tier city, and an object of much com- 
 petition, being frequently lost and 
 won, until 1638, when it was betrayed 
 to the Emperor Jehangir by the 
 Persian governor Ali Merdan Khan. 
 On the decline of both empires, it was 
 for a short time possessed by native 
 Afghan chiefs; but in 1737, Nadir 
 Shah having deposed Thamas Mirza, 
 entered Afghanistan with a large ar- 
 my, and captured Candahar from the 
 Ghiljee chief Hossein Khan, after a 
 siege, from first to last, of eighteen 
 months. On Nadir’s assassination it 
 was acquired by Ahmed Shah Abdalli, 
 and during his life-time continued the 
 capital of the Durrany empire. Tra- 
 velling distance from Delhi by Cabul 
 1,071 miles; from Agra 1,208; and 
 from Calcutta 2,047 miles. — ( E/p/tin - 
 stone , Forster , Scid Mustapha , fyc.) 
 
 Candalt.a. — A poor village in the 
 province of Aurungabad, with a to- 
 lerable bazar and government bunga- 
 low, and $n inn kept by a Portuguese, 
 situated on the road from Bombay to 
 Poona, distant from the last forty-two 
 travelling miles. This place stands on 
 the verge of the Bhore ghaut, and in 
 the neighbourhood there is a cataract 
 which flows the whole year, descend- 
 ing in four successive falls, about 
 1,200 feet, into a valley of ample 
 
CANDEISH. 
 
 343 
 
 depth and considerable gloom, down 
 ■which its stream afterwards winds to 
 join the sea, nearly opposite to Tan- 
 nah, under the name of the Callianee 
 river. On a knoll above this water- 
 fall, and close to the great precipice, 
 Mr. Elphinstone erected a house, 
 where he spent great part of each 
 cold season, 
 
 Candhar f Gandhara ) . — A town 
 in the province of Ajmeer, twelve 
 miles E. from Rantampoor. Lat. 26° 
 N., Ion. 76° 29' E. 
 
 Candhar ( Gandhara ) . — A town 
 in the Beeder province, sixty miles 
 north from the town of Beeder. Lat. 
 18° 40' N., Ion. 77 ° 25' E. 
 
 CANDEISH. 
 
 ( Khandesa), 
 
 A province of the Deccan, situated 
 principally between the twentieth and 
 twenty-second degrees of north lati- 
 tude. To the north it is separated 
 from Malwa by the course of the 
 Nerbudda ; to the south it has Au- 
 rungabad and Berar ; on the east are 
 the provinces of Gundwana and Be- 
 rar ; and on the west Gujerat. Its 
 limits have never been accurately de- 
 fined, but it may be roughly estimated 
 at 210 miles in length, by eighty the 
 average breadth. Candeish was one 
 of the small soubahs formed during 
 the reign of Acber, from conquests 
 made south of the Nerbudda. It then 
 occupied the space between Malwa 
 on the north ; Berar on the east ; and 
 Ahmednuggur, afterwards Aurunga- 
 bad, on the west and south ; but being 
 a new acquisition, its boundaries have 
 since greatly fluctuated. By Abui 
 Fazel, in ] 582, it is described as fol- 
 lows. 
 
 “ The Soubah of Dandees. This 
 soubali was originally named Khan- 
 desh, but on the conquest of the for- 
 tress of Aseer, the name was changed 
 to Dandees. It is situated in the se- 
 cond climate. In length from Poor- 
 gong, which joins Hindia to Selung, 
 bordering on the territory of Ahmed- 
 nuggur, it measures seventy-five coss, 
 and the breadth from Jamood, which. 
 
 confines it towards Berar and Pall, 
 joining to Malwa, is fifty coss. It is 
 bounded on the north*west by Malwa, 
 Kalneh confines it to the south ; on 
 the east lies Berar ; and on the north 
 large mountains. The soubah of Kan- 
 desh contains thirty-two mahals ; re- 
 venue 12,647,072 tungehs,” 
 
 Such were the ancient Mogul limits 
 of this province ; but in a report by 
 Mr. Elphinstone, A.D. 1821, more 
 accurate geographical boundaries are 
 assigned, of which the following are 
 the principal. Candeish is bounded 
 on the north by the Satpoora, or In- 
 jadree range of mountains ; on the 
 south by the Chandore fort range 
 and the Adjuntee ghaut. On the 
 south-west it is limited by the Sya- 
 dree, commonly called the ghauts, 
 at the termination of which, south of 
 the Tuptee, is the hilly tract of Bag- 
 lana. The plain of Candeish de- 
 scends towards the Tuptee, from the 
 hills on the north and south. On 
 the east it is bounded by Sindia’s and 
 the Nizam’s territories on the Berar 
 plains. On the west the plain along 
 the Tuptee stretches without inter- 
 ruption from the hills to the sea; 
 but it is separated from the rich 
 country about Surat by a thick and 
 extensive jungle. 
 
 Although interspersed with low 
 barren hills, a large proportion of 
 Candeish is remarkably fertile, being 
 watered by copious streams, on many 
 of which expensive embankments 
 have been constructed. In 1820 
 some portions of land remained in 
 good cultivation, and others, recent- 
 ly abandoned, conveyed a high no- 
 tion of their ancient fruitfulness, 
 and capability of renovation. But a 
 large proportion of the surface at 
 that date was covered with jungle, 
 swarming with tigers, among the ruins 
 of former villages. This scene of 
 desolation was most conspicuous in 
 the districts north of the Tuptee, 
 which at no remote period yielded a 
 large revenue, but in 1820 overspread 
 with an uninhabited forest. The na- 
 tural beauties of Candeish Proper are 
 much enhanced by the number of 
 limpid rivulets, hardly ever dry, that 
 
344 
 
 CANDKISH. 
 
 flow down from the table-land and 
 fall into the Tuptee. 
 
 The decline of Candeish may be 
 dated from 1802, when it was ra- 
 vaged by Jeswunt Row Holcar ; next 
 year it was dfepopulated by famine, 
 and its ruin aterwards more slowly, 
 but effectually, consummated by the 
 Peshwa’s officers. The Bheels now 
 withdrew to their fastnesses, and 
 made predatory incursions ; the Pin- 
 darries annually devastated the plains; 
 while various insurgent bands of 
 Arabs, having established themselves 
 in strong-holds and ghurries, infested 
 all the country in their vicinity. After 
 the British conquest in 1818 the 
 Arabs were expelled, and the plun- 
 dering horse extirpated ; but the 
 Bheels of the Satpoora range (which, 
 although not more than 1500 feet 
 high, have a difficult access and pes- 
 tilential climate) continued to give 
 much trouble, and were only brought 
 under by cutting off their supplies, 
 and pensioning the rulers to restrain 
 the excesses of their subjects. The 
 same plan was followed with the 
 Bheels of the Chandore range, and 
 with the Bheels and Coolies of Bag- 
 lana, and after a short interval suc- 
 ceeded. Under such circumstances, 
 it may readily be supposed that there 
 is no want of waste land in this pro- 
 vince, where it is granted on most 
 favourable terms to cultivators and 
 speculators ; but it will require a long 
 period of time to restore to pros- 
 perity a territory that has been so 
 thoroughly depopulated. The ex- 
 isting villages are for the most part 
 built of mud, and protected by a 
 miserable wall and fort of the same 
 material, without ditch or outwork. 
 
 This is one of the original Maha- 
 ratta provinces, and so remarkably 
 strong by art and nature, that former- 
 ly twenty fortresses could be counted 
 in sight, within one day’s march. 
 Prior to the British conquest in 1818 
 a considerable portion of it was pos- 
 sessed by the Holcar family, having, 
 like the adjacent soubahdary of Mal- 
 wa, been partitioned between Sindia, 
 Holcar, and the Peshwa, to whose 
 share the British government suc- 
 
 ceeded by conquest, and to large 1 
 sections from the others by treaties 
 and exchanges. The chief rivers 
 are the Nerbudda and Tuptee ; the 
 principal towns, Boorhanpoor, Aseer- 
 ghur, Hindia,Nundoorbar, and Gaul- 
 na. 
 
 Among the hills, and along the 
 courses of the Tuptee and Nerbudda, 
 many Bheel Bhilla tribes are to be 
 found, whose chiefs formerly com- 
 manded most of the passes. The 
 Bheels also possess the eastern por- 
 tion of the ghaut range, and all the 
 spurs and branches that issue from 
 thence towards the south as far east 
 as Poona. They likewise spread 
 over the plains to the east, more es- 
 pecially north of the Godavery, and 
 are even discovered in the neigh- 
 bourhood of the Wurda. On the 
 north they extend beyond the Tup- 
 tee and Nerbudda, and are numerous 
 in the Malwa and Gujerat jungles, 
 and in all the eastern quarter of Gu- 
 jerat. But it is in the wild tract 
 stretching along the left bank of the 
 Nerbudda, from the plains of Ne- 
 maur to those of Gujerat, amidst the 
 Satpoora, Adjuntee, and Baglana 
 congeries of hills, that they have 
 been least disturbed, and it is here 
 we may expect to find their peculiar 
 usages in the purest preservation. 
 They are a jungle people, differing 
 from the other inhabitants in man- 
 ners and appearance, and by some 
 conjectured to have been the autoch- 
 thones, or indigenae, of Central Hin- 
 dostan. Towards the west in Gu- 
 jerat they meet the Coolies, and to- 
 wards the south-east in Gundwana 
 they come in contact with the Gonds ; 
 but the discrepancies that distinguish 
 those tribes from each other respec- 
 tively, and collectively from the low 
 castes of Hindoos, have never been 
 clearly ascertained. 
 
 The Bheels and Gonds almost uni- 
 versally inhabit the interior, where 
 they cultivate little, being naturally 
 averse to agriculture, and addicted 
 to hunting and rapine j the Coolies 
 are found mostly, but not exclusively, 
 on or near the sea-coast, as fishers 
 and pirates, but, on the whole, more 
 
CANDEISH. 
 
 34<5 
 
 civilized than the two other tribes. 
 Their common points of resemblance 
 seem to be an aversion to regular in- 
 dustry, and a proneness to thieving 
 and robbery, in which they are so 
 expert, that they were formerly em- 
 ployed by the native chiefs to deso- 
 late the lands of their adversaries. 
 In person the Bheels are small, dark- 
 complexioned men, nearly in a state 
 of nakedness, constantly armed with 
 a bow and arrow, and in many cir- 
 cumstances closely resembling the 
 mountaineers of Boglipoor, in the 
 Bahar province. The pure Bheels 
 trace their descent from Rajpoots, 
 and in some tracts are distinguished 
 by the term Bhillalas. They are 
 subdivided into an endless variety of 
 tribes and families, each living under 
 its own Naik. In religion they are 
 said to be Hindoos of the Brahmini- 
 cal persuasion — yet they bury their 
 dead, a marked distinction ; and in 
 feeding are addicted to many impure 
 practices, for they eat beef and pork, 
 and drink spirits of every descrip- 
 tion. Near Adjuntee, and among 
 the Satpoora range, are many con- 
 verted Mahomedan Bheels, who know 
 little more of their new religion be- 
 yond its name. Their language does 
 not differ essentially from the rude 
 dialects used by the peasantry of the 
 surrounding country. From a census 
 taken in 1820 of the Bheel popula- 
 tion of the Vindhya range, there did 
 not appear to be more than six to a 
 square mile. 
 
 Early in the fifteenth century Can- 
 deish was governed by independent 
 sovereigns, claiming descent from the 
 khaliff Omar, and resident at Aseer- 
 ghur, their capital ; but towards the 
 close of that century it was complete- 
 ly subdued, and annexed to the Mo- 
 gul empire. In recent times, and 
 more especially when the Maharatta 
 power began to totter, the greater 
 part of Candeish had been usurped 
 by Arab colonists, who, in fact, with- 
 out any premeditated scheme, were 
 in a fair way of becoming paramount 
 in Hindostan, having already all the 
 petty chiefs, whom they served as 
 mercenaries, more or less under their 
 
 domination. All of Holcar’s pos- 
 sessions in Candeish having been 
 ceded to the British in 1818, and the 
 Arab colonists continuing refractory 
 after every other class had submitted, 
 its subjugation was regularly under- 
 taken. Fortunately the Arabs had 
 made a tyrannical use of their usurp- 
 ed authority, so that the great mass 
 of the people were eager for their ex- 
 pulsion, while the Arabs were not 
 sufficiently numerous to resist effec- 
 tually ; yet they did resist, for the 
 alternative offered them was re-trans- 
 portation to their own country, to 
 which they appear to have had an 
 extreme, although not altogether sin- 
 gular, repugnance. Force was re- 
 sorted to, and the last body of Arabs 
 surrendered in December 1818; but 
 many of the Bheel chiefs, trusting to 
 their mountains and jungly recesses, 
 continued refractory. Into these 
 fastnesses they were pursued by va- 
 rious British officers, who expelled 
 them from den after den, and about 
 the end of 1819 terminated this ha- 
 rassing and unwholesome warfare. — 
 ( Elphinstoiie , Briggs , Malcolm , Ful- 
 larton , Abul Fazel, Prinsep , tyc.) 
 
 Candeish ( District of ). — A Bri- 
 tish collectorate in the Deccan, con- 
 sisting of various portions of the pro- 
 vince of Candeish, acquired during 
 the Maharatta war of 1818, but inter- 
 mingled with villages belonging to 
 Sindia, Holcar, theNizam, and others. 
 That this district is capable of great 
 improvement, is evident from the di- 
 lapidated remains of more than 100 
 substantially built dams and aque- 
 ducts, constructed for the purposes 
 of irrigation, which at a small expense 
 might be again rendered available. It 
 never recovered from the devastation 
 of Jeswunt Row Holcar’s troops in 
 1802-3, and the subsequent famine 
 of 1803-4, the Peshwa’s destructive 
 farming system, the incursions of the 
 Pindarries, and the ravages of the 
 Bheels. To these apparently suffi- 
 cient causes of ruin may be added, 
 the number of tigers with which the 
 country absolutely swarmed, sixty 
 having been killed in one month ; and 
 
346 
 
 CANDY. 
 
 the destructive epidemic which swept 
 off many thousands in 1821. 
 
 It was not until thebeginningofl819 
 that Aumulnair fell, or that Candeish 
 could be said to be in our possession, 
 when a vast extent of unreclaimed 
 jungle was discovered, nearly one- 
 half of the villages having been de- 
 serted, and abandoned to the beasts 
 of the forest. In 1820 the total jum- 
 ma was 16,88,718 rupees, but the 
 net revenue realized amounted to 
 only 7,99,049 rupees. The inhabi- 
 tants, exclusive of villages, belong- 
 ing to the chiefs above-mentioned, 
 were then estimated by Mr. Chaplin^ 
 at 417,976 persons. Capt. Briggs de- 
 scribes the agricultural classes as 
 peaceable and inoffensive, but timid 
 and helpless, and ground to the earth 
 by the multiplied calamities they had 
 experienced. — ( Chaplin , Briggs, El - 
 phinstone, tyc.) 
 
 C andelye. — A small village in Cey- 
 lon, nineteen miles S.W. from Trin- 
 comalee, which in 1818 contained 
 only sixteen families. The great tank 
 here is about four miles in circum- 
 ference, and is one of the best speci- 
 mens of native exertion in Ceylon. 
 The embankment is one mile and a 
 third long, twenty feet in height, and 
 at the base 150 feet wide; but at the 
 above date it only served to water 
 one paddy field. — ( Davy , fyc.) 
 
 THE KINGDOM OF CANDY. 
 
 The central and mountainous pro- 
 vinces of the island of Ceylon, until 
 A.D. 1815, formed the dominions of 
 the king of Candy, which have been 
 roughly estimated at 12,360 square 
 miles. The rugged and inaccessible 
 nature of the territory, the insalubrity 
 of the kingdom, and hostility of the 
 Candians, have, until very recently, 
 prevented any accurate survey even of 
 the tracts under the immediate con- 
 trol of the British government. The 
 passes on the western side, that lead 
 through the mountains to the inte- 
 rior, are steep and difficult, and for- 
 merly were little known, even to the 
 natives. After ascending the moun- 
 
 tains and penetrating through the 
 boundary forests, the country pre- 
 sents few traces of cultivation ; and 
 proceeding onwards towards the cen- 
 tre, the elevation increases, and the 
 woods and mountains that separate 
 the different corles become more 
 steep and impervious ; it was in the 
 midst of these fastnesses that the na- 
 tive dynasty so long preserved its in- 
 dependence against a succession of 
 foreign invaders, and retained posses- 
 sion, under a sort of feudal constitu- 
 tion, of above two-thirds of the whole 
 island. The ascent on the west side 
 is more gradual, and the surface less 
 covered with jungle, stagnant water, 
 and putrid vegetation ; it has accord- 
 ingly been found much less destruc- 
 tive to the health of European troops 
 than the eastern route to the interior. 
 
 Under the old Candian dynasty, 
 these dominions were subdivided into 
 dissavonies and ratties, the first equi- 
 valent to , provinces, the latter to 
 counties. The following is a list of 
 each, according to the old arrange- 
 ment : 
 
 Dissavonies. 
 
 Nuarakalawea. Wellassey, 
 
 The Seven Cories. Bintenny. 
 
 The Four Cories. Tamankadada. 
 
 The Three Cories. Matele. 
 
 Saffragam. Walapare. 
 
 Ouva. Udapalate. 
 
 Ratties. 
 
 Doombera. Udunuara. 
 
 Hawassea Patoowe. Kotmale. 
 
 Toompane. Hewahette. 
 
 Yatenuara. 
 
 The whole of the Candian provinces, 
 w ith the exception of the plains round 
 Anurodburro, present a constant in- 
 terchange of steep mountains and 
 deep vallies. The excessive thickness 
 of the woods that cover the face of 
 the country causes heavy fogs and 
 unwholesome damps to prevail; every 
 evening the fogs fall with the close of 
 day, and are not again dissipated un- 
 til thesunhas acquiredgreat strength. 
 The vallies are in general marshy, full 
 of springs, and excellently adapted 
 for the rearing of cattle and the cul- 
 tivation of rice. The high range of 
 mountains that extend across the 
 
CANDY. 
 
 347 
 
 Candian territory seems to divide the 
 island into two different climates, by 
 breaking the force and regularity of 
 the monsoons. As may be inferred 
 from the nature of its surface, the 
 central region is ill adapted for inter- 
 nal navigation ; for although many 
 rivers, or rather mountain torrents, 
 intersect it, they are during the rains 
 (with the exception of the Mahavali 
 Gunga) so rapid in their course and 
 rocky in their channels, as not to per- 
 mit the passing of boats, while in the 
 opposite season they are mostly dried 
 U P- , 
 
 The agriculture of Ceylon, like 
 that of the south of India, is divided 
 into the dry and the wet ; the first 
 being chiefly practised on the sides of 
 hills and on plains where there is no 
 command of water; the last consists 
 wholly of rice, and is carried on 
 wherever sufficient water can be pro- 
 cured for the purposes of irrigation. 
 In the low countries the paddy fields 
 are flat and extensive ; but among the 
 mountains they are merely a succes- 
 sion of terraces, in each of which the 
 crop may be seen in different stages 
 of its growth ; in some, just vegetat- 
 ing ; in others, full grown, ripening, 
 and fit for the sickle. 
 
 By the proclamation of General 
 Brownrigg, in 1818, the general as- 
 sessment on the entire paddy lands of 
 the Candian provinces was fixed at 
 one-tenth of the annual produce, to 
 be delivered by the cultivator at con- 
 venient storehouses in each pro- 
 vince. 
 
 There is every reason to believe 
 that the Candians and Cingalese (or 
 Ceylonese) were originally one peo- 
 ple, differing only in local and politi- 
 cal circumstances; the first having 
 always been secluded among the 
 woody mountains, and interdicted all 
 communion with strangers; while the 
 other was overspread with colonies 
 from distant and hostile nations. In 
 language, religion, and modes of life, 
 they are essentially the same; but 
 the Candians are fairer, stouter, less 
 polished in their manners, and, owing 
 to their wearing a beard, of a more 
 ferocious aspect. The upper classes 
 
 have long been pre-eminent, even 
 among Indian nations, for cruelty and 
 perfidy; and the lower orders, when 
 occasion offered, have been sufficient- 
 ly prone to imitate their superiors ; 
 yet there is scarcely a doubt, that the 
 mild system of government and equal 
 distribution of justice they are now 
 experiencing, will gradually render 
 them as inoffensive as their brethren 
 on the sea-coast. 
 
 Until 1815, the intercourse between 
 the two classes was almost as com- 
 pletely cut off as between the most 
 savage and inveterate tribes of North 
 America. While the royal form of 
 government lasted, the king was the 
 sole proprietor of the lands occupied 
 by his subjects, whose dependence 
 was of the most abject description, 
 although the monarchy was in some 
 respects elective. The king of Candy 
 in 1800 was a native of the Carnatic 
 by a female branch, but by no means 
 the nearest heir, having been brought 
 in by the influence of the prime mi- 
 nister, or chief adigar. In theory, 
 the constitution was the purest des- 
 potism, but in practice an aristocracy, 
 the combination of a few chiefs gene- 
 rally arranging the succession. By 
 the lower classes the kings were ve- 
 nerated as deities, and worshipped 
 with the basest adulation, although 
 most of them appear to have been 
 despicable tyrants. The nobility and 
 courtiers do not appear to have been 
 deficient in acuteness and capacity 
 for business, in the conducting of 
 which they always displayed such a 
 proneness to intrigue, falsehood, cun- 
 ning, and political finesse, as to ren- 
 der treaties or engagements with 
 them a mere waste of time and paper, 
 and the court itself a perfect hotbed 
 of faction, conspiracy, and rebellion. 
 
 The Candians of the interior rarely 
 congregate into populous communi- 
 ties. Candy, the metropolis, may be 
 called a large village, but the king- 
 dom contains no other, the natives 
 preferring either small hamlets or de- 
 tached dwellings. Each little district 
 comprehends within itself every arti- 
 cle of necessity ; luxuries, such as 
 salt, salt-fish, and tobacco, are sup- 
 
348 
 
 CANDY. 
 
 plied by itinerant Malabars or Moor- 
 men. The higher ranks use various 
 curries* and eat eggs, fowls, game, and 
 different kinds of animal food; but 
 beef they reject with abhorrence. 
 Those who have a great deal of lei- 
 sure, amuse themselves with card- 
 playing (which they appear to have 
 learned from the Portuguese), or in 
 listening to wonderful stories, poetry, 
 and music. With respect to general 
 civilization they are inferior to the 
 Cingalese, who are at least on a par 
 with the common Hindoos of the 
 continent, while their upper classes, 
 in courtesy and polish, are not infe- 
 rior to the most wily Maharatta Brah- 
 min. Indeed, it is probable that the 
 modern Candians are much the same 
 as they were 300 years ago, when 
 first visited by the Portuguese, at 
 which era there is every reason to 
 believe their manners had continued 
 unchanged for an indefinite number 
 of preceding centuries. 
 
 The Candians and Cingalese ap- 
 pear entirely ignorant of mathematics 
 and geometry, and even of arithmetic 
 their knowledge is very limited. They 
 have figures of their own to represent 
 numbers, but for the purposes of 
 business have adopted the Hindoo 
 system of notation. Their weights 
 and measures are most inaccurate, 
 one of their modes of estimating dis- 
 tance being the place between two 
 spots from whence a loud holloa 
 may be heard. Four of these make 
 a gow, and five gows a day’s jour- 
 ney, or from twenty-five to thirty 
 miles. The silver coin or token in 
 circulation, called a riddy, is merely 
 a bit of silver bent into the form of a 
 fish-hook, and worth about sixpence. 
 Being accustomed to make their pur- 
 chases in the way of barter, metallic 
 money is but little used by the cen- 
 tral Cingalese, of which fact an idea 
 may be formed from the circumstance 
 that the whole revenue in specie of 
 the late king did not exceed £1,500 
 sterling. 
 
 The Cingalese are tolerably expert 
 at casting figures of brass and copper, 
 of which a favourable specimen is 
 still extant at Candy, in a figure of 
 
 Buddha. Ores of iron and manga- 
 nese are the only ones that have been 
 discovered in Ceylon. Their black- 
 smiths can make gun -barrels, and even 
 gun-locks; which, although coarse, 
 are quite serviceable. Their hones, 
 composed of kapetia, resin, and co- 
 rundum, reduced to an impalpable 
 powder, are particularly good. The 
 art of manufacturing gunpowder is 
 generally understood, but shews little 
 refinement, no attempt being made 
 to granulate it, so that they are oblig- 
 ed to use it in a state of very 
 coarse powder or dust. The radical 
 of the Cingalese language is the San- 
 scrit, and like the Javanese it is said 
 to have three distinct dialects, one 
 for addressing majesty, one for reli- 
 gious purposes, and another for daily 
 intercourse. They write neatly and ex- 
 peditiously with a sharp-pointed iron 
 stile, on the leaf of the talipot palm, 
 colouring the characters afterwards 
 by rubbing them with a mixture of 
 lamp-black and gum. The subjects 
 of their manuscripts are chiefly theo- 
 logy, poetry, history, medicine, and 
 astrology. The first year of Sakka 
 corresponds with 621 of Buddha, and 
 with A.D. 78 of our era. In 1811, 
 when Capt. Canning was at Rangoon, 
 a sacerdotal mission to the Burmese 
 sovereign of Ava arrived there from 
 Candy, both nations professing the 
 same doctrines ; yet the king of the 
 country last-mentioned was himself 
 (as his ancestors had always been) of 
 the Brahminical persuasion. 
 
 When the Portuguese arrived in 
 Ceylon, they are said to have found 
 it occupied by only two classes of 
 inhabitants, the Bedahs in the north- 
 east, and the Cingalese in the south- 
 west ; but it is probable that even 
 then the Carnatic races had obtained 
 a footing, as there is no tradition ex- 
 tant that the Cingalese ever inhabited 
 the parts about Jafnapatam. The 
 most singular portion of the Ceylon 
 population is the Bedahs orVaddahs, 
 who inhabit the inmost recesses of 
 the forest. Their descent has never 
 been traced, and they appear to differ 
 so much from the other natives, that, 
 like the Bheels, Gonds, Coolies, and 
 
CANDY. 
 
 349 
 
 Boglipoor savages of Hindostan, they 
 have been considered aboriginal. 
 They are scattered over the woods 
 in different parts of the island, but 
 are most numerous in the province 
 of Bintan, north-east of Candy, where 
 they subsist by hunting deer and other 
 wild animals, and on the fruits that 
 grow spontaneously around them, for 
 they never cultivate the earth. They 
 sleep on trees or under them, and 
 climb up like monkies when alarmed. 
 A few of the less wild traffic with the 
 Candians, giving ivory, honey, wax, 
 and deer, in exchange for cloth, iron, 
 and knives ; but the untamed race 
 named the Rambah Bedahs are more 
 seldom seen, even by accident, than 
 the most timid of the wild animals. 
 
 Although the Candian nation was 
 governed in a most arbitrary manner, 
 yet its customs and prejudices were 
 shared and respected by their mo- 
 narchs, and they were justly proud of 
 being exempt from a foreign yoke. 
 In the number and extravagance of 
 their titles the kings of Candy yield- 
 ed to no eastern potentate, and, like 
 the emperors of China, they were 
 viewed by their subjects with a mys- 
 terious reverence. There were gene- 
 rally two adigars or ministers, and it 
 was a maxim of state policy to ap- 
 point them from different factions. 
 The next in rank were the dessaves, 
 or superintendents of corles, and 
 also the principal military command- 
 ers. Much the greatest proportion 
 of the king’s revenue arose from con- 
 tributions, levied irregularly by his 
 officers two or three times a year, 
 and consisting of precious stones, 
 ivory, cloth, corn, fruit, honey, wax, 
 arms, &c. &c. 
 
 In A.D. 1798 the king of Candy 
 died, and the chief adigar raised to 
 the throne a young native of the 
 Carnatic, to the prejudice of Mootoo 
 Swamy and other candidates of the 
 royal race. In 1803 a war ensued, 
 of a most destructive nature (from 
 the pestilential climate) to the British 
 troops engaged, which lasted with 
 different vicissitudes until 1805, when 
 a tacit cessation of hostilities took 
 place, without any regular treaty. 
 
 such a document being considered no 
 additional security for its permanence. 
 In 1815 what foreign violence could 
 not accomplish was effected by the 
 insane cruelty of the king, which ren- 
 dered him so detested by all classes 
 of his subjects, that they implored the 
 assistance of the British government 
 to drive the monster from the throne. 
 In consequence of reiterated suppli- 
 cations, in February 1815 a British 
 army entered the Candian territories, 
 and the king fled from his capital 
 pursued by his own troops and sub- 
 jects, by whom he was captured, 
 plundered, and reviled. In achieving 
 this long-protracted conquest, the 
 resistance in a military point of view 
 was trifling, and principally arose 
 from the indescribably rugged surface 
 of a country intersected by moun- 
 tains, jungles, and morasses. Indeed, 
 under existing circumstances, the ex- 
 pedition could not have been under- 
 taken without the concurring wishes 
 of the chiefs and people, without 
 whose aid and acquiescence it could 
 not have been commenced, far less 
 brought to a successful issue without 
 the sacrifice of a single life. 
 
 The peace of Ceylon now appeared 
 imperturbable; even the climate in- 
 dicated an improvement, the mor- 
 tality among the Europeans having 
 decreased most remarkably. But the 
 calm was of short duration, for in 
 the course of two years an insurrec- 
 tion was excited by the turbulent 
 ambition of a few discontented chiefs, 
 and kept alive by their pernicious in- 
 fluence over a people, habituated to 
 the most implicit obedience ; for in 
 fact no charge or accusation M'as ever 
 brought against the administration of 
 the British government. In Septem- 
 ber 1817 intelligence was received 
 that a pretender to the throne (a na- 
 tive of the seven corles, who had 
 been a Buddhist priest), with two old 
 and six young priests, had taken up 
 his abode in the jungles of Wellasee. 
 Mild and conciliatory measures were 
 tried at first, but found unavailing; 
 and when vigorous exertions were re- 
 sorted to, the usual afflictions from 
 disease and climate were experienced* 
 
350 
 
 CANNIA. 
 
 Protected by their wilds and fast- 
 nesses, the insurgents persevered ob- 
 stinately in their rebellion, and in- 
 volved the British nation in an im- 
 mense expenditure of blood and 
 treasure, until the conclusion of 1819, 
 at which date active operations had 
 entirely ceased in the Candian terri- 
 tories. The old system, which greatly 
 impeded all efforts towards ameliora- 
 tion, being abrogated by the rebellion, 
 the interior of Ceylon was placed un- 
 der the same political circumstances 
 as the maritime provinces, and sub- 
 ject to the direct management of the 
 British government, which had pre- 
 viously shared it with the native 
 chiefs. For three centuries the to- 
 pography of Candy had been a matter 
 of romance and conjecture ; but dur- 
 ing the last revolt every mountain, 
 forest, brake, den, chasm and ravine 
 were scoured in search of the enemy, 
 who had hitherto considered their 
 native thickets imperious to a Euro- 
 pean soldier. — {Davy, Public Docu- 
 ments , Percival, Cordiner , Knox , 1 Ma- 
 jor Johnston, Harington , Sfc.) 
 
 Candy. — The ancient capital of 
 the Candian principality, or empire 
 as the Dutch called it, is situated in 
 lat. 7° .17' N., Ion. 80° 36' E., about 
 eighty miles direct distance N.E. 
 from Columbo, and 95° S.W. from 
 Trincomalee. The travelling distance 
 from Candy to Columbo through the 
 three and four corles is eighty-five 
 miles. Three miles from Candy, the 
 Mahavilly Gunga, which almost sur- 
 rounds it, is crossed at a ferry, where 
 the river is two-thirds the size of 
 the Thames at Richmond, its course 
 rapid and banks finely wooded. 
 The climate is cool, averaging the 
 whole year, round about 74° Fah- 
 renheit. 
 
 Candy, the Maha Neura, or great 
 city of the Cingalese, stands in the 
 district of Yatineura, about 1,467 
 feet above the level of the sea, at the 
 head arid widest part of an extensive 
 valley. Being situated on the margin 
 of an artificial lake, and surrounded 
 by wooded hills varying in height 
 from 200 to 2,000 feet, the scenery is 
 
 beautiful and romantic, but as a mi- 
 litary position a worse one could 
 scarcely be selected. The houses 
 that compose the only street are all 
 of clay, one story, and, with the ex- 
 ception of a few chiefs’ dwellings, all 
 thatched. The principal edifices, if 
 they deserve such an appellation, are 
 the palace and different temples. The 
 first occupies a considerable extent of 
 ground ; the last are numerous, every 
 royal residence having its orthodox 
 number of temples. One of these 
 contains the Dalada, or sacred tooth 
 of Buddha, now in British custody, 
 and (according to natives) their only 
 legitimate document of enfeofment, 
 its possession entitling the holder to 
 the government of the kingdom. In- 
 deed, the capture of this holy grinder 
 was by them considered of infinitely 
 greater importance than any event 
 that occurred during the late war. 
 When taken by a British detachment 
 in 1803, it was found to be a mise- 
 rably shabby place of one long street, 
 and in 1819 the total population of 
 Candy was thought not to exceed 
 3,000 persons. — {Davy, Major John- 
 ston, $c.) 
 
 Cane, or Keane River. — See Ken 
 River. 
 
 Cannia. — Hot springs in the island 
 of Ceylon, situated in a low ground 
 abounding with quartz, about seven 
 miles from Trincomalee. When the 
 thermometer in the air was 77°, the 
 temperature of two was 101°, one 
 86°, another 107°, one 88°, one 105°, 
 and one 91°. In the last, when ex- 
 amined by Dr. Davy, there were two 
 or three small fish. The temperature 
 of these wells is said to be liable to 
 fluctuation, the hottest having been 
 found so high as 110°. The whole 
 are enclosed by a brick wall thirty- 
 six feet long by sixteen broad. When 
 analyzed nothing extraordinary could 
 be detected, except a slight trace of 
 common salt, with a little carbonic 
 acid gas and azote, the specific gra- 
 vity being the same as that of dis- 
 tilled water. It is probable that all 
 the wells are supplied from the same 
 source, and that their temperatures 
 
CANTON. 
 
 351 
 
 depend on the' quantity of water dis- 
 charged into them. — (Davy, fyc.) 
 
 Canoon. — A town in the Agra 
 province, situated about eighty miles 
 W.S.W. from the city of Delhi ; lat. 
 "28° 18' N., Ion. 75° 51' E. On ap- 
 proaching Canoon by the Delhi road, 
 the appearance of the desert com- 
 mences. Three miles to the east of 
 it are sand-hills, at first covered with 
 bushes, but afterwards degenerating 
 to naked piles of loose sand, rising 
 one above the other like waves of the 
 sea, and marked by the wind on the 
 surface like drifted snow. Further 
 west the soil becomes more and more 
 arid, until it ends in the great desert. 
 Ten miles beyond Canoon (which in 
 1804 was occupied by a detachment) 
 in that direction is the limit of the 
 British dependencies in this quarter, 
 after which the Rajpoot district of 
 Shekawutty commences. — ( Elphin - 
 stone , fyc.) 
 
 Canroody. — A small subdivision 
 of the Gundwana province, bounded 
 on the south by Sohagepoor, and in- 
 tersected by the Sone river and its 
 contributary streams, brooks, and 
 rivulets. It contains no towns of 
 the least importance. Like those of 
 many other tracts of this large and 
 barbarous province, its zemindars and 
 cultivators had tribute occasionally 
 extorted from them by the Maha- 
 rattas. 
 
 Cantalbarry. — A town in the 
 low country north-west of Cooch 
 Bahar, subject to Bootan ; lat. 26° 
 37' N., Ion. 89° 12' E. 
 
 Canton* — A seaport town in the 
 empire of China, to which the Eu- 
 ropean traffic has hitherto been ex- 
 clusively confined ; lat. 23° 7' N., Ion. 
 113° 14' E. 
 
 The city stands on the eastern 
 bank of the Pekiang river, which 
 flows from the interior in a navigable 
 stream of 300 miles to this town, 
 where it is rather broader than the 
 Thames at London bridge, and from 
 hence falls, after an additional course 
 of eighty miles, into the southern 
 
 sea of China, near its junction with 
 which it takes, among foreigners, the 
 name of Bocca Tigris, The town is 
 surrounded by walls about five miles 
 in circumference, on which a few 
 cannon are mounted; but the whole 
 of its fortifications, with a view to 
 defence, are in every respect despi- 
 cable, and only serve to prevent the 
 intrusion of Europeans. 
 
 Although Canton is situated nearly 
 in the same parallel of latitude with 
 Calcutta, yet there is considerable 
 difference in their temperature ; the 
 former being much the coolest, and 
 requiring fires during the winter 
 months. The suburbs may be fre- 
 quented by Europeans, but they are 
 not permitted to enter the gates of 
 the Tartar city ; which however, in 
 its architecture and exterior appear- 
 ance, entirely resembles the suburbs. 
 The streets of Canton are very nar- 
 row, paved with little round stones, 
 and flagged close to the sides of the 
 houses. The front of every house 
 is a shop, and those of particular 
 streets are laid out for the supply of 
 strangers, China-street (named by the 
 seamen Hog-lane) being appropriat- 
 ed to Europeans ; and here the pro- 
 ductions of almost every part of the 
 globe are to be found. One of the 
 shop-keepers is always to be found 
 sitting on the counter, writing with 
 a camel’s-hair brush, or calculating 
 with his swanpan, on which instru- 
 ment a Chinese will perform opera- 
 tions in numbers with as much cele- 
 rity as the most expert European 
 arithmetician. This part of Canton 
 being much frequented by the sea- 
 men, every artifice is used by the 
 Chinese retailers to attract their at- 
 tention, each of them having an 
 English name for himself painted on 
 the outside of his shop, besides a 
 number of advertisements composed 
 for them by the sailors in their own 
 peculiar idiom. The latter, it may be 
 supposed, are often duped by their 
 Chinese friends, who have in general 
 picked up a few sea-phrases, by which 
 the seamen are induced to enter their 
 shops ; but they suit each other ex- 
 tremely well, as the Chinese dealers 
 
CANTON, 
 
 352 
 
 possess an imperturbable command 
 of temper, laugh heartily at their 
 jokes without understanding them, 
 and humour the seamen in all their 
 sallies. 
 
 The foreign factories extend for a 
 considerable way along the banks of 
 the river, at the distance of about one 
 hundred yards. They are named by 
 the Chinese hongs, and resemble 
 long courts, or closes, without a tho- 
 roughfare, which generally contain 
 four or five separate houses. They 
 are built on a broad quay, and have 
 a broad parade in front. This pro- 
 menade is railed in, and is generally 
 called Respondentia Walk ; and here 
 the European merchants, comman- 
 ders, and officers of the ships, meet 
 after dinner and enjoy the cool of 
 the evening. The English hong, or 
 factory, far surpasses the others in 
 elegance and extent, and before each 
 the national flag is seen flying. The 
 neighbourhood of the factories is oc- 
 cupied with warehouses for the re- 
 ception of European goods, or of 
 Chinese productions, until they are 
 shipped. In 1822, during a dreadful 
 conflagration that took place at Can- 
 ton, the British factories and above 
 ten thousand other houses were de- 
 stroyed, on which occasion the East- 
 India Company’s loss was estimated 
 at half a million sterling, three-fifths 
 in woollens. 
 
 For the space of four or five miles 
 opposite to Canton, the river resem- 
 bles an extensive floating city, con- 
 sisting of boats and vessels ranged 
 parallel to each other, leaving a nar- 
 row passage for vessels to pass and 
 repass. In these the owners reside 
 with their families, the latter of whom 
 in the course of their lives but rarely 
 visit the shore. The Chinese junks 
 that trade to Batavia and the Eastern 
 islands, lie in the centre of the ri- 
 ver, moored head and stern, many of 
 them of very large dimensions. At 
 present these junks are almost en- 
 tirely built at Bankok, in Siam. The 
 parts under water are constructed of 
 common timber, but the upper parts 
 of teak, and iron bolts are used in 
 fixing the frame and planking. The 
 
 seams are neatly caulked with oakum 
 made of the bamboo, and the bottom 
 payed with a kind of rozin named 
 dammer and quick-lime. The bow is 
 flat like the stern, but much smaller, 
 having no keel or cutwater, and the 
 stern has an immense channel or 
 chamber, in which the rudder receives 
 protection from the sea. The masts 
 (of a single spar each), are from two 
 to four in number, and of very une- 
 qual dimensions, the mainmast being 
 greatly larger than any of the rest ; 
 and there is only a single square sail 
 made of split bamboos on each mast, 
 extended by yards, also of bamboo. 
 There is only one deck, but the en- 
 tire hold is subdivided into little ca- 
 bins or compartments, well caulked 
 and secured, to contain the goods, 
 and afford accommodation to each 
 adventurer. A considerable loss of 
 stowage is of course sustained, but 
 the Chinese exports generally con- 
 tain a considerable value in a small 
 bulk. Pumps are unknown or not 
 made use of. The cables are of twist- 
 ed rattans ; the anchors of iron-wood, 
 having the flukes occasionally tipped 
 with iron ; the standing and running 
 rigging are either of rattan or of coir, 
 the fibre of the cocoa-nut husk ; the 
 whole to a seaman’s eye presenting 
 a most singular and grotesque ap- 
 pearance. The deck exhibits the 
 form of a crescent, the extremities 
 being disproportionately nigh and un- 
 wieldy, conveying the idea that a 
 sudden gust of wind would upset the 
 huge tub; and, indeed, except before 
 the wind, they are quite unmanage- 
 able, and require a crew of at least 
 forty men to every hundred tons. 
 Sometimes no less than fifty men are 
 employed at once on board one of 
 the largest in managing the helm ; 
 and besides the crew they take on 
 board a crowd of passengers. A junk 
 bound from Amoy to Batavia, about 
 1 ,000 tons burthen, foundered at sea 
 in 1822; her cargo, including crew 
 and passengers, amounted to 1,600 
 persons, of whom 200 were saved by 
 a British country trader. 
 
 Besides the defective construction 
 of these junks, the Chinese are en- 
 
CANTON. 
 
 353 
 
 tirely ignorant of navigation as a 
 science, and even of any practical 
 useful knowledge. They keep no 
 reckoning, and take no observations 
 of the heavenly bodies, the latitude 
 and longitude of places being quite 
 unknown to them; neither do they 
 make any allowance for winds, cur- 
 rents, or leeway. Their compasses 
 are divided into twenty-four parts, 
 and according to Du Halde are made 
 in Japan, from whence they probably 
 acquired their knowledge of its mag- 
 netic influence. Their voyages, how- 
 ever, being always undertaken during 
 a favourable monsoon, they set the 
 head of their junk towards the quar- 
 ter they are bound to, and blunder 
 on with much less damage than might 
 be expected. During the north-east 
 monsoon they sail to Manilla, Banca, 
 and Batavia, exporting besides goods 
 a great number of their surplus po- 
 pulation, and return to Amoy and 
 Canton with that from the south- 
 west. 
 
 The ships and vessels of the Chi- 
 nese, notwithstanding their imper- 
 fections, are greatly superior in con- 
 struction, size, and utility, to those 
 of every other Asiatic people who 
 have not had the example or assist- 
 ance of Europeans. The common 
 Chinese name for their own vessels 
 that perform distant voyages is 
 tchevu; the Portuguese call them 
 soma ; the Indian islanders wan- 
 kang, and we name them junks, a 
 corruption of the word jung, which 
 means a large vessel in several lan- 
 guages of the Eastern archipelago, 
 in contradistinction to boats or ca- 
 noes. 
 
 Almost the whole foreign com- 
 merce of China is conducted from 
 the two maritime provinces of Can- 
 ton and Fokien, but much the largest 
 share of the trade to the Eastern 
 isles is carried on from the last. 
 The most numerous, largest, and 
 richest junks, sail from Fokien, which 
 produces also nearly the whole of 
 the black tea that is exported to fo- 
 reign countries. The principal port of 
 export is Hiamen, which Europeans 
 name Amoy, or more correctly Em- 
 
 VOL. i. 
 
 mui, from the name of the island 
 that forms its excellent and capacious 
 harbour. At this place the security 
 merchants are three in number, who 
 exact from the adventurers to the 
 Eastern archipelago a duty of six per 
 cent, on exports, and five per cent, 
 on imports. This commercial inter- 
 course has existed from the remotest 
 antiquity, and has always been most 
 beneficial to both parties, more espe- 
 cially to China, where a demand for 
 the peculiar productions of the isles 
 seems completely interwoven with 
 the habits, manners, and religious 
 ceremonies of that singular nation, 
 whose industry we constantly find 
 directed either to objects of mere ne- 
 cessity, or for the gratification of 
 their sensual appetites, for it never 
 assumes the character of intellectual 
 enterprize. 
 
 Canton is about fifteen miles above 
 Whampoa, in which distance there 
 are five chop or custom-houses, 
 where boats are examined. The head 
 tontiff, named by the mariners John 
 Tuck, regulates the emperor’s duties, 
 respecting which the importer remains 
 ignorant, as they are paid by the pur- 
 chaser of the goods, which are gene- 
 rally weighed and carried off imme- 
 diately on landing. The cargoes are 
 weighed with English weights of fifty 
 instead of fifty-six pounds, and after- 
 wards reduced to Chinese catties, by 
 multiplying by three, and dividing by 
 four, and then converted to piculs 
 by dividing the product by one hun- 
 dred. A picul weighs 133^- pounds 
 English, and a catty one pound and 
 one-third English ; but the Chinese 
 weights are generally inaccurate, and 
 must be attended to. All goods in 
 China are bought by weight, even 
 articles of food, such as milk, fowls, 
 hogs, &c. The long measure is the 
 cubit of fourteen inches and three 
 quarters. A tael is equal to 5,798 
 decimal, troy weight ; and in the 
 East-India Company’s accounts the 
 tael of silver is reckoned at six shil- 
 lings and eight-pence sterling. 
 
 The Chinese measure a ship from 
 the centre of the fore-mast to the 
 centre of the mizen-mast for the 
 
 2 A 
 
354 
 
 CANTON. 
 
 length, and close abaft the main- 
 mast from outside, taking the ex- 
 treme for the breadth : the length 
 is then multiplied by the breadth, 
 and divided by ten, the result being, 
 according to their ideas, the mensu- 
 ration of the ship. At the custom- 
 house the ships that arrive are classed 
 under three denominations, first, se- 
 cond, and third rates; and ships, 
 however small, pay as third-rates, 
 which is a heavy charge on the small 
 vessels that frequent the port; nor is 
 the duty augmented on ships exceed- 
 ing the size of what they term first- 
 rates. The proportions are 
 
 cubits long, cubits broad. 
 
 1st rates 74 23 
 
 2d do 71 22 to 23 
 
 3d do. 65 to 71 20 to 22 
 
 The duties on ships of the smallest 
 class amount, on an average, to 
 about 4,000 dollars, and not a great 
 deal more is exacted for ships of 
 larger dimensions. Small country 
 ships frequently lie off Linting Fora, 
 or large bay, until some of the large 
 China ships from Europe, which have 
 always spare room, come in sight, 
 when they tranship their cargoes, 
 which is usually carried up to Can- 
 ton for one per cent., by which 
 expedient the duties, customs, and 
 measurement of the ship, as well as 
 the emperor’s present, are saved. 
 
 The monopoly of all foreign trade 
 by the policy of the Chinese govern- 
 ment is consigned to a limited num- 
 ber of merchants, seldom exceeding 
 eight, but occasionally more. In 
 1793 they were twelve; in 1808, 
 fourteen. All foreign cargoes pass 
 through the hands of these mer- 
 chants, who are commonly men of 
 large property, and by them also the 
 return cargoes are furnished. With 
 them the East-India Company’s su- 
 percargoes transact the concerns of 
 their employers ; they dispose of the 
 goods imported, and purchase the 
 commodities that compose the home- 
 ward cargo. At the close of the 
 season they are generally indebted 
 above half a million sterling to the 
 Company, and have besides, property 
 in their hands belonging to the Com- 
 
 pany and other British subjects, the 
 aggregate of which has been esti- 
 mated at two millions sterling. 
 
 The whole establishment of the 
 East-India Company here consists of 
 twelve supercargoes and eight wri- 
 ters. The latter have a small annual 
 allowance and a free table, and they 
 succeed in rotation to the situations 
 of the former, who have also a free 
 table, and annually divide among 
 themselves, in shares proportioned 
 to their seniority, a sum falling short 
 of £80, 000 sterling. This arises 
 from a per-centage on the import 
 and export cargoes, producing to the 
 chief on an average of £8,600 per an- 
 num; and to the first, second, and 
 third members of the select commit- 
 tee, above £7,100. The senior su- 
 percargo has about £6,000 per an- 
 num, and the juniors in proportion, 
 declining on a graduated scale, but 
 none of the supercargoes have less 
 than £1,500 per annum. Having, in 
 addition to this, the accommodation 
 of a free house and table, they may 
 be considered as the best paid services 
 in the world. The services to be 
 performed for this liberal remunera- 
 tion, consist in a residence for three 
 or four months every year at Canton, 
 during the season of intercourse with 
 the hong or security merchants, to 
 whom they deliver the imported 
 goods, and receive the teas and other 
 return produce. When the business 
 of the season is finished, the ships 
 loaded, and despatched to England, 
 they retire to Macao for the rest of 
 the year, where they remain until the 
 opening of the ensuing season. Here 
 they have scarcely any thing to do, 
 and are cooped up within a space not 
 exceeding two or three miles, with 
 scarcely any society but what is 
 formed among themselves. The num- 
 ber of writers sent to China by the 
 East-India Company, from 1821 to 
 1825 inclusive, was six, or one per 
 annum. The expense of the East- 
 India Company’s establishment at 
 Canton, computed on an average of 
 the four years preceding 1823, was 
 £90,858; the other expenses attend- 
 ing the China trade in China and 
 
CANTON. 
 
 S55 
 
 England, computed on an average of 
 seven years, was £234,444. These 
 disbursements are exclusive of the pro- 
 portion of the charges of establish- 
 ment, &c. ; of interest (£217,254), 
 of insurance (£58,065), and loss by 
 fire at Canton in 1822 (£380,133). 
 The average rate of tonnage paid by 
 the East-India Company from Canton, 
 in 1822 and 1823, was £21. 11 s. per 
 ton; the amount of tonnage in 1822, 
 was 29,535 tons; in 1823, 29,930 
 tons. 
 
 The external commerce of Canton 
 is very considerable, and the articles 
 of import numerous ; but their com- 
 parative importance is almost absorb- 
 ed in that of tea. There are two 
 descriptions of tea, black and green, 
 permanent varieties of the same plant, 
 subdivided into varieties. The dis- 
 tricts in China that produce the green 
 tea are distinct, and even distant 
 from those that yield the black, the 
 different varieties requiring a pecu- 
 liar soil, climate, and mode of cul- 
 ture. China is the only country 
 that affords fine teas fit for exporta- 
 tion. In Japan the tea plant is not 
 reared with attention, being carelessly 
 planted along the edges of corn fields, 
 and subsequently dried with little 
 attention to its preservation. The 
 teas of Tun quin and Cochin China, 
 are still coarser ; and even in China, 
 situations every way adapted for the 
 cultivation of tea are not abundant. 
 The black teas for exportation are 
 all produced in the north-western 
 quarter of Fokien, and the green in 
 that of Kiangnan, both maritime 
 provinces in the neighbourhood, and 
 to the west of Whechufu. The pro- 
 vince of Fokien is in a manner sepa- 
 rated from the rest of the empire by 
 a chain of mountains, named Buye, 
 (of which the term Bohea is a cor- 
 ruption), among the vallies of which 
 the black tea is grown, and thence 
 brought, mostly overland, for about 
 360 miles, by porters to Canton. 
 The green tea districts are still more 
 remote, being above 800 miles tra- 
 velling distance ; but they have the 
 advantage of an internal navigation. 
 The qualities and prime cost of tea 
 
 exported by the East-India Company 
 from Canton, in 1822-23, were as 
 follows : 
 
 lbs. £ 
 
 Bohea 1,738,293 ... 69,910 
 
 Congou 21,256,129 ...1,493,962 
 
 Souchong ... 142,345 ... 13,485 
 
 Sonchi 41,004 ... 4,380 
 
 Pekoe 15,463 ... 1,493 
 
 Twankay ... 3,486,629 ... 243,589 
 Hyson Skin . 165,715 ... 11,961 
 
 Hyson 624,007 ... 84,919 
 
 Young do.... 9,228 ... 1,039 
 
 lbs. 27,478,813 £1,924,738 
 
 In 1825-26, the quantity of tea 
 imported into Great Britain, was 
 29,345,778 lbs. ; exported 4,124,304 
 lbs. ; delivered for home consumption, 
 24,1 50,372 lbs. 
 
 The imports into Canton are more 
 miscellaneous than the exports, but 
 the most remarkable in value and 
 amount is that of opium, the con- 
 sumption of which in China, al- 
 though rigidly prohibited and contra- 
 band, must be enormous. From 
 1821 to 1825 inclusive, the sum paid 
 by the Chinese annually for this in- 
 toxicating drug, has averaged eight 
 millions of dollars per annum, never 
 rising much above or falling much 
 below that specific sum. The quan- 
 tity of Patna and Benares opium sold 
 at Canton, in the season of 1825-26, 
 was 3,342 chests; and of Malwa 
 opium 6,276 chests; the total value 
 amounting to 7,759,380 Spanish dol- 
 lars. 
 
 Another curious article of import 
 is the edible bird’s-nest, of which it is 
 estimated 242,000 pounds are con- 
 sumed by the Chinese annually ; the 
 purchase-money in the Eastern archi- 
 pelago amounting to about £280,000, 
 but to the consumer at least three 
 times that amount. In fact, there is 
 no commercial article of which the 
 cost of production bears so small a 
 proportion to the market price; yet 
 the value of this immense property 
 depends solely on the capricious taste 
 and strange luxury of a sensual na- 
 tion, which, except the French, is the 
 only one that has elevated cookery 
 
 2 a 2 
 
356 
 
 CANTON. 
 
 to the dignity of a science. In like 
 manner, fish-maws, shark-fins, and 
 dried sea-slug, are imported in large 
 quantities, and fetch high prices. 
 
 From Bombay and the Malabar 
 coast cotton, opium, pepper, sandal- 
 wood, putchick, shark-fins, libanum, 
 elephants’ teeth, rhinoceros* horns, 
 pearls, cornelians, and beads, are im- 
 ported. From the straits of Malacca 
 and adjacent countries tin, pepper, 
 betel-nut, rattans, sea-slug, and birds’- 
 nests. The principal articles im- 
 ported by the East-India Company 
 are broad-cloths, long ells, camblets, 
 silver, lead, and tin. The probity, 
 punctuality, and credit of the East- 
 India Company and their agents, is 
 known to be such by the Chinese, 
 that their goods are taken away, as to 
 quantity and quality, for what they 
 are declared in the invoice, and the 
 bales with their mark pass in trade 
 without examination, through many 
 hands, and over an immense extent 
 of country, and are never opened 
 until they reach the shop of the per- 
 son who sells for actual consumption. 
 Various miscellaneous articles are 
 imported also as private trade by the 
 officers and commanders of the Com- 
 pany’s ships, such as lead, skins and 
 furs, cochineal, window glass, clocks 
 and watches, from forty shillings to the 
 highest prices, fine cutlery, hardware, 
 looking-glasses, and coral. From the 
 Eastern archipelago, besides the com- 
 modities already enumerated, rice, 
 vegetable oils, cotton, tobacco, indigo, 
 gold, tin, ivory, catechu, benzoin, 
 pepper, cloves, mace, nutmegs, cam- 
 phor, dry fish, and tortoise-shell. 
 
 The principal exports from Canton 
 are tea, chinaware, gold in bars, sugar, 
 sugar-candy, rhubarb, China root, 
 snake root, sassaparilla, leather, tute- 
 nage, Japan copper, varnished and lac- 
 quered ware, drugs, leaf gold, utensils 
 made of white and red copper, cast- 
 iron, silk, raw and wrought, thread, 
 nankins, mother-of-pearl, gamboge, 
 quicksilver, allum, dammer, red lead, 
 vermilion, furniture, toys, and a great 
 variety of drugs. Nankins are made 
 of Chinese cotton, in a particular 
 province of the same name, and are 
 
 exclusively a Chinese manufacture. 
 The new teas seldom reach Canton 
 before the month of November. The 
 Russians are excluded from the sea- 
 ports of China, because a trade is 
 carried on with them on the frontier 
 of Siberia at Kiatcha, and the Chinese 
 do not admit of two places of trade 
 with the same nation. 
 
 The glass beads and buttons worn 
 by persons of rank in China are 
 chiefly made at Venice, one of the 
 feeble remnants of the great and al- 
 most exclusive trade which the Vene- 
 tians once carried on with the East. 
 The inhabitants of China make much 
 use of spectacles, which are made at 
 Canton : but the artists do not seem 
 to understand the principle of optics, 
 so as to form the eye-glasses of such 
 convexities or concavities as to rectify 
 the various defects of vision, but 
 leave their customers to find out 
 what suits them best. The Canton 
 lapidaries cut diamonds, and their 
 artists are extremely expert in imi- 
 tating. They mend, and even make 
 watches, copy paintings, and colour 
 drawings, with great success. They 
 also make coarse silk stockings, and 
 have long been celebrated for the 
 toys known by the name of balancers 
 and tumblers. They generally assay 
 their gold at Canton with touch- 
 needles, by which, it is said, they 
 can detect so small a difference as 
 one two-hundredth part of the mix- 
 ture. 
 
 Provisions and refreshments of all 
 sorts are abundant here, and generally 
 of an excellent quality; nor is the 
 price exorbitant. Every description 
 of vivres, dead or alive, is sold by 
 weight. It is a curious fact, that the 
 Chinese make no use of milk, either 
 in its liquid, or in the shape of curds, 
 butter, or cheese. Among the deli- 
 cacies, however, of a Chinese market, 
 horse-flesh, dogs, cats, hawks, and 
 owls are to be seen ; and at table 
 bow-wow (dog) pies have frequently 
 been eaten by Europeans, instead of 
 minced quack quack (duck) pies, and 
 pleased them mightily. The country 
 is well supplied with fish from the 
 numberless canals and rivers, and 
 
CANTON. 
 
 357 
 
 the inhabitants breed also gold and 
 silver fish, which are kept in large 
 stock ponds, as well as in glass and 
 china vases. 
 
 The lower orders of Chinese who 
 engage as servants to Europeans, are 
 extremely ready in acquiring a smat- 
 tering of the English language, and 
 fertile in inventions in making them- 
 selves intelligible to their employers. 
 All the business at Canton with Eu- 
 ropeans is transacted in a jargon of 
 the English language. The sounds 
 of such letters as B, D, R, and X, 
 are utterly unknown and unpro- 
 nounceable in China. Instead of 
 these, they substitute some other let- 
 ter, such as L for R, which occasions 
 a Chinese vender of rice to offer for 
 sale in English what is usually a very 
 unmarketable commodity. The com- 
 mon Chinese salutation is “hou, poo 
 hou,” the literal meaning of which 
 is “ well, not well.” The name Man- 
 darin is unknown among the Chinese, 
 Tunquinese, and Cochin Chinese, 
 the word used by all these nations 
 for a person in authority being quan. 
 Mandarin is a Portuguese word, de- 
 rived from the verb mandar, to com- 
 mand. No correct estimate of the 
 population of Canton has ever been 
 formed, but it is known to be very 
 great. 
 
 The intercourse between Europe 
 and China by the way of the Cape 
 of Good Hope began in A.D. 1517, 
 when Emanuel king of Portugal sent 
 a fleet of eight ships to China with 
 an ambassador, who was conveyed to 
 Pekin, and obtained permission to 
 establish a trade at Canton. About 
 1634 some ships from England visited 
 Canton, but made a most inauspicious 
 commencement, for a rupture and 
 battle immediately took place ; but 
 peace being afterwards restored, the 
 misunderstanding was attributed to 
 the treachery of the Portuguese. In 
 1667 the Court of Directors, in their 
 letter to their agent at Bantam in 
 Java, desire him “to send home by 
 their ships 100 pounds of the best 
 tey (tea) he could get;” but the 
 first importation of tea is supposed to 
 have taken place in 1669, when two 
 
 cannisters, containing 143£ pounds, 
 were received by the way of Bantam, 
 for it does not appear any direct 
 intercourse then existed with China. 
 In A.D. 1678 the Company imported 
 4,713 pounds of tea ; but so large a 
 quantity seems to have glutted the 
 market, for the imports of tea for 
 the six subsequent years amounted 
 in all to only 410 pounds, purchased 
 mostly at Surat and Madras. In 
 1680 we find the first notice of a 
 ship sent direct by the East-India 
 Company to China. In 1700 there 
 were three ports open for the recep- 
 tion of English vessels, viz. Limpo, 
 Amoy, and Canton. Since that period 
 the British commerce with Canton 
 has progressively increased, though 
 it has occasionally met with tempo- 
 rary interruptions of no serious im- 
 portance, and nothing approaching to 
 a state of actual warfare. Such an 
 event, with a nation whose political 
 institutions are remarkable among 
 those of Asiatic nations, or indeed 
 any other, for the uncommon share 
 of tranquillity they are found by long 
 experience capable of maintaining, 
 and for the security they afford to 
 life and property, is highly to be de- 
 precated, and every stimulant, from 
 mercantile or military rapacity, to 
 bring on such a catastrophe, ought 
 most strenuously to be resisted by 
 the British nation. 
 
 Reigning Dynasty of China. 
 
 Shun-che began to reign A.D. 1 643. 
 Founded the present Manchew Tartar 
 dynasty by expelling the Ming, or 
 Chinese dynasty. 
 
 Kang-hi, A.D. 1661, reigned sixty- 
 one years. 
 
 Yung-ching, A.D. 1 722, reigned 
 thirteen years. 
 
 Kien-lung, A.D. 1735, reigned sixty 
 years. 
 
 Kea-king, A.D. 1795, reigned twen- 
 ty-five years. 
 
 Taou-kwang, A.D. 1820 the reign- 
 ing emperor in 1827- 
 
 The imperial title of the reigning 
 emperor is Yuen hwuy, meaning “ an 
 original assemblage of natural beau- 
 ties” (the Canton pronunciation is 
 une-fei). Immediately after his acces- 
 
858 
 
 CARIMATA. 
 
 sion it was changed to Taou Kwang, 
 which was fixed as the national de- 
 signation, as the Chinese term it, or 
 the imperial title of his present ma- 
 jesty. Taou means “ eternal reason, 
 or perfect good government Kwang, 
 “ light, lustre, or glory so that 
 Taou Kwang may be rendered “ rea- 
 son illustrious.” — ( Staunton , Barrow , 
 Crawfurd , Davis, Milburn , Elmore , 
 Dr. J. Johnson , Macpherson , Quar- 
 terly Review , fyc.) 
 
 Capaluan. — A small island, one 
 of the Philippines, lying due south 
 of the island of Luzon, distant four 
 miles; lat. 13°50 / N. In length it 
 may be estimated at fourteen miles, 
 by five the average breadth. 
 
 Cap and Button Isles. — Two 
 small isles in the straits of Sunda, the 
 first lying in lat. 5° 58' S., Ion. 105° 
 48' E.; the second in lat. 5° 49' S., 
 and Ion. 105° 48' E. They appear to 
 have originated from a subaqueous 
 volcano, and the last contains two ca- 
 verns where the edible bird’s-nests, so 
 much prized by the Chinese, are found. 
 — (i Staunton, fyc.) 
 
 Capur Sungum. — A Brahmin vil- 
 lage in the province of Bejapoor, dis- 
 trict of Noorgool, situated near the 
 Sungum, or junction of the rivers 
 Krishna and Malpoorba, and conspi- 
 cuous from its white buildings. The 
 Sungum is covered with low jungle, 
 and the ferry across the Krishna, usu- 
 ally frequented by travellers from 
 Poona to Bellary, is at the Toonghree 
 ghaut, immediately below where the 
 great channel of the Krishna is about 
 half a mile wide. — ( Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 Caramnassa River ( the destruc- 
 tion of pious works). — A small river 
 that separates the province of Bahar 
 from that of Benares. On crossing 
 this river from Bahar, the Bengal offi- 
 cers were formerly considered as hav- 
 ing quitted the Company’s territories, 
 and received a batta or additional rate 
 of pay, to defray the increased ex- 
 penses to which they were subjected 
 by their greater distance from the pre- 
 sidency. 
 
 By an ancient text the Hindoos 
 
 were forbidden even to touch the wa- 
 ters of the Caramnassa ; but the in- 
 habitants on its banks claim an ex- 
 emption, which is admitted by the 
 other Hindoos, although their aver- 
 sion to the Caramnassa continues as 
 strong as ever. By the contact alone 
 of its baleful waves, devotees suppose 
 they lose the fruit and efficacy of their 
 religious austerities and pilgrimages, 
 and they always cross its waters with 
 the greatest caution. Major Rennell 
 thinks it is the Commenases of Ar- 
 rian. — ( Wi/ford , Forster, fyc.) 
 
 Carampoondy. — A town in the 
 northern circars, division of Palnaud, 
 fifty-five miles west by north from 
 Guntoor; lat. 16° 24' N., Ion 79° 
 42' E. 
 
 Carang Assem. — A town in the 
 island of Bally, situated on the west 
 side of the straits of Lombook ; lat. 
 8° 28' S., Ion. 1 15° 25' E. This place 
 stands at the foot of the peak of Bally, 
 in a populous and well cultivated 
 country, and is the most considerable 
 town on the island. The anchorage 
 is also good, and refreshments abun- 
 dant. 
 
 Caranja Isle ( or Oorun ). — An 
 island in the province of Aurungabad, 
 between Bombay and main land, from 
 which it is separated by a very narrow 
 strait ; lat. 86° 56' N., Ion. 72° 52' E., 
 five miles east from Bombay. To this 
 island, which by the natives is named 
 Oorun, convicts are sent from Bom- 
 bay, and employed in cleaning tanks, 
 repairing embankments, and keeping 
 the roads in order. In 1813 the 
 revenues of this small island amount- 
 ed to 90,795 rupees ; the charges to 
 15,662 rupees. 
 
 Carculla. — An open town in the 
 province of Canara, which in 1800 
 contained above 200 houses, twenty- 
 seven miles north by east from Man- 
 galore. Lat. 13° 16' N., Ion. 75° 3'E. 
 Near this place are the ruins of the 
 palace of the Byrasu Wodears (or 
 chiefs) the most powerful of the for- 
 mer Jain rajas of Tulava or south 
 Canara. 
 
 Carimata. — An island in the east- 
 
CARNATIC. 
 
 359 
 
 ern seas, about thirty miles in circum- 
 ference, lying off the west coast of 
 Borneo, between the first and second 
 degrees of south latitude. This island 
 is high and woody, with a peak in the 
 middle, generally cloud-capped. It is 
 inhabited. 
 
 Carimon Java. — A small island in 
 the eastern seas, about twenty miles in 
 circumference, surrounded by a clus- 
 ter of smaller ones; lat. 5° 45' S., 
 Ion. 110° 15' E. This is a high woody 
 island, with a hill in the centre, where 
 ships anchoring may procure wood 
 and water. The Dutch formerly kept 
 up a small establishment here, under 
 a resident and officer’s guard, which is 
 probably still continued to prevent 
 the visits of piratical prows. — {Thorn, 
 $c.) 
 
 Carimqns. — Two islands thus 
 named situated in the straits of Ma- 
 lacca; lat. 1° 5' N., Ion. 103° 30' E. 
 These isles are well situated to give a 
 strong naval power the command of 
 the straits, yet in 1819 they were 
 uninhabited, and still covered with 
 primeval forests. The northern sec- 
 tion of the larger island is mountain- 
 ous, but the southern, which occu- 
 pies three-fourths of the whole, is low 
 and swampy. The soil of the Little 
 Carimon is hard clay, on a substratum 
 of rock ; yet some of the trees, espe- 
 cially the dammerlaut, attain a con- 
 siderable size. The only harbour lies 
 in the north-east quarter of the lar- 
 gest island, and is occasionally fre- 
 quented by Malay and Buggess prows. 
 — {Ibbetson, fyc.) 
 
 Carli. — A small village in the pro- 
 vince of Aurangabad, about thirty 
 miles N.W. from Poona, and opposite 
 to the fort of Loghur, near to which 
 are some remarkable mythological 
 excavations, or cave temples. The 
 chain of hills here runs east and west, 
 but the excavated one protrudes at 
 right angles, and the chief cave fronts 
 due west. Besides the great cavern, 
 there is a suite of apartments arranged 
 in two tiers of stories, a rude unfi- 
 nished work, more resembling a na- 
 tural cavity than a cave temple; and 
 also water cisterns cut in the rock. 
 
 The temple is arched, and supported 
 by pillars, with figures sculptured, re- 
 presenting elephants with riders for 
 capitals. The length of the great ca- 
 vern is 126 feet, and the breadth forty- 
 six feet. The ribs of the roof are 
 timber, and consequently cannot be 
 supposed of equal age with the exca- 
 vations ; they are still clean, and in 
 good repair. No figures of the deity 
 are to be found within the pagoda, nor 
 any visible object of devotion except 
 the mystic umbrella ; but the walls of 
 the vestibule are covered with carv- 
 ings in alto relievo of elephants, of hu- 
 man figures of both sexes, and of Bud- 
 dha, whose symbols predominate 
 throughout. The Carli temples are 
 considered by Mr. Erskine to be de- 
 cidedly Buddhist, there being no ves- 
 tiges in any of them of the Tirt’han- 
 kar, or twenty-four saints of the Jains. 
 Without attending to this circum- 
 stance the two classes of temples are 
 in danger of being confounded, owing 
 to the near resemblance of the images 
 to the figures of Buddha as repre- 
 sented by his sect. The grand cavern 
 here is still in high preservation, is a 
 fine specimen of the vaulted Buddhist 
 cathedral, and would make a noble 
 temple for any religion. — {Lord Va- 
 lentia, Fullarton , Erskine , M. Gra~ 
 ham, fyc.) 
 
 Carnaprayaga.— A village in nor- 
 thern Hindostan, district of Gurwal, 
 situated at the confluence of the Ala- 
 cananda with the Pindar river; lat. 
 30° 16' N., Ion. 79° 12' E., thirty miles 
 east by north from Serinagur, 2,560 
 feet above the level of the sea. This 
 is one of the five prayagas, or holy 
 junctions, mentioned in the shastras, 
 and considered the third in respect to 
 religious importance. In 1809 the 
 village consisted only of six or eight 
 houses, with a math or shrine, in 
 which the image of Raja Carna was 
 placed. — {Raper, fyc.) 
 
 CARNATIC. 
 
 ( Carnataca). 
 
 A large province in the south of 
 India, denominated the Carnatic by 
 Europeans, and comprehending the 
 
360 
 
 CARNATIC. 
 
 former dominions and dependencies 
 of the Arcot Nabobs, and extending 
 from the eighth to the sixteenth 
 degrees of north latitude. The nor- 
 thern boundary commences at the 
 southern frontier of the Guntoor dr- 
 ear, defined by the small river Gun- 
 digama, which falls into the sea at 
 Montapilly. From hence it stretches 
 south to Cape Comorin a distance of 
 560 miles, but with unequal breadth, 
 the average being about seventy-five 
 miles. 
 
 The division south of the river 
 Coleroon is called the Southern Car- 
 natic, and was rather tributary to the 
 nabobs of Arcot than a substantive 
 possession. Prior to the British sove- 
 reignty it was occupied by number- 
 less rajas, poligars, and other petty 
 chieftains, and partitioned into the 
 districts of Tinnevelly, Madura, Ma- 
 rawa, the poligars’ territory, and part 
 of Trichinopoly and Tanjore. The 
 principal towns are Tanjore, Trichi- 
 nopoly, Madura, Tranquebar, Nega- 
 patam, Tinnevelly, and Nagore. 
 
 The central Carnatic extends from 
 the Coleroon to the Pennar river, 
 and contained the residue of Trichi- 
 nopoly, and the subdivisions of Vol- 
 conda, Palamcotta, Ginjee, Wandi- 
 wash. Conjee, Vellore, Chingleput, 
 Chandgherry, Serdamilly, and a sec- 
 tion of Nellore ; the chief towns being 
 Madras, Pondicherry, Arcot, Walla- 
 jabad, Vellore, Conjeveram, Chingle- 
 put, Ginjee, Pulicat, Chandgherry, 
 and Nellore. 
 
 The Northern Carnatic extends 
 from the river Pennar to the river 
 Gundigama and the Guntoor circar, 
 and included the remainder of Nel- 
 lore, Angole, and some smaller sec- 
 tions ; the chief towns being Angole, 
 Carwaree, and Saumgaum. In an- 
 cient times this last tract formed part 
 of the Hindoo geographical division 
 of Andhra, which reached to the Go- 
 davery, and the sovereigns of which, 
 about the beginning of the Christian 
 era, were very powerful in India. 
 
 The principal rivers are the Pa- 
 naur, Palaur ( aur and aroo signifying 
 river), Cavery, and Vaygaroo, all of 
 which have their sources in the table- 
 
 land above the ghauts. The vast 
 height of these mountains, and their 
 great extent, not only fix the boun- 
 daries of the two Carnatics above and 
 below the ghauts, but by stopping the 
 course of the winds, likewise divide 
 the seasons. The climate of the lower 
 Carnatic may be considered one of 
 the hottest in India ; for although 
 somewhat relieved on the coast by 
 the prevalence of the sea and land 
 breezes, yet at the distance of ten or 
 twelve miles inland the sea breeze 
 arrives late in the evening, and much 
 heated by passing over the interven- 
 ing tract. It is common in May, June, 
 and July, to have occasional showers, 
 and at some period of that time to 
 have three or four days of heavy rain, 
 which cools the air, and allows the 
 cultivation of dry grain to be prose- 
 cuted; the weather in July, though 
 hot, is cloudy, with strong westerly 
 winds. 
 
 The soil of the Carnatic near the 
 sea is composed of sand and loam, 
 sparingly intermixed with the remains 
 of marine animals. The inland parts 
 contain hills of syenite, with a very 
 small proportion offeltspar, the whole 
 soil of the province appearing to con- 
 sist of the debris of disintegrated sye- 
 nite mountains. According to local 
 circumstances, it is either a loam 
 mixed with sand and gravel, and 
 strongly impregnated with iron ; or 
 in low and wet places, a stiff red 
 loam mixed with vegetable earth and 
 fine sand ; on eminences it is sand 
 and gravel ; it also contains much 
 common salt, which in dry weather 
 appears on the surface as a saline efflo- 
 rescence. Near to Madras the soil is 
 a heavy, sterile, salt loam ; along the 
 sea-coast and for some miles inland, 
 at certain depths, marine productions, 
 such as oyster and cockle-shells, are 
 found. Trees will not thrive in the 
 saline soil near Madras, which, how- 
 ever, does not extend further than 
 the mount called Little St. Thomas, 
 from whence to Vellore the surface 
 is sandy, and nearly as poor as in the 
 neighbourhood of Madras, but more 
 free from saline impregnation. 
 
 The general division of the country 
 
CARNATIC. 
 
 361 
 
 is into high and low lands; in the 
 first, all kinds of small grain being 
 cultivated, in the last, rice. In such 
 districts as have not the advantage of 
 being traversed by considerable rivers, 
 or in parts where water cannot be 
 conveyed from these to the adjacent 
 fields, tanks are constructed, which 
 being filled during the periodical rains, 
 furnish water for the rice fields during 
 the dry season. Some of these are 
 of great extent, and were originally 
 made by enclosing low and deep spots 
 of ground with a strong mound of 
 earth ; others of less magnitude, for 
 the use of temples, villages, or gardens, 
 are of a quadrangular form, lined with 
 stone, and descending by regular steps 
 from the margin to the bottom. Rag- 
 gy is the small grain most cultivated, 
 as it meets a ready market every 
 where among the poorer classes, 
 whose chief subsistence it is. Sugar 
 is only cultivated in small quantities, 
 the soil not being rich enough for the 
 cane ; and indigo is also cultivated, 
 but not for exportation. The cotton 
 chiefly raised is the common dwarf 
 kind (the gossypium herbaceum ) ; fa- 
 mines and scarcities are much more 
 frequent in the Carnatic and south of 
 India than in the Bengal provinces, 
 but less so than formerly. 
 
 The only trees that grow spon- 
 taneously on the barren spots of this 
 province are the common bread tree 
 (melia azadirachta ), and the robinia 
 mitis, an East-Indian tree of lofty 
 growth, which flourishes equally on 
 the arid hills of the Carnatic and on 
 the muddy banks of the Ganges. The 
 river water, after the rains, is reckon- 
 ed the best for irrigation, and next to 
 it the tank water ; that drawn from 
 wells is called salt by the natives, al- 
 though the quantity of real muriate 
 of soda held in solution be very small. 
 Springs issuing from the surface are 
 scarcely ever seen on the plains, but 
 are frequent on the mountains and 
 hilly parts. 
 
 In the towns and villages along the 
 principal high roads are choultries, in 
 the native language chauvadi , from 
 whence the English word is derived ; 
 the smaller ones are single square 
 
 rooms, open towards the street, where 
 the roof is supported by stout square 
 pillars ; in the walls are excavations 
 for lamps, but no windows. The large 
 choultries are handsome and exten- 
 sive buildings, erected and endowed 
 by the munificence of a prince, the 
 generosity or desire of fame of some 
 rich individual, or, not uncommonly, 
 in the performance of some religious 
 vow\ A Brahmin resides near, who 
 furnishes the traveller with food, wa- 
 ter, and a mat to lie on, and contigu- 
 ous is a tank or well for the pilgrims 
 to perform their ablutions. Every 
 where within forty or fifty miles such 
 useful structures are common, having 
 been erected by rich merchants of 
 that city ; but are generally kept in 
 so dirty a condition, as to be disgust- 
 ing to Europeans ; the adjacent tank 
 or pond is equally filthy : for although 
 the natives appear less capable of 
 supporting thirst than Europeans, 
 they are perfectly indifferent as to 
 the purity of the liquid which they 
 swallow, whether turbid or clear. 
 
 There are few districts can exhibit 
 so many large temples and other pub- 
 lic monuments of former wealth and 
 civilization as the Carnatic, where, 
 however, almost all the large temples 
 are built after the same model. A 
 large area, commonly of a square 
 form, is enclosed by a wall fifteen or 
 twenty feet high, in the centre of 
 which stands the temple, which, as if 
 intended to be concealed from public 
 view, is seldom raised above the sur- 
 rounding wall ; in the middle of one 
 or more sides of the wall is a gateway, 
 over which a high tower is built, not 
 designed for defence, but as a histo- 
 rical monument of the god to whom 
 it is dedicated, symbolizing his attri- 
 butes, and representing his adventures . 
 Formerly there were an astonishing 
 number of forts and fortresses through- 
 out the Carnatic, mostly of a square 
 form ; but they are now, in conse- 
 quence of the long internal tranquil- 
 lity, rapidly crumbling to pieces ; but 
 the natural strength of the positions 
 selected for their construction will 
 ever continue, and point out to fu- 
 ture ages the site of many an extinct 
 
362 
 
 CARNATIC. 
 
 stronghold, famous in military story. 
 Towns and villages in an open plain 
 are but of a day’s duration compared 
 with fortresses, especially if the latter 
 derive any share of their importance 
 from the natural strength of their 
 local situation. 
 
 The great mass of population in 
 this extensive province profess the 
 Hindoo Brahminical doctrines, the 
 Mahomedans in comparison being 
 thinly scattered over the country, 
 except at the nabob’s court, and in 
 a few other places. In 1785 there 
 were reckoned above 20,000 Chris- 
 tians of the Roman Catholic persua- 
 sion, and the Christians of all deno- 
 minations probably amount to more 
 than double that number. At pre- 
 sent, in the Carnatic, a large propor- 
 tion of the Brahmins follow secular pro- 
 fessions, and almost entirely fill the sub- 
 ordinate revenue and judicial offices, 
 besides acting as messengers and 
 keepers of choultries. Much of the 
 land is rented by them, but, like the 
 Jews, they seldom put their hands to 
 actual labour, and never hold the 
 plough, having their farms cultivated 
 by slaves of the inferior Sudra castes, 
 and the Punchum Bundam, who, al- 
 though the mo^t industrious labourers 
 in the country, are for the most part 
 slaves. Indeed, so sensible was Hy- 
 der of their value, that during his in- 
 invasions this was the caste he prin- 
 cipally endeavoured to carry away. 
 There are a few Mahomedan farmers 
 who possess slaves, but the most nu- 
 merous class of farmers is composed 
 of Sudras, some of whom possess 
 slaves, but many of them perform all 
 agricultural operations with their own 
 hands. 
 
 A great majority of Brahmins in 
 the lower Carnatic are of the Smar- 
 tial sect, who are votaries of Siva 
 and followers of Sankara Acharya. 
 Throughout both Carnatics, except 
 at Madras, the Brahmins appropriate 
 a particular quarter of the town to 
 themselves, and generally that which 
 is best fortified. A Sudra is not per- 
 mitted to dwell in the same street 
 with a Brahmin, while he exacts the 
 same deference from a Whalliaru Pa- 
 
 riar, and other low castes, who are 
 expelled to wretched huts in the 
 suburbs. Indeed, notwithstanding 
 the great fesort of Europeans and 
 other foreigners to the Carnatic, the 
 genuine Hindoo manners are retained 
 by a vast majority of the inhabitants 
 in wonderful purity. If any person 
 leave the smoke of his own tobacco 
 at Madras, and goes to the nearest 
 Hindoo village, not a mile in the 
 country, he is as much removed from 
 European customs and manners as if 
 he were in the centre of Hindostan. 
 
 The first irruption of the Maho- 
 medans into the Carnatic was in A..D. 
 1310, while Allah ud Deen, the 
 scourge of the Hindoos, reigned on 
 the Delhi throne, on which occasion 
 he defeated Belal Deo, the Hindoo 
 sovereign of Carnata. After this 
 period occasional tribute was exacted 
 by the Deccany princes, and subse- 
 quently by the Mogul emperors, but 
 actual possession does not appear to 
 have been taken until the conclusion 
 of Aurengzebe’s reign, in the com- 
 mencement of the eighteenth century. 
 In 1717 Nizam ul Mulk obtained the 
 Mogul conquests in the Deccan and 
 south of India, which from that date 
 were severed from the Delhi throne. 
 
 In 1743 Anwar ud Deen was ap- 
 pointed Nabob of the Carnatic, and 
 of its capital Arcot, by Nizam ul 
 Mulk, then soubahdar of the Deccan ; 
 and in 1754, after a well-fought con- 
 test between the different claimants, 
 aided respectively by the French and 
 English East-India Companies, his 
 son, Mahomed Ali, was left in pos- 
 session of that portion of the Car- 
 natic recovered for him by the British 
 arms. In 1763 it was again surren- 
 dered to the Nabob Mahomed Ali, 
 after having been a second time 
 wrested from the French and their 
 allies, the war having lasted with 
 little cessation for fifteen years ; and 
 finally, in 1783, the British had to 
 re-conquer it from Hyder and his son 
 Tippoo. 
 
 Mahomed Ali died in 1795, and 
 was succeeded by his son Oomdut ul 
 Omra, who died in 1801. Azim ul 
 Omra was then raised to the throne, 
 
CARNATIC. 
 
 363 
 
 on which he continued until 1819, 
 when he died of the prevailing epide- 
 mic; and was succeeded by Auzum 
 Jah, his eldest legitimate son, who 
 was proclaimed soubahdar of the Car- 
 natic. In 1801 the whole of the pos- 
 sessions of the Nabob of the Carnatic, 
 with the exception of a small por- 
 tion reserved by him as household 
 lands, were transferred to the Bri- 
 tish government by treaty. Of the 
 tracts situated in the Southern Car- 
 natic, consisting of Tinnevelly and 
 the Manapar pollams, and the two 
 Marawars of Ramnad and Sheva- 
 gunga, and the western pollams, the 
 Madras presidency had collected the 
 tribute since 1792. In 1795, the 
 Ramnad pollams came directly under 
 the charge and management of the 
 British government. The remaining 
 portion of the Carnatic territories, 
 acquired in 1801, consisted of the 
 districts of Palnaud, Nellore, Angole, 
 the province of Arcot, the pollams 
 of Chittoor, and the divisions of Sa- 
 tivaid, Tinnevelly, and Madura. 
 
 By the conditions of the treaty 
 the nabob reserved to himself a clear 
 annual revenue of from two to three 
 lacks of pagodas, unencumbered by 
 any charge, the British government 
 undertaking to support an efficient 
 civil and military establishment. A 
 liberal settlement was also provided 
 for the other branches of Mahomed 
 Ali’s family ; and the British govern- 
 ment undertook to investigate and 
 adjust the real and fictitious claims 
 advanced against his estate, for the 
 liquidation of which a fund amount- 
 ing to 340,000 pagodas annually was 
 appropriated. Commissioners at 
 home and abroad, with adequate es- 
 tablishments, were in consequence 
 appointed, and the Carnatic debts 
 have been under scrutiny ever since 
 1805; but, owing to the perplexed 
 nature of the investigation, and the 
 number of forged documents pro- 
 duced, it has not yet been concluded. 
 Up to the 6th December 
 1826, the aggregate of 
 absolute adjudications 
 in favour of parties was £2,528,065 
 Aggregate of provisional 
 
 adjudications in fa- 
 vour of parties 486 
 
 £2,528,552 
 
 Aggregate of absolute ad- 
 judications against the 
 parties, including the 
 portions disallowed on 
 claims favourably adju- 
 cated 27,342,706 
 
 £29,871,258 
 
 Estimated balance of the 
 amount of claims re- 
 maining to be adjudi- 
 cated, exclusive of the 
 amount of a consider- 
 ble number of small 
 
 claims 469,877 
 
 £30,341,136 
 
 The custom of usurious loans by 
 Europeans to native princes has long 
 been reprobated by the British go- 
 vernment, and its sanction withheld, 
 being convinced that nothing could 
 more effectually restrain the ruinous 
 practice, than a steady determination 
 on the part of the Court of Directors, 
 and of their government in India, to 
 resist every arrangement, however 
 specious, which might be proposed for 
 their liquidation. 
 
 On the transfer of the province as 
 above narrated, it was subdivided 
 into the following collectorates, which 
 comprehend also a few sections from 
 the upper Carnatic, viz. 
 
 1. Nellore and Angole, including 
 part of the western pollams or zemin- 
 daries. 
 
 2. The northern division of Arcot, 
 including Sativaid, Pulicat, Coongoo- 
 dy in the Barramahal, part of Bala- 
 ghaut, and the western pollams or 
 zemindaries. 
 
 3. Chingleput, or the jaghire. 
 
 4. The southern division of Arcot, 
 including Cudalore and Pondicherry. 
 
 5. Trichinopoly. 
 
 6. Tanjore. 
 
 7. Madura, including Dindigul, the 
 Manapar pollams, Ramnad, and She- 
 vagunga, partly in the Carnatic and 
 partly in the Mysore. 
 
364 
 
 CARRAMUNGALUM. 
 
 8. Tinnevelly in the southern Car- 
 natic. — (F. Buchanan , Heyne , hth Re- 
 port , 5ir T. Munro, Sir J. Malcolm , 
 J. Grant , Rennell , jFVa. Paolo, fyc.) 
 
 Carnicobar Isle. — The most 
 northerly of the Nicobar Islands, in 
 the Bay of Bengal ; lat. 9° 8' N., Ion. 
 92° 53' E. This island is low, of a 
 round figure, about forty miles in 
 circumference, and appears at a dis- 
 tance to be entirely covered with 
 trees. The soil is a black kind of clay, 
 and marshy, but produces with little 
 care most of the tropical fruits, such 
 as pine-apples, plantains, cocoa-nuts, 
 excellent yams, and a root named 
 cachee. The only quadrupeds are 
 hogs, dogs, large rats, and guanos. 
 There is a great plenty of timber, 
 and some of it remarkably large. The 
 natives require money for their pro- 
 visions, and also expect knives, hand- 
 kerchiefs, and other useful articles 
 as presents. Ships calling here may 
 obtain pigs, fowls, cocoa-nuts, betel- 
 nut, papaws, plantains, limes, and 
 shaddocks. Snakes abound, and a 
 species of ginger grows wild in the 
 woods. 
 
 The natives are low in stature, but 
 well-made, and surprisingly active. 
 They are copper-coloured, with a cast 
 of the Malay; the females are ex- 
 tremely ugly. They are naturally gay 
 and lively, and drink arrack, when 
 they can get it, in large quantities. 
 Many of them speak broken English, 
 mixed with Portuguese. Their hogs 
 are fat, being fed on cocoa-nuts, which 
 is the universal food for man, beast, 
 and fowl. Their houses resemble 
 bee-hives raised on posts, and are 
 built on the beach, fifteen and twenty 
 together. The entry is through a 
 trap-door below. They have no ma- 
 nufactures of any kind, procuring 
 clothing and other articles from ships 
 in barter for cocoa-nuts, live-stock, 
 and fruit. 
 
 When a man dies, all his goods are 
 burned with him, which prevents dis- 
 putes among his heirs. On this oc- 
 casion his wife must conform to cus- 
 tom, by having a joint cut off from 
 one of her fingers, and if she declines 
 
 the amputation she must submit to 
 have a deep notch cut in one of the 
 posts of her house. Their religion 
 is imperfectly understood, but seems 
 to have no affinity with that of any of 
 the circumjacent nations. A perfect 
 equality appears to subsist among 
 them ; the more aged are respected, 
 but exercise no coercive authority. 
 About A.D. 1760 the Danes formed 
 a settlement in Carnicobar, to which 
 they conveyed a number of cannon 
 from Tranquebar, and named New 
 Denmark ; but the pestilential nature 
 of the climate, after the death of 
 missionary after missionary, compel- 
 led them to abandon it. — (G. Hamil- 
 ton, Lord Valentia, Haensel , tyc.) 
 
 Caroor. — A town in the province 
 of Coimbatoor, situated on the north 
 side of the Amaravati river, and not 
 far from the Cavery, fifty-two miles 
 W. by N. from Trichinopoly ; lat. 10° 
 53' N., Ion. 78° 4' E. At a little dis- 
 tance from the town is a neat fort, 
 with a large temple, the spire over 
 the gateway of which is eighty-eight 
 feet high, length at the base sixty- 
 four feet, breadth fifty-two feet. The 
 pagoda was destroyed by mines when 
 besieged by Colonel Long in 1781. 
 The supply of water in the Amara- 
 vati does not last the whole year, so 
 that in some seasons there is only 
 one crop of rice. This river was 
 the ancient boundary between the 
 dominions of Mysore and Trichino- 
 poly; and this conterminal position 
 under the security of a strong fort, 
 and the command of a rich dis- 
 trict, rendered it an emporium of 
 great commercial resort. It was 
 taken during the Carnatic wars of 
 1760, and probably before that event 
 no European troops had ever ad- 
 vanced so far west inland. Tt is se- 
 venty-four miles from the western 
 ghauts, and thirty from the Pilny 
 mountains. — ( F . Buchanan, A. H. 
 Hamilton, Orme, fyc.) 
 
 Carramungalum. — A village si- 
 tuated in one of the wildest and most 
 beautiful regions of the Barramahal, 
 with a cluster of antique Hindoo 
 buildings on the adjacent rocks ; 
 
CARTASURA. 
 
 365 
 
 about twenty-two miles travelling 
 distance south-east from Ryacotta. — 
 (Fullarton, fyc.) 
 
 Carrar. — A considerable town in 
 the province of Bejapoor, eighty-six 
 miles S. by E. from Poona; lat. 17° 
 20' N., Ion. 74° 22' E. Near the 
 centre are two pagodas, of great 
 height and elegant workmanship, and 
 also a small fort. From hence to 
 Satara is a pleasant valley, intersect- 
 ed by many streams, and well-peo- 
 pled and cultivated. — (Moor, fyc.) 
 
 C arrians ( Karians, or Karaen ). 
 
 ■ — This word appears to be used as 
 an appellation for the simple aborigi- 
 nal tribes spread over India east 
 in the Ganges, and more especially 
 of Pegu, Martaban, Tenasserim, 
 the British provinces south of Ran- 
 goon and Siam, few being found 
 north of Prome in Pegu. Although 
 comprehended under the general 
 name of Carrians, some of them 
 differ from each other as much as 
 they do from the Burmese ; and in 
 what they differ from the Kayn tribe, 
 except as to degree of civilization, 
 has not yet been discriminated. They 
 are most numerous in Pegu, where, 
 during the occupation of that pro- 
 vince by the British, they composed 
 one-third of the inhabitants south 
 of Prome. Their language is mixed 
 with that of the district in which 
 they reside ; but it is said to be es- 
 sentially an original tongue. The 
 Carrians of the Galadzet. hills are an 
 innocent, but hideous-looking race of 
 mountaineers, from the practice that 
 prevails of tattooing their faces, es- 
 pecially the females, who manage (it 
 is said intentionally) to render them- 
 selves such objects of horror and 
 disgust, that none but a Carrian can 
 approach them. 
 
 They are a simple, rude people, 
 speaking a distinct language, and en- 
 tertaining rude notions of religion. 
 Their villages form a select commu- 
 nity, from which they exclude all 
 other sects, and they never reside in 
 a city, intermingle, or marry with 
 strangers. They profess and strictly 
 observe universal peace, not engaging 
 
 in war, or taking any part in contests 
 for dominion ; a system that necssa- 
 rily places them in subjection to the 
 ruling power of the day. They are 
 consequently mere slaves of the soil, 
 living in wretched hamlets, taxed and 
 oppressed by the Burmese, who con- 
 sider them an inferior race. They 
 are exempted from the payment of 
 land-tax and other imposts, the whole 
 being compounded for by the pay- 
 ment of a heavy poll, or rather fa- 
 mily tax. They are, however, exempt 
 from the conscription laws, and are 
 never called out on military service. 
 
 The Carrians, although the quiet- 
 est, most timorous, and harmless 
 people in the world, possess strong 
 and robust frames, greatly excelling 
 in these respects both the Burmese 
 and Peguers, who are not deficient. 
 The cultivation in Pegu and the south- 
 ern provinces of Ava is almost en- 
 tirely left to them, and they annually 
 furnish large quantities of grain to 
 the public arsenals. Like the Bur- 
 mese they are fond of ardent spirits, 
 and, generally speaking, will do more 
 for a glass of rum or arrack than for 
 a sum of money. They have tra- 
 ditional maxims of jurisprudence for 
 the internal government of their little 
 communities, but are without any 
 written laws. One of them, on being 
 interrogated, admitted their state of 
 ignorance, and assigned as a reason, 
 that God once wrote his laws and 
 commands on the skin of a buffalo, 
 and called up all the nations of the 
 earth to come and take a copy, which 
 they all obeyed except the Carrians, 
 who had no leisure. — ( Symes , Lieut. 
 Lowe , Snodgrass , Crawfurd, fyc.) 
 
 Carrunja. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Berar, forty-five miles S. by 
 E. from Ellichpoor. Lat. 20° 33' N., 
 Ion. 77 ° 44' E. 
 
 Cartasura. — The ruins of a town 
 in Java, which towards the end of the 
 seventeenth century was the capital 
 of the island, the seat of government 
 having been removed to this place by 
 the Soosoohoonan in A.D. 1680 from 
 Mataram. In 1742 Cartasura was in 
 its turn abandoned, and the seat of 
 
366 
 
 CASHMERE. 
 
 government fixed at Solo or Sura- 
 carta. Lat. 7° 35' S., Ion. 110° 45 ' 
 E., six miles W. from Solo.-— {Craw- 
 furd y fyc.) 
 
 Cartinaad (or Cadutinada.J—A 
 small district in the Malabar province, 
 the raja of which in 1800 resided at 
 Cutiporam. It is tolerably well cul- 
 tivated, and is naturally a rich country, 
 but does not produce grain sufficient 
 for the sustenance of its inhabitants. 
 The higher parts of the hills are over- 
 grown with wood, which the Nairs 
 formerly encouraged, as affording 
 them protection against invaders. 
 Among the hills which form the lower 
 portions of the ghauts in Cartinaad, 
 and other northern districts of Ma- 
 layavar, are certain spots that natu- 
 rally produce cardamoms. 
 
 The female Nairs in this part of the 
 country, while children, go through 
 the ceremony of marriage with Nam- 
 bouries and Nairs ; but here, as well 
 as in the south, the man and wife 
 never cohabit. A Nair here is not 
 astonished when asked who his father 
 is, and a man has as much certainty 
 that the children born in his house 
 are his own, as a European husband 
 has; yet such is the perversity of 
 custom, that he would be considered 
 as unnatural, were he to have as much 
 affection for his own children as for 
 those of his sister, which he may 
 perhaps never have seen. In 1761 
 the Bombay presidency concluded a 
 treaty with the chief of this country 
 for the purchase of pepper, in which 
 document he is styled King of Car- 
 tenaddu. — (F. Buchanan , Treaties , 
 $c.) 
 
 Carwar. — A town in the province 
 of Canara, fifty-five miles S. by E. 
 from Goa. Lat. 14° 50' N., lorn 74° 
 1 1' E. This was formerly a noted 
 seat of European commerce, the Eng- 
 lish East-India Company having had a 
 factory here so early as 1663, but 
 during Tippoo’s reign the place went 
 to total ruin. It stands in that por- 
 tion of the Concan comprehended by 
 British judicial arrangements in the 
 district of Canara. The dialect of 
 the Concan is used by the natives of 
 
 Carwar in their own houses, but 
 having been long subject to Bejapoor, 
 most of them can also speak the 
 Maharatta. — ( F . Buchanan, Sfc.) 
 
 CASHMERE. 
 
 ( Casmira). 
 
 The valley of Cashmere is com- 
 prehended between the 34th and 35th 
 degrees of north latitude, and sur- 
 rounded by lofty mountains which 
 separate it from Little Tibet on the 
 north ; from Ladack on the east ; 
 from Lahore on the south ; and Puc- 
 kely on the west. On the north-west 
 a branch of the Speen, or White 
 Caffrees, approaches Cashmere. The 
 valley is of an elliptic form, and widens 
 gradually to Islamabad, where the 
 breadth is about forty miles, which 
 is continued with little variation to 
 the town of Sompre, whence the 
 mountains, by a regular inclination 
 to the westward, come to a point, 
 and separate Cashmere from Muzif- 
 ferabad. Including the surrounding 
 mountains, Cashmere may be esti- 
 mated at 1 10 miles in length by sixty 
 the extreme breadth ; the figure, a 
 broad oval. The limits of Cashmere 
 towards the west, adjoining Muziffer- 
 abad, are terminated by a low thick 
 wood, the edge of which is skirted 
 by a rivulet ; and on the other side 
 rises a chain of lofty mountains 
 stretching to the north and south. 
 There are seven passes into the pro- 
 vince, four from the south, one from 
 the west, and the remaining two from 
 the north. That of Bember is the 
 best, but that of Muzifferabad is the 
 most frequented. By Abul Fazel, in 
 1582, Cashmere is described as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 “ The soubah of Cashmere is si- 
 tuated partly in the third and partly 
 in the fourth climate. It is com- 
 posed of Cashmere, Bember, Sewad, 
 Bijore, Candahar, and Zabulistan 
 (Cabul). Formerly it had Ghizni, but 
 now it has Cabul for its capital. The 
 length from Kimberdine to Kishen- 
 gunge is 120 coss, and the breadth 
 from ten to twenty-five coss. On the 
 
CASHMERE. 
 
 36 7 
 
 east lies Peeristan and the river Chi- 
 naub ; on the south-east Bankul, and 
 the mountains of Jummoo ; on the 
 north-east great Tibet; on the west 
 Puckoli and Kishengunge ; on the 
 south-west the territory of Gucker ; 
 and on the north-west Little Tibet. It 
 is encompassed on all sides by lofty 
 mountains. There are twenty-six 
 roads into Hindustan, but those of 
 Bember and Puckoli are the best, being 
 passable for horses. 
 
 “ The whole of Cashmere repre- 
 sents a garden in perpetual spring, 
 and the fortifications with which na- 
 ture has furnished it are of astonish- 
 ing height. The water is remarkably 
 good, and the cataracts magnificent. 
 It rains and snows here at the same 
 season, as in Tartary and Persia; and 
 during the periodical rains in Hin- 
 dostan, light showers also fall here. 
 The land is partly marshy, the rest 
 well watered by streams and lakes. 
 Violets, roses, narcissuses, and in- 
 numerable other flowers grow wild. 
 Earthquakes are very frequent, on 
 which account the houses are built of 
 wood. The inhabitants subsist chiefly 
 on rice, fresh and dried fish and vege- 
 tables, and they drink wine. The horses 
 are small but hardy ; they breed nei- 
 ther camels nor elephants, both being 
 unsuited to the nature of the country. 
 In their cities and towns are neither 
 snakes, scorpions, nor other venomous 
 reptiles ; but the country in general 
 abounds with flies, gnats, bugs, and 
 lice. Most of the trade of the country 
 is carried on by water, but great bur- 
 thens are also transported on men’s 
 shoulders. 
 
 “ The Cashmerians have a lan- 
 guage of their own, but their books 
 are written in the Sanscrit tongue, 
 although the characters be sometimes 
 Cashmerian. They write chiefly upon 
 tooz, which is the bark of a tree. 
 The Mahomedans are partly Sunnies, 
 and others are of the sects of Ali and 
 Noorbukshay. There are many de- 
 lightful singers, but they want variety. 
 The Hindoos regard the whole of 
 Cashmere as holy land; forty-five 
 places are dedicated to Siva ; sixty- 
 four to Vishnu ; three to Brahma ; 
 
 and twenty-two to Durga, the wife of 
 Siva. In 700 places the figures of 
 snakes are carved, which they also 
 worship. 
 
 “ Although government formerly 
 was said to take only a third of the 
 produce of the soil, yet in fact the 
 husbandman was not left in the en- 
 joyment of nearly one-third. His 
 Majesty (Acber)has now commanded 
 that the crops shall be equally di- 
 vided between the husbandman and 
 the state. There are but few troops 
 in Cashmere, the native standing army 
 being only 4,892 cavalry, and 92,400 
 infantry. 
 
 “ The ancients divided Cashmere 
 into two parts, calling the eastern 
 division Meraje, and the western 
 Camraje. In the history of Cash- 
 mere, it is said, that in the early ages 
 of the world all Cashmere, except 
 the mountains, was covered with 
 water and then named Suttysir. Sutty 
 is one of the names of Siva’s wife, 
 and sir signifies a reservoir. In the 
 year of the Hijera 948 (A.D. 1541) 
 Mirza Hyder was sent against Cash- 
 mere by the Emperor Humayoon, 
 and by the help of some of the na- 
 tives, conquered the whole of that 
 country and part of Great Tibet.” 
 
 Such is the description of this coun- 
 try given as it existed 246 years ago, 
 since which period it has probably in 
 every respect greatly retrograded. 
 
 The lower range of hills that sur- 
 round Cashmere are of moderate 
 height, and covered with trees and 
 verdure, affording excellent pasturage 
 for all sorts of cattle and wild gram- 
 nivorous animals, and containing none 
 of the larger and more ferocious car- 
 nivorous quadrupeds, such as lions 
 and tigers. Beyond this range are 
 mountains of more stupendous ele- 
 vation, whose snow-clad tops, soaring 
 above the clouds and fogs, appear 
 perpetually bright and luminous. By 
 ascending from the plains up the 
 mountains, any degree of cold may 
 be attained. From these mountains 
 flow innumerable cascades and rivu- 
 lets, which the inhabitants conduct 
 through their rice fields for the pur- 
 poses of irrigation, and in their course 
 
368 
 
 CASHMERE. 
 
 form small lakes and canals, the junc- 
 tion of which afterwards creates 
 streams navigable for boats of bur- 
 then, even within the limits of Cash- 
 mere ; and increasing as they flow 
 southward, at last form the Jhylum or 
 Hydaspes, one of the largest rivers 
 that fertilize Hindostan. Among 
 these mountains are many romantic 
 valleys, the inhabitants of which have 
 scarcely any communication with 
 those of the plains, and on account 
 of their poverty and inaccessible re- 
 sidence, have never been subjugated 
 by any of the conquerors that have 
 devastated Cashmere. The religion 
 of these primitive tribes is unknown, 
 but it is probably some modification 
 of the Brahminical or Buddhist tenets. 
 
 The valley of Cashmere is cele- 
 brated throughout Asia for the ro- 
 mantic beauty of its situation, the 
 fertility of its soil, and the tempe- 
 rature of its atmosphere. It is ge- 
 nerally of a level surface, and being 
 copiously watered, yields abundant 
 crops of rice, which is the common 
 food of the inhabitants. The facility 
 of procuring water insures the crop 
 against the injuries of a drought, and 
 the mildness of the climate against 
 the scorching rays of the sun. Near 
 the base of one of the surrounding 
 hills, where the land is higher, wheat, 
 barley, and various other grains are 
 cultivated. In this province are found 
 most of the plants, fruits, flowers, 
 and forest trees common to Europe, 
 particularly the apple, pear, plum, 
 apricot, and nut trees, and abundance 
 of grapes ; and in the gardens are 
 many kitchen herbs peculiar to cold 
 countries. A superior sort of saffron 
 is cultivated in the plains, and iron 
 of an excellent quality is found in 
 the mountains. The sengerah, or 
 water nut, which grows in the lakes, 
 forms a considerable portion of the 
 food of the lower classes. Many 
 lakes are spread over the country, 
 and there is a tradition which ap- 
 pearances tend to confirm, that the 
 Cashmere valley was once the bed of 
 a large lake. By Hindoo historians, 
 the draining of these waters is as- 
 cribed to the Muni, or saint, Casyapa, 
 
 the son of Marichi, the son of Brah- 
 ma (the Cashef or Casheb of the Ma- 
 homedans) which he effected by open- 
 ing a passage for the Hydaspes 
 through the mountains of Baramou- 
 leh, which might possibly also have 
 happened from some natural convul- 
 sion. Besides this river, which tra- 
 verses the province from east to 
 west, there are numberless mountain 
 streams supplied by the rains, which 
 fall with great violence from June to 
 October, forming many cascades and 
 small cataracts, which are precipitated 
 into the valley, where the periodical 
 rains are described as only descend- 
 ing in gentle showers. 
 
 The wealth and fame of Cashmere 
 have greatly arisen from the manu- 
 facture of shawls, the wool of which 
 is not the growth of the country, but 
 brought from the high table-land of 
 Tibet, where alone the shawl goat 
 producing it will thrive. Neither the 
 Delhi emperors, who made various 
 attempts to introduce this species of 
 goat into upper Hindostan, nor the 
 sovereigns of Persia, whose domi- 
 nions were still more favourably situ- 
 ated, have ever succeeded in procur- 
 ing wool of an equally fine quality 
 with that of Tibet. The Persian 
 shawl, from the wool of Kerman, 
 comes nearer the Cashmere shawl 
 than the English. This raw material 
 of the Cashmere shawl is rather a 
 down than a wool, being protected 
 by the exterior coarse hair. It is 
 originally of a dark grey colour, and 
 is bleached in Cashmere by the help 
 of a preparation of rice flour. That 
 from Rodauk is the best, and the 
 price in Cashmere is from ten to 
 twenty rupees per turruk, a weight 
 supposed equal to twelve pounds, 
 and the whitest is most in demand. 
 It is difficult to fix, with any accuracy, 
 the number of shawls manufactured 
 in the year. The number of looms 
 employed, each occupying three men, 
 is said to be 16,000. Supposing, on 
 an average, five shawls of all descrip- 
 tions made at each shop or loom 
 annually, the total would amount to 
 80,000, which is probably not very 
 remote from the truth. 
 
CASHMERE. 
 
 369 
 
 The Cashmerians also fabricate the 
 best writing paper of the East, which 
 was formerly an article of extensive 
 traffic, as were also its lacquered 
 ware, cutlery, and sugar ; but trade 
 of all sorts is now in a very languid 
 state. A wine resembling Madeira is 
 manufactured in this province, and a 
 spirituous liquor is also distilled from 
 the grape. Amritsir in Lahore, the 
 Seik capital, is at present the grand 
 emporium for the shawls and saffron 
 of Cashmere; but in 1819 a manufac- 
 ture of the first, with wool imported 
 direct from Tibet, was established by 
 an enterprizing native merchant in 
 the city of Delhi. About twenty 
 years ago Russian merchants pene- 
 trated from the north into Cashmere 
 with their goods, by the route of 
 Yarkund. The boats of Cashmere 
 are long and narrow, and moved with 
 paddles. The country being much 
 intersected by streams navigable for 
 small vessels, might greatly benefit 
 by such a commodious internal con- 
 veyance, under a better government, 
 but of this there is at present but 
 little prospect. 
 
 In the time of Aurengzebe, the 
 revenue collected (probably the clear 
 revenue) in Cashmere, was three and 
 a quarter lacks of rupees per annum ; 
 in 1783 the Afghan governor, on the 
 part of the Cabul sovereign, extorted 
 above twenty lacks. In 1809 the 
 gross revenue was said to be 46,26,300 
 rupees, or about half a million ster- 
 ling. Since that date the province 
 has been in such a state of unceasing 
 anarchy, that it is impossible to form 
 an}^ rational estimate of its revenue. 
 The governor of Cashmere, while 
 under the Cabul king, had constantly 
 at his disposal a force of 5,400 horse 
 and 3,200 foot; but the Afghan sol- 
 diers serving in Cashmere have always 
 degenerated, and become effeminate, 
 luxurious, and rebellious. The na- 
 tive Cashmerians of the valley, in 
 all ages, have been reckoned altoge- 
 ther unfit for soldiers. 
 
 The mountains surrounding this 
 province are inhabited by tribes which 
 formerly acknowledged a sort of de- 
 pendence on the Afghans, but scarcely 
 
 VOL. i. 
 
 any thing is known about them. Be- 
 sides their alpine districts, the chiefs 
 hold land in the valley, which have 
 probably been given them to strength- 
 en the fervour of their loyalty and 
 secure their obedience. They furnish 
 some troops to the governor, and 
 when he is strong enough to enforce 
 payment, they yield him some revenue. 
 On the north of Cashmere is a chief 
 whom the natives dignify with the 
 title of Raja of Little Tibet, of which, 
 however, he probably possesses but a 
 small portion. The lofty mountains 
 between Cashmere and Ladack have 
 been but little explored: but caravans 
 of merchants pass regularly between 
 the two cities, bringing shawl-wool 
 from the latter, and offering, to an 
 adventurous European well versed 
 in the native languages, an obvious 
 opportunity of tracing the course of 
 the Indus closer to its sources than 
 has yet been attempted. In fact, the 
 terra incognita of this river now lies 
 between Ladack and Gortope, a 
 direct distance of about 310 miles, 
 but much more following the course 
 of the stream. 
 
 The natives of Cashmere are a 
 stout well-formed people, and their 
 complexions, what in France or Spain 
 would be termed brunette. They 
 are naturally gay and lively, eager 
 in the pursuit of wealth, accounted 
 much more acute and intriguing than 
 the natives of Hindostan generally, 
 and proverbially liars. They are also 
 much addicted to literature, poetry, 
 and drinking, and the commonalty 
 remarkably ingenious in cabinet-work 
 and other fabrications. Their lan- 
 guage is of Sanscrit origin, modified 
 by time and the introduction of some 
 foreign phrases. In a specimen of 
 the Lord’s Prayer examined by the 
 missionaries, twenty-five words out 
 of thirty-two were found to be radi- 
 cally the same with those occurring 
 in the Bengalese and Hindostany 
 specimens, some of them, however, 
 considerably altered. Their songs 
 are composed in Persic, which they 
 consider more harmonious. In ap- 
 pearance they have not the slightest 
 resemblance to their Tartarian neigh- 
 
 2 B 
 
370 
 
 CASHMERE. 
 
 bours, who are an ugly race ; on the 
 contrary, the Cashmerian females 
 have been long celebrated for their 
 beauty and fair complexions, and much 
 sought after for wives and concubines 
 by the Mogul nobility of Delhi. Al- 
 though extremely fertile and produc- 
 tive, the country is not thickly inha- 
 bited, on account of the deplorable 
 government, or rather anarchy, to 
 which it has been so long subjected. 
 The aggregate is probably under 
 600,000 ; nor could any thing ap- 
 proaching this number be assigned, 
 but for the great population, probably 
 much exaggerated, said to be con- 
 tained in the capital. By the Hindoos 
 all Cashmere is reckoned holy land, 
 and abounds with miraculous foun- 
 tains ; but although evidently sprung 
 from a Hindoo stock, at present the 
 Arabian faith greatly predominates. 
 
 It is probable the Buddhist doc- 
 trines were current here before the 
 introduction of the Brahminical. It 
 may be conjectured that the inhabi- 
 tants of Cashmere had originally an 
 idolatrous system of their own, to 
 which they superadded a few ill-de- 
 fined gods and ceremonies borrowed 
 from the Brahmins of the plains ; 
 that they were for a short time con- 
 verted to Buddhism by their Tartar 
 neighbours, and finally to the doc- 
 trine of the Vedas by the Brahmins, 
 to which they have since adhered ; 
 adoration being almost exclusively 
 addressed to Siva, and his Sacti. Sul- 
 tan Baber, in his memoirs, mentions 
 a curious fact, which seems to throw 
 some light on the ancient history and 
 geography of Cashmere. He tells us 
 that the hilly country along the upper 
 course of the Sinde, or Hindus, was 
 formerly inhabited by a race of men 
 named Kas, and he supposes that 
 from a corruption of the name the 
 country of Cashmere was so called, 
 as being the country of the Kas, the 
 denomination mir or mere being still 
 united with the names of several 
 geographical divisions, such as Jes- 
 selmere, Ajmeer, &c. 
 
 According to tradition, the valley 
 of Cashmere was drained and colo- 
 nized by Casyapa, about 2,666 years 
 
 before the commencement of the 
 Christian era, from which date there 
 is a regular chronological table of 
 kings, down to its conquest by the 
 Mahomedans. The period of this 
 subjugation, however, is uncertain, 
 but it was attacked and ravaged by 
 the Mahmood of Ghizni so early as 
 A.D. 1012. It was afterwards go- 
 verned in a long succession by a race 
 of Tartar princes of the Chug, or 
 Chagatay tribe, until 1586, when it 
 was subdued byAcber, and continued 
 subject to the Moguls of Delhi until 
 the time of Ahmed Shah Abdali of 
 Cabul, to which kingdom, until re- 
 cently, it continued annexed. When 
 the short-lived dynasty of the Ab- 
 dalis began to totter, the governor 
 of Cashmere was one of the first to 
 claim the title, as he had long per- 
 formed the functions of an indepen- 
 dent prince. Accordingly, in 1809, 
 Mahomed Azim Khan, the soubahdar 
 of the province, threw off the yoke, 
 and set the power of his legitimate 
 sovereign at defiance. In 1816 a 
 powerful army from Cabul attempted 
 its recovery, but, owing to treachery, 
 was compelled to retreat with damage 
 and disgrace. In 1819, Runjeet Singh 
 of Lahore despatched an army against 
 it under the command of Dewan 
 Chund, which effected the conquest 
 of the city of Cashmere, and some 
 portions of the country in its imme- 
 diate vicinity. But he does not seem 
 to have retained it long, as in 1820 
 two persons arrived at Delhi, charged 
 by the chief of Cashmere, Mahomed 
 Azim Khan, with overtures for a treaty 
 of alliance, and earnestly requesting 
 that Cashmere might be taken under 
 the protection of the British govern- 
 ment. This proposal, however, like 
 many others from various parts of 
 India, was not assented to. — ( Elphin - 
 stone , Forster , Wilson , Abul Fazel , 
 Bernier, Moorcroft , fyc.) 
 
 Cashmere ( or Serinagur ). — The 
 capital of the Cashmere province, si- 
 tuated in lat. 33° 23' N., Ion. 74° 47' 
 E. By Abul Fazel, in 1582, it is de- 
 scribed as follows : “ Serinagur, the 
 capital of Cashmere, is four fursungs 
 
CASSAY. 
 
 371 
 
 in length. The last-mentioned one is 
 dry during a great part of the year, 
 and the Mar is sometimes so shallow 
 that boats cannot pass through. This 
 city has for ages been in a flourish- 
 ing state, and here shawls are manu- 
 factured and other fine woollen stuffs. 
 On the east side of the city is a high 
 hill, called the mountain of Soliman, 
 and adjoining are two lakes, which are 
 always full.” 
 
 The modern town of Cashmere was 
 formerly known by the name of Se- 
 rinagur, but now by that of the pro- 
 vince. It extends about three miles 
 on each side of the Jhylum or Hydas- 
 pes, over which there are four or five 
 wooden bridges, and it occupies in 
 some part of its breadth, which is 
 unequal, about two miles. Many of 
 the houses are two and three stories 
 high, slightly built of brick and mor- 
 tar, withT a large intermixture of tim- 
 ber. On the wooden roof a covering 
 of earth is laid which contributes to 
 the warmth of the house during the 
 winter, and in summer is planted with 
 flowers. The streets are narrow, and 
 choked up with the filth of the inhabi- 
 tants, who are unclean to a proverb ; 
 neither are there any buildings worthy 
 of remark. The governor resides in 
 a fortress named Shereghur, occupy- 
 ing the south-eastern quarter of the 
 city. The advantages this city enjoys 
 of a mild salubrious air, and a 
 river flowing through its centre, are 
 much alloyed by its confined construc- 
 tion, and the extreme filthiness of the 
 people. There are covered floating 
 baths ranged along the sides of the 
 river. 
 
 The lake of Cashmere, provincially 
 named the Dali, has long been cele- 
 brated for its beauties. It stretches 
 from the north-east quarter of the 
 city in an oval circumference of five 
 or six miles, and joins the Jhylum by 
 a narrow channel near the suburbs. 
 The northern view of the lake is ter- 
 minated at the distance of twelve 
 miles by a detached range of moun- 
 tains, that slope from the centre to 
 each angle ; and from the base a spa- 
 cious plain, preserved in constant ver- 
 dure by numerous streams, extends 
 
 with an easy declivity to the surface 
 of the water. In the centre of the 
 plain as it approaches the lake, one 
 of the Delhi emperors, probably Shah 
 Jehan, constructed a spacious garden 
 named Shalimar. The numerous small 
 islands in the lake have the effect of 
 ornamenting the scenery. 
 
 Bernier, who visited this country 
 in 1663, travelling in the suite of the 
 Emperor Aurengzebe, gives a most 
 interesting and romantic description 
 of this city ; but since the dismember- 
 ment of Cashmere from the Mogul 
 empire, it has suffered many disas- 
 ters. Notwithstanding, however, these 
 causes of decay, it was by the natives 
 in 1809, reckoned to contain from 
 150,000 to 200,000 inhabitants, and 
 considered the largest and most po- 
 pulous city in the Afghan dominions; 
 — ( Forster , Rennell , Abul Fazel , Ber- 
 nier , Elphinstone , fyc.) 
 
 Cassay. — A province of India be- 
 yond the Ganges, situated about the 
 twenty-fourth degree of north lati- 
 tude. On the north it is bounded by 
 Cachar and Assam ; on the south by 
 Ava west of the Kenduem river ; on 
 the west it has the Bengal districts of 
 Tipera and Silhet ; and on the east 
 the Kathi or Casi Shan, and upper 
 course of the Kenduem river. By 
 Europeans it is called Meckley as well 
 as Cassay, but neither of these names 
 is used by the natives of the country, 
 who call themselves Moitay ; the 
 Bengalese call them Muggaloos, which 
 by Europeans has been turned into 
 Meckley, and applied to the country. 
 Kathi or Casi is the name given to 
 this people by the Birmans, which has 
 been taken for the name of the coun- 
 try, and corrupted into Cassay. The 
 capital town is Munipoor, a term fre- 
 quently used to denote the whole 
 province, under which head further 
 information will be found. 
 
 The Cassayers have a softness of 
 countenance much more resembling 
 the natives of Hindostan than the 
 Birmans, with whom they have very 
 little affinity, either in manners or ap- 
 pearance. Many of thesepeople taken 
 prisoners in the wars are now settled 
 
 2 jb 2 
 
CATMANDOO. 
 
 372 
 
 in the neighbourhood of the Birman 
 capital, where they exercise their su- 
 perior skill and ingenuity in different 
 branches of handicraft work. When 
 invaded by the British in 1824, the pro- 
 vince was found in a most desolate and 
 depopulated state, and fast relapsing 
 into barbarism, as well from the op- 
 pressive government of the Burmese, 
 as from their own never-ending intes- 
 tine feuds. The Moitays or Cassayers 
 are worshippers of Vishnu ; yet their 
 language is said to be radically differ- 
 ent from the Sanscrit. Their country 
 may be considered the extreme limit 
 of the Brahminical Hindoo sect to the 
 eastward, as from thence the preva- 
 lence of the Buddhist doctrine in some 
 shape is universal. 
 
 Formerly the gunsmiths of the Bir- 
 man empire were all Cassayers, but 
 their musquets and matchlocks were 
 very defective. They are much supe- 
 rior in horsemanship to the natives of 
 Ava, and on that account were the 
 only cavalry employed with the Bur- 
 mese armies, which consisted almost 
 wholly of infantry. The music of the 
 Cassayers, like the genuine airs (such 
 as the boatmen’s songs) of Bengal, is 
 remarkably pleasant to a European. 
 
 In the year 1754, when Alompra, 
 the Burmese monarch, left the city of 
 Ava to relieve Prome, he despatched 
 a body of troops across the Kenduem 
 to chastise the Cassayers, who had 
 hitherto enjoyed only a temporary in- 
 dependence, when the contests of the 
 Birman and Pegu states left them no 
 leisure to enforce obedience. They 
 were always ready to revolt, and as 
 quickly reduced to submission. The 
 Cassay raja, then residing at Muni- 
 poor, sued for peace, which was con- 
 cluded on advantagous terms for the 
 Birmans, and, as was the custom, a 
 young man and young woman of the 
 raja’s kindred were delivered as hos- 
 tages. 
 
 In 1757 Alompra again attacked 
 the Cassayers, but was prevented 
 completing their conquest by the re- 
 volt of the Peguers. In 1765 Shem- 
 buan, the son of Alompra, invaded 
 the Cassay country, and obtained a 
 considerable booty, but appears to 
 
 have intended nothing beyond a pre- 
 datory excursion ; but in 1774 he sent 
 a formidable force against the Cas- 
 sayers, which after a long and obsti- 
 nate battle, took Munipoor, the raja 
 having withdrawn to the Corrun hills, 
 five days* journey north-west from 
 that place. From this date Cassay 
 remained subject to Ava until 1824, 
 when the Burmese were expelled from 
 Munipoor by a British detachment, 
 and the territory was subsequently 
 rendered wholly independent by the 
 treaty of Yandaboo in 1825.— (Sgmes, 
 F. Buchanan , <$rc.) 
 
 Catinduanes Isle. — One of the 
 Philippines, situated off the east coast 
 of Luzon ; lat. 15° N., Ion. 124° 30' 
 E. In length it may be estimated at 
 thirty-six miles, by twenty the ave- 
 rage breadth. 
 
 Catmandoo ( Cashtamandir). — 
 The capital of Nepaul,. and modern 
 residence of the Gorkha Raja, which, 
 according to barometrical measure- 
 ment, stands 4,784 feet above the 
 level of the Bengal plains ; lat. 27° 
 42' N., Ion. 85' E. This place is si- 
 tuated on the east side of the Bishen- 
 mutty, along which it extends about 
 a mile ; but its breadth in general 
 does not exceed half a mile, and 
 seldom more than a quarter of a 
 mile. The name by which it is dis- 
 tinguished in ancient books is Goon- 
 goolpatan ; the Newars call it Yen- 
 daise, and the Parbutties, or moun- 
 taineers, Cashtipoor : a name, it is 
 said, derived from its numerous 
 wooden temples, which are the com- 
 mon mandirs or mandibs occasion- 
 ally met with in other quarters of 
 India. Besides these there are many 
 brick temples with three or four slop- 
 ing roofs. Near the palace is the 
 shrine of Tulasi Bhavani, who con- 
 jointly with Gorakhanath is the tute- 
 lar deity of the reigning family. There 
 is no image, the deity being repre- 
 sented by a Yantra, or cabalistical 
 figure ; and in order to impress the 
 multitude with awe, no person is per- 
 mitted to approach the shrine except 
 the Raja, the Ranny, their spiritual 
 guide, and the officiating priest. 
 
CATTYWAR. 
 
 373 
 
 The houses in Catmandoo are of 
 brick or tile, with pitched or pent 
 roofs towards the street. They are 
 two, three, and four stories, but al- 
 most without exception of a mean 
 appearance ; even the raja’s house, 
 although large, being but a sorry 
 building. The streets are as narrow, 
 and nearly as filthy as those at Be- 
 nares. The number of houses has 
 been estimated at 5,000, and the to- 
 tal population at 20,000 persons. 
 
 The most remarkable mountain 
 seen from hence is that of Dhaibun, 
 distant about thirty-four geographi- 
 cal miles. According to calculation 
 this mountain is 20,140 feet above 
 the stations of Sambher, and the 
 Queen’s Gardens, near Catmandoo ; 
 which latter are 4,500 feet above the 
 level of the sea. Another mountain, 
 nearly in the position of one by 
 Gen. Kirkpatrick named Cala Bhai- 
 rava, has an elevation of 18,662 feet 
 above Catmandoo, or 23,162 feet 
 above the level of the sea. Both 
 these mountains, and others in their 
 vicinity, are visible from Patna ; the 
 first at a distance of 162 geographi- 
 cal miles, the second of 153 geogra- 
 graphical miles. Mountains in this 
 direction still more remote are seen 
 in the north-east quarter, at the pro- 
 digious distance of 195 geographical 
 miles from Patna. In the neighbour- 
 hood of Catmandoo the summit of 
 Mount Chandragiri is 3,682 feet 
 above the city, or 8,466 above the 
 level of the sea ; Mount Palchoo 
 4,210 feet above the city, or 8,994 
 above the level of the sea. At Cat- 
 mandoo, in December and January, 
 the barometer is 25° 28', the thermo- 
 meter being 52° Fahrenheit. The 
 first seldom alters so much as one- 
 tenth and a half in the course of 
 the day, nor during the whole season 
 so much as two-tenths for the same 
 hour of the day. — ( Colebrooke , F. 
 Buchanan , Kirkpatrick , 4^.) 
 
 Cattywar or Kattywar ( Catti- 
 vadj . — This appellation is frequently 
 applied by the natives to the whole 
 Guzerat peninsula, although in fact 
 it only occupies a portion of the 
 
 interior, distinguished into four divi- 
 sions : 1st. reckoning from the north 
 is Punchal ; 2d. Bansawar; 3d. Alug ; 
 4th. Khooman. Cattywar proper is 
 bounded on the north by Jhallawar ; 
 on the south by Babreeawarj on the 
 east by Goelwara;and on the west 
 by Soret. The northern tracts are 
 of unequal surface ; the southern in 
 the neighbourhood of Babreeawar 
 (which may be said also to belong to 
 Cattywar), jungly and woody. Vad, 
 a fence or division in the Gujerattee 
 language, is a very common termina- 
 tion of the names of districts in this 
 quarter, which syllable is frequently 
 changed into var and war, as Catty- 
 war for Cattyvad. 
 
 The soil and appearance of this 
 district are variable, but generally 
 the first is of a sandy nature, much 
 mixed with a reddish coloured rock, 
 of which last substance the hills are 
 composed. These, although not lofty 
 are numerous, and being deficient of 
 trees, contribute to give the surface 
 a barren and repulsive aspect. Its 
 grain produce is confined to the 
 coarser sorts, among which bajarry 
 and joary are abundant and excel- 
 lent ; to which may be added a se- 
 cond or after crop of wheat, avail- 
 able in February, by the assistance of 
 irrigation from wells.. The horses 
 reared in this territory are reckoned 
 the best breeds of the peninsula, and 
 the Catties themselves give a prefe- 
 rence to that from the Choteela hill. 
 In some parts of Cattywar wood and 
 fuel are so scarce, that frequently the 
 inhabitants of a village are expelled 
 merely for the sake of the fire-wood 
 procurable from their dwellings. 
 
 Like all other nations the Catties 
 are desirous of asserting an ancient, 
 heroic, and miraculous origin. Their 
 traditions ascend to the conclusion 
 of the Dwapar Yug, w r hen the five 
 Pandoos by bad luck or foul play at 
 hazard, were compelled to quit their 
 native country, and remain in secret 
 exile for twelve years. After seven 
 years* peregrination they arrived at 
 Berat, or Dholka, where they were 
 discovered by the spies of their ene- 
 my Durjhodun. To oblige them to 
 
CATTYWAR. 
 
 374 
 
 emerge from their concealment, and 
 thereby to forfeit the pledge they 
 had given to remain secret, Carna, 
 the offspring of the sun, and prime 
 minister to Durjhodun, suggested the 
 stratagem of making a predatory at- 
 tack on the cattle of Berat, which 
 would compel every true Rajpoot 
 warrior to quit the fortifications to 
 recover them. But for so base a ma- 
 noeuvre Rajpoots could not be em- 
 ployed, which difficulty Carna re- 
 moved by striking his rod on the 
 ground ; the rod opened and out is- 
 sued a man, who being produced from 
 wood was named Cat. On this new- 
 ly created being devolved the task of 
 stealing the cattle, and to reconcile 
 him to the enterprize, Carna inform- 
 ed him that the gods would never 
 reckon the commission of a robbery 
 criminal in him or his descendants, 
 more especially, when the property 
 abstracted consisted of cattle. Of 
 Carna the Catties always speak with 
 great veneration, and continue to 
 worship the sun his father, inscribing 
 the image of that luminary on every 
 written document they have occasion 
 to execute. 
 
 The same traditions state that the 
 aborigines of the country were Aheers 
 and Babreeas before the arrival of 
 the Catties, who wandered about 
 with their flocks for many years on 
 the great pastoral wastes, and lost 
 no opportunity of robbing their 
 neighbours. About 260 years ago 
 they became stationary at Sudamra , 
 Guddra, and Budlee, within which 
 limits they were long confined. Most 
 of their subsequent acquisitions have 
 been made during the decline of the 
 Mogul empire. So late as 1807 they 
 still followed their vocation of thieves 
 and robbers, which designations they 
 openly assumed. As a tribe the 
 Catties are difficult to class. In 1812 
 the three principal families were the 
 Tratchee, the Trowa, and the Walla, 
 and they are much intermixed with 
 the aboriginal Aheers or herdsmen. 
 The Catties are not, and indeed ne- 
 ver were, numerous, their habits and 
 customs being unfavourable to an in- 
 crease of numbers. 
 
 The Catties are distinguished by 
 two general appellations : Shakarjut, 
 the descendants of a Walla Rajpoot 
 and Catty female ; and the Gortea, 
 or descendants of the genuine Cat- 
 ties. The Aheers and Babreeas may 
 be classed with the latter, for in Cat- 
 tywar the prejudices of caste have 
 but little influence. The Catties may 
 marry any number of wives, but usu- 
 ally restrict themselves to two. The 
 male Catties are said to be athletic 
 men, and the Cattriyanies, or female 
 Catties, proverbially graceful and 
 beautiful. They worship the sun, 
 but have only one temple, situated 
 near Thaun, their religious zeal be- 
 ing moderate and their superstition 
 great. All the higher classes prac- 
 tise female infanticide, which, al- 
 though so repeatedly asserted to have 
 been abolished in 1807, has never 
 for a day been suspended. The treaty, 
 in fact, turned out a mere dead letter, 
 not one instance of punishment for 
 the crime having occurred ; and so far 
 from this being a proof of its dimi- 
 nution, it is quite the contrary, the 
 British political agent with the petty 
 states of Catty war in 1820 having de- 
 clared that not more than 1 00 females 
 born since the treaty were then in ex- 
 istence. At that date there were 137 
 chiefs tributary to the British govern- 
 ment, besides others who were not. 
 
 Coerced by the strong arm of the 
 British government, this turbulent 
 district has, ever since Col. Walker’s 
 march in 1807, much against the in- 
 clination of its inhabitants, enjoyed 
 a sort of compulsory peace. They 
 have frequently evinced a strong de- 
 sire to resume their old habits of 
 robbery and depredation, for which 
 purpose they believe they were born ; 
 but the pressure from above has al- 
 ways proved too ponderous to heave 
 up. In 1820 a sort of partial insur- 
 rection, consisting of 900 Komaun 
 Catties, joined by a number of rov- 
 ing Sindeans, captured the fort and 
 village of Meeteealee, where they 
 were attacked by a British detach- 
 ment, and ultimately all their chiefs 
 taken or destroyed. — ( Walker , Mac- 
 murdo , Ballantine , Drummond , #c.) 
 
CAUNPOOR. 
 
 37 5 
 
 Caunpoor ( Khanpurd ).' — A dis- 
 trict in the province of Allahabad, 
 consisting of cessions to the British 
 government from the Nabob of Oude, 
 and mostly comprehended within the 
 Doab of the Ganges and Jumna, 
 between the twenty-sixth and twen- 
 ty-seventh degrees of north latitude. 
 On the north it is bounded by the 
 Etawah district ; on the south by the 
 river Jumna; to the east it has the 
 Nabob of Oude’s reserved territo- 
 ries ; and on the west the river Gan- 
 ges. The Caunpoor division is a seg- 
 ment of the vast plain extending 
 from the Bay of Bengal to the north- 
 ern mountains, and its soil is not 
 only arable, but, when properly cul- 
 tivated, highly productive. In the 
 neighbourhood of the town and can- 
 tonments, agriculture has profited by 
 the stimulus of a European market 
 and high prices. Indian corn, bar- 
 ley, and wheat, are there cultivated ; 
 and turnips, cabbages, and other Eu- 
 ropean vegetables, during the season, 
 are in great abundance, not only in 
 the gardens of the officers, but in 
 fields belonging to native farmers. 
 Grapes, peaches, and a variety of 
 fruits have long been supplied by the 
 Europeans. Sugar-canes and other 
 crops flourish in great luxuriance; 
 but the cultivation is frequently se- 
 parated by the intervention of ex- 
 tensive wastes, quite as capable of 
 being rendered productive. 
 
 In 1814 the district of Cawnpoor 
 was recorded as containing 3,439 vil- 
 lages, and 2,946,315 cutcha begas ; 
 of which 1,768,745 were cultivated, 
 134,189 fit for cultivation, and 
 1,043,381 begas wholly unproductive. 
 The government demand in rupees 
 was 27,36,297, which was realized, so 
 that the assessment to the public re- 
 venue appeared to be nearly 1 1 ru- 
 pees per bega. It was found, from 
 experience, that on the first trien- 
 nial settlement of 1808, Caunpoor 
 was over-assessed, and suffered much 
 in consequence. 
 
 No estimate approaching to accu- 
 racy has ever been made of the po- 
 pulation of this district, but from 
 the vast extent of land under tillage 
 
 the number of inhabitants must be 
 very great ; and that they are not so 
 prone to commit depredations as 
 some of the more southern and east- 
 ern districts, is proved by a fact 
 stated by the police superintendent, 
 that within the first six months of 
 1812 not a single instance of gang 
 robbery had occurred within the li- 
 mits of the Caunpoor jurisdiction. 
 This is the more surprising when it 
 is considered that the town of Caun- 
 poor is one of the greatest thorough- 
 fares of inland commerce, as will 
 appear from the following statement 
 of the large sum paid into the Caun- 
 poor treasury on account of duties 
 received at the custom-house : in 
 1812 amounting to 4,58,000 rupees, 
 and in 1813 to 4,85,000 rupees. 
 Besides Caunpoor, the capital, the 
 chief towns are Resoulabad, Jauje- 
 mow, and Acberpoor . — ( The Marquis 
 of Hastings, Tennant , Guthrie , Ren- 
 nell , fyc.) 
 
 Caunpoor. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Allahabad, the capital of the 
 preceding district, situated on the 
 west side of the Ganges, forty-five 
 miles S.W. from Lucknow; lat. 26° 
 30' N., Ion. 80° 13' E. The Ganges 
 here is still a noble stream, being ap- 
 parently above a mile broad, but in 
 the dry season shallow, and divided 
 by large sand-banks. A brigade of 
 troops is usually cantoned here, it 
 being considered the chief military 
 station in the ceded provinces. The 
 officers find their own quarters, which 
 consist of commodious bungalow's, 
 built without any regularity for above 
 six miles along the Ganges. Each 
 bungalow has a space of ground at- 
 tached, neatly laid out and planted, 
 with generally the addition of a kit- 
 chen garden, the whole invariably 
 surrounded by a high mud wall, as a 
 defence against thieves, cattle, and 
 other annoyances ; and by this dusty 
 mud protection the proprietor’s view 
 is frequently limited. Indeed the 
 external aspect of this important sta- 
 tion is most arid, dreary, and re- 
 pulsive, more especially during the 
 dry season, when the sun is obscured 
 
CAVERYPAUK. 
 
 376 
 
 by clouds of dust, and the atmos- 
 phere heated almost to suffocation. 
 The history of the country affords 
 many instances of battles lost and 
 won according to the direction of the 
 dust, the windward position giving 
 such a decided advantage. 
 
 The public magazines stand at the 
 north-west extremity, protected by 
 a slight entrenchment ; and on the 
 banks of the Ganges, a little further 
 in that direction, is the old town of 
 Caunpoor, which probably never was 
 a place of any note. A new town, 
 however, has sprung round the can- 
 tonments, which, whether considered 
 with reference to its size or commer- 
 cial opulence, may justly claim the 
 rank of a city. The chowk, or prin- 
 cipal street, nearly parallel with the 
 military lines, is composed of well- 
 built brick houses, two or three sto- 
 ries high, with wooden balconies in 
 front ; but the rest of the town is 
 straggling and mean. Caunpoor con- 
 tains but few religious edifices, and 
 these principally mosques, there being 
 no Christian church here. The most 
 imposing European structures are 
 the gaol, assembly-room, and custom- 
 house. The shops are large, and the 
 articles they contain are sometimes 
 as cheap as in Calcutta, while the 
 mere necessaries of life are fifty per 
 cent, cheaper. Being quite a modern 
 town, Caunpoor has no vestiges of 
 antiquity to shew. — ( Fullarton y Ten- 
 nant , Lord Valentin , #c.) 
 
 Cavai. — A small Moplay town in 
 the Malabar province, thirty miles 
 N.N.W. from Tellicherry ; lat. 30° 6' 
 N., Ion. 75° 17'E. 
 
 Cavery River ( CaveriJ . — This is 
 the most useful river in the south 
 of India, for above the ghauts it fer- 
 tilizes the Mysore, while the Carnatic 
 below owes its agricultural wealth to 
 the water it distributes. It rises in 
 the Coorg country, near the coast of 
 Malabar, passes through Mysore, 
 Coimbatoor, and the lower Carnatic, 
 and after a winding course (enclosing 
 a delta of great extent), falls into the 
 sea through various mouths, in the 
 province of Tanjore. For the first 
 
 and principal supply of water in the 
 month of May, it depends on the 
 rain of the western ghaut mountains. 
 Its tributary streams collect the wa- 
 ters of the Mysore in June and 
 July, and during the latter months of 
 the year it is again filled by the mon- 
 soon rains on the coast of Coro- 
 mandel. 
 
 The falls of the Cavery are near 
 the ancient city of Gunga Raya, on 
 the island of Sivana Samudra, and 
 opposite to Trichinopoly, it again 
 separates into two branches, forming 
 the island of Seringham. About 
 thirteen miles to the eastward of this 
 last point of separation, the branches 
 again approach ; but the northern 
 branch is here twenty feet lower than 
 the southern, and is permitted to run 
 waste to the sea under the name of 
 the Coleroon. The southern branch, 
 retaining the name of Cavery, has 
 been led through a variety of chan- 
 nels by the skill and industry of the 
 Hindoos, to irrigate the Tanjore pro- 
 vince, and is the cause of its extra- 
 ordinary fertility. Near the east end 
 of Seringham, an immense mound is 
 formed, to prevent the waters of the 
 Cavery descending into the Coleroon. 
 The coming of the floods from the 
 interior is every where celebrated 
 with festivities by the natives of the 
 Carnatic, who consider the river as 
 one of their most beneficent deities. 
 
 This valuable river is no where 
 navigable for large vessels. Even so 
 low down as Trichinopoly, the only 
 boats, or rather coracles, in use, are 
 circular wicker baskets covered with 
 hides, similar to those employed on 
 the Krishna and Toombudra. On 
 some of its northern branches, near 
 their junction with the sea, still 
 ruder contrivances are resorted to, 
 such as a raft of twigs floating on 
 inverted earthern pots ; but through- 
 out the southern portion of the Tan- 
 jore district the rivers are provided 
 with flat-bottomed boats. — ( Wilks , 
 Fullarton , Heyne , tyc.) 
 
 Caverypauk. — A town in the Car- 
 natic, enclosed with an old mud wall, 
 fifty-seven miles W.S.W, from Ma- 
 
CELEBES. 
 
 377 . 
 
 dras ; lat. 12° 53' N., Ion. 79° 31' E. 
 Here is a great eray or tank, about 
 eight miles long by three broad, which 
 fertilizes a considerable tract of coun- 
 try. This is perhaps the most mag- 
 nificent of all the great works con- 
 structed in the south of India for 
 the purposes of irrigation. The em- 
 bankment by which it is supported is 
 a mound of earth thirty feet high, 
 faced on the side next the tank with 
 large stones, and thickly planted on 
 the outside with palmira trees. The 
 town of Caverypauk is but a meanly 
 built place, and the adjoining fort, 
 which appears at one time to have 
 been a place of some strength, is now 
 a ruin choked up with trees. The 
 Panaur, opposite to Caverypatam, is 
 generally fordable ; but after heavy 
 rains becomes a furious and impassa- 
 ble torrent. — ( Fullarton , F. Bucha- 
 nan , Sfc.) 
 
 Caveryporum ( Caveripura) . — A 
 small town in the Coimbatoor pro- 
 vince, eighty-two miles S.E. from Se- 
 ringapatam ; lat. 11° 50' N., Ion. 77° 
 47' E. This place stands on the 
 banks of the Cavay, which during 
 the rainy season is here a wide, 
 strong, smooth stream, no where 
 fordable ; but in the dry months there 
 are many fords. 
 
 Cavite. — A town in the Philip- 
 pines, in the bay of Manilla, and 
 three leagues S.W. of the town of 
 which it is the proper harbour; lat. 
 14° 34' N., Ion. 120° 48' E. The 
 depth of water here is excellent, and 
 ships may lie within musket-shot of 
 the arsenal ; but Cavite Bay is in- 
 fested by a species of worm which 
 destroys ships’ planks and timbers. 
 It was formerly a place of much 
 greater size and consequence ; but 
 latterly had so much declined, that 
 in 1819 the whole population, con- 
 sisting of Mulattoes, Indians, and a 
 few Europeans, was estimated at only 
 4,000 persons. Although so near to 
 Manilla, being actually within the bay, 
 boats going from the one to the other, 
 are often taken by piratical prows 
 and the people sold for slaves, — {La 
 Peyrouse, Sonne, rat, <$rc.) 
 
 Cayagan Sooloo Isles. — A clus- 
 ter of islands in the Eastern seas, 
 lying off the north-eastern coast of 
 Borneo; lat. 7°N., Ion. 118° 50' E. 
 The largest, about twenty miles in cir- 
 cumference, is of a middling height, 
 covered with trees, and the soil rich 
 and luxuriant. In 1774 this island 
 was dependent on Sooloo, and much 
 frequented by the Mangaio, or pira- 
 tical prows. The tide here rises six 
 feet in the springs. — ( Forrest , tyc.) 
 
 Ceded Districts. — See Bala- 
 
 GHAUT. 
 
 CELEBES. 
 
 A large island in the Eastern seas 
 of a most extraordinary shape, sepa- 
 rated from Borneo by the straits of 
 Macassar. It extends from lat. 2° N. 
 to nearly 6° S., and from 119° to 125° 
 E. Ion.; but the coast is so deeply 
 indented by three bays, that it is dif- 
 ficult to form an estimate of its actual 
 surface ; making allowance, however, 
 for the irregularity of its figure, 
 Celebes may be estimated at 500 miles 
 in length, by 150 miles the average 
 breadth, giving an area of about 
 75,000 square miles. 
 
 This island by the natives and Ma- 
 lays is called Negree Oran Buggess, 
 or Buggessman’s country, and some- 
 times Tanna Macassar. It is situated 
 between the great island of Borneo 
 on the west; the islands of Gilolo, 
 Poby, Ceram, and Amboyna, to the 
 east; to the south lies Salayer, se- 
 parated by a narrow strait, named by 
 the Dutch the Budgeroons. Further 
 to the south lies Floris, Timor, and 
 Sumbhawa ; to the north there is a 
 broad sea, and the island of Sangir 
 to the north-east. 
 
 A deep gulf runs into the island 
 from the south, called Sewa by the 
 natives, and Buggess Bay by the 
 English. There is also a deep inden- 
 ture in the north-east, called Tominie 
 Bay, which penetrates so far that it 
 forms an isthmus, and, with Tolo Bay 
 on the east, divides the island into 
 four peninsulas. Celebes has three ri- 
 vers, of which theChinrana is the most 
 
378 
 
 CELEBES. 
 
 considerable. It rises in the Wadjo 
 country, runs through Boni, and dis- 
 embogues by several mouths in the 
 gulf of Sewa. European ships can 
 ascend this river a considerable way 
 over a muddy bottom, and it is navi- 
 gable for prows inland to a fresh wa- 
 ter lake. The second is the river Boli, 
 with three fathoms water over its bar, 
 which discharges itself after a winding 
 course at Boli, on the north-coast. 
 The third falls into the sea on the 
 west-coast, a considerable distance 
 south of Macassar. Along the whole 
 of the south coast small rivers navi- 
 gable for five or six miles inland are 
 very frequent. There are not any as- 
 certained volcanoes in the southern 
 divisions of Celebes, but some are 
 said to exist in the northern. 
 
 In 1820 the civilized inhabitants of 
 Celebes consisted of four or five dis- 
 tinct nations, speaking different lan- 
 guages ; viz. the Buggesses, the Ma- 
 cassars, the Mandars, the Kaili, and 
 the Manado. The Buggess race are 
 by far the most considerable, being 
 subdivided into various tribes united 
 by a common dialect and similar in- 
 stitutions, and of these tribes, the 
 Wadjo, or Tuwadjo is by far the most 
 distinguished for commerce and mari- 
 time enfterprize. The centre of the 
 island to the northward is said to be 
 inhabited by the Turajas or Horafo- 
 ras, who are considered the abori- 
 gines. 
 
 In the south-western limb the prin- 
 cipal languages are the Macassar and 
 Buggess. The first comprehends the 
 petty states of Booncoomba, Bon- 
 tain, Tarabaya, Goak, Manos, and 
 Ligere ; the second is much more 
 general, and extends from Boni to 
 Luwu, including the four great prin- 
 cipalities of Luwu, (Looboe of the 
 Dutch), Boni, Wadjo, and Soping. In 
 Mandhar and its vicinity the Mand- 
 harese language is spoken. The ap- 
 pearance of the southern limb indi- 
 cates a former state of superior cul- 
 tivation and prosperity, and it is still 
 the most populous portion of the 
 island, the climate being compara- 
 tively salubrious. The Dutch have 
 long possessed several small forts on 
 
 the bays of Tolo and Tominie, but 
 do not appear ever to have explored 
 the country in their vicinity. The 
 two states of Boni and Macassar have 
 at different periods exercised para- 
 mount authority over the smaller 
 communities, and their history com- 
 prehends all that is interesting in that 
 of Celebes. 
 
 The tribes of Celebes are now the 
 most considerable and enterprizing 
 navigators of the Eastern islands, and 
 amongthese the most distinguished are 
 the Buggesses of Wadjo. The princi- 
 pal import is cotton from the adja- 
 cent islands, which is re-exported after 
 being manufactured in toBuggess cloth, 
 which is in constant demand through- 
 out the Eastern archipelago ; the other 
 articles are bird’s-nests, sea slugs, 
 shark fins, tortoise-shell, agar-wood, 
 hides, &c. for the Chinese market, to 
 which they are transported by the 
 junks that visit Celebes annually; gold 
 is also found, but in smaller quantities 
 than at Borneo. The principal traf- 
 fickers are the Wadjoos, parties of 
 whom are settled in every seaport of 
 consequence from Acheen to Manil- 
 la, and who also usually compose the 
 crews of the Buggess prows. Some 
 of these Wadjoo cargoes, consisting 
 of opium, gold, and cloths, have been 
 valued at 50,000 Spanish dollars. 
 The gold of Celebes is generally pro- 
 cured, as in Sumatra, from the beds 
 of rivers and torrents. There are 
 many springs issuing from the cre- 
 vices of rocks, that bring some little 
 gold along with the water, which fil- 
 tering through a vessel bottomed with 
 sand, leaves the metal behind ; these 
 might be worth exploring. Monopo- 
 lies here are among the legitimate fis- 
 cal resources ; the chief of Luwu mo- 
 nopolizes brass ; the raja of Soping, 
 betel-leaf; the raja of Sedendring, 
 salt and opium. The teak tree is only 
 found in a few spots of Celebes ; the 
 largest forest is in the district of Ma- 
 rio, where the natives assert it was 
 originally planted from imported seed. 
 The tiger and leopard, which abound 
 in the more western islands, are not 
 to be found in Celebes. 
 
 The states of this island exhibit the 
 
CELEBES. 
 
 singular anomaly in politics of elec- 
 tive monarchies limited by aristocra- 
 cies, which are themselves limited by 
 subordinate ones ; indeed, they seem 
 to be a sort of aristocratical federa- 
 tions of the petty lords or tyrants of 
 villages, the chiefship of which is 
 sometimes elective from the whole 
 body, but more generally from a par- 
 ticular family. The prince is chosen 
 From the royal stock by a certain 
 number of counsellors, who also pos- 
 sess the prerogative of subsequently 
 removing him. These counsellors 
 are themselves selected from particu- 
 lar families, and without their con- 
 currence the prince can execute no 
 public measure ; they have also charge 
 of the public treasure, and also nomi- 
 nate the prince, and in fact appear to 
 have practically tried the experiment 
 with how little power a sovereign can 
 conduct the affairs of government. 
 
 When war occurs the prince can- 
 not in person command the armies, 
 but the usages of the country permit, 
 on such an event, his temporary re- 
 signation, when a regent succeeds 
 provisionally to the highest rank, to 
 be laid down when the exigence has 
 passed away. Women and minors 
 are eligible in every department ; but 
 some variation is observable in diffe- 
 rent realms. In Boni the prince is 
 elected by seven hereditary counsel- 
 lors ; in Goak, by ten, of whom the 
 prime minister is one, being himself 
 appointed by the other nine. In the 
 exercise of his functions, however, 
 he possesses very extraordinary pow- 
 ers, for he can remove the prince 
 himself, and call on the counsellors 
 to elect another. The inferior pro- 
 vincial chiefs, named crains, are esta- 
 blished by the government. 
 
 Among the warlike nations of Ce- 
 lebes the women take an active part 
 in all the concerns of life, and are 
 very frequently raised to the throne 
 in the elective monarchies : in fact, 
 there is hardly a state in which women 
 at one period or another have not sat 
 on the throne, and it may be remark- 
 ed, that the practice is most frequent 
 where the society is the most turbu- 
 lent. In A.D. 1714 Batara Toja was 
 
 379 
 
 elected queen of Boni, and from affec- 
 tion yielded the crown to her bro- 
 ther, who being deposed for incapa- 
 city, she was re-chosen, and a second 
 time resigned the crown to her bro- 
 ther. In 1814 the sovereign of the 
 Buggess state of Luwu was the wife 
 of the king of Soping, another petty 
 Buggess prince; but the latter never 
 presumed to interfere in the affairs of 
 Luwu, which were entirely managed 
 by his wife. At the same date, the 
 wife of a Macassar chief was inde- 
 pendent sovereign of the little state 
 of Lipukasi. The arrangement of the 
 provinces under European authority 
 is purely feudal, the Dutch consider- 
 ing themselves sole proprietors of 
 the soil, which they distribute at 
 pleasure. 
 
 This great island is the centre from 
 whence that peculiar description of 
 civilization which characterizes the 
 creese-wearing nations of the Eastern 
 archipelago appears to have emanat- 
 ed. The alphabet of Celebes con- 
 sists of eighteen consonants and five 
 vowels, regulated by the peculiar 
 classification of the Sanscrit alphabet, 
 which is rejected in that of Java. 
 The two prevailing languages are the 
 Buggess and Macassar, both simple 
 in their structure, and of a soft vo- 
 calic articulation, even beyond the 
 Malay. Like the Kawi of the Javan- 
 ese, the Buggesses are said to'have an 
 ancient and recondite language, but 
 this does not appear to be as yet fully 
 ascertained ; they also possess tales and 
 romances founded on national tradi- 
 tions, translations from the Malayan 
 and Javanese romances, historical le- 
 gends, and Arabic works on law and 
 religion, all feeble, childish, and con- 
 temptible. The Buggess language 
 has, nevertheless, much influenced 
 the neighbouring tongues and dia- 
 lects, such as the Sumbhawa, Floris, 
 Timore, Booton, and Salayer. 
 
 The natives of Celebes do not ap- 
 pear to have any treatise on science, 
 philosophy, or astronomy ; but they 
 are acquainted with Jupiter, the Plei- 
 ades, Sirius, Orion, Antares, and the 
 Great Bear, by which luminaries they 
 navigate their prows. The Macas- 
 
380 
 
 CERAM ISLE. 
 
 sars use Mahomedan names for their 
 months; the Buggesses divide their 
 year of 365 days into twelve months, 
 beginning on the 16th May, an ar- 
 rangement which has probably been 
 introduced since the arrival of Maho- 
 medans, for they do not appear to 
 have had any era prior to the propa- 
 gation of the Arabian faith, since 
 which they employ the Hejira. 
 
 The most ancient state of which 
 tradition makes mention in Celebes 
 is that of Luwu or Luhu (probably 
 the Looboe of the Dutch), situated 
 near the bottom of the bay of Boni. 
 The Galigas, or historical romances, 
 are filled with the exploits of Sawira 
 Gading, the first chief of the Luwu 
 country, who is said to have extend- 
 ed his dominions to the Straits of 
 Malacca. Next to Luwu, the empire 
 of Goak has the greatest claim to 
 antiquity, and a period is mention- 
 ed when its influence extended to 
 Acheen, Manilla, Sooloo, Ternate, 
 and the Moluccas. 
 
 No information has as yet been 
 procured of any intercourse between 
 this island and Hindostan and China, 
 prior to the introduction of the Ma- 
 homedan religion, neither are any 
 monuments or inscriptions found 
 tending to establish the former pre- 
 valence of the Brahminical mytho- 
 logy. The best informed natives, 
 however, assert their descent from 
 Hindoos, and the names of their an- 
 cient divinities (Batara, or Avatara, 
 Gooroo, Varuna, &c.) indicate an in- 
 timate relation at some period ; and 
 it is still probable that Hindoo ves- 
 tiges will be discovered after the 
 island has been more completely ex- 
 plored. Batara Gooroo, a Javanese 
 local name of Siva, is described as 
 the first of their kings. 
 
 In A.D. 1512, when the Portu- 
 guese first visited Celebes, they found 
 but few Mahomedans, and it was not 
 until the expiration of a century that 
 the faith of Mahomed was generally 
 established. The principal agents in 
 the conversion were natives of va- 
 rious Malay states in Sumatra and the 
 peninsula, and the most renowned 
 was Khatib Tungal, a native of Me- 
 
 nancabow. At present the Mahome- 
 dan tenets are professed in all the 
 civilized tracts of Celebes, where the 
 Koran is of course the standard, both 
 of law and religion. According to 
 the records of Macassar, it was intro- 
 duced there by Khatib Tungal, about 
 A.D. 1603. Nearly all the inhabi- 
 tants of the southern limb are now 
 Mahomedans ; but of the others only 
 a small proportion are said to be yet 
 converted. 
 
 This island appears to have been 
 known to Magellan and Pigafetta 
 under the name of Celebi; and the 
 Portuguese early obtained a settle- 
 ment near Macassar, from whence 
 they were expelled by the Dutch, in 
 A.D. 1660. In consequence of the 
 increasing strength and civilization of 
 the state of Boni and the Buggesses 
 during the last half of the eighteenth 
 century, the power of the Dutch had 
 been much on the decline, and in 
 1811 the Dutch authority in Celebes 
 was transferred to the British by a 
 conquest and capitulation with the 
 French governor-general of the Dutch 
 colonies in India ; but on the return 
 of tranquillity the British authorities 
 quitted Celebes, and in 1816 it was 
 once more restored to the Dutch. — 
 ( Forrest , Stavorinus and Notes, Raffles , 
 Crawfurd , hey den, Mars den, fyc.) 
 
 Cera Isle. — A small island about 
 twenty miles in circumference, lying 
 off the west side of Timorlaut Isle ; 
 Ion. 131° 50' E. 
 
 Ceram Isle. — A large island in 
 the Eastern seas, extending from the 
 128th to the 130th degrees of east 
 longitude, and situated principally 
 between the third and fourth degrees 
 of south latitude. In length it may 
 be estimated at 185 miles, by thirty 
 miles the average breadth ; giving an 
 area of 5,550 square miles. 
 
 A chain of very high mountains 
 parallel in their direction runs from 
 east to west, the valleys between 
 which present every sign of a vigo- 
 rous vegetation. The highest peak 
 of these mountains appears to be 
 7,000 feet above the level of the sea. 
 The peninsula of Hoewamoehil, or 
 
CEYLON. 
 
 381 
 
 Little Ceram, is joined to the main 
 land by a narrow isthmus, and in an- 
 cient times produced great quantities 
 of cloves and nutmegs ; but the trees 
 were extirpated by the Dutch about 
 A.D. 1657. The wood usually called 
 Amboyna, and the Salmoni, both of 
 which are exported from Amboyna, 
 for cabinet-work, are mostly the pro- 
 duction of Ceram. This island is 
 particularly distinguished for the im- 
 mense natural forests of the sago 
 palm which it contains, and its shores 
 for the abundance of rare and beauti- 
 ful shells. 
 
 Rumphius describes the wild moun- 
 tains and interior of Ceram as inha- 
 bited by the Horaforas or Aforeze, 
 apparently the aborigines of all the 
 islands west of the Papuan or east- 
 ern negro isles. He says they are a 
 tall, strong, and savage people, ge- 
 nerally of a higher stature than the 
 maritime inhabitants. Both sexes go 
 almost naked, wearing only a bandage 
 round their waist, made from the 
 bark of a tree; their weapons a bam- 
 boo spear, bows, and poisoned ar- 
 rows. Like the Dayacs of Borneo, 
 and Garrows on the borders of Ben- 
 gal, and apparently all aboriginal east- 
 ern tribes, they have barbarous and 
 superstitious rites, all connected with 
 the shedding of human blood. — {Sta- 
 vorinus and Notes , Labillardiere , Bou- 
 gainville, fyc.) 
 
 Ceram Laut Isles. — A cluster of 
 small islands lying off the east end of 
 the large island of Ceram, about the 
 130th degree of east longitude, and 
 latitude 3° 55' S. 
 
 CEYLON. 
 
 ( Singhala.) 
 
 This island is situated at the west- 
 ern entrance of the bay of Bengal, 
 within the latitudes of 5° 56' and 9° 
 46' N., and the longitudes of 79° 36' 
 and 81° 58' E. On the north-west 
 it is separated from the Coromandel 
 coast by the gulf of Manaar, and is 
 about 150 miles distant from Cape 
 Comorin. On the south and east it 
 is washed by the great Indian ocean. 
 From Point Pedro at the northern 
 
 extremity to Dondra head at the 
 southern, the extreme length is about 
 270 miles, and the extreme breadth 
 about 145; but the average breadth 
 does not exceed 100 miles, giving a 
 superficial area of about 27,000 square 
 miles.^ Towards the south the island 
 is much broader than at the north, 
 and in shape it nearly resembles a 
 ham. 
 
 The mountainous and central di- 
 vision in perpendicular elevation 
 above the sea varies from 800 to 3,000, 
 and even to 4,000 and 5,000 feet, 
 but in general it does not exceed 
 2,000 feet, the tracts of greater eleva- 
 tion being generally of very limited 
 extent. The largest is the space ly- 
 ing between Fort Macdonald and 
 Maturata, which reaches to 4,000 
 feet in height, but does not exceed 
 twelve miles in length, by two or three 
 in breadth. The wild country called 
 Neura Ellya probably attains the ele- 
 vation of 5,000 feet, but does not 
 comprehend more than fifteen or twen- 
 ty miles. Many mountain peaks sur- 
 pass these in altitude. Adam’s Peak 
 (the Samanella of the natives) is 
 about 6,152 ; and Namana Cooli Can- 
 dy about 5,548 feet. The mountains 
 occur in continued chains, there 
 scarcely being an instance of a soli- 
 tary insulated mountain. There are 
 no lakes nor even stagnant pools 
 among the mountains, of course every 
 valley must have an outlet with a 
 gradual descent to the maritime belt 
 of low land. 
 
 Dr. Davy is of opinion that the 
 whole of Ceylon, with a very few ex- 
 ceptions, consists of primitive rock, 
 of many varieties, yet the species 
 are very few and not well defined. 
 The most prevailing species is granite 
 or gneis ; the more limited quartz 
 rock, horn-blende rock, and dolomite 
 rock. The varieties of granite and 
 gneis are innumerable ; the limestone 
 is mostly confined to Jaffnapatam ; 
 and the whole island is surrounded 
 by an uninterrupted chain of sand- 
 stone rock. There are no volcanoes 
 in Ceylon, nor any vestiges that 
 suggest the idea of their prior exis- 
 tence. 
 
382 
 
 CEYLON. 
 
 Owing to itsclimate, Ceylon abounds 
 with perennial mountain streams, ri- 
 vulets, and rivers, but the latter are 
 much more numerous on the west- 
 ern than the eastern side. The 
 principal are the Mahavilly Gunga, 
 the Calany Gunga, the Caloo Gunga, 
 and the Welleway Gunga, by which 
 the whole mountainous district is 
 drained ; but except the first none of 
 them are navigable, even for small 
 barges, more than fifteen miles from 
 the shore. The Mahavilly (Maha- 
 vali) is by far the largest, and is navi- 
 gable inland nearly as far as Candy, 
 where it is interrupted by a ridge of 
 rocks. The Calany Gunga is next in 
 magnitude to the Mahavilly, and pro- 
 bably in importance surpasses it. 
 
 The north and west coast from 
 Point Pedro to Columbo is flat, and 
 much indented with inlets from the 
 sea ; the largest extends almost quite 
 across the island, forming the penin- 
 sula of Jaffnapatam. The sea by 
 which Ceylon is surrounded is prac- 
 ticable for large ships from Point Pe- 
 dro north to Trincomalee, Batticalo, 
 Point de Galle and Columbo ; but 
 from these to Manaar and JafFnapa- 
 tam, commerce must be carried on in 
 vessels not exceeding 100 tons, and 
 even the greater part of their cargoes 
 must be unshipped while passing the 
 Manaar channels. The principal 
 harbours for large ships are Trinco- 
 malee and Point de Galle ; the infe- 
 rior ones are Batticalo, Barbareen, 
 Matura and Caltura, on the south 
 and east ; and on the west, Negumbo, 
 Chilaw, Calpenteen, Manaar, and 
 Point Pedro. The tides about Cey- 
 lon rise only three feet in perpendicu- 
 lar height. 
 
 Over most of the island, and more 
 especially the maritime provinces, the 
 S.W. and N.E. monsoons prevail with 
 some variations ; the first usually 
 from the end of April to the begin- 
 ning of November ; the second is of 
 shorter duration, being comprised be- 
 tween November and March. The 
 S.W. wind is more general all over 
 the island, as both at Columbo and 
 Trincomalee it blows for five months 
 in succession ; whereas at Columbo 
 
 the N.E. is chiefly confined to De- 
 cember and January; the conse- 
 quence is, that at Columbo the period 
 of variable winds is longer than at 
 Trincomalee. Among the mountains 
 of the interior, the winds are greatly 
 modified by local circumstances, and 
 according to their proximity to the 
 east or west coast. The highest and 
 most central have peculiarities of their 
 own ; thus at Badulla, in Upper Ouva, 
 the wind for three-fourths of the 
 year is from the N.E., and in the 
 months of June, July, and August, is 
 variable. 
 
 Owing to its intertropical position 
 the quantity of rain that falls in Cey- 
 lon is very great, probably about 
 three times that of England. Being 
 less frequent, the showers are much 
 heavier while they last, a fall of two and 
 three inches being not uncommon in 
 twentj'-four hours, and in one instance 
 three and one-fifth inches of rain fell 
 at Columbo in twelve hours. In con- 
 sequence of this redundant moisture, 
 the western coast of Ceylon looks 
 constantly fresh and green, exciting 
 the admiration of strangers from the 
 parched plains of the Carnatic. Among 
 the mountains the variety is greater, 
 but on an average less falls on the 
 eastern than the western side. A 
 lofty mountainous ridge often acts as a 
 line of demarkation, one side of which 
 is drenched with rain, while the other 
 is broiling under an unclouded sun. 
 At Candy eighty-four inches of rain 
 fell in 1819, which is probably about 
 the average of the alpine region. 
 
 With respect to heat no tropical 
 country is more favoured than Cey- 
 lon, its warmest weather, owing to its 
 insular position, being quite tempe- 
 rate when compared to the scorching 
 heats of India. Along the sea-coast 
 the mean annual temperature may be 
 stated at 80°, and the extreme range 
 of the thermometer from 68° to 90°; 
 the medium range between 75° and 
 85°. The climate of the mountains 
 is usually cooler than might be ex- 
 pected ; but its vicissitudes greater. 
 At Candy, which is 1,467 feet above 
 the level of the sea, the mean annual 
 temperature is about 73°. In March 
 
CEYLON. 
 
 383 
 
 1819, on the top of Namina Cooli 
 Candy, 5,548 feet high, at eight 
 o’clock a.m. Dr. Davy found the 
 temperature of a pot of water to be 
 53°, that of the air being 57°. Dew 
 is not common except in the low 
 plains and vallies of the interior, 
 where mists also form of so extraor- 
 dinary a density, that when viewed 
 from the summit of a mountain, they 
 resemble lakes of vast extent and 
 great depth. The lofty apices, as 
 may be supposed, enter the region of 
 the clouds ; which, during the whole 
 of the south-west monsoon, conceal 
 Adam’s Peak. Thunder storms are 
 very frequent, but as they cool the 
 air and seldom do any mischief, they 
 are highly acceptable, both to man and 
 beast. Indeed, the birds never sing 
 so sweetly, nor are their notes heard 
 to such advantage ; as between the 
 loudest peals of thunder. 
 
 Within the limits of Ceylon all 
 degrees of salubrity are experienced ; 
 the best on the south-west coast, and 
 on the high central mountains ; the 
 worst in the low wooded country be- 
 tween the mountains and the sea, in 
 all directions, except towards the 
 south-west coast; the middle degrees 
 on the lower hills, and on the north- 
 eastern shores of the island. But in- 
 stances of occasional insalubrity oc- 
 cur, especially in the Candian country, 
 that do not admit of any explication. 
 Particular spots and districts, that 
 have been remarkably healthy for 
 many years, suddenly change their 
 character, and without any apparent 
 cause become extremely pestilential, 
 after which they gradually assume 
 their former salubrity. 
 
 The soils of Ceylon appear to be 
 derived from the decomposition of 
 gneiss, granite, or clay, iron-stone, 
 the principal ingredient of the three 
 being quartz, in the form of sand or 
 gravel, and decomposed felspar in the 
 state of clay, combined with different 
 proportions of oxide of iron. Quartz 
 in most instances is the predominat- 
 ing substance, and in many constitutes 
 nine-tenths of the whole. It is usu- 
 ally supposed that in tropical climates, 
 where vegetation is luxuriant and wood 
 
 abundant, the soil must consist of 
 much vegetable matter : such, how- 
 ever, is not the fact in Ceylon, where 
 the natural soils seldom contain more 
 than three per cent, of vegetable 
 matter. The best and most produc- 
 tive earths of Ceylon are, a brown 
 loam resulting from the decomposi- 
 tion of gneiss, or granite exceeding in 
 felspar ; or a reddish loam originating 
 from the decomposition of clay iron- 
 stone. The worst soils are those 
 where quartz predominates, proceed- 
 ing from the disintegration of quartz- 
 rock ; or of granite and gneiss con- 
 taining a very large proportion of 
 quartz. It seems extraordinary that 
 in an island, the foundations of which 
 are calcareous, there should be so lit- 
 tle calcareous matter, and so large a 
 proportion of siliceous matter in the 
 soil. 
 
 The soil of the cinnamon gardens 
 in the neighbourhood of Columbo is 
 a remarkable instance of the siliceous 
 kind. In many parts the surface of 
 the ground where the cinnamon plant 
 flourishes is as white as snow : this 
 is pure quartz sand. A few inches 
 below the surface, where the roots 
 penetrate the sand, is of a grey colour, 
 a specimen of which, thoroughly dried, 
 was found by Dr. Davy to consist ofj 
 
 Siliceous sand 98 5 
 
 Vegetable matter 1 0 
 
 Water 0 5 
 
 100 0 
 
 It may appear surprising that the 
 cinnamon plant should succeed best 
 in so poor a soil ; but, other circum- 
 stances considered, it admits of ex- 
 planation. The garden is nearly on 
 a level with the lake of Columbo, 
 and well sheltered ; the climate is 
 damp ; showers are frequent, and the 
 temperature high, and remarkably 
 equable. Indeed, in Ceylon the 
 succession of seasons that varies the 
 year of the temperate zone is un- 
 known : for excepting by a change of 
 wind, and the trasitions from wet to 
 dry weather, the perpetual summer it 
 experiences can scarcely be said to 
 be even diversified. 
 
 The seeds of all European plants 
 
384 
 
 CEYLON. 
 
 degenerate so rapidly, that a fresh 
 importation is necessary almost every 
 year ; but some of the indigenous 
 plants, such as the cocoa-nut, flourish 
 with singular vigour. The best trees, 
 producing about fifty nuts per annum, 
 are found in a sandy soil, so close to 
 the sea that their roots are actually 
 washed by the surge of the ocean, 
 towards which they bend their heads. 
 Cocoa-nut oil obtained by pressure, 
 copras (the kernel sliced and dried), 
 and coir (the fibres of the husk), 
 are articles of exportation, as are 
 also betel-nut and tobacco. Besides 
 these staples, Ceylon produces a great 
 variety of the finest sorts of wood 
 used for cabinet work, and tropical 
 fruits in the most profuse abundance. 
 
 The principal cinnamon gardens 
 are in the vicinity of Columbo, and 
 occupy a tract of country about 
 twelve miles in circumference. Others 
 of a smaller size are situated at Ne- 
 gumbo, Caltura, Point de Galle, and 
 Matura, extending along the south- 
 west coast. No cinnamon trees are 
 found west of Chilaw, or east of 
 Tengalle, and are equally unknown 
 about Trincomalee and Jaffhapatam, 
 where the climate is dry and sultry. 
 Within the confined space where it 
 flourishes the climate is moist, and 
 rain falls almost every day. In a 
 wild state the tree, (which is the 
 laurus cinnamomum or coorundoo of 
 the Cingalese) grows to the height 
 of above twenty feet, but in the gar- 
 dens they are not permitted to rise 
 above ten, and present the appearance 
 of numerous shoots from the same 
 root. They look beautiful, but the 
 fragrance of the cinnamon forests is 
 not near so great as strangers have 
 been led to imagine, the blossoms 
 having very little smell, and the 
 wood, when deprived of the bark, 
 none at all. 
 
 Ceylon possesses a great variety of 
 animals, at the head of which the 
 elephant may be placed ; but the 
 royal tiger, wolf, and antelope, all 
 common on the continent, are un- 
 known here. Of twenty different 
 kinds of snakes examined by Dr. 
 Davy, sixteen were found to be harm- 
 
 less, although a great majority had 
 the character of being venomous. 
 The carawalla, ticpolonga, the cobra 
 de capello, and another, are the 
 four poisonous snakes, and all of 
 the coluber genus ; but it is the bite 
 of the two last only that is most 
 dangerous. Indeed, the leeches of 
 Ceylon, though less dreaded, are 
 much more troublesome than the 
 whole snake tribe. It is not certain 
 that any medicine has yet been dis- 
 covered that in the slightest degree 
 promotes the recovery of a person 
 bitten by snakes. 
 
 This island has long been remark- 
 able for its richness in gems, and 
 poverty with respect to the useful 
 metals. It is equally so for the num- 
 ber of rare animals it affords, and 
 for the small number of the ordinary 
 species. The only metallic ores hi- 
 therto found in Ceylon are those of 
 iron and manganese ; the first being 
 generally diffused and tolerably abun- 
 dant. It has also been asserted that 
 gold and mercury occur somewhere in 
 Ceylon, but there is every reason to 
 believe the statement unfounded. 
 The precious metals are rarely dis- 
 covered in their native rock, but only 
 in alluvial grounds and the beds of 
 rivers. The island contains every 
 variety of quartz, such as rock crys- 
 tal, amethyst, rose-quartz, and cat’s- 
 eye. The first is abundant, of va- 
 rious colours, both massive and 
 crystallized, of good quality, and in 
 large masses. The* natives use it in- 
 stead of glass for the lenses of spec- 
 tacles, and also for ornamental pur- 
 poses and statuary. Beautiful speci- 
 mens of amethyst are found in the 
 alluvial ground of Suffragam and the 
 Seven Cories, and the finest cat’s-eyes 
 in the granitic alluvion of Suffragam 
 and Matura. Prase (a variety of 
 quartz) is of rare occurrence, and 
 chiefly among the shore pebbles of 
 Trincomalee. 
 
 There is reason to believe that 
 chalcedony exists in the interior, frag- 
 ments having been found and used as 
 gun-flints. The topaz is commonly 
 white, blue, or yellowish white, and 
 usually passes under the name of the 
 
CEYLON. 
 
 385 
 
 ■white or water sapphire. Tourmaline 
 is rare ; the emerald is not found, 
 nor probably the beryl. The com- 
 mon garnet is very plentifully dis- 
 seminated through the gneiss in every 
 part of the country, but the precious 
 garnet occurs in few spots. The cinna- 
 mon-stone is found in few places, chief- 
 ly in the Matura district. The zircon 
 family is abundant, and sold under 
 various denominations, such as to- 
 pazes, tourmalines, hyacinths, inferior 
 rubies, and imperfect diamonds. For 
 the ruby family Ceylon has long been 
 celebrated. Four species of it, the 
 spinel, sapphire, corundum, and 
 chryso-beryl, occur mostly in the al- 
 luvial of gneiss or granitic rock, in 
 the substance of which they appear 
 to have originally crystallized. 
 
 Ceylon abounds in rivers and 
 springs, remarkable for their purity, 
 but not in mineral or medicinal waters. 
 The first circumstance may be attri- 
 buted to the mountainous nature of 
 the island; the second to its geological 
 structure. Neither are the saline 
 productions numerous. In certain 
 caves of the interior, nitre, nitrate 
 of lime, sulphate of magnesia, and 
 alum are found. Twenty-two of these 
 caves have been recorded, but the 
 manufacture of gunpowder being pro- 
 hibited by the British government, 
 they are now much neglected. Were 
 the salt lakes of Mahagam Pattoo 
 scientifically managed, they might be 
 made to yield salt sufficient for the 
 supply of all India, and large quan- 
 tities of magnesia might be extracted 
 from the residual brines, while the 
 preparation of the wood-ash neces- 
 sarily would tend to destroy the jungle 
 with which the district is overspread, 
 diminish the insalubrity of the air, 
 and check the increase of wild ani- 
 mals hostile to agriculture. 
 
 The grand article of importation to 
 Ce3 r lon is rice, the value of which 
 frequently exceeds half the amount 
 of the whole goods exported ; and the 
 next in consequence is cotton cloth : 
 yet the soil of the island is capable 
 of producing a redundant quantity of 
 the finest cotton. Hemp is raised 
 abundantly, the sandy soil of the raa- 
 
 VOL. i. 
 
 ritime provinces being well adapted 
 for its cultivation. The cultivation 
 of the sugar-cane on a large scale 
 has been twice attempted, and each 
 time failed. From the toddy of the 
 cocoa-nut tree arrack is distilled by 
 the common still, in the same man- 
 ner as brandy from wine. From 400 
 gallons of toddy, fifty gallons of ar- 
 rack are drawn, equal in strength to 
 brandy tw'enty-five London under- 
 proof, which when rectified produces 
 half the quantity of strong spirit. 
 Compared with Bengal mm, Ceylon 
 arrack is admitted to be the most 
 wholesome liquor, and it is thirty 
 per cent, cheaper. In 1813 the total 
 value of exports from Ceylon was 
 2,443,940 rix-dollars (eleven and a 
 half to the pound sterling); of im- 
 ports 6, 378,739 rix-dollars ; but of 
 this last two-thirds was rice, it having 
 been a year of scarcity. The total 
 tonnage of all descriptions belonging 
 to the island was estimated at 8,000 
 tons. 
 
 The public revenue of Ceylon may 
 be divided into two branches, viz. 
 one derived from certain productions 
 of the island reserved by government 
 to the fiscal resources; the other, 
 such imposts as the land-tax, taxes 
 on property, taxes on consumption, 
 and capitation taxes. Of the reserved 
 productions cinnamon is the most 
 important, but of the net profits no 
 official document has recently been 
 published ; the pearl fishery, which in 
 1814 yielded .£64,000; the fishery 
 of chank shells (a species of large 
 buccinum sawed into female orna- 
 ments for the wrists, &c.), and madder 
 root. The taking of elephants, for- 
 merly so lucrative to the Dutch, is 
 no longer considered of any im- 
 portance, the value of the animal 
 having fallen so much in price. The 
 government share of the crop differs 
 so greatly as from one-tenth to one- 
 half, and is received in kind. In 
 1812 it amounted to 513,174 rix- 
 dollars. No grants of land are per- 
 mitted to be made by government to 
 British subjects, or to European set- 
 tlers on the island. Salt is one of 
 the most productive sources of re- 
 
 2 c 
 
386 
 
 CEYLON. 
 
 venue, and promises to yield a con- 
 siderable augmentation. In 1812 the 
 total amount of the public annual 
 revenue of every description was 
 3,028,446 rix dollars (£263,343); the 
 total expenses to 3,339,726 rix dol- 
 lars : deficit 371,280 rix dollars. The 
 establishment of civil servants, forty 
 in number, fill a gradation of offices 
 to which salaries are attached of 
 from £500 to £3,000 per annum, 
 and after a residence of twelve years 
 are entitled to retire on pensions of 
 from £400 to £700 per annum. 
 
 The ancient population of Ceylon 
 cannot now be satisfactorily ascer- 
 tained, but there is no reason to sup- 
 pose it ever was so great as at pre- 
 sent, although some large ruins in- 
 dicate that particular tracts were 
 formerly more thickly inhabited. Ac- 
 cording to a census made by the col- 
 lectors of districts in 1814 the whole 
 population of the British possessions 
 amounted to about 475,883 persons. 
 Dr. Davy, in 1819, estimated the in- 
 habitants of the Candian provinces 
 at 300,000 persons; but when the 
 total desolation of many of the dis- 
 tricts through which he travelled is 
 considered, that number probably 
 exceeds the reality. On the other 
 hand, it may be admitted that the po- 
 pulation of the maritime provinces 
 have increased, so that if we com- 
 pute the total population of the 
 island at 700,000 persons, it will be 
 as near an approximation as can at 
 present be attained. 
 
 The great body of the natives may 
 be divided into three classes, each 
 nearly equal in number ; the Cinga- 
 lese (or Ceylonese), the Candians,and 
 the Malabars. The first occupy the 
 southern half of the island, from 
 Dondra head to the confines of Ba- 
 ticalo on the east, and to the river 
 Chilaw on the west. The coasts 
 further north are occupied by the 
 Malabars, while the Candians are 
 enclosed in the central regions. The 
 Moodelliars and higher orders of 
 Ceylonese profess Christianity, and 
 have adopted many European cus- 
 toms, restricting themselves to one 
 wife, and marrying according to the 
 
 forms of the Dutch church. A con- 
 siderable number of the lower orders 
 continue votaries of Buddha, and 
 many have been converted to the 
 faith of Mahomed ; but it may be 
 safely asserted that half of the whole 
 Ceylonese (not including the Can- 
 dians) openly profess Christianity, 
 one portion according to the doctrines 
 of the reformed church of Holland, 
 the other following those of Rome ; 
 both equally ill-instructed and ig- 
 norant. The Cingalese have a lan- 
 guage and written character of their 
 own ; but, owing to the mixed com- 
 position of the society, it is necessary 
 that all public proclamations be issued 
 in the Ceylonese, Malabar, Dutch, 
 and English languages. 
 
 Caste prevails among the uncon- 
 verted Cingalese as among the Brah- 
 minical Hindoos, both acknowledging 
 four principal ones similar in name 
 and functions ; but the distinctions 
 among the first are very loosely ad- 
 hered to. The Gattaroo tribe of 
 outcasts are the descendants of cer- 
 tain individuals whose ancestors were 
 expelled society by the king for the 
 infamy of their conduct. The sen- 
 tence pronounced against them by his 
 majesty, however terrific in Ceylon, 
 would not be considered any great 
 hardship in England : “ Let the cri- 
 minal be exempted from paying taxes 
 and performing services, and be 
 henceforward considered a Gattaroo.” 
 The Rhodees were made outcasts 
 for continuing to eat beef after it was 
 prohibited. 
 
 The proper name of this island is 
 Singhala, from which the term Ceylon 
 is probably derived : by the Hindoos 
 on the continent it is named Lanca, 
 and by the Arabians Serindib. It is 
 also named Taprobane, which possibly 
 originates from Tapoo Ravana, the 
 island of Ravan, a demon sovereign 
 in the remote times of Hindoo an- 
 tiquity. The strange mythological 
 poem named the Ramayuna, narrates 
 the conquest of Ceylon and destruc- 
 tion of Ravan, by Rama king of Oude, 
 assisted by an army of gigantic mon- 
 kies, which appears to indicate an 
 intercourse between this island and 
 
CHAGAING. 
 
 38 7 
 
 Upper Hindostan. The first meridian 
 of the Hindoos passes through Gojein 
 in Malwa, of which we know the 
 position : but as, according to that 
 position, Lanca falls to the west of 
 the present island, the Brahmins are 
 of opinion that Ceylon had once a 
 much greater extent, and appearances 
 between it and the Maldives tend to 
 justify the belief. The name of the 
 river Mahavilly Gunga probably ori- 
 ginated from Bali, another famous 
 hereof Hindoo romance, from whom 
 the celebrated ruins at Mahavalipu- 
 ram, on the Coromandel coast, are 
 designated. 
 
 The historical records of Ceylon 
 (if they deserve the name) are merely 
 traditionary tales or mythological ro- 
 mances, very minute as to the early 
 and fabulous ages, but scanty in 
 proportion as the verge of authentic 
 history is approached. Prior to the 
 arrival of the Portuguese in A.D. 
 1505, little is known of the history 
 of Ceylon, and that little apocryphal. 
 At that early date the Portuguese 
 commander Almeida found the island 
 already harassed by foreigners from 
 Arabia, and he persuaded the Cin- 
 galese king residing at Columbo to 
 pay him a tribute of cinnamon, on 
 condition of assisting against these 
 intruders. In 1603 the Dutch first 
 arrived, and in 1632 they sent a 
 strong armament to act in concert 
 with the King of Candy against the 
 Portuguese, whom after a long and 
 sanguinary struggle, in 1656, they 
 completely subdued and expelled. 
 Then began a new series of wars be- 
 tween the Dutch and the Candian 
 monarchs, who were frequently re- 
 duced to the last extremity ; but 
 protected by their mountains, jungles, 
 and climate, they always escaped 
 subjugation, while the Dutch retained 
 possession of the maritime provinces. 
 In consequence of the revolutionary 
 war, a British fleet and army were 
 despatched against the latter in 1796, 
 and their conquest effected, with the 
 entire acquiescence of his Candian 
 majesty, who expected great advan- 
 tages, but only exchanged a weak 
 neighbour for a powerful one. 
 
 The subsequent historical details 
 belong to the kingdom of Candy, where 
 the wars of 1803 and 1815 are allud- 
 ed to, in which last year, with the en- 
 tire consent of the natives, the con- 
 quest of that state was finally effected. 
 In 1817 a most expensive and haras- 
 sing rebellion broke out in the central 
 provinces, which lasted until the end 
 of 1819, since which uninterrupted 
 peace has prevailed, and various im- 
 provements, fiscal, judicial, and com- 
 mercial, have been executed. In 1821 
 the export of cinnamon was opened to 
 all purchasers (having previously been 
 restricted to the East-India Com- 
 pany) from the government stores, 
 where public auctions were ordered 
 to be held every month. Ceylon has 
 been fortunate in having been ruled 
 ever since its conquest by a succession 
 of able and zealous governors : the 
 Earl of Guildford, Sir Thomas Mait- 
 land, and General Brownrigg, who 
 in 1819 was succeeded by General 
 Barnes. — {Dr. Davy , Bertolacci , Cor - 
 diner , Knox, Buchanan , Percival, Sir 
 Wm. Jones, fyc.) 
 
 Chacky ( Chain). — A town, or ra- 
 ther a cluster of small hamlets, in the 
 province of Bahar, 102 miles S.E. 
 from Patna ; lat. 24° 33' N., Ion. 86° 
 25' E. It stands in an elevated undu- 
 lating tract of country near the top 
 of the Bettiah ghaut. A steep and 
 stony pass seven miles long, and the 
 usual thoroughfare between this high 
 region and the north-eastern plains. 
 For some time after the reduction of 
 the jungleterry of Boglipoor, Chacky 
 was the head-quarters of a British 
 force: a small square redoubt still 
 remains, dignified with the name of 
 Fort Hastings. — ( Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 Chachoura. — A fortified village 
 in the province of Malwa, district of 
 Keechewara, which appears at some 
 former period to have been a large 
 and flourishing place. 
 
 Chagaing ( or Sakaing). — A town 
 in the kingdom of Ava, once its capi- 
 tal, situated on the west bank of the 
 Irawady, opposite to the capital ; lat. 
 21° 45' N., Ion. 95° 68' E. This was 
 formerly the grand emporium to which 
 
 2 c 2 
 
388 
 
 CHALCKAUN. 
 
 cotton was brought, and being cleaned, 
 embarked for the China market. It 
 was sent up the Irawady in boats car- 
 rying about 36,000 pounds, and reach- 
 ed the frontiers of Yunan in from 
 thirty to forty days. The latter part 
 of the passage is described as difficult 
 and dangerous, owing to the increased 
 rapidity of the stream over a rocky 
 channel. Namdojee Praw, the second 
 monarch of the reigning family, re- 
 moved the seat of government from 
 Monchaboo to Chagaing, on account 
 of the purity of the air and beauty of 
 the scenery. In 1826 it was found 
 surrounded by a brick wall, and very 
 populous. It still continues a place 
 of great religious resort, on account of 
 its numerous pagodas. It is also the 
 principal manufactory of idols, which 
 being hewn out of an adjacent quarry 
 of fine alabaster, are sculptured here 
 and afterwards transported to the re- 
 motest corner of the Burmese empire. 
 The largest exceed the human size, 
 and cost from £\2 to JL\3 sterling; 
 but some diminutive Gaudmas may be 
 had for six or seven shillings. In the 
 neighbourhood also there was for- 
 merly a manufactory of enormous 
 rockets, in which branch of pyro- 
 techny the Birmans take great delight, 
 and are particularly skilful. — ( Symes, 
 Cox , Trant , Snodgrass , §c.) 
 
 Chagee. — A town in the Balaghaut 
 ceded districts, twenty-one miles 
 north-west from Adoni; lat. 15° 49' 
 N., Ion. 77° 4' E. 
 
 Ch alain Mew. — A town in the 
 kingdom of Ava situated on the 
 Aeng road, from Shembegewn on the 
 Irawady to Amherst island in Arracan. 
 It is the capital of a Birman district, 
 and before the British invasion con- 
 tained 10,000 inhabitants, but during 
 the confusion of that period was de- 
 stroyed by marauding parties from the 
 Burmese armies. Round it (in 1826) 
 were the remains of a lofty brick wall 
 (a rare sight in Ava), fifty feet high 
 without and thirty within, supported 
 by slight abutments, and only three 
 and a half feet thick. To these walls 
 the natives assign an antiquity of 1,500 
 years. — {Trant, Sf-c.) 
 
 Chaloo. — A village In Tibet, situ- 
 ated midway between two lakes ; lat. 
 28° 20' N., Ion. 89° 25' E., sixty miles 
 S.S.E.from Teshoo Loomboo. These 
 lakes are frequented by multitudes of 
 migratory birds, such as geese, ducks, 
 teal and storks, which on the approach 
 of winter take their flight to milder 
 regions. Prodigious numbers of sau- 
 rasses, the largest of the crane kind, 
 are seen here at certain seasons of the 
 year, and great quantities of their 
 eggs are collected on the banks. One 
 of the lakes is much venerated by the 
 Bootanners, who fancy it to be a 
 favourite haunt of their deities. The 
 vicinity, though a table-land of great 
 elevation, produces a dwarfish wheat 
 of the lammas kind, and to the north 
 there is a plain impregnated with a 
 saline substance resembling natron, 
 and called by the natives of Hindo- 
 stan, where it is also found in great 
 abundance, soojee-mutty. — {Capt. S. 
 Turner , fyc.) 
 
 Chalckaun. — The quarter of Hin- 
 dostan in which this tract is situated 
 had until lately been so imperfectly 
 explored, that the whole space com- 
 prehended under this head was sup- 
 posed to be an uninhabited sandy de- 
 sert, and marked as such in the best 
 maps. The recent extension of the 
 British frontier in Gujerat has unset- 
 tled that opinion, it having been as- 
 certained that the country, although 
 of an arid and barren aspect, is not 
 an absolute Sahara in the African 
 sense of the word, and that although 
 the soil be in general sandy, and des- 
 titute of vegetation, yet it contains 
 some cultivated spots, and is inter- 
 spersed with petty chiefships and 
 stationary tribes, which were pro- 
 bably never even tributary to the Pa- 
 tan or Mogul empires. The tract, 
 however, appears, in the vague geo- 
 graphy of Abul Fazel, to have been 
 included in the large soubah or pro- 
 vince of Mooltan, and division of 
 Tatta. To the north it is bounded by 
 Ajmeer; on the south it is separated 
 from Cutch by a great salt morass 
 named the Runn ; to the east it has 
 the province of Gujerat ; and to the 
 
CHAMBA. 
 
 389 
 
 west the territory of Sinde. It is si- 
 tuated principally between the twenty- 
 fourth and twenty-fifth degrees of 
 north latitude. 
 
 The desert, properly speaking, lies 
 between Parkur, the borders of Sinde, 
 and the Pooran river. It commences 
 on the north-west frontier of Cutch, 
 in a fiat sandy runn, but soon as- 
 sumes the thull or hilly appearance, 
 which it retains beyond Amercote. 
 Throughout this space there are wells 
 scattered, the vicinity of which is fre- 
 quented by Waudhs, or hordes of 
 shepherds, with their flocks. In va- 
 rious parts there are forts erected by 
 the Sinde government to keep the 
 communication open, and also as de- 
 pots for their treasure. The best of 
 these are named Isiamghur, Meethi, 
 and Bulliari. Throughout the thull, 
 or sandhill desert, water is only pro- 
 cured from wells, some above one 
 hundred yards deep. Occasionally 
 pools of water are formed among the 
 elevations, but they are of very tran- 
 sient duration ; indeed it is surprising 
 how a country, so destitute of mois- 
 ture, can yield so much pasturage as 
 is found in this quarter. 
 
 Throughout the whole of the thull 
 (sand-hills) and dhat (habitable spots) 
 the south-west monsoon is experi- 
 enced, but the rains are scanty and 
 irregular. In summer the heat is in- 
 tense; but in winter the air blowing 
 over the sandy expanse is arid and 
 chilly to the feelings. In different 
 parts extensive bushy jungles are 
 found, which afford shelter to the 
 flocks. Having never been explored 
 by any European, our information 
 respecting the interior continues de- 
 fective. According to native testimony 
 there are streams of water towards 
 the north, descending from the hills 
 of Rajpootana, but they are unable to 
 reach the sea, being absorbed on their 
 way by the thirsty soil of the desert. 
 
 The proprietors or occupants of 
 this portion of the desert are Rajpoots 
 of the Sodha tribe, who reside, when 
 stationary, in wretched huts, inter- 
 mixed with different tribes of Maho- 
 medansandSindeans. The Sodhasare 
 classed among the Hindoos ; but are 
 
 remarkable for the marriage of their 
 daughters with Mahomedans, every 
 man of high rank of that faith in the 
 adjacent countries having Sodha 
 wives, who are eagerly sought after 
 on account of their beauty and talents. 
 Indeed the female Sodhas are so highly 
 esteemed, that a father computes his 
 riches by the number of his daughters, 
 and rejoices in the birth of a female 
 infant ; while in the neighbouring pro- 
 vinces of Cutch and Cattywar, the 
 Jharejas most sedulously destroy their 
 female progeny. The consequence of 
 this demand is, that pimps and mer- 
 curies from nabobs and rajas, under 
 the sacred characters of charons 
 (bards) and religious mendicants, are 
 seen prowling through the waudhs and 
 hovels of the barren desert, seeking 
 wives and concubines for their em- 
 ployers. 
 
 Such is the tract to the north of 
 Cutch, commonly considered a part 
 of the great desert, and named by 
 ancient Mahomedan writers Chalch- 
 kaun, but from what derivative, un- 
 known. It occupies the space between 
 Gujerat and the frontiers of Sinde 
 Proper ; and the routes, although not 
 yet explored by Europeans, are per- 
 fectly well known, and constantly 
 traversed by the natives; and notwith- 
 standing it has received the name of 
 desert, strictly speaking it is not one, 
 as it possesses inhabitants and pro- 
 duces grain. — ( Macmurdo , fyc.) 
 
 Chamalari. — An elevated moun- 
 tain peak of the Himalaya, near the 
 confines of Tibet and Bootan, esti- 
 mated, but without having been satis- 
 factorily ascertained, at 26,000 feet 
 in height; lat. 28° 4' N., Ion. 89° 23' 
 E., 125 miles N. from the town of 
 Cooch Bahar, in the Bengal district of 
 Rungpoor. 
 
 Chamaugoonda. — A town in the 
 province of Aurungabad, fifty-six 
 miles E. by N. from Poona ; lat. 18° 
 40' N., Ion. 74° 15' E. 
 
 Chamba ( or Champa ). — An exten- 
 sive district in the province of La- 
 hore, situated to the north of Noor- 
 poor, on both sides of the river Ra- 
 vey. According to native authorities, 
 
390 
 
 CHANDA. 
 
 a long ridge of mountains, covered 
 with perpetual snow, separates from 
 the great Himalaya chain near the 
 source of the Beyah, and extending 
 to the south-east, passes near Kan- 
 gra, then crosses the Ravey, and fi- 
 nally bends north-west towards Cash- 
 mere. This ridge, called Pariyat, in 
 general forms the south-eastern boun- 
 dary of Chamba; but on its south- 
 ern side the chief also possesses a 
 tract called Rillo, said to have a 
 communication with Cashmere. The 
 exact site of the town of Chamba has 
 notyet been ascertained, but thelatest 
 maps place it in lat. 32° 17' N., Ion. 
 76° 5' E., 100 miles N.E. from Amrit- 
 sir. 
 
 Champa. — See Siampa. — ( F . Bu- 
 chanan , Sfc.) 
 
 Champanagur. — A considerable 
 town in the province of Bahar, district 
 of Boglipoor, three miles west from 
 the town of Boglipoor ; lat. 25° 14' 
 N., Ion. 86° 55' E. In 1809, includ- 
 ing Lakshmigunge, it contained 1,500 
 houses, mostly occupied by weavers. 
 At this place there is a monument of 
 a Mahomedan saint, of some note 
 and great size ; for it is said to equal 
 what his length and stature were 
 when alive, which, on this authority, 
 must have been nine cubits. These 
 great dimensions were probably be- 
 stowed on the saint from his having 
 been placed among the Jains, whose 
 gods are remarkably long. — ( F . Bu- 
 chanan , S/-C.) 
 
 Chanda ( chandra , the moon ). — 
 An extensive district in the province 
 of Gundwana, at present compre- 
 hended in the reserved territories of 
 the Nagpoor raja. In extreme length 
 Chanda Proper is about eighty geo- 
 graphical miles from north to south, 
 and extreme breadth from east to 
 west about sixty geographical miles ; 
 but the area does not amount to 
 more than 3,380 square miles. The 
 northern and western parts are very 
 similar to those of Deoghur, but ra- 
 ther more covered with jungle. To 
 the east and south are mountainous 
 and woody tracts, occupied by Gond 
 
 zemindars, and adjoining to Cho* 
 teesghur and Bustar. 
 
 When invaded by the Maharattas 
 the rajas of Chanda were Gonds, who 
 paid tribute to the Mogul throne of 
 Delhi. After some fighting, the fort 
 of Chanda was delivered up to Rago- 
 jee Bhoonsla the First, in 1749, by 
 Raja Neel Khant Sah’s treacherous 
 minister. Before the war of 1803 
 this country was in a flourishing con- 
 dition, and the traffic with the sea- 
 coast considerable. Great quantities 
 of salt were then imported, and cottons 
 were sent in return ; while coarse cloths 
 were sent to Berar, from whence they 
 ultimately found their way to Bom- 
 bay and Arabia. The population and 
 commerce, owing to foreign wars and 
 internal convulsions, have since great- 
 ly declined. In 1817 the suburbs of 
 Chanda were sacked, and all the cat- 
 tle of the circumjacent villages swept 
 away ; this was followed by a rebellion 
 of the Gond zemindars, during which 
 the country suffered much from their 
 depredations. Famine and cholera 
 raged one year, and in 1822 and 1823 
 great numbers of cattle were destroy- 
 ed by disease. In 1818 the collections 
 of this district amounted to 2,33,037 
 rupees; in 1824, to 3,67,391 rupees ; 
 the population, to 306,996 persons. 
 During the reign of Aurengzebe this 
 remote division of Gundwana was 
 named, and annexed by edict to the 
 Mogul empire, although scarcely pe- 
 netrated by the imperial forces. — 
 {Jenkins, Captain Crawfurd , Captain 
 Blunt , $c.) 
 
 Chanda ( or Toork Chanda ). — A 
 populous and strongly fortified town 
 in the province of Gundwana, eighty 
 miles S. from the city of Nagpoor ; 
 lat. 20° 4' N., Ion. 79° 22' E. This 
 large town, equal in size to Nagpoor, 
 is situated between two small rivers, 
 the Eeree and Jerpati, which unite at 
 the distance of half a mile from its 
 southern extremity. At the northern 
 extremity is a deep and extensive 
 tank, beyond which are some hills 
 commanding the fortifications. With- 
 in the walls, equi-distant from the 
 northern and southern faces, stands 
 
CHANDERNAGORE. 
 
 391 
 
 a citadel named the Bala Killa ; the 
 rest of the interior consists of strag- 
 gling streets, detached houses, gar- 
 dens, and plantations. The walls of 
 Chanda are six miles in circumference, 
 and from fifteen to twenty feet high, 
 are built of cut free-stone, well ce- 
 mented and flanked by round towers, 
 capacious enough for the largest guns. 
 Of these, when besieged, there were 
 eighty on the wbrks ; and the garri- 
 son, of whom only a few were Arabs, 
 amounted to 2,000 men. It was taken 
 by assault on the 20th May 1818, the 
 breach being so large and the ascent 
 so easy as to admit of a horse artillery 
 gun being run up ; of the garrison 
 about 400 perished, but the British 
 loss was very small, principally occa- 
 sioned by fatigue and excessive heat, 
 the thermometer during the attack 
 having risen to 145° in the sun. 
 Among the fugitives who escaped 
 was a Gond raja, in whose palace (as 
 it is called) considerable property was 
 found ; among the rest, nine lacks of 
 rupees, dug up a few days after the 
 storm. A great variety of European 
 manufactures were also found, espe- 
 cially glass ware and some pictures ; 
 for this ancient capital being consi- 
 dered the citadel of the kingdom, had 
 become the grand repository of all 
 that was rare and valuable. In 1803 
 the town of Chanda contained 5,000 
 houses; in 1808, 4,200; and in 1822, 
 only 2,800 houses. — ( Blacker , Jen- 
 kins, Sfc.) 
 
 Chandahnee (or Chinnanee J . — A 
 district in the province of Lahore, 
 which in 1783 had a district attached 
 to it, yielding a lack of rupees reve- 
 nue to its petty prince, who was him- 
 self dependent on the chief of Jam- 
 boe. The town of Chandahnee is si- 
 tuated in lat. 33° 21' N., Ion. 76° 6' 
 E., about seventy-six miles S. by E. 
 from Cashmere city, and in 1783 was 
 a neat and populous town. It stands 
 on the brow of a hill, at the foot of 
 which, on the eastern side, runs a rapid 
 stream, crossed on two stout fir 
 beams, one of which reaches from 
 the shore to an insulated rock in the 
 centre, and the other from the rock 
 
 to the opposite shore. At Dammo- 
 munjee, in this district, there is an 
 uncommonly beautiful and fertile 
 valley.— {Forster, .fyeJ) 
 
 Chandercona. — A considerable 
 town in the province of Bengal, dis- 
 trict of Hooghly, fifty-five miles W. 
 by N. from Calcutta ; lat. 22° 45' N., 
 Ion. 87° 44' E. In 1814 the number 
 of inhabitants amounted to 18,145 
 persons. — (, 7. B. Bayley, Sfc.) 
 
 Chandernagore ( Chandranaga - 
 ra .) — A French settlement in the 
 province of Bengal, situated on the 
 west bank of the river Hooghly, 
 about sixteen miles direct distance 
 above Calcutta ; lat. 22° 49' N., Ion. 
 88° 26' E. The position of this town 
 is in every respect better than that of 
 Calcutta ; the territory originally at- 
 tached to it extended two miles 
 along the river, and one inland. In 
 1814 an enumeration was made of 
 the houses and inhabitants : when the 
 former were found to amount to 
 8,484, and the latter to 41,377 per- 
 sons ; the revenue for the preceding 
 year to 32,154 rupees. While under 
 the British government, the foreign 
 settlements of Chandernagore, Chin- 
 sura, and Serampoor swarmed with 
 receivers of stolen goods, who pur- 
 chased the stolen property clandes- 
 tinely imported from the British dis- 
 tricts ; and, on account of the facili- 
 ties afforded to this species of traffic, 
 their settlements were resorted to by 
 various classes of native blacklegs, 
 cheats, swindlers, hawkers, pedlars, 
 and fraudulent pawnbrokers. 
 
 On the 23d March 1757, Chander- 
 nagore was taken by the forces under 
 Admiral Watson and Colonel Clive, 
 after a most obstinate resistance, and 
 with great slaughter on board the 
 ships engaged. It has since remained 
 unfortified, and has been taken pos- 
 session of by the British government 
 without opposition on the commence- 
 ment of hostilities with France. On 
 the 4th December 1816 this settle- 
 ment was delivered over to Monsieur 
 Dayot, the governor delegated by the 
 French government to receive charge, 
 after having been (with the excep- 
 
392 
 
 V CH ANTIBUN. 
 
 tion of a few months in 1802) twen- 
 ty-three years occupied by British 
 troops and functionaries. — (IV. B. 
 Bay ley , J. Shakespear , Ives , Rennell , 
 $c.) 
 
 Chanderee (or Chindaree). — A 
 large district in the province of Mal- 
 wa, where it occupies an extent of 
 country in the north-east corner, 
 ninety miles from east to west, and 
 seventy from north to south. The 
 towns of most note are Raghooghur, 
 Seronge, Khimlassa, and Eesaughur ; 
 and the principal rivers the Sinde 
 and Betwa. In 1820 it produced a 
 revenue of five lacks of rupees to its 
 zemindar. Raja Murdan Singh, a tri- 
 butary to Dowlet Row Sindia. The 
 town of Chanderee, whence the name 
 of the district originates, is described 
 as a strong hill-fort with an exten- 
 sive pettah, both undergoing a rapid 
 decay; lat. 24° 32' N., Ion. 78° 10' 
 E ; forty-eight miles N.N.E. from 
 Seronge. — ( Malcolm , fyc.) 
 
 Chandode. — A large town belong- 
 ing to the Guicowar in Gujerat, the 
 head of a pergunnah, much inter- 
 sected with ravines and watercourses, 
 thirty-five miles E.N.E. from Broach; 
 lat. 22° 1' N., Ion. 20° 40' E. It 
 stands on the north bank of theNer- 
 budda, and is held in considerable 
 veneration by the Hindoos as a place 
 of sanctity. 
 
 Chandookee. — A district in the 
 province of Mooltan, subject to the 
 Ameers of Sinde, situated about the 
 twenty-seventh degree of north lati- 
 tude, and during the floods complete- 
 ly insulated by the Indus, the Lark- 
 hanu, and the Arul rivers, forming 
 an island of a triangular shape, which 
 is reckoned the most productive por- 
 tion of the province, and in 1813 
 was said to yield eight lacks of ru- 
 pees per annum. 
 
 Chandore. — A fortified town of 
 considerable size in the province of 
 Candeish, into which it commands 
 one of the best passes, eighty-five 
 miles W.N.W. from Aurungabad ; 
 lat. 20° 19' N., Ion. 74° 19' E. The 
 fortress of Chandore commands one 
 
 of the best passes on the range of 
 hills on which it stands. The hill or 
 rock actually forms the fort, which is 
 naturally strong, being quite inacces- 
 sible every where but at the gateway, 
 where alone it is fortified by art, and 
 there is but one entrance of any kind. 
 Notwithstanding this formidable po- 
 sition, it surrendered by capitulation 
 after a feeble resistance in 1804, to a 
 detachment under Colonel Wallace ; 
 and during the war of 1818, in con- 
 sequence of the severe example made 
 by Sir Thomas Hislop at Talnere, 
 the native commandant on the part 
 of Holcar, sent to notify his intention 
 of giving up the place without op- 
 position. After passing Chandore, 
 marching north towards the Tuptee, 
 the country is very wild, and occu- 
 pied by a half-civilized race of Bheels 
 and Patans. After crossing the Tup- 
 tee, the road to Oojein passes over 
 mountains to Chooly Mheshwar, on 
 the Nerbudda . — ( Maharatla Papers , 
 
 Chandragiri ( the moon moun- 
 tain J . — A large square fort in the 
 Malabar province, thirty miles south 
 from Mangalore, situated on the 
 south side of a river of the same 
 name, which is the northern boun- 
 dary of Malayala or Malabar. The 
 country on the south side is called 
 by the natives Tulava ; lat. 12°28'N., 
 Ion. 75° 7 ' E. 
 
 Changama. — A town in the Salem 
 province, seventy-five miles W. by N. 
 from Pondicherry ; lat. 12°18'N., Ion. 
 78° 50' E. This town contains a 
 lofty pagoda, and gives its name to 
 a winding pass of no difficulty, which 
 leads eastward through the chain of 
 mountains dividing the Carnatic from 
 the Barramahal. It stands on the 
 Carnatic side of the pass. — ( Fullar - 
 ton , Sfc.) 
 
 Chandsir. — A small town in the 
 British portion of the Candeish pro- 
 vince, situated on the Eena river, 
 eight miles E. by S. from Naundoor. 
 
 Chantibun ( or Chantibond ). — A 
 province in India beyond the Ganges, 
 formerly a part of the king lorn of 
 
CHATTERPOOR. 
 
 393 
 
 Cambodia, but in 1821 belonged to 
 Siam, having been conquered by Pia- 
 tack, the Chinese sovereign of Siam. 
 This is a mountainous country near 
 the head of the gulf, forming the 
 eastern boundary of Siam towards 
 Cambodia, from which it is separated 
 by a ridge of mountains. At a short 
 distance from the sea-coast there is 
 one of great elevation named Bom- 
 basoy, from which an extensive view 
 of the province may be had. 
 
 The principal exports are pepper, 
 benzoin, lac, ivory, aguilla-wood, 
 rhinoceros’ horns, hides of oxen, buf- 
 faloes, deer, &c., and gems of inferior 
 quality. The forests also abound with 
 excellent timber. All the produce 
 is carried to Bankok, the capital of 
 Siam, direct foreign commerce being 
 prohibited. The population consists 
 of Chinese, Cochin Chinese, Cambo- 
 dians, and Siamese ; but much the 
 greater proportion are said to be 
 Chinese, who engross the wealth and 
 traffic. In 1821 there were also from 
 200 to 300 native Christians, who, 
 like those of Siam, were under the 
 care of Joseph Florens, a French 
 priest and bishop of Metellopolis. 
 The governor at that date was a Chi- 
 nese. — {Finlay son, fyc.) 
 
 Chantibun. — A town of consi- 
 derable commerce in the gulf of Si- 
 am, the capital of the above province, 
 situated about five miles up a small 
 river, inlat. 12° 45' N., Ion. 102° 18' 
 E. It is an emporium for carda- 
 moms and pepper, cultivated by a 
 resident Chinese population; but the 
 Siamese exclude all strangers. — 
 ( Crawfurd , fyc.) 
 
 Chaprung. — A town or station 
 in Tibet or Southern Tartary, fifty 
 miles N.E. from Gangoutri ; lat. 31° 
 2? N., Ion. 79° 33' E. This place is 
 the residence of a Chinese zoom- 
 poong or governor, who collects the 
 tribute in the neighbourhood, and is 
 said to possess a fortress capable of 
 containing 1,000 men .— {James Fra- 
 zer , Sfc.) 
 
 Charnamagli ( or Soornamuclcy J 
 River. — A considerable stream that 
 
 rises in the mountains above Chand- 
 gherry, in the northern district of 
 Arcot, and after traversing the plains 
 over a broad sandy bed, falls into the 
 bay of Bengal. 
 
 Charkaira ( or Kairu). — A town 
 in the province of Candeish, district 
 of Hindia, six miles N.E. by E. from 
 Hurdah ; lat. 22° 27' N., Ion. 77° 4' 
 E. 
 
 Charwah. — A town with a small 
 square ghurry in the province of 
 Candeish, district of Bugwaneea, six- 
 tv-seven miles N.E. from Booran- 
 poor ; lat. 22° 5 ' N., Ion. 76° 57' E. 
 
 Chass. — A small town in the pro- 
 vince of Bengal, district of the Jungle 
 Mahals, situated on the new Benares 
 road, within four miles of the western 
 boundary of the above district and 
 that of Ramghur. 
 
 Ciiataperambah, — A hill in the 
 province of Malabar rising abruptly 
 from the south bank of the Beypoor 
 river, and about five miles to the 
 eastward of the village of Beypoor, 
 where the Kody Kullo or Pandoo 
 Coolies (ancient caves or cemeteries, 
 respecting the construction of which 
 there is no record) are particularly 
 numerous.— {Babingtcn, fyc.) 
 
 Chatna. — A small town in the 
 province of Bengal, district of the 
 Jungle Mahals, 108 miles from Cal- 
 cutta ; lat. 23° 20' N., Ion. 87° E. 
 
 Chatsoo. — A town in the Ajmeer 
 province, twenty-four travelling miles 
 S.S.E. from the city of Ajmeer; lat. 
 26° 38' N., Ion. 75° 47' E. This has 
 been a considerable place, but is now 
 so much decayed, and the walls so 
 dilapidated, that it is almost an open 
 town. — ( Fullarton , #c.) 
 
 Chatterghur. — A town in the 
 Agra province, south of the Chum- 
 bul, twenty-six miles east by south 
 from Gualior; lat. 26° 10' N., Ion. 
 78° 25' E. 
 
 Chatterpoor ( Ckattrapura ). — 
 A town in the province of Allahabad, 
 situated below the ghauts, about 135 
 miles W.S.W. from the city of Alla- 
 habad; lat. 24° 56' N., Ion. 79° 35" 
 
394 
 
 CHEDUBA ISLE. 
 
 E. It was founded while Bundel- 
 cund was ruled by its native chiefs, 
 by Raja Chuttersal, and was occa- 
 sionally his place of residence, which 
 rendered it flourishing, and a sort 
 of mart between Mirzapoor and the 
 Deccan. From this city, and from 
 the diamond mines of Pannah, al- 
 most the whole sayer duties were le- 
 vied, as there was then no other 
 mercantile town of magnitude in 
 Bundelcund ; but, in consequence of 
 the altered condition of Hindostan, 
 it has since greatly decayed. It still, 
 however, manufactures considerable 
 quantities of coarse cotton wrapper, 
 with which it supplies the merchan- 
 dize passing to and from the Deccan. 
 — (MSS., Ironside , Rennell, Franklin , 
 Src.) 
 
 Chattoor. — A town in the Car- 
 natic province, district of Madura, 
 112 miles N. by E. from Cape Co- 
 morin ; lat. 9° 41' N., Ion. 78° 1' E. 
 
 Chattra ( Kshetra ). — A town and 
 place of pilgrimage in Nepaul, eighty- 
 two miles N. by W. from Purnea, in 
 Bengal; lat. 26°53'xNT., Ion. 87° 4'E. 
 Near to this place is the temple of 
 Varaha Kshetra, dedicated to Vishnu 
 in the form of a boar, where holy 
 persons of the Hindoo faith some- 
 times bury themselves alive, on which 
 occasions they are supposed to be 
 inspired with the gift of prophecy. — 
 ( F . Buchanan , $c.) 
 
 Chauker. — A large district in the 
 province of Mooltan, intersected by 
 the Indus, and situated between the 
 twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth degrees 
 of north latitude. It belongs to the 
 Ameers of Sinde, but respecting the 
 condition of its interior nothing is 
 known, except that the soil is sandy 
 and indifferently cultivated. The chief 
 town is named Haulla. 
 
 Chaukna. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Aurungabad, nineteen miles 
 N. from Poona; lat. 18° 43' N., Ion. 
 74°3 / E. 
 
 Chaunchra. — A town in the Mal- 
 wa province, forty-two miles west 
 from Seronge ; lat. 24° 8' N., Ion. 77° 
 3'E. 
 
 Chayenpoor. — A tract of country 
 in Northern Hindostan, formed into 
 a district by the Gorkhas of Nepaul 
 a short time prior to 1809, under the 
 jurisdiction of a subah, who resides 
 at the town of Chayenpoor. The 
 hilly parts of Sikkim, as far as had 
 been subdued, and a portion of Ti- 
 bet bordering on the Arun river, 
 were annexed to the Chayenpoor 
 subahship, which is bounded by the 
 Sinklaya, Arun, and Kausiki on the 
 west, and to the east was formerly 
 bounded by the Teesta ; but since the 
 last Nepaulese war all the conquests 
 made by that people from the Sik- 
 kim Raja, east of the Mutchee river,, 
 and a line drawn from thence to the 
 hills, having been restored to him, 
 this district may be considered as 
 terminating at the boundaries last 
 specified. It consists altogether of 
 lofty mountains, rising in many parts 
 to the most tremendous alps, thinly 
 inhabited, and producing little re- 
 venue to the government. The forts 
 or stations are Chayenpoor, the ca- 
 pital, Changgeya, and Hidang, a large 
 place towards the frontiers of Tibet, 
 from whence salt (carried on sheep), 
 gold, silver, musk, musk-deer skins, 
 cowtails or chowries, blankets, borax, 
 Chinese silks, and medicinal herbs, 
 are imported. The goods sent north 
 from Chayenpoor are rice, wheat, oil, 
 butter, iron, copper, cotton cloth, 
 broad-cloth, catechu, myrobalans, 
 planks of the dhupi, pepper, indigo, 
 tobacco, hides, otter fur, sugar-candy, 
 extract of sugar-cane, and occasion- 
 ally some pearls. In the western por- 
 tion of Chayenpoor the most nume- 
 rous tribe is the Kirauts, next to 
 these the Limboos, then the Magar, 
 then the Khas tribe, and lastly the 
 Rajpoots. Within its limits there are 
 also some Murmis, and towards the 
 north some Bhooteas.) — >F. Bucha- 
 nan, $c.) 
 
 Chayenpoor. — A fortified town 
 in Nepaul, the capital of the preced- 
 ing district, 110 miles north from 
 Purneah, and five from the Arun 
 river; lat. 27° 18' N., Ion. 87° E. 
 
 Cheduba Isle. — A n island in the 
 
CHENDREE. 
 
 395 
 
 Bay of Bengal, lying off the coast of 
 Arracan; lat. 18° 48' N., Ion. 93° IE 
 E. It is the most westerly of a cluster, 
 and of a moderate height, with several 
 hummocks on it ; length thirty miles, 
 by about ten in breadth. It is but a 
 few miles distant from the main-land, 
 and between the two there is said to 
 be a good harbour ; but like the Arra- 
 can river it has the disadvantage of a 
 lee shore. Both Cheduba and the 
 adjacent isles are inhabited, and for- 
 merly cargoes of rice could be pro- 
 cured here. The interior channel 
 is annually navigated by many Bur- 
 mese trading boats, but does not 
 afford a safe passage for vessels of 
 burthen. Limestone is found here, 
 and the soil appears well adapted for 
 the cultivation of cotton. Squills 
 are also exported. 
 
 This island was taken from the 
 Burmese in 1824 by a British detach- 
 ment, with the loss of two killed and 
 thirty wounded, and was found to 
 contain only ten paras or small vil- 
 lages. It was hoped that it would 
 have proved a useful acquisition by 
 furnishing supplies to the army: but 
 with the exception of a few buffaloes, 
 no advantage resulted from its cap- 
 ture, and it proved the grave of its 
 garrison. It has not yet been sur- 
 veyed. — ( Symes , Elmore , Trant , Sfc.) 
 
 Cheeganee. — A small town in the 
 province of Candeish, pergunnah of 
 Cundwah, surrounded by a mud wall, 
 and defended by a small ghurry. In 
 1820 it contained 200 houses. — {Mal- 
 colm 3 fyc.) 
 
 Cheepaneer. — A town in the Mal- 
 wa province, situated on the north 
 bank of the Nerbudda river, fifty- 
 two miles S. by W. from Bopaul ; 
 lat. 22° 33' N., Ion. 77 ° 20' E. 
 
 Cheerun. — A large town in the 
 province of Bahar, district of Sarun, 
 situated below Chupra, to which it is 
 almost joined by a continued line of 
 villages. — ( Fullarton , $c.) 
 
 Cheesapany f or Cheesaghurry ) . — 
 A fortress in the Nepaulese territo- 
 ries, considered of great importance 
 by the Gorkhas as the southern key 
 
 of the Nepaul valley ; lat. 27° 33' N., 
 Ion. 84° 50' E. Some years ago this 
 fort was small and out of repair, but 
 since the commencement of the dis- 
 putes with the British government it 
 has been enlarged and strengthened ; 
 but it is erroneously placed, as an 
 assailant might go round it, and get 
 so high above as completely to com- 
 mand it. By the Gorkhas it is con- 
 sidered a sort of forlorn hope, 
 there being a practicable road from 
 hence the whole way to Catmandoo 
 unobstructed by fortifications. The 
 name is derived from a spring of cold 
 water, which, according to barome- 
 trical observations, is 5,818 feet above 
 the plains of Bengal. At Cheesa- 
 pany there is a regular custom-house 
 established, where the imposts and 
 duties on articles of traffic from the 
 British and Oude territories are le- 
 vied . — {Abdul Russool, Kir/cpatrick , 
 Colebrooke , fyc.) 
 
 Cheetakeiree. — A large village 
 in the province of Ajmeer, pergun- 
 nah of Jawud, belonging to Sindia, 
 to whom in 1820 it yielded, with 
 fourteen other subordinate villages, 
 a revenue of 6,450 rupees. — ( Mal- 
 colm , fyc.) 
 
 Cheetul.— A town in the Gujerat 
 peninsula, eighty-three miles N.N.E. 
 from Diu Head ; lat. 21° 42' N., Ion. 
 71° 9' E. 
 
 Cheinpoor. — A large ruined town 
 in the province of Candeish, situated 
 on the Agnee river, on the high road 
 from Bhamghur to Charwah in Sin- 
 dia’s territory. In 1820 it was quite 
 deserted. — ( Malcolm , fyc.) 
 
 Chendree ( or Tanna ). — A town 
 in the province of Bejapoor, district 
 of the Northern Concan. Shortly 
 after the appearance of the cholera 
 at this place in 1820, the Catholic 
 Christian fishermen quarrelled with 
 their vicar because he would not 
 permit them to perform certain su- 
 perstitious pranks (such as dancing 
 franticly in a circle, during which the 
 dancers are sprinkled with coloured 
 water), to propitiate the deity sup- 
 posed to preside over this malady. 
 
396 
 
 CHICKLEE. 
 
 The judge prohibited such practices, 
 but the Cooly Christians continued 
 refractory, and laid a dead body at 
 the door of the court of justice. 
 They also petitioned that a Hindoo 
 priest might be formally authorized 
 to perform the marriage ceremony 
 among them, but the judge declined 
 interfering, and recommended the 
 appointment of a new vicar-general 
 to prevent total apostacy. — ( Babing - 
 ton , Public MS. Documents , fyc.) 
 
 Chendwassa. — A small decayed 
 town in the province of Malwa, the 
 cusba or head of a pergunnah of 
 Forty villages, belonging to Holcar’s 
 district of Rampoora, from which it 
 lies south eighteen miles ; lat. 24° 13' 
 N., Ion. 75° 32' E. -(Malcolm, $c.) 
 
 Chepal. — A small town in North- 
 ern Hindostan, ten miles N.E. from 
 the Chur station ; lat. 30° 56" N., 
 Ion. 77 ° 35' E. 
 
 Cheriaghaut^ or bird passage ) . — 
 A strong pass in the Nepaul territo- 
 ries, about seven miles from Bee- 
 chiaco, but commanded by two hills. 
 The road from hence to Hethaura is 
 very good for loaded cattle, and might 
 be easily rendered fit for carts. 
 
 Ciieribon (in Java). — See Sheri- 
 bon. 
 
 Cherical. — At present a small 
 subdivision of the Malabar province, 
 situated about the twelfth degree of 
 north latitude, which formerly gave 
 its name to an extensive tract of 
 country then subject to the Cherical 
 Rajas. 
 
 Cherooter. — A district in the pro- 
 vince of Gujerat, extending along the 
 west side of the river Mahy, belong- 
 ing to the Guicowar and the British 
 government. The principal towns 
 are Cambay, Pitland, Ballasinore, and 
 Beerpoor; but the name as distinctive 
 of a geographical subdivision is now 
 almost obsolete. 
 
 Chetrole. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Cutch, twenty miles N. by 
 W. from Mallia. Lat. 23° 12' N., Ion. 
 70° 48' E. 
 
 Chicacole.— (See Cicacole.) 
 
 Chicanhually. — A large square 
 town in the Mysore, strongly fortified 
 with mud walls, cavaliers at the an- 
 gles, and in the centre a square ci- 
 tadel, fortified in the same manner. 
 Lat. ] 3° 25' N., Ion. 76° 40' E., sixty- 
 seven miles N. from Seringapatam. — 
 (F. Buchanan , tyc.) 
 
 Chica Balapoor. — A town in the 
 Mysore Raja’s territories, also named 
 Chinabalabaram, thirty-six miles N. 
 by E. from Bangalore. Lat. 13° 26' 
 N., Ion. 77 ° 47 ' E. Sugar-candy is 
 made here equal to that of China, 
 and the clayed sugar is very white 
 and fine ; but the art being a secret, 
 it is sold so dear, that the Chinese 
 sugar-candy can be purchased cheaper 
 at Seringapatam than this can be on 
 the very spot where it is produced. 
 — (F. Buchanan , fyc.) 
 
 Chicamogloor. — A town in the 
 Mysore territories, eighty-five miles 
 N.W. from Seringaoatam. Lat. 13° 
 18' N., Ion. 75° 54' E. 
 
 Chicha cotta ( Chichacata). — A 
 small town situated in the portion of 
 the plain belonging to Bootan, nine- 
 teen miles N. from Cooch Bahar; 
 lat. 26° 85' N., Ion. 89° 43' E. Dur- 
 ing the rupture that took place in 
 A.D. 1772, Chichacotta was taken by 
 a Bengal detachment from the Boo- 
 tanners, after having been defended 
 with more obstinacy and personal 
 courage than they usually display; 
 but with matchlocks, sabres, and 
 bows, they could not long contend 
 with firelocks, discipline, and artil- 
 lery. It was restored to them on the 
 conclusion of the war, and is still, 
 though small, the principal town on 
 this frontier. 
 
 Chicherowly. — A fortified town 
 in the province of Delhi, twenty-two 
 miles N.N.W. from Saharunpoor, 
 which was taken possession of in 
 1818, by a detachment under Briga- 
 dier-general Arnold; the chief, Jodh 
 Singh Kulsia, and his people having 
 been refractory. Lat. 30° 15' N., Ion. 
 77° 21'. 
 
 Chicklee. — Atownin the province 
 of Malwa^ eleven miles W.S.W. from 
 
CH’HILLI. 
 
 397 
 
 Oojein, which in 1820 contained 300 
 houses. — ( Malcolm , $c.) 
 
 Chickoory ( Chicuri ). — A consi- 
 derable town, with an extensive bazar, 
 in the province of Bejapoor, twenty- 
 six miles S. from Meritch ; lat. 1 6° 
 28' N., Ion. 74° 44' E. This place is 
 pleasantly situated in the midst of an 
 amphitheatre of hills, and intersected 
 by a rivulet which forms a cascade 
 within the town, the neighbourhood 
 of which is noted for producing grapes 
 of an extraordinary size. At present 
 it belongs to the Colapoor Raja. — 
 ( Fullarton , Moor , Sj-c.) 
 
 Chiculdah. — A small town be- 
 longing to Holcar in the province of 
 Malwa, situated on the north bank of 
 the Nerbudda, fourteen miles S.E. of 
 Hooksee, and twent}'-one miles west 
 of Bancaneer ; lat. 22° 8' N., Ion. 74° 
 50'E. In 1820 it contained 300 houses, 
 enclosed by a mud wall and a small 
 ruinous ghurry. — ( Malcolm , Sf-c.) 
 
 Chilaw. — A small town in Ceylon 
 situated on a peninsula formed by 
 two branches of the river ; lat. 7° 
 33' N., Ion. 79° 40' E., forty-five 
 miles north from Columbo. A pearl 
 fishery is occasionally carried on here, 
 but much inferior to that of Con- 
 datchy Bay, yet one year it yielded a 
 revenue of 40,000 pagodas. The 
 coast from Chilaw to Negombo is flat, 
 sandy, and open, with little cultiva- 
 tion. — ( Cordiner , Sf-c.) 
 
 Chilka Lake. — This lake sepa- 
 rates the five Northern Circars to- 
 wards the sea from the province of 
 Cuttack. In length it may be es- 
 timated at thirty-five miles, by eight 
 the average breadth ; is very shallow ; 
 contains many inhabited islands, but 
 towards the north end is much broken 
 into narrow channels, winding among 
 low swampy islands. Its general 
 depth is about four feet and a half, 
 and the greatest six feet, but it is 
 considered to be rapidly filling up. 
 It appears to have been an operation 
 of the sea on a sandy shore, the ele- 
 vation of which was little above the 
 level of the country within the beach, 
 and native traditions fix this event 
 
 about the third century of the Chris- 
 tian era. On the N.W. it is bounded 
 by a ridge of mountains which ex- 
 tends from the Mahanuddy to the 
 Godavery river, and encloses the 
 Northern Circars towards the in- 
 terior; it consequently forms a pass 
 on each side into the province of 
 Cuttack, and the southern half pre- 
 sents a diversity of objects, moun- 
 tains, islands, and forests. Viewed 
 from the sea it has the appearance 
 of a deep bay, the slip of land which 
 separates them not being visible. 
 This is a mere neck of sand, less 
 than a mile, and penetrated by se- 
 veral channels. In 1 821 an engineer 
 officer was deputed to examine these, 
 and to report on the practicability of 
 removing the bar that threatened to 
 prevent the ingress and egress of the 
 sea, and thereby injure the govern- 
 ment salt manufactures on its banks, 
 obtained by solar evaporation, to the 
 amount of 200,000 maunds annually. 
 
 The Chilka lake is navigated by 
 large flat-bottomed boxes called pad- 
 dy boats, forty-five feet long, seven 
 deep, and five wide, with perpen- 
 dicular sides, converging by sharp 
 angles to a point at each extremity. 
 North of Paloor the Chilka expands 
 to a magnificent sheet of water, in- 
 terspersed with a few rocky islands, 
 consisting of huge rounded blocks of 
 a highly indurated porphyritic gra- 
 nite, piled on each other in the 
 wildest confusion and most fantastic 
 shapes. The islands and banks are 
 studded with small hamlets, and fishe- 
 ries by dams and wicker baskets, 
 are largely carried on for salting and 
 exportation to the interior. The salt 
 is entirely procured by evaporation, 
 without the slightest aid from fire. 
 The banks, and even the naked sands, 
 abound with flocks of antelopes, and 
 birds of the crane family — ( Stirling , 
 Fullarton , Fennell , Public MS. Do- 
 cuments , Uptoiiy tyc.) 
 
 Ch’hilli. — A small territory in 
 Northern Hindostan subject to the 
 Nepaulese, situated partly on the 
 plains and partly on the hills border- 
 ing the King of Oude’s dominions, 
 
398 
 
 CHINACHIN. 
 
 about ninety-five miles N.N.E. from 
 Lucknow. The chief’s house is si- 
 tuated on a hill, where it is surround- 
 ed by 200 huts and houses. 
 
 Chilkana. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Delhi, eight miles N.N.W. 
 from Saharunpoor. Lat. 30° 5' N., 
 Ion. 77° 27' E. 
 
 Chilkauree. — A town in the Gu- 
 jerat province, 102 miles E.N.E. from 
 Ahmedabad; lat. 23° 25' N., Ion. 74° 
 13' E. 
 
 Chilkeah. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Delhi, district of Bareily, 
 forty-two miles N.E. from Morada- 
 bad ; lat. 29° 24' N., Ion. 79° 5' E. 
 This neighbourhood is celebrated for 
 its bamboos, which though small are 
 remarkably tough, and seem to gain 
 consistence and soundness from a 
 certain degree of frost. The same 
 is said also as to the plantains. The 
 inhabitants in this neighbourhood 
 have yellow unhealthy skins, a dull 
 fierce look, ragged and scanty clothing, 
 swords, and shields, as in the other 
 part of this inhospitable belt (the 
 Terriani); the place is nevertheless 
 of importance, being one of the prin- 
 cipal marts of trade with Kumaon, 
 and through that district with Tibet 
 and Tartary. At certain seasons of 
 the year a great many temporary huts 
 are erected for the accommodation 
 of traders, and here English cloths 
 and Eastern shawls are seen exposed 
 for sale in huts not better than pig- 
 styes. When the unhealthy season 
 returns all these are abandoned and 
 rot to pieces. 
 
 Chilmarry^ Chalamari ) . — Atown 
 in the province of Bengal, district of 
 Rungpoor, situated on the banks of 
 the great Brahmaputra, about 130 
 miles N. by W. from Dacca ; lat. 
 25° 25' N., Ion. 88° 42' E. This is 
 a place of considerable resort, which 
 in 1810 contained about 400 houses, 
 and was the usual residence of the 
 commissioner of Cooch Bahar ; but 
 it is principally remarkable for its 
 vicinity to Varuni Chur. This is an 
 extensive sandbank in the bed of the 
 river, where Hindoo pilgrims in great 
 
 numbers assemble during a certain 
 festival, and, as is customary on these 
 occasions, transact much commercial 
 business. In ordinary years about 
 60,000 are said to meet ; but the 
 number increases to 100,000 when 
 the festival happens on a Wednesday, 
 on which event devotees arrive even 
 from Benares and Juggernauth. — 
 ( F . Buchanan , #c.) 
 
 Chillambaram. — A considerable 
 town in the Carnatic, situated on 
 the sea-coast three miles south from 
 Portonovo, and thirty-six miles south 
 of Pondicherry ; lat. 11° 28' N., Ion. 
 79° 47' E. At a short distance to 
 the south the river Coleroon dis- 
 charges itself into the sea by three 
 sandy outlets, two of great expanse. 
 Ferry boats are established on two 
 during the south-west monsoon, 
 when the parent river, the Cavery, 
 overflows, but the middle branch is 
 fordable at all seasons. In 1820 there 
 was an extensive indigo concern car- 
 ried on at Chillambaram, and the 
 islands on the Coleroon were covered 
 with the indigo plant. — ( Fullarton , 
 $c.) 
 
 Chillambaram Pagodas. — Hin- 
 doo temples in the Carnatic, adjacent 
 to the town of Chillambaram above 
 described. There are four pyramidi- 
 cal gateways, facing respectively the 
 four cardinal points, all much in the 
 same style of architecture, and co- 
 vered with antique sculptures. The 
 whole structure extends 1,332 feet in 
 one direction, and 936 in another, 
 and besides the principal sanctuary 
 contains a spacious tank, numerous 
 choultries, and subordinate temples, 
 which last are all neatly roofed with 
 copper. The interior ceilings of these 
 also are fantastically decorated with 
 mythological paintings; but Sivapati 
 is the principal object of worship. 
 The whole of the architecture has a 
 more ancient appearance than that of 
 Tanjore or Ramisseram. — ( Fullarton , 
 Sonnerat , Lord Valentia , Sfc.) 
 
 Chinachin. — A large scattered 
 place in the Nepaulese dominions, 
 the houses of which are built of brick 
 
CHINCHOOll. 
 
 399 
 
 anti stone, with flat roofs ; lat. 29° 13' 
 N., Ion. 81° 15' E., 160 miles N. by 
 E. from Lucknow. Here are two 
 temples dedicated to Siva, one named 
 Chandranath, and the other Bhaira- 
 vanath. Merchants from the south 
 repair here to purchase horses, bring- 
 ing up with them metals, spices, and 
 cloth, and carrying down cow-tails, 
 salt, horses, a kind of woollen cloth, 
 medicinal herbs, and musk. In the 
 markets, according to native accounts, 
 many sheep and goats are exposed to 
 sale, bearing loads of salt, musk, me- 
 dicinal herbs, and a seed named bari- 
 yal bhera. In the vicinity are some 
 of the cattle whose tails form the 
 ehowries, and they are very numerous 
 in the hilly parts. Of these cattle 
 there are said to be three species, the 
 chowry, the looloo, and the jhogo, 
 the two last having tails bushy from 
 the root ; the chowry sort being the 
 most valuable. — ( F . Buchanan , Sec.) 
 
 Chinapatam. — An open town in 
 the Mysore dominions, which in A.D. 
 1800 contained about 1,000 houses, 
 with a handsome stone fort at a little 
 distance; lat. 13°36 / N., Ion. 77° 17' 
 E., thirty-nine miles E.N.E. from 
 Seringapatam. — ( F . Buchanan, #c.) 
 
 Chinaub ( orAcesines ). — This river 
 has its source in the southern decli- 
 vity of the Himalaya mountains, near 
 the south-east corner of Cashmere, 
 in the alpine district of Kishtewar, 
 from whence it flows in a south-west- 
 erly direction until it unites with the 
 Jhylum, or Hydaspes, at Tremmoo 
 Ghaut ; lat. 30° 55' N. This is the 
 largest of the Punjab streams. At 
 Vizierabad Ghaut, fifty miles north 
 from Lahore, on the 31st of July 
 1809, it measured one mile three 
 furlongs and twenty perches across, 
 was fourteen feet deep, with a current 
 of about five miles per hour ; but at 
 the same place, in the dry season, its 
 channel does not exceed 300 yards 
 across. There is not any ascertained 
 ford to the south of the hills ; but it 
 is easily crossed at the points where 
 the banks are low and the bed wide, 
 there being only a short distance in 
 the centre to swim over The banks 
 
 above the ghauts are low and well 
 wooded, but the trees so small that 
 timber for boat-building is floated 
 down from the hills 150 miles further 
 up, where it is abundant. 
 
 The ancient Hindoo name of this 
 river is Chandrabhaga, or Chandra- 
 sarita, and it is considered to be the 
 Acesines of Alexander. Its junction 
 with the Jhylum is effected with con- 
 siderable noise and violence, which 
 circumstance is noticed both by the 
 historians of Alexander and Timour. 
 The course of the Chinaub from the 
 snowy mountains to Mittenda ghaut, 
 where combined with the Jhylum it 
 unites with the Indus, may, including 
 windings, be estimated at 650 miles. 
 — ( Rennell , Mac Cartney , Wilford , 
 $c.) 
 
 Chinchew ( or Chang) Bay. — A 
 spacious bay and harbour in Cochin 
 China, completely sheltered from all 
 winds, but only accessible to large 
 vessels at high water; lat. 13° 50' N. 
 At the head of this bay the city of 
 Quin-nong is situated. 
 
 Chinchoor. — A small town in the 
 province of Aurungabad, situated on 
 the road from Bombay to Poona, and 
 about ten miles N.N.W. from that 
 city; lat. 18° 37' N., Ion. 73° 56' E. 
 It is pleasantly situated on the banks 
 of a river, and is said to contain 5,000 
 inhabitants, including 300 Brahmin 
 families. But it is principally remark- 
 able as the residence of Chintamun 
 Deo, whom a great proportion of the 
 Maharatta nation believe to be an 
 incarnation of their favourite deity 
 Goonputty. The present (in 1820) 
 is the eighth in descent from the first, 
 and they take alternately the name 
 of Chintamun Deo and Narrain Deo. 
 The Brahmins relate that each Deo 
 on his death has been burned, and 
 invariably a small image of Goon- 
 putty has miraculously risen from the 
 ashes, which is placed in a tomb and 
 worshipped. Although the Deo be 
 an incarnation of Goonputty, he per- 
 forms pooja (worship) to his other 
 self in the form of a statue ; for 
 the latter, the Brahmins say, is the 
 greatest, the intensity of his power 
 
400 
 
 CHINGLEPUT. 
 
 not being diminished by the incarna- 
 tion. 
 
 This Deo is ex officio a dewannah, 
 or fool ; but the term fool does not 
 in this instance, as in most others, 
 give the best translation of the word. 
 He is totally unmindful and ignorant 
 of worldly affairs ; unable (the Brah- 
 mins say) to hold conversation be- 
 yond the proposition, reply, and re- 
 joinder, and then in a childish blub- 
 bering manner. In other respects 
 his ordinary occupations do not ma- 
 terially differ from those of other 
 men ; for he eats, drinks, takes 
 wives to himself, &c. like other 
 Brahmins. In 1809 the Deo was a 
 boy twelve years old, and in 1820, 
 when Chinchoor was visited by Mr. 
 Fullarton, the same individual was 
 the existing divinity. His palace is 
 an enormous pile of building near 
 the Moota river, on the banks of 
 which the town stands. The floors 
 of this edifice are spread over with 
 the sacred cow-dung, and the apart- 
 ments crowded with sleek, shining, 
 and well-fed Brahmins. Near the 
 palace are the tombs of former 
 Deos, which are so many small tem- 
 ples, enclosed and planted round 
 with trees, and communicating by 
 steps with the river. Here goes on 
 the business of worship. In one 
 place women are seen pouring oil, 
 water, and milk over the images of 
 the gods ; in another, children deck- 
 ing themselves with flowers. Here pil- 
 grims and devotees performing their 
 ablutions ; and there priests chanting 
 portions of the sacred poems : the 
 whole proceeding with the most list- 
 less indolence and apathy. — ( Lord 
 Valentia , Moor , M. Graham , #c.) 
 
 Chingleput (or the jaghire ). — 
 The ancient acquisitions of the East- 
 India Company in the Carnatic por- 
 vince formerly denominated the jag- 
 hire, now form the collectorate of 
 Chingleput. To the north it is 
 bounded by the Nellore district ; on 
 the south by the southern division of 
 Arcot ; on the east it has the bay of 
 Bengal; and on the west the northern 
 and southern Arcot districts. The 
 
 space originally termed the jaghire 
 extends northward to the Pulieat 
 lake; southwards to Aliumparva, and 
 westward to Con jeveram ; being about 
 1 08 miles along shore, and forty-seven 
 inland in the widest part, containing 
 altogether 2,440 square miles. 
 
 The soil of this district is in most 
 parts indifferent. Rocks, or large 
 detached masses of granite, project in 
 the fields, and almost every where 
 the country is overrun with low 
 prickly bushes; yet the palmyra thrives 
 without trouble, and is both cheap 
 and abundant. The tari or fermented 
 juice, and the jagary or inspissated 
 juice of the tree (the borassus flabel- 
 liformis ) are much esteemed, and 
 could the latter be converted to sugar 
 or to a palatable spirituous liquor, 
 the barren plains of the Carnatic 
 might be rendered productive. Bam- 
 boos are very scarce, and sell for 
 three times their cost in Calcutta, 
 but recently the inhabitants have 
 been encouraged to plant them round 
 their houses. At Sri Permaturu there 
 is a tank equal to the watering of 
 2,500 acres. 
 
 The tract of territory named the 
 Jaghire was obtained in 1750 and 
 1763 from the nabob of Arcot, in re- 
 turn for services rendered to him and 
 to his father by the Companj 7 , and 
 was rented to the nabob on renewed 
 leases until 1780, when the Madras 
 presidency assumed the direct ma- 
 nagement. This district was twice 
 invaded by Hyder Ali, in 1768 and 
 in 1780, when he ravaged it with fire 
 and sword so effectually, that at the 
 termination of the latter war, in 1784, 
 hardly any other signs were left in 
 many parts of the country of its ever 
 having been inhabited than the bones 
 of the massacred, and the naked walls 
 of the houses, choultries, and tem- 
 ples that had been destroyed. To 
 the havoc of war succeeded a destruc- 
 tive famine ; and the emigration, from 
 these combined causes, nearly com- 
 pleted the depopulation of the coun- 
 try. In 1790 the jaghire was divided 
 into two collectorships ; but in 1794 
 was united again, under the manage- 
 ment of Mr. Place, who continued un- 
 
CHINRAYAPATAM. 401 
 
 til 1798, during which period it gradu- 
 ally improved. Annual village settle- 
 ments continued to be made until 1802, 
 when the permanent assessment took 
 place, the lands having previously 
 been divided into sixty-one estates, 
 sold to individuals, and bearing an 
 assessment of from 2,000 to 5,000 
 pagodas. In 1817 the total gross 
 collection of the public revenue in all 
 its branches amounted to 413,034 
 pagodas; and in 1822, according to 
 the returns made to government by 
 the collectors, the total population 
 amounted to 363,129 persons. Be- 
 sides Madras, the principal towns are 
 Chingleput and Conjeveram. — ( F . 
 Buchanan , Fifth Report , Rennell , 
 Public MS. Documents , Sfc.) 
 
 Chingleput ( Singhalapetta ). — 
 The capital of the preceding district, 
 situated on a stream that falls into 
 the Palaur, half a mile west of the 
 town ; lat. 12° 46' N., Ion. 80° E., 
 thirty-eight miles S.S.W. from Ma- 
 dras. Chingleput lies in a small val- 
 ley confined on all sides by hills, and 
 nearly half covered by the waters of 
 a beautiful artificial lake. The town 
 without the walls is little better than 
 a large village ; but the fort is an im- 
 mense work, and has been of great 
 strength, though now decayed, and 
 the ramparts overgrown by peepui- 
 trees and creepers, and garrisoned by 
 a few invalids. It encloses various 
 buildings, and is overtopped by the 
 battlements of an inner fort, where 
 in the ruins of a palace the public 
 functionaries of the station hold their 
 courts and offices. In A.D. 1751 the 
 French took Chingleput ; but it was 
 retaken in 1752 by Capt. Clive, after 
 a short siege. — ( Fullarton , Or me, §c.) 
 
 Chini.— A large village in North- 
 ern Hindostan, district of Kunawar, 
 contiguous to which are several 
 others, 10,200 feet above the level 
 of the sea, at which enormous eleva- 
 tion grapes are found in the greatest 
 perfection, eighteen different varieties 
 being cultivated in Kunawar. In the 
 vicinity of this place there is much 
 cultivated land, and many luxuriant 
 vineyards. Opposite are the huge 
 
 VOL. i. 
 
 Ralldang peaks. — ( Messrs. Gerards , 
 *c.) 
 
 Chinnoor. — A small town in the^ 
 province of Beeder, seventy miles N. 
 from Warangol; lat, 18° 53' N., Ion. 
 79°39 / E. 
 
 Chinsura f Chinchura). — A Dutch 
 settlement in the province of Bengal, 
 situated on the west side of the 
 Hooghly, eighteen miles direct dis- 
 tance from Calcutta ; lat. 22° 52' N., 
 Ion. 88° 28' E. The first factory of 
 the Dutch East-India Company was 
 erected here in 1656, and the site, on 
 the whole, is much preferable to that 
 of Calcutta. In 1769 Chinsura was 
 blockaded by the Nabob of Bengal’s 
 forces to compel the payment of ar- 
 rears of duties, although the province 
 was then actually possessed by the 
 English East-India Company. In 
 1814 the total revenues of Chinsura 
 and Barnagore amounted to 17,988 
 rupees. 
 
 Schools were established at Chin- 
 sura and in its vicinity, with the view 
 of instructing native children in read- 
 ing, writing, and arithmetic, in the 
 Bengalese language, on an improved 
 and economical system. In 1814 the 
 total number of children on the books 
 of fifteen village schools was 1,080; 
 and the number of those who regularly 
 attended, 861. The greater propor- 
 tion of the teachers were Brahmins ; 
 the remainder, of the writer caste. A 
 few of the more advanced boys were 
 taught English, chiefly as a reward 
 for their proficiency in their own lan- 
 guage and general good conduct ; but 
 it is very desirable that this branch 
 of education should be more directly 
 encouraged, so that the English lan- 
 guage may occupy the place of the 
 Persian (also a foreign language) in 
 public courts and documents, and 
 bring the conquerors and the conquer- 
 ed to a closer community of interests 
 and ideas. — ( Stavorinus , Rennell , 
 May , Sfc.) 
 
 Chinrayapatam ( Chin Raya Pa - 
 tam ). — A town in the Mysore raja’s 
 territories, thirty-seven miles N. by 
 W. from Seringapatam ; lat. 12° 52' 
 N., Ion. 76° 29' E. 
 
 2 D 
 
402 
 
 CHITTAGONG. 
 
 Chipula Peak. — A mountain peak 
 in Northern Hindostan, fifty miles 
 N.E. from Almora, and eight N.W. 
 from the Cali river ; lat. 29° 56' N., 
 Ion. 80° 24' E.; 13,257 feet above the 
 level of the sea. 
 
 Chiraleea. — A small town in the 
 province of Ajmeer, district of Har- 
 rowty, in the valley of Neony, which 
 in 1820 contained about 1,000 inhabi- 
 tants. 
 
 Chircari. — A town in theprovince 
 of Allahabad, sixteen miles N.E. from 
 Jeitpoor ; lat. 25° 26' N., Ion. 79° 43' 
 E. 
 
 Chirgong. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Allahabad, sixteen miles 
 N.E. from Jansi ; lat. 25° 34' N., 
 Ion. 78° 41' E. 
 
 Chiring. — A fortified post in 
 Northern Hindostan, thirty-nine miles 
 E.S.E. from Serinagur ; lat. 30° 6' N., 
 Ion. 79° 24' E. 
 
 Chitlong. — A small town in North- 
 ern Hindostan, situated in a small 
 valley named Lahong Nepaul, which 
 formerly belonged to the rajah of La- 
 lita Patan ; lat. 27° 38' N., Ion. 84° 
 49' E. In 1790 it contained a few 
 well-built brick and tiled houses, of 
 two and three stories, and was princi- 
 pally inhabited by Newars. The win- 
 ters here are never severe, and at that 
 season the fields produce a crop of 
 wheat, while in summer they yield 
 one of rice. — ( Kirkpatric/c , Sec.) 
 
 Chitore — See Odeypoor Princi- 
 pality. 
 
 Chitoung. — A town in the king- 
 dom of Pegu situated on the east 
 side of a river of the same name, 
 about a mile in breadth, to the west 
 of which the country is flat. In the 
 neighbourhood are a few straggling 
 villages, and the country generally is 
 but thinly inhabited. — ( Carey , Jun .) 
 
 Chitowa. — A small town in the 
 province of Delhi, thirty-three miles 
 outh from Saharunpoor ; lat. 29° 33' 
 N., Ion. 77 ° 39' E. 
 
 Chittagong ( Chaturgrama ) . — A 
 istrict in the province of Bengal, of 
 
 which it occupies the south-eastern 
 extremity. To the north it is bound- 
 ed by the Tipera district ; on the south, 
 by Arracan ; to the east it has the 
 Burmese empire; and on the west 
 the sea. In length it may be estimat- 
 ed at about 120 miles, by twenty-five 
 the average breadth. In 1784 this 
 district was estimated to contain about 
 2,987 square miles of unproductive 
 hilly country and plain arable land, 
 in the proportion of two to one, and 
 was originally subdivided into four 
 moderately large, and 140 very small 
 pergunnahs, partitioned among 1,400 
 landholders. This distribution origi- 
 nated in consequence of the whole 
 district having formerly been assigned 
 for the militia, or garrison troops, 
 constantly maintained here for pro- 
 tection against the incursions of the 
 Mughs of Arracan ; these in process 
 of time became zemindaries, when 
 the military establishment ceased to 
 be necessary. The islands of Hattia, 
 Sundeep, and Bameeny, although se- 
 parated from Chittagong by large 
 arms of the sea, frequently impass- 
 able during stormy weather, are sub- 
 ordinate to the jurisdiction of its ma- 
 gistrate. Throughout this district 
 the rainy season sets in earlier, and 
 continues later, than in most other 
 parts of the Bengal province, and 
 sometimes is not over until the mid- 
 dle of November. 
 
 The Chittagong river has been sur- 
 veyed, but has not been found suffi- 
 ciently deep for ships of any conside- 
 rable burthen ; and although there are 
 a great many openings on the sea- 
 coast between that and the Arracan 
 river, yet after a strict survey, it has 
 been found that their mouths are all 
 choked up by sand-banks, so as only 
 to admit ships of very small draft of 
 water over the bar. One opening, 
 about forty miles south of Islamabad, 
 leads into a commodious harbour 
 behind the island of Kutubdea, where 
 there is water for a ship of any size ; 
 but its mouth is so surrounded with 
 shoals and sand-banks for a consider- 
 able way out to sea, and the whole 
 upper part of the bay of Bengal is so 
 full of unascertained dangers, that it is 
 
CHITTAGONG 
 
 403 
 
 probable the Kutubdea harbour would 
 never become of practical utility to 
 ships of large burthen. 
 
 In 1814 it was ascertained that the 
 southern portion of Chittagong, to- 
 wards the Nauf, was not so moun- 
 tainous or impervious a country as 
 had been supposed. The names put 
 down in Major Rennell’s map are 
 not those of villages but vallies, 
 there not being any villages or small 
 towns between Islamabad and Ra- 
 moo. The Bengalese here live in 
 detached houses ; but at stated times, 
 once or twice a week, assemble in 
 open market places to buy and sell 
 what is wanted, and occasionally a 
 huckster’s shop may be met with. 
 Between the different ranges of hills 
 there are many plains and vallies, sus- 
 ceptible of great improvement, of 
 which description are the plains of 
 Chuckareah, Ramoo, and Gurganeah, 
 the last estimated at ten miles extent 
 each way, having the river Cali wind- 
 ing through it. Until about 1783, 
 the cultivators of this portion of 
 Chittagong were all Bengalese Hin- 
 doos, but after the conquest of Arra- 
 can in that year by the Burmese, a 
 large migration of Mughs into the 
 British territories took place, some 
 few of whom adopted agricultural 
 pursuits; but the majority became 
 petty traders in wood, gurjan, oil, 
 cotton cloths, cotton, bamboo mats, 
 and similar commodities; while others 
 settled as mechanics, canoe builders, 
 cutters of wood for ship planks, and 
 crooked timber for knees. In this 
 tract the soil is so fertile, that very 
 little labour insures redundant crops. 
 In 1814 the Mugh population settled 
 within twelve miles of Ramoo was 
 very numerous, and at that date 
 Coxe’s Bazar alone contained 800 
 Mugh huts, all inhabited by that race, 
 who were very submissive to the ex- 
 patriated chiefs and priests residing 
 among them. 
 
 Remote from the sea-coast the in- 
 terior of Chittagong has a hilly sur- 
 face, at present much covered with 
 jungle, but, there is reason to suppose, 
 adapted for the cultivation of coffee, 
 pepper, and the valuable spices of 
 
 the East ; but owing to its peculiar 
 mountainous and maritime topogra- 
 phy, the district generally is exposed 
 to several disadvantages incidental to 
 its situation. The landed proprie- 
 tors whose estates lie along the sea 
 shore, are compelled to guard them 
 against the invasions of that element ; 
 while those of the interior, being 
 subject to inundations from the moun- 
 tain torrents, are obliged to observe 
 similar precautions, and in reality 
 the exertions of the inhabitants to 
 preserve their crops is deserving of 
 commendation. At the time of the 
 decennial land settlement, the waste 
 lands were excluded from the settle- 
 ment by circumstances peculiar to 
 the district, but when cleared they 
 all become liable to the public reve- 
 nue. Landed property here is for 
 the most part distributed into very 
 small portions, among numerous pro- 
 prietors, occasioning everlasting dis- 
 putes respecting boundaries. Exclu- 
 sive of the Mugh settlers, the total 
 number of inhabitants in 1801 was 
 estimated at 1,200,000; but this ap- 
 pears a large number when the limit- 
 ed area and physical circumstances 
 of the district are considered. The 
 Mahomedans here exceed the Hin- 
 doos in the proportion of three to 
 two, but so little bigotted are they, 
 that many have adopted the Brahmi- 
 nical doctrines of caste and purity; 
 and it is remarkable also, that al- 
 though Chittagong was so long pos- 
 sessed by the adherents of Buddha, 
 in 1801 it scarcely contained one 
 Buddhist of hereditary growth. 
 
 The eastern limits of this district 
 have never yet been accurately ex- 
 plored, and remain to this day per- 
 fectly undefined. The total width 
 between the Nauf river on the sea- 
 coast, and the Zhenubium on the side 
 of Ava, is 124 miles east and west, 
 one-half of which is watered by ri- 
 vers flowing towards the Bay of Ben- 
 gal ; and the other by streams, run- 
 ning into the Irawaddy ; nearly the 
 whole space occupied by rude abori- 
 ginal tribes, more resembling the Bur- 
 mese than the Hindoos. As we ad- 
 vance further north, the breadth of 
 
 2 ft 2 
 
404 
 
 CHITTAGONG. 
 
 these wilds is increased by low hills, 
 adjacent on the west to the Mugh 
 mountains of Major Rennell, where 
 a ledge of rocks stops the further 
 ascent of the Karnaphuli river, and 
 occasions waterfalls. These tribes 
 (named Tripura, Joomea, and Chak- 
 ma) cultivate cotton and rice, and 
 rear hogs, goats, and poultry, which 
 they exchange with the Bengalese 
 for salt, iron, earthenware, and fish ; 
 but they do not appear to have aggre- 
 gated into numerous societies, or to 
 have any dependence on a general 
 chief of their respective nations. 
 East of these rivers is a fine valley 
 watered by the Karnaphuli, or Ear- 
 ring river, and further east a chain of 
 low hills, thinly occupied by a Mugh 
 population. 
 
 Atits mouth the Karnaphuli (named 
 by Europeans the Chittagong river) 
 forms a safe harbour, but so deeply 
 embayed, that during the south-west 
 monsoon ships get to sea with great 
 difficulty. At Patarghaut, the ferry 
 from Islamabad towards the south, 
 its channel is about a mile wide ; at 
 Korilliya Pahar (or hill), it diminishes 
 to about 200 yards, but the tide con- 
 tinues to flow upwards strongly. 
 East from the Korilliya Pahar is a 
 fine valley called Runganiya, culti- 
 vated by Bengalese, although some 
 portions still belong to the hereditary 
 chief of the Mughs ; but beyond this 
 valley no Bengalese have settled, 
 the low hills there being occupied by 
 rude independent tribes, including 
 Mughs, whose chief in 1798 also pos- 
 sessed land as a zemindar within the 
 British limits. In the vicinity of 
 these Mugh hamlets small plots of 
 land are cleared, on which plantain 
 trees, ginger, betel-leaf, sugar-cane, 
 cotton, indigo, tobacco, and capsi- 
 cums are raised. These are their 
 permanent places of abode; but at 
 their Jooms they have temporary vil- 
 lages, changed every year, and only 
 occupied during the season of culti- 
 vation. In the permanent villages 
 (or paras), the houses are forty feet 
 long by twenty broad, raised on posts 
 twelve feet from the ground, and as- 
 cended by a notched stick, but on the 
 
 whole much more comfortable than 
 the slight huts of the Bengalese pea- 
 santry. The tract, however, notwith- 
 standing the natural richness of the 
 soil, is thinly inhabited, and produces 
 little ; the chief’s revenue being de- 
 rived from a poll tax. 
 
 These Mughs seem to be the re- 
 mains of the first colony from Arra- 
 can that occupied Tripura, on the 
 re-conquest of that territory from 
 the Mahomedans. The men have 
 adopted the Bengalese dress, but the 
 females retain that of Arracan and 
 Ava. They eat every thing, and with 
 any body, but do not intermarry 
 with strangers. Although their ri- 
 vers and morasses swarm with fish, 
 they have never acquired the art 
 of catching them, and are conse- 
 quently obliged to employ Bengalese 
 fishermen. The Blue Mountain is 
 named Meindaun by the Mughs, and 
 Munipahar by the Bengalese. A peak 
 rises to the height of between 5,000 
 and 6,000 feet above the level of the 
 sea; but at Baikal, where a spur 
 from it crosses the Karnaphuli, the 
 ridge is not above 700 feet in height. 
 
 This district possesses the advan- 
 tage of having an accessible seaport, 
 its capital, Islamabad, being extreme- 
 ly well situated for external com- 
 merce, as well as for the construction 
 of ships of large dimensions ; and of 
 these a considerable number are built 
 annually, both of imported timber and 
 of that indigenous to the country. 
 The exports consist chiefly of timber, 
 planks, canvas, coarse cloths, stock- 
 ings, umbrellas ; and on the sea-coast 
 the government has a large establish- 
 ment for the manufacture of salt. A 
 considerable profit accrues also to the 
 sovereign from the elephants caught 
 in the forest, which are of an excel- 
 lent quality, and particularly well 
 suited both for the camp and the 
 chase. The best are received from 
 the contractor on certain conditions, 
 and agreeably to a fixed standard of 
 height ; the remainder he sells on his 
 own account, and are dispersed all 
 over Hindostan. Chittagong is much 
 resorted to by the European residents 
 in Bengal, on account of the benefi- 
 
CHITTAGONG. 
 
 405 
 
 dial effects experienced from the sa- 
 lubrity of its climate, sea air, and 
 salt-water bathing, presenting in this 
 respect a remarkable contrast to the 
 more southern province of Arracan ; 
 yet, with the exception of a denser 
 population and superior cultivation 
 possessed bv the first, the physical 
 circumstances of the two are very 
 much the same. 
 
 About twenty miles to the north 
 of Islamabad there is a remarkable 
 hot-well named Seetacoond, the ga- 
 zeous exhalations on the surface of 
 which may be inflamed by the appli- 
 cation of fire, and, like all other un- 
 usual natural phenomena, is held sa- 
 cred by the Hindoos. The river 
 Nauf, which, until the conquest of 
 Arracan, formed the extreme south- 
 ern boundary of the Bengal presi- 
 dency in this quarter, is above seven- 
 ty miles to the south of Islamabad, 
 the seat of the provincial government, 
 and residence of the British magis- 
 trate. It is not navigable, as it be- 
 comes very shallow a few miles above 
 Teaknauf, a village situated at its 
 junction with the sea. The banks of 
 this river continue for the most part 
 covered with jungle, interspersed 
 with scanty spots of cultivation, and 
 a few wretched hamlets, where dwell 
 the poorer classes of herdsmen, and 
 families of roving hunters, who catch, 
 tame, and occasionally eat wild ele- 
 phants, the aborigines of these fo- 
 rests. The incessant alarm and de- 
 vastation caused formerly by its being 
 a frontier situation, and the vicinity 
 of the Mughs and Burmese, have re- 
 tained these tribes in a half-savage 
 state ; but they, as well as the hill 
 people named Choomeas, will ac- 
 quire settled and industrious habits 
 when protected from external vio- 
 lence, and allowed to possess, undis- 
 turbed, any moderate portion of the 
 soil. 
 
 Chittagong, it is probable, originally 
 belonged to the extensive, indepen- 
 dent, and barbarous kingdom of Tri- 
 pura; but being a frontier province, 
 where the two religions of Brahma and 
 Buddha came in contact, it was some- 
 times governed by sectaries of one 
 
 doctrine and sometimes by those of 
 the other. There is reason to believe 
 it was taken from both about the be- 
 ginning of the sixteenth century by 
 the Afghan kings of Bengal, and after- 
 wards, during the wars between the 
 Moguls and Afghans, reverted to the 
 Buddhists of Arracan. It was visited 
 by the Portuguese so early as A.D. 
 
 1581, who were influenced by the then 
 Raja of Arracan to settle in considera- 
 ble numbers, and from thence, in con- 
 junction with the Mughs or Arracan- 
 ers, infested and desolated the south- 
 eastern quarter of Bengal, which, dis- 
 tant as the period is, has not recovered 
 its population or agriculture. 
 
 In 1638, during the reign of the 
 Emperor Shah Jehan, Makat Ray, 
 one of the Mugh chiefs who held 
 Chittagong subordinate to the Arra- 
 can Raja, having incurred his displea- 
 sure, and apprehending an attack, 
 sought the Mogul sovereign’s protec- 
 tion. This is the earliest notice of the 
 superiority of this territory having 
 been acquired by the Delhi sovereign, 
 nor was it taken possession of until 
 1666 : yet long prior to this date, in 
 
 1582, it is regularly enumerated by 
 Abul Fazel as an integral portion of 
 the Mogul dominions. In 1666, Shais- 
 ta Khan, the soubahdar of Bengal, 
 equipped a powerful fleet at Dacca, 
 despatched it down the Megna river, 
 under the command of Omeid Khan, 
 who having previously conquered the 
 island of Sundeep, proceeded against 
 this country, and laid siege to the ca- 
 pital. Although strongly fortified, and 
 containing, according to Mahomedan 
 historians, 1,223 cannon of different 
 calibres, it made but a feeble resis- 
 tance; and on its surrender, a new 
 name (Islamabad) having been im- 
 posed, it was with the district per- 
 manently attached to the Mogul em- 
 pire. 
 
 At a very early period this province 
 attracted the notice of the English 
 East-India Company, who in 1686 
 proposed to remove their factory from 
 Hooghly to Chittagong, and there es- 
 tablish by compulsion a strong forti- 
 fied residence. In 1689, during a 
 rupture with the Emperor Aureng- 
 
406 
 
 CHITTELDROOG. 
 
 zebe, an English fleet appeared off 
 Chittagong, with the intention of ef- 
 fecting its conquest : but owing to in- 
 decision nothing was done; nor would 
 the result have answered the Compa- 
 ny’s expectations had the object con- 
 templated been accomplished. In 
 A.D. 1760 it was finally ceded to the 
 East-India Company by the Nabob 
 Jaffelr Ali Khan. 
 
 In 1795 his Burmese Majesty, 
 learning that three of his rebellious 
 subjects and their adherents, or rob- 
 bers as he called them, had taken re- 
 fuge in Chittagong, without any pre- 
 vious communication marched a body 
 of 5,000 troops across the frontier in 
 pursuit of them ; but their progress 
 was soon arrested by a detachment 
 from the Bengal army, and after a 
 protracted negotiation, they were in- 
 duced to withdraw amicably within 
 their own boundaries. From this pe- 
 riod an incessant migration of Mughs 
 from Arracan commenced, which also 
 became the asylum of all the adjacent 
 insurgent chiefs from the Burmese 
 dominions, especially a leader named 
 King-ber-ring, whose followers were 
 estimated at 3,000 men. The situation 
 of the fugitive Mughs was in many 
 respects very deplorable. They had 
 fled from Arracan, to escape the unre- 
 lenting and undistinguishing fury of the 
 Burmese, into the pestiferous jungles 
 of Chittagong, where they erected 
 temporary huts, and endeavoured to 
 prolong their miserable existence. 
 Here they were assailed by the rebel 
 King-ber-ring, and compelled to join 
 his party or fly. Those who fled, were 
 urged by the pangs of hunger to seize 
 the victuals of the British cultivators, 
 and were in consequence attacked by 
 the troops stationed to protect the 
 latter. With aview to ameliorate their 
 condition, the Bengal government en- 
 deavoured to settle them on the lands 
 of a hill chiefly in the back parts of 
 Chittagong, but great difficulty at- 
 tended the arrangement. These re- 
 fugee Mughs, from a national hatred 
 to the Burmese, still continued clan- 
 destinely to join the insurgents, and 
 thereby justified the Ava sovereign in 
 asserting, that the British government 
 
 had organized a den of rebels for the 
 molestation of the Burmese territo- 
 ries : yet it was wholly beyond the 
 power of the first to eradicate the in- 
 surgents, so long as they remained 
 secluded in the remote and unwhole- 
 some hills and jungles, seven days’ 
 journey from thesea-coast, where after 
 repeated defeats they were always sure 
 to find an inaccessible asylum. Com- 
 pared with these Mughs, the Benga- 
 lese are small, weak-bodied men ; 
 whereas the Arracaners are strong, 
 muscular, and active, and inured to 
 hardships. The Bengalese also being 
 unarmed and naturally pacific, made 
 no resistance to the Mugh marauders, 
 who were, however, easily discomfit- 
 ed by a few regular sepoys under na- 
 tive officers. The above recrimi- 
 nations between the two governments 
 continued without intermission from 
 1795 until 1824, when hostilities com- 
 menced, which ended the dispute by 
 the expulsion of the Burmese from 
 the province of Arracan, and the res- 
 toration of the Mughs to their native 
 country. — ( J . Grant , F. Buchanan, 
 Stewart , Public MS. Documents , Pe- 
 ckel, Ker , Morgan, § c.) 
 
 Chittapet. — A small town in the 
 Carnatic, seventy-eight miles S.W. 
 from Madras ; lat. 12° 56' N., Ion. 79° 
 26' E. During the Carnatic wars of 
 the last century this was a fortress of 
 considerable importance, even in that 
 land of fortresses, and sustained many 
 sieges. It was finally taken by Col. 
 Coote, after the battle of Wandewash, 
 and made but a slight resistance. — 
 ( Or me, fyc.) 
 
 Chitteldroog ( Chitra DurgaJ . — 
 A town and fortress in the Mysore 
 Raja’s dominions, and the capital of 
 a district; lat. 14° 4' N., Ion. 76° 30' 
 E. By the natives it is named Sitala 
 Durga, which signifies the spotted cas- 
 tle ; and also Chatracal, which means 
 the umbrella rock. The fortress stands 
 on a cluster of rocky hills forming the 
 extremity of the Chitteldroog ridge, 
 the height of the most elevated peak 
 probably not exceeding 800 feet. The 
 pettah which stretches along the base 
 of the droog on the north-east, is en- 
 
CHITTOOR. 
 
 407 
 
 closed by ramparts of granite, very 
 solid and well cut, although now in 
 some parts dilapidated, with round 
 towers at intervals, a spacious ditch 
 excavated from the rock, and a regular 
 wide-spread glacis. The town within 
 is not of great size or population, but 
 the principal street is remarkably spa- 
 cious. 
 
 Scarcely elevated above the pettah 
 is the lower fort, a separate enclosure, 
 containing the former poligar’s palace, 
 now occupied by the British comman- 
 dant; a reservoir supplied from a mag- 
 nificent tank above with a perpetual 
 stream of fine water, which it distri- 
 butes to all parts of the town ; a well 
 (or bowly), and other ancient struc- 
 tures, besides the bungalows of the 
 officers. Ascending the droog from 
 hence under six successive gateways 
 at different heights, and traversing an 
 endless labyrinth of fortifications, all 
 of solid masonry, winding irregularly 
 up from rock to rock to the summit, 
 guarding every accessible point, and 
 forming enclosure within enclosure in 
 the usual style of the fortified rocks 
 in the south of India, of which Chit- 
 teldroog is probably the most elabo- 
 rate specimen extant. The ascent is 
 partly by steps and partly by almost 
 superficial notches, cut in the steep 
 and smooth surface of the rock, and 
 scaled with great difficulty. The more 
 exposed points are crowned with bat- 
 teries, and the fort contains two beau- 
 tiful tanks of water, various temples 
 and other Hindoo structures, and a 
 deep magazine well sunk in the rock, 
 as a depot for ghee. 
 
 Chitteldroog owes its strength not 
 so much to its elevation as to the 
 steepness of the acclivity on which 
 it stands ; and such is the intricacy of 
 the works, that an enemy might be 
 master of the outer walls, and yet 
 not materially advanced towards the 
 reduction of the droog. On the 
 other hand, this very complexity ren- 
 ders the place more liable to partial 
 surprises. The ruins of the buildings 
 in which General Matthews and 
 other English prisoners were con- 
 fined in 1783, are still pointed out to 
 strangers. Although actually within 
 
 the Mysore raja’s territories, Chit- 
 teldroog is constantly occupied by a 
 British garrison, as it connects the 
 great southern line of defence, ex- 
 tending from Madras to the Malabar 
 coast, with the more advanced line of 
 fortification in the Balaghaut ceded 
 territories. 
 
 In a dell among the mountains, at 
 a short distance to the west of Chit- 
 teldroog, there is a curious suite of 
 dark subterranean apartments, which 
 appear to have been excavated, then 
 completed with masonry, and after- 
 wards stuccoed. They have proba- 
 bly been the habitations of devotees, 
 who, from the various mythological 
 symbols scattered about, would ap- 
 pear to have been worshippers of 
 Siva. Almost every village, however, 
 in this neighbourhood has a peculiar 
 deity of its own, most of them with 
 destructive propensities. The natives 
 propitiate their good offices by putting 
 an iron hook through the skin under 
 their shoulder-blades, by which they 
 are suspended on high to a moveable 
 transverse beam, like the yard of a 
 ship, and thus swung round for a 
 considerable time, sometimes one at 
 each end. The country round Chit- 
 teldroog was nearly depopulated by 
 the repeated ravages it sustained dur- 
 the last Mysore war of 1799, but is 
 now much recovered. The fortress 
 is famous above all stations in India 
 for the great variety and excellence 
 of its fruits, including the apple, 
 orange, and nectarine. — ( Fullarton , 
 Sfc,) 
 
 Chittoor ( Chaitur ). — A town and 
 small pollam or estate on the western 
 frontier of the Carnatic, eighty-two 
 miles west from Madras ; lat. 13° 15' 
 N., Ion. 79° HK E. These pollams 
 came into the possession of the Bri- 
 tish government in 1801, and the po- 
 ligarswere expelled in 1804, the lands 
 having been permanently assessed in 
 1802. The country of Chittoor and 
 the western poligars is very strong, 
 being placed between the range of 
 hills that bound the Balaghaut and 
 a second chain, approaching within a 
 few miles of the sea, near to the lake 
 
408 
 
 CHOOMPHOON. 
 
 of Pulicat. These form an irregular 
 concave sweep, of varied elevation, 
 stretching to within a short distance 
 of Madras. — (5 th Report , Wilks , fyc.) 
 
 Chittra. — A town surrounded by 
 jungles in the province of Bahar, dis- 
 trict of Ramghur, where it is the 
 head station of the judge and magis- 
 trate ; lat. 24° 1 0' N., Ion. 84° 50' E., 
 110 miles N. by W. from Calcutta. 
 
 Chittroo. — A small town in the 
 province of Bahar, district of Ram- 
 ghur, situated on the new Benares 
 road, 214 miles N.W. from Calcutta. 
 From this place the road ascends to 
 the crest of the Toolkee hill, which 
 is the most elevated point between 
 Calcutta and Benares, and commands 
 an extensive prospect of the Hazary 
 Baugh table-land, and the rugged 
 tracts to the south and eastward. On 
 the summit of the hill, close to the 
 road, there is a telegraphic signal- 
 post, part of the telegraphic line of 
 communication recently established 
 between Calcutta and Chunar.— {Ful- 
 larton , fyc.) 
 
 Chitway fSetava), — A town in 
 the province of Malabar, situated on 
 the sea-coast, thirty-nine miles N. by 
 W. from Cochin ; lat. 10° 31' N., Ion. 
 76° 5' E. This place stands on an 
 island twenty-seven miles long, and in 
 some places five broad, named Chit- 
 way by Europeans, and by the na- 
 tives Manapuram. It consists of two 
 sections, Shetuvai and Alipuram, 
 and is separated from the conti- 
 nent by inlets of salt water, which 
 form the northern part of an ex- 
 cellent inland navigation. The soil 
 of this island is generally poor, and 
 although the whole may be con- 
 sidered as a plain, the rice fields are 
 small in proportion to the elevated 
 land that rises a few feet above the 
 level of the sea. The shores of the 
 island are covered with cocoa-nut 
 palms, from the produce of which 
 the revenue is chiefly derived, and 
 the whole in 1800 was rented by the 
 British government to the Cochin 
 raja for 30,000 rupees per annum, 
 but he possesses no legal jurisdiction 
 over the inhabitants. A slave here, 
 
 when thirty years old, costs about 
 100 fanams, or £2. 14s. 7d.; with a 
 wife the price is double. Children 
 sell for fifteen to forty-six fanams, or 
 from 8s. 2\d. to 21s. 10 d.-{F. Bu- 
 chanan i, Sfc.) 
 
 Chogdah. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Bengal, district of Nuddea, 
 situated on the east bank of the 
 Hooghly river, about thirty-four miles 
 above Calcutta ; lat. 23° 3' N., Ion. 
 S8° 38' E. This spot was formerly 
 noted for the voluntary drownings of 
 the Hindoos; but latterly the ex- 
 piation has become a mere ceremony, 
 seldom leading to any fatal result. 
 
 Chokeeghur. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Malwa, and circar of Rais- 
 seen, situated on the top of a hill 
 two miles north of Chynpoor Barree. 
 In 1820 it was the head of apergun- 
 nah belonging to the Nabob of Bo- 
 paul ; lat. 23° 5' N., Ion. 78° 15' E. 
 — ( Malcolm , #c.) 
 
 Cholee. — A small town in the pro- 
 vince of Malwa, about seven miles 
 almost due north of Mheyshur ; lat. 
 22° 9' N., Ion. 75° 48' E. It was for- 
 merly a large town, but Aliah Bhye 
 having fixed her residence at Mhey- 
 shur, it soon decayed, and in 1820 
 contained only 175 houses. It is 
 also named Cholee Mheyshur. — {Mal- 
 colm, fyc.) 
 
 Chooasee. — A fortified native sta- 
 tion in the province of Lahore, prin- 
 cipality of Sukaid, sixteen miles west 
 from Rampoor in Bussaher, and five 
 miles north from the Sutuleje; lat. 
 31°25'N., Ion. 77° 20' E. ; 10,744 
 feet above the level of the sea. 
 
 Choobzee Chang. — A town or 
 station in Tibet, twenty-three miles 
 N.E. from Chaprung ; lat. 31° 34' N., 
 Ion. 79° 58' E. 
 
 Choomphoon. — A considerable 
 town in Siam, on the road from Li- 
 gor to Bankok, situated on the right 
 bank of a river of the same name. 
 In 1826 it was stockaded, and said to 
 contain 8,000 inhabitants. It was for- 
 merly the entrepot of a valuable com- 
 merce with Tenasserim, but on the 
 conquest of that province by the 
 
CHOTEESGHUR. 
 
 409 
 
 Burmese it was converted into a 
 military post, where a force was es- 
 tablished to watch the kidnapping in- 
 cursions of the Burmese. — (Leal, §c.) 
 
 Choorki. — Asmall town and ghur- 
 ry in the province of Agra, ten miles 
 west of Jaloun ; lat. 26° 10' N., Ion. 
 79° 29' E. 
 
 Chooroo. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Ajmeer, principality of Bi- 
 canere, in which it ranks after the 
 capital ; lat. 28° 12' N., Ion. 74° 35' 
 E., 107 miles W. by N. from the city 
 of Bicanere. This place is a mile 
 and a half in circumference, without 
 including the suburbs, and being si- 
 tuated among naked sand-hills, its 
 external appearance is imposing. The 
 walls and houses are constructed of 
 a lime-stone so purely white as to 
 give every thing composed of it an ex- 
 tremely neat appearance; but this 
 material is very soft, and gradually 
 crumbles to a white powder, some- 
 times mixed with shells. Large beds 
 of this calcareous substance are 
 found in many parts of the Ajmeer 
 desert, which, advancing west from 
 Chooroo, increases in sterility. Choo- 
 roo is reckoned the second town in 
 the Bicanere dominions ; but its chief 
 is rather a dependent than a subject 
 of the Bicanere rajas. In 1817 it 
 was plundered by one of Meer Khan’s 
 sirdars, and in 1818 was visited by a 
 British detachment, the governor, 
 Purthi Singh, having abandoned it 
 the day before. It was subsequently 
 transferred to the Bicanere raja : but 
 so averse were the inhabitants to this 
 arrangement, that they threatened 
 to emigrate to the Jeypoor raja’s ter- 
 ritories. — ( Elphinstone , fyc.) 
 
 Choprah.— A large town in the 
 province of Candeish, which formerly 
 belonged to the Peshwa, was given 
 by him to Holcar, and acquired by 
 the British at the treaty of Mundes- 
 sor ; lat. 21° 41' N., Ion. 75° 23' E., 
 fifty-eight miles west from Boorhan- 
 poor. It is the head of a pergunnah 
 which, in 1820, yielded only 50,000 
 rupees per annum, the surrounding 
 country being much covered with 
 jungle.— (Sutherland, fyc.) 
 
 Chokchet. — A large village in the 
 province of Ajmeer, district of Har- 
 rowty, situated about seven miles 
 S.W. from the Mokundra pass. In 
 1820 it contained about 1,600 inha- 
 bitants. — (MS. Sfc.) 
 
 Choteesghur ( or thirty-six forts J. 
 — A large district in the province of 
 Gundwana, at present the most east- 
 ern possession of the Nagpoor Ma- 
 harattas. By the Mahomedans it was 
 formerly denominated Jeharcund ; 
 but the name properly applies to the 
 whole province, rather than to any 
 particular subdivision. The form of 
 the country, excluding Kuronde and 
 Bustar, approaches nearly to an oval, 
 the longest diameter lying north and 
 south. Choteesghur is of great ex- 
 tent, being 260 miles in length, and 
 every where surrounded by hills. 
 The range near Lanjee to the west, 
 the mountains of Omerkuntuc to the 
 north, and those near Sirgoojah to 
 the north-east, are the most woody 
 and inaccessible. Sonakhan to the 
 south-east is also strong, from the 
 closeness of the bamboo jungle, and 
 suddenness of the ascents. In the 
 centre this district is open and level, 
 or at most slightly undulated. It is 
 separated from the British newly ac- 
 quired dependencies of Sirgoojah and 
 Sumbhulpoor, by the Sirgoojah and 
 Koorba ranges of hills, following the 
 course of the Hatsoo river from 
 Omerkuntuc to within ten miles of 
 the Mahanuddy river. 
 
 Under the Bhoonslas this province 
 was long managed as a distinct ap- 
 panage successively of Beembajee, 
 Moodhajee, Veerojee, and Appa Sa- 
 heb. The government lands occupy 
 the centre, and are surrounded by 
 tributary zemindars. The propor- 
 tions these bear to each other has 
 not yet been ascertained, but the first 
 are generally most open and best 
 cultivated ; the latter, indeed, with 
 the exception of Kawurdah andPan- 
 duria, are not more than one-fourth 
 under tillage. In Choteesghur tanks 
 are numerous, particularly at Rut- 
 tunpoor, Ryepoor, Dhumdah, &c., 
 where, besides assisting the rice cul- 
 
410 
 
 CHOUDAN’S COUNTRY. 
 
 tivation, they have been made to 
 strengthen the fortified places in their 
 vicinity, being mostly artificial exca- 
 vations, some of them surrounded 
 with masonry. 
 
 The moral character of the inha- 
 bitants of this district appeared to 
 Col. Agnew to be superior to that 
 met with in most parts of India. 
 Murders are rare, and in most parts 
 originate from jealousy or suspicion 
 of witchcraft, both causes universally 
 considered sufficient to justify the 
 perpetration of the crime. In witch- 
 craft, spells, and incantations, all 
 classes here are firm believers, and 
 many tragical consequences ensue 
 from these base superstitions. This 
 difficult art, however, is supposed 
 in Choteesghur to be possessed al- 
 most exclusively by old women, 
 some of whom bring themselves to 
 believe that they actually are pos- 
 sessed of the power and knowledge 
 imputed to them, although the con- 
 fession of such an accomplishment 
 subjects them to expulsion from their 
 castes, cruel treatment, and occa- 
 sionally to immediate death. The 
 usual process to ascertain their ge- 
 nuineness is to tie them in a bag and 
 throw them into the water, when if 
 they sink they are considered inno- 
 cent ; if they float, guilty. 
 
 There are two very wild tribes to 
 be found in the hills north of Cho- 
 teesghur, one of which, named the 
 Binderewas, reside in the hilly and 
 woody country near Ruttunpoor, 
 more especially in the Koorba and 
 Sirgoojah hills ; but they are so rarely 
 seen by the other inhabitants, that 
 their existence has been called in 
 question. They are described as be- 
 ing equally destitute of religion and 
 clothes, houses or huts, seeking shelter 
 in the jungle like wild beasts, feed- 
 ing on the fruit of the mowah and 
 taindoo trees ; yet they are said to 
 cultivate small patches of coarse 
 grains. According to native reports, 
 they destroy and eat their relations, 
 when too old to move about, and 
 also such travellers as they can catch. 
 The other tribe are the Pandeeas, 
 who are less wild than the Bindere- 
 
 was, and free from all suspicion of 
 cannibalism. Both have distinct dia- 
 lects, unintelligible to the more ci- 
 vilized inhabitants. Within the limits 
 of this district there is a class of 
 Mahomedans, who make bracelets 
 and dye cloths, distinguished by the 
 name of Toorkarees, who, notwith- 
 standing their profession of the Ara- 
 bian faith, are said to worship Hindoo 
 idols, and to besmear their houses 
 with cow-dung. The females, in par- 
 ticular, of this tribe are strict ob- 
 servers of all the Hindoo rites and 
 ceremonies, and reject Mahomed and 
 his doctrines. 
 
 The ancient history of Choteesghur 
 is little known ; it seems probable 
 however that it was once in a more 
 flourishing condition than it at pre- 
 sent exhibits. An old record still 
 existing, details the names of many 
 villages long extinct, and the ruins 
 of Sinpoor on the right bank of the 
 Mahanuddy, twenty miles north of 
 Aring (said to have been the capital 
 of the very ancient Hindoo dynasty 
 of Byram Deo in Kuwurdah), and the 
 ruins of many temples and buildings 
 scattered over the country, indicate 
 a former state of prosperity, and a 
 more numerous population. This 
 province was for ages under the sway 
 of a family of Ashwapati, of Raj- 
 bungsi princes, one of whom, named 
 Kullean Singh, was seized and carried 
 to Delhi by the imperial army that 
 entered the country in pursuit of the 
 Ranny of Gurra Kultanjee near Jub- 
 bulpoor. During his captivity he 
 agreed to become tributary to the 
 emperor : notwithstanding which sub- 
 mission, until its final conquest by the 
 Maharattas about 1752, this country 
 seems to have been generally exempt 
 from all foreign control, and its ori- 
 ginal institutions to have remained 
 unaltered. The revenue collections 
 of the modern district of Chotees- 
 ghur, in 1818-19, under the British 
 system, amounted to 331,470 rupees ; 
 in 1824 to 385,840 rupees. — {Jenkins, 
 Agnew , Sfc.) 
 
 Choudan’s Country. — An ex- 
 tremely mountainous country in 
 
CHUKA. 
 
 411 
 
 Northern Hindostan within the Bri- 
 tish limits, and consisting of a kind 
 of Doab, between the fork of the 
 Cali and Doulee rivers, about lat. 
 30° N., and Ion. 80° 40' E., border- 
 ing on the Nepaulese territories east 
 of the Cali. 
 
 Choul. — An ancient town on the 
 sea-coast of Aurungabad, thirty miles 
 S. by E. from Bombay ; lat. 18° 31' 
 N., Ion. 73° 2' E. This was a place 
 of considerable importance during 
 the Bhamenee dynasty of the Deccan, 
 being mentioned as such by Ferishta. 
 
 Choundkot. — A small town in 
 Northern Hindostan, eighteen miles 
 S.S.E. from Serinagur ; lat. 29° 58' 
 N., Ion. 78° 54' E. 
 
 Chouraghur. — A town and strong 
 fortress in the province of Gund- 
 wana, situated at the northern ex- 
 tremity of the Mahadeo hills, about 
 fifty miles E. by S. from Hosseinabad 
 on the Nerbudda. In May 1818 this 
 place was captured by General Wat- 
 son’s detachment ; and in November 
 the Gonds, who appear during the 
 interval to have grown into favour 
 with themselves, made a very spirited 
 attempt to retake it, but were re- 
 pulsed with much slaughter. Lat. 22° 
 48' N., Ion. 78? 54' E. This fortress 
 was acquired by the Nagpoor state 
 from the Poona Maharattas in 1799, 
 being necessary for the secure occu- 
 pation of the valley of the Ner- 
 budda. 
 
 Chowal. — A district in the north- 
 eastern quarter of the Gujerat pro- 
 vince, situated between the 23d and 
 24th degrees of north latitude. The 
 chief towns are Massawna,Beejapoor, 
 and Maunsa ; and the principal river, 
 the Roopeyne, 
 
 Christians. — See SouthCanara. 
 
 Chowera. — A town in the Gu- 
 jerat peninsula, thirty miles E. by N. 
 from Wankaneer. This place is si- 
 tuated on an eminence, and sur- 
 rounded by a high stone wall with 
 square towers in a ruinous state. 
 
 Chow ka, — A village in the province 
 
 of Aurungabad, which gives its name 
 to a beautiful pass through the hills, 
 ten miles N.E. of the city of Aurun- 
 gabad. 
 
 Chuasi Fort. — -A fort or peak in 
 the province of Lahore, division of 
 Sukhait, situated on the right bank 
 of the Sutuleje, 10,744 feet above 
 the level of the sea ; lat. 31° 25' N., 
 Ion. 78° 29' E . — ( Hodgson and Her- 
 bert, fyc.) 
 
 Chuch.— -A small district or valley 
 in the north-west corner of the La- 
 hore province, about the 34th degree 
 of north latitude, bounded on the 
 north and west by the Indus, and on 
 the south by the Ghursheen river. 
 This territory, and adjacent district 
 named Hazareh, contains many fertile 
 plains, inhabited by Hindoos that have 
 been converted to the Mahomedan re- 
 ligion, and named Goojers. Amongst 
 these also are many turbulent Afghans 
 of various tribes, who are in fact the 
 masters of the country. Within the 
 geographical limits of Chuch, but 
 beyond those of the valley, are the 
 towns of Attock and Hussoo. Near 
 Attock the plain of Chuch is well 
 cultivated, principally with wheat; 
 further east the country is of a wavy 
 surface, generally dry and barren, and 
 cut up by deep ravines ; but ap- 
 proaching the eastern border is the 
 beautiful valley of Hussein Abdaul. 
 — (j Elphinstone, tyc.) 
 
 Chuckowal — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Lahore, sixty-eight miles E. 
 from the Indus; lat. 33° 4' N., Ion. 
 72° 34' E. 
 
 Chuka.— A castle in Bootan, near 
 to which is a chain bridge of a re- 
 markable construction stretched over 
 the river Tehintchieu ; lat. 27° 16' 
 N., Ion. 89° 34' E., forty miles south 
 from Tassisudon. The fortress of 
 Chuka is a large building placed on 
 elevated ground, with only one en- 
 trance to the interior, built of stone 
 with walls of a prodigious thickness. 
 The natives have no records to cer- 
 tify when the chain bridge was erect- 
 ed, but are generally of opinion that 
 it was fabricated by the devata, or 
 
412 
 
 CHUMPANEER. 
 
 demigod, Tehupchal. The adjacent 
 country abounds with strawberries, 
 which are seldom eaten by the ge- 
 nuine Bootanners. Here are also 
 many well-known British plants, such 
 as docks, nettles, primroses, and 
 dog-roses — a refreshing sight to the 
 eye of a parched European. — {Tur- 
 ner, $c.) 
 
 Chumbul River. — This river has 
 its source in the province of Malwa, 
 in the hills about four miles S.E. of 
 Haussulpoor, and two miles W. of 
 Burgoonda, whence it flows almost 
 due north, passing many villages to 
 near Peplowda, where it receives the 
 Chumlee, and subsequently the Wan- 
 gey ree river, near Omernee. Pro- 
 ceeding thence, in almost the same 
 direction, it approaches Tall, where 
 it takes a sweep N.W. round the for- 
 tress of Nagutwarra, from w hence it 
 runs with a winding course, receiving 
 many contributory streams, until it 
 falls into the Jumna about twenty- 
 five miles below Etavveh. The length 
 of its course, including windings, may 
 be estimated at 500 miles. The no- 
 minal source of the Chumbul is in 
 part of the Vindhya range, nine 
 miles S.W. of the cantonment at 
 Mhow, but this portion is dry in the 
 hot season. The current is in most 
 parts gentle, its bed rocky, and its 
 course through Malwa much ob- 
 structed by shallows ; but after en- 
 tering Harrowtee by an opening in 
 the Mokundra range it becomes a 
 fine and deep stream. This river is. 
 often named the Sumbul, and is sup- 
 posed by Major Rennell to be the 
 Sambus of Arrian ; Major Wilford 
 derives the name from charmana- 
 wati, abounding in hides. — ( Malcolm , 
 Hunter , Rennell , &c.) 
 
 Chumpaneer f Chapanir ). — A large 
 subdivision of die Gujerat province 
 situated between the twenty-second 
 and twenty-fourth degrees of north 
 latitude, and bounded towards the 
 east by the Malwa province. It 
 has two large boundary rivers, the 
 Nerbudda and Mahy, and is traversed 
 by many lesser streams. The greater 
 portion is now subordinate either to 
 
 the British government or the Guicd- 
 war ; but it also contains several 
 petty native chiefs, such as the Rajas 
 of Soonth and Lunawara. 
 
 Chumpaneer ( or Powanghur).— 
 The ancient capital of the above dis- 
 trict, situated sixty miles N.E. from 
 Broach ; lat. 22° 31' N., Ion. 73° 41' 
 E. Chumpaneer, or Pavanghudd, is 
 a large mountain, or rather rock, ris- 
 ing out of the bosom of Gujerat, one 
 of the most level provinces of Hin- 
 dostan. It stands about twenty-two 
 miles N.E. from Baroda in a straight 
 line, and, except a few hillocks, in 
 comparison it stands alone, frowning 
 over the south-eastern quarter of the 
 district. The height, by a rough esti- 
 mate, may be about 2,500 feet above 
 the plain, and on some sides it ap- 
 pears nearly perpendicular. It is 
 visible ten miles south of Baroda, 
 and also from the minaret of the 
 Jumma Musjid (mosque) at Ahme- 
 dabad, at least seventy miles distant. 
 At the northern base are the remains 
 of an ancient city, the ruins of which 
 extend several miles on each side of 
 the mountain, but are at present 
 covered with jungle, the abode of 
 tigers and wild Bheels. The moun- 
 tain above is strengthened by two 
 forts, the upper by the natives deem- 
 ed impregnable. 
 
 Chumpaneer is supposed to have 
 been the capital of a Hindoo princi- 
 pality long before the Mahomedan 
 invasion, and w as taken in 889 of the 
 Hijera by Mahmood, the seventh 
 king of western Gujerat, after a siege, 
 or rather blockade (the natives say) 
 of twelve years. It was subsequently 
 captured by the emperor Hoomayun 
 in A.D. 1534, and is described by 
 Abul Fazel, in 1582, as even then 
 surrounded by extensive Hindoo and 
 Mahomedan ruins. On the decline 
 of the Mogul empire Chumpaneer 
 fell into the hands of the Maharattas, 
 and in 1803, along with the adjacent 
 territory, was possessed by Sindia ; 
 from whom, notwithstanding its for- 
 midable position, it was easily cap- 
 tured in 1803, and with the same 
 facility restored in 1804. In 1812 
 
CHUNDAIL. 
 
 413 
 
 the town or pettah contained only 
 400 houses, of which, such has been 
 its decay, not more than half were 
 inhabited. The Bheels, who in this 
 tract appear to be the aborigines of 
 the country, speak remarkably pure 
 Gujerattee, having had but little in- 
 termixture with strangers. In native 
 estimation the dignity of this fortress 
 is very great, and so strongly im- 
 pressed are the adjacent petty states 
 of Lunawara and Soonth, of having 
 been from all antiquity appendages 
 to that towering castle, containing 
 the goddess Cali, their tutelary deity, 
 that they never consider themselves 
 wholly independent of the authority 
 that has actual possession of the ve- 
 nerable hill. — {Miles, bth Reg., $ c .) 
 
 Chumparun. — See Sarun. 
 
 Chumpawut ( Champavati ) . — A 
 town in Northen Hindostan, the an- 
 cient capital of the Kumaon province, 
 107 travelling miles N. by E. from 
 Bareily, and fifty from Almora ; lat. 
 29° 20' N., Ion. 79° 57' E. From its 
 vicinity to the Cali river, it is some- 
 times named Kari Kumaon. Chum- 
 pawut stands in a considerable valley 
 of irregular surface, tolerably well 
 cultivated in terraced fields, after the 
 fashion of the hills. In 1819 the 
 town consisted of about sixty stone 
 houses, with a wooden frame in front, 
 as at Almora. To the east is a sin- 
 gular groupe of diminutive Hindoo 
 temples, but of very curious and 
 elaborate workmanship, and abound- 
 ing with minute sculpture, now much 
 mutilated, done (as is said) by the 
 Rohillahs when they invaded Ku- 
 maon. There is also a small modern 
 temple, dedicated to Naganath (the 
 lord of serpents), who appears by 
 proxy in the form of a small mound 
 of clay ; and near to this symbol are 
 the ruins of the ancient fort of 
 Chumpawut. At this place the na- 
 tives shew the remains of a mul- 
 berry tree of remarkable age and 
 dimensions (thirty-three feet in cir- 
 cumference), with the existence of 
 which they considered the fate of the 
 province to be involved, in proof of 
 which, they allege that part of it fell 
 
 to the ground in the invasion of Ku- 
 maon by the British. — ( Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 Chunar for. C handalghur ) . — A 
 town and fortress in the province of 
 Allahabad, district of Juanpoor, situ- 
 ated on the south side of the Ganges, 
 about seventeen miles in a straight 
 direction S.W. from Benares ; lat. 2W 
 9' N., Ion. 82° 54' E. The fortress is 
 situated on a fine stone rock, several 
 hundred feet high, that rises abruptly 
 from the plain, and advances some 
 distance into the river. The princi- 
 pal defences consist of a single stone 
 parapet with towers, built along the 
 margin of the precipitous ridge. 
 The town stands to the eastward of 
 the fort, contains many stone houses, 
 and is distant from the European 
 bungalows. In 1819 a commodious 
 building was erected for the reception 
 of Trimbuckjee Dainglia, the noto- 
 rious menial and minister of the ex- 
 Peshwa, and in the neighbourhood 
 are several handsome Mahomedan 
 tombs. 
 
 In A.D. 1530 Chunar was the re- 
 sidence of Shere Khan the Afghan, 
 who expelled the emperor Hoomayun 
 from Hindostan ; and in 1575 it was 
 taken by the Moguls, after a siege of 
 six months. In 1703, this fortress, 
 after repulsing a night attack of the 
 British troops, was some time after- 
 wards delivered up without a siege, 
 and has ever since remained under 
 the Bengal government. Travelling 
 distance from Calcutta by Moorshe- 
 dabad 574 miles, by Beerbhoom 469 
 miles. — {Fullarton, Lord Valentia , 
 Gholaum Hossein, Ferishta, tyc.) 
 
 Ciiundail f Chandala ). — A small 
 district in the province of Gundwana, 
 bounded on the north by the Sone 
 river, and formerly separated from 
 the British districts by the river Bo- 
 ker. The natives of this province 
 call themselves Chundails, and are a 
 {soi-disant) tribe of Rajpoots, the 
 usual residence of whose chief, in 
 A.D. 1794, was at Rajeghur, twenty 
 miles west of Beejeeghur. This coun- 
 try became tributary to the Benares 
 Rajas in the days of Bulwunt Singh, 
 who first conquered it; for it had 
 
414 
 
 CHUR MOUNTAIN. 
 
 not ever been thoroughly subdued by 
 the Moguls, although by Aurengzebe 
 formally annexed to the soubah of 
 Allahabad. This territory is very 
 thinly inhabited, and in many parts 
 a complete wilderness. The road 
 south from the British dominions is 
 over a number of small hills, with 
 scarcely the vestige of a habitation, 
 there being few permanent villages, 
 the inhabitants making a practice of 
 changing their habitations very fre- 
 quently. The natives of these hills 
 are named Karwar, and are a very 
 savage tribe, divided into many sects, 
 acknowledging subordination to a 
 vassal of the Burder rajas, who re- 
 side at Buddery. — ( J . . B. Blunt, #c.) 
 
 Chunderbuduni. — A mountain in 
 Northern Hindostan, eleven miles 
 N.W. from Serinagur; lat. 30° 19' N., 
 Ion. 78° 37' E. Its summit is 7,661 
 feet above the level of the sea. 
 
 Chundf.rpoor. — A subdivision of 
 the Sumbhulpoor district in the pro- 
 vince of Gundwana, conquered by 
 the Nagpoor Maharattas about A.D. 
 1750, but now subject to the British 
 government. In 1818 it was in a sad 
 state of desolation, and overrun by 
 immense herds of wild buffaloes. — 
 ( Roughsedge , $c.) 
 
 Chundlah.— A town in the pro- 
 vince of Allahabad, twenty-eight 
 miles S.S.W. from Banda; lat. 25° 4' 
 N., Ion. 80° 10' E. 
 
 Chundlye. — A small town in the 
 province of Ajmeer, principality of 
 Jeypoor, about nineteen miles south 
 from the city of Jeypoor. — (MS., 
 
 Chundowsy. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Delhi, district of Bareily, 
 which before the cession of Rohil- 
 cund to the British government was 
 the grand salt mart of the province ; 
 lat. 28° 26' N., Ion. 78° 38' E., forty 
 miles W. by N. from Bareily. 
 
 Chupparah. — A considerable town 
 in the province of Gundwana, situ- 
 ated on the Wynegunga river, ninety- 
 five miles N.N.E. from the city of 
 Nagpoor ; lat. 22° 24' N., Ion. 79° 58' 
 
 E. It was ceded along* with the dis- 
 trict to the British government in 
 1818. 
 
 Chitppra. — A town and pergunnah 
 belonging to Meer Khan in the pro- 
 vince of Malwa, thirty-four miles N. 
 by W. from Raghooghur ; lat. 24° 39' 
 N., Ion. 49° E. 
 
 Chuprah. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Bahar, district of Sarun, of 
 which it is the capital, situated on 
 the north side of the Ganges, thirty- 
 two miles W.N.W. from Patna ; lat. 
 25° 46' N., Ion. 84° 46' E. This is a 
 town of little breadth, but extend- 
 ing along the Ganges for nearly 
 a mile. In 1817 it contained 8,700 
 families, which at five persons to 
 a family would give 43,500 inha- 
 bitants. In the vicinity of Chuprah 
 the Kharwa tribe are numerous. 
 They occasionally fish and carry the 
 palanquin, but are mostly agricul- 
 tural. They migrate from hence to 
 Calcutta, Patna, and Benares, and at 
 the fort are distinguished by the name 
 of Patna bearers, while in their own 
 country they are mostly labourers of 
 the soil. Although domesticated 
 here, their original country is said to 
 be in the neighbourhood of an old 
 fortress called Khayra, in Chuta 
 Nagpoor. According to strict Hin- 
 doo notions they are an impure tribe, 
 although they have abandoned many 
 customs to which they are addicted 
 in their original country. — (F. Bu- 
 chanan, c^c.) 
 
 Chur ( or Choor) Mountain. — 
 A remarkable peak in Northern Hin- 
 dostan, division of Sirmore ; lat. 30° 
 52' N., Ion. 77° 28' E., elevation 
 above the sea 12,149 feet. This is 
 the loftiest mountain south of the 
 great Himalaya, "between the Sutuleje 
 and Jumna, where it may be seen 
 towering above the others. Its ele- 
 vation is such, that it turns and se- 
 parates the waters of Hindostan. 
 Those that rise on the southern and 
 eastern face are sent to join the Pa- 
 bur and the Girree, the Tonse and 
 the Jumna, and ultimately find their 
 way to the Bay of Bengal ; while those 
 
CHUTA NAGPOOR. 
 
 415 
 
 that flow from the northern and west- 
 ern exposures, proceed to the Sutu- 
 leje and Indus, and combined with 
 the last disembogue into the Arabian 
 ocean. — (Jas. Fraser , Hodgson and 
 Herbert , fyc.) 
 
 Churan. — A town in the province 
 of Bengal, district of Dacca Jelal- 
 poor, situated on the Issamutty river, 
 thirteen miles S.W. from the city of 
 Dacca. Near this place there is an 
 extensive tract of inundated country 
 named the Churan Jeel, 
 
 Chut. — A town in the province of 
 Delhi, twenty-one miles east from 
 Sirhind ; lat. 30° 37' N., Ion. 76° 45' 
 E. 
 
 Chuta Nagpoor ( Little Hag- 
 poor. ) — A large zemindary in the 
 province of Bahar, situated at the 
 southern extremity, and now incor- 
 porated with the district of Ramghur. 
 It is bounded on the south-east and 
 west by the ancient Hindoo province 
 of Gundwana, and never was com- 
 pletely subjugated by the Mahome- 
 dans, although its rajas were reduced 
 to the condition of tributaries by the 
 Mogul viceroys of Bengal ; yet they 
 were little interfered with so long as 
 their contributions were punctually 
 paid. 
 
 Chuta Nagpoor is an extensive 
 hilly tract (not mountainous), and 
 much covered with forest; formerly 
 fostered with great care by its chiefs, 
 as a protection against invasion from 
 without ; indeed, the nature of the 
 country is such as would render it 
 extremely difficult either to penetrate 
 or subdue, on account of the un- 
 healthy jungles, so deleterious to 
 troops not born on the spot. The 
 chains of mountains run east and 
 west ; some are continuous for many 
 miles, others interrupted, and the 
 highest does not exceed 6,000 feet 
 above the level of the sea, if so much. 
 Part of Chuta Nagpoor and of the 
 Ramghur district may be considered 
 as table-land, but the surface undu- 
 lates, is intersected by deep ravines, 
 and partially covered with jungle, 
 thinly interspersed with villages. 
 
 These tracts are quite inland, being 
 distant from 300 to 400 miles from 
 the sea. The plains in some parts 
 are very extensive, expanding for 
 many miles without interruption. 
 Those of Chuta Nagpoor are culti- 
 vated with different kinds of pulse, 
 wheat, barley, cotton, a little sugar- 
 cane, and some esculents. The soil 
 in many parts is of a reddish colour, 
 and extremely productive, more es- 
 pecially of cotton, and requires little 
 ploughing or preparation. The ac- 
 clivities consist principally of loam, 
 and having many springs, throughout 
 the year produce rice in abundance. 
 Like other hilly tracts, this zemin- 
 dary contains the sources of many 
 streams ; but they do not attain any 
 considerable size until they quit its 
 limits. Beneath the surface iron ore 
 is found in abundance, but this use- 
 ful metal can be imported from Eu- 
 rope on such moderate terms, that 
 its collection and fusion on the spot 
 present no encouragement to the spe- 
 culator. The impervious fastnesses 
 here conceal many strange tribes, 
 who, even at this late era of Hindoo 
 predominance, have not yet become 
 converts to the Brahminical doc- 
 trines, and are consequently classed 
 by the priests among the abominable. 
 The Khetauri, the Keevi, and the 
 Dhanggar still compose the bulk of 
 the inhabitants, and some of these 
 are said not to speak the Hindi lan- 
 guage. The Dhanggar are still im- 
 pure unconverted mlechchas or bar- 
 barians. This territory contains a 
 large proportion of the Cole and 
 Lurka Cole tribes, more especially 
 in the pergunnah of Tamar, and the 
 tracts situated near the hills that se- 
 parate it from Singboom, where there 
 were disturbances in 1S22. The Ta- 
 mar female Coles possess some wear- 
 ing apparel, but those of the Lurka 
 Coles go entirely naked except a 
 small piece of cloth. They appear 
 to be Hindoos, but of the most de- 
 graded castes. The principal towns, 
 or rather villages, are Burwa and 
 Maharajegunge, but the country in 
 general is very thinly populated. 
 
 For many years subsequent to the 
 
416 
 
 CICACOLE. 
 
 British conquest, the Chuta Nagpoor 
 rajas, of the Sahi family, assumed 
 and exercised independent powers, 
 and Raja Deonauth Sahi appears ra- 
 ther to have been recognized as a 
 tributary, than a zemindar holding 
 lands liable to revenue. Prior to 
 1807 no decree of the Ramghur court 
 of justice, disagreeable to the raja 
 or his dewan, had any effect in his 
 territories except backed by a detach- 
 ment ; but in that year Raja Govind- 
 nauth Sahi Deo consented to the 
 introduction of a systematic police ; 
 but it was perfectly evident, during the 
 negociation, that he had no real in- 
 tention of carrying them into effect. 
 The late and present Nagpoor chiefs 
 have adhered with singular perseve- 
 rance to the resolution of holding no 
 personal intercourse of communica- 
 tion with the British functionaries, 
 preserving towards them, and all 
 other Europeans, the most rigid 
 invisibility. The consequence of this 
 has been that the lives and proper- 
 ties have been at the mercy of an un- 
 principled dewan, who, without any 
 personal interest in the district, con- 
 sidered it his duty to frustrate every 
 measure, civil or military, of the 
 British government. 
 
 In this manner the raja, or rather 
 his ministers, continuing to manifest 
 the utmost contumacy and systematic 
 resistance to all the orders of govern- 
 ment, a small force was at last, in 
 1809, marched into his country, un- 
 der the command of Major E. Rough- 
 sedge : on the approach of which the 
 raja quitted his capital, Maharaje- 
 gunge, with much perturbation, and 
 fled into the neighbouring jungles, 
 where he endeavoured to preserve 
 his hereditary invisibility, and resist- 
 ed all persuasions to return. Letters 
 being despatched to him, he withdrew 
 further into the jungles of Singboom, 
 where he remained so inaccessible, 
 that a private messenger was detain- 
 ed twenty miles distance from his 
 actual residence six days, and then 
 sent with (probably) a fabricated re- 
 ply ; for it never could be ascertained 
 that the letters ever actually reached 
 his hands. By this expedition the 
 
 country was brought under proper 
 subordination; but, of course, with 
 a great diminution of the raja’s au- 
 thority, and the total annihilation of 
 his dewan’s. Indeed, prior to this 
 event, the Chuta Nagpoor zemindary 
 had been held on easier terms than 
 any other portion of the British do- 
 minions in Hindostan. In 1805 it 
 was calculated that the raja realized 
 from his tenants 160,000 rupees per 
 annum, while the land-tax he paid 
 was only 13,000 rupees per annum. 
 With the surplus he usually support- 
 ed an armed rabble of 2,000 men ; 
 and the population, if well-disposed, 
 might furnish 20,000 more. 
 
 This subdivision of the Bahar pro- 
 vince is designated by the term chu- 
 ta , to distinguish it from the other 
 Nagpoor, possessed by the Bhoons- 
 lah Maharatta family ; and the name 
 (Nagpoor) indicates, that in the opi- 
 nion of the natives the territory con- 
 tains diamonds. — ( Roughsedge , Col- 
 vin , Sealey , Col. Broughton , #c.) 
 
 Chynpoor Baree. — A considera- 
 ble town in the province of Malwa, 
 district of Raisseen, belonging to the 
 Bopaul nabob, situated in a moun- 
 tainous country, forty-eight miles E. 
 by S. from the city of Bopaul ; lat. 
 23° 2' N., Ion. 78° 15' E. 
 
 Cicacole ( Chicacula ). — The larg- 
 est of the northern Circars, now com- 
 prehended in the modern district of 
 Ganjam, of which it forms the larg- 
 est portion. It formerly contained 
 about 1,600 miles of superficial mea- 
 sure, exclusive of that portion of 
 country situated along the great ridge 
 of boundary mountains to the west. 
 The climate of the northern circars 
 (of which Cicacole occupies so large 
 a space), with a general conformity to 
 that of Hindostan, has, from local po- 
 sition and other circumstances, some 
 peculiarities in each of the three 
 seasons. The periodical rains usually 
 set in about the middle of June, with 
 a westerly wind, in moderate show- 
 ers, until the end of August, which 
 month concludes the small grain har- 
 vest; from this time the rain conti- 
 nues in great abundance until the 
 
NORTHERN CIRCARS. 
 
 417 
 
 beginning of November, when it ge- 
 nerally breaks up with violence, and 
 is succeeded by a north-easterly wind. 
 The middle of this latter and pleasant 
 season finishes the harvest for rice 
 and bajary, which are the great pro- 
 duction of the country north of the 
 Godavery. The close of the vernal 
 equinox terminates the third harvest, 
 the grand one for maize, as well as 
 for ail the different species of grain 
 and pease south of that river; then 
 begins the hot season, which is al- 
 ways extremely moderate towards 
 the northern extremity, near Ganjam, 
 because of the diurnal sea-breezes, 
 and the position of the neighbouring 
 hills from south to west, contrary to 
 the ordinary direction of the wind at 
 Masulipatam. 
 
 The southern division of Cicacole, 
 with abetter soil than the rest, is wa- 
 tered by four rivers, which have their 
 respective outlets at Vizagapatam, 
 Bimlapatam, Cicacole, and Calinga- 
 patam, besides many lesser streams, 
 during the rains. Taken altogether, 
 Cicacole has few extensive plains, 
 and the hills increase in frequency 
 and magnitude as they approach the 
 range of mountains bounding this 
 and Rajamundry to the north-west. 
 The hills and narrower bottoms that 
 separate them, were formerly suffered 
 to get overrun with jungle by the na- 
 tive proprietors, as the best protec- 
 tion for the opener vallies allotted 
 to cultivation. During the Carnatic 
 wars, and indeed until lately, that 
 province was supplied with large 
 quantities of rice from this circar; 
 but since the long duration of perma- 
 nent tranquillity, for the last forty 
 years, the necessity for importing 
 grain to Madras has greatly dimi- 
 nished. The public revenue here has 
 very generally, and for a long period 
 of time, been paid through interme- 
 diate renters, a great difficulty having 
 always been experienced in prevail- 
 ing on the inhabitants to rent their 
 villages, even for a grain rent. 
 
 Cicacole was ceded to the French 
 in 1753 by Salabut Jung, the reigning 
 soubahdar of the Deccan, at which 
 time its limits extended from the 
 
 VOL. 1. 
 
 Godavery to Juggernauth. At the 
 above date the French possessed ter- 
 ritories greater, both in value and ex- 
 tent, than had ever been previously 
 possessed by Europeans in Hindos- 
 tan, not excepting the Portuguese 
 when at the height of their prospe- 
 rity. It was acquired along with the 
 dewanny of Bengal, in 1765, during 
 the government of Lord Clive. — {J. 
 Grant , Orme, White , <fyc.) 
 
 Cicacole. — The ancient capital of 
 the preceding circar, by the Mahome- 
 dans named Maphus Bunder ; lat. 18° 
 15' N., Ion. 84° E., fifty-five miles 
 N.N.E. from Vizagapatam. This is 
 a large town, situated on the high 
 northern bank of the Cicacole river, 
 which rises in the Gundwana moun- 
 tains, and falls into the sea a few 
 miles below the town, where it is 
 about one-third of a mile broad. Ci- 
 cacole contains several considerable 
 bazars, but is irregularly built, being a 
 mixture of all sorts of houses and 
 huts. In the centre is a neat range 
 of barracks, and vestiges of a mud 
 rampart and of some European dwel- 
 ling houses are still to be seen ; but 
 in 1820 the Ganjam veteran batta- 
 lion was the only garrison. In 1815, 
 in consequence of a contagious fever 
 that raged at Ganjam, the courts of 
 justice and revenue were for a time 
 transferred to Cicacole ; but latterly 
 Burhampoor appears to have been 
 selected for the head-quarters of the 
 district. Mosques and other small 
 Mahomedan buildings are numerous 
 here. The principal mosque, which 
 is of considerable sanctity, erected in 
 theyear of the Hejira 1051, by Sheikh 
 Mahomed Khan, is a stone building, 
 of respectable appearance, with mi- 
 nars, gardens, and fountains.— (Ful* 
 larton, $c.) 
 
 THE NORTHERN CIRCARS. 
 
 A large province extending along 
 the west side of the bay of Bengal, 
 from the fifteenth to the twentieth 
 degrees of north latitude. The sea 
 bounds it to the east, along a coast 
 of 470 miles, from Moutapilly, its 
 southern extremity, to Malond, on 
 2 E 
 
4a 8 
 
 NORTHERN CIRCARS, 
 
 the borders of the Chilka lake. 
 It is divided from the Hyderabad 
 provinces by a range of small de- 
 tached hills, extending to the banks 
 of the Godavery; and to the north 
 of that river separated from Gund- 
 wana by a continued range of moun- 
 tains, almost impassable for a horse 
 or wheeled carriage, to the north- 
 western extremity of the circars 
 at Goomsur. From hence the chain 
 of hills curves to the eastward, 
 and with the Chilka lake forms a bar- 
 rier of fifty miles to the north, ex- 
 cept a tongue of land between that 
 lake and the sea. Towards the south 
 the small river Gundegama, which 
 empties itself at Moutapilly, separates 
 the circars from Ongole and the Car- 
 natic below the ghauts. The area or 
 superficial contents, as originally ac- 
 quired by the British government, 
 may be estimated at 17,000 geogra- 
 phical square miles, of which (in 
 1 784) one-fifth was estimated to be in 
 cultivation or fallow, two-fifths in 
 pasture, and the remainder woods, 
 water, towns, barren hills, or a sandy 
 waste, three miles in breadth, bor- 
 dering the whole extent of the sea- 
 coast. 
 
 The grand divisions of the Northern 
 Circars are naturally five, principally 
 marked by rivers running from the 
 hills on the western frontier. These 
 divisions are Guntoor or Mortizabad; 
 Condapilly or Mustaphabad, Ellore, 
 Rajamundry, and Cicacole, anciently 
 named Calinga. The sea-coast of this 
 province is not equally exposed to 
 the violence of the north-east mon- 
 soon as that of the more southern 
 shores on the same side of the bay. 
 From Point Calymerp to Ongole the 
 Carnatic sea-coast lifes nearly in a 
 straight line from north to south, and 
 is therefore in the direct course of 
 the periodical storms which sweep 
 across the bay of Bengal ; but above 
 Ongole the winding of the coast is 
 from south-west to north-east, so 
 that the land here lies almost parallel 
 with the monsoon. Thus it happens 
 that while the country between Ma- 
 dras and the ghauts is deluged by 
 
 torrents of rain, the Circars feel little 
 
 9 
 
 more of its influence than they derive 
 from the occasional clouds blown in 
 by the daily sea-breeze. Proceeding 
 further north, the rains of this quarter 
 of the year become milder, until in 
 Cuttack the season approximates to 
 that of Bengal ; the N.E. monsoon 
 towards the bay becoming almost a 
 land wind, bringing cold weather 
 from the northern mountains, but 
 accompanied with very little mois- 
 ture. 
 
 The general climate of this region, 
 to the north of the Godavery, has 
 been described under the article 
 Cicacole : to the south of that 
 river, for the first two months 
 strong southerly gales prevail along 
 shore, which together with the sea 
 breezes moderate the heat ; but the 
 baleful influence of the former, ac- 
 quired by blowing over the salt 
 marshes on the sea-coast, is injurious 
 to animal life, and destructive to ve- 
 getation. During the succeeding 
 month until the rains, the wind 
 coming from the west over a parched 
 loose soil of great extent, uninter- 
 rupted by any continued chain of 
 hills, and along the broad, sandy, and 
 almost dry bed of the Krishna, be- 
 comes so intolerably hot near the 
 mouth of that river as to raise the 
 thermometer, sometimes for an entire 
 week, to 110°, and even in other 
 parts it has been known to stand at 
 112° at eight o’clock in the evening, 
 and at midnight to as high as 108°. 
 Neither wood nor glass is capable of 
 bearing this heat for any length of 
 time ; the latter, such as shades and 
 globe lanterns, crack and fly to 
 pieces ; the former warps and shrinks 
 so much that the nails fall out of the 
 doors and tables. Another pecu- 
 liarity of the climate is the noxious 
 state of the air in all the hilly re- 
 gions throughout the different sea- 
 sons of vegetation, which occasions 
 the distemper called the hill fever. 
 This has been attributed to many 
 causes, but it is probably owing to 
 the grossness of an atmosphere fat 
 with fogs, and surcharged with the 
 exhalations of a luxuriant soil pent 
 up in vallies, having the free circula- 
 
NORTHERN CIRCARS. 
 
 419 
 
 tion impeded by the surrounding 
 jungles and forests. 
 
 From Coringa to Ganjam the coast, 
 as viewed from the sea, appears moun- 
 tainous, and from Coringa south- 
 wards low, flat, and sandy. The same 
 ground seldom yields more than one 
 crop of grain annually, but there be- 
 ing plenty of water, it is generally a 
 heavy one. There are many small 
 rivers running towards the sea, di- 
 vided artificially into canals, and af- 
 terwards conducted into tanks and 
 reservoirs. The principal quadrupeds 
 are sheep and the larger species of 
 horned cattle ; and the neighbouring 
 sea, with its numerous islets, abounds 
 with every species of Indian fish. 
 The Circars are exceedingly pro- 
 ductive of grain, and formerly, during 
 the north-easterly monsoon, were the 
 granary of Madras, in like manner as 
 Tanjore was reckoned on during the 
 south-west monsoon. Fruits, roots, 
 and green esculents are scarce, and 
 raised with difficulty south of the 
 Godavery, and even to the north of 
 that river, owing it is supposed to 
 the influence of the sea air. Sugar 
 and cotton are produced, and of the 
 latter a great deal is brought from 
 the interior ; bay salt and tobacco 
 (the latter excellent) are exported. 
 The forests of Rajamundry, from the 
 commencement of the hills along the 
 banks of the Godavery to Poloonsha, 
 yield abundance of large teak trees. 
 
 Plain longcloth, which forms the 
 groundwork of the best printed ca- 
 licoes in Europe, is wrought in the 
 island of Nagore, and palempores at 
 Masulipatam ; coarser cloths to the 
 north and south of the Godavery. 
 The muslins of Cicacole, the woollen 
 carpets of Ellore, and the silks of 
 Burhampoor, are rather objects of 
 curiosity than considerable in quan- 
 tity. The raw silk is all imported. 
 Ships of 500 tons have been con- 
 structed at Coringa and Narsopoor, 
 the two principal mouths of the Go- 
 davery, and above 50,000 tons of 
 small native craft are employed in 
 the coasting trade, principally with 
 Madras. The exports to Europe are 
 chiefly fine cotton fabrics. The ar- 
 
 ticles transported inland by the itine- 
 rant traders are salt, piece-goods, 
 copper, and raw silk from Bengal ; 
 the returns cotton and wheat. A 
 large proportion of the East-India 
 Company’s investment of piece goods 
 is provided in these Circars. The 
 female population generally prepare 
 the thread, sell the produce of their 
 week’s work to the weaver, and 
 purchase a new stock of cotton for 
 the next week. The females also of 
 decayed families, who from the se- 
 cluded tenour of their lives have little 
 choice of employment, derive from 
 this source a support for their feeble 
 existence, which it is to be hoped 
 no machinery will ever endanger. A 
 considerable quantity of the cotton 
 thus used is raised on the spot, the 
 rest brought from the Central Deccan 
 in exchange for salt. 
 
 The native inhabitants of the five 
 Northern Circars, exclusive of a few 
 Mahomedans dispersed through the 
 different towns, are wholly Hindoos, 
 and, according to returns made to 
 the Madras government in 1822 , were 
 estimated at 2,995,481 persons. They 
 are composed of two nations, the 
 Telinga and the Ooria,Oria, or Orissa, 
 formerly separated by the Godavery, 
 but greatly intermixed since their 
 union. They speak and write different 
 dialects, and have rites, customs, 
 and characteristical traits, perfectly 
 distinguishable from each other. The 
 four great castes or subdivisions are 
 common to both, but the Oorias are. 
 supposed to deviate less from original 
 institutions than the others. The 
 Brahmins, as elsewhere, enjoy undis- 
 puted pre-eminence. It is probable 
 that many of the poligars and ze- 
 mindars were descendants of ancient 
 Hindoo chiefs and public officers who 
 had usurped lands. The Velmas 
 were an aboriginal race of Telingana 
 origin. The Rachewars appear to 
 have been descendants of a pure 
 Rajpoot colony from Upper Hin- 
 dostan. The Worias were the off- 
 spring of the Gujaputty dynasty of 
 Orissa kings ; but the whole of the 
 above tribes affect the Rajpoot man- 
 ners, and pretend to be of the mar- 
 
 2 e 2 
 
420 
 
 NORTHERN CIRCARS. 
 
 tial caste. The remainder are hus- 
 bandmen, cowherds, weavers, toge- 
 ther with the artificers hereafter 
 enumerated, and maintained by the 
 greater villages. 
 
 Geographically considered, a vil- 
 lage here is a tract of country com- 
 prising some hundred or some thou- 
 sand acres of arable or waste land ; 
 politically viewed it resembles a town- 
 ship or corporation. Its proper es- 
 tablishment of officers and servants 
 consists of the following descrip- 
 tions: 
 
 1. The potail or head inhabitant, 
 who has a general superintendence 
 of the affairs of the village, settles 
 disputes, attends to the police, and 
 collects the revenue within his vil- 
 lage. 
 
 2. The tallia and totie : the duty 
 of the first consists in gaining infor- 
 mation of crimes and offences, and 
 in escorting and protecting travellers 
 from one village to another ; the du- 
 ties of the last appear confined im- 
 mediately to the village, where he 
 guards the crops and assists in mea- 
 suring them. 
 
 3. The boundary man, who pre- 
 serves the limits of the village, or 
 gives evidence respecting them in 
 matters of dispute. 
 
 4. The curnum, or village accoun- 
 tant. 
 
 5. The superintendent of the tanks 
 and water-courses, who distributes 
 the water therefrom for the purposes 
 of agriculture. 
 
 6. The Brahmin, who performs the 
 village worship. 
 
 7. The schoolmaster, who is seen 
 teaching the children to read and 
 write on the sand. 
 
 8. The calendar Brahmin, or as- 
 trologer, who proclaims the lucky 
 and unpropitious periods for sowing 
 and reaping. 
 
 9. The smith and carpenter, who 
 manufacture the implements of agri- 
 culture, and build the dwelling of 
 the cultivator. 
 
 10. The potman or potter;, the 
 washerman; the barber; the cow- 
 keeper, who tends the cattle ; the 
 doctor ; the dancing-girl, who attends 
 
 at rejoicings ; the musician"; and the 
 poet. 
 
 These officers and servants gene- 
 rally constitute the establishment of 
 a Hindoo village. In addition to the 
 portion of land appropriated to the 
 pagoda establishment, to the local of- 
 ficers of the government, and to the 
 village servants, they were each en- 
 titled to certain small shares or per- 
 quisites from the crops of the vil- 
 lagers. Under this simple form of 
 government the inhabitants lived from 
 time immemorial. The boundaries of 
 villages have been but seldom altered ; 
 and although villages have been often 
 injured, and even desolated by war, 
 famine, and disease, the same name, 
 the same limits, and even the same 
 families have continued for ages. 
 The inhabitants give themselves no 
 trouble about the breaking up and 
 division of kingdoms ; while the vil- 
 lage remains entire, they care not to 
 what sovereign it is transferred, or to 
 what dynasty it devolves, its internal 
 economy remaining the same. 
 
 The towns and villages in this pro- 
 vince consist of mud huts and houses; 
 yet the peasantry are not, on the 
 whole, incommodiously lodged. The 
 temples, tanks, and other great 
 works are few and insignificant, when 
 compared with those of the south ; 
 and the roads, with the exception of 
 Bengal, where they are not required, 
 probably the worst in India. Wheeled 
 carriages are consequently scarcely 
 used for the commerce of the interior, 
 and the communication from place to 
 place at certain seasons is extremely 
 difficult, even for loaded cattle, espe- 
 cially over the black soil of Guntoor 
 and the swamps of the northern dis- 
 tricts. The numerous streams, rivers, 
 and creeks that intersect the country 
 (as in Malabar) from east to west, 
 without bridges or proper ferry boats, 
 are a great impediment to inland 
 traffic, and a never-ceasing annoy- 
 ance to the traveller, for whose ac- 
 commodation a palmyra catamaran is 
 the usual expedient. The coss here 
 is about equal to two miles English. 
 
 The five northern Circars, when 
 acquired by the East-India Company, 
 
NORTHERN CIRCARS. 
 
 421 
 
 consisted of zemindary and havelly 
 lands. The first are situated in the 
 hill country of the western frontier, 
 and also in the plains between these 
 hills and the sea. The hill zemin- 
 dars, secure in their woody and un- 
 wholesome heights, and encouraged 
 by the hope of an eventual asylum 
 in the dominions of the Nizam and 
 Nagpoor raja, have often furnished 
 examples of successful depredation 
 and unpunished revolt. When the 
 province devolved to the British they 
 were for the most part in a very ir- 
 regular state of subjection to the 
 Nizam, and not only the forms, but 
 the remembrance of civil authority, 
 seemed to have been lost. With re- 
 spect to the havelly lands, which 
 compose a large proportion of these 
 Circars, they consisted of the demesne 
 or household lands of the sovereign, 
 tracts near to towns resumed by the 
 Mahomedans, and appropriated for 
 the peculiar support of their nume- 
 rous garrisons and establishments. 
 Long before our acquisition of the 
 country, private property in land, if 
 it ever prevailed in these districts, 
 had for many years ceased to exist. 
 If the ryots ever possessed power to 
 sell their lands, it must have been at 
 a very remote period, for not only 
 has this power remained unclaimed 
 by any ryot from Nellore to Ganjam, 
 but there has not been discovered a 
 single deed of the sale of landed pro- 
 perty by individuals, in any of the 
 provinces throughout Telingana. 
 
 In A.D. 1541 the Mussulmauns, 
 under Mahomed Khan Leshkeree, of 
 theBhamenee empire of Beeder, broke 
 into the Northern Circars, and con- 
 quered Condapilly. Nine years after- 
 wards they subdued all the Guntoor 
 and Masulipatam districts ; but their 
 reduction, in a European sense, ap- 
 pears to have been little more than 
 nominal, as they were again con- 
 quered from the Hindoo princes of 
 Orissa in 1571, during the reign of 
 Ibrahim Cuttub Shah, of Hyderabad 
 or Golconda. In 1787 these pro- 
 vinces, along with the kingdom of 
 Hyderabad, fell under the dominion 
 of Aurengzebe: but in 1724 were 
 
 again severed from the Mogul empire 
 by Nizam ul Mulk, who immediately 
 took actual and real possession, col- 
 lected the revenue, and fixed a civil 
 and military establishment. He was 
 succeeded by his third son, Salabut 
 Jung, who being greatly indebted for 
 his elevation to the intrigues and mi- 
 litary support of the French East- 
 India Company, rewarded their ser- 
 vices in 1752 by a grant of the dis- 
 trict of Condavir or Guntoor, and 
 soon after ceded the other Circars. 
 
 The capture of Masulipatam in 
 1759, by the British army under Co- 
 lonel Forde, having deprived the 
 French of all real power, these terri- 
 tories reverted to the Nizam, with 
 the exception of the acknowledged 
 dependencies of the town and for- 
 tress of Masulipatam, which were 
 retained by the English East-India 
 Company. Deprived of French suc- 
 cour, Salabut Jung was soon super- 
 seded in his authority by his brother 
 Nizam Ali. In 1765 Lord Clive ob- 
 tained from the Mogul (Shah Allum) 
 a grant of four of the Northern Cir- 
 cars, namely, Cicacole, Rajamundry, 
 Ellore, and Condapilly, which in the 
 following year was confirmed by a 
 treaty with the Nizam. The re- 
 maining circar of Guntoor was at 
 that time possessed by Bazalet Jung, 
 the Nizam’s brother, who held it in 
 jaghire. It was contingently stipu- 
 lated for in the treaty with the Ni- 
 zam, subject to the life of Bazalet 
 Jung, who died in 1782: but it did 
 not actually come under British ju- 
 risdiction until 1788. From this pe- 
 riod until 1823 a peshcush was paid 
 annually to the Nizam on account of 
 the Northern Circars, amounting to 
 6,30,630 rupees ; but in that year the 
 whole was finally redeemed by the 
 payment to the Nizam of .£1,200,000 
 sterling. 
 
 The local administration of the 
 Northern Circars was continued un- 
 der the management of the natives 
 until 1769, when provincial chiefs 
 and councils were appointed, and this 
 mode of government continued until 
 1794. During this period the power 
 of the zemindars was very great, and 
 
COCHIN. 
 
 422 
 
 in 1777 it was calculated that the 
 number of armed men maintained by 
 them amounted to 41,000. In 1794 
 a change in the internal government 
 of this province took place, which 
 was followed by the punishment of 
 the great zemindar of Vizianagrum, 
 and the restoration of such zemin- 
 dars as had been unjustly deprived of 
 their lands by that family. The pro- 
 gress, however, of improvement con- 
 tinued to be very slow compared with 
 other districts similarly situated, al- 
 though considerable amelioration has 
 taken place in the fiscal department. 
 The system of a permanent assessment 
 was introduced and established in the 
 Northern Circars during the years 
 1802 and 1804, when the province 
 was divided into five regular jurisdic- 
 tions or collectorates, viz. Ganjam, 
 Vizagapatam, Rajamundry, Masulipa- 
 tam, and Guntoor; but recently these 
 have been incorporated with each 
 other, and reduced to two districts, 
 of large dimensions and uncertain 
 form. — {Jas. Grant , Oth Report , Ful- 
 lartony White , Rennell, R. Grant , fyc.) 
 
 Clapp’s Isles ( or Cocoa Isles ). — 
 A number of very small islands lying 
 off the south-western extremity of 
 Java; lat. 7 ° 5' S., Ion. 105° 25' N. 
 These islets are uninhabited, and only 
 occasionally resorted to by the Ma- 
 lays for the sake of the edible bird’s- 
 nests found among them. 
 
 Cloorgowan. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Delhi, situated on the con- 
 fines of the Hurrianna district and 
 Bhatty country ; lat. 28° 9' N., Ion. 
 75° 6' E., twenty miles N.W. from 
 Hissar. 
 
 Cochin ( Cach’hi , a morass). — A 
 small principality on the Malabar 
 coast, intersected by the tenth de- 
 gree of north latitude, having the 
 Malabar province on the north, Tra- 
 vancore on the south, Dindigul on 
 the east, and the sea on the west. 
 A section of this territory, equal to 
 about 745 square miles, is attached 
 to the district of Malabar, and subject 
 to the British code of Indian laws ; 
 but the residue is under the indepen- 
 
 dent jurisdiction of the raja. The 
 whole area probably exceeds 2,500 
 square miles. 
 
 In the northern parts of this coun- 
 try, abput Pargunuru and Shilicary, 
 the rice grounds are narrow valleys, 
 well watered by perennial streams, 
 which enable the cultivators to raise 
 two crops annually. Their houses are 
 buried in groves of palms, mangoes, 
 jacks, and plantains, that skirt the 
 bottom of the little hills. Above are 
 woods of forest trees, which, al- 
 though not so stately as those of 
 Chittagong, are very fine, and free 
 from rattans and climbers. The teak 
 and viti (a black wood) abound in 
 these forests ; but most of the large 
 trees have been cut, and no care has 
 been taken to encourage their repro- 
 duction, or to check the growth of 
 useless timber. Towards Cacadu the 
 hills are lower, and covered with 
 grass instead of trees, but scarcely 
 any portion of them is cultivated, al- 
 though the soil appears good and the 
 pasture excellent. 
 
 In the Cochin forests nearly the 
 same sort of trees grow as in those of 
 Malabar. Thejackwood, in general 
 demand for cabinet work, is small, and 
 mostly used for boxes and house 
 building. The erambo or iron wood 
 is too heavy for common use and is 
 seldom felled. The black wood is large 
 and of fine dimensions, but rendered 
 unmarketable by the practice of cut- 
 ting it into short logs, for the conve- 
 nience of having them more easily 
 dragged to water carriage by ele- 
 phants, during which process they 
 are much bruised and splintered. The 
 poon of Cochin is small and inferior to 
 that of the Malabar province, as is 
 also the Cochin teak, with respect to 
 the essential oil, which is the grand 
 preservative of iron from corrosion ; 
 indeed, the difference may easily be 
 perceived by burning a piece of each. 
 In the division of Chittoor there are 
 extensive teak forests : but as the 
 Chittoor river falls into the Paniany, 
 it must be floated through the British 
 territories to the sea-port of Paniany, 
 in South Malabar. The free transit 
 of this timber was of great impor- 
 
COCHIN. 
 
 423 
 
 tance to the raja’s interest, yet per- 
 mission to float the Chittoor timber 
 to the sea was not conceded by the 
 Bombay government (about 1814) 
 without infinite discussion, and the 
 point was only gained for the raja 
 at last by the persevering exertions of 
 Major John Munro, then resident at 
 Cochin. Prior to the above era, the 
 Cochin and Travancore teaks had 
 been uniformly excluded from the 
 Bombay dock-yard, which compelled 
 the rajas to seek a market in Bengal, 
 where the demand continues unabated. 
 
 In the Cochin principality are many 
 Nazarene or Christian villages, inha- 
 bited by Christians of St. Thomas, 
 which are in general well-built and 
 cleanly. Jews are also numerous in 
 the vicinity of the capital ; but their 
 head quarters are at Matacherry, 
 about a mile distant, which is almost 
 wholly tenanted by Israelites. The 
 resident Jews (for the others are from 
 all parts of Asia) are divided into 
 two classes, the Jerusalem or white 
 Jews, and the ancient or black Jews. 
 The latter have a synagogue in the 
 town of Cochin ; but the great bulk 
 of this tribe inhabit the interior, where 
 it is extremely difficult to discriminate 
 the black Jew from the Hindoo, their 
 appearance is so similar. Their chief 
 towns are Trittoor, Paroor, Chenotta, 
 and Maleh, and by the white Jews 
 they are considered an inferior race. 
 By their neighbours the inhabitants of 
 Cochin and Travancore are supposed 
 to be great proficients in the black art, 
 and to possess the power of destroy- 
 ing their enemies ; but this attribute 
 has never extended to their chiefs, 
 whose conduct has always been such 
 as to acquit them of all suspicion of 
 being conjurors. 
 
 The Cochin Raja maintained his in- 
 dependence to a much later period 
 than most of the other Hindoo 
 princes. He was first compelled to pay 
 tribute by Tippoo, which he still does 
 to the British government. Mutta 
 Tamburan, raja of Cochin, died of the 
 small-pox in 1787, and was succeeded 
 by his younger brother Verulam Tam- 
 buran. In 1791, by the assistance of 
 the British government he was enabled 
 
 to throw off the Mysore yoke, and 
 transfer his allegiance to the British. 
 Previous to the Travancore wars of 
 1809 the Cochin raja was tributary 
 for that portion of his dominions 
 which had been re-conquered for him 
 from Tippoo, and he then paid alto- 
 gether a subsidy of one lack of rupees ; 
 but this state always entertained a de- 
 cided partiality to the French nation, 
 and at length commenced an unpro- 
 voked and preposterous War against 
 the British, which was extinguished 
 with little trouble, and his tribute 
 augmented to 2,76,037 rupees. 
 
 About the same date (1809) it was 
 discovered that Paleat Achein, the 
 dewan of Cochin, had been an active 
 promoter of the commotions in this 
 quarter of India, and had closely con- 
 federated with the refractory and am- 
 bitious dewan of Travancore. Nor 
 was the Cochin raja himself altoge- 
 ther exempted from the suspicion of 
 having countenanced thedewan’s pro- 
 jects : but his guilt probably never 
 proceeded so far, and the appearances 
 were in all likelihood caused by his 
 negligence and imbecility, which pre- 
 vented his perceiving the criminal 
 plots fabricated and conducted within 
 the walls of his own palace. The Co- 
 chin dewan, on being taxed with his 
 treacherous machinations, immediate- 
 ly confessed the whole, and acknow- 
 ledged the clemency with which he 
 had been treated. He was in conse- 
 quence ordered to repair to Bombay, 
 but in the course of his journey de- 
 viated to Trichoor ; from whence, 
 however, he was removed, and trans- 
 ported in safety to his ultimate desti- 
 nation. 
 
 To prevent the authority and re- 
 sources of this chieftain being again 
 directed against his allies, by the new 
 treaty concluded in 1810, the sur- 
 render of his fortresses, arms, and 
 military stores was stipulated, and 
 also the reduction and reformation of 
 his military establishment; but the 
 good effects expected from this ar- 
 rangement were frustrated by the con- 
 tinued dissentions between the raja 
 and his new dewan, Koonjee Kishen 
 Merawen, who was supposed to be 
 
424 
 
 COCHIN. 
 
 influenced by persons hostile to the 
 British government. The dewan was 
 in consequence removed from that 
 high office, and the duties of it under- 
 taken by the British resident until 
 a fit successor could be found. This 
 was, however, no easy task, for the 
 country was divided into factions in- 
 veterate against each other ; nor did 
 any of the principal men possess suf- 
 ficient character or abilities to qualify 
 them for so important a task, in a 
 principality full of foreign, discon- 
 tented, and turbulent persons. Such 
 a state of anarchy, added to the very 
 bad description of the revenue ser- 
 vants, required strong and vigorous 
 coercion, the powers necessary for 
 which, if confided to a dewan, would 
 have been, as they had been, grossly 
 abused ; nothing therefore remained 
 but the temporary interposition of 
 the representative of the British go- 
 vernment. This arrangement was 
 most earnestly solicited by the raja, 
 who alleged that nothing else could 
 restore subordination to his authority, 
 economy in the expenditure, or tran- 
 quillity in the country. With respect 
 to himself, his life he said had been 
 passed in reading the shastras, and 
 that it was now so fast verging to its 
 termination, that he was unable to 
 attend to business, while his heir had 
 the opposite defect of being too young 
 and inexperienced. Under these cir- 
 cumstances, he was of opinion that 
 in committing his principality to the 
 temporary care of the British govern- 
 ment, he did an act of justice to his 
 subjects, while he gratified his own 
 wishes. 
 
 The resident in consequence stood 
 forth as dewan, until the raja should 
 be relieved from his embarrassments, 
 and commenced by recommending 
 that the Cochin tribute should be re- 
 duced from 2,76,037 to 2,40,000 ru- 
 pees, the resources of the country be- 
 ing unequal to the liquidation of the 
 larger sum, while the debt due to the 
 British government for arrears of sub- 
 sidy amounted to 5,22,437 rupees. 
 Various reforms were also effected in 
 the collection of the revenue and cur- 
 rent expenses, of which last the reli- 
 
 gious establishments proved the heavi- 
 est and most troublesome to arrange. 
 In 1814 considerable difficulty was 
 experienced in realizing the revenues 
 on account of the refractory conduct 
 of the Christian inhabitants, who paid 
 scarcely any revenue to the raja, and 
 refused to recognize his authority. 
 Prior to this date native Christian 
 judges had been appointed to all the 
 courts of justice in Cochin and Tra- 
 vancore, for the protection of the 
 Christian natives against the hostility 
 of the Nair public functionaries. — 
 {Col. John Munro , F. Buchanan , C. 
 Buchanan , J. Fell , <$fc.) 
 
 Cochin. — This city, from which the 
 above principality originally derived 
 its name, has long ceased to form 
 any part of the Cochin dominions ; 
 lat. 9° 51° N., Ion. 76° 17' E. In A.D. 
 1503 Albuquerque obtained leave 
 to erect a fortress at Cochin, which 
 was the first possessed in India by the 
 Portuguese. In 1663 it was taken 
 by the Dutch, who converted the 
 cathedral into a warehouse, and while 
 they remained in possession, it was 
 inhabited by Jew, Hindoo, and Ma- 
 homedan merchants, and carried on 
 an extensive commerce. The inter- 
 course with Arabia was very great, 
 and Venetian zequins brought from 
 Egypt w'ere in common circulation, 
 while many of the Arab ships made 
 two voyages annually. A considera- 
 ble traffic is still carried on with Su- 
 rat, Bombay, the Malabar coast, and 
 Canara, and also with Arabia, China, 
 and the Eastern Isles. The chief ex- 
 ports are pepper, cardamoms, teak- 
 wood, sandal-wood, cocoa-nuts, coir, 
 cordage, cassia, and fish maws. Ship- 
 building is carried on to a considera- 
 ble extent, and the ports on the Ara- 
 bian and Persian Gulfs are from hence 
 supplied with timber for repairing 
 their different craft. In 1821 two 
 twenty-four gun ships for his Majes- 
 ty’s service were on the stocks. 
 
 The Roman Catholic bishop of Co- 
 chin now resides at Coilan. His dio- 
 cese begins south of Cochin, extends 
 towards Negapatam, includes the 
 whole island of Ceylon, and compre- 
 
COCHIN CHINA. 
 
 4 €5 
 
 hends altogether above 100 churches. 
 Besides the Catholics there are at 
 Cochin a considerable population of 
 Protestants, the remains of the Dutch 
 colonists. Beyond all the Europeans 
 settled in India, the Dutch have the 
 merit of having greatly promoted the 
 dissemination of Christianity, wher- 
 ever they gained a settlement. In 
 their time clergymen presided over 
 districts and made annual visitations; 
 but all religious and scholastic institu- 
 tions have been neglected since the 
 transference of the country to the 
 British. In 1807, the population of 
 Jews in Cochin and its vicinity was 
 as follows : — white Jews 223 ; black 
 Jews 720 ; at places in the country 
 586 : total 1,529 persons. On the 
 rupture with the Dutch in 1795, Co- 
 chin was taken possession of, and was 
 finally ceded to the British govern- 
 ment by treaty in 1814. — (C. Bucha- 
 nan , Fra. Paolo , F. Buchanan , Bruce , 
 Missionaries, $c.) 
 
 COCHIN CHINA. 
 
 A kingdom situated in the south- 
 eastern extremity of Asia, usually 
 distinguished by the name of India 
 beyond the Ganges, and extending 
 along the sea of China, from the 9th 
 to the 18th degree of north latitude. 
 The empire of Cochin China, which 
 acquired its existing form about the 
 commencement of the present cen- 
 tury, comprehends all Cochin China 
 and Tunquin, and the largest portion 
 of Cambodia, with the little state of 
 Siampa. It extends from Cambodia 
 Point in lat. 8° 30' N., to the northern 
 confines of Tunquin about lat. 23° 
 N., and from 105° and 109° east. To 
 the north it has the Chinese pro- 
 vinces of Canton, Quangsi, and Yu- 
 nan ; and to the west Laos and Siam. 
 It is bounded in every other direction 
 by the China sea and the gulfs of 
 Tunquin and Siam. The dominions 
 of Cochin China do not appear in 
 any part to come in actual contact 
 with those of Ava, although the Bur- 
 mese have settlements on the upper 
 course of the great river Cambodia, 
 before it enters Tunquin, but the ter- 
 
 ritory of Lantao, a subdivision of 
 Laos, under Siam, intervenes. 
 
 The Cochin Chinese empire, as 
 may be inferred from the above de- 
 scription, is of a very irregular shape. 
 In 1824 it might be considered as 
 distributed under three distinct go- 
 vernments, viz. that of Tunquin, sub- 
 divided into fifteen provinces ; Co- 
 chin China proper, containing nine ; 
 and Cambodia, containing six pro- 
 vinces. Tunquin is the largest and 
 most populous. Cochin China is but 
 a narrow strip of land extending 
 along the coast, hemmed in by moun- 
 tains, seldom exceeding twenty leagues 
 in breadth, and on the west generally 
 bounded by the Laos territories. 
 
 The principal rivers are the Kan- 
 kao, the Cambodia, the Saigon, the 
 Tunquin or Donnai, and the Hue ; 
 but Cochin China itself has no river 
 of any magnitude, for the Hue, 
 though broad, is shallow, and of a 
 very short course. Its estuary, how- 
 ever, forms a very fine harbour, ac- 
 cessible in the north-west monsoon 
 to ships of 200 tons, but in the op- 
 posite monsoon it is shut. The long 
 vallies through which these rivers 
 flow are, comparatively, the most fer- 
 tile and populous divisions of the 
 empire ; the remainder consists most- 
 ly of primitive mountains with nar- 
 row vallies intervening, and is pro- 
 portionally thinly inhabited and un- 
 productive. The promontory named 
 Cape St. James (lat. 10° 16' N., Ion. 
 107° 45' E.) is the commencement 
 of a chain of mountains that extends 
 along the sea-coast to the north as 
 far as the gulf of Cochin, and being 
 the first high land seen to the south, 
 is an excellent land-mark for the en- 
 trance of the Donnai river, on the 
 north side of which it is situated. 
 Between Cape St. James and the Bay 
 of Turon Cochin China possesses nine 
 excellent harbours, accessible with 
 every wind, and affording complete 
 protection. 
 
 The commerce of Cochin China is 
 regulated by the monsoons, the ves- 
 sels being laid up until the return of 
 the periodical favourable winds. The 
 chief commercial ports are Saigon, 
 
42G 
 
 COCHIN CHINA. 
 
 Faifoe, Hue, and Cachao. The last 
 is the capital of Tunquin, and before 
 the subjugation of that kingdom was 
 a place of great trade. The Chinese 
 craft and shipping that visit Cochin 
 China annually has been estimated 
 at 20,000 tons. Some of the native 
 trading vessels are so constructed 
 that the component parts may be se- 
 parated from each other, and placed 
 under cover, and some, even so large 
 as eighty tons, have the timbers 
 merely covered with matting or bas- 
 ket-work. 
 
 The low-lands in Cochin China 
 produce rice, areca, betel-leaf, to- 
 bacco, coarse cinnamon, cotton, and 
 sugar, the last of which may be con- 
 sidered the staple commodity of the 
 country. Gold-dust, aguilla-wood, 
 pepper, wax, honey, and ivory, are 
 brought down from the mountains 
 by the inhabitants. There are two 
 species of rice, that which requires 
 inundation, and mountain rice. The 
 rainy season takes place in Septem- 
 ber, October, and November. The 
 lands are capable of producing two 
 crops of rice per annum, one reaped 
 in April, the other in October. Fruits 
 of various kinds, such as oranges, 
 bananas, figs, pine-apples, guavas, 
 and pomegranates, are abundantly 
 produced in all parts of the country. 
 In the forests of Cochin China are 
 ebony, cedars, mimosas, walnuts, 
 teak, iron- wood, poon, and most other 
 trees that grow in India, besides stick- 
 lac and gamboge. 
 
 Sugar is the most valuable pro- 
 duction, and is principally raised and 
 manufactured in the central districts, 
 by the industry of the natives, without 
 the assistance of the Chinese, as is 
 the case in Siam. In 1822 the whole 
 exportation was estimated at 30,000 
 piculs, mostly sent to China. It is 
 packed in matting sacks, containing 
 rather more than 150 pounds each, 
 which must be bored with a piercer 
 to guard against fraud. Raw silk is 
 also an article of considerable im- 
 portance, both in Cochin China and 
 Tunquin, and it has been conjectured 
 that above 120,000 pounds are ex- 
 ported. In quality it is rather better 
 
 than the Bengal silk, not of the Com- 
 pany’s filature, but the shortness of 
 the skein renders it unsuitable for 
 British machinery. The true cinna- 
 mon is produced in the central moun- 
 tains of Cochin China, and in 1822 
 about 266,000 pounds appeared ex- 
 portable. It goes principally to China, 
 where it is more highly valued than 
 any other quality ; but, on account of 
 the slovenly manner in which it is 
 prepared, it does not suit the Euro- 
 pean market. Another exclusive pro- 
 duct of the central portion of the 
 kingdom, where it is extensively cul- 
 tivated, is tea — a coarse and cheap 
 commodity, selling by retail for about 
 three-halfpence per pound. The in- 
 digo plant grows about Saigon in 
 great profusion, but its produce is 
 brought to market in a liquid state, 
 the natives not being acquainted with 
 the granulating process ; it conse- 
 quently soon becomes unfit for use. 
 Gold dust is found in their rivers, 
 and their mines abound with ore of 
 the purest sort. The commodities 
 received from China in return for its 
 exports, are silk, porcelain, medical 
 drugs, a large supply of paper, prin- 
 cipally for religious purposes, and 
 some fine teas. From the Malay 
 countries, pepper, cloves, nutmegs, 
 sandal-wood, and tin, are received ; 
 and from Hindostan, opium and salt- 
 petre. In 1822 the European im- 
 ports consisted of broad-cloths, a few 
 cotton goods, with fire-arms, and 
 un wrought iron. The consumption 
 of opium has been estimated at 150 
 chests per annum, two-thirds for 
 Tunquin, and the other third for 
 Cochin China and Cambodia. Until 
 the establishment of Singapoor, the 
 whole quantity was obtained indirectly 
 from Canton. At the above date, the 
 whole army, estimated at forty thou- 
 sand men, was clothed in British 
 woollens, consisting chiefly of strong 
 coarse scarlet broad-cloth, a small 
 quantity of yellow and green of the 
 same quality, and a few serges and 
 camblets. Some woollens of a finer 
 quality are also purchased for the 
 winter dresses of the higher orders. 
 From Canton and Singapoor the 
 
COCHIN CHINA. 
 
 42 ? 
 
 junks now import small assortments 
 of fine and heavy cotton goods; but 
 chintzes, and other coloured cotton 
 goods, with the exception of hand- 
 kerchiefs, are not esteemed by the 
 Cochin Chinese, who prefer their own 
 coarse cotton goods to those of Hin- 
 dostan, which they fully equal in 
 texture. 
 
 N otwithstanding their acquired skill 
 in the casting of cannon and manu- 
 facture of ammunition, the Cochin- 
 Chinese have never been able to sup- 
 ply themselves with small arms, which 
 have at all times been imported from 
 Europe; and notwithstanding the ap- 
 parent cheapness of the native iron, 
 it can still be afforded better and 
 cheaper from Europe. In 1819 one 
 French ship supplied the king with 
 ten thousand stand of arms, yet they 
 are always in demand, and yield a 
 profit to the importer. 
 
 The foreign trade of this empire is 
 almost exclusively with China, that 
 to Siam being inconsiderable, and 
 with European nations still smaller. 
 In 1820 the latter, owing to the in- 
 sane rapacity of the government, and 
 the extortion of its officers, was re- 
 duced to the lowest stage of depres- 
 sion. Sugar, the staple article, was 
 then very scarce ; and the supply of 
 raw silk was also extremely scanty. 
 The Cochin Chinese, like the Siamese, 
 are prohibited from going abroad, so 
 that all their foreign trade is carried 
 on by natives of the countries with 
 which they have intercourse. Some, 
 however, procure special licenses to 
 go abroad, and in this manner a few 
 visit China, and lately the European 
 ports in the straits of Malacca, and 
 more especially Singapoor. They 
 carry on a considerable international 
 traffic within their own limits, and 
 from their hardiness, activity, and 
 habits of obedience, appear singularly 
 well suited to become expert mari- 
 ners. The Chinese trade is chiefly 
 carried on to Cachar in Tunquin, 
 Saigon in Cambodia, and Taifo and 
 Hue in Cochin China; they also 
 trade with some minor ports, such as 
 Pungtae, Yatrang, Fuyin, Samchao, 
 Quinnyon, and Quangyi. The coast- 
 
 ing trade is usually active, but the 
 cargoes consist mostly of dried fish, 
 biche de mer, pickled pork, and other 
 articles of little value, a large portion 
 of every vessel’s tonnage being mo- 
 nopolized for the conveyance of the 
 king’s stores and troops. The do- 
 mestic commerce is managed by fe- 
 males, who perform besides all the 
 laborious drudgery, such as navigat- 
 ing the river craft, and cultivating 
 the soil. The Chinese, who are dis- 
 persed over the country, participate 
 in all the larger mercantile transac- 
 tions, besides which they are the 
 butchers, tailors, pedlars, confection- 
 ers, bankers, and money changers. 
 
 The Cochin Chinese in their form 
 of government (as in their other in- 
 stitutions) imitate the Chinese ; but 
 they are far behind them in the ad- 
 ministration of their law, as well as 
 in mental capacity and industry. The 
 only rank is official, divided into two 
 great classes, the civil and the mili- 
 tary. The forms are regular, and the 
 manner of conductingbusiness prompt 
 and methodical, and in no other Asia- 
 tic country are European merchants 
 admitted on more easy and liberal 
 terms, all foreign traders having in 
 1818 been placed on a complete 
 equality. Four of the principal sea- 
 ports are open to European com- 
 merce, where all vessels pay a rated 
 measurement duty, are exempted 
 from all import duties or inspection 
 of cargoes, and pay a small export 
 duty on a few articles only. Un- 
 like the Malay practice, neither 
 the sovereign nor his officers are 
 themselves traders, nor are there any 
 royal monopolies or rights of pre- 
 emption. All these salutary regu- 
 lations, however, are rendered almost 
 nugatory by the insatiable rapacity 
 of the public functionaries, disciplined 
 in extortion from the lowest peon up 
 to the emperor. 
 
 France is the only country that 
 has as yet availed herself of the new 
 regulations in favour of European 
 commerce, four ships from that coun- 
 try having visited Cochin China be- 
 tween 1818 and 1822. These im- 
 ported fire-arms, iron, copper, wool- 
 
COCHIN CHINA. 
 
 4 C 28 
 
 lens, curiosities for the court, and all 
 received full cargoes of sugar, besides 
 considerable quantities of raw silk. 
 In the course of time it is possible 
 that an indirect trade with China may 
 be conducted through this country, 
 which lies in the direct trading route, 
 and the Chinese often are much in 
 want of return cargoes. By this 
 channel an intercourse might be kept 
 up with every part of China, from 
 Hainan isle to the Yellow sea, 
 whence teas and raw silks might be 
 received, without the hampering ex- 
 actions of Canton. 
 
 Until a few centuries after the 
 Christian era, Cochin China formed 
 a part of the Chinese empire, and 
 consequently the appearance of the 
 natives, many of the customs, the 
 written language, the religious opi- 
 nions and ceremonies, are still re- 
 tained by them. The countenances 
 of the peasants are lively and intelli- 
 gent; and the women, who appear 
 more numerous than the men, are 
 actively employed in the works of 
 husbandry. In some of the provinces 
 of China women are condemned to 
 the degrading and laborious task of 
 dragging the plough ; in Cochin Chi- 
 na it is likewise their fate to be 
 doomed to these occupations, that 
 require the most persevering indus- 
 try. In towns the women serve as 
 agents and brokers to merchants 
 from foreign countries, and act with 
 remarkable fidelity. Both sexes are 
 generally coarse-featured, and their 
 colour nearly as deep as that of the 
 Malays ; and the universal practice 
 of chewing betel with other ingre- 
 dients, by reddening the lips and 
 blackening the teeth, gives them a 
 most unseemly appearance. Rice, 
 made palatable with salt and pepper, 
 furnishes their principal meals, animal 
 food being but sparingly used. The 
 small breed of cattle supply but little 
 milk : but, like the Chinese, they sel- 
 dom use this article, not even as 
 food for their young children, nor is 
 it customary to milk any animal. 
 Both here as in many parts of China, 
 fresh eggs are rejected, a preference 
 equal to one-third in price being given 
 
 to such as have become addled, and 
 those that contain young in all stages 
 are still more esteemed, and were 
 always among the presents sent by 
 the king to the British mission. This 
 is one of the countries where the ele- 
 phant is used as food, and rather 
 considered a dainty. Buflfaloe is 
 preferred to other beef, but its con- 
 sumption is almost confined exclu- 
 sively to the Chinese population. 
 During the famines caused by the 
 civil wars that so long desolated this 
 country, it is said human flesh was 
 sold in the public markets of the 
 capital. 
 
 The better class of Cochin Chi- 
 nese wear, next the skin, vests and 
 trowsers of slight silk or cotton. 
 Turbans are frequently worn by the 
 men, and hats sometimes by the wo- 
 men ; shoes are not used by either 
 sex. The men usually wear their 
 hair twisted into a knot and fixed 
 on the crown of the head, which was 
 the ancient fashion among the Chi- 
 nese, who now wear only a small 
 lock of hair behind. The handles of 
 the officers’ swords are of silver, and 
 generally well finished; but all arts and 
 manufactures decay, owing to the in- 
 security of property. The particu- 
 lar branch of the arts in which the Co- 
 chin Chinese most excel is that of na- 
 val architecture. Their pleasure row- 
 gallies are remarkably fine vessels, 
 and are sometimes composed of five 
 single planks, each extending from 
 one extremity to the other. The 
 edges are morticed, kept tight by 
 wooden pins, and bound firm by 
 twisted fibres of the bamboos with- 
 out ribs or timbers of any kind. 
 Their foreign traders are built on the 
 same plan as the Chinese junks. In 
 1825 the sovereign had increased his 
 regular navy to eleven sail of square- 
 rigged vessels, mostly commanded and 
 navigated by Chinese. 
 
 The Anam language is that of 
 Cochin China and Tunquin. It is 
 represented by the missionaries to 
 be also generally used in Siampa and 
 Cambodia. The Anam language and 
 nation are often denominated Juan 
 by the Malays and Siamese, it is 
 
COCHIN CHINA. 
 
 429 
 
 simple, original and monosyllabic, 
 and has neither genders, numbers, 
 nor cases ; moods, tenses, nor con- 
 jugations ; all of which are supplied 
 by particles, and the juxtaposition of 
 words, as in other monosyllabic lan- 
 guages. Conversation is a species 
 of chaunt or recitative, as in Chinese, 
 which has a very ludicrous effect on 
 an unaccustomed ear, the intonation 
 or accent being very similar to that 
 of China. All, however, in this 
 kingdom, who pretend to any pre- 
 eminence in learning, greatly affect 
 the Chinese literature and character. 
 
 The religion of Cochin China is a 
 modification of the widely extended 
 doctrines of Buddha, but more sim- 
 ple than that which is popularly 
 practised in China, The natives are 
 extremely superstitious, and their 
 devotional exercises, like those of the 
 Chinese, are more frequently per- 
 formed to avert an ideal evil, than 
 with the hope of attaining a positive 
 good. Besides the spontaneous of- 
 ferings that individuals make on va- 
 rious occasions, a yearly contribu- 
 tion is levied by the government, and 
 paid for the support of a certain 
 number of monasteries, in which the 
 priests invoke the deity for the pub- 
 lic welfare. In 1820 the French mis- 
 sionaries estimated, but apparently 
 without any rational data, the total 
 population of the empire at six mil- 
 lions of persons, which number in- 
 cluded 70,000 Christians, all Roman 
 Catholics. 
 
 The ancient history of Cochin 
 China is very little known, but the 
 accounts are tolerably authentic from 
 A.D. 1774, when the reigning family 
 were expelled from Quinnong, the 
 capital, by three brothers, who di- 
 vided the country among them. The 
 eldest brother was a wealthy mer- 
 chant, the second a general officer, 
 and the third a priest. When the 
 revolt took place, the young prince, 
 Caung Shang, with the queen and 
 his family, by the assistance of a 
 French missionary named Adran, es- 
 caped into a forest, where for some 
 time they lay concealed. After va- 
 rious unsuccessful attempts against 
 
 the usurpers he was compelled to 
 fly, first to Pulowai, an uninhabited 
 island in the gulf of Siam, and after- 
 wards to Siam, from whence he was 
 also expelled. The missionary Adran 
 in the mean time proceeded with his 
 eldest male child to France, to en- 
 deavour to procure assistance, which 
 was frustrated by the breaking out of 
 the revolution. 
 
 Caung Shang, after remaining two 
 years on the island of Pulowai, feed- 
 ing on roots, and enduring many 
 hardships, ventured to land on his own 
 country in 1790, from whence he at 
 last managed to expel the successors 
 of the original usurpers, and after- 
 wards effected the conquest of Tun- 
 quin. In 1797 and 1798, with the 
 assistance of the missionary Adran, 
 who had returned from Europe, he 
 began many improvements, seldom 
 attempted in Asiatic governments. 
 He established a manufactory of salt- 
 petre ; opened roads of communica- 
 tion, and encouraged cultivation ; he 
 distributed his land forces into regu- 
 lar regiments, and established mili- 
 tary schools, where the officers were 
 instructed in the science of projectiles 
 and gunnery by European masters, 
 and Adran translated into the Chi- 
 nese language a system of military 
 tactics. In the course of two years 
 he constructed at least 300 large gun 
 boats or row gallies, five luggers, and 
 a frigate on the model of a European 
 vessel. He caused a system of naval 
 tactics to be introduced, and had his 
 officers instructed in the use of sig- 
 nals. He also undertook to reform 
 the existing system of jurisprudence, 
 and sent missions into the moun- 
 tainous districts, to investigate their 
 condition and advance their civiliza- 
 tion. He openly declared his great 
 veneration for the Christian religion, 
 which he tolerated, and indeed all 
 others in his dominions, although he 
 adhered in practice to the ancient 
 faith of his country. In A.D. 1800 
 Adran the missionary died, and was 
 interred with all the pomp and cere- 
 monies prescribed by the Cochin Chi- 
 nese doctrines. 
 
 Three attempts were made by the 
 
430 
 
 COILLE. 
 
 East-India Company to open an in- 
 tercourse with Cochin China : one in 
 1778 by Mr. Hastings, one in 1804 
 by an envoy from Canton, and one 
 in 1822 under Mr. Crawfurd ; but the 
 whole proved unsuccessful. The po- 
 litical system of this country, like 
 that of all the countries of India be- 
 yond the Ganges, is one of extreme 
 caution, and aversion to any intimate 
 connexion with strangers. Caung 
 Shung, the restorer of the dynasty, in 
 1806 was in his fiftieth year, but the 
 period of his decease has not been 
 ascertained. In 1821 the reigning 
 sovereign’s name (who died soon af- 
 ter) was Ming-ming ; that of his pre- 
 decessor Kealung. At that date there 
 were only two Frenchmen at court, 
 and they were on the eve of embarka- 
 tion for Europe, having latterly been 
 much neglected. In 1821 a kind of 
 demi-official mission was despatched 
 from Saigon to the sovereign of the 
 Burmese, being probably the first re- 
 gular external diplomatic relation 
 (except with China) ever entered into 
 by this monarchy. The pretensions 
 of China to the kingdom of Tunquin, 
 formerly tributary to that empire, 
 are incessantly to be guarded against ; 
 but while the Cochin Chinese main- 
 tain their present (comparatively) 
 formidable army of 40,000 disciplined 
 men, they have little to fear from any 
 of their immediate neighbours, who, 
 besides the Chinese, are the Siamese 
 and the wild tribes of the interior. — 
 ( Barrow , Crawfurd , Singapoor Chro- 
 nicle , Lieut. White, Staunton, Leyden , 
 De Bissachere, Sfc.) 
 
 Cockley. — A village on the north- 
 eastern coast of Ceylon, situated 
 near a considerable river, about thirty- 
 eight miles N.N.W. from Trincoma- 
 lee; lat. 9° N., Ion. 80° 58' E. 
 
 Coco Isles. — Two small islands 
 in the bay of Bengal, lying due north 
 of the Andamans, and situated about 
 lat. 14° N., Ion. 93° E. The largest 
 may be about eight miles in circum- 
 ference, and they both abound with 
 cocoa-nut trees, from which they 
 derive their name. They do not ap- 
 pear to have been ever inhabited. 
 
 Cocoa Isles. — A cluster of very 
 small isles lying off the west coast 
 of Sumatra : lat. 3° 2' N., Ion. 96° 
 10' E. 
 
 Coconada. — A village on the sea- 
 coast of the Northern Circars, dis- 
 trict of Rajamundry, situated on the 
 bank of the little river Eliseram, and 
 communicating by a ferry with the 
 Dutch settlement of Jaganacpooram 
 on the opposite side. This spot is 
 the usual residence of the collector 
 and magistrate of the Rajamundry 
 district, and it is distant from the 
 town of that name about thirty road 
 miles to the east. — ( Fullarton , tyc.) 
 
 Coel. — A town in the province of 
 Agra, district of Alighur, from which 
 fortress it is two miles distant S. by 
 E., and connected by a fine avenue 
 of trees; lat. 27° 54' N., Ion. 78° E. 
 When Abul Fazel wrote, in A.D. 
 1582, Coel was a place of importance, 
 and it is still a large open busy town, 
 the head-quarters of the civil autho- 
 rities attached to the Alighur dis- 
 trict. The only remarkable building 
 is the great mosque, built on an ele- 
 vated spot in the centre of the town, 
 and commanding from its minars 
 an extensive view of the adjacent 
 country. At this place there is part 
 of a minar, about twenty feet in dia- 
 meter and thirty-five high, which by 
 the inscription appears to have been 
 built in the reign of Nusser ud Deen, 
 A.D. 1254, Hijera 652. It is con- 
 jectured to have been built by some 
 of the early Mahomedan conquerors 
 on the ruins of a Hindoo temple. — 
 ( Fullarton , Ewer, Sfc.) 
 
 Coilconda. — A large district in 
 the Hyderabad province, situated to 
 the west of Golconda, about the se- 
 venteenth degree of north latitude, 
 but respecting the interior of which, 
 and the Nizam’s dominions generally, 
 very little is known. The town of 
 Coilconda stands in lat. 16° 5Y N., 
 Ion. 77 ° 50' E., about fifty-seven 
 miles S.W. from Hyderabad. 
 
 Coille. — A town in the province 
 of Bahar, district of Tirhoot, forty- 
 
COIMBATOOR. 
 
 431 
 
 eight miles N. by E. from Patna; 
 lat. 26° 25' N., Ion. 85° 40' E. 
 
 Coillerepettah. — A town in the 
 Carnatic province, district of Tinne- 
 velly, 100 miles N.N.E. from Cape 
 Comorin; lat. 9° 23' N., Ion. 78° 
 10' E. 
 
 COIMBATOOR. 
 
 ( Coimaturu.) 
 
 A small province in the south of 
 India, situated above the Eastern 
 ghaut mountains, about the eleventh 
 degree of north latitude. To the 
 north it is bounded by the Mysore 
 territories ; on the south by Dindi- 
 gul ; on the east it has Salem and 
 Trichinopoly ; and on the west the 
 province of Malabar. Under this 
 collectorate are included the divisions 
 of Caroor, Satimangalum, and Dara- 
 poram, and the whole province may 
 be reckoned from north to south fifty 
 miles, by about forty-five from east to 
 west. The table-land, or rather the 
 general height of the low country in 
 Coimbatoor, for it is much undulated, 
 is about 900 feet above the level of 
 the sea; and towards Tinnevelly it 
 falls to between 400 and 500 feet ; 
 but to the northward it shoots up to 
 a prodigious elevation, the Kumbe- 
 tarine hill (lat. 11° 35' N., Ion. 77 ° 
 20' E.) being reckoned by Colonel 
 Lambton 5,548 feet above the level 
 of the ocean, and some of the Neel- 
 gherry mountains are still higher. 
 About forty miles due west from Da- 
 raporam there is an opening in the 
 western ghaut chain of mountains, 
 named the Palighautcherry pass, 
 which is in width at its eastern ex- 
 tremity, seven miles, and in length at 
 least thirty-one miles. This pass is 
 funnel-shaped, being more than dou- 
 ble the width at the end which opens 
 towards the Malabar coast, as com- 
 pared with the end contiguous to the 
 Coimbatoor district. It is nearly on 
 a level with the lands on either side 
 of the ghauts, so that there is a free 
 passage for the north-west and south- 
 west winds from the Malabar coast. 
 
 Coimbatoor is watered by several 
 rivers ; the most considerable is the 
 
 Cavery, which is filled by both mon- 
 soons; by the S.W. in June, July, 
 and August; and by the north-east in 
 October, November, and December. 
 In December and January the ther- 
 mometer ranges from 62° to 80° in 
 the shade, in May from 79° to 97°, 
 3 r et the climate is pleasant. Towards 
 the end of January and in February 
 the dews fall heavily, and near the 
 mountains the morning fogs continue 
 until nine o’clock. In March, rain is 
 very uncommon, and upon the whole 
 Coimbatoor climate may be described 
 as healthy, yet at certain seasons the 
 high lands are dangerous. The soil 
 is generally dry ; but in the vicinity 
 of the hills, and also in some of the 
 southern portions, there is much low 
 marshy ground ; and although the 
 territory may in general terms be 
 called an open country, it is in many 
 parts diversified with woods, wastes, 
 and jungles. From its great elevation 
 the soil of Coimbatoor is generally 
 dry, and well adapted for the dry 
 grain cultivation. Except along the 
 tract immediately facing the Pali- 
 ghautcherry pass, the low country of 
 the Coimbatoor district is still more 
 completely sheltered than the Mysore 
 from the violence of the south-west 
 monsoon, and the intervening wall of 
 the ghaut mountains forms a more 
 distinct boundary between the two 
 seasons. 
 
 In N orth Coimbatoor, nearMulu and 
 Coleagala, the cultivation is equal to 
 any in India, and consists chiefly of rice 
 fields watered from large reservoirs, 
 but they are not on so grand a scale 
 as in the Mysore, and many are now 
 in ruins. The summit of the Eastern 
 ghaut mountains are here from 1 ,500 to 
 2,000 feet above the level of the upper 
 country, which although beautiful and 
 fertile is thinly inhabited, and pro- 
 duces little serviceable timber. In this 
 mountainous tract there are two rainy 
 seasons : the first in the month fol- 
 lowing the vernal equinox ; the se- 
 cond lasts the two months before and 
 the two months after the autumnal 
 equinox. The people in the neigh- 
 bourhood consider the ox as a living 
 god, who gives them their bread, and 
 
COIMBATOOR. 
 
 432 
 
 in every village there are one or two 
 bulls to whom weekly or monthly 
 worship is performed, and when one 
 of them dies he is buried with great 
 ceremony. From Candhully to Ma- 
 hally, in North Coimbatoor, much of 
 the country has been formerly cul- 
 tivated, but is now waste. The strata 
 of the ghauts in this quarter run north 
 and south, and are vertical ; but the 
 rock being much broken by fissures, 
 it is little used for building. 
 
 Near to the town of Coimbatoor 
 the soil is generally good, and tole- 
 rably clear of rocks and stones. 
 Hedge row enclosures, formed of the 
 milk plant, prickly pear, and other 
 tropical shrubs, are general, and are 
 seen intersecting fields now over- 
 grown with jungle. The rows of 
 Parkinsonia in the vicinity of the 
 towns are likewise a great embellish- 
 ment. The bagait or gardens are 
 watered by machines called capilly 
 and yatam, and reservoirs are also 
 common ; but in the neighbourhood 
 of Daraporam irrigation is performed 
 by means of canals filled from the 
 Ainaravati river. Taking the whole 
 province, however, in the aggregate, 
 the average of the wet cultivation 
 amounts to little more than three per 
 cent, of the total agriculture. Cotton is 
 an article of considerable cultivation 
 both above and below the ghauts, 
 and almost in every soil. One spe- 
 cies of the gossypium is an annual, 
 and the other a triennial plant, of 
 which the last is much superior in 
 quality, although not so heavy in the 
 crop. There is also a third sort re- 
 sembling the Brazil, which is raised 
 both for ornament and for the sacred 
 threads of the Brahmins. With en- 
 couragement, the produce of cotton 
 might be greatly augmented and the 
 quality improved. Throughout Co- 
 imbatoor there are earths impreg- 
 nated with muriatic salts, and others 
 with nitrates, which have occasionally 
 been converted into culinary salt and 
 saltpetre. This earth seems to con- 
 tain nitre ready formed, as no potash 
 is added to it during the process by 
 the manufacturers. Most of the well 
 water also has a saline taste. In 
 
 1818 a mine or well of aquamarine 
 stones (a variety of berjl) was found 
 out, and worked by the discoverer, 
 Mr. Heath, one-half for his own be- 
 nefit, and the other for that of go- 
 vernment. 
 
 With respect to the useful arts, the 
 inhabitants of Coimbatoor appear to 
 be as far behind those of Mysore in 
 intelligence, as these last are behind 
 the natives of Madras and Calcutta ; 
 yet on the whole they appear to enjoy 
 comparative comfort. Indeed there 
 is perhaps no province of India in 
 which the peasantry are so well lodg- 
 ed as in Coimbatoor, although there 
 is a remarkable deficiency of houses 
 of the better order, and in truth of all 
 beyond a cottage of red mud, with a 
 roof of tile or thatch. A practice 
 prevails here, not uncommon in the 
 south of India, of ornamenting the 
 areas in front of their temples and 
 choultries with gigantic groups of 
 caparisoned horses, elephants, and 
 other grotesque figures in various 
 combinations, all formed of cast pot- 
 tery covered with chunam. The 
 towns are in general well-built, and 
 some of them, such as Coimbatoor* 
 Daraporam, Bhavani, and Caroor, 
 large and populous. As in most parts 
 of Bengal where the arts have not 
 been introduced by foreigners, the 
 only one that has attained tolerable 
 perfection is that of weaving. In 
 181 7 the gross collection of the pub- 
 lic revenue amounted to 6,66,894 
 pagodas. 
 
 In ancient times the Coimbatoor 
 province was named Kanjam, and 
 came under the dominion of the My- 
 sore rajas about 175 years ago. . It 
 now forms one of the collectorates 
 under the Madras presidency, having 
 been acquired by the British govern- 
 ment in 1799. In the years 1809, 
 1810, and 181 1, an epidemic fever pre- 
 vailed, which destroyed a great num- 
 ber of the inhabitants, and threatened 
 to depopulate the whole district, then 
 estimated to contain 596,606 persons. 
 In 1822, according to the returns 
 then made by the collectors under 
 the Madras presidency, the total po- 
 pulation of Coimbatoor amounted to 
 
COLABBA 
 
 4 38 
 
 638,199 persons. — - ( F . Buchanan, 
 Hodgson , Fullarton , Medical Reports , 
 Public MS. Documents , fyc.) 
 
 Coimbatoor.-— The capital of the 
 preceding province, situated in lat. 
 10° 52' N., Ion. 77° 5' £., 112 miles 
 S. by E. from Seringapatam. This 
 place stands high and dry, clear of 
 the Palighatcherry pass, and is tole- 
 rably well built; but the water is 
 considered brackish, and supposed by 
 the natives to occasion the cutaneous 
 diseases that are so common among 
 the poorer classes. There is a mosque 
 here which was built by Tippoo, who 
 sometimes resided at Coimbatoor, 
 which latterly has been the head- 
 quarters of a cavalry regiment. Two 
 miles from hence, in the neighbour- 
 hood of Penura, both culinary salt 
 and saltpetre are procured by lixi- 
 viating the soil; and at Topumbetta, 
 five miles north, iron is smelted from 
 black sand. At Perura is a celebrated 
 temple dedicated to Siva, called Mail 
 (high) Chittumbra, to distinguish it 
 from another Chittumbra near Pon- 
 dicherry. The idol is said to have 
 placed itself here many ages ago ; but 
 it is only 3,000 years since the temple 
 was erected over it by a raj a of Madura. 
 The building is highly ornamented 
 after the Hindoo fashion, but the 
 figures are destitute of all elegance, 
 and some of them indecent. When 
 Tippoo issued a general order for the 
 destruction of all idolatrous buildings 
 he excepted only this edifice, and the 
 temples of Mailcotta and Seringapa- 
 tam. The hereditary chief of Coim- 
 batoor is of the Vaylalar tribe; the 
 one existing in 18(50 being by his 
 own account the twentieth in descent 
 from the founder of the town. The 
 family originally paid tribute to the 
 Raja of Madura. In the year 1783 
 Coimbatoor was taken from Tippoo 
 by the southern army, but restored 
 at the peace in 1784. In the war of 
 1790 it was early taken possession of 
 by the British troops, but afterwards 
 besieged by those of Tippoo : who 
 were repulsed in an attempt to storm, 
 by a weak garrison under Lieut. Chal- 
 mers. Subsequently it surrendered 
 VOL. J 
 
 to Cummer ud Deen Khan, Tippoo’s 
 general, and the garrison, in breach 
 of the capitulation, detained prisoners 
 until the general peace of 1792. 
 Along with the province it was 'trans- 
 ferred to the British government in 
 A.D. 1799. Travelling distance from 
 Madras 306 miles ; from Seringapatam 
 122 miles. — ( F . Buchanan , Diroin> 
 Rennell , Medical Reports , fyc.) 
 
 Colabba. — A small town on the 
 sea-coast of the Aurangabad province, 
 about nineteen miles south from Bom- 
 bay fort ; lat. 18° 38' N., Ion. 73° 6' 
 E. In 1820 a treaty was concluded 
 with Ragojee Angria, the chieftain of 
 Colabba, defining the boundary of 
 that principality, and adjudicating 
 some fiscal claims , — ( Public MS. Do- 
 cuments , tfc.) 
 
 Colabba. — This name is also ap- 
 plied to the narrow promontory im- 
 mediately to the south of Bombay, 
 from which it is but imperfectly sepa- 
 rated, and in the maps sometimes 
 distinguished by the name of “ Old 
 Woman’s Island.” On this spot there 
 stands a fine light-house, and canton- 
 ments for the European troops have 
 also been erected. The name of 
 Colabba, however, applies more pro- 
 perly to the southern portion of the 
 island, which is connected with the 
 northern by a small causeway, over- 
 flowed at spring tides. 
 
 Among the historical records still 
 extant at Bombay, is to be found the 
 ancient composition entered into be- 
 tween Sir Gerard Augier and the 
 Portuguese inhabitants, in 1674, on 
 which document the Company’s right 
 to Colabba is founded. The non-ap- 
 propriation of this island to any im- 
 proved revenue purpose for so many 
 years, was not owing to any physical 
 imperfection, but to an opinion gene- 
 rally entertained, that the whole island 
 should be reserved for a military can- 
 tonment, in consequence of which 
 no alienation of land took place for 
 above a century, with the exception 
 of a small portion of Old Woman’s 
 Island, which by a special grant be- 
 came freehold property in 1746. 
 Many abstractions have since taken 
 2f 
 
434 
 
 COLAPOOR. 
 
 place, and the Company have been 
 obliged, in many instances, to re-pur- 
 chase their own lands at immense 
 prices. In 1805 sixty thousand ru- 
 pees were paid for eight houses, in- 
 cluding a temporary hospital, besides 
 an enormous expenditure for repairs. 
 — ( Capt. Dickinson , $ c.) 
 
 Colagaul ( or Collegal Pettah ). — 
 A town in the province of Coimba- 
 toor, thirty-one miles E.S.E. from 
 Seringapatam ; lat. 12° 13' N., Ion. 
 77 ° 14'E. In 1820 this was a thriv- 
 ing place, and had two streets of large 
 white tiled cottages, uniformly built, 
 and inhabited by weavers. 
 
 Colair Lake. — A large fresh-water 
 lake or jeel, situated at the north- 
 eastern projecting corner of the Con- 
 dapilly circar, about five miles south 
 from Ellore, chiefly formed of the 
 overflowings of the Krishna and Go- 
 davery rivers, which are from hence 
 conducted into many channels to irri- 
 gate the circumjacent territory. Its 
 bed is of an oval shape, and occupies 
 a natural hollow, into which several 
 streams discharge themselves, the 
 surplus waters being carried off by 
 the river Ooputnair. The breadth of 
 this lake varies from seven to twelve 
 miles, while its extreme length may 
 be estimated at twenty-two miles, 
 covering an area of about twenty-two 
 square miles. It comprehends several 
 islands of various dimensions, which 
 disappear as the lake swells, and re- 
 appear as the floods subside, when 
 they are in excellent condition for 
 rice, with which they are immediately 
 planted. On a failure of the periodi- 
 cal supplies the lake dries up, and 
 drinkable water becomes so scarce 
 that the poorer inhabitants are com- 
 pelled to migrate, and suffer priva- 
 tions almost equal to a famine. — 
 ( Orme , 5th Report , J. Grant , fyc.) 
 
 Colangodu. — A small town in the 
 south-eastern division of the Mala- 
 bar province ; lat. 10° 42' N., Ion. 
 76° 49' E. 
 
 Colapoor ( Calapur J. — A small 
 independent Maharatta state in the 
 province of Bejapoor, the territories 
 
 of which are partly situated below 
 the western ghaut mountains in the 
 Concan, and partly in the elevated 
 land within the ghauts; but all so in- 
 termingled with the possessions of 
 other Maharatta chiefs and with 
 those of the British government, that 
 it is quite impossible to discriminate 
 them. Until 1812 the Colapoor chief 
 possessed Malwan and three other 
 fortresses on the sea-coast, which 
 were then ceded to the British go- 
 vernment. At present the chief 
 towns within this principality are 
 Colapoor (the capital), Parnellah, 
 Mulcapoor, and Culgong. 
 
 The Colapoor family trace their 
 descent from Sevajee, the founder of 
 the Maharatta empire. According 
 to their traditions Sevajee had two 
 sons, Sambha and Rama ; the first of 
 these had also two sons, Sahoo and 
 Sambha. Sahoo died without issue ; 
 Sambha adopted a son, from whom 
 the Colapoor raja is descended, who 
 being thus lineal heir of Sevajee in 
 the elder branch, took precedence of 
 the Peshwa, and was addressed by 
 the latter as his superior. Sewai 
 Chutter Putter (the reigning raja in 
 1803) gained a great deal of country 
 by usurpation and conquest, during 
 the confusion in the Peshwa’s domi- 
 nions after the death of Madhoorow, 
 particularly from his neighbours the 
 Putwurden family, although he was 
 only at war with one branch of it 
 (Appah Saheb) ; but among the Ma- 
 harattas such aggressions are not 
 thought incompatible with the accus- 
 tomed relations of peace and amity. 
 
 During Purseram Bhow’s imprison- 
 ment the Colapoor raja seized the 
 opportunity to ravage the possessions 
 of his family (the Putwurdens), and 
 actually plundered some of their 
 principal towns, such as Savanore, 
 Hubely, and Jasgone. The latter 
 was the Bhow’s capital, where he had 
 expended a large sum in erecting a 
 palace, which the raja burned to the 
 ground and demolished forthwith. 
 When liberated, the old Bhow carried 
 on a war for some time against the 
 raja; but being defeated and taken 
 prisoner in 1799, was, although a 
 
COLAPOOR. 
 
 4 35 
 
 Brahmin, cut to pieces in the pre- 
 sence of his enemy. His son, Appah 
 Saheb, then took the command of the 
 troops, animated by the most im- 
 placable hatred towards the Colapoor 
 chief, declaring he would never for- 
 give or forget such an act of atrocity, 
 and expressing his willingness to sa- 
 crifice all that he had in the world, 
 and retire a naked mendicant to 
 Benares, if he could only adequately 
 revenge the slaughter of his father. 
 But this satisfaction he was not des- 
 tined to enjoy, for just when, with 
 the assistance of Dowlet Row’s re- 
 gular infantry, he had reduced the 
 fortress of Colapoor to the last ex- 
 tremity, and was on the eve of ac- 
 complishing his wishes, Sindia, by 
 secret agreement with his enemy, 
 withdrew his troops; and Appah 
 Saheb, unable to prosecute the siege 
 with his own troops and resources, 
 was compelled to retreat. In 1803 
 a cessation of hostilities was effected 
 by the Duke of Wellington. 
 
 In 1804, in consequence of the 
 repeated piracies committed by the 
 Raja of Colapoor’s subjects, his ports 
 were blockaded, and payment de- 
 manded of money due to the Com- 
 pany and to the British merchants at 
 Bombay. During the time of war, 
 the cruizer stationed on the coast 
 was never of sufficient strength to 
 fight one of the enemy’s privateers, 
 on which account, to avoid the dis- 
 graceful event of her capture, Gene- 
 ral Wellesley recommended a treaty 
 to be entered into with the raja, 
 which, if he afterwards broke, it would 
 afford ample grounds to the British 
 government to get effectually rid of an 
 evil, which, in the existing state of 
 its power, was derogatory to its dig- 
 nity. 
 
 About this period, also, Viswas 
 Row Ghautky and Serjee Row Ghaut- 
 ky, two favourites of Sindia, and most 
 persevering depredators, took refuge 
 with the Colapoor raja, after their 
 own banditti had been defeated and 
 dispersed by General Wellesley. The 
 general in consequence addressed a 
 letter in 1804 to the raja, informing 
 him that he was perfectly aware of the 
 
 family connexion between him and 
 these brothers, and that it was not 
 the custom of the British government, 
 nor his own wish, to perpetuate enmi- 
 ties, or to deprive those of an asylum 
 who were inclined to live in peace, 
 for which reason he did not call on 
 the raja to deliver up the two Ghaut- 
 kies, as he might be justified in doing. 
 At the same time he notified to the 
 raja, that as he had given them an 
 asylum, the British government would 
 consider him responsible for their 
 conduct ; and, that if they again as- 
 sembled troops, which could only be 
 intended to disturb the peace of other 
 powers, he (the raja) would be called 
 upon to answer for the injuries they 
 might do, of which circumstance that 
 letter was a friendly notification. The 
 duke added : “ it is time that the na- 
 tions of India should enjoy some 
 peace, and you may depend upon it 
 that the British government will not 
 suffer it to be wantonly disturbed with 
 impunity.” 
 
 From the above date the state of 
 Colapoor enjoyed comparative tran- 
 quillity, and in 1812 was again res- 
 cued from intestine disorders by the 
 interference of the British govern- 
 ment. In 1820 it was considered by 
 Mr. Elphinstone in a state of prospe- 
 rity; but on the 16th July 1821 the 
 raja was shot in his own palace by 
 one of his own sillahdars, named Sy- 
 ajee Bajee, and died the same evening. 
 He left an infant son, during whose 
 minority it was intended the state 
 affairs should be managed by his 
 mother and the family priest, but dis- 
 sentions soon arose, which again re- 
 quired the intervention of the British. 
 In fact, the disordered state of the 
 police, and the insubordination of the 
 raja’s vassals (over whom in the re- 
 mote tracts he had no control), the 
 number of strong holds among the 
 western ghauts, the lawless habits of 
 the population, and the vicinity to 
 Sawuntwarree, all combined to keep 
 this petty principality in a state of 
 perpetual combustion. In 1827 the 
 raja himself became refractory, which 
 occasioned the advance of a British 
 detachment, on the approach of which 
 
 2 r 2 
 
436 
 
 COLEROON RIVER. 
 
 he agreed to disband his numerous 
 levies, and remain quiet as long as he 
 could, being of a most unsettled dis- 
 position. — (MSS., Malcolm , Malet , 
 Klphinstone , Sfc.) 
 
 Colapoor. — The capital of the pre- 
 ceding petty state, is situated lat. 16° 
 19' N., Ion. 74° 25'E., 121 miles south 
 by east from Poona. In 1825 it was 
 approached for the first time by a 
 British army, when our soldiers en- 
 camped within a short distance of the 
 raja’s palace, where they waited until 
 the ratification of the treaty by the 
 raja. The town stands in a valle} r be- 
 tween a curved range of hills, that 
 protects it on three sides. The fort 
 does not appear strong, depending 
 principally on the ditch, its main de- 
 fence being the two hill-forts of Pown- 
 ghur and Penowlghur, situated on the 
 range of mountains that shuts irl the 
 valley, about ten miles north-west 
 from Colapoor. The last is about 
 three and a half miles in circumfe- 
 rence, and connected with the first 
 at one point by a neck of land. Both 
 stand on rocks from 250 to 300 feet 
 high, from which spring natural ram- 
 parts of basalt from thirty to sixty 
 feet perpendicular scarp, surmounted 
 by other defensive works. After as- 
 cending the barren rock, the interior 
 presents a neat town, lofty trees, 
 gardens, and fine tanks. — ( Public 
 Journals , fyc.) 
 
 Colastry. — A zemindary thus 
 named in the Carnatic, in which cop- 
 per mines are situated. To the west 
 lies the Uddegherry jaghire and the 
 ceded districts ; to the north the Nai- 
 doo country, belonging to the Ven- 
 cattygherry raja, and to the eastward 
 the Nellore district. The principal 
 mining places are about fifty miles 
 N.W. from Nellore, thirty from the sea, 
 and about forty N.E. of Cuddapah. 
 Several streams traverse it on their 
 way to the sea ; but the general as- 
 pect of che country is barren and un- 
 comfortable. The copper strata are 
 of various density and distance, but 
 the general run of the ore is in layefs 
 two inches thick, although they are 
 occasionally found several feet in 
 
 thickness. The natives assert that 
 diamonds were formerly discovered in 
 the mica slate of the Uddegherry 
 jaghire. The copper ore is of the 
 sort that Dr. Thomas Thomson calls 
 anhydrous, and the specimen he ana- 
 lyzed yielded an average of fifty per 
 cent, of pure metal ; but others so lit- 
 tle as seventeen, and even six percents 
 
 The countries in this quarter of 
 Hindostan where copper ores have 
 been discovered, are Colastry, Ven- 
 cattygherry, Uddegherry, Dupaud, and 
 some other places in the ceded dis- 
 tricts ; but the richest are in the Co- 
 lastry zemindary. Dr. Heyne recom- 
 mends these mines to attention; first, 
 on account of their being only thirty 
 miles from the sea, and within twenty 
 miles of fuel ; secondly, on account 
 of a river which is capable of being 
 rendered navigable; thirdly, on ac- 
 count of the particular rock forma- 
 tion, usually rich in metal ; and lastly, 
 on account of the intrinsic excellence 
 of the ore.— (Heyne, Sfc<) 
 
 Colawassa.— A village iii the Car- 
 natic province, district of Madura, 
 situated on the southern skirt of Ton- 
 diman’s country, about fifty miles tra- 
 velling distance N.E. from the town 
 of Madura. A handsome mausoleum 
 has here been erected over the remains 
 of a Mahomedan saint, on the margin 
 of a fine tank faced with masonry. 
 
 Coles. — See Orissa Province. ► 
 
 Colesiiy. — A small town in Tra- 
 vancore, nineteen miles west by north 
 from Cape Comorin ; lat. 8° ll'N., 
 Ion. 77 ° 32' E, At this place there is 
 a small harbour, protected from the 
 winds by some rocks. The Danes 
 formerly had a factory here. 
 
 Coleroon River. — The northern 
 branch of the Cavery, which separates 
 from the other below the island of 
 Seringham, near Trichinopoly, bounds 
 the Tanjore principality to the north, 
 and after a course of about eighty 
 miles falls into the sea at Devicotta. 
 At the point of junction the southern 
 branch is twenty feet higher than the 
 Coleroon, which latter is suffered to 
 run waste to the sea. Above Devi- 
 
COLUMBO. 
 
 437 
 
 cotta the river is divided into three 
 channels, two of which are considera- 
 bly wider than any of the branches 
 of the Cavery, but all comparatively 
 shallow, and indeed at certain seasons 
 without water altogether. — ( Fullar - 
 ton , fyc.) 
 
 Colgong ( Kahalgang ) . — A small 
 town in the province of Bahar, district 
 of Boglipoor, which in 1809 contained 
 about 400 houses; lat. 25° 14' N., 
 Ion. 87° 15' £., 102 miles N.W. from 
 Moorshedabad. Although the Ganges 
 runs almost due north from Colgong 
 to Patergotta for about eight miles, 
 and although it not only washes but 
 surrounds the rocks of the Vindhyan 
 mountains, this spot, which ought by 
 the Hindoos to be thought on both 
 accounts peculiarly holy, is totally 
 neglected, and no assembly of that 
 persuasion takes place here for the 
 purpose of expiating their sins by ab- 
 lution ; on the contrary, all the pil- 
 grims flock to the opposite side, where 
 the river follows its usual course, and 
 the country is a dead level. If not 
 the sanctity, the beauty of the scenery, 
 had they any taste (which they have 
 not) might attract them, for the bay 
 formed by the projecting points of 
 Colgong and Patergotta, with its fine 
 amphitheatre of hills and little wood- 
 ed islands, presents perhaps the most 
 fascinating landscape along the whole 
 course of the Ganges. Quarries of 
 chalk are worked in the neighbour- 
 hood of Colgong. — (F. Buchanan , 
 Fullarton , 8fc.) 
 
 Colinjda.' — A town in the province 
 of Bengal, district of Tiperah, seventy* 
 three miles S.E. from Dacca; lat. 
 22° 58' N„ Ion. 91® 6' E. In the sur- 
 rounding country, which is flat and 
 swampy, baftaes, cossaes, and other 
 coarse cotton goods of an excellent 
 durable quality are manufactured, re- 
 markable for the weight of the raw 
 material they contain. 
 
 Collarass. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Agra, district of Narwar, 
 eighty miles north from Seronge ; lat. 
 25° 14' N., Ion. 77 ° 25' E. This place 
 is surrounded by an old stone wall of 
 PO strength, near to which is a large 
 
 nullah or water-course of fine water. 
 The country to the north is jungly and 
 thinly inhabited, much obstructed by 
 ravines, and, except in the vicinity of 
 the Sinde river, is during the dry sea* 
 son very ill supplied with water. — ■ 
 (MSS., Sfc.) 
 
 Colong. — An island, town, and 
 river, off*, on, and in the Malay penin- 
 sula, principality of Salengore; lat. 
 3° N., Ion. 101° 28' E. It stands 
 about twenty miles from the mouth 
 of the river, and is occasionally the 
 raja’s residence. Prior to the war 
 with the Siamese in 1822, the inha- 
 bitants were reckoned at 1,500 per- 
 sons. — -(Anderson, <$c.) 
 
 Colour. — A town in the Carnatic 
 province, thirty-eight miles west from 
 Nellore; lat. 14° 3P N., Ion. 79° 26' 
 E. 
 
 ' Columbo. — The modern capital of 
 Ceylon, situated on the south-west 
 coast ; lat. 6° 55' N., Ion. 79° 45' E. 
 The fort is built on a peninsula pro- 
 jecting into the sea, and measures one 
 mile and a quarter in circumference. 
 It consists pf seven principal bastions 
 of different sizes, connected by inter* 
 vening curtains, and defended by 300 
 pieces of cannon. The site is all but 
 insulated, the sea reaching up to two- 
 thirds of the works, and the rest (ex- 
 cept two very narrow causeways) be- 
 ing protected by an extensive lake of 
 fresh water. On the south side the 
 surf runs so high, and the shore is so 
 rocky, that it would be dangerous to 
 approach it ; and on the west side, 
 where the sea is smoother, it is de- 
 fended by strong batteries, Four of 
 the bastions look towards the sea, 
 the other three face the lake and com- 
 mand the causeway leading to the 
 fort, A projecting rock, on which twq 
 batteries are placed, affords shelter to 
 a small semicircular bay on the north 
 side of the fort, but on account of 
 a sand-bar only resorted to by small 
 craft. The outer road affords secure 
 anchorage from the beginning of Oc- 
 tober to the end of March, when the 
 wind blows off the land from the 
 north-east ; during the other six 
 months the south-west wind blow§ 
 
488 
 
 COLUMBO. 
 
 on the shore, and the coast (for there 
 is, strictly speaking, no harbour) is not 
 practicable. 
 
 The plan of Columbo is regular, 
 and nearly divided into four quarters 
 by two principal streets, which cross 
 each other, and extend the whole 
 length of the town. The houses are 
 of stone, clay, and lime, and the 
 whole city has more of the European 
 style and appearance than any other 
 in India. The houses are seldom 
 above one story high, and all had 
 glass windows until the arrival of the 
 English, who substituted Venetian 
 blinds, the natives of Holland having 
 never been partial to a free circulation 
 of air. Before each house is a large 
 wooden veranda, supported by wood- 
 en pillars, to exclude the sun. The 
 government house fronts the sea on 
 the north side of the fort, and is a 
 handsome building of two stories. 
 The church of Wolfendal, where the 
 Dutch inhabitants attend public wor- 
 ship, stands on the summit of a rising 
 ground in the suburbs, and it is also 
 attended by the Malabar and Cinga- 
 lese Christians. Beyond the walls is 
 a mud village and bazar, on a space 
 called slave-island (in reality a penin- 
 sula projecting into the lake), thus 
 named from having formerly been oc- 
 cupied by the slaves belonging to the 
 Dutch government. The pettah, or 
 outer town, stands a few hundred 
 yards to the eastward of the fort, on 
 which it encroaches, and contains 
 more houses than are within the for- 
 tifications. The fort is chiefly occu- 
 pied by the British, the pettah by the 
 Dutch and Portuguese, and the sub- 
 urbs, much the most populous part, 
 by the Ceylonese. One street is en- 
 tirely peopled by Mahomedans, here 
 named Lubbies, who follow the oc- 
 cupations of pedlars, tailors, fisher- 
 men, and mariners. The aggregate 
 of all descriptions in 1804 was esti- 
 mated at 50,000 inhabitants, and we 
 have no more recent enumeration. 
 In 1821 the number of Europeans at 
 Columbo capable of serving on juries 
 was only thirty-two. 
 
 The west coast of Ceylon is re- 
 markable for an equality of tempera- 
 
 ture, and humidity of the air, the 
 consequence of which is that at Co- 
 lumbo, unless books and clothes are 
 frequently exposed to the sun, they 
 soon become covered with mildew, 
 and rapidly decay. The average range 
 of the barometer throughout the year 
 may be considered about 29° 9 inches, 
 the highest being 30°, and the lowest 
 29° 7 inches. But the climate of 
 Columbo on the whole may be rec- 
 koned salubrious and temperate, Fah- 
 renheit’s thermometer ranging about 
 80° ; and even in the full blaze of a 
 meridian sun, owing to the fresh sea 
 breezes, Europeans find it pleasant 
 to walk and drive about in open car- 
 riages. Indeed the whole scenery 
 presents a striking contrast to the 
 arid plains, withered vegetation, 
 scorching winds, and burning dust of 
 Madras. The water within the fort 
 is of a brackish taste, that used by 
 the European establishment being 
 brought from a distance. 
 
 Although Trincomalee, on account 
 of its harbour and position, be of 
 more intrinsic importance to the na- 
 tion, Columbo is in every other re- 
 spect superior, being placed in the 
 centre of the cinnamon country, and 
 possessing a more numerous popula- 
 tion. The harbour is unfortunately 
 nothing more than an open roadstead, 
 and, owing to the course of the mon- 
 soons, the inhabitants for a con- 
 siderable portion of the year are cut 
 off from all maritime intercourse with 
 the rest of the island. The internal 
 navigation, however, in a lateral di- 
 rection along the coast, is excellent, 
 and on the rivers and water-courses 
 several hundred flat-bcttomed boats 
 are seen, with entire families, who re- 
 side permanently on board. Nearly 
 all the foreign commerce of Ceylon 
 is concentrated at this port, as is 
 also a large proportion of the coast- 
 ing traffic. In 1656 the town and 
 fortress of Columbo were taken from 
 the Portuguese by the Dutch, in 
 whose possession it remained until 
 1796, when it was captured by the 
 British, and subsequently ceded by 
 the peace of Amiens. Letters from 
 Columbo to Madras, a distance of 
 
CONARAH. 
 
 439 
 
 500 miles, are generally conveyed 
 in ten, but an express has been fre- 
 quently accomplished in eight days. — 
 ( Cordiner , Per rival , Milburn , Davy , 
 4c.) 
 
 Combher. — A town in the province 
 of Agra, belonging to the Bhurtpoor 
 raja, and situated about ten miles 
 west from his capital ; lat. 27° 17' N., 
 Ion. 77° 14'E. At this place is ma- 
 nufactured the salt distinguished by 
 the name of balumba in Upper Hin- 
 dostan, where large quantities are 
 annually consumed. It is extracted 
 from the saline water of wells in the 
 vicinity, is usually of a small grain, 
 and preserved in pits. 
 
 Combooconum. — A town in the 
 Carnatic province, district of Tanjore, 
 twenty-three miles N.E.from the city 
 of Tanjore; lat. 10° 59' N., Ion. 79° 
 20' E. This was the ancient capital 
 of the Chola race, one of the most 
 ancient Hindoo dynasties of which 
 any traces have been discovered in 
 the southern regions, and from 
 which in later times the whole coast of 
 Cholamundul (Coromandel) has tak- 
 en its name. There are still remains 
 indicating its ancient splendour. At 
 present it is chiefly inhabited by Brah- 
 mins, whose habitations appear neat, 
 and the district thriving. Some of 
 the tanks and pagodas are very fine ; 
 but it is remarkable that almost in- 
 variably the outer gate of the pagoda 
 is of superior dimensions to the pa- 
 goda itself. At this place there is a 
 consecrated pond, which possesses, 
 every twelfth year, the virtue of 
 cleansing all who bathe in it from 
 corporeal and spiritual impurities, al- 
 though accumulated through many 
 transmigrations. When these periods 
 of plenary indulgence arrive, swarms 
 of sinners collect from all points of 
 the compass, in order to avail them- 
 selves of the fortunate moment when 
 the efficacy of the puddle is most in- 
 tense. In 1820 Combooconum was 
 the head-quarter of the zillah court 
 of Tanjore, but the collector and ma- 
 gistrate resides at Nagore. 
 
 Comercolly ( Kumarkkali). — A 
 town in the province of Bengal, dis- 
 
 trict of Rajeshahy, situated a few 
 miles south from the main stream of 
 the great Gangetic branch named the 
 Puddah, about sixty-four miles S.E. 
 from Moorshedabad ; lat. 23° 52 / N., 
 Ion. 89° 1 1' E. The East-India Com- 
 pany have long had here a permanent 
 factory and commercial resident for 
 the purchasing of piece-goods and 
 raw silk. 
 
 Comilla. — A town in the province 
 of Bengal, district of Tipera, of 
 which it is the modern capital ; lat. 
 23° 28' N., Ion. 90° 43' E., fifty-one 
 miles S.E. from Dacca, Six miles 
 west from this place are the remains 
 of many large brick buildings, and of 
 a fort about 200 feet square, the ves- 
 tiges of the residence of the ancient 
 Tipera rajas. In recent times the 
 roads around Comilla have been 
 greatly improved, or rather created, 
 by the judicious application of the 
 labour performed by the government 
 convicts.-— (F. Buchanan , fyc.) 
 
 Comobo. — An island in the east- 
 ern seas, situated between Sumbhawa 
 and Floris, and the eighth and ninth 
 degrees of north latitude. In length 
 it may be estimated at thirty-two 
 miles, by sixteen the average breadth. 
 
 Comorin, Cape fCumari ). — The 
 southern extremity of what is mis- 
 called the peninsula, which, notwith- 
 standing its remarkable position, 
 never attracted in the slightest de- 
 gree the attention of Hindoo geo- 
 graphers, ancient or modern ; lat. 8° 
 4'N., Ion. 77 ° 45' E. It is, how- 
 ever, mentioned under the name of 
 Cape Comari by Marco Polo, in A.D. 
 1295. 
 
 Compta. — A town on the sea’ coast 
 of the Canara province, twelve miles 
 N.N.W. from Onore ; lat. 14° 25- N., 
 Ion. 75° 32' E. 
 
 Conarah. — A town in the North- 
 ern Circars, thirty miles N.N.E. from 
 Vizagapatam ; lat. 17° 59' N., Ion. 
 83° 44' E. This place stands on the 
 sea-side, near the mouth of a small 
 river crossed by a sand-bar, but 
 which affords occasional shelter to 
 the country native craft trading along 
 
440 
 
 CONCAN. 
 
 the coast. The dangerous Santapilly 
 rocks are in the offing. — ( Fullarton , 
 Sfc.) 
 
 Concan ( Cancana). — A large 
 subdivision of the Bejapoor province, 
 of which it occupies the whole sea- 
 coast, being confined on the east 
 by the western ghaut mountains. In 
 length it may be estimated at 220 
 miles, by thirty-five the average 
 breadth, and includes many fertile 
 tracts producing rice, but its general 
 features present a congeries of steep 
 rocky mountains. Towards the west- 
 ern ghauts this country is strong, 
 being crossed by hills, intersected by 
 ravines, and covered with thick fo- 
 rests. The range of mountains is 
 from 2,000 to 4,000 feet high, on the 
 west abrupt, and of difficult access, 
 and the passes not practicable for 
 wheeled carriages. The table-land 
 to the east is nearly as high as many 
 parts of the ridge, but in general the 
 hills surpass it in elevation from 
 1,000 to 1,500 feet. This table-land 
 is also strong by nature, being crossed 
 by spurs or cordilleras from the main 
 chain, between which are deep, wind- 
 ing, rugged vallies, choked up with 
 jungle. Further east, as we ap- 
 proach the Nizam’s frontier, the 
 country becomes more level, until it 
 ends in an open plain. 
 
 This word by the natives is pro- 
 nounced Kokun, and applied by them 
 in quite a different sense to what it is 
 by Europeans, for it includes much 
 country lying to the east of the west- 
 ern ghauts. In one sense it is syno- 
 nimous with a hilly mass of country 
 subject to the severity of the south- 
 west monsoon, in contradistinction 
 to des, a plain ; but there are excep- 
 tions also to this definition. In the 
 Deccan, the seven Concans of Hin- 
 doo mythology are still known, and 
 comprehend the whole of the Parasu 
 Rama Cshetra, or the greater part of 
 the south-western coast ; they are 
 named Kerala (Malabar), Tulava, 
 Govarashtra (Goa), Cancana Proper, 
 Keratgha, Varalatta, and Berbera. In 
 the British arrangements the southern 
 portion of the Hindoo Concan is in- 
 
 cluded in the district of North Cana- 
 ra ; but in the Hindoo geography of 
 the west of India, Concan Proper be- 
 gins at the river Gangawala, in lat. 
 14° 37', where Haiga ends. 
 
 The surface of the country exhi- 
 bits a gradual declension from the 
 ghauts towards the sea, and is tra- 
 versed by numerous mountain streams, 
 but no river of magnitude. There are 
 few countries so much broken into 
 small bays and harbours as this is, 
 with so straight a general outline. 
 This multitude of shallow ports, an 
 uninterrupted view along shore, and 
 an elevated coast, favourable to dis- 
 tant vision, have fitted this tract of 
 country for a region of piracy. The 
 land and sea-breezes on the coast of 
 Concan, as well as on that of Coro- 
 mandel, blow alternately in twentj'- 
 four hours, and divide the day, so that 
 vessels sailing along are obliged to 
 keep within sight of the land, as the 
 land winds are not felt more than 
 forty miles from the shore. The 
 country produces all the grains of 
 Malabar, and is particularly noted for 
 the good quality of its hemp ; the 
 cocoa-nut here is also superior to 
 that produced inland, and arrives 
 much earlier at maturity. 
 
 The Brahmins properly belonging 
 to the Concan are of the Paunsa 
 Gauda, or north of India division ; 
 they allege that they are the descen- 
 dants of the colony on whom the 
 country, after the extirpation of the 
 Khetries, was bestowed by Parasu 
 Rama ; their principal seat seems to 
 have been Goa, called by them Go- 
 vay, from whence they were expelled 
 by the Portuguese, after which they 
 for the most part became traders. It 
 is asserted, that a numerous class of 
 Concan Brahmins, named Kurrada, 
 still perpetrate human sacrifices to a 
 certain goddess, who is said to prefer, 
 in that capacity, a Brahmin learned 
 in the Shastras. In public situations 
 many of these Kurradas are known 
 and respected as intelligent, chari- 
 table, and humane individuals, who 
 most strenuously deny the present 
 existence of the practice. The Con- 
 can Brahmins, however, are generally 
 
CONCAN. 
 
 441 
 
 disclaimed by those of the rest of In- 
 dia ; but they have long composed a 
 large majority of the ruling characters 
 in the Maharatta empire. When a 
 translation of the Lord’s Prayer into 
 the Concan language was examined 
 by the missionaries, they found that 
 of thirty-two words which it contain- 
 ed, twenty-five were the same as in 
 the Bengalese and Hindostany transla- 
 tions, besides several Sanscrit words. 
 
 The inhabitants of this coast, from 
 the earliest antiquity, have been not- 
 ed for piracy, and in the eighteenth 
 century exercised this vocation on all 
 ships indiscriminately that did not 
 purchase passes. The Angria family 
 at one time possessed nearty the 
 whole province, and in 1820 still re- 
 tained about three lacks of revenue. 
 In 1756 they were expelled from se- 
 veral of their principal piratical ports 
 by Admiral Watson and Colonel Clive. 
 In more recent times three-fourths of 
 the Concan have been directly sub- 
 ject to the Maharatta Peshwa, on 
 whose extinction, in 1818, they de- 
 volved to the British government, 
 and from hence a large proportion of 
 the Bombay army is now recruited. 
 A large proportion of the inhabitants 
 are genuine Hindoos, and the prac- 
 tice of widow-burning is here more 
 common than in any province of Hin- 
 dostan, except Bengal. In 18.21 the 
 number amounted to fifty ; in 1823, 
 to fifty-eight, besides those concealed 
 and prevented. At present the whole 
 territory is subordinate to the Bom- 
 bay presidency, and subdivided into 
 two districts, the Northern and South- 
 ern Concan .—(Elphinstune, F. Bucha- 
 nan, Orme , Dunlap , fyc.) 
 
 Concan, Northern.— A British 
 district in the province of Bejapoor, 
 remarkable, with the southern dis- 
 trict, for the astonishing number 
 of hill-forts, fortified heights, and 
 fortresses which it contained, when 
 conquered by the British in 1818. 
 They were found in a most neg- 
 lected condition, no expenditure for 
 repairs of walls, buildings, or reser- 
 voirs, having taken place for more 
 than twenty years. The following 
 
 names of some of the principal ones 
 are recorded, as the whole will pro- 
 bably soon be forgotten. 
 
 Those on the sea-coast were Bas- 
 sein, Arnalla, Kelvy, Mahim, Sere- 
 gaum, Tairapoor (large, well-condi- 
 tioned, and close to the sea-shore), 
 Cheochun, Dhanoo, and Omergong, 
 mostly constructed for the protec- 
 tion of the coasting trade against pi- 
 rates, and soon after the British con- 
 quest ordered to be abandoned or 
 demolished. 
 
 The principal fortified heights were 
 Gumbheerghur, Seygwat, Assewah, 
 Boputghur, and Purbhool, varying 
 from 700 to 1,200 feet in perpendi- 
 cular height, and of extremely diffi- 
 cult access ; but besides these there 
 were twelve others, of no use in a 
 military point of view, the greater 
 part of which were ordered to be de- 
 stroyed. 
 
 The principal midland forts were 
 Gotowra, Tookmook, Goje, Vickut- 
 ghur, or Paib Mhooly, Mullunghur, 
 and Asuree. The three last were 
 deemed by the natives impregnable, 
 but under the British domination be- 
 come quite useless, and were ordered 
 to be destroyed. 
 
 The frontier forts situated on the 
 ghauts, or Sydershee mountains, were 
 Byramghur, Goruckghur, Katulghur, 
 and Sidghur, which last commands 
 the Gareedharry pass. These are 
 perpendicular rocks of great height, 
 commanding different passes, and 
 scarcely accessible; indeed, much la- 
 bour must have been expended in 
 cutting steps into the solid rock by 
 which these fortified heights were 
 ascended, and also in provisioning 
 them, their immediate neighbourhood, 
 from its extreme ruggedness, being 
 generally uninhabited. From the 
 Duntoora river to the Damaun Gun- 
 ga, the northern boundary of the zil- 
 lah, and a distance of seventy-three 
 miles, there is an excellent road, un- 
 equalled, perhaps, for such an extent, 
 in the whole world. 
 
 The tract ceded to the British go- 
 vernment by the treaty of Poona, as 
 far north as the Damaun river, con- 
 stituting the then northern boundary 
 
CONDATCHY. 
 
 442 
 
 c 
 
 of the Concan, were annexed to Sal- 
 sette, and designated the Northern 
 Concan District ; the revenue in 
 1817 was estimated at fifteen lacks 
 of rupees. — ( Elphinstone , Capt. Dick- 
 inson , fyc.) 
 
 Concan, Southern. — A British 
 district in the province of Bejapoor, 
 which contains about 7,000 square 
 miles, and presenting to a cursory 
 observer little else than bare hills, 
 rocks, ravines, chasms, jungle, and 
 mountains. It is separated into nine 
 grand divisions or talooks, the north- 
 ern and southern boundaries of which 
 are some considerable streams, flow r - 
 ing from the mountains to the sea. 
 Each talook yields from 40,000 to 
 200,000 rupees annually, and is itself 
 composed of smaller subdivisions 
 named mahals, tuppahs, maumlahs, 
 and turufs. In 1821, 2,249 villages 
 were in the sole possession of the Bri- 
 tish ; others were held in conjunction 
 with petty chiefs, and many were 
 mere clusters of thatched mud huts. 
 
 The land assessment has remained, 
 with little variation, as it was, and the 
 grain rental has hitherto, according to 
 immemorial usage, and in conformity 
 to the custom of the Concan, been 
 received in kind. In 1821 the esti- 
 mated official value of the grain was 
 4,44,691 rupees^ and the collector was 
 of opinion that the government did 
 not take more than one-third of the 
 gross produce. Rice composes four- 
 fifths of the whole grain production ; 
 the remaining fifth consists of naglee, 
 warree, oil grains, &c., but no wheat. 
 Besides these, sugar-canes, turmeric, 
 ginger, dal, &c. are raised. In 1 820- 
 21 the population of the Southern 
 
 Concan was reported to be as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 Hindoos 532,183 
 
 Mahomedans 41,132 
 
 Mhers,Dhers, Chamars, 
 
 Maungs, and other 
 
 impure castes 57,292 
 
 Christians 1,087 
 
 Jews .„ 643 
 
 Total 632,337 
 
 or about ninety-one and a half to the 
 square mile. 
 
 Average collections of the Southern 
 Concan : 
 
 1818- 19 Rs. 8,27,933 
 
 1819- 20 13,20,154 
 
 1820- 21 11,64,433 
 
 ( Elphinstone , Petty, Sf-c.) 
 
 Conchon ( Canchana , golden ). — A 
 town in the province of Bengal, dis- 
 trict of Dinagepoor, eighty-four miles 
 N.N.E from Moorshedabad ; lat. 25° 
 15' N., Ion. 88° 42' E. 
 
 Condatchy. — A bay in the island 
 of Ceylon, situated about twelve 
 miles south from the island of Ma- 
 naar, and the most central rendezvous 
 of the boats employed in the pearl- 
 fishery. The oyster banks are scat- 
 tered over a space in the gulf of Ma- 
 naar, extending about thirty miles 
 from north to south, and twenty-four 
 from east to west; and the boats with 
 their crews come from Manaar, Jafna, 
 Ramiseram, Nagore, Tutecorin, Tra- 
 vancore, Kilkerry, and other parts on 
 the main land. The shape of the 
 oyster is an imperfect oval, nearly 
 the same as a cockle, about nine 
 inches and a half in circumference, 
 and not good to eat. One oyster, 
 including seed pearls, has been known 
 to contain 150, while 100 oysters 
 have been opened without the dis- 
 covery of one. It is said to attain 
 maturity in eight years, and not to 
 admit of transportation from its na- 
 tive beds. The depth of water is 
 usually from five to seven fathoms ; 
 some divers perform the dip in one 
 minute, others in one and one-third, 
 and scarcely any exceed one minute 
 and a half submersion. Two millions 
 of oysters have been landed in one 
 day, and one boat has been known to 
 bring 33,000, while another had not 
 300, the undertaking being much of 
 a lottery. The pearls are sorted by 
 being passed through the holes of brass 
 sieves of various diameters. The 
 pearl-fishery cannot be reckoned on 
 as a regular source of revenue, as the 
 banks become exhausted, and it is 
 interrupted for a series of years, ac- 
 cording to circumstances. After a 
 
CONJEVERAM. 443 
 
 long interruption it has been known 
 to yield above £100,000 for three 
 successive years. — (Cor diner, Perci- 
 val, Lebeck , #c.) 
 
 Condapilly ( Canadapalli ). — One 
 of the five original northern Circars, 
 but now, like Ellore, for the most 
 part comprehended in the Masulipa- 
 tam collectorship. In 1788 the area 
 of the two was estimated at 3,400 
 square miles, exclusive of the hilly 
 region to the west. By the Maho- 
 medans this division is named Mus- 
 taphanagur, under which appellation, 
 it is recorded in their revenue books. 
 The river Ooputair, which separates 
 the Condapilly Circar from Ellore 
 and Rajamundry, is a salt-water river, 
 and contributes largely to the revenue 
 of the collectorate, being accessible 
 at flood-tides for boats as far as Co- 
 lair, and containing abundance of fish. 
 It also carries off* the surplus waters 
 from the Colair lake, and after many 
 windings, at last joins the sea between 
 Samaldang and Gollapollam. There 
 are diamond mines within the limits 
 of Condapilly, but for many years 
 they have not produced any profit, 
 either to government or to private 
 individuals. — (J. Grant , hth Report , 
 Rennell , fyc.) 
 
 Condapilly. — The ancient capital 
 of the preceding Circar, situated in 
 lat. 16°37'N., Ion. 80° 33' E., forty- 
 nine miles N.W. from Masulipatam. 
 This place many years ago was a hill, 
 fortified in the Indian style, of con- 
 siderable strength, but now, like many 
 other native strong-holds, shorn of 
 its beams, and suffered to crumble 
 into ruin. It appears to have been 
 first wrested from its native Hindoo 
 princes by the Bhaminee sovereigns 
 of the Deccan, about A.D. 1471, and 
 became possessed by the British along 
 with the northern Circars in 1765. 
 Travelling distance from Hyderabad 
 1 42 miles ; from Madras 306 ; from 
 Nagpoor 370 ; and from Seringapa- 
 tam 444 miles. — (J. Grant , Ferishta , 
 Rennell , fyc.) 
 
 Condavir ( Canadavir). — A town 
 in the northern Circars, fifteen miles 
 
 W. by S. from Guntoor ; lat. 16° 13' 
 N., Ion. 80° 18' E. 
 
 Coniacombry. — A small town on 
 the sea-coast of the Carnatic, district 
 of Tinnevelly, thirteen miles E. by 
 N. from Cape Comorin ; lat. 8° 8'N., 
 Ion. 77° 54' E. 
 
 Conkair ( or Cakair). — A town in 
 the province of Gundwana, situated 
 between a high rocky hill and the 
 south bank of the Mahanuddy river, 
 1,953 feet above the level of the sea ; 
 lat. 20° 30' N., Ion. 82° V E. On the 
 summit of the hill, in 1794, there 
 was a small fort mounting two guns. 
 The country about Conkair is much 
 covered with high woods, and the 
 town surrounded by hills inhabited 
 by wild Gond mountaineers, this be- 
 ing one of the tracts of the aboriginal 
 Rajas of Gundwana. The frontier 
 of the Bustar country is twelve miles 
 distant from Conkair, and is entered 
 through the Tillyghauty, a very steep 
 and rugged pass over the hills. — (J. 
 B. Blunt , Sfc.) 
 
 Conki River. — This is the most 
 considerable mountain stream be- 
 tween the Teesta and the Cosi rivers, 
 and is said to have its source close to 
 mountains covered with perpetual 
 snow, if it does not actually pene- 
 trate into Tibet. It enters Bengal in 
 the district of Purneah, where it joins 
 the Mahananda, which also absorbs 
 its name. In the rainy season it can 
 be ascended by small boats to a con- 
 siderable distance, and it is found 
 very useful for the floating down of 
 timber. — (F. Buchanan , fyc.) 
 
 Conjeveram ( Canchipura, the 
 golden city). — A considerable town 
 in the Carnatic, district of Chingle- 
 put, forty-eight miles S.W. from Ma- 
 dras; lat. 12°49 / N., lat. 79° 41' E. 
 This place is built in a very straggling 
 manner, and more resembles a con- 
 nected series of handsome and spa- 
 cious villages, interspersed with ex- 
 tensive gardens and cocoa-nut plan- 
 tations, than a town. It stands in a 
 valley, and covers a great space of 
 ground, being from five to six miles 
 in length, and tolerably populous. 
 
444 
 
 COOCH BAHAR. 
 
 Round the whole town is a bound- 
 hedge, chiefly of the agave americana, 
 formerly useful in keeping off the 
 bands of irregular cavalry that follow 
 Indian armies. The small river We- 
 gawutty, that winds along the western 
 skirts, contributes much to the fer- 
 tility of the valley ; and there are 
 besides many substantial tanks, the 
 whole having a prosperous appear- 
 ance. The weavers are a numerous 
 class, and the fabrics principally red 
 handkerchiefs, turbans, and cloths 
 adapted for the dresses of the na- 
 tives. 
 
 The main entrance to the great 
 pagoda, dedicated to Siva, is lofty, and 
 resembles in its shape and ornaments 
 that of Tanjore. On the left, after 
 passing through it, is a large edifice 
 like a choultry, which the Brahmins 
 assert contains 1,000 pillars, many 
 of them handsomely sculptured, and 
 several of the groups composed with 
 considerable skill. The sides of the 
 steps leading up to it are formed of 
 two well-carved elephants drawing a 
 car. The view 7 from the top of the 
 great gateway is uncommonly fine, 
 consisting of extensive woods, inter- 
 sected by a large sheet of water, nu- 
 merous pagodas rising amidst trees, 
 and a magnificent range of mountains 
 at a distance. But although this be 
 the most imposing edifice, it is not 
 the temple most highly venerated, or 
 the most curious in respect to work- 
 manship, in which respects it must 
 yield to the pagoda dedicated to 
 Vishnu Conjee, which, in fact, origi- 
 nally conferred the appellation of 
 Conjeveram. In this last, opposite 
 to the door of the sanctuary, is a 
 remarkable pillar of gilt copper, of 
 modern erection, about a foot in 
 diameter, and the sculptures of a 
 choultry within the area are scarcely 
 surpassed by those of any other Hin- 
 doo edifice, either for proportion or 
 delicacy of execution. Many smaller 
 pagodas, dedicated to various Brah- 
 minical deities, are visible on all sides, 
 and there are whole streets of choul- 
 tries, with which the adjacent country 
 also abounds. — ( Fullarton , Lord Va- 
 lentia , Salt, Heyne , 8fc.) 
 
 Contanagur ( Cantanagara ) . — A 
 town in the province of Bengal, dis- 
 trict of Dinagepoor, 112 miles N. by 
 E. from Moorshedabad ; lat. 25° 44' 
 N., Ion. 88° 43' E. This was for- 
 merly a place of some note, as is in- 
 dicated by the remains of mounds 
 and ramparts still visible ; but it is at 
 present only remarkable as containing 
 one of the finest Hindoo temples ex- 
 tant in Bengal, where most of these 
 edifices are of a very inferior con- 
 struction. 
 
 Cooch Bahar (Cuch Vihar ). — A 
 small principality, long dependent on 
 the kingdom of Bengal, and attached 
 to the district of Rungpoor, situated at 
 the north-eastern extremity, between 
 the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh 
 degrees of north latitude. This west- 
 ern division of the ancient kingdom 
 of Camroop, formerly comprehending 
 the whole northern tracts from the 
 Chonkosh river to the Mahananda, 
 and from Ghoraghaut to the moun- 
 tains of Bootan, extends in extreme 
 length about ninety, and in extreme 
 breadth about sixty miles. The mo- 
 dern territory of Cooch Bahar forms 
 the boundary of a large portion of 
 the Rungpoor district, and is parti- 
 tioned into sections and divisions, in 
 a very confused manner. The Cooch 
 Bahar raja also possesses some tracts 
 beyond the Mogul limits of Bengal, 
 and not liable to tribute. The north- 
 ern extremity of this principality was 
 settled on Siva Singh, of a family 
 from which the rajas were obliged 
 to choose their prime ministers. This 
 portion, as producing an income of 
 32,000 rupees a year, was called Bat- 
 trishazary ; but the general name 
 given to the whole principality was 
 Bahar, and, to distinguish ic from the 
 large province of which Patna is the 
 capita], the term Cooch has been 
 prefixed, although particularly dis- 
 agreeable to its princes, who, having 
 in modern times set up for Rajbang- 
 sies, wish to sink all remembrance of 
 the Cooch tribe. 
 
 The nature of this country is en- 
 tirely the same with that of the ad- 
 jacent parts of the British dominions^ 
 
COOCH BAHAR. 
 
 445 
 
 and the management of the raja’s 
 estates beyond the frontier entirely 
 resembles that pursued in the estates 
 which belong to the raja as a zemin- 
 dar of Bengal. The commerce be- 
 tween the two territories is on a very 
 good footing, there being no restric- 
 tions whatever ; but opium is culti- 
 vated to so large an extent, that it 
 evidently is intended for contraband 
 purposes. The southern portion of 
 Cooch Bahar, lying along the river 
 Durlah* is a highly improved and 
 fertile country ; but to the north of 
 the town of Bahar the country has 
 a most miserable appearance, the land 
 being low and marshy, interspersed 
 with thick jungle and many nullahs. 
 The vegetation is coarse, and the 
 ground every where choaked up with 
 rank grass, reeds, and ferns. In 1784 
 the total territorial area was calcu- 
 lated at 1,302 miles. 
 
 The most numerous and important 
 tribe in this part of the ancient Cam- 
 roop is by the Assamese, Nepaulese, 
 and all such Bengalese as are under 
 the influence of their chiefs, called 
 indiscriminately Cooch and Rajbangsi, 
 and the subdivisions and distinctions 
 which they themselves have intro- 
 duced are considered as mere effu- 
 sions of vanity, the whole being 
 thought low and impure. This opi- 
 nion is exceedingly disagreeable to 
 their chiefs, and especially to their 
 princes, who pretend to be of divine 
 origin, and many of whom observe 
 the Hindoo law with such purity, 
 that in their own territory they are 
 allowed to be real Sudras; but the 
 Bengalese hold them in the utmost 
 contempt. Some of the Cooch, or 
 Rajbangsi chiefs, pretend to be de- 
 scended from the Khetries who es- 
 caped the massacre of Parasu Rama 
 by flying to China. 
 
 One tribe, named the Pani Cooch, 
 remain in a very rude state of society, 
 and are still thinly scattered along 
 the north-eastern parts of the Rung- 
 poor district, Assam, and the lower 
 parts of Bootan. By their religion 
 they are permitted to eat swine, goats, 
 ducks, sheep, deer, buffaloes, fowls, 
 and they sometimes snare peacocks. 
 
 On the other hand* they do not eat 
 beef, and reject dogs, cats, frogs, and 
 snakes, which are used by some other 
 of the ruder tribes. Their ideas of 
 rank are directly the reverse of those 
 of the Hindoos* and approach near 
 to European notions. They think a 
 man higher the more he can indulge 
 his appetites* on which account they 
 acknowledge the superiority of their 
 neighbours, as being eaters of dogs 
 and beef. 
 
 The Cooch, at least all of them 
 who have adopted the Brahmir.ical 
 religion and have relinquished their 
 impure practices, assume the titles 
 of Rajbangsies, or descendants of 
 princes, which has also been assumed 
 by several other rude tribes of Cam- 
 roop and Chin, such as the Mech and 
 Hajong, who, having followed their 
 example in religion, have assumed 
 the same title. But although all the 
 Rajbansies are not Cooch, still by 
 far the greater portion are of that 
 tribe. The Khyen are the only tribe 
 of Camroop that the Brahmins of 
 Bengal will admit to be pure Sudras, 
 which proves the great power their 
 princes must at one time have pos- 
 sessed : for, except the Camroop 
 Brahmins, no other person of the 
 sacred order would drink water from 
 the hands of the Cooch Bahar raja 
 Harindra, although they are all in 
 general willing to admit the divine 
 origin of his family, and his own 
 extraordinary sanctity. This person, 
 who reigned in 1809, was considered 
 by the natives as a very pious person 
 for the following reasons : he paid 
 no attention to business, but passed 
 the whole of his time in retirement, 
 and, as was supposed, much of it in 
 prayer ; besides this, he expended 
 much of his income in supporting 
 persons dedicated to a religious life, 
 while he neglected his temporal du- 
 ties, to the great detriment of his sub- 
 jects ; yet he was said to be naturally 
 well-disposed, and desirous of ren-; 
 dering justice. The natives supposed 
 that the gods had bestowed an ex- 
 traordinary reward on this prince, 
 by endowing him with supernatural 
 vigour ; but to Europeans who had 
 
446 
 
 COOCH BAHAR, 
 
 intercourse with him he appeared a 
 poor creature, exhausted by drunken- 
 ness and debauchery. 
 
 The proprietor of the pergunnah 
 in 1809 was a descendant of the 
 daughter of Cooch Hajo, claimed a 
 divine origin, and assumed the name 
 of Narayana or Narrain. According 
 to his genealogy, Viswa, the son of 
 Siva, had three sons. The two elders 
 were ancestors of the Rajas of Bahar 
 and Bijnee ; the youngest of the 
 Pangga branch, which, having had 
 many of their domains violently dis- 
 severed, retired to the forest, where 
 they fortified themselves with a bam- 
 boo jungle, and led a savage kind of 
 life. In 1809 the raja was only 
 eighteen years of age, but called 
 more by his people, to procure the 
 management of his affairs. He never 
 could be induced to dip deeper in 
 literature than to learn to sign his 
 name, although his mother used many 
 endeavours to persuade him, and the 
 collector having once caught him by 
 surprise, gave him suitable admoni- 
 tion : his answer was, that he was a 
 raja, and ought to give himself no 
 sort of trouble. He had not even 
 received the usual religious instruc- 
 tion, and cannot, therefore, spend 
 any time in prayer or ceremonies, a 
 usual resource of Hindoo princes 
 against ennui. He rose about eight 
 o’clock, passed an hour in cleaning 
 himself and eating; he then went out 
 to kill game, chiefly with poisoned 
 arrows, in the preparation of which 
 he was very skilful ; in the afternoon 
 he played at draughts or chess, and 
 then went to bed. 
 
 Bykantpoor, although a part has 
 been alienated to Bootan, is still a 
 very fine estate, and contains the two 
 whole police divisions of Fakeergunge 
 and Sanyassigotta,and has been added 
 to Bengal since the acquisition of the 
 dewanny in 1765. The proprietors 
 assert that they are descended from 
 the god Siva, on which account the 
 members of the family assume the 
 title of Dev, and return no salute 
 made to them, by whatever rank. The 
 Cooch tribe still compose by far the 
 greater portion of the original inha- 
 
 bitants of Camroop ; and one class 
 of that tribe, the Pani Cooch, which 
 has not adopted the Brahminical cus- 
 toms, still preserve a language totally 
 different from the Bengalese. By the 
 latter they are often confounded with 
 the Garrows. The early priesthood 
 of the Cooch tribe were named Ko- 
 litas, who maintained a great influence 
 over their rude flocks until the intro- 
 duction of the Brahmins, who were 
 adopted as spiritual instructors by 
 the principal chiefs, since which the 
 Kolitas have mostly adopted the 
 Hindoo religion, and rank as pure 
 Sudras; yet both they and their chiefs 
 occasionally revert to their old tenets, 
 and return to the guidance of the 
 unconverted members of the ancient 
 priesthood. The converted Kolitas 
 adhere to Krishna, and have of late 
 been very successful, especially in 
 Assam, where they have not only 
 converted the sovereigns of the coun- 
 try, but also many ignorant tribes of 
 Rabkas, Garrows, and Mech. The 
 lower classes in the north are so ex- 
 tremely indigent, that some years ago 
 it was their custom to dispose of their 
 children for slaves without scruple; and 
 although this traffic has been suppress- 
 ed, and provisions are cheap compared 
 with other districts, yet the poverty 
 and wretchedness of a great propor- 
 tion of the population are extreme. 
 
 When the Mahomedans conquered 
 this division they appear to have ren- 
 dered the office of zemindar heredi- 
 tary. Some of the estates continue 
 to be managed by the raja, some by 
 branches of the family, while others 
 continue to be held by the descen- 
 dants of different officers, on condi- 
 tion of performing certain duties. In 
 the whole of Cooch Bahar, the maxi- 
 mum of rent fixed by the settlement 
 is much lighter than what the pro- 
 prietors exact from their tenants, 
 which arises partly from their desire 
 of keeping a low rental lest a new 
 assessment should be made, while 
 they trust for their own profit to pri- 
 vate contributions. The high rate 
 of the maximums strengthens their 
 hands, as they can at any time compel 
 a tenant to quit a farm or pay the 
 
COOCH BAHAR. 
 
 447 
 
 maximum, no leases being granted to 
 new settlers, and these only give the 
 tenant aright of perpetual possession 
 according to the regulated assessment. 
 Formerly the raja’s family resided at 
 Bykantpoor, where there was little 
 cultivation, scattered among woods, 
 while all the more southerly portion 
 of the principality was overgrown 
 with reeds and bushes, encouraged as 
 a defence against the Mahomedans. 
 On the decay of the Mogul power, 
 Dharma Pal left Bykantpoor, settled 
 at Jelpigory, and began to clear the 
 jungles of the south, which are now 
 cultivated; while the spots among the 
 woods that were formerly cultivated 
 are now neglected, and returning to 
 a state of nature. The rents are very 
 low, probably owing to the vicinity 
 of the Bootan and Nepaulese territo- 
 ries, where there is much waste land, 
 and a large proportion of the tenants 
 are constantly changing from the one 
 to the other. Among the rude tribes 
 the hoe cultivation (which is a marked 
 distinction in this quarter of India 
 marking the stage of civilization) still 
 subsists, and with this implement it 
 is supposed a man and his wife can 
 cultivate as much land as a man with 
 a plough and two oxen, being about 
 five acres. 
 
 The reigning prince, in 1809, 
 named Harindra, was said to be the 
 seventeenth in succession of the pre- 
 sent family, but the early history of 
 the country is much involved in fable. 
 In 1582, Abul Fazel describes the 
 chief of Cooch as a powerful sove- 
 reign, having Assam and Camroop 
 under his subjection, and able to 
 bring into the field 1,000 horse and 
 100,000 foot. According to the tes- 
 timony of Mahomedan historians, 
 during the reign of Acber, about A.D. 
 1582, Lukshmen Narrain, the raja of 
 Cooch Bahar, was the sovereign of a 
 territory bounded on the east by the 
 river Brahmaputra, on the south by 
 Goraghaut, on the west by Tirhoot, 
 and on the north by the mountains of 
 Tibet and Assam. His army they ex- 
 aggerated to the number of 100,000 
 infantry, 4,000 cavalry, 700 elephants, 
 and 1,000 war boats. Notwithstand- 
 
 ing this enormous military force, he 
 voluntarily became a vassal to the 
 Emperor Acber, which offending his 
 subjects and chief men, they rebelled 
 against him, and compelled him to 
 request assistance from the Mogul 
 governor of Bengal, which was 
 readily granted, as it afforded an op- 
 portunity of exploring this region, 
 with a view to its future subjugation. 
 This last event took place in 1661, 
 when it was conquered by Meer Jum- 
 la, w ho in compliment to his sove- 
 reign changed the name of its capital 
 to Alumgeer Nugger, which it did 
 not long retain. Mahomedan fanati- 
 cism being then in full bloom, he 
 destroyed the Hindoo temples, broke 
 in pieces a celebrated image of Nara- 
 yan (Vishnu), and converted the son 
 of the raja, who was on bad terms 
 with his father. In every other res- 
 pect he administered strict justice to 
 his new subjects, and severely pu- 
 nished plunderers and other offenders. 
 Having completed the conquest and 
 settled the tribute of Cooch Bahar 
 (which then comprehended a large 
 tract of country) at ten lacks of ru- 
 pees annually, he proceeded to at- 
 tempt the conquest of Assam, where 
 he failed. During these wars the 
 Cooch princes are supposed to have 
 erected the line of fortification along 
 the southern frontier, which still re- 
 mains ; but, like all similar structures, 
 it proved an ineffectual protection. 
 
 Along with the rest of Bengal the 
 Mogul rights to this tract of country 
 devolved on the East-India Company 
 in 1765; but was little noticed until 
 1772, when the Cooch Bahar raja 
 applied to the collector of Rungpoor 
 for assistance against the Bootanners, 
 who had reduced him to the last ex- 
 tremity, and offered through his minis- 
 ter, Nazir Deo, to pay an annual tri- 
 bute of half his revenue, and to ren- 
 der his country again subordinate to 
 Bengal. In deliberating on this offer, 
 the peace and security of the adjacent 
 British territories were more to be 
 considered than any pecuniary advan- 
 tage to be derived from the new ac- 
 quisition, as prior to this period the 
 Rungpoor district had been much 
 
448 
 
 COOCH BAHAR. 
 
 exposed to incursions from Bootan ; 
 it became therefore a matter of direct 
 interest to embrace any opportunity 
 that offered of expelling these marau- 
 ders, and confining them within the 
 limits of their own mountains. Under 
 this impression the proposals of Nazir 
 Deo were agreed to, and Capt. John 
 Jones was ordered to proceed, with 
 four companies of sepoys and two 
 pieces of cannon, which expedition 
 he conducted with much skill and 
 energy, defeating Dorpo Deo, a rebel 
 and emissary of Bootan, and capturing 
 the town of Bahar by assault, thereby 
 greatly intimidating the Bootanners, 
 who fled on all sides to the hills, 
 where in 1773 they were pursued by 
 Capt. Jones, who took from them the 
 fortress of Dellamcotta. The Bootan 
 raja from being the aggressor, now 
 became alarmed for his own safety, 
 and applied to the Teshoo Lama of. 
 Tibet, through whose mediation he 
 obtained a peace. In arranging its 
 conditions, great favour was shown 
 to the Bootanners, probably with the 
 view of gaining their friendship, and 
 obtaining commercial advantages, nei- 
 ther of which ever took place. 
 
 In 1787 great confusion and rebel- 
 lion agitated this petty state, which 
 led the Bengal government to insti- 
 tute an inquiry into the causes of 
 these commotions, and also relative 
 to the existing condition of the terri- 
 tory. A commissioner was in conse- 
 quence deputed in 1789, to take upon 
 himself the exclusive superintendence 
 of the raja’s estates, to collect the 
 revenues, pay the annual tribute, and 
 after defraying the current expendi- 
 ture, retain the surplus for the raja’s 
 benefit. The latter, then a minor, was 
 at the same time informed that the 
 British government, in assuming the 
 temporary management of his affairs, 
 did not intend either to increase his 
 tribute, or to deprive him of the 
 rights and privileges guaranteed by 
 the treaty of 1772 , the object of their 
 interference being to preserve himself 
 and country from the artifices and 
 peculations of ignorant and designing 
 men. Under this arrangement the 
 Cooch Bahar territories continued 
 
 until 1801, when the raja having at- 
 tained his majority, the office of com- 
 missioner was abolished, and the 
 transaction of revenue matters com- 
 mitted to the collector of Rungpoor. 
 During the above period strict tran- 
 quillity prevailed, the revenues were 
 collected with regularity, and the 
 property of the state so effectually 
 preserved from the rapacity of its 
 own servants, that after defraying the 
 public expenses, civil and religious, on 
 a most liberal scale, a large sum was 
 accumulated for the benefit of the 
 raja and invested in the British funds. 
 
 A very different picture was exhi- 
 bited when the commissioner was 
 withdrawn. During the raja’s mino- 
 rity, the government had entertained 
 hopes that, by study and application 
 to business, he would qualify himself 
 for executing the duties of so impor- 
 tant a charge ; but these expectations 
 were disappointed, for to a natural 
 or acquired imbecility the raja added 
 a most violent and outrageous temper, 
 where he could not be resisted, nor 
 did he ever suffer the miseries of his 
 subjects to interfere with or disturb 
 the low and childish pleasures to 
 which he was addicted. Had the mis- 
 chief been confined to the raja’s own 
 territories, a cold and unfeeling po- 
 licy might perhaps have suggested, 
 that it was not incumbent on the 
 British government to interpose in 
 the affairs of a state, which had been 
 recognized to a certain degree as in- 
 dependent. The effects, however, of 
 the above evils were felt within the 
 limits of the British districts, ban- 
 ditti and other disturbers of the pub- 
 lic peace frequently committing rob- 
 bery and other outrages, and then 
 seeking a secure asylum for them- 
 selves and plunder within the boun- 
 daries of Cooch Bahar. Besides this, 
 so far from any surplus revenue being 
 realized, it was with the utmost dif- 
 ficulty the different instalments of the 
 tribute due to Bengal could be liqui- 
 dated, and the raja himself had 
 scarcely the means of subsistence, 
 while his public officers were amas- 
 sing fortunes by embezzlement and 
 extortion. 
 
COOCH 
 
 The Bengal government was fully 
 sensible of the evils that were likely 
 to arise From leaving the administra- 
 tion of affairs exclusively to the raja ; 
 but was averse, on the principles of 
 good faith, to assume the internal 
 management of the principality with- 
 out the acquiescence of its chief. An 
 officer was, in consequence, deputed 
 for the purpose of communicating 
 with the raja, and of endeavouring to 
 obtain his consent to the introduc- 
 tion of the Bengal revenue and judi- 
 cial regulations, with such modifica- 
 tions as local circumstances and the 
 dignity of the raja might suggest ; but 
 all his efforts to procure the raja’s 
 consent were without avail, and he 
 was in consequence withdrawn. Ano- 
 ther was deputed in 1805, with the 
 like bad success, the raja manifesting 
 the utmost repugnance to the pro- 
 posed arrangements, while his mise- 
 rable subjects upbraided the British 
 government as participators of his 
 extortions. All interference, how- 
 ever, further than remonstrance, was 
 abstained from until 1813, when the 
 anarchy of this state had attained 
 such a height, that it was no longer 
 possible to go on. As experience 
 had proved that all prospect of re- 
 forming the administration through 
 the medium of the collector of Rung- 
 poor was perfectly hopeless, it became 
 indispensably necessary to recreate 
 the office of commissioner, nearly on 
 the footing of 1805. The governor- 
 general also addressed the raja, re- 
 monstrating strongly with him on the 
 neglect of his public duties, and of his 
 insulting and contumacious conduct 
 towards the officers appointed to ne- 
 gotiate with him. In addition to 
 these acts of insubordination, the 
 raja had the folly to withhold the 
 payment of the customary tribute, 
 and not only to misappropriate the 
 allowance fixed for the family of 
 Nazir Deo, but also to usurp the lands 
 allotted for their residence, and for 
 that ofDewan Deo. In these com- 
 motions one of the latter’s depen- 
 dants was murdered, when the raja, 
 instead of facilitating the apprehen- 
 sion of the perpetrators, opposed 
 
 VOL. i. 
 
 BAHAR. 449 
 
 every obstacle to the prosecution of 
 the inquiry. 
 
 Whatever doubts may exist regard- 
 ing the rights mutually understood 
 by the contracting parties to have 
 been conveyed to the British govern- 
 ment by the words of the third article 
 of the treaty of 1772, as far as relates 
 to the raja’s independence, within the 
 limits of internal jurisdiction, the ge- 
 neral tenor of that treaty placed 
 Cooch Bahar in a state of absolute 
 dependence on the British power, 
 and the reservation of a moiety of 
 the revenues for the raja, was sub- 
 jected to the condition of his conti- 
 nuing firm in his allegiance to the 
 East-India Company. The raja’s ge- 
 neral conduct having been utterly in- 
 consistent with the duties of subjec- 
 tion and allegiance, he might be con- 
 sidered as having violated his engage- 
 ments, and consequently forfeited his 
 rights of territorial sovereignty, by 
 disregarding the conditions under 
 which they were recognized ; but as 
 it would have been too severe to 
 carry the punishment to extremity, 
 it was determined to limit the inter- 
 ference in the interior administration 
 merely to the degree which might be 
 necessary to preclude the recurrence 
 of any acts of gross outrage or oppres- 
 sion. In furtherance of this object, 
 he was ordered to dismiss his dewan 
 and moonshee, the appointment of 
 the first-mentioned officer being in 
 future subjected to the approval of 
 the governor-general. To the pro- 
 posal for the introduction of a sys- 
 tem of criminal jurisprudence, to be 
 administered in his name but through 
 the agency of the British commis- 
 sioner, the raja gave a conditional 
 consent. 
 
 The amount of tribute paid to the 
 Bengal government in 1814 was 
 62,722 rupees per annum; but its 
 liquidation could never be procured 
 without the greatest difficulty. In 
 1818 the arrears amounted to 71,600 
 rupees remaining due by the raja, 
 who, although fully able to discharge 
 them, was actuated by such a blind 
 confidence in the forbearance of the 
 British government, that he conti= 
 
 2 o 
 
450 
 
 COOPANG. 
 
 nually evaded the settlement, until 
 threatened with instant sequestra- 
 tion, when 60,000 rupees of the mo- 
 ney was produced ; but he still per- 
 severed in endeavouring to elude the 
 payment of the remainder. In 1822 
 the arrears due had again accumulat- 
 ed to 51,735 rupees. The rajas of 
 Cooch Bahar reckon by the era of 
 their ancestor, Viswa Singh, and sup- 
 pose that he began to reign about 
 A.D. 1509, which is probably earlier 
 than the reality. — (F. Buchanan , 
 Public MS. Documents , Turner , J. 
 Grant, Stewart, Pierard, #c.) 
 
 Coolies,— See Gujerat Province, 
 Mahy Kaunta, and Baroda. 
 
 Coolasghur (Cailasghar ). — A 
 town in the Carnatic province, eighty- 
 four miles W.S.W. from Madras ; lat. 
 12° 45' N., Ion. 79° 8' E. 
 
 Cooloo. — A district in the province 
 of Lahore, which stretches along the 
 north bank of the Sutuleje, from below 
 Koomharsein to a few miles beyond 
 Rampoor, the capital of Bussaher. 
 The natives say it is separated from 
 Chamba by the Pariyat mountains, 
 and is also watered by the Beyah. 
 The aspect of these hills, which de- 
 scend abruptly from a lofty height, 
 almost immediately under the snowy 
 cliffs, is peculiarly dreary and barren, 
 presenting nothing but craggy preci- 
 pices and sharp peaks, projecting 
 through the scanty soil that adheres 
 to the rough brown rocks. The only 
 cultivation to be seen is adjacent to 
 the petty forts and villages, enclosed 
 by a wall or hedge ; but sheep pas- 
 ture, in the proper season, is said to 
 be abundant. In 1815 some traffic 
 from Tibet passed through Sultan- 
 poor, then designated as the capital 
 of Cooloo, of which state Raja Bick- 
 ram Sen was chieftain, but was him- 
 self tributary to Runjeet Singh of La- 
 hore. He also had two small barren 
 peaks within the British line east of 
 the Sutuleje, to which, as eventual 
 asylums, he attached a disproportion- 
 ate importance. — ( Jas. Fraser, Lieut , 
 Ross, Public MS. Documents , F. Bu- 
 chanan, $c.) 
 
 Cooloo. — A town in the province 
 of Orissa, eighty miles S.E. from 
 Sumbhulpoor ; lat. 20° 31' N , Ion. 
 84° 39' E. This is a considerable 
 inland mart, the Berar merchants * 
 bringing their cotton to Cooloo, from 
 whence they return with a load of 
 salt to the interior. 
 
 Coopang. — A town in the island 
 of Timor, situated on a large bay, 
 twelve miles wide by twenty deep, 
 formed by the island of Semao to the 
 south-west, and a point of Timor to 
 the north; lat. 10° 10' S., Ion. 124° 
 10' E. This bay is exposed to the 
 westward; but from the beginning 
 of May to the end of October the 
 anchorage is secure, and there is 
 little to apprehend from N.W. winds 
 after the middle of March, or before 
 the middle of November. In the vi- 
 cinity the upper stone is mostly calca- 
 reous, but the basis appears to be 
 argillaceous. 
 
 This settlement was formed by the 
 Dutch so early as A.D. 1630 ; but it 
 never attained any prosperity or im- 
 portance ; in fact, their territory ne- 
 ver extended five miles be} 7 ond Fort 
 Concordia. During the revolutionary 
 war that terminated in 1801 the 
 communication with Batavia was in- 
 terrupted, and the town taken by the 
 British, an insurrection having been 
 raised by the half-caste natives, who 
 massacred some of the garrison, ex- 
 pelled the rest, and set fire to the 
 town. Fort Concordia stands on the 
 south side of the bay, and is usually 
 garrisoned by a few Malays com- 
 manded by a serjeant-major. A small 
 foreign commerce is carried on with 
 Batavia, but the peculiar traffic of the 
 port is conducted by the Chinese 
 who are settled in the town, and in- 
 termingled with the Malays. Vege- 
 tables are high-priced and not good ; 
 but cocoa-nuts, limes, bananaes and 
 shaddocks are plentiful. The animal 
 food procurable consists of young 
 karabow or buffalo, pigs, kids, poul- 
 try, and other articles retailed by 
 the Chinese and Malays. The cli- 
 mate here is very destructive to Eu- 
 ropean constitutions; but it is not 
 
COORG. 
 
 451 
 
 so considered by the Dutch, probably 
 on account of its being comparatively 
 less destructive than Batavia.— {Capt. 
 Flinders, fyc.) 
 
 Coorg ( Coduga). — An ancient 
 Hindoo principality situated among 
 the western ghauts, between the 
 twelfth and thirteenth degrees of 
 north latitude, and at present partly 
 annexed to the British province of 
 Malabar, and partly comprehended 
 in the Mysore raja’s territories. The 
 Coorga country is considered to ex- 
 tend from the Tambacherry pass on 
 the south to the river Hemavulty on 
 the north, and presents a succession 
 of hills and valleys, in many places 
 open, with some scattered trees and 
 shrubs ; in others wild and woody, 
 abounding with all sorts of game, 
 wild elephants, and other beasts of 
 the forest. The country from Soma- 
 warpet to Markeree, a distance of 
 nineteen miles, is a complete wood, 
 and the mountains in the vicinity of 
 the latter are covered with thick fo- 
 rests, where sandal and other valua- 
 ble woods are found. Round Mar- 
 keree the hills form an amphithea- 
 tre, where the different roads enter 
 through gateways across an old line 
 and ditch, extending all along the 
 tops of the ridges ; a Coorg raja, 
 before the country was subdued by 
 Hyder, having made a hedge and ditch 
 along the whole extent of the eastern 
 boundary of his dominions. A con- 
 siderable tract beyond this line was 
 reckoned neutral, and still continues 
 desolate. The Cavery has its source 
 in Coorg, and the Toombuddra among 
 the Bababooden hills. These two 
 great streams issuing to the eastward, 
 are obliged by the inclination of the 
 mountains to pursue that course, 
 although much nearer to the western 
 Indian Ocean. The Cavery, after a 
 a circuitous route, finds its way to 
 the bay of Bengal, while the Toom- 
 buddra proceeds north-east and joins 
 the Krishna. 
 
 The vallies here are cultivated 
 with rice, which this region yields 
 exuberantly, but the quantity of land 
 under tillage is insignificant when 
 
 compared with the extent of surface. 
 Cattle are abundant, the pasturage 
 being excellent; but the manufac- 
 tures ate almost limited to the blan- 
 kets they wear, their cotton cloths 
 being imported. Among the hills 
 and forests are some wild tribes, 
 whose complexions are not darker 
 than those of Spaniards or Portu- 
 guese, which may be owing to the 
 elevation of their domicile, the shade 
 of their forests, and to the torrents 
 of rain that for so great a portion of 
 the year pour from the cloudy atmos- 
 phere. 
 
 The Coorgas are a subdivision of 
 the Nail* caste, and of martial habits. 
 Rajas of Coorg (named the Yir Ra- 
 jas) are mentioned by Ferishta as 
 independent princes so early as A.D. 
 1583, and the family possesses bio- 
 graphical histories of their rajas since 
 1632. For a long time Hyder at- 
 tempted in vain to subdue them, 
 until a dispute about the succession 
 arose, when he offered his mediation, 
 and by the destruction of one family 
 and captivity of the other, he got 
 possession of the territory. In the 
 year 1779, Linga, raja of Coorg, died, 
 and Hyder excluded Beer Rajindra, 
 the legal heir, then a minor, confined 
 him in a Mysore fortress, massacred 
 and expelled many of the Coorgas, 
 and partitioned the country into 
 jaghires, among a number of petty 
 Mahomedan leaders. Tippoo had 
 the young raja circumcised, and dur- 
 ing his captivity the country was a 
 continued scene of devastation and 
 bloodshed, occasioned by the discon- 
 tent and insurrection of the people. 
 In 1787 Beer Rajindra made his es- 
 cape from Periapatam and returned 
 to Coorg, where, after a series of 
 years and many vicissitudes, he suc- 
 ceeded in expelling the invaders, and 
 recovering his hereditary dominions. 
 
 From this era the constitution of 
 Coorg may be understood to have 
 commenced on a new foundation, 
 the ancient having been nearly abro- 
 gated by the long domination of the 
 Mahomedans, and the expulsion of 
 the legitimate landed proprietors. 
 By his perseverance Beer Rajindra 
 
 2 g 2 
 
452 
 
 COPAUL. 
 
 restored order, and conciliated the 
 affections of the mass of his people. 
 On his decease, in 1808, he left his 
 dominions by will to his daughter 
 Dewa Amajee, then a child, to the 
 prejudice of his brother Linga Raja, 
 and contrary to the ancient usages 
 and customs of the country, as well 
 as to the texts of the sacred writings. 
 According to the latter, the succes- 
 sion should be first the son, and then, 
 if no son, the son’s son, and failing 
 him, the brother of the deceased. In 
 addition to this document, no prece- 
 dent could be found that any female 
 had ever held the reins of the Coorg 
 sovereignty, although in the conti- 
 guous and ancient Hindoo principa- 
 lity of Bednore, a female sovereign 
 or ranny had always ruled. 
 
 The infant princess was, however, 
 placed on the throne; but in 1810 
 the Bengal government received a 
 communication from Linga Raja 
 and the Ranny Dewa Amajee, con- 
 jointly intimating that in conse- 
 quence of the voluntary abdication 
 of the latter, Linga Raja had assum- 
 ed the permanent administration of 
 Coorg. In consequence of this intel- 
 ligence, measures were taken to as- 
 certain the claim possessed by the 
 Linga Raja to the succession, and 
 also the wishes and sentiments of the 
 chief persons belonging to the prin- 
 cipality. The resignation of the 
 young ranny at her tender age could 
 not be considered as spontaneous, 
 and the Linga Raja’s assumption of 
 the sovereignty could derive no title 
 from the renunciation of an infant. 
 At the same time the British govern- 
 ment could not be considered, by a 
 mere testamentary devise of the late 
 raja, to support an order of succes- 
 sion hostile to the laws, prejudices, 
 and wishes of the people, and under 
 the possible contingency of being 
 obliged to employ a military force in 
 prosecution of the object. The re- 
 sult of the investigation was favoura- 
 ble to the claims of the Linga Raja 
 to Coorg, the inhabitants of which 
 were also inclined to the establish- 
 ment of his pretensions, which were 
 accordingly acquiesced in by the Ben- 
 
 gal presidency, and a despatch ad- 
 dressed to him, announcing the de- 
 termination of the British govern- 
 ment to recognize his title to the 
 sovereignty. A provision of nearly 
 two lacks of pagodas (£80,000), 
 which had been vested in the Com- 
 pany’s funds at Madras by the late 
 raja, was made in favour of Dewa 
 Amajee and her sisters; and of four 
 lacks of rupees held by the late raja 
 in the Bombay funds, two were se- 
 cured for the little ranny and her 
 sisters, as a suitable provision, by the 
 care of the British government. The 
 other two lacks in the Bombay funds 
 appertained to the Soonda Raja and 
 his son. 
 
 Like other Nair countries, Coorg 
 possesses few towns, or even villages, 
 of any considerable size and popula- 
 tion, the Coorgas preferring their 
 wilds and jungles to the busy hum of 
 man. Periapatam was formerly the 
 capital, but in more recent times the 
 village of Mercara, twenty-five miles 
 south of Poodicherin, has been the 
 principal residence of the raja’s fa- 
 mily. About 1785 Tippoo built a 
 strong fortress within the limits of 
 the district and called it Jafferabad, 
 but it has long since gone to ruin. — 
 (A. 2V. Cole , Public MS. Documents , 
 Dirom , F. Buchanan , Sec.) 
 
 Coorhut ( or ChoorhutJ . — A town 
 in the Allahabad province, thirty 
 miles E S.E. from Rewah ; lat 24° 
 2D' N., Ion. 81° 47' E. It is govern- 
 ed by a chief named the Row of 
 Choorhut. 
 
 Coosera (CusaraJ . — A town in 
 the Bahar district, fifty-four miles 
 S.S.E. from Patna; lat. 25°6'N., Ion. 
 85° 47' E. 
 
 Copara. — A fine village in the 
 province of Bejapoor belonging to 
 the Raja of Satara, about twenty- 
 seven miles N. by E. from the town 
 of Satara. 
 
 Copaul. — A fortified town in the 
 province of Bejapoor, about twenty- 
 one miles west from the ancient city 
 ofBijanagur; lat. 15°19' N., Ion. 76° 
 10' E. This was reckoned one of 
 
CORREGAUM. 
 
 453 
 
 the strongest fortresses in India, and 
 in 1790 resisted the Nizam’s army 
 for six months before it capitulated ; 
 yet in 1819 it was taken by storm 
 from a rebellious governor, by Gene- 
 ral Pritzler’s detachment, with the 
 loss of only six killed and fifty-one 
 wounded.— (MSS., fyc.) 
 
 Corachie. — This is the modern 
 seaport of Tatta and Sinde, although 
 it does not properly belong to either, 
 being a recent usurpation of the 
 Ameers of Sinde ; lat. 24°51 / N., Ion. 
 67° 16'E , fifty-seven miles from the 
 city of Tatta, and E. by S. from Cape 
 Monze. 
 
 Coringa (Caranga ). — A consi- 
 derable seaport town in the Northern 
 Circars, district of Rajamundry, thir- 
 ty miles S.E. from the town of Raja- 
 mundry ; lat. 16° 40' N., Ion. 82° 44' 
 E. Coringa Bay is the only smooth 
 water (except Blackwood’s Harbour) 
 on the western side of the Bay of 
 Bengal during the S.W. monsoon. 
 Point Godavery projecting out to the 
 southward breaks the swell. In con- 
 sequence of this favourable circum- 
 stance a wet dock has been formed 
 here, which is the only construction 
 of the kind on the continent between 
 Calcutta and Bombay. A bar of mud 
 lies across theentrance,through which 
 ships must be forced. A considera- 
 ble number of country vessels of 
 small burthen are annually built at 
 this port. A remarkable rise of the 
 ocean and inundation took place here 
 about 1784, which drowned a great 
 many of the inhabitants and destroy- 
 ed much property. — ( Johnson , #c.) 
 
 Coromandel f Cholomandala.J — 
 This coast extends along the west 
 side of the Bay of Bengal, from Point 
 Calymere to the mouth of the Krish- 
 na river. The name is properly 
 Cholomandala. In Sanscrit the pri- 
 mitive meaning of this word is orbit 
 or circle, and thence a region or tract 
 of country, and probably it received 
 its name from the Chola dynasty, the 
 ancient sovereigns of Tanjore. In 
 the Madras records, until 1779 it is 
 written Choramandel. 
 
 When the northerly (or north-east- 
 erly) wind or monsoon prevails on 
 the coast of Coromandel and in the 
 Bay of Bengal, the southerly (or 
 south-westerly) wind reigns on the 
 coast of Malabar ; and when the 
 northerly wind blows on the latter, the 
 southerly wind prevails on the former 
 coast. The northerly winds are ex- 
 pected on the coast of Coromandel 
 and in the Bay of Bengal about the 
 middle of October. The periodical 
 change which is followed by the 
 rainy season through India south of 
 the Krishna, is called the great mon- 
 soon. It is frequently accompanied 
 by violent hurricanes ; nor is serene 
 weather expected until the middle of 
 December, and sometimes storms 
 happen so late as the first of January : 
 the King’s and Company’s ships are 
 consequently ordered to quit the 
 coast by the 15th of October. The 
 southerly wind sets in about the mid- 
 dle of April, and the early portion 
 of this monsoon is a period of great 
 drought on the Coromandel coast, 
 while partial rains fall on that of Ma- 
 labar and among the western ghauts. 
 
 During the continuance of the hot 
 winds the coast of Coromandel is 
 parched up, resembling a barren wil- 
 derness, nothing appearing green ex- 
 cept the trees. When the rains fall 
 vegetation is restored, the plants 
 revive, and a beautiful verdure over- 
 spreads the country. It is an 
 observation of the natives, con- 
 firmed by the experience of many 
 Europeans, that the longer the hot 
 wind blows the healthier are the 
 ensuing months, these winds puri- 
 fying the air. The Coromandel coast 
 is generally an open roadstead, with- 
 out harbours, and there is considera- 
 ble difficulty in landing, on account 
 of the surf, except where proper 
 boats are provided. — ( Wilks , Craw- 
 furd , Lind , Kyd , <$c.) 
 
 Corregaum. — A village in the pro- 
 vince of Bejapoor, situated on the 
 N.E. side of the Beema river, seven- 
 teen miles E.N.E. from Poona; lat. 
 18° 37' N., Ion. 74° 16' E. It is 
 composed of a number of houses, with 
 
454 
 
 COSI RIVER. 
 
 stone walls round the gardens, and 
 but for the want of water, which can 
 only be had from the river, is very 
 defensible. A detachment of British 
 troops under Captain Staunton, con- 
 sisting of a detail of the Madras ar- 
 tillery, the second battalion first re- 
 giment of Bombay native infantry, and 
 about 300 auxiliary horse, were at- 
 tacked here on the 31st December 
 1817 by the Peshwa’s army, estimat- 
 ed at 20,000 horse and several thou- 
 sand infantry, mostly Arabs. A 
 most desperate struggle ensued be- 
 tween this handful of men and Baje- 
 row’s whole army, under his person- 
 al command, and viewed by him from 
 a height. The action commenced a 
 little before noon, and was not over 
 until nine in the evening, during the 
 whole of which time the British 
 troops remained not only without 
 food, but without water. By the 
 evening all the British officers had 
 been either killed or wounded ex- 
 cept three, yet the enemy were 
 driven out of every position in the 
 village they attempted to occupy, and 
 by nine o’clock completely desisted 
 from the attack. The next day was 
 assed under arms, the enemy still 
 overiftg about the village ; but on 
 the 1st of January 1818 the detach- 
 ment made good its retreat to Seroor, 
 with both the guns and all the 
 wounded. The discouraging circum- 
 stances under which this action was 
 fought, the ground having been just 
 occupied after a long and fatiguing 
 march, and the troops forced to fight 
 without food or water, gave the de- 
 fence a character of desperate deter- 
 mination scarcely to be equalled in 
 history. — ( Prinsep , Fitzclarence , Pub- 
 lic Journals , tyc.) 
 
 Corsee. — A small town in the pro- 
 vince of Bejapoor, district of Rye- 
 baugh; lat. 16° 40' N., Ion. 74° 50' E. 
 This was formerly a Mahomedan 
 town of some note, but latterly, un- 
 der the Peshwa’s government, so 
 much oppressed by the Maharatta 
 Brahmins, that most of the faithful 
 withdrew, although the relics of a 
 celebrated Mahomedan saint, Seraje 
 
 ud Deen, lie interred only one mile 
 east of the town. The river Krishna 
 runs here in an easterly direction, in 
 a bed about 500 yards from bank to 
 bank. This is one of the towns 
 which during the Maharatta sway 
 enjoyed the privilege of killing beef 
 for sale. — {Moor, fyc.) 
 
 Corundowar. — A small fortified 
 town in the province of Bejapoor, 
 division of Colapoor, belonging to 
 the Putwurden family, situated at 
 the junction of the Panchgunga river 
 with the Krishna. 
 
 Cosi River ( Kausiki ). — This ri- 
 ver has its source in the Nepaul hills 
 not far from the city of Catmandoo, 
 from whence it flows in a south-east- 
 erly direction to near Chattra, on the 
 lower range of hills, where it winds 
 more to the south, and descends to- 
 wards the British district of Purneah, 
 which it enters twenty miles north 
 of Nauthpoor, by a channel two miles 
 wide, but, except in the height of 
 the rains, almost filled with sand- 
 banks and islands, the latter covered 
 with tamarisks and coarse grass. In 
 the cold season most of the space be- 
 tween the temporary islands becomes 
 dry sand : but there are always 
 streams accessible to boats of 400 
 or 500 maunds. Being near the 
 mountains, the Cosi is very subject 
 to sudden risings and fallings, and 
 in summer the water, even so low as 
 Nauthpoor, retains a considerable 
 degree of coolness. One of its con- 
 tributary streams, the Arun, is sup- 
 posed to rise north of the great Hi- 
 malaya ridge, and to penetrate be- 
 tween its snowy peaks. After enter- 
 ing Bengal, the course of the main 
 trunk of the Cosi is nearly due 
 south, in which direction it flows un- 
 til it joins the Ganges, having per- 
 formed a journey of 300 miles. 
 
 This river is said to be the daughter 
 of Kusik Raja, the sovereign of Gad- 
 hi, who had besides her a son named 
 Viswamitra. This person was a 
 strenuous worshipper of Para Brah- 
 ma, or the supreme being, and re- 
 jected all invocation of the inferior 
 gods, such as Vishnu and Siva. On 
 
COSSIMBAZAR. 
 
 455 
 
 this account, and his austerities, he 
 almost attained a power equal to 
 these divinities, and created several 
 sorts of grain now in common use. 
 He also intended to fabricate men of 
 a nature much superior to the poor 
 drivelling creatures who now tread 
 the earth, but, at the solicitation of 
 the demigods, he desisted when he 
 had only proceeded so far as to form 
 the head, from which originated the 
 cocoa-nut, as is proved by its strong 
 resemblance to the human counte- 
 nance. Kausiki, the daughter, mar- 
 ried a Brahmin saint of an irascible 
 disposition, who became incensed 
 against his wife because she bore him 
 a son of a martial inclination ; while 
 his father-in-law, the Raja Kusik, ex- 
 celled in holiness and power. Ac- 
 cording to the Scanda Puran (which, 
 in geographical matters, is of the 
 highest authority) the saint in con- 
 sequence prayed to the gods, and 
 had his wife changed into a river, 
 which now flows through Purneah 
 under the name of the Cosi, which 
 is the common name used by the 
 people who inhabit its banks, but in 
 the sacred dialect it is termed Kau- 
 siki. Such is its mythological origin ; 
 but at present it is known to descend 
 from the lower hills of the northern 
 mountains by three cataracts, or ra- 
 ther violent rapids, it being ascer- 
 tained that canoes can shoot through 
 the lower cataract. — ( F . Buchanan , 
 $c.) 
 
 Cospoor (Khaspur ). — A town in 
 the province of Cachar, of which it 
 is the modern capital, sixty-four 
 miles east from the town of Silhet in 
 Bengal ; lat. 24° 45' N., Ion. 92° 45' 
 E. This place stands on the banks 
 of the Madhura, a small clear stream 
 that flows from the adjacent moun- 
 tains. Under Hari Chandra, Cospoor 
 flourished, and possessed brick and 
 wooden houses; but on his death, 
 about 1811, his successor, Raja Go- 
 vind Chandra, thinking himself safe 
 only in proportion as he approximated 
 to the British provinces, removed his 
 court and cabinet to Doodpatlee, on 
 the banks of the Boorak, about twen- 
 
 ty miles south of Cospoor ; the latter 
 was in consequence almost deserted, 
 and has since experienced a most 
 rapid decay. In A.D. 1763 Mr. Ve- 
 relst, afterwards governor-general, 
 undertook a journey eastward from 
 Bengal, and advanced as far as this 
 place: an exertion which none of his 
 successors had sufficient enterprize 
 to imitate. 
 
 Cosseahs. — See Silhet. 
 
 Cossimbazar. - — A considerable 
 town in the province of Bengal, about 
 a mile south from Moorshedabad, of 
 which capital it may be reckoned the 
 port ; lat. 24° 10' N., Ion. 88° 15' E. 
 This is one of the largest inland 
 trading towns in Bengal, and during 
 the rainy season has a variety and 
 extent of water-carriage, probably 
 not excelled in the world. The Cos- 
 simbazar island is perfectly flat, and 
 one bed of sand ; but the annual 
 overflow of the river leaves a depot 
 of mud, which enriches this other- 
 wise barren territory. Besides the 
 tiger and the boar, this insular space 
 abounds with the inferior sorts of 
 game. The hare, deer, partridges, 
 floricans, quail, and a species of or- 
 tolan, with a great diversity of birds, 
 far superior in splendour of plumage 
 to those of Europe, are found along 
 this sacred branch of the Ganges ; 
 and the aquatic birds of colder cli- 
 mates, such as geese, ducks, divers, 
 and snipes, are also abundant. The 
 town of Cossimbazar has long been 
 famous for its silk manufactures, and 
 is noted for its stockings, which are 
 all wire-knitted, and esteemed the 
 best in Bengal. The quantity of silk 
 consumed here annually by the na- 
 tives in carpets, satins, and other 
 stuffs, is very great, and a large quan- 
 tity of the raw article is also export- 
 ed to Europe, and to almost every 
 quarter of India, this being peculiarly 
 a silk country, probably the next in 
 the world to China. 
 
 The river that flows past Cossim- 
 bazar is named the Bhagirathi, and is 
 the holiest branch of the Ganges, the 
 others, in Hindoo estimation, not 
 possessing the same sanctity. In the 
 
456 
 
 COULAN. 
 
 ancient Hindoo systems the west of 
 the Bhagirathi river was named the 
 Utter-rari, and Dachshim-rari, and 
 the east of the same river Bhagni. — 
 ( Colehr ooke , Lord Valentia, Tennant , 
 $c.) 
 
 Cossimcotta. — A small town in 
 the Northern Circars, twenty-eight 
 miles travelling distance W. by S. 
 from Vizagapatam ; lat. 17° 39' N., 
 Ion. 83° 8' E. To the north of this 
 place there is a military cantonment, 
 where a small detachment is usually 
 stationed. — ( Fullarton , #c.) 
 
 Cossipoor. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Delhi, district of Bareily, 
 twenty-six miles north from Mora- 
 dabad ; lat. 29° 11' N., Ion. 78°16' E. 
 This is a place of Hindoo pilgrimage, 
 has several temples, and a very holy, 
 though dirty tank, where the pilgrims 
 bathe. A great trade also passes 
 through this town going north, and 
 some of the inhabitants are wealthy. 
 
 Cotama. — A village in the pro- 
 vince of Gujerat, principality of 
 Lunawara, situated about ten miles 
 south from the town of Lunawara. — 
 {MS., $c.) 
 
 Cotaport. — An inland village in 
 the Malabar province, division of 
 Cartinaad, fourteen miles S.E. from 
 Tellicherry ; lat. 11° 42' N., Ion. 75° 
 44' E. 
 
 Cottapatam. — A town in the Car- 
 natic province, division of Marawa, 
 fifty- two miles south from Tanjore; 
 lat. 9° 59' N., Ion. 79° 14' E. 
 
 Cotelah. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Agra, forty-six miles N.N.E. 
 from Jeypoor; lat. 27° 28' N., Ion. 
 76° 2' E. 
 
 Cotiote. — A small section of the 
 Malabar province, situated due east 
 of Tellicherry, and comprehending 
 about 312 square miles. The face of 
 the country here, like the rest of Ma- 
 labar, consists of low hills, separated 
 by narrow vallies adapted for the 
 rice cultivation. Approaching the 
 ghauts these hills rise to a consi- 
 derable height, and the soil is every 
 where good. The calamities Cotiote 
 
 suffered at the early stage of its con- 
 nexion with the British government, 
 were in a great measure owing to its 
 forests, which encouraged the na- 
 tives to make an ill-judged resistance 
 against the British forces. The quan- 
 tity of trees, including teak, pro- 
 curable here in one year, does not 
 exceed 300 or 400, and no metals 
 have been discovered. Wherever 
 there is any long intermission of cul- 
 tivation, stately forests arise, but the 
 trees are of little value. In A.D. 
 1800 the number of houses in Co- 
 tiote was estimated at 4,087. Among 
 the hills and woods there were then 
 several rude tribes ; but the whole 
 number of slaves was only estimated 
 at one hundred. — (F. Buchanan , $r.) 
 
 Cottacotta. — A town in the Ba- 
 laghaut ceded territories, fifty-six 
 miles N. from Cuddapah ; lat. 15' 21' 
 N., Ion. 78° 54' E. 
 
 Cottee. — A town in the province 
 of Bahar, district of Bahar, ninety 
 miles S. by W. from Patna ; lat. 24° 
 21' N., Ion. 84° 40' E. 
 
 Coulan (or Quilon ). — A sea- 
 port town in Travancore, 102 miles 
 N.N.W. from Cape Comorin ; lat. 
 8° 53' N., Ion. 76° 39' E. This is a 
 place of considerable native trade, 
 cotton, pepper, ginger, cardamoms, 
 and other merchandize being usually 
 stored here, where there is also 
 abundance of excellent fish, tortoises, 
 rice of a good quality, bananas, pine 
 apples, and other fruits. In remote 
 times Quilon was a place of consi- 
 derable note, and is said to have been 
 built A.D. 825. The Christian as 
 well as the Hindoo natives of this 
 part of Malabar, commence their era 
 at the period of its foundation ; and 
 it is mentioned by Marco Polo, in 
 A.D. 1295. Alexis Menezes, the 
 first archbishop of Goa, opened here 
 his first conference with the Chris- 
 tians of St. Thomas, when he made 
 them renounce the principles of Nes- 
 torius, and embrace the doctrines 
 of the Roman Catholic church, to 
 which they in part continue united. 
 The Brahmins here possess a very 
 ancient temple dedicated to Siva, and 
 
CRANGANORE. 
 
 457 
 
 the Catholics muster three congrega- 
 tions. Between Quilon and Cape 
 Comorin there were reckoned, forty 
 years ago, to be seventy-five Catholic 
 congregations scattered over the coun- 
 try. — ( Fra . Paolo , #c.) 
 
 Courchier. — A town in the Nel- 
 lore district, thirteen miles N. by W. 
 from Ongole; lat. 15° 48' N., Ion. 
 79°31'E. 
 
 Courtallum. — See Tinnevelly 
 District. 
 
 Courtinay. — A large village in 
 the Balaghaut ceded territories, dis- 
 trict of Bellary, about ten miles tra- 
 velling distance N.W. from the town 
 of Bellary. This place, though now 
 decayed, still covers a considerable 
 space of ground, contains several 
 temples, and is well fortified with a 
 ditch, glacis, and mud wall. — ( Ful - 
 larton, fyc.) 
 
 Covelong (covil, a temple ). — A 
 town on the sea-coast of the Car- 
 natic, twentv-two miles south from 
 Madras; lat. 12° 46' N., Ion. 80° 18' 
 E. This fort, called by the natives 
 Saadet Bunder, was built by Anwarud 
 Deen Khan, within musket-shot of 
 the sea, near the ruins of another 
 belonging to the Imperial East-India 
 Company of Ostend, whose principal 
 factory was at Covelong. In A.D. 
 1750 the French got possession of it 
 by stratagem. In 1752 it surrendered 
 to Captain Clive, on condition that 
 the commandant should be allowed 
 to carry away his own effects, which 
 proved to be a great many turkies, 
 and a quantity of snuff, commodities 
 he dealt in. After the capture of 
 Chingleput, the fortifications of Cove- 
 long were blown up. The sea-shore 
 here affords many beautiful shells. — 
 ( Orme , Fra. Paolo , fyc.) 
 
 Cowdully. — A town in the Salem 
 province and district, forty-eight 
 miles S.E. from Seringapatam ; lat. 
 12° 3' N., Ion. 77 ° 27' E. 
 
 Cowishar. — A town in Northern 
 Hindostan, within the geographical 
 limits of the Nepaulese dominions, 
 situated on the east side of the Gog- 
 
 gra river, here named the Karanali, 
 seventy-five miles north from Jemlah ; 
 lat. 13° 16' N., Ion. 81° 5' E. 
 
 Cowl. — See Coel. 
 
 Cowl Durga (Covii Durga). — A 
 town and fort in the Mysore raja’s 
 territories, district of Bednore; lat. 
 13° 37' N., Ion. 75° IF E. Hodalla, 
 which lies in the neighbourhood, was 
 formerly the residence of a family of 
 poligars, who were hereditary flute- 
 players to the sovereigns of Bija- 
 nagur. 
 
 Coyle. — A small town in the pro- 
 vince of Agra, district of Agra, situat- 
 ed on an island formed by the Jumna, 
 close to its right bank, about six miles 
 below Mathura, and mmediately op- 
 posite to the sacred Hindoo town 
 of Gokul, on the left bank of the 
 river. It is conspicuous from the 
 lofty turrets and pinnacles of its serai 
 and mosques, all constructed of the 
 stone of the country. — ( Fullarton , 
 
 4*0 
 
 Coxe’s Bazar. — A town in the 
 province of Bengal, district of Chit- 
 tagong, situated at the mouth of the 
 Nauf river, about nine miles south 
 of Ramoo, and near the southern 
 extremity of the district ; lat. 21° 18' 
 N., Ion. 92° 20' E. This is a high, 
 clear, and open situation, being the 
 termination of what are called the 
 white cliffs. It has a long and open 
 beach to the sea on the south ; on 
 the west bounded bv the sea ; and on 
 the north by the Ramoo plain, and 
 is on the direct road by the sea to 
 Teak Nauf. No jungle approaches 
 the station within half a mile, and 
 excellent water flows from the springs 
 in the cliffs. There is here an ele- 
 vated and clear spot of ground suffi- 
 cient to canton five companies of 
 sepoys; and in 1816 a custom-house 
 towards the Arracan frontier was 
 established here. In 1814 the Mugh 
 population alone amounted to 800 
 huts. — ( Colonel Thomas Morgan, fyc.) 
 
 Cranganore ( Corangalur). — A 
 town on the Malabar coast sixteen 
 miles N. from the town of Cochin ; 
 lat. 10° 12' N., Ion. 76° 15' E. This 
 
45 8 
 
 CUDDAPAH. 
 
 town formerly belonged to the Dutch, 
 but as they were unable to defend it 
 against Tippoo, they sold it to the 
 Raja of Travancore, which occasion- 
 ed the first war with that Mysore 
 sultan, commencing in June 1790. 
 It was taken from the raja and dis- 
 mantled by M. Lally, Tippoo’s gene- 
 ral, but the Mysorean troops were 
 driven out in 1791. 
 
 The Jews assert that they possess- 
 ed Cranganore so early as A.D. 490 ; 
 in 1505 the Portuguese erected a 
 fortress here, of which the Dutch 
 obtained possession in 1763. The 
 diocese of the Roman Catholic bishop 
 of Cranganore extends from Mount 
 Dilly towards Cochin. Most of the 
 inland churches formerly belonging 
 to the Nestorian community are in- 
 cluded in it. This see comprehends 
 eighty-nine churches, and is under 
 the domination of Goa.— {Fra. Paolo , 
 Bruce , Dow , C. Buchanan , Sf-c.) 
 
 Cueang. — A small town in the 
 Malay peninsula near the southern- 
 most extreme of the Queda principa- 
 lity. The surrounding country pro- 
 duces canes and rattans. 
 
 Cuddapah ( Cr'vpa ). — This is the 
 second large division of the Balaghaut 
 territories, ceded by the Nizam in 
 1800, under which head further 
 statistical details will be found, the 
 particulars noted here having refe- 
 rence to the western portion of the 
 province. The country from the 
 town of Cuddapah approaching the 
 Krishna is nearly a level, the ascent 
 being rather towards that river. Al- 
 though the surface generally be con- 
 siderably elevated above the sea-coast, 
 the heat during the months of April 
 and May is intense, the mountains 
 appearing to glow with fire. The 
 rains set in sooner than in the My- 
 sore, but it happens not unfrequent- 
 ly that the district is visited with a 
 drought, as happened in 1807, when 
 many thousand black cattle perished 
 for want of sustenance. The great 
 monsoon rains occur here as on the 
 Coromandel coast, *and during their 
 prevalence the country is nearly im- 
 passable, from the softness of the 
 
 soil. In the months of April and 
 May there are frequent thunder 
 storms : the corruscations are ex- 
 tremely vivid, and the explosions loud. 
 The chief river is the Pennar, and the 
 principal geographical subdivisions, 
 
 1. Cuddapah. 
 
 2. Sidout. 
 
 3. Gandicotta. 
 
 4. Cummum. 
 
 5. Dupaud. 
 
 6. Gurrumcondah. 
 
 7. Punganoor. 
 
 Throughout this district during the 
 dry and hot season the water is 
 brackish, but while the rains prevail 
 it is sweet and good, and in parti- 
 cular places it has been remarked to 
 continue so throughout the whole 
 year. The well water in the low 
 country, where the black cotton 
 soil abounds, is always hard, on ac- 
 count of its passing through calca- 
 reous strata. Soda is mostly found 
 in a red ferruginous soil among the 
 Pennaconda hills and the eastern 
 ranges that bound the district ; the 
 spots most productive of this alkali 
 being for a considerable part of the 
 year moist and swampy, known by 
 their barren aspect, and the black 
 colour the mould exhibits in the 
 morning. When purest it is collected 
 by the native washermen and used 
 instead of soap, from which cause 
 it has received the name of washer- 
 man’s earth. In other tracts it is 
 found mixed with common salt, which 
 last is extracted by the tank diggers, 
 and applied to culinary purposes. 
 Salt works of this description are 
 found all over the Cuddapah district, 
 the quantity in consequence required 
 from the Coromandel coast is insig- 
 nificant. Saltpetre also abounds, and 
 may be procured by a very simple 
 process. The cocoa-nut palm is not 
 reared, nor is the common palmira 
 often seen, the soil and climate not 
 being adapted to them. Cotton is 
 pretty generally cultivated throughout 
 this district, but being rather a pre- 
 carious crop,' can only be ventured 
 on by the wealthier class of ryots ; 
 there is consequently no redundance 
 for exportation. In 1820 the whole 
 
CUDDALORE. 
 
 459 
 
 cultivated dry grain land within the 
 limits of Cuddapah was estimated at 
 
 1.600.000 acres. 
 
 The diamond mines of Cuddapah 
 lie about seven miles N.E. of the 
 town, on both banks of the Pennar 
 river, which here washes the base of 
 a range of hills expanding in several 
 directions. The perpendicular height 
 of the highest range may be about 
 
 1.000 feet above the level of the 
 country, which is not greatly elevated 
 above the sea. They are said to have 
 been worked for several hundred 
 years, and occasionally diamonds of 
 a considerable size have been found ; 
 these mines are surrounded by culti- 
 vated fields, and appear like heaps of 
 stones and pits half filled with rub- 
 bish. The gems are always found, 
 either in alluvial soil, or in rocks of 
 the latest formation ; in seeking them, 
 the gravel is washed and spread out, 
 after which the diamonds, generally 
 very small ones, are discovered by the 
 sparkle. The ground is rented by 
 the collector to speculators, who 
 work it on their own account; but 
 when very large diamonds are found, 
 which rarely happens, the govern- 
 ment claims one-third of the value. 
 In 1817 the total gross collection 
 of the public revenue in Cuddapah 
 amounted to 759,083 pagodas, and 
 the total population, according to 
 the returns made by the collectors to 
 the Madras government in 1822, was 
 1,094,460 persons. — ( Heyne , Hodg- 
 son, Public MS. Documents, fyc.) 
 
 Cuddapah. — The name of this city 
 is sometimes written Kirpa, as well 
 as Cuddapah, but both are corrup- 
 tions of the Sanscrit word Cripa, 
 which signifies mercy ; lat. 14° 32' N., 
 Ion. 78° 54' E., 507 feet above the 
 level of the sea. It stands on the 
 banks of the Cuddapah river, which 
 has its source in the hills to the south- 
 east of the town, and has springs of 
 fine water along its whole course. 
 The palace where the nabobs of Cud- 
 dapah formerly resided is still to be 
 seen in a mud fort close to the pet- 
 tah, at present converted into a court 
 of justice. Within this fort the pri- 
 
 son is also situated, and generally 
 contains from 600 to 700 prisoners, 
 condemned to work in irons for pe- 
 riods of from one to fourteen years, 
 according to the nature of their 
 crimes, which most commonly are 
 burglaries and highway robberies. 
 Among the prisoners are persons of 
 all castes, huddled together without 
 distinction ; yet here they follow 
 strictly the precepts of their castes 
 respecting diet, and pay great respect 
 to Brahmin felons, who, however 
 depraved and criminal, are always 
 treated with more lenity than the 
 others by the prison attendants. The 
 untried prisoners and debtors are 
 kept separate, but of the latter de- 
 scription there are very few ; indeed, 
 all sorts of felons and debtors are so 
 well provided for, that their condi- 
 tion is envied by most of their ac- 
 quaintance on the outside of the pre- 
 mises. Sentence of death is usually 
 received with perfect unconcern, and 
 the delinquent generally requests to 
 be indulged with some tobacco and 
 a good curry ; these luxuries he ap- 
 pears to enjoy with much satisfac- 
 tion, and after having finished his 
 meal, washed his mouth, scrubbed 
 his teeth, smoked some tobacco, and 
 gone through some trifling ceremo- 
 nies, he proceeds to receive the exe- 
 cution of his sentence. 
 
 Cuddapah was for many years the 
 capital of an independent Patan state, 
 which survived the destruction of the 
 Deccany kingdoms, and many old Pa- 
 tan families still remain who speak 
 the Hindostany dialect with singular 
 purity. In the adjacent country Jarge 
 quantities of sugar and jagary are 
 made ; but it is not a place of much 
 active commerce. Travelling ^dis- 
 tance from Madras, 153 miles ; from 
 Seringapatam,220; and from Hydera- 
 bad, thirty miles. — {Heyne, MSS. §c.) 
 
 Cuddalore ( Cadalur ) . — A town on 
 the sea-coast of the Carnatic province 
 close to Fort St. David, and sixteen 
 miles south from Pondicherry ; lat. 
 11° 44' N., Ion. 79° 50' E. The situ- 
 ation of this town is naturally strong, 
 being enclosed between two arms of 
 
460 
 
 CULNA. 
 
 the Panaur river, and it would origi- 
 nally have been a more commodious 
 place for the chief British settlement, 
 being to windward of Madras and 
 Pondicherry, and in the vicinity of 
 Tanjore. The streets of Cuddalore 
 are spacious, containing many houses 
 of the better class, and it is altoge- 
 ther one of the most extensive and 
 populous towns in the south of India, 
 The old fort has been long razed to 
 the ground, and the line of the bound 
 hedge, which formerly stretched 
 across the isthmus, can now scarcely 
 be traced. North of the Panaur is a 
 suburb called the New Town, con- 
 taining some handsome European 
 houses, a large Portuguese church, 
 and other buildings of good appear- 
 ance. Beyond this, on the border of 
 a fine lawn opening to the sea, and 
 ornamented with avenues of fine 
 trees, is a large structure, formerly 
 the residence of the chief governor of 
 the British settlements on the Coro- 
 mandel coast, but in 1820 occupied 
 by the collector. 
 
 Cuddalore was taken possession of 
 by Col. Coote’s army in 1760, and 
 continued subject to the nabob of 
 Arcot until the destruction of Col. 
 Braith waite’s detachment by Tippoo, 
 when it was compelled to surrender 
 at discretion to the combined armies 
 of the French and Hyder, in April 
 1782. The French greatly strength- 
 ened the works, and supplied a pow- 
 erful garrison under the Marquis de 
 Bussy. In June 1 783 Cuddalore was 
 besieged by the British army com- 
 manded by General Stuart, and on 
 the 7th the outworks were stormed, 
 after a desperate resistance, in which 
 the assailants lost 942 killed and 
 wounded, of whom 500 were Euro- 
 peans, the greatest loss of this de- 
 scription, particularly of officers, that 
 has yet been sustained in any action 
 fought by British troops in India. 
 On the 25th June the garrison as- 
 saulted the trenches of the besiegers, 
 but were repulsed, with the loss of 
 600 killed, wounded, and prisoners. 
 In the conflict two battalions of se- 
 poys fought some of the oldest and 
 best French troops with the bayonet, 
 
 and foiled them at that favourite 
 European weapon. Two days after 
 this bloody sally the announcement 
 of peace arrived. During these scenes 
 the neighbourhood of Cuddalore suf- 
 fered greatly, and became nearly de- 
 solate, the villages having been laid 
 in ruins, and the inhabitants either 
 destroyed or compelled to migrate. — 
 {Full ar ton, Fennell , 5th Report , 
 Bruce , <$-c.) 
 
 Cuddan. — A small town in the 
 province of Mooltan, subject to the 
 Ameers of Sinde, situated on the 
 route from Hyderabad to Luckput 
 Bunder, and afterwards to Mandavie, 
 on the gulf of Cutch ; lat. 24° 25' N., 
 Ion. 69° 2' E. Betwixt this place 
 and Luckput Bunder is a plain, over 
 which, in the dry season, there is a 
 good road, but swampy during the 
 rains. The country between Meer- 
 poor and Cuddan is little cultivated, 
 being low marshy ground covered 
 with lye bushes ; and the stream of 
 the Goonee becomes so narrow and 
 shoal, that it is not navigable further 
 south for boats of any description. — 
 ( Maxfield , #c.) 
 
 Cudjwa ( Catchwa ). — A town in 
 the Allahabad province, eleven miles 
 S.E. from Korah ; lat. 26° 4' N., Ion. 
 80° 26' E. 
 
 Cullatoor ( Calatur). — A town 
 in the Carnatic province, district of 
 Tinnevelly, 100 miles N.E. from Cape 
 Comorin ; lat. 9° 5' N., Ion. 78° 38' E. 
 
 Culloor. — A town in the province 
 of Hyderabad, thirty-seven miles E. 
 by N. from Cummumait ; lat. 17° 20' 
 N., Ion. 80° 44' E. 
 
 Culna (Khalana). — A town in 
 the Bengal province, district of Jes- 
 sore, seventy miles E.N.E. from Cal- 
 cutta ; lat. 22° 50' N., Ion. 89° 32' E. 
 This was formerly the head-quarters 
 of the Roymungul salt agency. 
 
 Culna (Khalana).— A town in 
 the province of Bengal, district of 
 Burdwan, situated on the west side 
 of the Hooghly river, forty-seven 
 miles N. by W. from Calcutta ; lat. 
 23° 13' N., Ion. 88° 21' E. This is 
 the port of the Burdwan district, and 
 
CURIBUM. 
 
 461 
 
 is a busy populous place. At Am- 
 booah, near Culna, the raja of Burd- 
 wan has a large house, built after the 
 native fashion, close to which he has 
 erected a chowk or bazar, on a scale 
 of extent and magnificence very un- 
 usual in this part of Hindostan. — 
 
 ( Fullarton , Sf-c.) 
 
 Culpee. — A town in the province 
 of Bengal, situated on the east bank of 
 the Hooghly river, thirty-three miles 
 in a straight line below Calcutta ; lat. 
 22° 6 ' N., Ion. 88° 2W E. The shores 
 are a bed of mud, and the banks of 
 the river covered close to the water’s 
 edge with trees and thick jungle. Op- 
 posite to the anchorage of the ships, 
 which lie about half a mile from the 
 shore, is a creek, and at its entrance 
 stands the town of Culpee. The 
 crews of ships lying here suffer dread- 
 fully from its extreme unhealthiness, 
 numbers daily falling sacrifices to the 
 pestilential exhalations from the mud 
 and rotten jungle. — ( Johnson , fyc.) 
 
 Cijmly (Camala ). — A town and 
 fort in the province of Canara, twen- 
 ty-five miles south by east from Man- 
 galore. This place stands on a high 
 peninsula in a salt-water lake, sepa- 
 rated from the sea by a spot of sand. 
 The country to the north of Cumly 
 formerly belonged to rajas of the 
 Jain religion ; but the last of the 
 Buntar Jain rajas was hanged by 
 Tippoo. 
 
 Cummuldroog. — A decayed hill- 
 fort in the Mysore, situated on a 
 lofty mountain of naked syenite, at a 
 short distance to the N.E. of Nundy- 
 droog. 
 
 Cummumait. — A division in the 
 Hyderabad province, of which it oc- 
 cupies the eastern extremity, where 
 it borders on the British district of 
 Rajamundry. It is but indifferently 
 cultivated and thinly inhabited, yet 
 it contains many disorderly charac- 
 ters, who seek refuge among its jun- 
 gles and fastnesses, from whence they 
 issue in predatory bands, and infest 
 the peaceable cultivators of the ad- 
 jacent provinces under British juris- 
 diction. The town of Cummumait, 
 
 from which the tract derives its name, 
 is situated in lat. 17° 16' N., Ion. 80° 
 
 1 1' E., fifty-five miles north by west 
 from Condapilly. There are also 
 some considerable villages ; but, not- 
 withstanding its long vicinity to the 
 residence of British functionaries, 
 this extensive tract of country (and 
 indeed the Nizam’s dominions gene- 
 rally) remains a sort of terra incog- 
 nita. 
 
 Cummum. — A hilly subdivision of 
 the Balaghaut ceded territories com- 
 prehended in the Cuddapah district, 
 and situated between the fifteenth 
 and sixteenth degrees of north lati- 
 tude. It contains no river of magni- 
 tude, nor any remarkable town ex- 
 cept Cummum, the capital, which 
 stands in lat. 15° 37 , N.,lon.70°10 / E., 
 fifty-six miles north-west from On- 
 gole. 
 
 Cumoonah. — A zemindar’s mud 
 fort in the province of Agra, district 
 of Alighur, which, in consequence of 
 the refractory conduct of the pos- 
 sessor, was in 1807 besieged by a 
 British force, and an attempt made to 
 carry it by storm ; but the assailants 
 were driven back with great slaugh- 
 ter, the loss of men and officers ex- 
 ceeding that sustained in many pitch- 
 ed battles. The garrison, however, 
 as frequently happens in these cases, 
 lost heart during the night, and when 
 the morning arrived it was found 
 they had evacuated. 
 
 Cundwah. — A town belonging to 
 Sindia, in the province of Candeish, 
 division of Nemaur, which in 1820 
 contained 800 houses ; lat. 21° 53' N., 
 Ion. 76°25' E., forty miles north from 
 Boorhanpoor, This place stands 
 in an open plain, and is surrounded 
 by a good mud wall about fifteen feet 
 high, and has a large tank to the 
 northward, whence issues a stream 
 that flows to the east. The pergun- 
 nah attached to Cundwah compre- 
 hends an area of 580 square miles, 
 which in 1820 contained 176 villages ; 
 but not more than 139 were inha- 
 bited. — ( Malcolm , fyc.) 
 
 ^Curibum ( Caribhum ). — A town in 
 
462 
 
 CURNOUL. 
 
 the northern circars, forty-two miles 
 north-west from Cicacole; lat. 18° 42' 
 N., Ion. 83° 36' E. 
 
 Curode. — A town in the northern 
 circars, fifty-two miles east by north 
 from Bustar ; lat. 19° 38' N., Ion. 83° 
 16' E. 
 
 Curnoul ( CandanurJ.—A subdi- 
 vision of the Balaghaut ceded dis- 
 tricts, which formerly composed the 
 territory of an independent Patan 
 principality. It is bounded on the 
 north by the Toombuddra and Krish- 
 na rivers, in approaching which from 
 the south the country becomes more 
 stony and rocky. Close to the last- 
 mentioned river and along its banks 
 are hills, the more elevated of which 
 were formerly fortified, and consi- 
 dered places of strength. The black 
 cotton soil is the most prevalent, and 
 the face of the country stony with 
 much jungle, and covered with pal- 
 mira trees At Banaganpilly are dia- 
 mond mines which were formerly 
 productive. In modern maps this 
 territory is named Ghazypoor. 
 
 The chiefs of Curnoul, or as it is 
 also named Kummeer Nuggur, are 
 of an ancient Afghan family, which 
 originally served under the Bejapoor 
 sovereigns, but afterwards held mili- 
 tary appointments under the Mogul 
 emperor, Shah Jehan. The jaghire 
 of Curnoul was conferred in A.D. 
 1651 by Aurengzebe, then governor 
 of the imperial territory in the Dec- 
 can, on Khizzer Khan (a lineal an- 
 cestor of the present nabob). Prior 
 to this the country formed part of 
 the Bijanagur possessions. Khizzer 
 Khan was assassinated by his son 
 Daoud Khan Punnee,who being slain 
 in battle in 1715, his body was drag- 
 ged at the tail of an elephant round 
 the city of Boorhanpoor. Leaving 
 no issue, his brothers, Ibrahim Khan 
 and Ali Khan, ruled jointly for six 
 years, and were succeeded by the son 
 of the latter, named Ibrahim Khan, 
 who rebuilt and strengthened the fort 
 of Curnoul, and after a reign of four- 
 teen years was succeeded by his son 
 Alif Khan. This person filled the 
 throne sixteen years, and was suc- 
 
 ceeded by his eldest son, Himmut 
 Bahadur Khan, all under the autho- 
 rity of the Nizam. In 1750 Him- 
 mut Bahadur accompanied Nassir 
 Jung on his expedition to the Carna- 
 tic, where, in correspondence with 
 M. Dupleix, he confederated with the 
 nabobs of Cuddapah and Shahnoor, 
 and betrayed the cause of Nassir 
 Jung, who was slain by the Cudda- 
 pah chief in the battle of Ginjee. 
 Himmut Behadur being soon after 
 slain in a skirmish, was succeeded by 
 Munawar Khan, the father of the late 
 chief Alif Khan. 
 
 Some time after his accession the 
 nizam, Salabut Jung, detached a 
 force to assume the Curnoul terri- 
 tory ; but a compromise in money 
 taking place, Munawar Khan was 
 confirmed in the possession of the 
 jaghire, which he quietly occupied 
 until the arrival of Hyder from My- 
 sore, who levied a contribution of 
 one lack of rupees. In 1790 Muna- 
 war Khan sent a party of horse, un- 
 der the command of his third son, 
 Alif Khan, along with the Nizam’s 
 army, to join Lord Cornwallis at Se- 
 ringapatam. On his return the same 
 year Munawar Khan died, after hold- 
 ing the chiefship forty years, and was 
 succeeded, under the sanction of the 
 Nizam, by Alif Khan, who took ad- 
 vantage of the absence of his two 
 elder brothers to seize the jaghire, 
 in the possession of which he subse- 
 quently maintained himself. On the 
 transfer of the country in 1800, the 
 rights of sovereignty exercised by the 
 soubadar of the Deccan became vest- 
 ed in the British government; and 
 these feudal obligations were observed 
 by the Nabob with great accuracy 
 and precision. His administration in 
 other respects, however, appear to 
 have been defective, for in 1803 his 
 territories exhibited a most woeful 
 picture of desolation and misrule. 
 
 The soil of Curnoul is in general 
 a rich black mould, but at the above 
 date a large proportion had returned 
 to a state of nature, and was over- 
 spread with weeds and jungle. Many 
 of these evils arose from the subdivi- 
 sion of the country into a number of 
 
CURNOUL. 
 
 463 
 
 petty jaghires, assigned by anticipa- 
 tion to the Nabob’s creditors, and 
 also from the vexatious management 
 of the land under the Nabob’s own 
 superintendence, which had reduced 
 the principal revenue from twenty to 
 ten lacks of rupees per annum. In 
 1823 the whole Curnoul country 
 contained 636 villages ; the duties on 
 consumption and merchandize to 
 3,13,623 rupees; spirituous liquors to 
 44,000; and the pilgrim tax of the 
 temple of Parvati to 18,000 rupees. 
 The administration of justice, also, 
 was so wholly neglected, that the 
 Patans perpetrated the greatest enor- 
 mities with impunity ; and such was 
 the inveteracy of the hatred subsis- 
 ting between the heir-apparent and 
 his father, that it was reported each of 
 them employed persons to offer up pra- 
 yers for the destruction of the other. 
 
 The chiefship having been held for 
 150 years by a tenure almost inde- 
 pendent, the British government long 
 withheld its interference; but at 
 length affairs attained such a pitch of 
 anarchy, that its interposition became 
 indispensable to maintain the legiti- 
 mate succession, and restrain the ex- 
 cesses of the Nabob’s troops, a mu- 
 tinous ill-paid rabble. On the death 
 of AlifKhan,in 1815, the throne was 
 usurped by MuzufferKhan, his young- 
 est son ; who was expelled by a de- 
 tachment of Madras troops, and Mu- 
 nawar Khan, the lawful heir, substi- 
 tuted. — ( Chaplin , Marriott , Orme i 
 Fifth Report , Rennell , fyc.) 
 
 Curnoul. — The capital of the pre- 
 ceding principality, situated on the 
 south side of the Toombuddra; lat. 
 15° 44' N., Ion. 78° 2' E. The fort 
 is protected by the river Henday (in 
 December almost dry), and the Toom- 
 buddra, with a width of from 700 
 to 800 yards on all sides, while the 
 western side is strongly fortified, 
 three of the bastions being fifty feet 
 high, and covered to the parapets of 
 the curtain by a steep glacis. The 
 interior is almost entirely covered 
 with stone and mud houses, except 
 along the western face, in 1816 
 amounting to 1,338, of which 312 
 
 were inhabited, 100 unoccupied, and 
 the remainder abandoned and falling 
 to pieces. Towards the south of 
 the fort is the pettah, which is of 
 considerable extent and contains a 
 numerous population. In this, their 
 Deccany metropolis, the Patans ex- 
 hibit their ancient manners and fana^ 
 ticisms in considerable perfection, as 
 they make a merit of being ignorant 
 of every thing except horsemanship 
 and the use of arms, regarding all 
 other acquirements as effeminate. 
 The late nabob, Alif Khan, not un- 
 frequently visited the shrine of Mis- 
 keen Shah, the ancient spiritual di- 
 rector of his family. On these oc- 
 casions, he walked in procession bare- 
 foot from the fort to the mausoleum, 
 distant one mile, carrying on his 
 shoulders a leather bag filled with 
 sherbet, which he distributed to the 
 mob of religious mendicants and rag- 
 gamuffins, who followed him with 
 shouts of approbation. 
 
 The fortress of Curnoul had been 
 given in jaghire to the ancestors of 
 the present Nabob, and from its great 
 strength, natural and artificial, had 
 never since that time been taken by 
 any native power. Hyder and Tippoo, 
 in the zenith of their glory, were con- 
 tent to levy a tribute by temporary 
 incursions, but never attempted to 
 assail the fort. This circumstance 
 had given Muzuffer Khan (who usurp- 
 ed the principality in 1815) an idea 
 that it was impregnable, and its gar- 
 rison of all descriptions amounted to 
 4,000 men. It was besieged in form 
 by a British detachment; the batteries 
 were opened on the 14th December 
 1815, and next day it surrendered at 
 discretion, without the loss of a man 
 to the assailants. This early capture 
 was attributed to the effect of the 
 bombs among the horse, amounting 
 to about 600, the personal property 
 of the chiefs, who, owing to the pre- 
 cautions taken, and to the Toom- 
 buddra’s being unfordable, could not 
 make their escape. Travelling dis- 
 tance from Hyderabad 127 miles ; 
 from Madras 279, and from Seringa- 
 patam 279 miles. — {Col. Marriott , 
 Col. Thompson , Orme , Rennell , fyc.) 
 
464 
 
 CURRYBARRY. 
 
 Currah ( Kliara ). — A town in the 
 province of Allahabad, situated on the 
 S.W. side of the Ganges, forty-five 
 miles N.W. from Allahabad ; lat. 
 25° 41' N., Ion. 81° 16' E. The banks 
 of the Ganges here are unusually high 
 and bold, and the site of the ancient 
 city is a tissue of ravines, strewed 
 over with Mussulmaun tombs and 
 heaps of ruins, interspersed with the 
 scattered buildings of the modern 
 town, which still contains a consider- 
 able population. The fort stands on 
 the highest part of the bank, and 
 has been a noble piece of masonry. 
 A gateway, and part of the walls, 
 built of enormous blocks of solid free- 
 stone, are still in existence. In 1582, 
 when Abul Fazel compiled his sta- 
 tistical description of Hindostan, a 
 small circar was attached to Currah, 
 but it has long since merged into the 
 surrounding British districts. Currah 
 owes its fame and stately buildings to 
 a celebrated Mahomedan saint named 
 Sheikh Cumaul, who with his son 
 and several of his disciples lies bu- 
 ried here. In 1823 his own tomb 
 was in tolerable repair, but most of 
 the others were gone to ruin. 
 
 The country between the Ganges 
 and the Goomty, from Currah to Be- 
 nares, on the east side, abounds with 
 sujee muttee, a species of earth im- 
 pregnated with alkali, from one to 
 three inches thick, which is pared off 
 at the conclusion of the rainy season, 
 and sold to the soap manufacturers 
 at Allahabad and Benares. — ( Fullar - 
 ton , Rennell , fyc.) 
 
 Currode. — A populous town in 
 the province of Gujerat, situated on 
 the south bank of the Nerbudda river, 
 about eighteen miles from Surat ; lat. 
 21° 12' N., Ion. 73° 25' E. In 1817 
 this town and the pergunnah attach- 
 ed, valued at 65,000 rupees annual 
 revenue, were received from the Gui- 
 cowar in exchange for the division of 
 Bejapoor. 
 
 Curruckdeah. — A town and ze- 
 mindary in the province of Bahar, 
 district of Boglipoor, 100 miles S.E. 
 from Patna; lat. 25° 8' N., Ion. 86° 
 13' E. 
 
 Curruckpoor (Kharakpur ). — -A 
 town and zemindary in the province 
 of Bahar, district of Boglipoor, eigh- 
 teen miles south from Monghir ; lat. 
 25° 8' N., Ion. 86° 35' E. Owing to 
 the natural strength of the country, 
 the Curruckpoor chiefs formerly pos- 
 sessed considerable power, and when 
 at variance with the government used 
 to retire to the narrow vallies among 
 the hills, where they could not be 
 pursued by Mogul horsemen. — ( F . 
 Buchanan 3 Sfc.) 
 
 Currybarry ( Carivati ). — A large 
 and jungly zemindary east of the 
 Ganges, long attached to Bengal, but 
 not strictly within its geographical 
 limits. It consists of lands on the 
 east side of the Brahmaputra, origi- 
 nally dismembered from the Garrow 
 territories, and it is still almost sur- 
 rounded by the hills and jungles in- 
 habited b); that people, into the defiles 
 of which no regular troops can pe- 
 netrate. Including the estate of Mech- 
 para, this tract of country stretches 
 from north to south over a space 
 nearly sixty-seven miles in length by 
 twenty-three in breadth. Within the 
 last twenty years it has been greatly 
 infested by the incursions of the Gar- 
 rows, whose aggressions were proba- 
 bly first occasioned by the frauds and 
 exactions practised on them by the 
 zemindar, the resumption of the sayer 
 or variable imposts, not having ori- 
 ginally extended to this quarter. In 
 1813 an arrangement was effected for 
 the abolition of these duties, to sup- 
 press the extortions to which their 
 existence subjected the Garrows. Ac- 
 cording to the accounts produced for 
 the adjustment of this claim, the ze- 
 mindar’s net receipts on account of 
 these duties amounted to 3,627 ru- 
 pees per annum, while the whole land 
 rent paid to government for the per- 
 gunnah was only 3,062 rupees, so 
 that after relinquishing the total re- 
 venue accruing to government, a ba- 
 lance of 565 rupees remained annually 
 payable to the proprietor out of the 
 public treasury. In 1812 the Bengal 
 presidency endeavoured to purchase 
 this estate : but, although nearly in a 
 
CTJTCH. 
 
 465 
 
 state of nature, the proprietor de- 
 manded 120,000 rupees. In a tract 
 of such dimensions, and so remotely 
 situated, the difficulty and expense 
 of supporting a police establishment 
 is so great, that were it not opposed 
 by political considerations, it would 
 be preferable to renounce the sove- 
 reignty altogether . — ( Public MS. Do- 
 ments , fyc.) 
 
 Cursalee. — A village in northern 
 Hindostan, district of Gurwal, seven- 
 tv-five miles N.N.W. from Serinagur ; 
 lat. 30° 57' N., Ion. 7 8° 21' E. This 
 place stands on the foot of the Jum- 
 noutri or Bunderpooch mountain, 
 three miles from Jumnoutri, to which 
 it is the nearest village; and in 1817 
 contained twenty-five substantial 
 houses. By the sides of the Imri 
 and Jumna are several spots of flat 
 ground, on which the inhabitants raise 
 grain enough for their subsistence, 
 although snow falls to the end of 
 April, and covers the neighbouring 
 peaks at all seasons. — ( Capt . Hodg- 
 son , Jas. Fraser , #c.) 
 
 Custee ( Kushti) .—-A town in the 
 province of Bengal, district of Raje- 
 shahy, fifty-two miles E.S.E. from 
 Moorshedabad ; lat. 23° 4' N., Ion. 
 89° 3' E. This is the port of Comef- 
 colly, and during the rainy season 
 there is a passage past Custee for 
 boats to the Hooghly river. 
 
 Cutaki. — A small town in the pro- 
 vince of Canara, situated above the 
 western ghauts j lat. 14° 52' N., Ion. 
 74° 48' E. The inhabitants of this 
 neighbourhood are mostly Haiga Brah - 
 mins, a very industrious class of men, 
 who perform all agricultural labours 
 with their own hands. — (F. Buchanan, 
 4'c.) 
 
 CutchGundava. — A large division 
 of Baloochistan, situated principally 
 between the 27th and 29th degrees of 
 north latitude. To the north it has 
 the province of Sewistan ; on the 
 south that of Sinde; to the west it 
 has the Brahooick mountains, and to 
 the east a desert tract that separates 
 it from the river Indus. The utmost 
 length from north to south may be se- 
 
 VOL. i. 
 
 timated at 120 miles; and in breadth 
 the habitable part, at little more than 
 sixty miles. 
 
 The chief town in this tract is 
 Gundava, which is not so large as 
 Kelat, but built with greater regu- 
 larity, and kept in better order. The 
 khan of Kelat, with most of his 
 chiefs, resorts here in winter to escape 
 the intense cold of the mountains. 
 Gundava is surrounded with a mud 
 wall, over the gates of which, leading 
 to Kelat, Corachie, and Shikarpoor, 
 some small swivels are mounted. The 
 next towns in rank are Dhader, Bhag, 
 and Lheree, each containing from 
 1,000 to 1,500 houses, surrounded 
 by mud walls and bastions perforated 
 with loop-holes. The plains contain 
 many villages. The population of 
 Cutch Gundava consists mostly of 
 Juts, a people whose manners, ap- 
 pearance, and customs indicate them 
 to have been originally Hindoos, 
 subsequently converted to the Ma- 
 homedan religion. They reside in 
 permanent villages, and cultivate the 
 adjacent soil, the rent of which they 
 pay to their Baloochy and Brahooee 
 chieftains. There are a few Hindoos 
 settled in Gundava, and in the smaller 
 towns and villages, who carry on a 
 trade with the cultivators by barter, 
 and afterwards transport the grain 
 and other productions to Mekran, 
 Corachie, and Sommeany. The land 
 is rich and loamy ; but it is a remark- 
 able fact that rice will not grow in 
 this province, although it produces 
 luxuriant crops of every other descrip- 
 tion. It rains in June, July, and 
 August, and also a little in the spring 
 months. The simoom, or pestilential 
 wind, blows here during the hot 
 months, and is very destructive even 
 to the natives .—{Pottinger, Sfc.) 
 
 CUTCH. 
 
 ( CacFha , a morass.) 
 
 This province is principally situated 
 between the twenty-third and twenty- 
 fifth degrees of north latitude, and 
 consists of two portions ; one an im- 
 mense salt morass named the Runn, 
 and described separately > the other 
 
 2 H 
 
466 
 
 CUTCH. 
 
 an irregular hilly tract, completely 
 insulated by the Runn and the sea. 
 On the west, the easternmost branch 
 of the Indus and a barren waste di- 
 vide Cutch from Sinde; on the east 
 is the gulf of Cutch and the Runn ; 
 on the north is the sandy desert; and 
 on the south the Indian ocean. In 
 length it may be estimated at 160 
 miles from east to west, and, includ- 
 ing the Runn, at ninety-five from 
 north to south. 
 
 During the rainy season Cutch is 
 wholly insulated by water, and during 
 the fair season by a desert space from 
 four to sixty miles in breadth. While 
 the south-west monsoon prevails the 
 northern frontier is entirely covered 
 with water, generally salt, and no 
 where quite sweet. When the mon- 
 soon abates the waters retire, and 
 leave a morass which gradually dries 
 up and yields good pasture. The 
 principal divisions of Cutch on the 
 west are, 1st. Ubrassa, and 2d. Gur- 
 rah; on the north Pawur and Pu- 
 chum ; on the sea-coast Kanthi ; and 
 on the east Wagur. 
 
 Almost the whole face of the coun- 
 try near the hills is covered with vol- 
 canic matter (a rare substance in 
 Hindostan); the rocks appear to have 
 been split by the action of fire, and 
 their vicinity abounds with specimens 
 of metallic scoria. Through the cen- 
 tre of the province from east to west 
 there is a range of moderate sized 
 mountains named the Lakhi, which 
 divides it nearly into two equal parts. 
 This chain is a continuous mass of 
 rock, destitute of soil and water ; for 
 although many torrents descend while 
 the monsoon lasts, they entirely fail 
 with the periodical rains. The most 
 remarkable elevations are the moun- 
 tains named Nunow, or Chigo, and 
 a remarkably flat hill named Warra. 
 The arable portion of Cutch consists 
 mostly of vallies between the two 
 ridges of mountains, and other in- 
 ferior hills, and of the plain stretch- 
 ing from the sea-coast, occasionally 
 interspersed with detached hills. 
 Close to the beach is a high bank of 
 sand, which extends the whole way 
 from the Indus to the gulf of Cutch. 
 
 There are not any rivers in Cutch 
 with perennial streams, but many 
 torrents which leave their channels 
 nearly dry when the rains cease. Of 
 these some have springs in their beds, 
 which appear, disappear, and re-ap- 
 pear at certain spots before the chan- 
 nel terminates at the sea-coast, and 
 throughout all Cutch the streams 
 appear to diverge from the centre. 
 Those north of the Lakhi chain flow 
 in that direction until they reach the 
 Bunnee morass; those on the south 
 flow towards the sea; but the whole 
 are unfortunately so brackish, that in 
 the hot season even the cattle reject 
 it. Wells, however, are numerous, 
 and usually afford good water by dig- 
 ging thirty feet under ground. The 
 earthquake of 1819 affected, in a re- 
 markable degree, the eastern, and al- 
 most deserted channel of the Indus, 
 which it refilled and deepened. 
 
 The general soil of the province is 
 a light clay covered to the depth of 
 about five inches with a coarse sand ; 
 further down white and yellow clay 
 are found, and beneath a stratum of 
 rock, which being pierced, excellent 
 water is reached. Throughout Wagur 
 the soil is generally more loamy. 
 Cutch may be described as almost 
 destitute of wood. The common 
 Neem, peepul, and babool are met with 
 occasionally about villages; the tama- 
 rind, banyan, andmangoe are rare, and 
 the cocoa-nut reared with difficulty 
 even on the sea-coast. Date trees 
 are not uncommon, and yield fruit 
 of a good quality. The impregnation 
 of the female tree by the pollen of 
 the male has been practised from time 
 immemorial. Iron ore is found every 
 where, and a species of wood-coal of 
 a tolerably good quality, about twenty 
 feet below the surface. Bituminous 
 earths and ligneous petrifactions also 
 abound. Eighteen miles east of Luck- 
 putbunder, near the village of Mhur, 
 there is said to be an extinct volcano, 
 and from another hill in the same vi- 
 cinity there issues a fountain holding 
 alum strongly in solution, monopo- 
 lized by the Cutch government. 
 
 As Cutch does not produce grain 
 sufficient for its own consumption. 
 
CUTCH. 
 
 467 
 
 much is imported from Gujerat, Ma- 
 labar, and Sinde, in return for which 
 cotton is principally exported. The 
 Cutch horse has long been known 
 and purchased by Europeans; the 
 oxen are of a very inferior description, 
 but goats are much esteemed. On 
 the skirts of the Runn and desert the 
 wild ass is met with. It is naturally 
 an inhabitant of the salt wastes, but 
 in the cold season penetrates to the 
 cultivated country, where it causes 
 much damage. It is thirteen hands 
 high, has a back, neck, and belly of 
 a light brown colour, with a dark 
 stripe down the ridge of the back ; 
 long ears like the domestic ass, but 
 with a more melodious bray, and 
 stronger limbs. His general food is 
 the saline grasses of the desert, and 
 brackish water ; yet he is never seen 
 in a bad condition. The flesh is said 
 to be tolerable eating, but is held by 
 the natives in great abhorrence. 
 
 The principal towns of Cutch are 
 Bhooj, Mandavia, Luckputbunder, 
 Moondra, Anjar, Koteser, Nangercha, 
 Kotara, Roha, Thera, Sandhan, Ky- 
 ra, Mothara, Rowpoor, Adooi, Wan- 
 dia, and Arrysir. The Cutch pilots 
 and mariners are noted for their skill, 
 and claim the merit of having first 
 instructed the Arabs in navigation 
 and ship-building ; yet they still use 
 the cross staff, and keep their dead 
 reckoning as in the days of Vasco de 
 Gama, and perhaps, of King Solomon. 
 The principal seaport is Mandavie, 
 from whence about 30,000 candies of 
 cotton are exported, besides ghee 
 and oil, in dhinghies or coasting ves- 
 sels from 25 to 220 tons, and since 
 the suppression of piracy this com- 
 merce has considerably increased. 
 
 In ancient times the province of 
 Cutch appears to have been occupied 
 by pastoral tribes, for the Koombies, 
 or cultivators, do not appear at any 
 time to have formed an essential 
 portion of the community ; and the 
 Chowras, although formerly the go- 
 verning class, are now extinct. The 
 modern Jharejahs are a branch of the 
 great Sinde Summa stock, and as- 
 sumed the title of Jharejah to distin- 
 guish the progeny of a celebrated chief 
 
 named Jharra, whose faith, whether 
 Hindoo or Mahomedan, is still a mat- 
 ter of controversy among theCutchies. 
 The Jharejahs having established their 
 independence, their chief took the 
 title of Jam, and held it until about 
 the middle of Acber y s reign, when 
 Khengar, who had been expelled, was 
 reinstated by the Sultan of Gujerat. 
 The reigning Row in 1818 was the 
 eleventh in descent from Khengar. A 
 Cutch Jharejah is half a Mahomedan, 
 for he believes in the Koran, worships 
 Mahomedan saints, and abstains from 
 forbidden food. The Mahomedan 
 tribes, mostly of Sindean origin, are 
 military or pastoral ; but the Meyanna, 
 under various appellations, are pro- 
 fessionally robbers and assassins. 
 
 The other division of Jharejahs are 
 Hindoos, as they preserve the lock 
 of hair on their heads, do not under- 
 go circumcision, abstain from the 
 flesh of cattle, and adore any thing in 
 the shape of an image. Both classes 
 are a most ignorant, indolent race, 
 addicted to strong and fiery liquors, 
 of which they drink such quanti- 
 ties as would destroy a European. 
 Their wives, all procured from other 
 tribes, on the contrary are active 
 jealous and intriguing, holding in con- 
 tempt their drunken and imbecile 
 husbands. Female infanticide is uni- 
 versally practised. Its date or com- 
 mencement remains wholly unknown ; 
 yet such is the preposterous pride of 
 a modern Jharejah, that they consider 
 it a loss of character should their 
 daughter wed any man whatever. In 
 1818, Capt. Macmurdo was of opinion 
 that the total number of female Jha- 
 rejahs then alive in the whole province 
 was somewhere about thirty ; the 
 whole number of the Jharejah tribe 
 was then estimated at about 12,000 
 persons. Even the Mahomedans of 
 Jharejah descent assume the privilege 
 of destroying their daughters. 
 
 The Bhattias are a Hindoo Vish- 
 nuvite sect of Sindian origin, who 
 worship a debauched opium-eating 
 Brahmin named Gossenjee Maharaje, 
 whose privileges with the females are 
 unlimited. The Bhattias are, notr 
 withstanding, skilful and industrious 
 
 2 h 2 
 
468 
 
 CUTCH. 
 
 merchants, who pursue wealth over in the struggle. Row Bharmuljee 
 Arabia and the west of India, leaving then took the lead; but habits of in- 
 the propagation of their families to toxication soon deranged his intel- 
 such members of their community lects, and would have precipitated 
 as choose to take the trouble. Brah- him from the throne, had not the 
 mins, both genuine and spurious, are British government been compelled to 
 met with in Cutch. Charons, Bhatts, interfere at that juncture to repress 
 and other tragalla wara (castes that the banditti that issued from theCutch 
 commit suicide) are numerous. Of territories, and laid waste the neigh- 
 the total population, probably one- bouring provinces, 
 half are Mahomedans. Taken in the The present Row' (a minor) was 
 aggregate, the Cutchies present a elected under the patronage of the 
 disgusting picture of vice, debauchery, British government, and the political 
 and beastliness. They are treacherous agent at Bhooj may be reckoned the 
 to a proverb, and it is a common first member of the regency. In 1821 
 saying, that if a saint were to drink the national troops consisted of 500 
 the water of Cutch, he would instan- horse and 2,000 militia, besides the 
 
 taneously change his nature. The 
 language of Cutch is a dialect of the 
 Sanscrit, of which many words are 
 retained in purity ; but it has no pe- 
 culiar written character, and is much 
 mixed with Sindy and Gujeratty. A 
 translation of the Lord’s Prayer into 
 this dialect, was found to contain 
 twenty-four words out of thirty-two 
 radically the same as the Hindostany 
 and Bengalese specimens. The Guje- 
 ratty is here the language of business, 
 and its character of correspondence. 
 
 Cutch is mentioned by Abul Fazel, 
 in 1582, as an independent state, but 
 the power of this principality appears 
 to have been at the highest about the 
 middle of the eighteenth century, when 
 Row Dasul is said to have held garri- 
 sons in Sinde, Parkur, and Cattywar, 
 which were lost by Row Lacka, who 
 succeeded in A.D. 1751. Row Gore 
 came next, and anarchy prevailed till 
 his death in 1778, when he was suc- 
 ceeded by* Raydhun (the father of the 
 late Row Bharmuljee), who became 
 deranged ; and Futteh Mahomed, the 
 military commandant, gained the as- 
 cendant, and in 1792, expelled Dho- 
 sul Rain, but was in his turn, in 1802, 
 ejected by Bhyjee Bawa, brother to 
 Row Raydhun, when he returned to 
 Anjar. All these revolutions (another 
 of which reinstated Futteh Mahomed 
 in Bhooj, which he governed until 
 1813) were effected by the mercenary 
 troops, consisting of Arabs, Sindies, 
 and Cutch Mahomedans, the Jhare- 
 jahs appearing to take little interest 
 
 contingents of the Jharejahs, which 
 if all collected might approach 20,000 
 men. The number of chiefs at that 
 date was about 200, and the whole 
 number of their tribe was guessed at 
 from 10,000 to 12,000 persons. The 
 other inhabitants of Cutch have been 
 estimated at half a million, of which 
 more than one-third are Mahomedans 
 (mostly Hindoo converts), the remain- 
 der Hindoos of the pacific castes. 
 The whole revenue of Cutch does 
 not exceed sixteen lacks of rupees per 
 annum, of which rather more than 
 one-half belongs to the Row ; the re- 
 mainder being assigned to different 
 branches of his family. The Row’s 
 ordinary jurisdiction is confined to his 
 own demesne, each Jharejah chief 
 exercising unlimited authority within 
 his own lands. The Row can summon 
 them all to his standard, but must 
 pay them : their annual revenue varies 
 from 100 to 30,000 rupees each. 
 
 Cutch has at all times been depen- 
 dent on Sinde for a large portion of 
 its subsistence, for it is not fertile, 
 water being scarce and often salt, the 
 soil either rocky or sandy, and the 
 extent cultivated unequal to the sup- 
 port of its own scanty population. 
 It is notwithstanding, at the present 
 period, in as flourishing a condition 
 as it has ever been, in defiance of the 
 devastations caused by the earth- 
 quake of 1819, which nearly destroyed 
 Bhooj, greatly injured Anjar, Man- 
 davee and Moondra, and overturned 
 many of the Jharejah forts. This prin- 
 
CUTTACK. 
 
 469 
 
 cipality escaped the ravages of the 
 Mahrattas, twice repelled invasions 
 from Sinde, and may be said to have 
 remained unconquered until 1819, 
 when Bhooj was taken by Sir William 
 Keir’s army by escalade in the course 
 of a few hours, and has ever since 
 contained a British garrison. The 
 independence maintained by Cutch 
 through a series of centuries, although 
 placed between powerful empires, is 
 a proof that it was known to contain 
 nothing to gratify ambition, or to 
 compensate for the expense of its 
 conquest, which would be aggravated 
 by the time necessary for the reduc- 
 tion of the innumerable little fortres- 
 ses with which it is studded. On this 
 account it was to be wished that it 
 could have remained a barrier between 
 the British possessions and those of 
 the Ameers of Sinde, but Providence 
 decreed otherwise, for of all the 
 British alliances this is the most in- 
 timate, complicated, and difficult to 
 dissolve. — ( Macmurdo , JElphinstone , 
 Col. A. Walker , Public MS. Docu- 
 ments , fyc.) 
 
 Cutchubarry ( Cacliabari) . ■ — A 
 small town in Bootan under the juris- 
 diction of the subah or governor of 
 Cherang, a place four days’ journey 
 From Cutchubarry, to which station 
 this functionary descends during the 
 cold season. The town of Cutchu- 
 barry is said to be a mere collection 
 of miserable huts, and the surround- 
 ing country, with the exception of a 
 few detached spots, covered with 
 jungle and abandoned to the wild ani- 
 mals; lat. 26° N., Ion. 90° 10 / E„ 
 
 forty-one miles north from Ranga- 
 matty. 
 
 Cutchwara. — See Kutchwara. 
 
 Cuttack ( Catac ). — A large dis- 
 trict in the province of Orissa, ex- 
 tending from the frontiers of Ganjam 
 to the river Subunreeka, 180 miles, 
 with an average breadth from the sea 
 inland of 110 miles. But the territory 
 of Cuttack Proper is more limited, 
 being principally comprised between 
 the river Sollundee, with an undefined 
 boundary to the west. What follows, 
 however, may be considered as ap- 
 
 plicable to the district generally, and 
 in its greatest dimensions, in which 
 sense it is bounded on the N.E. by 
 Bengal; on the S.W. by the northern 
 circars ; on the east it has the bay of 
 Bengal; and on the west various 
 petty native states, formerly tributary 
 to the Nagpoor Maharattas. At pre- 
 sent Cuttack may be divided into 
 three regions: first, the marshy Delta ; 
 second, the Mogulbundy or central 
 parallel; and thirdly the hilly region or 
 Rajwara ; the whole comprehending 
 an area of about 9,000 square miles. 
 
 The aspect of the country on the 
 sea-coast, and to the westward for 
 about twenty miles, is low, covered 
 with wood, and totally inundated by 
 the sea at spring tides, and into this 
 stoneless expanse of swamp and forest 
 the numerous rivers from the interior 
 discharge their waters, through many 
 channels, resembling in fact, although 
 not in figure, the Deltas of Bengal 
 and Egypt. About twenty miles from 
 the shore the country rises considera- 
 bly, with a dry and fertile soil, form- 
 ing the Mogulbundy ; and about 
 twenty miles further inland it swells 
 into hills, mostly covered with trees, 
 some of a resinous nature, and others 
 valuable for the purposes of cabinet 
 work and dyeing. The wood produced 
 on the sea-coast is chiefly the soondry, 
 from which wood-oil is extracted, and 
 thejanool. The whole of these forests 
 are much infested by wild beasts, 
 especially leopards, which during the 
 marches of the British troops, in 
 1803, devoured many of the sentinels. 
 
 The third or hilly region of Cut- 
 tack reaches as far west as Gundwana 
 (in breadth probably 100 miles, and 
 from Midnapoor to Goomsur at least 
 200 in length), is partitioned among 
 sixteen Kheti i or Khandait zemindars, 
 who have been recognized by the 
 British government as tributary raja- 
 ships, subdivided into many petty de- 
 pendent estates held by hereditary 
 officers. Along the base of the hills 
 are twelve more khandaities, held 
 by a similar class, some of whom pay 
 a light tribute, but are subject to the 
 British laws and regulations, while 
 others are assessed at the ordinary 
 
470 
 
 CUTTACK. 
 
 rate. The greatest height of the hills 
 seen from the Mogulbundy may be 
 about 2,000 feet ; their general eleva- 
 tion varies from 300 to 1,200 feet; 
 further inland they are more elevated 
 and regular. They are chiefly of gra- 
 nite formation resembling sandstone, 
 and containing great quantities of 
 imperfectly formed ill-looking garnets. 
 The whole of this hilly region fur- 
 nishes a great variety of valuable and 
 curious minerals, and iron is exten- 
 sively diffused on the estates of Dhen- 
 kanal, Augol and Mohurbunje. 
 
 Cuttack is watered by innumerable 
 streams which swell into rivers of 
 magnitude during the rains, but few 
 of them have any current throughout 
 the year. The principal are the Ma- 
 hanuddy and its numberless branches, 
 the Brahminy, the Byturini, the So- 
 landy, Kausbans, Burabalang, and the 
 Subanreeka. The embankments or 
 bunds are solid mounds of earth well 
 turfed on each side; the principal 
 ones measure from forty to fifty and 
 sixty feet in breadth, and from eight 
 to sixteen in height. 
 
 The periodical rains do not com- 
 mence here so early as in Bengal, and 
 are light in comparison until Sep- 
 tember, when the rivers rise and 
 overflow their banks ; in November 
 the clouds are dispersed and the 
 weather serene. The thermometer at 
 any season of the year is seldom below 
 60°. In February and part of March 
 dense mists are frequent in the morn- 
 ing, continuing until near noon, and 
 followed by clear evenings and nights. 
 Hot winds prevail in April, May, and 
 June, when the summer heats are 
 very oppressive, especially in tents 
 and temporary erections ; but this 
 burning season is occasionally re- 
 freshed by tremendous storms of 
 thunder, lightning, and rain. The 
 Cuttack district is still but imper- 
 fectly explored, but what is known 
 exhibits a great variety of produce 
 and soil. A valuable manufacture of 
 salt, remarkable for its whiteness and 
 purity, and yielding a revenue of 
 above eighteen lacks of rupees per 
 annum, is carried on along the whole 
 margin of the bay. Further inland 
 
 rice of different qualities is raised, 
 with many other varieties of grain, 
 pulse, aromatic roots, spices, dyeing 
 drugs, and sugar-cane ; and in the 
 hilly tracts Indian corn and wheat. 
 These hills contain several kinds of 
 granite, and also a species of schist us, 
 from which good slates might be 
 made. In some parts iron ore is 
 found, and in others gold dust is col- 
 lected from the beds of the mountain 
 torrents. When the rivers are filled 
 by the periodical rains, many kinds 
 of valuable timber, including teak, 
 are floated down ; but the forests are 
 singularly deleterious, and can only 
 be explored during the months of 
 April and May, when the exhalations, 
 and consequential forest ague, are 
 least noxious. The banks of the ri- 
 vers are extremely picturesqu^, and 
 their waters, as well as those of the 
 adjacent sea, abound with fish. Both 
 the flat country and the hills swarm 
 with every species of wild beasts, in- 
 cluding many carnivorous and fero- 
 cious animals, besides a plentiful as- 
 sortment of snakes, vermin, and rep- 
 tiles, with and without stings, fanged 
 and unfanged, innocent and poi- 
 sonous. 
 
 The only collection of houses in 
 this district deserving the name of 
 towns are Cuttack, Balasore, and 
 Juggernauth ; the chiefs, cusbahs, or 
 head villages are Buddruck, Soro, 
 Kindrapuri, Asseragsar, Huripoor, 
 and Pipley. The Rajwarra or hilly 
 region, scarcely contains one respecta- 
 ble village. The Mogulbundy is di- 
 vided into 150 pergunnahs and 2,361 
 estates of individuals, which, although 
 highly cultivated, possess but an in- 
 different soil. Rice is the principal 
 article of food, and next to it the 
 palma christi, or castor-oil plant, 
 the oil of which the natives certainly 
 use in their cookery. Gardens (not- 
 withstanding what Abul Fazel says 
 to the contrary) thrive so ill in Cut- 
 tack, that even the efforts of Euro- 
 pean residents have proved unsuc- 
 cessful, and all the domestic animals 
 are of a very inferior description. 
 
 Under the ancient Hindoo govern- 
 ment it is probable the raja and 
 
CUTTACK 
 
 471 
 
 priests of Juggernauth had great in- 
 fluence ; but the territory appears to 
 have been always much partitioned 
 among petty native chiefs subordinate 
 to no regular head. It was invaded at 
 an early period by the Mahomedans, 
 but never reduced to subjection until 
 conquered by the Maharattasin 1738; 
 nor even then could it be said to be 
 subjugated according to the Euro- 
 pean sense of the word. With them, 
 however, it remained until 1803, 
 when it was conquered by the Bri- 
 tish after a feeble resistance. 
 
 Subsequent to the expulsion of the 
 Maharattas considerable tracts of 
 land remained to be settled, apper- 
 taining to tributary rajas, who pro- 
 fessed submission but tendered no 
 tribute. Among these was the Jug- 
 gernauth, or Khoordah Raja (Muck- 
 und Deo, a boy of eighteen), whose 
 claims being resisted, laid waste the 
 adjoining country with fire and sword. 
 A British army was in consequence 
 collected, which, after a variety of 
 operations in a most impervious and 
 difficult country, aggravated by the 
 sanctity of the raja’s sacerdotal cha- 
 racter, dispersed his army, took 
 Khoordalghur, and at length (in 1 804) 
 captured his sacred person, which 
 was conveyed into camp, while the 
 inhabitants of the adjacent districts 
 came forth and prostrated themselves 
 before him in humble adoration. The 
 British government then proceeded 
 to investigate the condition of their 
 new acquisitions, which were found 
 to be distinguished from those of 
 Bengal b}^ peculiar circumstances, and 
 more especially the unsettled state 
 of the land revenue ; the celebrated 
 temple of Juggernauth ; the tributary 
 chiefs, and the extensive scale on 
 which the river embankments were 
 maintained. 
 
 The eighteen police stations of the 
 Mogulbundy, including the Rajwarra 
 estates of Aul, Kunka, Kujang, He- 
 respoor, Marichpoor,and Bishenpoor, 
 with the whole Killajat chiefships, in 
 1822 contained 11,915 villages and 
 hamlets, and 243,273 houses, which 
 at the average rate of five to a house 
 
 would give * 1,216,365 
 
 Town of Cuttack 40,000 
 
 Juggernauth 30,000 
 
 Balasore 10,000 
 
 Total 1,296,365 
 
 persons, on an area of 9,000 square 
 miles, or about 135 per square mile. 
 
 Revenues. 
 
 Land assessment for the 
 provincial year 1821-22, 
 
 Mogulbundy Rs. 12,64,370 
 Khoordah ......... 61,169 
 
 The Rajwarra, or division 
 occupied by the feudal 
 chiefs ; fixed tribute of 
 thirty-one khandaities, 
 or military zemindars, 
 styled rajas, and probably 
 not more than one in ten 
 of the actual net produce 1,20,411 
 
 Total Rs. 14,45,950 
 
 The revenue derived from the salt 
 monopoly exceeds the total amount 
 of the land rents paid to the state, 
 and is entirely the creation of the 
 British government. The salt sold 
 within the district yields a net re- 
 turn of three lacks, and the quantity 
 annually exported to Calcutta and 
 there publicly sold realizes about 
 fifteen lacks. Under the heads of 
 customs, variable imposts, pilgrim 
 tax, &c., a further net revenue of one 
 lack per annum is obtained, so that 
 the value of Cuttack, after deducting 
 the expenses of management, may be 
 estimated at thirty lacks of rupees 
 per annum. 
 
 The tributary estates or zemin- 
 daries, in number twenty-nine, aud 
 all of large dimensions, and some 
 almost provinces, yielded, in 1813, 
 only 118,687 rupees to the British 
 government ; the supposed surplus 
 of clear profit remaining to the land- 
 holders was estimated at 525,250 
 rupees, a mere trifle considering the 
 immense space from which it is de- 
 rived. All these tributary zemindars 
 assume the title of raja in their res- 
 pective territories, and admit each 
 other’s claim to that dignity. They 
 
472 
 
 CUTTACK. 
 
 also exhibit the insignia, go abroad 
 with the retinue, and observe the 
 forms and state of independent prinees, 
 according as their income suffices to 
 cover the expenditure consequent on 
 this assumption. Some of the prin- 
 cipal zemindars, to the number of 
 sixteen, are at present exempted 
 from the operation of the British re- 
 gulations, the remaining thirteen are 
 within the jurisdiction of the laws. 
 
 A great outlay is annually neces- 
 sary in Cuttack for the purpose of 
 keeping the embankments in good 
 order, which in 1814 amounted to 
 40,514 rupees. Some of the principal 
 embankments, more especially that at 
 the town of Cuttack, are indispensa- 
 ble; but the utility of the inferior 
 ones is by no means equivalent to the 
 disbursements they involve. More 
 than one-fourth of the circulation of 
 the district is carried on by cowries; 
 copper, one-tenth; gold, one-fortieth ; 
 and silver three-fifths. Formerly the 
 revenue was calculated in cowries, 
 and annual importations of these 
 shells are still made from the Mal- 
 dives in return for grain. The pil- 
 grims bring a great deal of bullion, 
 but much also is sent to Calcutta. 
 In 1814 the gross tax on pilgrims to 
 Juggernauth produced 170,000 ru- 
 pees, but this is not all clear gain, 
 more than half being expended on 
 the current expenses of the temple 
 and its establishment. 
 
 In A.D. 1817 the tranquility of 
 Cuttack was greatly disturbed by an 
 insurrection of the Pykes (the ancient 
 militia of the country), instigated by 
 the Khoordah Raja and his minister 
 Juggoobundoo, who, although defeat- 
 ed in every encounter, were enabled 
 by the local difficulties of access, to 
 carry on a protracted warfare for 
 almost two years. These commo- 
 tions were also in part ascribable to 
 the too hasty introduction of the 
 British revenue and judicial system 
 among a people in no respect pre- 
 pared for its reception, and notwith- 
 standing the insignificance of the in- 
 surgents, and their total destitution 
 of military resources, the loss, from 
 the climate, of men and officers in 
 
 this raggamnffin war, was enormous 
 and irretrievable. — ( Stirling , J. B. 
 Blunt , Richardson , Public MS. Do- 
 cuments, the Marquis of Hastings , 
 Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 Cuttack. — The capital of the pre- 
 ceding district, situated in lat. 20° 27' 
 N., Ion. 86° 5' E., 251 miles travel- 
 ling distance from Calcutta. This 
 town is built on a tongue of land 
 from whence the hilly country is 
 visible, washed by two branches of 
 the Mahanuddy river, which diverge 
 about three miles to the westward of 
 the city, and in the rainy season insu- 
 late it. At this time, near the city, 
 the Mahanuddy is two miles from 
 bank to bank, but during the dry 
 season is fordable with less than 
 three feet of water. At this station 
 there are large and solid embank- 
 ments, mostly faced with cut stone, 
 having a descent of steps to the river, 
 which are essential for the preserva- 
 tion of the town and military can- 
 tonments. During the heavy rains 
 of 1817 the waters of the Cajori rose 
 in one night eighteen feet, as ascer- 
 tained by careful measurement. This 
 immense volume, about one mile and 
 a half broad and from thirty to forty 
 feet deep, over-topped the general 
 level of the town and station by a 
 height of nearly six feet, and was 
 only restrained from overwhelming 
 them by a solid embankment faced 
 with stone, and supported by but- 
 tresses, the work of former govern- 
 ments. 
 
 In Sanscrit, the word Catak signi- 
 fies a royal residence, or seat of em- 
 pire, and it is still celebrated as Ca- 
 tak Benares, under which title it is 
 mentioned by Ferishta and Abul Fa- 
 zel. It is said to have been a capital 
 so early as the tenth century ; but 
 the fortress of Barabutty was not 
 built until the fourteenth century. 
 
 The principal street is remarkably 
 well-built, containing many houses, 
 two and some three stories high, a 
 spacious chowk, and several respecta- 
 ble Mahomedan buildings, such as 
 the Jurama Musjeed, the mosque and 
 octagon shrine of Cuddam Resool, 
 
GUTWA. 
 
 47 3 
 
 v/liere a stone from Mecca is exhibit- 
 ed bearing an impression of the pro- 
 phet’s foot. The dwellings of the 
 civil establishment partly occupy an 
 open space on the skirts of the city, 
 and are partly dispersed over the en- 
 virons. The high bank of the Laul 
 baugh is now the site of European 
 villas, not a stone of the old palace 
 remaining. In 1822 this town con- 
 tained 40,000 inhabitants, residing 
 in 6,512 houses, exclusive of the can- 
 tonments, among which are several 
 mansions of stone formerly belonging 
 to Gosain and Parwar merchants, 
 who engrossed the trade and official 
 employments under the Maharattas. 
 The fort named Barrabuttee stands 
 about a mile N.W. from Cuttack. 
 Travelling distance from Nagpoor 
 482 miles ; from Hyderabad 651 ; 
 from Madras 779; and from Delhi 
 902 miles. — ( Stirling , Richardson , 
 Fullarton , Rennell , Upton , fyc.) 
 
 Cutterah. — A village in the pro- 
 vince of Delhi, district of Bareily, 
 twenty-eight miles S.E. from the 
 town of Bareily ; lat. 28° 3' N., Ion. 
 79° 32' E. This place is now almost 
 entirely composed of mud houses, 
 but the approach from the south and 
 west is remarkable by two of the 
 noblest clumps of trees in Hindostan. 
 In A.D. 1774 a decisive battle was 
 fought in this neighbourhood, in which 
 Shuja ud Dowlah, the Nabob of 
 Oude, with the assistance of a Bri- 
 tish detachment, defeated the Ro- 
 hillahs, and conquered Rohilcund as 
 far as the Lolldong pass. Hafez 
 Rehmut, their principal leader, was 
 slain in the action, and the Rohillahs 
 annihilated as an independent nation. 
 The field of battle lies about three 
 miles from Cutterah, near a con- 
 siderable nullah, or water-course, 
 crossed by a massy bridge of many 
 arches, on the opposite side of which, 
 in commemoration of the victory, 
 the Nabob founded the town of Fut- 
 tehghur. — ( Fullarton , Tennant , fyc.) 
 
 Cuttub Minar. — A remarkable 
 pillar, situated near the small town 
 of Cuttub, thirteen miles nearly due 
 south from Delhi. Its base is a po- 
 
 lygon of twenty-seven sides, and rises 
 in a circular form. The exterior 
 part is fluted into twenty-seven semi- 
 circular and angular divisions. There 
 are four balconies in the height of 
 the building : the first at ninety feet, 
 the second at 140, the third at 180, 
 and the fourth at 203 feet. An ir- 
 regular spiral staircase leads from the 
 bottom to the summit of the minar, 
 which is crowned with a majestic cu- 
 pola of red granite. The entire 
 height of the pillar is 242 feet. Such 
 was the description of this noble 
 column in A.D. 1794; since then the 
 cupola has fallen in, the upper part 
 is considerably dilapidated, and on 
 the east its fall threatens to be acce- 
 lerated by the roots of a banyan tree. 
 This is certainly to be regretted, for 
 the Cuttub Minar is a structure un- 
 rivalled of its kind in Hindostan for 
 its great size, materials, profusion 
 of ornament, and above all for the 
 solidity of its construction, which 
 has enabled it to resist time, storm, 
 and earthquake, without repairs, for 
 more than 300 years. Two inscrip- 
 tions state that the pillar was erected 
 in the time of Shums ud Deen Al- 
 tumsh, w'ho reigned from A.D. 1210 
 to 1231, corresponding with the he- 
 jira 607 and 609, and who may be 
 considered as the emperor under 
 whose auspices the column was com- 
 pleted. 
 
 The town of Cuttub, thus named 
 from possessing the shrine and relics 
 of Cuttub ud Deen, a celebrated Ma- 
 homedan saint, is a place much re- 
 sorted to by devotees of that faith. 
 The late Mogul, Shah Allum, and 
 many other members of the imperial 
 family, lie also buried here; and the 
 reigning emperor, Acber the Second, 
 has also prepared a mausoleum for 
 himself and begum. Near the shrine 
 are several handsome houses, arranged 
 in the form of a square, with a well 
 in the centre, belonging to the em- 
 peror and princes of the royal house, 
 who occasionally visit Cuttub for the 
 purposes of devotion. — ( Fullarton , 
 J. B. BIunt } Ewer , fyc.) 
 
 Cutwa ( Kangtoya) . — A town in 
 
474 
 
 DACCA JELALPOOR. 
 
 the province of Bengal, seventy-five 
 miles N.N.W. from Calcutta ; lat. 
 23° 3 T N., Ion. 88° 1 O' E. This place 
 is noted for a smart action that was 
 fought here, in 1763, with the troops 
 of Cossim Ali, and for the manufac- 
 ture of brass vessels. The compo- 
 sition termed dosta seems to be a 
 kind of pewter or alloy, containing a 
 a great deal of zinc. 
 
 D 
 
 Dabbling. — A Tartar village in 
 Tibet, situated on the left bank of 
 the Sutuleje, 9,020 feet above the le- 
 vel of the sea ; lat. 31° 45' N., Ion. 
 78° 37' E. 
 
 Dabul ( Devalaya ) . — A town in 
 the province of Bejapoor, division of 
 Concan, eighty-five miles S. by E. 
 from Bombay; lat. 17° 46' N., Ion. 
 73° 16' E. 
 
 Dacca Jelalpoor (Dhaka ). — A 
 district in the province of Bengal, 
 situated principally between the 23d 
 and 24th degrees of north latitude. To 
 the north it is bounded by Mymun- 
 singh, on the south by Tiperah and 
 Backergunge, to the east it has Ti- 
 perah, and on the west Rajeshahy 
 and Jessore. Prior to the new ar- 
 rangement in 1800 this was one of 
 the largest and most valuable districts 
 in Bengal, stretching south to the 
 sea, and north to the Garrow moun- 
 tains. It then contained 15,397 British 
 square miles, subdivided into a number 
 of zemindaries, and was reckoned 
 the granary of Bengal, a distinction 
 it still retains ; but prior to 1814 its 
 limits had been reduced within 6,000 
 square miles. During the rainy sea- 
 son a great extent of Dacca Jelal- 
 poor exhibits the appearance of an 
 immense lake, in which villages raised 
 on artificial embankments seem scat- 
 tered like islands ; and being inter- 
 sected by two of the largest rivers in 
 the world (the Ganges and Brahma- 
 putra), is subject annually to consi- 
 derable changes in the boundaries of 
 estates, large portion* Joeing trans- 
 
 ferred from one side to the other, oc- 
 casioning infinite trouble to the re- 
 venue officers, and loss to the govern- 
 ment. These annual inundations, 
 however, fertilize the land, notwith- 
 standing which there is scarcely a 
 district in Bengal where more jungle 
 and unoccupied land is to be found. 
 The whole of the latter is claimed as 
 the property of individuals, who, al- 
 though they derive no profit from it, 
 and are too indolent to render it pro- 
 ductive, will not suffer others to 
 bring it into cultivation without ex- 
 acting a disproportionate recompense 
 for the permission. 
 
 It must, nevertheless, be allowed 
 that Dacca Jelalpoor has been in a 
 state of progressive improvement 
 since the famine of 1787, when ex- 
 tensive tracts of excellent land were 
 utterly depopulated, and still conti- 
 nue so overgrown with jungle, and 
 so infested with wild elephants, that 
 the peasantry find it impracticable to 
 prosecute cultivation, their labours 
 are so rapidly destroyed. In other 
 quarters, tracts of country formerly 
 covered with brushwood and rank 
 vegetation, are now cleared of jungle, 
 and exhibit villages and cultivated 
 fields. The ancient mosques and 
 Hindoo temples are mostly deserted 
 and in ruins, but those of modern 
 date are kept in tolerable repair. 
 Several modern temples and obelisks 
 have also risen, and probably many 
 improved domestic buildings, which, 
 from the concealed and secluded si- 
 tuations always selected by the na- 
 tives, do not so often attract the 
 notice of the traveller. In the vici- 
 nity of the capital, and more espe- 
 cially to the south, are the remains 
 of many fortresses and redoubts, 
 built to oppose the depredations of 
 the Mughs, and to prevent their 
 ascending the river ; but they are 
 now all in a ruinous condition, and 
 their cannon honey-combed and un- 
 serviceable. Throughout this district 
 there are many Hindoo schools, in 
 which the rudiments of the Bengalese 
 language are taught, with the prin- 
 ciples, or rather forms, of their re- 
 ligion and law. 
 
DACCA JELALPOOR. 
 
 The landed estates in this district 
 consist mostly of small talooks, so 
 divided and subdivided into minute 
 portions as to become almost evanes- 
 cent. The business of the judicial 
 department is consequently multifa- 
 rious and intricate, and the Euro- 
 pean officers are compelled to have 
 recourse for explications to the na- 
 tives attached to their respective 
 courts. The latter find it their in- 
 terest to render the intricacy still 
 more perplexed, and as they here, 
 as elsewhere, are alone masters of 
 the detail, they are thereby enabled 
 to aggravate the confusion. In 1802 
 the existing collector stated the fol- 
 lowing proportions of the cultivated 
 to the uncultivated land; but the 
 latter appear in most cases to have 
 been underrated, the revenue officers 
 of that period being little acquainted 
 with the mensuration of land : 
 
 uncultivated, cultivated. 
 
 Southward l-4th to 3-4ths 
 
 Northward 5-8ths... 3-8ths 
 
 Eastward 1 -8th ... 7-8ths 
 
 Westward 3-8ths... 5-8ths 
 
 The most valuable agricultural pro- 
 ductions are rice, betel-nut, cotton, 
 hemp, and sugar. In 1814 the jum- 
 ma or land-tax assessment amounted 
 to 12,89,145 rupees. Plain muslins, 
 distinguished by different names ac- 
 cording to the fineness and closeness 
 of the texture, as well as flowered, 
 striped, and checquered muslins, are 
 fabricated chiefly in this district, 
 where a species of cotton named the 
 banga grows, necessary, although not 
 of a very superior quality, to form 
 the stripes of the finest muslins, for 
 which the city of Dacca has been so 
 long celebrated. The northern parts 
 of Benares furnish both plain and 
 flowered muslins, which are not ill 
 adapted for common uses, though 
 incapable of sustaining any compe- 
 tition with the beautiful and inimitable 
 fabrics of Dacca. Dimities of various 
 kinds and patterns, and cloths resem- 
 bling diaper and damask linen, are also 
 made in this district. The export of 
 the above staples has much decreased, 
 and the art of manufacturing some of 
 the finest species of muslin is in dan- 
 
 475 
 
 ger of being lost, the orders for them 
 being so few that many of the fami- 
 lies who possess by hereditary in- 
 struction the art of fabricating them 
 have desisted, on account of the 
 difficulty they afterwards experience 
 in finding a purchaser. This decline 
 may partly be accounted for from the 
 utter stagnation of demand in the 
 upper provinces since the downfall of 
 the imperial government, prior to 
 which these delicate and beautiful 
 fabrics were in such estimation, not 
 only at the court of Delhi, but among 
 all the noblesse of Hindostan, as to 
 render it difficult to supply the quan- 
 tity wanted. Among the more recent 
 causes may be adduced the French 
 revolution, the degree of perfection 
 to which this particular manufacture 
 has lately been brought in Great Bri- 
 tain, the great diminution of the Com- 
 pany’s investment, and the advance 
 in the price of cotton. 
 
 The principal towns in this district 
 are Dacca, Narraingunge, Sooner- 
 gong, and Rajanagur. The head- 
 quarters of the judge and magistrate 
 and civil establishment is at Fureed- 
 poor, about forty miles from the city 
 of Dacca. In 1801 the total popu- 
 lation was computed at 938,712 in- 
 habitants, one half Hindoo and the 
 other half Mahomedan. A portion of 
 this population are slaves, and the 
 custom of disposing of persons already 
 in a state of slavery is common 
 throughout the country. On these 
 occasions regular deeds of sale are 
 executed, some of which are registered 
 in the court of justice ; and when an 
 estate to which slaves are attached is 
 sold privately, the slaves are com- 
 monly sold at the same time, although 
 a separate deed of sale is always exe- 
 cuted. 
 
 During the Mahomedan govern- 
 ment, the Dacca province was ruled 
 by a foujdar or commandant, the last 
 of whom, prior to the British con- 
 quest, was Shahamut JungNowazish 
 Mahomed Khan, nephew and son-in- 
 law to Aliverdi Khan. He was at 
 once dewan of the whole soubah of 
 Bengal, and Nabob Nazim of Dacca, 
 with all the territories to the eastward. 
 
DACCA. 
 
 476 
 
 It was in search of the treasures 
 amassed by his deputy, Raj Bullub, 
 and supposed to have been concealed 
 by his son Krishna Das, when he took 
 refuge in Calcutta, that Seraje ud 
 Dowlah in an evil hour commenced 
 the war, that for him ended so fatally. 
 
 After the British conquest this large 
 division of Bengal was partitioned into 
 different districts, under the jurisdic- 
 tion of distinct judicial and fiscal 
 officers, and having a peculiar court 
 of circuit and appeal for the super- 
 intendence of the whole. At present 
 the most prevalent crimes of enormity 
 in this district are murder, robbery, 
 theft, perjury, armed affrays, the en- 
 croachment of zemindars, and the 
 collusion of informers by profession, 
 who conceal the principals, and de- 
 Yive a maintenance from the contri- 
 butions they levy on the gangs, with 
 which they are privately connected. 
 The inherent timidity of the natives 
 facilitates the plunder, while his want 
 'of moral principle leads him to view 
 the deed rather as an adroit exploit 
 than a heinous crime against society. 
 In recent times, however, the Bengal 
 government, by steady and persever- 
 ing exertions, has greatly reduced the 
 number, as well as the atrocity of the 
 crimes committed, so that in 1813, 
 it was reported by the superintendent 
 of police that no dacoity or gang 
 robbery whatever had occurred during 
 the last quarter of that year. This 
 improvement continued so progres- 
 sive, that in 1815 the third judge of 
 the court of circuit reported, that he 
 considered the perpetration of gang 
 robbery to have been finally sup- 
 pressed. On a general view of the 
 Dacca division, crimes of great enor- 
 mity had in a manner ceased to be 
 perpetrated, and (with the exception 
 of burglary) other crimes were less 
 Frequent ; the consequence of a more 
 vigilant control exercised by the po- 
 lice departments, and a due enforce- 
 ment of the penal regulations. In 
 the criminal calendars generally more 
 Mahomedans than Hindoos are to be 
 found ; but in civil suits the latter 
 form the majority. 
 
 • The people of Calcutta who speak 
 
 the Gour dialect of the Bengalese, 
 although confounded by the natives 
 of western Hindostan with the Ben- 
 galese, take, when they have an op- 
 portunity, the trouble to ridicule the 
 inhabitants of Dacca, who are the 
 proper genuine Bengalese ; and Cal- 
 cutta being now 7 the capital, the men 
 of rank at Dacca are becoming 
 ashamed of their provincial accent, 
 and endeavour to imitate the baboos 
 (opulent Hindoo merchants) of the 
 modern metropolis. The districts 
 comprizing the eastern quarter of 
 Bengal, and subordinate to the Dacca 
 court of circuit and appeal, are : 1. 
 Mymunsingh ; 2. Silhet ; 3. Tiperah ; 
 4. Chittagong ; 5. Backergunge ; 6. 
 Dacca Jelalpoor, and 7* the city 
 of Dacca. — (J. Grant , Colebroo/ce , 
 J. D. Paterson , Crisp, Massie , Rees, 
 Sha/cespear , fyc.) 
 
 Dacca ( Dliaca). — A large town in 
 Bengal situated beyond the principal 
 stream of the Ganges, but a great 
 branch named the Booree Gunga, or 
 old Ganges, above a mile in width, 
 runs past it : indeed, few situations 
 are better calculated for inland com- 
 merce, as the river communicates 
 with all the other interior navigations 
 by a direct course. Its site is about 
 100 miles above the mouth of the 
 Ganges, and 180 by road from Cal- 
 cutta ; but the journey by water, on 
 account of the circuitous route and 
 twistings of the river, occupies from 
 one to tw o weeks, and the space gone 
 over probably exceeds 400 miles. Lat. 
 23° 42' N., Ion. 90° 17' E. 
 
 Dacca succeeded to Soonergong as 
 the provincial capital of the eastern 
 quarter of Bengal, and it is now pro- 
 bably the second in the province with 
 respect to size and population. The 
 country around it lying low, and be- 
 ing always covered with verdure dur- 
 ing the hot months, is not subject to 
 the violent heats of Benares, Patna, 
 and other places in Bahar. The un- 
 healthy season is from the 20th Au- 
 gust to the 10th of October, during 
 which period the rivers are subsiding, 
 and the inundation draining off the 
 land ; but upon the whole it is one of 
 
DACCA. 
 
 477 
 
 the healthiest arid most pleasant sta- 
 tions in Bengal. It manufactures and 
 exports many varieties of the finest 
 muslins, in the delicacy and beauty 
 of which fabric it surpasses the whole 
 world. 
 
 That Dacca is a city comparatively 
 modern is proved by its not being 
 mentioned by Abul Faze!* at least 
 under that name, in the Ayeen Ac- 
 berry. In A.D. 1608 the seat of go- 
 vernment was removed from Rajma- 
 hal to this place by the then governor 
 of Bengal, Islam Khan, and in com- 
 pliment to the reigning emperor its 
 name changed to Jehangire Nuggur. 
 
 - Here he built a palace and brick fort, 
 some remains of which are still to 
 be seen. This transfer of the seat 
 of government was probably occa- 
 sioned by the ravages then perpe- 
 trating in the south-eastern quarter 
 by the Mughs of Aracan, and the 
 Portuguese pirates under Sebastian 
 Gonzales. In 1657 Meer Jumla, the 
 great commander under Aurengzebe, 
 pursued the unfortunate Sultan Shuja 
 to this place, and again constituted 
 it the metropolis, the seat of govern- 
 ment being for some time removed 
 to Rajmahal. It is related that during 
 the second viceroyship of Shaista 
 Khan, rice w 7 as so cheap at Dacca 
 that 640 pounds might be had in the 
 market for one rupee. To comme- 
 morate this event, as he was leaving 
 Dacca, in 1689, he ordered the western 
 gate to be built up, and an inscription 
 placed thereon, forbidding any future 
 governor to open it until he had re- 
 duced the price to as cheap a rate, in 
 consequence of which injunction it 
 remained shut until the reign of Ser- 
 ferawz Khan in 1739. But this city 
 appears to have had more than one 
 alternation of prosperity and decay. 
 It appears to have attained its greatest 
 splendour during the reign of Aureng- 
 zebe; and, judging from the magni- 
 ficence of the ruins, such as bridges, 
 brick causeways, mosques, caravan- 
 serais, palaces, and gardens, now 
 overspread with jungle, it must have 
 vied in extent and riches with the 
 greatest cities, Gour perhaps ex- 
 cepted. 
 
 The earliest permanent decline of 
 Dacca appears to have commenced 
 with the troubles and distractions of 
 the Mogul empire that followed the 
 invasion of Nadir Shah, and that it 
 did not experience the fate of Gour 
 may be attributed partly to its salu- 
 brity and partly to the peculiar com- 
 mercial advantages of its situation. 
 In this state of decay it remained 
 with little variation until the esta- 
 blishment of provincial councils in 
 1774, when it again exhibited a shew 
 of opulence, from which it fell on the 
 abolition of these institutions. During 
 the Mogul sway, the naval establish- 
 ment maintained at Dacca consisted 
 of 768 armed cruizers, to guard the 
 south-eastern quarter against the ra- 
 vages of the Mughs. In this watery 
 region the veneration of the Hin- 
 doos for the tutelary deities of their 
 rivers is extreme, and their ceremo- 
 nies in honour of these exhibit a 
 degree of cheerfulness and animation 
 unknown elsewhere, in which watery 
 rituals the more solemn Mussulmans 
 largely participate, but ascribing the 
 government of the floods to Khaujeh 
 Khizzer, supposed to be the prophet 
 Elias. Towards the end of the se- 
 venteenth century Dacca was the re- 
 sidence of Azim Ashaun, Aureng- 
 zebe’s grandson, who commenced and 
 nearly finished a magnificent palace, 
 now in ruins. About this era also 
 was probably fabricated one of those 
 enormous and useless guns, not un- 
 common in the Deccan and other 
 parts of India, and which was still to 
 be seen so late as 1790. It was made 
 of hammered iron, and consisted of 
 an immense tube of fourteen bars, 
 with rings driven over them, and 
 beaten down to a smooth surface, so 
 that its appearance was very good, 
 though its proportions were faulty. 
 From its size this gun must have 
 weighed 64,814 pounds, or about the 
 weight of eleven thirty-two pounders. 
 The weight of an iron shot for the 
 gun must have exceeded 400 pounds, 
 but the experiment of discharging it 
 probably never was hazarded. 
 
 The present town stands on a great 
 deal of ground, and including the 
 
DAMARAN ISLE. 
 
 473 
 
 suburbs, extends six miles along the 
 banks of the river ; but its breadth is 
 not in proportion. Like other native 
 towns it is a mixture of brick, thatch, 
 and mud houses, with very narrow 
 crooked streets, and so combustible 
 that they are usually burned down 
 once or twice per annum, the owners 
 looking on with the greatest apathy. 
 Into large earthen pots sunk in the 
 floor they throw the few valuables 
 they possess, and mats, thatch, and 
 bamboos being cheap, the expenditure 
 of a few rupees restores their edifice 
 to all its original splendour. Dacca 
 continues to be a very populous city, 
 although it suffered greatly by the 
 French revolution, its beautiful fabrics 
 having been held in great estimation 
 by the old French court. In 1801 
 the total population was estimated by 
 the magistrate at 200,000, in the pro- 
 portion of 145 Mahomedans to 130 
 Hindoos. Besides the genuine na- 
 tives, there are many respectable 
 Greek, Armenian, and Portuguese 
 merchants, who diversify the society 
 and carry on a considerable traffic. 
 The late nabob of Dacca, Seid Ali 
 Khan Nusrit Jung, was long cele- 
 brated for the suavity of his manners, 
 and his steady attachment to the Bri- 
 tish government, which had been re- 
 cognized in various public documents 
 by the Marquis Cornwallis, Sir John 
 Shore, the Marquis Wellesley, Sir 
 George Barlow, Lord Minto, and the 
 Marquis of Hastings. In 1807 an 
 allowance of 3,000 rupees wasgranc- 
 ed to the nabob for the repair of a 
 building devoted to religious purposes, 
 not only on account of the uniform 
 propriety of his conduct and the re- 
 spectability of his character, but also 
 as an indication of the disposition of 
 the British government to support the 
 freedom of religious worship among 
 all classes of their subjects. The 
 native inhabitants have always been 
 noted as a quiet orderly race, re- 
 markably attached to the public func- 
 tionaries placed over them, and to 
 the British cause and nation generally. 
 Travelling distance from Delhi 1,107 
 miles. — ( Rennell , Stewart , J. Grant , 
 Crisp , Melville , tyc.) 
 
 Daha. — A station in Tibet, twenty- 
 seven miles N. by E. from Niti Pass ; 
 lat. 31° 10', Ion. 79° 55' E. 
 
 Dalapiri Isle. — One of the small 
 Philippines, about thirty miles in cir- 
 cumference, lying due north from the 
 large island of Luzon or Luconia; 
 lat. 19° 15' N., Ion. 121° E. ’ 
 
 Dalla. — A town in the Ava do- 
 minions, province of Pegu, situated 
 on the opposite side of the river to 
 Rangoon ; lat. 16° 35' N., Ion. 90° 
 10 7 E. 
 
 Dalmow. — A town in the province 
 of Allahabad, fifty-four miles south 
 from Lucknow ; lat. 26° 5' N., Ion. 
 80° 56' E. The appearance of this 
 place, viewed from the river, is im- 
 posing, but nothing more wretched 
 can be imagined than the interior, 
 which in 1819 appeared to have lost 
 half its population. 
 
 Dalmacherp.y. — A town in the 
 Balaghaut ceded districts, 100 miles 
 N.W. from Madras ; lat. 13° 38' N. 
 Ion. 78° 3' E. 
 
 Damack. — A town in the island of 
 Java, fifteen miles N.E. from Sama- 
 rang; lat. 6° 50 S., Ion. 110° 38 E. 
 This is still a populous place, and was 
 formerly the capital of a principality 
 of the same name. The vicinity is 
 marshy, and the country level. A 
 fine canal, navigable to the distance 
 of twenty miles from Samarang, runs 
 along the left side of the road, and 
 terminates in the river Tanganamio, 
 which is also navigable; the whole 
 district being much intersected by 
 canals, water-courses, and streams. 
 — ( Thorny fyc.) 
 
 Damak Shtj Mountains.- -A high 
 range of mountains north of the Hi- 
 malaya, about lat. 31° 45' N., Ion. 
 78° 15' E., which separate the dis- 
 trict of Kunawur from the Tartar 
 province of Lahdack. 
 
 Damaran Isle. — An island in the 
 Eastern seas about forty-five miles in 
 circumference, two leagues distant 
 from Palawan; lat. 10° 5' N., Ion. 
 119° 50' E. 
 
DAMAUN. 
 
 479 
 
 Damaun (a skirt ). — A large dis- 
 trict in the Afghan dominions extend- 
 ing along the west bank of the Indus, 
 between the 31st and 33d degrees of 
 north latitude. It commences near 
 Sungur, lat. 30° 45' N., and stetches 
 as far north as the eastern branches 
 of the Soliman range. The hills 
 south of the salt range, and the 
 plains and valleys they include, are 
 also generally comprehended in Da- 
 maun. The plain immediately on the 
 right bank of the Indus is sometimes 
 distinguished by the appellation of 
 Muklewaud, in which case the term 
 Damaun is only applied to the skirts 
 of the hills, which is its literal mean- 
 ing. In its most extended sense, 
 Damaun includes all the country be- 
 tween the salt range, the Soliman 
 mountains, the Indus, and Sungur in 
 Upper Sinde. The principal town is 
 Dera Ismael Khan, the residence of 
 the governor delegated by the Cabul 
 sovereign; the inhabitants are Juts 
 and Baloochies, dark in complexion, 
 lean and meagre in form. Muklewaud 
 extends along the Indus about 120 
 miles, its main breadth being twenty- 
 five. It is a plain of hard smooth 
 clay, quite flat, smooth of grass, but 
 sprinkled with bushes and stunted 
 trees. The soil, when much trodden, 
 becomes a minute whitish dust, ap- 
 parently composed from the slime 
 deposited by the Indus, which in 
 summer inundates the country to a 
 considerable extent. 
 
 The river banks are covered with 
 a thick jungle of low tamarisks, in 
 some places mixed with long grass 
 and thorny bushes, swarming with 
 wild swine, hog deer, and all sorts 
 of game. Around the villages fre- 
 quently clumps of date-trees are seen, 
 and are the only tall trees on the 
 plain. When cultivated it is pro- 
 ductive, but the greater part of the 
 plain is a waste, owing to the vices 
 of the government, and consequent 
 thinness of the population. The 
 southern section of the plain has 
 much jungle, the north sand ; and in 
 both camels of the species seen in 
 Hindostan are reared. 
 
 The country of the Marwuts is 
 
 composed of arid sandy plains, se- 
 parated by ranges of hills. For the 
 purposes of agriculture it is entirely 
 dependent on the rains, spring water 
 being scanty. Half the Marwuts are 
 stationary, being employed in agri- 
 culture ; the others range about with 
 their herds of camels. Their country 
 is about thirty-five miles square, but 
 thinly peopled. Damaun proper lies 
 to the south of the Marwut country, 
 and is possessed by many small, bar- 
 barous, and hostile tribes. Minute 
 portions, however, are well cultivated, 
 the produce being bajaree, jowary, 
 and wheat. The winter of Damaun 
 is considerably colder than in most 
 parts of Hindostan, frost being com- 
 mon in the morning, and the ther- 
 mometer some degrees below the 
 freezing point. The summer, on the 
 other hand, is most intolerably hot, 
 the heat of the night almost equalling 
 that of the day, and according to 
 native reports, the inhabitants are 
 obliged to wet their clothes before 
 they go to sleep. The peasantry 
 throughout the province are mostly 
 Juts and Baloochies, with some Hin- 
 doos ; but they are not allowed to 
 possess land, and cannot pass from 
 one master to another without per- 
 mission ; but they can at any time 
 quit the tribe with which they have 
 been dwellers. The whole of Da- 
 maun is, or rather was, subject to the 
 Cabul sovereign’s authority, which 
 was however but slightly exercised. 
 The tribes were generally bound to 
 furnish him with a body of horse, 
 usually commuted into a sum of 
 money, and he also levied a tax on 
 the Hindoos. — ( Elphinstone , #c.) 
 
 Damaun. — A seaport town of con- 
 siderable note in the province of Gu- 
 jerat, 100 miles N. from Bombay ; lat. 
 20° 25' N., Ion. 72 p 58' E. The Por- 
 tuguese conquered this place so early 
 as 1531, and it still remains in their 
 possession. It makes a conspicuous 
 figure viewed from the sea, the 
 churches and houses being in general 
 white ; but the commerce is now 
 much diminished. The anchorage is 
 in eight fathoms, three miles off 
 
480 
 
 DAOUDCAUNDY. 
 
 shore, but the river affords a secure 
 harbour for small vessels, and in 
 spring tides during the S.W. monsoon 
 has from eighteen to twenty feet of 
 water over the bar. Ship-building 
 has long been the most profitable oc- 
 cupation here, the teak forests being 
 at no great distance. The builder in 
 1818 was a Hindoo, who constructed 
 all his ships on one model, which was 
 too short for the breadth, thereby 
 rendering them uneasy in a head sea. 
 On the other hand it is admitted 
 they wear well, stow well, and before 
 the wind sail most furiously. — {El- 
 more, Malet , Bruce , Sf-c.) 
 
 Dambooloo. — A village in the 
 island of Ceylon, thirty-four miles 
 north from Candy ; lat. 7 ° 47 ' N., 
 Ion. 80° 46' E. — Dambooloo-galle, the 
 rock that contains th.e cave temples, 
 is of vast size and almost insulated, 
 its perpendicular height above the 
 plain being about 600 feet. The 
 temples for which Dambooloo is ce- 
 lebrated are excavations on the south 
 side of the rock, 350 feet above the 
 plain. Some of these are of immense 
 size (one 190 feet long by ninety 
 wide and forty-five high), and they all 
 still contain images of Buddha and 
 other deities, besides paintings illus- 
 trative of the history of Ceylon, the 
 whole in remarkably good preserva- 
 tion. It seems probable that these 
 vast caverns are principally natural 
 excavations, subsequently modified 
 and adorned by the votaries of Bud- 
 dha ; but no rational tradition of iheir 
 origin is now extant. — {Davy, S^c.) 
 
 Damla. — A small town in the pro- 
 vince of Delhi, twenty miles N.W. 
 from Saharunpoor; lat. 30° 6' N., Ion. 
 77 ° 13' E. 
 
 Damoo. — A town in Tibet, forty 
 miles N.N.E. from the Niti Pass ; lat. 
 31° 16' N., Ion. 80° 4' E. According 
 to native reports, gold mines are 
 worked in this vicinity. 
 
 Dampier’s Straits. — These straits 
 separate the Wageeoo Isles from the 
 island of Battanta, and have from 
 twelve to fourteen fathoms water 
 through the passage. 
 
 Dampoor.— A town in the province 
 of Delhi, district of Moradabad, thirty- 
 eight miles N.W. from the town of 
 Moradabad. This place contains se- 
 veral mosques, and has a tolerably 
 large and well supplied bazar. — ( Ful - 
 larton, fyc.) 
 
 Damul. — A village in the Carnatic, 
 district of Northern Arcot, about 
 eight miles W. by N. from Conje- 
 veram, and remarkable for its fine 
 tank and Hindoo temple. 
 
 Dandar (Dliandar). — A small 
 district in the Gujerat province si- 
 tuated to the north of Palhanpoor, 
 and thus named on account of its 
 extraordinary fertility. According to 
 the reports of a native moonshee sent 
 to examine this and the adjacent 
 tracts, it contains 180 towns and 
 villages ; but the moonshee appears 
 to have been too liberal in his esti- 
 mate. — {Public MS. Documents, tyc.) 
 
 Dang. — A small tract in Northern 
 Hindostan subject to Nepaul, situated 
 about 1 00 miles N.N.W. from Luck- 
 now, and bounded on the south by 
 the Nabob of O ude’s reserved ter- 
 ritories. The rajahs formerly lived 
 on a high hill named Dang, but for 
 some generations they have with- 
 drawn to Phalabamb, situated on a hill 
 immediately overhanging the plain, 
 and consisting of huts with wood and 
 mud walls, the chief’s house alone 
 being built of brick. On the hills 
 were several iron mines, but the most 
 valuable portion of the Dang raja’s: 
 estate consisted of the Toolseepoor 
 pergunnah, situated within the Oude 
 dominions. Bahadur Sah, the regent 
 of Nepaul, gave the hills of Dang to 
 his sister, the Ranny of Saliana ; but 
 Phalabamb, or New Dang, was pro- 
 tected by the Nabob Vizier, and the 
 family still continue rajas of Tool- 
 seepoor. — {F. Buchanan, tyc.) 
 
 Dannoo. — A town on the sea-coast 
 of the Aurungabad province, thirty- 
 four miles south from Damaun ; lat. 
 19° 57' N., Ion. 72° 50' E. 
 
 Daoudcaundy. — A town in the 
 province of Bengal, situated on the 
 east side of the great Menga, twenty- 
 
DARWAR. 
 
 481 
 
 five miles S.E. from Dacca ; lat. 23° 
 30' N., Ion. 90° 36' E. During the 
 rainy season there is a passage from 
 Dacca to Comillah past this place, by 
 the Goomty river, which in the dry 
 season is too shallow to admit even 
 canoes. 
 
 Daoudnagur. — A large town in 
 the Bahar district, situated on the 
 east side of the Sone river, thirty 
 miles S.S.W. from Patna; lat. 25° 5' 
 N,, Ion. 84° 25' E. This is a large 
 place, and including Ahmedgunge, in 
 3809, is said to contain 8,000 houses. 
 It contains a cloth factory dependent 
 on the commercial resident at Patna, 
 and also a factor from the Patna 
 opium agent. — ( F . Buchanan , fyc.) 
 
 Daranagur. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Delhi, district of Moradabad, 
 seventy-four miles N.E. from Delhi 
 city ; lat. 29° 1 7' N., Ion. 78° E. 
 
 Daraporam. — A populous town in 
 the province of Coimbatoor, situated 
 in an open country about half a mile 
 distant from the river Amaravati, and 
 139° S.S.E. from Seringapatam ; lat. 
 10° 37' N., Ion. 77° 35' E. This place 
 is about forty miles distant from the 
 great hills that run south, and about 
 fifteen from the Pilney hills in Din- 
 digul. The streets here are remark- 
 ably spacious, and the habitations, 
 although built of earth and roofed 
 with tile and thatch, large and com- 
 modious. The adjacent country is 
 enclosed with milk plant hedges, and 
 irrigated by two fine canals, which 
 render it very productive of rice and 
 tobacco. The town and mud fort, 
 which still remains, were taken from 
 Tippoo in 1783, by the southern 
 army. — ( F . Buchanan , Fullarton , 
 Medical Reports , Sfe.) 
 
 Darapooree. — A small canton- 
 ment in the province of Aurungabad, 
 division of Jooneer, pleasantly si-, 
 tuated on the banks of the Moota, 
 three miles N. by W. from Poona, 
 and lately the head-quarters of an 
 auxiliary corps in the service of the 
 ex-Peshwa, commanded by British 
 officers. — ( Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 Darozeh. — A small walled town 
 
 VOL. i. 
 
 in the Balaghaut ceded territories, 
 district of Bellary, and about seven- 
 teen miles travelling distance N.W. 
 from the town of Bellary. This place 
 is beautifully situated on the margin 
 of a fertile plain, below a wild moun- 
 tainous tract covered with forests, 
 which extend from hence to the 
 neighbourhood of Bijanagur. A mag- 
 nificent artificial lake for the irriga- 
 tion of the subjacent lands has been 
 formed here, by means of an embank- 
 ment about sixty feet high, with 
 great stone sluices, and extending 
 three miles from the projecting point 
 of one mountain to another. It w T as 
 constructed during the government 
 of Tippoo Sultan. — ( Fullarton , <^e.) 
 
 Darchan. — A town in Tibet, situ- 
 ated a few miles north from Mana- 
 sarovara, and supposed to be an en- 
 trepot between Lassa and Lahdack. 
 Individual merchants pitch their tents 
 here, and a sort of mart continues 
 from June to October ; but when 
 visited by Mr. Moorcroft, the town 
 consisted of only four houses of un- 
 burned bricks and about twenty-eight 
 tents, occupied by some grain mer- 
 chants and three dealers in tea, who 
 asserted that they had been at Pekin ; 
 lat. 31° 4' N., Ion. 81° 13' E. 
 
 Daroor. — A town in the Aurunga- 
 bad province, ninety miles S.E. from 
 the city of Aurungabad ; lat 1 8°49' N., 
 Ion. 76° 19' E. 
 
 Darwar. — A British district in the 
 province ofBejapoor, acquired from 
 the dominions of the ex-Peshwa, and 
 at present subordinate to the Bom- 
 bay presidency. The territory in 
 which it is situated in the official re- 
 cords is distinguished as “ the Car- 
 natic, or Southern Maharatta coun- 
 try.” In 1820 the land was said to 
 consist of 9 parts black soil, 4\ mix- 
 ed, 2\ wet, and 1£ garden, =16 parts. 
 The improvement of this district was 
 greatly retarded by the failure of the 
 crops and the epidemic of 1818-19, 
 which was supposed to have swept 
 away 25,000 persons out of a comput- 
 ed population of 600,000. The net 
 revenue, after deductingcharges, then 
 
 2 i 
 
482 - 
 
 DEBA. 
 
 amounted to 15/21,503 rupees.-— 
 ( Thackeray , #c.) 
 
 Darwar. — A fortified town in the 
 province of Bejapoor, the capital of 
 the preceding district, and named by 
 the Mahomedans Nusserabad; lat. 
 15° 28' N., Ion. 75° 8' E. In 1790 it 
 was taken from Tippoo by the Maha- 
 ratta army under Purseram Bhow, 
 assisted by three battalions of Bom- 
 bay sepoys, who bore the whole brunt 
 of a twenty-nine weeks* siege. It 
 was then strong, although not regu- 
 larly fortified, and the ditches were 
 particularly good. The town stands 
 to the southward of the fort, extend- 
 ing eastward, and was almost de- 
 stroyed during the siege ; but a na- 
 tive town is soon rebuilt and re- 
 peopled. — ( Moore , fyc.) 
 
 Dassgong. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Aurungabad, seventy-three 
 miles S.S.E. from Bombay ; lat. 18° 
 2' N., Ion. 73° 5'E. 
 
 Dattanagur. — A small town in 
 Northern Hindostan, principality of 
 Bussaher, situated below Rampoor, 
 the capital. Here the valley of the 
 Sutuleje, which has hitherto been 
 narrow and confined between abrupt 
 mountains, expands, and forms a flat 
 three miles long, well watered by ca- 
 nals, and producing luxuriant crops. 
 — ( Messrs . Gerards , fyc.) 
 
 Dauli River. — A river of North- 
 ern Hindostan, which it enters by the 
 NitiPass; lat. 30°47' N.,lon.79°56'E., 
 and ultimately joins the Ganges, of 
 which, from its size and great length, 
 of course it ought to be considered 
 the principal branch, if the Neelung 
 does not claim that distinction. Its 
 source remains unknown. 
 
 Daumnagur. — A town in the Gu- 
 jerat peninsula, seventy-eight miles 
 N.N.E. from Diu ; lat. 21° 34' N., 
 Ion. 71° 35' E. 
 
 Daungry. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Candeish, which in 1816 
 belonged to thePeshwa; lat. 21° 8' N., 
 Ion. 75° 8' E., seventy-five miles 
 W.S.W. from Boorhampoor. Here 
 is a handsome mosque and reservoir 
 of stone, erected during the reign of 
 
 Aurengzebe by Ahmed Khan Lodi, 
 a Patan chief. — {Sutherland, $c.) 
 
 Daunta. — A town in the province 
 of Ajmeer, sixty-six miles W.S.W. 
 from Odeypoor ; lat. 28° 18' N., Ion. 
 7 2° 41' E. 
 
 Dauree. — A village in the province 
 of Malwa, situated on the north bank 
 of the Nerbudda, eleven miles from 
 Buckutghur ; lat. 22° 12' N., Ion. 
 76° 23' E. At this spot the naviga- 
 tion of the Nerbudda is impeded by 
 a fall of thirty feet in height and 100 
 in length, and is also unusually nar- 
 row, the stream for half a mile being 
 only from twenty to forty yards wide, 
 and the current consequently rapid. 
 — ( Malcolm , tyc.) 
 
 Dawurconda. — A district in the 
 Hyderabad province, bounded on the 
 south by the Krishna river, and con- 
 taining the towns of Dawurconda, 
 Pailwa, and Nardinpet. The first, 
 which communicates its name to the 
 district, is situated in lat. 16° 40' N., 
 Ion. 78° 57' E., fifty-one miles S.by E. 
 from the city of Hyderabad. 
 
 Dawulghaut. — A walled town 
 situated at the entrance of a pass of 
 the same name through the Berar 
 chain of mountains, proceeding from 
 the south ; lat. 20° 33' N., Ion. 76° 
 20' E., fifty-four miles south from 
 Boorhanpoor. 
 
 Dera ( or Dhapa ). — A town in 
 Tibet, division of Undes, of which it 
 may be reckoned the capital ; lat. 
 30° 13' N., Ion. 80° 2' E. This place 
 stands on irregular eminences, form- 
 ing the side of a ravine, descending 
 steeply to the river Tiltil. The bro- 
 ken ground in this neighbourhood 
 exhibits many extraordinary appear- 
 ances, the melting snow having cut 
 the clay into channels, leaving distinct 
 elevated ridges, fashioned by acci- 
 dent into a great diversity of figures, 
 representing castles, fortifications, 
 houses, and various indescribable 
 masses. It has been ascertained that 
 Deba is tenanted throughout the 
 year, the climate being by no means 
 so severe as from the great elevation 
 (14,924 feet) of the valley of Sutuleje 
 
DECCAN. 
 
 483 
 
 above the level of the sea, might have 
 been anticipated. Fine crops of awa 
 grow in the neighbourhood, the meal 
 from which is very fine, and the plant, 
 being of so hardy a nature, might 
 be advantageously naturalized in Bri- 
 tain and the north of Europe. 
 
 The houses are of stone, two sto- 
 ries high, whitewashed on the out- 
 side, but excessively filthy within. 
 The town itself is subdivided into 
 three parts : first, a college, the resi- 
 dence of the lama and his gylums, 
 or monks ; second, a nunnery ; and 
 thirdly, the houses of the vizier, deba, 
 and laity in general. In the centre 
 of a semicircle formed by the houses, 
 are the tombs and temples of various 
 lamas, having smaller ones attached 
 to them ; these are circular at their 
 base, decreasing gradually by smaller 
 circles, and terminating in a point, 
 covered with plates of copper, like 
 an umbrella, and gilt. In the centre, 
 above these, stands the temple of 
 Narayan (Vishnu), surrounded by 
 houses, and painted of a red colour. 
 This is an irregular building, with one 
 door, surmounted by a square small 
 building, covered with gilt brass, and 
 ornamented with grotesque figures. 
 Within the porch of the temple the 
 side walls are painted with bold 
 sketches of a deity with large staring 
 eyes in his head, which is enveloped 
 with a kind of glor} r . At the upper 
 end of the temple, and immediately 
 fronting the door, is a gilt copper fi- 
 gure of Narayan, in the European 
 sitting posture, about twenty feet 
 high. On his right side is a small 
 figure of Lakshmi (the wife of Vish- 
 nu) ; and on the left that of a lama, 
 also of gilt copper, in his canonicals. 
 Other Hindoo deities of brass, and 
 lamas of wood, attended by their mo- 
 thers, bowls of water, masks of tigers, 
 and other animals, enormous brazen 
 speaking trumpets, and other para- 
 phernalia of superstition, are here 
 collected. 
 
 Secular matters are conducted by 
 the Deba vizier and immediate offi- 
 cers of the government, who are appa- 
 rently in comfortable circumstances. 
 The gylums, or monks, who lead a 
 
 life of celibacy, seem a dirty, greasy, 
 good-humoured people, who, besides 
 performing their religious functions, 
 carry on a considerable traffic in 
 sheep’s wool and salt, which they 
 exchange for wheat and barley. The 
 rules of the nunnery are said to be 
 severe, and the paraphernalia of the 
 temple greatly resembles that of the 
 Roman Catholic church. In the rock 
 on which the temple stands are gra- 
 naries, said to contain many thou- 
 sand maunds of rice, the inhabitants 
 being dependent for their annual sup- 
 ply of that grain and barley on the 
 Marchas of Niti and Jowaur. — - 
 ( Moorcroft , Webb , Trail , Sec.) 
 
 Deba Temple. — A temple in North- 
 ern Hindostan, twenty-one miles S.E. 
 from Serinagur ; lat. 29° 55' N., Ion. 
 78° 58' E., 8,751 feet above the level 
 of the sea. 
 
 Deb alpoor ( Devalayapura ). — A 
 town in the province of Lahore, situ- 
 ated in the Doab, formed by the ag- 
 gregated waters of the Sutuleje and 
 Beyah on one side, with those of the 
 Ravey on the other. In A.D. 1582, 
 when Abul Fazel compiled the insti- 
 tutes of Acber, it was the capital of 
 a district ; lat. 30°39' N., Ion. 73°37 / E., 
 seventy-five miles S.S.W. from the 
 city of Lahore. At present both 
 town and district are subject to Run- 
 jeet Singh, the Seik chief of La- 
 hore. 
 
 DECCAN 
 ( Dacshina ). 
 
 This term, which is of Sanscrit ori- 
 gin, means the south, and was for- 
 merly applied by Hindoo geographers 
 to the whole of the countries situ- 
 ated to the south of the Nerbudda 
 river ; but the fixed possessions of 
 the Mahomedans having, for many 
 centuries after their invasion of the 
 Deccan, extended no further south 
 than the river Krishna, the name of 
 Deccan came to signify, in Hindos- 
 tan, the countries between those two 
 rivers only, and such is the popular 
 acceptation of its southern boundary 
 at the present day. The territories 
 to the south of the Krishna and 
 
 2 i 2 
 
484 
 
 DECCAN. 
 
 Toombudra may be described as In- 
 dia south of theKrishna; for although 
 along with the Deccan it has been 
 improperly termed a peninsula, an 
 equal-sided triangle much more re- 
 sembles their figure. When Arung- 
 zebe, in 1690, had completed the 
 conquest of what was then called the 
 Deccan, it was subdivided into six 
 soubahs or viceroyalties, viz. 
 
 1. Candeish (or Khandesh), the ca- 
 pital Boorhanpoor. 
 
 2. Aurungabad, or Ahmednuggur, 
 recently the capital of the Nizam 
 Shahee dynasty. 
 
 3. Beeder, or Kalberga, the an- 
 cient capital of the Bhamenee sul- 
 tans. 
 
 4. Hyderabad, including Nandere, 
 the seat of the late Golconda or Cut- 
 tub Shahee dynasty. 
 
 5. Bejapoor, the capital of the 
 Adil Shahee dynasty. 
 
 6. The province of Berar, the li- 
 mits of which were quite undefined, 
 and extended eastward towards Gund- 
 wana and Orissa, neither of which 
 provinces were included by name in 
 the Mogul Deccan, although situated 
 within its geographical limits. 
 
 7. The Hindoo and nearly unex- 
 plored province of Gundwana. 
 
 8. Orissa, on the margin of the 
 bay of Bengal. 
 
 The general character of the north- 
 western quarter of the Deccan now 
 subject to the British government, is 
 that of a barren country, with a po- 
 pulation evidently inferior to the 
 average of Europe, where of all king- 
 doms it most resembles Hungary, a 
 region whose fertility has been ge- 
 nerally over-rated. Like Hungary, 
 a considerable portion of it is well 
 adapted for the cultivation of vines, 
 which should be encouraged if it were 
 only to procure a more healthy be- 
 verage for the troops, than the dele- 
 terious brandy, arrack, and rum, 
 which they daily imbibe in no mode- 
 rate quantities. The climate of this 
 quarter, composing the late Peshwa’s 
 dominions, is also greatly praised 
 during the rainy and cool seasons, 
 and the hot winds are of no long 
 duration. Indeed, its openness and 
 
 height above the sea might be ex- 
 pected to render it salubrious*. 
 
 In these extensive regions, the 
 chief part of the population is still 
 Hindoo, more especially in the pro - 
 vinces that were under the Maha- 
 ratta governments. There is a con- 
 siderable Mahomedan population in 
 the countries subject to the Nizam, 
 but those of the lower classes, who 
 are cultivators, have nearly adopted 
 all the manners and customs of the 
 Hindoos. 
 
 The Deccan is mentioned by the 
 author of the circumnavigation of the 
 Erythrean sea, as one of the divi- 
 sions of the Indian continent. His 
 words are, “ from Barygoza (supposed 
 to be Broach or Bhrigu-gosha) the 
 country stretches to the south, hence 
 that district is named Dachenabades, 
 for in the language of the country 
 the south is called Dachanos.” 
 
 The first independent sovereign of 
 the Deccan was Sultan Allah ud Deen 
 Hossein Kangoh Bhamenee, A.D. 
 1337, whose capital was Kalbergah. 
 He died A.D. 1357, and was succeed- 
 ed by 
 
 Mahomed Shah Bhamenee, who 
 died in 1374. This prince was the 
 first Mahomedan sovereign on re- 
 cord, who employed a train of artil- 
 lery in the Deccany wars, worked by 
 Turks and Europeans. 
 
 Mujahed Shah Bhamenee, assassi- 
 nated in 1377- He penetrated to 
 Ramisseram, in the straits of Ceylon, 
 but did not retain permanent posses- 
 sion of the country he had overrun. 
 
 Daoud Shah Bhamenee, assassinat- 
 ed in 1378. 
 
 Mahmood Bhamenee, died a natu- 
 ral death in 1396. 
 
 Shums ud Deen Bhamenee, de- 
 throned and blinded in 1396. 
 
 Feroze Roze Afzoon Bhamenee, 
 dethroned by his brother, who suc- 
 ceeded him in 14 22. 
 
 Ahmed Shah Wallee Bhamenee, 
 died in 1434. 
 
 Allah ud Deen the second, died in 
 
 1457. 
 
 Humayoon Shah Bhamenee, died 
 in 1460. 
 
DECCAN. 485 
 
 Nizam Shah Bhamenee, died in 
 1462. 
 
 Mahomed Shah Bhamenee, died in 
 1482. 
 
 Mahmood Shah Bhamenee, died in 
 confinement A.D. 1518, and with him 
 terminated the Bhamenee dynasty of 
 the Deccan, although several other 
 pageant monarchs were successively 
 placed on the throne. On the disso- 
 lution of this once powerful empire, 
 the Deccan became subdivided into 
 the following kingdoms, which will 
 be found described under their re- 
 spective heads : 
 
 1. The Bejapoor, or Adil Shahee. 
 
 2. The Golconda, or Cuttub Sha- 
 hee. 
 
 3. The Berar, or Ommaud Shahee. 
 
 4. The Ahmednuggur, or Nizam 
 Shahee. 
 
 5. The Beeder, or Bereed Shahee. 
 
 Aurengzebe, while viceroy of the 
 
 Deccan under his father, Shah Jehan, 
 greatly curtailed the territories of the 
 remaining Patan princes in that region, 
 and after he ascended the throne he 
 subdued the whole. Just at the same 
 time his wars with the Maharattas, then 
 springing into notice, commenced, and 
 gave him full occupation during the rest 
 of his life. His perseverance was so 
 great, that towards the conclusion of 
 his reign, having taken most of the 
 Maharatta fortresses, they were left 
 without any resource but plunder, 
 yet their numbers continued to in- 
 crease. Many of the powerful and dis- 
 affected zemindars joined them, so 
 that their predatory forces were esti- 
 mated at 100,000 horse. At the same 
 time, in spite of Aurengzebe’ s vigilance 
 and habits of business, the Mogul 
 army began to fall off both in spirit 
 and discipline. The imperial nobility, 
 deprived of their jaghires by the 
 Maharatta devastations, had recourse 
 to false musters, and did not keep up 
 half their complement of men and 
 horses. Owing to this, detachments 
 could not be dispersed in pursuit of 
 the marauders, and the grand army 
 being constantly employed in sieges, 
 left the Maharattas at liberty to plun- 
 der without molestation. By their in-, 
 cessant activity, they stopped every 
 
 communication of supply to the im- 
 perial camp, where numbers perished 
 by famine ; they even offered up mock 
 prayers for the long life of Aureng- 
 zebe, whose system of warfare so 
 highly favoured their depredations. 
 In addition to this the imperial troops 
 were tired out with a constant cam- 
 paign of twenty years, grew disgusted 
 with their employment, and remiss in 
 their duty. Such was the state of the 
 Deccany provinces towards the con- 
 clusion of the long and able reign of 
 Aurengzebe, and from this detail the 
 difficulties of his successors may be 
 conjectured. It is asserted by Maho- 
 metan authorities, that Zullfiear 
 Khan, one of Aurengzebe’s best gene- 
 rals, during six months, had nineteen 
 actions with the Maharattas, and pur- 
 sued them from place to place above 
 6,000 miles, in marches and counter- 
 marches. 
 
 In 1717, Nizam ul Mulck obtain- 
 ed possession of what remained of the 
 Mogul conquests in the Deccan, 
 which from that period virtually 
 ceased to form a part of the Delhi 
 empire. The Deccan continued sub- 
 ject to the Nizam and Mahrattas un- 
 til the British ascendancy, which may 
 be dated about A.D. 1803 ; and their 
 paramount sovereignty since the wars 
 of 1818, at which era direct posses- 
 sion was obtained of a large tract of 
 country, described in the next article 
 as the “ British Deccan.” In 1821, 
 three years after the districts on the 
 Nerbudda were ceded to the British 
 government, the natives began to level 
 the fortifications round their villages, 
 alleging that as they were now con- 
 vinced their attachment to the British 
 government would be permanent, for- 
 tifications were no longer necessary ; 
 besides which the population of these 
 villages had so increased that there 
 was not room for the inhabitants 
 within the old boundary. The modern 
 provinces comprehended within the 
 geographical limits of the Deccan are 
 the following, viz. 
 
 1. Gundwana. 
 
 2. Orissa. 
 
 3. The Northern Circars. 
 
 4. Candeish. 
 
486 
 
 DECCAN. 
 
 5. Berar. 
 
 6. Beeder. 
 
 7. Hyderabad. 
 
 8. Aurungabad. 
 
 9. Bejapoor. 
 
 Under these heads, respectively, 
 and the districts into which they are 
 subdivided, further statistical parti- 
 culars will be found. The rivers of 
 the Deccan are too impetuous for 
 navigation, when they are swollen by 
 the periodical rains ; and in the hot 
 season too shallow except near their 
 junction with the sea, which is in- 
 variably obstructed by sand-banks. 
 Under these circumstances, the trans- 
 portation of grain and merchandize 
 became, at an early period, an occu- 
 pation of considerable importance, 
 the roads being nearly as impassable 
 for wheeled carriages as the rivers 
 were for boats. The whole of this 
 great interchange has in consequence 
 been always conveyed on bullocks, 
 the property of a people termed Bun- 
 jaries, not aboriginal natives of the 
 country, but mostly emigrants from 
 Raj pootana. — ( Scott, Sydenham, Wilks , 
 Ferishta , Briggs, fyc.) 
 
 Deccan ( British ). — This territory 
 comprehends the districts of Can- 
 deish, Poona, Ahmednuggur, and 
 Darwar, which from the information 
 collected up to 1821 were estimated 
 to contain 70,000 square miles. The 
 aggregate population (exclusive of 
 villages belonging to Sindia, Holkar, 
 the Nizam, and others, intimately 
 mixed with the British possessions) 
 was then calculated at 1,795,700 per- 
 sons ; but this does not include the 
 city of Poona, the alienated villages 
 in that district, the late cessions to 
 the Nizam, nor the wandering tribes. 
 By a comparison of the revenue of 
 the excluded portions of this coun- 
 try with that of the British posses- 
 sions in the vicinity, the population 
 of which has been ascertained, the 
 following estimate may be ventured 
 on, and as Colapoor is not includ- 
 ed, it nearly corresponds with Mr. 
 Elphinstone’s estimate of four mil- 
 lions. 
 
 Persons. 
 
 District of Poona 484,717 
 
 Do. Ahmednuggur 650,000 
 
 Do. Candeish 417,976 
 
 Do. Darwar 684,193 
 
 2,236,886 
 
 Southern Jaghires 778,183 
 
 Satara 736,284 
 
 3,751,353 
 
 The number of government villages 
 was 7,229 ; of villages alienated, as 
 Jaghire, Serinjammy, &c. 2,252. 
 Umber, the celebrated revenue in- 
 tendant of the Deccan, under the last 
 of the Nizam Shahee princes, ap- 
 pears to have concluded a standard 
 village settlement of all the countries 
 under his control. This appears to 
 have been a fixed money rent, formed 
 with reference to an equal share of 
 the crop between the government and 
 the cultivator; or two-fifths to the 
 first, and three-fifths to the last. In 
 1820, the revenue of the Deccany 
 districts was 59,60,296 rupees, and 
 it was expected that by 1830 it 
 would have increased ten lacs more ; 
 but so rapid was the improvement, 
 that in June 1822 it already amounted 
 to 76,63,411 rupees. In 1820 the 
 mints of Kittoor and Moodhul had 
 been suppressed, and that of Shah- 
 poor transferred to Belgaum, and it 
 was intended to substitute one uni- 
 form coinage for the infinite variety 
 of currencies then circulating through 
 the districts. 
 
 From the answers to queries, it 
 would appear that slavery is very 
 prevalent in the British Deccan ; it is, 
 however, a mild and mitigated servi- 
 tude rather than absolute slavery. 
 Many Brahmins have children by fe- 
 male slaves, who are designated Sin- 
 deys, and do not acquire the pure 
 Maharatta blood until the third gene- 
 ration. The crimes here are princi- 
 pally committed by Bheels, Ramoo- 
 ses, Mangs, Dhers, Coolies, Kora- 
 wars, Mewaties, Bedurs, and persons 
 from distant countries. In 1 822, Mr, 
 
DELFT ISLE. 
 
 487 
 
 Chaplin estimated the whole number 
 of horses from the Tuptee to the 
 Toombudra at only 20,000 ; exclud- 
 ing those of the Satara Raja, but in- 
 cluding those of the Jaghiredars ; and 
 of the above number, more than half 
 were mere ponies. Within the imme- 
 diate British possessions he did not 
 think there were more than 6,000 
 horses, and of these scarcely one fit 
 for the British cavalry, yet so late as 
 1817 and 1818 the plains of the Dec- 
 can were covered with horsemen. — 
 ( Chaplin , Thackeray, Elphinstone , fyc.) 
 
 Decknal ( Dakshinalaya , the south- 
 ern residence).— A town in the pro- 
 vince of Orissa, the capital of a 
 tributary zemindary in the district of 
 Cuttack, forty miles N.N.W. from 
 the town of Cuttack ; lat. 20° 58' N., 
 Ion. 85' 48° E. The extreme dimen- 
 sions of this zemindary are 112 
 miles from east to west, and eighty- 
 seven miles from north to south ; the 
 produce consists of rice, cotton, 
 sugar-cane, timber, daminer, iron, 
 honey, and wax. The annual tribute 
 in 1814, paid into the Cuttack trea- 
 sury was 4,780 rupees; the estimated 
 profit remaining to the zemindar, 
 50,000 rupees .—{Richardson, Sfc.) 
 
 Dectan. — A town in the province 
 of Malwa, forty-five miles S.S.W. 
 from Oojein ; lat. 22° 36' N., Ion. 75° 
 30' E. 
 
 Deeg. — A town and fortress in the 
 province of Agra belonging to the 
 Bhurtpoor Raja, situated about fifty- 
 seven miles N.W. from the city of 
 Agra ; lat. 27° 30' N., Ion. 77 ° 12' E. 
 In A.D. 1760 this place was strongly 
 fortified by Sooraj Mull, the raja of 
 the Jauts; but in 1776, it was taken 
 from that tribe by Nudjiflf Khan, after 
 a siege of twelve months. It must 
 again have come into the possession 
 of the Jaut Raja, for in 1805 Lord 
 Lake attacked Holcar’s army, en- 
 camped under the walls of Deeg, and 
 defeated it with great slaughter. This 
 action proved fatal to Holcar’s regu- 
 lar infantry and artillery, and the 
 action at Futtehghur broke the spirit 
 of his cavalry. Deeg was subse- 
 
 quently captured after a short and 
 vigorous siege, but afterwards re- 
 stored. To preserve this town from 
 the violence of the torrents that pour 
 from the hills during the rains, it is 
 necessary to keep large embankments 
 in repair. There are here the ruins 
 of several remarkably fine palaces 
 and gardens. — ( Malcolm , Metcalfe, 
 Franklin , fyc.) 
 
 Deesa. — A town in the province 
 of Gujerat, twelve miles west from 
 Palhanpoor ; lat. 24° 9' N., Ion. 72° 8' 
 E. The surrounding country was 
 formerly much infested by refractory 
 Bheels and Mewassies, whose preda- 
 tory habits almost prevented the col- 
 lection of the revenue. Our most 
 advanced military station on the Gu- 
 jerat frontier is at Deesa, which 
 stands on the Banass river. No sta- 
 tion could be better chosen, for it is 
 connected on the left with the British 
 position in Cutch ; and on the right 
 at the distance of about sixty miles 
 is Sarowy, one of the Rajpoot prin- 
 cipalities of Ajmeer, the territories of 
 which have for more than a century 
 been rendered a scene of desolation 
 by the inroads of its neighbours, and 
 the predatory habits of its own po- 
 pulation. — ( Malcolm , a Native Moon- 
 shee, fyc.) 
 
 Dehind a. — A town in the province 
 of Berar, thirty-three miles S.W* 
 from Ellichpoor ; lat. 20° 52' N., Ion. 
 77 ° 17 ' E. 
 
 Dehra. — A small town in North- 
 ern Hindostan, twenty-four miles N. 
 by E. from Hurdwar ; lat. 30° 18' N. 
 Ion. 78° l'E. 
 
 Dehwaun. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Gujerat, with a handsome 
 pagoda and convent attached to it. 
 
 Deijbarra.— A town in the pro- 
 vince of Gujerat, twenty-four miles 
 W. from Broach ; lat. 21° 45' N., Ion. 
 72° 50' E. 
 
 Delft Isle.- — A small island lying 
 off the N.W. coast of Ceylon ; lat. 
 9° 35' N., Ion. 79° 46' E. In length it 
 may be estimated at seven miles, by 
 
488 
 
 DELHI. 
 
 three and a half the average breadth. 
 This island belongs to the district of 
 Jafnapatam, and affords good pas- 
 turage for breeding horses. 
 
 DELHI 
 
 (JDilli). 
 
 The imperial province of Delhi is 
 situated principally between the twen- 
 ty-eighth and thirty-first degrees of 
 north latitude. To the north it is 
 bounded by Lahore, and Northern 
 Hindostan west of the Goggra ; to 
 the south by Agra and Ajmeer ; on 
 the east it has Oude and Northern 
 Hindostan ; and on the west Ajmeer 
 and Lahore. The principal modern 
 geographical and political subdivi- 
 sions are the following : 
 
 1. The assigned territories, ^ 
 
 2. District of Bareilly, \ = 
 
 3. District of Moradabad, V | ^ 
 
 4. District of Shajehanpoor,/ Z 
 
 5. The jaghire ofRampoor,) <*- 
 
 6. District of North Saharunpoor. 
 
 7. District of South Saharunpoor 
 
 or Merut. 
 
 8. Hurriana. 
 
 9. Sirhind. 
 
 10. Pattialah, and various petty 
 Seik states. 
 
 The commencement of the long 
 range of hills, of moderate elevation, 
 extending through the Macherry do- 
 minions towards Jeypoor, is at Wu- 
 zeerabad, a small village on the banks 
 of the Jumna, a little way above 
 Delhi. The range as far as Sonah, 
 with the pergunnahs of Palam, Nujiff- 
 ghur, Padshapoor, Fureedabad, and 
 Palee Pakul, is inhabited chiefly by 
 Goojurs ; the second, commencing 
 on the west at Padshapoor, to the 
 Acberpoor ghaut beyond Alvar, by 
 Mewaties. Besides the Ganges and 
 Jumna, the chief rivers are the Cag- 
 gur, Chittung, and the almost ex- 
 tinct Sereswati, formerly a most dis- 
 tinguished stream. The first pro- 
 ceeds by Shahabad, Koram, and 
 Moonuk, towards Bhatneer. The 
 banks are in general steep, and it has 
 a small current of water. The Se- 
 reswati, while it has any water, flows 
 
 past Mustapliabad and Thanesur, and 
 joins the Caggur near Moonuk. The 
 former course of the Chittung, which 
 is supposed to have been brought 
 from the hills by Ferose Shah, was by 
 Ladooah, Dalchoor, Jeend, Hansi, 
 and Hissar, to Bahardaran, forty- 
 eight miles W. by S. from Hissar, 
 where it is lost in the sands ; but 
 the channel of the river is not now to 
 be traced further than Jeend, and 
 from the scantiness of the stream, 
 the water during the dry season sel- 
 dom reaches beyond Dalchoor. 
 
 In so arid a country, where culti- 
 vation so entirely depends on an 
 adequate supply of moisture, the im- 
 portance of canals and water con- 
 duits is so obvious, that the British go- 
 vernment has latterly directed a great 
 deal of its attention to the restoration 
 of the ancient ones and the construc- 
 of new. The canal of Ali Merdan 
 Khan, extending from the river Jum- 
 na opposite to Kurnaul to Dehli, a 
 direct distance of 100 miles, had long 
 been choked up. In 1817 Capt. Rodney 
 Blane, of the Bengal Engineers, was 
 appointed by government to restore it 
 at an estimated cost of about 3,50,000 
 rupees. The chief difficulty consisted 
 in constructing such an embankment, 
 where the water is taken from the 
 Jumna, as would resist the floods, 
 which operation, together with the 
 excavation of the channel 180 miles 
 in length, with sluices and lateral 
 branches, was completed in May 
 1820. The water was turned into it 
 on the 22d January, but on the 11th 
 February had only reached Bhowanny, 
 sixteen miles from Delhi, its tardiness 
 being attributed to the quantity im- 
 mediately absorbed by the soil, and 
 abstracted by the farmers to assist the 
 irrigation of the contiguous lands. 
 It prosecuted its fertilizing course, 
 and as the water approached the im- 
 perial city, it was hailed by a great 
 concourse of inhabitants with joy 
 and exclamations. Until the reno- 
 vation of this canal, the people of 
 Dehli had no pure water to drink, 
 the well and Jumna water being much 
 adulterated M'ith saline and other 
 deleterious impregnations. 
 
DELHI. 
 
 489 
 
 The total actual disbursement in- 
 curred in effecting the restoration of 
 this canal amounted to 2 , 22,805 ru- 
 pees; the collections of one year 
 after its completion to 25,586 rupees, 
 after meeting all charges, and will no 
 doubt gradually increase. Up to 1823 
 it had not been found practicable to 
 establish a permanent channel be- 
 tween the head of the canal near the 
 hills and the Jumna, the water of that 
 river being still thrown into it by 
 means of temporary dams, and it is 
 conveyed by the same contrivance 
 across the Soomb, a mountain torrent 
 nearly dry in the hot season, which 
 crosses the canal a little below its 
 head. The bed of the Jumna being 
 liable to extensive changes, any chan- 
 nel that might be opened would pro- 
 bably be ere long choaked up with 
 sand. Could the water of the canal 
 be kept up to the same level during 
 the whole year, to afford at all sea- 
 sons the same facility of irrigation, 
 much more land would be brought 
 into cultivation, and the coarser 
 crops give place to more valuable 
 ones, such as wheat, cotton, and 
 sugar. On account of the extreme 
 sandiness of the soil near the Soomb, 
 where the reverse is most wanted, no 
 solid foundation can be obtained to 
 admit the construction of a work of 
 masonry with sluice gates, and suffi- 
 ciently strong to resist the violence 
 of a swollen torrent. This canal, in 
 its course from the hills, is distin- 
 guished by different names ; the Delhi 
 or Ali Merdan Khan’s canal properly 
 commences from Kurnaul, above 
 which town it has various names, 
 such as the Shah NehrorNehr Be- 
 hesht, and the Doab, or Zabeta Khan’s 
 canal. 
 
 On the completion of this bene- 
 ficent enterprize, the same merito- 
 rious officer (Capt. Blane) was direct- 
 ed to undertake the restoration of 
 the canal of Sultan Feroze Shah, but 
 unfortunately died soon after the 
 completion of the first undertaking. 
 This canal (Feroze Shah’s) separating 
 from that of Delhi a little below 
 Kurnaul, stretches to the westward 
 through the Hurriana by Hansi and 
 
 Hissar to the frontiers of Bicanere. 
 The primary object of its construc- 
 tion was to furnish the means of ir- 
 rigation to the above tract, now 
 wholly dependent on the periodical 
 rains, the wells being of extraor- 
 dinary depth, and the water fre- 
 quently brackish. The branch lead- 
 ing through the city was a subsequent 
 and subordinate undertaking. In 1823 
 the utmost expense estimated for its 
 restoration was 2,90,000 rupees, for 
 which sum an extensive tract of land, 
 noW sterile and waste, will be ren- 
 dered capable of the finest cultiva- 
 tion, and will soon reimburse the 
 outlay incurred. 
 
 In 1822, Zabeta Khan’s, or the great 
 Doab canal, was ordered to be sur- 
 veyed. This canal separated from 
 the Jumna a few miles below where 
 that river issues from the northern 
 mountains, and after a course of 
 about 150 miles, again joined that 
 river nearly opposite to Delhi, having 
 passed through Saharunpoor, Ram- 
 poor, Shamlee, and other towns of 
 note, and fertilized an extensive tract 
 of country, formerly highly cultivated 
 and populous, but now sterile and 
 waste. It has never been ascertained 
 who was the original constructor of 
 this canal, which received the name 
 of Zabeta Khan, from an attempt 
 made by that Rohilla chief to restore 
 it, but which was in existence long 
 prior to his time. In 1823 the de- 
 signation of “ Hastings’ canal,” which 
 by an absurd strain of flattery had 
 been applied to the renovated canal 
 of Ali Merdan Khan, was ordered by 
 the Bengal government to be discon- 
 tinued, and the old name restored. 
 
 There is no portion of Hindostan 
 susceptible of greater improvement 
 by irrigation than the province of 
 Delhi, and it is probable that a great 
 extent of moving sand, at present not 
 merely unproductive, but threaten- 
 ing to overwhelm the adjacent lands, 
 might be again brought into cultiva- 
 tion. Nature, in fact, has pointed 
 out to the British government the 
 mode by which her territories in 
 Hindostan may be most beneficially 
 fostered, which is, by regulating the 
 
490 
 
 DELHI. 
 
 redundance of moisture supplied by 
 her noble rivers, so that none shall 
 be lost. There is no other employment 
 in which capital, public or private, 
 can be so profitably employed, and 
 at the same time so greatly improve 
 the condition of the inhabitants. In 
 ancient times many streams traversed 
 the north-western quarter of the 
 Delhi province which have long 
 ceased to flow, and one of them, 
 now almost extinct, the Sereswati, 
 was of such magnitude as to mark a 
 geographical region in Hindoo my- 
 thological history. With little trouble 
 or expense, when compared with the 
 benefit, these rivers might be again 
 led into their former channels, and 
 much valuable water, which now flows 
 undisturbed through the Sutuleje and 
 Jumna to the sea, might be arrested 
 in its progress, and made subservient 
 to the purposes of husbandry. The 
 objections to these excavations are 
 the difficulty of conducting a stream 
 across a territory intersected by deep 
 ravines, and the political state of the 
 province, a considerable portion of 
 which belongs to petty native states, 
 in the improvement of which the 
 British nation has no direct interest. 
 According to Mahomedan authors, 
 Sultan Feroze the third dug a canal 
 from the Sutuleje to the Jedger, and 
 formed also many other water-courses 
 and conduits, which in the confusion 
 of succeeding events were neglected, 
 and have long been so completely 
 choked up, that all traces of them 
 have disappeared. 
 
 The western quarter of this pro- 
 vince, especially the Bhatty and Hur- 
 riana countries, suffers greatly from 
 drought in the hot season, w hen wa- 
 ter can only be procured for which 
 the inhabitants are obliged to dig 
 from 120 to 200 feet deep, and even 
 then they only arrive at what is 
 brackish. During the rainy season, the 
 Caggur and other temporary streams 
 overflow, after which the pasture is 
 excellent, and the country tolerably 
 healthy, until the desert in the west 
 becomes intensely heated. In the 
 latitude of Anopshehr, between the 
 Ganges and Jumna, this province dis- 
 
 plays a naked sterility seldom dis- 
 turbed by the intervention of either 
 trees or cultivation, having been, for 
 more than a century prior to its ac- 
 quisition by the British, devastated 
 by every victorious or defeated fac- 
 tion. In the territory between the 
 Jumna and Sutuleje mango-trees are 
 numerous, and the soil produces 
 wheat, barley, gram, and other grains. 
 This portion of the province is not 
 quite so arid as that further west, 
 but the periodical rains are not suffi- 
 cient to insure a crop, irrigation being 
 also necessary, while water is ten 
 and twelve cubits from the surface. 
 
 Compared with Bengal and the 
 Company’s old territories, the pro- 
 vince of Delhi has few inhabitants to 
 the square mile, but they must have 
 rapidly increased during the last 
 twenty-two years of uninterrupted 
 tranquillity. They consist of a mix- 
 ture of Hindoos, Mahomedans, and 
 Seiks, the latter religion being most 
 prevalent in the north-western quar- 
 ter, which is almost entirely occupied 
 by petty Seik states. The principal 
 towns of the province are Delhi, 
 Bareilly, Pillibeet, Shahjehanpoor, 
 Rampoor, Moradabad, Anopshehr, 
 Merut, Seerdhuna, Saharunpoor, Pat- 
 tialah, Ambahlah, and Sirhind, under 
 which heads, and the territorial sub- 
 divisions respectively, further local 
 details will be found. 
 
 The Assigned Territories of 
 Delhi. — On the expulsion of the Ma- 
 harattas from Upper Hindostan in 
 1803, a large portion of territory 
 (sometimes called the Delhi district) 
 was assigned for the support of the 
 emperor and royal household, con- 
 sisting of a number of pergunnahs, 
 the revenues of which continued so 
 gradually to increase, that in 1814, 
 they were not only sufficient to de- 
 fray the expense of supporting the 
 royal family, but left a considerable 
 surplus applicable to general pur- 
 poses. In 1813 the jumma or land 
 assessment amounted to 12,56,505 
 rupees, and afurther increase was look- 
 ed for by the falling in of certain large 
 jaghires by the death of the existing 
 
DELHI. 
 
 491 
 
 incumbents. Indeed, from the inves- 
 tigation of Mr. Fortescue, the com- 
 missioner, it was discovered that this 
 tract had been long subjected to most 
 improvident alienations. From the 
 commencement of the reign of Baber 
 to the conclusion of that of Alum- 
 geer the Second, a space of 274 years, 
 comprehending the reigns of nine 
 emperors, not more than sixty-six 
 villages appear to have been granted 
 away in perpetuity ; whereas, during 
 the reign of Shah Allum (forty-eight 
 years) not less than 122 were alie- 
 nated for ever, and of these eighty- 
 eight were transferred in perpetuity, 
 without reference to the emperor, by 
 the Viziers, Peshwas, Sindias, and 
 other chiefs, who had usurped the 
 privilege of alienating the national 
 revenue simultaneously and co-exis- 
 tently. 
 
 In 1820 the augmentation of what 
 had hitherto been called the assigned 
 territory had become so great, as to 
 render a new arrangement necessary. 
 A civil commissioner and four assis- 
 tants, each having charge of a divi- 
 sion, were in consequence appointed 
 to superintend the revenue collection, 
 judicature, and police, the military 
 and political regulations still remain- 
 ing with Sir David Ochterlony, the 
 resident. The name of Assigned Ter- 
 ritory was also abolished, it having 
 always been, in fact, an integral part 
 of the British dominions, and the 
 commissioner (Mr. Fortescue) was es- 
 pecially directed to remove all inter- 
 mediate agency between the sovereign 
 of the soil and the ryot or cultivator. 
 — {Public MS. Documents , Lieut. 
 White , Metcalfe , Fortescue , Fullar - 
 ton, Plane , Tickell, $c.) 
 
 THE CITY OF DELHI. 
 
 ( Dilli ; in Sanscrit, Indraprast'ha.) 
 
 The ancient capital of the Patan 
 and Mogul empires, situated in lat. 
 28° 4P N., Ion. 77 ° 5' E. During the 
 splendid era of Delhi, according to 
 popular tradition, it covered a space 
 of twenty square miles, and the ruins 
 at present occupy nearly as great an 
 extent,* but notwithstanding its great 
 
 antiquity, and the long period of time 
 during which it has ranked as the 
 first city of Hindostan, there in no- 
 thing in its locality particularly at- 
 tractive, the adjacent soil being rather 
 of a sterile than fruitful description, 
 and the river unnavigable during the 
 dry season for boats of any consider- 
 able burthen. Under these disad- 
 vantages, however, it had become a 
 city of great fame and magnitude be- 
 fore the Mahomedan invasion, when 
 it was distinguished by the Hindoo 
 books of mythological history by the 
 appellation of Indraprast’ha. In A.D. 
 1631 , the emperor Shah Jehan found- 
 ed the city of New Delhi on the west 
 bank of the Jumna, which he named 
 Shahjehanabad. It is about seven miles 
 in circumference, and a large sum has 
 been recently expended in renovating 
 its walls, which are now in a good 
 state of repair, and faced along their 
 whole extent with substantial ma- 
 sonry, constructed of large blocks of 
 a bright grey granite. Martello towers 
 have been likewise erected at inter- 
 vals, for the purpose of flanking the 
 defences, the old bastions being at 
 too great distances from each other 
 to answer that end effectually. 
 
 This city has seven gates, viz. La- 
 hore-gate, Ajmeer-gate, Turkoman- 
 gate, Delhi-gate, Mohur-gate, and 
 Cashmere-gate ; all built of free-stone. 
 Near the Ajmeer-gate is a madrissa 
 or college of great extent, built by 
 Ghazi ud Deen, the grandson of Mi- 
 zam ul Mulk. The tomb of the 
 founder, who with his family lies en- 
 tombed here, is much admired for the 
 exquisite sculpture of its screen, of 
 white marble, as are also the tombs 
 of Kummer ud Deen Khan and his 
 family in the vicinity. Within the 
 city of Shahjehanabad, or New Del- 
 hi, are the remains of many splendid 
 palaces, which formerly belonged to 
 the great omrahs of the empire. 
 Among the largest are those of Kum- 
 mer ud Deen Khan, Ali Merdan 
 Khan, Ghazi ud Deen Khan, and 
 Sefdar Jung. There are also the 
 garden and palace of Coodseah Be- 
 gum, the mother of the emperor Ma- 
 homed Shah, the palace of Saadit. 
 
492 
 
 DELHI. 
 
 Khan, and that of Sultan Dara She- 
 koh, the unfortunate brother of Au- 
 rengzebe. The first is now a dila- 
 pidated ruin ; and the last has been 
 convered into an English dwelling, 
 and is now occupied by the resident. 
 They are all surrounded by high walls, 
 and take up a considerable space of 
 ground, as they comprehend baths, 
 stables for all sorts of animals, and 
 music galleries, besides an extensive 
 seraglio. 
 
 In this quarter of Delhi are many 
 very fine mosques, still in good repair, 
 the chief of which is the Jumma 
 Musjeed, or great cathedral, elevated 
 above the rest of the city, and a truly 
 noble structure, begun by Shah Je- 
 han in the fourth, and completed in 
 the tenth year of his reign. It is 
 composed partly of the fine dark red 
 sandstone, and partly of white marble. 
 Not far from the palace is the mosque 
 of Roushen ud Dowlah, where, in 
 1739, Nadir Shah sat, and saw the 
 massacre of the unfortunate inha- 
 bitants. Besides these there are forty 
 other mosques, some of which bear 
 the marks of considerable antiquity. 
 This applies more particularly to the 
 black mosque, a large and gloomy 
 edifice of dark coloured granite, 
 whose rude internal columns, clois- 
 tered area, numerous low cupolas, 
 and lofty outer walls, devoid of aper- 
 ture or ornament, denote an origin 
 coeval with the earlier Afghan dy- 
 nasties. Other curious remains of 
 Afghan architecture are to be found 
 in the plain to the south of the city, 
 and in the fortress of Selimghur, 
 which, both in their style and work- 
 manship, form a remarkable contrast 
 with the light, graceful, and highly 
 decorated structures of the Moguls. 
 
 The modern city of Delhi contains 
 many good houses, mostly of brick. 
 The streets are in general narrow, 
 with the exception of two, the first 
 leading direct from the palace to the 
 Delhi gate, which is 1,100 yards long 
 by thirty broad ; the second from the 
 palace to the Lahore gate, which is a 
 mile long by forty yards in breadth. 
 The first has an aqueduct down the 
 middle, now again repaired and sup- 
 
 plied with Water from the restored 
 canal of Ali Merdan Khan. Cotton 
 cloths and indigo are still manufac- 
 tured in the town and neighbourhood, 
 and a manufactory of shawls has re- 
 cently been established with success 
 by an enterprizing Hindoo merchant, 
 who imports the wool, and has en- 
 gaged native Cashmerian weavers to 
 superintend the looms. The chief 
 imports are by the northern caravans, 
 which bring from Cashmere and Ca- 
 bul shawls, fruit, and horses. Pre- 
 cious stones of a good quality are to 
 be had at Delhi, particularly the large 
 red and black cornelians and pee- 
 rozas; beedree hookah bottoms are 
 also manufactured here. The culti- 
 vation in the neighbourhood is chiefly 
 on the banks of the Jumna, where 
 wheat, rice, millet, and indigo are 
 raised. 
 
 The city was formerly partitioned 
 into thirty-six divisions, each named 
 after a particular nobleman who at 
 some period had his residence in that 
 quarter, or from some local circum- 
 stance. The modern Delhi is built 
 on two rocky eminences. The pa- 
 lace was built by the emperor Shah 
 Jehan ; it stands on the west bank 
 of the Jumna, and is surrounded on 
 three sides by a wall of red stone, 
 thirty feet high and above a mile in 
 circumference. Part of the interior 
 is now (1819) occupied by a public 
 bazar ; and the once splendid hall of 
 the Dewan Aum, with many other 
 principal buildings, have been long 
 consigned to filth and neglect. Some 
 structures, however, still remain in 
 sufficient preservation, more espe- 
 cially the Dewan Khas, or chief hall 
 of audience (an open quadrangular 
 arcaded terrace of white marble, 
 richly ornamented with mosaic work 
 and sculptures in relievo), and the 
 small but beautiful marble chapel of 
 Aurengzebe, to impress the beholder 
 with a just conviction of the former 
 magnificence of the Mogul monarchy. 
 The walls of the palace are intended 
 for defence as well as seclusion, and 
 are preserved with great care. The 
 gardens of Shalimar were formed by 
 the emperor Shah Jehan, and are 
 
DELHI, 
 
 493 
 
 said to have cost one million sterling. 
 Hardly a vestige of its former state 
 now remains, except one small build- 
 ing, probably once an apartment of 
 Shah Jehan’s palace, but now com- 
 prizing part of a house occupied by 
 the British resident. The area has 
 been converted into a neat park, and 
 the verdure of its orange-groves 
 forms an agreeable contrast with the 
 black and arid aspect of the adjacent 
 country. They appear to have oc- 
 cupied about one mile in circum- 
 ference, and were surrounded by a 
 high brick wall. The prospect to the 
 southward of Shalimar, as far as the 
 eye can reach, is covered with the 
 remains of extensive gardens, pavi- 
 lions, mosques, and sepulchres, all 
 desolate and in ruins. The obser- 
 vatory is in the vicinity of Delhi, 
 where it was erected by Raja Jey- 
 singh, in the third year of the em- 
 peror Mahomed Shah ; but it has 
 since been repeatedly plundered, and 
 the instruments destroyed. 
 
 The ruins of old Delhi cover the 
 plain for an extent of nearly eight 
 miles to the south of the modern 
 Shahjehanabad, and connect that city 
 with the village of Cuttub, exhibiting 
 throughout this vast tract one of the 
 most striking scenes of desolation to 
 be met with throughout the whole 
 world. Some of the gates, cara- 
 vanserais, and mosques of the an- 
 cient city are still tolerably entire, 
 but the objects most worthy of at- 
 tention are two splendid mansoleums 
 of the Emperor Humayoon and Sef- 
 dar Jung, the second vizier of Oude, 
 the smaller but not less elegant se- 
 pultures of Khaneh Azim, the em- 
 peror Mahomed Shah, and Jehanara 
 Begum, daughter of Shah Jehan; the 
 fort of Shere Shah, the temporary 
 reviver of the Patan dynasty, and the 
 curious remains of old forts and 
 other buildings ascribed to the em- 
 peror Feroze Shah. In 1823 Capt. 
 Tickell recommended to government 
 to have a regular plan of the city 
 and suburbs of Delhi executed by a 
 European engineer, a document which 
 would no doubt prove highly inte- 
 resting to the immediate residents and 
 
 to the public at large. Besides this, 
 it would greatly facilitate the trac- 
 ing of the aqueducts which formerly 
 conveyed water to the numerous 
 gardens, &c. in and about that city, 
 which the inhabitants, since the res- 
 toration of the Delhi canal, are daily 
 searching after, and clearing out the 
 sand and rubbish with which they are 
 choked up. 
 
 Although the present population 
 of this city will bear no comparison 
 with that of the time of Aurengzebe, 
 when it was reported at two millions, 
 yet it has certainly largely increased 
 since it came under the protection of 
 the British government. The com- 
 modious situation of Delhi for a 
 great inland mart, for the interchange 
 of commodities between India and 
 the countries to the north and west, 
 has, under the circumstances of se- 
 curity which property now enjoys, 
 compensated in some degree for the 
 reduced expenditure of the imperial 
 court, and there are perhaps few, if 
 any, of the ancient cities of Hindos- 
 tan, which at the present moment 
 will be found to rival modern Delhi 
 in the wealth of its bazars, or in the 
 activity and other indications of a 
 numerous and busy population. The 
 travelling distance from Calcutta by 
 the Birboom road is 976 miles. 
 
 The Jumna overflows here during 
 the rainy season to a wide extent, but, 
 unlike the Ganges, does not confer 
 fertility. In this part of its course it 
 is so strongly impregnated with na- 
 tron, extensive beds of which abound 
 in the neighbourhood, that its waters 
 destroy vegetation instead of pro- 
 moting it, and the whole space be- 
 tween the high banks of the river, 
 while in its low state, is a loose and 
 perfectly barren sand, like that of the 
 sea-shore. It most unfortunately 
 happened that during the year 1824, 
 amidst all the other misfortunes of 
 drought and scarcity, the Jumna 
 changed its course, and the canal be- 
 came dry. The sufferings of the in- 
 habitants were great; water was 
 brought from a considerable distance 
 (the wells during the existence of the 
 canal having been neglected), and 
 
494 
 
 DELHI. 
 
 sold high, and the gardens were quite 
 ruined. It was not until the middle 
 of November that the canal could be 
 restored, when its approach was hail- 
 ed again, with similar expressions of 
 joy as when it made its appearance. 
 
 Rajas of Delhi or Indraprast’ha are 
 mentioned by the Mahomedan his- 
 torians so early as A.D. 1008; and in 
 1011 the city was taken and plunder- 
 ed by Sultan Mahmood of Ghizni, 
 but restored to the raja as a tribu- 
 tary. 
 
 A.D. 
 
 1193. Cuttub ud Deen, the slave of 
 Mahomed Gauri, took posses- 
 sion of Delhi from the Hindoo 
 princes, and commenced the se- 
 ries of Afghan or Patan sove- 
 reigns, which reigned until the 
 invasion of Baber, the great 
 grandson of Timour. 
 
 1210. Taje ud Deen ascended the 
 throne. 
 
 1210. Aram Shah. 
 
 1210. Shums ud Deen Altumsh. 
 1235. Mallekeh Doran, Sultana Re- 
 siah. 
 
 1239. By ram Shah. 
 
 1242. Allah ud Deen, Massud Shah. 
 1244. Nassir ud Deen. 
 
 1265. Yeaz ud Deen Balin. 
 
 1286. Kaicobad. 
 
 1289. Feroze Shah Khiljie. 
 
 1295. Secunder Sani. 
 
 1316. Shaheb ud Deen Omar. 
 
 1317- Mubaric Shah. 
 
 1324. Sultan Mahomed. 
 
 1351. Sultan Feroze the second. 
 1382. Aboubecre Shah. 
 
 1393. Nassir ud Deen Mahmood 
 Shah. Timour crossed the In- 
 dus in 1398, and took and pil- 
 laged Delhi during the reign of 
 this prince, with whom, in 1413, 
 ended the Afghan princes of the 
 Khiljee tribe. Timour died in 
 A.D. 1405, in his 71st year. 
 
 1413. Dowlet Khan Lodi. 
 
 1414. Khizzer Khan. 
 
 1421. Mubaric Shah the second. 
 1433. Mahomed Shah the second. 
 1446. Allah ud Deen the second. 
 1450. Beloli Lodi. During this and 
 several of the preceding reigns, 
 Hindostan was divided into se- 
 
 parate states ; for in the Deccan, 
 Gujerat, Malwa, Juanpoor, and 
 Bengal, there were princes who 
 assumed the style and dignity of 
 kings. The districts also in the 
 immediate vicinity of Delhi were 
 occupied by different chiefs, who 
 scarcely even in appearance ac- 
 knowledged the supremacy of 
 the Delhi sovereign. 
 
 1488. Secunder Ben Lodi. 
 
 1516. Ibrahim Lodi. In A.D. 1525 
 this prince was defeated at 
 Paniput by Sultan Baber, who 
 the same year took possession 
 of Delhi, and abolished the Af- 
 ghan or Patan dynasty. 
 
 1525. Sultan Baber, who founded 
 what has since been called the 
 Mogul empire ; yet he, like his 
 ancester Timour, was a Turk, or 
 native of Turkistan, and in his 
 memoirs always speaks of the 
 Moguls in strong terms of dis- 
 like and resentment. Under 
 these circumstances, it seems a 
 strange caprice of fortune that 
 the empire he founded in Hin- 
 dostan should have been called, 
 both in the country and by fo- 
 reigners, the empire of the Mo- 
 guls, thus receiving its distinc- 
 tive name from an alien and 
 hostile race, which he detested. 
 This arose not so much from his 
 being, through Timour, a reput- 
 ed descendant of Gengis Khan 
 (who was a genuine Mogul), as 
 from his being a foreigner from 
 the north ; and from the age of 
 Gengis Khan downwards, all 
 Tartars and Persians, in the loose 
 colloquial language of India, seem 
 to have been denominated Mo- 
 guls. Tartar and Tartary are 
 two other misnomers. The last 
 by Asiatics is universally call- 
 ed Turkistan, and the first was 
 the name of a small tribe of 
 Moguls, who usually leading the 
 van in Gengis Khan’s army, 
 their name was carried into Eu- 
 rope by the terrified and fugitive 
 inhabitants of the countries he 
 desolated, and gradually em- 
 
DELHI. 
 
 495 
 
 A.D. 
 
 ployed to designate the whole of 
 Central Asia. 
 
 1530. Humayoon, the eldest son of 
 Baber. This prince was expelled 
 by Shere Shah the Afghan ; but 
 after the death of the latter, re- 
 covered possession, and was suc- 
 ceeded by his son, 
 
 1556. Acber the first. This prince 
 was born at Amerkote in 1542, 
 proclaimed emperor in 1556, and 
 died at Agra in 1605. He was 
 the greatest of all the sovereigns 
 of Delhi. His vizier, Abul Fa- 
 zel, was murdered by some ban- 
 ditti in the forty-seventh year of 
 his age. 
 
 1605. Jehanghire. 
 
 1628. Shah Jehan. 
 
 1658. Aurengzebe, died the 21st Fe- 
 bruary 1707. 
 
 1707. Shah Allum the first, the eldest 
 son of Aurengzebe ; died by 
 poison in 1712. 
 
 1712. Jehandaur Shah, dethroned 
 and killed the same year. 
 
 1712. Ferokhsere, assassinated in 
 1719. 
 
 1719. Ruffeh ul Dirjat, a child; died 
 in 1720, after a reign of three 
 months. 
 
 1720. Mahomed Shah the third, died 
 in 1747. In 1735 the Maha- 
 rattas made such progress that 
 they burned the suburbs of Del- 
 hi. Nadir Shah entered Delhi 
 on the 9th of March 1739, and 
 on the 14th April began his re- 
 treat, having collected immense 
 plunder. 
 
 1747. Ahmed Shah, who in 1753 was 
 dethroned and blinded. 
 
 1753. Alumgeer the second. Fie was 
 assassinated in 1756, which year 
 Ahmed Shah Abdalli, of Cabul, 
 first entered Delhi. 
 
 1756. Shah Jehan the second, de- 
 throned in 1760. 
 
 1761. Shah Allum the second. This 
 monarch commenced his reign 
 by an unprovoked and ill-con- 
 ducted attack on the British in 
 Bengal and Bahar, then recently 
 acquired; but finding himself 
 baffled and defeated, he soon 
 
 after voluntarily surrendered 
 himselfin the British camp, with- 
 out treaty, condition or stipu- 
 lation. On the acquisition of 
 the Dewanny in 1765, a pension 
 of twenty-six lacks of rupees 
 was settled on him, with a con- 
 siderable tract of fertile territory 
 in Upper Hind os tan ; both of 
 which he forfeited in 1771, by 
 quitting the protection of his 
 benefactors, and repairing to 
 Delhi, where he became a pri- 
 soner and political instrument, 
 under the custody of the Maha- 
 rattas, who about 1770 had ac- 
 quired possession of that city. 
 In 1788, Gholaum Kaudir, the 
 Rohilla, having by a sudden ir- 
 ruption made himself master of 
 Delhi, seized the unfortunate 
 emperor, and after exposing him 
 for many weeks to every species 
 of insult and degradation, in 
 order to extort the disclosure of 
 supposed concealed treasures, 
 concluded by piercing his eyes 
 with a dagger, so as completely 
 to extinguish the sight. For the 
 attainment of the same object, 
 he massacred, starved to death, 
 and tortured many of the royal 
 family and of the chief inha- 
 bitants of Delhi; but being com- 
 pelled to evacuate the city by a 
 detachment from the army of 
 Madhajee Sindia, he was cap- 
 tured during his flight, and ex- 
 pired under the tortures he had 
 so mercilessly inflicted. 
 
 Nor was the misery of the Mogul 
 emperor’s condition much alleviated 
 by the transfer in jaghire, which about 
 this period took place, of Delhi and 
 some adjacent territory, to the French 
 officers commanding the corps of dis- 
 ciplined infantry retained in the ser- 
 vice of Madhajee, and afterwards of 
 his nephew Dowlet Row Sindia : for 
 although he came successively under 
 the ostensible superintendence of M. 
 de Boigne, M. Perron, and M. Dru- 
 geon, he effectually remained a pri- 
 soner in the hands of the native Ma- 
 haratta officers, and subjected to all 
 their proverbial rapacity. During 
 
DELHI. 
 
 496 
 
 1802, when there were fifty-two sons 
 and daughters of the emperor, the 
 monthly stipend allowed to each 
 prince of the imperial family did not 
 exceed fifteen rupees per month (,£21 
 per annum); and the sums disbursed 
 by M. Drugeon, who had charge of 
 the emperor’s person, for the aggre- 
 gate expenses of his majesty, the 
 royal family, dependants, and esta- 
 blishments, amounted only to 17,000 
 rupees per month, or .£23,664 per 
 annum ; while the Maharattas retain- 
 ed and converted to their own use 
 all the gardens and houses in and 
 about the city that were royal pro- 
 perty, and perpetrated the most atro- 
 cious crimes, in the name of their 
 royal prisoner, for the purposes of 
 fraud and extortion. 
 
 Such was the desolation of this 
 ancient capital in 1803, when Lord 
 Lake, having defeated the army of 
 Dowlet Row Sindia, six miles from 
 Delhi, on the 11th September, entered 
 it next day, to the infinite joy of the 
 aged emperor; andtheMaharatta sway 
 being subsequently completely anni- 
 hilated in Upper Hindostan by a se- 
 ries of discomfitures, the Bengal go- 
 vernment proceeded to make arrange- 
 ments for his support. As a com- 
 mencement, all the houses, gardens, 
 and lands, of which the royal family 
 were deprived by the Maharattas, 
 were restored to them, and these soon 
 became of great value from the in- 
 creased security of property. It was 
 also determined that a specified pro- 
 portion of the territories in the vi- 
 cinity of Delhi, situated on the right 
 bank of the Jumna, should be assign- 
 ed in part of the provision for the 
 maintenance of the royal family ; 
 these lands to remain under the 
 charge of the resident at Delhi, but 
 the revenue to be collected and justice 
 administered in the name of the em- 
 peror Shah Allum, under regulations 
 to be promulgated by the supreme 
 government. That his Majesty should 
 be permitted to appoint a dewan and 
 other inferior functionaries, to attend 
 the office of the collector, for the pur- 
 ose of ascertaining and reporting to 
 is majesty the amount of the re- 
 
 ceipts, and satisfying his mind that 
 no part of the revenue of the assign- 
 ed territory was misappropriated. 
 That two courts should be establish- 
 ed for the distribution of civil and 
 criminal justice, according to the Ma- 
 homedan law, to the inhabitants of 
 Delhi and the assigned territory ; but 
 that no sentence of the criminal court 
 extending to the punishment of death 
 should be carried into execution with- 
 out the express sanction of his Ma- 
 jesty, to whom the proceedings in all 
 trials of this description should be 
 reported, and all sentences of mu- 
 tilation to be commuted to hard la- 
 bour and imprisonment. To provide 
 for the immediate wants of his Ma- 
 jesty and the royal household, the 
 following sums were ordered to be 
 paid in money from the treasury of 
 the resident at Delhi. 
 
 To his majesty for his private Rs. 
 
 expenses per month 60,000 
 
 To the heir-apparent, exclu- 
 sive of certain jaghires ... 10,000 
 To a favourite son of his 
 majesty, named Mirza Iz- 
 
 zet Buksh 5,000 
 
 To his majesty’s fifty sons 
 
 and daughters 10,000 
 
 To Shah Nawauz Khan, his 
 
 majesty’s treasurer 2,500 
 
 To Seid Rizzer Khan, British 
 
 agent at his court, and re- 
 lated to him by marriage... 2,500 
 
 Total, per month... 90,000 
 
 These amountingin all to£125,000per 
 annum, to be afterwards augmented 
 to one lack of rupees per month, if the 
 future produce of the assigned lands 
 admitted of it, exclusive of all pri- 
 vate property, and of 10,000 rupees, 
 to be paid to his majesty on the ce- 
 lebration of certain festivals. 
 
 The most urgent wants of the aged 
 monarch and his family being sup- 
 plied, various municipal improve- 
 ments were effected, some of the canals 
 were cleansed, the principal streets 
 cleared of rubbish, and an efficient 
 police established. The punishment 
 of mutilation was abolished in this 
 and all the adjacent territories sub- 
 
DELHI. 
 
 497 
 
 ject to the British jurisdiction ; and a 
 regulation was enacted, directing that 
 when a person by the Mahomedan 
 law was condemned to lose two 
 limbs, the decree should be commut- 
 ed to imprisonment and hard labour 
 for fourteen years ; and if one limb 
 the same for seven years. The fre- 
 quent assassinations that were cus- 
 tomary during the Maharatta admi- 
 nistration were effectually suppress- 
 ed, more by the institution of regular 
 courts, to which the aggrieved might 
 appeal, than by sanguinary examples 
 or any extension of the penal code. 
 But in thus protecting the person, 
 and increasing the comforts of the 
 Mogul emperors, it was never in- 
 tended by the British government to 
 employ the royal prerogative as an 
 instrument to establish any control 
 over the different states and princes 
 of India. An object of importance 
 had been attained by his rescue from 
 the custody of the French and Ma- 
 harattas, who usurped his name to 
 sanction their machinations for the 
 subversion of the British empire in 
 Hindostan, and detained in the most 
 degraded condition of poverty and 
 insult, this unfortunate representa- 
 tive of the house of Gengis, Ti- 
 mour, Baber, Acber, and Aurungzebe. 
 The most rational course appeared 
 to be, to leave the king’s authority 
 exactly in the state in which it was 
 found, and to afford the royal family 
 the means of subsistence, not merely 
 in a style of comfort, but of decent 
 splendour, not unsuitable to a fallen 
 but illustrious race, to whose power 
 the British nation had in a great 
 measure succeeded. 
 
 From this period (Sept. 1803) the 
 tranquillity of Delhi remained undis- 
 turbed until October 1804, when 
 Holcar, who was retreating from Ma- 
 thura before Lord Lake, sent his in- 
 fantry, provided with a formidable 
 train of artillery, to invest the city ; 
 and the siege was accordingly com- 
 menced on the seventh day of that 
 month. Owing to a variety of pres- 
 sing exigencies in other quarters, the 
 garrison at this time was not only too 
 small for the defence of so immense 
 
 VOL. i. 
 
 a city (the walls of which, besides 
 their great extent, were accessible 
 on all sides), but extremely faulty in 
 its composition, consisting partly of 
 300 Mewaties, robbers by profession, 
 and a body of irregular horse, whose 
 fidelity could not be relied on. The 
 Mewaties justified their previous cha- 
 racter by going over to the enemy 
 at an early stage of the siege ; and 
 the irregular horse their’s, by flying 
 on the approach of the enemy, who 
 in consequence approached close up 
 to the walls. Having opened their 
 batteries a few days afterwards, and 
 several breaches being effected, as 
 much by the concussion of the guns 
 on the crumbling ramparts as by the 
 artillery, the enemy made an attempt 
 to carry the place by escalade, in 
 which they were repulsed, and soon 
 afterwards their guns were spiked in 
 the batteries, by a well-conducted 
 sortie under Lieut. Rose. Being thus 
 baffled in all their endeavours, they 
 moved off on the 15th October, al- 
 though they had prepared their mines, 
 laid under the bastions between the 
 Turkoman and Ajmeer gates, one of 
 them pushed directly under the bas- 
 tion, and ready to be loaded. In this 
 manner, by the judicious arrange- 
 ment of Colonels Burn and Ochter- 
 lony, and the determined resistance 
 of the garrison, a small force was 
 enabled to sustain a siege of nine 
 days, repelled an assault, and de- 
 fended a city ten miles in circumfe?- 
 rence, which had ever been hereto- 
 fore given up on the first appearance 
 of an enemy. 
 
 Shah Allum survived this event 
 until December 1806, when he finish- 
 ed a long and calamitous reign of 
 forty-five years, in the eighty-third 
 year of his life, and on the same day 
 his oldest legitimate son Acber was 
 placed on the throne. The succes- 
 sion of this prince was marked by 
 the most unexampled tranquillity, 
 the commencement of every prince’s 
 reign having been invariably stained 
 with bloodshed, and disturbed by 
 tumult and commotion. But although 
 peace prevailed without, discord raged 
 within the walls of the seraglio, and 
 
 2 K 
 
498 
 
 DELHI. 
 
 Acber the second had scarcely been 
 Seated, when, at the instigation of 
 unprincipled advisers, he commenced 
 a series of intrigues, with the view of 
 effecting the exclusion of his oldest 
 son Abul Zuffer, aged thirty-two (to 
 \vhom he had taken a preposterous 
 aversion), and of procuring the sanc- 
 tion of the British government to the 
 nomination of his fourth and fa- 
 vourite son Jehandar Shah, as Wulli 
 Ahud, or heir-apparent. The causes 
 of the different princes were sup- 
 ported by parties within the walls, 
 and the most contemptible acts of 
 meanness and absurdity practised by 
 the different factions. The cause of 
 the legitimate heir, however, was 
 fast declining, owing to the unnatural 
 hatred of his father, who being na- 
 turally weak, was perplexed by the 
 artifices of his servants, among whom 
 no honest man could remain without 
 external support. Being entirely ig- 
 norant also of his relative situation 
 to the British government, he per- 
 severed in his determination to alter 
 the line of the succession, notwith- 
 standing the reiterated remonstrances 
 of the resident, who soon found that 
 the effect of the kindness of the Bri- 
 tish government was quite destroyed 
 by the impositions practised on him 
 by his family and attendants, each of 
 whom claimed the merit of accom- 
 plishing every measure in which his 
 protectors acquiesced. 
 
 Accordingly, after several prelimi- 
 nary steps, Acber the second pro- 
 ceeded to the extremity of proclaim- 
 ing his fourth son, Jehandar Shah, 
 heir-apparent, under the pretext that 
 the eldest was disqualified for such 
 an elevation by the weakness of his 
 intellects. In this emergency the 
 interposition of the British govern- 
 ment became necessary, and the re- 
 sident at Delhi was in consequence 
 directed to institute an investigation 
 regarding the sanity or derangement 
 of the legitimate successor. The re- 
 sult of this was highly favourable to 
 him : and the fact being established, 
 his majesty was informed, that it was 
 an invariable maxim of British policy 
 never to pass over the next in suc- 
 
 cession, and lawful claimant to the 
 throne, unless circumstances were so 
 strongly against him as to preclude 
 all hopes of improvement or amend- 
 ment ; that in the present case no 
 such urgency existed, as the heir- 
 apparent’s mind seemed quite equal 
 to his duties, and that the evils 
 which would originate from an irre- 
 gular succession were too great to 
 permit so momentous a deviation, 
 merely for the passible benefit to be 
 derived from a prince of greater abi- 
 lities. Neither could any thing very 
 satisfactory be expected from the con- 
 duct of such a sovereign as that of 
 his favourite Jehandar Shah, whose 
 youth, and whatever abilities he pos- 
 sessed, had been directed to the base 
 purpose of supplanting his eldest 
 brother. To prevent the recurrence 
 of the miserable artifices which had 
 so long distracted the interior of the 
 seraglio, and now threatened the ca- 
 pital with commotion, Jehandar Shah 
 was ordered to take up his residence 
 at Allahabad. 
 
 The prosperity of the territories 
 assigned in 1803 for the support of 
 his majesty and the royal family, con- 
 tinuing progressive, in 1812 his sti- 
 pend was augmented to one lack of 
 rupees per month, or £139,200 per 
 annum. On their first acquisition in 
 1803, they were leased on a trien- 
 nial settlement, and the first year 
 they yielded only 3,53,952 rupees 
 (£41,058) ; but so rapidly did a few 
 years of tranquillity and good go- 
 vernment ameliorate the condition of- 
 the cultivators, and the productive 
 powers of the land, that in 1814 
 they realized 12,56,505 rupees, or 
 £145,754. Nor did the ancient 
 and venerable capital experience less 
 benefit from the transfer than the 
 surrounding territory, although the 
 effects were not so quickly per- 
 ceptible ; and no improved system of 
 government could wholly compensate 
 for the absence of a splendid and 
 luxurious court. Ever since the 
 death of Aurengzebe, when it was 
 loosely estimated at two millions, the 
 population of Delhi had been gra- 
 dually decreasing, and under the Sin- 
 
DELHI. 
 
 499 
 
 dia family its decline was so uninter- 
 rupted, that the land within its walls 
 became of little or no value to the 
 owners, who carelessly disposed of 
 their rights for any trifle of ready 
 money, and frequently to escape ex- 
 tortion disclaimed their properties 
 altogether. Of this supineness they 
 had subsequent cause to repent, for 
 no sooner had the city surrendered 
 to Lord Lake, than the value of the 
 houses and lands within the walls in- 
 stantaneously doubled, and have been 
 ever since progressively increasing. 
 
 Among the most magnificent and 
 useful memorials of the taste and 
 splendour of the emperor Shah Jehan 
 remaining at Delhi, is the well be- 
 longing to the Jumma Musjeed (chief 
 mosque or cathedral), which had been 
 excavated at an immense expense out 
 of the solid rock on which that edi- 
 fice stands. The water is raised by 
 complicated machinery and a suc- 
 cession of reservoirs to the area of 
 the mosque, where at the top of a 
 grand flight of stairs it fills a small 
 fish-pond, and is of great utility to 
 aH ranks of persons, but more es* 
 pecially to the Mahomedans in the 
 performance of their prescribed ab- 
 lutions. For many years the decayed 
 state of the principal wheels, and the 
 ruinous condition of the machinery, 
 rendered the supply of water both 
 difficult to procure and extremely li- 
 mited in quantity. At length, in 1809, 
 it completely failed, and the conse- 
 quences during the intensity of the 
 hot season were extremely distressing 
 to the inhabitants, and excited con- 
 siderable interest in the mind of the 
 emperor. Under these circumstances, 
 Mr. Seton, the resident at Delhi, 
 Conceiving that the repair of the well 
 at the expense of the British govern- 
 ment would be highly gratifying to 
 the inhabitants, authorized its being 
 put in a state of repair, and the ex- 
 pense incurred was subsequently 
 sanctioned by the authorities in Cal- 
 cutta. 
 
 No regular census of the inha- 
 bitants has ever been taken, and any 
 attempt at an actual enumeration 
 would be viewed with jealousy and 
 
 distrust, by a people naturally averse 
 to innovation, or to any new arrange- 
 ment tending to bring them more 
 under observation, or likely to im- 
 pose on them either additional duties 
 or expense. From a concurrence of 
 circumstances it probably approaches, 
 if it does not exceed, 200,000, while 
 Agra, its ancient rival, has retro- 
 graded to 60,000 persons. But, not- 
 withstanding its comparatively re- 
 duced condition, a feeling is still pre- 
 valent all over India that the power 
 possessing Delhi and the king’s per- 
 son is virtually ruler of Hindostan, 
 and under this impression many in- 
 dependent states have repeatedly ap- 
 plied to be received as subjects and 
 tributaries, complaining of the refusal 
 as a dereliction of duty on the part 
 of the British government. For a 
 great many years, applications of this 
 nature had been most pressingly urged 
 by the Rajas of Joudpoor, Jeypoor, 
 Bicanere, Jesselmere, Assam, and 
 Cachar ; the nabobs of Mooltan and 
 Behawulpoor, by the numerous petty 
 states so long harassed b}' the depre- 
 dations of Sindia, Holcar, Ameer 
 Khan, and other plunderers, but never 
 acceded to until the arrangement of 
 the federal system in 1818, and alto- 
 gether unconnected with the Mogul 
 dynasty. 
 
 For the same reason, although the 
 Delhi emperor had long been de- 
 prived of all real dominion, before 
 political events brought him under 
 the British government, almost every 
 state and every class of people in 
 India still continue to revere his no- 
 minal authority. Until recently, the 
 current coin of every established 
 power was struck in his name, and 
 many princes of the highest rank bore 
 titles and displayed insignia which 
 they or their ancestors derived from 
 this source ; and the Delhi sovereign, 
 amidst all his vicissitudes was still 
 considered the only legitimate foun- 
 tain of similar honours. In con- 
 formity with this notion it was usual, 
 when a Hindoo prince succeeded to 
 his deceased father, to solicit the 
 Mogul to honour him with a teeka, 
 as a mark of investiture, or at least 
 
 2 k 2 
 
500 
 
 DELHI. 
 
 of royal approbation, which cere- 
 mony consists in having the forehead 
 anointed with a preparation of bruiz- 
 ed sandal-wood : for although this in- 
 unction had long ceased to be a ne- 
 cessary token of confirmation of the 
 successor’s right, it was still consider- 
 ed a gratifying mark of distinction. 
 
 The universality of this impression 
 throughout Hindostan may be further 
 illustrated by the conduct of the 
 Tamburetty or princess of Travan- 
 core, a genuine Hindoo state situated 
 near Cape Comorin, the southern 
 extremity of the region, and at no 
 period of its history subject to the 
 Mogul or to any Mahomedan supe- 
 rior; yet in 1813 she applied to have 
 a dress of investiture for her son, the 
 infant raja, although he was under 
 the special guardianship of the Bri- 
 tish government. The favour she ap- 
 plied for was refused, and she was 
 apprized of the inutility of the act 
 as a mark of confirmation, as well as 
 the folly of making an unmeaning 
 reference of the validity of her son’s 
 title to a power, which neither claim- 
 ed nor exercised a right to grant or 
 withhold it; yet she could not be 
 convinced that the ceremonial was 
 wholly superfluous. Under' existing 
 circumstances, his majesty’s assump- 
 tion of legitimate authority is alto- 
 gether incompatible with the situation 
 in which providence has placed him : 
 his granting dresses of investiture 
 was accordingly prohibited, both as 
 impolitic, and as adding nothing to the 
 validity of the succession. The same 
 objection did not apply to the grant- 
 ing of titles (through the agency of 
 the British government), but even 
 this phantom of former dignity was 
 almost annihilated in 1819 by the 
 conduct of Ghazi ud Deen, the 
 reigning nabob of Oude, who that 
 year renounced all titular subservi- 
 ence to the throne of Delhi, assuming 
 of his own authority the title of king 
 instead of vizier of Oude, and issuing 
 at the same time a new currency im- 
 pressed with his own name and le- 
 gend, but of the same weight and 
 standard as before; which change was 
 cheerfully, but with doubtful policy, 
 
 acquiesced in by the British govern* 
 ment. 
 
 The king being a man of weak 
 intellect, and quite infatuated with the 
 idea of his own importance, was 
 much disposed to encourage applica- 
 tions similar to that of the Tambu- 
 retty, because they at once gratified 
 his visions of departed dignity, and 
 proved a source of emolument to his 
 servants, and to the hordes of in- 
 triguers by which he was surrounded. 
 The exercise of such authority, how- 
 ever, is completely at variance with 
 the scheme of British policy, the 
 fundamental maxim of which is, that 
 it shall not derive from the charge of 
 protecting and supporting his ma- 
 jeaty the privilege of employing the 
 royal prerogative as an instrument 
 for establishing any controul or as- 
 cendency over the states of India, or 
 of asserting on the part of his Ma- 
 jesty, any of the claims which, in 
 his capacity of emperor of Hindostan, 
 that prince may consider himself to 
 possess upon the provinces formerly 
 composing the Mogul empire. The 
 British power in India is of too 
 substantial a nature, to incur the 
 hazard of resorting to the dangerous 
 expedient of borrowing any portion 
 of its authority from the lustre of the 
 Mogul name ; it could not, therefore, 
 permit his interference to withdraw 
 the inhabitants from their obedience 
 to their actual superiors, or that he 
 should attempt to convert his nominal 
 into any thing like a real supremacy. 
 From the emperor nothing was de- 
 rived by the Britith government; and 
 in return for the rescue of himself 
 and family from a state of penury 
 and degradation, and his support in 
 comparative comfort and affluence 
 under its protection, he is only re- 
 quired to live peaceably, and to aban- 
 don all dreams of ancient grandeur. 
 
 At present the British resident at 
 Delhi exercises a most extensive au- 
 thority, and the office is always filled 
 by one of the ablest and most expe- 
 rienced of the public functionaries, 
 as may be inferred from the following 
 detail of his duties. He has the 
 exclusive charge of the emperor and 
 
BEOBUND. 
 
 501 
 
 royal family ; conducts the negocia- 
 tions with the Raja of Lahore ; takes 
 cognizance of all political events in 
 the north-west of India; superintends 
 the ex-king of Cabul at Luddeana, 
 the protected Seik and hill chiefs, 
 the Nabobs Fyze Mahomed Khan, 
 Ahmed Buksh Khan, the Rajas of 
 Bhurtpoor, Macherry, Dhoolpoor, 
 Jeypoor, Joudpoor, Jesselmere, Bi- 
 canere, Kotah, Boondee, Odeypoor, 
 Sarowy, the Bhatty and Mewatty 
 chiefs, Ameer Khan, and various 
 other chiefs of less importance. The 
 present heir apparent, Mirza Abou 
 Zuffer (1827), about forty-two years 
 of age, is a respectable man, with 
 more talents than most native prin- 
 ces, and has a predilection for literary 
 pursuits, being fond of poetry, and 
 himself a tolerable Persian poet : but 
 addicted to strong liquors, and in 
 consequence prematurely aged. — 
 ( Public M.S. Documents , the Mar- 
 quis Wellesley , Fullarton , Archibald 
 Seton , Metcalfe, Franklin , Malcolm , 
 Gladivin , Ferishta , Maurice , fyc.) 
 
 Delhi Canal. — See Delhi Pro- 
 vince. 
 
 Dellamcotta ( Dalimcata ). — A 
 fortress which commands the prin- 
 cipal entrance into Bootan from the 
 south-west. It was taken by storm 
 in 1773 by a detachment under Capt. 
 John Jones ; the fame of which ex- 
 ploit spread through the mountains, 
 and greatly alarmed the Bootanners 
 and Tibetians; but it was restored by 
 Mr. Hastings through the interces- 
 sion of the Teshoo Lama. The same 
 importance is not now attached to 
 Dellamcotta since it is known that it 
 could be easily turned by a detach- 
 ment from Naggree in Sikkim. 
 
 Delli. — A town and petty state in 
 the island of Sumatra, situated in a 
 low swampy country on a river of the 
 same name ; lat. 3°46 / N., Ion. 98° 42' 
 E. In 1823 Delli was bounded on 
 the N.W. by Sungei Bubalan ; N.E. 
 by the sea ; S.W. by Sungei Tuan, 
 and on the south by a great Batta 
 state named Seantar. The Delli sul- 
 tan also claims sovereignty over many 
 small Malay communities in this 
 
 quarter; but is himself overruled by 
 eight ministers, whom he is obliged 
 to consult on all important exigen- 
 cies. The caliph is the head of the 
 church,- which is pure Islamism, 
 mosques of various sizes are conse- 
 quently abundant. The town of 
 Delli is a rude assemblage of mean 
 dirty huts on both sides of the river, 
 and in 1820 scarcely contained 1,200 
 persons. The river is navigable for 
 canoes one day’s journey inland, 
 where there are many Malay settlers, 
 mostly engaged in the cultivation of 
 pepper. 
 
 In 1823 Mr. Anderson estimated 
 the Malay population of all descrip- 
 tions at 7,000 persons, exclusive of 
 the Batta states of the interior. The 
 chief of these are Seantar, Ta- 
 nah, Jawa, Selow, and Sibaya Linga, 
 from whence iron, gambir, ivory, 
 cotton, pepper, pulse, tobacco, gold, 
 horses, and slaves are imported. The 
 Karankaran Battas in this quarter 
 write from the left to the right, while 
 the great cannibal raja of Munto 
 Panei writes with a knife on the 
 joint of a bamboo from the bottom 
 to the top. Slaves were formerly 
 plentiful here, and exported to Pe- 
 nang, where their condition, and 
 more especially that of the females, 
 was greatly ameliorated as compared 
 with their aboriginal servitude, for 
 in all communities in a similar stage 
 of society, the fate of the whole 
 female sex is that of a laborious, 
 hopeless, thankless slavery. In A.D. 
 1613, Iskander Mada, king of Acheen, 
 styled himself king of Delli, which 
 threw off the yoke about 1669. In 
 1 823 the reigning sultan was Allum 
 Shah, which being translated, signi- 
 fies “ the world’s king.” — ( Anderson , 
 Lieut. Crooke , fyc.) 
 
 Deobund. — A considerable town 
 in the province of Delhi, district of 
 Saharunpoor, about twenty-four miles 
 from the town of Saharunpoor ; lat. 
 29° 40' N., Ion. 77 ° 40' E. This is a 
 place of some trade, and contains 
 besides several entire streets of brick 
 houses, inhabited chiefly by Brahmins. 
 There are also two small modern 
 
502 
 
 DEOGHUR. 
 
 mosques, a serai, and the Remains of 
 an old fort of considerable extent. — 
 
 ( Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 Deo Dhoora Temple. — A temple 
 in Northen Hindostan, eighteen miles 
 S.E. from Almora ; lat. 29° 53' N., 
 Ion. 79° 50' E., 6,780 feet above the 
 level of the sea. 
 
 Deodhur. — A town situated in 
 that portion of the Gujerat province 
 named the Kakreze, about nineteen 
 miles S. by E. from Theraud ; lat. 
 24° 1' N., Ion. 71° 35' E. In 1809 
 the chief of this place could muster 
 60 horse and 200 foot ; in 1820 
 these were reduced to seven horse 
 and 123 foot. 
 
 Deodura. — A village in Northern 
 Hindostan, district of Kumaon, about 
 twenty-seven miles travelling dis- 
 tance W.S.W. from Almora. This 
 small hamlet, inhabited chiefly by 
 Brahmins, is romantically situated in 
 a grove of deodar pines near the 
 brink of a wooded precipice, com- 
 manding an extensive prospect to the 
 north as far as the snowy mountains. 
 There is here a small temple of Devi 
 singularly situated in the vertical 
 crevice of a rock, accessible only by 
 a dark horizontal passage, which per- 
 forates the body of the rock. Deo- 
 dura being on the road from Almora 
 to Lohoo ghaut, a small house has 
 been erected by government for the 
 accommodation of travellers. — ( Ful - 
 lartoii , #c.) 
 
 Deoghir. — See Dowletarad. 
 
 Deoghur ( Devaghara ). — A large 
 district in the province of Gundwana, 
 situated principally between the 20th 
 and 21st degrees of north latitude, 
 and comprizing an important portion 
 of the raja of Nagpoor’s dominions. 
 From its geographical position it is 
 usually separated into two divisions, 
 Deoghur above the Ghauts and Deo- 
 ghur below the ghauts. 
 
 Deoghur above the ghauts is an 
 elevated tract looking down to the 
 north on the valley of the Nerbudda, 
 and to the south on the plains of 
 Nagpoor, occupying a portion of the 
 
 Vindhyan table-land and hills lying 
 south of the Nerbudda. It may be 
 said to consist of a regular succes- 
 sion of hill and dale, formed by the 
 larger and smaller ranges of hills that 
 cover its surface, whose general di- 
 rection is east and west. The most 
 elevated of these ridges rises in the 
 high land of Bhutkaghur, and from 
 the western extremity the mass of 
 the Mahadeo mountains, the highest 
 of which is Damlaghiri. Throughout 
 its whole extent this ridge can be ap^ 
 proached from the south and north 
 only by ascending ghauts, more or 
 less difficult, those from the south 
 being generally the easiest. At the 
 bottom of this ridge lies a beautiful 
 valley, extending from Chuparah east 
 to Hurdaghur west. 
 
 The country to the south of this 
 table land, or Deoghur below the 
 ghauts, is crossed by various ranges 
 of hills branching off from the Vind- 
 hyan mountains, and mostly covered 
 with loose stones and jungle, and 
 broken with ravines and vallies. The 
 rest of Deoghur situated between the 
 rivers Wurdaand Wyne Gunga, and 
 extending to the southward as far as 
 the Chandah district, is generally open 
 and undulating, watered by several 
 considerable streams, and chequered 
 hills, spurs of hills, and low ridges. 
 
 The origin and early history of the 
 powerful Gond rajas is quite un- 
 known, although prior to the reign 
 of Buhkt Boolind (contemporary 
 with Aureogzebe)they had made con- 
 siderable progress in the subjugation 
 of the country below the ghauts. 
 Buhkt Boolind, who to conciliate the 
 imperial favour had turned Maho- 
 medan, made great additions to his 
 territories, and possessed the spot on 
 which Nagpoor now stands, but, like 
 the rest of his dominions in a very 
 savage condition. This Gond po- 
 tentate usually remained in the dis- 
 tricts above the ghauts, except when 
 prosecuting his military expeditions. 
 Towards the conclusion of Aurung- 
 zebe’s reign, he plundered Berar and 
 other provinces of the Delhi em- 
 perors, although he was still in the 
 habit of transmitting tribute, tq that 
 
DEOGHUR. 
 
 508 
 
 city. At that era Pownar was the 
 chief seat of the Mogul government 
 east of the Wurda river. On the 
 death of Buhkt Boolind dissensions 
 arose in his family, and Ragojee 
 Bhoonsla was called in to settle their 
 disputes, which ended in his usurping 
 their territories. 
 
 Deoghur and Chanda formed the 
 nucleus of the Bhoonsla dominions, 
 but in both the original principles of 
 the Gond system were the same. The 
 rajas at first were little more than the 
 feudal superiors of a number of petty 
 chiefs, whose relations and depen- 
 dants contributed nothing but mi- 
 litary service. In progress of time 
 they attracted the attention of the 
 Deccany Mahomedan sovereigns, and 
 ultimately became tributary to the 
 throne of Delhi, ambitious of the 
 distinction lavished by that court 
 as a source of influence over tribes 
 still unconquered, and of pride as 
 adding a number of barbarous races 
 to the list of their nominal subjects. 
 
 The Gond rajas of Deoghur and 
 Chanda are said at different times to 
 have made their appearance at Delhi; 
 and one of the most eminent having 
 become Mussulmaun to ensure the 
 imperial favour, under the name of 
 Bukht Boolind (high fortune), his fa- 
 mily still continue of that persuasion. 
 Under his reign civilzation made con- 
 siderable advances in Gundwana, as 
 he attracted many foreigners into 
 that province by bestowing employ- 
 ments on them ; he also founded 
 many towns and villages and protect- 
 ed commerce. His court was also 
 the resort of military adventurers 
 from all quarters, many of whose des- 
 cendants still remain. With their assis- 
 tance he made conquests from Chan- 
 da and Mundala, and he availed him- 
 self of the convulsions in the Deccan 
 which originated from Aurungzebe’s 
 interminable conflicts with the Ma- 
 harattas. On his death domestic 
 disputes arose among his descen- 
 dants, which rendered them an easy 
 prey to foreign invaders. After the 
 conquest of Deoghur, the Bhoonsla 
 family still allowed the title of raja 
 to the Gond princes, with a small 
 
 share of the revenue ; and the respect- 
 ful attention due to the ancient fa-* 
 mily is still carefully, and even os- 
 tentatiously observed, for the Gond 
 raja gives the tika, or stamp of roy- 
 alty, to the Bhoonsla sovereigns on 
 their ascending the guddy or throne. 
 
 In 1825 the inhabited towns in 
 Deoghur below the ghauts were sixty- 
 four, the inhabited villages 2,011, 
 and the total population 572,792 per- 
 sons, within an area of about 6,000 
 square miles. In 1818-19, under the 
 British system of collection, the re- 
 venue amounted to 14,98,134 rupees; 
 in 1825 to 16,46,607 rupees. Cul- 
 tivation had greatly decayed at the 
 first period, but at the last was an- 
 nually increasing. 
 
 Deoghur above the ghauts, when 
 it came under the British system, was 
 found to have suffered in an equal 
 ^degree with the other parts of the 
 Nagpoor dominions, from the rui- 
 nous system of Ragojee the second, 
 from the ravages of the Gonds, and 
 more especially from Appa Saheb’s 
 residence in this elevated region. 
 The tanks here are few and of no 
 importance, the sugar cultivation for 
 which this district is noted being car- 
 ried on by means of wells. In 1824 
 the collection of the land revenue 
 amounted to258, 221 rupees; thenum- 
 ber of inhabited villages was 1,241 : 
 the total population 1 45,363 persons. 
 — ( Jenkins , fyc.) 
 
 Deoghur. — A town in the province 
 of Allahabad, twenty-nine miles N. 
 by E. from Ditteah ; lat. 26° 5' N., 
 Ion. 78° 3' E, 
 
 Deoghur. — A pass in the province 
 of Ajmeer, principality of Odeypoor. 
 The predominating rock here is 
 quartz, which abounds every where 
 in this part of Rajpootana, whold 
 peaks of it appearing pure, white, 
 and glittering like snow, mingled with 
 masses of a flesh colour . — {James 
 Fraser , fyc.) 
 
 Deoghur. — See Baidyanath. 
 
 Deoghur. — A town in the province 
 of Gundwana, eighty-three miles S."W^ 
 
DEVAPRAYAGA. 
 
 504 
 
 from Hussingabad; lat. 21° 43' N., 
 Ion. 78° 35' E. 
 
 Deoghurwara. — A village in the 
 province of Malwa,division of Oojein, 
 situated under the hills about five 
 miles S.E. from Indore, and remark- 
 able for a sacred spring that rises in 
 an adjacent cavern. The water is 
 tepid, and a gateway and reservoir, 
 with a temple of Mahadeva in the 
 centre, have been constructed at the 
 mouth of the cavern. — ( Fullarton , 
 **0 
 
 Deohra. — A small town in North- 
 ern Hindostan, five miles west from 
 the Pabur river; lat. 31° 6' N., Ion. 
 77° 40' E. 
 
 Deola (orDewla). — A fortified 
 town in the province of Malwa, di- 
 vision of Kantul, in 1820 the re- 
 sidence of the Pertaubghur raja ; lat. 
 24° 3' N., Ion. 74° 44' E., eight miles 
 west of Pertaubghur, and 1,770 feet 
 above the level of the sea. The sur- 
 rounding country is extremely rugged 
 and jungly, but the trees are of good 
 growth. The town contains some 
 well-built stone houses. — ( Malcolm , 
 $c.) 
 
 Deonella ( or Deonhully). — A 
 town in the Mysore territories, twen- 
 ty-three miles N.N.E. from Banga- 
 lore ; lat. 13° 14' N., Ion. 77° 47' E. 
 
 Deo Tal Lake. — A small moun- 
 tain lake or loch in Northern Hin- 
 dostan, twenty-six miles E.N.E. from 
 Gangoutri ; lat. 31° 4'N., Ion. 79° 24' 
 E. Immediately north there is a pass 
 into Tibet, the summit of which has 
 been estimated at 18,000 feet above 
 the level of the sea. 
 
 Dera Ghazi Khan. — A town and 
 small district in the Afghan territories, 
 situated on the left bank of the In- 
 dus; lat. 29° 50' N., Ion. 70° 20' E., 
 forty miles from Mooltan. This tract 
 lies between the Indus and Baloo- 
 chistan, and is subject to the Cabul 
 sovereign, to whom, in 1809, it yield- 
 ed a revenue of five lacks of rupees. 
 In 1821 it is described as a populous 
 town, inhabited by Durranies and 
 merchants. — ( Elphinstone , James 
 Fraser , Sfc.) 
 
 Dera Ishmael Khan. — A town in 
 Afghanistan, the capital of the Da- 
 maun province, and situated on the 
 west bank of the Indus; lat. 31° 50' 
 N., Ion. 70° 33' E. It stands in a 
 large wood of date-trees about 100 
 yards from the Indus, and in 1809 
 had a ruined wall of unburned bricks 
 about one mile and a-half in circum- 
 ference. The inhabitants are mostly 
 Balooches, but there are also some 
 Afghans and Hindoos ; the peasantry 
 are Juts and Balooches. There are 
 also some hordes of wandering shep- 
 herds encamped on different parts of 
 this extensive plain. In 1809 the 
 embassy to Cabul halted here for se- 
 veral weeks. — (Elphinstone, fyc.) 
 
 Deriah Khan. — A town in the 
 province of Lahore, situated on the 
 east side of the Indus ; lat. 31° 53' 
 N., Ion. 70° 45' E. 
 
 Desan River. — This ranks as the 
 second river of Bundelcund, after the 
 Ken. It rises in the Vindhya chain 
 of mountains, and proceeds with a 
 northerly course until it joins the 
 Betwa near Chandwar, after an inde- 
 pendent course of 220 miles. It is 
 too rocky to be navigable, but is well 
 stocked with fish. — ( Franklin , tyc.) 
 
 Dessye. — A small town belonging 
 to Sindia in the province of Malwa, 
 the cusba or head of a pergunnah 
 of the same name ; lat. 22° 43' N., 
 Ion. 75° 13' E. 
 
 Deucar. — A town in Northern 
 Hindostan, subject to the Nepaulese, 
 fifty-one miles N.E. from Baraitche ; 
 lat. 28° 8' N., Ion. 82' E. 
 
 Devaprayaga (the union of the 
 godsj . — One of the five principal 
 prayagas (holy junctions where two or 
 more rivers meet) mentioned in the 
 shastras, situated in Northern Hindos- 
 tan, district of Gurwal, twelve miles 
 west from Serinagur ; lat. 30° 9' N., 
 Ion. 78° 33' E. The town stands at the 
 confluence of the rivers, and is built 
 on the scarp of a mountain about 
 100 feet above the water, the moun- 
 tain rising about 800 feet higher. 
 The houses are in general two stories 
 high, bitilt of large stones, cemented 
 
DEWSAH. 
 
 505 
 
 with coarse lime, and covered with 
 shingles. In the upper part stands a 
 temple sacred to Raghunath, or 
 Ramachandra, constructed of large 
 pieces of stone piled up without mor- 
 tar, in height about sixty feet. The 
 presiding deity is an image six feet 
 high cut in black stone, with the 
 lower part painted red. In 1808 the 
 town contained above 200 houses, 
 inhabited by Brahmins of different 
 sects, but principally those of Poona 
 and the Deccan. The resident Brah- 
 mins being very ignorant persons, can 
 give no information when or by whom 
 the temple was erected ; the only fact 
 they are quite certain of is, that it 
 has been in existence 10,000 years. 
 
 The sacred junction is formed by 
 the streams of the Bhagirathi, or true 
 Ganges, and Alacananda rivers, the 
 last before their confluence being the 
 most considerable stream, with a 
 breadth of about 142 feet, and during 
 the rainy season a depth of forty-six 
 or forty-seven feet above low r -water 
 level. The breadth of the Bhagirathi 
 is 112 feet, and it is said to rise forty 
 feet during the rains. The union of 
 the two currents forms the Ganges, 
 the breadth of which immediately 
 below the junction is eighty yards. — 
 ( Webb, $c.) 
 
 Devicotta ( Devicata , the fort of 
 the goddess ) . — A town in the Carnatic 
 province, district of Tanjore, situated 
 near the junction of Coleroon river 
 with the sea ; lat. 1 1° 25' N., Ion. 79° 
 52' E., thirty-seven miles south from 
 Pondicherry. This place was taken 
 from the raja of Tanjore by Major 
 Lawrence in 1749, on which occasion 
 Lieut. Clive particularly distinguish- 
 ed himself. -\Orme, fyc.) 
 
 Devy. — A town in the Northern 
 Circars, twenty-eight miles S.W. from 
 Masulipatam ; lat. 15° 53' N.,lon. 80° 
 57' E. 
 
 Dewa River.— See Goggra Ri- 
 ver. 
 
 Dewass. — A town in the province 
 of Malwa, which in 1820 contained 
 1,187 inhabited houses and 5,930 per- 
 sons; lat. 22° 59' N., Ion. 76° 10' E. 
 
 It stands about thirteen miles due 
 north of Semlia, and has a good tank 
 on the east side. Two miles further 
 eastward is another small tank, the 
 source of the little Kali Sinde river. 
 For the thirty years prior to 1817 
 the Puars of Dewass suffered the ex- 
 treme of misery, having been so in- 
 cessantly plundered and oppressed 
 by Sindia, Holcar, and every Pindarry 
 or freebooter of the day, that their 
 being in existence, or possessing an 
 inhabited village, appears almost a 
 miracle. A pleasing contrast was 
 presented in 1821, at which date 
 Dewass, which had been almost de- 
 serted, had become a populous town, 
 and 141 villages had been re-peopled. 
 In 1819 the gross revenue was 
 1,09,375 rupees, which was expected 
 to reach 6,00,000 in 1824. — ( Malcolm , 
 $c.) 
 
 DEWGHURf Devaghar J . — An island 
 on the coast of the Bejapoor pro- 
 vince, which commands a very fine 
 harbour, where vessels of 600 tons 
 may ride in safety during the mon- 
 soon. The river here is navigable a 
 long way up, and there is a high road 
 to the ghauts. 
 
 Dewilmurry ( Devalayamari ). — A 
 village or hamlet in the province of 
 Gundwana, situated on the east bank 
 of the Baumgunga river, which is 
 here a considerable stream, being 
 augmented by the junction of the 
 Wurda and Wainy Gunga rivers, 
 about six miles to the north ; lat. 
 19° 7'N., Ion. 81° 30' E., 150 miles 
 N. from the town of Rajamundry. 
 This is one of the most considerable 
 Gond hamlets in the country, and 
 has an extensive spot of ground 
 cleared round it.— (J. B. Blunt , § c.) 
 
 Dewra. — A small town in the pro- 
 vince of Allahabad, twenty-four miles 
 south from Chatterpoor ; lat. 24° 36' 
 N., Ion. 79° 37' E. 
 
 Dewree. — A town in the province 
 of Ajmeer, which in 1820 belonged 
 to Zalim Singh of Kotah, and contain- 
 ed about 600 houses. 
 
 Dewsah. — »A considerable town in 
 the province of Ajmeer, thirty-six 
 
506 
 
 DEYRAH BOON. 
 
 miles east from Jeypoor ; lat. 20° .50', 
 Ion. 76° 12' E. This place stands 
 on one side of a square table-like 
 hill, with a sharp peak adjoining. The 
 hill is crowned with a most extensive 
 forest, and in 1824 there were other 
 remains, such as those of large tanks, 
 ruinous and dry, several tombs, and 
 other vestiges of antiquity, all evinc- 
 ing that the place had seen better 
 days. It is also a kind of second- 
 rate place of pilgrimage, where a 
 Hindoo fair and festival is occasion- 
 ally held. The town is still sur- 
 rounded by a ruined wall resembling 
 that at Benares, and altogether the 
 place is one extremely characteristic 
 of the ancient habits of India. 
 
 Deybur Lake ( or Jey Saugur ). — 
 A lake in the province of Ajmeer, 
 division of Mewar, about twenty- 
 seven miles S.E. from the city of 
 Odeypoor; lat. 24° 17' N., Ion. 74° 
 1' E., 1,044 feet above the level of 
 the sea. The Goometri river, which 
 formerly burst through a narrow 
 opening in the range of hills, is here 
 arrested by a magnificent marble dam 
 thrown across its bed. It presents a 
 deep clear expanse of water, bounded 
 on two sides by fine mountains, from 
 400 to 700 feet high, projecting 
 abruptly into it. The other sides 
 consist of lower elevations or ridges. 
 The extreme length of the ridge is 
 about eight miles, and its breadth 
 from three to four miles. Near the 
 centre are some woody hills, on the 
 largest of which a Hindoo devotee 
 has taken up his abode. A handsome 
 palace and attendant buildings have 
 been erected on the hill at its eastern 
 end, and steps the whole length of 
 the dyke or dam lead down to the 
 water, ornamented with large figures 
 of elephants, on high pedestals of a 
 single block. The total height of the 
 dyke to the water’s edge is fifty-four 
 feet ; its length three furlongs, and 
 breadth 110 yards. Owing to the 
 premature death of its builder, Rana 
 Jey Singh, it is in an unfinished state. 
 Every part of it is faced with fine 
 white marble, and the small build- 
 ings, elephants, &c. and all other 
 
 decorations are of the same sub- 
 stance, which is abundant in the 
 neighbouring range. — (. Dangerfield , , 
 
 Deypaulpoor ( Devapalapur ). — 
 A town in the province of Malwa 
 belonging to Holcar, which in 1820 
 contained 1,035 houses; lat. 22° 50' 
 N., Ion. 75° 35' E., twenty-four miles 
 N.W. by W. from Indore. This 
 place has a large tank on the east 
 side from whence roads leads to In- 
 dore, Oojein, Dhar, &c. At the 
 above date the pergunnah of Dey- 
 paulpoor contained 7,489 houses, 
 and, including the town, yielded a 
 revenue of 1,00,000 rupees. — {Mal- 
 colm, Sfc.) 
 
 Deyrah Doon (Deira Dun ). — A 
 valley in Northern Hindostan, pro- 
 vince of Gurwal, situated between 
 the Jumna and Ganges rivers, which 
 was ceded to the British government 
 by the Nepaulese in 1815, and sub- 
 sequently annexed to the district of 
 North Saharunpoor. This valley or 
 strath is separated from the Gangetic 
 plain by a low serrated range of 
 wooded hills, which, although it ap- 
 pears to cross the Ganges, and to 
 penetrate for some distance into Ro- 
 hilcund, is distinct from the great 
 mass of the northern mountains, to 
 which it may be considered a sort of 
 an outwork. Through this ridge 
 there are several openings, which af- 
 ford a tolerably easy communication 
 between Saharunpoor and the Doon ; 
 but the principal are the pass of 
 Hurdwar, by the side of the Ganges ; 
 that of Timley, within a few miles of 
 the Jumna ; and the intermediate 
 routes of Kheree and Kusserow. The 
 ascent by these passes into the valley 
 is for the most part so gradual as to 
 be scarcely perceptible ; yet the ge- 
 neral elevation of the Doon itself has 
 been found, by barometrical observa- 
 tion, to be from 800 to 1,000 feet 
 above the level of the ocean. Its 
 climate also differs much from that of 
 Saharunpoor, for it is hardly at all 
 affected by the hot winds, and during 
 the winter season the mountains im- 
 mediately bounding it to the north 
 
DHAR. 507 
 
 are capped with snow, and instances 
 have even occurred of a fall of snow 
 within the limits of the valle}\ 
 
 Deyrah or Gurudwara (different 
 names for the same place) is the only 
 town, or rather considerable village, 
 in the Doon. It is pleasantly situated 
 in the centre of the valley, and sur- 
 rounded by a fine tract of cultivated 
 land. It has a neat bazar composed 
 of large huts, and a Seik temple with 
 its dependent edifices. The collector 
 of Saharunpoor has a cutcherry in 
 the neighbourhood, and here are the 
 cantonments and head-quarters of 
 the Sirmore battalion. The whole 
 valley is admirably watered by nu- 
 merous running streams, but, with the 
 exception of the part immediately 
 \around Deyrah, in 1819, it presented 
 to the eye nothing but a wilderness 
 of high grass, interspersed with saul 
 and sisso trees, and swarming with 
 tigers, wild elephants, peacocks, and 
 every species of game. The inha- 
 bitants do not differ materially in 
 features, person, or language, from 
 those of the neighbouring plains. 
 
 This valley having been a jaghire 
 from Aurungzebe to Futteh Sah, the 
 reigning raja of Gurwal, belonged pro- 
 perly to the throne of Delhi, but on 
 the invasion of Gurwal in 1803, it 
 was seized on by the Gorkhas, along 
 with the rest of the province. In 
 1816 its estimated value was only 
 22,264 rupees per annum, but it was 
 known to have produced a much 
 larger revenue, and it is probable a 
 few years of tranquillity will restore 
 its prosperity, and augment its pro- 
 ductive revenue to its former amount 
 of 50,000 rupees. In considering the 
 rvalue of this Doon, however, it must 
 not be examined with advertence to 
 the mere amount of its revenue, but 
 also with reference to its importance 
 in a military and political point of 
 view, as connecting the British ter- 
 ritory east of the Ganges within the 
 hills with the Kardeh Doon beyond 
 the Jumna, and thus by means of the 
 occupation of Malown and Subhatoo, 
 and eventually of a fortress in Sir- 
 more, furnishing a strong and unin- 
 terrupted line of defence from the 
 
 Cali to the Sutiileje. — ( Fullarton , 
 Public MS. Documents, fyc.) 
 
 Dhamee. — One of the Barra Tha- 
 kooria, or twelve lordships in North- 
 ern Hindostan, situated between the 
 Sutuleje and Tonsi ; lat. 31° 2' N., 
 Ion. 77 ° .8' E. In 1816 its revenue 
 was only 4,000 rupees per annum, 
 and it did not contain any fortress 
 within its limits. 
 
 Dhamonee ( Dhamani ). — A forti- 
 fied town in the province of Malwa ; 
 lat. 24° 11' N., Ion. 78° 50' E. The 
 fort of Dhamonee is triangular, and 
 situated on a small eminence, to the 
 form of which in the eastern extre- 
 mity the direction of the wall cor- 
 responds. On the other side is the 
 town, encompassed by a loose wall, 
 mostly in ruins, but the ramparts of 
 the fort are in some places fifty feet 
 high, and in general fifteen thick, with 
 capacious towers. The fort is again 
 subdivided by internal lines of works 
 which render the eastern quarter, 
 where the precipice is 200 feet high, 
 difficult of access. Beyond the town 
 is a tank, which when properly cut, 
 will inundate a portion of the vi- 
 cinity. This fortress was first ac- 
 quired by the Nagpoor state in 1799 
 from a Lodhee Rajpoot, who had 
 seized it from the Bondelahs. — 
 ( Blacker , S^c.) 
 
 Dhar ( or Daranuggur ) .- — An an- 
 cient city in the province of Malwa, 
 1,908 feet above the level of the sea ; 
 lat. 22° 35' N., Ion. 75° 24' E. The 
 Dhar territories comprehend about 
 400 square miles, and when properly 
 cultivated yields almost every tro- 
 pical production, and amongst others 
 opium. It contains 179 villages, 
 twenty-five of which are situated in 
 the wild and hilly tracts, and inha- 
 bited by Bheels. In 1820 the number 
 of inhabited houses was 7,573, and 
 the population about 37,865 souls, 
 in the proportion of one Mahomedan 
 to sixteen Hindoos. The city of 
 Dhar appears at one period to have 
 covered a great extent of ground, 
 and is said to have contained 20,000 
 houses. In 1 820 the number, did not 
 
5QS 
 
 DHENJEE. 
 
 amount to 5,000, but the population 
 w as then rapidly increasing. In length 
 it may be three-fourths of a mile, by 
 half a mile in breadth, and is only 
 surrounded by a mud wall. The in- 
 terior, however, contains some good 
 buildings, and is watered by eight 
 large and two small tanks. The fort 
 is entirely detached from the city, 
 standing on a rising ground about 
 forty feet above the plain. The walls 
 are about thirty feet high, and fortified 
 with round and square towers. 
 
 In the early periods of Maharatta 
 history, the Puars of Dhar appear to 
 have been one of the most distin- 
 guished families ; but they do not 
 claim any descent, although of the 
 same tribe, from the ancient Hindoo 
 princes of Malwa. On account of 
 their high birth, and being officers of 
 the Satara Raja (not of the Peshwa) 
 they always claimed precedence over 
 Sindia and Holcar, which the latter 
 were forward to acknowledge at the 
 very moment they were robbing the 
 Dhar rajas of their territories. In 
 1817, when the British troops entered 
 Malwa, Dhar was the only possession 
 that remained to Ramchunder Puar 
 (a boy twelve years of age), and the 
 whole revenues of the principality 
 did not amount to 35,000 rupees, 
 whereas in 1819 the gross revenues 
 amounted to 2,67,004 rupees, and in 
 1824 were expected to reach 6,54,000 
 rupees. The historical notices of 
 the ancient kings of Dhar are exa- 
 mined by Major Wilford and Mr. 
 Bentley in the eighth and ninth vo- 
 lumes of the Asiatic Researches. 
 After the transfer of the government 
 from Oojein it became the seat of 
 government in Malwa, until the rise 
 of the Mandoo sovereigns.-— {Mal- 
 colm, fyc.) 
 
 Dharma. — An extremely mountai- 
 nous country in Northern Hindostan 
 within the British limits, and situated 
 between lat. 30° and 30° 30' N., and 
 traversed by the Daulee river, which 
 afterwards falls into the Cali. It 
 contains a few scattered villages and 
 hamlets, but no towns. 
 
 Dharmapoor.— The northern di- 
 
 vision of the province of Cochar 
 (properly Hairumbo) is thus named. 
 The town of Dharmapoor is situated 
 in an extensive valley upon the banks 
 of the Capili river, to the north of 
 the main range of mountains, and 
 about sixty miles from Cospoor. It 
 once contained a strong fort, and in 
 size, trade, and population, almost 
 equalled Cospoor ; but owing to the 
 disturbed condition for many years 
 of these semi-barbarous regions, its 
 commerce has decreased, and in con- 
 sequence its wealth and importance. 
 While trade flourished, the revenue 
 derived from Dharmapoor equalled 
 or exceeded the aggregate revenue of 
 all the other districts of Hairumbo. 
 — (j Friend to India , fyc.) 
 
 Dharwa, — A town in the province 
 of Gundwana, sixty-two miles S.W. 
 from Husseinabad; lat. 22° 17' N., 
 Ion. 78° 42' E. 
 
 Dhat. — In the middle of the space 
 to the north of Parkur, in the south- 
 eastern quarter of the province of 
 Mooltan, commonly marked as a de- 
 sert, is a tract of country named 
 Dhat, which extends among the sand 
 hills as far north as Amercote, com- 
 prehending two minor divisions named 
 Khori and Khawra, stretching to the 
 borders of Rajpootana. In this quar- 
 ter of Hindostan, the sand-hills com- 
 posing'the barren portions are named 
 thull, while habitable spots or oases 
 are named dhat. The grain crops 
 are scanty, but the pasturage abun- 
 dant, enabling the inhabitants to 
 rear large herds of oxen, which are 
 purchased and exported by the Cha- 
 rons and such other sacred persons 
 as are not afraid to venture into so 
 wild a country. — ( Macmurdo , #c.) 
 
 Dhelli. — A Portuguese settlement 
 on the north coast of the island of 
 Timor ; lat. 8° 35' S., Ion. 125° 30' E. 
 This town is inhabited by natives, 
 Chinese, and Portuguese, who carry 
 on a traffic with Macao and the neigh- 
 bouring isles. 
 
 Dhenjee. — A town in the Gujerat 
 peninsula, which nominally belongs 
 to Dwaraca ; but owing to its situa- 
 
DHURRUMPOOREE. 
 
 509 
 
 tion amidst impenetrable jungle, the from the fortress of Aseerghur ; lat. 
 manick, or chief, has long acted as 21 ° 31' N., Ion. 76° 15'E.— {MS.^c.) 
 
 independent of that sacred fane. He 
 was fined for piracy by Col. Walker 
 in 1807, and his place taken from him 
 in 1816 for the same crime, and sub- 
 sequently transferred to the Guico- 
 war. 
 
 Dhodub.— A small town in the 
 province of Delhi, eight miles W.S.W. 
 from Pattiallah ; lat. 30° 15' N., Ion. 
 76° 6' E. 
 
 Dholka. — A town and pergunnah 
 in the province of Gujerat, district of 
 Kaira, twenty miles S. by W. from 
 Ahmedabad ; lat. 22° 45' N., Ion. 
 72° 32' E. Three-fifths of this ex- 
 tensive and valuable pergunnah are 
 calculated only for wheat and grain ; 
 of the remaining portion of the soil, 
 one-half at least is appropriated to 
 the cultivation of rice, and another 
 to that of the usual light grains. — 
 {Capt. A. Robertson , Public MS. Do- 
 cuments , fyc.) 
 
 Dholpoor ( Dholapur ) A town 
 in the province of Agra, situated 
 about one mile north of the Chumbul 
 river, thirty-four miles S. by E. from 
 the city of Agra; lat. 26° 42' N., Ion. 
 77° 44' E. The river in February is 
 here about three-quarters of a mile 
 across, and must be forded at Kyte- 
 ree, four miles higher up. Dholpoor 
 is a town of considerable size, and 
 the hilly country begins in its vicinity, 
 approaching from the north. The 
 pergunnahs of Dholpoor, Barree, and 
 Rajakera are rich and productive, and 
 during the government of Ambajee 
 are said to have yielded five lacks. 
 In 1 805, while under the collector of 
 Agra, the land revenue of these do- 
 mains was 3,95,000 rupees. This is 
 an ancient city, and frequently men- 
 tioned by the emperor Baber, in his 
 memoirs. — ( Metcalfe , Baber , fyc.) 
 
 Dhooa. — A town belonging to Sin- 
 dia in the province of Agra, district 
 of Narwar, surrounded by a wall of 
 masonry. — ( MS ., #c.) 
 
 Dhoolcote. — A village of 200 
 houses, in the province of Candeish, 
 pergunnah of Aseerghur, five miles 
 
 Dhoorb.— A town in the province 
 of Candeish, twenty miles W. by N. 
 from Chandore ; lat. 20° 22' N., Ion. 
 74° 7' E. 
 
 Dhor. — -The capital of a petty 
 state in Northern Hindostan within 
 the dominions of Nepaul, the terri- 
 tory attached to which is said to con- 
 tain iron mines ; lat. 27° 56' N., Ion. 
 83° 50' E., seventy-three miles west 
 of Catmandoo. 
 
 Dhorajee.— -A town in the Guje- 
 rat peninsula, fourteen miles N. from 
 Junaghur; lat. 24° 41' N., Ion. 70° 
 48' E. 
 
 Dhumderee. — A village in the 
 province of Gundwana, district of 
 Choteesghur, situated just below the 
 point where the Mahanuddy river 
 emerges into the plain of Chotees- 
 ghur from the high country near its 
 source, and elevated 1,720 feet above 
 the level of the sea. 
 
 Dhurrumpoor. — A territory in the 
 province of Gujerat, belonging to the 
 Dhurrumpoor raja, about forty-five 
 miles long by thirty broad, almost 
 entirely covered with thick forest, the 
 extent of cultivation being compara- 
 tively insignificant. In 1821 the ra- 
 ja’s revenue was about 1,40,000 ru- 
 pees, besides which the British go- 
 vernment had chokies throughout his 
 country for the purpose of levying 
 customs. Some of the inhabitants 
 are Dooreas, but the greatest propor- 
 tion are Kokumeas, a tribe resem- 
 bling the Dooreas, but speaking the 
 language of the Concan, from whence 
 they originally migrated. — ( Elphin - 
 stone , fyc.) 
 
 Dhurrumpooree. — A decayed town 
 in the province of Malwa, principality 
 of Dhar, situated on the north bank 
 of the Nerbudda river ; lat. 22° 10' N., 
 Ion. 75° 26' E. The pergunnah of 
 Dhurrumpooree formerly compre- 
 hended eighty-four villages ; but in 
 1820 only thirty-four, containing 
 1,223 houses, of which twenty-five 
 were inhabited by Mahomedans, and 
 
510 
 
 DIDDEE. 
 
 1,198 by Hindoos. The town seems 
 to have experienced a still more rapid 
 decay, for in 1820 it was reduced to 
 eighty-four houses, whereas twenty 
 years ago it is said (by the natives) 
 to have contained 10,000 houses. — 
 ( Malcolm , fyc.) 
 
 Diamond Harbour. — A harbour 
 in the river Hooghly, situated about 
 thirty-four miles below Calcutta in a 
 straight line, but much more by the 
 windings of the river. This place and 
 anchorage are singularly unhealthy, 
 especially in the months of July, Au- 
 gust, and September, during and after 
 the periodical rains. This is partly 
 owing to the proximity of low swampy 
 shores, where a number of sluggish 
 currents open into the stream of the 
 Hooghly, floating down a quantity of 
 vegetable and animal substances, 
 which emit the most offensive va- 
 pours. To these natural evils are 
 superadded many artificial ones, all 
 contributing to the destruction of 
 the seamen. The great precautions 
 taken, from the best motives, to pre- 
 vent their procuring wholesome spi- 
 rits, drives them to the use of the 
 most deleterious species of Bengal 
 arrack, which no vigilance on the 
 part of the officers could prevent. 
 Their food consists of half ripe half 
 rotten fruit, stale eggs, and overdriven 
 beef ; and their drink, on shore, the 
 most execrable water, generally pro- 
 cured from a filthy puddle teeming 
 with animal life. Add to this the 
 society of loathsome prostitutes, ex- 
 cessive labour in the sun, the want 
 of any manly recreation during their 
 leisure hours, and the absence of the 
 requisite medical assistance, and the 
 combined effect will sufficiently ac- 
 count for the mortality of the ships’ 
 crews while lying at Diamond Har- 
 bour. 
 
 At this place the Company’s ships 
 usually unload their ouiward, and 
 receive on board the greater part of 
 their homeward cargoes, from whence 
 they proceed to Sagor roads, where 
 the remainder is shipped. The go- 
 vernment ground here consists of 
 about 800 begas, enclosed by an em- 
 
 bankment raised to prevent inunda- 
 tion, and containing the government 
 warehouses for ships’ stores, rigging, 
 &c. ; the provisions and refresments, 
 such as they are, are purchased at 
 high prices in the neighbouring vil- 
 lages. About twenty years ago an 
 excellent brick road was constructed 
 from Diamond Harbour to Calcutta, 
 along the greater part of the distance 
 elevated to a considerable height 
 above the adjacent rice fields, which 
 are in a high state of cultivation, and 
 yield plentiful crops, although strongly 
 impregnated with salt. — ( John El- 
 liott, fyc.) 
 
 Diamond Island. — A small island 
 on the east side of the bay of Bengal, 
 about twelve miles south from Cape 
 Negrais; lat. 15°51'N., Ion. 94° 12'E. 
 This island abounds with excellent 
 turtle of the largest size, from forty 
 to fifty of which may be turned in 
 one night. The shore being studded 
 with sharp rocks except in one or 
 two places, considerable caution is 
 required in landing from boats. — ■ 
 ( Johnson , Sfc .) 
 
 Diamond Point.— A low woody 
 point, forming the western extremity 
 of the Straits of Malacca and east- 
 ern extremity of the Pedier coast, in 
 Sumatra ; lat. 5° 16' N-,lon. 97° 31'E. 
 By the Malays it is named Tanjong 
 Jambu Ayer. 
 
 Diamonds. — See Pannah and Ma- 
 hanuddy River. 
 
 Diamper ( Udyampura J . — A town 
 in the Cochin territories, fourteen 
 miles E. from Cochin ; lat. 9° 56' N., 
 ion. 76° 29' E. A celebrated synod 
 was held here to convert the Nesto- 
 rian Christians to the Roman church. 
 
 Dictaun. — A town in the province 
 of Malwa, thirteen miles east of Dhar, 
 which in 1820 contained about 1,000 
 houses, and belonged to Dowlet Row 
 Sindia ; lat, 22° 34' N., Ion. 75° 25' E. 
 
 Diddee. — A considerable moun- 
 tain hamlet in the province of Beja- 
 poor, division of Ryebaugh, situated 
 on the Gutpurba river, among the 
 wilds that border the western ghauts. 
 The Gutpurba, although here so near 
 
DILLANPOOR. 
 
 its source, occasionally after heavy 
 rain swells to a tremendous torrent, 
 when the substitute resorted to for a 
 ferry-boat is the sugar-pan of the vil- 
 lage, a circular vessel of thin iron, 
 about five feet wide by one deep, usu- 
 ally borrowed for the exigency. — 
 ( Fullarton , $c.) 
 
 Didwana. — A large village, built 
 of stone, in the province of Ajmeer, 
 principality of Jeypoor, situated on 
 the verge of a beautiful elevated val- 
 ley, which opens by a remarkable de- 
 file through the hills upon Lalsoont, 
 about forty-one miles travelling dis- 
 tance from the city of Jeypoor; lat. 
 27° 18' N., Ion. 74° 2Y ft.— {Fullar- 
 ton, $c.) 
 
 Dig ah. — A village in the province 
 and district of Bahar, about two miles 
 from the cantonment of Dinapoor. 
 Here is an extensive farm, conducted 
 by a European, with the most com- 
 plete establishment in India for cur- 
 ing provisions on a large scale. 
 
 Diggarcheh. — See TeshooLoom- 
 boo. 
 
 Dihong River. — This is the name 
 of the western arm of the Brahmapu- 
 tra, flowing from the north, as the 
 Luhit is of the eastern ; but the 
 sources of both are as yet undeter- 
 mined. In 1826 an excursion nor- 
 therly along the course of the Dihong 
 was made by two British officers, but 
 it did not solve the grand problem 
 respecting the connexion of any of 
 the Assam rivers with the Sanpoo of 
 Tibet. The travellers ascended the 
 Dihong to the village of Paskee, about 
 lat. 28° 6' N., Ion. 95° 3' E., which 
 spot must be very close to the San- 
 poo, if Duhalde’s map be not much 
 more erroneous than has hitherto 
 been supposed. 
 
 In the portion of its course thus 
 explored, the banks of the Dihong 
 rise perpendicularly from the water’s 
 edge, surmounted by thick jungle, 
 through which it was found impos- 
 sible to cut a path. Having proceed- 
 ed a few miles in a canoe beyond a 
 point where the tract along-shore 
 became impracticable, they were 
 stopped by a dangerous rapid, diffi- 
 
 < 51 1 
 
 cult either to ascend or return by. 
 On climbing up a rock, an unbroken 
 sheet of water was observed running 
 for some distance in a westerly di- 
 rection, according to native informa- 
 tion for about twenty miles, after 
 which it again turns north. The path 
 to the Bor Abor country goes directly 
 to the north, and consequently leaves 
 the river at this point. The width 
 of the stream is here reduced to one 
 hundred yards, and the current is 
 slow ; but as no considerable branch 
 had joined the Dihong on the route, 
 all the water poured by the Dihong 
 into the Brahmaputra, in quantity 
 double that of the latter, at their 
 junction must be cemprised within 
 this channel. A tribe called Simongs 
 dwell in the immediate vicinity of the 
 point reached, and it is supposed that 
 the country of the Lamas is next to 
 theirs. The view from the village of 
 Paskee is described as magnificent, 
 comprehending the course of the 
 Luhit or Brahmaputra from the hills 
 as far as Seesee, its junction with the 
 Dihong, the course of the Koundul 
 and other streams, and lofty ranges 
 of mountains behind the Sadeeya 
 peak, and the snowy ridge of moun- 
 tains to the south-east, at least 150 
 miles off. 
 
 According to information furnished 
 by the chief of the Mismees, the Di- 
 hong consists of two branches, one 
 running from the east and rising in 
 the country of the Khana Debaj 
 about twenty-nine degrees north and 
 ninety-seven east. It pursues a wes- 
 terly course to about Ion. 95° 20' E., 
 where it unites with the western 
 branch from Lassa, forming the Di- 
 hong, here called Lassa Chombo, or 
 Tzambo (Sanpoo), or the Lassa river, 
 and Kongbong. The same authority 
 says that it is not navigable through 
 the hills, on account of the rapids. — 
 ( Capt . Bedford, Lieuts. Wilcox and 
 Burlton, fyc.) 
 
 Dillah. — A small town in the 
 province of Delhi, thirty miles S.W. 
 from Patiallah ; lat. 76° 6' E. 
 
 Dillanpoor. — A small town in the 
 province of Ajmeer, division of Har- 
 
DINAGEPOOR. 
 
 5 12 
 
 rowtee, situated on the summit of a 
 mass of hills, and surrounded by a 
 stone wall. In 1820 it belonged to 
 Zalim Singh, the regent of Kotah, 
 and contained 1,500 inhabitants. — 
 ( Malcolm , Sf-c.) 
 
 DnjAQEVooRfDinajpoorJ . — A dis- 
 trict in the province of Bengal, si- 
 tuated principally between the twen- 
 ty-fifth and twenty-sixth degrees of 
 north latitude. On the north it is 
 bounded by Rungpoor and Purneah ; 
 on the south by Rajeshahy and My- 
 munsingh ; to the east it has Rung- 
 poor and Mymunsingh ; and to the 
 west Purneah and Boglepoor. Its 
 greatest length, from the southern 
 extremity to the northern, is 105 
 miles, and its greatest breadth eighty- 
 two ; having a triangular form, with 
 the acute angle to the north. When 
 surveyed by Dr. Francis Buchanan, in 
 1808, this district contained about 
 5,374 square miles, distributed nearly 
 in the following proportions, viz. 
 Rivers, tanks, marshes, water- 
 courses, &c square miles 353 
 
 Inundated during the rainy sea- 
 son 381 
 
 Red clay 38 
 
 Light-coloured clay 2,441 
 
 Free soil 2,161 
 
 Total square miles 5,374 
 
 During the Mogul government 
 Dinagepoor, along with Edracpoor, 
 constituted the territorial jurisdiction 
 of Aurungafiad, and was originally a 
 frontier towards the independent 
 principality of Gooch Bahar, on which 
 account it was little known and light- 
 ly assessed. 
 
 Dinagepoor is every where inter- 
 sected by rivers, which during the 
 rainy season admit the passage of 
 large boats to every quarter, and of 
 small ones to most villages ; the prin- 
 cipal are the Mahananda, Jamuna, 
 Korotoya, and Teesta. There are 
 no lakes properly so called, although 
 during the rainy season some of the 
 rivers swell out to such an extent as 
 to resemble very large ones. The 
 deserted channels of considerable ri- 
 
 vers also contain large quantities of 
 stagnant water, always in the rainy 
 season, and sometimes even during 
 the parching heats of spring, and 
 have the appearance of lakes ; added 
 to which there are many permanent 
 marshes, and a multitude of unne- 
 cessary tanks, choked up with noxious 
 plants and rank vegetation. 
 
 The rainy season usually begins 
 about the 12th of June, is accom- 
 panied with much thunder, and ends 
 nearly about the 14th of October. 
 The rain most usually comes from 
 the east ; but towards the end of the 
 wet monsoon there are frequently 
 light southerly winds, which increase 
 the heat, and the nights become very 
 suffocating. In favourable seasons 
 there ought to be one or two days 
 of heavy rain between the middle of 
 October and the middle of Decem- 
 ber, and if these fail the crop of rice 
 is scanty. From the 12th of March 
 to the 12th of May there are usually 
 strong winds from the west, attended 
 by thunder, rain, and frequently hail 
 of an enormous size, resembling 
 round lumps of ice. The westerly 
 winds usually blow cool, pleasant, 
 and dry, with a clear sky from the 
 middle of February to the middle of 
 March, which is undoubtedly the 
 pleasantest time of the year. During 
 November, December, January, and 
 February, the cold is at times trou- 
 blesome, and the Europeans have 
 fires in their chambers, and wear 
 woollen garments; but the natives, 
 who are not so well provided, lament 
 and shiver all night, and in the morn- 
 ing continue helpless and benumbed, 
 both in body and mind, until rein- 
 vigorated by the rays of the sun. 
 
 The soil of this district is consi- 
 derably diversified, and the face of 
 the country of a waving appearance, 
 being divided into small valleys, each 
 two or three miles broad. These 
 valleys are watered by small rivers, 
 which in the wet monsoon swell 
 into lakes fifty and sixty miles long, 
 and two or three broad, overflowing 
 all the low lands, which are dry dur- 
 ing the cold season. The soil of the 
 elevated portions of land is in gene- 
 
DINAGEPOOR. 
 
 513 
 
 ral a stiff cla) r , in some places black 
 and porous, in others white and te- 
 nacious. The soil of some of the 
 valleys resembles that of the ele- 
 vated parts, and that of others is 
 rich and loamy, with a substratum of 
 clay. Although there is no elevation 
 in the whole district that approaches 
 to a mountain, yet the surface is not 
 so level as in many other divisions of 
 Bengal, two ridges attaining the 
 height of 100 feet above the inun- 
 dated country. 
 
 The soil of Dinagepoor, when dry, 
 is in general of a very light ash co- 
 lour, often almost white, but be- 
 comes dark when moist. In a few 
 places near the Korotoya the soil is 
 of a very stiff and red clay. Such 
 soil, wherever found, is called rang- 
 gamati, and from this circumstance 
 many places derive their names, for 
 in Bengal a soil of this description is 
 unusual. Large rivers usually affect 
 the course of the winds, but in this 
 district the streams are so small, 
 compared with the Ganges and Brah- 
 maputra, that this influence is much 
 checked, and the winds are here 
 extremely variable. On the whole, 
 however, the east winds are by far 
 the most prevalent. 
 
 The higher lands in the southern 
 quarter are inhabited by Mahomedans, 
 the lower by Hindoos, and on the 
 first very little besides rice is pro- 
 duced, which is in a large proportion 
 cleaned by boiling. A quantity is 
 put into a pot with some cold water 
 and boiled for an hour, after which 
 it is dried and beaten ; but it is not 
 lawful for a Brahmin to use this kind 
 of rice. The natives here are gene- 
 rally extremely indigent, and their 
 farming implements are in conse- 
 quence miserably simple. The plough 
 is of a wretched description, and has 
 neither coulter to cut the soil, nor a 
 mould-board to turn it over. Only 
 one person attends it, holding the 
 handle in one hand, and occasionally 
 pulling the tails of the oxen with the 
 other. A pair of these sacred and 
 unhappy creatures may be purchased 
 for six or eight rupees, a plough for 
 Is. 3 d. sterling, and a yoke for seven- 
 yoL. i, 
 
 pence. Rice is the staple article j 
 the next in importance is indigo, 
 for which, however, this district is 
 not particularly well adapted. In 
 1808 the extent of land under the 
 indigo weed was about 15,000 Cal- 
 cutta begas, allowing 700 for each 
 set of works, of which there were 
 then twenty-one. Either too much 
 or too little sun, and either too much 
 or too little rain, will entirely ruin 
 the crop. Sugar is also raised, but 
 not in large quantities ; and many 
 sorts of fibrous plants for cordage 
 are cultivated. 
 
 Hemp is cultivated on account of 
 its buds, which are used for intoxi- 
 cating purposes. The natives have 
 two proper names for the hemp plant, 
 calling it ganja when young, and 
 siddhi when the flowers have fully 
 expanded. It is a common weed in 
 many parts of the district, and the 
 wild siddhi answers for a particular 
 manner of intoxication. The dried 
 leaves are beaten in a mortar with 
 water, and the infusion is drank. 
 This is not so strong as the ganja, 
 nor is the intoxication attended with 
 such violent effects. The wild plant 
 in its young state has little effect, 
 and in order to procure ganja the 
 plant must be cultivated with great 
 care. In February, when the leaves 
 are tender, and before the flowers 
 open, the buds and young leaves 
 must be pinched off and spread on 
 the ground, where they lie ten or 
 twelve days exposed to the sun and 
 dew, until they are dry and fit for 
 use. It is smoked like tobacco, and 
 about twelve grains may be the usual 
 dose. 
 
 The ficus indica, celebrated among 
 ancient writers under the name of 
 the banyan tree, became equally re- 
 nowned among the modern English. 
 Its great size, and picturesque ap- 
 pearance of its trunk, the fineness of 
 its foliage, intermixed with many gold- 
 en coloured berries, and above all its 
 singular manner of sending down 
 roots from its branches, all combine to 
 interest the spectator. This tree, from 
 its beauty (for it is of very little use) 
 has always been greatly esteemed by 
 2 L 
 
514 
 
 DINAGEPOOR. 
 
 the natives of Bengal, and is con- 
 sidered by them the female of the 
 peepul tree. These two trees are 
 supposed to represent a Brahmin and 
 his wife, and it is reckoned a sin to 
 cut or destroy either, but especially 
 the male ; and it is thought very me- 
 ritorious to plant a young male tree 
 close to a female, with certain ma- 
 trimonial ceremonies. In this union 
 the natives have discovered more 
 taste than usual : the elegant light- 
 ness and bright foliage of the peepul 
 are well adapted to contrast with the 
 rigid grandeur of the banyan tree, 
 but the appropriation of the sexes 
 ought to have been reversed. 
 
 The branches and leaves of these 
 two trees being a favourite food of 
 elephants, the keepers, who are of 
 low castes, make sad havoc among 
 these emblematic Brahmins. It is 
 usual to place a piece of silver money 
 under the banyan tree when it is 
 planted, without which it is supposed 
 neither to grow to a large size nor 
 to send down fine roots. It contains 
 a milky juice, which coagulates into 
 a kind of elastic gum, and makes 
 excellent bird-lime; the descending 
 roots are often used for ropes. Not- 
 withstanding some good qualities of 
 the peepul and banyan trees, the pre- 
 judice in their favour is attended with 
 some bad effects ; their fruit being 
 a favourite food with monkeys and 
 birds, seeds are constantly deposited 
 in buildings and on other more use- 
 ful trees, and wherever they find a 
 crevice they take root. They send 
 long filaments to the ground, and no 
 sooner procure nourishment from 
 thence, than they crush and over- 
 power their original supporter, and 
 thus lay waste old buildings and plan- 
 tations. 
 
 The ficus religiosa is the peepul 
 tree of the botanists. Although it 
 has not the majestic size and nume- 
 rous stems of the banyan tree, it pos- 
 sesses great elegance. The various 
 roots which it sends down from a tree 
 or building on which it first germi- 
 nated, often compose a trunk of a 
 most picturesque form, while the 
 fine shape of its leaves, and their 
 
 tremulous motion, give it a peculiar 
 elegance. It is sacred to Vrihaspati 
 (Jupiter), the planet of Thursday. 
 
 Nearly allied to the figs are the 
 bread-fruit trees, of which the jack 
 is the finest in India. This tree has 
 a beautiful foliage, and exhales a de- 
 lightful odour in February, produces 
 a very useful fruit, is excellent 
 food for elephants, and yields a use- 
 ful and ornamental timber, which, 
 however, is unfortunately given to 
 warp with heat ; the wood is also 
 use as a dye. The fruit has a nau- 
 seous smell, and its flavour is not 
 agreeable to the generality of Eu- 
 ropeans ; but the natives are fond of 
 the pulpy envelope by which the 
 seeds are surrounded. The green 
 fruit is very much used in curries, 
 and the ripe seeds are preserved for 
 the same purpose. In some parts of 
 India they form the common food of 
 the people for two or three months 
 of the year, as chestnuts do in the 
 south of Europe, and when roasted 
 have a great resemblance to that 
 fruit. The cusa grass, or poa cynv- 
 suroidcs , is a sacred plant among the 
 Hindoos, and is dedicated to the in- 
 visible planet Ketu, which occasions 
 the eclipses of the sun. 
 
 The bamboo is the most useful and 
 common woody plant ; houses, fur- 
 niture, boats, and implements of 
 agriculture, being entirely, or in part, 
 made of this valuable reed, which is 
 also the common fuel, and from it the 
 Dinagepoor mats, so celebrated all 
 over Bengal for the superiority of the 
 fuel, are fabricated. The plant 
 grows from a creeping root, which 
 extends from twelve to twenty feet 
 in diameter, and sends forth forty or 
 fifty stems; these form a clump 
 which keeps separate from the others 
 that are adjacent. Every year from 
 five to ten bamboos of a clump are 
 ripe and are cut, while young ones 
 shoot up from the root to supply their 
 places. If the whole be cut at once 
 the plant is liable to death ; the stem 
 also perishes when it produces fruit, 
 which very rarely happens in culti- 
 vated parts of the country, on which 
 account many of the natives believe 
 
DINAGEPOOR. 
 
 515 
 
 that the plant never produces either 
 flower or fruit. This plant produces 
 ripe bamboos in seven years, but it 
 requires to be exempted from the 
 inundation, and flourishes best in a 
 free soil. 
 
 The areca of botanists thrives in 
 this district as an ornamental tree, 
 for it seldom, if ever, brings its fruit 
 to maturity; yet in the same latitude, 
 further to the east, the tree thrives 
 well, so that its barrenness is pro- 
 bably owing to some defect of ma- 
 nagement. The cocoa-nut palm is 
 nearly in the same state, nor could it 
 without difficulty be made to ripen 
 its fruit. The guavas raised are very 
 bad : but this probably is a foreign in- 
 troduction to Hindostan, as the fruit 
 has not any name in the Sanscrit lan- 
 guage. The tamarind is a valuable 
 and elegant tree ; besides producing 
 an acid fruit used by the natives in 
 seasoning their food, the timber is 
 excellent, being hard and strong. 
 In this district many houses have 
 been built with long branches of the 
 jigal tree, that have been fixed in 
 the ground for posts, and afterwards 
 having taken root, pushed forth 
 branches, which has had a very pic- 
 turesque effect. 
 
 The breed of oxen here is ex- 
 tremely degenerate, and not only 
 many Mahomedans, but even many 
 low tribes of Hindoos, use the cow 
 in the plough, which, according to 
 the strict usages of Brahminicai na- 
 tions, ought to be punished with 
 death. Notwithstanding the prevail- 
 ing numbers of the followers of the 
 Arabian prophet in this district, tame 
 swine are more numerous than sheep, 
 and are eaten by the lower classes of 
 Hindoos. The breed of horses, or 
 rather ponies, is of the most Wretch- 
 ed description : but their cost is mo- 
 derate, being only from 4s. 6d. to 
 11s. Qd. each. Slaves are very few, 
 and were mostly purchased during 
 the great famine of 1769, and the 
 scarcity of 1787 ; but they turned 
 out so idle and careless that their 
 employment was found much more 
 expensive than that of hired labourers. 
 The elephant and rhinoceros are al- 
 
 most unknown, and tigers are com- 
 paratively not numerous; but large 
 flocks of wild buffaloes and hogs in- 
 fest the fields, and prove extremely 
 destructive to the farmer. In this 
 district a white animal of the tiger 
 kind was killed some years ago, the 
 skin of which being sent to Europe 
 by Lord Wellesley, occasioned a dis- 
 pute whether it was that of a lion or a 
 tiger. No such animal had been seen 
 before, nor has it been seen since. 
 The Indian ichneumon is common, 
 but is very seldom tamed. Otters 
 are so plenteous that their fur might 
 become an object of commerce. 
 Bears are not numerous or destruc- 
 tive, and are chiefly found near the 
 ruins of Peruya. Where the soil is 
 loose the common porcupine is abun- 
 dant and destructive, as it prevents 
 the cultivation of turmeric and pep- 
 per. It is eaten with eagerness by 
 all ranks. 
 
 Although the country swarms with 
 water-fowl, both web-footed and 
 waders, the natives make little use 
 of them. The common wild-goose 
 is exceedingly abundant, and in the 
 cold season remarkably good eating. 
 The water-fowl preferred by the na- 
 tives are three birds of the corvorant 
 or shag kind, which they call pani- 
 kauri ; several small herons compre- 
 hended b} r the natives under the ge- 
 neral name of vok ; several birds of 
 the jacana and gallinule kind, included 
 under the native term jolpayi ; but, 
 above all, the common house-spar- 
 row, which last being thought to pos- 
 sess aphrodisiac qualities, is in re- 
 quest at all times. 
 
 Several kinds of tortoise are ea- 
 gerly sought after ; but, to a Euro- 
 pean taste, they are execrable. Frogs 
 are not eaten by any of the natives, 
 but some lizards are. Fish form by 
 far the greater part of the animal 
 food that is consumed in the country. 
 During four months of the year, when 
 the rivers are swollen, fish is scarce, 
 as they have then an extensive range 
 of element, and are not easily caught ; 
 but as the inundation subsides, and 
 the animals are confined within nar- 
 row bounds, they are secured by 
 
 2 l 2 
 
510 
 
 HINAGEPOOR, 
 
 various simple means; indeed many 
 are left sticking in the mud, and taken 
 without trouble, a circumstance ne- 
 ver disagreeable to a native. 
 
 Six weeks after the rainy season 
 commences, every rice field, although 
 quite dry and hard in the spring, 
 abounds with small fishes. They are 
 certainly most numerous near rivers 
 and marshes, from which they ge- 
 nerally come ; but it is also probable 
 that the eggs often continue dry in 
 the field, and are hatched after they 
 have been moistened by rain. The 
 natives account for their appearance 
 in such places by supposing that they 
 fall from heaven along with the rain, 
 and assert that immediately after the 
 rain they can see them leaping among 
 the grass ; indeed, when so disposed, 
 a native can see any thing he wishes 
 or expects. 
 
 The picking and cleaning of cotton 
 is performed by the women, and the 
 preparation of cotton-thread occupies 
 the leisure hours of the females of 
 the higher ranks (even the Brah- 
 minies), and of the greater number of 
 the farmers’ wives ; but the raw ma- 
 terial is mostly imported. Although 
 some native houses in this district 
 trade to a considerable extent, the 
 East-India Company must still be 
 considered as the chief merchant, 
 and much eagerness is evinced by the 
 natives to deal with its agents. In 
 1808 the following towns were the 
 principal, viz. Dinagepoor, containing 
 about 5,000 houses ; Malda, 5,000 ; 
 Gour, 3,000; and Raygunge, 1,000 
 houses. At the above date the total 
 population of the district was esti- 
 mated by Dr. Francis Buchanan at 
 3,000,000 of persons, or about 558 
 to the square mile. Contrary to what 
 is seen in most parts of Hindostan, 
 the Mahomedans are here the pre- 
 vailing sect, being as seven to three 
 Hindoos, which sect appear at one 
 time to have been almost entirely 
 extirpated, most of those now exist- 
 ing being the progeny of new-comers. 
 
 In 1808 the following was nearly 
 the respective proportions, accord- 
 ing to the opinion of the above-men- 
 tioned authority : 
 
 Mahomedans 2,100,000 
 
 Hindoos 900,000 
 
 Total... 3,000,000 
 
 Of the Hindoo population 440,000 
 are of Bengalese origin, viz. 
 
 Pure tribes 70,000 
 
 Impure tribes 370,000 
 
 440,000 
 
 Very low castes (below 
 
 impure) 150,000 
 
 Abominable 210,000 
 
 360,000 
 
 Up to the above date Christianity 
 had made very little progress in Di- 
 nagepoor, nor were there any native 
 Portuguese. 
 
 In most parts of this district the 
 leases granted to tenants are equi- 
 valent to a perpetuity ; but this does 
 not appear practically either to have 
 bettered the condition of the peasant, 
 as compared with other districts, or 
 to have improved the cultivation of 
 the soil ; and, what is remarkable, 
 notwithstanding their right of per- 
 petuity, they are constantly migrat- 
 ing from one estate to another. The 
 greater part of the landlords are new 
 men, who have recently purchased 
 their estates, and who were formerly 
 either merchants, manufacturers, 
 agents of landholders, or native of- 
 ficers of government. The old ze- 
 mindars are either sunk in miserable 
 superstition, the prey of religious 
 mendicants, or are totally abandoned 
 to sottish and stupifying dissipation. 
 The evils resulting from the endless 
 subdivision of estates are also se- 
 verely felt here. In 1814 the jumma 
 or land assesment to the revenue was 
 17,66,373 rupees ; and the abkarry, 
 or excise on spirituous liquors, 10,117 
 rupees. 
 
 Ever since the cession of this dis- 
 trict along with the rest of the pro- 
 vince in 1765, it had been greatly in- 
 fested by dacoits, or gang-robbers, 
 partly owing to the numerous rivers 
 by which itjs intersected, and partly 
 
DINDIGUL. 
 
 517 
 
 to the dastardly spirit for which the 
 inhabitants have long been noted. 
 In 1814, however, a considerable im- 
 provement took place, in consequence 
 of the pains taken by Mr. Sisson to 
 ensure the co-operation of the land- 
 holders, and to impress the inhabi- 
 tants with a sense of their ability to 
 resist the atrocious acts of these de- 
 predators. In the first half-year the 
 whole of the offenders in five cases 
 of gang-robbery were brought to jus- 
 tice ; and it appeared that in several 
 instances the robbers had been re- 
 sisted, and even seized in the fact by 
 the villagers, on which occasions they 
 were liberally and publicly rewarded. 
 Two instances of gang-robbery, at- 
 tended with murder and torture, oc- 
 curred in 1814, but these were mostly 
 perpetrated by large gangs of Kee- 
 chuks, Nepaulese, and inhabitants of 
 Bootan. 
 
 Some reform in other respects, 
 however, appeared wanting, as, ac- 
 cording to Mr. Sisson, the main road 
 from Dinagepoor to Moorshedabad, 
 which at one time was thickly set 
 with villages, had been quite deserted 
 by the inhabitants, through fear of 
 the sepoys passing to and from that 
 city. In 1814 a night watch was 
 also established in the different vil- 
 lages of the district, planned and in- 
 troduced by Mr. Sisson, composed 
 of villagers, who took it by turns, 
 which expedient operated with con- 
 siderable effect in reducing the num- 
 ber of gang-robberies and burglaries. 
 But notwithstanding these advanta- 
 geous circumstances, it was found ex- 
 perimentally to be a great hardship 
 on the labouring classes, especially 
 in small villages, where the turn of 
 watching occurred too often ; besides 
 which, subsequent to the seizure of 
 any criminal, they were called on for 
 evidence, and compelled to quit their 
 homes and occupations without re- 
 compense ; which annoyances oc- 
 curred exactly in proportion to their 
 activity and vigilance as watchmen. — 
 (F. Buchanan , Carey , Sisson , Oswald , 
 $c.) 
 
 Dinagepoor. — A town in the pro- 
 
 vince of Bengal, the capital of the 
 preceding district ; lat. 25° 37' N., 
 Ion. 88° 43' E., 102 miles N.N.E. 
 from Moorshedabad. This town con- 
 sists of four portions, viz. Dinage- 
 poor proper, Rajgunge, Kangchou 
 Ghaut, and Paharpoor. The houses, 
 or rather dwellings, for many contain 
 ten huts, were estimated in 1808 at 
 about 5,000 ; and the total popula- 
 tion of all descriptions at 30,000 per- 
 sons. The raja’s house was of great 
 size, but has gone to ruin since the 
 decay of the family. It was built in 
 A.D. 1780, and its remains exhibit a 
 strange mixture of European, Moor- 
 ish, and Hindoo styles, all in the 
 worst taste; nor is much better dis- 
 played in the architecture of the 
 houses erected by the European por- 
 tion of the community. — ( F . Bucha- 
 nan, Sj-c.) 
 
 Djnapoor. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Bahar, situated on the south 
 side of the Ganges, ten miles west of 
 Patna ; lat. 25° 37' N., Ion. 85° 5' E. 
 The military buildings here are hand- 
 some edifices, arranged in spacious 
 squares ; but they are only one story 
 high, and in point of magnificence 
 inferior to those at Berhampoor. 
 Many of the officers and others have 
 built neat and commodious habita- 
 tions in the vicinity, and the grounds 
 round them are well laid out, with 
 good roads through the cantonments, 
 so that the appearance of Dinapoor 
 is greatly superior to that of Patna; 
 In 1811 the different bazars scattered 
 within the cantonments were said to 
 contain 3,230 houses. In this vici- 
 nity potatoes are cultivated to a 
 great extent, and are consumed both 
 by Europeans and natives ; by the 
 latter, not as a substitute for grain, 
 but as a seasoning. — ( F . Buchanan , 
 Fullarton , §c.) 
 
 Dinars. — A town in the province 
 of Allahabad, situated on a small 
 lake, fifteen miles west of Jansi; lat. 
 25° 28' N., Ion. 78° 28 E/ 
 
 Dindigul ( Dandigala ) . — The dis- 
 trict of Dindigul (including that of 
 Madura) is situated in the Carnatic 
 
518 
 
 DINDIGUL. 
 
 province, and about the tenth degree 
 of north latitude, where it occupies 
 about one degree of latitude and 
 If of longitude. To the north it is 
 bounded by Coimbatoor and Trichi- 
 nopoly ; on the south byTravancore 
 and Tinnevelly ; to the east it has 
 the Bay of Bengal ; and to the west 
 Travancore and Coimbatoor. The 
 particular portion of this district 
 named Dindigul is mountainous and 
 woody, the general surface of the 
 country being about 400 feet above 
 the level of the sea. The Dindigul 
 valley, seventy-five miles long by 
 about twenty broad, is formed by the 
 great mass of the Pilny mountains 
 on the north, by the Travancore 
 mountains on the west, and on the 
 east by a lower range of hills that 
 extend from Dindigul to the bottom 
 of the valley near Sheragurry, where 
 they unite with the western ghauts. 
 A projection from this range com- 
 monly known by the name of the 
 Aligherry hills, stretches eastward to 
 within fourteen miles of the garrison 
 of Madura, and are the nearest high 
 lands to that fortress. Along their 
 northern base they are watered by 
 the Vyar river, which after passing 
 close to Madura, and traversing the 
 zemindaries ofShevagunga and Ram- 
 nad, is absorbed into a large tank, 
 near Altongherry, twenty miles south 
 of Tondi. After passing Madura, the 
 river is so diverted from its channel 
 for the purposes of irrigation, that 
 its bed at Ramnad is usually dry 
 throughout the year, and only con- 
 tains water when the floods happen 
 to be unusually great. There are 
 other streams that traverse Madura, 
 and afterwards fall into the gulf of 
 Manaar. 
 
 In common seasons the climate of 
 Dindigul is reckoned one of the finest 
 in India. It seldom rains in March 
 and April. May is the hottest month 
 of the year ; but the thermometer 
 does net rise so high as in Coimba- 
 toor and Madura; yet in December 
 and January it seldom falls below 
 64°. In June, July, and August, the 
 superiority of the Dindigul climate 
 over that of the adjacent districts is 
 
 very perceptible, owing chiefly to the 
 number of hills scattered over the 
 surface, which arrest the clouds, and 
 cause the discharge of much rain ; 
 the temperature of the air is conse- 
 quently rendered cool and pleasant 
 during these months ; but for the re- 
 mainder of the year the climate does 
 not differ essentially from that of 
 Coimbatoor. Notwithstanding its 
 comparative superiority of climate, 
 this district, in 1809, 10, and 11, 
 was visited by a destructive epidemic 
 fever, which so thinned the popula- 
 tion, that in many parts the rice rotted 
 on the ground for want of hands to 
 reap it. From the first of April 1810 
 to the 31st of March 1811, there 
 died in the Dindigul division 21,510 
 persons, out of an estimated popula- 
 tion of 295,654 persons. 
 
 The principal towns within the 
 limits of Dindigul Proper, are Dindi- 
 gul, Vedasundoor, Pilny, and Perrya- 
 cottah ; but the villages are meanly 
 built, the roofs low and miserably 
 thatched. The lands lying furthest 
 from the hills are invariably higher 
 and drier than those lying near their 
 base, where many large marshy, 
 weedy tanks are to be found. The 
 general plane of the country is con- 
 siderably lower than that of Coimba- 
 toor, although higher than those of 
 Madura and Tinnevelly. The la- 
 bourers here are chiefly Pullars, and 
 are not comfortably situated. Their 
 houses, except in a few of the largest 
 towns, are small, ill-built, carelessly 
 thatched, and but little raised from 
 the ground, more especially in the 
 villages near the hills, which present 
 an appearance of misery and squalid 
 poverty. Truckle beds are seldom 
 used, except by such individuals as 
 are above the rank of labourers, but 
 coarse cumlies or blankets are in ge- 
 neral use. The dry cultivation is to 
 the wet rather more than four to 
 one. 
 
 In the villages of Dindigul the 
 same internal policy is found to pre- 
 vail as in the other provinces of the 
 south of India. Certain inhabitants, 
 under particular titles, are in the en- 
 joyment of a portion of land rent-free, 
 
DINGDING ISLES. 519 
 
 and are hereditary occupiers of the 
 remainder. Certain principal officers, 
 the curnum (or accountant and regis- 
 ter of the affairs of the village), iron- 
 smith, carpenter, barber, washerman, 
 village watchman, pot-maker, dancing 
 girl, the distributor of water, &c. are 
 sometimes found in a village, some- 
 times oniy a part of them. They 
 have the government produce of a 
 portion of land assigned to them for 
 their support, but no claim to culti- 
 vate the land ; and from the occupa- 
 tion in life of many of the incum- 
 bents, it may be presumed they have 
 seldom the wish. The country of 
 Dindigul was ceded by Tippoo in 
 1792; and now, together with Ma- 
 dura, the Manapara ppllams, Ram- 
 nad, and Shevagunga, formsoneof the 
 collectorates under the Madras pre- 
 sidency. In 1822, according to the 
 returns made by the collectors to the 
 Madras government, the united dis- 
 tricts of Dindigul and Madura con- 
 tained 601,2.93 persons. The city of 
 Madura is the head-quarters of the 
 civil establishment. — See also Madu- 
 ra. — ( Medical Reports , Hodgson , htli 
 Report , HurdiSj Sj-c.) 
 
 Dindigul. — The capital of the pre- 
 ceding district, situated in lat. 10°18' 
 N., Ion. 78° 2' E., 160 miles N. by E. 
 from Cape Comorin, and about 400 
 feet above the level of the sea. This 
 place is situated near the western ex- 
 tremity of an extensive plain, about 
 thirty miles from east to west, and 
 twenty-five wide from north to south, 
 and almost surrounded by mountains. 
 The pettah is a clean and neatly- 
 built native town, particularly the 
 principal bazar, which is lined on 
 both sides with trees. A small po- 
 pulation of native Christians (a branch 
 of the Malabar Roman Catholics) re- 
 side here, and inhabit a particular 
 quarter of the town, where their 
 houses are distinguished by a little 
 cross at the top ; and the total num- 
 ber of this persuasion within the pro- 
 vince is said to be about 8,000 per- 
 sons. They have a small place of 
 worship south of the town, where in 
 1820 the officiating priest was a na- 
 
 tive of Malabar, subordinate to the 
 Bishop of Cananore. 
 
 The fortified rock of Dindigul is a 
 bluff bulging-out mass of granite, 
 about 400 feet high, the upper half 
 in some parts over-topping the lower, 
 so as to render it quite inaccessible 
 on the south and west. The fortifi- 
 cations enclose an area of about 100 
 feet at the base of the acclivity, but 
 cover only the eastern and northern 
 faces of the rock. The garrison (a 
 detachment of invalids) have barracks 
 in the lower fort, the works of which 
 are allowed to decaj 7 , while those 
 above are kept in the highest order. 
 The principal line of defence is within 
 about 100 feet of the summit, and 
 consists of a range of solid ramparts 
 faced with masonry, and flanked bj r 
 quadrangular bastions. There are 
 many tanks excavated in the hill 
 above, and the apex is crowned by a 
 Hindoo temple, the ascent to which 
 is by* steps cut in the rock. Under 
 the northern ledge of this hill there 
 is a remarkable natural cavern, inha- 
 bited by Mahomedan fakeers. A 
 dark narrow passage penetrates from 
 hence towards the interior of the 
 rock, and a local tradition is related 
 of forty-three fakeers who quitted 
 the world by this passage, and never 
 returned. 
 
 Dindigul was conquered by the 
 Mysore Raja in A.D. 1755, and taken 
 from Tippoo by a British army in 
 
 1783, but restored at the peace of. 
 
 1784. It was finally ceded to the 
 British government along with the 
 district in 1792, and before the epi- 
 demic of 1811, was supposed to con- 
 tain 7,000 inhabitants. Travelling dis- 
 tance from Seringapatam 198 miles; 
 from Madras 275 miles. ~{Fullarton 3 
 Sfc.) 
 
 Dingding Isles. — - A number of 
 small islands lying off the Perak river 
 and territory in the straits of Malacca, 
 and for many years a favourite resort 
 of pirates; lat. 4°20 / N., Ion. 100° 32' 
 E. In 1819, they were offered to the 
 Penang government, by the captain 
 of a country ship, who said they had 
 been given to him by the deceased 
 
520 
 
 DOAB. 
 
 Raja of Perak. Palo Dinding is a 
 beautiful granitic island 250 feet high* 
 and covered with thick woods from 
 the margin of the sea to the summit. 
 — ' Public MS. Documents , Finlay son, 
 Sfc.) 
 
 Dipnaghur. — A town of consider- 
 able population (not laid down in any 
 map) in the province of Bahar, dis- 
 trict of Bahar, thirty-six miles S.E. of 
 Patna, and two south from the city 
 of Bahar. 
 
 Ditteah (Dattiya).-The capital 
 of a small principality in the province 
 of Allahabad, forty-three miles S.S.E. 
 from Gualior ; lat. 25° 43' N., Ion. 78° 
 25' E. This town, when visited by 
 Dr. Hunter in 1790, was a mile and 
 a half long and nearly as much in 
 breadth, the houses being mostly of 
 stone and covered with tiles, sur- 
 rounded by a stone wall furnished 
 with gates. The raja had then a 
 palace without the town, situated on 
 an eminence, which commanded an 
 extensive view as far as Pechoor, 
 Narwar, and Jhansi. Close to this 
 hill is an extensive lake. 
 
 During the reign of Aurengzebe, 
 Ditteah was the capital of Dhoolput 
 Roy, a Bondelah chief of some cele- 
 brity. On the cession of Bundelcund 
 to the British, in 1804, Raja Parakhyit 
 ofDitteah joined the British standard, 
 and was taken under, its protection. 
 The modern territories of Ditteah 
 border on those of the Bhow of 
 Jhansi and the Tehree Raja. At the 
 Conclusion of the Pindarry war of 
 1818, the Vinchoor Cur’s lands, 
 known by the name of Chourassy, 
 lying on the east side of the Sinde, 
 and forfeited by the Cur’s adherence 
 to Bajerow, were given to the Dit- 
 teah Raja, oil whose territories the 
 British army, commanded by Lord 
 Hastings in person, had for a consider- 
 able time encamped. The annual 
 value was about 92,000 rupees per 
 annum. —{Hunter, Richardson , Pub- 
 lic MS. Documents , $t\) 
 
 Diu ( Dwipa, the island). — - A 
 small island and harbour near the 
 southern extremity of the Gujerat 
 
 peninsula; lat. 20°41'N., Ion. 71° 7' 
 
 E» This insulated spot* about four 
 miles long by one broad, in ancient 
 times contained a Hindoo temple, 
 celebrated for its sanctity and riches. 
 In A.D. 1515 the Portuguese obtain- 
 ed possession of Diu, and in 1 536, by 
 permission of Bahadar Shah, the 
 reigning sultan of Gujerat fortified it. 
 While the Portuguese prospered, it 
 enjoyed considerable commerce, but 
 it fell with their decay, and in 1670 
 was surprised and plundered by the 
 Muscat Arabs, then a considerable 
 maritime power. It has since dwindled 
 away, and is now an insignificant 
 place, containing not more than 4,000 
 inhabitants ; but it may at some future 
 era again become of importance on ac- 
 count of its harbour and geographical 
 situation. Even now it receives a small 
 tribute annually from Poorbunder, 
 for the protection it is supposed to 
 afford to the trading ships of that 
 port, but which it neither does or 
 can afford. The remains of convents 
 and monasteries are still to be seen, 
 and cannon are mounted on the walls, 
 but without soldiers to look after 
 them. In 1809, during a particular 
 emergency, it was garrisoned by a de- 
 tachment of his Majesty’s 47th regi- 
 ment. — ( Stewart , Bruce , Duncan , 
 $c.) 
 
 Doab (Two Waters ). — Recently 
 this name has been applied indiscri- 
 minately to the whole tract of coun- 
 try between the Ganges and Jumna, 
 from Allahabad to the hills of nor- 
 thern Hindostan ; but formerly by 
 Mahomedan historians it was usually 
 restricted to the southern portion, for 
 the most part comprehended in the 
 Agra province, and during the Mogul 
 predominance subdivided into the dis- 
 tricts of Furruckabad, Kanoje, Eta- 
 weh, Korah, Currah, and Allahabad. 
 There are several Doabs in Hindostan, 
 the name designating any tract of 
 country included between two rivers. 
 
 The general aspect of the Doab is 
 that of extreme nakedness. Clusters 
 of trees are occasionally seen near 
 the larger villages, but ten miles may 
 frequently be passed over without the 
 appearance of one : firewood is in 
 
DOAB. 
 
 52 1 
 
 consequence both scarce and expen- 
 sive, nor is there any tree pasture for 
 elephants to be met with in the. whole 
 tract from Allahabad to Saharunpoor. 
 In fact, the only wood found here in 
 any abundance is the low shrubby 
 palass, which has overspread a con- 
 siderable extent of the interior, and 
 supplies Caunpoor and the other Eu- 
 ropean stations with fuel of a very 
 indifferent quality. The millet raised, 
 although a small-eared grain, furnishes 
 a great quantity of straw ten feet long, 
 which is of great use as provender 
 for cattle. Besides millet, sugar-cane 
 and barley are cultivated, and in the 
 neighbourhood of Kanoje considera- 
 ble quantities of tobacco, the only 
 plant introduced by Europeans that 
 is in general request all over Hindos- 
 tan. The staple article, however, of 
 the northern part of the Doab is cot- 
 ton, and a coarse cotton cloth, dyed 
 red with cheap materials, is largely 
 manufactured in the central tracts, 
 as is also another species named 
 gezis and gezinas. The soil of this 
 region is so naturally adapted for the 
 production of indigo, that the plant 
 is here found in a wild state, of a su- 
 perior quality to that raised by culti- 
 vation. The system on which the 
 manufacture of indigo is conducted 
 in the Doab is in some respects pecu- 
 liar ; instead of the whole process 
 from the commencement being carried 
 on at the factory, the colouring mat- 
 ter is extracted by the cultivator him- 
 self, and delivered in a liquid state at 
 the factories, where it is afterwards 
 inspissated and formed into cakes. 
 The crops of the indigo weed here, al- 
 though precarious, are less so than in 
 Bengal, but the dye thus manufactured 
 is universally of inferior quality to 
 that produced in the lower provinces. 
 
 The climate of this portion of In- 
 dia is subject to extraordinary fluc- 
 tuations of temperature within the 
 limits of the same twenty-four hours, 
 there being frequently a difference of 
 forty degrees, and seldom less than 
 thirty degrees, throughout the cold 
 season, between the extreme points 
 of the morning and afternoon. At 
 this season the thermometer has been 
 
 known to fall at day-break below the 
 freezing point, yet is seldom under 
 sixty-eight degrees during the after- 
 part of the day. The hot winds blow 
 here with great severity in April and 
 May, and have been known to raise the 
 thermometer even to 120 degrees and 
 upwards. This intolerable heat, as 
 might be expected, frequently proves 
 fatal to animal life : but the European 
 residents in the Doab who have the 
 means of cooling their rootns with 
 wetted khuskhusmats,and whose avo- 
 cations do not call them into the open 
 air, enjoy generally as good health 
 while the hot season lasts as in any 
 other. 
 
 While this tract of country re- 
 mained subject to the Nabobs of 
 Oude, salt was made in almost every 
 village from Allahabad to Hurdwar, 
 by professed manufacturers, who dis- 
 posed of it in small quantities to the 
 same class. Salt of a similar qua- 
 lity was also made on the opposite 
 bank of the Jumna, the total quan- 
 tity then manufactured in the ceded 
 provinces being estimated at 40,000 
 maunds, principally used by the 
 lower classes and given to cattle. 
 Much base salt was also imported 
 from Sambher, Nho, and Combhere. 
 By the treaty of peace concluded 
 with Dowlet Row Sindia on the 30th 
 December 1803, he ceded to the 
 British all his forts, territories, and 
 rights in the Doab between the 
 Ganges and Jumna, the southern di- 
 vision having been previously ac- 
 quired from the Nabob of Oude in 
 1801. It did not, in fact, constitute 
 any part of the original possessions 
 of his family, having been added, 
 along with Rohilcund, to the Oude 
 dominions by victories obtained by 
 the British armies. The crime of da- 
 coity, or gang robbery, most fre- 
 quently occurs in this region during 
 the first six months of the year, 
 when the Ganges and Jumna are 
 fordable ; during the last six months 
 it becomes less frequent. Indeed, 
 considering the almost total anarchy 
 that prevailed in this quarter before 
 it came under the British domination, 
 and that the Jauts, Goojurs, Raj- 
 
DOABEH RECHTNA. 
 
 522 
 
 poots, Aheers, Lodhas, Patans, Me- 
 waties, Meenas, Buddicks, Thugs, Co- 
 zauks, Chummas, and Khaukrobes 
 (who still form the bulk of the popu- 
 lation), had been from time imme- 
 morial addicted to open and secret 
 plunder, it is not surprising that crimi- 
 nal offences are not wholly eradicated. 
 — ( Fullarton , Tennant , Sir Henry 
 Wellesley , Swinton , Guthrie , fyc.) 
 
 Doab Canal. — S eeZABETA Khan’s 
 Canal. 
 
 Doabeh Barry. — ( Bari , a resi- 
 dence J. — A doab in the province of 
 Lahore, which comprehends the 
 country between the Ravey and Be- 
 yah rivers. It is also named Manjha, 
 and the Seiks who inhabit it, the 
 Manjha Singhs. It contains the cities 
 of Lahore and Amritsir, and becomes 
 in consequence the centre of the 
 power of the Seik nation. In 1806, 
 Runjeet Singh of Lahore, Futteh 
 Singh of Allowal, and Joodh Singh 
 of Ramgadia, were the principal 
 chiefs of the country, but the first 
 since that period has usurped the 
 possessions of all other competitors 
 within its limits. Approaching the 
 mountains this tract is said to be less 
 fertile than the Doabeh Jallinder; 
 it must, however, from its geogra- 
 phical position, have nearly the same 
 climate and soil. — ( Malcolm , §c.) 
 
 Doabeh Jallinder (Jalindra ). — 
 A doab in the province of Lahore 
 which comprehends the country be- 
 tween the Sutuleje and Beyah rivers, 
 and the mountainous district of Cah- 
 lore. This natural subdivision of 
 the Lahore province, although of 
 small dimensions, is from the pecu- 
 liarity of its geographical position of 
 considerable importance, as it is by 
 this route that the imperial province 
 of Delhi is to be most conveniently 
 penetrated, the extent of fertile coun- 
 try being here circumscribed by the 
 hills on the east, and the desert on 
 the west. It is also the most fruitful 
 portion of the Seik territory, and is 
 not excelled in climate and strength 
 of vegetation by any province of In- 
 dia. The soil is light, but very pro- 
 ductive : and the country, which is 
 
 open and level, abounds with every 
 kind of grain. The absence of water, 
 which is so severely felt in the more 
 westerly regions, is here unknown, 
 as it is every where plenty within two 
 or three feet of the surface. The 
 principal towns] are “Jallinder, Ra- 
 hoon, and Bhatty. 
 
 This territory is principally occu- 
 pied by the Malawa Singh Seiks, who 
 are called the Doabeh Singhs, or 
 Singhs who dwell between two wa- 
 ters. With their chiefs we are but 
 little acquainted. In 1808, Tarah 
 Singh was one of the most considera- 
 ble ; but he seems to have disappeared 
 so early as 1815, when Boodh Singh 
 of Jallinder, Futteh Singh of Allowal, 
 and Jodh Singh of Ramgadia, were 
 the principal leaders. In that year 
 Runjeet Singh of Lahore, taking ad- 
 vantage of their discord, attacked the 
 possessions of the first, and captured 
 his two principal fortresses, Jallinder 
 and Bhutty. It is worthy of remark 
 as illustrating the political condition 
 of the Seik community, that the in- 
 struments employed in the subjuga- 
 tion of this territory were the two 
 chiefs last named, whose forces com- 
 posed the largest body of cavalry in 
 Runjeet’s army ; yet a defensive al- 
 liance was believed to exist between 
 these three chiefs, to resist conjointly 
 the aggressions of Runjeet Singh. 
 Under these circumstances, two of 
 them followed his standard to effect 
 the destruction of the third, swayed 
 by the delusion of protracting for a 
 short period their own downfall. On 
 the other hand, the pride of Boodh 
 Singh, the chief first-mentioned, in- 
 duced him to abandon without a strug- 
 gle a tract of country yielding three 
 lacks of rupees per annum, rather 
 than submit to a personal attendance 
 on Runjeet Singh. — ( Ocliterlony , 
 Malcolm , fyc.) 
 
 Doabeh Rechtna. — A doab in 
 the province of Lahore, which com- 
 prehends the country between the 
 Chinaub and Ravey rivers, and in 
 every geographical feature resembles 
 the preceding Doabs, but respecting 
 the interior of which scarcely any 
 
POMEL ISLE, 
 
 523 
 
 thing is known. The extent of 
 Poabeh Rechtna (a name given by 
 Abul Fazel) is considerable, and it 
 contains some towns of note, such as 
 Bissooly, Vizierabad, and Eminabad. 
 
 Pobla. — A small town in the pro- 
 vince of Ajmeer, on the frontier of 
 the Rana of Odeypoor’s dominions 
 towards the city of Ajmeer. In 1824 
 there was a castle here, but much di- 
 lapidated, the thakoor then being in 
 disgrace and exile at Kotah. Many 
 of the tradesmen and merchants of 
 this neighbourhood are natives of Bi- 
 canere in the desert, who generally 
 return home after they have made a 
 little money,. to end their days in that 
 place, although situated in one of 
 the most inhospitable regions of the 
 earth, surrounded by an ocean of 
 sand, and all the drinkable water mo- 
 nopolized and sold by the govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Pobygur. — A town in the Car- 
 natic province, twenty miles S.W. 
 from Arcot ; lat 12° 42' N., Ion. 79° 
 8' E. 
 
 Podairee. — A town and small dis- 
 trict in the Mysore territories, twen- 
 ty-two miles E. by N. from Chittel- 
 droog ; lat. 16° 14' N., Ion. 76° 48' E. 
 
 Poessah. — A town, or rather vil- 
 lage, in the province of Bahar, Ze- 
 mindary of Chuta Nagpoor, 213 miles 
 W.N.W. from Calcutta; lat. 23° 11' 
 N., Ion. 85° 16' E. 
 
 Pogaree. — A small town in the 
 province of Ajmeer, principality of 
 Boondee, twenty-three miles tra- 
 velling distance north-east from 
 the town of Boondee. This place 
 stands close to the margin of a 
 beautiful lake surrounded by low 
 hills, covered with wood and adorn- 
 ed with pagodas and other buildings. 
 A perpetual stream from the lake 
 passes through the streets, whose 
 waters are afterwards employed to 
 irrigate the adjacent fields. There is 
 a temple here dedicated to Parswa- 
 nath, the Jain deified saint; and 
 there are many of that sect among 
 the inhabitants. — ( Fullarton , <^c.) 
 
 Pogorah. — A town in the province 
 of Allahabad, forty-two miles S.S.E, 
 from Jhansi ; lat. 25° N., lon.78°52 / E, 
 
 Pohud f Do-hud, t wo f rontiers J . — ■ 
 This place stands on the common 
 boundary of Malwa and Gujerat, at 
 the north-east entrance of the Bar- 
 reah jungle, which extends above 
 forty miles nearly to Godra, yet the 
 road through it leading into Gujerat 
 is the best and most frequented; lat. 
 22° 55 / N., Ion. 74° 20' E. Pohud is 
 of considerable extent, the houses 
 well built, and the bazar abundantly 
 supplied with grain and water. It is 
 in consequence much frequented by 
 the traders of the interior, being a 
 thoroughfare for the inland traffic 
 between the provinces of Upper Hin- 
 dostan and Malwa, with Baroda, 
 Broach, Surat, and other large com- 
 mercial towns of Gujerat. It is also 
 of considerable importance on ac- 
 count of its position, which com- 
 mands the principal pass into Gujerat 
 from the north-east. The - present 
 fort of Pohud was a caravanserai at 
 the eastern extremity of the town, 
 said to have been built by Aureng- 
 zebe. It is 450 feet square, and has 
 two strong gates, one on the north 
 and another to the south, and the 
 interior contains a mosque, two wells, 
 and other handsome structures, all 
 of excellent workmanship and durable 
 materials. — ( Malcolm , fyc.) 
 
 Pollerah. — A trading town in 
 the province of Gujerat, pergunnah 
 of Pundooka, ten miles west from the 
 gulf of Cambay ; lat. 22°18 / N, Ion. 72° 
 21 r E. In 1820, owing to the river 
 Bhadur having burst its banks, and 
 overflowed the adjacent country, so 
 much mud and sand was accumulated 
 at this place, as to threaten its total 
 destruction as a maritime town. — 
 ( Public M.S. Documents , fyc.) 
 
 Pomel Isle. — One of the Mergui 
 archipelago, named also Lamboo 
 and Sullivan’s Island; lat. 11° 3'N. 
 It is about twenty miles long by twelve 
 broad, and in 1825 was uninhabited. 
 It has a hold shore, but does not rise 
 to a greater elevation than 500 feet. 
 
524 
 
 DOOLOORIA. 
 
 The soil is probably good, as the hills 
 are covered with brushwood and large 
 trees. — {Lieut. Low , 8fc.) 
 
 Domus. — A town in the province 
 of Gujerat, fifteen miles S.W. from 
 the city of Surat ; lat. 21° 4'N., Ion. 
 .72° 53' E. 
 
 Dongree. — A small fort built on a 
 rock near Chatsoo, in the province 
 of Ajmeer, principality of Jeypoor, 
 twenty-three miles travelling distance 
 S. by E. from the city of Jeypoor. 
 
 Donobew. — A town and stockade 
 in the kingdom of Ava, province of 
 Pegu, about sixty miles by the course 
 of the river above Rangoon; lat. 17° 
 8' N., Ion. 95° 55' E. In 1825 the 
 
 stockade of Donobew extended for 
 nearly a mile along the sloping bank 
 of the river, its breadth varying, ac- 
 cording to the nature of the ground, 
 from 500 to 800 yards; the whole 
 space fortified in the strongest man- 
 ner, and exemplifying the perfection 
 to which the Burmese had attained 
 in the art of temporary defensive for- 
 tifications. The army within, under 
 the Bundoola, amounted to about 
 15,000 men of his best troops. After 
 having repulsed General Cotton’s de- 
 tachment with a heavy loss, it was 
 shortly after evacuated by the garri- 
 son, owing to the death of their com- 
 mander, who had been killed by a 
 stray bomb. The embassy in 1827 
 found this place considerably en- 
 larged and strengthened — ( Snodgrass , 
 
 4rc .) 
 
 Dondra Head.— The southern- 
 most extremity of the island of Cey- 
 lon, near to which are still to be seen 
 the ruins of what apparently has 
 once been a magnificent Hindoo tem- 
 ple; lat. 5° 56' N., Ion. 80° 35' E. 
 
 Donnai River. — A river of Co- 
 chin-China, the source of which still 
 remains unknown. It flows past the 
 city of Saigon, unto which place it 
 is navigable for ships of burthen ; 
 but small craft can ascend much 
 higher. It falls into the sea at Cape 
 St. James, lat. 10° 16' N., Ion. 107° 
 45' E., where the rise of the tide is 
 nine feet at full and change. It is 
 
 said to have been recently connected 
 with the Cambodia river by a canal. 
 The delta of this river in many 
 respects resembles that of the Ganges 
 in Bengal, being intersected by a la- 
 byrinth of channels, with low and 
 jungly banks, swarming with tigers. 
 Another point of resemblance is the 
 mangoe fish, which abounds near 
 Saigon, and of an excellent quality. — 
 ( Lieut White , fyc.) 
 
 Doobee. — A small fortified town 
 in the province of Ajmeer, which in 
 1824 had some small ordnance on 
 the bastions, and well calculated to 
 defy the attacks of a native army ; 
 lat. 26° 52' N., Ion. 76° 20' E. ; forty- 
 four miles east of Jeypoor. 
 
 Doodputlee. — A small town in 
 the province of Cachar, about forty 
 miles east of Silhet, where in 1824 
 a sharp action took place with the 
 Burmese, in which a British detach- 
 ment was repulsed with the loss of 
 150 sepoys killed and wounded, be- 
 sides four officers; lat. 25° 3' N., 
 Ion. 92° 42' E. 
 
 Doolea. — A considerable town be- 
 longing to the British government in 
 the province of Candeish, and for- 
 merly the residence of the political 
 agent and the head-quarters of a 
 small military detachment, thirty-five 
 miles west of Arundool ; lat. 21° 1' 
 N., Ion. 74° 47' E. The river Paunjra 
 runs close to the north of the town 
 over a rocky bed, with a fine broad 
 stream, for part of the year, but in 
 the cold season it becomes dry. 
 When it is able it joins the Tuptee. 
 From hence there are roads leading 
 east to Boorhanpoor, north to Sind- 
 wah ghaut, south to Lallung, and west 
 to Surat. — ( Sutherland , fyc.) 
 
 Dooloo Bussundar ( Dalu Has - 
 sandra). — A Hindoo place of pilgri- 
 mage in Northern Hindostan, where 
 there are three coonds or springs. 
 According to native accounts a flame 
 appears on the surface of the water 
 above the small holes, from whence 
 the water issues. 
 
 Doolooria. — A considerable town 
 
DOORNAUL. 
 
 o<25 
 
 belonging to the British government 
 in the province of Candeish, per- 
 gunnah of Bugwanea, situated on the 
 Athere river, thirteen miles S.S.W. 
 from Husseinabad; lat. 22° 33' N., 
 Ion. 77 ° 40' E. 
 
 Doomah. — A town in the province 
 of Gundwana, 120 miles N.E. by N. 
 from Nagpoor; lat. 22° 46' N., Ion. 
 80° 5' E. 
 
 Doomkot. — A fortified post in 
 Northern Hindostan, twelve miles 
 south from Serinagur; lat. 30° 4' N., 
 Ion. 78° 45' E. 
 
 Doon fa valley ). — See Deyrah 
 Doon. 
 
 Doonagree. — A small town in 
 Northern Hindostan, sixteen miles 
 N.N.W. from Almora ; lat. 29° 46' N., 
 Ion. 79° 28' E. ; 7,534 feet above the 
 level of the sea. 
 
 Doongurpoor f Dongarpur ) . — - 
 The capital of a small principality in 
 the province of Gujerat, situated in 
 the hilly tract formerly named Ba- 
 gur, ninety-five miles N.E, of Ahme- 
 dabad ; lat. 23° 54' N., Ion. 73° 50' E. 
 We have no topographical infor- 
 mation respecting this district, ex- 
 cepting that the mounds enclosing 
 the Doongurpoor lake are built of 
 solid blocks of marble. Both this 
 state and Banswara have been so 
 long disunited from Odeypoor that 
 they are virtually separate sovereign- 
 ties, although still kept attached by 
 family descent and alliance. The 
 Doongurpoor princes claim to be a 
 senior branch of the reigning sove- 
 reigns of Odeypoor ; and this right 
 is tacitly admitted by the highest 
 seat being always kept vacant when 
 the raja of the latter country dines. 
 No race of men are more punctilious, 
 in giving and demanding those dis- 
 tinctions that relate to birth, than 
 the Rajpoots ; nor are the rights of 
 the individual at all affected either 
 by his being in a reduced condition, 
 or being merely the adopted child of 
 the family whose inheritance he 
 claims. Dynasties never could have 
 been perpetuated except by a lati- 
 
 tude in the law of adoption, which 
 renders the total extinction of a fa- 
 mily almost impossible. 
 
 The Doongurpoor rajas have 
 among their military adherents a few 
 Thakoors and some Rajpoots of their 
 own tribe ; but the majority of their 
 subjects are Bheels, who are proba- 
 bly the aborigines of the country. 
 When Malwa and the neighbouring 
 provinces fell into their late state of 
 anarchy, the Doongurpoor chief, in 
 order to preserve his country, enter- 
 tained bands of Arabs and Sindies : 
 who soon usurped all power, and laid 
 waste the country they were hired to 
 protect. From these merciless ra- 
 vagers the principality was rescued 
 by the British government, under 
 whose protection (for which a small 
 tribute is paid) it is fast recovering 
 from the state of desolation to which 
 it had been reduced. In 1824 the 
 Doongurpoor gross revenues amount- 
 ed to 2,43,580 rupees. — ( Malcolm , 
 Public MS. Documents , 8fc.) 
 
 Doondeakera ( Dundyacara ). — A 
 town in the king of Oude’s territo- 
 ries, forty-eight miles south by west 
 from Lucknow; lat. 26° 12' N., Ion. 
 80° 36' E. 
 
 Door. — A village in the Balaghaut 
 ceded territories, district of Cudda- 
 pah, twenty-nine miles N.W. from the 
 town of Cuddapah; lat. 14°48'N., 
 78° 43' E. 
 
 Dooraha. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Malwa, situated on the road 
 from Bhopaul to Shujawulpoor, and 
 about seventeen miles from the for- 
 mer ; lat. 23° 24' N., Ion. 77° 15' E. 
 It formerly belonged to the Vinchoor 
 Cur, but after the Pindarry war of 
 1818 was given to the Nabob of Bho- 
 paul. In 1820 it contained about 
 300 houses. — ( Malcolm , fyc.) 
 
 Dooree. — A town in the province 
 of Allahabad, forty-two miles S.S.E. 
 from Jhansi; lat. 24° 52' N., Ion. 
 81° 41' E. 
 
 Doornaul. — A town in the Bala- 
 ghaut ceded districts, fifty-six miles 
 north from Cuddapah ; lat. 16° l'N., 
 Ion. 79° 9' E. 
 
526 
 
 DOWLETABAD. 
 
 Doouyghaut (Durighat ). — A town 
 in the province of Allahabad, thirty- 
 seven miles south by east from Go- 
 racpoor ; lat. 26° 16' N., Ion. 83° 37' 
 E. 
 
 Dophlas ( or Dufflas ). — The great 
 bund, or causeway, which formerly 
 extended from Cooch Bahar to the 
 eastern extremity of Assam, at the 
 village of Lakhomati Bhoteya runs 
 through a thick forest and separates 
 the district of Noa Dewar, in As- 
 sam, from the Dophla country, the 
 land on the north of the bund belong- 
 ing to the Dophlas, and to the south 
 to Assam proper. 
 
 These Dophlas are a powerful tribe, 
 inhabiting the second range of hills. 
 They carry on an active traffic with 
 Assam, bringing down rock-salt, and 
 coarse red woollens, and taking back 
 in return fish, buffaloe flesh, and 
 coarse silk. Their nearest village is 
 about eight miles north of the bund, 
 which here seems to serve the stead 
 of a boundary line. In 1814 the 
 Boora Gohaing, or regent of Assam, 
 in his correspondence with the Ben- 
 gal presidency, attributed the desola- 
 tion of a considerable portion of his 
 territories to the predatory incur- 
 sions of the Dophlas . — ( Public MS. 
 Documents , Public Journals , tyc.) 
 
 Dory Harbour.— A harbour on 
 the northern coast of Papua ; lat. 
 0° 48' S., Ion. 1 34° 35' E. The pro- 
 montory of Doiy, the sea-coast 
 of which extends about fourteen 
 leagues, is of moderate height, the 
 ground every where ascending gra- 
 dually. The trees are lofty, with lit- 
 tle underwood. The neighbouring 
 country abounds with fresh-water ri- 
 vulets, and there is good grass. The 
 climate is temperate, being so near 
 the high mountains of Arfak, where 
 the clouds settle. There are neither 
 goats or fowls at this harbour, but 
 wild hogs, fish, greens, and fruit, are 
 to be had. The Papuas who reside 
 at Dory are supplied with plantains 
 and calavansa beans by the horafo- 
 ras of the interior, who take in re- 
 turn iron and other goods. Wood is 
 
 plentiful here, and the wild nutmeg 
 grows in the vicinity. — ( Forrest , &c.) 
 
 Doitdpoor. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Gundwana, forty-two miles 
 east by south from Bustar; lat. 19° 
 22' N., Ion. 83° 7'E. 
 
 Dowletabad (or DeoghirJ . — A 
 town and strong fortress in the pro- 
 vince of Aurungabad, seven miles 
 N.W. from the city of that name; 
 lat. 19° 57' N., Ion. 75° 25' E. This 
 fortress is formed of an insulated 
 mass of granite, about 3,000 yards 
 from the range of hills to the north 
 and westward, and presents to the 
 eye a shape not unlike a compressed 
 bee-hive, except that the lower part, 
 for nearly one-third up, is scarped 
 like a wall, and presents all round a 
 perpendicular cliff. It has never been 
 accurately measured, but appears to 
 be about 500 feet to the summit, 
 which is almost a point. The scarp 
 of the rock down to the counter- 
 scarp may be about 150 feet, and the 
 scarp below the glacis from thirty to 
 forty feet, which added to 150 will 
 give above 180 feet for nearly the 
 whole height of the scarped cliff. 
 An outer wall of no strengrh sur- 
 rounds the pettah, above which 
 towers the hill that forms the citadel ; 
 but iip to the ditch three other lines 
 of walls and gates are passed. The 
 causeway across the ditch does not 
 admit of more than two persons at 
 once, and a building with a battle- 
 ment defends it on the opposite side. 
 
 After passing the ditch the ascent 
 is through an excavation in the heart 
 of the rock, and at first so low that 
 a person is obliged to stoop nearly 
 double ; but after a few paces it opens 
 into a high vault, lighted by torches, 
 out of which the ascent is by a 
 winding passage gradually sloping cut 
 through the interior of the body of 
 the hill. This passage is about 
 twelve feet high, and the same in 
 breadth, with a regular rise. At cer- 
 tain distances from this gallery are trap 
 doors, with flights of small steps to 
 the ditch below, only wide enough to 
 admit a man to pass, also cut through 
 
DOWLETABAD. 
 
 5TI 
 
 the solid rock to the water’s edge, 
 and not exposed to the fire of assail- 
 ants unless they gain the very crest of 
 the glacis. There are likewise other 
 passages and recesses for depositing 
 stores. After ascending the main 
 passage for about ten minutes, it 
 opens out into a hollow of the rock 
 about twenty feet square. On one 
 side, leaning against the cliff, a large 
 iron plate is seen, nearly the same 
 size as the bottom of the hollow, 
 with an immense iron poker. This 
 plate is intended to be laid over the 
 outlet and a fire placed on it, should 
 the besiegers make themselves mas- 
 ters of the subterranean passage, and 
 there is a hole three feet in diameter, 
 intended to convey a strong current 
 of air to the fire. On the road to 
 the summit, which is very steep, and 
 in some places covered with brush- 
 wood, there are some houses, towers, 
 and gates. In the lower fort there 
 is a remarkable minar or column, 
 apparently about 160 feet high, and 
 of great diameter, but deformed by 
 a huge gallery which encompasses it 
 at about a fourth of its elevation from 
 the ground. The enclosure of the 
 pettah, or town, contains numerous 
 remains of buildings composed of a 
 rough dark-coloured stone, but the 
 inhabited portion is now very incon- 
 siderable. The interior of the lower 
 fort presents also a similar scene of 
 ruins. The governor’s house is an 
 excellent one, and surrounded by a 
 veranda with twelve arches, and 
 through this house passes the only 
 road to the top. Towards the sum- 
 mit the road becomes narrow, and 
 on the peak, where the Nizam’s flag 
 flies, stands a large brass 24-pounder,* 
 but besides this, in the whole for- 
 tress there are said to be only a few 
 two and three-pounders. As. the 
 rock contains reservoirs of water, if 
 properly defended it could only be 
 won by famine. 
 
 When the Mahomedans, under Al- 
 lah ud Deen, carried their arms into 
 this quarter of the Deccan, about 
 A.D. 1293, Deoghir or Tagara was 
 the residence of a powerful Hindoo 
 raja, who was defeated, and his ca- 
 
 pital taken and plundered of immense 
 riches. In 1306 the fortress and sur- 
 rounding district were reduced to 
 permanent subjection by Mallick 
 Naib, the Emperor of Delhi’s gene- 
 ral. In the early part of the four- 
 teenth century the emperor Maho- 
 med made an attempt to transfer 
 the seat of government to Deoghir, 
 the name of which he changed to 
 Dowletabad. To effect this absurd 
 project he almost ruined Delhi, with 
 the view of driving the inhabitants to 
 his new capital, 750 miles distant; 
 but his endeavours were unavailing, 
 so that he was obliged to desist after 
 doing much mischief. About 1595 
 Dowletabad surrendered to Ahmed 
 Nizam Shah of Ahmednuggur, and 
 on the fall of that dynasty was taken 
 possession of by Mallik Amber, an 
 Abyssinian slave, who was reckoned 
 the ablest general, politician, and 
 financier of his age. His successors 
 reigned until about 1634, when the 
 city and fortress were taken by the 
 Moguls, during the reign of Shah 
 Jehan, when the seat of government 
 was transferred to the neighbouring 
 town of Gurka or Kerkhi, and since 
 named Aurungabad. Along with the 
 rest of the Mogul Deccan, it fell into 
 the possession of Nizam ul Mulk, 
 and has continued with his descen- 
 dants, the Nizams of Hyderabad, 
 ever since, with the exception of the 
 year 1758, during which it was held 
 by M. Bussy ; but he was obliged to 
 abandon it when ordered to with- 
 draw his army to the Carnatic by M. 
 Lally, his superior in command. — 
 ( Fitzclarence , Fullarton , Feriskta, 
 Scotty Orme , fyc.) 
 
 Dowletabad. — A large district, 
 mostly comprehended in the Nizam’s 
 dominions, in the province of Au- 
 rungabad, and situated about the 
 twentieth degree of north latitude. 
 Although forming part of the ele- 
 vated table-land of the Deccan, this 
 territory for the most part is of an 
 uneven surface, and intersected by 
 hilly ridges of considerable extent. 
 There is little cultivation except in 
 the neighbourhood of villages and 
 
528 
 
 DUBLANA. 
 
 towns, the principal of which are 
 Aurungabad, Dowletabad, Elora, and 
 Phoolmurry ; the chief streams are 
 the Godavery and the Sewna. — ( Ful - 
 lartoriy fyc.) 
 
 Drauppa. — A town in the Gujerat 
 peninsula, forty miles N.N.W. from 
 Junaghur; lat. 21° 57' N., Ion. 70° 
 17' E. 
 
 Draus. — A town in Little Tibet, 
 situated near the junction of two 
 branches of the Indus. In old maps 
 it is placed in lat. 35° 30' N., Ion. 76° 
 E. ; 100 miles N.E. from the city of 
 Cashmere. By the natives it is as- 
 serted, that two great streams con- 
 tributary to the Indus, join at or 
 near to the town of Draus, eight 
 days* journey for a caravan north- 
 east of Cashmere. The main 
 stream of the Indus at this point is 
 said to come from the north-east. — 
 ( Elpkinstone , Macartney , <5 <?.) 
 
 Dravida (orDravira). — This is 
 the ancient name of the country 
 which terminates the south of India. 
 Its northern limit lies between the 
 twelfth and thirteenth degrees of 
 north latitude, and it is bounded on 
 the east by the sea, and on the west 
 by the eastern ghauts. The name, 
 however, is occasionally extended to 
 all the country occupied by inhabi- 
 tants speaking the Tamul language; 
 and there is a whole class of Brah- 
 mins designated by the name of Dra- 
 vida Brahmins. The subordinate di- 
 visions of Dravida were named from 
 the three rival dynasties of Cholan, 
 Cheran, and Pandian ; the first go- 
 verning in Tanjore and Combooco- 
 num, possessed the northern tract ; 
 Pandian had Madura and the south ; 
 and Cheran united Kanjam and Sa- 
 lem to the dominions of the Kerala, 
 on the coast of Malabar. — (Wi/ks, 
 ColebrooJce , F. Buchanan , §c.) 
 
 Drumtoor. — A small valley in the 
 province of Lahore, situated between 
 the thirty-fourth and thirty-fifth de- 
 grees of north latitude, and extend- 
 ing from theDoar rivulet, which runs 
 S.W. and falls into the Indus atTor- 
 baila. The mountains are lofty, and 
 
 produce oaks, pines, walnuts, wild 
 olives, and other hill trees, but no 
 European flowers or fruits are found 
 here. The country is tolerably inha- 
 bited, and contains some populous 
 villages. — ( Elpkinstone , fyc.) 
 
 Dubboi. — A large town in the pro- 
 vince of Gujerat, which in 1780, al- 
 though then in a rapid state of decay, 
 was supposed still to contain 40,000 
 inhabitants, among whom were only 
 300 families of Mahomedans ; lat. 
 22° 9' N., Ion. 73° 25' E., thirty-eight 
 miles N.E. from Broach. The re- 
 mains of fortifications, gates, and 
 temples, indicate a former state of 
 great magnificence ; and the profusion 
 of hewn stone, and the remains of 
 sculpture scattered about are asto- 
 nishing. The ancient walls and towers 
 were entirely built of large square 
 stones, the expense of bringing which 
 from the distant mountains must have 
 been enormous, as not the smallest 
 pebble is to be found in this part of 
 Gujerat. The gate of diamonds pre- 
 sents a very favourable specimen of 
 Hindoo architecture, extending in 
 length 320 feet, with a proportionate 
 height. Rows of elephants richly 
 caparisoned support the massy fabric, 
 and the whole is covered with sculp- 
 tured groups of various descriptions. 
 Within the walls is a large tank con- 
 structed of masonry, having a grand 
 flight of steps to the water. The 
 whole is now in a state of dilapida- 
 tion. Such is Mr. Forbes’s descrip- 
 tion of Dubboi as it existed forty- 
 seven years ago, and it does not since 
 appear to have attracted the slightest 
 notice. Some of the principal houses 
 are well built, but the rest are native 
 huts, the whole overshadowed by 
 mangoe and tamarind tree:,, where 
 dwell nearly as many monkies as 
 there are human creatures below. 
 The natives consider them half men, 
 and say that on account of their lazi- 
 ness, tails were given them and also 
 hair to cover their bodies.— (Forbes f 
 
 *c-) 
 
 Dublana. — A large village built of 
 schistus stone, in the province of 
 Ajmeer, principality of Boondee ele- 
 
DUNDAH. 
 
 529 
 
 ven miles north from the city of 
 Boondee ; lat. 25 o 38'N.,lon.75°80 / E. 
 
 Duckenpara ( Dakshinpara , the 
 southern portion) .—A district in the 
 north-east corner of Cashmere, on 
 the mountains of which Abul Fazel, 
 in 1582, says the snow never de- 
 creases, so that from the cold, the 
 narrowness of the roads, and the 
 great height of the mountains, they 
 cannot be passed without extreme 
 difficulty. 
 
 Dug. — A considerable town in the 
 province of Malwa, which in 1820 
 contained 2,000 houses ; lat. 24° N., 
 Ion. 76° V E., fifty-two miles N. from 
 Oojein. It is the head of a pergunnah 
 which belonged to Zalim Singh, the 
 old regent of Kotah. In 1796 it 
 yielded a revenue of 1,00,000 rupees 
 per annum, which in 1820, on account 
 of the long prevailing anarch} 7 , had 
 declined to 2,500 rupees. — ( Mal- 
 colm , fyc.) 
 
 Dukka Jeung. — A town in the 
 province of Bootan, eighteen miles 
 S. by W. from Tassisudon ; lat. 27° 
 46' N., Ion. 89° 32' E. 
 
 Dukkinshahabazpoor. — A large 
 island in the province of Bengal, si- 
 tuated at the mouth of the great 
 river Megna, from the sediment of 
 which it has been formed. In length 
 it may be estimated at thirty miles, 
 by thirteen the average breadth. It 
 is very low land, and at spring tides 
 during the rains is almost submerged. 
 In the channels between Dukkin- 
 shahabazpoor and the neighbouring 
 islands, the bore, caused by the sud- 
 den influx of the tide, prevails with 
 great violence, and renders the navi- 
 gation extremely dangerous. Salt of 
 an excellent quality is manufactured 
 here on government account, by an 
 establishment subordinate to the 
 Bulwa and Chittagong agency.' 
 
 Dumdum. — A military village and 
 extensive cantonment in the province 
 of Bengal, six miles W.N.W. from 
 Calcutta, where a battalion of Euro- 
 pean artillery is usually stationed, 
 being the head-quarters of the Bengal 
 artillery. It consists principally of 
 
 VOL. i. 
 
 several long low ranges of buildings, 
 all on the ground floor, ornamented 
 with verandas, the lodgings of the 
 troops, and some small convenient 
 houses occupied by , the officers, ad- 
 joining a large plaffi; like the espla- 
 nade of Calcutta, and appropriated 
 to the artillery practice. There is a 
 church and free-school here. 
 
 Dummoodau River ( Damodara, 
 a name of Vishnu).' — -This river has 
 its source in the hilly part of the 
 Ramghur district, and province of 
 Bahar; it afterwards flows through 
 the Pachete zemindary, and joins the 
 Hooghly a few miles below Fulta, 
 Including the windings, its course 
 may be estimated at 300 miles, and 
 it is important, as greatly assisting the 
 inland navigation of the adjacent dis- 
 tricts. 
 
 Dumpo.— A town in Tibet, built 
 on a steep eminence, forming part of 
 a ridge stretching from a mountain’s 
 side, and sloping down to the river, 
 above which it rises about 300 feet ; 
 lat. 31° 6' N., Ion. 80° 15' E. On 
 the banks of the Sutuleje between 
 Kienlung and Dumpo are many larva 
 of the kind of locust that breeds in 
 the stony plains of Tartary, marked 
 on the body with a yellow ring on a 
 black ground, and having a large horn 
 in the tail. Two other species of 
 locusts also breed in this vicinity : 
 one with purple wings, which by clap- 
 ping the horny cases together make 
 a cracking noise as it flies; the other 
 is twice as large, the body and wings 
 of a yellow colour, spotted with dots 
 a little darker. — ( Moorcroft , fyc.) 
 
 Dundah. — A large village in the 
 province of Mooltan, principality of 
 Sinde, situated on the south-west 
 bank of the Goonee river ; lat. 24°58' 
 N., Ion. 68° 58' E. This place stands 
 on the route from Hyderabad, the 
 capital of Sinde, to Mandavie on the 
 gulf of Cutch, by the river Goonee, 
 which is here one fathom and a half 
 deep, and about seventy yards broad 
 during the rains. Twelve miles fur- 
 ther south it contracts to the breadth 
 of twenty yards, with two fathoms 
 2 m 
 
530 
 
 DUSSARA. 
 
 depth ; but in 1819 all the rivers in 
 this quarter were deranged by the 
 Cutch earthquake. — ( Maxfield , , fyc.) 
 
 Dundooka. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Gujerat, fifty miles S.W. 
 from Cambay ; lat. 22° 25' N., Ion. 
 72° 6' E. The territory contiguous 
 to Dundooka was greatly injured in 
 1813 by the total absence of rain, fol- 
 lowed by the presence of locusts, and 
 in 1818 a severe frost destroyed the 
 cotton and almost all the other crops 
 in this pergunnah. 
 
 Dungerguna. — A very wretched 
 village in the province of Aurunga- 
 bad, situated on the high land near 
 the verge of the fine range of ghauts 
 about ten miles N. by E. from the 
 city of Ahmednuggur. This place 
 stands near a romantic dell or ravine 
 to which the appellation of the “ Hap- 
 py Valley” has lately been applied. 
 It has been carefully laid out as a 
 garden in the native style, and luxu- 
 riantly planted with cocoa-nut and 
 other trees, and a handsome pavilion 
 of stone stretches from bank to bank 
 across a space of about sixty feet. 
 Below this is a reservoir of water sup- 
 plied by a perennial spring, which keeps 
 it in continual agitation, and likewise 
 gives motion when required to an 
 artificial fountain on the north side 
 of the pavilion. The descent to this 
 singular spot is by a stair cut in the 
 scarped face of the rock. It is inha- 
 bited by some Brahmins and Hindoo 
 ascetics, who officiate at a small 
 temple dedicated to Mahadeva or 
 Siva. — ( Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 Dungy. — A town in the province 
 of Bahar, district of Shahabad, sixty- 
 eight miles S.W. from Patna ; lat. 
 25° 10' N., Ion. 81° 10' E. 
 
 Dunker. — A town in Tibet Tar- 
 tary, situated on the banks of the 
 Spiti river, fifteen miles N.W. from 
 Lari, in Lahdack ; lat. 32° 9' N., Ion. 
 78° 8' E. 
 
 Dupaub. — A small subdivision of 
 the Balaghaut ceded districts, situated 
 at the north-eastern extremity to- 
 wards Guntoor. It is traversed by 
 the Gondigam river, but contains no 
 
 town of note except Dupaud, which 
 stands in lat. 15°58'N., Ion. 79° 23' 
 E., sixty-one miles N.W. from On- 
 gole. Within this tract copper ore 
 of the best quality has been disco- 
 vered. — ( Heyne , fyc .) 
 
 Durrangdra. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Gujerat, forty miles east of 
 Mallia ; lat. 22° 54' N., Ion. 71° 35' 
 E. The Durrangdra raja is the chief 
 of all the Jhala Rajpoots, and enjoys 
 the privilege of being seated on a cot, 
 while the other chieftains are placed 
 on a carpet. In 1807 the annual tri- 
 bute to be paid to the Guicowar was 
 paid at 74,000 rupees. — ( Walker , tyc .) 
 
 Duralee. — A village in Northern 
 Hindostan, said to be the highest in 
 the bed of the Ganges, and approach- 
 ing its source; lat. 31°8' N., Ion. 78° 
 39' E., sixty-eight miles north from 
 Serinagur. — ( Jas . Fraser , fyc .) 
 
 Durar. — A town in the province 
 of Malwa, pergunnah of Rutlam, 
 eight miles S.E. by S. from the town 
 of Rutlam. 
 
 Durbungah ( Dwarabhanga ). — 
 A town in the province of Bahar, 
 district of Tirhoot, fifty-six miles N.E. 
 from Patna ; lat. 26° 9' N., Ion. 85° 
 56' E. 
 
 Duroo.— A small town in the pro- 
 vince of Cashmere, thirty-five miles 
 S.E. from the city of Cashmere ; lat. 
 34° 7' N., Ion. 75° 16' E. 
 
 Durrumgaum ( Fharmagrama ) . — 
 A town in the province of Candeish, 
 seventy-seven miles north from Au- 
 rungabad ; lat. 20° 58' N., Ion. 75° 
 
 22' E. 
 
 Duryawud. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Ajmeer, situated at the con- 
 fluence of the Karmaulee and Sookta 
 rivers; lat. 24° 5' N., Ion. 74° 32' E. 
 
 Dusapkeira. — A small walled town 
 in the province of Aurungabad, built 
 with considerable regularity, and si- 
 tuated about four miles S. by W. from 
 the celebrated caves of Ellora. 
 
 Dussara. — A town in the province 
 of Gujerat, which in 1809 was es- 
 timated to contain 1,300 houses, in- 
 
DWARACA. 
 
 531 
 
 habited by Cusbaties, Coolies, Raj- 
 poots, and other castes, and a few 
 Banyans ; lat. 23° 16' N., Ion. 71° 51' 
 E. One of the ancestors of the Dus- 
 saraMullicks, who are Mohamedans, 
 about A.D. 1209 was put to death 
 by the raja of Hulwud for having 
 committed gowhattia (cow-killing), 
 and is now held in great veneration 
 by the adjacent followers of the Ara- 
 bian prophet. His tomb is on the 
 banks of a large tank in the neigh- 
 bourhood. — ( Macmurdo , #<?.) 
 
 Duti. — A petty state in Northern 
 Hindostan, which formerly extended 
 from the Goggra on the east, to the 
 Cali or Black river, that separates it 
 from Kumaon on the* west, and 
 through its centre passes the Se- 
 tigunga, or white river. Along the 
 banks of the last-mentioned river is 
 a fine valley, four miles long by two 
 broad, on which stands Depal (or 
 Duti) the capital, encompassed on 
 three sides by the river ; lat. 29° 6'N., 
 Ion. 80° 31' E., eighty-five miles N.E. 
 from Bareilly. It is said to contain 
 about 400 houses, built of stone and 
 roofed with the same material. The 
 principal crop is winter rice, the se- 
 cond urid, the third kurthi, and the 
 fourth barley ; all the others being of 
 small account. The oil-seed chiefly 
 raised is the sesamum. According to 
 native accounts, of the whole popula- 
 tion one-fourth are pure Brahmins, 
 another fourth bastard Brahmins ; 
 Khasiyas compose three-sixteenths, 
 and low labourers and tradesmen the 
 remaining five-sixteenths. — (E. Bu- 
 chanan, Webby 8fc.) 
 
 Duttar. — -A town in the province 
 of Lahore, sixty miles east from 
 Amritsir ; lat. 31° 33' N., Ion. 75° 
 49' E. 
 
 Duttoda. — A town in the province 
 of Malwa, pergunnah of Indore, which 
 in 1820 contained 400 houses. 
 
 Dwaraca (Dwaricdy the gate ). — 
 A town and celebrated temple (named 
 also Juggeth) situated at the western 
 extremity of the Gujerat peninsula ; 
 lat. 22° 15' N„ Ion. 60° T E. In 
 1809 this place was possessed by 
 
 Mooloo Maniek, then considered the 
 most powerful of the Okamundel 
 chiefs. The sanctity of the fane at- 
 tracts a rich population, and presents 
 an asylum from danger. At the above 
 date twenty-one villages belonged to 
 Dwaraca, with a population of about 
 10,240 persons. In 1807 Mooloo 
 Maniek agreed by treaty to abstain 
 from piracy, and was taken under 
 the protection of the British govern- 
 ment, the benefit of which was expe- 
 perienced in 1819, prior to which it 
 had been seized by a party of Arabs, 
 Sindies, and other plunderers. It 
 was in consequence escaladed by a 
 detachment under Colonel Lincoln 
 Stanhope, and the whole garrison, 
 amounting to 550, and consisting of 
 a class who never give or expect 
 quarter, destroyed. 
 
 The most original and sacred spot 
 in this quarter of India, according to 
 Brahminical legends, is Dwaraca; but 
 about six centuries ago the valued 
 image of their god Runchor (an in- 
 carnation of Krishna), by a manoeuvre 
 of the priests was conveyed to Dac- 
 coor in Gujerat, where it still re- 
 mains. After much trouble the Brah- 
 mins at Dwaraca substituted ano- 
 ther, which unfortunately also took 
 a flight across a narrow arm of the 
 sea to the island of Bate or Shunkod- 
 war, about 150 years ago, on which 
 event another new one was installed 
 here. Dwaraca is also designated as 
 “ the island,” and having long been 
 the residence of Krishna, the favourite 
 deity of the modern Hindoos, is a 
 celebrated plan of pilgrimage for the 
 sectaries of that religion, in perform- 
 ing which the following ceremonies 
 are observed. 
 
 On the arrival of the pilgrim at 
 Dwaraca he bathes in a sacred stream, 
 named from its windings the Goomty, 
 for which ablution he pays the Dwa- 
 raca chiefs four rupees and a quarter, 
 but Brahmins only three and a-half. 
 After this purification a visit is paid 
 to the temple, where offerings are 
 presented according to the circum- 
 stances of the devotee, and a certain 
 number of Brahmins are fed. The 
 pilgrim next proceeds to Aramra, 
 
 2 m 2 
 
532 
 
 EASTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 where he receives the stamp from the 
 hand of Brahmin, and impressed by 
 an iron instrument, on which are en- 
 graved the ring and the lotos flower, 
 which are the insignia of the god. 
 The instrument is made hot and ap- 
 plied to any part of the body, but 
 generally to the arms, and not being 
 overheated, leaves a durable impres- 
 sion ; it is even applied to infants, 
 and a pilgrim can receive not only 
 his own mark, but also act as proxy 
 in receiving other stamps on his body 
 for the benefit of a friend. This 
 stamp costs one rupee and a-half. 
 Having accomplished thus much, he 
 next embarks for the isle of Bate, 
 where, on his arrival, he must pay a 
 tax of five rupees to the chief, pre- 
 sent liberal offerings to the god, and 
 dress him in rich clothes and orna- 
 ments. The chief of Bate, who is a 
 holy person, receives charge of the 
 present, which he retails again to 
 other pilgrims on reasonable terms, 
 and it performs in time a similar re- 
 volution. The annual number of pil- 
 grims resorting to Dwaraca has been 
 estimated to exceed 15,000 persons, 
 and the revenue derived at about one 
 lack of rupees. 
 
 Notwithstanding this existing place 
 of pilgrimage, the most authentic 
 Hindoo annals assert that Dwaraca 
 was swallowed up by the sea a few 
 days after the decease of Krishna. 
 This incarnation of the preserving 
 power spent much of his life at Dwa- 
 raca, both before and after his expul- 
 sion by Jarasandha from Mathura, 
 on the banks of the Jumna, in the 
 province of Delhi : which would in- 
 dicate a greater intercourse between 
 these distant places than could have 
 been expected at so remote a period. 
 The chalk with which the Brahmins 
 mark their foreheads comes from 
 Dwaraca, where it is said to have 
 been deposited by Krishna, and from 
 thence by merchants carried all over 
 India. Thirty miles south of Poor- 
 bunderis the supposed spot where the 
 original Dwaraca stood, until swal- 
 lowed up by a sort of cataclysme or 
 bursting forth of the ocean. There 
 ;t is that a bird annually rises from 
 
 the foam of the waves, and by its 
 colour and other circumstances ena- 
 bles the Brahmins to predict the na- 
 ture of the coming monsoon. The be- 
 lief of this apparition, which is men- 
 tioned by Abul Fazel in 1582, is still 
 prevalent, and according to the Hin- 
 doos, this bird of omen continues 
 annually to peck grain, dance before 
 the deity, and die, as it did two thou- 
 sand years ago.— ( Macmurdo, fyc.) 
 
 Dyhul. — A town in the province of 
 Candeish, seventy miles E. by S. from 
 Surat ; lat. 21° 3' N., Ion. 74° 13' E. 
 This was formerly the capital qf the 
 Puar(or Powar) family, one of the ori- 
 ginal branches of the Maharatta con- 
 federacy ; but in process of time their 
 possessions were wrested from them 
 by more powerful competitors, and 
 „in 1803 the whole were encompassed 
 by the dominions of Dowlet Row 
 Sindia . — {Duke of Wellington , #c.) 
 
 E. 
 
 . EASTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 The archipelago comprehended 
 under this title is by far the largest 
 assemblage of islands on the globe. 
 Its commencement may be fixed at 
 the western extremity of Sumatra, 
 stretching to the 138th degree of east 
 longitude, and its breadth from 1 1° 
 south to 19° north. The whole is 
 situated within the tropics, the equi- 
 noctical running through the centre 
 of a large proportion of the islands, 
 which, with the exception of the 
 Philippines are nearly all situated 
 within ten degrees of the equator on 
 each side. The whole are distributed 
 into groups and chains of isles, with 
 here and there a great island inter- 
 vening. 
 
 This archipelago (for which there 
 is no general or comprehensive 
 Hindoo name) contains three islands 
 of the first rank and size, viz. Borneo, 
 Papua, and Sumatra; of the second 
 rank, Java; of the third, Celebes, 
 Luzon, and Magindanao ; and of the 
 fourth rank, Bally, Lombhook, Sum- 
 
EASTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 583 
 
 bhawa, Chandana, Flores, Timore, 
 Cerum, Booro, Gilolo, Palawan, Ne- 
 gros, Samar, Mindoro, Panay, Leyte, 
 and Zebu. The western boundary 
 of these is formed by the Malay pe- 
 ninsula and Sumatra ; the southern 
 by a long chain of contiguous islands, 
 beginning with Sumatra and ending 
 with Papua; the eastern is princi- 
 pally formed by Papua, Gilolo, Ma- 
 gindanao, and Luzon ; the northern 
 and north-western by the great is- 
 lands of Luzon, Palawan, and Borneo. 
 
 In that division of the Eastern Is- 
 lands extending from 124° to 130° 
 east longitude, the character of the 
 monsoons is reversed. The eastern 
 monsoon, which in the western 
 quarter is dry and moderate, is here 
 rainy and boisterous ; the westerly 
 monsoon, which is rough and wet 
 beyond the above limits, is within 
 them dry and temperate. This is 
 the native country of the clove and 
 nutmeg, while rice is scarcely pro- 
 duced at all, the general food being 
 sago. This archipelago is the only 
 portion of Asia situated under the 
 equinoctial, and like other tropical 
 countries enjoys heat, moisture, and 
 a luxuriant vegetation. It is, through- 
 out, of a mountainous nature, and 
 the principal chains volcanic. 
 
 As in other tropical countries, the on- 
 ly essentially useful divisions of the sea- 
 sons is into wet and dry, for the sun 
 having sufficient strength to quicken 
 vegetable life, moisture to nourish it 
 is all that is wanted ; the wet half of 
 the year is consequently the season for 
 germination, the dry for fructification. 
 The inhabitants of the eastern por- 
 tion derive their mealy nutriment, 
 which other nations procure from the 
 cereal gramina, from the pith of the 
 sago tree, which affords an edible 
 farina, the bread of these islanders. 
 The sago palm is a native of low 
 marshy situations, a good sago plan- 
 tation or forest being a bog knee- 
 deep. Before the tree has attained its 
 full growth, and prior to the forma- 
 tion of the fruit, the stem consists 
 of a thin hard wall, about two inches 
 thick, enclosing an enormous volume 
 of a spungy medullar substance, like 
 
 that of the alder. As the fruit forms, 
 the farinaceous medulla disappears, 
 and when the tree attains its full 
 maturity, the stem is only a hollow 
 shell. It seldom exceeds thirty feet 
 in height, but is thick is proportion, 
 as a full-grown tree can with diffi- 
 culty be clasped. Its utmost age 
 rarely exceeds thirty years. 
 
 There is no regular period for ex- 
 tracting the pith, but fifteen years 
 may be considered an average time 
 for its reaching maturity. Five, and 
 even six cwt. of nutritious matter 
 have been procured from one tree, 
 but the average of each may be reck- 
 oned at 300 pounds, and it has been 
 calculated that an English acre is 
 capable of yielding 8,000 pounds of 
 raw sago-meal per annum, taking a 
 series of years. The pith, when 
 ground down in a mortar, deposits 
 the farina at once, which after one 
 or two edulcorations through a sieve, 
 affords the raw sago-meal fit for being 
 converted into cakes or panado. The 
 true native country of this palm ap- 
 pears to be that portion of the ar- 
 chipelago in which the easterly moon- 
 soon is the boisterous and rainy sea- 
 son, comprehending under that des- 
 cription the eastern portion of Ce- 
 lebes and Borneo, Magindanao, Ti- 
 mor, Papua, and the adjacent isles, 
 but more especially that of Ceram. 
 
 Sago is such insipid food that it 
 requires a seasoning ; accordingly 
 blachang, a mass composed of small 
 fish, chiefly prawns, beaten up with 
 salt and spices, and then allowed to 
 ferment, putrify, &c. in the sun, is 
 always an accompaniment. This fetid 
 preparation, at first so nauseous to a 
 stranger, is afterwards much relished 
 and is the universal sauce of the East- 
 ern islanders and Indo-Chinese na- 
 tions, no food being deemed palatable 
 without it. 
 
 Notwithstanding the apparent simi- 
 larity of climate, there is a prodigious 
 variety of the different islands, which 
 may be referred to respectively. Th e 
 most considerable traffickers are the 
 Malay and Buggess nations, pri nc i_ 
 pally the Wadjo Buggesses, wh Q 
 fact are the universal carriers of the 
 
534 
 
 EASTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 archipelago. In A.D. 1824 the total 
 number of Wadjo prows, of from 
 twenty to sixty tons, trading from the 
 following places were 786; the aver- 
 age value of the cargos 4,000 dollars ; 
 rich ones, carrying bird’s-nests and 
 tortoiseshell, to 30,000 dollars. These 
 Buggesses, however, are only carriers 
 and general merchants, and have very 
 little share in the collection or pre- 
 paration of the articles that compose 
 their cargoes. The principal piratical 
 ports still existing, in 1820, were 
 Rhio, Lingin, Billeton, Sambas, Bor- 
 neo Proper, Tampasuk (subject to 
 Borneo Proper), Passir, Sooloo, and 
 Magindanao. 
 
 Prows. 
 
 Sumbhawa ... 40 
 
 East coast of Borneo 66 
 
 West coast of do. . . 20 
 
 Wadjo country..... 50 
 
 Mandhar in Celebes 200 
 
 Kaiti do 100 
 
 Macassar ... do 100 
 
 Boniratte Isle 50 
 
 Pari Pari, in Celebes ...... 10 
 
 Bally and Lombhook 50 
 
 Java 50 
 
 Floris 50 
 
 Total 786 
 
 On shore, the women of the Indian 
 islands, and more especially of Java, 
 are almost the sole merchants and 
 brokers, the men interfering very 
 little, particularly with the retail bu- 
 siness. The higher departments of 
 mercantile adventure are conducted 
 by foreigners, mostly native Chinese, 
 Europeans, or their descendants, and 
 natives of Hindostan and Arabia. Of 
 the Asiatic dealers the Chinese are 
 decidedly the most useful, and they 
 appear to occupy the same employ- 
 ment that the Jews did among the 
 barbarians of the middle ages of Eu- 
 rope, except that here they have 
 more fair play. A commercial inter- 
 course has always subsisted with the 
 Eastern maritime nations of Asia ; but 
 the most extensive, intimate, and 
 probably the most beneficial, has al- 
 ways been with China. In fact, a 
 demand for the peculiar productions 
 
 of the Eastern archipelago appears 
 interwoven with the habits, manners, 
 and religious ceremonies of that sin- 
 gular nation, whose industry we con- 
 stantly find directed either to objects 
 of mere necessity, or for the gratifi- 
 cation of their sensual appetites, it 
 never, in any shape, assuming the 
 character of intellectual enterprize. 
 
 Gold is universally diffused through- 
 out the archipelago, but is most 
 abundant in the islands that form the 
 northern and western barriers, and 
 present a geological primitive forma- 
 tion, while it is rarely worth seeking 
 for in the great volcanic range ex- 
 tending from Java to Timor Laut. 
 Borneo affords the largest quantity ; 
 then in succession, Sumatra, the Ma- 
 lay peninsula, Celebes, and Luzon. 
 In 1818 the total produce of the ar- 
 chipelago was estimated at 154,865 
 ounces, or <£658,176 sterling. Al- 
 though gold in its native state is so 
 generally diffused, no coins of that 
 metal have yet been found, nor do the 
 Indian islanders in remote times appear 
 to have possessed a metallic coinage. 
 Rude images of silver have been dis- 
 covered in Java, and also some small 
 eoins^both probably imported, for 
 native silver is one of the rarest of 
 metals, and although it is frequently 
 found in combination with gold, the 
 quantity is so small, that as an article 
 of commerce it may be said not to 
 exist. Iron is also a very limited 
 production ; in Java there is none 
 whatever. 
 
 Copper ores are found in Sumatra 
 and Timor, and have lately been found 
 at Sambas in Borneo. The most 
 general name for it throughout the 
 archipelago is the Sanscrit word Tam- 
 baya, and nearly all the old Hindoo 
 relics and images, are made of copper 
 alloyed with iron. Except Brazil 
 and Hindostan, the Indian islands 
 are the only portions of the globe in 
 which the diamond is found, and even 
 here it seems confined to the south 
 and west coast of Borneo. 
 
 The principal countries of the ar- 
 chipelago in which cloth is manufac- 
 tured for exportation are Java, Bali, 
 and Celebes, of which the last are 
 
EASTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 535 
 
 the best, being substantially fabricated 
 from the fine cottons of Lombhook, 
 Booton, and Mangerai. Indigo, until 
 recently from Java, has never formed 
 an important export from the Eastern 
 Isles. Black pepper is produced in 
 large quantities and of an excellent 
 quality, and from hence a large pro- 
 portion of all the pepper consumed 
 in the world is exported; but, al- 
 though so much esteemed abroad, it 
 is but little thought of at home, for 
 (as happens with nutmegs and cloves) 
 the native islanders scarcely ever use 
 black pepper for culinary operations, 
 and the consumption for other pur- 
 poses is very trifling. The rattan is 
 a spontaneous production of all the 
 forests, but is found of the best qua- 
 lity in Borneo, Sumatra, and the Ma- 
 lay peninsula ; the principal export 
 is to China, where great quantities 
 are employed as cordage. No at- 
 tempts have yet been made to cul- 
 tivate the mulberry, or propagate the 
 silk-worm. After passing Sumbhawa, 
 the horse may be traced to Floris, 
 Sandal-wood Island, and Timor ; but 
 no where further east, being un- 
 known in the Moluccas and Papuan 
 isles. 
 
 The great tribes of these islands 
 which have influenced the destinies 
 of the inferior ones, have all had 
 their origin in the larger islands, where 
 civilization appears to have progress- 
 ed from the west. By the Malays 
 they are usually termed lands, as 
 Tanna Ambun, the land of the Am- 
 boynese; Tanna Suluk, the land of 
 the Sooloo ; Tanna Papua, the land 
 of the Papuas. They exhibit two 
 distinct races of inhabitants : an 
 
 aboriginal fair, or brown complexion- 
 ed people, with lank hair; and also an 
 aboriginal negro race, black or rather 
 sooty-coloured, with woolly frizzled 
 hair. These two in other respects 
 resemble the white and the negro 
 races of the western world, the first 
 having always displayed the same su- 
 periority over the last, as the whites 
 do over the negroes of Africa. 
 
 The black tribes may be traced 
 from one extremity of the archi- 
 pelago to the other, but is necessarily 
 
 less numerous where the civilized 
 abound, and seem to have utterly 
 disappeared in the more westerly 
 islands. On the contrary, towards 
 the east they increase in the inverse 
 ratio of improvement until we reach 
 New Guinea, where they compose 
 the great mass of the inhabitants. 
 The medium height of the brown 
 man is five feet two inches for the 
 males, and four feet eleven inches for 
 the females. Their eyes are small 
 and always black ; indeed any other 
 colour would be reckoned a mons- 
 trosity. The hair on every part of 
 the Indian islander, except the head, 
 is scanty, and the beard naturally 
 very defective. The fairest races are 
 generally to the west, but some of 
 them, as the Battas, are under the 
 equator. The standard of beauty 
 here is almost the same as in Europe, 
 and the individual of either sex 
 pointed out as handsome in the one 
 country would equally be esteemed 
 so in the other, except with respect 
 to complexion, the standard of which 
 is a virgin gold colour. 
 
 The practice of smoking tobacco 
 has been discontinued bv the East- 
 Indian islanders, instead of which 
 they shred it small, and suck it 
 through the teeth. On the other 
 hand, the whole of them smoke in- 
 stead of swallowing opium, as the 
 Turks, Hindostanies, and other Asia- 
 tics do. But although universally 
 addicted to the use of intoxicat- 
 ing drugs, they have no partiality 
 for vinous or spirituous liquors, 
 which is probably the effect of 
 climate. All classes are also distract- 
 edly fond of gaming, and the Malays 
 and Buggesses more than the rest. 
 Games of hazard are the most pre- 
 valent, those of sedentary skill not 
 being sufficiently stimulating. But, of 
 all others, betting on pugnacious 
 animals, such as the game-cock, quail, 
 and even cricket, is their favourite 
 amusement. The latter are stimu- 
 lated by the application of a blade 
 of grass to their noses. Buffaloes 
 and tigers are also compelled to fight 
 within a narrow space, but the latter 
 are almost invariably crushed to 
 
536 
 
 EASTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 death by the first onset of the buf- 
 faloe. 
 
 The Javanese, Malay, Buggess, 
 and Macassar, are the most cultivated 
 languages of the archipelago. Be- 
 sides the many unwritten languages 
 of the Papuas and brown-complexion- 
 ed savages, there are many written 
 languages of tribes less powerful and 
 improved, such as the Batta, Rejang, 
 and Lampung of Sumatra; the Sunda 
 of Java, the Madurese, the Bally, 
 and the Lombhook ; and further to 
 the east some languages written in 
 the character of Celebes, such as the 
 Sumbhawa, Bootung, &c. In fact, 
 the dialects of the archipelago are 
 innumerable ; but the Malay, Java- 
 nese, and Buggess are the most in- 
 fluential, and appear all traceable to 
 one common source, a large propor- 
 tion of the words being radically and 
 essentially the same. There are five 
 written characters known among the 
 ‘Indian islanders, all distinct in form. 
 The barbarous island of Sumatra has 
 no less than three peculiar and 
 well-defined alphabets, the best in- 
 vented by the Battas, a still existing 
 cannibal nation. The uncouth and 
 monotonous language of China never 
 made any progress among the Eastern 
 islanders, notwithstanding their long 
 intercourse. 
 
 Hindoo colonies came at various 
 times into the Eastern islands, chiefly 
 from Telinga, and propagated the 
 Hindoo religion and Sanscrit lan- 
 guage ; but at present, with the ex- 
 ception of a few mountaineers in the 
 eastern end of Java, and the island 
 of Bally, where it is still the pre- 
 valent worship, it appears to be en- 
 tirely banished from the Eastern Ar- 
 chipelago. With the above exception, 
 caste is also unknown, there being 
 no artificial or hereditary restriction 
 of the population to certain and pe- 
 culiar occupations. Indeed, the in- 
 habitants may be generally classed in 
 the following gradations : the royal 
 family, nobles, priests, free cultiva- 
 tors, debtors, and slaves. 
 
 Whatever be the form of govern- 
 ment, slavery, or or least servitude, 
 is the lot of the people, which burthen 
 
 is invariably lightest, and their per- 
 sonal freedom greatest, where the 
 absolute authority of one despot has 
 superseded that of many : for wher- 
 ever there exist numerous petty 
 states, war and contention are un- 
 ceasing, and the miserable people are 
 bought and sold without mercy. Thus 
 slavery and rapine are universal under 
 the feudal government of Celebes ; 
 whereas in Java, the most despotic 
 of all governments, there is no per- 
 sonal slavery among the natives, and 
 in choosing their own village officers, 
 the people enjoy a remarkable degree 
 of freedom. Slavery in the archi- 
 pelago is referable to four sources, 
 viz. prisoners of war, debtors, cri- 
 minals, and persons kidnapped. None 
 but the most savage tribes destroy or 
 eat their prisoners. 
 
 The Indian islanders first received 
 the Mahomedan religion from the 
 parent land of Arabia, probably about 
 A.D. 1300, and they are still strict 
 adherents to the orthodox doctrines 
 of Hanifi, there being almost no 
 sectaries, and only a few straggling 
 Shiahs, named Rafzies. Upon the 
 whole, with the exception of gam- 
 bling and the use of intoxicating 
 drugs, they are exemplary Mahome- 
 dans without being intolerant. 
 
 The Christian religion, as a prevail- 
 ing worship, can only be said to exist 
 in the Spice islands and the Philip- 
 pines. In the latter, the converted 
 inhabitants are nominally Catholics, 
 and in the first nominally Protes- 
 tants ; yet, judging of its effects in 
 these instances, Christianity may be 
 viewed (independent of its other me- 
 rits) as a powerful instrument of ci- 
 vilization. It must certainly always 
 tend to the benefit of the governed 
 to be of the same religious belief 
 with their governors, nor is it pos- 
 sible that, while adopting the Chris- 
 tian faith, they should not at the 
 same time imbibe a portion of its 
 pure morality. The feeble efforts 
 made to propagate Christianity by 
 insulated and unprotected mission- 
 aries have hitherto proved nugatory 
 and injurious, that religion being just- 
 ly unpopular from its having been 
 
EDERWARA. <537 
 
 introduced by intrigue (by the Por- 
 tuguese and Spaniards), and propa- 
 gated by sanguinary violence. 
 
 The Dutch nation as a principle of 
 policy pursued the propagation of 
 Christianity among the Eastern isles, 
 and there are now several countries 
 in which the Protestant doctrines 
 have made considerable progress. A 
 large proportion of the islanders, 
 however, are still Pagans, under the 
 influence of a wild and unintelligible 
 superstition, administered by priests, 
 enchanters, and dealers with invisible 
 spirits, whom the people both dread 
 and despise. 
 
 Marco Polo, the celebrated tra- 
 veller, visited the Malayan archi- 
 pelago, on his way from China to the 
 Persian Gulf, about A.D. 1290. The 
 Portuguese reached the Eastern isles 
 ten years after Vasco de Gama, 
 doubled the Cape of Good Hope, 
 under Don Lopez de Siqueira, who, 
 if we except the accidental visits of 
 Marco Polo, Mandeville, and some 
 others, may be considered the dis- 
 coverer of this archipelago. In 
 A.D. 1581, in consequence of the 
 union of Portugal with Spain, its 
 Indian dominions became subject to 
 the latter. In 1602 the English, un- 
 der Sir James Lancaster, made their 
 appearance at Acheen with letters 
 and presents from Queen Elizabeth ; 
 and in 1621 the French, under Ge- 
 neral Beauliau, arrived with letters 
 and presents from the king of France 
 to the sultan of Acheen. 
 
 With respect to their present con- 
 dition, moral and political, besides 
 the evil effects of European influence 
 as exercised by the Dutch, the tribes 
 of the Eastern islands have been 
 much deteriorated by their unceasing 
 commotions, owing to the want of 
 executive strength in the sovereign ; 
 the ill-defined succession to the 
 throne, primogeniture not being re- 
 cognized; the universal prevalence 
 of piracy; the absence of efficient 
 laws for the regulation of com- 
 merce, and consequent monopoly 
 of trade by the petty chiefs, with 
 all their arbitrary duties and ex- 
 tortions. — ( Crawfurd , Raffles , For- 
 
 rest, Stavorinns , Singapoor Chronicle 
 
 #c.) 
 
 Ecdala. — T he town and fortress 
 of Ecdala are frequently mentioned 
 in the histories of Bengal, and are 
 supposed to have stood in lat. 24° 4' 
 N., Ion. 90° 45' E., about nineteen 
 miles N.N.E. from Dacca, where the 
 site of a police chokey, stationed on 
 a small red hillock, in a thick jungle, 
 close to the Luckia river, is still 
 pointed out as the actual position of 
 the fortress. 
 
 In A.D. 1353, Hyas Khan, the 
 second independent monarch of 
 Bengal, is said to have taken post 
 here when his dominions were in- 
 vaded by the emperor Feroze of 
 Delhi, who advanced thus far and 
 invested the fortress. The garrison, 
 however, made so protracted a re- 
 sistance, that the rains commenced 
 and inundated the country, which 
 compelled the emperor to raise the 
 siege and retreat. Sultan Seid Hus- 
 sein Khan, the ruler of Bengal from 
 1499 to 1520, made Ecdala his chief 
 place of residence. — ( Stewart , Ful- 
 larton , $fc.) 
 
 Ecdallah. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Allahabad, fifty-nine miles 
 west by N. from the fortress of Al- 
 lahabad ; lat . 25°34 / N., Ion. 81° 1' E. 
 
 Ejderwara. — A large division of 
 the Gujerat province, situated on the 
 northern frontier, and bounded in 
 that quarter by Rajpootana. It con- 
 tains many half independent native 
 rajas and thakoors, but the principal 
 is the raja ofEder, designated, par 
 excellence, “ the Thakoor.” This 
 chieftain is fifth in descent from Ajeet 
 Singh, who reigned over Joudpoor 
 107 years ago. His direct ancestor 
 obtained possession of Eder (then 
 an integral part of the Joudpoor 
 kingdom) about eighty-seven years 
 ago, Ajeet Singh having then ex- 
 pelled another Rahtore chief called 
 the Row, whose descendants still 
 hold the small but strong pergunnah 
 of Pola, situated on the hills between 
 Eder and Odeypoor, from whence 
 they still issue and harass the usurp- 
 ers. 
 
538 
 
 EETUL. 
 
 The Eder principality, although 
 open towards the west, is naturally 
 very strong, abounding in rivers, 
 hills, and forests. The soil is fertile 
 and the numerous mangoe trees indi- 
 cate the existence of a denser popu- 
 lation at some former period; at pre- 
 sent, however, a large proportion of 
 the surface is overrun with woods 
 and jungles. In 1820, the revenues 
 of Eder amounted to four lacks of 
 rupees, without including its de- 
 pendencies ; but not more than one 
 lack ever reached the Rajas treasury, 
 the residue Deing allotted to eight 
 chiefs, who held lands of him, under 
 the Rajpoot denomination of Patayet. 
 Prior to this date, the tribute to the 
 Guicowar had been fixed by Major 
 Ballantine at 24,000 rnpees per anum, 
 one fourth paid by the raja, and the 
 remainder by his patayets. Besides 
 these feudatories, this principality 
 contains three petty states, named 
 Ahmednuggur, Morassa, and Bar. 
 Jaspers are obtained from the Eder 
 mountains eighty miles north of Ah- 
 medabad, and the ridge of mountains 
 which separates Guzerat from Mar- 
 war, abounds with various sorts of 
 marble. — ( Elphinstone , $c.) 
 
 Eder. — A town in the province of 
 Gujerat, the capital of the preceding 
 division, sixty-four miles N. by E. 
 from Ahmedabad ; lat. 23°53' N., Ion. 
 72° 3' E. In A.D. 1820, this place 
 was conjectured to contain 2,500 
 houses, which would give a popula- 
 tion of about 12,000 inhabitants. 
 Morassa is less than Eder, and Ah- 
 mednuggur. Although situate dwithin 
 the walls of a magnificent fort con- 
 structed by the Mahomedan kings of 
 Gujerat, it is only a large village. — 
 ( Elphinstone , fyc.) 
 
 Edmonstone’s Isle. — An island 
 of alluvial formation in the province 
 of Bengal, situated about lat. 21° 35' 
 N., Ion. 88° 50' E., where it occupies 
 the position formerly laid down in the 
 charts as Sagor shoal. This addition 
 to the Bengal province was first 
 brought into notice by the marine 
 survey of 1816, for in 1813 it had 
 not yet raised its head above water. 
 
 In 1818, it got one stage beyond a 
 sand bank, and was visited by wood- 
 cutters and fishermen, who erected 
 two huts thereon dedicated to Siva. 
 Still advancing, a bungalow was 
 erected by subscription for the ac- 
 commodation of invalids, requiring 
 the refreshing influence of the sea 
 breeze and a maritime situation. Just 
 at this crisis, however, the sea inter- 
 fered, swept away the bungalow, and 
 for a time submerged the island, 
 which, however, reappeared again, 
 and in 1821, a flag staff one hundred 
 feet high and a small bungalow were 
 erected on it. 
 
 Eechauk. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Bahar, district of Ramghur, 
 103 miles S.S.E. from Patna; lat. 
 24° 10' N., Ion. 85° 46' E. This place 
 stands nine miles N.E. from the mi- 
 litary station of Hazarybaugh, and is 
 the residence of the Raja of Eechauk. 
 This is one of the largest zemindaries 
 in the Ramghur district, and com- 
 prehends nearly the whole tract of 
 country through which the great Be- 
 nares road passes from Chass to 
 Hazarybaugh. The British judicial 
 regulations have not yet been ex- 
 tended to this zemindary, where the 
 raja continues to exercise a certain 
 police jurisdiction. — ( Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 Eedilabad. — A small walled town 
 in the province of Candeish, situated 
 on the river Purna near its junction 
 with the Tuptee, twenty-three miles 
 travelling distance S.S.W. from Boor- 
 hanpoor. This place had been re- 
 peatedly plundered by the Pindaries, 
 and in 1820 contained only one in- 
 habited street. Lat. 21° 4' N., Ion. 
 76° 8' E . — ( Fullarton Sfc.) 
 
 Eesaughur. — A strong fort in the 
 province of Malwa, thirty-nine miles 
 N.W. from Chendaree ; lat. 24° 50' 
 N., Ion. 77 ° 55' E. This place is the 
 capital of a pergunnah belonging to 
 Dowlet Row Sindia, and has a large 
 pettah that extends round the north 
 and west sides of the fort. — ( Mal- 
 colm , fyc.) 
 
 Eetul.— An inland town in the 
 province of Canara, nineteen miles 
 
ELEPHANTA ISLE. 
 
 539 
 
 S.S.E. frorti Mangalore; lat. 12° 46' 
 N., Ion. 75° 13' E. 
 
 Efbe. — A harbour in the Eastern 
 seas, situated on the south coast of 
 Mysol Island, and formed by a small 
 islet also named Efbe. On shore 
 there is a village where refreshments 
 for ships may be had. 
 
 Eidgheer. — A small district in the 
 province of Hyderabad, extending 
 along the east bank of the Beema 
 river, which bounds it on the west. 
 The principal towns are Eidgheer, 
 Ferozeghur, and Dowletabad. The 
 town of Eidgheer is situated in lat. 
 16° 35' N., Ion. 77 ° 16' E., 100 miles 
 S.W. from the city of Hyderabad. 
 
 Einuru ( or Yennoor ). — A small 
 town in the province of Canara ; lat. 
 13° 5' N., Ion. 75° 16' E. This place 
 contains eight temples belonging to 
 the Jains, and one to the Siva Brah- 
 mins. The first have an allowance 
 of fourteen pagodas, and the last of 
 ten pagodas. As the Jain votaries 
 are here more numerous than those 
 of Siva, their temples have the largest 
 endowments ; but while the native 
 officers of government are mostly 
 Brahmins, pretences will never be 
 wanting for distressing the Jain tem- 
 ples. At Einuru there is an im- 
 mense colossal statue of one of the 
 gods worshipped by the Jains, cut 
 from a solid mass of granite, and 
 standing in the open air. — (F. Bu- 
 chanan , Sf-c.) 
 
 Elephanta Isle. — A small island 
 in the province of Aurungabad, si- 
 tuated in the bay of Bombay, about 
 seven miles from the castle, and five 
 from the Maharatta shore. By the 
 natives it is named Gorapori, and 
 consists of two long hills, with a 
 narrow valley intervening ; the whole 
 about six miles in circumference. 
 The usual landing-place is towards 
 the south, where the valley is broad- 
 est. About 250 yards to the right 
 of the landing-place, on the acclivity 
 of one of the hills, there formerly 
 stood a large and clumsy elephant, 
 out out of the insulated black rock, 
 from which figure the island acquired 
 
 its European name ; but in Septem- 
 ber 1814 the neck and head of the 
 elephant dropped off, and the body 
 has since sunk in such a manner as 
 to threaten its fall. 
 
 The great temple is about 130 feet 
 long, measuring from the chief en- 
 trance to the furthest end of the 
 cave; and 123 broad, from the east- 
 ern to the western entrance. It rests 
 on twenty-six pillars (eight of them, 
 in 1813, broken) and sixteen pilasters, 
 and neither the roof nor the floor 
 being in one plane, it varies in height 
 from seventeen and a half to fifteen 
 feet. The plan is regular, there being 
 eight pillars and pilasters in a line from 
 the northern entrance to the south- 
 ern extreme, and the same number 
 from the eastern to the western en- 
 trances. In the centre is a gigantic 
 Trimurti, or three-formed god. Brah- 
 ma, the creator, is in the middle, 
 with Vishnu, the preserver, on one 
 side, and Siva, the destroyer, on the 
 other. The last holds in his hands a 
 cobra capella, or hooded snake, and 
 on his cap, among other symbols, are 
 a human skull and a young infant. 
 To the right is a large compartment, 
 hollowed a little, and carved with a 
 great variety of figures, the largest 
 of which, sixteen feet high, represents 
 the double figure of Siva and Parvati, 
 named Viraj, half male, half female, 
 on the right of Viraj is Brahma, four- 
 faced, sitting on a lotus ; and on the 
 left is Vishnu, sitting on the shoul- 
 ders of his eagle Gam da. Near 
 Brahma are Indra and Indrani on 
 their elephant, and below is a female 
 figure holding a chowry. On the 
 other side of the Trimurti, or triad, 
 is another compartment, with va- 
 rious figures of Siva and Parvati; 
 the most remarkable of which is the 
 first, in his vindictive character, eight- 
 handed, with a chaplet of skulls round 
 his neck. 
 
 Besides the above there are innume- 
 rable mythological figures, which can- 
 not be rendered intelligible without 
 the assistance of plates, having been 
 much defaced by visitors, and by the 
 zeal of the Portuguese, who made 
 war on the gods and temples, as well 
 
540 
 
 ELLICHPOOR. 
 
 as on the armies of India ; frag- 
 ments of statues strew the floor; co- 
 lums deprived of their bases adhere 
 to the roof, and there split, and with- 
 out capitals. All the Hindoo deities 
 have particular symbols by which 
 they may be distinguished, much as 
 European families may be discri- 
 minated by their armorial bearings. 
 The excavations of Kenneri and 
 Carli evidently belong to the Bud- 
 dhists ; those of Elephanta and Am- 
 boli to the Brahmins ; while Elora 
 possesses excavations of both classes. 
 The cave here is not now in use as a 
 temple, nor is it a place of pilgrimage, 
 or possessed of any sacerdotal esta- 
 blishment, although devotees from the 
 neighbourhood make occasional offer- 
 ings of prayers and oblations. Consi- 
 dering the pains bestowed on it, it must 
 at some period have been held in great- 
 er estimation, and the Brahmins gene- 
 rally disregard imperfect or mutilated 
 images. Nothing, however, presents 
 itself among these excavations that 
 can lead to a satisfactory solution of 
 the important and curious question, 
 in what age and b}' what tribe or 
 dynasty was this vast temple com- 
 pleted? 
 
 The rock out of which the temple 
 is carved is not calculated to resist 
 for any length of time the ravages of 
 the weather, and it evidently suffers 
 much from the annual rains. Prior 
 to 1824 a great number of the pillars 
 (nearly one-third of the whole) had 
 been undermined by the accumula- 
 tion of water in the cavern, and the 
 capitals of some, and parts of the shafts 
 of others remained suspended from 
 the top like huge stalactites, the 
 bases having completely mouldered 
 away. These ravages appear to be 
 annually making quicker progress, 
 although for many years back the 
 cave has been protected from all 
 wanton spoilation. 
 
 A similar rapidity of decomposition 
 has occurred in the elephant, which 
 when seen by Neibuhr was far more 
 perfect than at present. If half a 
 century, therefore, can produce such 
 changes in this celebrated temple, it 
 is hardly reasonable to suppose that 
 
 any part of it is of very profound 
 antiquity. It is now also generally 
 allowed to have been dedicated to 
 Siva, the popular deity of the mo- 
 dern Hindoos in this quarter of India. 
 Even now, though guarded by an 
 European serjeant appointed to pre- 
 serve it from the injury of man, the 
 climate does its work of devastation, 
 and it appears probable that in pro- 
 cess of time not much will remain to 
 evince what the temple was in the 
 days of its glory. — ( Erskine , Moor , 
 M, Graham , fyc.) 
 
 Elgundel. — A large district in the 
 province of Hyderabad, of which it oc- 
 cupies the northern extremity. Its li- 
 mits are quite undefined, and the con- 
 dition of its interior equally uncertain 
 with that of the Nizam’s dominions ge- 
 nerally, which appear likely to remain 
 a sort of terra incognita. The town 
 of Elgundel stands on the north side 
 of the small river Punnair, seventy- 
 five miles N.N.E. from the city of 
 Hyderabad; lat. 18 ° 17 ' N., Ion. 77 ° 
 47' E. 
 
 Eliangoody. — An extensive, po- 
 pulous, and neatly built village in the 
 Carnatic province, district of Ma- 
 dura, twenty-five miles travelling dis- 
 tance from Ramnad. In 1820 it be- 
 longed to the poligar of Shevagunga. 
 
 Ellichpoor. — A city in the pro- 
 vince of Berar, of which it is the 
 proper capital, although that distinc- 
 tion is usually assigned to Nagpoor, 
 which is not within its limits ; lat. 
 21° 14' N., Ion. 77 ° 36' E. It is si- 
 tuated between the Sarpan and Bee- 
 chun rivers, which form a junction in 
 the vicinity, and afterwards fall into 
 the Poorna. It is a place of no 
 strength, being only in part surround- 
 ed by a wall ; but the bazars and 
 houses near the nabob’s palace are 
 of brick, and in the neighbourhood 
 are the tombs of several Mussulmaun 
 saints which stand conspicuous. 
 
 Ellichpoor was conquered by the 
 Mahomedans under Allah ud Deen 
 so early as A.D. 1294, but it has 
 since experienced many vicissitudes, 
 and until recently has been under- 
 going a rapid decline. At present it 
 
ELORA. 
 
 541 
 
 is held by Salabut Khan, one of the 
 Nizam’s jaghiredars, whose depen- 
 dence, however, is little more than 
 nominal. This chief established a 
 claim on the British government by 
 his steady attachment, and was in 1818 
 rewarded accordingly with some lands 
 abstracted from the territories of the 
 NagpoorRaja and Poona Maharattas. 
 Prior, however, to this event he had 
 allowed his authority to be usurped 
 by Futteh Jung Khan, originally a 
 private trooper, who had raised him- 
 self to the chief command, tyran- 
 nized over his nominal master, and 
 assassinated his relations. In 1820 
 it required the interposition of the 
 British government and the approach 
 of a strong detachment, to effect his 
 removal to Aurungabad, where he 
 soon after died. On this occasion 
 an arrangement was effected, by which 
 Salabut Khan’s quota was reduced to 
 650 infantry and 600 horse, but to 
 be kept efficient in every respect for 
 active military service. Travelling 
 distance from Nagpoor, 122 miles; 
 from Hyderabad, 319; from Poona, 
 380 ; from Delhi, 604 ; from Madras, 
 671 ; and from Calcutta, 844 miles. 
 — ( Public MS. Documents , Leckie, 
 Rennell, Fitzclarence y Blacker , fyc.) 
 
 Ellore (Elura). — This is one of 
 the five original Northern Circars, 
 but at present mostly comprehended 
 in the modern district and collec- 
 torate of Masulipatam. The Ellore 
 and Condapilly circars occupy the 
 whole of the space between the 
 Krishna and Godavery rivers ; the 
 Masulipatam circar towards the sea ; 
 the inland province of Cummumait, 
 in the Nizam’s territories towards the 
 west, and the jeel or lake of Colair, 
 which is chiefly formed by the over- 
 flowings of the above two rivers. Its 
 superficial contents may be estimated 
 at 2,700 square miles, exclusive of 
 the high mountainous tract on the 
 west, the limits of which are quite 
 undefined. — ( J. . Grant , fyc.) 
 
 Ellore. — A town in the Northern 
 Circars, 183 miles travelling distance 
 from Hyderabad ; lat. 16° 43' N., Ion. 
 81° 15' E. This is a larger town than 
 
 any to be found in the direct route 
 from hence to Madras, and is in fact 
 the residence of the collector of the 
 Masulipatam district. Some part of 
 the principal bazar is built with con- 
 siderable regularity, and the shops, 
 with wooden fronts, resemble those 
 in the west of India; none, however, 
 exceed one story. A battalion of 
 sepoys is usually cantoned here. — 
 
 ( Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 Elmore. — A town in the Northern 
 Circars, sixteen miles N. by E. from 
 Cicacole ; lat. 18° 26' N., Ion. 84° 
 10' E. 
 
 Elmunchilly. — A village in the 
 Northern Circars, district of Viza- 
 gapatam, forty miles travelling dis- 
 tance S.W. from the town of Vizaga- 
 patam. This place stands in a luxu- 
 riant valley ornamented with clus- 
 ters of* date-trees, and environed on 
 all sides with green mountains. There 
 is a temple at one extremity of this 
 village containing an image of Vira 
 Bhadra, remarkable for its rude and 
 fantastical sculptures ; and another, 
 dedicated to Gopaul Swami, over- 
 looks the village from a hill above. 
 — ( Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 Elora ( Eluru ) .—A village in the 
 province of Aurungabad, near to the 
 city of Dowlatabad ; lat. 19° 58' N., 
 lon.75° 23' E. It is surrounded by an 
 extensive wall of stone, and covers 
 with its ruins a considerable space 
 on the plain near to the base of the 
 ridge of hills in which the caves are 
 situated, but in 1820 it was nearly 
 depopulated. Outside the town a 
 very handsome temple of Siva and 
 a fine reservoir were constructed by 
 the celebrated Maharatta princess 
 AliaBhye, and other temples of in- 
 ferior dimensions have been erected 
 by other Hindoo chiefs. The Emperor 
 Aurengzebe also erected a small 
 mosque, probably to mortify the 
 Brahmins, immediately opposite to 
 the entrance of Cailas. 
 
 In a mountain about a mile to the 
 east of this place are some remark- 
 able excavations of Hindoo temples, 
 which in magnitude and perfection 
 of execution surpass any thing of 
 
542 
 
 ELORA. 
 
 the kind in India, but which it is im- 
 possible to render intelligible without 
 the assistance of plates. The cave 
 temples occupy a considerable extent 
 of surface, but at first do not strike 
 the mind as any thing wonderful, 
 until they are discovered to be all 
 one solid mass of rock. The follow- 
 ing are the dimensions of Cailas and 
 the great temple, both, however, parts 
 of the same excavation. 
 
 Dimensions of Cailas : 
 
 Height of the gateway Feet. 14 
 
 Passage of the gateway, having 
 on each side rooms fifteen feet 
 
 by nine 42 
 
 Inner area or court. — Length 
 from the gateway to the op- 
 posite scarp 247 
 
 Ditto ditto breadth 150 
 
 Greatest height of the rock out 
 of which the court is exca- 
 vated 100 
 
 Dimensions of the grand temple : 
 
 Door of the portico twelve feet 
 high by six broad, length from 
 the dopr of the portico, enter- 
 ing the temple, to the back 
 
 wall of the temple 103 
 
 Length from the same place to 
 the end of the raised platform 
 
 behind the temple 142 
 
 Greatest breadth of the inner 
 
 part of the temple 61 
 
 Height of the ceiling 18 
 
 The symbols seen in these exca- 
 vations tend to prove that they were 
 formed some by devotees of the 
 Brahminical doctrines, and others by 
 those of the Buddhists ; but at pre- 
 sent they are visited by no pilgrim 
 of either persuasion, nor are they 
 held in the slightest veneration. They 
 may be divided into three classes : 
 the northern, which are Buddhist or 
 possibly Jain ; the central, which are 
 Brahminical ; and the southern, which 
 are certainly Buddhist. All the Brah- 
 minical caves are evidently sacred to 
 Siva. The four southern excavations 
 are purely Buddhist, being filled with 
 curly-headed Buddhist figures. 
 
 Besides the remarkable excavation 
 called the cave of Vishwa Karma, 
 which is a lofty hall with a vaulted 
 
 roof, like the great Buddhist cave of 
 Carli, and contains a colossal image 
 of Buddha, to which the cicerones 
 of the place give the name of Vishwa 
 Karma, there are six other principal 
 excavations, some in the northern 
 others in the southern quarter of the 
 mountain, filled with sculptures 
 which appear to be all repetitions of 
 the effigy of Buddha. In the caves 
 that are decidedly Brahminical, Siva 
 and Bhavani seem to have been the 
 presiding deities. The grand cave 
 called Cailas, certainly a most ex- 
 traordinary work, belongs to this 
 class, and nearly the whole Hindoo 
 pantheon is ranged along the gallery 
 excavated in the perpendicular wall 
 of rock which forms the exterior 
 margin of the court or area ; but the 
 lingam alone occupies the sanctuary 
 of the temple. In some of the Bud- 
 dhist caverns there are naked saintly 
 images, not unlike the Digamber or 
 naked figures of the Jains, whereas 
 Buddhist images are generally Swe- 
 tamber, or clothed. 
 
 At the temple of Nilkhantha there 
 is a regular establishment of Brah- 
 mins, being probably the only cave 
 at which worship is still performed, 
 although at all of them there is a 
 Brahmin waiting to levy a contribu- 
 tion on strangers. Besides the cave 
 temples above described, there are 
 many smaller excavations in the face 
 of the rock, not distinguished by 
 sculptures or any other peculiarity, 
 which had probably been intended to 
 serve as dwellings for the officiating 
 priests and other attendants. During 
 the rainy season, the scenery about 
 the caves of Doomar, Leyna, and 
 Dehrwara is much embellished by 
 cascades, said to be of considerable 
 volume. 
 
 The Brahmins on the spot assert 
 that these caves were formed by 
 Eeloo Raja of Ellichpoor, 7,9 1 4 years 
 ago; but as they are found in the 
 neighbourhood of Deoghir, or Ta- 
 gara (now Dowletabad), which prior 
 to the Mahomedan conquest in A.D. 
 1293, was the capital of a powerful 
 Hindoo principality, they probably 
 originated in the superstitions of the 
 
ENORE. 
 
 513 
 
 reigning families at that metropolis. 
 By the last treaty with Holcar, the 
 village of Elora and lands attached 
 were transferred to the British go- 
 vernment j but in 1820, when Mr. 
 Fullarton was on the spot the local 
 functionaries were preparing to make 
 them over to the Nizam, in pur- 
 suance of some arrangement with 
 that potentate, for the adjustment of 
 our respective boundaries.— {Fullar- 
 ton,Fitzclarence, Erskine , Mallei , <5 c.) 
 
 Embehotty. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Oude, eighteen miles S.E. 
 from Lucknow ; lat. 26° 18' N., Ion. 
 81° 3' E. 
 
 Eminabad ( AminabadJ . — A town 
 in the province of Lahore, twenty- 
 nine miles north from the city of 
 Lahore; lat. 31°59'N., Ion. 74° 5'E. 
 
 Emly. — A small town in the pro- 
 vince of Delhi, sixteen miles west 
 from Hurdwar ; lat. 29° 56' N., Ion. 
 77 ° 53' E. 
 
 Emroke. — A town in the province 
 of Agra, sixty-three miles SE. from 
 Gualior; lat. 25° 50' N., Ion. 78° 
 56' E. 
 
 Ende Isle. — See Floris. 
 
 Engano Isle. — A small island 
 about thirty miles in circumference, 
 lying off the south-west coast of the 
 island of Sumatra ; lat. 5° 20' S., Ion. 
 102° 20' E. In A.D. 1771 it was 
 visited by a vessel sent by the gover- 
 nor and council of Bencoolen to ex- 
 plore the country and report on its 
 productions. Owing to the petty 
 thefts of the natives and the impru- 
 dent conduct of the crew, hostilities 
 soon arose between them, which frus- 
 trated the purpose of the expedition. 
 On approaching the shore, large plan- 
 tations of cocoa-nut trees were dis- 
 covered, with several spots of ground 
 cleared out for cultivation. Canoes 
 came off to the ship with cocoa-nuts, 
 sugar-canes, toddy, and a species of 
 yam. 
 
 The inhabitants are taller and fair- 
 er than the Malays, their hair black, 
 which the men cut short, and the 
 women wear long, and neatly turned 
 
 up. The first go entirely naked, ex- 
 cept that they sometimes throw a 
 piece of the bark of a tree or of a 
 plantain leaf over their shoulders, to 
 protect them from the heat of the 
 sun. The last go also quite naked, 
 with the exception of a plantain leaf 
 round the waist. The ears of both 
 men and women have large holes 
 made in them, an inch or two in 
 diameter, into which they put a ring 
 made of cocoa-nut shell, or a roll of 
 leaves. The} 7 do not chew betel, nor 
 is their language (probably a branch 
 of the Polynesian) yet ascertained. 
 
 Their canoes are formed of thin 
 planks sewed together, sharp-pointed 
 at each end, provided with out-rig- 
 gers, and capable of carrying six or 
 seven men. They always carry lances, 
 not only as offensive weapons, but 
 also for the purpose of striking fish. 
 These lances are about seven feet 
 long, formed of hard woods, some 
 tipped with pieces of bamboo made 
 sharp, and the concave part filled up 
 with fish bones and sharks* teeth. 
 Some lances are armed with pieces of 
 bone made sharp and notched, others 
 pointed with sharp bits of iron and 
 copper. 
 
 The soil of the island is for the 
 most part a red clay, and the pro- 
 ductions the same as are usually 
 found on the south coast of Sumatra. 
 No rice has been seen among the in- 
 habitants, nor have cattle or fowls of 
 any kind been observed about their 
 houses, which are circular, raised on 
 posts, floored with planks, and about 
 eight feet in diameter. The Malays, 
 who are much addicted to the mar- 
 vellous, formerly believed that all the 
 inhabitants of Engano were females. 
 • — ( Marsden , fyc.) 
 
 English Bazar. — A considerable 
 town thus named in the province of 
 Bengal, about four miles distance 
 from Malda, the head-quarters of 
 the commercial resident. 
 
 Enore ( Enur ). — A village in the 
 Carnatic, eight miles north from Ma- 
 dras; lat. 13° 13' N., Ion. 80° 23' E. 
 This place stands on the banks of a 
 small salt-water lake, which contains 
 
5U 
 
 ETAWEH. 
 
 abundance of fine fish and excellent 
 oysters. A society in Madras have 
 built here by subscription a house on 
 the edge of the lake, where there is 
 a weekly meeting to eat fish, play 
 cards, and sail on the lake in plea- 
 sure boats, a diversion which cannot 
 be enjoyed any where near Madras 
 on account of the surf. The town 
 stands on a flat sandy bank, and con- 
 tains about 100 native huts and two 
 European houses, besides the sub- 
 scription hotel. — (ikf. Graham , fyc.) 
 
 Eras. — See Lanca. 
 
 Erech. — An ancient town in the 
 province of Allahabad, situated on 
 the right bank of the Betwa river, 
 nine miles E. by S. from Sumpter ; 
 lat. 25° 49' N., Ion. 79° 2' E. 
 
 Erroor. — A small town on the 
 sea-coast of the Malabar province, 
 fifty miles S. by E. from Calicut ; lat. 
 10° 36' N., Ion. 76° 4' E. 
 
 Erroad ( Erodu ). — A town in 
 the Coimbatoor province, fifty-five 
 miles N.E. from the town of Coim- 
 batoor; lat. 11° 21' N., Ion. 77 ° 45' 
 E. During Hyder’s government the 
 suburbs of Erroad contained about 
 3,000 houses. Tippoo’s reign reduced 
 them one-third, and all that remained 
 were destroyed during the invasion 
 of General Meadows. It has greatly 
 recovered since that era, and in 1801 
 contained above 400 houses, with a 
 battalion of sepoys in a large mud 
 fort. The canal passing Erroad from 
 the Bhavani is an excellent work, 
 and waters a narrow space of ground 
 fifteen Malabar hours’ journey in 
 length. The best land here in 1801 
 let for £2. 7s. per acre; the worst 
 for ID. 4 d. The dry field is from 
 5s. 10J. to Is. 6d. per acre. — (F. Bu- 
 chanan, §c.) 
 
 Esaghar. — A hill fort in the pro- 
 vince of Aurungabad, division of Joo- 
 neer, situated above the village of 
 Carli, and close to the strong fortress 
 of Loghur, about thirty-six miles tra- 
 velling distance N.W. from Poona. 
 
 Esaunagur. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Allahabad, twelve miles S.W. 
 
 from Chatterpoor ; lat. 24° 52' N., 
 Ion. 79° 22' E. 
 
 Etaweh (AtavaJ . — A district in 
 the province of Agra, consisting prin- 
 cipally of territory in the Doab, ceded 
 to the British in 1801, and situated 
 principally between the twenty-sixth 
 and twenty-seventh degrees of north 
 latitude. To the north it is bounded 
 by the Furruckabad and Alighur dis- 
 tricts ; on the south by that of Caun- 
 poor ; to the east are the Oude do- 
 minions ; and on the west, Agra, and 
 the territories of various petty chiefs. 
 Etaweh being itself a large compo- 
 nent part of the Doab properly so 
 called, a considerable proportion of 
 what is there stated, with reference 
 to soil, productions, climate, and 
 commerce, applies particularly to this 
 collectorate, and need not be here 
 repeated. The principal towns are 
 Minpooree (the modern capital, and 
 residence of the judge); Etaweh, the 
 ancient one ; Kanoje, Belah, Sin- 
 douse, and Shekoabad. The roads 
 to most of the largest cities in the 
 Doab pass through this district, 
 which is consequently much frequent- 
 ed by merchants and travellers. 
 
 In 1807 Etaweh was described in 
 the government records as being 
 thinly peopled ; the inhabitants indi- 
 gent, and martial rather than agricul- 
 tural ; while the ravages of depreda- 
 tors from the neighbouring states, 
 and internal commotions, checked its 
 advances in husbandry, and other- 
 wise retarded its prosperity. In 1812, 
 not only the pergunnah of Sindouse, 
 but many others situated on the west 
 side of the river Jumna, on account 
 of their disorderly condition, required 
 the especial attention of government, 
 and even the interference of a mili- 
 tary force. Owing to the nature of 
 this tract of country, it was in the 
 power of twenty or thirty men with 
 matchlocks to stop the navigation of 
 the Jumna with impunity, and when 
 pursued, they concealed themselves 
 in the ravines with which the coun- 
 try is intersected. These predatory 
 parties greatly injured the annual fair 
 at Buttersur, which, if properly pro- 
 
FEROZE SHAH’S CANAL. 
 
 545 
 
 tected, might have been rendered an 
 extensive mart for all kinds of mer- 
 chandize, as well as of horses and 
 cattle. Agra, and this portion of the 
 Doab, can only be secured from fo- 
 reign plunderers by patrols station- 
 ed on the banks of the Chumbul, to 
 check the lawless tribes on the oppo- 
 site shore ; but before so great an 
 expense be incurred, it is desirable 
 that the districts in this quarter of 
 Hindostan be surveyed and new 
 limited. 
 
 In A.D. 1813 this district was said 
 to contain 4,441,788 cucha or small 
 begas in cultivation, assessed at 
 30,62,068 rupees, which amount was 
 realized within two and a quarter per 
 cent. ; the average rate being about 
 twelve annas per bega. The number 
 of villages was 3,813 ; the quantity 
 of land fit for cultivation 5,755,564 
 begas, and of waste 1,781,564 begas. 
 The gaol of Etaweh is reckoned the 
 best situated, most commodious, and 
 best executed gaol in the north-west- 
 ern provinces, and throughout the 
 year 1813-14 contained on an aver- 
 age 640 prisoners . — ( The Marquis of 
 Hastings , Gutthrie , Sir E, Colehrooke , 
 Ker, Blunt , fyc.) 
 
 Etaweh. — A town in the province 
 of Agra, formerly the capital of the 
 preceding district ; lat. 26° 47' N., 
 Ion. 78° 53' E., seventy miles S.E. 
 from Agra. This place stands on the 
 east bank of the Jumna, many parts 
 of which, during the dry season, are 
 almost sixty feet above the water in 
 its bed. The town is built on the 
 heights, and as it approaches the ri- 
 ver, is divided into a number of sepa- 
 rate hillocks by deep ravines. While 
 the floods are at the highest the 
 Jumna here is a large river, the is- 
 lands and sandbanks being then sub- 
 merged. 
 
 Eynapoor. — A small town in the 
 Bejapoor province, sixteen miles S.E. 
 from Meritch ; lat. 16° 45' N., Ion. 
 75° 2' E. In this town there are 
 some Mahomedan families, who sub- 
 sist on the produce of charitable 
 lands granted in former times. 
 
 F. 
 
 Faifoe. — A town and harbour, 
 formerly the mart of most of the 
 northern provinces of Cochin China, 
 but which was destroyed during the 
 civil wars which so long agitated that 
 country. In 1819 two stone forts, 
 built by French engineers, command- 
 ed the entrance of the bay of Turon 
 and harbour of Faifoe. At that date 
 a considerable portion of the inhabi- 
 tants were Chinese or their descend- 
 ants, but the town was much impo- 
 verished and frequented only by 
 small craft. — (Lieut. White , fyc) 
 
 Falour. — A town in the province 
 of Lahore, close to the north bank of 
 the Sutuleje river, five miles N.N.W. 
 from Luddeeana; lat. 31° N., Ion. 
 75° 51' E. 
 
 Ferozepoor ( Firozpur, the city of 
 victory). — A town in the Delhi pro- 
 vince, fifty-two miles S.S.E. from the 
 city of Lahore ; lat. 30° 55' N., Ion. 
 74° 35' E. 
 
 Findka. — A town in the province 
 of Aurungabad, fifteen miles N.E 
 from Jalna; lat. 19° 59' N., Ion. 76° 
 19' E. 
 
 Firozabad (the victorious resi- 
 dence). — A town in the province of 
 Agra, twenty-four miles E. from the 
 city of Agra; lat. 27° 9' N., Ion. 78° 
 10'E. 
 
 Firozepoor ( Firozpur , the city of 
 victory) . — A town in the province of 
 Agra, surrounded by a stone wall, 
 the capital of the country bestowed 
 on Ahmed Buksh Khan, whose ter- 
 ritories comprehend the Mewatty 
 pergunnahs of Firozepoor, Nugeena, 
 and Poonahara, with the talooks of 
 Beechor and Sakras. He also holds 
 in jaghire, at a fixed rent in per- 
 petuity, the small pergunnah of La- 
 haroo, belonging to the Macherry 
 raja, and in the Shekawutty country. 
 Lat. 27° 58' N., Ion. 76° 39' E. ; fifty- 
 five miles S.S.W. from the city of 
 Delhi. — (Lieut. White . tyc.) 
 
 Firoze Shah’s Canal. — See Del- 
 hi province. 
 
 2 M 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
FORMOSA. 
 
 546 
 
 Firozgur. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Hyderabad, 105 miles S.W. 
 from the city of Hyderabad; lat. 16°25' 
 N., Ion. 77 ° 20' E. 
 
 Firozpoor. — A small fort and vil- 
 lage above Suchatal, in the province 
 of Delhi, district of Saharunpoor, 
 where Timour is supposed to have 
 crossed the Ganges ; lat. 29° 30' N. — 
 (Capt. Hodgson, § c.) 
 
 Floris for Ende ) Island. — A 
 large island in the eastern seas, situ- 
 ated between the eighth and ninth 
 degrees of south latitude, and the 
 120th and 123d of east longitude. 
 In length it may be estimated at 200 
 miles, by thirty-six the average 
 breadth. The proper name of this 
 island appears to be Ende, it having 
 been denominated Floris by the early 
 Portuguese writers, and after them 
 by succeeding voyagers and geogra- 
 phers. Viewed from the sea this 
 island appears hilly, and on the south 
 side there are several conical volcanic 
 mountains, of great elevation, one of 
 which exploded in 1810, with much 
 uproar. 
 
 Ende, the principal port of Floris, 
 is situated near the south coast, and 
 has an excellent harbour; indeed the 
 only one to be found on the southern 
 shores of all the islands from Java 
 head to Ombay. It was formerly 
 subordinate to the Dutch residency 
 at Coopang; but about A.D. 1812 
 was occupied by a Buggess colony, 
 who reject all European intercourse 
 and authority. Before this event its 
 exports consisted principally of slaves, 
 gold dust, bees’-wax, cocoa-nut oil, 
 sandal-wood, birds’-nests, and tor- 
 toiseshell, which trade employed 
 about fifty Buggess prows. The only 
 territory in possession of any Euro- 
 pean power is the eastern portion in 
 the neighbourhood of Larantooka, 
 where the natives have nearly been 
 all converted to the Christian religion 
 by the Portuguese (who have a church 
 at Larantooka), under whose domi- 
 nion they still continue, and by whom 
 large quantities of sandal-wood are 
 annually sent to Dhelli in Timor. 
 The western end of Floris, called by 
 
 the natives Mangeray, was colonized 
 from Bima in Sumbhaw'a, to which 
 state, until 1819, it was subordinate ; 
 but in that year it revolted and set 
 up the standard of independence. 
 
 The sea-coast of Floris has been 
 colonized by Malays and Buggesses, 
 while the interior is occupied by the 
 aboriginal natives, respecting whom 
 little is known, except that their phy- 
 sical appearance corresponds more 
 with that of the Papuas than with 
 the natives of Timor. They appear 
 to be subdivided into innumerable 
 petty communities, some consisting 
 of not more than one village, and, 
 like all barbarians in a similar stage, 
 cursed with a never-ceasing hatred 
 to their neighbours ; a perpetual war- 
 fare is the consequence, during which 
 slaves are made on both sides, and 
 sold for exportation to Macassar and 
 the other ports of Celebes . — ( Malay 
 Miscellanies , Bligh , Leyden , Milburn , 
 fyc.) 
 
 Formosa (or TywanJ . — A large 
 island lying off the south-eastern 
 coast of China, distant about 200 
 miles, between the twenty-third and 
 twenty-fourth degrees of north lati- 
 tude. In length it may be estimated 
 at 180 miles, by fifty the average 
 breadth. The proper name of this 
 island is Tywan, though called For- 
 mosa by Europeans, and it is about 
 200 miles distant from Manilla in the 
 Philippines. 
 
 According to Chinese accounts 
 Formosa was not discovered until 
 A.D. 1430, and then only by acci- 
 dent, after which it remained wholly 
 unnoticed for 134 years ; nor was it 
 at last occupied by the Chinese until 
 1661, by which time the European 
 settlers had rendered it worth pos- 
 sessing. The Dutch at an early pe- 
 riod established a settlement, and ex- 
 ercised considerable authority. In 
 1625 the viceroy of the Philippines 
 sent an expedition, which landed on 
 that part of Formosa next the island 
 of Luzon, where they erected forti- 
 tifications in order to oppose the 
 Dutch, and also to propagate the 
 Roman Catholic religion. In 1630 
 
FORMOSA. 
 
 the Dutch governor, Neyts, trea- 
 cherously seized some Japanese ves- 
 sels, which were afterwards liberated 
 by the address and bravery of their 
 crews. Prior to this period the island 
 does not appear to have been subject 
 to the Chinese empire. About the 
 middle of the seventeenth century 
 Formosa afforded a retreat to twenty 
 or thirty thousand Chinese, unwilling 
 to submit to the Manchew conque- 
 rors of their country. These refu- 
 gees carried on a great and lucrative 
 trade with their countrymen in China, 
 and produced considerable revenue 
 to the Dutch government, every per- 
 son above seven years of age paying 
 a capitation tax of half a guilder per 
 mensem. The island also being at 
 no great distance from Japan, the 
 Dutch Company’s factory had an ad- 
 vantageous trade with that rich em- 
 pire. From 1642 to 1662, while the 
 Dutch possessed Formosa, they pro- 
 cured their teas through that chan- 
 nel, which is still the most natural, 
 being in the vicinity of the tea-pro- 
 ducing provinces. 
 
 In 1653 the Chinese inhabitants of 
 Formosa entered into a conspiracy 
 against the Dutch, which was sup- 
 pressed with the assistance of the 
 original natives. Soon after this, 
 Coxinga (Kue Sing Kong), the go- 
 vernor of the maritime province of 
 Tehichiang in China, applied for 
 permission to retire to the island 
 with his followers, to escape the in- 
 vaders ; but his proposal was rejected 
 by the Dutch governor. Coxinga in 
 consequence ordered all the Chinese 
 to join him on the continent, which 
 summons was obeyed by one half, 
 and in order to distress the rest he 
 prohibited all intercourse, and de- 
 clared war against the Dutch. Two 
 years afterwards peace was restored, 
 but Coxinga, finding his situation in 
 China insecure, determined to esta- 
 blish a more independent sovereignty 
 in Formosa, and in consequence re- 
 solved to invade that island, being 
 encouraged by the ruinous state of 
 the Dutch fortifications. 
 
 In March 1661 he arrived at Tywan 
 or Formosa with a fleet of 600 ves- 
 
 54 7 
 
 sels, and made himself master of the 
 town and adjacent country, and af- 
 terwards besieged Fort Zealand. The 
 Dutch made several ineffectual efforts 
 to relieve it, but were each time re- 
 pulsed with considerable slaughter. 
 At length the governor, Westburgh, 
 having sustained a close siege as long 
 as it was possible to resist, w ? as obliged 
 to surrender on the 5th July of that 
 year, and the survivors of the garri- 
 son were allowed to embark on board 
 the Dutch ships. This was a severe 
 blow to the Dutch East-India Com- 
 pany, as while they retained Formo- 
 sa they could control the commerce 
 of the Spaniards, Portuguese, and 
 Chinese, and had a place of refresh- 
 ment for their ships trading to Japan. 
 
 Coxinga, not long after hs had 
 completed the conquest, sent a mes- 
 senger to the Philippines, requiring 
 payment of tribute from the Spa- 
 niards. He also engaged in war with 
 the emperor of China on the main- 
 land, and was afterwards defeated and 
 slain in a naval battle against the 
 united fleets of the Dutch and Chi- 
 nese. His followers then withdrew 
 from the coast of China in 260 ves- 
 sels, but the place of their subse- 
 quent retreat has never been ascer- 
 tained. Notwithstanding this vic- 
 tory, the allies could make no im- 
 pression on Formosa, it was so well 
 defended by Coxinga’s uncle, Tavia, 
 and afterwards by his son, Tching 
 King May. 
 
 After Coxinga’s death it is probable 
 that the dynasty continued to be dis- 
 tinguished by his name, as the re- 
 cords of the East-India Company in 
 1671 mention a war between the 
 King of Java and Coxsin the chief 
 of Formosa, whose power at that 
 period controlled the Sultan of Jam- 
 bee on Sumatra, and of Johore on 
 the Malay peninsula. In 1676 the 
 English East-India Company had a 
 factory on Formosa, the principal 
 object of which was, through this 
 medium, to carry on a trade with 
 Japan. At that period the chief 
 exports from Formosa were fine 
 copper and gold, both probably in 
 the first instance procured from Japan. 
 2 n 2 
 
548 
 
 FORT ST. DAVID. 
 
 In the year 1683 the reigning 
 prince, Tching Ki San, voluntarily 
 surrendered his dominions to the 
 Emperor of China, who settled a 
 pension on him ; and, having thus 
 easily acquired Formosa, garrisoned 
 it with a strong body of troops, and 
 with him it has remained until the 
 beginning of the present century. 
 In 1805 the Ladrones, or pirates, had 
 acquired possession of a great part 
 of the south-western coast, which 
 exported a great deal of grain to the 
 province of Fokien in China. — ( Mac - 
 pherson , Bruce , Zuniga , Krusenstern , 
 Crawfurd ', Sfc.) 
 
 Fokwak Isle. — An island in the 
 Eastern seas, extending thirty-six 
 miles along the east side of the gulf 
 of Siam. It produces agilla-wood, 
 has a sea- slug fishery, and in 1820 
 was said to contain 2,000 inhabi- 
 tants. 
 
 Fooleyta. — A small walled town 
 in the province of Ajmeer, belonging 
 to the Row of Ooniara, situated 
 among wooded hills at the entrance 
 of a pass leading from the Tonk 
 pergunnah to that of Ooniara, sixty- 
 four miles travelling distance south 
 from Jeypoor. 
 
 Fort Hastings. — A small fort in 
 Northern Hindostan, district of Ku- 
 maon, recently erected by the British 
 government on the site of the Gork- 
 ha fort (or rather fastness) of Ko- 
 talghur, about three miles west from 
 the frontier station of Lohooghaut ; 
 lat. 29° 25' N., Ion. 80° 3' E., twenty- 
 five miles S.E. from Almora. This 
 fort stands on the narrow but level 
 summit of a commanding eminence, 
 about 500 feet above the cantonment 
 at Lohooghaut, and 6,321 feet above 
 the level of the sea. The ramparts 
 are irregularly formed to correspond 
 with the margin of the cliff, with a 
 parapet and loop-holes all round, and 
 bastions at the angles ; the whole, as 
 well as ihe buildings within, con- 
 structed of an extremely compact 
 gneiss, much better adapted for ma- 
 sonry than the loose schistose rock 
 used at Almora. The hill is insulated 
 and of very difficult ascent, and the 
 
 only gate is protected by a palisade, 
 so that with a small garrison of 200 
 or 300 men it would be almost im- 
 pregnable. — ( Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 Fort King. — A substantial fort in 
 the island of Ceylon, which com- 
 mands the ferry of a considerable 
 stream, eighteen miles W.S.W. from 
 Candy, and 631 feet above the level 
 of the sea; lat. 17° 13' N., Ion. 80° 
 34' E. The surrounding country is 
 productive, and a bazar has sprung 
 up in the vicinity of the fort, where 
 in 1816 nothing but jungle was to be 
 seen. — {Davy, fyc.) 
 
 Fort Macdonald. — A military 
 station in Ceylon, in the province of 
 Upper Ouva, thirty-eight miles S.S.E. 
 from Candy; lat. 6° 49' N., Ion. 81° 
 3' E. This post stands 3,000 feet 
 above the level of the sea, but the 
 summit of a pass two miles distant 
 is about 1,500 feet higher. — {Davy, 
 $c.) 
 
 Fort Macdowal. — A military post 
 in the island of Ceylon, first esta- 
 blished in 1803, but which soon dis- 
 appeared. Since the conquest of the 
 Candian provinces it has been re- 
 constructed, and permanently occu- 
 pied, being on the high road from 
 Candy to Trincomalee; lat. 7° 30' N., 
 Ion. 80° 48' E., fourteen miles north 
 from Candy. — {Davy, fyc.) 
 
 Fort Marlborough. — (See Ben- 
 coolen.) 
 
 Fort William. — (See Calcutta.) 
 
 Fort St. David. — A fortress on 
 the sea-coast of the Carnatic, sixteen 
 miles south from Pondicherry, and 
 100 S.S.W. from Madras ; lat. 11° 45' 
 N., Ion. 79° 50' E. The factory here 
 was first established in A.D. 1691, 
 when the Court of Directors ordered 
 a purchase to be made from the Ram 
 Raja of a new settlement named 
 Tegnapatam, which was accordingly 
 done, and re-named Fort St. David, 
 the territory thus acquired being 
 larger than that of Madras. In 1693 
 it was discovered that a plot had been 
 arranged by Dr. Blackwell, the gar- 
 rison surgeon, to deliver up this for- 
 
FUNNALAGHUR. 
 
 549 
 
 tress to Zulficar Khan, Aurengzebe’s 
 general, who was then besieging the 
 Ram Raja in Ginjee, in recompense 
 for which he was promised a large 
 sum of money, and the government 
 of Portonovo. He was seized and 
 carried to Madras, where he made 
 full confession of his treachery, which 
 comprehended also the seizure of all 
 the English settlements on the Co- 
 romandel coast. After the capture 
 of Madras in 1746, by the French 
 under M. de la Bourdonnais, the 
 British factory retired hither, and 
 were again besieged, but without suc- 
 cess. From this period it continued 
 the head of the British settlements 
 in this quarter until 1758, when it 
 was taken by M. Lally, after a short 
 siege. The French then completely 
 demolished the fortifications, which 
 were never rebuilt, and remain now 
 very much in the same state as M. 
 Lally left them. For this dilapidation 
 a severe retribution followed, when 
 Pondicherry surrendered in 1761. — 
 ( Orme , Bruce , Wilks , Sfc.) 
 
 Fortified Island ( or Baswa Ra- 
 sa Durga ). — A small island in the 
 province of Canara, about one mile 
 in circumference, situated a short dis- 
 tance north from the entrance of 
 Onore Bay. It was originally forti- 
 fied by an Ikeri raja, and greatly 
 strengthened by Tippoo, who intend- 
 ed to make it his naval arsenal. 
 
 Fringybazar. — A small town in 
 the province of Bengal, district of 
 Dacca Jelalpoor, situated on the west 
 side of the Dullasery river (formed of 
 a branch of the Ganges and one of 
 the Brahmaputra), about thirteen miles 
 S.W. of Dacca ; lat. 23° 33 ' N., Ion. 
 90° 23' E. 
 
 Fuga Isle. — A small island in the 
 Eastern seas, about thirty-five miles 
 in circumference, one of the Philip- 
 pines, and situated due north from 
 the large island of Luzon or Luconia ; 
 lat. 19° N., Ion. 121° 30' E. 
 
 Fukok (or Paukok ). — A large 
 island, apparently 2,000 feet high, 
 lying off the coast of Cambodia, a 
 little to the north of the Cahcao 
 
 river ; lat. 10° 17' N., Ion. 104° 16' E. 
 It has a triangular form, thirty-four 
 miles in extreme length, sixteen in 
 extreme breadth, and generally co- 
 vered with thick woods and luxuriant 
 vegetation. In 1821 it belonged to 
 the Cochin Chinese, and was fre- 
 quented periodically by Chinese and 
 Cochin Chinese in search of sea-slugs 
 and aguilla-wood. — ( Finlayson , #c.) 
 
 Fulgo River ( Phalgu).—A river 
 in the province of Bahar, formed 
 above Gaya by two immense torrents, 
 named the Mohane and the Nilajan. 
 The first enters the Bahar zillah from 
 Ramghur, twenty miles S.E. of Gaya ; 
 the last about eleven miles south from 
 the same place. When it reaches the 
 high and rocky shore of Gaya, the 
 channel of this river, where free of 
 islands, is about 500 yards broad, 
 and when filled by the periodical 
 monsoon, its floods rush past that 
 city with tremendous noise and ve- 
 locity. It is usually said that the 
 sacred portion of the Fulgo, which 
 extends about half a mile, occasion- 
 ally flows with milk, but the entire 
 stream has been long noted for its 
 sanctity. — ( F . Buchanan , c fc.) 
 
 Fulta ( Phalata , fertility). — - A 
 large village in the province of Ben- 
 gal situated on the east bank of the 
 Hooghly river, twenty miles S.S.W. 
 from Calcutta in a straight direction, 
 but much more following the curva- 
 tures of the river ; lat. 22° 19' N., Ion. 
 88° 20' E. The anchorage here is 
 safe, ships being protected from the 
 swell of the sea. The bottom is a 
 stiff clay, in which anchors hold so 
 fast that it is difficult to weigh them. 
 
 Funnalaghur. — A small fort in 
 the province of Candeish, built on a 
 conical peak on the summit of the 
 Satpoora mountains, formerly of con- 
 siderable strength and importance, 
 but now in ruins. Near to Funnala- 
 ghur there was a pass called Kook- 
 reem ghaut, leading to Bheekun- 
 gaum, but not now frequented. The 
 fort stands eighteen miles N.W. from 
 Laowda, and ten miles N. of Beea- 
 wul ; lat. 21° 24' N., Ion. 75° 47' E. 
 — ( Malcolm , fyc.) 
 
550 
 
 FURRUCKABAD. 
 
 Furdapoor. — A village with a fine 
 serai belonging to the Nizam, si- 
 tuated on the Berar frontier just be- 
 low the Ajuntee ghaut. 
 
 Fureedabad. — A small town in 
 the province of Delhi, from the ca- 
 pital of which it is distant fifteen 
 miles south ; lat. 28° 26' N., Ion. 77 ° 
 5' E. This place is remarkable for a 
 large tank with a ruined banquetting 
 house on its margin. There is also 
 a large grove of tamarind trees, but 
 no mangoes, few of which grow in 
 the province of Delhi, owing to the 
 unusual multitude of white ants, to 
 whose increase ruins and a dry soil 
 are favourable; indeed the whole 
 country in this vicinity is barren and 
 disagreeable, and the water bad. The 
 white ant always attacks the mango 
 in preference to all other trees. 
 
 Fureedpoor. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Bengal, district of Dacca 
 Jelalpoor, situated on the south side 
 of the Puddah (Padma), or great 
 Ganges, five miles from the bank of 
 that river, and forty miles from the 
 city of Dacca. This is the head- 
 quarters and residence of the judge 
 and magistrate and civil establish- 
 ment of the zillah of Dacca Jelal- 
 poor. — ( Fullarton , Sfc.) 
 
 Fureedpoor. — A town with a good 
 serai in the province of Delhi, dis- 
 trict of Bareilly, ten miles S. by E. 
 from the city of Delhi. 
 
 Furraii. — A small village with the 
 remains of a mud fort (now convert- 
 ed to a saltpetre manufactory) in 
 the province of Agra, district of 
 Agra, situated on the high road 
 from Agra to Mathura. This place 
 is built within the enclosure of what 
 has been an extensive serai, the 
 walls of which are still preserved as 
 a means of defence. On a little hill 
 in the neighbourhood is a square mud 
 fort, with a round bastion on each 
 flank, and a little outwork before 
 the gate. Formerly all the villages 
 in this part of Hindostan were pro- 
 vided with a similar fort, where the 
 peasantry and their families might 
 seek refuge on the approach of their 
 
 enemies. The strength of the British 
 government, and the internal peace 
 which has in consequence prevailed, 
 has rendered these precautions, as 
 well as the walls and towers of great- 
 er towns, to be almost universally 
 neglected ; yet even in these times of 
 tranquillity they may occasionally 
 have their value. 
 
 Furrishpoor. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Malwa, seventeen miles from 
 Ashta, which in 1820 was supposed 
 to contain about 1,000 houses. — 
 {MS., *c.) 
 
 Furuuckabad ( Farakhabad, a 
 happy residence J . — A district in the 
 province of Agra, situated in the 
 Doab of the Ganges and Jumna, 
 and between the 27th and 28th de- 
 grees of north latitude. To the north 
 it is bounded by Bareily and Ali- 
 ghur ; to the south by Etaweh and 
 Cawnpoor; on the east it has Ba- 
 reily, and on the west Alighur. This 
 zillah, compared with the adjacent 
 ones, is of small extent, and from its 
 locality exempt from many disadvan- 
 tages to which they are liable. Its 
 jurisdiction comprises only thirteen 
 police stations, and being almost sur- 
 rounded by the judicial subdivisions 
 of Cawnpoor, Etaweh, Alighur, and 
 Bareily, it cannot be molested by 
 foreign banditti unless they first pe- 
 netrate through some of these ma- 
 gistracies, and it is thus preserved 
 from a contingency, which it is diffi- 
 cult to guard against in the neigh- 
 bouring districts. The whole juris- 
 diction of Furruckabad is within the 
 Doab, except the police station of 
 Kakutnow, which is on the east side 
 of the Ganges, and adjoins the Oude 
 territories. In 1813, according to the 
 collector’s returns, this zillah con- 
 tained 1,805,383 cucha or small be- 
 gas in cultivation, assessed to the 
 revenue at 10,28,485 rupees, the 
 whole of which was realized within 
 three per cent. : the rate qf assess- 
 ment was consequently about nine 
 annas per bega. Besides this, there 
 were 297,350 begas fit for cultiva- 
 tion, and 1,046,704 waste. 
 
 Before the acquisition of the Doab 
 
FURRUCKABAD. 
 
 551 
 
 by the British, the small principality 
 of Furruckabad was surrounded by 
 the dominions of the nabob of Oude, 
 to whom the Patan chief of Fur- 
 ruckabad was tributary. In 1801, by 
 an arrangement made with the for- 
 mer, the tribute payable by the latter 
 was transferred to the Company ; 
 and in 1802 the civil and military 
 government of the country was as- 
 sumed, making an allowance to the 
 Furruckabad nabob of 1,80,000 ru- 
 pees per annum. For many years 
 preceding that event there had not 
 existed, even nominally, any court 
 for the cognizance of criminal acts, 
 or the redress of civil wrongs, and 
 the Patans of Furruckabad, always 
 noted for their ferocity, were ha- 
 bituated by impunity to the commis- 
 sion of the greatest atrocities. Mur- 
 ders were so frequent that the inha- 
 bitants did not dare to venture out 
 after sunset, and the workmen then 
 employed at the military canton- 
 ments always retired to their houses 
 during daylight. Forcible burglaries 
 took place in the middle of the town, 
 and murders were perpetrated in the 
 streets, every man trusting to his 
 own individual means of revenge and 
 defence. Since that period of anar- 
 chy the bands of robbers have been 
 extirpated, and owing to the in- 
 creased security of property, the va- 
 lue of lands and houses have greatly 
 risen. It would be easy to prove 
 that the great mass of every part of 
 India have reason to rejoice at com- 
 ing under the British control ; but 
 the blessings to this small district, in 
 particular, have been incalculable. 
 
 In the financial year 1220 (A.D. 
 1813-14) a five year’s settlement of 
 the land revenue was made, and the 
 circumstances of the Furruckabad 
 district appeared in a sufficient state 
 of advancement to warrant the con- 
 firmation of the existing settlement 
 in perpetuity, which the commission- 
 ers in the upper provinces strongly 
 recommended : but the vice-president 
 in council thought that more precise 
 information was still required, to 
 enable the government to form a ma- 
 ture judgment on so important a 
 
 subject. By precise information was 
 principally meant, the proportion 
 which the cultivated part of the dif- 
 ferent estates bore to the unculti- 
 vated; exclusive of which, however, 
 various other points appeared to re- 
 quire elucidation, such as the amount 
 of gross produce which the cultivator 
 should pay, whether in money or 
 kind, to the zemindars; a clear de- 
 finition of the sources from which 
 the latter are entitled to draw a rent 
 from the peasantry ; also an accurate 
 and well ascertained boundary of the 
 different zemindaries ; and finally to 
 ascertain the general interests of the 
 government and the community, in 
 the several gradations from the Sud- 
 der Malgoozar to the actual tiller of 
 the soil. Arrangements for ascer- 
 taining these being then in progress, 
 it was deemed expedient to postpone 
 the promulgation of a measure in its 
 nature irrevocable, and involving so 
 materially, not only the financial in- 
 terests of the government, but also 
 the welfare and prosperity of those 
 living under its protection, — ( Public 
 MS. Documents , Guthrie , the Mar- 
 quis of Hastings , Lord Valentin, Sfc.) 
 
 Furruckabad. — A city in the pro- 
 vince of Agra, the capital of the pre- 
 ceding district, and one of the prin- 
 cipal towns of Upper Hindostan ; 
 lat. 27° 24' N., Ion. 79° 27' E. It 
 stands at a short distance from the 
 west shore of the Ganges, and is only 
 four miles distant from the king of 
 Oude’s reserved territories. The 
 town is surrounded by a wall, which 
 has been kept in tolerable order by 
 the magistrates. Some of the streets 
 are wide, many of the houses and 
 open spots shaded by trees ; but, ex- 
 cept the principal streets, a great ma- 
 jority of the houses are mean erec- 
 tions of mud. By the police arrange- 
 ments the city is divided into seven 
 wards, which are again partitioned 
 into 194 mohallahs, many of which 
 are narrow, and appear at one time 
 to have had barrier gates. The resi- 
 dence of the civil establishment is at 
 Futtehghur, where government has 
 also established a mint. 
 
552 
 
 FUTTEHABAD. 
 
 From an actual survey by the ma- 
 gistrates in 1811, it was ascertained 
 that the town of Furruckabad con- 
 tained 14,999 houses, of which num- 
 ber 13,348 were constantly occupied, 
 the remaining 1,651 being shops, only 
 inhabited during the day-time. Al- 
 lowing five to a house, the total po- 
 pulation would amount to 66,740, 
 which must be considerably increased 
 by the temporary sojourning of tra- 
 vellers and foreign merchants, this 
 city being considered the chief com- 
 mercial emporium in the conquered 
 and ceded provinces, and the com- 
 mon resort of needy and dissolute 
 characters from every quarter of Hin- 
 dostan. One of the most brilliant 
 achievements of the war of 1805 was 
 the surprisal at this place by Lord 
 Lake of Holcar's army, which tinn- 
 ed the numbers, and entirely broke 
 the spirit of his cavalry. Travelling 
 distance from Lucknow, 111 miles ; 
 and from Calcutta by Birboom, 755 
 miles. — ( Guthrie , Lord Valentia , Ful- 
 larton , Rennell , fyc.) 
 
 Furrucknagur ( Farakkanagarci, 
 the happy city J. — A walled town with 
 a large serai in the province of Delhi, 
 district of Merut, ten miles E.NJE. 
 from Delhi. 
 
 Furrucknagur. — A town in the 
 province of Delhi, thirty-four miles 
 west from the citv of Delhi ; lat. 28° 
 39' N., Ion. 76° 31' E. 
 
 Futtehghur ( Fataghar , the fort 
 of victory). — A town in the province 
 of Agra, situated on the west bank 
 of the Ganges, ninety miles N.W. 
 from Lucknow, and three miles from 
 Furruckabad ; lat. 27° 21 1 N., Ion. 79° 
 30' E. Since the extension of the 
 British frontier towards the north- 
 west, Futtehghur has gradually ceas- 
 ed to be a military station of impor- 
 tance, and the force cantoned here 
 now seldom exceeds half a battalion 
 of native infantry. It is, however, 
 the head-quarters of the commis- 
 sioners for the settlement of the 
 ceded and conquered provinces, and 
 of the civil authorities of the Fur- 
 vuckabad zillah, and also of several 
 European merchants. The same pre- 
 
 dilection for mud walls prevailing 
 here as at Cawnpoor, the dust here 
 during the dry season is almost in- 
 tolerable, and many of the unoccu- 
 pied military buildings having fallen 
 to decay, its aspect is still more dis- 
 mal than that of its sister station. A 
 small, but strong mud fort has been 
 erected for the protection of the ar- 
 senal, and the cantonment possesses 
 the most elegant private theatre, next 
 to Calcutta, within the limits of the 
 Bengal presidency. Among other 
 branches of industry, Futtehghur 
 nearly monopolizes the manufacture 
 of tents, which are here fabricated 
 of excellent materials and with su- 
 perior workmanship. During the dry 
 season the Ganges at this spot is re- 
 duced to one or two narrow streams, 
 meandering their way through a waste 
 of sand.— ( Fullarton, fyc.) 
 
 Futtehabad. — A district forming 
 a part of the Nizam's dominions in 
 the province of Aurungabad, situ- 
 ated between the eighteenth and 
 nineteenth degrees of north latitude. 
 The principal towns are Daroor (the 
 capital), Cullum, and Latoor ; the 
 rivers, the Manjera (which traverses 
 the district) and the Tierna. 
 
 Futtehabad. — A town in the 
 Bhatty country, in the province of 
 Ajmeer, situated on the south bank 
 of the Cuggur river, about thirty-five 
 miles distance from Hansi, and thirty 
 from Hissar ; lat. 29° 30' N. The 
 road from Hansi is good, and plenty 
 of water is procurable at all seasons. 
 At this place there is a large brick 
 fort, with high thin walls, strength- 
 ened on the inside with buttresses of 
 earth, but without a ditch. There is 
 a small ditch round the town, which 
 is populous, and, as is usual in this 
 quarter, most of the male inhabitants 
 (in 1810 estimated at 5,000 persons) 
 carry arms. The country from hence 
 to Bat Summund is almost one con- 
 tinued jungle for thirty miles, afford- 
 ing excellent shelter for the Bhatty 
 thieves, and according to the news- 
 papers full of lions. Futtehabad is 
 recorded as having been one of Ti- 
 mour’s marches, at which period the 
 
FUTTIPOOR SIKRA. 
 
 553 
 
 surrounding country must have been 
 more productive, or it never could 
 have furnished one day’s subsistence 
 for his innumerable hordes. — {Archi- 
 bald, Set on, fyc.) 
 
 Futtehabad (the abode of vic- 
 tory J . — A town in the province of 
 Malwa, division of Oojein, thus 
 named by Aurengzebe after a great 
 battle gained here. In 1820 it be- 
 longed to Dowlet Row Sindia. Lat. 
 23° J' N., Ion. 75°45 / E. — {Malcolm, 
 $c.) 
 
 F utteh gunge ( Fatahganj J . — A 
 walled town in the province of Oude, 
 formerly the residence of Raja Tic- 
 kait Roy, of whom the only memo- 
 rial remaining is a fine tank, surround- 
 ed with ruined buildings, eight miles 
 W. S.W. from Lucknow. 
 
 Futtehpoor. — A large town in 
 the province of Allahabad, sixty-five 
 miles south from Lucknow ; lat. 25° 
 56' N., Ion. 80° 45' E. In 1824 this 
 place had the appearance of consi- 
 derable prosperity, and contained, be- 
 sides several good houses, an elegant 
 little mosque, recently built by the 
 nephews of the celebrated eunuch, 
 Almass Ali Khan. 
 
 Like most towns in this vicinity, 
 Futtehpoor is surrounded with tombs, 
 and on one side is a large ruinous 
 serai. No payment is required at 
 these serais except a few cowries to 
 the sweeper, while for a small sum 
 of money, grass and water will be 
 furnished to the traveller’s beasts of 
 burthen, and fuel and earthen pots 
 for himself. The buildings them- 
 selves are generally noble monuments 
 of individual bounty, and in ancient 
 times were liberally endowed, and 
 furnished with supplies of grain, milk, 
 grass, &c. gratis to the sojourner, 
 as well as shelter. These founda- 
 tions are now mostly alienated, and 
 a large proportion ruinous ; but it is 
 said their restoration and support is 
 one of the objects proposed by the 
 British government, in the application 
 of the internal tolls to works of pub- 
 lic improvement. 
 
 Futtipoor Sikra. — A town in the 
 
 province of Agra, about nineteen 
 miles W.S.W. from the city of Agra ; 
 lat, 26° 6' N., Ion. 77 ° 34' E. It is 
 surrounded by a stone wall of great 
 extent, with battlements and round 
 towers, built by the Emperor Acber. 
 The space within does not appear to 
 have ever been filled up with buildings, 
 and the portion now inhabited forms 
 but an inconsiderable village. The 
 neighbouring hills are composed of 
 greyish stone, and have supplied the 
 materials with which the town is 
 built. On the most elevated part of 
 the rock stands the tomb of Shah 
 Selim Cheestee, a Mahomedan saint, 
 by the efficacy of whose prayers Ac- 
 ber’s empress, after remaining barren 
 for several years, became pregnant 
 and bore a son, who in honour of 
 the holy man was named Selim, and 
 on ascending the throne of Hindos- 
 tan took the name of Jehangeer. 
 The tomb is still to be seen in the 
 centre of an arcaded square, surpas- 
 sing in extent the area of the Jumma 
 Musjeed at Delhi, and approached 
 through a gate of singularly grand 
 proportions. Several individuals of 
 Acber’s family lie interred within the 
 precincts; and the spacious and to- 
 lerably entire remains of a palace, 
 formerly inhabited by that emperor, 
 are still in existence. The line of 
 British frontier in this quarter com- 
 mences at, and includes Futtipoor 
 Sikra. 
 
 This town was a favourite resi- 
 dence of Acber, and here, during his 
 expeditions, he usually left his wives 
 and children. There are two tombs 
 here of very elaborate workmanship ; 
 that to the right contains several mo- 
 numents of the royal family ; that to 
 the left (a beautiful chapel of white 
 marble) the shrine of Sheikh Soli- 
 man, who had the rare good fortune 
 of being both a saint and statesman. 
 It is kept in substantial repair by the 
 British government, and its solid 
 style makes this an easier task than 
 the intricate and elaborate inlaid 
 work of Secundra and the Tauje 
 Mahal. There is a small but richly 
 ornamented house still shown as hav- 
 ing been the residence of Beenball, 
 
554 } 
 
 FYZABAD. 
 
 the emperor’s favourite minister, and 
 whom the Mussulmauns accuse of 
 having infected him with the strange 
 religious notions with which in the 
 latter part of his life he sought to 
 inoculate his subjects. Another lit- 
 tle building is also shewn, consisting 
 merely of a shrine or canopy sup- 
 ported by four pillars, where, ac- 
 cording to the Mahomedans, Acber 
 used to perform his magical rites. — 
 {Hunter , Fullarton , #e.) 
 
 Futtypoor ( Fatahpura ) . — A town 
 in the province of Ajmeer, eighty-five 
 miles N.W. from the city of Jeypoor; 
 lat. 27° 50' N., Ion. 74° 45' E. 
 
 Futtypoor. — A considerable town 
 in the province of Gundwana, fifty- 
 four miles S.W. from Husseinabad, 
 and twenty-seven from Chowraghur ; 
 lat. 22° 40' N., Ion. 78° 35' E. This 
 place is the residence of a petty chief, 
 tributary to the Raja of Nagpoor. 
 
 Futwa. — A populous town in the 
 province of Bahar, zillah of Bahar, 
 situated at the confluence of the 
 Pompon river with the Ganges, be- 
 low the city of Patna. Here are two 
 pagodas, and also a bridge over the 
 Pompon. 
 
 Fyzabad ( a beautiful residence ). — 
 A town in the province of Oude, and 
 the capital of that principality dur- 
 ing the reign of Shuja ud Dowlah, 
 but in 1775 abandoned for Lucknow 
 by his son and successor, Asoph ud 
 Dowlah, situated on the south side 
 of the Goggra river, seventy-eight 
 miles east from Lucknow. This city 
 is still of considerable extent, and 
 contains a numerous population, 
 chiefly of the lower classes; the 
 great men, bankers, money-changers, 
 and merchants, having migrated with 
 the court to Lucknow. The remains 
 of a fortress, and of Shuja ud Dow- 
 lah’s palace, are still to be seen. 
 
 Latterly Fyzabad has been chiefly 
 remarkable as the residence of the 
 celebrated Bhow Begum, the widow 
 of Shujah ud Dowlah, and mother 
 of Asoph ud Dowlah, but not, as is 
 generally supposed, of the late Na- 
 bob Saadet Aii. The original inten- 
 
 tion of this lady was to transfer the 
 whole of her property, real and per- 
 sonal, to the British government, 
 and to constitute that power sole heir 
 and executor at her death. The just 
 right of the Begum to transfer, and of 
 the British government to accept, her 
 highness’s legacy, with reference to her 
 personal property, could not be doubt- 
 ed ; but the government immediately 
 rejected the proposal, and recommend- 
 ed an arrangement by which, after 
 providing for her own interment, and 
 for her relations and dependants, the 
 residue of her vast property should 
 devolve to her grandson, Ghazi ud 
 Deen, the present king of Oude. 
 
 The Bhow Begum departed this 
 life on the 28th of December 1815, 
 after an illness of a few days, aged 
 eighty-four, and on the 19th of Fe- 
 bruary 1816 Mr. Strachey (then re- 
 sident at Lucknow) proceeded to 
 Lucknow, to carry into effect the 
 provisions of her will. The amount 
 of her treasure (exaggerated by the 
 natives to twenty crores and thirty- 
 five lacks of rupees), according to 
 the statements furnished by Dareb Ali 
 Khan, who, in concert with Captain 
 Robertson, commanding the guard at 
 Fyzabad, had examined the coffers, 
 was 89,48,916 rupees (<£1, 038, 074 
 sterling), exclusive of jewels, shawl 
 goods, wearing apparel, cattle, &c. 
 &c. The last-mentioned description 
 of property, together with the jaghires 
 of the late Begum, which, even under 
 her mismanagement, yielded eight 
 lacks of rupees per annum (£92,800), 
 was made over to the king of Oude, 
 whose agent repaired to Fyzabad to 
 take charge of it. The aggregate 
 amount of pensions for which the 
 British government became responsi- 
 ble required a capital of 50,11,470 
 rupees, to which sum three lacks, 
 payable to Dareb Ali Khan for the 
 expense of the mausoleum, and one 
 lack for donations to the holy shrines 
 of Kerbela and Nudjuff, were to be 
 added. Other items swelled the to- 
 tal capital received by the British go- 
 vernment for the purpose of execut- 
 ing the provisions of the Begum’s 
 will, to 62,50,748 rupees. The re- 
 
GANDHAUK. 
 
 555 
 
 mainder (after deducting the four 
 lacks above specified) left in the hands 
 of the British government to cover 
 the pensions, &c. (about 3,50,000 
 rupees) to be paid to the Begum’s 
 relations and dependants, through 
 her confidential eunuch, Dareb Ali 
 Khan, amounted to 58,50,748 rupees 
 (£678,606 sterling). 
 
 After all these deductions from the 
 Begum’s property, the nabob’s resi- 
 due amounted to 26,97,168 rupees 
 in money, besides jewels and other 
 valuables of which no estimate w r as 
 made ; and his excellency, as above- 
 mentioned, succeeded to an estate of 
 eight lacks of rupees per annum. 
 Subsequently a fraudulent attempt 
 was made to pass off a surreptitious 
 will, purporting to be that of the late 
 Begum ; but the forgery was detected, 
 and measures were taken to discover 
 and punish the contrivers of it. — 
 ( Public MS. Documents , Major Bail- 
 lie, fyc.) 
 
 Fyzabad. — A village in the pro- 
 vince of Delhi, district of Saharun- 
 poor, situated on the skirts of the 
 great northern forest, near the east- 
 ern banks of the Jumna, where that 
 river issues from the hills. A short 
 distance above this place there are 
 still to be seen the remains of a hunt- 
 ing seat, built close to the Jumna by 
 the Mogul emperor Shah Jehan. The 
 ruins are massy, but of no architec- 
 tural beauty. — ( Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 G. 
 
 Gagroon. — A fortress in the pro- 
 vince of Malwa, district of Kotah, 
 and the usual residence of the late 
 Zalim Singh, the raj rana, or regent of 
 that principality; lat. 24° 37 / N., Ion. 
 76° 12' E., forty-nine miles S.E. from 
 Kotah. 
 
 Gahrah. — A small town in the 
 province of Mooltan, about twenty- 
 four miles west from the city of Tat- 
 ta ; lat. 24° 46' N., Ion. 67° 56' E. 
 The surrounding country consists of 
 a light salt sand, which during a fresh 
 
 breeze rises in such clouds as almost 
 to blind man and beast. A strong 
 glare is also reflected in the day-time, 
 and the wind is dry and excessively 
 parching. A few lye shrubs are scat- 
 tered over this torrid tract. — {Max- 
 field, $c.) 
 
 Galadzet Hills.— A range of hills 
 in the kingdom of Ava, beginning at 
 Tagourdine, forty miles east of 
 Proine, approaching towards Tong- 
 ho. A party of British troops in 
 1825 ascended these ^elevations, which 
 were found so steep and rugged as to 
 offer serious obstacles to the passage 
 of an army. After passing them, the 
 road was found to lead through a de- 
 sert and dreary waste, having a few 
 miserable cottages scattered over it, 
 until within a day’s march of Tong- 
 ho, where the country again assumes 
 a more civilized appearance. — ( Snod- 
 grass , fyc.) 
 
 Galicot. — A territory of small ex- 
 tent in Northern Hindostan, and for- 
 merly one of the twenty-four raja- 
 ships. Although a cooler country than 
 the valley of Nepaul, it is said to be 
 the best cultivated in this quarter, 
 partly with the hoe and partly with 
 the plough ; besides which it contains 
 three mines of copper and one of iron. 
 While one of the twenty-four indepen- 
 dent rajaships, the chief’s share of the 
 revenue, including the mines, amount- 
 ed to 3,500 rupees per annum. In 
 1806 the whole number of inhabi- 
 tants were reckoned to occupy 3,000 
 houses ; half low tribes of cultivators 
 and tradesmen, one-fourth Khasiyas, 
 and one-fourth Brahmins and Raj- 
 poots. The chief’s house, named 
 Galkot, surrounded by about 500 
 huts, stands on a hill, in lat. 28° 17 ' 
 N., Ion. 83° 14' E., seventy-six miles 
 W.N.W. from Gorkha. — {F. Bucha- 
 nan, fyc.) 
 
 Gandhauk ( or Gamtoo). — A 
 strong-hold in Northern Hindostan, 
 belonging to the Sikkim raja, situated 
 between the great and little Teesta, 
 about thirty miles N. from Delam- 
 cotta ; lat. 27° 26' N., Ion. 88° 38' E. 
 This place, and the small territory 
 
556 
 
 GANGES. 
 
 attached, were never subdued by the 
 Gorkhas. 
 
 Gandapoor. — ( Gandhapura , the 
 fragrant town ). — A town or rather 
 village in the province of Aurunga- 
 bad, sixty-two miles north from Ah- 
 mednuggur; lat. 19° 54' N., Ion. 75° 
 11' E. It is now the frontier village 
 of the British possessions in this 
 quarter, formed of conquests from 
 the Peshwa. A noble avenue of ta- 
 marind and npem trees extends from 
 hence to the left bank of the Goda- 
 very, opposite to Toka. — ( Fullarton , 
 Sfc.) 
 
 Gandicotta for Ganjicotta ). — A 
 subdivision of the Balaghaut ceded 
 territories, situated about the fifteenth 
 degree of north latitude. It is inter- 
 sected by the Pennar river, which 
 penetrates through a gap in the Gan- 
 dicotta hills into the plain of Cudda- 
 pah. The break or chasm in these 
 mountains appears to have resulted 
 from some violent concussion of na- 
 ture, as it is very narrow, and the op- 
 posite sides almost perpendicular. On 
 the southern precipice is the fort of 
 Gandicotta, which has communicated 
 its name to a range of hills, of a bar- 
 ren aspect, and almost destitute of 
 trees. The town and fort of Gandi- 
 cotta are situated in lat. 14° 51' N., 
 Ion. 78°22' E., forty-three miles N.W. 
 from Cuddapah. It is not at present 
 a place of any importance, although 
 formerly noted for its strength, and 
 the vicinity of a diamond mine. In 
 the immediate neighbourhood the 
 waters of the Pennar are abstracted 
 for the purposes of irrigation, being 
 conducted to the fields by channels 
 cut in various directions. — {Heyne, 
 Rennell , fyc.) 
 
 Ganges River. — The Bhagirathi, 
 or true Ganges, issues (about lat. 31° 
 N., Ion. 79° E.) from under a very 
 low arch, at the base of a great mass 
 of solid frozen snow, about 300 feet 
 perpendicular height, composed of 
 layers, each several feet thick, and 
 probably the accumulation of ages. 
 From the brow of this snow wall 
 large and hoary icicles depend, 
 whence may have originated the my- 
 
 thological fable of the Ganges issuing 
 from the hair of Mahadeva. The 
 height of the snow arch is only suffi- 
 cient to let the river flow under it. 
 The mean breadth of the stream, 
 where it issues, on the 31st of May 
 1808 was twenty-seven feet, and the 
 mean depth about twelve inches : such 
 is the diminutive apparition of the 
 young goddess who ultimately rolls a 
 flood into the ocean ten miles broad. 
 
 There does not appear to be any 
 practicable route by the course of the 
 Ganges, as there is by the Jahnevi, 
 otherwise the natives would probably, 
 before this date, have found it out. 
 This tract, however, has not yet been 
 explored by Europeans during the 
 rains, when it is probable the mass of 
 snow would be found much reduced. 
 But certainly the Dauli, and not the 
 Bhagirathi, ought to be considered 
 the main stream of the Ganges : for 
 the Dauli proceeds from the very 
 base of the highest ridge of the enor- 
 mous Himalaya chain, and one of its 
 tributaries issues from the pass which 
 leads through the mountains; whereas 
 the Alacananda (the next longest 
 branch), in the inferior, short of the 
 snowy mountains. It is probable 
 that there are not any boiling under 
 the mass of snow here, as at the 
 source of the Jumna, no steam being 
 perceptible. The termination of Capt. 
 Hodgson’s route, one mile and a half 
 further up than the spot where the 
 Ganges emerges, was found to be 
 14,600 feet above the level of the sea; 
 but the point above-mentioned, where 
 it first becomes visible, is only 13,800 
 feet. 
 
 From Gangautri the Ganges has 
 the upper part of its course among 
 the mountains, flowing from the south 
 of east to the north of west ; and it 
 is only from Sukhi, where it fairly 
 pierces through the Himalaya, that it 
 assumes a course of about south 20° 
 west to Hurdwar, whence it enters the 
 plains, and from thence to its conflu- 
 ence with the Jumna at Allahabad 
 (the first large river that joins it in 
 Upper Hindostan), the bed of the 
 Ganges is generally from a mile to a 
 mile and a quarter wide. From hence 
 
GANGES. 
 
 557 
 
 its course becomes more winding and 
 its channel broader, until having suc- 
 cessively received the Goggra, the 
 Sone, and Gunduck, besides smaller 
 streams, its current attains its great- 
 est width inland, as it afterwards be- 
 comes so narrow in some parts as 
 half a mile, and, where no islands in- 
 terpose, occasionally spreads to three 
 miles ; when at its lowest the princi- 
 pal channel varies from 400 yards to 
 one mile and a quarter wide, but is 
 commonly about three-fourths of a 
 mile wide. 
 
 The Ganges is fordable at some 
 places above its conflux with the 
 Jumna, but the navigation is never 
 interrupted. At 500 miles from the 
 sea the channel is thirty feet deep 
 when the river is at its lowest, which 
 depth continues to the sea, where the 
 sudden expansion of the stream de- 
 prives i t of the force necessary to sweep 
 away the bars of mud and sand, 
 thrown across it by the strong south- 
 erly winds, so that the principal 
 branch of the Ganges cannot be en- 
 tered by large vessels. 
 
 About 200 miles from the sea, 
 but much more reckoning the wind- 
 ings of the river, the Delta of the 
 Ganges commences. The two wes- 
 ternmost branches, named the Cos- 
 simbazar and Jellinghy rivers, unite, 
 and form what is afterwards named 
 the Hooghly, flowing past Calcutta, 
 and the only branch navigated by 
 ships. Below the channel named the 
 Sangti Mohana, where the Ganges 
 sends off these two branches, which 
 go to Calcutta, the main trunk loses 
 not only its name, but a large propor- 
 tion of its sanctity. The Cossimbazar 
 river is almost dry from October to 
 May ; the Jellinghy, although a 
 stream runs in it at all seasons, is in 
 some years unnavigable for two or 
 three of the driest months ; so that the 
 only secondary branch of the Ganges 
 that is at all times navigable for boats, 
 is the Chandna river, which separates at 
 Modapoor, and terminates in the Hoo- 
 ringotta. That part of the Delta bor- 
 dering on the sea consists of a laby- 
 rinth of creeks and rivers, named the 
 Sunderbunds, which, including the 
 
 rivers that bound it, give an expan- 
 sion of 200 miles to the branches of 
 the Ganges at their junction with the 
 sea. 
 
 The descent of this river is about 
 nine inches per mile, but the wind- 
 ings are so great as to reduce the de- 
 clivity to less than four inches per 
 mile. In the dry season the mean 
 rate of motion is less than three 
 miles per hour, but in the wet season, 
 and while the waters are draining off 
 the inundated lands, the current runs 
 from five to six miles an hour, and 
 there are instances of its running 
 from seven to eight in particular 
 situations. 
 
 The Ganges owes part of its in- 
 crease to the rains that fall in the 
 mountains, although it does not ap- 
 pear to be much affected by the melt- 
 ing of the snow in spring. The sum 
 total of its rising is thirty-two feet, 
 out of which it rises fifteen feet and 
 a half by the latter end of June, and 
 the rainy season does not seriously 
 begin in most of the flat countries 
 until about that time. In the moun- 
 tains the rains commence early in 
 April, and by the end of that month, 
 when the rain-water has reached 
 Bengal, the rivers begin to rise by 
 very slow degrees, the increase being 
 only one inch per day for the first 
 fortnight. It then gradually augments 
 to two and three inches, before any 
 quantity of rain has fallen in the low 
 countries ; and when the rain becomes 
 general, its increase at a medium is 
 five inches per day. By the end of 
 July, all the flat country of Bengal 
 contiguous to the Ganges and Brah- 
 maputra are overflowed, and form an 
 inundation of more than 100 miles in 
 breadth, nothing appearing but vil- 
 lages and trees, and here and there 
 the artificial site of an abandoned 
 village resembling an island. 
 
 Owing to the quantity of rain that 
 falls in Bengal, the lands in general 
 are overflowed to a considerable 
 height long before the bed of the 
 river is filled, the ground adjacent to 
 the river bank, to the extent of some 
 miles, being higher than the rest of 
 the country. Particular tracts are 
 
558 
 
 GANGES. 
 
 guarded from inundation by dykes or 
 bunds, kept up at an enormous ex- 
 pense, the permanent utility of which 
 has recently been much doubted, for 
 the country must be irrigated at some 
 period, when it becomes necessary to 
 cut the bunds. From their long du- 
 ration, also, they have had the effect 
 of elevating the beds of the rivers 
 they confine to a greater height than 
 they would naturally have attained; in 
 some instances greatly exceeding the 
 level of the adjacent fields. The whole 
 neighbourhood has in consequence 
 been brought into so artificial a state, 
 that no alternative remains but per- 
 severance in the same erroneous and 
 expensive system. It has been esti- 
 mated that the total length of these 
 dykes, collectively, exceeds 1,000 
 miles. 
 
 Table of the increase of the Ganges 
 and its branches. 
 
 Jellingby. Dacca. 
 
 Rise in May Oft. Oin. 2ft. 4in. 
 
 Do. June 9 6 ... 4 6 
 
 Do. July 12 6 ... 5 6 
 
 First half of August 4 0 ... 1 11 
 
 Total ... 32 0 14 3 
 
 The inundation is nearly at a stand 
 in Bengal for some days preceding 
 the 15th of August, when it begins to 
 run off, although great quantities of 
 rain continue to fall during August 
 and September ; but a decrease of 
 rain has by this time taken place in 
 the north, and a consequent deficiency 
 in the supply to keep up the inunda- 
 tion. The daily decrease of the 
 Ganges in the latter half of August 
 and the whole of September is from 
 three to four inches; from Septem- 
 ber to the end of November it gra- 
 dually lessens from three to one 
 inches, and from November to the 
 end of April is only half an inch per 
 day at a medium. 
 
 Approaching the sea from the limit 
 to which the tide reaches, the height 
 of the periodical increase gradually 
 diminishes, until it totally disappears 
 at the point of contact with the sea. 
 The ocean preserving at all times the 
 same level, necessarily influences that 
 
 of the waters which communicate 
 with it. At Luckipoor there is a 
 difference of about six feet between 
 the heights at different seasons; at 
 Dacca and places adjacent fourteen 
 feet ; and at Custee thirty-one feet. 
 The latter place is about 240 miles 
 from the sea by the course of the 
 river; and the surface of the river 
 there, during the dry season, is eighty 
 feet above the level of the sea at 
 high water. 
 
 In Bengal, the banks of the Ganges 
 exhibit a variety of appearances, ac- 
 cording to the nature of the soil, or 
 the degree of force with which the 
 current strikes against them. In 
 those parts where the velocity of the 
 stream is greatest, and the soil ex- 
 tremely loose, the banks become per- 
 pendicular, and are undermined and 
 swept away by the strength of the 
 current with such rapidity, that an 
 acre of ground has been seen to dis- 
 appear in less than half an hour. At 
 other spots the bank is seen exca- 
 vated into deep bays with projecting 
 points between them, round which 
 the current rushes with great velocity; 
 but it is considerably slackened, and 
 has even a retrograde eddying mo- 
 tion, in the interior part of the gulf. 
 In the upper districts, where a conker 
 soil (a hard white calcareous earth) 
 prevails, the banks are not so liable 
 to be undermined, and the Rajmahal 
 hills, from which several rocky points 
 (as at Sicrygully, Pointy, and Pat- 
 tergotta) have for ages effectually 
 resisted the encroachments of the 
 Ganges. 
 
 In its course through the plains 
 the Ganges receives eleven rivers, 
 some of which are equal to the 
 Rhine, none smaller than the Thames, 
 besides a great many others of lesser 
 note. The largest tributary streams 
 to the Ganges in Bengal and Bahar, 
 are the Goggra, the Sone, and the 
 Cosa. Such of these rivers as are 
 narrowest, are remarkable for their 
 windings ; the larger rivers having a 
 tendency to run in more direct lines. 
 Within the space of 100 miles, the 
 Ganges by the winding of its course 
 is calculated to increase the space 
 
GANGPOOR. 
 
 55 9 
 
 gone over to 125 miles, some other 
 rivers more than double it. 
 
 Jt is only that portion of the river 
 that lies in the most direct line from 
 Gangoutri, near to which its feeble 
 stream issues from the Himalaya, to 
 Sagor island, below Calcutta, that it is 
 particularly sacred, and named the 
 Ganga or Bhagirathi. The Hooghly 
 river, therefore, of European geogra- 
 phers, is considered the true Ganges ; 
 the great branch that runs east to join 
 the Brahmaputra, is by the Hindoos 
 named the Puddah (Padma or Padma- 
 wati), and is not by them esteemed 
 equally sacred. Although the waters 
 of the whole river from Gangoutri to 
 Sagor is holy, yet there are places 
 more eminently sacred than the rest, 
 and to these pilgrims from a distance 
 resort to perform their ablutions, 
 and carry off water to be used in 
 future ceremonies. Wherever this 
 river runs from the south to the north, 
 contrary to the usual direction, it is 
 considered peculiarly holy, and is 
 called Uttara Bahini. 
 
 The most sanctified places are cer- 
 tain prayagas, or confluences of ri- 
 vers, of which Allahabad, where the 
 Ganges and Jumna unite, is esteemed 
 the chief, and by way of distinction 
 named Prayag. Some others are si- 
 tuated in Northern Hindostan, in the 
 province of Gurwal, at the junction 
 of the Aiacananda with other streams, 
 and are named Devaprayaga, Rudra- 
 prayaga, Carnaprayaga, and Nanda- 
 prayaga. The remaining sacred spots 
 are Hurdwar, where the river first 
 escapes from the mountains ; Uttara 
 Janagiri, a short distance below Mon- 
 ghir; and Sagor island at the mouth 
 of the Hooghly. Besides its sanctity, 
 the Ganges water is much esteemed 
 for its medicinal properties, and is 
 on this account drank by many Ma- 
 homedans. In 1792 Abdul Hakeem, 
 the reigning nabob of Shahnoor, near 
 the west coast of India, and above a 
 thousand miles travelling distance, 
 although a Mahomedan, never drank 
 any thing else. 
 
 In the British courts of justice 
 under the Bengal presidency the 
 Ganges water is used to swear wit- 
 
 nesses of the Brail minical faith, in 
 the same manner as the Evangelists 
 are put into the hands of Christians, 
 and the Koran into those of the Ma- 
 homedans ; but many respectable 
 Hindoos refuse to comply with the 
 ceremony, alleging, that on such oc- 
 casions, it is forbidden to touch the 
 Ganges water, a Salgram, or a Brah- 
 min. When such cases occur, if the 
 person be of good character, the 
 judges permit him to give his evi- 
 dence in the way most consistent 
 with his prejudices. 
 
 In the Hindoo mythology, Ganga 
 (the Ganges) is described as the 
 daughter of the great mountain Hi- 
 mavati ; her sister Ooma, as the 
 spouse of Mahadeva, the destroying 
 power. 
 
 She is called Ganga on account of 
 her flowing through Gang, the earth ; 
 she is called Jahnavi, from a choleric 
 Hindoo saint, whose devotions she 
 interrupted on her passage to the 
 sea, when in a paroxysm of anger he 
 drank her up, but was afterwards in- 
 duced by the humble supplication of 
 the demi-gods to discharge by his 
 ears. She is called Bhagirathi, from 
 the royal devotee Bhagaratha, who 
 by the intensity and austerity of his 
 devotions brought her from heaven 
 to earth, from whence she proceeded 
 to the infernal regions, to re-animate 
 the ashes of his ancestors. And 
 lastly, she is called Triputhaga, on 
 account of her proceeding forward 
 in three different directions, watering 
 the three worlds, heaven, earth, and 
 the infernal regions, and filling the 
 ocean, which according to the Brah- 
 minical mythology, although exca- 
 vated before her appearance, was 
 destitute of water. — ( Rennell , Cole- 
 brooke. Colonel Colebrooke , Hodgson 
 and Herbert , Webb , Raper , the 
 Moonshee , F. Buchanan , Fullarton y 
 the Ramayuna, Ward , #c.) 
 
 Gangpoor. — A small chiefship in 
 the province of Gundwana, formerly 
 a dependent pergunnah on Sumbhul- 
 poor, and latterly a feudatory of the 
 British government. The town of 
 Gangpoor stands in lat. 21° 54' N., 
 
560 
 
 GANJAM. 
 
 Ion. 84° 30' E., seventy-eight miles 
 N. E. from Sumbhulpoor. 
 
 When taken possession of by Ma- 
 jor Roughsedge in 1818, this zemin- 
 dary was found in so complete a state 
 of desolation, that in his triennial 
 settlement of the revenue it was only 
 assessed at 1,250 Sumbhulpoor ru- 
 pees, or about 800 siccas. Many 
 streams and rivers flow through Gang- 
 poor from the hills of Chuta Nagpoor, 
 on their road to the province of Cut- 
 tack, and valley of the Mahanuddy, 
 In the channels of these, considera- 
 ble quantities of gold are found, and 
 occasionally diamonds of considera- 
 ble magnitude, but the pestilential cli- 
 mate of this most wretched district, 
 deters the boldest European from at- 
 tempting a regular search for these 
 much-prized productions. The ze- 
 mindar’s name in 1819, was Raja In- 
 dra Sicca Deo. — ( Roughsedge , §c.) 
 
 Gangoutri ( Ganga avatari). — A 
 celebrated place of pilgrimage in Nor- 
 thern Hindostan, situated among the 
 Himalaya mountains, near to which 
 the river Ganges issues into day from 
 under an immense mound of snow ; 
 iat. 30° 59' N., Ion. 78° 56' E., sixty- 
 two miles north by east from Serina- 
 gur, 10,073 feet above the level of 
 the sea. The temple here is merely 
 a mundap of stone of a diminutive 
 size, but it contains small statues of 
 Bhagiratha, Ganga, and other local 
 deities. It stands on a piece of rock, 
 about twenty feet higher than the bed 
 of the Ganges, and at a little distance 
 there is a rough wooden building to 
 shelter travellers. By the river side 
 there is a little soil where small cedars 
 grow, but in general the margin is 
 strewed with masses of rock. On the 
 26th May 1808 the mean breadth of 
 the Ganges at Gangoutri was forty- 
 three feet ; depth eighteen inches ; on 
 the 2d June the depth was two feet 
 and rapidly increasing. The river has 
 here an expanded bed and runs with 
 a less furious current than immedi- 
 ately above and below. 
 
 There is no village here but merely 
 a few sheds for the attendant Brah- 
 mins, who reside here during the pil- 
 
 grim season, but notwithstanding the 
 great efficacy attributed to this pilgri- 
 mage, it is but very little frequented. 
 It was first visited by Captain Raper’s 
 moonshee (whose name has not been 
 recorded) in 1808; by Mr. Fraser in 
 1815 ; and by Messrs. Hodgson and 
 Herbert in 1817. 
 
 By the natives the pilgrimage to 
 Gangoutri is reckoned a great exer- 
 tion of Hindoo devotion, the accom- 
 plishment of which is supposed to 
 redeem the performer from many 
 troubles in this world, and ensure a 
 happy transit through all the stages 
 of transmigration which he may have 
 to undergo. The water taken from 
 hence is drawn under the inspection 
 of a Brahmin, to whom a trifling sum 
 is paid for the privilege of taking it, 
 and much of it is offered up by, or 
 on the part of the pilgrim at the tem- 
 ple of Baidyanath in Bengal. The 
 specific gravity of this river is said to 
 exceed that of its neighbour the Ala- 
 cananda, according to Hindoo belief, 
 and is so pure as neither to evaporate, 
 or become corrupted by being kept 
 and transported to distant places. — 
 ( Captain Hodgson , Herbert , diaper, 
 fyc.) 
 
 Ganjam ( Ganjam, the depot ). — 
 This district occupies the northern- 
 most portion of the five Circars, and 
 has a very extensive line of sea-coast. 
 To the north it borders on the dis- 
 trict of Cuttack, which is subordi- 
 nate to the Bengal presidency; to 
 the south on that of Vizagapatam ; to 
 the east it has the bay of Bengal ; 
 and on the west a barbarous and un- 
 explored tract of the Orissa province. 
 The interior of this zillah, as also the 
 names and relative distances of the 
 towns and villages, are stili very ill 
 delineated in the best modern maps 
 and require revision. The western 
 portion of Ganjam is hilly, but not 
 far from the shore there are large and 
 fertile plains, this being on the whole 
 one of the most productive under the 
 Madras presidency. The climate is 
 also more salubrious than some of 
 the southern Circars, the land winds 
 being comparatively little felt, but it 
 
GARIADHAR. 
 
 Ml 
 
 has, notwithstanding been occasion- 
 ally, especially in 1815, experienced 
 the ravages of a pelestilential fever 
 which apparently visited in succession 
 every part of Hindostan. 
 
 The rice cultivation throughout 
 Ganjam is very considerable, inter- 
 rupted, however, by extensive tracts 
 of bamboo and thora jungle. Onegreat 
 forest in particular, composed prin- 
 cipally of bamboo clumps ; covers the 
 plain for a space of eight or ten miles. 
 Cotton is not generally raised here, 
 but only in detached spots. The same 
 ground that produces cotton one year 
 will not answer that crop the succeed- 
 year, but with encouragement the 
 cultivation might be extended and im- 
 proved. The architecture of the Hin- 
 doo religious edifices in this quarter 
 of India is peculiar. Each temple is 
 composed of a groupe of rather low 
 buildings, in some cases detached in 
 others joined, each with a graduated 
 pyramidical roof, terminating in an 
 ornamented conical cupola. Jugger- 
 nauth is the favourite object of wor- 
 ship. The principal towns for the 
 coasting trade are Ganjam, Munsoor- 
 cotta, Soonapoor, Calingapatam, and 
 Burhampoor, which in 1820 was the 
 head-quarters of the civil establish- 
 ment. The exports consist of cot- 
 ton, cotton-cloth, rice, sugar, rum, 
 pulses of all kinds, gums, drugs and 
 other hill produce, wax, ghee, and 
 salt to Bengal. In 1817, the total 
 gross collection of the public revenue 
 amounted to 312,956 star pagodas. 
 Ganjam escaped the Pindary invasion 
 which in 1816 desolated Guntoor; 
 but in the following year had a visit 
 from these depredators, who although 
 expelled in the short space of eleven 
 days, committed ravages and left an 
 impression of terror on the minds of 
 the inhabitants scarcely inferior to 
 what had been experienced in Gun- 
 toor. — (,/. Grant , Hodgson , FuIIar- 
 ton , $c.) 
 
 Ganjam. — A town in the northern 
 Circars, the former capital of the 
 preceding district, situated near the 
 sea coast in the bay of Bengal ; lat. 
 19° 2RN., Ion. 85° 10' E. It stands 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 on an elevated portion of the plain* 
 with a range of high mountains at the 
 distance of a few miles in the back 
 ground. The public buildings of this 
 station, as well as the houses and 
 gardens of the civilians, were on a 
 scale of grandeur surpassing almost 
 every other station under the Madras 
 presidency^ but in 1820, these and 
 the fort and cantonments were going 
 rapidly to decay. At that date ah 
 old invalid sergeant in charge of the 
 fort, was the last remaining white in- 
 habitant, even the master attendant 
 having taken flight to Munsoorcotta. 
 The native quarter of the town was 
 rather less desolate, half the houses 
 being still inhabited. Meanwhile the 
 fever, which had caused this general 
 dispersion, and which had its origin 
 (as was supposed) in a great flooding 
 of the low country from a violent 
 storm, had altogether ceased, and 
 Ganjam was again considered more 
 healthy than even the neighbouring 
 station of Yizagapatam. Such are the 
 vicissitudes of a tropical climate. The 
 principal arm of the Ganjam river 
 which enters the sea to the south of 
 the town is about one third of a mile 
 broad, and is fordable at most seasons 
 of the year. Another narrower but 
 deeper branch is crossed on a wooden 
 bridge, built somewhat on the prin- 
 ciple of the Sangnn of the Himalaya 
 mountains,— ( Fullarton, $c.) 
 
 Ganorah. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Ajmeer, the capital of a 
 tract named Godwar, which three 
 reigns back belonged to Odeypoor.— 
 (MS., fyc.) 
 
 Garahang, — A pett} r state in Nor- 
 thern Hindustan, formerly one of the 
 twenty-four rajaships, and now tri- 
 butary to Nepaul. The chief’s castle 
 built of brick, and surrounded by 
 about seventy huts, stands on the top 
 of a hill in lat. 27° 56' N., Ion. 83° 
 35' E., eighty miles west of Catman- 
 doo. 
 
 Garewdun.— See Gurdon. 
 
 Gariadhar.— A town in theGuje- 
 rat Peninsula, forty-four miles west 
 
 2 o 
 
GAR ROWS. 
 
 5G l 2 
 
 from the gulf of Cambay; lat. 21.30' 
 N., Ion. 71°41'E. 
 
 Garilwara. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Gundwana, the head of a 
 pergunnah of the same name belong- 
 ing to the British government, six- 
 teen miles S. W. of Sacur and twenty- 
 four miles N. E. of Chowraghur. Lat. 
 22° 49' N., Ion. 79° 15' E. ~ {Mai- 
 colnij 4'C.) 
 
 G arrows ( Garudas ). — This tribe 
 formerly occupied an extensive tract 
 of country between the 25th and 26th 
 degrees of north latitude ; bounded 
 on the north by the course of the 
 Brahmaputra, on the south by the 
 districts of Silhet and Mymunsingh, 
 to the east by Assam and Gentiah, 
 and on the west by a bend of the 
 Brahmaputra. Such were the ancient 
 dimensions, which, besides the coun- 
 try still retained by the independent 
 Garrows, comprehended the territo- 
 rial divisions in modern maps named 
 Howeraghaut, Measpara (or Mech- 
 para), Caloomaloopara, Curry barry, 
 Gonasser, Susung, and Sheerpoor, 
 in Mymunsingh. At present the 
 tract occupied by the independent 
 Garrows cannot be estimated at more 
 than 130 miles in length by thirty in 
 breadth, and nowhere touches the 
 Brahmaputra. Seen from the con- 
 fines, the whole appears to be a con- 
 fused assemblage of hills, from 100 
 to 3,000 feet high, watered by nu- 
 merous small streams, and contain- 
 ing scarcely any level ground, the 
 hills being every where immediately 
 contiguous to each other. Towards 
 the centre it is said (for they have 
 only been recently penetrated by Eu- 
 ropeans) there are immense masses 
 of naked rock, and large spaces des- 
 titute of vegetation ; but in general 
 the hills, though steep, consist of a 
 rich deep soil, suitable for the hoe 
 cultivation. The climate being very 
 humid, such a soil produces a most 
 exuberant vegetation, and where un- 
 disturbed by agriculture, the moun- 
 tains are covered with noble forests, 
 containing an infinite variety of cu- 
 rious and ornamental plants. 
 
 In geological structure the Garrow 
 
 mountains are of two orders. The 
 first rise to the height of two or three 
 thousand feet, and in some parts 
 more; are composed of granite, with 
 veins of unmixed quartz beneath, 
 and of pure white felspar towards 
 the summits. The hills of the se- 
 cond order are seldom above 200 feet 
 high, and appear to have been form- 
 ed by the operation of water, the 
 strata being nearly horizontal, and 
 their substance composed of clay, 
 sand, and small stones. In some 
 places, on a mountain above 4,000 
 feet high, north of Robagiri, ridges 
 of gneiss appear, more especially at 
 the top, in a position nearly vertical. 
 At Robagiri, above the white clay, a 
 stratum of limestone, abounding in 
 nummulites, appears in the bed of 
 the river. 
 
 Besides the space above-mention- 
 ed, the Garrows seem formerly to 
 have occupied much of the adjacent 
 low country, and still retain some 
 portions as subjects of the neigh- 
 bouring powers, most of the rajas 
 tributary to Assam on the south side 
 of the Brahmaputra being of the 
 Garrow tribe. On the British fron- 
 tier the several large estates adjoining 
 to the Brahmaputra on the east have 
 never, under any government, been 
 regularly surveyed, nor have their 
 internal resources until very lately 
 been the object of official scrutiny. 
 During the Mogul government some 
 of them were made liable to a pro- 
 vision of elephants, some to certain 
 assignments towards defraying the 
 expenses of the Dacca artillery park, 
 and others to the maintenance of a 
 few petty garrisons; but l he internal 
 administration was left almost en- 
 tirely to the hereditary chiefs found 
 in possession of the principalities, 
 who were treated rather as tributa- 
 ries than subjects. This arrange- 
 ment probably originated partly from 
 the wild and uncultivated state of 
 the country, which did not admit of 
 a regular assessment, and partly from 
 an adherence to a favourite maxim 
 of Mogul policy, that of conciliating 
 the good-will of chiefspossessing local 
 influence on their distant frontiers. 
 
G ARROWS, 
 
 50(1 
 
 Whatever share of independence 
 the Garrows may have retained dur- 
 ing the sway of the Moguls, whose 
 cavalry could not penetrate these 
 impervious forests, they soon lost 
 when the adjacent zemindars of Ben- 
 gal could call to their assistance 
 the terrors of British musquetry, 
 against which the bows, swords, and 
 spears of the Garrows could oppose 
 but a feeble resistance. In A.D. 
 1775 the chowdries of Measpara and 
 Currybarry, under pretence of in- 
 cursions made by the Garrows, col- 
 lected a considerable body of armed 
 men and invaded the hills, where 
 they are said to have continued for 
 two or three years, during which pe- 
 riod great numbers of their followers 
 are said to have fallen victims to the 
 unhealthiness of the climate. They 
 eventually, however, succeeded in 
 subduing several tribes, and it is as- 
 serted that on this occasion the hill 
 chief Rungta first became subject 
 to the authority of Currybarry. In 
 1794, Currybarry, Caloomaloopara, 
 and Measpara, were considered by 
 the commissioner in Cooch Bahar to 
 be three istimrary mahals (lands pay- 
 ing rents in perpetuity), the assess- 
 ments on which were fixed at a low 
 rate on condition of their opposing 
 the Garrow mountaineers, for it ap- 
 pears these tribes were in the habit 
 of making annual plundering incur- 
 sions, similar to those committed on 
 the south-west frontier by the Ma- 
 harattas. The chowdries of the above 
 three estates had military rank con- 
 ferred on them, and paid revenue for 
 duties levied, but not for land ; nei- 
 ther did the tenants pay any rent, 
 except for a few tracts. within the in- 
 undation of the Brahmaputra, hold- 
 ing their lands by military tenure. 
 These feudal arrangements enabled 
 the chiefs to organize such a force, 
 that in 1789 Ram Ram, the chowdry 
 of Measpara, attacked and defeated 
 Mr. Baillie, a merchant then residing 
 at Goalpara, on the frontiers of As- 
 sam, but who it appears had also an 
 army of his own. In process of time, 
 when the connexion of the Garrow 
 chiefs with the Mogul government of 
 
 Bengal became more matured, they 
 began to pay a trifling revenue in 
 cotton, the staple production of their 
 hills ; every load brought to market 
 by these mountaineers being accom- 
 panied by a small bundle named the 
 bucha or young load, for the zemin- 
 dar’s share. The main load was car- 
 ried on the back, in a long basket slung 
 round the forehead, while the young 
 load was carried in one hand, and the 
 cumburee, or long sword, in the other. 
 
 In 1798 the repeated acts of con- 
 tumacy on the part of the Curry- 
 barry zemindar, induced the govern- 
 ment to detach a party against him, 
 under the command of Capt. Darrah, 
 who captured the fortified residence 
 of the chowdry, in consequence of 
 which he paid up the arrears. This 
 was the first time that a regular Bri- 
 tish force had been sent to Curry- 
 barry. The affairs of the zemindar 
 falling subsequently into disorder, the 
 estate was brought to sale and the 
 purchaser ruined, not being able to 
 resell an estate the extent of which 
 was undefined, and the owner sub- 
 jected to continual alarms of confla- 
 gration and massacre, from the strug- 
 gles of the western Garrows to shake 
 off a yoke which they had long born 
 with impatience. Rungta, one of 
 their principal leaders, died many 
 years ago, and was succeeded by his 
 son Agund, who was alive in 1813, 
 and was then said to possess much 
 wealth in slaves, brass pots, and hu- 
 man skulls. This chief attended the 
 marriage of the zemindar of Curry- 
 barry’s son, when a palanquin was 
 presented to him, which, having first 
 deprived it of the poles as useless, 
 he entered, and was borne away 
 over the hills on the head of his 
 slaves. His family establishment was 
 said to be so numerous as to require 
 five dhenkies (machines to clean rice) 
 tobe constantly keptat work. Agund’s 
 influence prevailed over that portion 
 of the Garrow mountains which lie 
 contiguous to Currybarry and My- 
 munsingh, and under him are ghee- 
 ries and bhoomeas (local chiefs) who 
 exercise authority over the particular 
 villages in which they reside. 
 
 2 o 2 
 
GAK ROW'S. 
 
 5()h 
 
 The Garrows have no other means 
 of disposing of their cotton than by 
 carrying it to the Bengalese markets, 
 which they continue to do notwith- 
 standing the constant succession of 
 fraud, falsehood, and extortion which 
 they there experience. The trade 
 with Rungpoor is entirely carried on 
 at these foreign marts, to which in 
 ordinary times the Garrows repair 
 once a week during the dry season, 
 more especially in the months of 
 December, January and February. 
 When the Garrow arrives at the 
 market, the zemindar commences by 
 taking part of the cotton as his share ; 
 the remainder is exchanged for salt, 
 cattle, hogs, goats, dogs, cats, ducks, 
 fowls, fish dry and fresh, tortoises, 
 rice, extract of sugar-cane for eat- 
 ing; tobacco and betel-nut for chew- 
 ing; some hoes, spinning wheels, 
 brass-ware, Monohari ornaments, and 
 also some silk, erendi, and cotton 
 cloths. In 1809 there were 47,000 
 maunds of cotton brought into the 
 Rungpoor district by the Garrows, 
 but of this 10,000 maunds came from 
 Currybarry, and 700 from the Gar- 
 rows of Assam. It is uncertain what 
 quantity went to the southern mar- 
 kets, but were the Garrows sure of 
 a reasonable recompense, the quan- 
 tity might be greatly augmented. By 
 a reasonable exchange is meant their 
 receiving a maund of good salt for 
 two maunds of cotton, whereas what 
 they now receive is adulterated with 
 a mixture of earth and addition of 
 moisture. The value of the cotton, 
 however, far exceeds the amount of 
 all the other goods, and a large ba- 
 lance is paid in rupees, which is the 
 only coin the Garrow s will accept ; 
 the best eagle-wood is found among 
 the Garrow hills, but hitherto little 
 has been procured. 
 
 The presence of an armed esta- 
 tablishinent is indispensable, to keep 
 the peace while the traffic is going on, 
 and to give confidence to the sly but 
 timid Bengalese. It was formerly the 
 custom to keep a large body of 
 matchlock-men with matches ready 
 lighted, who paraded round the mar- 
 ket during the sale, and discharged a 
 
 matchlock at short intervals, to re- 
 mind the savages that they were on* 
 the alert. Without this coercion, the 
 Garrows, on the least dispute be- 
 tween one of their party and a mer- 
 chant, would rise in arms and mas- 
 sacre all within their reach. Not- 
 withstanding these precautions, the 
 Garrows continued to perpetrate such, 
 atrocities, that in 1815 all commer- 
 cial intercourse was interdicted, and 
 parties of police peons stationed at 
 the different marts in the vicinity of 
 their mountains to enforce the pro- 
 hibition. 
 
 With respect to the term Garrow, 
 that people assert that it is aBengalese 
 denomination ; nor does it appear that 
 either nation have any general name 
 for the congeries of elevations which 
 we call the Garrow mountains, nor 
 for their inhabitants collectively, each 
 tribe or clan having a name peculiar 
 to itself. The northern Garrows are 
 a short, strong-limbed, active people, 
 with strongly-marked Chinese coun- 
 tenances, and, in general, harsh fea- 
 tures ; but some of their chiefs are 
 rather handsome, and in manners and 
 vivacity are said greatlyto excel the ad- 
 jacent Bengalese zemindars. A Gar- 
 row woman can carry over the hills 
 as great a load as a Bengalese man 
 can carry over the plain, and a Gar- 
 row man one-third more. For their 
 own eating, the Garrows rear cattle, 
 goats, swine, dogs, cats, fowls, and 
 ducks, and purchase from the inha- 
 bitants of the low countries all these 
 animals, besides tortoises and fish, 
 fresh and dried. Among the hills 
 they procure deer, wild hogs, frogs, 
 and snakes, all of which they eat, 
 rejecting no food but milk, which 
 they utterly abhor and abominate in 
 any shape whatever, comparing it by 
 way of execration to diseased mat- 
 ter. They are very partial to puppies, 
 and the mode of cooking them is 
 worthy of notice, as furnishing an 
 example of their diabolical cruelty. 
 They first incite the dog to eat as 
 much rice as he can swallow, after 
 which they tie his four legs together 
 and throw him alive on the fire ; 
 when they consider the body to be 
 
GARROWS. 
 
 5b5 
 
 sufficiently Coasted, they take it out, 
 rip up the bellv, and divide the rice 
 in equal shares among the party as- 
 sembled. The whole of this process 
 has been repeatedly witnessed by the 
 Bengalese traders at the cotton marts. 
 
 One more instance of their culi- 
 nary operations will probably suffice. 
 When a quarrel arises between two 
 Garrows, the weaker party flies to a 
 distant hill to elude the vengeance of 
 his antagonist ; but both parties im- 
 mediately plant a tree bearing a sour 
 fruit, called chatakor, and make a 
 solemn vow that they will avail them- 
 selves of the earliest opportunity 
 that presents itself, of eating their 
 adversary’s head with the juice of the 
 fruit. A generation sometimes passes 
 away without either party being able 
 to execute the measure in contem- 
 plation, in which case the feud de- 
 scends as an heirloom to the children. 
 The party that eventually succeeds, 
 having cut off the head of his slain 
 adversary, summons all his friends, 
 and boils the head along with the 
 fruit of the tree, eats of the soup 
 himself, and distributes the rest among 
 his friends; the tree is then cut down, 
 and the feud ends. 
 
 Their vegetable diet consists chiefly 
 of rice ancl millet, with many arums, 
 caladiums, and diascoreas. For sea- 
 soning they have capsicums, onions, 
 and garlic, but they do not use tur- 
 meric. In their cooker}' they employ 
 both salt and ashes, and sometimes 
 oil, but they cultivate no plant that 
 produces the latter. They prepare a 
 fermented liquor both from rice and 
 millet, which is not distilled, but 
 drank to excess both by men and 
 women, on which occasions they 
 usually squabble and fight. Many of 
 them prefer wine to brandy, which is 
 seldom done by a Hindoo toper, or 
 by savage nations generally. 
 
 A process somewhat different is 
 followed when the}' manage to assas* 
 sinate any Bengalese zemindar. On 
 these occasions great numbers of re- 
 lations and neighbours are collected 
 round the reeking heads brought back 
 as trophies, which being filled with 
 liquor and food, the Garrows dance. 
 
 round them, singing songs of triumph. 
 After thus rejoicing, the heads are 
 buried for the purpose of rotting off’ 
 the flesh, and when arrived at a pro- 
 per stage of putrefaction are dug up, 
 cleansed of their filth, sung and 
 danced round as before, and then 
 suspended in the houses of the per- 
 petrators of the massacre. It is a 
 mistaken notion that it is a mere ab- 
 stract fondness for human skulls that 
 instigates the mountaineers to these 
 atrocities : were that the motive, the 
 skulls of persons dying a natural 
 death would likewise be in demand, 
 which is not the fact. It may con- 
 sequently be admitted that it is the 
 mode of acquisition by battle, sur- 
 prise, or ambuscade, that stamps, in 
 the opinion of the Garrows, the value 
 of a Bengalese cranium, which is be- 
 sides esteemed in proportion to the 
 rank of its former possessor. In 
 1815 the skull of a Hindoo factor, 
 who during his life-time had purchased 
 the zemindary of Caloomaloopara, 
 was valued at 1,000 rupees ; and that, 
 of Indra Talookdar, agent to the. 
 Currybarry zemindar, at 500 rupees, 
 while the price of a common pea- 
 sant’s was only from ten to twelve 
 rupees of deficient weight. To this, 
 custom of hoarding skulls, and of 
 making them the circulating medium 
 in large payments, is to be attributed 
 the extreme care with which the 
 Garrows burn to powder the entire 
 bodies of their own people, lest by any. 
 accident the skull of a Garrow should 
 be passed off as that of a Bengalese. 
 
 These domestic feuds would be 
 immortal if there were not in most 
 tribes a council of chiefs and head- 
 men, who endeavour to reconcile all 
 those of the clan who have disputes, 
 for it is said they have no right to 
 inflict any punishment unless a man 
 be detected in uttering a falsehood 
 before them. The havoc such a re- 
 gulation would occasion, were it ex- 
 tended to their Bengalese neighbours, 
 will be duly appreciated by the Euro- 
 pean functionaries who administer jus- 
 tice in that land of mendacity. Among 
 the Garrows dishonesty and stealing 
 are not frequent ; but murder is a. 
 
G ARROWS. 
 
 3 GO 
 
 crime of ordinary occurrence, a Gar- 
 row man never being seen without 
 his sword. With this he carves his 
 meat and cuts his way through the 
 forest ; and so fond are they of the 
 weapon, or aware of its utility for 
 defence, that they never part with it, 
 even when loaded with the heaviest 
 burthens. Their habits of intoxica- 
 tion also occasion frequent crimes. 
 Poor persons get drunk once a month, 
 the chiefs once every two or three 
 days, on which occurrences they 
 squabble, fight, and assassinate. 
 
 With respect to religion, the un- 
 converted Garrows of the hills be- 
 lieve in the transmigration of souls 
 as a state of reward and punishment. 
 Sail Jung is their supreme god, who 
 has a wife named Manim ; but they 
 have no images or temples. In front 
 of each house a dry bamboo with its 
 branches adhering is fixed in the 
 ground, before which, after having 
 adorned it with tufts of cotton, 
 thread, and flowers, they make their 
 offerings. In science they have not 
 advanced so far as to be able to write 
 theif own language ; but a few on the 
 frontier have learned to write the 
 Bengalese; and although so much 
 cotton is produced in their country, 
 it is only recently that they have be- 
 gun to practice the art of weaving it. 
 
 The particulars above detailed have 
 reference principally to the northern 
 Garrows, between whom and the 
 southern there appears to be no 
 essential difference, except that the 
 latter seem to have undergone a par- 
 tial conversion to the Brahminical 
 doctrines. The southern Garrows are 
 stout, well-shaped men, hardy, and 
 able to do much work. They have a 
 surly look, a flat Caffry nose, small 
 eyes, wrinkled forehead, and over- 
 hanging eye-brows, with a large 
 mouth, thick lips, and round face. 
 Their colour is of a light or deep 
 brown. The women are extremely 
 short and squat in their stature, with 
 masculine features, and almost mas- 
 culine strength. In their ears a num- 
 ber of brass rings are fixed, some- 
 times as many as thirty, increasing in 
 diameter from three to six inches. 
 
 The females work at all the inos£ 
 laborious occupations. Their food 
 is the same as that of the northern 
 tribes, but their houses seem of a su- 
 perior description : these are named 
 chaungs, and are raised on piles three 
 and four feet from the ground, being 
 in length from 30 to 150 feet, by 
 from ten to forty in breadth. ‘The 
 props of the house consist of large 
 saul timbers, over which other large 
 timbers are placed horizontally, and 
 the roofs are finished with bamboos, 
 mats, and strong grass. The latter 
 are uncommonly well executed, espe- 
 cially in the houses of the bhoomeas 
 or chief men. This dwelling consists 
 of two apartments : one floored and 
 raised on piles; the other for their 
 cattle, without a floor, at one end. 
 The chiefs wear silk turbans, but 
 their apparel is generally covered 
 with bugs. 
 
 These Garrows are said to be of a 
 mild temper and gay disposition, and 
 very fond of dancing. In regulating 
 these, twenty or thirty men stand be- 
 hind each other, holding by the sides 
 of their belts, and then go round in 
 circle, hopping first on one foot, after 
 which they hop on the other. The 
 women dance in rows, and hop in the 
 like manner. During their festivals 
 they eat and drink to such an excess, 
 that they require a day or two to get 
 properly sober. Marriage is generally 
 settled by the parties interested, but 
 sometimes by the parents. If the latter 
 do not readily accede to the wishes 
 of their child, they are well beaten 
 by the friends of the other party, and 
 even by persons unconnected with 
 either, until they acquiese, and the 
 drubbing is rarely ineffectual. Among 
 this people the youngest daughter is 
 always the heiress; and the females 
 generally, although they work hard, 
 have great privileges, and in their 
 debates have quite as much to say as 
 the men. If her husband dies the 
 wife marries one of his brothers, and 
 if they all die she marries their father. 
 The dead are kept four days and then 
 burned. If the chief be a highland 
 chief of common rank, the head of 
 one of his slaves should be burned 
 
GAULNA. 
 
 567 
 
 with him ; but if he be a chief of 
 great dignity, a large body of his 
 slaves sally out from the hills and 
 seize a Hindoo, whose head they cut 
 off, and burn along with the body of 
 their chieftain. The customs of the 
 Hajin tribe, who reside at the foot of 
 the Garrow mountains, partake more 
 of the Hindoo, as they will not kill 
 a cow, but they worship the tiger. 
 
 Such are the people whom a strange 
 concurrence of circumstances has 
 brought in contact with the British 
 nation ; and where the two extremes 
 of civilization and the want of it 
 meet, the last is sure to succumb. 
 As yet, however, they are an inde- 
 pendent community: even the British, 
 as successors to the Moguls, having 
 no claims on their lands, far less any 
 zemindar under that government. 
 The country from which they have 
 been driven by the Bengalese of 
 Caloomaloopara and Mechpara, con- 
 tinues waste, and will probably re- 
 main so until the grievances of the 
 Garrows are redressed, and their 
 incursions restrained. In 1815, Mr. 
 Sisson recommended that an intelli- 
 gent native of rank, with one or more 
 deputies, should be appointed to the 
 superintendance of the whole range 
 of Garrow hills, and to give efficiency 
 to his office, that a small corps, con- 
 sisting exclusively of Nuchies, Coo- 
 chies, Hajins, Rajbungsies, and other 
 aboriginals, should be placed under 
 him. — ( Sissoti , F. Buchanan , Z). Scott , 
 Elliott , fyc.) 
 
 Gaukarna. — A town on the sea- 
 coast of the province of Canara, 
 twenty-one miles N. by W. from 
 On ore ; lat. 14° 32' N., Ion. 75° 25' 
 E. This place is very much scattered 
 among cocoa-nut palms, and contains 
 about 500 houses, of which one-half 
 are occupied by Brahmins, who es- 
 teem Gaukarna on account of an 
 image of Siva named Mahaboliswara. 
 About six miles north from hence is 
 Gangawali, an inlet of fresh water, 
 which separates the Hindoo geogra- 
 phical tract named Haiga, or Haiva, 
 from Kankana (Concan).— {F. Bucha- 
 nan, Sfc .) 
 
 Gaulna. — A strong hilly district 
 in the province of Candeish, until 
 1818 mostly possessed by the Holcar 
 family. The country is fertile, and 
 abounds with mountain streams; but 
 when taken possession of by the Bri- 
 tish government, owing to "the inces- 
 sant ravages it had sustained, was 
 found in a state of great desolation. 
 Besides Gaulna, the principal towns 
 are Chandore, Loneir, Naumpoor, 
 and Wuckaury. 
 
 Gaulna. — A hill-fort in the pro- 
 vince of Candeish, eighty-seven miles 
 N.W. from the city of Aurungabad ; 
 lat. 20° 44' N.. Ion. 74° 33' E. This 
 fort stands on a high rocky mountain, 
 the top of which is surrounded by a 
 stone and brick wall, about a mile in 
 circumference and twenty feet high. 
 The entrance from the pettah is by 
 winding steps well protected by walls 
 and high towers, and the distance to 
 the top about a quarter of a mile. 
 On the east side there is a high bar- 
 ren hill connected with the first by 
 walls and towers, and completely 
 commanded by it. 
 
 The town or pettah of Gaulna lies 
 closely under the north side of the 
 mountain, surrounded by a mud wall 
 and towers. It was formerly a large 
 place, but in 1816, while subject to 
 Holcar, it- had greatly decayed, al- 
 though too strong to be molested by 
 the Bheels or Pindarries. To the 
 north-east and west, Gaulna is en- 
 compassed by high barren hills, but 
 to the south there is a fine valley 
 bounded by the termination of the 
 western ghauts. The fort is abun- 
 dantly supplied with water preserved 
 in tanks, and the air at the summit 
 is reckoned salubrious, on account of 
 the dry and stony nature of the ad- 
 jacent soil. It was captured in 1804 
 by Col. Murray’s detachment, but 
 subsequently restored to Holcar. In 
 1818, on the approach of the army 
 under Sir Thomas Hislop, the com- 
 mandant and garrison of Gaulna, ter- 
 rified by the catastrophe at Talnere, 
 evacuated the fort, which at the peace 
 of Mundissor, together with the per- 
 gunnah, was ceded to the British go- 
 
GAYA 
 
 568 
 
 vernment. — ( Sutherland , Malcolm , 
 *■-) 
 
 Gaunsa Laut Isle. — A small 
 island lying oft' the coast of Sumatra ; 
 lat. 1' 48" 78, where the party under 
 Capt. Crisp, in A.D.1823, ascertained 
 the length of the pendulum under 
 the equator, which, after numerous 
 experiments carried on for nearly 
 three months, was determined to be 
 3,902,125,994 inches. 
 
 Gawelghur ( Gayalghur or Gkar- 
 gawil ). — A considerable district in 
 the province of Berar, situated about 
 the 21st degree of north latitude, 
 and in 1582 described by Abul Fazel 
 under the name of Kaweel. The 
 surface of the country to the north- 
 east rises into hills of considerable 
 elevation, and is naturally very strong 
 and defensible ; the other portion is 
 less hilly, and when under tolerable 
 cultivation very productive, owing 
 probably to the multitude of small 
 streams by which it is intersected. 
 
 Ga WELCH uit. — A fortress in the 
 province of Berar, the capital of the 
 preceding district, situated on a high 
 and rocky hill, in the midst of a 
 range of mountains lying between the 
 sources of the Tuptee and Poorna 
 rivers ; lat. 21° 22 N., Ion. 77 ° 24'E., 
 fifteen miles N.W. from Ellichpoor. 
 Fronting the north there is one com- 
 plete inner fort, where the rock is 
 most inaccessible ; and this citadel is 
 strengthened and defended by an 
 outer fort, which entirely covers it 
 to the north and w’est. The outer 
 fort has a thick wall, which covers 
 its approach by the north from the 
 village of Lambada, all of which walls 
 are strongly built., and fortified by 
 towers and ramparts. To the whole 
 of the fortifications there are three 
 gates : one to the south leading to 
 the inner fort ; one to the north 
 which leads to the outer fort ; and 
 one to the north which communicates 
 with the third wall. The ascent to 
 the first gate is very long, steep, and 
 difficult ; that to the second is by a 
 road used for the common commu- 
 nications of the garrison with the 
 country to the southward, but which 
 
 leads no further than the gate. It m 
 extremely narrow, the rock being 
 scooped out on each side ; and from 
 its passing round the outside of the 
 fort, is exposed to its fire for a con- 
 siderable distance. Such were the 
 reputed strength and complication of 
 its defences : notwithstanding which 
 it was taken by storm in 1803, by 
 the armies under General Wellesley 
 and Colonel Stevenson, after a siege 
 of only two days; indeed the facility 
 with which these apparently impreg- 
 nable hill fortresses are captured cre- 
 ate strong doubts of their intrinsic 
 strength, and suspicion of exaggera- 
 tion in their description. This fortress 
 was acquired by Ragojee Bhoonsla, 
 the first about A. D. 1754, having been 
 previously possessed by a Gond chief. 
 — (5th Register y fyc.) 
 
 Gaya Isle for Pulo Gaya ). — A 
 small island in the eastern seas lying 
 off the north-west coast of Borneo, 
 about seven miles in circumference, 
 and, being very near the main land, 
 appears from the sea to bean integral 
 portion of its enormous neighbour; 
 lat. 7 ° N., Ion. 116° 2' E. Near to 
 Pulo Gaya are many smaller, such as 
 Pulo Pangir, Pulo Prin, Pulo Udar, 
 &c. 
 
 Gaya ( Gaya ). — A city in the 
 province and district of Bahar, of 
 which last it is the modern capital ; 
 lat. 24° 49' N., Ion. 85° E., fifty-five 
 miles south from Patna. It consists 
 of two parts, one the residence of 
 the priests, which is Gaya proper ; the 
 other the residence of tradesmen, &c., 
 which having been very much en- 
 larged and ornamented by Mr. Thos. 
 Law, is now called Sahebgunge. The 
 old town of Gaya stands on a rocky 
 eminence between a hill and the 
 Fulgo river ; Sahebgunge stands on a 
 plain on the bank of the Fulgo, south 
 from a hill named Ramsila. For- 
 merly between the two there was an 
 open sandy space called the Rumna 
 or chase, but the court-houses have 
 occupied part of this, and the re- 
 mainder is taken up by the houses 
 and gardens of the few Europeans at 
 the station; The streets in the quar- 
 
GAYA. 
 
 569 . 
 
 ter named Sahebgunge are wide, per- 
 fectly strait, and kept in good order, 
 although not paved, with a double 
 row of trees, leaving in the middle 
 an excellent carriage road, with a foot- 
 path on each side. 
 
 The old town of Gaya is a strange 
 looking place, but its buildings are 
 much better than those of the quarter 
 named Sahebgunge, the greater part 
 of the houses being of brick and 
 stone, and many of them two or 
 three stories high. The architecture 
 is very singular, with corners, tur- 
 rets, and galleries, projecting with 
 every possible irregularity. The 
 streets are narrow, dirty, crooked, 
 uneven, and encumbered with large 
 blocks of stone, or protruding angles 
 of rock. The reflection of the sun’s- 
 rays from the rocks by which it is 
 encompassed, and from the parched 
 sands of the Fulgo, render Gaya 
 uncommonly hot, and in spring it is 
 obscured by perpetual clouds of dust. 
 The two stations composing Gaya, 
 during Mr. Law’s magistracy, were 
 found to contain 6,000 houses, and 
 it is probable that at least 400 have 
 been since added. The whole are 
 full of population, for besides the re- 
 sident inhabitants there are always 
 many strangers on the spot, and the 
 pilgrims and their followers often 
 amount to several thousands. The 
 adjacent hill of Ramsila, as well as 
 almost every remarkable eminence in 
 the neighbourhood of this singular 
 place, is the theme of mythological 
 legend, and the excavations are be- 
 yond number. Many of these are 
 vaulted caverns cut out of immense 
 masses of solid granite, the interior 
 surface of which has been highly po- 
 lished. They are distinguishable from 
 the cave temples of the Deccan and 
 west of India by the absence of 
 images and other mythological deco- 
 rations ; although there are groups of 
 Brahminical deities sculptured in re- 
 lief on some of the rocks at the base 
 of the hill, and on the ground not 
 far oflfis an insulated figure of Buddha 
 in a sitting posture, of superhuman 
 dimensions. 
 
 What is called Pritsila, or the hill 
 
 of the ghost, is a perpendicular block, 
 eight or nine feet high, projecting 
 from the summit of a rocky steep 
 peak, the ascent to which is difficult. 
 Up this hill the pilgrims are led, one 
 after the other, in the most careless 
 and slovenly manner, by a dirty, ig- 
 norartt priest, without the slightest 
 appearance of respect for the place 
 or the presiding deity. Another si- 
 milar lazy and filthy officiator is seen, 
 lolling with his back against the rock, 
 who, without deigning to notice them, 
 permits the votaries to prostrate them- 
 selves and kiss his feet, the whole 
 accompanied by the utmost tumult 
 and bawling for money by the reli- 
 gious mendicants. 
 
 The chief Mahomedan place of 
 worship stands north from Saheb- 
 gunge, where, on the day of the ker- 
 bela, about 20,000 persons assemble 
 to celebrate Hassan and Hossein, the 
 grandsons of the prophet. The mo- 
 nument of Munsliur Shahi, in Gaya, 
 is also much frequented by persons 
 under the influence of apprehended 
 danger, and in spring 5,000 persons 
 at the tomb of a saint near Kenduya. 
 
 At Gaya at present there is no 
 trace of any considerable building of 
 the least antiquity, most of the 
 images, and even materials, appearing 
 to have been brought from Buddha 
 Gaya, and the universal opinion is 
 that five or six centuries ago, Gaya, 
 as a place of worship, was in com- 
 parative obscurity, when probably 
 the legend now current was invented, 
 and adapted to the prevailing opi- 
 nions. From this era the number of 
 pilgrims has been gradually increasing; 
 but these devout persons suffered 
 many checks until Mr. Law protected 
 them by new regulations. Prior to 
 this the pilgrims, on approaching 
 Gaya, found custom-houses erected 
 by every landholder or petty officer 
 who had local power sufficient to ex- 
 tort contributions. These Mr. Law 
 abolished, and having ascertained that 
 four sorts of pilgrimages were usttr 
 ally performed, he fixed on a certain 
 sum for a license for the celebration 
 of each. Deductions are, however, 
 made on all licenses to the Nepaulese, 
 
GAYA. 
 
 570 
 
 and on the highest licenses to per- 
 sons who bring water from the Gan- 
 ges, which class are considered holy, 
 and are generally poor. 
 
 Among the places of minor efficacy 
 in the neighbourhood of the chief 
 sanctuaries was a tank ; but a gentle- 
 man of the name of Seton having 
 cut a road through it, the water and 
 its reputation disappeared. Mr. Se- 
 ton, during the operation, having 
 found a lingam or emblem of Siva, 
 gave it to Raja Metrajeet of Tickary, 
 who placed it in a neat little temple. 
 This entirely satisfied the people, who 
 made no complaint about the viola- 
 tion of the sacred place ; indeed the 
 moderation of the Hindoos in this 
 respect is much to be admired. In 
 another quarter is a tank named Vai- 
 turani, after a pool near the residence 
 of Yama, the infernal judge, in which 
 the souls of dead persons are boiled, 
 unless they have had the precaution 
 of bathing in the terrestrial pool, or 
 if, while on its banks, they omitted 
 to give a few cowries to the Brah- 
 mins. 
 
 Respecting this celebrated place of 
 worship there are many Brahminical 
 legends, of which the following has 
 the merit of being the shortest. 
 Gaya, an Asoor, giant, and infidel, 
 by severe penance obtained divine 
 favour, and subjugated the three 
 worlds (heaven, earth, and hell) to 
 his power. The demigods, bereft of 
 their dignity, implored the assistance 
 of Vishnu, who entered into a long 
 contest with the Asoor, but could 
 not overcome him. The monster, 
 however, was so well pleased with 
 Vishnu’s prowess, that he promised 
 to give him whatever blessing he 
 should ask ; and the latter in conse- 
 quence requested him to descend to 
 the infernal regions. The giant con- 
 sented, but begged he might be 
 pressed down by Vishnu’s foot; which 
 was accordingly done, and the scene 
 of action has ever since been reckon- 
 ed sacred for the space of several 
 square miles. Such is one of the 
 Brahminical traditions; but the Budd- 
 hists ascribe the sanctity of Gaya to 
 its having been either the birth-place 
 
 or residence of their great prophet 
 and legislator. The British govern- 
 ment has an agent at Gaya, who le- 
 vies a tax on each pilgrim, according 
 to the magnitude of the sins he has 
 to expiate, and of the consequent 
 ceremonies he has to perform. One 
 class, visiting only one place, pays 
 2-g- rupees ; another, visiting two places, 
 3f rupees ; a third, visiting thirty- 
 eight places, pays 4 fV rupees; and 
 the fourth class, visiting forty-five 
 places, 14^ rupees. The duty to go- 
 vernment, however, is but a small 
 part of the pilgrim’s expense, for he 
 is fleeced by the priests, not only of 
 all the money he brings with him, but 
 of promissory notes for future pay- 
 ments, which are sent after him when 
 he returns home ; the Gayawals, or 
 priests of Gaya, maintaining emis- 
 saries for this purpose in the remotest 
 parts of India, which they also occa- 
 sionally visit on speculation. The 
 most numerous votaries are Ben- 
 galese and Maharattas ; and some of 
 the great chiefs of the latter have 
 been known to expend 50,000 rupees. 
 
 When a pilgrim arrives, his gnya- 
 wal, or spiritual father, conducts him 
 to the darogah, or superintending 
 officer, and explains to him the ce- 
 remonies his client is desirous of 
 performing; after which an order, 
 specifying the names of the pilgrim 
 and gayawal, as also of the ceremo- 
 nies contemplated, is made out and 
 signed by the collector. There are 
 numberless regulations among the 
 Gayawals for the internal manage- 
 ment, but they are a sort of free- 
 masonry, the particulars of which 
 have never been communicated to 
 the public, although a translation or 
 abstract would certainly prove cu- 
 rious and interesting. Formerly it 
 was customary for the priest to keep 
 the thumbs of his votary tied until 
 he consented to give a sum propor- 
 tionate to his circumstances; but the 
 British government has ordered that 
 all contributions shall be voluntary, 
 and the collector of the tax, or the 
 magistrate, will, on complaint, com- 
 pel the priest to perform his duty, 
 and to accept whatever the pilgrim 
 
GENTIAH. 
 
 571 
 
 chooses to give. Persons from a 
 distance are still grossly abused, but 
 the checks imposed have rendered 
 violence less practicable, and the in- 
 troduction of the British police sys- 
 tem so well established their personal 
 security, that the number of these 
 wanderers has been gradually increas- 
 ing. In A.D. 1799 the number of 
 pilgrims who received licenses to wor- 
 ship at Gaya was 21,659; in 1811 it 
 was 31,114. In 1816 the gross col- 
 lections amounted to 2,29,805 sicca 
 rupees; charges, 46,926 ; net receipts, 
 1,82,876 sicca rupees. 
 
 It is usually supposed that the 
 number of pilgrims and their atten- 
 dants in ordinary years is not less 
 than 100,000; but in times of peace, 
 when visited by any of the great Ma- 
 haratta chieftains, the number pro- 
 bably exceeds 200,000 persons, with 
 many horses ; nor will twenty lacks of 
 rupees defray their expenses in these 
 districts, where many of them so- 
 journ for three months. Indeed the 
 number of crimes that originate in 
 the Bahar district, of which Gaya is 
 the capital, may in a great measure 
 be ascribed to this vast multitude of 
 pious and superstitious pilgrims. The 
 wealth these persons possess gene- 
 rally consists of money, jewels, and 
 other articles, which excite the cu- 
 pidity of the unprincipled, while the 
 defenceless condition of the greater 
 number of these stragglers exhibits 
 it to them as a prey of easy acqui- 
 sition. Numerous affrays and breach- 
 es of the peace may also be expected, 
 where such a number of strangers 
 from all parts of India are promiscu- 
 ously congregated. Nor ‘will these 
 votaries of superstition gain any ad- 
 dition to their prior stock of morals 
 by their intercourse with their spiri- 
 tual guides, the Gayawals, who are 
 in general both ignorant and dissolute, 
 and do not affect even the appearance 
 of any self-denial or ascetism of con- 
 duct. — {F. Buchanan, Fullarton , Iia- 
 rington, Ward , A. Seton, Sfc.) 
 
 Geby ( or Gibby) Isle. — An island 
 in the Eastern seas, surrounded by a 
 cluster of smaller ones, situated on 
 
 the west side of the Gilolo passage, 
 between the 129th and 130th degrees 
 of east longitude. In length it may 
 be estimated at twenty-five miles, by 
 three the average breadth. It is in- 
 habited, but has never been com- 
 pletely explored. The rise and fall 
 of the tides here at the springs is 
 only ten feet. 
 
 Geengoul. — A small town or sta- 
 tion in Tibet, twenty-eight miles N.E. 
 from the Niti pass; lat. 31° 5' N., 
 Ion. 80° 5' E. 
 
 Gentiah ( Jaintiya ). — A small 
 principality bordering on the British 
 district of Silhet in Bengal, and si- 
 tuated between 25° and 26° 30' north 
 latitude. On the east it is bounded 
 by Cachar or Hairuinbo; on the 
 south by Silhet; on the west by the 
 Garrow mountains, and on the north 
 by Assam. Its extreme length, from 
 east to west, is about 1 00 miles, and 
 extreme breadth, from north to south, 
 about 80 miles. 
 
 Of this territory, about sixteen 
 miles on the Silhet side, and about 
 the same number on that of Assam, 
 consist of lowland, resembling Ben- 
 gal, but interspersed with small hills. 
 About ten miles on the Assam side, 
 and five on that of Silhet, consists of 
 hills covered with thick forest and 
 jungle, like the Garrow mountains. 
 In the intermediate country, about 
 fifty miles in extent, is an undulating 
 hilly table-land, supposed to be from 
 1,500 to 2,500 feet above the plains, 
 and distinguished by the absence of 
 jungle and the comparative coolness 
 of the climate. It is mostly covered 
 with short herbage, clumps of trees 
 thinly scattered, and occasionally more 
 extensive woods of fir and other 
 trees ; the whole space apparently 
 well adapted for pasturage. It is, 
 however, but very thinly inhabited, 
 and except a few yams and other 
 roots, presents no signs of cultiva- 
 tion. Gentiahpoor, the capital, is 
 situated about twenty miles to the 
 north of the town of Silhet. The 
 river Capili, which joins the Brahma- 
 putra a little above Rangamatty, 
 is the chief stream. The principal 
 
GER0L1. 
 
 $72 
 
 produce is rice and cotton, and a 
 coarse species of silk from the wild 
 silkworm, named tusser. Iron, lime- 
 stone, and coal are among its mine- 
 rals and both elephants and ivory are 
 exported. The hills are generally 
 barren, and do not yield any valuable 
 timber. 
 
 The natives of the country call 
 themselves Cossyahs (Khasiyahs), and 
 it is by this name they are distin- 
 guished among the mountain tribes. 
 Their features partake more of the 
 Tartar than Hindostany, and their 
 language marks the line where Sans- 
 crit ceases to form the base of the 
 colloquial languages. Of the thirty- 
 two words that compose the Lord’s 
 Prayer in their language, more than 
 half are monosyllables used in the 
 Chinese, while scarcely three words 
 resemble, even in sound, the lan- 
 guage of their Bengalese neighbours. 
 They have no original written charac- 
 ters, but their chiefs use those of 
 Bengal, the dialect of which province 
 is gradually becoming more prevalent, 
 and will ultimately supersede the Cos- 
 syah. Before their intercourse with 
 Bengal they were devoid of caste ; 
 but within the last half century the 
 Brahminical doctrines have made 
 such progress that most of the lead- 
 ing men have adopted them, and 
 been classed by their spiritual instruc- 
 tors in the khetri, or military tribe. 
 Their principal deity is Jayanti Iswa- 
 ra ; but many worship the whole Hin- 
 doo pantheon, and at the same time 
 endeavour to mollify revengeful evil 
 spirits by human sacrifices. 
 
 The Gentiah territory, notwith- 
 standing its limited extent, is govern- 
 ed by many petty chiefs, rulers over 
 one, two, or three hills, whose obedi- 
 ence to the raja is little more than no- 
 minal. Their domestic feuds are con- 
 sequently incessant, their manners 
 barbarous, and condition apparently 
 so miserable, that nothing but a su- 
 perstitious attachment to the soil pre- 
 vents the lower classes from migrat- 
 ing into the neighbouring countries 
 under the British government, where 
 there is abundance of uncultivated 
 land. 
 
 In 1822 two persons were sent from 
 the Gentiah country to kidnap a Ben- 
 galese for a human sacrifice. These 
 miscreants were employed by Gentiah 
 Kooaree, the raja’s sister, or sister’s 
 daughter, and wife of Oochung Ram 
 Khant, who wished to propitiate the 
 deities Cali, Genti, and Durga, to 
 grant her husband’s prayers for the 
 pregnancy of his wife, whose son, by 
 the Cossyah laws, would be heir- 
 apparent to the throne. The messen- 
 gers were caught and committed to 
 prison by the Bengal police before 
 they had executed their errand, and 
 the matter reported to the Supreme 
 Government, which sent a letter of 
 remonstrance to the Gentiah raja. 
 In 1824 Ram Singh, the reigning 
 chief, was about sixty years of age, 
 and never having been married, his 
 heir-apparent was a grand-nephew, 
 the rule of succession, as with the 
 nairs of Malabar, going solely in the 
 female line. When visited by Mr. 
 Scott, of Rungpoor, in 1824, his army 
 consisted of 150 miserably equipped 
 Hindostany sepoys, to which, on an 
 emergency, it was supposed he could 
 add 5,000 of his own mountaineers. 
 Notwithstanding the very savage 
 stage of civilization which Gentiah 
 presents, its natives are able to con- 
 struct bridges and erect monuments 
 with stones of an enormous weight. 
 Near to the town of Gentiah, in A.D. 
 3774, an action was fought by a de- 
 tachment of British troops and the 
 forces of a native chief . — (Public Jour- 
 nals, Public MS. Documents, F. Bu- 
 chanan, tyc.) 
 
 George Town. — This is the capi- 
 tal of Prince of Wales’ Island, other- 
 wise named Pulo Penang. It is 
 bounded on the north and east by the 
 sea; on the south by an inlet of the 
 sea, and on the west by the high 
 road. The streets are spacious, and 
 cross each other at right angles. — See 
 Prince of Wales’ Island. 
 
 Gerar. — A small town in the pro- 
 vince of Allahabad thirty miles S. by 
 E, from Teang ; lat. 24° 18' N., Ion. 
 78° 54' E. 
 
 Geroli. — A small town in the pro- 
 
GHAUTS, WESTERN. 
 
 $ 7 $ 
 
 vince of Allahabad, twenty miles 
 S.W. from Jeitpoor ; lat. 25° 7' -N»,- 
 lon. 79° 20' E. 
 
 Gi-iassa.— A town in Bootan, the 
 capital of a district and head station 
 of the zooripoor, or provincial gover- 
 nor ; lat. 27° 56' N., Ion. 89° i8' E., 
 twenty-three miles W. by N. from 
 Tassisudon. The highest mountains 
 in this neighbourhood are covered 
 with snow throughout the year, and 
 are visible along the northern frontier 
 of Bengal from Cooch Bahar to Pur- 
 neah, and at the base of the loftiest is 
 a spring of water, so hot as scarcely 
 to admit of bathing. — ( Turner , fyc.) 
 
 Ghauts, Eastern. — The chain of 
 hills commonly described under this 
 appellation commences in the south 
 about lat. 11° 20' N., to the north of 
 the Cavery, and extends, with little 
 interruption or comparative deviation 
 from a straight line, to the banks of 
 the Krishna, in lat. 16° N., separating 
 the two Carnatics ; the one named 
 the Carnatic Balaghaut, or above 
 the ghauts (the true Carnatic); the 
 other the Carnatic Payeenghaut, or 
 below the ghauts, extending along the 
 coast of Coromandel. The term 
 ghaut properly signifies a pass through 
 a range of high hills, but the name 
 has been transferred to the mountai- 
 nous chains that support the central 
 table-land in the south of India, 
 
 The exact height of this ridge along 
 its whole course has not been ascer- 
 tained, which is rather extraordinary ; 
 but its general elevation is known to 
 be considerably less than that of the 
 Western Ghauts, About the latitude 
 of Madras, which is the highest part, 
 it is estimated at 3,000 feet ; and the 
 table-land of Bangalore, towards Oos- 
 cottah, which is within the chain, is 
 more than 3,000 feet above the level 
 of the sea. As the rivers that have 
 their sources in the upper table-land 
 universally decline towards the east, it 
 proves the superior elevation of the 
 western ghauts, and they are by far 
 the most abrupt in their ascent. The 
 geology of these mountains is very 
 imperfectly known; but the chief 
 rock is said to be a granite, consisting 
 
 of feldspar and quartz, with dark green 
 mica, in a small proportion to the 
 other two ingredients. The rocks 
 appear stratified ; but the strata are 
 very much broken and confused. 
 The country above the ghauts, about 
 Naikan Eray, rises into swells like the 
 land in many parts of England, and 
 is overlooked by the high barren 
 peaks of the ghauts, which close the 
 view to the eastward. The soil be- 
 tween Naikan Eray and Vincatigherry 
 is very poor, and covered with copse, 
 having a few large trees intermixed. 
 The whole of the copse land serves 
 for pasture of an inferior sort, and the 
 bushes supply the natives with fuel 
 for domestic purposes and for the 
 smelting of iron. About two miles 
 above Naikan Eray a torrent in the 
 rainy season brings down from the 
 hills a quantity of iron ore, in the 
 form of black sand, which in the dry 
 season is smelted. 
 
 The tops of the hills near the Vel- 
 lore road, by Sautghur, are covered 
 with large stones, among which grow 
 man}' trees and shrubs, with occa- 
 sionally a tamarind tree of great age 
 and size. The scenery here exhibits 
 a great contrast to that about Madras, 
 the whole country being undulated, 
 with a few lofty desolated peaks ; the 
 whole appearing very barren, and 
 without any extensive forests. This 
 pass has been widened and levelled 
 since the conquest of the Mysore in 
 1799. Artillery can now ascend it 
 with little difficulty, which was not 
 the case when Lord Cornwallis made 
 his first and unsuccessful attempt on 
 Seringapatam. The tranquility en- 
 jo}'ed by the Mysore and Carnatic, 
 since the final extinction of Hyder’s 
 short-lived Mahomedan dynasty, lias 
 increased the importance of an easy 
 communication between the two 
 countries. — {F. Buchanan , Lord Va- 
 lentia, Bennell , fyc.) 
 
 Ghauts, Western. — This chain is 
 better defined than the other, as it 
 extends from Cape Comorin to the 
 Tuptee or Surat river, where, how- 
 ever, it does not terminate in a point 
 or promontory; but departing from 
 
GHAZIPOOR. 
 
 574 
 
 its meridianal course, it bends east- 
 ward in a wavy line parallel to that 
 river, and is afterwards lost among 
 the hills in the neighbourhood of 
 Boorhanpoor. In its line along the 
 Tuptee,this ridge forms several ghauts 
 or passes, from which there is a des- 
 cent into the low land of Candeish. 
 In their whole extent the Western 
 Ghauts include thirteen degrees of 
 latitude, with the exception of a break 
 in the ridge, about sixteen miles wide, 
 in the latitude of Paniany, through 
 which the river Paniany flows to the 
 Western Ocean from the province of 
 Coimbatoor. Their distance from 
 the sea-coast is seldom more than 
 seventy miles, commonly about forty ; 
 and they are frequently visible from 
 the sea, to which, between Barcelore 
 and Mirjaoa, they approach within 
 six miles. 
 
 The Western Ghaut mountains are 
 in general from 2,000 to 3,000 feet 
 higher than those of the Eastern 
 Ghauts, and several are from 5,000 
 to 6,000 feet above the level of the 
 sea. The peak of mount Subramani, 
 on the frontiers of Coorg, has been 
 estimated at 5,61 1 feet. This alti- 
 tude is sufficiently great to prevent 
 the body of the clouds passing over 
 them, and accordingly the alternate 
 N.E. and S.W. winds (called the 
 monsoons) occasion a rainy season 
 on the windward side of the moun- 
 tains only, and the greater the height 
 of the chain at any given point the 
 more complete is the division of the 
 climates. In some parts of the Con- 
 can and Malabar province west of 
 the ghauts, 130 inches of rain have 
 been ascertained to fall in one year, 
 mostly during June, July, and August, 
 while the contiguous provinces of 
 Bejapoor and Mysore, during this 
 deluge, are only visited by gentle 
 showers. This cause ceases to ope- 
 rate in the parallel of Surat, where 
 the S.W. wind, no longer opposed by 
 a wall of mountains, carries its sup- 
 plies of moisture without interrup- 
 tion over the whole surface of the 
 country. The extensive region above 
 the ghauts is called a table-land; it 
 is not a regularly flat level country, 
 
 being on the contrary in many parts 
 studded with hills, and in others 
 mountainous. 
 
 The Western Ghauts about the 
 fifteenth degree of north latitude, al- 
 though steep and stony, are by no 
 means rugged or broken into masses 
 of rock. The stones in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Cutaki are buried in a 
 rich mould, and in many parts are 
 not seen without digging. Instead 
 therefore of the naked, sur.-burnt, 
 rocky peaks so common in the East- 
 ern Ghauts, there are here fine moun- 
 tains covered w'ith stately forests of 
 poon, teak, and other large timber. 
 There are nowhere finer trees, nor 
 any bamboos that can be compared 
 with those that grow in this portion 
 of the Western Cordillera. The 
 ground rattan also abounds in the 
 woods and grows to an enormous size, 
 a specimen having been procured 225 
 feet in length, and thicker than any 
 Malacca cane. The difficulty formerly 
 experienced in ascending these monu- 
 tains from the Malabar and Canara 
 provinces, may be estimated from that 
 which the Bombay army had to sur- 
 mountin December 1791. On that oc- 
 casion two days were spent in dragging 
 up twenty light field pieces two miles, 
 and three weeks to bring up fourteen 
 guns (none heavier than eighteen- 
 pounders) with their tumbrils, to the 
 top of the Ghauts. — ( Rennell , F. 
 Buchanan, Fullarton , Moor , Dirom, 
 Colonel Lambton , fyc.) 
 
 Ghazipoor. — A collectorate in the 
 province of Allahabad, zemindary of 
 Benares, situated about the twenty- 
 sixth degree of north latitude. On 
 the north it is bounded by the Gog- 
 gra ; on the south by the Ganges ; 
 to the east it has the Goggra, and 
 on the west Juanpoor. It has long 
 been celebrated for the excellence of 
 its rose-water, and being also well 
 supplied with moisture, may be noted 
 as one of the most fertile subdivisions 
 of Hindostan. The chief towns are 
 Ghazipoor, Azimpoor, and Doory- 
 ghaut. 
 
 Ghazipoor. — A very large town 
 in the province of Allahabad, the ca- 
 
GHIDDORE. 57 5 
 
 pital of the preceding district, situated 
 on the north side of the Ganges, 
 forty-one miles N.E. from Benares ; 
 lat. 25° 35' N., Ion. 83° 33' E. This 
 town is extensive, and within the su- 
 perintendence of the police office 
 there are no less than 300 villages, 
 all swarming with a population, noted 
 from time immemorial for their 
 refractory spirit and turbulent ha- 
 bits. 
 
 At one end of Ghazipoor is a pa- 
 lace (which formerly belonged to 
 Saadit Ali the deceased nabob of 
 Oude) overhanging the Ganges, here 
 flowing in a wide bed and with a slow 
 current ; and there are also canton- 
 ments for three regiments of cavalry 
 and a branch of the government stud. 
 On a plain not far from these, an 
 elegant mausoleum, in the form of a 
 Grecian temple, has been raised to 
 the memory of the Marquis Corn- 
 wallis, who died here while on his 
 way to the upper provinces. It is 
 entirely constructed of large blocks 
 of Chunar free-stone, without the 
 intervention of any wood, cost one 
 lack of rupees, and consumed fifteen 
 years in its erection ; yet it appears 
 an insignificant structure, when placed 
 in comparison with the meanest of 
 the sepulchral edifices bequeathed to 
 posterity by the Mogul emperors. 
 
 The government stud in 1823 
 was remarkably flourishing, 496 most 
 superior horses bred here having 
 that year been passed into the cavalry 
 service by the stud committee, of 
 which number 147 were chargers. 
 The inferior horses sold for large 
 prices in Calcutta, and were’ driving 
 the Arabs out of the market. — 
 ( Full-arton , Public MS. Documents , 
 Locke , Sec.) 
 
 Ghergong ( Girigrama.) — A town 
 in Assam, situated on the Dikho ri- 
 ver, which falls into the Brahmaputra 
 river from the south. This place 
 was for many years the capital of 
 Assam, but since the insurrection of 
 the Mahamari (or Moamarea) priest, 
 and his rabble, the city, palace, and 
 fort, have continued a heap of ruins. 
 In old maps it is also named Ger- 
 
 gong, Gurgown, and Kirganu. — 
 {Wade, Rennell, tyc.) 
 
 Gheriah ( Ghiriji, flowing from a 
 Mountain. ) — A fortress in the pro- 
 vince of Bejapoor, situated on a pro- 
 montory of rocky land in the Concan 
 district, about one mile and a quarter 
 broad, and eighty-two miles N.N.W. 
 from Goa; lat. 16° 30' N., Ion. 73° 
 25' E. This rock is joined to the 
 continent by a narrow neck of land, 
 and lies one mile from the entrance 
 of a harbour, formed by the mouth 
 of a river that descends from the 
 Western Ghauts. In A.D. 1707 
 Conajee Angria established an inde- 
 pendent sovereignty at Gheriah, and 
 possessed a numerous piratical fleet. 
 In 1756 it was taken by Admiral 
 Watson and Colonel Clive, and all 
 the reigning Angria’s fleet destroyed. 
 ~—{Orme , Bruce , #c.) 
 
 Ghiddore ( Gidhaur.J — A town 
 formerly stood here, and it is still 
 marked in the best maps, but it has 
 long ceased to exist ; lat. 24° 52' N., 
 Ion. 86° 10' E., thirty -seven miles 
 S.S.W. from Monghir. It is now 
 only remarkable for the ruins of an 
 old castle, said to have been built by 
 Shere Shah, the Patan, who expelled 
 Humayoon the father of Acber, and 
 became Emperor of Hindostan, and 
 founded a short-lived dynasty. This 
 fortress (called Naolacca by the sur- 
 rounding peasantry) is buried in jun- 
 gle near the foot of a wild and rugged 
 precipice, and so commanded by the 
 adjacent height, that Shere Shah, 
 after it was completed, ordered it to 
 be abandoned. What at present re- 
 mains, consists of a wall rudely built 
 of uncut stones from the neighbour- 
 ing mountains and very ill put toge- 
 ther. At the middle and angles these 
 walls are twenty-three feet thick at 
 the bottom, and about seventeen at 
 the top, and seem originally to have 
 been about thirty feet high, without 
 a ditch, and solely adapted for the 
 use of missile weapons. At Ghid- 
 dore the plains of Bahar terminate, 
 and the country begins gradually to 
 ascend as the traveller proceeds east- 
 ward. The Ghiddore raja resides at 
 
GHIZNI. 
 
 576 
 
 Dumree, a small village on the Kew- 
 lee Nullah, fourteen miles S.E. from 
 this site which is wholly destitute of 
 inhabitants. 
 
 As illustrative of native manners, 
 the following description of the per- 
 sonal habits of the two Ghiddore 
 rajas in A.D. 1810 may be inserted. 
 First, Raja Gopaul Singh, a fat heavy 
 man, forty-nine years of age and very 
 civil. His usual practice was to rise 
 early. He took forty minutes to 
 clean himself, after which he sat in 
 his office until noon attending to bu- 
 siness. He then prayed, bathed, and 
 eat, the whole occupying about an 
 hour and a half, after which he slept. 
 In the evening he sometimes went 
 out to hawk, after which he cleaned 
 himself again and prayed, both of 
 which employed an hour. He then 
 again sat in his office until nine in 
 the evening, when he retired to the 
 inner apartments to eat and sleep. 
 Second, Raja Nerbhoy Singh, a thin 
 timid man about forty-two years of 
 age. He rose early and took about 
 fifty minutes to clean himself, after 
 which he sat in his office until noon. 
 He then washed and prayed for about 
 forty minutes, eat for half an hour, 
 and then slept for an hour and a half. 
 After this he talked with his chief 
 officers, or with men of learning un- 
 til sun -set, when he cleaned himself 
 and prayed for about forty minutes. 
 He then sat until ten or eleven 
 o’clock, listening to legendary ta'es 
 recited by the pundit, after which he 
 withdrew to his inner apartments to 
 wash, eat, and sleep. — ( F. Buchanan , 
 Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 ' Ghizni. — A celebrated city in Af- 
 ghanistan, once the capital of a pow- 
 erful empire; lat. 33° 10' N., Ion. 66° 
 57' E. The surrounding country being 
 considerably elevated above the level 
 of the sea, the climate is so cold as 
 to have become proverbial, being de- 
 scribed as intense even by the natives 
 of the adjacent cold districts. For a 
 large proportion of the year the in- 
 habitants seldom quit their houses, 
 and even within the city of Ghizni 
 the snow has been known to lie deep 
 
 for some time after the vernal equinox. 
 Traditions also prevail of immense 
 falls of snow which buried under it 
 the city and its inhabitants. The cli- 
 mate of the flat country to the south 
 of Ghizni is scarcely more mild than 
 that of the city. In Kuttawauz the 
 snow lies very deep for three months, 
 and when hardened by the frost is ca- 
 pable of supporting travellers. Dur- 
 ing part of the winter the streams are 
 frozen so hard as to bear the weight 
 of camels. Towards the north of 
 Ghizni, however, this excessive cold 
 decreases, until the Kohistaun north 
 of Cabul is approached, when it again 
 becomes severe. The surface to the 
 west of Ghizni is interspersed with 
 low hills, and, except a few cultivated 
 spots, produces little else than a 
 prickly aromatic weed on which camels 
 feed with avidity, and which, with 
 paste of unsifted barley, constitutes 
 their chief food ; yet these animals will 
 carry a load of 800 pounds English. 
 The summer is hardly so warm as that 
 of England, and admits but of one 
 harvest. 
 
 Ghizni continued the capital of a 
 powerful empire for nearly two cen- 
 turies, and a city of importance for 
 nearly two more. The first sovereign 
 was Nassir ud Deen Sebuetaghi, who 
 ascended the throne A.D. 975, and in- 
 vaded Hindostan repeatedly. 
 
 A.D. 
 
 997. Emir Massood began to reign. 
 
 997. Sultan Mahmood. 
 
 1028. Sultan Massood. 
 
 1041. Emir Modood. 
 
 1049. Aboo Jaffer Massood. 
 
 1051. Sultan Abdul Rasheed. 
 
 1052. Ferokh Zad. 
 
 1058. Sultan Ibrahim. 
 
 1098. Allah ud Dowlah. 
 
 1115. Arsalan Shah. 
 
 1118. Byram Shah. 
 
 1152. Khosru Shah. 
 
 1159. Khosru Mallek, and 
 
 A.D. 1 171, Saheb ud Deen Mahomed 
 Ghori, who subdued the empire of 
 Ghizni, expelled the dynasty of Sebuc- 
 taghi, and burned this then magnificent 
 capital to the ground. The surviving 
 members of the dethroned family re- 
 tired to Lahore, where they continued 
 
GHORAGHAUT. 
 
 577 
 
 to reign for some time, but about A.D. 
 1185 became extinct. For many years 
 afterwards Ghizni was known as a 
 principal city, but it subsequently de- 
 clined to a secondary rank, and at 
 last to total insignificance. 
 
 In 1809 Ghizni was reduced to a 
 town of about 1,500 houses, besides 
 a pettah or extramural suburb. It 
 stands on a height, at the base of 
 which flows a river of some size. It 
 is encompassed by stone walls, and 
 contains three bazars of no great 
 breadth, having high houses on each 
 side, and there are also some dark 
 and narrow streets. In the neigh- 
 bourhood some remains of its ancient 
 grandeur are still to be seen, parti- 
 cularly two lofty minarets, each above 
 100 feet high. The tomb of the great 
 Sultan Mahmood is still extant, about 
 three miles from the city, and is a 
 spacious building covered with a cu- 
 pola, but not magnificent. The doors, 
 which are large, are of sandal-wood, 
 and said to have been transported from 
 the temple of Somnauth, in the Gu- 
 jerat peninsula. The tomb is of white 
 marble, on which are sculptured verses 
 of the Koran, and at its head lies the 
 plain but weighty mace said to have 
 been wielded by the interred monarch : 
 it is of wood, with a leaden head so 
 weighty that few have strength to 
 use it. There are also within the 
 tomb some thrones or chairs inlaid 
 with mother of pearl, and said to have 
 belonged to Mahmood. The tomb- 
 stone is under a canopy, where some 
 moullahs are still maintained to 
 chaunt the Koran aloud over his 
 grave; and on account of the number 
 of holy men lying here entombed, 
 Ghizni is emphatically called by the 
 Mahomedans the second Medina. 
 
 Among the lesser ruins are the 
 tombs of Beloli the wise, and of Ha- 
 kim Sunai, a poet of celebrity ; but 
 nothing remains to point out the 
 Ghiznavi palaces, once the residence 
 of Ferdousi, or of the mosques, 
 baths, and caravanserais that once or- 
 dained this oriental metropolis. The 
 most useful antiquity now to be seen 
 is an embankment built by Mahmood 
 across a stream, which was much da- 
 
 VOL. i. 
 
 maged on the destruction of Ghizni 
 by the Ghori sultans, yet it still sup- 
 plies water to the fields and gardens 
 round the town. Some few Hindoos 
 are settled here, who carry on a small 
 traffic and supply the wants of the 
 Mahomedan residents. The immedi- 
 ate environs of the city are inhabited 
 by Tajiks and Hazarehs, and the con- 
 tiguous valley to the north belongs to 
 the Wurduks ; but the country be- 
 tween the hills which bound that val- 
 ley on the east and the Soliman 
 mountains are inhabited by Ghiljies. 
 Travelling distance fromCabul eighty- 
 two miles ; from Delhi 917 miles. — 
 ( Elpkinstone , Foster , Fennell, Mau - 
 rice, Sfc.') 
 
 Ghoa. — A town in the province of 
 Arracan, division of Tonkhwem, si- 
 tuated about 112 miles south from 
 Sandowy. This was once a consider- 
 able town, but has been for some 
 years on the decline, and in January 
 1827, contained only eighty houses. 
 Even then, however, it showed symp- 
 toms of revival, as traders from Bas- 
 seen and opposite side of the Yama- 
 dong mountains were beginning to re- 
 sort to it. — ( Public Journals , #<?.) 
 
 Ghodna. — A small town in nor- 
 thern Hindostan, thirteen miles north 
 of the Chour station ; lat. 31° 2' N., 
 Ion. 77 ° 28' E. 
 
 Gh oraghaut. — A town and zemin- 
 dary in the province of Bengal, dis- 
 trict of Dinagepoor, ninety miles N.E. 
 from Moorshedabad ; lat. 25° 13' N., 
 Ion. 89° 10' E. This zemindary, which 
 in 1784 contained 632 square miles, 
 in A.D. 1582 is described by Abul 
 Fazel as producing raw silk, gunnies 
 (sack-cloth), and plenty of Tanyan 
 horses. At an early period after the 
 Mahomedan invasion it appears, along 
 with several others in this quarter, to 
 have been bestowed on different Af- 
 ghan chiefs, who colonized in them, 
 and received accessions of their coun- 
 trymen from abroad. Being zealous 
 converters of the Hindoos, and not 
 very scrupulous as to the means, a 
 very large proportion of the inhabi- 
 tants to this day profess the Maho- 
 
 2 p 
 
578 
 
 GILOLO ISLE. 
 
 medan religion, and dignify themselves 
 with the Arabian title of Sheik. In 
 process of time the Ghoraghaut ze- 
 mindary was seized on by the Kake- 
 shelan tribe of Moguls, but for many 
 years past it has reverted to its prior 
 owners, the Hindoos. From the 
 traces of ruins still visible the town 
 of Ghoraghaut appears at one period 
 to have covered a great space ; but it 
 is now almost restored to the condi- 
 tion in which it probably existed be- 
 fore the Mussulmaun conquest, being 
 buried in woods and jungles, with 
 tigers prowling about the streets. 
 The most remarkable monument is 
 the tomb of Ismael Ghazi Khan (a holy 
 man and good officer who first sub- 
 dued this tract), which is much feared 
 and respected both by Hindoos and 
 Mahomedans ; and although nearly 
 ruinous, has still a small canopy hung 
 over it, — ( F . Buchanan , J. Grant , 
 Stewart , fyc.) 
 
 Ghousghur. — A large fortified 
 town in the provihce of Delhi, twenty- 
 seven miles south by west from Saha- 
 runpoor; lat. 29° 34' N., Ion. 77° 27' 
 E. This place was the residence of 
 Nijib ud Dowlah, an Afghan chief, 
 appointed prime minister to Shah 
 Allum by Ahmed Shah Abdalli of 
 Cabul, and of his son Zabeta Khan, 
 who conducted the Doab canal from 
 the foot of the hills to this place. 
 
 Ghuneaghur. — A small town in 
 Northern Hindostan, twenty-three 
 miles S.E. from Serinagur; lat. 29° 
 53' N., Ion. 78° 58' E. 
 
 Ghunpoor. — A district of consider- 
 able size in the province of Hyderabad, 
 due south of the capital ; but, not- 
 withstanding this vicinity to a large 
 market, scantily cultivated and thinly 
 inhabited. The town of Ghunpoor 
 stands in lat. 1 6° 33' N., Ion. 78° 8' E., 
 sixty miles S.S.W. from the city of 
 Hyderabad. It is a fortified hill, and 
 must have formerly been a place of 
 considerable consequence as the 
 mosque is one of the largest and best 
 constructed in the Nizam’s dominions. 
 It is now, however, mostly used by 
 travellers as a place of repose, and 
 
 attended by only one solitary fakeer. 
 Numerous proofs remain that the 
 country was once more populous and 
 better cultivated than it is at present, 
 traces of ruined towns and villages 
 being still visible, as also the marks of 
 former land divisions. — ( Heyne , #*c,) 
 
 Ghyretty. — A small town in the 
 province of Bengal, near the river 
 Hooghly, situated on the high road 
 from Serampoor to Chandernagore. 
 Ghyretty house was formerly the 
 country residence of the governor 
 of Chandernagore, but fell from its 
 state of splendour with the decline of 
 the French. On the opposite side of 
 the river is the village of'Pj.iltah ; and 
 here is the common ferry, where tra- 
 vellers proceeding from Calcutta to 
 the upper provinces usually cross the 
 river. 
 
 Ghysabad. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Allahabad, seventeen miles 
 E.N.E. from Huttah ; lat. 24° 13' N., 
 Ion. 79° 51' E. 
 
 Giaritchas Isles. — A cluster of 
 five small islands in the Eastern seas, 
 lying about six miles S.S.W. from 
 Makiam ; they are of middling height, 
 and contain many bare rocks, inter- 
 mixed with green spots and trees. 
 
 Gilion Isle. — A small island about 
 thirty miles in circumference, lying off 
 the east end of Madura Isle ; lat. 7° 5' 
 S., Ion. 114° 40' E. 
 
 Gilolo Isle ( or HalmaheraJ . — 
 A large island in the Eastern seas of 
 a most fantastical shape, consisting 
 of four limbs or peninsulas, separated 
 from each other by deep bays. It lies 
 between the parallels of three degrees 
 north and one south latitude, and may 
 be estimated at 220 miles in length, by 
 thirty, the average breadth, giving an 
 area of about 6,600 square miles. 
 
 This island is naturally very fertile, 
 and abounds with bullocks, buffaloes, 
 deer, goats, and wild hogs, but few 
 sheep. The inhabitants subsist mostly 
 on the sago or libby tree, which, like 
 the cocoa-nut tree, has no distinct 
 bark that peels off. It may be de- 
 scribed as a long tube of hard wood, 
 
GINGEE. 
 
 579 
 
 about two inches thick, containing a 
 pulp or pith, intermixed with longitu- 
 dinal fibres of from 200 to 400 pounds 
 weight ; from this pith is procured 
 the sago flour, which is the general 
 food of the inhabitants. It is said 
 that east of Gilolo there are not any 
 horses, horned cattle, or sheep. 
 
 While the Dutch influence existed 
 among the isles to prevent the smug- 
 gling of spices, they discouraged the 
 inhabitants of Gilolo from trading 
 with Celebes, Bouro, Gby, Ceram, My- 
 sol, and Salwatty, and also rooted out 
 the spices in places of easy access, or 
 near the sea. They also forbid the 
 manufacturing of cloth : but the na- 
 tives continued to make it, procuring 
 their cotton from Bally and the Bug- 
 gess country. In 1774 the northern 
 part of Gilolo belonged to the sultan 
 ofTernate. Ossa, a town situated on 
 the south side of the great bay of 
 that name, lat. 0°45 / N.,lon. J28°22 / E,, 
 affords many conveniences for ships, 
 as they may there be supplied with 
 water, provisions, spars, and other 
 necessaries. In this bay there are also 
 several villages ; that of Golonsay, 
 in 1808, was destroyed by the Dutch. 
 The imports come principally from 
 the Dutch settlements and the adja- 
 cent islands, and consist of opium, 
 coarse cutlery, piece goods, china 
 ware, and iron ; the exports are spices, 
 biche de mar, birds’-nests, tortoise- 
 shell, seed pearl, and sago. 
 
 In A.D. 1531 the king of Gilolo, 
 the Papuas, and the princes of the 
 Molucca Isles, joined in a league to 
 exterminate the Portuguese, and suc- 
 ceeded in massacreing a considerable 
 number ; but we have no information 
 regarding the modern history, man- 
 ners, and customs of this island, 
 which has long been wholly under the 
 influence of the Dutch, whose colo- 
 nial policy is always mixed up with 
 mystery and concealment, Gilolo 
 (with Ceram) is remarkable as being 
 apparently the eastern boundary of 
 Asiatic civilization (such as it is), 
 where the superior races of the ani- 
 mal man stop, and the mop-headed 
 Papuas and South-Sea islanders be- 
 gin , — ( For rest , Thorn , Crawfurd , fyc . ) 
 
 Gingee (JJrinji ). — A celebrated 
 fortress in the Carnatic, thirty-five 
 miles N.W. from Pondicherry ; lat, 
 12° 12' N., Ion. 79° 28' E. The for- 
 tifications here cover the summits and 
 a great part of the declivities of three 
 detached rocky mountains of very 
 difficult ascent, from 400 to 600 feet 
 high, connected by lines of works 
 that enclose an extensive triangle 
 in the plain between them, divided 
 by another fortified barrier into an 
 outer and inner lower fort. The na- 
 tives of India, who esteem no fortifi- 
 cations very strong unless placed on 
 high and difficult eminences, have 
 always regarded Gingee as the strong- 
 est fort in the Carnatic. It has, how- 
 ever, been captured repeatedly, and 
 was always noted for its insalubrity. 
 
 In 1820 the walls of Gingee did 
 not contain a single inhabitant, and 
 the pettah without was reduced to 
 twenty or thirty miserable huts, with 
 the shops of two or three Boo- 
 neas. The walls, gates, and bas- 
 tions were still, however, remark- 
 ably entire, and the ruins extensive 
 and interesting, more especially the 
 singular seven-storied tower of the 
 palace of the ancient rajas, in the in- 
 ner fort ; the pagoda at the base of 
 St. George’s mountain, green with 
 peepul branches and creepers; the two 
 great magazines, the mosque, and the 
 castellated palace. Besides these, the 
 Choultry on the apex of the English 
 mountain, the works and buildings 
 on both eminences, and the vast ex- 
 cavation and savage scenery of the 
 Devil’s Tank, are worthy of atten- 
 tion. Gingee has not been garrisoned 
 for a very long period, and many 
 parts of its interior are wholly choked 
 up with jungle. 
 
 This fortress was either built or 
 improved on an old foundation of 
 the Chola kings, by the son of Vijaya 
 Runga Naik, the governor of Tanjore, 
 in A.D. 1442, and was successively 
 strengthened by the Mafiomedans of 
 Bejapoor, who possessed it from 1 669 
 to 1677, by the Maharattas, who 
 held it from 1677, when it was taken 
 by Sevajee, during a sudden irruption 
 into the Carnatic, until 1698. At the 
 % r 2 
 
580 
 
 GOA. 
 
 date last-mentioned it was besieged 
 and taken by Zulficar Khan, the im- 
 perial general, and Rajpoot governors 
 being appointed, they affected inde- 
 pendence, and assumed the rank of 
 rajas. In 1715 it was held by Saadet 
 Oolla Khan, and in 1750 was taken 
 by surprise, during a night attack by 
 the French, under M. Bussy. After 
 the capture of Pondicherry, it sur- 
 rendered, in 1761. — ( FullartonJVilks , 
 Orme 9 Sfc.) 
 
 Girdurpoor. — A small town in the 
 province of Ajmeer, division of Har- 
 rowtee, which in 1820 contained 
 about 1,500 inhabitants. It stands in 
 a ' very secluded spot, without any 
 carriage-road, and even the footpaths 
 rugged and difficult, fourteen miles 
 east from the Odeypoor fortress of 
 Bansrar. — ( Malcolm , fyc.) 
 
 Girout. — A town in the province 
 of Agra, forty-nine miles east from 
 the city of Agra ; lat. 27° 12' N., Ion. 
 78° 40' E. 
 
 Girree River. — A small river of 
 Northern Hindostan, which traverses 
 the principality of Sirmore, and falls 
 into the Jumna at Rajghaut ; lat. 30° 
 26' N., Ion. 77° 38' E. 
 
 Githerhaw. — This village stands 
 near the common boundary of the 
 Gundwana and Allahabad provinces, 
 seven miles south from the town of 
 Selyah, and in 1820 belonged to the 
 Nagpoor raja. 
 
 Goa ( Govay). — A city in the pro- 
 vince of Bejapoor, the capital of the 
 Portuguese possessions in India ; lat. 
 15° 30' N., Ion. 74° 2' E., 250 miles 
 S.S.E. from Bombay. This appella- 
 tion is applied to two distinct places, 
 viz. Old Goa, here described ; and 
 Panjim or New Goa, situated five 
 miles nearer the entrance of the har- 
 bour. — (For the latter, see Panjim.) 
 
 The once splendid and populous 
 city of Goa is now a wilderness, of 
 which the monasteries form the only 
 tenanted portion, and a few miserable- 
 looking monks, half of them natives, 
 the only inhabitants. Indeed the city 
 may be traversed from one extremity 
 to the other without meeting a hu- 
 
 man being, or any other signs of 
 former population than pavements 
 overgrown with grass, gardens and 
 court-yards choked with underwood, 
 and princely dwellings and venerable 
 abbies mouldering rapidly to decay. 
 The chief religious edifices that still 
 remain in tolerable preservation are 
 the cathedral, the churches of St. 
 Caetan, St. Pedro, and St. Domingo, 
 the church and monastery of the 
 Augustins, and the church and mo- 
 nastery of the Jesuits. The last of 
 these possesses the reliques of St. 
 Francis Xavier, his body being in- 
 terred here in a sepulchre of black 
 marble, richly sculptured in bas-relief, 
 representing divers passages of his 
 life. The church of St. Caetan sur- 
 passes the others in architectural ele- 
 gance. In 1820 there was still a con- 
 vent of nuns, containing about thirty 
 inmates, and the archbishop of Goa 
 continued to perform service at the 
 cathedral, although he resides at St 
 Pedro. The building formerly occu- 
 pied by the Inquisition is entire, but 
 has been shut up for many years ; and 
 close to the esplanade, which is the 
 common landing-place, stands the 
 ancient palace of the viceroys, long 
 unoccupied, and now going fast to 
 ruin. The principal entrance to the 
 city is by a gate adjoining the palace, 
 over which, in a niche, is the statue of 
 Vasco de Gama, barbarously painted 
 in imitation of life. 
 
 Goa was taken from the Hindoo 
 rajas of Bijanagur by the Bhamenee 
 Mahomedan sovereign of the Deccan, 
 about A.D. 1469, and in 1510 was 
 besieged and taken by Albuquerque, 
 on which event he strengthened the 
 fortifications, and made it the capital 
 of the Portuguese dominions in the 
 east. He was recalled in 1518, at 
 which period the Portuguese power in 
 India had reached its greatest height, 
 and from that time declined. It does 
 not appear that they ever possessed 
 any considerable extent of territory, 
 although they maintained a large 
 army of Europeans ; and they may be 
 said rather to have disturbed and 
 pillaged India than to have conquered 
 it, or carried on any regular com- 
 
GOACK. 
 
 581 
 
 meree. In A.D. 1580 the Portuguese 
 possessed the following places in In- 
 dia, viz. Din, Damaun, Choul, Bas- 
 sein, Salsette, Bombay, and Goa. 
 They had factories at, and influenced 
 the government of Dabul, Onore, 
 Barcelore, Mangalore, Cananore, Ca- 
 licut, Cranganore, Cochin, and Quilon. 
 They had several establishments in 
 the maritime parts of Ceylon, and fac- 
 tories in the bay of Bengal, at Masu- 
 lipatam, Negapatam, and St. Thom6, 
 with commercial stations in the pro- 
 vince of Bengal. In addition to these 
 they possessed the city of Malacca, 
 and had trading factories in the coun- 
 tries that compose the modern Bur- 
 mese empire, and British district of 
 Chittagong. In the Eastern Islands 
 they had many establishments, en- 
 joyed the trade of the Spice islands, 
 and a considerable intercourse with 
 Japan and China, but did not acquire 
 Macao until 1586. 
 
 After the conquest of Portugal in 
 1580, by Philip the Second of Spain, 
 the connexion between the Portu- 
 guese settlements and the mother 
 country was very much loosened, and 
 the intercourse abridged. In the three 
 years (1620 to 1622) that Hernan de 
 Abuquerque was viceroy, he never 
 once received any letter of instruc- 
 tion or information from the court 
 of Spain ; the colonies must conse- 
 quently have been supported entirely 
 from their own resources, while in- 
 volved in a destructive war with the 
 Dutch. The vices of their internal 
 government, and exorbitant power 
 of the priests, assisted to accelerate 
 their decay. The viceroy never had 
 any power over the Inquisition, and 
 was himself liable to its censures. 
 Towards the conclusion of the French 
 revolutionary war, the settlement 
 seemed again abandoned by the mo- 
 ther country, and the poverty of the 
 inhabitants became extreme, many 
 females of the best families being 
 compelled to earn a scanty subsis- 
 tence by making lace or artificial 
 flowers, and working muslins. While 
 the Portuguese European trade last- 
 ed it was carried on entirely on ac- 
 count of the king, there being no re- 
 
 cord of any voyage from Portugal to 
 India on account of individual Por- 
 tuguese merchants. 
 
 Including the islands the Portu- 
 guese still possess territory in the 
 neighbourhood of Goa, forty miles 
 in length by twenty in breadth ; but 
 the viceroy and chief inhabitants re- 
 side entirely at Panjim or New Goa. 
 In 1808 it was estimated that within 
 the above tract there were 200 
 churches and chapels, and above 
 2,000 priests. The dialect mostly 
 prevalent is a mixture of the Eu- 
 ropean with the Canara and Maha- 
 ratta languages; but the European 
 Portuguese is also understood by a 
 great majority. At present, except- 
 ing a very few of the highest classes, 
 the great mass of Portuguese popu- 
 lation throughout India are the spu- 
 rious descendants of European set- 
 tlers by native women ; and the nu- 
 merous converts that have joined 
 them, the last still retaining many 
 Pagan customs and predilections. In 
 1820 the Portuguese force stationed 
 at Panjim and other places was barely 
 sufficient for the purposes of police ; 
 yet it was principally through their 
 agency that two revolutions (con- 
 stitutional and regal) were effected 
 without bloodshed in 1821-22. Even 
 under all these disadvantages, the 
 expenses of the government are said 
 to be entirely defrayed from the local 
 revenues, derived chiefly from co- 
 coa-nut plantations and port-duties. 
 Besides Goa the remaining Portu- 
 guese possessions in India are Da- 
 maun, Diu, Macao in China, Dhelli, 
 on the island of Timor, also es- 
 tablishments on Sumbhawa, Floris, 
 and some others of the Eastern Isles. 
 
 Travelling distance from Poona, 
 245 miles ; from Bombay, 292, from 
 Delhi, 1,158 ; and from Calcutta, 
 1,300 miles. — ( Fullarton , C. Bucha- 
 nan , Bruce , fyc.) 
 
 Goack.— A town in the island of 
 Celebes, the native capital of the 
 Macassar country, which is some- 
 times called the kingdom of Goack ; 
 lat. 5° 13' N., Ion. 119° 21' E. In 
 A.D. 1512, subsequent to the arrival 
 
582 
 
 GOALPARA. 
 
 of the Portuguese, the Malays were 
 allowed to build a mosque at Goack, 
 the natives not being yet converted 
 to the Mahomedan religion* In 
 1778 this city was taken by assault by 
 theDutch, the fortifications razed, and 
 the government new modelled. Prior 
 to this event, the sovereign of Goack 
 was not despotic, but was obliged to 
 consult his nobility regarding the per- 
 formance of any important regal func- 
 tion, every township having a chief 
 nearly independent . — ( Stavorinus and 
 Notes , Marsden , tyc.) 
 
 Goahati (the cow market ). — 
 A small town in the province of As- 
 sam, situated on the south side of 
 the Brahmaputra, seventy-three miles 
 east of Goalpara; lat. 25° 55' N., Ion. 
 91° 40' E. This was once the capi- 
 tal of the ancient Hindoo division 
 named Camroop, which included great 
 part of Assam,' but is now in a very 
 miserable condition. — ( F . Buchanan , 
 
 4c.) 
 
 Goalgunge. — A small town in the 
 province of Allahabad, twenty-one 
 miles S.W. from Chatterpoor; lat. 
 24° 43' N., Ion. 79° 22' E. 
 
 Goalpara ( Govalpara .) — A town 
 in the province of Bengal, district of 
 Rungpoor, situated on the south side 
 of the Brahmaputra, 170 miles N. by 
 E. from the city of Dacca ; lat. 26° 
 S' N., Ion. 90° 38' E. This place 
 contains some good houses, and a 
 street of shops, which in- this remote 
 and barbarous region excite great ad- 
 miration among the rude tribes in its 
 vicinity. The number of houses that 
 may be considered as belonging to the 
 town amount (1809) to about 400, 
 most of them miserable huts, and with 
 the exception of a few, regularly sur- 
 rounded by the floods for above two 
 months in the year, so that the only 
 passage from house to house is in 
 boats ; and inside, the floors are co- 
 vered from two to three feet deep 
 with water. In other respects, also, 
 this place exhibits a squalid scene of 
 vice and misery. Goalpara is, not- 
 withstanding, a place of considerable 
 resort, and the principal mart of the 
 
 intercourse with the Assamese, who 
 bring here coarse cloths, stick-lac, 
 tar, wax, and occasionally gold to 
 barter. Salt is the article they usually 
 take in return, but it is delivered to 
 them much adulterated. Neither has 
 this traffic hitherto been so consi- 
 derable as might have been expected, 
 owing to the disorderly state of the 
 Assam country, and the barbarity of 
 its chiefs, who formerly were accus- 
 tomed to settle their unadjusted ac- 
 counts by the assassination of their 
 creditors. Recently, however, a great 
 change has taken place in this quarter 
 of Asia, by the expulsion of the Bur- 
 mese in 1824, and the protection since 
 bestowed on this distracted country 
 by the British government, has had 
 the effect of completely tranquillizing 
 it. A great increase of commercial 
 intercourse, therefore, may now be 
 expected, not only with Assam, but 
 also with the hitherto unknown na- 
 tions far beyond its limits. 
 
 There are a few families of Portu- 
 guese Christians scattered over the 
 Rungpoor district, but at Goalpara 
 there are as many as twenty termed 
 Choldar, which seems a corruption 
 of soldier. None of them can either 
 read or write : only two or three know 
 a few words of Portuguese, and they 
 have entirely adopted the dress of the 
 natives. The only European customs 
 they retain are, that the women curt- 
 sey, and the men shew by a motion 
 of the hand as they pass, that if they 
 had a hat they would take it off. 
 Notwithstanding the absence of this 
 distinguishing covering, the men re- 
 tain some portion of European acti- 
 vity, and are much feared by the 
 natives, who employ them as mes- 
 sengers in making a demand, such as 
 the payment of a debt, to a compli- 
 ance with which they think a little 
 fear may contribute. The females 
 gain a subsistence chiefly by sewing 
 and distilling spirituous liquors, of 
 which last article the men consume as 
 much as they can afford, and retail 
 the remainder. Concerning the Chris- 
 tian religion they appear to know 
 little or nothing, nor have they any 
 priest. Sometimes they go to Bowal 
 
GODAVERY RIVER. 
 
 583 
 
 near Dacca, in order to procure a 
 priest to marry them ; but in general 
 this is too expensive, and they con- 
 tent themselves with a public acknow- 
 ledgment of their marriages. 
 
 On a hill near Goalpara there have 
 been several buildings of brick, ap- 
 parently of a religious origin. At 
 the east side of the hill, near the ri- 
 ver, is a piece of granite on which is 
 carved a figure of Buddha, which the 
 people worship and name Siva. In 
 1809, a Brahmin from the west of 
 India, who had formerly been a mer- 
 chant, was reported to have found 
 a sum of money, which fact, how- 
 ever, he denied. In consequence of 
 a dream he built a small place of 
 worship on the hill, and endeavoured 
 to bring its sanctity into repute ; but 
 although he hired persons daily to 
 make a noise with drums, frequently 
 went naked, and performed otherwise 
 many extravagant actions, he did not 
 succeed ; nor could he by all these 
 exertions establish his character as 
 an idiot (dewana), a being much ve- 
 nerated in the east, but continued 
 strongly suspected of being a knave. 
 
 About Goalpara easterly winds pre- 
 vail during three months of the year, 
 but for four months after the middle 
 of October they incline to the north- 
 ward. Westerly winds blow from 
 about the middle of February until 
 the middle of April, when the east 
 winds re-commence, and refresh the 
 earth with coolness and gentle show- 
 ers, often alternating with southern 
 breezes. — [F. Buchanan , fyc.) 
 
 Goands. — See Gonds. 
 
 Godavery River ( Godavari , also 
 named the Gunga Godavery.) — Innu- 
 merable rivulets issuing from the west- 
 ern ghaut mountains and Chandpoor 
 hills, about the twentieth degree of 
 north latitude and seventieth of east 
 longitude, join their streams near to 
 Koombhauree, and their union forms 
 the main channel of the Godavery 
 river. From among these currents the 
 Hindoos have selected one to which, 
 without any apparent reason for the 
 preference, they assign the honour of 
 being the source of the Godavery, 
 
 one of their most sacred streams, and 
 the largest river of the Deccan. At 
 Trimbuck Nasser, fifty-three miles 
 distant from theWestern ocean, where 
 this brook springs from the earth, 
 temples are erected, which are resort- 
 ed to by pious Hindoos from all parts 
 of India. 
 
 After traversing the large province 
 of Aurungabad and the Telingana 
 country from west to east, it turns 
 to the south-east, and receives the 
 Bain Gunga (the Vana Gunga) about 
 ninety miles from the sea, besides 
 many smaller streams in its previous 
 course. At the celebrated pass 
 through the Papkoonda mountains, 
 near the Rajamundry frontier, it is 
 contracted from one mile and a half 
 to a single furlong in breadth, by pre- 
 cipitous hills 2,000 feet high. At 
 Collysair ghaut, in the province of 
 Gundwana, lat. 18°38'N., Ion. 80° 
 35' E., its channel is one mile broad, 
 and in the beginning of May consists 
 of a wide expanse of sand, the river 
 being separated into numerous shal- 
 low streams, nowhere more than fif- 
 teen inches in depth, whereas during 
 the rainy season, when its bed is 
 filled, this river rolls along a pro- 
 digious volume of water. At a short 
 distance from Badrachellum there are 
 hot springs in the middle of the bed 
 of the Godavery. „ Near Rajamun- 
 dry it separates into two principal 
 branches, and these subdividing 
 again, form altogether several tide 
 harbours for vessels of moderate bur- 
 then, such as Ingeram, Coringa, Yu- 
 nam, Bunder Malanca, andNassipoor, 
 but prove serious interruptions to 
 travelling along the sea-coast. 
 
 The forests along the banks of this 
 river abound with timber fit for the 
 purposes of ship-building. In 1816 
 certain parts of the Godavery were 
 deepened and obstructions removed 
 in others by Messrs. Wm. Palmer & 
 Co., who, from their own observa- 
 tion, and from facts detailed by inha- 
 bitants of the Ramghur and Poloon- 
 shah pergunnahs, were of opinion, 
 that a navigation of 400 miles in 
 length might be opened during four 
 months of the year on this river and 
 
584 
 
 GOHUD. 
 
 the Wurda, which would greatly fa- 
 cilitate commercial intercourse be- 
 tween the inland provinces of the 
 Deccan, and the Bay of Bengal, In- 
 cluding windings, the whole course 
 of the Godavery may be estimated at 
 eighty-five miles, from its source to 
 its junction with the sea. — ( Rennell , 
 J. Grant , J. B. Blunt , H. Russel , 
 Voysey , $c.) 
 
 Godra ( or Gudara.) — A town in 
 the Gujerat peninsula, sixty-seven 
 miles N.E. from Cambay ; lat. 22°48' 
 N., Ion. 73° 44' E. 
 
 Goelwar ( or Gohilwar.) — A di- 
 vision of the Gujerat peninsula bound- 
 ed on the north by the river Bhadur 
 and the British district of Arratum, 
 on the east by the gulf of Cambay ; 
 on the south by the sea ; and on the 
 west by Catty war and the Walak 
 coast. It is watered and fertilized by 
 many rivers, and contains the valuable 
 seaports of Bhownuggur and Gogo. 
 The name is derived from the Goel 
 tribe of Rajpoots. The face of Goel- 
 wara, although generally flat, has se- 
 veral conspicuous mountains, among 
 which may be reckoned Oollitana 
 and Seroi. By the conditions of Col. 
 Walker’s agreement in 1807, the 
 chieftains of Goelwara were bound 
 to pay to the Guicowar state a per- 
 petual tribute of 1,11,700 rupees, 
 which the district can afford, as it is 
 fertile, and produces almost every 
 kind of grain, much of which is ex- 
 ported. There is also an ambawan 
 or mangoe forest, extending for about 
 a couple of miles, and remarkable as 
 being the only thing of tho kind in 
 the Gujerat peninsula. — ( Walker , 
 Macmurdo , fyc.) 
 
 Goggra ( Gharghara.) — This ri- 
 ver has its source in the Himalaya 
 mountains, but che exact spot has 
 never been ascertained. The princi- 
 pal branch of the Goggra is named 
 the Cali, now the eastern boundary 
 of Kumaon, and before it quits the 
 mountains it is joined by the Sarjou 
 (Sareyu), or Deva, after which their 
 united streams issue from the hills at 
 Bremadeo (Brahma Deva), and the 
 
 river thence forward is indifferently 
 named the Goggra, Sarjou, or Deva. 
 In the course of its passage through 
 the hills several rapids occur, but 
 there are no ascertained rapids al- 
 though such are marked in the best 
 maps. The Goggra forms one of the 
 largest streams contributary to the 
 Ganges, which it joins in the pro- 
 vince ofBahar. Major Rennell thinks 
 it is the Agoramis of Arrian. 
 
 In the mythological poems of the 
 Brahmins, this river is always men- 
 tioned by the name of the Sareyu, 
 which in modern times it has almost 
 lost. Its banks were formerly esteem- 
 ed of peculiar sanctity, having been 
 much frequented by Viswamitra and 
 other potent and choleric Hindoo 
 saints. 
 
 Gogo. — A town in the Gujerat 
 peninsula, situated on the west side 
 of the Gulf of Cambay ; lat. 21° 40' 
 N., Ion. 72° 23' E. This is a safe 
 roadstead during the S.W. monsoon, 
 to which vessels may run in case of 
 parting with their anchors in Surat 
 roads, it being an entire bed of mud 
 about three-fourths of a mile from 
 the shore. The natives are chiefly 
 Mahomedans, who build vessels from 
 fifty to 300 tons, and formerly carried 
 on a brisk trade to Bombay ; but lat- 
 terly much of this traffic has been 
 transferred to Bhownuggur. — ( El- 
 more y SfC.') 
 
 Gogul Chupra. — A town in the 
 province of Malwa, thus named from 
 its vicinity to Chupra, from which it 
 is distant only seven miles. In 1820 
 it was the head of a pergunnah be- 
 longing to Ameer Khan, to whom it 
 yielded an annual revenue of 50,000 
 rupees. — ( Malcolm , fyc.) 
 
 Gohra. — A small town in the pro- 
 vince of Allahabad belonging to Pun- 
 nah, twenty-three miles S.E. from 
 Teary ; lat. 24° 31' N., Ion. 79° 5 ' E. 
 
 Gohud. — The capital of a division 
 in the province of Agra, twenty-two 
 miles N.E. from Agra; lat. 26° 24' 
 N., Ion. 78° 20' E. About the middle 
 of last century Gohud was a small 
 village attached to the district of 
 
GOLCONDA, 
 
 585 
 
 Gualior, and the Rana's ancestors 
 were zemindars of the village, and by 
 caste Jauts of the Bamrowly tribe. 
 Bheem Singh, the Rana prior to the 
 battle of Paniput in 1761, acquired 
 Gualior, but was afterwards obliged 
 to yield it to the Maharattas. When 
 this people lost the battle of Paniput, 
 the Rana of Gohud attempted to 
 shake off their yoke, but was subdued 
 by Ragoonauth Row in 1766, and 
 compelled to continue tributary. On 
 a subsequent rupture, Gualior was 
 taken by Madhajee Sindia in 1784. 
 
 The territory of Gohud, though 
 hilly is fertile, and in 1790 was sup- 
 posed to yield a revenue of twenty- 
 two lacks of rupees per annum, out 
 of which seven went to the expenses 
 of collection. What modifications or 
 dissections the limits of this princi- 
 pality subsequently experienced we 
 are not informed, but in 1805 we find 
 them described by Mr. Metcalfe as 
 extending along the Chumbul, and 
 producing only eighteen lacks per 
 annum, of which nine were appropri- 
 ated for the payment of the subsidiary 
 forces .-—{Third and Seventh Registers , 
 Treaties , Metcalfe , fyc.) 
 
 Gohun. — A small town in the pro- 
 vince of Allahabad, eleven miles N. 
 by W. from Jaloun ; lat. 26° 20' N., 
 Ion. 79° 13' E. 
 
 Gokauk. — A town in the province 
 of Bejapoor possessed by the Put- 
 wurdun family, forty-nine miles N. 
 from Darwar; lat. 16° IP N., Ion. 
 74° 58' E. It stands on the north- 
 ern acclivity of a hill, watered on its 
 northern side by the Gutpurba, which 
 immediately opposite has deep water ; 
 but there is a ford one mile east of 
 the town. It is enclosed by a wall 
 and ditch on its eastern and southern 
 sides, but to the westward it is com- 
 manded by a hill. This is a place of 
 considerable extent and importance, 
 and in 1790 had a considerable ma- 
 nufactory of silk and cotton fabrics, 
 both in the form of dresses and of 
 piece goods. The silk was imported, 
 probably from Bengal by the way of 
 Goa. When taken by Sultan Mauz- 
 zum, in A.D. 1685, Gokauk was the 
 
 head of a district, but does not now 
 possess any building or ruin of con- 
 sequence. About two miles from 
 hence there is a superb cataract 
 formed by the river Gutpurba, which 
 is precipitated from the hills to the 
 low country. During the rains this 
 river, about 169 yards broad, rushes 
 for some space down an inclined 
 plane, and then in one unbroken 
 mass into a ravine cut through the 
 table-land, and bounded on both sides 
 by mural precipices. A very hand- 
 some and elaborately finished temple 
 of Mahadeva stands amidst a group 
 of inferior religious edifices, on the 
 brink of the cataract to the right, and 
 a picturesque wooded hill rises some 
 hundred feet above its margin on the 
 opposite side. — (Moor, Fullarton, fyc.) 
 
 Gokul. — A small town in the pro- 
 vince of Agra, district of Alighur, 
 situated on the left side of the Jumna, 
 six miles below Mathura. This spot 
 is one of the supposed scenes of the 
 early adventures of Krishna, who is 
 worshipped here under the name of 
 Gokul. 
 
 Golconda ( Gollchanda .) — An ex- 
 tensive division of the Hyderabad 
 province occupying the tract of 
 country to the east of the capital, 
 north and south of the Mussy river, 
 which intersects it. Although re- 
 nowned in Europe for diamond mines, 
 it at present does not contain any, 
 and probably never did. The for- 
 tress is, notwithstanding, a very con- 
 siderable depot for these gems, which 
 are brought, however, from other 
 marts, mostly in the Balaghaut dis- 
 tricts, to be polished and fashioned 
 for sale by the Golconda diamond 
 merchants. In the immediate neigh- 
 bourhood nothing is to be seen but 
 syenite, but about forty miles further 
 west, opals and chalcedonies are 
 found. 
 
 The fortress of Golconda stands 
 on a hill about three miles W.N.W. 
 from the city of Hyderabad ; lat. 17° 
 15' N., Ion. 78° 32' E. It was once 
 the capital of an extensive kingdom, 
 first under Hindoo princes, and after- 
 wards as a division of the Bhamenee 
 
586 
 
 GOODOOR. 
 
 empire, upon the fall of which it 
 again became the seat of a monarchy 
 under! the Cuttub Shahee dynasty. 
 In A.D. 1690 it was surrendered by 
 treachery to the Mogul army of Au- 
 rengzebe, after a siege of seven 
 months. The deposed sovereign, 
 Abou Hossein, died here in confine- 
 ment in 1704. At present this for- 
 tress is principally used as a state- 
 prison, where the refractory members 
 of the Nizam’s family are confined ; 
 among which number, in 1815, were 
 his wife, mother, and two youngest 
 sons. The principal inhabitants and 
 bankers of Hyderabad are also per- 
 mitted to retain houses in the fort, 
 to which on any alarm they retire 
 with their money. 
 
 In the alluvial soil of the plains at 
 the base of the Neela Mulla moun- 
 tains, and more especially near the 
 banks of the Krishna and Pennar 
 rivers, are situated the mines that 
 produce the famous Golconda dia- 
 monds,' the territory adjoining the 
 fortress of Golconda never having 
 produced any precious stones what- 
 ever. Its reputation for them pro- 
 bably originated from their having 
 been brought in a rough state to 
 Golconda to be cut and polished. 
 An opinion prevails among the mi- 
 ners that the diamond is continually 
 growing, similar to that prevalent in 
 Cornwall with regard to tin, and that 
 the chips and small pieces rejected 
 by former searchers in process of time 
 become large diamonds. In 1820 Dr. 
 Voysey found most of the diamond 
 mines deserted, and the search con- 
 fined to the rubbish of the old mines. 
 He assumes that sandstone breccia 
 of the clay formation is the matrix 
 of the diamonds procured in the 
 Deccan ; that those found in an al- 
 luvial soil have been brought down 
 by some torrent or deluge, and that 
 those found in the beds of rivers are 
 washed down by the annual rains; 
 but if so, their sources might be 
 traced, — {Scott, Voysey , Upton , Heyne , 
 
 Gomano Isle. — A small island in 
 the Eastern seas, about twenty miles 
 
 in circumference, lying due north of 
 Oby Island, from which it is sepa- 
 rated by a narrow strait ; lat. 1° 55'S., 
 Ion. 127° 40' N. 
 
 Gomata Serole. — A fortified town 
 in the province of Bejapoor, prin- 
 cipality of Colapoor, eight miles tra- 
 velling distance south from Merrich. 
 
 Gomea. — A Village and remarkable 
 pass through the hills in the pro- 
 vince of Bahar, district of Ramghur. 
 on the line of the Benares road, 200 
 miles N.W. from Calcutta. 
 
 Gonawud. — A small town in the 
 province of Malwa, pergunnah of 
 Deypaulpoor,four miles from Moond- 
 la, and ten from the town of Dey- 
 paulpoor ; lat. 22° 56' N., Ion. 75° 
 28' E. 
 
 Gondegama River. — A small 
 stream which rises among the Bala- 
 ghaut hills, and after a short course falls 
 into the bay of Bengal at Moutapilly, 
 marking by its channel the separation 
 of. the modern Carnatic from the 
 Northern Circars. 
 
 Gondwara. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Bengal, district of Purneah, 
 twenty miles S. by W. from the town 
 of Purneah; lat. 25° 33' N., Ion. 87° 
 26' E. 
 
 Gonds C or GoandsJ . — See Gund- 
 wana. 
 
 Goochnauth. — A village in the 
 province of Gujerat, situated on the 
 south bank of the Banass river, about 
 three miles S.E. from Rahdunpoor. 
 
 Goodecotta. — A town and small 
 district in the Mysore territory, forty- 
 four miles N. by E. from Chittel- 
 droog ; lat. 14° 47' N,, Ion. 76° 42' E. 
 
 Goodoor. — A town in the Bala- 
 ghaut ceded districts, seventeen miles 
 W.S.W. from Carnoul; lat. 15° 40' 
 N., Ion. 77° 47' E. 
 
 Goodoor. — A village in the Car- 
 natic province and Nellore district, 
 twenty-two miles south from the 
 town of Nellore. This place con- 
 tains a small mosque and two pa- 
 
GOOMSUR. 
 
 587 
 
 godas, and there is a collector’s bun- 
 galow open for the accommodation 
 of travellers. 
 
 Goolgunge. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Allahabad, twenty miles 
 S.W. from Chatterpoor ; lat. 24° 42 
 N., Ion. 79° 29' E. 
 
 Goomrapoondy. — A village in the 
 Carnatic province, and northern dis- 
 trict of Arcot, twenty-seven miles 
 travelling distance N.W. by N. from 
 Madras. There is a bungalow here 
 for the accommodation of travellers. 
 
 Goomtee. — See Dwaraca. 
 
 Goomty River ( Gomati , winding), 
 — This river has its source in North- 
 ern Hindostan, among the hills of 
 Kumaon, from whence it flows in a 
 south-easterly direction nearly pa- 
 rallel with the Goggra, and after 
 passing the cities of Lucknow and 
 Juanpoor, falls into the Ganges be- 
 low Benares. It is named the Goom- 
 ty from its extremely winding course, 
 which is a circumstance common 
 to rivers traversing the Gangetic 
 plain. There are many other rivers 
 of a secondary class distinguished by 
 the same epithet, more especially one 
 that passes Comillah, the capital of 
 the Tiperah district, which springs 
 from an unknown source among the 
 eastern hills, and falls into the Megna 
 at Daoudcaundy. It is navigable for 
 canoes fifty miles above Comillah. 
 
 Goomsur ( Ghumsara ). — A town 
 and large zemindary in the Northern 
 Circars, district of Ganjam, sixty 
 miles west from Juggernauth. The 
 country in this neighbourhood is re- 
 markably impenetrable, the forests 
 consisting of bamboos, which grow 
 closer and resist the axe better than 
 any other species of ligneous vege- 
 tation. In former times the inha- 
 bitants, relying on these, did not think 
 it necessary to erect redoubts for the 
 defence of the paths leading to their 
 strong-holds, but obstructed them with 
 frequent barriers of bamboos, wrought 
 into a variety of entanglement. Be- 
 sides its naturally pestilential atmos- 
 phere, the whole tract is one of the hot- 
 test mlndia, and is particularly subject 
 
 to strokes of the sun, by which M. 
 Bussy, in 1757, lost seven Europeans 
 in one day. 
 
 In 1804 this estate stood rated in 
 the revenue records as containing 
 506 villages, with an estimated po- 
 pulation of 66,046 persons, and as- 
 sessed to the land-tax 21,248 pago- 
 das ; but the proprietor, although in 
 regular subjection to the British au- 
 thority, so long as he paid the stipu- 
 lated rent, had been little interfered 
 with. When originally transferred to 
 the East-India Company, several of 
 the best informed public functionaries 
 were of opinion that, owing to the 
 peculiar delicacy of extending the 
 full authority of the courts of law 
 over zemindaries situated on the 
 frontiers and among the high lands, 
 it would be more advisable to regard 
 the proprietors rather as tributary 
 chieftains, than as ordinary subjects 
 amenable to the usual process of the 
 courts of justice. In progress of 
 time, however, the population gene- 
 rally, and even many of the zemin- 
 dars, have been forward in bringing 
 their matters of litigation before the 
 regular courts, and have subsequent- 
 ly submitted to the decrees without 
 murmur or resistance. The Goom- 
 sur chiefs had long remained nearly 
 independent, and might have con- 
 tinued so had not the enormous 
 atrocity of their conduct compelled 
 the interference of the British go- 
 vernment. 
 
 In 1815 a charge of murder was 
 brought against the zemindar Da- 
 noongjoy Bunje by his father, who 
 for his own previous crimes had been 
 deprived of the zemindary, and a 
 reward proclaimed for his apprehen- 
 sion. An investigation in conse- 
 quence took place, when it appeared 
 from the evidence of the surviving 
 females of the seraglio, that the ze- 
 mindar Danoongjoy Bunje, in 1814, 
 became impressed with the idea that 
 his wives and the female part of the 
 family had conspired to deprive him 
 of his life, with the view of setting 
 up his eldest son, named Bulbudder 
 Bunje, as zemindar of the country. 
 Under this alarmDanoongjoy confined 
 
588 
 
 GOONDA. 
 
 a great many of his wives, concu- 
 bines, and slave girls, most of whom, 
 from the inhuman treatment they re- 
 ceived during their imprisonment, 
 died on the spot. The survivors de- 
 posed before the magistrate that they 
 were all chained to a log of wood 
 placed in the centre of two rooms, 
 with holes large enough for two legs ; 
 that being thus seated in pairs op- 
 posite to each other, each having one 
 leg in the hole of the log, they were 
 secured by a wooden pin ; but the re- 
 maining legs were placed bn the top 
 of the log, chained together in irons. 
 Several of them declared (one being 
 only thirteen years of age) that they 
 had witnessed the death of the per- 
 son to whom they were chained un- 
 til the corpse had become putrid and 
 covered with worms, and as the 
 marks on their limbs proved they 
 had undergone at least some part of 
 the cruelties they had asserted, the 
 black and malignant nature of the 
 zemindar’s disposition rendered the 
 rest extremely probable. 
 
 Orders were in consequence issued 
 to seize Danoongjoy, and to dis- 
 mantle the strong fortress of Ko- 
 laida, which fortress, although within 
 fifty miles of Ganjam, the zemindar 
 repeatedly asserted existed only in 
 the imagination of the magistrate. 
 When attacked, however, in May 
 1815., by a small detachment of the 
 Madras army under Col. R. Fletcher, 
 it was found to be of such extent 
 and strength, that the troops during 
 their stay were only able to destroy 
 the stockades and houses. From 
 thence the detachment proceeded in 
 pursuit of the zemindar to Jarang, 
 where they did not succeed in effect- 
 ing his capture, but had the good 
 fortune to effect the release of about 
 one hundred men who were found in 
 irons, besides women and children, 
 and others were reported to have 
 been put to death on the approach 
 of the military. 
 
 Anxious to establish or confute the 
 assertions of the female witnesses, the 
 magistrate determined to visit the 
 gloomy fortress of Kolaida, to examine 
 a well in which it was said the bodies 
 
 of those who had died in confinement 
 had been thrown, and to collect fur- 
 ther information on the spot. The 
 well being pointed out by two female 
 slaves, who, according to their own 
 account, had been employed in put- 
 ting the dead bodies there, after six 
 hours’ digging, finger-bones, ribs, and 
 other parts of the human frame be- 
 gan to make their appearance, inter- 
 mixed with earth ; and after a fur- 
 ther lapse of time, a great number of 
 skulls and bones were met with. In 
 excavating to the depth of twenty- 
 four feet, eighteen entire skulls were 
 thrown out y and an immense pile of 
 bones collected, from the condition 
 of which there was reason to believe 
 the bodies they appertained to must 
 have remained a long time in the 
 well, as all the flesh and hair w r ere 
 gone, and nothing remained perfect 
 but the bones and teeth, the whole 
 corroborating the depositions as to 
 the fact of the bodies having been 
 thrown into the well. It appeared 
 also that the zemindar, apprehend- 
 ing a research of this nature, had or- 
 dered two of his dependents to dig 
 the wells and remove the bodies, 
 which had actually been done (as they 
 confessed) into another well. Three 
 human skulls, with a quantity of bones, 
 were also found in the fortress of Ko- 
 laida by the officers of the detach- 
 ment, close to five stakes wedged into 
 the ground, which had every appear- 
 ance of a place appropriated to con- 
 finement and torture. In fact, the 
 hill zemindars of the Northern Cir- 
 cars had long been accustomed to 
 exercise despotically the power of 
 life or death, and also to levy contri- 
 butions through the means of a des- 
 perate banditti. The present con- 
 sequently seemed an excellent oppor- 
 tunity to make an example of a most 
 atrocious petty tyrant, who subse- 
 quently emerged from the jungles to 
 which he had fled, and surrendered 
 himself ; but it does not appear that 
 he ever suffered the punishment due 
 to the enormity of his crimes. — ( Tra - 
 vent, Woodcock , Orme , Sfc.) 
 
 Goonoa. — A town in the king of 
 
GOPAULGHUR. 
 
 589 
 
 Oude’s territories, twenty-eight miles 
 N. by E. from Fyzabad ; lat. 27° 9' N., 
 Ion. 81° 52' E. 
 
 Goonee River. — Thisjsmall river 
 appears to be a branch of the great 
 Indus, which during the rains diverges 
 from the main trunk a short distance 
 south of Hyderabad, from whence 
 it flows in a southerly direction to 
 Luckput Bunder, where its further 
 navigation was formerly interrupted 
 by a mound, to the base of which the 
 salt water of the ocean ascended ; but 
 the great earthquake of 1819 destroy- 
 ed this bund or embankment, and ef- 
 fected an union of the two. During its 
 progress south, it passes through part 
 of the great salt morass named the 
 Runn, and is navigable for boats 
 during the months of July and Au- 
 gust. 
 
 Goongrana. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Delhi, thirty miles E.N.E. 
 from Sirhind ; lat. 30° 44' N., Ion. 
 75° 52' E. 
 
 Goonong Selloo. — A small town 
 in the island of Celebes, where the 
 Dutch formerly had a settlement, si- 
 tuated on a river of the same name ; 
 lat. 0° 30' N., Ion. 123° E. This place 
 stands on the north side of the great 
 bay of Goonong Telloo, named also 
 Tominie, which deeply indents the 
 east coast of Celebes. The inhabi- 
 tants are Malays, and of course Ma- 
 homedans, but their chief assumes 
 the Hindoo title of raja. 
 
 Goorserai. — A small town in the 
 province of Allahabad, thirty-one 
 miles N.W. from Jeitpoor ; lat. 25° 
 37' N., Ion. 79° 7' E. 
 
 Gooty ( Guti ). — A district in the 
 Balaghaut ceded territories, situated 
 principally between the fifteenth and 
 sixteenth degrees of north latitude. 
 Besides Gooty, the capital, there is 
 not any town of note nor any stream 
 of magnitude except the Pennar. 
 Gooty is first mentioned as a district 
 during the reign of Aurungzebe, 
 when it formed part of a small state 
 held by the predecessors of the 
 Shahnoor family, who were dispos- 
 
 sessed in 1758 by the Maharatta par- 
 tizan chief Morari Row. In the course 
 of the three years’ war between Hy- 
 der and the Maharattas, from 1776 to 
 1779, the province of Gooty was con- 
 uered by the former, and the raja 
 who was never afterwards heard of) 
 carried away prisoner. With the rest 
 of the Balaghaut district it was ceded 
 by the Nizam to the British govern- 
 ment in 1800, and is now an integral 
 portion of the Bellary collectorate. 
 
 Gooty.- — A strong fortress in the 
 Balaghaut ceded territories, and for 
 some time the capital of a petty Ma- 
 haratta state ; lat. 15° 8' N., Ion. 77° 
 42' E., forty-four miles east from Bel- 
 lary. The fort of Gootj' is composed 
 of a number of strong works, occu- 
 pying the summits of a circular clus- 
 ter of hills connected with each other, 
 and enclosing a space of level ground, 
 the site of the town, which is ap- 
 proached from the plain by two breaks 
 or openings, forming fortified gate- 
 ways to the south-west and north- 
 west, and by two footpaths across 
 the lower hills, communicating by 
 small sallyports. An immense smooth 
 rock, rising from the northern limit 
 of the circle, and fortified by grada- 
 tions, ascended through fourteen 
 gateways, overlooks and commands 
 the whole of the other works, form- 
 ing a citadel which, with a tolerable 
 garrison, may be considered impreg- 
 nable. The Gooty mountain is com- 
 posed of syenite, in which red feld- 
 spar prevails. The extreme height of 
 Gootydroog above the sea has been 
 ascertained to be 2,171 feet ; but not- 
 withstanding this elevation, the heat 
 here during the months of April and 
 May is most intense. The mean 
 height of the country extending round 
 Gooty and Bellary is 1,182 feet above 
 the level of the sea, and from this 
 plain the hills and mountains rise like 
 islands from the sea. Travelling dis- 
 tance from Seringapatam, 228 miles; 
 from Madras, 269 ; and from Hyde- 
 rabad, 178 miles.— ( Wilks, Lambton, 
 Rennell , Sfc.) 
 
 Gopaulghur. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Malwa, thirteen miles north 
 
590 
 
 GORKHA. 
 
 from Seronge; lat. 24° 15' N., Ion. 
 
 77° 41' E. 
 
 Gorabunder. — A village and small 
 fort situated at the northern extre- 
 mity of the island of Salsette, in the 
 province of Aurungabad. At this 
 place there is a small but handsome 
 building, nearly in the form of a 
 church, with a nave leading to a cir- 
 cular chancel, covered with a high 
 cupola, and surrounded by a veranda, 
 the whole arched with stone and so- 
 lidly built. It is generally regarded 
 as a Portuguese church, but has not 
 been used as such within the memory 
 of man, and differs from most churches 
 in having the entrance at the east, 
 instead of the west end. It is now 
 used as an occasional residence for 
 the governor of Bombay, and it makes 
 in reality a cool and convenient house 
 for this climate, and commands a 
 magnificent view. A narrow arm of 
 the sea, extending from this place to 
 Tannah along a space of about six- 
 teen miles, divides the island from 
 the main land. This winding passage 
 is in some parts bounded on both 
 sides by mural rocks, and presents 
 much beautiful scenery. At Daravee, 
 a few miles to the north of Gora- 
 bunder, there are some basaltic rocks. 
 — ( Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 Goram Isle.— A small island in 
 the Eastern seas, about twenty miles 
 in circumference, and situated one 
 day’s sail E. by N. from Banda. This 
 island is inhabited by Mahomedans, 
 and is said to contain thirteen 
 mosques. In A.D. 1774 the Dutch 
 sent an armed force of Buggesses 
 against Goram, but they were re- 
 pulsed by the inhabitants.— -(Forrest, 
 $*■) 
 
 Gorkha. — A town and district in 
 Northern Hindostr.n, the original 
 country of the reigning Nepaul dy- 
 nasty ; lat. 27° 52' N., Ion. 84° 22' E., 
 forty-one miles W.N.W. from Cat- 
 mandoo. Prior to the conquest of 
 Nepaul by Raja Prithi Narrain, the 
 Trisoolgunga river separated the ter- 
 ritories of the Gorkha and Newar 
 (or Nepaulese) princes, the western 
 limit of the first being marked by the 
 
 Marichangdi. The Gorkha territory, 
 although situated more to the north, 
 is rather warmer than the Nepaul 
 valley, and, like it, is watered by 
 various fertilizing mountain streams, 
 which are all ultimately absorbed by 
 the Trisoolgunga, the declination of 
 the country being in that direction. 
 Its chief inhabitants formerly were 
 Brahmins and Khasiyas, in about 
 equal numbers, with rather fewer 
 Magars; the Brahmins being the chief 
 cultivators, the Khasiyas and Magars 
 fighting men, but many of the last 
 have transferred their residence to 
 Catmandoo. Gorkha, the capital, 
 stands on a high hill, and is said to 
 be the only place of note in the prin- 
 cipality. According to native ac- 
 counts, for it does not appear to have 
 ever been visited by any European, 
 it contains about 2,000 houses, and 
 a temple dedicated to Gorakhanath, 
 who is the tutelar deity of the reign- 
 ing princes. 
 
 The Sah family, which has risen to 
 such extraordinary eminence, and for 
 two whole campaigns contended on 
 terms of equality with the British go- 
 vernment, pretend to be descended 
 from the Rajpoot family of Odeypoor : 
 but this must be considered a mere 
 fable, as on the arrival of the original 
 Hindoo colony from the south, they 
 were certainly of the original uncon- 
 verted mountaineers named Magars. 
 One of its branches, however, has 
 long adopted the Brahminical rules of 
 purity, and has intermarried with the 
 best families ; but the other continues 
 to wallow in all the mire of primitive 
 impurity. The first persons of the 
 Gorkha family of whom there is any 
 tradition were two brothers, Khancha 
 and Mincha, names altogether bar- 
 barous, and in no respect resembling 
 the high-sounding titles of the family 
 of the sun, from which the modern 
 chiefs claim descent. From these 
 various obscure chiefs descended, for 
 the Gorkhas being cut off from any 
 direct intercourse with either the 
 low country or Tibet, having neither 
 mines nor productions suited to com- 
 mercial exchange, were always consi- 
 dered insignificant until Nurbhupal 
 
GORUCPOOR, 591 
 
 procured in marriage, first, a daughter 
 of the Palpa family, and, secondly, 
 a daughter of the sixth son of a chief 
 of Malebum. His son, Prithi Nar- 
 rain, commenced the aggrandizement 
 of the family by the conquest, in 
 1768, of Nepaul Proper, under which 
 head further historical details will be 
 found. On the accomplishment of 
 that undertaking, the seat of govern- 
 ment was transferred to Catmandoo, 
 and being followed by many of the 
 natives, Gorkha, the original capital, 
 has been much neglected, and in con- 
 sequence has greatly declined. — ( F . 
 Buchanan , Kirkpatrick , <$fc.) 
 
 Gortope for GarooJ . — A place 
 in Tibet or southern Tartary, which 
 rather deserves the name of an as- 
 semblage of tents than a town ; lat. 
 31° 8' N., Ion. 80° 23' E. The tents 
 are made of blankets, surrounded by 
 hair ropes fixed on stakes, and over 
 the whole are various coloured shreds 
 of silk and cloth as flags. They are 
 usually surrounded by a litter of 
 bones, horns, and tufts of wool. The 
 chief persons here, as in other towns 
 of Tibet, are the Deba and Vizier, 
 who wear long tails of three plaits. 
 The plains in the vicinity are covered 
 with large flocks of sheep, goats, 
 yaks, and there are also a few horses. 
 The mountains on each side of this 
 valley dip very much to the north- 
 west ; they are destitute of vegeta- 
 tion, but said to contain much gold 
 and mineral substances. 
 
 According to the information col- 
 lected by Mr. Moorcroft, the river 
 that rises near to Dharchan, or Gan- 
 gari, runs past Gortope about four 
 miles west, then close to Lahdack, 
 and at last falls into the main stream 
 of the Indus, of which it appears to 
 be the most remote source. Lahdack 
 was reported to be ten days’ journey 
 from Gortope, the Deba of which in- 
 formed Mr. Moorcroft that caravans 
 of 500 and 600 people came on horse- 
 back to the Gortope fair, but he did 
 not say from whence. The Tartars 
 here call Europeans Felings (probably 
 their way of pronouncing Feringhee), 
 and appeared to have an equal aver- 
 
 sion to them and to the Gorkhas. 
 Guinnak, the capital of Chinese Tar- 
 tary, is said to be twenty days’ jour- 
 ney from hence to the north-east. — * 
 {Moorcroft, Sfc.) 
 
 Gorucpoor f Gorakhapura ), — A 
 British district in the province of 
 Oude, situated about the twenty- 
 seventh degree of north latitude. To 
 the north it is bounded by the hills 
 and forests of Nepaul ; on the east 
 it has the zillah of Sarun ; and on 
 the west by the Nabob of Oude’s 
 reserved territories. It is divided by 
 theGoggra into two distinct portions, 
 the southern being named Azimghur, 
 and the northern Goruepoor Proper. 
 In A.D. 1813 Azimghur appeared to 
 contain 350,190 begas in cultivation, 
 assessed at 9,54,135 rupees, or about 
 two and three-quarter rupees perbega. 
 The number of begas fit for cultiva- 
 tion was estimated at 263,003 ; the 
 waste at 1,291,772 begas. At the 
 same date Goruepoor Proper con-, 
 tained 363,872 pucka (or large begas) 
 in cultivation, assessed at 7,92,205 
 rupees, or two and three-sixteenths 
 rupees per bega; 768,272 begas fit 
 for cultivation, and 569,986 of waste. 
 
 This territory is said to have been 
 in a flourishing condition during the 
 long reign of the Emperor Acber, and 
 to have continued so under the na- 
 bobs of Oude until the defeat of 
 Shuja ud Dowlah at Buxar, after 
 which, owing to the efforts of the 
 rajas and zemindars to render them- 
 selves independent, much confusion 
 ensued, and a consequent suspension 
 of cultivation. The first and second 
 ranges of hills extend in a westerly 
 direction from the district, so that 
 the hot winds are scarcely felt in the 
 northern parts. Easterly winds pre- 
 vail generally throughout the year, 
 and even during the warm season the 
 nights and mornings are cool and 
 pleasant. The climate, however, is 
 not generally favourable to health, 
 on account of the great extent of 
 jungle and stagnant water, over which 
 the easterly wind must make its ap- 
 proach. The ratio of the cultivated 
 to the uncultivated land is remark- 
 
592 
 
 GORUCPOOR. 
 
 ably disproportionate. In 1814, the 
 superintendent of police reported 
 that the whole tract north of the 
 capital was waste and almost unin- 
 habited, and the efficiency of the 
 police merely nominal, as some of 
 the thannahs (stations) comprehend- 
 ed a space of 1,500 square miles. 
 These forests in ancient times have 
 often been the refuge of governors, 
 princes, and pretenders who had un- 
 successfully raised the standard of 
 rebellion, and in modern times have 
 been abandoned to the wild elephants 
 and other unclaimed animals. The 
 former, although of an inferior qua- 
 lity, are caught by the natives, but 
 not in herds, as is practised in Silhet, 
 Tiperah, and Chittagong. In general 
 they are seized either singly in pits, 
 or are decoyed by the intervention of 
 female elephants, in both of which 
 processes many are killed, and still 
 more maimed. 
 
 At some seasons of the year the 
 second range of hills is visible from 
 the town of Gorucpoor under an 
 angle of forty degrees. The height 
 of this range above the plains of the 
 zillah is 4,000 feet ; that of the first 
 range 2,100 feet. At the base of the 
 last is the Terriani, or low country, 
 intersected by many streams which 
 issue from the hills, and afterwards 
 fall into the Rapty, a river of secon- 
 dary magnitude. The great forest, 
 which commences near the capital, 
 extends as far as the first range of 
 hills. It varies considerably in breadth, 
 and in some places is so open as to 
 admit with ease the passage of ele- 
 phants, while in others it is scarcely 
 to be penetrated by a human crea- 
 ture. In this forest, and the rank 
 grass jungle connected with it, game 
 of all description abounds. Among 
 the quadrupeds, elephants, rhinoce- 
 roses, tigers, bears, and buffaloes may 
 be enumerated ; and among the wing- 
 ed, the beautiful and high-flavoured 
 florican, the otis houbara of Linnaeus. 
 The Terriani fever, at all times dan- 
 gerous, is more particularly so in the 
 months of May and June, and usu- 
 ally proceeds to its termination, good 
 or bad, with great rapidity. By the 
 
 natives it is ascribed to the water, 
 but it probably results from a combi- 
 nation of noxious qualities in the air, 
 water, and soil. 
 
 The Gorucpoor district came into 
 the possession of the British in 1801, 
 when it was ceded by the Nabob of 
 Oude in commutation of subsidy, and 
 in 1813 its jumma or assessment to the 
 land revenue amounted to 17,75,377 
 rupees ; but from the great extent of 
 jungle in Gorucpoor Proper it can- 
 not be fit for permanency in the re- 
 venue settlement in less than half a 
 century. In 1815, during the Ne- 
 paulese war, with the view of in- 
 creasing the population, arrangements 
 were made for settling within its li- 
 mits a class of persons named Tha- 
 roos, and such other hill natives as 
 might seek an asylum within the Bri- 
 tish territories. Early in that year 
 one of the chief Tharoos reported to 
 the collector that about 3,000 of his 
 tribe were assembled in a mangoe 
 grove at Cumareeah, a village situ- 
 ated in the Seetassee jungles, belong- 
 ing to the Ranny of Gudgepoor, and 
 that more were expected. In de- 
 liberating on "this measure, it was 
 thought that the aggregation of the 
 Tharoos into communities would be 
 more agreeable to them than being 
 scattered in small numbers among 
 strangers, and that as their habits 
 were understood to be industrious 
 and pacific, no motive for their dis- 
 persion, or for wishing them to merge 
 into the mass of the surrounding po- 
 pulation, appeared to exist. On the 
 contrary, it was thought that the 
 preservation of their distinct and 
 original habits, which enabled them 
 to resist the pestiferous atmosphere 
 of the jungles, might be turned to 
 good account in some future hostile 
 emergency. 
 
 It was therefore determined to as- 
 sign them tracts of waste land, of 
 which there was abundance; but the 
 Tharoos objected to such as were too 
 near the hills, where they would be 
 continually under apprehensions of 
 an attack from their former masters, 
 the Gorkhas. In consequence of the 
 delays attendant on every similar 
 
GOUR. 
 
 593 
 
 measure, great sickness, and heavy 
 rains, many of the Tharoos who had 
 been collected dispersed : but prior 
 to the 19th July 1816 above 2,000 
 Tharoos had erected huts and com- 
 menced cultivation in the Seefcassee 
 jungles, money having been advanced 
 to them by government to procure 
 seed and cattle, and a certain quan- 
 tity of rice supplied for their imme- 
 diate subsistence. After the con- 
 clusion of the Pindary war, a colony 
 of a more questionable character was 
 established ; Kurreem Khan, a cele- 
 brated leader of that banditti, his ne- 
 phew and adopted son, with some of 
 their followers, having had lands as- 
 signed to them in Gorucpoor equiva- 
 lent to a revenue of 1,000 rupees per 
 month. 
 
 Under these circumstances, and on 
 account of its local contiguity to two 
 independent states (Oude and Ne- 
 paul), the Gorucpoor district appears 
 too extensive for the maintenance of 
 an efficient police. In 1814 most of 
 the desperate robberies perpetrated in 
 this district were ascribed to a race 
 of people named Seeal Murwahs, or 
 Geeder Mars (jackal hunters), who 
 were robbers by profession, resem- 
 bling in every respect the Buddicks of 
 the Agra province. These plun- 
 derers have no fixed habitations, but 
 mostly frequent the Oude dominions, 
 as best adapted for their operations. 
 — C J. Ahmuty , the Marquess of Has- 
 tings , Capt. Stoneham , Blunt , 
 
 Gorucpoor. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Oude, the capital of the 
 preceding district, situated on the 
 east side of the Rapty, 145 miles 
 N.W. from Patna ; lat. 26° 46' N., 
 Ion. 83° 19' E. In the western sub- 
 urb is a mundib, or temple of Gorac- 
 nath, a deity in high repute amongst 
 the Hindoos of these quarters. 
 
 Gosauly. — A considerable town 
 in the province of Agra, watered by 
 canals drawn from the Laswaree 
 river ; lat. 27° 30' N., Ion. 76° 5V E., 
 thirty-seven miles N.W. from Bhurt- 
 poor. Six miles west of the town 
 a new fort has been erected by the 
 Macherry Raja. 
 
 VOL. i. 
 
 Gota. — A town in the province 
 and district ofBejapoor, twenty-three 
 miles travelling distance S.W, from 
 the city of that name. This place, 
 which is unnoticed in any map, is 
 surrounded by a well-built stone wall, 
 and has altogether a respectable ap- 
 pearance. 
 
 Goundul. — A central town in the 
 Gujerat peninsula, thirty-seven miles 
 N.N.E. from Junaghur ; lat. 21° 54' 
 N., Ion. 70° 58' E. This was for- 
 merly a small village belonging to the 
 government of Soreth, and most of 
 the territory now possessed by the 
 chiefs of Goundul was acquired from 
 the nabobs of Junaghur, as remu- 
 neration for pecuniary assistance. In 
 1 809 the Goundul chief was fined by 
 Colonel Walker for encouraging the 
 depredations of the Catties, and con- 
 niving at the infanticide of his son’s 
 daughter. — ( Walker , Public MS. Do- 
 cuments, fyc.) 
 
 Gour ( Gaur). — The ruins of 
 Goar, the ancient capital of Bengal, 
 are situated in the district of Dinage- 
 poor, a few miles to the south of 
 Malda, and are now mostly over- 
 whelmed with reeds, and the trees of 
 old fruit gardens become wild, and 
 intermixed with palms. By Abul Fa- 
 zel, in 1582, it is described as fol- 
 lows. “ Jennetabad (the Mahome- 
 dan name for Gour) is a very ancient 
 city, and was once the capital of Ben- 
 gal. Formerly it was called Luck- 
 nowty (Lakshmanavati), and some- 
 times Gour. The present name of 
 Jennetabad (the abode of paradise) 
 was given it by the late emperor Hu- 
 mayoon. Here is a fine fort, to the 
 east of which is a fine lake called 
 Chutteah Putteah, in which are many 
 islands.” 
 
 The mins of this town extend 
 along the banks of the old Ganges, 
 and probably occupy a space of twen- 
 ty square miles, which, considering 
 the straggling manner in which In- 
 dian cities are usually built, would 
 not contain any very enormous po- 
 pulation. Several villages now stand 
 on its site, and eight market-places, 
 sufficiently contiguous to form a town, 
 
 2 Q 
 
594 
 
 GOUR. 
 
 have been estimated to contain 3,000 
 houses, many of which are of brick, 
 procured from the debris of the an- 
 cient city. Some progress has also 
 been made in bringing the surface 
 under cultivation : but the undertak- 
 ing is much impeded by the great 
 number of dirty tanks, swarming 
 with alligators, musquetoes, and all 
 sorts of vermin, and choked up with 
 pestilential vapours. The soil is of 
 extraordinary fertility, and well suit- 
 ed for the mango and mulberry. The 
 principal ruins are a mosque built of a 
 black stone, called by former visitors 
 marble, but by Dr. Francis Buchanan 
 considered to be black horneblende, 
 or indurated potstone, as he could 
 not discover one piece of marble, 
 either of the calcareous or of the 
 harder kind. The bricks, which are 
 most solidly composed, have been 
 gold and carried away to Malda and 
 the neighbouring towns on the Ma- 
 hananda, and even Moorshedabad has 
 been supplied with bricks from this 
 mass. There are (1819) several other 
 mosques besides the above, in tole- 
 rable preservation, and one of them 
 is distinguished by a keblah, and cor- 
 responding niches of horneblende, 
 curiously sculptured. The tower, 
 delineated byDaniell, still exists, and 
 two of the gates (the Cutwal and the 
 Dakkel, especially the latter) are 
 highly picturesque and venerable 
 ruins. It is obvious, from a variety 
 of circumstances, that a still more 
 ancient city furnished materials for 
 the construction of some of the Ma- 
 homedan buildings, whose vestiges 
 may still be discovered, for defaced 
 images of Hindoo deities have been 
 found sculptured in relief on the re- 
 verse faces of many of the horne- 
 blende blocks, separated from the 
 masses of masonry with which they 
 were once connected. 
 
 The situation of Gour is nearly 
 central to the populous parts of Ben- 
 gal and Bahar, and not far from the 
 junction of the principal rivers which 
 form the admirable inland navigation. 
 Lying to the east of the Ganges, it 
 was secured from any sudden invasion 
 from the only quarter whence hostile 
 
 operations might be apprehended. No 
 part of the site of ancient Gour is 
 nearer to the present bank of the 
 Ganges than four miles and a half, 
 and some spots which were origin- 
 ally washed by that river, are now 
 twelve miles from it. The name of 
 Gour is apparently derived from 
 Goor, which, both in the ancient and 
 modern languages of India, signifies 
 raw sugar ; and from the Sanscrit 
 term for manufactured sugar (sarcara) 
 are derived the Persian, Greek, La- 
 tin, and modern European names of 
 the cane and its produce. Gaura, 
 or, as it is commonly called, Benga- 
 lese, is the language spoken in the 
 country of which the ancient city of 
 Gour was the capital, and still pre- 
 vails in all the districts of Bengal, 
 except some tracts on the frontier ; 
 but it is spoken in the greatest purity 
 through the eastern or Dacca divi- 
 sion of the province. 
 
 At a most early period of antiqui- 
 ty this place is said to have been the 
 residence of a saint named Jahnu, 
 who one day swallowed the Ganges, 
 as Bhaghirathi was bringing it down 
 from the mountains to water Bengal ; 
 since then there has always existed 
 here a path to the infernal regions, the 
 mouth of which may still be seen at 
 Sheebgunge. Tradition also asserts 
 that subsequent to this remarkable 
 event Janmejaya, the son of Parik- 
 hyet, the son of Abhimanyu, the son 
 of Arjun, the brother of Judhisteer, 
 and third king of India of the family 
 of Pandoo, removed all the Brah- 
 mins, and settled them to the west 
 of the Ganges beyond Hastinapoor, 
 where their descendants still remain. 
 
 When Adisur erected a dynasty 
 which governed Bengal, although he 
 resided mostly at Soonergong, near 
 Dacca, he had a house in Gour, then 
 probably near the western extremity 
 of his dominions. The same arrange- 
 ment continued during the reign of 
 his successor, Bollal Sen. His son, 
 Lakshman, extended his possessions 
 far to the north-west, made Gour his 
 capital, and seems to have built the 
 town of Gour, usually designated by 
 that name, but also known by that of 
 
GROBOGANG. 
 
 £95 
 
 Lakshnanavati, corrupted by the 
 Mahomedans to Lucknowty. 
 
 When Mahomed Bukhtyar Khilli- 
 jee conquered Bengal in A.D. 1204, 
 Gout* was a place of vast extent, and 
 being selected by that commander for 
 his chief station, soon attained a still 
 greater magnitude. The last Hindoo 
 sovereign, named Raja Lakshmanyah, 
 held his court at Nuddea, until ex- 
 pelled by the followers of the Ara- 
 bian prophet, and probably retired 
 to the old eastern capital at Sooner- 
 gong. On the establishment of a 
 Mahomedan dynasty independent of 
 Delhi, the seat of government was 
 transferred to Purneah ; on which 
 event Gour appears to have suffered 
 indiscriminate dilapidation. In A.D. 
 1535 the emperor Humayoon, when 
 in pursuit of Shere Khan, the Patan 
 (bv whom he was subsequently ex- 
 pelled), took Gour, then described 
 as the capital of Bengal. Ferishta 
 says that the seat of government was 
 afterward removed toTaunda,or Tan- 
 gra, a few miles higher up, since which 
 pqriod, although the city does not 
 appear to have sustained any signal 
 calamity, it has progressively de- 
 clined to its present state of desola- 
 tion. — ( F . Buchanan , Colebrooke, Ful- 
 larton, Col . Colebrooke , Stewart , §c.) 
 
 Gourear. — A town and pergun- 
 nah in the province of Allahabad, 
 sixteen miles S.W. from Banda; lat. 
 25° 18' N., Ion. 80°10'E. 
 
 Gourpesara. — A small village be- 
 longing to Nepaul, with a large tank, 
 situated about ten miles from the Bri- 
 tish boundary near the Bera river, 
 and thirty-eight miles south from 
 Catmandoo ; lat. 27° 10' N., Ion. 84° 
 50' E. 
 
 Go vindgunge ( Govindaganj ) . — 
 A large mart and ferry in the province 
 of Bahar, district of Chumparun, si- 
 tuated on the banks of the Gunduck 
 river ; lat. 26° 29' N. — (Capt. Hodg- 
 son, fyc.) 
 
 Gowghaut. — A village in the pro- 
 vince and district of Agra, situated 
 on the west bank of the Jumna, now 
 almost deserted, but still noted for 
 
 the ruins of a spacious serai, twelve 
 miles N.W. by W. from the city of 
 Agra. 
 
 Grassias.^ — See Gujerat. 
 
 Gressic. — This was formerly the 
 capital of an ancient kingdom in the 
 island of Java, but is now merely a 
 small town divided between the na- 
 tives and the Chinese, who have here 
 their own campong, temples, and 
 priests ; lat. 7° 9' S., Ion. 1 1 2° 50' E., 
 ten miles N.W. from Surabhaya. Ac- 
 cording to a census taken by the Bri- 
 tish government in 1815, the modern 
 division of Gressic contained 115,442 
 inhabitants, of which number 364 
 were Chinese. Its area was only 778 
 square miles. — (Raffles, #£.) 
 
 Grobogang. — A district in the is- 
 land of Java, which, according to a 
 census taken by the British govern- 
 ment in 1815, contained (including 
 Jipang) 66,522 inhabitants, of which 
 number 403 were Chinese. The area 
 comprehended 1,219 square miles. 
 The town of Grobogang stands in 
 lat. 6° 58' S., Ion. 1 10° 50' E., thirty 
 miles east from Samarang. 
 
 In the plains of Grobogang, fifty 
 miles N.E. from Solo, are some re- 
 markable mud volcanoes, having at a 
 distance the appearance of the surf 
 breaking over the rocks. On ap- 
 proaching them an elevated plain of 
 mud is perceived, about two miles in 
 circumference, in the centre of which 
 immense bodies of salt mud are 
 thrown up to the height of ten or 
 fifteen feet, in the shape of large 
 globes or bubbles, of which there are 
 two continually throwing up and 
 bursting seven or eight times in a mi- 
 nute. As the globes burst they throw 
 out the mud from the centre with a 
 considerable noise; sometimes they 
 throw up two or three tons of mud. 
 The mud is cold at the surface, but 
 said to be warm beneath. A quantity 
 of salt is manufactured by the Ja- 
 vanese from the water that drains 
 from the mud. In the Ramsam fo- 
 rest, which is in the neighbourhood, 
 are a salt lake, a mud hillock, and va- 
 rious boiling or rather bubbling pools. 
 — (T. S. Goad, Raffles, fyc.) 
 
 2 q 2 
 
596 
 
 GUALIOR. 
 
 Gualioii. — A strong fortress in the 
 province of Agra, the modern capital 
 of Dowlet Row Sindia, about seventy 
 miles direct distance south from the 
 city of Agra ; lat. 26° 15' _N., Ion. 78°1' 
 E. The hill on which it stands is in 
 length one mile and three-fifths, but 
 its greatest breadth does not exceed 
 300 yards. The height at the north 
 end, where it is greatest, is 342 feet, 
 and the sides are so steep as to be 
 nearly perpendicular. A stone para- 
 pet extends all round, close to the 
 brow of the hill, which is so precipi- 
 tous that it was judged perfectly se- 
 cure from assault, until Major Pop- 
 ham took it by escalade in 1780. 
 The storming party was led by Cap- 
 tain Bruce, brother to the traveller. 
 The town, which is placed along the 
 east side of the hill, is large, well 
 inhabited, and contains many good 
 houses of stone, which is furnished 
 in abundance by the neighbouring 
 hills, forming an amphitheatre round 
 the town and fort, at the distance of 
 from one to four miles. These moun- 
 tains are chiefly composed of schistus, 
 which apparently contains a large 
 portion of iron ; their surface is rug- 
 ged, and nearly destitute of vegeta- 
 tion. To the east runs the small 
 river Soonrica (probably Suvarnarica), 
 which in the beginning of spring is 
 almost dry. At the distance of 700 
 yards from the northern extremity is 
 a conical hill, having on the top a 
 remarkable building, consisting of two 
 stone pillars joined by an arch. 
 Within the summit of the fort are 
 large natural excavations, which con- 
 tain a never-failing supply of excel- 
 lent water. 
 
 Gualior must in all ages have been 
 a military post of great importance, 
 both from its central position in Up- 
 per Hindostan, and the peculiarity of 
 its formation, which rendered it, ac- 
 cording to the opinion of the natives, 
 impregnable. During the existence of 
 the Mogul empire it was a state pri- 
 son, where the obnoxious branches of 
 the royal family were confined ; and a 
 large menagerie, consisting of lions, 
 tigers, and other wild beasts, was kept 
 for their amusement. When possessed 
 
 by Madhajee Sindia, he appropriated 
 it to the same use, and on account 
 of its strength made it a grand depot 
 for artillery, ammunition, and military 
 stores. 
 
 Rajas of Gualior are mentioned so 
 early as A.D. 1008, and it was first 
 captured by the Mahomedans in 1 1 97, 
 after a long siege. The Hindoos ap- 
 pear afterwards to have regained pos- 
 session, as it was again subdued in 
 1235 by Altumsh, the Patan sovereign 
 of Delhi. In 1519 Gualior surrender- 
 ed to Ibrahim 'Lodi, the last Patan 
 emperor of Delhi, after having been 
 possessed 100 years by the Hindoos ; 
 and subsequent to this period it must 
 have been acquired by the emperor 
 Acber, or his son Humayoon, for in 
 1543 we find it was delivered up by 
 his governor to Shere Khan, the Af- 
 ghan. Thus it would seem, notwith- 
 standing its reputed impregnability, 
 to have very frequently changed mas- 
 ters. 
 
 After the dismemberment of the 
 Mogul empire, Gualior came into the 
 possession of the Rana of Gohud, 
 from whom it was taken by the Ma- 
 harattas. In 1780 it was taken by 
 escalade by a detachment under Ma- 
 jor Popham, but was afterwards de- 
 livered to the Rana of Gohud : who, 
 failing in his engagements, was aban- 
 doned to the resentment of the Ma- 
 harattas. Madhajee Sindia invested 
 the fort, and after a fruitless siege of 
 many months, prevailed at last in 
 1784 by corrupting the garrison. In 
 1803 Raja Ambajee Inglia engaged by 
 treaty to deliver up the fortress 
 of Gualior, then in his possession, 
 in consideration of obtaining favour- 
 able consideration from the British 
 government. When the period for 
 its surrender arrived, the comman- 
 dant, clandestinely instigated by Am- 
 bajee, refused to deliver it up. It 
 was in consequence invested by a de- 
 tachment under Sir Henry White, 
 batteries opened against the fort, 
 and on the 4th February, a practical 
 breach having been effected, the gar- 
 rison made overtures to surrender 
 on condition of receiving 50,000 ru- 
 pees. This proposal was rejected; 
 
GUJERAT PENINSULA. 
 
 597 
 
 but an arrangement having been sub- 
 sequently effected, the British troops 
 obtained possession of the fort on 
 the 5th February 1804. The British 
 government having abandoned all 
 territory south of the Chumbul, by 
 the final treaty with Sindia of 1805, 
 Gualior came into that chief’s pos- 
 session, who, up to 1810, was ge- 
 nerally in motion with the greater 
 part of his army, Oojein being little 
 more than nominally his capital. But 
 shortly after the forced resumption 
 of Gualior from the family of the de- 
 ceased Ambajee, he pitched his camp 
 a short distance south-west of the for- 
 tress, which he entered himself, and 
 his court has never been moved from 
 that spot except on occasional pil- 
 grimages. A second and external city 
 has arisen on the site of his encamp- 
 ment, surpassing the old one in mag- 
 nitude and population. In 1820 the 
 soubah of, or territory attached to 
 Gualior, was by far the most produc- 
 tive portion of Sindia’s dominions, 
 for the long time his army had been 
 quartered there had reduced the in- 
 numerable ghurries and strong-holds, 
 and brought the tract under complete 
 subjection ; but even the revenue was 
 collected with the assistance of a 
 flying detachment. 
 
 Travelling distance from Delhi, 197 
 miles ; from Lucknow, 21 1 ; from Be- 
 nares, 355 ; from Nagpoor, 380 ; from 
 Calcutta by Birboom, 805 miles. — 
 ( Public MS. Documents , Hunter , 
 Maurice , Major William Hamilton y 
 Rennell , Capt. J. Stewart , Sf-c.) 
 
 Guckers. — A tribe in the province 
 of Lahore, well known to history 
 from the incessant trouble they used 
 to occasion both to the Patan and 
 Mogul emperors of Hindostan. They 
 once possessed the whole country 
 between the Indus and the Jhylum or 
 Hydaspes, but have latterly been ex- 
 pelled by the Seiks. They still, how- 
 ever, retain a high military reputa- 
 tion. The Gucker country produces 
 vast quantities of grapes, which there 
 grow wild, and droves of horses of a 
 tolerably good breed are pastured. 
 To the south-east the land is much 
 
 cut up with deep ravines and torrent 
 courses, and it is altogether a strong 
 country, and very difficult to march 
 through. The floods are so sudden 
 and copious, that the water has been 
 known to rise ten feet within a mi- 
 nute of time ; so that one portion of 
 an army may almost be instantaneous- 
 ly separated from the rest. The chief 
 of the Guckers takes the title of sul- 
 tan, but the place of his domicile 
 has never yet been satisfactorily as- 
 certained. A great many of the 
 Gucker towns have been destroyed by 
 the Seiks, and now lie in ruins. — 
 ( Elphinstone , Sf-c.) 
 
 Gudwall. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Bejapoor, fifty-four miles 
 N.W. from Adoni ; lat. 16° 11' N., 
 Ion. 77° 48' E. 
 
 Gugah. — A town in the province 
 of Mooltan, ten miles west from the 
 city of Tatta, which in 1809 contain- 
 ed about 600 inhabitants ; lat. 24° 45' 
 N., Ion. 68° 7' E. 
 
 Guicowar. — See Baroba. 
 
 Guignan Isle.-— A small island in 
 the Eastern seas, one of the Philip- 
 pines, about eighteen miles in cir- 
 cumference, lying off the south-east- 
 ern extremity of the island of Jama, 
 being the most easterly of the Philip- 
 pines. 
 
 Gujerat Peninsula. — This ter- 
 ritory is situated principally between 
 the 21st and 23d degrees of north 
 latitude, and occupies the south- 
 western extremity of the province, 
 to the main land of which it is joined 
 by an isthmus. To the north it is 
 bounded by the gulf of Cutch and 
 the Runn, on the south and west by 
 the Indian ocean ; and on the east 
 by the latter and the gulf of Cambay. 
 In length from east to west it may 
 be estimated at 190 miles, by 110 the 
 average breadth. The general name 
 of Cattywar for the Gujerat penin- 
 sula was applied by the Maharattas, 
 having probably been first opposed 
 there by the Catties, whose active 
 and roving disposition gave them the 
 appearance of greater numbers than 
 the reality justified. At present the 
 
598 
 
 GUJERAT PENINSULA. 
 
 principal geographical and political 
 subdivisions are the following, viz . 
 1. Catty war; 2. Jhalawar; 3. Hal- 
 laur ; 4. Okamundel ; 5. Burudda ; 6. 
 Babreawar ; 7 . Goelwar ; 8. Arratum. 
 And the chief towns and petty states 
 are Noanuggur, Bate, Juggeth or 
 Dwaraca, Poorbunder, Soreth or Ju- 
 naghur, Diu, Durangdra, Goundul, 
 Bhownuggur, Gogo, and Palyad. 
 
 The largest river in this peninsula 
 is the Bhadur, which falls into the 
 sea fifteen miles south of Poorbun- 
 der, after a course of above 100 
 miles including the windings. During 
 the monsoon small boats navigate it 
 as far as Kattiana, eighteen miles 
 from its mouth. Next to the Bhadur 
 is theMuehooriver,whichhas a rocky 
 channel, and after a direct course of 
 about sixty-five miles disembogues 
 itself by many channels into the 
 Runn. In the bed of the Ajee river, 
 which falls into the gulf of Cutch 
 near Balumba, small quantities of 
 gold-dust are found. The Sutrinje 
 has its source on the western side of 
 the hills that form the Junaghur 
 cluster, and joins the sea near Tul- 
 laja. All these rivers receive a great 
 many tributary streams and stream- 
 lets (according to the natives the 
 Bhadur receives ninety-nine), the 
 whole peninsula being remarkably 
 intersected with excellent and clear- 
 running waters, and their banks occa- 
 sionally presenting picturesque scenes 
 of romantic beauty. Many of these 
 have poetical names, such as the 
 Roopa Rete, silver waves ; the Pool- 
 jee, studded with flowers ; and Nagne 
 or serpentine. 
 
 The mountains'here are few, and 
 of no remarkable elevation. Cholula 
 is noted for the wildness of its ap- 
 pearance and the barbarity of its in- 
 habitants, and the mountain of Pul- 
 letana, in Goelwar, for the Shrawuck 
 temples on its summit. The loftiest 
 of the Junaghur hills (named in 
 Sanscrit Rewtachil) is sacred, and 
 surrounded by others of a smaller 
 size with vallies intervening. The 
 Burudda hills consist of a clump near 
 Poorbunder, extending from Gomlee 
 on the north to Kudorna on the 
 
 southern extreme, about twenty 
 miles. All the clusters of hills above- 
 mentioned send off spurs and branches 
 in various directions, while other hills 
 stand in plains detached and insu- 
 lated. The whole peninsula swarms 
 with places of worship and reputed 
 sanctity, among which may be enu- 
 merated Dwaraca, Bate, Somnauth, 
 and Gernal. In some parts hot winds 
 prevail in May and June, but the 
 general climate may be considered 
 dry and healthy, with a westerly wind 
 all the fair season. In December and 
 January there are east and north-east 
 winds, with remarkably dense fogs 
 that disperse at sunrise. 
 
 The following are the principal 
 classes into which the inhabitants of 
 the Gujerat peninsula may be sub- 
 divided : 1 . Rajpoots, such as the 
 Jahrejahs, Jhalla, Goel, and Jetwah. 
 2 . Catties, of which there are three 
 principal families, theWalla, Khachir, 
 and Khooman ; 3. Coolies, Kauts, 
 and Sindees, called also Baw'ars. 4. 
 Koombies, Mhars, Aheers, Rehba- 
 ries,and other industrious tribes. The 
 Bhatts are more immediately con- 
 nected with the Rajpoots, and the 
 Charons with the Catties. 
 
 A great majority of the petty chiefs 
 of this country are of the Jahrejah 
 tribe, conjectured to have originally 
 come from Persia through Sinde, 
 whence they were probably expelled 
 by the early invasion of the caliphs. 
 As it is, the Jahrejahs, Catties, and 
 many other tribes calling themselves 
 Hindoos, are but very superficially 
 instructed in the doctrines of their 
 own faith, and their claim to be con- 
 sidered within the Brahminieal pale 
 but very slender, although they pro- 
 fess belief in all the Brahminieal le- 
 gends. The sun and the Matha As- 
 sapuri are, in fact, the real objects 
 of their worship ; their tenets with 
 respect to purity and impurity by no 
 means rigid ; and they drink spirits 
 in public. Under the title of Matha 
 Assapuri they venerate the goddess 
 of nature, named also Hinglais Bha- 
 vani, to whom in Cutch the Jahre- 
 jahs have erected a temple named 
 Assapuri, where a buflaloe is annually 
 
GUJERAT PENINSULA. 
 
 599 
 
 immolated. The name of Jahrejah 
 is ascribed to the origin of the four 
 Yadoos who escaped from the bat- 
 tles of Krishna, and were protected 
 by Hinglais Bhavani. 
 
 Among the chiefs of the Jahrejah 
 tribes, the remarkable and inhuman 
 custom of female infanticide univer- 
 sally prevailed, until they were in- 
 duced by the interference of the Bri- 
 tish government to put a stop, at 
 least in appearance, to the practice, 
 none of the prior governments that 
 attained an ascendancy in India hav- 
 ing ever attempted to suppress the 
 custom. For its prevalence various 
 causes have been assigned. Pride, 
 avarice, the cares of a family, the 
 disgrace attending female miscon- 
 duct, the difficulty of procuring them 
 suitable establishments, and the ap- 
 prehension of exposing them to in- 
 human treatment; all these motives 
 combined have influenced the Jah- 
 rejahs to perpetuate the practice of 
 female infanticide. The Jahrejahs, 
 however, were not singular in this, 
 as the custom has also been disco- 
 vered to exist among the Rhatore 
 Rajpoots of Marwar and Ajmeer, and 
 the perpetration of the same crime 
 has been traced to the Jauts, to a 
 Mewatty race of Mahomedans, to 
 the Hari tribe of Boondee and Kotah, 
 the Waish, the Cutchwa, and to the 
 Rajpoot tribes generally. Indeed, 
 the birth of a daughter is by most 
 sects of Hindoos considered an un- 
 auspicious event, and rarely marked 
 by festivity or exultation. 
 
 The Jahrejahs carefully select wives 
 from the most respectable Rajpoot 
 families, but prefer those of the 
 Jhallas, sprung from the Goel, Chu- 
 rassana, Punnar, Surweyo, Jaetwa, 
 Walla, and Wadal tribes. Such 
 daughters as they preserve, they give 
 in marriage to these castes ; illegiti- 
 mate daughters are bestowed on Ma- 
 homedans, or on Hindoos of impure 
 caste indifferently, on which account 
 the latter are not put to death like 
 the others. It is remarkable that the 
 concubines frequently burn them- 
 selves with the deceased Jahrejahs, 
 which is rarely done by their wives. 
 
 When Row Lacka, grandfather to the 
 present chief of Cutch, died, fifteen 
 concubines burned at his funeral pile, 
 but not one of his wives performed 
 that sacrifice, although there is no 
 law against it. Of these concubines 
 two were Mahomedans, one a Siddee, 
 and the rest Hindoos of different 
 castes. This painful ceremony is less 
 expected from the wives than from 
 the concubines, who frequently con- 
 sider it a point of honour to burn 
 with their deceased lords, each in- 
 spired with the dreadful emulation of 
 becoming the first victim. It may 
 be necessary here to correct an opi- 
 nion entertained by many Europeans, 
 that these sacrifices are compulsory. 
 The Jahrejah’s wives and concubines 
 are at liberty to follow this custom 
 or abstain from it, neither disgrace or 
 opprobium attaching to those who 
 choose to survive. It may be men- 
 tioned as another extraordinary de- 
 viation from Hindoo customs, that in 
 the district of Hulwud, the wives of 
 the lowest castes invariabty burn with 
 their husbands. 
 
 Through the persevering exertions 
 of Mr. Duncan, then governor of 
 Bomba}%and of Colonel Walker, com- 
 manding the detachment in Cattyr 
 war, the Jahrejahs were at length in- 
 duced to sign a paper, agreeing to 
 abolish the practice of female infan- 
 ticide, which document comprehend- 
 ed within its obligations all the chief- 
 tains and leaders of any consequence 
 within the Gujerat peninsula ; but the 
 crime itself is one of which it is ex- 
 tremely difficult to obtain direct 
 proof. According to native testimo- 
 ny, when a woman is taken in labour, 
 a large pot of milk is placed in the 
 room, into which, if the birth be a 
 female, it is immediately plunged and 
 suffocated. One estimate, in 1807, 
 stated the number of female infan- 
 ticides throughout the whole peninsula 
 to be 5,000 annually, while another 
 raised it to 30,000 ; both founded on 
 very uncertain data, and it seems 
 probable, that although reduced in 
 frequency, it is still practiced; the 
 sentiments of nature and humanity 
 having so long been stifled by the 
 
600 
 
 GUJERAT PENINSULA. 
 
 passions of avarice and pride that 
 the right of destroying their daugh- 
 ters became a privilege, and regarded 
 as a dignified distinction of caste. 
 
 In 1812 Witul Row, the Guico- 
 war’s chief functionary in the penin- 
 sula,in hopes of satisfying the anxiety 
 of the British government, establish- 
 ed mehtahs or scribes, in the prin- 
 cipal Jahrejah towns, with instruc- 
 tions to communicate the birth, pre- 
 servation and murder of female chil- 
 dren as soon as they received infor- 
 mation of these occurrences ; but the 
 jealousy with which these men were 
 regarded rendered their exertions 
 nugatory, and so long as no Jahrejah 
 would himself communicate the con- 
 dition of his wife, they found it in 
 vain to seek for information from any 
 of his neighbours ; indeed, it would 
 require very extraordinary exertions 
 to arrive at the knowledge of the 
 domestic transactions of 5,000 fa- 
 milies, particularly interested in their 
 concealment. In India no man will 
 without a reward accuse another of 
 an act considered a crime by the 
 ruling power, but which is looked on 
 by themselves and their countrymen, 
 not only without horror, but with 
 approbation ; and if by accident they 
 did inform, their motives might be 
 traced much oftener to a spirit of 
 revenge than any sense of justice. 
 This observation applies to the na- 
 tives of Hindostan generally, but 
 more especially to those among them 
 who practice the cruel religious ob- 
 servances which require mystery and 
 concealment to impose on the igno- 
 rant an impressive notion of their 
 sanctity. No native, therefore, un- 
 less urged by a deep-rooted enmity, 
 will accuse another of an action 
 deemed criminal by the ruling power, 
 but, bearing among them the appear- 
 ance of preternatural approbation, 
 and reported as a custom of the caste 
 from the fabulous ages. 
 
 Although no direct evidence had 
 been afforded of any Jahrejah having 
 destroyed his offspring since his en- 
 gagement to abandon the practice, 
 still, as the preservation up to 1816 
 of only fifteen females could be 
 
 vouched for, a strong suspicion re- 
 mains that the perpetration of female 
 infanticide in this quarter has not yet 
 been eradicated. To the universality 
 of the custom the Raja of Moorvee 
 may be mentioned as an honourable 
 exception, he having strictly adhered 
 to his engagement, and reared his 
 two female children. In that year 
 the resident at Baroda suggested to 
 the Bombay government, that it 
 would tend greatly to accelerate the 
 extinction of the practice if the East- 
 India Company would defray or assist 
 the expenses of their nuptials ; but this 
 proposal, on account of the strong 
 injunctions to economy biennially 
 received from the Court of Directors 
 by that presidency, was declined. 
 The expense estimated for marrying 
 the daughters of the different Catty- 
 war chieftains was as follows. The 
 daughter of the Jam of Noanagur, 
 
 35.000 rupees ; of an inferior raja, 
 such as Moorvee Goundul or Rajcote, 
 15,000; a near relative of the last, 
 
 7.000 rupees ; and the marriage of a 
 poor Jahrejah’s daughter, from 1,000 
 to 1,500 rupees. 
 
 Throughout a large proportion of 
 the Gujerat peninsula the country is 
 subdivided into bhyauds or brother- 
 hoods, under which term are compre- 
 hended the relations of the rajas, 
 who have villages assigned for their 
 maintenance, which on failure of heirs 
 revert to the chief. The possessors 
 of these villages are the Bhyaud, or 
 fraternity of the principal chiefs. In 
 this state of family connexion the 
 Rajpoot tribes are distinguished by a 
 great degree of personal independence, 
 and all assert the right of revenging 
 personal wrongs, real or imaginary. 
 The number of small fortresses with 
 which the country is overspread, and 
 the want of artillery, renders it easy 
 for a fugitive to obtain an asylum from 
 whence he may infest his enemies. 
 When a compromise ensues coosamba 
 is drank together by the contending 
 chieftains ; this potion being here, as 
 in Cutch, considered to cause oblivion 
 of the past and reconciliation for the 
 future. Under these circumstances, 
 it is fortunate, in the absence of a 
 
GUJERAT. 
 
 601 
 
 stable government, that the influence 
 of religion, or rather superstition, has 
 some effect in restraining their turbu- 
 lent propensities. The veneration in 
 which the Bhatts are held, and the 
 inviolability of their persons, are as- 
 sented to by the most uncivilized, and 
 were repeatedly brought into action 
 during the negociations of the British 
 government with the different chief- 
 tains of the Gujerat peninsula in 
 1809. 
 
 Prior to 1807, the whole of this 
 territory had for many years been tri- 
 butary to the Guicowar; but the re- 
 venue derived was altogether preca- 
 rious, and could never be realized 
 without the periodical advance of an 
 army. By this mode of procedure 
 both parties suffered extremely ; the 
 country being annually ravaged, the 
 revenues dissipated, and the society 
 excited to a state of such commotion 
 as threatened to disturb the peace of 
 the neighbouring provinces. The Gui- 
 cowar in this emergency having re- 
 quested the mediation of the British 
 government, a detachment from the 
 Bombay army, under Col. Walker, was 
 marched into Catty war, which restor- 
 ed tranquility, arranged a perpetual 
 settlement of the tribute, and imposed 
 fines on the predatory and piratical 
 states. In 1818, after the fall of the 
 Peshwa, the farm of Ahmedabad was 
 tendered to the Guicowar in lieu of 
 the above tribute, which being accept- 
 ed, the management of this turbulent 
 peninsula devolved wholly on the 
 British government. In 1820 only 
 one instance of piracy occurred, which 
 was discovered and punished: furnish- 
 ing decided evidence of the salutary 
 influence exercised overits uncivilized 
 chiefs, who are now recovering from 
 the miserable condition to which they 
 had been reduced by the tyranny and 
 undue exactions of the Guicowar’s 
 officers, and the famine of 1813. — 
 ( Walker, Macmurdo, Carnac , Elphin- 
 stone , Public MS. Documents, $c.) 
 
 THE PROVINCE OF GUJERAT. 
 
 ( Gurjara Rashtra.) 
 
 This large province is principally 
 
 situated between the twenty-first and 
 twenty-fourth degrees of north lati- 
 tude. On the north it is bounded by 
 the province of Ajmeer ; on the south 
 by the sea and the province of Au- 
 rungabad ; to the east it has Malwa 
 and Candeish ; and to the west por- 
 tions of Mooltan, Cutch, and the 
 sea. In length it may be estimated 
 at 300 miles, by 180 the average 
 breadth. The south-western extre- 
 mity approaches the shape of a pe- 
 ninsula, formed by the gulfs of Cutch, 
 Cambay and the Indian ocean, which 
 is insulated for a short time during 
 the rains. When the institutes of 
 Acber were formed by Abul Fazel in 
 1582, Gujerat extended southward to 
 Damaun, where it touched on Bagla- 
 na, and within its ill-defined limits 
 appears to have included the greater 
 part of Candeish and Malwa. In 
 more recent times the principal terri- 
 torial and political subdivisons com- 
 mencing from the west and north were 
 the following : 
 
 1. Puttenwara. 8. Cherooter. 
 
 2. Jutwar. 9. Ahmedabad 
 
 3. Gujerat peninsula. 10. Baroda. 
 
 4. Chowal. 11. Broach. 
 
 5. Ederwara. 12. Nandode. 
 
 6. Wagur. 13. Surat. 
 
 7. Chumpaneer. 14. Attaveesee. 
 
 The mountains that bound Gujerat 
 
 to the north and east are steep, crag- 
 gy, and of difficult access, and send 
 out many spurs or branches, the in- 
 tervals between which are nearly filled 
 up with jungle. Further south the 
 hills terminate; the jungle becomes 
 less universal, while the rivers increase 
 in size and number, and their banks 
 broken by deep intricate ravines over- 
 grown with thick jungle. All these 
 obstacles diminish as the south is ap- 
 proached, where the forest disappears, 
 and the streams unite into the Saber- 
 matty and Mahy. Nearly the whole 
 of the south-west of Gujerat, a tract 
 sixty miles deep, and extending 150 
 miles along the gulf of Cambay, the 
 frontier of Cattywar, and the Runn, 
 is an open fertile plain. This plain 
 was almost wholly subdued by the 
 Maharattas, though the jungles of 
 Chowal and of the Mahy river nearly 
 
6 02 
 
 GUJERAT. 
 
 as far south as Baroda, still furnish 
 shelter for independent Cooly villa- 
 ges. The western boundary, along the 
 Banass river, is in some parts a level 
 arid country, and in others a low salt 
 swamp resembling the Runn. Within 
 these swamps, jungles, and mountains 
 there formerly dwelt many tribes of 
 professed thieves, who preyed on each 
 other and on the civilized districts, 
 and being mostly mounted, extended 
 their depredations to a great distance. 
 
 Gujerat is traversed by several no- 
 ble rivers, such as the Nerbudda, Tup- 
 tee, Mahy, Mehindry, and Saber- 
 matty, but in particular tracts a great 
 scarcity of water is experienced. In 
 the sandy soil north of the Mahy, 
 which soon absorbs the periodical 
 rains, the wells are deeper than fur- 
 ther south, being from eighty to 100 
 feet deep. In the adjacent province 
 of Ajmeer, however, they are still 
 deeper, the inhabitants being obliged 
 to descend 300 feet before they reach 
 a sufficient supply of water. In some 
 particular portions of this province, 
 for many square miles not a stone is 
 to be met with ; while in others, but 
 not many, nothing else is to be seen. 
 The principal seaports are Surat, 
 Broach, Cambay, Bhownugger, and 
 Jumboseer. 
 
 The Gujerat province generally, 
 notwithstanding its apparent smooth- 
 ness to the eye, is much intersected 
 by ravines and by ground broken up 
 by the rains. Some of these chasms 
 are of considerable depth and extent, 
 and during the wet monsoon suddenly 
 assume the appearance and volume 
 of rapid rivers, not to be crossed 
 without the assistance of rafts or 
 boats, so that one portion of an army 
 may be almost instantaneously sepa- 
 rated from the other. During the 
 hot and dry months the surface of 
 the country mostly appears sand or 
 dust, and in the rainy season a thick 
 mire. The fields in general, except 
 for particular crops, do not require 
 much manure; that used by the pea- 
 santry is chiefly the dung of animals 
 and the refuse of the cow-house, to 
 which may be added the remains of 
 the cocoa-nut, after the oil is express- 
 
 ed. The natural productions are the 
 same as those of other tropical coun- 
 tries, among which may be enumerat- 
 ed horses, excellent bullocks, and 
 draught cattle, coarse cloths, salt- 
 petre, hemp, indigo, and opium. The 
 last, however, has never been much 
 cultivated, the province having been 
 usually supplied from Malwa. In the 
 northern tracts of Gujerat the natives 
 indulge to excess in the use of this 
 pernicious drug, and the propensity 
 can only be checked by raising the 
 price beyond their means of frequent 
 payment. The districts directly sub- 
 ordinate to the British in Gujerat are 
 susceptible ofgreat improvements ; but 
 these could not be even commenced 
 until the authority of the government 
 was completely established, the ac- 
 complishment of which has been 
 greatly retarded by their local posi- 
 tion, having until lately been sur- 
 rounded and intermixed with the 
 more extensive territories of the 
 Peshwa and Guicowar. 
 
 In so vast a province, never com- 
 pletely subdued by any invader, a 
 great diversity of population may be 
 expected, and accordingly Gujerat 
 still exhibits a wonderfully strange 
 assemblage of sects and castes, some 
 of whose usages may as well be re- 
 corded, as they will probably be here- 
 after but of transient duration. 
 
 In some parts of the province the 
 Grassias are a numerous class of land- 
 holders, in others they merely pos- 
 sess a sort of feudal authority over 
 certain portions of land and villages. 
 Neither the original source or precise 
 commencement of the Grassia claims 
 have ever been satisfactorily traced ; 
 and the etymological explanation has 
 been resorted to with as little suc- 
 cess. According to some Hindoo 
 pundits, gyrassie is a term signifying 
 a mouthful, bit, or small portion, and 
 equally applicable whether the boun- 
 ty given be voluntary or extorted. 
 On this subject the Mahomedans 
 make a bad pun, and say the term is 
 composed of ghyre (without), and 
 rast (right). Others think the phrase 
 originates from ghauss (grass), allusive 
 to the appearance of extreme indi- 
 
GUJERAT. 603 
 
 gence and distress which a subject 
 sometimes assumes in the presence 
 of his ruler, by standing before him 
 with a bunch of grass in his mouth. 
 
 Whatever be the original derivation 
 of the word, these Grassias have not, 
 as has been supposed, the slightest 
 claim to the distinction of a tribe or 
 caste ; nor could they, from the great 
 variety of individuals, ever be formed 
 into one. Grassias are of many dif- 
 ferent tribes of Hindoos : some are 
 Mahomedans, and any person pur- 
 chasing the claims, or lending money, 
 or farming lands and collections, 
 would, even if a Parsee or Christian, 
 come equally under the denomina- 
 tion of Grassia, which is also ex- 
 tended to all the mercenaries employ- 
 ed by the principal to inspire terror 
 or inflict injury. The records of an- 
 tiquity furnish no confirmation of the 
 justice of these complicated demands, 
 and the Ayeen Acbery, or institutes 
 of the emperor Acber, being wholly 
 silent on the subject of claims, now 
 so formidable to the public peace and 
 revenue, it may be safely concluded 
 that they did not exist at the date of 
 that laborious compilation, otherwise 
 they never would have been passed 
 unnoticed in a work, composed for the 
 express purpose of exhibiting the ex- 
 isting condition of the empire. 
 
 The common and traditionary re- 
 port of these claims is, that subse- 
 quent to the decease of the emperor 
 Acber, in A.D. 1605, the Gujerat pro- 
 vince was so infested by the incur- 
 sions of the Bheels and robbers from 
 the hills and jungles, that the nabobs 
 of Surat, in the reign of Ferokhsere, 
 submitted to a compromise, and 
 ceded certain lands to them in each 
 village. These surrenders are said 
 to have been denominated “ vanta” 
 grounds, and exempted from taxation 
 by the Mogul government, but after- 
 wards subjected to a quit-rent by 
 Damajee Guicowar, when he con- 
 quered Gujerat. It is also asserted, 
 that depredations after this still con- 
 tinuing, the zemindars pursued the 
 same weak policy ; and to satisfy 
 fresh invaders, and gratify the avarice 
 of the old, agreed to the payment of 
 
 what is now called *•* toda,” or ready 
 money. 
 
 These vanta lands and toda gy- 
 raus have been continually increasing 
 during the anarchy that so long pre- 
 vailed in Gujerat, and by the perse- 
 vering encroachments from all sides, 
 the corruption of the native revenue 
 officers, and the necessities of the 
 landholders, much government pro- 
 perty was, in these forms, alienated 
 and mortgaged, and every subsequent 
 contingency or imposition was conso- 
 lidated under the general name of 
 toda gyrauss. With the Grassias it 
 has always been an immutable axiom, 
 that a claim once received never be- 
 comes defunct ; and at this day the 
 Balasur pergunnah pays an item of 
 thirty rupees, on account of a chari- 
 table attention once bestowed by a 
 humane banyan on the wife of a Gras- 
 sia, who was suddenly taken in labour 
 at his door"; and many other spurious 
 charges are annually collected, under 
 an infinite variety of names. 
 
 Proprietors of such claims, and 
 more especially of toda gyrauss, sel- 
 dom prosecute them in person ; but 
 having retired to some secluded resi- 
 dence, such as Rajpeepla and Manda- 
 vie, they proclaim themselves chief- 
 tains, and rally adventurers around 
 them, to whom they sometimes farm 
 out the grassia demand, or depute 
 them to levy it. Thus qualified, the 
 adventurer enlists a banditti of every 
 caste and country, with the intention 
 of making money honestly, if circum- 
 stances favour him ; but at all events, 
 of making money. In the course of his 
 operations, the zemindars are bribed 
 or bullied into new surrenders, the go- 
 vernment revenue is misappropriated, 
 its subjects mutilated, and the country 
 devastated. These inroads, vexatious 
 as they are, are perplexed and aggra- 
 vated by the family feuds of the Gras- 
 sias, whose claims are subdivided into 
 minute shares, and so contradictory 
 the one to the other, that the cultiva- 
 tors are quite uncertain which is the 
 true and which the false claimant ; 
 but all are equally compelled by these 
 incendiaries to propitiate their for- 
 bearance by contributions of food 
 
604 
 
 GUJERAT. 
 
 and money. Until recently, any pro- 
 posals made by government to liqui- 
 date all these claims, by payment of 
 a fixed sum annually, were always 
 rejected, the Grassias preferring a 
 fluctuating revenue, with the military 
 pomp it confers, to a certain one 
 without it. It occasionally happens, 
 also, that these demands lie so long 
 dormant that the extinction of the 
 claimants is concluded, when sud- 
 denly an heir, real or fictitious, en- 
 forces his pretensions by conflagra- 
 tion and murder. Indeed, so com- 
 plicated are these claims, and so anar- 
 chical the system of collection, that 
 the British revenue officers have 
 never been able to arrange any thing 
 approaching to an accurate list of 
 them, from which their justice or in- 
 justice might be inferred. 
 
 A large proportion of these Gras- 
 sias, who thus infested the British 
 territories, were resident in the ad- 
 joining countries, then belonging to 
 the Peshwa and Guicowar, and more 
 especially the divisions of Rajpeepla 
 and Attaveesy, Mandavie north of 
 the Nerbudda, Meagaum and Ah- 
 mode, between that stream and the 
 Mahy, and Mandowee on the Tup- 
 tee. On the rugged margins of the 
 Gujerat rivers many Grassias still 
 reside in a kind of independence, and 
 also over the Gujerat peninsula, usu- 
 ally denominated Cattywar by the 
 natives. Criminals from the plains 
 fly to their haunts for refuge, and re- 
 ceive the names of Grassias, Catties, 
 Coolies, Bheels, and Mewassies, but 
 are in reality thieves, and so numerous, 
 that formerly they were estimated to 
 compose one-half of the population 
 north of the Mahy river. The vil- 
 lages held by Coolies are in this 
 quarter called Mewass ; but this term 
 applies properly to all refractory vil- 
 lages, whether held by Coolies, Raj- 
 poots, or Bheels. Mewassie villages 
 are genera! lj r situated in hilly or 
 broken ground, surrounded by deep 
 ravines, jungle, and of difficult access ; 
 for in India mere situation often de- 
 cides the character of the natives, as 
 obedient or predatory. Mewassie, in 
 fact, is used for refractory, whether 
 
 applied to Rajpoot or Coolie ; but as 
 all pretension to independence in a 
 Cooly is reckoned usurpation, and not 
 so in a Rajpoot, the term has been ap- 
 plied to the former in contradistinc- 
 tion to Grassia. Since 1814 the 
 Bombay government has been stre- 
 nuously endeavouring to effect an ar- 
 rangement for paying the Grassia 
 claims from the public treasury, and 
 considerable progress is annually 
 made in accomplishing this very de- 
 sirable commutation. 
 
 Of all the plunderers who formerly 
 infested, and still, but in a less degree, 
 infest Gujerat, the most bloody and 
 untameable are the Coolies, who, 
 however, present different characters 
 in different quarters, the most barba- 
 rous being in the vicinity of the Runn, 
 or in the neighbourhood of the Mahy 
 river. These were taught to despise 
 every approach to civilization ; and 
 the usual appellation they bestowed 
 on a man decently dressed, was pimp 
 to a brothel. In order to procure re- 
 spect, they stained their apparel with 
 pounded charcoal mixed with oil, and 
 their charons (priests and bards) and 
 other influential persons surpassed the 
 laity in filthiness. With this tribe 
 cleanliness was considered indicative 
 of cowardice. The Portuguese at an 
 early period used the name of Coolie 
 (or slave, in Persian) as a term of re- 
 proach, and from them it has descend- 
 ed in the same sense to the English. 
 Besides Gujerat, Coolies are found in 
 other parts of India, and more especi- 
 ally about the northern portion of the 
 Western Ghauts, where they confine 
 on the Bheels, whom they somewhat 
 resemble, but are less predatory and 
 more civilized. These inhabit part 
 of the range to the south ofBaglana, 
 and the country at its base on the 
 west, as far north as Bassein ; but 
 they are much more numerous in Gu- 
 jerat. 
 
 The description of men named 
 Bhatts or Bharotts, abound more in 
 Gujerat than in any otherprovince of 
 India ; and during the sway of the na- 
 tive powers, and even until recent 
 times, possessed unboundedinfluence. 
 Some few cultivate land, but the 
 
GUJERAT. 
 
 605 
 
 greater number are recorders of births 
 and deaths, beggars, and itinerant 
 bards, in which last capacity they also 
 frequently are traders. Some of this 
 caste formerly stood security for the 
 revenue, and guaranteed the observ- 
 ance of agreements and awards. They 
 are a singularly obstinate race, and 
 when pressed for money for which 
 they have become security, some- 
 times sacrifice their own lives ; but 
 more frequently put to death some 
 aged female, or a child of their family, 
 in the presence of the person who 
 caused them to break their word, A 
 Bhatt, however, never becomes secu- 
 rity for a person of whom he is igno- 
 rant. Under native rulers the Bhatts 
 were a link that connected the wild 
 Mewassy population with the govern- 
 ment ; every Grassia, Coolie, and 
 Bheel chief having his Bhatt, whose 
 intervention was then calculated to 
 produce a salutary influence on minds 
 callous to all impressions but those 
 of superstition. These Bhatts were 
 rewarded by a small per-centage on 
 the amount of revenue for which they 
 became security, and for the conse- 
 quent protection it afforded against 
 the extortions of the inferior agents 
 of the governments, their persons be- 
 ing regarded as sacred, and their in- 
 fluence predominant over the minds 
 of the natives. 
 
 The Charons are a sect of Hindoos, 
 allied in manners and customs to the 
 Bhatts. They are often possessed 
 of large droves of carriage cattle, by 
 means of which they carry on a dis- 
 tant inland traffic in grain and other 
 articles. Travellers in the wildest 
 parts of Gujerat are protected by 
 Brahmins and Charons, hired for the 
 purpose. When a band of predatory 
 horse appears, these sacred persons 
 take an oath to die by their own hands 
 in case their protege is pillaged ; and 
 in such veneration are they held by 
 these superstitious thieves, that in 
 almost every case this threat is found 
 effectually to restrain them. 
 
 Among those most benefited by 
 the lax system of government that 
 followed the death of Aurungzebe 
 were the religious orders, such as 
 
 the Bhatts and Charons, who, how- 
 ever, never enjoyed or exercised any 
 pastoral influence, like that of the 
 Brahmins. The legality of their ac- 
 quisitions was never investigated, 
 from the horror of their self-immo- 
 lation, which they threatened if it 
 were attempted. The system of Bhatt 
 agency in revenue matters, strongly 
 marked the distrust subsisting be- 
 tween the Maharatta rulers and their 
 subjects. If the one demanded of the 
 Mewassies Bhatt security for the 
 payment of the revenue, the other 
 required a similar security from the 
 government against its own oppres- 
 sion and extortion. The instrumen- 
 tality of the Bhatts was consequently 
 a useful and economical expedient to 
 a feeble government, incapable, by le- 
 gitimate means, of controlling and 
 gradually civilizing its turbulent sub- 
 jects; but was a clumsy machinery, 
 that impeded the progress of a 
 strong one. The Mewassies, from 
 the time of the conquest, received 
 the most injurious treatment from the 
 Maharattas, who, having driven them 
 to desperation, believed it impossible 
 to reclaim them ; and in reality al- 
 ways treated the Grassias, Coolies, 
 and Bheels, like outcasts from society 
 and beasts of the field. 
 
 But on the substitution of a govern- 
 ment solicitous for the welfare of its 
 subjects, and desirous of elevating 
 these classes from a state of degrada- 
 tion to their proper station in the 
 scale of human beings, a different re- 
 sult took place ; and the Mewassies 
 never demanded security from the 
 British government against its own 
 oppression, not being apprehensive of 
 any. The annals, also, of all native 
 history, from the Maharatta conquest, 
 prove the inefficacy of severity, whe- 
 ther exercised by means of treachery, 
 or by brute force, in reclaiming their 
 evil propensities. In the more early 
 stage of the British establishment in 
 Gujerat, policy dictated the propriety 
 of having recourse to every expedient 
 for checking and keeping in order the 
 unruly tribes, until such time as ex- 
 perience of its justice and energy 
 should convince them that full reli- 
 
Go6 
 
 GUJERAT. 
 
 ance might be placed on the first, and 
 that the last was not to be resisted 
 with impunity. The natural result 
 of such wise and moderate policy has 
 followed ; and at present the Bhatts, 
 once so important a race in this pro- 
 vince, have become so insignificant as 
 scarcely to deserve serious notice, 
 while all the industrious and peace- 
 able classes have advanced greatly in 
 wealth, comfort, and security. 
 
 In Gujerat, as in other parts of Hin- 
 dostan Proper, there are a race of 
 people called Ungreas, whose profes- 
 sion is that of money-carriers, which 
 is done by concealing it in their quilt- 
 ed cloths. Although miserably poor, 
 one of them may be trusted to the 
 value of 1,000 rupees, to carry many 
 miles off, merely on the responsibility 
 of his mirdha or superior, who fre- 
 quently is not richer than the other. 
 They are of all castes, and generally 
 well armed and athletic. When per- 
 forming distant journies, they assem- 
 ble in parties, and fight with despe- 
 ration to defend a property for which 
 their recompense is a mere subsis- 
 tence, and which, under other cir- 
 cumstances, they would readily steal. 
 There is another set in the northern 
 and western tracts, named Puggies, 
 from their extraordinary expertness 
 in tracing a thief by his steps. When 
 necessary, the examination must be 
 resorted to early in the morning, be- 
 fore the people have been moving 
 about ; when, such is their skill, that 
 they seldom fail in pointing out the 
 village where the thief has taken 
 refuge. 
 
 The Dheras of this province are a 
 caste similar to the Mhars of the Dec- 
 can and the Parias of Malabar. Their 
 employment is to carry filth of every 
 description out of the roads and vil- 
 lages and from their immediate vici- 
 nity. They scrape bare the bones of 
 every animal that dies within their li- 
 mits, and share out the flesh,which they 
 cook in various ways, and feed on. 
 They are also obliged by ancient cus- 
 tom to serve the state and travellers, 
 as carriers of baggage to the nearest vil- 
 lage from their own. They are guilty of 
 many petty thefts, and much addicted 
 
 to intoxication. Their gooroos or 
 priests, named Garoodas,cook and de- 
 vour carrion like the rest of the tribe ; 
 and, on account of their extreme de- 
 gradation, dare not read the vedas or 
 learn Sanscrit. They have abridg- 
 ments of the mythological stories of 
 the Puranas, written in the vernacu- 
 lar idiom on rolls of paper, ornament- 
 ed with rude figures of the heroes of 
 the Ramayuna, by the exhibition of 
 which and the muttering of some 
 charm, they pretend to cure diseases. 
 In the Gujerat villages it is custom- 
 ary to make the Dheras, Halalkhors, 
 and Bhungeas, who eat carrion, and 
 the Bheels, who kill innocent animals, 
 to live apart in huts by themselves. 
 Although the British service in the 
 Sepoy battalions offers an elevation 
 to the young Dheras, from the most 
 abject degradation to high wages and 
 dignity of rank, there are extremely 
 few instances of their ever availing 
 themselves of it — indeed scarcely any ; 
 neither do they often become con- 
 verts to the Arabian religion. The 
 washermen are also considered so 
 cruel, on account of the numerous 
 deaths they involuntarily occasion to 
 animalculae in the process of washing, 
 that they are likewise classed among 
 the seven degraded and excluded pro- 
 fessions. 
 
 In this quarter of India the term 
 Koonbee is applied to the pure Su- 
 dra, or fourth caste, whatever his oc- 
 cupation may be, but who in Gujerat 
 is generally a cultivator. In the Dec- 
 can this title distinguishes the culti- 
 vator from one who bears arms, and 
 prefers being called a Maharatta. 
 They most observe the Brahminical 
 forms of worship ; but the Gujeratee 
 Koonbies in their diet abstain from 
 all flesh and fish ; whereas the Maha- 
 rattas eat freely of mutton, poultry, 
 fish, game, and every animal fit for 
 food except the cow species. A Gu- 
 jerat Koonbie will not willingly kill 
 any animal, not even the most ve- 
 nemous snake. According to tradi- 
 tion the ancestors of the Koonbies, 
 who are now the most numerous and 
 industrious portion of the agricultu- 
 ral peasantry, were emigrants from 
 
GUJERAT. 
 
 607 
 
 Ajraeer and Upper Hindostan. At 
 present they are subdivided into three 
 tribes, the Lewa, the Cudjwa, and 
 the Arjanna. Formerly the Maho- 
 medans of Gujerat engaged but little 
 in agriculture or manufactures, addict- 
 ing themselves mostly to traffic and 
 a martial life ; but since the exten- 
 sion of the British influence the latter 
 profession has so much declined, that 
 they are gradually resorting to the 
 pacific arts of husbandry. Indeed, 
 the present Mussulmauns are become 
 quite an indolent and effeminate race 
 of people. 
 
 The different Nyat, or families of 
 Brahmins, are eighty-four, called after 
 the places of their nativity or inheri- 
 tance. Each has several subdivi- 
 sions, the members of which although 
 on an equality, are not permitted to 
 intermarry, the minute distinctions 
 being almost innumerable. Mr. El- 
 phinstone is of opinion that the Raj- 
 poots are strangers in Gujerat. Each 
 tribe gives a separate account of its 
 own settlement, but scarcely any at 
 a remote period. They appear to 
 have originally come from Mewar, 
 Marwar, and the countries that we 
 call Rajpootana. Some appear to have 
 passed into Sinde, and returned by 
 Cutch into Gujerat. 
 
 The Vaneeya (named Banyans by 
 the English) are a numerous tribe of 
 Hindoos in Gujerat, where they are 
 separated into many divisions, besides 
 the Shrawuks, or seceders from the 
 Brahminical doctrines. They are all 
 of them merchants and traffickers, 
 and many travel to parts very remote 
 from India, where they remain from 
 one to ten years, after which they 
 rejoin their wives and children. Many 
 also finally settle in the towns of 
 foreign countries, where their des- 
 cendants continue to speak and write 
 the Gujerattee tongue, which may be 
 pronounced the grand mercantile 
 language of foreign Indian marts. It 
 is very nearly allied to the Hindi, 
 while the character in which it is 
 written conforms almost exactly to 
 the vulgar Nagari. On examining 
 the translation of the Lord’s Prayer 
 into Gujerattee, the missionaries dis- 
 
 covered that of thirty-two words no 
 less than twenty-eight were the same 
 as the Bengalese and Hindostany 
 specimens. In 1824 a Hindoo re- 
 former named Swami Narrain had 
 made considerable progress in col- 
 lecting converts to his new doctrines, 
 which appeared to be a great im- 
 provement on the grossness and ab- 
 surdity of the Brahminical idolatry ; 
 but still he did not appear to have 
 any intention of shaking off the whole 
 system, intending only to modify it 
 to suit his peculiar views. 
 
 The Jain sect are here more nu- 
 merous than in any of the contiguous 
 provinces, and possess many hand- 
 some temples, adorned with well- 
 wrought images of marble, spars, and 
 metals. Their chief deity, of the 
 twenty-four they have altogether, is 
 worshipped, as in other parts of India, 
 under- the name of Parswanath. 
 Among the Brahminical Hindoos, the 
 adherents of Siva mark their fore- 
 heads horizontally, and those of 
 Vishnu perpendicularly, which should 
 be renewed every morning, and, if 
 attainable, by the hand of a Brahmin. 
 At the visits of the Rajpoots, Gras- 
 sias, and other tribes, opium is always 
 presented in some form, solid or li- 
 quid, and swallowed by the guests in 
 quantities that would destroy a Eu- 
 ropean. The natives here, especially 
 of the Rajpoot castes, when driven 
 to desperation, dress in yellow cloths, 
 which is a signal of despair and being 
 reduced to the last extremity. The 
 females here are frequently known to 
 burn themselves with husbands with 
 whom they have never cohabited, 
 and with those who have ill-treated 
 them, as well as the reverse, a mis- 
 taken sense of what they conceive to 
 be their duty actuating them, totally 
 independent of affection. 
 
 Besides its native hordes and castes, 
 Gujerat (with Bombay) contains 
 nearly all the Parsees or fire-wor- 
 shippers to be found on the continent 
 of India, the feeble remains of the 
 once-predominant religion of the Ma- 
 gi. According to their own traditions, 
 after the Mahomedan religion was 
 promulgated in Arabia, and began to 
 
f)08 
 
 GUJERAT. 
 
 pervade Persia, the ancestors of the 
 Indo-Parsees retired to the moun- 
 tains, where they remained until the 
 overthrow of the Persian monarchy, 
 and the death of Yezdijird, the last 
 sovereign. Finding the religion of 
 their native country wholly over- 
 thrown, and themselves outlaws, they 
 wandered towards the port of Ormus, 
 then governed by a branch of the old 
 royal family, where they resided fif- 
 teen years, during which they acquired 
 the art of ship-building, for which they 
 are still celebrated. At the expira- 
 tion of the above period they quitted 
 Ormus, and proceeded to the island 
 of Diu, where they sojourned nine- 
 teen years, but finding it too small 
 for their increasing numbers, they 
 embarked for Gujerat, where they 
 first lighted up the Atish Baharam, or 
 sacred fire, and spread themselves 
 over the country. At present they 
 are dispersed among the towns and 
 villages along the north-western coast 
 of India, and in 1815 were estimated 
 at 150,000 families. 
 
 The zendavesta, or sacred book 
 of the Parsees, is the only work 
 known to have been written in the 
 Zend language, and is believed by 
 them to have been the composition 
 of Zoroaster, in the reign of Gushtasp 
 (supposed to have been Darius Hys- 
 taspes), or about his era. Although 
 the writings of Zoroaster are alluded 
 to by the ancients, the name of Zend- 
 avesta does not occur for 1,500 
 years after the period when they are 
 supposed to have been published. 
 The original work of Zoroaster is said 
 to have contained twenty-one nosks 
 or books, of which only one entire 
 nosk, conjectured to have been the 
 twentieth, is now extant and a very 
 few fragments of the others. The 
 greater portion of the Zendavest is a 
 series of liturgic services and prayers 
 for various occasions, and is totally 
 destitute of any literary merit. 
 
 No existing religion, the Jewish 
 excepted, has continued from such 
 remote ages, with so little apparent 
 change in the doctrine or ritual. Dif- 
 ferent opinions, however, are held re- 
 garding the nature of the world. All 
 
 the laity consider Ormazd the author 
 of good, v and Ahriman the author of 
 evil ; but many of the priests assert 
 that all things originated from Zer- 
 wan, or Time, and that Ormazd was 
 only the first of created beings. They 
 admit, however, that Zerwan has 
 ceased to operate, and that good and 
 evil flow directly from Ormazd and 
 Ahriman. Ormazd is all light, purity, 
 and excellence, and inhabits the prime- 
 val light ; Ahriman, all darkness, im- 
 purity, and wickedness, and inhabits 
 the primeval darkness. Cayumers, 
 the father of the human race, was 
 created by Ormazd, but Ahriman at- 
 tempted to destroy him and attacked 
 the revolving sphere, but was re- 
 pulsed and precipitated into hell. 
 The modern Parsees, even of the 
 sacerdotal class, know little or no- 
 thing about the theory of their own 
 cosmogony, the whole of which, how- 
 ever, is evidently Chaldean, and often 
 forcibly reminds us of Milton’s Para- 
 dise Lost. Sin and misery found 
 their way into the world, and conti- 
 nued to increase until Zoroaster pro- 
 mulgated the law, and instructed man 
 in the will of heaven. The whole 
 Parsee sj^stem is founded on the sup- 
 position of a continued warfare be- 
 tween good and evil spirits, which 
 pervade all nature, and religion 
 teaches us how to gain the assistance 
 of the first, and to escape from the 
 snares of the last. 
 
 The grand visible objects of Parsee 
 veneration are the elements, and 
 more especially fire, light being con- 
 sidered as the best and noblest sym- 
 bol of the supreme being. The sun, 
 moon, planets, stars, and even the 
 firmament, are consequently objects 
 of profound respect ; but they have 
 no temples considered as the resi- 
 dence of the Deity or of any su- 
 perior angel, their fire mansions being 
 merely to preserve the holy element 
 pure and unextinguished. Of the 
 latter there are two species in Gujerat, 
 the Behram and Aderan ; the first 
 composed of 1,001 kinds of fire ; the 
 last of at least fifteen or sixteen 
 kinds. These varieties of combus- 
 tion are procured from different ma- 
 
GUJERAT. 
 
 609 
 
 terials, such as the fire from the fric- 
 tion of wood, from a funeral pile, 
 from a kitchen fire, &c. The Behram 
 fire, that most reverenced, is only to 
 be found in their temples, viz. at 
 Udipoor (a town near Damaun), at 
 Nausaree, and at Bombay. In their 
 original country, the greatest number 
 of Guebres, or fire-worshippers, are 
 collected in the city of Yezd, situated 
 about 230 miles south-east from Is- 
 pahan, where they are said still to oc- 
 cupy about 4,000 houses. They are 
 very industrious, but greatly oppress- 
 ed by the modern Persian govern- 
 ment, being taxed at twenty piastres 
 a head, besides suffering endless ex- 
 tortions. 
 
 The Parsees have various classes 
 of priests, of whom the chief are the 
 Hestoors or expounders of the law ; 
 and the next the Molids, who are the 
 officiating priests, and superintend all 
 religious ceremonies ; but the last 
 rarely understand the prayers they 
 recite, or the books from which they 
 read. They are like the Levites, a 
 peculiar tribe, the priesthood being 
 hereditary in their families ; but they 
 have no salary or fixed allowances, 
 and no chief priest or supreme eccle- 
 siastical head, while many follow 
 secular employments. Neither is the 
 Parsee’s an exclusive religion, con- 
 verts, generally children, being ad- 
 mitted ; but no Parsee can drink out 
 of the same vessel with a person of 
 a different religion, for fear qf sharing 
 in his sins and trespasses. The Parsee 
 is one of the few religions that has no 
 fasts, and as to food, all birds and 
 beasts of prey are forbidden, as also 
 the hare and dog. By their own law 
 they may eat beef, but in India they 
 generally abstain. The Parsee fe- 
 males have long maintained an un- 
 spotted character for chastity and 
 superior continence, which may be 
 accounted for from their being placed 
 by their religious tenets on a level 
 with the men. 
 
 Planting trees is a meritorious work, 
 and they cut down fruit trees with 
 great reluctance. In Bombay they 
 never practice as professional garden- 
 ers, but Parsee merchants and shop- 
 
 VQL? I. 
 
 keepers abound. Others act as ser- 
 vants ; many as ship carpenters and 
 liquor-sellers. They are certainly a 
 most active portion of the Gujerat 
 population, and retain within a tro- 
 pical latitude, the fair complexion, 
 hardy constitution, and activity of 
 more northern climates. As the life 
 of a Parsee is a constant warfare with 
 evil demons, in the conducting of 
 which vigilance is indispensable, the 
 watchful animals, such as the cock 
 and the dog, are highly respected. 
 
 Their reverence for the elements 
 prevents their throwing any impuri- 
 ties into fire or water, and to their 
 respect for the latter may be ascribed, 
 in all ages, their aversion to sea-voy- 
 ages. In like manner their reverence 
 for fire restrains them from following 
 the trade of a smith, as they must 
 never extinguish any light ,* neither do 
 they enlist as sepoys, pretending that 
 they dare not defile the sacred ele- 
 ment by the use of fire-arms. Hence 
 also they never bury their dead for 
 feai of defiling the earth, but leave 
 the bodies to moulder away, or to be 
 consumed by birds of prey on the 
 towers where they are exposed, guard- 
 ed by a dog, who is expected to bark 
 when he sees the demons approach to 
 seize the soul, which is supposed to 
 hover over the body for three days 
 and nights, in the vain hope of being 
 reunited, The corpse is also watch- 
 ed by centinels in order to ascertain 
 which eye the vultures pick out first; 
 if the right it is a good sign, and if 
 in addition the dog takes a piece of 
 bread out of the mouth of the corpse, 
 no doubt remains respecting the bea- 
 titude of the deceased. Should any 
 one survive after having been carried 
 to the place of skulls, he is shunned 
 by all as having had intercourse with 
 impure demons, until purified by a 
 priest, but such an event scarcely ever 
 happens. 
 
 The Parsee being a religion of ce* 
 remonies and of prayers in an un* 
 known tongue, has scarcely any ef* 
 feet on the morals of its professors, 
 and indeed little influence of any 
 kind, except as connected with the 
 prejudices of caste. The priests are in 
 
 2 ft 
 
610 
 
 GUJERAT. 
 
 general not only disliked but despised, 
 and little attended to except by the 
 females. Like the Hindoos, the Par- 
 sees show some desire to be esteemed 
 by the individuals composing their 
 own peculiar tribe, but have little re- 
 gard for any extraneous opinions, 
 and appear totally insensible to any 
 remote check of religion. They are 
 bold, active, and persevering in the 
 holy thirst of gold, and many of their 
 merchants by superior enterprize and 
 address have accumulated large for- 
 tunes. On the other hand, like all 
 Asiatics, they are tyrannical when in 
 power, regardless of truth, and not 
 the less esteemed by their own sect 
 for the want of it. The consequence 
 is, they express no contrition when 
 detected in any fraudulent attempt or 
 imposture. Their houses are in ge- 
 neral dirty, wretchedly furnished, and 
 slovenly arranged, presenting to the 
 view women, children, master, mis- 
 tress, and servants, stretched out on 
 the floor in all directions, asleep, 
 dozing, or lounging. They are not, 
 however, parsimonious, but on the 
 contrary both luxurious and voluptu- 
 ous, and frequently generous. Their 
 great expenditure takes place on the 
 marriages of their children, on which 
 occasions, like the Hindoos, they 
 waste immense sums in childish shew 
 and folly. Their houses of recreation 
 on the island of Bombay are generally 
 a little distance in the country, and 
 sometimes handsomely furnished after 
 the European fashion, in which mode 
 the disposal of their table equipage is 
 arranged. Like them also they in- 
 dulge freely in luxurious food, and 
 rather exceed them in their potations 
 of wine. But notwithstanding all their 
 faults, the Parsees are certainly the 
 most improveable caste in India, being 
 free from Hindoo and Mahomedan 
 bigotry, and in every respect more 
 resembling genuine Europeans, than 
 any other class of natives at present 
 existing in Southern Asia. 
 
 The province of Gujerat enjoyed 
 a much more flourishing external com- 
 merce, even during the most con- 
 vulsed period of the Mogul govern- 
 ment, than it has ever done since. 
 
 The imports consist mostly of sugar, 
 raw silk, pepper, cocoa-nuts, cochi- 
 neal and woollens, and absorb a great 
 deal of bullion. The Surat manu- 
 factures have long been famous for 
 their cheapness and excellent quality. 
 The chief are cotton, cotton-goods, 
 and grain, principally to Bombay. 
 Almost all the castes of this province 
 (Brahmins and Banyans excepted) 
 occasionally follow 7 the occupation of 
 the loom, which employs a great num- 
 ber of the more industrious of the 
 lower classes. In all the larger towns, 
 that remarkable class of men the 
 Boras are to be found, who although 
 Mahomedans in religion, are Jews in 
 features, manners, and genius. They 
 form everywhere a distinct commu- 
 nity, and are every where noted for 
 their address in bargaining, minute 
 thrift, and constant attention to lucre ; 
 but they profess total uncertainty of 
 their owm origin. Boorhanpoor in 
 Candeish is the head-quarters of this 
 singular sect, and the residence of 
 their moollah or high priest ; but in- 
 dividual Boras are found straggling all 
 over Gujerat, and the adjacent pro- 
 vinces, as itinerant pedlar.s. 
 
 It is a custom in Gujerat, when a 
 merchant finds himself failing or ac- 
 tually failed, to light a blazing lamp 
 in his shop, house, or office, and then 
 abscond until his creditors have ex- 
 amined his effects, and received a 
 disclosure of his property. Until his 
 creditors have acquitted him, he does 
 not wear the tail of his waistcloth 
 hanging down, but tucks it up. Per- 
 sons who act thus in time, so as not 
 greatly to injure their creditors, are 
 highly esteemed, and have so fre- 
 quently been remarked as subsequent- 
 ly prosperous, that Hindoo merchants 
 have been known to set up a light 
 (proclaiming themselves bankrupt) 
 without any real necessity, in hopes 
 of good fortune afterwards. 
 
 The principal towns in this pro- 
 vince are Surat, Ahmedabad, Broach, 
 Baroda, Cambay, Gogo, Bhownuggur, 
 Chumpaneer, and Junaghur. It is 
 difficult to estimate the inhabitants of 
 a country where the extremes of po- 
 pulation and desolation meet. Surat 
 
GUJERAT. 
 
 611 
 
 and its vicinity exemplify the first, 
 and the north-western districts the 
 second. For the sake of security, 
 the great body of the natives do not 
 live in single sequestered houses, but 
 in assemblages of them ; in Malabar, 
 on the contrary, every Hindoo has a 
 distinct or distant dwelling. The 
 south-eastern zillahs of Gujerat sur- 
 pass Bengal in the abundance of trees 
 and hedges, in handsome substantial 
 well-built villages, and in the decent 
 thriving appearance of the people. A 
 Gujeratty village is often visited by 
 travelling comedians, who exhibit pup- 
 pet-shows, and act historical plays. 
 They are also occasionally frequented 
 by itinerant musicians, singing and 
 dancing men and women, wrestlers, 
 and very expert jugglers, dancing- 
 bears, trickish goats and monkies. 
 
 Fortifications were formerly nume- 
 rous in Gujerat, and still continue in 
 the more savage and remote quarters; 
 but wherever the British influence ex- 
 tends they are fast crumbling to de- 
 cay. Some years ago female infan- 
 ticide prevailed among the Jahrejah 
 tribes, of which are the principal 
 chieftains of the peninsula, such as 
 the Jam of Noanagur, the Rajas of 
 Wadman, Goundel, and others. All 
 these leaders through the exertions 
 of Mr. Duncan, when governor of 
 Bombay, and Col. Alexander Walker, 
 in 1807, were induced to enter into 
 engagements renouncing the inhuman 
 practice, which was usually perpe- 
 trated by drowning the infant in a 
 bowl of milk as soon as born ; but as 
 scarcely any of their female children 
 ever reach maturity, it is strongly sus- 
 pected they have not adhered very 
 strictly to their agreement. The 
 whole number of inhabitants in this 
 vast province are probably much un- 
 der-rated at six millions, in the pro- 
 portion of one Mahomedan to ten 
 Hindoos. 
 
 There are many remarkable wells 
 and watering places in Gujeratj par- 
 ticularly one near Baroda, which is 
 said to have cost nine lacks of rupees ; 
 and another at Vadva in the vicinity 
 of Cambay, which, from the inscrip- 
 tion appears to have been erected in 
 
 A.D. 1482. Smoking tobacco is a very 
 universal practice among the Hindoo 
 males (Brahmins excepted, who take 
 snufffreely), and Mahomedans of both 
 sexes, throughout Gujerat. This pro- 
 vince has long been famous for its 
 excellent breed of cattle, especially 
 the bullocks, which are reckoned the 
 strongest, swiftest, and handsomest 
 in India. 
 
 It is a common belief in Gujerat 
 that the province was originally peo- 
 pled by the rude castes that still exist 
 and are known under the name of 
 Coolies and Bheels, but there is nei- 
 ther record nor tradition regarding 
 the nature of their religion or go- 
 vernment, while subsisting in this 
 primeval state. Subsequent to this 
 era, there is reason to suppose that 
 the space of country from the gulf 
 of Cutch to the Concan composed 
 one great nation, speaking and writing 
 the same language, the Gujeratty. 
 The names at present affixed to the 
 subdivisions of the province are en- 
 tirely modern, and can be traced to 
 some incident of their history. At a 
 more recent period the Rajpoots ac- 
 quired the ascendancy, and the most 
 powerful chief of that race resided at 
 Anhulvada (named Puttan and Nehr- 
 walla in the maps), situated on the 
 northern frontier. According to le- 
 gends handed down among the Raj- 
 poot tribes, they do not appear to 
 have been aborigines, but military ad- 
 venturers who entered the province 
 at different periods, and there esta- 
 blished themselves; they consequent- 
 ly have no ancient claim to the coun- 
 try, and even now continue to be op- 
 posed by the primitive inhabitants. 
 Three Rajpoot dynasties are said to 
 have occupied the throne of Anhul- 
 vada; the Chowra, the Soolunker, 
 and the Vagheela, from which many 
 of the modern Grassia families pre- 
 tend to be descended. 
 
 We learn from Abul Fazel, that 
 Gujerat was first invaded from the 
 west by Sultan Mahmood of Ghizni, 
 about A.D. 1025, who subverted the 
 throne of its native prince, named 
 Jamund, and plundered Nehrwalla, 
 his capital. In 1295 it is mentioned 
 
 2 r 2 
 
612 
 
 GUJERAT. 
 
 by Marco Polo. After the establish- 
 ment of the Delhi sovereignty, this 
 province remained for many years 
 subordinate to the Patan emperors ; 
 but in the fifteenth became again in- 
 dependent, under a dynasty of Raj- 
 poot princes converted to the Ara- 
 bian faith, who removed the seat of 
 government to Ahmedabad, and in- 
 fluenced many of the natives to em- 
 brace their newly adopted religion. 
 In 1572, during the reign of Acber, 
 this race of princes was overthrown, 
 and the province subjugated ; but 
 during the period of its independence, 
 it had flourished greatly as a mari- 
 time and commercial state, for when 
 the Portuguese first visited Malacca, 
 they found a regular intercourse es- 
 tablished between that distant port 
 and Gujerat. 
 
 After the death of Aurungzebe in 
 1707, this province was immediately 
 overrun by hordes of Maharatta de- 
 predators, and about 1724 was finally 
 severed from the Mogul throne, which 
 never afterwards recovered its au- 
 thority. Until 1818 the Maharatta 
 Peshwa and the Guicowar possessed 
 large tracts of country : but at pre- 
 sent only the last remains, the au- 
 thority and dominions of the other 
 having devolved to the British, who 
 previously occupied about 6,000 
 square miles of fertile territory. The 
 most striking circumstances attend- 
 ing the British progress were the 
 extraordinary obstacles that existed 
 to the introduction of order, and the 
 surprising success with which these 
 obstacles have been overcome. The 
 continual intermixture of our ter- 
 ritories with those of the Peshwa, 
 Guicowar, the nabob of Cambay, 
 and the unsettled tributaries of Cat- 
 tywar and Mahykaunta ; the number 
 of half-subdued Grassias and Me- 
 wassies; the numerous and ill-defined 
 tenures of every village; the turbulent 
 and predatory habits of a large pro- 
 portion of the people, combined to 
 make the country, more especially 
 beyond the Mahy river, more difficult 
 to manage than any portion of the 
 British conquests in Hindostan ; yet 
 by the cautious progress of the go- 
 
 vernment, the judgment and temper 
 of the local functionaries, our sys- 
 tem and authority has been gradually 
 and tranquilly established, without 
 either irritating our subjects, or em- 
 barrassing ourselves by any sudden 
 or violent changes. 
 
 In A.D. 1820, the north-western 
 frontier of the British dominions in 
 this quarter were formed in the first 
 instance by the Runn, to the north 
 of which is the sandy desert. The 
 desert tract between the frontier of 
 Jesselmere (about lat. 26°) and the 
 Runn was divided between the 
 Ameers of Sinde and the Joudpoor 
 raja, whose respective limits might 
 be indicated by a line drawn from 
 Nuggur in Parkur to Jesselmere. The 
 Sinde territory, however, would cross 
 this line near its southern extremity, 
 Bankasir and the whole of Parkur 
 belonging to Sinde and the whole line 
 being still contested ; the Joudpoor 
 raja claiming Amercote, and having 
 actually levied contributions as far 
 west as Sausur and Chaucra. 
 
 Parkur is partially cultivated, but 
 all the remainder is a desert, consist- 
 ing of high sand-hills, with scattered 
 spots of verdure, and the capital vil- 
 lages that figure in our maps seldom 
 containing more than 100 huts. This 
 desert extends to near the banks of 
 the Lonee, where a fertile tract com- 
 mences known by the name of Neyer, 
 inhabited by Rajpoots, and subject to 
 Joudpoor ; to which also the district 
 immediately beyond the Lonee is sub- 
 ordinate, while that on the south- 
 east is partly tributary, and partly in 
 direct subjection to that state, as is 
 also Sachore. The limit of the Joud- 
 poor dominions to the south is shewn 
 by a line drawn from Bayatree, near 
 Bankasir, and at the mouth of the 
 Lonee due east of Abooghur, and 
 passing about half way betw een Sa- 
 chore and Theraud. The above states, 
 including Palhanpoor, fill up all the 
 space between the Runn and the 
 mountains of Abooghur ; while the 
 whole tract, whether belonging to 
 Joudpoor or to our new allies, is 
 thinly inhabited, and ill supplied with 
 water, while its natural desolation 
 
G UNASS PASS. 
 
 613 
 
 has been aggravated by the famines 
 and pestilential distempers of 1813 
 and 1814. — ( Elphinstone , Drummond , 
 Public MS. Documents^ Crow , Bour- 
 chier , Walker , Macmurdo, James 
 Forbes , 3'c.) 
 
 Gujindee. — A small district in 
 Northern Hindostan, principality of 
 Bussaher, noted for the number of its 
 iron mines, but containing few spots 
 capable of cultivation. — ( Gerardsgc.) 
 
 Gujunderghur ( Gaja , Indragha- 
 ra). — A district in the province of 
 Bejapoor, situated between the Krish- 
 na and Toombuddra rivers, and 
 bounded towards the east by the 
 Malpurba. A great proportion of 
 this district is wild and hilly, but the 
 towns and villages are pleasing, and 
 usually encompassed with fine clus- 
 ters of tamarind trees. Part of this 
 territory belongs to the Nizam and 
 part to the British government as 
 successors to the Peshwa. The prin- 
 cipal towns are Gujundughur and 
 Kannagherry. 
 
 Gujunderghur. — Ahill-fortin the 
 province of Bejapoor, situated on the 
 detached extremity of a long sand- 
 stone mountain, fifty-nine miles N E. 
 from Darwar. In A.D, 1804 this 
 place, with a small surrounding tract, 
 was held by Bishen Row Gorpara (a 
 descendant of the famous Morari 
 Row) independent of the Peshwa, 
 although within his dominions. 
 
 Gulauli. — A fort in the province 
 of Agra, situated within the limits 
 of Col. Skinner’s jaghirein the Doab; 
 lat. 28° 28' N. 
 
 Gulgundaii. — A town in the 
 Northern Circars, seventy-five miles 
 W. by S. from Vizagapatam ; lat. 17° 
 33' N., Ion. 82° 18' E. 
 
 Gulmi. — Formerly one of the twen- 
 ty-four rajaships in Northern Hindos- 
 tan, but now absorbed in the Gorkha 
 dominions. Gulmi, the capital, is si- 
 tuated on a hill in lat. 28° 1 V N., Ion. 
 82° 17' E., eighty-five miles W.N.W. 
 from Gorkha. The castle is built of 
 bricks and covered with tiles, and the 
 town formerly contained 500 houses, 
 
 mostly thatched, and a great part of 
 a hill mart named Rerighaut, belong- 
 ing to the chief of Gulmi. Accord- 
 ing to native testimony this territory 
 contains mines of zinc, cinnabar, and 
 copper. In Gulmi and Balihang one- 
 half of the people are Khasiyas, one- 
 eighth Brahmins, and the remainder 
 impure tribes of cultivators and ar- 
 tificers. The principal crop among 
 the Gulmi hills is rice, which is reap- 
 ed in the beginning of their winter.-— 
 {F. Buchanan , fyc.) 
 
 Gulta.— A Hindoo sanctuary in 
 the province of Ajmeer, three miles 
 E. by S. from the city of Jeypoor, 
 with which it communicates by a 
 road over steep mountains, paved 
 with large blocks of stone. This 
 fane is situated in a wild and deep 
 ravine amidst abrupt rocks. The 
 waters of a sacred spring are collect- 
 ed in two beautiful reservoirs, and 
 the little space that remains is crowd- 
 ed with pagodas (some perched high 
 on the rock), pavilions, and stone 
 arches. Lower down there is a small 
 bazar and a gossain’s garden, peopled 
 with innumerable black-faced mon- 
 keys. — ( Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 Gumsalee. — A small hamlet in 
 Northern Hindostan, near the bor- 
 ders of Tibet, twenty-one miles west 
 of Bhadrinath temple; lat. 30° 43'N., 
 Ion. 79° 49' E., 10,317 feet above the 
 level of the sea. Near to this place 
 there is a sanga, or swinging bridge, 
 over the Dauli. 
 
 Gunanath. — A stockade in North- 
 ern Hindostan, eleven miles north 
 from Almora; lat. 29° 46' N., Ion. 
 79° 18' E., 6,842 feet above the level 
 of the sea. 
 
 Gunass Pass. — A pass in Northern 
 Hindostan over the outer ridge of 
 the Himalaya, leading from the val- 
 ley of Rupin into that of Baspa; lat. 
 31° 21' N., Ion. 78° 8' E., elevation 
 above the level of the sea 15,459 
 feet. This ghaut or pass was crossed 
 by Lieut. Herbert on the 30th Sep- 
 tember 1819. Six miles of the road 
 was over snow, then very soft in 
 some places, the general depth from 
 
614 
 
 CUNDUCK RIVER. 
 
 three to six feet ; but on the summit 
 the ground could not be reached 
 with a stick nine feet long. The 
 thermometer at sunset stood at 33°, 
 and water boiled about 187° Faht. 
 This ridge appeared to be entirely 
 composed of gneiss . — ( Hodgson and 
 Herbert , fyc.) 
 
 Gunderghur. — A lofty hill-fort in 
 the province of Bejapoor, division of 
 Azimnaghur, situated about twenty- 
 two miles travelling distance W. by 
 N. from Belgaum. 
 
 # Gunduck ( Gandaki J . — A district 
 situated in that portion of the Beja- 
 poor province which lies to the south 
 of the river Krishna, and principally 
 between the forks of the Malpurba 
 river. The soil is naturally fertile 
 and productive, and the country to- 
 lerably populous, notwithstanding the 
 anarchical government it had for 
 many years experienced previous to 
 its coming under the British rule in 
 1818. The British portion forms 
 part of the district of Darwar, besides 
 which the principal towns are Hoob- 
 ly, Noolgoond, and Kittoor. 
 
 Gunduck River ( Gandaki or 
 Salgrami ) . — The source of this river 
 is supposed to lie near the enormous 
 peak of Dhawalagiri, or the White 
 Mountain, supposed to be 27,000 feet 
 above the level of the ocean, and si- 
 tuated about lat. 29° 30' N., Ion. 83° 
 45' E. Another conjecture fixes it 
 in the table-land of Tibet, which, if 
 correct, would give it a course of 
 about 450 miles, including windings, 
 until its junction with the Ganges 
 nearly opposite to Patna. It is to 
 be regretted that the valley of the 
 Gunduck has not yet been explored. 
 In that valley ammonites are known 
 to abound, and other antediluvian re- 
 mains may be looked for. It is by 
 this route, also, the great white moun- 
 tain of the Himalaya is to be ap- 
 proached. Measurements taken from 
 remote stations, give the Dhawalagiri 
 an elevation of 27,000 feet above the 
 level of the sea, and it is desirable that 
 these should be confirmed or corrected. 
 
 The Gunduck in its early course is 
 
 called the Salgrami, from the schis- 
 tuous stones, containing the remains 
 or traces of ammonites, found in 
 the bed of the river, and carried 
 thence to all parts of India, where 
 they are worshipped under the name 
 of salgrams. They are mostly round, 
 and commonly perforated in one or 
 more places by worms; the spiral 
 retreats of antediluvian molluscas 
 being taken by the superstitious Hin- 
 doo for visible traces of Vishnu. Com- 
 mon salgrams are about as large as 
 a watch, and they are valued accord- 
 ing to their size, shape, and internal 
 construction. The price varies ac- 
 cording to circumstances, some being 
 valued so high as 2,000 rupees. In 
 one of the Hindoo legends the follow- 
 ing story is found explanatory of their 
 original consecration. 
 
 Vishnu, as the preserver, created 
 nine planets to regulate the destinies 
 of the human race. Sani (Saturn) 
 commenced his reign by proposing to 
 Brahma, that he (Brahma) should 
 submit to his influence for twelve 
 years. Brahma referred him to 
 Vishnu ; but he was equally averse 
 to the baleful influence of this planet, 
 and therefore desired him to call 
 next day. On Saturn’s departure, 
 Vishnu meditated how he could es- 
 cape the misery of a twelve years* 
 bondage to so inauspicious a lumi- 
 nary, and the result was, that he as- 
 sumed the form of a mountain. Next 
 day Saturn was not able to find Vish- 
 nu, but soon discovered that he had 
 become the mountain Gandaki, into 
 which he immediately entered, having 
 assumed the form of a thunderbolt 
 worm, and began to perforate the 
 stones of the mountain, and in this 
 manner he persevered in afflicting 
 the animated mountain for the space 
 of twelve years. At the end of this 
 probation the deity resumed his own 
 figure, and recommended that the 
 stones of the mountain Gandaki 
 should be in future worshipped. On 
 being asked by Brahma how the ge- 
 nuine stones might be discriminated, 
 he said they would have twenty-one 
 marks, the same number as were on 
 his body. Since the above era the 
 
GUNDWANA. 
 
 015 
 
 salgrams of the Gunduck have been 
 held in high estimation ; and during 
 the hot months, the Brahmins sus- 
 pend a pan perforated with a hole, 
 through which the water drops on 
 the stone and keeps it Cool ; and 
 being caught below in another pan, 
 is drank in the evening with much 
 satisfaction by the devout of that 
 faith. The Brahmins sell these stones, 
 but trafficking in images is reckoned 
 dishonourable. 
 
 The following is Dr. F. Buchanan’s 
 description of the salgrain, which is 
 more minute than above. On the 
 banks of the Gunduck near Mukti- 
 nath, north of the Himalaya (lat. 29° 
 10'N., Ion. 83° 15' E.) is a precipice, 
 from which the river is supposed to 
 wash the salgrams. Pilgrims who 
 have been at the place, say that 
 the stones are found partly in the 
 precipice and partly in the bed 
 of the river, where it has washed 
 down the earth. On account of its 
 containing these stones, this branch 
 of the river is usually called the Sal- 
 grami, and the channel every where 
 below Muktinath, until it reaches the 
 plain of India at Sheebpoor, abounds 
 with these stones. They all consist 
 of carbonate of lime, and are in ge- 
 neral quite black, but a few have 
 white veins. Their colour is probably 
 owing to some metallic impregnation, 
 which also occasions their great spe- 
 cific weight. Most of them are what 
 naturalists call petrifactions, and by 
 far the most common are ammonites, 
 half imbedded in a ball of stone, ex- 
 actly of the same nature with the pe- 
 trified animal. Others, which are 
 reckoned the most valuable, are balls 
 containing a cavity formed by an 
 ammonite that has decayed, and left 
 only its impression. The ammonites, 
 or the impressions, are called the 
 chacras, or wheel of the salgram, but 
 are sometimes wanting ; the stone be- 
 ing then a mere ball, without any mark 
 of animal exuviae. Some balls have 
 no external opening, yet by rubbing 
 away part of one of the sides, the 
 hollow-wheel or chacra is discovered. 
 Such salgrams are reckoned particu- 
 larly valuable. 
 
 Besides salgrams some few grains 
 of gold are occasionally separated 
 from the sand of the Gunduck, and 
 also from the substance of the sal- 
 grams, which on examination have 
 been found not to be calcareous. 
 In Northern Hindostan, the term 
 Gunduck is a general appellation for 
 a river; and Major Rennell conjec- 
 tures it to be the Condocnates of 
 Arrian. The stricter classes of Hin- 
 doos abstain from swimming in this 
 river, it being prohibited in their sa- 
 cred books. — ( F . Buchanan , Cole- 
 brooke, Ward , Kirkpatrick , Rennell , 
 WilJ’ord , fyc.) 
 
 GUNDWANA. 
 
 A large province of the Deccan, 
 extending from the eighteenth to the 
 twenty-fifth degree of north latitude. 
 On the north it is bounded by Alla- 
 habad and Bahar ; on the south by 
 Berar, Hyderabad, and Orissa ; to 
 the east it has Berar and Orissa ; and 
 on the west Allahabad, Malwa, Can- 
 deish, Berar, and Hyderabad. In 
 length it may be estimated at 400 
 miles, by 280 the average breadth. 
 
 Gundwana, in its most extensive 
 signification, comprehends all that 
 portion of Hindostan surrounded by 
 the soubahs above-mentioned, which 
 remained unconquered up to the 
 reign of Aurengzebe ; but Gundwana 
 Proper, or the country of the Gonds, 
 is more strictly limited to the dis- 
 tricts of Gurrah, Mundlah, Mehkoor, 
 Kheirlah, Nagpoor, Choteesghur, 
 Deoghur, and Chandah, stretching 
 south along the east side of the 
 Wurda and Godavery, to within one 
 hundred miles of the mouth of the 
 river last-mentioned. Within the 
 above space, intervening between 
 Bengal, Orissa, and Nagpoor, there 
 were avast number of petty rajaships, 
 which, although partly tributary to 
 the Nagpoor Raja or to the British 
 government, were until recently in a 
 manner politically independent, and 
 unconnected wdth each other. These 
 are all wild and woody countries, 
 hitherto affording little or no revenue 
 to their nominal sovereigns, and in 
 
616 
 
 GUNDWANA. 
 
 reality of no importance except as 
 being conterminous with Bengal and 
 Orissa, to which their rugged and 
 mountainous surface, covered with 
 thick jungle, presented a strong bar- 
 rier against any invasion, especially 
 of cavalry, from the west. Several 
 of these have been incorporated With 
 the British districts acquired in 1818 
 from the Nagpoor Raja, and the 
 whole are more or less directly sub- 
 ordinate to the British government ; 
 but the geography of this part of In- 
 dia has not yet assumed so determi- 
 nate a shape as to authorize an al- 
 teration of the old designations of 
 the principal tracts, which up to 1817 
 were the following, commencing at 
 the northern extremity, viz. 
 
 14. Sumbhulpoor. 
 
 15. Sohnpoor. 
 l(j. Choteesghur. 
 17- Mundlali. 
 
 18. Gurrah. 
 
 19. Mehkoor. 
 
 20. Kheirlah. 
 
 21. Gundwana 
 
 Proper. 
 
 22. Nagpoor. 
 
 23. Chandah. 
 
 24. Bustar. 
 
 1. Chandail. 
 
 2. Boghela. 
 
 3. Billounja. 
 
 4. Singrowla. 
 
 5. RajaChohans. 
 
 6. Manwas. 
 
 7- Canroody. 
 
 8. Sohagepoor. 
 
 9. Sirgooja. 
 
 10. Odeypoor. 
 
 11. Koorba. 
 
 12. Jushpoor 
 
 13. Gangpoor. 
 
 During the reign of Aurungzebe, 
 the whole northern part of this pro- 
 vince, named Baundhoo or Bhatta, 
 was partially conquered by his gene- 
 rals, and annexed to the soubah of 
 Allahabad ; but they never made any 
 impression on the southern quarter, 
 which remained unsubdued until 
 about the middle of the eighteenth 
 century, when Ragojee Bhoonsla of 
 Nagpoor reduced or rendered tribu- 
 tary a large proportion, and confined 
 the independent Gonds within very 
 narrow limits. By Mahomedan his- 
 torians the large division of Chotees- 
 ghur is sometimes named Jeharcund, 
 but this appellation properly applies 
 to the greater part of the province. 
 
 Gundwana contains the sources of 
 the Nerbudda and Sone rivers, and 
 is bounded by the Wurda and Goda- 
 very, but is on the whole but indiffe- 
 rently supplied. The Mahanuddy, 
 Caroon, Hatsoo, and Silair traverse 
 
 its interior, but are not navigable 
 within its limits ; neither are there 
 any lakes of the slightest magnitude. 
 A continued chain of hills extends 
 from the southern frontier of Bengal 
 almost to the Godavery, and for- 
 merly separated the eastern from the 
 Western division of the Nagpoor do- 
 minions. Indeed a very large pro- 
 portion of the surface is mountainous, 
 ill-watered, unhealthy, covered with 
 jungle, and thinly inhabited ; and to 
 its poverty and evil qualities it has 
 probably been indebted for its long- 
 continued independence. The more 
 fertile tracts were subdued at an early 
 period by the Bhoonsla Maharattas, 
 who claimed as paramount over the 
 whole ; but their sway in many parts 
 was little more than nominal, and the 
 tribute could only be realized by the 
 presence of an army. During the 
 war of 1818 considerable benefit was 
 derived from the rebellion of the hill 
 tribes occupying the passes in the 
 Nagpoor territories, who indeed had 
 before been restrained by the appre- 
 hension of the co-operation of the 
 British troops against them. 
 
 The country occupied by the ge- 
 nuine Gonds remains for the most 
 part a primeval wilderness, its hu- 
 man inhabitants being scarcely su- 
 perior to the brute creation with 
 which they live intermixed. A great 
 number of this miserable tribe exist 
 nearly in a state of nature, and are 
 probably amongst the lowest in the 
 scale of civilization of all the natives 
 of Hindostan. Having been driven 
 by their invaders from the plains to 
 the unwholesome fastnesses of the 
 more elevated regions, they frequent- 
 ly descended during the harvest to 
 the lowlands, and plundered the pro- 
 duce of their ancient inheritance. 
 In the course of the last half century 
 the increasing appetite of the wild 
 Gonds for salt and sugar has tended 
 more to promote their civilization 
 than any other circumstance; and 
 since the establishment of an exten- 
 sive teak-cutting concern, they have 
 so far overcome their dread of Euro- 
 peans as to enter into their service 
 for the purpose of felling timber, and 
 
GUNDWANA. 
 
 617 
 
 afterwards of assisting the convey- 
 ance of the rafts down the Godavery, 
 although the sea air is said to be as 
 fatal to them as that of the hills to 
 a sojourner from the plains* 
 
 The Gonds present the character 
 of an aboriginal people, distinct from 
 the Hindoos, although borrowing 
 many of their institutions and prac- 
 tices. Their own religion is of the 
 rudest description, the chief object 
 of their worship being a deity named 
 Thurseepen, represented by a small 
 spear-head of iron, carefully pre» 
 served in certain trees, and his rites 
 can only be performed in woods and 
 jungles. Their own idols are of a 
 similar description, possessing various 
 attributes, bestowed on them by the 
 hopes and fears of their savage vo- 
 taries, alternately a prey to each 
 other and to the beasts of the fo- 
 rests. To these they offer up as sa- 
 crifices hogs, goats, and fowls, ac- 
 companied with many fantastic rites ; 
 even human sacrifices are not ab- 
 stained from, and were formerly com- 
 mon. They eat the meat, and never 
 fail to drink hard after the celebra- 
 tion of every ceremony, whether of 
 a purely religious nature or of a 
 mixed description, such as births, 
 marriages, and funerals. The women 
 are as unrestricted as the men in the 
 practice of intoxication, and join in 
 all the songs, dances, and drunken 
 revels. To their original deities they 
 have added several from the Hindoo 
 stock, but they worship in a manner 
 peculiar to their own manners and 
 notions. All the individuals of this 
 tribe are remarkably superstitious 
 with regard to omens and portentous 
 signs, and practise the arts of witch- 
 craft and sorcery, in which, by their 
 Hindoo neighbours, they are believed 
 to excel. In this part of India the 
 Gonds have, rather unaccountably, 
 been allowed to class themselves with 
 the second or military tribe of Hin- 
 doos, a stretch of complaisance in 
 the Maharatta functionaries, owing 
 probably to the ancient predominance 
 of the Gond chiefs. These last term 
 themselves “ Kooeetoor” (a corrup- 
 tion of Khetrie), and claim a de- 
 
 scent from the Pandoos ; and in per- 
 forming their domestic worship, al- 
 though they profess Mahomedanism, 
 at their births and marriages they 
 intermingle observances peculiar to 
 Rajpoots with those of the common 
 Gonds and Mahomedans. 
 
 Within the limits of their own com- 
 munities they separate themselves into 
 a great variety of classes, subdivision 
 into castes being apparently so inhe- 
 rent in the nature of East-Indians ; 
 and even the Europeans of Calcutta 
 already show a tendency that wav. 
 With the Gonds, the shades of differ- 
 ence in most cases have a reference 
 to dialect, as we find Gurra Gonds, 
 Bhopaul Gonds, the Raj Gond of 
 Deoghur, the Manjee Gond of Bus- 
 tar, and the Khattollee Gond of the 
 low countries. East and west of the 
 Lanjee hills are the Jaria Gond of 
 Chanda, the Marree Gond of Telin- 
 gana, the Bustar Gond, and the Koor- 
 koo Gond of the Mahadeo hills. The 
 Manjee, Marree, and Koorkoo Gonds 
 speak dialects distinct from the one 
 common to the rest. Of the two first 
 no specimens have been procured ; 
 but the Koorkoo dialect has been 
 found to resemble the language spoken 
 by the Lurkakoles, on the borders of 
 Singhboom. 
 
 In the Nagpoor dominions the 
 Gonds, like their Hindoo neighbours, 
 divide themselves into twelve and a 
 half castes, which again ramify into 
 endless subdivisions, according to the 
 number and nature of their house- 
 hold gods ; and their rules on the 
 subject of eating and drinking are 
 apparently as complicated and absurd 
 as those of the Brahminical sects. 
 The Gonds eat animal flesh without 
 distinction, even that of the cow, 
 and they rival the outcast Hindoos 
 in their eagerness after carrion. Their 
 language contains among its elemen- 
 tary words several of Telinga and Ta- 
 rn ul origin. The same mixture is to be 
 observed in the Koorkoo, which has 
 even a larger proportion of the latter ; 
 and a similar coincidence is said to 
 exist in the dialect of the tribes in- 
 habiting the Rajmahal hills. 
 
 The Gonds, as a people, have every 
 
018 
 
 GUNDWANA. 
 
 where a distinct physiognomy which 
 discriminates them from other tribes. 
 They have usually broad, and rather 
 flat noses, and thick lips, with not 
 unfrequently curly hair while young. 
 There is a great difference in size and 
 strength between the domesticated 
 Gonds of the plains and the wild 
 dwellers in the hills and jungles. The 
 first are tall, well-made, stout, and 
 sometimes even handsome and fair. 
 They are also good agricultural la- 
 bourers, faithful and intelligent, and 
 not quite so much given to lying as 
 their Hindoo and Mahomedan neigh- 
 bours. Even the wildest of this class 
 are not insensible to kind treatment, 
 or unwilling to adopt regular modes 
 of procuring a subsistence. On the 
 other hand, some of the ruder tribes 
 who inhabit the forests of Bustar and 
 Kuronde are as wild and untameable 
 as the New Hollander, and it is 
 among these chiefly that human sa- 
 crifices are still perpetrated. The 
 Maharattas, as far as their authority 
 reached, put a stop to this practice, 
 and the zemindars of Bustar and Ku- 
 ronde have been induced by the ex- 
 ertions of the British functionaries 
 to suppress it within their own limits : 
 it is to be apprehended, however, 
 that their laudable endeavours have 
 been but partially successful. Of 
 these Gonds the wildest are the Ma- 
 rees, who generally wander about 
 in a state of complete nudity, for 
 even their females have no covering 
 but aprons of leaves. Their food 
 consists principally of roots, vege- 
 tables, and the tender shoots of the 
 bamboo. They pav but little even 
 of nominal obedience to the Bustar 
 raja, reject all intercourse with other 
 tribes, and at stated periods try to 
 catch strangers in order to sacrifice 
 them to their gods. 
 
 The Gonds are mentioned in the 
 historical poems of the Hindoos as 
 being a powerful nation or tribe in 
 early times, and probably an aborigi- 
 nal people partly conquered and 
 converted by the Hindoos, and the 
 remainder driven to the hills and 
 jungles. The country over which 
 they are now scattered seems to 
 
 have been subject to different Hin- 
 doo princes, when the Mahomedans 
 first crossed the Nerbudda and in- 
 vaded the Deccan. The great Hin- 
 doo dynasty of Deoghur or Dow- 
 letabad is believed to have extended 
 beyond Berar, east to the Wyne Gun- 
 ga, and north to the Nerbudda* in- 
 cluding Candeish, Baitool, &c. To 
 the north-east of this state was the 
 kingdom of Gurrah, which, on the 
 north, stretched over Deoghur above 
 the ghauts, the present British east- 
 ern districts, the valley of the Ner- 
 budda, and beyond that river to 
 Bundelcund and Malwa, and on the 
 east to the districts of Wyne Gunga, 
 and probably Choteesghur. To the 
 south was the kingdom of Telingana, 
 including Chanda and the south- 
 western portions of Choteesghur, with 
 Bustar. Telingana and the Hindoo 
 empire of Deoghur were early dis- 
 membered and formed into the Bha- 
 menee empire of the Deccan, but 
 Gurrah was not subdued until the 
 reign of Acber. The Mussulmaun 
 princes of the Deccan extended over 
 most of the country between the 
 Wurdah and Wyne Gunga rivers, 
 and close up to the western boundary 
 of Deoghur above the ghauts. Kheir- 
 lah and Baitool, which were also 
 subdued by them, seem at one time 
 to have been the seats of a Hindoo 
 prince, probably a remnant of the 
 Hindoo family of Deoghur; and the 
 Mahomedan princes of Malwa and 
 Candeish had encroached on the ter- 
 ritories of the Gurrah dynasty on 
 the side of Bhopaul and the valley 
 of the Nerbudda, prior to its subju- 
 gation by Acber. A period of almost 
 total darkness follows the slight men- 
 tion of these circumstances in the 
 Mahomedan annals, and the chasm 
 is ill supplied by tradition. 
 
 In Aurengzebe’s time we find Gond 
 princes of considerable power in 
 Mundlah, Deoghur, and Chanda, and 
 the amount of tribute paid by the 
 two latter would indicate a higher 
 degree of opulence than could have 
 been expected. Tradition reports 
 that most of Deoghur above and be- 
 low the ghauts, after being devastated 
 
G UNI) W ANA. 
 
 619 
 
 by some great calamity, was overrun 
 and conquered by the Gowala or 
 cowherd tribe. Ferishta mentions 
 Asa Aher, the Gowala chief, and re- 
 puted founder of Aseerghur, as hav- 
 ing rule over Gundwana; but Jatha, 
 a Gond, subverted the power of the 
 Gowalas above the ghauts ; and his 
 descendant, Buhkt Boolind, carried 
 his arms beyond Nagpoor, and also 
 made conquests from Mundlah and 
 Chanda. The territory of Mundlah 
 also became the property of a Gond 
 dynasty by some unexplained revolu- 
 tion ; and the reigning family of 
 Chanda, termed Buihar Sahy (proba- 
 bly a remnant of the Warangol prin- 
 ces), were supplanted by successors 
 of the Gond tribe. 
 
 After the expulsion of Appa Saheb, 
 the ex-Raja of Nagpoor, in 1818, he 
 sought refuge among the wild Gond 
 tribes of the Mahadeo hills, which 
 brought on the temporary occupation 
 of the elevated plain of Puchmurry, 
 a commanding and central position, 
 both with regard to the Gond hills 
 and to the British territories on the 
 Nerbudda,in which these tribes were 
 in the habit of making predatory 
 incursions. Chyne Sah, of the Hur- 
 rye family, whose ancestors had ob- 
 tained possession of the Hurrye jag- 
 hire, situated in a mountainous jun- 
 gle, from the Raja of Deoghur, had 
 been the grand creator of all these 
 disturbances, by affording an asylum 
 to the ex-raja, and supporting his 
 cause; he was in consequence de- 
 posed, and permanently confined at 
 Chanda, where he died of the cho- 
 lera in 1820. The success of the 
 British troops caused most of the 
 Gond chiefs voluntarily to surrender, 
 and the British government at last ma- 
 naged to suppress the system of plun- 
 der and devastation so long habitual 
 to the inhabitants of the Mahadeo hills. 
 Indeed so effectual was the change, 
 that the Gonds subsequently adhered 
 to their reformed habits under circum- 
 stances of great poverty and distress. 
 The tracts in Gundwana acquired by 
 these events were found in a very re- 
 duced condition, and in 1819 only 
 yielded 1,84,000 rupees per annum ; 
 
 but the resources of several under a 
 state of tranquillity were considered 
 capable of great future improvement. 
 The pilgrim tax at the Mahadeo tem- 
 ple and the passes leading to it, which 
 had before been divided among many 
 Gond chiefs, and occasioned endless 
 disputes, was assumed by the British 
 government, which allotted shares to 
 each respectively. 
 
 Nagpoor is the modern capital of 
 Gundwana ; the ancient ones were 
 Deoghur, Mundlah, and Gurrah : but 
 here are no remains indicative that 
 the province at any era flourished as a 
 civilized or highly cultivated country. 
 Since the expulsion of Appa Saheb, 
 the ex-raja, a large portion, more es- 
 pecially north of the Nerbudda, has 
 been transferred to the British go- 
 vernment, and considerable progress 
 has been made in arranging its ju- 
 dicial and financial establishments. — - 
 (< Jenkins , Public MS. Documents , J. 
 Grant , Leclcie, Capt . Blunt , Col. Cole- 
 brooke, fyc.) 
 
 Guneishghur. ( Ganesa Ghar).-— 
 A town situated at the southern ex- 
 tremity of the Agra province, seventy- 
 five miles N. by W. from Seronge, 
 lat. 25° 7 N., Ion. 78° Iff E. 
 
 Gungaileo. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Ajmeer, seven miles N. by 
 E. from Kotah, lat. 25° 1 7' N., Ion. 
 75° 47' E. 
 
 Gungapoor. — A considerable 
 town in the province of Ajmeer, on 
 the road from Kotah to Odeypoor, 
 where Gunga Bhye, the wife of Mad- 
 hajee Sindia, lies buried. An esta- 
 blishment is kept up at the temple, 
 for the support of which some vil- 
 lages were formerly assigned, but the 
 revenues they yielded have been gra- 
 dually diverted to other purposes. — 
 (Tod, 8fc.) 
 
 Gungraur for Gungarar). — A 
 town in the province of Malwa, 
 which in 1820 was estimated to con- 
 tain 1500 houses ; lat. 23° 56' N., Ion. 
 75° 4U E., fifty-six miles north from 
 Oojeen. This town and pergunnah 
 formerly belonged to Holcar, but was 
 given to Zalim Singh of Kotah by 
 
620 
 
 GUNTOOR. 
 
 the treaty of Mundessor in 1817. 
 It is watered by the Cali Sind river 
 and from wells. — ( Malcolm , fyc.) 
 
 Gungawutty ( Gangavati). — A 
 small walled town with a mud-fort 
 in the province of Bejapoor, district 
 of Annagoondy, seven miles N. by E. 
 from the city of Annagoondy, or Bi- 
 janagur. At present it belongs to 
 the Nizam. At the fortified village 
 of Juntcull, about a mile to the south 
 of Gungawutty, there are some cu- 
 rious remains of Hindoo temples. — 
 ( Fullarton , §c.) 
 
 Gunnabum. — A very small village, 
 but provided with an excellent bun- 
 galow for the accommodation of Eu- 
 ropean travellers, situated in the 
 Northern Circars, district of Masu- 
 lipatam, about twenty-six miles tra- 
 velling distance S.W. from Ellore. 
 
 Gunnoorghur. — A town in the 
 province of Malwa, thirteen miles 
 N.W. from Hussingabad, lat. 22° 50' 
 N., Ion. 77° 34' E. 
 
 Gunterry (or Gungletcrry ) . — A 
 tract of country in the province of 
 Aurungabad, separated from Can- 
 deish by the Injadree hills. Candeish 
 is comparatively a low country. Gun- 
 terry, which joins it on the south, is 
 from 1,500, to 2,000 feet above the 
 level of the Tuptee. The east of 
 Gunterry, though open and fertile, 
 has been almost uninhabited since 
 the famine of 1803. — ( Public MS. 
 Documents , Jas. Fraser , fyc.) 
 
 Guntoor. — The fifth district of 
 the Northern Circars, which, with the 
 addition of Palnaud from the Carna- 
 tic, now forms a collectorate and ma- 
 gisterial jurisdiction under the Ma- 
 dras presidency. To the north it is 
 bounded by the Nizam’s territories 
 and the district of Masulipatam ; on 
 the south by the districts of Cudda- 
 pah and Ongoli ; to the east it has 
 the bay of Bengal ; and on the west 
 the dominions of the Nizam. In 
 A.D. 1786 the original Guntoor Cir- 
 car comprehended an area of 2,500 
 square miles, exclusive of the moun- 
 tainous tract on the west ; and its 
 general boundaries are the Krishna 
 
 to the north, and the Gondegama 
 (which separates it from the Carna- 
 tic) to the south. The geography, 
 however, of this quarter is as yet 
 but ill delineated, in even the best 
 modern maps, where the dislocations 
 of towns and villages are so nume- 
 rous, that a more exact survey ap- 
 pears requisite. The principal towns 
 are Guntoor, Junaconda, Camupaud, 
 and Nizampatam. 
 
 The earth of the Guntoor Circar, 
 in the neighbourhood of the populous 
 village of Mundarum, is much im- 
 pregnated with saltpetre. In this 
 vicinity the soil is black, and capable 
 of producing every sort of grain if 
 supplied with adequate moisture. 
 Unfortunately, however, the bed of 
 the Krishna lies too deep, and after 
 the periodical rains, which terminate 
 in November, it often happens that 
 not a drop of rain falls until next 
 July, for which reason rice cannot be 
 cultivated in any considerable quan- 
 tity. During the months of April, 
 May, and June, animals and vegeta- 
 bles suffer greatly for want of mois- 
 ture, and every thing exhibits the 
 appearance of decline and misery. 
 After the descent of the first showers 
 a very different scene is presented, 
 for the finest verdure immediately 
 springs up, and all nature seems re- 
 animated. The natural strength of 
 the soil is such, that in good years 
 Indian corn grows to the height of 
 six and seven feet, with ears a span 
 in length. The natives, who feed 
 principally on this grain, are stout 
 and healthy, and during the dry 
 months its straw affords the chief 
 nourishment for sheep and cattle. 
 Cotton is only partially cultivated in 
 detached pergunnahs, and is usually 
 sown along with grain of different 
 sorts ; but the soil and climate are 
 not considered favourable for its pro- 
 duction. Trees are not plentiful; 
 those seen are mostly clumps of 
 tamarind trees, which during the hot 
 season afford refreshing shelter to 
 the traveller. Mango, cocoa-nut, and 
 palmira trees are scarce, but mea- 
 sures have been taken to encourage 
 the cultivation of the latter. There 
 
GURDON. 
 
 621 
 
 are diamond mines in this Circar, but 
 it is a very long period since they 
 have been productive or profitable ; 
 and several ruins of Buddhist tem- 
 ples have been discovered within its 
 limits. 
 
 In 1765, when Lord Clive acquired 
 the other Northern Circars from the 
 Mogul, Guntoor remained in the pos- 
 session of Bazalet Jung, the Nizam’s 
 brother, to be enjoyed by him as a 
 jaghire during his life, after which it 
 was to devolve to the British govern- 
 ment. In 1779, a treaty was most 
 improperly concluded with Bazalet 
 Jung by the Madras government 
 (then noted for peculation), without 
 the consent of the Nizam, for the 
 cession of Guntoor, and a few months 
 after it was granted by the same pre- 
 sidency to Mahomed Ali, the Car- 
 natic Nabob, on a lease of ten 
 years ; but the whole transaction was 
 abrogated next year by the govern- 
 ment of Bengal. Bazalet Jung died 
 in 1782, but the country was not oc- 
 cupied by British functionaries until 
 1786, a tribute of six lacs of rupees 
 being still payable to the Nizam. In 
 1803, when the present Nizam suc- 
 ceeded his father on the throne of 
 Hyderabad, he offered to relinquish 
 the tribute; but the offer was refused 
 by the Marquis Wellesley, and it was 
 regularly paid until 1823, when the 
 whole was finally redeemed by the 
 payment of .£1,200,000 to the Ni- 
 zam. In 1816 Guntoor suffered 
 dreadful ravages from a numerous 
 body of Pindarries, which entered it 
 from the western borders of Masuli- 
 patam, and during eleven days’ stay 
 in this and the neighbouring district 
 of Cuddapah, plundered 339 villages, 
 killed or caused to destroy them- 
 selves 182 persons, wounded 505, 
 and tortured in different ways 3,603 
 persons. In 1817 the total gross 
 collection of the public revenue in 
 the Guntoor district was 4,12,738 
 star pagodas.^ — ( Oakes, F. W. Robert- 
 son , Hodgson , Fennell , Fifth Report , 
 §c.) 
 
 Guntoor. — The chief town of the 
 preceding circar, situated in lat. 16° 
 
 17' N., Ion. 80° 3^ E., forty-eight 
 miles west from Masulipatam. This 
 is an extensive, but irregularly built 
 and mean town, or rather village ; for 
 although some of the houses are roof- 
 ed with tile, while others are only 
 thatched, the walls of both are mud, 
 and there is neither temple or edifice 
 of note within its whole precincts. 
 Trees, however, abound, and it is di- 
 vided into two portions by an exten- 
 sive reservoir, to the west of which 
 stand the courts of justice and bun- 
 galows of the civilians. In 1816 it 
 was attacked by the Pindarries, and 
 for four hours pillaged ; but the trea- 
 sur}', although almost defenceless, 
 owing to the extreme cowardice of 
 these miscreants, escaped plunder, 
 and was subsequently fortified with a 
 mud wall and bastions. — ( Fullarton , 
 
 4*0 
 
 Gurdon (or Garudun ). — This is a 
 regular Chinese station, and is so far 
 advanced among the mountains that 
 it may be considered as standing on 
 debateable land, on the verge of Ti- 
 bet and Northern Hindostan ; lat. 
 30° 32' N., Ion. 81° 7' E., seventeen 
 miles south from Lake Manasarovara. 
 Gurdon is at all times a permanent 
 mart for trade ; but in the month of 
 November there is an annual fair, 
 which is resorted to by merchants 
 from Cashmere and Lahdack, and bu- 
 siness to a considerable amount is tran- 
 sacted. The principal articles brought 
 from China are wool, woollen cloths, 
 gold-dust, and tea. On these occa- 
 sions the circulating medium is a coin 
 named timashi, struck at Lahdack 
 from ingots of silver brought all the 
 way from China ; and gold-dust in 
 many cases supplies the place of coin. 
 It has been computed that from 1 5,000 
 to 20,000 fleeces are annually brought 
 to the markets of Gurdon and Tacla- 
 gur ; but the goats’-hair used in the 
 manufacture of shawls is not to be 
 met with at either station, the sale 
 of this article being almost monopo- 
 lized at Lahdack. It is said that these 
 fleeces fetch only one rupee. The 
 gold dust is delivered separately, in 
 small parcels tied in a rag, one of 
 
cm 
 
 GURROTE, 
 
 which is called a titang, and contains 
 about eighty grains apothecaries’ 
 weight, worth about fourteen shil- 
 lings sterling. It is probable that 
 pearls, coral, shanks (large buckie 
 shells), and broad-cloth, to the aggre- 
 gate amount of 1 0,000 rupees, might 
 be here annually disposed of. — ( Webb. 
 *c.) 
 
 Gurhoura. — A large and well- 
 peopled village in the province of 
 Allahabad, belonging to the raja of 
 Ditteah, near to which is a remark- 
 able subterranean bath, built by one 
 of the female ancestors of his family. 
 In length it is about 190 feet, breadth 
 eighteen ; and depth, from the surface 
 of the earth to the bottom of the well, 
 by a flight of stairs, fifty-seven feet. 
 It is constructed of hewn granite and 
 cemented with chunam. — ( Public 
 Journals , fyc.) 
 
 Gurnitdy. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Bengal, district of Backer- 
 gunge, situated on the west bank of 
 the Puddah or Great Ganges ; lat. 
 22° 50' N., Ion. 90° 11' E. 
 
 Gurrah ( Gura ). — A large division 
 of the province of Gundw'ana, situated 
 about the twenty-third degree of north 
 latitude, and intersected by the Ner- 
 budda and some of its tributaries. 
 The town of Gurrah stands in lat. 
 23° 9' N., Ion. 80° 16' E., 150 miles 
 N.N.E. from the city of Nagpoor. In 
 the remote times of Hindoo antiquity 
 this was the capital of a considerable 
 Hindoo principality, which compre- 
 hended Bhatta, Sohagepoor, Chotees- 
 ghur, Sumbhulpoor, Gangpoor, Jush- 
 poor, and other contiguous districts. 
 In the reign of Aurungzebe the divi- 
 sion of Bhatta or Baundhoo, consist- 
 ing of the six divisions above-men- 
 tioned, was considered as a new con- 
 quest, although it had previously been 
 partially subjected, and was formally 
 annexed to the province of Allaha- 
 bad. The real dimensions of Gurrah 
 are very uncertain ; but it is known 
 to occupy a considerable portion of 
 the upper valley, through which the 
 Nerbudda flows, and that it compre- 
 hends a large tract of fertile, but in 
 most parts uncultivated and thinly 
 
 peopled territory. The principal 
 towns are Jubbulpoor (the Maharatta 
 capital), Gurrah, Panagur, and Sirre- 
 nuggur; the whole of which in 1818 
 were ceded to the British govern- 
 ment. In the town of Gurrah there 
 was formerly a mint established, in 
 which an inferior rupee, named the 
 ballashahy, was coined. The modern 
 town of Gurrah stands in a most sin- 
 gular pass, and extends through and 
 along the face of a mountainous ridge 
 for about two miles, and along with 
 the country is now comprehended in 
 the following British district. — 
 (LccJcie, Fitzclarence , fyc.) 
 
 Gurrah Mundlaii. — A British 
 district thus named in the province 
 of Gundwana, consisting of cessions 
 acquired from the Nagpoor raja in 
 1818, situated principally about the 
 twenty-third degree of north lati- 
 tude, and towards the sources of the 
 Nerbudda. 
 
 In this part of India there are not 
 any fiscal officers called zemindars, 
 that appellation being only given to 
 the descendants of the jaghiredars of 
 the old native governments, who have 
 a stronger hereditary connexion with 
 the land than any other class. Many 
 of these are Gonds, who are consider- 
 ed the only indigenous portion of 
 the population ; and some have large 
 talooks, while others have only single 
 villages. They may be regarded as 
 the proprietors of their own estates, 
 but have not any office similar to 
 that of chowdry or desmookhs. The 
 only hereditary officer is the register 
 or accountant, here termed beobar, 
 and sometimes gomashta, but always 
 of the Kayst tribe. The heads of vil- 
 lages are called potaii or gurtul, the 
 use of the one term or the other de- 
 pending on caste. Among the Gonds 
 the term is bhow. — ( Molony , #c.) 
 
 Gurrote. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Malwa belonging to Holcar, 
 which in 1820 contained 500 houses ; 
 lat. 24° 20' N., Ion. 75° 43' E. It is 
 the head of a pergunnah, which at the 
 date above-mentioned contained 128 
 villages, and yielded a revenue exceed- 
 ing 20,000 rupees. — ( Malcolm , fyc.) 
 
GURWAL. 
 
 623 
 
 Gurrakota ( Garacata ). — A town 
 and fortress in the province of Alla- 
 habad, and formerly the capital of a 
 petty state tributary to Sindia, ninety 
 miles S.S.W. from Chatterpoor; lat. 
 23° 44' N., Ion. 79° 8' E. The for- 
 tress of Gurrakota stands at the con- 
 fluence of the Sonar and Girdavi ri- 
 vers, which wash the outer wall on 
 both sides, while towards the land 
 there is a wet ditch that unites them. 
 Its longest extent is 900 yards, and 
 its greatest breadth 300. its general 
 figure approaches that of a semicircle, 
 of which the chord of the diameter is 
 parallel to the banks of the Sonar, 
 the remainder being composed of 
 broken lines that touch the Girdavi, 
 and take the general figure of its 
 windings. A fausse-braye runs along 
 the bank of the river and the scarp 
 of the ditch, which is thirty feet 
 deep, and substantially rivetted ; but, 
 except during the wet season, the 
 Sonar at a particular spot may be 
 easily forded. About 1,600 yards 
 from the ditch a wall extends between 
 the two rivers, and is continued for 
 the space of a few hundred yards 
 along the Sonar. The space thus 
 inclosed is nearly waste. This town 
 and fortress were ceded by Sindia, 
 whose orders to surrender were re- 
 sisted by the commandant. It was 
 in consequence invested and captured 
 by a British detachment, and the go- 
 vernor sent prisoner to Gualior. In 
 1 820 th e Bengal government determin- 
 ed on restoring to Arjoon Singh, the 
 expelled raja of Gurrakota, the whole 
 of the lands he had been dispossessed 
 of, in consequence of his forcible oc- 
 cupation of the place. This was ac- 
 cordingly done, after lopping off such 
 tracts as were intermixed with the 
 British district of Saugor, and reduc- 
 ing the Gurrahkota domains to a 
 compact form and clearly defined 
 boundary. — {Blacker, Public MS. 
 Documents, §c.) 
 
 Gurrumcondah. — A hilly district 
 in the Balaghaut ceded territories, 
 situated between the thirteenth and 
 fourteenth degrees of north latitude, 
 and at present comprehended in the 
 
 collectorate of Cuddapah. This tract 
 of country lies near the verge of the 
 eastern ghauts, and presents a moun- 
 tainous surface, rather thinly inha- 
 bited, but very productive under suit- 
 able cultivation. It is watered by 
 many torrents from the hills, but has 
 no river of magnitude. 
 
 Gurrumcondah. — A strong hill- 
 fort in the Balaghaut ceded districts, 
 the capital of the preceding district, 
 situated in lat. 13° 46' N., Ion. 78° 
 34' E., 130 miles N.W. from Ma- 
 dras. In 1791 this fortress was be- 
 sieged by the Nizam’s army, assisted 
 by a small British corps, which storm- 
 ed the lower fort without much loss, 
 and was afterwards ordered south to 
 join the grand army. A body of the 
 Nizam’s troops were left to garrison 
 the lower fort and blockade the up- 
 per, under the command of one of 
 the Nizam’s officers: who was shortly 
 after attacked by Hyder Saheb, Tip- 
 poo’s eldest son, totally routed, and 
 slain. After supplying the upper fort 
 with necessaries, Hyder Saheb re- 
 tired, having fully accomplished the 
 object for which he had been de- 
 tached. — {MSS., &c.) 
 
 Gurur. — A town in the province 
 of Allahabad, fifty-seven miles south 
 from Teary ; lat. 23° 56' N., Ion. 78° 
 53' E. 
 
 Gurut.— A small town in the pro- 
 vince of Agra, situated on the north 
 bank of the Jumna river, eighteen 
 miles east from Kalpee ; lat. 26° 6' N., 
 Ion. 79° 59' E. 
 
 Gurwal ( Garhawal). — A pro- 
 vince of Northern Hindostan, situated 
 between the thirtieth and thirty-first 
 degrees of north latitude. To the 
 north it is separated from Tibet by 
 the Himalaya mountains ; on the 
 south it has the great plain of the 
 Ganges ; to the east its limits are de- 
 fined by the Dauli, Alacananda, and 
 Ramgunga rivers ; and to the west by 
 the course of the Jumna. The super- 
 ficial contents may be estimated at 
 9,000 square miles, and containing 
 two geographical subdivisions, viz. 
 Gurwal proper, which occupies the 
 
624 
 
 GURWAL. 
 
 whole of the lower ranges of hills ; 
 and the sources of the Ganges, com- 
 prehending the holy and alpine region 
 whence that river springs. In former 
 times this principality also included 
 Kumaon, when Gurwal was designated 
 by a term signifying lacks, and Ku- 
 maon by one signifying eight lacks, 
 but it lias not been clearlv ascertained 
 whether these numbers nad reference 
 to revenue or population. In 1814, 
 the Gorkhas had undisputed posses- 
 sion of the whole country to the de- 
 pendencies of China; but since their 
 expulsion a new distribution has taken 
 place, separating it into two distinct 
 portions : the British government hav- 
 ing retained the Deyrah Poon, the 
 passes of the Ganges and Jumna at 
 either extremity of that valley, as also 
 all the country to the eastward of the 
 Bhagirathi andAlacananda, which last- 
 mentioned tract has been annexed to 
 Kumaon, and the remainder restored 
 to the expatriated Gurwal Raja. The 
 present boundaries, therefore, of his 
 territories to the eastward, are the 
 Alacananda from Rudraprayag, until 
 its junction with the Bhagirathi, and 
 thence to the plains by the united 
 streams forming the Ganges, and 
 above Rudraprayag where the Alaca- 
 nanda receives the Mandakini, by the 
 latter river. All the country to the 
 east of that line has been permanently 
 incorporated with Kumaon. 
 
 On the south, towards Lolldong, 
 the whole face of this province is an 
 assemblage of hills, jumbled together 
 in various forms and directions; some- 
 times in parallel chains, but of no 
 great extent, and often connected at 
 their termination by narrow ridges 
 running across the vallies at right an- 
 gles. The summits of all are usually 
 narrow, and of various shapes, and 
 the distance between each range short ; 
 the vallies in consequence are so con- 
 fined that in many parts it would be 
 difficult to find a spot large enough 
 to accommodate a corps of one thorn- 
 sand men. Some of these ranges are 
 covered with trees and always green ; 
 others are naked and stony, affording 
 shelter for neither birds or beasts. 
 On the eastern borders of Gurwal, 
 
 among the lower range of mountains, 
 are extensive forests of oak, holly, 
 horse-chestnut, and fir, and beds of 
 strawberries are also seen, equalling 
 in flavour those of Europe. But a 
 small portion of this extensive coun- 
 try is either populated or cultivated, 
 a very large proportion of its surface 
 being left in the possession of the 
 wild animals. 
 
 The inhabitants of Gurwal and 
 Kumaon are termed Khasyas, as hav- 
 ing settled in the Khas country ; but 
 all pretend to be descended from co- 
 lonies that have migrated from the 
 south, and disclaim all connection with 
 the original and impure barbarians. 
 West from Gurwal the designation of 
 Khas is altogether rejected, and it is 
 asserted that the impure race never 
 held the country. Although only se- 
 parated by a small river, the inhabi- 
 tants of Gurwal differ much in their 
 appearance from those of Kumaon, 
 being considerably stronger and more 
 active. But the first, although more 
 robust than the Kumaonies, appear 
 equally devoid of the energy usually 
 attributed to highlanders, for although 
 oppressed by the Gorkfias, and sold 
 by hundreds into slavery, they never 
 made any effort to assert their inde- 
 pendence. Yet their country is re- 
 markably strong, the mountains being 
 lofty and precipitous, and separated 
 at their bases only by deep water- 
 courses and streams, formed by the 
 numerous rivulets and torrents that 
 pour down their sides. 
 
 The Bhagirathi and Alacananda, 
 which by their junction at Devaprayag 
 form the Ganges, are the largest rivers 
 of Gurwal. The first has a course 
 from north to south ; the last from 
 N.E. to S.W., and towards them all 
 the other streams have a natural in- 
 clination. The Bilhang, which falls 
 into the Bhagirathi, the Mandakini, 
 the Pinden, the Mancjacoki, the Birke, 
 and the Pauli, all of which join the 
 Alacananda, may be denominated 
 streams of the second order. Of 
 these some approach in magnitude the 
 river they unite with ; a majority 
 have their sources in the Himalaya 
 mountains, which one (the Pauli) ac- 
 
GURWAL. 
 
 6 <25 
 
 tually penetrates, and is certainly the 
 remotest source of the Ganges. None 
 of these streams being fordable, they 
 are crossed by rope and plat-form 
 bridges at the most convenient points 
 of communication, the masses of 
 rock and stones by which their chan- 
 nels are encumbered preventing in 
 most places the use of boats. The 
 roads are mere footpaths carried along 
 the slope of a mountain, in the di- 
 rection of the principal streams and 
 water-courses. Serinagur the former 
 capital, is the only town of note, next 
 to which comes Barahat, the modern 
 residence of the Gurwal Raja; but 
 the province abounds with celebrated 
 places of worship, which seem to have 
 been held sacred by the Hindoos for 
 many ages, although there is reason 
 to suppose that the conversion of the 
 inhabitants to the Brahminical faith 
 is an occurrence of no great antiquity. 
 Four of the five Prayags, or holy 
 junctions of rivers, all renowned for 
 their sanctity and sin-dispelling privi- 
 leges, are within the limits of this 
 miserable principality, as is also Gan- 
 goutri, the source of the most revered 
 of rivers. 
 
 The country now called Gurwal 
 (Garhawal or Gar) at least in part, 
 formerly belonged to a petty chief of 
 low birth, who resided at Chandpoor, 
 and paid tribute to Karuverpoor, the 
 capital of a dynasty that has long dis- 
 appeared. About 360 years ago, a 
 Rajpoot came from the plains, and ex- 
 pelled the Chandpoor chief and esta- 
 blished his own family, which subse- 
 quently built Serinagur and for many 
 years were only known to fame as the 
 Serinagur Rajas. After the conquest 
 of Kumaon the Gorkha commanders, 
 in concert with Harsha Deb, a turbu- 
 lent Brahmin, attacked Gurwal, and 
 after a contest of two years, were on 
 the point of succeeding, when they 
 were recalled to Catmandoo in con- 
 sequence of the advance of a Chinese 
 army. Its conquest, however, was 
 subsequently effected in 1803 by Um- 
 mer Singh Thappa. No pretext or 
 excuse was ever held out for this at- 
 tack, nor does it appear that the 
 
 VOL. i. 
 
 natives of India ever considered a 
 pretence for a war necessary or in- 
 cumbent, although since their diplo- 
 matic intercourse with Europeans, 
 they have collected, and occasionally 
 when circumstances suit, make use of 
 many very good observations on the 
 subject. The Gurwal Raja, Pradyum- 
 na Sah, unable to oppose an effectual 
 resistance retired with his dependants 
 into the British territories, where, 
 having the family throne for 1,50,000 
 rupees, he raised some troops, re- 
 turned to the Deyrah Doon, and 
 fought a battle with the Gorkhas in 
 which he was defeated and slain. His 
 family, however, escaped and in 1814 
 resided at Futtehghur. 
 
 During the wars of 1814-15 between 
 the Gorkhas and the British, the 
 entire apathy and neglect of the ex- 
 iled Raja, his family, and adherents, 
 towards contributing by their exer- 
 tions to its success, was such, as left 
 the country at the disposal of the 
 British government, unshackled by 
 any engagement resulting from the 
 conditions on which the Raja was in- 
 vited to join and co-operate, and 
 Gurwal might safely be viewed as a 
 country conquered from the Gorkhas, 
 by the unaided efforts of his European 
 allies. The latter, however, did not 
 take advantage of that circumstance, 
 further than to complete, with such 
 variations and extensions as expedi- 
 ency might suggest, the original in- 
 tention contemplated, and carefully 
 made known to the Raja, of retaining 
 the Deyrah Doon, including the fer- 
 ries on the Ganges and Jumna, to- 
 gether with the territories lying to the 
 east of the Bhagirathi and Alacananda 
 as boundary streams. The question 
 respecting the large district of Ro- 
 ween was reserved for future consi- 
 deration, which ultimately terminated 
 in its restoration to the raja, whose 
 hopeless condition a short time back 
 must have precluded all expectation 
 of ever recovering any fraction of his 
 hereditary dominions. The aggregate 
 revenue of the territory thus restored, 
 amounted to 40,000 rupees per annurp 
 subject to no other charge than the 
 
 2 s 
 
626 
 
 GUTPURBA RIVER. 
 
 expense of the civil administration, 
 and of the raja’s family ; the British 
 government undertaking the military 
 protection and all other contingents 
 arising from the connection with 
 Gurwal. 
 
 The Nepaulese rulers had counted 
 the houses and villages in the portion 
 given up to the Raja, and according 
 to one report they amounted to 1,129 
 villages, and 5,144 houses, which at 
 five to a house would give 25,720 for 
 the number of inhabitants; but this 
 appears a singularly scanty population 
 for so extensive, and in many places 
 fertile tract of country. By the adop- 
 tion of the Alacananda for the eastern 
 boundary, the town of Serinagur, the 
 ancient capital, fell within the terri- 
 tory reserved by the British govern- 
 ment, in consequence of which the 
 raja fixed his residence at Barahaut, 
 where the details of his civil govern- 
 ment are conducted by his own offi- 
 cers, and the expense defrayed from 
 his own resources. 
 
 Previous to the re-establishment of 
 the raja a sunnud was delivered to 
 him, specifying the conditions of the 
 grant, which were, that he would go- 
 vern his subjects with lenity and 
 justice, promote agriculture and com- 
 merce, and abolish the traffic in 
 slaves. It was also stipulated that 
 he should not alienate or mortgage 
 any portion of his dominions without 
 permission ; that he should furnish 
 hill-porters and supplies when want- 
 ed, and generally perform all the ob- 
 ligations of allegiance and fidelity ; in 
 return for which he would be pro- 
 tected by the British troops, which 
 were however only to be employed 
 for the maintenance of public tran- 
 quillity, and for strengthening his au- 
 thority when the ordinary local esta- 
 blishments were found ineffectual. It 
 was thought advantageous that the 
 least possible degree of interference 
 in the details of the internal adminis- 
 tration should be exercised by the 
 British government, but that its ad- 
 vice and assistance should not be 
 withheld, nor even its direct inter- 
 position, when necessary to check 
 mismanagement, or prevent the re- 
 
 currence of anarchy and confu- 
 sion. 
 
 Besides the Deyrah Doon, valued 
 at 22,264 rupees per annum, the other 
 sections of Gurwal, annexed to the 
 Kumaon district, were valued at 
 37,000 rupees per annum, exclusive 
 of the sayer or variable imposts. 
 The copper mines of Dhunpoor were 
 leased, in 1816, for 1,850 Furruck- 
 abad rupees. Those of Nagpoor, 
 which formerly yielded 52,000 rupees 
 per annum, during the confusion con- 
 sequent on the Gorkha invasion had 
 been abandoned, and became choked 
 up with rubbish, to recover them 
 from which condition required much 
 more capital than a native miner 
 usually possesses. It was soon disco- 
 vered that a disproportionate quantity 
 of rent-free land was attached to 
 temples and other religious buildings, 
 the resumption of which might cause 
 an impression unfavourable to the 
 character of the British government 
 for liberality and toleration, in mat- 
 ters connected with the faith and re- 
 ligious usages of all classes of their 
 native subjects ; it was in conse- 
 quence determined that the revenue 
 of the pergunnahs so appropriated 
 should be continued, provided that 
 the commissioner was satisfied they 
 would not be diverted from their 
 original purpose, and, as too fre- 
 quently happens, converted to a 
 source of individual emolument. The 
 repair of the road also from Se- 
 rinagur to Badrinath also appeared 
 an object of some importance, as 
 encouraging the resort of a greater 
 number of pilgrims, and thereby pro- 
 moting the intercourse and traffic be- 
 tween the plains and the immense 
 hills whence spring the sources of 
 the Ganges. — ( Raper , Public MS. 
 Documents , F. Buchanan , Trail, W. 
 Fraser , Hardivicke , fyc.) 
 
 Gutpurba River ( Gatapurva ). — 
 A small river in the province of Be- 
 japoor, which has its rise among the 
 western ghauts near Gunderghur, 
 and after a course of about 100 miles 
 joins the Krishna, and proceeds with 
 it to the bay of Bengal. Like all 
 
HAINAN ISLE 
 
 627 
 
 mountain streams in this part of In- 
 dia, the Gutpurba is subject during 
 the monsoon to sudden and extra- 
 ordinary risings and fallings. Be- 
 tween the village of Koonoor and 
 Gocauk it descends from an elevated 
 table-land to the low country in the 
 form of a magnificent cataract. — 
 ( Fullarton , #c.) 
 
 G uzgotta ( Gajacala , the elephant 
 fort ). — A small town in the province 
 of Bengal, district of Rungpoor, ten 
 miles north from the town of Rung- 
 poor; lat. 25° 50' N., Ion. 89° 15' E. 
 
 Guzzelhutty Ghaut. — A re- 
 markable mountain-pass, forming the 
 principal communication between the 
 Mysore table-land and the province 
 of Coimbatoor, and commencing 
 about fifty-one miles S. by E. from 
 the city of Mysore. It was greatly 
 improved about twelve years ago by 
 the formation of a broad practicable 
 carriage-road, which winds down the 
 face of the mountains. A bungalow 
 for the accommodation of travellers 
 has been erected in the little town of 
 Tallimally, at the head of the pass, 
 and at its lower declivity, near a 
 handsome bridge of three arches 
 across a mountain stream, another 
 bungalow and choultry have been 
 constructed, but suffered to go to 
 ruin. At the base of this pass rolls 
 the rapid and formidable torrent of 
 the Mayaur, and close to its left bank 
 are the old fort of Guzzelhutty, now 
 choked up with jungle and a small 
 endowed choultry, attended by few 
 Brahmins within, and without by 
 many wild beasts. 
 
 The scenery here is magnificent. 
 The mass of the Neelgherry moun- 
 tains rises immediately to the south, 
 separated from the Mysore table-land 
 only by the chasm through which the 
 Mayaur flows, and preserving to the 
 eye a bold and abrupt acclivity of 
 probably not less than 4,000 feet, with 
 a swelling green-sward on the sum- 
 mit. The perpendicular height of 
 the pass itself above the valley of the 
 Mayaur may be about 2,000 feet. — 
 
 ( Fullarton } fyc.) 
 
 H. 
 
 Hadjee Omar Kalaudy. — A place 
 of refreshment in the province of 
 Mooltan, district of Tatta, fifteen 
 miles east from Corachie. About a 
 mile to the S.W. of this place the soil 
 is a fine loam, overflowed during the 
 freshes by the Indus. 
 
 Hadjigunge. — A small town in 
 the province of Bengal, district of 
 Dacca Jelalpoor, twenty-nine miles 
 W.S.W. from Dacca ; lat. 23° 31' N., 
 Ion. 89° 53' E. 
 
 Hadjypoor.— -A town in the pro- 
 vince of Bahar, district of Tirhoot, 
 situated on the north-east side of the 
 Ganges, where it joins the Gunduck, 
 nearly opposite to Patna ; lat. 25° 41' 
 N., Ion. 85° 21' E. The soil of the 
 surrounding country is peculiarly pro- 
 ductive of saltpetre, and it is from 
 hence and the adjacent division of 
 Sarun that the greater part of that 
 article intended for the Company’s 
 investment is procured. In Novem- 
 ber an annual horse fair is held in the 
 vicinity, when horse races are also 
 exhibited. In 1807 the whole num- 
 ber of horses, exposed at the fair 
 amounted to near 6,000,two of which, 
 from the government stud, sold for 
 4,000 rupees each. At the fair of 
 1816 the show of horses indicated a 
 great improvement of the breed with- 
 in the districts under the influence of 
 the stud, and a large batch of zemin- 
 dary colts and fillies were purchased 
 by the officers of the stud on govern- 
 ment account. — (.7. Grant , fyc.) 
 
 Hainan Isle. — A large island in 
 the China sea situated at the southern 
 extremity of the empire, between the 
 18th and 20th degrees of north la- 
 titude. In length it may be estimated 
 at 190 miles, by seventy the average 
 breadth. In A.D. 1805, according to 
 Captain Krusenstern, the Ladrone 
 pirates who infest the coast of Chi- 
 na had obtained possession of Hai- 
 nan, but the survivors of the crews 
 of several British .vessels wrecked on 
 this island since the above date de- 
 scribe it as populous, well cultivated, 
 
 2 s 2 
 
628 
 
 HANGARANG. 
 
 and carrying on an extensive traffic 
 with the main-land of China, to which 
 it continued in regular subjection. 
 
 Hairumbo ( Hedamba ). — The an- 
 cient name of a country bordering on 
 Assam and Silhet in Bengal, in mo- 
 dern times named Cachar, under 
 which head it will be found described. 
 
 Haldubary. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Bengal, district of Purneah, 
 situated on the east side of the Ma- 
 hananda river, fifty-five miles N.E. 
 from the town of Purneah ; lat. 26° 
 20' N., Ion. 87° 59' E. The pergun- 
 nah, or rather estate, in which Hal- 
 derbary stands, is one of the largest 
 in the Purneah district, containing 
 about half a million of acres, besides 
 a portion of Dinagepoor. During 
 the reign of Acber it was but a 
 small territory, the greater part of 
 which belonged to the Bhooteas of 
 Sikkim, and being overspread with 
 jungle, was much frequented by 
 thieves. In this condition it remain- 
 ed until Seid Khan, a stranger, ob- 
 tained possession, drove the Bhoo- 
 teas to the mountains, and erected 
 a fortress at Haldubary. — {F. Bucha- 
 nan, #c.) 
 
 Hallaur (or HalawarJ . — A di- 
 vision of the Gujerat province which 
 derives its name from Halla, a Jah- 
 rejah chief, and comprehends the 
 whole country conquered by his des- 
 cendants. The boundary of this 
 country to the north is the gulf of 
 Cutch ; on the west the Burudda 
 mountains, the ocean, and Oka- 
 mundel; on the south the river Bha- 
 dur and Cattywar ; on the east the 
 district of Muchoo, Kaunta, and 
 Cattywar. The eastern parts are 
 hilly and rocky, but the soil in ge- 
 neral is light, and well adapted for 
 the cultivation of bajaree, jowaree, 
 and in some parts of wheat — bajaree 
 and cotton are exported. Trees are 
 seldom met with in Hallaur, to re- 
 medy which defect, the Jam of Noa- 
 nagur order the heads of villages to 
 plant a certain number of mango-trees 
 annually. The fabulous history of the 
 Jahrejahs traces their descent from 
 the four Jadoos ; but at present few 
 
 of the independent chieftains trace 
 their lineage beyond Rawul, the 
 youngest son of Humeer, the sove- 
 reign of Cutch. The principal of 
 these, after the Jam of Noanagur, are 
 the chiefs of Dehrole, Rajacote, 
 Goundul, Kotra, and Drauppa ; but 
 the internal administration of these 
 petty states is entirely in the hands 
 of the Nagne Brahmins, who pro- 
 mote and encourage the dissipated 
 habits of their respective chiefs, so 
 that, until the interference of the 
 British government, confusion, anar- 
 chy, and dissention prevailed through 
 every corner of this miserable coun- 
 try. — ( Macmurdo , Walker , tyc.) 
 
 Hallole. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Gujerat, fifty-two miles 
 E.N.E. from Cambay ; lat. 22° 32' N., 
 Ion. 73° 22' E. 
 
 Hambangtotte. — A bay and fort 
 on the S.W. coast of Ceylon, much 
 frequented by small craft to load salt ; 
 lat. 6° 8' N., Ion. 81° Iff E., forty 
 miles E.N.E. from Dondra Head. 
 
 Hangarang.— A pergunnah north 
 of the true Himalaya, bounded on 
 the south by the district of Kuna- 
 wur, and subject to the principality 
 ofBussaher. The villages here are 
 all perfectly Tartar, and exhibit a 
 striking difference in appearance and 
 language to those of Kunawur. The 
 appearanceof this pergunnah is strange 
 and melancholy ; mountains bare of 
 forest, but covered above with a little 
 snow, of a rounded form with gentle 
 declivities, but broken towards the 
 Sutuleje into abrupt and precipitous 
 abysses, bare of vegetation. Although 
 now subject to Bussaher, this tract 
 must have formerly been part of 
 Lahdack. The separation of Bussa- 
 her from Hangarang is decided and 
 strongly marked, whereas from the 
 latter to Lahdack there is no diffe- 
 rence perceptible. 
 
 Hangarang produces wheat, barley, 
 ooa, papar, and turnips, but no rice, 
 not even the kind peculiar to high 
 and dry situations. There is but 
 one harvest season. The trees, such 
 as apricots, willows, dog-roses, goose- 
 berry, currants, and whins, are all 
 
HAROWTY. 
 
 629 
 
 stunted, and only to be found near 
 villages and in the beds of streams. 
 In 1819 the pergunnah contained 
 nine villages, the revenue of which 
 was 900 rupees per annum, and the 
 inhabitants carried on a small trade 
 with Lahdack and Gortope, from 
 which last they bring salt and wool. 
 They manufacture a coarse sort of 
 blanket-stuff,* but ponies and mules 
 compose a great proportion of their 
 wealth. The pergunnah at present 
 is poor, naked, and barren, and is prin- 
 cipally valuable as a channel of com- 
 munication with the Lahdackies and 
 other Tartar tribes. — ( Herbert , #c.) 
 
 Hangarang Pass. — A pass thus 
 named in Tibet, between Hang and 
 Soongnam, elevated 14,710 feet above 
 the level of the sea ; lat. 31° 47' N., 
 Ion. 78° 31' E. The summit of this 
 pass is entirely composed of lime- 
 stone, and in October 1819 was with- 
 out snow, and horses were seen run- 
 ning loose and feeding 15,000 feet 
 above the ocean. A few hundred 
 feet higher there were patches of 
 snow. — ( Hodgson and Herbert , fyc.) 
 
 Rangwelle. — A little fort in the 
 island of Ceylon, situated on the Ka- 
 lany Gunga river, eight miles road 
 distance east from Columbo. The 
 intervening country is well inhabited ; 
 lat. 6° 55' N., Ion. 79° 54' E. 
 
 Hansoot (Hansavati ). — A town 
 in the province of Gujerat, fourteen 
 miles S.W. from Broach ; lat. 21° 39' 
 N., Ion. 73° 3' E. In 1812 the total 
 population of the Hansoot pergunnah 
 was ascertained to be, Hindoos 1 3,938, 
 Mahomedans 915, Parsees 363 : total 
 18,955. And of the town, Hindoos 
 2,517, Mahomedans 1,091, Parsees 
 131 : total 3,739 persons. 
 
 Hansi.— A town in the province 
 of Delhi, sometimes named Hansi 
 Hissar, from its proximity to the 
 latter, and situated on the channel of 
 the canal constructed by Sultan Fe- 
 roze, about ninety-two miles W. by 
 N. from Delhi; lat. 28° 54' N., Ion. 
 75° 39' E. The fort here is strong, 
 for a native fortification, and is placed 
 on the top of a small hill, scarped. 
 
 and surrounded by a ditch. The 
 town lies immediately to the south, 
 and in 1810 contained few houses, 
 although the walls included a consi- 
 derable space of ground. On the 
 east is an excellent brick tank ; and 
 vestiges of the Chittung canal, or wa- 
 ter-course, are still to be seen. Hansi 
 was captured by the Ghizni Maho- 
 medans so early as A.D. 1035, and 
 towards the end of the eighteenth 
 century again attracted notice, as the 
 capital of the short-lived principality 
 erected by the adventurer George 
 Thomas. — {Lieut. White , G. Thomas , 
 Rennell , fyc.) 
 
 Harponelly. — A division of the 
 Balaghaut ceded districts, bounded 
 on the north and west by the Toom- 
 buddra river. The town of Har- 
 ponelly stands in lat. 14° 44' N., Ion. 
 76° 8' E., sixty-one miles W.S.W. 
 from Bellary. The country here is 
 not so hilly as further east, but there 
 are some strong positions, the most 
 noted of which is Oochinadroog. 
 The Raja of Harponelly continued 
 independent until A.D. 1774, when 
 his principality was conquered by 
 Hyder, and annexed to his dominions 
 as a tributary appendix. On the fall 
 of Seringapatam the ostensible heir 
 took possession of Harponelly, and 
 is now a jaghiredar under the British 
 government. It is supposed he had 
 no just claim to the estate, but was 
 merely a boy set up by the Brahmins, 
 who held the principal offices under 
 the former rajas, to perpetuate the 
 management of affairs in their own 
 hands. In this manner rajas and 
 zemindars are every where created in 
 the British dominions, because the 
 chief native servants, in order to se- 
 cure their own situations, which are 
 in general hereditary, whenever the 
 line is extinct, take care to bring 
 forward a child from some quarter.— 
 ( MunrOy Moor , #c.) 
 
 Harowty (Harouta or HaravatiJ. 
 — A large division of the Ajmeer pro- 
 vince, situated principally between 
 the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth de- 
 grees of north latitude. Its bounda- 
 ries are : on the north, Keroulee ; on 
 
630 
 
 HATRAS. 
 
 the south, the Muckundra hills, which 
 separate it from Malwa; on the east 
 Dandair ; and on the west, Mewar. 
 Harowty is nearly on a level with 
 Malwa, and possesses the same ge- 
 neral features and natural advantages, 
 with the exception of its climate, 
 which, from its more elevated hilly 
 girdle, is much warmer. It is well 
 peopled, and has a fine black soil, 
 highly cultivated and abundantly wa- 
 tered by the Kali Sinde, Parbutty, 
 Chumbul, &c., which in their pas- 
 sage through Harowty become consi- 
 derable streams. In some parts also 
 the lands are irrigated by conduits 
 brought from lakes, which, like the 
 great reservoirs of the Carnatic and 
 Mysore, seem to be usually formed 
 by artificial embankments. The prin- 
 cipal towns are Kotah, Patun, and 
 Boondee, the first and last of which 
 are the capitals of Rajpoot princes, 
 who almost divide the district. Pa- 
 tun, or, as it is commonly called, Jal- 
 rapatun, founded by Zalim Singh the 
 regent of Kotah, has within twenty 
 years risen from a village to be one 
 of the handsomest and most opulent 
 cities of Upper Hindostan. The name 
 Harowty indicates that it is the coun- 
 try of the Hara tribe ; but the culti- 
 vators are a mixture of Rajpoots, 
 Jauts, Brahmins, Bheels, and other 
 low tribes. Of the words of the 
 Lord’s Prayer in the Harowty lan- 
 guage, twenty-two were identified by 
 the missionaries as the same with 
 those of the Bengalese and Hindos- 
 tany specimens. The practice of 
 erecting cheterees, or sculptured mo- 
 numents in commemoration of de- 
 ceased persons of rank or military 
 caste, appears almost peculiar to the 
 south-eastern parts of the Ajmeer 
 province, more especially in Harowty, 
 where they are of surpassing size and 
 superior workmanship. — - ( Malcolm , 
 Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 Harriorfoor ( HariharapuraJ . — 
 A Gorkha fort in Northern Hindos- 
 tan, district of Muckwanpoor, com- 
 manding the Bogmutty river ; lat. 27° 
 15' N., Ion. 85° 28' E., forty-two miles 
 S.E. from Catmandoo. 
 
 Harriorpoor. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Orissa, the capital of the 
 large zemindary of Mohurbunge, and 
 residence of the proprietor ; lat. 21° 
 51' N., Ion. 86° 42' E., twenty-eight 
 miles N. by W. from Balasore. 
 
 Hasser. — See Aseerghur. 
 
 Hattia Isle. — An island in the 
 province of Bengal, district of Chit- 
 tagong, formed by the sediment of 
 the great Megna, and fourteen miles 
 long by about ten the average breadth. 
 On the western side it is now nearly 
 joined by alluvions to the adjacent 
 island of Dukkinshababazpoor. Al- 
 though Hattia be in the jurisdiction 
 and collectorate of Chittagong, it is 
 separated from the main land of that 
 district by two considerable arms of 
 the sea, so as to render the commu- 
 nication difficult even in moderate 
 weather, and altogether impractica- 
 ble for two or three weeks during the 
 south-western monsoon. The surface 
 of this island lies extremely low, and 
 at spring-tides, during the height of 
 the rains, is nearly submerged. It 
 is, notwithstanding, very productive 
 of grain, and yields salt, which is 
 manufactured here on government 
 account, and brings a high price at 
 the annual sales in Calcutta. 
 
 Hatras ( Hathras ). — A town in 
 the province of Agra, district of Ali- 
 ghur, thirty-one miles north from the 
 city of Agra ; lat. 27° 37' N., Ion. 75* 
 58' E. The fort is an oblong, its 
 longest diameter running nearly from 
 east to west, measuring 1,600 yards 
 round the glacis. The ditch is 120 
 feet wide and eighty-five deep, and 
 the body of the place 400 or 500 yards 
 in compass. In some places the scarp 
 is perpendicular from above ; ir. others 
 it has been excavated so as to form 
 extensive subterranean dwellings, with 
 windows opening into the cavity of 
 the great ditch, into which apartments 
 the zemindar’s family frequently re- 
 sorted during the intensity of the hot 
 monsoon. The cutterah, or fortified 
 town, lies west by north of the fort, 
 about 700 yards distant. 
 
 The forts and estates of Hatras 
 
HAZARYBAUGH. 631 
 
 and Moorsaun formed part of the ter- 
 ritory ceded by Dowlet Row Sindia 
 in 1803, from which period their 
 chiefs had invariably pursued a sys- 
 tem directed to the establishment of 
 total independence, coined base mo- 
 ney, and made their forts the refuge 
 of criminals. Repeated warnings and 
 admonitions having failed to produce 
 any permanent impression, Hatras 
 was besieged in 1817, and taken after 
 a tremendous bombardment from 
 forty-two mortars, which enveloped 
 the place in smoke and ruin ; but the 
 zemindar, Dyaram Thakoor, made his 
 escape during the confusion with a 
 small party of horse. After remain- 
 ing in concealment for some years, 
 he emerged in 1820, and intreated 
 the compassion of the British govern- 
 ment : which, in consequence, on ac- 
 count of his great age and misfor- 
 tunes, settled a pension on him of 
 1,000 rupees per month, and gave 
 him permission to reside at Soron, a 
 Hindoo place of worship on the 
 banks of the Ganges. Pensions had 
 previously been settled on his two 
 wives, and on his son Neckaram. 
 Since the above event the commercial 
 prosperity of Hatras has greatly in- 
 creased, and its spacious cutterah now 
 presents one of the busiest scenes in 
 Upper Hindostan. A temple dedicated 
 to Krishna, the lateThakoor’s court of 
 justice, and some other buildings, are 
 still standing within the ruined walls 
 of the fort . — {Public MS. Documents , 
 Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 Hatcoul. — A town in the province 
 of Bengal, district of Sarun, eighty 
 miles north from Patna ; lat. 26° 42' 
 N., Ion. 85° 28' E. 
 
 Hattoon.— -A small fort in the 
 province of Ajmeer, division of Mar- 
 war, which in 1820 was the principal 
 strong-hold of a predatory race named 
 Mhairs, and then captured by a Bri- 
 tish detachment. 
 
 Haussulpoor.-^— A town in the pro- 
 vince of Malwa, situated on the 
 Chumbul river, within a few miles of 
 its source, eleven miles S.W. of 
 Mow; lat. 22°29'N., Ion. 75° 37' E. 
 
 In 1820 it contained about 300 
 houses. — ( Malcolm , $c.) 
 
 Hawelbaugh. — A spot in North- 
 ern Hindostan, district of Kumaon, 
 beautifully situated on the banks of 
 the Cosila river, five miles N. by E. 
 from Almora, but above 1,800 below 
 that city. Sugar-cane does not come 
 to maturity here, but plantains, man- 
 goes, and many hot-climate vegetables 
 thrive. It is remarkable, however, 
 that although the summer is much 
 hotter than at Almora, there is much 
 longer and harder frost in winter. 
 The civil commissioner for the affairs 
 of Kumaon resides at this place, 
 where are also the cantonments of 
 the Kumaon battalion. Hawelbaugh 
 was at one period the site of a royal 
 garden, and a favourite retreat of 
 the Kumaon rajas ; but the only me- 
 morial that remains of its former 
 dignity is a lofty stone gateway, which 
 has been converted into a court of 
 justice. — ( Heber , Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 Hazarybaugh.— A town in the 
 province of Bahar, district of Ram- 
 ghur, 241 miles west from Calcutta. 
 It stands on an elevated tract of table- 
 land, extending from east to west 
 about twenty-eight miles, and al- 
 though unnoticed in any map of Hin- 
 dostan previous to the late Mr. Ar- 
 rowsmith’s, is one of the most con- 
 siderable places in the district, and 
 was for many years the head-quarters 
 of the Ramghur battalion under Ma- 
 jor Edward Roughsedge. The pro- 
 gress of conquest has removed this 
 corps to Sumbhulpoor in Gundwana, 
 but a small corps of sepoys still re- 
 main in charge of the cantonments. 
 The principal bazar here is open and 
 regularly built, and although the 
 shops and houses are all of mud, 
 some of them are two stories high. 
 The king of Oude has erected a small 
 mausoleum here over the remains of 
 the celebrated Tofazel Hossein Khan, 
 who died at Hazarybaugh on his re- 
 turn to Lucknow from Calcutta. 
 Near to Hazarybaugh there are some 
 hot springs, strongly impregnated 
 with sulphuretted hydrogen, and 
 holding in solution muriate and sul- 
 
632 
 
 HETHAURA. 
 
 phate of soda. The spring arises at 
 the base of the table-land of Hazary- 
 baugh, about twenty-seven miles to 
 the north of the new road. There 
 are four springs, but only two of them 
 are of a remarkable high tempera- 
 ture, raising the thermometer to 170° 
 and even 190°. The fumes of sul- 
 phuretted hydrogen rise in great 
 abundance from the last. The water, 
 as is evident from its composition, 
 might be employed for medicinal pur- 
 poses if the ingredients be in sufficient 
 quantity. — ( Fullarton , Medical Tran - 
 sactions , fyc.) 
 
 Heerapoor. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Allahabad, thirty-six miles 
 S.E. from Teary ; lat. 24° 16' N., Ion. 
 79° 12' E. 
 
 Helai. — A village near the Indus, 
 in the province of Mooltan, princi- 
 pality of Sinde, on the road leading 
 from Tatta to Hyderabad ; lat. 24° 
 52' N., Ion. 68° 27' E. At this place 
 the Indus is three-fourths of a mile 
 wide, and in some parts from four to 
 five fathoms deep. 
 
 Henery. — A very small island on 
 the west coast of the province of 
 Aurungabad, about fifteen miles south 
 from Bombay ; lat. 18° 41' N., Ion. 
 72° 57' E. This islet is about 600 
 yards in circumference, and nearly 
 of a circular form. There is only 
 one landing-place on the north-east 
 side where boats can lie ; but the 
 island is well inhabited, being almost 
 covered with houses and fortifica- 
 tions. In A.D. 1790 it belonged to 
 Ragojee Angria, and, although in 
 sight of Bombay, was a principal ren- 
 dezvous of pirate vessels. 
 
 Near to Henery is another islet 
 named Kenery, which is also fortified, 
 and of considerable strength. In 
 1790 it belonged to the Peshwa, 
 who also permitted pirates to resort 
 to its harbour. Kenery was taken 
 possession of and fortified by Sevajee 
 in 1679, before which period, from a 
 supposed want of fresh water, it had 
 been neglected. Henery was first 
 settled and fortified by Sidi Cossim 
 in 1680. — (Moor, frc.) 
 
 Henzadah. — A town in the king- 
 dom of Ava, province of Pegu ; lat. 
 17° 25' N., Ion. 95° 38' E. Along 
 with Keoumzook which adjoins it, it 
 forms a considerable town, and is 
 distinguished from common villages 
 by the number of pagodas and reli- 
 gious edifices it contains, the only 
 marked distinction between them in 
 Ava. In 1825 it was found deserted, 
 but had been a place of commerce, 
 inhabited by some Armenians and 
 other merchants, who cultivated in- 
 digo, which thrives in Pegu with less 
 risk and uncertainty than in Bengal. 
 — ( Snodgrass , Sfc.) 
 
 Heoora. — A village in the pro- 
 vince of Aurungabad, district of Ah- 
 mednuggur, thirty-six miles N.E. by 
 N. from the city of Ahmednuggur. 
 This place has a handsome quadran- 
 gular stone fort, situated on an ad- 
 joining rising ground. 
 
 Heroria. — A small town in the 
 province of Allahabad, fourteen miles 
 S. by W. from Huttah ; lat. 23° 54' 
 N., Ion. 79° 33' E. 
 
 Herrioor ( HeriuruJ . — A town in 
 the Mysore raja’s territories, situated 
 on the east side of the Vadavati 
 river ; lat. 13° 56' N., Ion. 74° 43' E. 
 In front of the temple of Siva at 
 this place, there is an obelisk for the 
 display of lights at festivals, forty 
 feet high, and formed of a single gra- 
 nite block. The Vadavati (or Hog- 
 gry) is here a fine clear stream, 
 abou nding with fish, an d easily fordable 
 at most seasons. The surrounding 
 pergunnah, named also Herrioor, is 
 of an uneven stony surface, poorly 
 cultivated, and thinly peopled. — 
 ( Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 Herrenkairo. — A considerable 
 town in the province of Candeish, 
 district of Bugwanea, situated on the 
 high road from Kotra to Babye, 
 twenty-one miles S.S.W. from Hus- 
 singabad, lat. 22° 27' N., Ion. 77° 
 40' E. The town and annexed per- 
 gunnah belong to the British govern- 
 ment. — ( Malcolm , #c.) 
 
 Hethaura. — A town in the Ne- 
 paulese dominions, situated on a fine 
 
HIMALAYA MOUNTAINS. 
 
 683 
 
 plain about a mile wide, bounded on 
 the north by the Rapty (Raputi), 
 which is here a beautiful, clear, and 
 rapid stream ; lat.27° 26' N., Ion. 
 84° 54' E., eighteen miles S. by W. 
 from Catmandoo. The soil of the 
 plain is good but not cultivated, being 
 mostly covered with stately forests 
 of saul trees, which are kept clear 
 of underwood by burning the fallen 
 leaves and withered grass in the dry 
 season. The Rapty having come from 
 the north, here turns to the west, and 
 after being joined by the Kanara 
 some way below, flows on until it 
 joins the Gunduck through a valley, 
 the lower part of which is cultivated, 
 while all near Hethaura is waste. 
 This proceeds from the jealousy of 
 the Gorkha government, which does 
 not wish to have the forests cleared. 
 The heat of Hethaura is more tem- 
 perate than that of the Terriani ; but 
 as the warm weather advances, its in- 
 salubrity increases. Although He- 
 thaura, on account of its being the 
 chief mart for the commerce carried 
 on between the Nepaulese dominions 
 and those of the British nation, is a 
 place of much occasional resort, yet 
 it still continues a miserably unheal- 
 thy village. For the accommodation 
 of merchants there is a brick build- 
 ing, surrounding a square court, and 
 there are also a few shops. From 
 hence to Bheemfed, a travelling dis- 
 tance of eighteen miles, the road leads 
 through a narrow defile between high 
 and steep hills, overgrown with thick 
 woods, through which the Rapty 
 winds in so extraordinary a manner, 
 that it is crossed by the way twenty- 
 two miles. — ( F . Buchanan , #c.) 
 
 Hidjellee ( Hijala ). — A town in 
 the province of Bengal, district of 
 Hooghly, fifty-five miles S.S.W. from 
 Calcutta ; lat. 21° 50' N., Ion. 88° 
 10' E. Properly this town and per- 
 gunnah belong to the province of 
 Orissa ; but they have been so long 
 and so intimately connected with 
 Bengal that they may be now consi- 
 dered incorporated. 
 
 The land about Hidjellee is of two 
 descriptions ; the first, fresh and ara- 
 
 ble, is preserved from the inundation 
 of the tides by embankments, running 
 parallel to and at some distance from 
 the rivers and numerous inlets that 
 intersect the whole territory. The 
 second, or salt land, is that portion 
 exposed to the overflowing of the 
 tides, and usually termed churs, or 
 banks, where mounds of earth, strong- 
 ly impregnated with saline particles 
 (named kalaries, or working places) 
 are formed. Each of these heaps is 
 estimated to yield on a medium 233 
 maunds (of eighty pounds each) of 
 salt, requiring the labour of seven 
 manufacturers, who by an easy pro- 
 cess of filtration and boiling are 
 enabled to complete their operations 
 before the setting-in of the periodical 
 rains. In 1814 the Hidjellee district 
 yielded a land revenue of 2,91,448 
 rupees, exclusive of an immense sum 
 realized annually by the monopoly 
 of its salt . — ( James Grant , fyc.) 
 
 High Islands. — Islands situated 
 off the coast of Borneo, principally 
 between the first and second degrees 
 of south latitude, which, from their 
 number and unknown positions, ren- 
 der the navigation of the circumja- 
 cent seas dangerous. The expedition 
 against Batavia in 1811, under Sir 
 S. Auchmuty, anchored at one of 
 these islands, where two excellent 
 watering places were found. Hogs, 
 mouse-deer, and monkeys were disco- 
 vered, but no resident inhabitant of 
 the soi-disant homo sapiens tribe. 
 The coasts, however, are occasionally 
 visited by Malay fishermen and pi- 
 rates. — (Thorn, S^c.) 
 
 Himmutghur. — A hill-fort, re- 
 cently built, and of considerable 
 strength, in the province of Malwa, 
 pergunnah of Birseah, twenty-seven 
 miles N.W. by N. from Bopaul. 
 
 Hilsah. — A town in the province 
 and district of Bahar, twenty miles 
 S.S.E. from Patna; lat. 25° 18' N., 
 Ion. 85° 20' E. 
 
 THE HIMALAYA MOUNTAINS. 
 
 West of the Indus this stupendous 
 range of mountains is known to the 
 
634 
 
 HIMALAYA MOUNTAINS. 
 
 Afghans by the name of Hindoo Cosh, 
 while to the east of that river it has 
 the more appropriate name of Hima- 
 laya (the abode of snow); but in 
 reality the chain is the same, and can 
 scarcely be said to be interrupted by 
 the slender stream of the Indus, about 
 lat. 35° N. From the north-east point 
 of Cashmere it has a south-eastern 
 course, extending along the sources 
 of all the Punjab rivers (except the 
 Sutuleje), where it separates the hilly 
 portion of the Lahore province from 
 what in modern times, for want 
 of a better designation, has been 
 called Little Tibet. Still pursuing 
 the same direction, it crosses the 
 heads of the Ganges and Jumna, 
 forcing their currents to the south- 
 ward ; but further east the chain is 
 less continuous, as there is reason 
 to believe it is penetrated by the 
 Gunduck, the Arun, the Cosi, 
 and the Teesta. Beyond the limits 
 of Bootan the chain is lost in an un- 
 explored country ; but it probably 
 extends to the Chinese sea, along the 
 northern frontier of the provinces of 
 Quangsi and Quantong, declining 
 gradually in elevation as it advances 
 to the east. So long as it borders 
 Hindostan the height of the Himalaya 
 is enormous ; and it may be there 
 considered as a buttress or support- 
 ing wall to the Tibetian plateau, into 
 which the descent is comparatively 
 moderate, when compared with that 
 from the southern faces. The breadth 
 of the snowy belt varies in different; 
 parts, between the Sutuleje and 
 Ganges j it has been estimated not to 
 exceed eighty miles from the plains 
 of Hindostan to Tibet. 
 
 With respect to altitude the Hima- 
 laya is probably the highest range of 
 alpine mountains in the world, twen- 
 ty of its most elevated peaks greatly 
 exceeding Chimborazo, the loftiest 
 summit of the Andes. Among the 
 loftiest of the Himalaya is one distin- 
 guished by the name Dhawalagiri, or 
 the white mountain, situated, as is 
 understood, near the source of the 
 Gunduck river. The near coincidence 
 of Capt. Blake’s observations, made 
 in 1814, with those of Capt. Webb, 
 
 justify the expectation that when the 
 true height of Dhawalagiri shall be 
 accurately determined, it will clearly 
 exceed 27,000 feet. The following 
 numbers are stated as differences of 
 elevation, which may be received as 
 near approaches to a correct deter- 
 
 mination of their height. 
 
 Feet. 
 
 Dhawalagiri, or the white 
 mountain, above the le- 
 vel of the sea 27,000 
 
 Jumoutri 25,500 
 
 Setghur (properly Sweta- 
 ghar, or the white tower 
 north of Nepaul) ......... 25,261 
 
 A mountain, supposed to 
 be Dhaibun, above Cat- 
 mandoo, 20,140 feet 
 
 above the sea 24,768. 
 
 A mountain, not named, 
 
 observed from Catman- 
 doo, in the direction of 
 Cala Bhairava, 20,000 
 feet above the valley of 
 
 Nepaul, and above the 
 
 level of the sea 24,625 
 
 Another near to it, 18,662 
 feet above the Nepaul 
 valley ; above the level 
 
 of the sea 23,262 
 
 A third, in its vicinity, 
 
 18,452 feet; do. do. 23,052 
 A peak, named St. George, 
 was estimated by Capt. 
 Hodgson, at do 22,240. 
 
 The Tahirgang, or Pargeul moun- 
 tains, which are situated near the 
 Shipke pass, were ascended by Messrs. 
 Gerards to the prodigious height of 
 19,411 feet above the level of the 
 sea, measured barometrically and 
 confirmed trigonometrically, and with- 
 in two miles of the summit, which is 
 conjectured to be 22,000 feet. The 
 rocks here lie in immense detached 
 masses, heaped on one another. Seeds 
 of a species of campanula were ga- 
 thered at the elevation of 16,800 feet, 
 on a spot where the thermometer in 
 the middle of October was at 27° 
 Fahrenheit ; but the utmost limits of 
 lichens and mosses must doubtless 
 reach still further. At the elevation 
 of 16,200 feet, on the confines of Chi- 
 nese Tartary, real ammonites were 
 
HIMALAYA MOUNTAINS. 
 
 635 
 
 picked up, not salgram stones merely, 
 containing their impressions. Am- 
 monites were also found in the beds 
 of torrents near the Niti and Mana 
 passes. In 1819, Lieut. Herbert 
 traced the Tonse river to its source 
 within the snowy mountains, and 
 crossed over the southern ridge of 
 the Himalaya by the Gunas Pass, ele- 
 vated 15,700 feet above the sea; de- 
 scending from which, he entered the 
 valley through which flows the river 
 Baspa, a principal tributary to the 
 Sutuleje. 
 
 The Himalayan glens for the most 
 part run perpendicular to the range, 
 or from N.N.E. and N.E. to S.S.W. 
 and S.W, The face exposed to the 
 north-west is invariably rugged, and 
 the opposite one facing the south-east 
 shelving. On the declivity towards 
 the north-west the trees grow at 
 elevations several hundred feet higher 
 than those on the opposite face, which 
 has a more gentle slope ; in some 
 instances the difference exceeds one 
 thousand feet. The general height 
 of the forest on the southern face of 
 the Himalaya is about 12,000 feet 
 above the level of the sea ; oaks and 
 pines reach that altitude, birches as- 
 cend a few feet higher. Descending 
 from the pass of Bandajin, the level 
 of the highest juniper was 13,300 
 feet. 
 
 On ascending the southern slope 
 of the snowy range, the extreme 
 height of cultivation is 10,000 feet, 
 and even there the crops are fre- 
 quently cut green ; the highest habi- 
 tation is 9,500 feet; 11,800 may be 
 reckoned the utmost limit of fuel, 
 and 12,000 that of bushes ; although, 
 in ravines and sheltered spots, dwarf 
 birches and small bushes may be 
 found almost to 13,000 feet. On the 
 north side, in the valley of the Baspa 
 river, the villages are found at 11,400 
 feet ; cultivation about the same j 
 and the forest at least 13,000 feet. 
 Advancing further, villages are found 
 at 13,000 feet ; cultivation at 13,600, 
 fine birch trees at 14,000; and furze 
 bushes, furnishing excellent fuel, 
 17,000 feet above the level of the 
 sea. Further east, towards lake Ma- 
 
 nasarovara, according to Tartar in- 
 formation, crops and bushes thrive 
 at a still greater elevation. In the 
 exterior chain to the south, where the 
 heat is only reflected from one side, 
 the warmth is much less than in the 
 interior cluster, where there is a re- 
 verberation of heat from all sides. 
 
 All travellers over the Himalaya 
 have remarked that a difficulty of 
 breathing, attended with lassitude 
 and severe head-ache, takes place at 
 an altitude of nearly 15,000 feet above 
 the level of the sea. The native 
 mountaineers, who feel it as sensibly 
 as strangers, and know nothing about 
 the rarity or density of the atmos- 
 phere, attribute the faintness to cer- 
 tain exhalations from noxious plants ; 
 and Capt. Hodgson was inclined to 
 think them right, as the faintness was 
 never experienced on naked snow, 
 even when higher, or where vegeta- 
 tion was completely absent ; but only 
 an inability to go far without stop- 
 ping to take breath. By the natives 
 it is called the biche. With respect 
 to the cold of the Himalaya, our in- 
 formation is rather defective. On 
 peaks formed of solid rock, that have 
 been covered for ages with never- 
 melting snow, and not exposed to the 
 vicissitudes of the seasons, an uni- 
 form cold must have always prevailed. 
 All moisture is frozen, no rain falls 
 no partial thaws take place, or there 
 would be glaciers ; in fact, although 
 we hear a great deal about the snows 
 of the Himalaya, very little is said 
 about ice. 
 
 Throughont the Himalaya, as far 
 as yet explored, the only rock suffi- 
 ciently extensive to characterize its 
 formation is gneiss, the other rocks 
 occurring only in beds and veins. 
 Granite veins are numerous in some 
 positions, but it does not form the 
 leading feature in the geology of these 
 mountains, which differ in structure 
 remarkably from the Andes. Other 
 differences occur, among which the 
 most remarkable is the total absence 
 of volcanoes. The chief mineral pro- 
 ductions hitherto found are sulphur, 
 alum, plumbago, bitumen, gypsum, 
 potstone. borax, rock-salt, gold dust 
 
636 
 
 HIMALAYA MOUNTAINS. 
 
 in small quantities, copper, lead, iron 
 in some abundance, antimony, com- 
 bined with lead and sulphur, and 
 manganese with iron. 
 
 No volcanoes were seen or heard 
 of by Capt. Hodgson when he ex- 
 plored the sources of the Ganges ; 
 where the mountains consist of va- 
 rious sorts of granite ; nor were any 
 shells or animal remains seen. The 
 magnetic variation was very small, 
 about one degree easterly, scarcely 
 differing from that of the plains of 
 Hindostan. The diurnal tides of the 
 barometer are perceptible, the mer- 
 cury always falling a little before 
 noon, as on the plains. 
 
 When Captain Webb visited the 
 Bhootea pergunnah of Jowaher (about 
 11,000 feet above the level of the 
 sea) in 1817, he found extensive 
 fields of a species of barley and buck- 
 wheat, between the village of Milum 
 and the temple (elevated 11,401 feet); 
 and from a height at least 1,500 feet 
 above the spot last-mentioned, he 
 procured plants of the jatamansi or 
 spikenard. The road from Milum 
 to Tartary leads along the banks of 
 a mountain stream, and is a conti- 
 nued ascent of four days’ journey for 
 laden sheep and goats. This route 
 opens in July, at which time the 
 Bhooteas find pasture for their flocks, 
 even at the fourth halting-place, 
 which, allowing only 500 feet ascent 
 for each day, will carry the limit of 
 vegetation in this quarter of the Hi- 
 malaya to 13,500 feet. On the 21st of 
 June 1817 Capt. Webb’s camp was 
 11,630 feet above Calcutta, on a clear 
 spot, surrounded by rich forests of 
 oak, pine, and rhododendra, the sur- 
 face covered with rank vegetation as 
 high as the knee; very extensive 
 strawberry beds were in full flower, 
 and numerous currant bushes in blos- 
 som. On the 22d of June, on the 
 summit of Pilgointa Churhai, 12,642 
 feet above Calcutta, there was not 
 any snow to be seen in the vicinity. 
 The soil collected over the rock was 
 a rich black mould, covered with 
 strawberry plants, not yet in flower, 
 dandelions, buttercups, and a profu- 
 sion of small flowers ; and 500 feet 
 
 lower was a forest of birch trees, al- 
 pine rhododendra, and raga pine. 
 In 1818 the Niti Pass or ghaut was 
 explored by the same officer, when 
 still greater descrepancies with the 
 calculations of theory resulted. The 
 crest of the Niti ghaut was found to 
 be 16,814 feet above the level of the 
 sea, and he estimated the lowest part 
 of the valley of the Sutuleje, which he 
 was prevented visiting by the Chinese 
 functionaries, at 14,924 feet. When 
 seen by Capt. Webb no snow re- 
 mained on the ghaut or in its neigh- 
 bourhood, and many quadrupeds pas- 
 tured on the grassy banks of the 
 Sutuleje. 
 
 The next portion of the Himalaya 
 regarding which information comes 
 from European travellers, is that si- 
 tuated between Gangoutri and the 
 chasm where the Sutuleje river forces 
 its way through the mountain, flowing 
 to the south-west. In some parts of 
 this elevated region the heat of the 
 summer dissolves the snow, while in 
 others the cold is so intense as to 
 split and detach large masses of rock, 
 which tumble down with much up- 
 roar. This process appears to be in 
 such constant operation, that it must 
 ultimately reduce the altitude of the 
 peaks. The rock is granite of various 
 hues, with a great mixture of white 
 quartz, both in the veins and the no- 
 dules. When crossed near to the 
 Sutuleje, in June 1816, snow still 
 lay on the ridge 5,000 feet (by esti- 
 mation) above the lower line of con- 
 gelation, and vast beds of a hard sur- 
 face and steep ascent were passed 
 over. Among the mountains there 
 are villages that are under snow one- 
 half of the year, but in June the cli- 
 mate resembles that of spring in Eng- 
 land. These villages stand 6,000 feet 
 above the banks of the Sutuleje, on 
 the banks of which the thermometer 
 in a tent rose to 108° Fahrenheit, yet 
 three days* climbing brings the tra- 
 veller beyond the line of perpetual 
 congelation. 
 
 On the north side of the Himalaya 
 chain, as seen from the low country, 
 a great and steep mass of rock rises 
 on both sides of the Sutuleje, to the 
 
HINDIA. 
 
 637 
 
 height of about 5,000 feet from its 
 banks. Still higher up is a belt of 
 land susceptible of cultivation, on 
 which are situated the villages of Ku- 
 nawur, and although the soil is very 
 rocky and poor, coarse grains, apples, 
 pears, raspberries, apricots, and other 
 wild fruits, are produced. Above 
 this is a forest of gigantic pines, 
 which are asserted to be twen- 
 ty-four feet in circumference, and 
 more than 180 in height. These 
 noble trees are also found on the 
 north side of the Chur mountains, 
 where the snow lies most part of the 
 year. Beyond the forest belt (which 
 also contains oak and other large 
 timber), still ascending, are steep 
 grassy knolls, bare of timber, but 
 presenting laurel and other bushes. 
 The soil here collected among the 
 rocks is black and spongy ; but in May 
 and June, and during the rains, it is 
 covered with every variety of wild 
 European spring flowers, such as cro- 
 cusses, cowslips, and butter-cups. 
 Throughout this alpine country high 
 winds and fogs are troublesome, and 
 a difficulty of respiration is expe- 
 rienced, with a sensation of fulness in 
 the head. Immediately from these 
 grassy and flowery heights rise the 
 steep precipices of the summit, on 
 which the snow fixes wherever it 
 can find a resting-place ; but in June 
 much of the rock is disclosed. No 
 volcanic matter has yet been disco- 
 vered in this quarter. 
 
 The third portion of the Himalaya 
 that has been traversed by European 
 travellers lies due north of the Ben- 
 gal district of Rungpoor, in the king- 
 dom or heirarchy of Bootan, where 
 it was crossed by Capt. Turner in 
 1783, when sent by Mr. Hastings on 
 an embassy to the Teshoo Lama. 
 That officer had also the advantage 
 of penetrating a long way over the 
 vast Tartarian plateau, into which 
 the descent from the summit of the 
 Himalaya appears inconsiderable 
 when compared with that presented 
 by its southern face. In the latter, 
 all the passes as yet explored are 
 formed by the direction of rivers, 
 which do not appear to rise from any 
 
 remarkable ridge of mountains, but 
 rather from detached eminences on 
 the table-land of Tibet, and pass 
 south through interruptions or chasms 
 of the Himalaya. From the north- 
 western side of these mountains arise 
 streams tributary to the Indus, and in 
 all probability the Indus itself ; those 
 flowing from the north-eastern side, 
 in all likelihood, contribute to in- 
 crease the volume of the Sanpo ri- 
 ver, which probably originates at no 
 great distance from the sources of 
 the Indus, the Sutuleje, and the Jum- 
 na. The Himalaya chain, in different 
 parts of its great extent, receives va- 
 rious names, such as Himadri, Hima- 
 vat, Himachil, and Himalichil, the 
 whole in signification having refe- 
 rence to snow and cold. In the Hin- 
 doo pantheon Himalaya is deified, 
 and described as the father of the 
 Ganges, and of her sister Ooma, the 
 spouse of Siva the destroying power. 
 — ( Colebrooke , Messrs. Gerards , 
 Hodgson and Herbert , Webb , F. Bu- 
 chanan , <^c.) 
 
 Hindia. — The extreme eastern 
 district in the province of Candeish, 
 but which in the time of Acber was 
 attached to Malwa. To the north it 
 is bounded by the course of the Ner- 
 budda, and on the south by the Caly- 
 gong(or Caligrama) hills, which have 
 been little explored, but since the 
 ( Pindary war of 1817-18, having been 
 frequently traversed by British ar- 
 mies, and a detachment permanent- 
 ly stationed at Hussingabad, more 
 complete geographical and statis- 
 tical information have consequent- 
 ly been obtained. At present the 
 chief towns known are Hindia, Hus- 
 singabad. and Charwah ; the principal 
 rivers are the Nerbudda and Towah. 
 The north of the Nerbudda, from 
 Kautcote to Nemawur, opposite to 
 Hindia, is deemed by the natives part 
 of Gundwana, the inhabitants speak- 
 ing the Gond dialect. 
 
 Hindia. — A town in the province 
 of Candeish, situated on the south 
 bank of the Nerbudda river, the 
 channel of which is here 1,000 yards 
 broad, and during the height of the 
 
638 
 
 HINDOSTAN. 
 
 monsoon presents a vast expanse of 
 water ; lat. 22° 26' N., Ion. 77° 5' E. 
 It is a place of little strength, but of 
 some importance, from its com- 
 manding some of the best ghauts or 
 fords over the Nerbudda. It is the 
 head of a pergunnah belonging to 
 Sindia, but in 1820 was still occupied 
 by the British. On the opposite side 
 of the river is a remarkable Hindoo 
 pagoda, the sculpture of which is 
 said to have been much defaced by 
 the armies of Aurungzebe when he 
 waged war in the Deccan. 
 
 Hindone. — A town in the province 
 of Agra, sixtj T -five miles S.W. from 
 the city of Agra; lat. 26° 47' N., Ion. 
 76° 54' E. This place belongs to the 
 Raja of Jeypoor, and was formerly a 
 large town, but owing to the depre- 
 dation of the Maharattas and other 
 plunderers became greatly reduced; 
 but, since the province has been re- 
 lieved from these oppressors, has 
 again the appearance of a thriving 
 place. Like other old towns in this 
 neighbourhood, many of the houses 
 are built either wholly or in part of 
 a fine dark red sandstone, cut in 
 large quadrangular masses, and well 
 polished. There are also two spa- 
 cious chowks of the same material, 
 with a Hindoo temple in each, both 
 built in imitation of the Mahomedan 
 style of architecture. — ( Hunter , Ful- 
 larton , $c.) 
 
 Hindoo Cosh Mountains. — The 
 range of mountains (a continuation 
 of the Himalaya chain) from the 
 north of Cashmere to the high snowy 
 peak, nearly north from the city of 
 Cabul, a distance of about 440 geo- 
 graphical miles, is usually distin- 
 guished by the name of Hindoo Cosh , 
 but when, as in this instance, a chain 
 of hills is of considerable extent, 
 there is great difficulty in assigning a 
 just name to the whole, the natives 
 having generally a distinct one for 
 each particular point, peak, or sec- 
 tion. The ridge has an east and west 
 direction for the above distance, ap- 
 pears to wind within 34° and 35° 
 north latitude, From the north- 
 eastern point of Cashmere eastward 
 
 it receives the name of Himalaya. 
 From Cashmere to the peak of Hin- 
 doo Cosh above-mentioned, all the 
 rivers that rise north of the range 
 have a north-west course, except the 
 Indus and Kameh, which are forced 
 to the southward by other high ridges 
 extending at right angles to the main 
 one, and all the rivers that rise south 
 of the Hindoo Cosh chain have a 
 southerly course. The height of one 
 of the peaks of this chain, seen from 
 Peshawer by the embassy in 1809, 
 was estimated at 20,493 feet, and on 
 the range connected with it the snow 
 remains in June, while the thermo- 
 meter in the valley of Peshawer rises 
 to 113° of Fahrenheit.— {Elphinstone, 
 Src.) 
 
 Hindoor ( Indur ). — A hill prin- 
 cipality in Northern Hindostan, si- 
 tuated in the tract of country be- 
 tween the Sutuleje and Jumna. It 
 was conquered by the Gorkhas and 
 its raja, Kamsurren, compelled to fly 
 to the plains ; but with the exception 
 of Malown he was subsequently re- 
 stored to all his possessions by the 
 British government. In 1815 the re- 
 venues of Hindoor from the hill- 
 territories amounted to about 15,000 
 rupees, and from the plains to about 
 30,000, making a total of 45,000 ru- 
 pees. The land here is distributed 
 rather with reference to produce and 
 soil than to measurement, into di- 
 visions called tekas, from every ten 
 of which the raja exacts two maunds 
 of grain and two rupees. — {Lieut. 
 Ross, Public MS. Documents , fyc.) 
 
 HINDOSTAN. 
 
 ( Hindus? han.) 
 
 This extensive region is situated 
 in the south-eastern quarter of Asia, 
 where it is nearly comprehended be- 
 tween the latitudes of 8° and 35° 
 north, and the longitudes of 68° and 
 92° east. The extreme length from 
 north to south is about 1,900 miles, 
 and from east to west about 1,500 ; 
 but, on account of the irregularity of 
 its figure, the total superficial area 
 cannot be estimated at more than 
 1,280,000 English square miles. 
 
HINDOSTAN. 
 
 639 
 
 According to the ancients, India 
 on its most enlarged scale composed 
 an extent of forty degrees on each 
 side, including a space nearly as large 
 as all Europe; being divided on the 
 west from Persia by the Arachosian 
 mountains ; limited on the east by 
 the Chinese parts of the peninsula 
 beyond the Ganges ; confined on the 
 north by the wilds of Tartary, and 
 stretching south as far as the Sunda 
 Isles. These expanded limits com- 
 prehended the stupendous hills of 
 Tibet, the romantic valley of Cash- 
 mere, and all the domains of the old 
 Indo-Scythians, the countries of Ne- 
 paul, Bootan, Camroop, and Assam, 
 together with Siam, Ava, Arracan, 
 and the bordering kingdoms as far as 
 China of the Hindoos, and the Sin 
 of the Arabian geographers, the whole 
 western peninsula, and the island of 
 Ceylon. 
 
 It is difficult to discover any name 
 applied by the Brahmins to the coun- 
 try over which their doctrines have 
 prevailed, and which they generally 
 describe by a circumlocution. Some- 
 times they give it the epithet of 
 Medhyama, or central (from its oc- 
 cupying the centre of the back of the 
 tortoise which supports the world,) 
 and Punyabhumi, or the land of 
 virtue, and assert it to have been 
 the portion of Bharat, one of nine 
 brothers whose father ruled the 
 whole earth, and named after him 
 Bharatkhand. This domain of Bharat 
 the}' consider the centre of Jam- 
 bhudwipa, which the Tibetians call 
 the land of Zambu. At other times 
 the Brahmins describe their country 
 as the space between the Himalaya 
 mountains and Ramisseram in the 
 straits of Ceylon, for Cape Comorin 
 as a geographical point never appears 
 to have attracted any attention. The 
 modern name of Hindostan is a Per- 
 sian appellation, derived from the 
 words Hindoo black, and st’han 
 place, but it has been adopted for 
 ages back both by natives and fo- 
 reigners. 
 
 By the Mahomedan writers the 
 term Hindostan is understood to sig- 
 nify the country in immediate sub- 
 
 jection to the sovereigns of Delhi, 
 which in A.D. 1582 was subdivided 
 by the Emperor Acber into eleven 
 soubahs or provinces, most of which, 
 notwithstanding the frequent political 
 revolutions they have since expe- 
 rienced, still nearly retain their ori- 
 ginal geographical limits. The names 
 of these provinces are Lahore, Mool- 
 tan, Ajmeer, Delhi, Agra, Allahabad, 
 Bahar, Oude, Bengal, Malwa, and 
 Gujerat. A twelfth soubah was 
 formed of Cabul and the countries 
 west of the Indus, and also Cash- 
 mere; and three new ones were after- 
 wards added from conquests made in 
 the Deccan, viz. Berar, Candeish, and 
 Ahmednuggur, afterwards named Au- 
 rungabad. 
 
 In modern times the limits of Hin- 
 dostan have generally been consider- 
 ed as co-extensive with those of the 
 Hindoo religion, which delineation 
 having also the advantage of being 
 singularly well defined on three sides 
 by strong natural barriers, is the one 
 adhered to throughout the following 
 work. According to this arrange- 
 ment Hindostan is separated on the 
 north from the table-land of Tibet 
 by the lofty chain of Himalaya moun- 
 tains, which commences at the Indus 
 about the 35th degree of north la- 
 titude, and passing Cashmere in the 
 same parallel, extends from thence 
 in a south-easterly direction to an 
 unascertained distance beyond Boo- 
 tan. To the south Hindostan is 
 every where bounded by the ocean, 
 and on the west by the course of the 
 river Indus. To the east its limits 
 are more difficult to define ; but the 
 most distinct are the range of hills 
 and forest that skirt the Bengal dis- 
 tricts of Chittagong and Tiperah, 
 and stretch north to the Brahma- 
 putra, near to where that great river, 
 after having long flowed almost due 
 west, makes a sudden sweep to the 
 south. In this north-east corner the 
 Hindoo religion is irregularly dif- 
 fused, as it extends beyond the li- 
 mits assigned into Assam, Cachar, 
 and other petty states, while that of 
 Buddha prevails in Bootan, and pro- 
 trudes into the Brahminical regions 
 
640 
 
 HINDOSTAN. 
 
 on the banks of the Teesta. Cir- 
 cumscribed within the boundaries 
 
 above specified, Hindostan presents 
 four grand geographical divisions, viz. 
 
 1st. Northern Hindostan. — This 
 extensive and rugged territory com- 
 mences on the west at the Sutuleje 
 river, from whence it stretches in an 
 easterly direction, slanting to the 
 south, until it reaches the Teesta 
 river, in longitude 88° 30' E., beyond 
 which, among the mountains, the 
 Lama religion prevails. To the north 
 it is separated from Tibet or Southern 
 Tartary by the Himalaya ; on the 
 south, from the old Mogul provinces 
 by the line where the lower ranges of 
 hills press on the vast Gangetic plain. 
 The principal modern territorial and 
 political subdivisions are the follow- 
 ing: 
 
 1. The country between the Sutu- 
 
 leje and Jumna. 
 
 2. Gurwal or Serinagur. 
 
 3. The sources of the Ganges. 
 
 4. Kumaon. 
 
 5. Painkhandi. 
 
 6. Bhutant. 
 
 7- The dominions of Nepaul. 
 
 The inhabitants of these alpine 
 tracts having, until times quite re- 
 cent, had but little intercourse with 
 the plains, are comparatively much 
 behind in knowledge and civilization ; 
 which may also be partly attributed 
 to their having attracted the atten- 
 tion of the Brahmins at a much later 
 period than their richer neighbours 
 
 in the south. 
 
 2d. Hindostan Proper. — This is 
 by far the most comprehensive divi- 
 sion, as it reaches south to the Ner- 
 budda river, where the Deccan com- 
 mences, and includes the eleven large 
 provinces (each equal to a kingdom) 
 formed by the emperor Acber, as also 
 Cashmere and Cutch, viz. 
 
 1. Bengal. 8. Cashmere. 
 
 2. Bahar. 9. Ajmeer. 
 
 3. Allahabad. 10. Mooltan. 
 
 4. Oude. 11. Cutch. 
 
 5. Agra. 12. Gujerat. 
 
 6. Delhi. 13. Malwa. 
 
 7. Lahore 
 
 These provinces have long been 
 celebrated for their richness and fer- 
 
 tility, and contain the seats of the 
 most powerful Mahomedan empires, 
 having been repeatedly subjugated by 
 the more hardy tribes of the north. 
 The generality of the inhabitants are 
 a superior race to the population of 
 the other divisions, possessing a more 
 robust frame of body, besides sur- 
 passing them in energy of intellect. 
 Among the Hindoos, Hindostan Pro- 
 per, contradistinguished from the 
 southern peninsula and eastern India 
 (Dacshin and Purb), is named the 
 Medhya Des, or central country. 
 
 3d. The third grand division is the 
 Deccan, which is bounded on the 
 north by the course of the Nerbudda 
 river, and easterly from its source by an 
 imaginary line, extending in the same 
 parallel of latitude to the south of the 
 Hooghly, or western branch of the 
 Ganges. To the south the bounda- 
 ries of the Deccan are the rivers 
 Krishna and Toombudra ; to the east 
 the Bay of Bengal ; and to the west 
 the Indian Ocean. Within these li- 
 mits the following large provinces are 
 nearly comprehended, viz. 
 
 1. Gundwana. 5. Berar. 
 
 2. Orissa. 6. Beeder. 
 
 3. The Northern 7. Hyderabad. 
 
 Circars. 8. Aurungabad. 
 
 4. Candeish. 9. Bejapoor. 
 
 4th. India South of the Krish- 
 na. — This division is frequently 
 
 named the peninsula, although its 
 figure more resembles an equilateral 
 triangle, of which the northern boun- 
 dary at the river Krishna is the base ; 
 the coasts of Coromandel and Mala- 
 bar the sides ; with the apex at Cape 
 Comorin. The modern territorial 
 and political subdivisions are the fol- 
 lowing, viz. 
 
 1. Canara. 6. Mysore. 
 
 2. Malabar. 7. Coimbatoor. 
 
 3. Cochin. 8. Salem and the 
 
 4. Travancore. Barramahal. 
 
 5. TheBalaghaut 9. The Carnatic. 
 
 Ceded Districts. 
 
 There are few sea-coasts of such 
 extent so destitute of islands as that 
 of Hindostan ; indeed, excluding 
 emerged sand-banks and mere rocks, 
 it may be said to possess only one, 
 Ceylon, with which the geographical 
 
HINDOSTAN. 
 
 641 
 
 survey in this quarter terminates. 
 Proceeding on, the next objects that 
 come under consideration are the 
 boundary countries, which are the 
 following, commencing on the south- 
 west : 
 
 1. Baloochistan. 
 
 2. Afghanistan. 
 
 3. Tibet. 
 
 4. Northern Hindostan. 
 
 5. Bootan. 
 
 6. Assam. 
 
 7. States adjacent to Assam. 
 
 8. Ava and the Burmese empire. 
 The size and relative position of 
 
 the different countries will be more 
 satisfactorily learned from an inspec- 
 tion of the' map prefixed than from 
 any written explanation, however 
 minute ; and each of them being de- 
 scribed in their alphabetical order, 
 for further local details the reader is 
 referred to the distinct heads respec- 
 tively, what observations follow hav- 
 ing reference to Hindostan in gene- 
 ral. 
 
 Viewed on a grand scale, the prin- 
 cipal geological features of this region 
 are the vast Gangetic plain, the great 
 sandy desert of the Indus, the ele- 
 vated table-land above the ghauts, 
 and the Himalayan, Vindhyan, and 
 Ghaut chains of mountains, with 
 their subordinate ranges. There are 
 no lakes of any considerable magni- 
 tude, but many morasses, especially 
 an enormous saline one named the 
 Runn. There are no volcanoes in a 
 state of activity, nor is the existence 
 of extinct ones any where clearly es- 
 tablished. Earthquakes, although 
 frequent, with the exception of one 
 in Cutch in 1819, have never been 
 destructive. The seasons, winds, 
 and rains are periodical, and through- 
 out the whole space what are called 
 monsoons more or less prevail. 
 Within the geographical limits of 
 Hindostan every degree of tempera- 
 ture may be found, from burning 
 heat to perpetual congelation ; but, 
 with the exception of an alpine tract 
 among the northern mountains, the 
 climate is strictly tropical, and pro- 
 motes the growth of all congenial 
 fruits, plants, and vegetables, in the 
 vol. r. 
 
 most luxuriant profusion, although 
 the soil in most parts wants strength 
 and tenacity. Minerals are abun- 
 dant, but little worked ; and there 
 are few countries that spontaneously 
 produce so great a variety of saline 
 substances. Examined more minute- 
 ly, the physical geology of Hindos- 
 tan may be considered as resolving 
 itself into three great divisions, viz * 
 
 1st. The peninsular tract which 
 constitutes the south of India. 
 
 2d . The belt of flat country ex- 
 tending from sea to sea, and distin- 
 guished by the name of Middle In- 
 dia. 
 
 3d. The continental mountains 
 which form the northern limits of 
 India, rising between the middle re- 
 gion and the vast plateau of South- 
 ern Tartary, and extending more than 
 fifteen degrees of longitude, in a di- 
 rection from W.N.W. to E.S.E. 
 
 In the champaign country of Mid- 
 dle India three principal divisions 
 maybe noticed: 1st. the tract wa- 
 tered by the Ganges and its tribu- 
 tary streams ; 2d. a tract watered by 
 the Indus ; and 3dly. the interme- 
 diate desert in which the river Sa- 
 raswati loses itself. Of this division 
 a principal feature is the total absence 
 of pebbles or rolled stones of any 
 kind, except in the beds of the rivers 
 for a few miles after they quit the 
 hills ; and the soil of the plains is 
 every where earthy and comminuted, 
 except in certain instances, where 
 indurated nodules or concretions 
 have been found. Throughout this 
 extensive plain there is neither mine 
 nor quarry. The banks of the' rivers 
 being usually precipitous on one side 
 and shelving on the other, exhibit 
 sections of strata down to the level 
 of their beds ; but scarcely any other 
 natural section is to be found : the 
 sinking of wells and boring for water 
 is consequently the only opportunity 
 that presents itself for the examina- 
 tion of the strata. The surface of 
 this level tract is every where alluvial, 
 and the strata, as far as they go, ho- 
 rizontal. Beneath the superficial 
 mould the subsoil is sand, clay, or 
 loam in layers, more or less inter- 
 
 0 T 
 
642 
 
 HINDOSTAN. 
 
 mixed, and distinguished by colour or 
 texture. In the inferior strata of clay, 
 nodules or concretions of the same 
 substance are to be met with. The 
 whole basis of the Deccan and south 
 of India is supposed to be granite. 
 
 But the glory of Hindostan is its 
 noble rivers, and more especially the 
 venerable Ganges, which at once fer- 
 tilizes the soil, and serves for the 
 transport of its matured productions. 
 During the rainy season the moun- 
 tain torrents swell in a wonderful 
 manner, and within a' few hours fre- 
 quently rise twenty feet above their 
 usual level, rushing down with much 
 uproar and rapidity. The larger 
 streams generally begin to increase 
 before the rains fall in the low coun- 
 tries, which circumstance is equally 
 remarked of rivers that do not spring 
 from cold countries, such as the 
 Nerbudda and Tuptee, as it is of the 
 Ganges and Brahmaputra, whose 
 sources benefit by the snows of Hi- 
 malaya. In the dry season they pro- 
 ceed to the ocean over their broad 
 sandy beds with a slow and sluggish 
 stream, but when swelled by the pe- 
 riodical rains their course is furious, 
 and destructive to the villages placed 
 too near its banks. On the other 
 hand, some rivers, such as the Seras- 
 wati, mentioned in ancient Hindoo 
 writings as being of great bulk and 
 importance, have in . latter times 
 either disappeared, or been nearly 
 absorbed by the thirsty soil. In ge- 
 neral the rivers have retained their 
 original appellations better than the 
 cities or provinces, the latter having 
 often had their designations altered 
 from vanity or religious motives. 
 The following are the names of the 
 principal streams, with their probable 
 length of course to the sea ; but there 
 are many others omitted that would 
 be reckoned large rivers in Europe. 
 
 Miles to the sea. 
 
 Indus 1,700- 
 
 Ganges 1,500 
 
 Jumna (to its junction with the 
 
 Ganges 780) 1,500 
 
 Sutuleje (to the Indus 900) ... 1,400 
 
 Jhylum (ditto 750) 1,250 
 
 Gunduck (to the Ganges 450) 980 
 
 In the Deccan and South of India : 
 
 The Godavery 850 
 
 Krishna 700 
 
 Nerbudda 700 
 
 Muhanuddy 550 
 
 Tuptee 460 
 
 Cavery «..., 400 
 
 The harvest in Hindostan Proper 
 is divided into two periods : the first 
 is cut in September and October ; 
 the second in Mareh and April. 
 Rice is the grand article of nourish- 
 ment, and the chief object of atten- 
 tion in the cultivation of it is to have 
 the soil plentifully supplied with wa- 
 ter. Indeed, while travelling through 
 India, a tolerably correct judgment 
 may be formed of the wisdom of the 
 government and condition of the peo- 
 ple, from viewing the number and 
 state of preservation of the tanks, 
 water-courses, and other conduits 
 for the irrigation of the fields. Wheat 
 is the food of the higher classes in 
 the provinces between the Nerbudda 
 and Sutuleje, but the poorer classes 
 are obliged to resort to substances of 
 a much coarser and unsavoury na- 
 ture. In this country the wages of 
 the labouring cultivators are limited 
 to a mere subsistence, which is not 
 the case in Europe. In the latter, 
 the labourer’s expenditure consists 
 not only of food, but also of many 
 accessaries, such as a cottage, furni- 
 ture, clothing, and liquor, so that in 
 times of scarcity when grain becomes 
 dear, he finds a temporary resource 
 in abstaining from, or parting with, 
 some of these superfluities. The 
 working classes of Hindostan are 
 not so well circumstanced, for their 
 wages being little more than the 
 mere expense of their food, they are 
 utterly destitute if it rise, having no 
 reserve for emergencies. 
 
 That the Hindoos were in early 
 ages a commercial people we have 
 many reasons to believe ; and in the 
 first of their sacred law tracts, which 
 they suppose to have been revealed 
 by Menu, many millions of years 
 ago, there is a curious passage re- 
 specting the legal interest of money, 
 and the limited rate of it in different 
 cases, with an exception in regard to 
 
HINDOSTAN. 643 
 
 adventures by sea. The three great 
 articles of general importation by 
 the Greeks and Romans were, first, 
 spices; secondly, precious stones and 
 pearls ; thirdly, silk. Their exports 
 to India were woollen cloth of a 
 slight fabric, linen in chequer-work, 
 some precious stones, and some 
 aromatics unknown in India, coral, 
 storax, glass vessels of different 
 kinds, wrought silver, Italian, Greek, 
 and Arabian wines, brass, tin, lead, 
 girdles, sashes, meliiot, white glass, 
 red arsenic, black lead, and gold and 
 silver. Of the last-mentioned metal 
 the influx to Hindostan has always 
 been very great, as the inhabitants 
 have always sold much and purchased 
 little : the balance has consequently 
 always been in their favour. A great 
 deal of bullion is supposed to be 
 annually lost by being concealed un- 
 der ground by the natives, many of 
 whom die without revealing the site 
 of their hidden treasure, and the 
 practice of hoarding is among all 
 ranks of Hindoos almost universal. 
 During many centuries, cotton piece- 
 goods were the grand staple of Hin- 
 dostan ; but latterly, owing to the great 
 improvements in Europe, the quantity 
 exported has considerably diminished. 
 The various sorts fabricated in dif- 
 ferent provinces from Cape Comorin 
 to the northern mountains, are too 
 numerous to admit of particular de- 
 tail ; and for further information re- 
 garding the agriculture, manufactures, 
 and commerce of Hindostan, the 
 reader is referred to the provinces 
 and cities respectively. In the mean 
 time it may safely be asserted, that 
 with so vast an extent of fertile soil, 
 peopled by so many millions of tract- 
 able and industrious inhabitants, Hin- 
 dostan is capable of supplying the 
 whole world with any species of tro- 
 pical merchandize, the production, 
 in fact, being only limited by the 
 demand. 
 
 India was very little known to the 
 Greeks until Alexander’s expedition, 
 about 327 years before Christ. The 
 following particulars, selected from 
 the ancient descriptions of India by 
 Arrian and other authors, will show 
 
 how nearly the ancient inhabitants 
 resemble the present. 
 
 1. The slender make of their 
 bodies. 
 
 2. Their living on vegetable food. 
 
 3. Marriage at seven years of age, 
 and the prohibition of marriage be- 
 tween different castes. 
 
 4. The men wearing ear-rings and 
 party-coloured shoes, also veils cover- 
 ing the head and part of the shoul- 
 ders. 
 
 5. Daubing their faces with co- 
 lours. 
 
 6. Only principal persons having 
 umbrellas carried over them. 
 
 7. Two-handed swords, and bows 
 drawn by the feet. 
 
 8. The manner of taking elephants 
 the same as the present. 
 
 9. Manufactures of cottons of ex- 
 traordinary whiteness ; and the plant 
 named carpas-us as at present. 
 
 10. Monstrous ants, by which the 
 termites or white ants are meant. 
 
 11. Wooden houses on the banks 
 of large rivers, to be occasionally 
 removed, as the river changes its 
 course. 
 
 12. The tala or tal tree, a kind of 
 palm. 
 
 13. The banyan trees, and the In- 
 dian devotees sitting under them. 
 
 A greater degree of similarity ex- 
 ists between the East-Indian meta- 
 physical doctrines and that of the 
 earlier rather than the later Greeks ; 
 and, as it is scarcely probable that 
 the communication should have taken 
 place, and the knowledge been im- 
 parted at the precise interval of time 
 which intervened between the earlier 
 and later schools of Greek philosophy, 
 and especially between the Pythago- 
 reans and Platonists, there is reason 
 to believe that, in this instance, at 
 least, the Indians were the teachers, 
 instead of the scholars, as some have 
 asserted. 
 
 The Greeks have not left us any 
 means of knowing with accuracy 
 what vernacular languages were pre- 
 valent in India on their arrival. The 
 radical language of India is the San- 
 scrit, of which such is the antiquity, 
 that neither history nor tradition has 
 
 2 t 2 
 
644 
 
 IIINDOSTAN. 
 
 preserved any account of a people of 
 whom it was the living tongue. From 
 this source the most ancient deriva- 
 tives are the Prakrit, the Bali, and 
 the Zend. The first is the language 
 which contains the greater part of 
 the sacred books of the Jainas ; the 
 Bali or Pali is equally revered among 
 the followers of Buddha ; while the 
 Zend, or sacred language of an- 
 cient Persia, has long enjoyed a simi- 
 lar rank among the worshippers of 
 fire, and been the depository of the 
 sacred books of Zoroaster. There 
 is reason to believe that ten polished 
 dialects formerly prevailed in as many 
 civilized nations, which occupied the 
 whole extent of Hindostan. The 
 Saraswata, the Kanoje, the Gour, the 
 Maithila, and the Orissa, are deno- 
 minated the five Gours ; the five 
 Dravirs are, the Tamul, the Maha- 
 ratta, the Carnata, the Telinga, and 
 the Gujara. The modern dialects 
 are the following, and have nine- 
 tenths of their words in common, 
 the basis of the whole being the San- 
 scrit ; and except the Hindostany, 
 which is the universal language of 
 intercourse, they are all local. 
 
 The Hindostany, 
 
 The Harowty, 
 
 Bengalese, 
 
 Malwa, 
 
 Cashmerian, 
 
 Bruj, 
 
 Dogura, 
 
 Bundlecundy, 
 
 Ooch, 
 
 Maharatta, 
 
 Sindy, 
 
 Magadha, 
 
 Cutch, 
 
 Koshala, 
 
 Gujeratty, 
 
 Maithila, 
 
 Concanese, 
 
 Nepau lese, 
 
 Punjaby, 
 
 Orissa, 
 
 Bicanere, 
 
 Telinga, 
 
 Marwar, 
 
 "Carnata, 
 
 Jeypoor, 
 
 Tamul. 
 
 Odeypoor, 
 
 On the east we find the Sanscrit lan- 
 
 guage arrested by 
 Birman, and other 
 
 the Khasee, the 
 
 Indo-Chinese lan- 
 
 guages, and on the west by the Push- 
 too, or Afghan, and the Baloochy. 
 
 That any general similitude of man- 
 ners existed before the Mahomedan 
 invasion is very doubtful, but certain- 
 ly there are in modern times strong 
 shades of difference in the characters 
 of the Hindoos dispersed over the 
 several provinces. Travelling though 
 
 Hindostan, from Cape Comorin for 
 example, up the Carnatic, the Dec- 
 can, and through Bengal to Cash- 
 mere, an extent of country of above 
 twenty-five degrees of latitude, un- 
 der many general points of resem- 
 blance, a very great variety of habits, 
 languages, and religious observances 
 is perceptible, nearly as great as a 
 native of India would remark were he 
 journeying from Gibraltar to St. Pe- 
 tersburgh. The character of the Ma- 
 harattas, nurtured in war and depre- 
 dation, differs much from the placid 
 Tamuls of the south, and the unmar- 
 tial population of Bengal. Those who 
 inhabit the northern territories from 
 the Nerbudda to the Indus, are al- 
 most all (or pretend to be) of a mi- 
 litary tribe ; the caste of Rajpoots or 
 Rajwars, who are governed by petty 
 chiefs, and divided into small prin- 
 cipalities, which, until reluctantly 
 compelled to adopt more pacific ha- 
 bits, were engaged in never-ceasing 
 conflict with each other. The dif- 
 ference between the industrious ma- 
 nufacturing classes and the Nair of 
 Malabar, the Poligar of the Carnatic, 
 and the turbulent Grassia of Malwa 
 and Gujerat, is very great ; and as to 
 the tribes of Catties, Coolies, Rab- 
 reas, Mhairs, Jhuts, Meannas, Me- 
 waties, &c., they are rather objects 
 of police than legislation. What one 
 would view as means of safety and 
 protection, another would consider 
 tyrannical and insupportable. A want 
 of attention to local usages, and a 
 desire to regulate our administration 
 by general rules, often in direct vio- 
 lation of them, has frequently had 
 the effect of rendering the British 
 government more unpopular than it 
 ever would have become through the 
 grossest violence and oppression. 
 
 The great mass of the Hindoos and 
 Mahomedans throughout Hindostan 
 has nearly attained the same stage of 
 civilization; but intermixed with these 
 are certain races of mountaineers, 
 probably the true aborigines, whose 
 languages have little affinity with the 
 Sanscrit, and whose customs retain 
 all their primitive barbarity. The 
 most remarkable of these are the 
 
HINDOSTAN. 
 
 645 
 
 Gonds,Bheels, and Coolies ; but there 
 are many others of less note, such as 
 the hill people of Boglipoor, the 
 Garrows, and the Kookies of Chit- 
 tagong. In the capital settlements, 
 and in the larger towns within the 
 British dominions, some few' of the 
 natives attempt to imitate the man- 
 ners of Europeans, and almost adopt 
 their dress; but they receive no en- 
 couragement from the class they are 
 endeavouring to conciliate, and in- 
 variably lose the estimation of their 
 own tribe in proportion as they de- 
 viate from its usages. 
 
 The two great religious persuasions 
 of Hindostan are the Hindoo and 
 Mahomedan, whose relative numbers 
 throughout the whole empire are pro- 
 bably in the proportion of seven the 
 first to one of the last. By Euro- 
 peans the term Hindoo is in general 
 so very loosely and inaccurately ap- 
 plied, as to include religions, such as 
 the Buddhist and Jain, professing 
 tenets in direct opposition to the 
 Brahminical system. Indeed, Hindoo 
 mythology is a subject as inexhaus- 
 tible as it is difficult to render intel- 
 ligible, and can only be slightly 
 touched upon ; but, viewed on the 
 most favourable side, the following 
 may be considered a tolerably exact 
 sketch of its doctrines. 
 
 The great deity Brahm remains in 
 holy obscurity, and superstition is 
 never allowed to profane his name, 
 which is always kept clear of fiction. 
 Three energies, however, the creat- 
 ing, preserving, and destroying, are 
 embodied under the names of Brah- 
 ma, Vishnu, and Siva, to each of 
 whom a female or passive energy is 
 attached. These have all human 
 forms, diversified by the imagination 
 in various ways ; and as the two last 
 are supposed to have descended many 
 times, each avatar or incarnation 
 furnishes a distinct deity, to whom 
 worship is addressed. Of the three 
 specified Brahma alone has no incar- 
 nations, and is never worshipped. 
 Some of the avatars are supposed to 
 have been incarnations of the whole 
 god, while others are considered only 
 partial emanations of the divinity. 
 
 Besides these three principal gods 
 there is a whole pantheon of minor 
 deities. The sea, the winds, the 
 heavens, the elements, the sun, moon, 
 and stars, every river, fountain and 
 stream, is either a deity in itself, or 
 has a divinity presiding over it, no- 
 thing being done without the inter- 
 vention of supernatural power. Des- 
 cending still lower, there are myriads 
 of demigods, of a most extraordinary 
 description, and numerous beyond 
 the powers of calculation. A little 
 red paint smeared over a stone, a 
 lump of clay, or the stump of a tree, 
 converts it into a god, worshipped 
 by the lower classes, and saluted by 
 the upper with much apparent devo- 
 tion. Any monster, any figure partly 
 brutal, any multiplicity of heads and 
 hands in the object adored, indicate 
 a Brahminical place of worship. The 
 presence of umbrella-covered pyra- 
 mids or semi-globes, and of plain 
 human figures sitting cross-legged, 
 or standing in a meditative posture, 
 point out a temple or excavation of 
 the Buddhists ; the twenty-four saint- 
 ly figures without the pyramid an- 
 nounce a temple of the Jain. 
 
 Five great sects of Hindoos wor- 
 ship exclusively a single deity ; one 
 recognizes the five divinities that are 
 reverenced by the other sects respec- 
 tively ; but the followers of this com- 
 prehensive scheme mostly select one 
 object of daily adoration, and per- 
 form rites to the other deities on 
 particular occasions only. The wor- 
 ship of Rama and Krishna, of Siva 
 and Bhavani, appears to have been 
 introduced since the persecution of 
 the Buddhists and Jains. The esta- 
 blishment of the Vedas was anterior 
 to Buddha, whose theology seems to 
 have been borrowed from the system 
 of Capila, who forbid the slaughter- 
 ing of animals; but the overthrow of 
 the Buddhist sect in Hindostan has 
 not effected the full revival of the 
 religious system inculcated by the 
 Vedas. Most of what is there taught 
 is now obsolete, and in its stead new 
 orders of devotees have arisen, with 
 new forms of religious ceremonies. 
 Rituals founded on the Puranas and 
 
646 
 
 HINDOSTAN. 
 
 Tantras have in a great measure an- 
 tiquated the institutions of the Vedas, 
 a remarkable instance of which is the 
 sacrifice of animals before the god- 
 dess Cali ; and the adoration of Rama 
 and Krishna have succeeded to that 
 of the elements and planets. Sir 
 William Jones was of opinion that 
 we might fix the incarnation of Bud- 
 dha, or ninth incarnation of Vishnu, 
 in the year 1014 before the birth of 
 our Saviour. The earliest accounts 
 of India by the Greeks who visited 
 it with Alexander, describe the in- 
 habitants as divided into separate 
 tribes, consequently a sect like the 
 modern Buddhists could not have 
 been the most prevalent. No modern 
 nation of equal civilization remains 
 so completely infatuated as the Hin- 
 doos are with conviction of the po- 
 tency of magic, to the effect of which 
 every event, good or bad, is attri- 
 buted. Their religious rites have, in 
 fact, degenerated to mere incanta- 
 tions, all directed to the attainment 
 of some end through the efficacy of 
 a spell ; and the requisite ceremonies 
 have become so numerous and in- 
 tricate, that no votary could accom- 
 plish them were he to devote day 
 and night to their performance. 
 
 The Hindoo religion is without 
 any acknowledged individual supe- 
 rior or public convocation ; but the 
 pre-eminence of the Brahmins is ne- 
 ver disputed by the other castes. 
 The true derivation of this sacred 
 order remains involved in obscurity ; 
 but at present the impression of many 
 orientalists is, that they were origi- 
 nally strangers from Persia, or some 
 portion of central Asia, and it is 
 quite certain that the Brahminical re- 
 ligion formerly prevailed far west of 
 the Indus. Even now their advance 
 eastward is progressive. In the 
 north-eastern parts of Bengal, Brah- 
 mins are a recent importation, the 
 rude natives of that quarter not hav- 
 ing long acknowledged their vast su- 
 periority, or submitted to their dis- 
 tinctions of purity and impurity. It 
 is a mistake to suppose the Brahmins 
 do not admit of proselytes. They 
 certainly never dreamed of admitting 
 
 any stranger to a participation of 
 their own rank, the distance being 
 utterly immeasurable ; but where it 
 suits their interest, they have no ob- 
 jections to class them with the mili- 
 tary and working classes, and even 
 condescend to perform certain cere- 
 monies for the barbarians, which is 
 a virtual admission within the pale 
 of the Brahminical church. Tribes 
 altogether vile are those for whom 
 no person of the sacred order will 
 perform any ceremony, unless they 
 renounce their impure habits ; and, 
 in reality, wherever Brahmins pene- 
 trate among savage tribes, a gradual 
 and regular conversion immediately 
 follows. 
 
 The division of people into castes 
 is the paramount distinction between 
 the Brahminical Hindoos and the vo- 
 taries of Buddha ; but strict adhe- 
 rence to the peculiar duties of each 
 caste having probably been found im- 
 practicable, they have been compelled 
 to relax the spirit of the law, and to 
 admit of numerous exceptions. The 
 peculiar duty of a Brahmin is to me- 
 ditate on things divine; and the 
 proper manner of his procuring a 
 subsistence is by begging, every spe- 
 cies of industry being derogatory to 
 his rank. The majority of Brahmins 
 may and do eat animal food ; priests, 
 while officiating as such, perhaps do 
 not ; but, though all priests are Brah- 
 mins, all Brahmins are not priests. 
 The right of bearing arms, which in 
 early times was confined to the mi- 
 litary caste of Khetries, has latterly 
 been found diffused through all clas- 
 ses, and Brahmins may be daily seen 
 standing in the ranks as common 
 soldiers. It is probable that the in- 
 stitution of a distinct military caste 
 had the effect of eradicating martial 
 habits from the mass of the popula- 
 tion, and contributed greatly to fa- 
 cilitate their subjugation by foreign- 
 ers. It is generally, but erroneously 
 supposed, that persons of the same 
 caste will communicate and eat to- 
 gether all over India : but this is by 
 no means the case, the intercourse 
 being confined to a few families only 
 in their own immediate neighbour- 
 
HINDOSTAN. 
 
 hood, and, as far as refers to them, 
 the residue of the same tribe are in 
 a manner outcasts. There is some- 
 thing, however, so fascinating to the 
 natives of India in the doctrine of 
 caste, that the Malabar Christians, 
 notwithstanding their conversion to 
 a religion that sanctions no distinc- 
 tion, have not been able to free 
 themselves from it ; and the lower 
 classes of Mahometans throughout 
 Hindostan shew a remarkable prone- 
 ness towards its adoption. 
 
 So far as the distinction of caste 
 checks progressive improvement, and 
 permanently degrades a large portion 
 of the people, it is injurious to so- 
 ciety ; but so far as they perpetuate 
 the arts, and tend to prevent further 
 deterioration, as they repress irregu- 
 lar passions, and promote tranquillity 
 and subordination, their influence is 
 beneficial. In a country and climate 
 predisposed to improvement, the 
 shackles of caste must be a curse ; 
 but where retrogression of intellect 
 is much more to be apprehended, 
 they are decidedly useful. Hindos- 
 tan has hitherto belonged to the last 
 description of nations, and has con- 
 sequently been upheld in the scale of. 
 civilization by the doctrine of caste. 
 At present its destiny seems altered, 
 and it may be expected the Brah- 
 minical system will be gradually re- 
 laxed, and at last, whether for the 
 better or the worse, disappear. A 
 great error, however, may be com- 
 mitted by unduly accelerating this 
 event, or attempting prematurely to 
 overthrow an ancient system before 
 the people are prepared for the 
 change. 
 
 The Hindoos believe that by the 
 performance of extreme penances 
 and austerities mortals may acquire 
 supernatural power, and careless- 
 ness, or rather prodigality of life, 
 has always been a remarkable feature 
 in their character. Besides a meri- 
 torious suffering for their faith, suicide 
 is in many cases legal and commend- 
 able, such as the immolation of a 
 widow with her husband’s corpse. 
 These sacrifices (called suttees) are 
 almost unknown in many parts of 
 
 £)47 
 
 Southern India, and in the countries 
 of the Deccan, Malwa, and Upper 
 Hindostan, are of rare occurrence. 
 Indeed the practice is most prevalent 
 in the immediate vicinity of Calcutta, 
 where more than half of all the sut- 
 tees in Bengal are perpetrated. In 
 establishing their places of religious 
 pilgrimage, the Hindoos have always 
 shewn a great predilection for places 
 near the sea, the sources and junc- 
 tions of rivers, the tops of remarka- 
 ble hills, hot springs, caves, water- 
 falls, in short, any natural phenome- 
 non, the access to which happens to 
 be difficult or dangerous. Of late 
 years a great many of their holiest 
 fanes have had their reputation for 
 sanctity considerably tarnished in 
 consequence of their having been 
 visited and examined by Europeans, 
 but more especially by the improved 
 system of internal police, which has 
 abstracted all mystery from the jour- 
 ney, and rendered the pilgrimage too 
 easy to be meritorious. The follow- 
 ing are the names of several places 
 that still retain a considerable por- 
 tion of their original celebrity, which 
 must be expected, however, annually 
 to diminish. 
 
 Juggernauth. Gangoutri. 
 
 Benares. Joalamukhi. 
 
 Gaya. Omercuntuc. 
 
 Allahabad. Trimbuck Nas- 
 
 Tripety. ser. 
 
 Dwaraca. Perwuttum. 
 
 Somnauth. Parkur. 
 
 Ramisseram. Mathura. 
 
 Lake Manasaro- Bindrabund. 
 
 vara. 
 
 The Ganges, on account of the 
 peculiar sanctity of its waters, is 
 worshipped throughout its whole 
 course, but there are particular spots 
 on its banks held more sacred than 
 others; they also venerate in an in- 
 ferior degree many other rivers. Most 
 of the holy places above enumerated 
 are situated very distant apart, yet 
 appear from the remotest antiquity 
 to have had a constant influx of pil- 
 grims from every quarter of Hindos- 
 tan ; which apparently ought to have 
 had the effect of improving their geo- 
 graphical system, and of promoting 
 
648 
 
 H1ND0STAN. 
 
 a general knowledge of each other. 
 But no such beneficial effect ever re- 
 sulted, and, owing to the total want 
 of historical records among the Hin- 
 doos, any fable that has been retailed 
 for 100 years, comes down to the ex- 
 isting race with an origin as obscure 
 as if it had been established for a 
 thousand. 
 
 The modern Mahomedans may with 
 safety be estimated at one-seventh of 
 the total population ; and notwith- 
 standing the subversion of their po- 
 litical predominance by a Christian 
 power, their religion continues to ex- 
 pand. They are no longer, however, 
 the sanguinary zealots who, eight hun- 
 dred years ago, in the name of God 
 and the prophet, spread desolation 
 and slaughter among the unconverted 
 pagans. Open violence produced 
 little effect on so patient a people, 
 and although the Mahomedans sub- 
 sequently lived for centuries inter- 
 mixed with Hindoos, no radical change 
 was produced in the manners or te- 
 nets of the latter; on the contrary, 
 for almost a century past, the Maho- 
 medans have evinced much deference 
 to the prejudices of their Hindoo 
 neighbours, and a strong predilection 
 towards many of their ceremonies. 
 The higher ranks of Mahomedans 
 in general abstain from making offer- 
 ings to the gods of the pagans ; but 
 the multitude in their distresses have 
 recourse to the idols, and even make 
 offerings on festivals ; whereas it is 
 the higher ranks of the Hindoos who 
 are chiefly addicted to the propitia- 
 tion of Mahomedan saints. 
 
 The next religious sect of sufficient 
 importance to deserve notice is the 
 Christian, which probably throughout 
 Hindostan comprehends about half a 
 million of souls, almost all the des- 
 cendants of the ancient Christian 
 stocks, and, relatively to the other 
 classes, existing under circumstances 
 of degradation. The pride of caste 
 among the Hindoos does not singly 
 account for the contempt felt and 
 shewn by the followers of the Brah- 
 minical system towards them, no such 
 contempt being manifested to the Ma- 
 homedans, or to the European Chris- 
 
 tians. There are undoubtedly cir- 
 cumstances of diet and cleanliness 
 which tend to lower the Nazarene in 
 the eyes both of the Mahomedan and 
 Hindoo, and the European holding 
 himself aloof from the native Chris- 
 tian, no portion of the veneration 
 which the first attracts is reflected 
 on his humble brother in religion. 
 Were it practicable to raise the lower 
 part of the chain without lowering 
 the upper, the Christian might, like 
 the Mahomedan, become a tribe hold- 
 ing a respectable station in the mixed 
 society of India; and until some such 
 improvement is effected, the tempo- 
 rary causes that oppose the conver- 
 sion of the Hindoos will continue to 
 operate. Conviction does not easily 
 reach the mind of an individual who, 
 by becoming a proselyte, must des- 
 cend from a decent rank in society 
 to one degraded and discountenanced; 
 whereas were he encouraged, not 
 merely by the number but also by the 
 reflective lustre of those, who, al- 
 though of a different origin and com- 
 plexion, unite with him in faith, he 
 would soon have numerous associates. 
 
 With a view to the creation of so 
 important a link in the chain, com- 
 bined with other reasons, a gradual 
 extension of the colonizing system 
 has been recommended by Mr. Cole- 
 brooke. Considered as a measure of 
 policy, a Christian population holding 
 a decent rank in the motley throng of 
 tribes and castes, would tend to con- 
 solidate the strength of the state, 
 and add to the probable duration of 
 the empire. A colonization of the 
 nature alluded to, far from being likely 
 to terminate in a separation of the 
 colony, would rather serve to perpetu- 
 ate the union, by the addition of a 
 tribe whose interest and doctrines 
 must attach them to their European 
 superiors. With habits more analo- 
 gous to those of Europe, the Creole 
 Christians would certainly be better 
 customers for its productions than the 
 other sects. For the furtherance of 
 such an object, all that is necessary is 
 to allow the natural course of events 
 to take effect, without either encou- 
 ragement or restraint, and to permit 
 
HINDOSTAN. 
 
 649 
 
 Europeans and their legitimate pro- 
 geny to settle in India and acquire 
 property. At present it is only the 
 illegitimate offspring that is thus pri- 
 vileged, while the legitimate descen- 
 dant is prohibited from obtaining a 
 property in the soil of his birth. A 
 gradual increase of the illegitimate 
 race, in fact, constitutes a progressive 
 colonization : but it proceeds less 
 rapidly than might have been expect- 
 ed, being absorbed into the classes 
 immediately above and below it. On 
 the one side, by the intermarriages of 
 the females with European sojourners ; 
 and on the other it melts into the 
 dark native Christian. Colonization, 
 in the usual sense of the term, is never 
 likely to take place in Hindostan, as 
 no inducement exists to attract the 
 common labourer or artizan. The 
 voluntary resort would be confined to 
 merchants, traders and factors ; to 
 navigators and seamen of a superior 
 class ; to master planters and over- 
 seers of plantations, and to the civil 
 and military servants of the govern- 
 ment : but the influx of emigrants 
 would never be in such numbers as 
 to interfere with the ordinary employ- 
 ment of the native population. In 
 process of time, however, when ages 
 shall have passed away, should the 
 increase of a Christian Creole popu- 
 lation terminate in a separation, which 
 is, however, more likely to happen 
 from other causes, the event when it 
 arrives will be advantageous to both 
 parties, and its approaching maturity 
 hailed as a common benefit. 
 
 The historical notices procurable 
 in India are usually either mere tra- 
 ditions preserved among ignorant 
 people, or legends mixed with the 
 most monstrous fables : for it may be 
 safely asserted that the Hindoos have 
 nothing deserving of being dignified 
 with the name of history, or which 
 could with propriety be denominated 
 a chronicle. Indeed it is quite un- 
 accountable how, in the midst of 
 such a mass of mythological fable, 
 their priests and bards did not by ac- 
 cident stumble on some historical or 
 chronological fact. The wars be- 
 tween the princes considered as in- 
 
 carnations, Vishnu, and the Asuras 
 or demons, such as Ravana, have 
 reference no doubt to a period when 
 the worship of certain gods was in 
 recent vigour, and the sectaries of 
 each were contending for superiority. 
 There is also reason to believe that 
 the Yavans, so often mentioned, 
 were the Macedonians of Bactria,who 
 obtained large possessions in the 
 north-west quarter, where, about the 
 time of the Mahomedan invasion, 
 the family of Palas claimed universal 
 dominion. The dynasties of the 
 princes named after the sun and 
 moon seem to have governed Hin- 
 dostan from the earliest times, and 
 each branched out into numerous 
 lines that shared the country be- 
 tween them, while sometimes the one 
 and sometimes the other proved 
 most potent, and furnished the 
 prince, who was considered the pa- 
 ramount lord of India. The power 
 possessed by 7 these sovereigns ap- 
 pears to have consisted of three pri- 
 vileges : each prince sent him an- 
 nually an embassy with presents ; he 
 bestowed the tika, or mark of inves- 
 titure, on each heir when he succeed- 
 ed to the throne ; and he had a right 
 to interfere to prevent the stronger 
 of his nominal vassals from com- 
 pletely subjugating the weaker. The 
 prerogative last mentioned was pro- 
 bably limited to persuasion, as he 
 possessed no means of enforcing a 
 co-operation among them. For the 
 chronology of Hindostan since the 
 Mahomedan invasion, the reader is 
 referred to the words Ghizni and 
 Delhi ; that of each province, city, 
 and district is given as they respec- 
 tively occur. 
 
 For more than a century past the 
 native governments of Hindostan 
 have been in a perpetual state of 
 fluctuation, conquest being avowed 
 as the first and legitimate pursuit of 
 every sovereign, and the sole source 
 of glory and renown. In such a 
 condition of society, the views of 
 ambition can alone be bounded by 
 inability to prosecute them. Besides 
 this, so far from having any political 
 system, the strength of which would 
 
650 
 
 HINDOSTAN. 
 
 have afforded protection to the fee- 
 bler states, exactly the reverse was 
 the case ; the object of every native 
 chief separately, and of all collec- 
 tively, being to destroy the weak. 
 Internally the constitution of a na- 
 tive state is an unmixed despotism, 
 every movement originating with the 
 government, to the power of which 
 there is no limit except the endu- 
 rance of the people, the sovereign’s 
 will being never opposed but by a 
 general insurrection. The conse- 
 quence is, that the great bulk of the 
 population entertain no attachment 
 to any set of political principles, or 
 to any form of government; and they 
 have been so long accustomed to re- 
 volution and frequent change of so- 
 vereigns, that they obey with little 
 repugnance whoever is placed over 
 them, expecting his sway, like that 
 of his predecessor, will be transitory. 
 They are solicitous for the toleration 
 of their religious doctrines, rites, and 
 prejudices, the security of their do- 
 mestic concerns, and the prosperity 
 of their particular villages ; but are 
 totally destitute of what is under- 
 stood in Europe by the term pa- 
 triotism. Indeed the system of vil- 
 lage government throughout India 
 presents the only instance of per- 
 manent territorial cohesion counter- 
 acting the evils incident to despotism, 
 and serves to account for the flou- 
 rishing condition of many tracts of 
 country from which all govern- 
 ment whatever appears to be with- 
 drawn. 
 
 Under such circumstances, it is not 
 surprising that the natives do not look 
 upon the crime of treason against the 
 state in the light we do. In fidelity 
 and attachment to a master or chief 
 they are not surpassed by any people : 
 but those who stand in the relation 
 of subjects, without being in the ser- 
 vice or pay of the supreme power, 
 do not feel themselves bound by any 
 very strong tie of allegiance. They 
 have no idea of loyalty and disloyalty 
 but to the masters who support them, 
 and their ideas run equally counter 
 to all European notions of civil li- 
 berty. In adverting to the incessant 
 
 revolutions of these countries, it is 
 a remarkable fact, that in all the 
 schemes of polity, whether of the 
 victors or the vanquished, the idea 
 of civil liberty in any shape never 
 seems to have been contemplated, 
 and is to this day without a name in 
 the languages of India. The Seiks, 
 when they rejected the Brahminical 
 religion, exhibited the first and only 
 approach, however imperfect, to re- 
 publican principles. In reality our 
 native subjects have been as remark- 
 able for their cheerful submission to 
 power, as for a want of moderation, 
 an unsteady disposition, and a spirit 
 of encroachment and litigation, when 
 suffered to indulge these evil propen- 
 sities. They have been accustomed 
 to be governed by the sword, a spe- 
 cies of rule which they comprehend, 
 and even seem to like. No country 
 in the world can exhibit a more 
 cheerful and apparently happy class 
 of people, than the native sepoys in 
 in the British service, which disposi- 
 tion, with the many other good qua- 
 lities they are known to possess, 
 may in a considerable degree be at- 
 tributed to the salutary discipline 
 and subordination they are subject- 
 ed to. 
 
 In Hindostan there are no titles of 
 nobility exactly similar to those of 
 Europe, nor are they in general here- 
 ditary. According to oriental ideas, 
 honours or titles conferred by the 
 sovereign must be accompanied by a 
 jaghire, and generally by a military 
 command along with the title, which 
 is in itself considered merely as an 
 appellation attached to the acquisi- 
 tion of emolument or power ; and it 
 is quite impossible to impress the 
 minds of the natives with the ^alue 
 of a mere name. On this subject 
 their ideas are more simple and natu- 
 ral than our’s. If an unfit person re- 
 ceive a patent for the title of ameer 
 or raja, he would not be able to re- 
 tain it : for when a man has nothing 
 left of dignity but the name, in India, 
 that also soon fades away. On the 
 other hand, if a Hindoo should emerge 
 from poverty and obscurity, and at- 
 tain wealth and celebrity, he would, 
 
HINDOSTAN. 
 
 651 
 
 if he wished it, be saluted raja ; he 
 would be considered as having ac- 
 quired a claim to the title, in the 
 same manner as other persons acquire, 
 by learning, the titles of moulavy and 
 pundit, which becomes, among the 
 mass of the people, inseparably at- 
 tached to their names. Elevation of 
 rank and increase of opulence among 
 the natives of India produces a greater 
 accession of dependants, particularly 
 in the female branch of the family, 
 than in any other country ; and ac- 
 cording to their prejudices few of 
 these adherents can be dismissed with- 
 out incurring disgrace. 
 
 In modern times, the British govern- 
 ment, since the establishment of its 
 predominance, being anxious to raise 
 up an intermediate body of respec- 
 table gentry, has made vast sacrifices 
 of revenue to the zemindars, with 
 the view of elevating them to the 
 rank of European landlords; but the 
 experiment has totally failed, scarcely 
 any of those whose incomes admit of 
 their supporting a becoming splen- 
 dour having shewn any desire to 
 shake off their original habits, while 
 the unceasing division and subdi- 
 vision of estates, peculiar to the Hin- 
 doo law of inheritance, threatens to 
 reduce the whole in the course of a 
 few generations to the condition of 
 labouring cultivators. Another step 
 towards improvement would be to 
 give the towns and market places a 
 privileged municipal government, the 
 want of which in all eastern govern- 
 ments has greatly retarded the ad- 
 vances of civilization, and long ex- 
 perience has demonstrated that the 
 village institutions of India, well ma- 
 naged, are competent to maintain 
 peace and order within their respec- 
 tive boundaries. 
 
 But a still more essential improve- 
 ment than either of the above, would 
 be the admission of natives to places 
 of trust and honour, which is the 
 only mode by which they can be ef- 
 fectually conciliated. It is in vain 
 to expect that men will be satisfied 
 with merely having their property 
 secured,, while all the paths of ho- 
 nourable anjbition are shut against 
 
 them. Under the Mahomedans, al- 
 though they ruled as conquerors, the 
 Hindoos could rise to offices of dig- 
 nity and importance, from which they 
 are now entirely excluded. The 
 manners of the Mahomedans were 
 much more like their own ; they re- 
 sided permanently among them, spent 
 their revenue in the country, and 
 became part of the people, whereas 
 the British are only birds of passage. 
 The natives have certainly a high 
 opinion of their justice — it is a pro- 
 verb ; but under a great sovereign, 
 such as Acber or Aurengzebe, who 
 rewarded them adequately, natives 
 of honour and integrity have sprung 
 up, and under similar circumstances 
 would do so again. No European is 
 so thoroughly acquainted with the 
 language, manners, and economy of 
 the natives as they are themselves, 
 and so far is inferior to any native 
 judge; but the natives are at present 
 so convinced of the superior inte- 
 grity and impartiality of the Euro- 
 pean judges, that they are never sa- 
 tisfied without an appeal to their au- 
 thority. At present the best natives 
 will side with their own family, caste, 
 or village. The main objection to 
 the employment of the natives is 
 their notorious habits of dishonesty 
 and peculation : but it is only since 
 the European functionaries were well 
 paid that they themselves became 
 trustworthy. All European govern- 
 vernments have purchased integrity 
 in high public officers by honours and 
 emoluments ; if we want it in India, 
 we must take the same means ; and if 
 we pay the same price, we shall almost 
 as readily find it among the natives 
 of that country as among Europeans. 
 The judicial system introduced into 
 Hindostan by the British government 
 is too artificial for the state of so- 
 ciety there, and proceeds upon an 
 assumption that the natives are alto- 
 together unworthy of trust. So they 
 certainly are, and will continue, while 
 so despicably remunerated for their 
 honesty as they have hitherto been. 
 The grand objection to European 
 agency is, that it cannot be employed 
 to the extent which is necessary for 
 
652 
 
 HINDOSTAN. 
 
 governing well so vast a country, 
 which could be effected only by an 
 increase of colonization ; under the 
 present system, a few hundred Euro- 
 peans, scattered over a territory great- 
 ly surpassing in extent the largest 
 kingdom in Europe, can never duly 
 administer to the wants of so nume- 
 rous a people. 
 
 These, and every other measure of 
 a like nature, ought to be conceded 
 slowly and gradually, for the expe- 
 rience of the world has shewn how 
 vain and delusive are all sudden at- 
 tempts to reform and improve the 
 social condition by the mere force of 
 legislative enactments. The institu- 
 tions of the natives have arisen out 
 of customs, religions, climates, and 
 constitutions, essentially dissimilar to 
 our own, but they have been ap- 
 proved and perfected by the expe- 
 rience of ages ; any innovation, then, 
 on their simplicity, where not abso- 
 lutely necessary, is much to be de- 
 precated, and the law most required 
 just now is one to prevent European 
 interference and meddling. We have, 
 in fact, in most cases but little in 
 our power beyond what internal 
 tranquillity, and a steady government 
 to check active oppression, produces. 
 This cautious line of policy is more 
 especially requisite in India, where 
 the people are more under the tram- 
 mels of prejudice than any other, 
 their laws and usages being identified 
 with their religion, which pervades 
 every action of their lives. In laying 
 the foundation, therefore, of order 
 and improvement, the genius of the 
 people must be consulted, and the 
 greatest respect paid both to their 
 inoffensive and hurtful prejudices. It 
 is to the actual condition and exigen- 
 cies of every society that its legis- 
 lature must conform itself, and when 
 a new evil arises it must be met by a 
 corresponding remedy. The best and 
 most effectual plan of improvement 
 is that which does the least violence 
 to the established order of things, 
 requires no adventitious aid or com- 
 plex machinery, and, as far as may be, 
 executes itself. 
 
 In Hindostan land is the chief 
 
 source of revenue, and the govern- 
 ment assumes so large a proportion 
 of the produce of the soil that it has 
 a direct interest in encouraging the 
 labours of the peasant. In 1815 the 
 assessment per bega of the land re- 
 venue exhibited a remarkable diver- 
 sity. In Shajehanpoor and Bareily 
 it was seven and eight annas, while 
 in Moradabad, immediately contigu- 
 ous and similarly situated, it was one 
 rupee twelve annas for a bega of the 
 same description. The fluctuation 
 of rate per bega between individual 
 adjoining estates was yet greater. 
 The only inference deducible from 
 this variety of rate is, that if a pro- 
 prietor can venture to engage for so 
 high a rate per bega as the records 
 frequently exhibit, it is only from the 
 knowledge that he has other lands 
 unknown to the assessor, from the 
 proceeds of which, united with those 
 recorded, he has the means of raising 
 the amount of the jumma beyond the 
 necessary returns of his capital and 
 labour. The assessment therefore in 
 these cases is fixed on his total re- 
 ceipts, without reference to the ex- 
 tent of land supposed to be assessed. 
 Indeed, from a statement furnished 
 by the board of . commissioners, it 
 appears that, in the ceded and con- 
 quered provinces alone, the extent of 
 land held under rent-free grants (all 
 questionable as to their validity) 
 amounts to 4,495,177 begas, an ex- 
 tent exceeding the recorded area of 
 the cultivated land in the largest of 
 the British districts. The amount and 
 value of the general improvement 
 may be inferred from particular in- 
 stances which come under the notice 
 of the revenue and judicial autho- 
 rities, when occasions arise for as- 
 certaining the proprietor’s income 
 by regular inquiry, or when it is ac- 
 cidentally made known, or is de- 
 ducible from other circumstances, 
 such as the price given for lands by 
 public and private sale. From such 
 sources of information there are 
 grounds for reckoning the net income 
 of the zemindars, upon an average, 
 at an amount equal to half the as- 
 sessment paid to government, viz. 
 
HINDOSTAN. 
 
 653 
 
 Sudder Jumma (say) 10 
 
 Proprietor’s present income 5 
 
 — 15 
 
 Sudder Jumma (say) 10 
 
 Proprietor’s former income 1 
 
 — 11 
 
 Difference 4 
 or one-third near!}', which indicates 
 an improvement in the proportion of 
 one-third of the former produce of 
 the land. The resources of the slate 
 in other branches (such as salt, opium, 
 stamps, customs, abkarry, &c.) have 
 been in the mean time increased in 
 a higher ratio, and the state bene- 
 fited by the augmentation during the 
 whole period of its progress. 
 
 The price of wheat, as stated in 
 the institutes of the Emperor Acber, 
 is twelve dams per maund of thirty 
 dams, equal to twenty-six dams, or 
 ten annas nearly, per bazar maund. 
 Flour, twenty-two dams per maund 
 of thirty dams, equal to one rupee 
 one anna and a half per bazar maund. 
 Revenue of a bega of wheat in kind 
 four maunds twelve and three-quar- 
 ters ; in money (the average of four 
 provinces) the highest rents were 102 
 dams, medium of years sixty-seven 
 dams. Four maunds twelve and three- 
 quarters at 102 dams equal to twenty- 
 four dams nearly ; at sixty-seven 
 dams equal to sixteen dams nearly, 
 or thirteen annas to one rupee three 
 annas per bazar maund. During the 
 twenty years that elapsed between 
 1792 and 1812, great changes took 
 place in Britain, but in India no such 
 advance in the rate of wages or aver- 
 age price of corn took place as to 
 indicate a material and permanent 
 alteration in the value of money com- 
 pared with the necessaries of life, 
 nor in the wider range of two or 
 three centuries does there appear to 
 have been changes keeping exactly 
 pace with those that have occurred 
 within the same period in Europe. 
 As may be inferred from the above 
 statement, the price of provisions in 
 the time of the Emperor Acber, and 
 the relative proportion of a money rent 
 to a rent in kind, differed much less 
 than a similar comparison at an equal 
 interval in Great Britain would shew. 
 
 The circumstances in which the 
 British government is placed pre- 
 cludes all improvident generosity, and 
 the peculiar habits of the people re- 
 quire that their natural tendency to 
 inaction should be stimulated by the 
 necessity of providing for the pay- 
 ment of a moderately high land assess- 
 ment. An incitement of this nature 
 is more particularly called for in a 
 country where the mere necessaries 
 of life are easily procured, and where, 
 in most parts, during the prevailing 
 anarchy of more than a century, to 
 acquire property by individual exer- 
 tion was only to tempt the hand of 
 rapacity. In several provinces the 
 assessment to the land revenue has 
 been rendered permanent, and it is 
 certainly desirable that in process of 
 time the system be extended to the 
 whole; but it must be done with cau- 
 tion, as by fixing its amount in per- 
 petuity, we impose bounds to the de- 
 mands of the state, ignorant of the 
 future extent of the public exigencies. 
 The abilities and indefatigable exer- 
 tions by which the fiscal arrangements 
 of India have been brought to their 
 present improved condition, have ne- 
 ver been duly appreciated in Europe. 
 Much remains still to be done ; but 
 even in their present imperfect form, 
 their regularity presents a singular 
 contrast to the system of shifts, eva- 
 sions, and extortions, which seems so 
 congenial to the obliquity of a native 
 financier. The same observation is 
 applicable to the existing system of 
 police, which, notwithstanding its nu- 
 merous imperfections (far easier to 
 describe than to remedy), has greatly 
 ameliorated the condition of the na- 
 tives, who are highly sensible of the 
 protection their persons and property 
 now experience, and acknowledge 
 that the administration of civil and 
 criminal justice has been improved, 
 inasmuch as form and consistency 
 have been substituted for discretion- 
 ary authority. On the other hand it 
 must be admitted that, under the new 
 regime, the condition of some classes, 
 and more especially the military, has 
 materially retrogaded, the productive 
 income having, by the course of 
 events, been almost wholly trans- 
 
654 . 
 
 HINDOSTAN. 
 
 ferred to the purely agricultural and 
 trading portions of the community. 
 
 The formation of the enormous 
 empire now possessed in India by the 
 British nation, has been urged on by 
 events so uncontrollable, has been so 
 fervently deprecated by the ruling 
 authorities both at home and abroad, 
 and so peremptorily interdicted by 
 the strongest legislative enactments, 
 that its acquisitions under such cir- 
 cumstances almost appears like a 
 dispensation of providence. We are 
 certainly intruders into Hindostan : 
 but never was there, in a'similar pro- 
 cess of aggrandizement, such a want 
 of intention or premeditation. Force 
 alone could never have effected its 
 accomplishment, although it was ne- 
 cessarily the subsidiary means through 
 which the native states were enabled 
 to surmount the obstacles that check- 
 ed their inclination. Of the truth of 
 this an adequate judgment can only 
 be formed by those who have exa- 
 mined the voluminous documents 
 that have fallen under the author’s 
 notice, and observed the incredible 
 pains taken by the different British 
 governments of India, since 1784, not 
 only to avoid every war of aggression, 
 but also to resist the importunity of 
 the different native chiefs and com- 
 munities to be admitted within the 
 pale of its protection as subjects or 
 tributaries. There may have been 
 cases, although it would be difficult 
 to indicate them, where the prospect 
 of gaining a political ascendancy, or 
 too hasty apprehension of meditated 
 attack, have misled the government 
 into hostilities which might have been 
 avoided ; but the general history of 
 the British empire in India is, that 
 it has been wantonly assailed; the 
 unprovoked enemy has been con- 
 quered and the possessions wrested 
 from him retained, not merely as a legi- 
 timate compensation, but also on the 
 consideration of self-defence. The fol- 
 lowing concise abstract of the British 
 territorial possessions, with the date 
 of their acquisition will furnish a gene- 
 ral notion of their progressive increase. 
 
 A.D. 
 
 1639. Madras with a territory five 
 miles along shore by one inland. 
 
 A.D. 
 
 1664. Bombay. 
 
 1691. Fort St. David. 
 
 1696. Calcutta. 
 
 1763 ^ The Jaghire in the Carnatic. 
 
 1757. The twenty-four pergunnahs. 
 
 1761. Chittagong, Burdwan, and Mid- 
 napoor. 
 
 1765. Bengal, Bahar, and four of the 
 Northern Circars. 
 
 1776. The island of Salsette. 
 
 1781. The zemindary of Benares. 
 
 1787- The Guntoor Circar. 
 
 1792. Malabar, Canara, Coimbatoor, 
 Dindigul, Salem, the Barrama- 
 hal, &c. 
 
 1799. Seringapatam. 
 
 1800. The Balaghaut ceded districts 
 of Bellary and Cuddapah. 
 
 1801. Territories ceded by the Nabob 
 of Oude in compensation for 
 subsidy, consisting of Rohilcund, 
 (including Bareily, Moradabad, 
 Shahjehanpoor, &c.) the lower 
 Doab, and the districts of Fur- 
 ruckabad, Allahabad, Caunpoor, 
 Goruckpoor, Azimghur, &c. 
 
 1801. The Carnatic province, com- 
 prehending the whole of the Na- 
 bob of Arcot’s territories. 
 
 1803. The Dutch portion of the is- 
 land of Ceylon. 
 
 1803. Delhi, Agra, the upper Doab, 
 Hurriana, Saharunpoor, Merut, 
 Alighur, Etawah, Bundlecund, 
 Cuttack, Balasore, Juggernauth, 
 &c. 
 
 1803. Cessions from the Peshwa and 
 Guicowar in Gujerat. 
 
 1815. Conquests from Nepaul, con- 
 sisting of the hill country be- 
 tween the Sutuleje and Jumna, 
 and the districts of Gurwal and 
 Kumaon. 
 
 1815. The kingdom of Candy in Cey- 
 lon. 
 
 1816. Anjar, Mandavie, and other 
 places in Catch. 
 
 1818. Poona and the whole of the 
 Peshwa’s dominions, Candeish, 
 Saugur, and other places in 
 Malwa; Ajmeer in Rajpootana; 
 Sumbhulpoor, Sirgooja, Gurrah, 
 Mundlah, and other cessions in 
 Gundwana from the Nagpoor 
 Raja. 
 
HINDOSTAN. 
 
 655 
 
 1825. Conquests from the Burmese, 
 consisting of Assam, Cachar, 
 Munipoor, Arracan, Martaban, 
 Ye, Tavoy, Tenasserim, and the 
 Mergui Isles. 
 
 In 1814, the existing political sys- 
 tem of Hindostan consisted of states 
 subsidiary, federative, and indepen- 
 dent, viz. 
 
 1st. Those with whom the British 
 government had formed subsidiary 
 alliances, such as the Nizam, the 
 Peshwa, the Guicowar, the Rajas of 
 Mysore, Travancore, Cochin, and 
 the Nabob of Oude. The con- 
 dition of these subsidiary alliances 
 were, that the British government 
 should protect the native state from 
 external invasion and internal dis- 
 sension, but the troops assigned for 
 this purpose were not to be employed 
 in the civil administation, or collec- 
 tion of the revenue. In return for the 
 protection thus granted, the British 
 government received a compensation 
 in money or territory, and the sub- 
 sidizing state not only undertook to 
 maintain a certain contingent, in 
 readiness to act with the subsidiary 
 force, but also to abstain from all 
 political intercourse with the other 
 powers of India except in concert 
 with the paramount authority, which 
 undertook to arbitrate their disputed 
 rights. In cases of exigence the entire 
 resources of the protected state to be 
 at the command, and under the di- 
 rection of the British government. 
 
 2d. Certain small principalities, 
 scarcely deserving the names of sub- 
 stantive powers, which enjoyed the 
 British protection without any sub- 
 sidiary connection. The principal 
 members of this class were the Rajas 
 of Bhurtpoor and Macherry, with 
 some petty chiefs in the neighbour- 
 hood of Delhi and Agra, the Bun- 
 delcund chiefs, and the petty Seik 
 chieftains on the frontiers towards 
 the Sutuleje. The Rajpoot chiefs of 
 Jeypoor, Joudpoor, Odeypoor, Bi- 
 canere, and Jesselmere were not in- 
 cluded. The engagements for the 
 protection of these principalities 
 were nearly the same as those entered 
 into with the greater states, except 
 that the British government seldom 
 
 exacted any consideration for its pro- 
 tection, and was not bound to main- 
 tain any special force for that pur- 
 pose. 
 
 3d. The third class consisted of 
 acknowledged princes, such as Sin- 
 dia, Holcar, and the Nagpoor raja, 
 with whom the British nation was at 
 peace, and had a permanent ambas- 
 sador (an arrangement considered by 
 native politicians as the first step to- 
 wards subjugation) stationed at their 
 court. 
 
 4th. As a fourth class may be 
 mentioned the independent princes 
 and communities, who had never been 
 acknowledged as substantive powers, 
 and towards whom the British go- 
 vernment was not bound by any con- 
 nection whatever. The two classes 
 last mentioned had always shewn a 
 great reluctance to form any indisso- 
 luble alliances, on terms that seemed 
 calculated to interfere with the un- 
 restrained latitude of political action 
 they had before enjoyed. 
 
 Since the date above-mentioned 
 (1814) great political changes have 
 taken place, the Maharatta power 
 having been irretrievably broken by 
 the war of 1817*18, and the Ne- 
 paulese by that of 1815. The Peshwa, 
 as a potentate, has been annihilated, 
 and his possessions, with the excep- 
 tion of Satara, incorporated with the 
 British dominions; the Nagpoor raja 
 reduced to a state of complete insig- 
 nificance, and Holcar deprived of all 
 sovereignty south of the Nerbudda. 
 The Sindia family, from circumstances 
 for which they can claim no merit, 
 present no exhibition of desperate 
 fortune, but they are now insulated 
 and precluded from all extraneous 
 assistance, not to mention the essen- 
 tial prostration their strength sus- 
 tained by the destruction of the Pin- 
 daries. In fact, their existence now 
 depends on the amicable relations 
 they maintain with the British go- 
 vernment. On the other hand, seve- 
 ral friendly states, such as those of 
 Boondee, Kotah, and Bopaul, have 
 had their territories augmented, and 
 the five great states of Rajpootana 
 have been admitted into the federa- 
 tive alliance. 
 
656 
 
 HINDOSTAN. 
 
 The following table (originally 
 formed in 1820) is an attempt to pre- 
 sent an abstract view of the relative 
 area and population of the whole : 
 but, from the imperfection of all East- 
 Indian statistical documents, it must 
 be regarded as a mere approximation 
 
 to the truth. Since the date above- 
 mentioned some territorial mutations 
 of no great importance have taken 
 place, but the estimate may never- 
 theless be considered as tolerably 
 correct, and the number of inhabi- 
 tants rather under than overrated. 
 
 Table of the relative Area and Population of the Modern States of Hindostan 
 
 for A.D. 1820. 
 
 British 
 Sq. Miles. 
 
 Population. 
 
 162,000 
 
 39,000,000 
 
 148,000 
 
 18,000,000 
 
 18,000 
 
 500,000 
 
 328,000 
 
 57,500,000 
 
 154,000 
 
 15,000,000 
 
 11,000 
 
 2,500,000 
 
 60,000 
 
 8,000,000 
 
 553,000 
 
 83,000,000 
 
 96,000 
 
 10,000,000 
 
 70,000 
 
 3,000,000 
 
 20,000 
 
 3,000,000 
 
 18,000 
 
 2,000,000 
 
 14,000 
 
 1,500,000 
 
 27,000 
 
 3,000,000 
 
 14,000 
 
 1,500,000 
 
 8,000 
 
 1,000,000 
 
 - 283,000 
 
 15,000,000 
 
 1,103,000 
 
 123,000,000 
 
 53,000 
 
 2,000,000 
 
 50,000 
 
 3,000,000 
 
 24,000 
 
 1,000,000 
 
 40,000 
 
 4,000,000 
 
 10,000 
 
 1,000,000 
 
 | 1,280,000 
 
 134,000,000 
 
 Bengal, Bahar, and Benares... 
 
 Additions in Hindostan since A.D. 1765 
 
 Gurwal, Kumaon, and the tract between the > 
 Sutuleje and Jumna ) 
 
 Total under the Bengal Presidency 
 
 Under the Madras Presidency 
 
 Under the Bombay Presidency 
 
 Territories in the Deccan, &c. acquired since 
 1815, consisting of the Peshwa’s domi 
 nions, &c. and since mostly attached to 
 the Bombay Presidency 
 
 Total under the British Government. 
 
 § 
 
 of British protection. 
 
 British Allies and Tributaries . 
 
 The Nizam 
 
 The Nagpoor Raja 
 
 The King of Oude 
 
 The Guicowar 
 
 Kotah, 6,500 ; Boondee, 2,500 ; Bopaul, 5,000 
 
 The Mysore Raja 
 
 The Satara Raja 
 
 Travancore, 6,000; Cochin, 2,000 
 
 Under the Rajas of Joudpoor, Jeypoor, Odey- i 
 poor, Bicancere, Jesselmere, and other I 
 
 numerous other petty chiefs, Ameers 
 
 Total British Government and its Allies 
 Independent States. 
 
 The Nepaul Raja 
 
 The Lahore Raja (Runjeet Singh) 
 
 The Ameers of Sinde 
 
 The Dominions of Sindia 
 
 The Cabul Sovereign east of the Indus 
 
 Grand Total of Hindostan 
 
HINDOSTAN. 
 
 657 
 
 Countries south of Rangoon, consisting of half the 
 province of Martaban, and the provinces of Ta- 
 voy, Ye, Tenasserim, and the Mergui Isles,,,... 
 
 The province of Arracan 11,000 
 
 Countries from which the Burmese have been 
 expelled, consisting of Assam and the adjacent 
 petty states, occupying a space of about . 
 
 1 1824 mid 1825. 
 
 Sq. Miles. 
 
 Population. 
 
 21,000 
 
 51,000 
 
 11,000 
 
 100,006 
 
 45,000 
 
 150,000 
 
 77,000 
 
 331,0®0 
 
 Most of the chief towns of Hindus- 
 tan are now comprehended within the 
 British dominions, but few detailed re- 
 ports of their population have ever 
 been published. Thefollowing estimate 
 is composed from a variety of docu- 
 ments ; but must, like the preceding 
 table, be considered as only an ap- 
 proximation to the reality. Those 
 marked (*) belong to native powers. 
 
 Population. 
 
 Benares 600,000 
 
 Calcutta.,.. 500,000 
 
 Madras and suburbs ... 462,051 
 Patna 312,000 
 
 * Lucknow 200,000 
 
 * Hyderabad. 200,000 
 
 Dacca 180,000 
 
 Bombay 170,000 
 
 Surat 160,000 
 
 Delhi 150,000 
 
 Moorshedabad ......... 150,000 
 
 Poona 110,000 
 
 *Nagpoor 115,000 
 
 *Baroda 100,000 
 
 Ahmedabad 100,000 
 
 * Cashmere 100,000 
 
 Furruckabad 70,000 
 
 Mirzapoor 60,000 
 
 Agra 60,000 
 
 Bareilly 66,000 
 
 Aurungabad 60,000 
 
 Burdwan 54,000 
 
 Bangalore 50,000 
 
 Chupra 43,000 
 
 Cuttack 40,000 
 
 Juggernauth ....... 30,000 
 
 * Pal ham poor 30,000 
 
 There are many other towns, such as 
 
 Amritsir, Lahore, Jpypoor, Bhurtpoor, 
 Gualior, &c. of considerable size and 
 
 VOL. 1. 
 
 population, but the particulars have 
 never been ascertained. 
 
 In 1805, according to official re- 
 turns transmitted, the total number 
 of British-born subjects in Hindostan 
 was 31,000. Of these 22,000 were 
 in the army as officers and privates; 
 the civil officers of government of all 
 descriptions were about 2,000 ; the 
 free merchants and mariners who 
 resided in India under covenant, 
 about 5,000; the officers and prac- 
 titioners in the courts of justice, 300; 
 the remaining 1,700 consisted of ad- 
 venturers who had smuggled them- 
 selves out in various capacities. Since 
 the date above-mentioned no detail- 
 ed reports have been published ; but 
 there is reason to believe that even 
 now (1828) the total number of Bri- 
 tish subjects in Hindostan does not 
 exceed 40,000, the removal of the re- 
 strictions on the commercial inter- 
 course having, contrary to expecta- 
 tion, added very few to the previous 
 number. 
 
 Compared with the West-Indies 
 and other tropical regions, Hindos- 
 tan may be considered a very healthy 
 country, being little afflicted with 
 many distempers that are destructive 
 in other countries. Indeed, one of 
 the most striking features of the me- 
 dical history of India is, that it does 
 not tolerate any infectious fever, ty- 
 phus, yellow fever, and the plague 
 being equally unknown east of the 
 Indus. Cancer is nearly unknown 
 within the tropics, and phthisis pul- 
 monalis is not common. Scrophula 
 is rare, although instances occur from 
 
 2 u 
 
6*58 
 
 HINDOSTAN. 
 
 particular causes, and the formation 
 of the stone in the bladder is but 
 very seldom experienced. Although 
 the climate does not prevent attacks 
 of the gout, yet they are certainly 
 less common and severe than in cold 
 countries, and quite unknown to the 
 abstemious natives. Acute rheuma- 
 tism is rare between the tropics, and 
 the chronic kind is more easily cured 
 than in Europe. Within the last fif- 
 teen years. a new and very fatal dis- 
 ease has visited at different times 
 Hindostan, and swept off great num- 
 bers of the natives ; but its virulence 
 has latterly very much abated, as it 
 originally commenced, without any 
 assignable cause, either from improve- 
 ment of climate, diet, habits, or mode 
 of treatment. 
 
 The army required for the protec- 
 tion of these extensive provinces, and 
 for the retaining them under due sub- 
 ordination, although it presents a 
 formidable grand total, probably does 
 not amount to the fifth of the number 
 maintained by the Mogul sovereigns 
 arid their functionaries, when that 
 empire was in its zenith ; yet, even 
 under the ablest of the emperors, 
 commotions in some quarter of their 
 ill-subdued territories were unceas- 
 ing. The British system in India has 
 always been to keep the troops in a 
 constant state of preparation for war, 
 but never to enter into unprovoked 
 hostilities, or engage in any con- 
 tests, except those rendered neces- 
 sary by the principle of self-defence. 
 At present, with the exception of the 
 Russian, the British military force is 
 probably the largest standing army in 
 the world. In 1796 it amounted to 
 55,000; in October 1826 it exceeded 
 300,000 men, viz. 
 
 Artillery 
 
 ... 15,782 
 
 Native cavalry... 
 
 ... 26 094 
 
 Infantry 
 
 ...234,412 
 
 Engineers 
 
 ... 4,575 
 
 
 280,863 
 
 King’s troop3 ... 
 
 ... 21,934 
 
 Grand total 302,797 men. 
 
 Of these the irregulars of all descrip- 
 tions amounted to 82,937 men. 
 
 This formidable army is distributed 
 throurhout Hindostan under the or- 
 ders of the supreme government, pro- 
 mulgated through its political agents. 
 Commencing from the great stations 
 in the Doab of the Ganges, at Ajmeer 
 is one corps ; another at Neemutch ; 
 a third at Mow ; all supplied from the 
 Bengal army. These are succeeded 
 by the Gujerat subsidiary forces, the 
 field corps at Mulligaum, and the 
 Poona division, furnished chiefly by 
 the Bombay army. The circle is fur- 
 ther continued by the field force in 
 the southern Maharatta country; the 
 Hyderabad and Nagpoor subsidiaries, 
 composed of Madras troops ; and 
 the detachments from the Bengal 
 establishment forming the Nerbudda 
 and Saugur divisions, from whence 
 the cordon terminates in Bundelcund. 
 Such is the general outline, liable, of 
 course, to temporary modifications, 
 and occasional change in the selec- 
 tion of stations. At present, with 
 the exception of a tract thirty-five 
 miles broad on each side of Aseer- 
 ghur, there is an unbroken line of 
 communication through the British 
 territory from Bombay to Calcutta. 
 The statement of the revenue and 
 aggregate debt of the three presiden- 
 cies will be found under the article 
 “ Bengal.” 
 
 For many years after the com- 
 mencement of the British empire in 
 India, the unavoidable necessity of 
 extending its conquests was one of 
 the great disadvantages attached to 
 its dominion, for the wider they 
 spread, the more assailable did they 
 become. In more recent times a 
 process exactly the reverse has been 
 taking place, and the augmentation of 
 territory, by approaching the natural 
 barriers of Hindostan in place of ex- 
 tending the defensive line of frontier, 
 has actually diminished it. Between 
 Calcutta and the Indus there is now 
 no hostile boundary, nothing but states 
 bound together by a sense of common 
 interest, or a comparatively small 
 proportion of ill-disposed population, 
 rendered incapable of rearing a hos- 
 tile standard. But the multiplication 
 of the points of defence is urged, the 
 
HINDOSTAN. 
 
 659 
 
 decreased means of annoyance ought 
 also to be taken into consideration, 
 and its new situation has not brought 
 the British government into contact 
 with any state that has the power to 
 give much trouble. All within the 
 Indus is consolidated under one con- 
 federation, of which the British go- 
 vernment is the head, while the Indus 
 and its desert present a barrier against 
 common means of aggression; against 
 mighty invasions in the course of ages 
 no state whatever can be wholly se- 
 cure. To recede is often more ha- 
 zardous than to advance; and no ar- 
 gument can be necessary to demon- 
 strate how vain would be the expec- 
 tation of augmenting our security by 
 diminishing our power and ascen- 
 dancy. One certain benefit has al- 
 ready resulted to the British dominions 
 from the new order of things, which 
 is, immunity from the ravages of a 
 banditti generated and organized 
 within the limits of Hindostan, against 
 the recurrence of which it could never 
 be secure while an asylum remained 
 where the depredators could muster 
 and refresh. Henceforward, there- 
 fore, if dangers arise to Hindostan, 
 they will be internal, and greatly 
 attributable to the negligence of the 
 local governments. 
 
 In direct and authoritative control, 
 the dominion of the British govern- 
 ment extends much farther than that 
 possessed by any prior dynasty, whe- 
 ther Patan or Mogul; yet the latter, 
 so long as they abstained from perse- 
 cution, had nothing to apprehend 
 from the religion of the Hindoos, 
 and history proves that the commo- 
 tions which agitated the Mahomedan 
 monarchies chiefly arose from their 
 own internal dissentions and national 
 disputes. Neither does it appear that 
 any prior conquerors ever employed 
 disciplined corps of their own coun- 
 trymen in defence of their own so- 
 vereignty, although they had to con- 
 tend with one very numerous tribe, 
 the Hindoo; while the British, more 
 advantageously situated, have two to 
 put in motion against each other, and 
 in process of time may raise up a 
 third. Each foreign invader certainly 
 
 favoured his own countrymen, but it 
 was by bestowing on them places and 
 high appointments, which excited 
 envy without essentially strengthen- 
 ing his domination. Besides, there- 
 fore, total abstinence from persecu- 
 tion, the British government, in a 
 powerful corps entirely European, 
 and totally distinguished from the 
 natives by colour, language, and man- 
 ners, possesses a solidity and con- 
 sistence much beyond any of the prior 
 Mahomedan dynasties. 
 
 In the constitution of the peculiar 
 circumstances of its situation, the 
 character of its dominion, and the 
 habits of the people with whom it is 
 associated, either as to its domestic 
 or external relations — this govern- 
 ment is not a pure despotism, but 
 one of law and responsibility, under 
 numerous and salutary checks. The 
 administrators of that government 
 exercise a delegated power; they are 
 accountable agents, amenable to the 
 law of England, the Court of Direc- 
 tors, the Court of Proprietors, the 
 Commissioners for Indian Affairs, the 
 two houses of Parliament, the crown, 
 and the British public. They record 
 regularly, faithfully, and minutely, all 
 their transactions, with a scrupulosity 
 of exactness unprecedented in any 
 other country, as well as their special 
 reasons for every measure, legal, poli- 
 tical, or financial. At present the legis- 
 lative enactment most wanted is one 
 to check European meddling and in- 
 novation, and a heavy responsibility 
 will rest with those who subvert it, 
 without clear and satisfactory grounds 
 for presuming that a more perfect 
 system of administration will be sub- 
 stituted. 
 
 The dominion exercised by the 
 British nation in Hindostan, notwith- 
 standing certain imperfections, has, 
 on the whole, most undoubtedly been 
 beneficial to the great mass of the 
 native population, although the pe- 
 culiar circumstances in which it is 
 placed precludes the higher classes 
 from any participation in the superior 
 functions of the state. Indeed the 
 natives of India, accustomed either 
 to absolute command or implicit obe» 
 2 v 2 
 
660 
 
 HINbOSTAN, NORTHERN. 
 
 dience, have not been practically inevitably be the adoption of a purer 
 found to make a beneficial use of and more sublime system of religion, 
 delegated authority. Strictly speak- — ( Colebruoke , Sir William Jones , F. 
 ing, however, those whom the British Buchanan , Sir Henry Strachey, Prin- 
 have superseded were themselves sep , the Marquis of Hastings, Erskine , 
 strangers, and attention to dates will C. Grant , Tucker , Rennell , 5 th Re- 
 shew by how very short a tenure port, Public MS. Documents , fyc.) 
 most of their possessions were held. 
 
 The strength of the existing govern- 
 ment has had the effect of securing 
 its subjects, as well from foreign de- 
 predation as from internal commo- 
 tion, advantages rarely experienced 
 by the subjects of Asiatic states, 
 which, combined with a domestic 
 administration more just in its prin- 
 ciples, and executed with far greater 
 integrity than the native one which 
 preceded it, sufficiently account for 
 the improvements that have taken 
 place. 
 
 On the other hand, were the terri- 
 tories so unexpectedly acquired to 
 be restored to the natives, we should 
 only transfer them from a state of 
 the profoundest peace to sanguinary 
 distractions, to profligate adventurers, 
 and, most probably, to some rival 
 European power. We cannot now, 
 therefore, from a principle of justice 
 and mercy, renounce the many mil- 
 lions we have so long and so effec- 
 tually protected ; and, with all our 
 superior advantages, there is no rea- 
 son to apprehend that the duration 
 of the British empire shall not, at the 
 least, equal that of the Moguls. In 
 fact, if India be hereafter lost to 
 Britain, it will be owing to circum- 
 stances wholly extraneous to the sys- 
 tem of government hitherto pursued, 
 or to some dereliction from the energy 
 of that system. Time is certainly 
 wanting for the present generation to 
 forget their past habits, and to ac- 
 quire information on practical points, 
 in which they are most deficient ; for, 
 owing to the long-subsisted anarchy 
 in Hindustan, all the relations of the 
 community had become confused. 
 On the British government will de- 
 volve the task of inculcating the 
 principles of mild and equitable rule, 
 distinct notions of social observances, 
 and a just sense of moral obligations, 
 the progressive result of which must 
 
 HINDOSTAN, NORTHERN. 
 
 This alpine country commences on 
 the west of the Sutuleje river, about 
 the seventy-seventh degree of east 
 longitude, from whence it stretches 
 in the form of a waving parallelogram, 
 slanting to the south until it reaches 
 the Teesta river, in Ion. 88° 30' E., 
 beyond which, among the mountains, 
 the Buddhist Lama doctrines prevail. 
 In length it may be estimated at 600 
 miles, by eighty-five the average 
 breadth. 
 
 Within the above limits, Northern 
 Hindostan may be considered as se- 
 parated from Tibet, or Southern 
 Tartary, by the Himalaya mountains; 
 and on the south from the Mogul 
 provinces of Upper Hindostan by 
 the line where the lower ranges of 
 hills press on the vast Gangetic plain ; 
 but a belt of flat country about twenty 
 miles in width having always been left 
 in possession of the hill chiefs, it will 
 also be described along with the hilly 
 portion of their dominions. The 
 principal modern territorial and poli- 
 tical subdivisions which the above 
 geographic space at present exhibits, 
 are noticed below, and under each 
 head respectively further particulars 
 will be found ; but the attention of 
 the reader is more especially directed 
 to the general description of the 
 Nepaulese dominions, as being in 
 reality applicable to the whole of 
 Northern Hindostan, of which they 
 still occupy two-thirds, and before 
 the war of 1815 occupied almost the 
 whole. 
 
 1. Country between the Sutuleje 
 and Jumna. 
 
 2. Gurwal or Serinagur. 
 
 3. The sources of the Ganges. 
 
 4. Kumaon. 
 
 5. Paikandi. 
 
 6. Bhutant. 
 
HOG ISLE. 661 
 
 7. The Nepaulese dominions. 
 
 8. The Sikkim Raja’s territories. 
 
 The inhabitants of this hilly region, 
 
 both before and after their conversion 
 to the Brahminical tenets, maintained 
 but little intercourse with their south- 
 ern neighbours, and are probably the 
 only Hindoo people who have never 
 been disturbed, far less subdued, by 
 any Mahomedan conqueror. Towards 
 the conclusion of the eighteenth, and 
 in the commencement of the nine- 
 teenth century, they fell wholly under 
 the yoke of the Gorkhas, who ob- 
 serving the most jealous system of 
 exclusion, until times quite recent, 
 their interior condition remained a 
 mere matter of conjecture ; but war, 
 the great promoter of discoveries in 
 geography, having removed the veil, 
 we are now nearly as well acquainted 
 with their local circumstances, as 
 with those of many old provinces 
 long possessed. In 1827 Capt. Her- 
 bert estimated the superficial extent 
 of the mountainous country now 
 comprised within the limits of Bri- 
 tish India at about 23,000 square 
 miles. 
 
 Hinglaisghur. — A fortress in the 
 province of Malwa, ninety miles 
 north from Oojein ; lat. 24° 28' N., 
 Ion. 75° 48' E. The ridge of moun- 
 tains that bound Malwa to the north 
 extends in a direction nearly north 
 and south to this place, forms an 
 angle here, and diverges to the west- 
 ward. This fortress is surrounded 
 by a deep natural ravine, 250 feet in 
 length and 200 in breadth, the sides 
 perpendicular, on the inner of which 
 the walls of the fort are built. There 
 are three made causeways leading 
 to the gates. Hinglaisghur has been 
 in possession of the Holcar family 
 since the middle of the 18th century, 
 and by the natives is considered one 
 of the strongest castles in their do- 
 minions ; yet it was carried by assault 
 in 1804$with little loss by a detach- 
 ment under Colonel Monson, during 
 the campaign against Jeswunt Row 
 Holcar. 
 
 Hingunghaut. — A large trading 
 town in the province of Gundwana, 
 
 forty-five miles S.W. from Nagpoor ; 
 lat. 20° 37° N., Ion. 78° 54' E. 
 
 Hirapoor. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Allahabad, forty-seven miles 
 S. by W. from Allahabad ; lat. 24°20' 
 N., Ion. 79° 22' E. 
 
 Hirial. — A populous village in 
 the Balaghaut ceded district of Bel- 
 larv, with a small fort well-built 
 in the modern style, and protected 
 by a ditch and glacis, distant about 
 twelve miles south-west from the 
 town of Bellary. — ( Fullarton , tyc.) 
 
 Hissar. — A town in the province 
 of Delhi, the ancient capital of the 
 country now known by the name of 
 Hurrianna ; lat. 28°57' N., Ion. 75°24' 
 E., 105 miles W.N.W. from the city 
 of Delhi. The remains of this place 
 cover a great extent, but are now so 
 utterly ruinous as to preclude the 
 possibility of ascertaining its original 
 limits. In 1806 it contained only 
 300 men, besides a garrison of 200 
 soldiers, which was soon afterwards 
 withdrawn. The palace of Sultan 
 Feroze stands in what was the cen- 
 tre of the city, and has very exten- 
 sive subterranean apartments. Close 
 to the palace is an iron pillar, rather 
 less than that at Joobut, near Delhi, 
 called Feroze Shah’s lath. There 
 are also several large tanks, many 
 wells, and vestiges of the Chittung 
 nullah, or water-course, conducting 
 the waters of the Jumna, are still 
 visible. — {Lieut. White , fyc.) 
 
 Hlokba ( or Lohbadya ) . — An un- 
 known region adjacent to Yunan in 
 China, said to be situated between 
 97° and 98° E., and conjectured to 
 be the Borkhampti country. 
 
 Hoewamoehil. — A peninsula join- 
 ed to the island of Ceram by a nar- 
 row isthmus, called the pass of Ta- 
 noeno, which was not only produc- 
 tive of clove trees, but yielded also 
 large quantities of nutmegs. Of these 
 last, what was called the great nut- 
 meg forest was destroyed by the 
 Dutch in 1667. Great quantities of 
 sago are also produced here, which 
 the Dutch monopolize. 
 
 ^Iog Isle. — A small island in the 
 
IIOOGHLY. 
 
 G6‘2 
 
 Eastern seas, about twenty miles in 
 circumference, lying off the north- 
 eastern extremity of Java; lat. 7° 5' 
 S., Ion. 114° 55' E. 
 
 Hog Isle. — A long narrow island 
 lying off the west coast of Sumatra, 
 between the second and third degrees 
 of north latitude, and about forty 
 miles in length, by three the average 
 breadth. 
 
 Hog Isle. — A small islet thus 
 named, in the province of Aurunga- 
 bad, harbour of Bombay. 
 
 Holcar. — See Indore. 
 
 Hoobly ( HaviliJ . — A town in the 
 province of Bejapoor, thirteen miles 
 S.E. from Darwar; lat. 15° 20' N., 
 Ion. 75° 15' E. This has for many 
 years been a place of great trade, 
 and in 1820 was estimated to con- 
 tain 15,000 inhabitants. The sur- 
 rounding country is well wooded and 
 watered, and an extensive traffic in- 
 land and with the sea-coast is carried 
 on. The bankers are numerous and 
 rich, and extend their commercial 
 intercourse by means of agents as far 
 north as Surat, eastward to Hydera- 
 bad, and southward to Seringapatam. 
 There are no public or private build- 
 ings of any note ; and although there 
 are two forts, neither are capable of 
 opposing any resistance to an army. 
 Near to Hoobly, and to many other 
 towns in this part of India, the ruins 
 of mosques and Mahomedan burying- 
 grounds prove that there were for- 
 merly a great many inhabitants of 
 that religion, but they are now so 
 reduced in number that in twenty 
 towns and villages there is scarely 
 one to be found ; and where there 
 are a few, they are found subsisting 
 on alms, in a miserable state of pride, 
 poverty, and contempt. In 1673 this 
 place was attacked by the Maharatta 
 chief Sevajee, at which time the 
 English factory here was plundered, 
 and sustained a loss of 8,000 pago- 
 das ; in 1685 it was taken by Sultan 
 Mauzum, Aurungzebe’s son. 
 
 In 1804 Hoobly was in possession 
 of the Furkiah Maharatta family, at 
 which time, when General Wellesley 
 
 was marching south after his cam* 
 paign against Sinaia, it was besieged 
 by the Sirsoubah, or deputy of the 
 Peshwa. The garrison in the fort, 
 on hearing of the general’s arrival in 
 their neighbourhood, requested his 
 interference, and sent him a letter 
 addressed to the deputy by the Pesh- 
 wa, directing him to give old Hoobly 
 and its dependencies to Bapoo Fur- 
 kiah, his highness’s brother-in-law, 
 and the very person for whom the 
 garrison already held it. On the 
 other hand, the deputy produced the 
 Peshwa’s order, commanding him to 
 besiege and take the place from Fur- 
 kiah by force, and before this mud- 
 walled village he had been detained 
 six weeks. In this dilemma, General 
 Wellesley recommended a suspension 
 of hostilities to both parties, until 
 the Peshwa’s real intentions with 
 respect to the destination of the 
 place were ascertained ; which sound 
 advice was acquiesced in. — {MSS., 
 Moore , Or me , 4-c.) 
 
 Hooghly (Hugli ). — A district in 
 the province of Bengal, situated be- 
 tween the twenty-second and twenty- 
 third degrees of north latitude. It 
 is comparatively of recent creation, 
 being composed of sections from 
 Burdwan, Midnapoor, and other ad- 
 jacent districts of greater antiquity. 
 To the north it is bounded by Burd- 
 wan and Kishenagur ; on the south 
 it has the sea ; on the east Jessore 
 and the Sunderbunds; and on the 
 west Midnapoor. The whole of this 
 territory consists of low, flat land, 
 very fertile, but much covered with 
 jungle on the sea-coast, where it is 
 remarkably unhealthy. Like the other 
 southern jurisdictions, it has an ex- 
 cellent inland navigation, being in- 
 tersected in every direction by rivers 
 and their branches, which were for- 
 merly rendered almost impassable by 
 the number of dacoits and river pi- 
 rates. On the banks of the rivers 
 near the sea, salt of an excellent 
 quality is manufactured on govern- 
 ment account, which, in the opinion 
 of the natives, possesses peculiar 
 sanctity, as being extracted from the 
 
HOOGHLY. 
 
 633 
 
 mud of the most sacred branch of 
 the Ganges. The population and 
 cultivation of this district are cer- 
 tainly improving, and some substan- 
 tial religious buildings have been con- 
 structed on the banks of the river ; 
 but notwithstanding its proximity to 
 Calcutta, which presents a constant 
 market for its surplus produce, it is 
 surprising how large a proportion of 
 its surface still remains in a state of 
 nature, the asylum of tigers, alliga- 
 tors, and a great variety of insects, 
 vermin, and reptiles, creeping and 
 crawling, winged and unwinged. 
 
 In the Hooghly district, within the 
 jurisdiction of the magistrate, there 
 are no seminaries for education of 
 any repute. In 1801 there were 
 thirty students instructed in the Per- 
 sian and Arabic at Seelapoor, at an 
 institution maintained by the pro- 
 duce of lands under a grant confirm- 
 ed by Governor Hastings. The prin- 
 ciples of Hindoo law were there 
 taught by Pundits in about 150 pri- 
 vate schools, each mustering from 
 five to twenty scholars. The students 
 here, unlike similar establishments 
 in Europe, are maintained by such 
 preceptors as can afford it, and the 
 rest by contributions from the more 
 wealthy inhabitants. Almost every 
 village has its resident instructor, by 
 whom reading, writing, and accounts 
 are taught ; and the inhabitants of 
 this tract generally, in consequence 
 of their contiguity to the presidency 
 are better acquainted with the exist- 
 ing laws of the country than the in- 
 dividuals of most other districts. 
 The number of suttees (burnings of 
 widows) within the limits of the 
 Hooghly district has always been 
 remarkably great; in 1823 they 
 amounted to eight}'-one. According 
 to the Brahminical tenets, a widow 
 who burns herself, secures for her- 
 self and husband enjoyments in Pa- 
 radise for as many years as there are 
 hairs on the human body, that is to 
 say, thirty-five millions. This text 
 is attributed to Angiras, and forms 
 part of the declaration, or sancapa, 
 pronounced by a widow at the time 
 of her ascending the pile. In 1801 
 
 the total number of inhabitants was 
 estimated at one million, in the pro- 
 portion of three Hindoos to one 
 Mahomedan. In 1813 the crime of 
 gang robbery, attended with torture, 
 had experienced some diminution ; 
 still the number of robberies coming 
 under that denomination, but not 
 attended with aggravating circum- 
 stances, was greater than in any dis- 
 trict within the Calcutta division of 
 circuit. — (J. Shakespeare , Brook , IT. 
 B. Bay ley, c) c.) 
 
 Hooghly. — An ancient town in 
 the province of Bengal, the capital 
 of the preceding district, situated on 
 the west side of the Hooghly, twen- 
 ty-six miles above Calcutta ; lat. 22° 
 54' N., Ion. 88° 28' E. During the 
 Mogul government this was a town 
 of importance, being the bunder or 
 port of the western arm of the Gan- 
 ges, where the duties on merchan- 
 dize were collected. The French, 
 Dutch, Portuguese, and Danes hacl 
 each a factory here, and subsequently 
 were each permitted to possess a 
 town, all comprehended within the 
 extent of ten miles along the river. 
 Hooghly is now comparatively of 
 little note, but is still large, pros- 
 perous, and well inhabited. By Abul 
 Fazel, in 1582, it is described as fol- 
 lows : “ there are two emporiums, 
 a mile distant from each other, one 
 called Satgong, the other Hooghly 
 with its dependencies, both of which 
 are in the possession of Europeans.’* 
 It is remarkable that the name of 
 Hooghly is not mentioned in Faria 
 de Souza’s History of Bengal,^where 
 it is called Golin. 
 
 The Dutch in 1625, and the En- 
 glish in 1610, were permitted to build 
 factories at this place: but their trade 
 was greatly restricted, and subject to 
 continual exactions. In 1632 the first 
 serious quarrel that occurred between 
 the Moguls and Europeans happened 
 at Hooghly, which then belonged to 
 the Portuguese. The Moguls in- 
 vested it with a strong army, and the 
 siege continued three months and a 
 half, during which time the Portu- 
 guese made many offers of submis- 
 
664 
 
 HOOKER V. 
 
 sion, and agreed to pay a tribute; 
 but all were rejected by the besiegers, 
 who having sprung a mine, carried 
 the place by assault. The slaughter 
 of the Portuguese was very great ; 
 many, in attempting to escape to their 
 boats, were drowned ; a few reached 
 their ships in safety, but these also 
 were immediately attacked. The cap- 
 tain of the largest ship, on board of 
 which were embarked 2,000 men, 
 women, and children, with all their 
 wealth, rather than yield to the Ma- 
 homedans, blew up his ship, and 
 many others imitated this example. 
 Out of sixty-four large ships, fifty- 
 seven grabs, and 200 sloops, which 
 were anchored opposite to the town, 
 only one grab and two sloops got 
 away ; and these owed their safety 
 to the bridge of boats, constructed 
 by the Moguls below Hooghly, at 
 Seerpoor, having been broken by 
 catching the flames from the confla- 
 gration of the fleet. 
 
 In 1686 the English were involved 
 in hostilities by the imprudence of 
 three of their soldiers, who, quarrelling 
 in the bazar with some of the nabob’s 
 peons, were wounded. The garrison 
 of the English factory were called out, 
 and an action ensued, in which the 
 nabob’s troops were defeated, sixty of 
 them being killed, and a considerable 
 number of them wounded, and a 
 battery of eleven guns spiked and 
 destroyed. At the same time the 
 town of Hooghly was cannonaded 
 by the fleet under Captain Nicholson, 
 and five hundred houses burned. 
 This was the first action fought in 
 Bengal by the English : but the re- 
 sult was a disgraceful peace, the Mo- 
 gul government then subsisting in 
 full vigour. An arrangement was 
 afterwards made with the foujdar, or 
 military superintendent of the dis- 
 trict ; but the agent and council, con- 
 sidering that Hooghly was an open 
 town, retired on the 20th December 
 of that year to Chuttanuttee, or Cal- 
 cutta. — {Bruce, Stewart , Rennell,Sfc.) 
 
 Hooghly River. — A river in Ben- 
 gal, which communicates its name to 
 the preceding town and district. It 
 
 is formed by the junction of the Cos- 
 simbazar and Jellinghy, the two west- 
 ernmost branches of the Ganges, 
 after which it flows past Calcutta, 
 and is the only branch of the Ganges 
 navigated by large vessels, although 
 the entrance is dangerous, and the 
 channel up to the town intricate and 
 fluctuating. When joined by the 
 Roopnarrain, a very expanded sheet 
 of water rs formed ; but it has many 
 shoals, and as it directly faces the 
 approach from the sea, while the 
 Hooghly turns to the right, it occa- 
 sions the loss of many vessels, which 
 are swept up the Roopnarrain by the 
 force of the tide. The eddy caused 
 by this bend of the Hooghly has form- 
 ed a most dangerous sand, named 
 the James and Mary, around which 
 the channel is never the same for a 
 week together, requiring frequent 
 surveys. 
 
 The bore, or sudden influx of the 
 tide, commences at Hooghly point, 
 where the river first contracts its 
 width, and is perceptible above Hoogh- 
 ly town. So quick is its motion, that 
 it hardly employs four hours in tra- 
 velling from the one to the other, al- 
 though the distance is nearly seventy 
 miles. It does not run on the Cal- 
 cutta side, but along the opposite 
 bank, from whence it crosses at Chit- 
 poor, about four miles above Fort 
 William, and proceeds with great 
 violence past Barnagore, Duckinsore, 
 &c. On its approach boats must im- 
 mediately quit the shore, and seek 
 for safety in deep water in the middle 
 of the river, which is little affected. 
 At Calcutta it sometimes has an in- 
 stantaneous rise of five feet. 
 
 Only that portion of the Ganges 
 that lies in the most direct line from 
 Gangoutri in the Himalaya to Sagor 
 Island is. considered holy by the 
 Brahminical Hindoos, and named the 
 Ganga, or Bhagirathi ; the Hooghly 
 river, therefore, of European geo- 
 graphers, is revered by them as the 
 true Ganges. — ( Rennell , Lord Valen - 
 tia, Colonel Colebrooke , $ c.) 
 
 Hookery. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Bejapoor, fifty-five miles 
 
HOONGOOND. 
 
 S.S.W. from Merritch; lat. 16° 13' 
 N., Ion. 74° 47' E. This is now a 
 poor town, but still exhibits vestiges 
 of a once flourishing condition, when 
 it was subject to a Mahomedan so- 
 vereign. The last of the Mogul 
 chiefs was Abdul Kharud, who was 
 dethroned by the then Raja of Par- 
 nella, and died in A.D. 1643. An 
 unsuccessful attempt was made to 
 reinstate a surviving son, since which 
 the Mahomedans have continued to 
 decline, and live now in great poverty. 
 — ( Moor , fyc.) 
 
 Hoolioordroog. — A small hill- 
 fort in the Mysore territories, thirty- 
 five miles N.E. from Seringapatam. 
 This fortress covers a little isolated 
 conical granite rock of a very singu- 
 lar appearance, exceedingly precipi- 
 tous, and of difficult ascent, the path 
 near the top being carried through 
 the body of the rock from whence 
 the aid of a ladder is requisite to 
 reach the enclosed smooth cap on the 
 summit. Small as are the dimensions 
 of this droog, it exhibits four or five 
 distinct tiers of fortifications. The 
 commandants house and a small 
 temple are comprehended within the 
 walls at the foot of the rock. The 
 pettah is of very small extent, and 
 contains only a few straggling habita- 
 tions. — ( Fullarton , tyc.) 
 
 Hooly Onore. — A town in the 
 Mysore Raja’s territories, 120 miles 
 N.W. from Seringapatam; lat. 14° 
 N., Ion. 75° 48' E. The fort here is 
 of a square form, with towers at the 
 angles, and two on each face, but it 
 is not a strong place. The pettah is 
 extensive, and tolerably well built, 
 and enclosed by a bad wall and ditch. 
 During the rains the western wall of 
 the fort is washed by the Budra river. 
 In 1792 Hooly Onore was taken by 
 a detachment under Captain Little, 
 and completely sacked and destroyed 
 by the Maharattas, who got all the 
 plunder, although they had none of 
 the fighting. Prior to the Maharatta 
 invasion the adjacent country was 
 remarkably well peopled and culti- 
 vated. An officer of that rapacious 
 nation, describing it, said it was so 
 
 thickly settled, that every evening, 
 when the Maharatta army encamped, 
 they could count ten villages in 
 flames, the work of the previous day. 
 — (Moor, Sfc.) 
 
 Hoomnabad. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Beeder, twenty-three miles 
 west from the city of Beeder ; lat. 
 17°46'N., Ion. 77 ° 14' E. 
 
 Hoondee. — A small town in the 
 province of Malwa, pergunnah of 
 Mundessor, situated on the banks of 
 the Toomber river. 
 
 Hoongoond.—A pergunnah in the 
 province of Bejapoor, situated on 
 the south bank of the Krishna river, 
 which for about twelve miles from 
 the Kapen Sungum (or junction) forms 
 its northern boundary. The Moodgul 
 territory, belonging to the Nizam, 
 bounds it on the east for about eigh- 
 teen miles, and on the south are se- 
 veral independent dessyeships. The 
 area of the whole pergunnah may be 
 estimated at 675 square miles. Full 
 three-fourths of this space, including 
 all its central, northern, and eastern 
 parts, are level, or nearly so. There 
 is little wood, except the overgrown 
 bush-jungle of the waste arable land, 
 none of the hills yielding any useful 
 timber ; indeed, many of them are 
 quite bare. A black alluvial soil, 
 apparently of considerable fertility, 
 occupies the whole of the northern 
 and eastern, and much of the central 
 portions, every where of an adequate 
 depth. 
 
 Hoongoond is comprehended in 
 the ancient Carnatic, and Canarese 
 is the universal language. It contains 
 105 inhabited places, reported to 
 possess 6,719 houses, and 31,079 
 persons, or forty-nine to the square 
 mile. The fullest population is found 
 in the agricultural towns of Hoon- 
 goond, Kandgul, and Keloor, which 
 altogether contain about 5,467 per- 
 sons. The largest manufacturing 
 town, named Ikul, contains only 
 2,579, and Ameerghur 1,809 persons. 
 The two most intelligent tribes are 
 the Lingawunt, or lay Jungum, and 
 the Dhungur, and amount to about 
 
6G6 
 
 HULLYHALL. 
 
 half of the whole : the remainder 
 consists of a great variety of Hindoo 
 tribes, and a few Mahomedans. The 
 system of katkaee, or indiscriminate 
 pillage, broke out here prior to 1790, 
 and subsisted up to the very day of 
 the British conquest in 1818 — the 
 famine of that year also loosened 
 the bonds of society, set every man 
 against his neighbour, and consum- 
 mated its ruin. The instantaneous 
 transition from this state of anarchy 
 to one of entire subordination and 
 tranquillity on the establishment of 
 the British government, appeared al- 
 most miraculous ; and so early as 
 1821 there was nothing to indicate 
 that they had not been a civilized, 
 orderly, and moral people for a cen- 
 tury preceding. — ( Marshall , S. Thac- 
 keray, Sfc.) 
 
 Hooshearpoor. — A small town in 
 the province of Lahore, forty-five 
 miles north from Luddeeanna ; lat. 
 31°35'N., Ion. 75°52'E. 
 
 Hoseepoor. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Bahar, district of Sarun, 
 eighty-two miles N.W. from Patna ; 
 lat. 26° 25' N., Ion. 84° 17' E. 
 
 Hosso Durga. — A small town in 
 the Malabar province, forty-one miles 
 S. by E. from Mangalore ; lat. 12° 10' 
 N., Ion. 75° 10' E. This place is in- 
 habited by a few Puttah Brahmins 
 who serve a temple, and whose an- 
 cestors were put there by the Ikery 
 Raja, who built the fort. 
 
 Hossobetta. — A small town on 
 the sea-coast of the Canara province, 
 fourteen miles S. by E. from Manga- 
 lore ; lat. 1 2° 42' N., Ion. 75° E. Near 
 to this is a large straggling town 
 named Manjeswara, containing many 
 good houses, chiefly inhabited by 
 Moplays, Buntars, and Biluars. The 
 principal inhabitants of Hossobetta 
 and of many other towns are Concanies, 
 or people descended from natives of 
 the Concan. It is reported they fled 
 hither to escape a persecution at 
 Govay (Goa), their native country, 
 an order to convert them having ar- 
 rived from Portugal. The rich im- 
 mediately removed, and the poor 
 
 who were left behind were converted 
 to what was then called Christianity. 
 — (F. Buchanan , §c.) 
 
 Howeraghaitt ( the per gunnah of). 
 — See Bijnee. 
 
 Hudeah. — A town in the Delhi 
 province, fifty miles S.W. from Lud- 
 deeanna, respecting the condition of 
 which quarter, scarcely any thing is 
 known. Lat. 30° 1 1' N., Ion. 7o° 36' 
 E. 
 
 Hudsoo River. — A wide and re- 
 markable river of the Deccan, which 
 is supposed to have its source in the 
 elevated table-land of Mynpat, in the 
 province of Gundwana, not far from 
 the spot from whence issue the Ma- 
 hanuddy and Sone rivers. 
 
 Hue ( or Huefo ). — A town in the 
 empire of Cochin China, of which, 
 in 1820, it was the capital, having 
 been the royal residence for nearly 
 twenty years; lat. 16° 19' N., Ion. 
 107° 12' E. It stands about ten miles 
 up a barred river, but broad river of 
 the same name, accessible to large 
 vessels at high water only, and sur- 
 rounded by a double ditch, said to 
 be five miles in circumference. It is 
 fortified after the European manner, 
 by walls built of brick, united by a 
 cement in which white sugar is said 
 to be a principal ingredient. The 
 fortress is of a square form, and 
 armed w'lth many cannon of different 
 calibres from the king’s arsenal, which 
 is usually said to contain 2,000 pieces. 
 A strong fleet of gallies is usually 
 stationed here, and others are an- 
 nually constructed in the building- 
 yards, some after the European plan, 
 and others a mixture of all models. 
 The population in 1822 was estimated 
 at about 30,000. — (Lieut. White, Craiv- 
 furd’s Mission , fyc.) 
 
 H ughly ( district , town, and river ). — 
 See IIooghly. 
 
 Hullyhall ( or Hullial). — A 
 town in the province of Canara, 
 twenty miles S.W. from Darwar, lat. 
 15° 21' N., Ion. 74° 50 7 E. In 1801, 
 the Madras government, at the re- 
 commendation of Colonel Arthur 
 
HURDWAR. 
 
 667 
 
 Wellesley* made this the head-quar- 
 ters for the troops in the Soonda 
 district, and authorized such repairs 
 to be made on the works at Hully- 
 hall as appeared necessary to place it 
 in a state of security. — ( The Duke of 
 Wellington , $c.) 
 
 Hulwud. — A town in the Gujerat 
 peninsula, the modern capital of the 
 Jhala Rajpoots, thirty-three miles 
 E. by S. from Mallia, lat. 22° 51' N., 
 Ion. 71° 16' E. 
 
 Hump Isle. — An island in the 
 Eastern seas, about fifty miles in cir- 
 cumference, situated at the entrance 
 of the great bay on the north coast 
 of Papua or New Guinea; lat. 2° 30' 
 N., Ion. 135° 30' E. 
 
 Humpapura. — An open village in 
 the Mysore Raja’s territories, situated 
 on the banks of the Kapini river, 
 which in the rainy season is sixty 
 yards wide, and at all seasons con- 
 tains running water; lat. 12° HP N., 
 Ion. 76° 33' E., twenty-three miles 
 south from Seringapatam. 
 
 Hurdah (Haradi). — A town in 
 the province of Candeish, pergunnah 
 of Bhugwanea, which in 1820 be- 
 longed to Dowlet Row Sindia. It 
 stands about thirteen miles S.S.W. 
 from Hindia, and from hence there 
 are roads leading to Bhopaul, Hus- 
 singabad, Nagpoor, Charwah, and 
 Hindia. — ( Malcolm , fyc.') 
 
 Hurdanhully. — A fortified town 
 in the Mysore Raja’s territories, dis- 
 tant about forty-one miles S. by E. 
 from the city of Mysore. Though 
 not of great extent this is a populous 
 and cheerful place, and contains a 
 fine temple dedicated to Siva. — {Ful- 
 larton , fyc.) 
 
 Hurdwar (Daridwar, the gate of 
 Hai'i, or Vishnu). — A town and ce- 
 lebrated place of Hindoo pilgrimage 
 in the province of Delhi, district of 
 Saharunpoor, 110 miles N.E. from 
 the city of Delhi, lat. 29° 56' N., Ion. 
 78° 10' E., and 1,024 feet above the 
 level of the sea. Hurdwar, or Ha- 
 ridwar, is also named Ganga dwara, 
 (dwara meaning a door, gate, or pas- 
 sage). In the Scanda and other Pu- 
 
 rans it is written Haridwar, which 
 marks a different etymology, from 
 H a ri (Vishnu), not from Hara (Siva, 
 or Mahadeva). 
 
 This place is situated at the base 
 of a steep mountain, on the northern 
 verge of a small cultivated slip of 
 land reclaimed from the great forest, 
 which almost touches the western 
 extremity of the town. Neat pago- 
 das and spacious edifices of stone 
 (reared by pious individuals for the 
 accommodation of pilgrims), with 
 their flights of steps leading to the 
 river, some adorned with turrets of 
 pavilions, others covered over with 
 fantastic Hindoo paintings, all in 
 some way new decked and decorated, 
 evince the existence of a flourishing 
 hierarchy; while the sacred Ganges 
 (here a beautiful and limpid stream), 
 rolling down in rapids through a vale, 
 bounded on three sides by lofty 
 mountains, combine to produce a 
 noble landscape. The holy bathing 
 spot is at the base of the Hirkee 
 Paree, where the mountain projects 
 towards the river, and there is room 
 for only four persons to pass abreast, 
 which confined space, for the passage 
 of an immense crowd, occasioned the 
 dreadful tragedy of 1819. On that 
 occasion, in consequence of a despe- 
 rate rush made by the infatuated 
 pilgrims to gain precedency in bath- 
 ing, 430 persons were squeezed to 
 death, among whom were several 
 British sepoys, placed as guards to 
 prevent this very catastrophe, but 
 who were borne away by the multi- 
 tude, and lost their lives while endea- 
 vouring to execute their duty. The 
 river in front of Hurdwar abounds 
 with tame fish, which swim in 
 shoals to the ghauts to be fed. Op- 
 posite to the town is the sacred 
 well of Chandni Devi, where there is 
 an officiating priestess ; but the tri- 
 sool or trident of Mahadeva, which 
 formerly crowned the summit, was 
 overthrown by a storm some years 
 ago and has not been replaced. 
 The Brahminical town of Kunkul, on 
 the river about two miles below, may 
 be considered an appendage, if not a 
 rival to Hurdwar. 
 
668 
 
 HURDWAR. 
 
 Besides religious motives, great 
 numbers resort hither for commer- 
 cial purposes, Delhi, Lucknow, and 
 other important towns being supplied 
 from hence with the productions of 
 the northern and western countries. 
 The merchants usually travel in large 
 caravans, and the cattle brought for 
 sale are used also for the conveyance of 
 the merchandize. At the two annual 
 fairs it is supposed that from 200,000 
 to 300,000 persons are collected ; 
 once in twelve years, when particular 
 ceremonies are performed, the number 
 has been computed at a million, and 
 in April 1819, but probably exag- 
 gerated, at two millions. The most 
 conspicuous persons are the fakeers, or 
 religious mendicants, of whom there 
 are several sect? ; but the principal 
 are the Gossains or Sanyassies, the 
 Bairaggies, the Jogies, and the Udas- 
 sies, which four classes are again 
 subdivided, and branched out to a 
 great variety. The most numerous 
 are the Gossains, who during the 
 Maharatta sway were sufficiently 
 powerful to usurp a temporary su- 
 periority, and not only collected du- 
 ties on their own account, but regu- 
 lated the police of the fair. 
 
 The next powerful class are the 
 Bairaggies; but, from the year 1760 
 until the Company obtained posses- 
 sion of the Doab this tribe was de- 
 barred from the pilgrimage; and, 
 although the sway of the Gossains be 
 over, they still occupy the best sta- 
 tions at the fair. Many of these pro- 
 fess a total disregard for worldly con- 
 cerns, and appear in a complete state 
 of nature ; but among them are many 
 men of considerable property, who 
 assume only the semblance of the 
 devotee, being in other respects well 
 provided with the comforts and con- 
 veniences of life. Some of them 
 follow the military profession, but 
 the greater part are engaged in agri- 
 cultural and commercial pursuits. 
 
 The Gossains, the (Sanyassies, 
 of the west of India,) are the wor- 
 shippers of Siva or Mahadeva, and 
 have taken vows of celibacy, and are 
 distinguished by a wrapper of cloth 
 dyed with red ochre. Those of Ben- 
 
 gal are worshippers of Vishnu, and 
 married. The term is a corruption 
 of Goswami, lord of the bull, and 
 ought, consequently, to have reference 
 to Siva. The Bairaggies are religious 
 mendicants, who, as their name im- 
 plies, are supposed to be exempted 
 from human passions. They are dis- 
 ciples of Vishnu, and are distinguished 
 by two stripes of yellow ochre, or 
 sandal, on the forehead, and a string 
 of tulasi beads round the neck. The 
 Udassies are followers of Nanok 
 Shah, the founder of the Seik sect, 
 and are known by a conical cap with 
 a fringe. 
 
 The Jogies are votaries of Siva, 
 and have a longitudinal slit in the 
 cartilage of the ear. Another cus- 
 tom prevails among the Gossains and 
 Jogies which is uncommon among 
 other Hindoos, that of burying their 
 dead. All these sects engage in hus- 
 bandry and commerce, but the pro- 
 fession of arms is peculiar to the 
 Gossains or Sanyassies. Some of 
 them never shave, but allow the hair 
 of their head to grow to an extraor- 
 dinary length, binding it round their 
 forehead in small tresses like a tur- 
 ban. 
 
 At the foot of the pass into the 
 mountains above Hurdwar, there was 
 formerly a post belonging to the 
 Gorkhas, to which slaves were 
 brought down from the hills and ex- 
 posed for sale. Many hundred poor 
 wretches of both sexes, from three 
 to thirty years of age, were formerly 
 imported from all parts of the interior 
 of the hills, and sold at prices from 
 ten to 150 rupees. The average 
 price of camels from Lahore was 
 seventy-five rupees, and common 
 horses from 250 to 300 rupees, which 
 fair still continues. The merchants 
 never mention viva voce the price of 
 their cattle, but having thrown a 
 cloth over their hands, they conduct 
 their bargain by touching the joints 
 of their different fingers, to prevent 
 the bystanders from gaining any in- 
 formation. 
 
 No particular ceremony is used in 
 bathing, which consists merely of 
 simple immersion. The depth at the 
 
HURRIANNA. 
 
 669 
 
 proper season is only four feet, and 
 both sexes plunge in indiscriminately. 
 Those who are rich and rigidly pious 
 are introduced by a couple of Brah- 
 mins, who, having dipped the penitent 
 in the holy stream, reconduct him to 
 the shore. The period of ablution is 
 that of the sun’s entering Aries, 
 which, according to Hindoo calcula- 
 tion, happens twenty days later than 
 the vernal equinox. Every twelfth 
 year, when Jupiter is in Aquarius, 
 at the time of the sun’s entering 
 Aries, the concourse of pilgrims is 
 greatly augmented. Owing to the 
 precautions taken by the British go- 
 vernment, the fairs at Hurdwar have, 
 for many years past, ended without 
 bloodshed, to the astonishment of 
 the vast multitude assembled, who 
 were formerly accustomed to asso- 
 ciate the idea of fighting and murder 
 with that of the pilgrimage to Hurd- 
 war. 
 
 Travelling distance from Calcutta 
 by Moorshedabad 1,080 miles ; by 
 Birboom 957 miles; from Delhi 117 
 miles; from Lucknow 311 miles. — 
 (Ropery Fullarton , Hardwiche , Cole- 
 brook e, $*c.) 
 
 Hurn Pahl for the stag's leap). 
 — A rapid thus named in the Ner- 
 budda, thirteen miles below Chicul- 
 dah. The river here is 200 yards 
 broad, but obstructed by large masses 
 of rock, rising about eleven feet above 
 the ordinary level of the water, leav- 
 ing three channels between them, 
 through which the current rushes 
 with much violence. According to 
 fabulous tradition, a deer, being hard 
 pressed, sprang across from rock to 
 rock at three bounds, and hence the 
 name originated. — ( Malcolm , tyc.) 
 
 Hurreepoor ( Haripur ). — A town 
 in the province of Lahore, belonging 
 to a petty chief named the Raja of 
 Gular, and in 1810 reckoned to con- 
 tain from 1,000 to 1,500 houses; lat. 
 31° 57' N., Ion. 75° 55' E., seventy- 
 three miles N.E. from Amritsir. 
 The Raja of Gular was then tributa- 
 ry to Runjeet Singh of Lahore. 
 
 Hurreechunderghur^ HaH Chan- 
 dra ghar ). — A hill fortress in the 
 
 province of Aurungabad, seventy 
 miles E.N. by E. from Bombay; lat. 
 19° 18' N., Ion. 73°56'E. 
 
 Hurrund Dajel. — A district sub- 
 ject to the Khan of Baloochistan, 
 situated between the twenty-ninth 
 and thirtieth degrees of north latitude 
 and bounded on the east by the In- 
 dus. This tract does not exceed fifty’' 
 miles in length or breadth, but the 
 soil is extremely fertile, and yields a 
 large revenue ; the population is en- 
 tirely composed of Juts, with the 
 exception of a few Afghans and other 
 accidental settlers. The climate is 
 cooler in summer than that of Cutch 
 Gundava, and in winter is equally 
 mild. A considerable traffic is car- 
 ried on from hence by means of the 
 Indus, boats ascending to Mooltan 
 and Attock, or descending to Hydera- 
 bad and Tatta. The chief town here is 
 named Hurrund, *and the second 
 Dagel. — ( Pottinger , fyc.) 
 
 Hurrial ( Hari alaya , the abode of 
 Vishnu or Hari). — A commercial 
 mart in the province of Bengal, where 
 the East-India Company has long had 
 an established factory for the pur- 
 chasing of silk and cotton goods ; 
 lat. 24° 19' N., Ion. 89° 1 T E. This 
 commercial residency has for some 
 years past been incorporated with 
 that of Comercolly. 
 
 Hurrianna. — A large division of 
 the Delhi province, situated princi- 
 pally between the 28th and 29th de- 
 grees of north latitude. To the north 
 it is bounded by the Bhatty country, 
 and the domains of numerous Seik 
 chieftains ; on the south by the She- 
 kawutty country, the pergunnah of 
 Narnoul, and the assigned territories ; 
 to the east it has the Seik chiefs 
 and the assigned territories ; and on 
 the west the Bhatty and Bicanere 
 countries and the sandy desert of Aj- 
 meer. Although situated on the 
 verge of the desert;, it is celebrated 
 for its verdure (probably b}’ compa- 
 rison), from which the name is derived, 
 Hurya, in Hindostany signifying green. 
 While Acber reigned this district 
 was comprehended in the circar of 
 Hissar Firozeh, and from the num- 
 
HURRIANNA. 
 
 670 
 
 ber of large and populous towns it 
 then contained, must have been in a 
 very superior state of police and cul- 
 tivation to what it exhibited when it 
 first came under the British domina- 
 tion. It is also occasionally named, 
 but it does not appear why, the Lesser 
 Baloochistan. 
 
 The country known by the dis- 
 tinctive name of Hurrianna includes 
 the pergunnahs of Hansi, Hissar, 
 Mohim, Tosham, Barwallah, Bhehul, 
 Beeree, Rotuk, Agroha, and Jemaul- 
 poor, and, excepting the northern 
 and eastern part of the last-mention- 
 ed division, is an extensive plain, 
 free from jungle, and remarkable for 
 the depth to be penetrated before 
 water can be reached, and the further 
 west the more the difficulty increases. 
 The depth of the water from the sur- 
 face at Rotuk is seventy feet ; Mu- 
 deena 100; Mohim 90; Mundahil 
 109; Hansi 120; and at Hissar 136 
 feet. A large proportion of the vil- 
 lages have small shallow lakes, con- 
 taining water sufficient for the inha- 
 bitants and cattle throughout the 
 year ; but the cultivation is entirely 
 dependent on the monsoon, there 
 being at present no artificial means 
 of irrigation, and the wells too deep 
 to supply the requisite quantity. Sul- 
 tan Feroze brought the waters of the 
 Jumna to Hissar by a canal, which 
 while it subsisted fertilized the coun- 
 try, but it has been long choked up 
 and almost effaced. 
 
 The chief towns of Hurrianna are 
 Hansi, and Hissar, venerable for their 
 antiquity ; Rotuk and Bhowany ; but 
 it contains also a number of large 
 villages, where herds of cattle are 
 pastured, and in the vicinity of which 
 lions are said to be sometimes disco- 
 vered. Rotuk is one of the best cul- 
 tivated and least turbulent of the 
 pergunnahs, and is said to have yield- 
 ed M. Perron eight lacks of rupees, 
 although he never established any 
 regular authority over the country. 
 The assessment of Hurrianna prior 
 to the British conquest is said to have 
 been 7,14,508 rupees. The eastern 
 quarter is inhabited mostly by Jauts, 
 and the western by Rungurs, which 
 
 is an appellation given to such of the 
 Jaut tribes as have embraced the 
 Arabian prophet’s religion. Both 
 tribes are ferocious and uncivilized, 
 and before the pressure of British 
 coercion were in a state of unceasing 
 hostility, town with town, village 
 with village. 
 
 During the flourishing period of 
 Mogul history this district was of 
 great value and importance, and 
 usually considered as a personal ap- 
 pendage of the heir apparent to the 
 throne; but after the dissolution of 
 that empire it had never in fact been 
 subjected to any regular government, 
 and although nominally forming part 
 of Sindia’s former dominions, and 
 transferred to the British by the 
 treaty of Surjee Anjengaun, the au- 
 thority of either had never been sub- 
 stantially established. The solici- 
 tude of the supreme government to 
 dispose of a large portion of its terri- 
 torial acquisitions west of the Jumna, 
 in a manner consistent with the se- 
 curity of that frontier, afforded an 
 opportunity of combining with the 
 accomplishment of that object a re- 
 muneration for the^ higher class of 
 chieftains, who ' had distinguished 
 themselves in the British cause. The 
 Hurrianna was in consequence ac- 
 cepted and abandoned in whole or 
 in part as jaghire, by the Nabob 
 Bhumboo Khan, by Ahmed Khan 
 Buksh, by the Seik chieftains, Bhaugh 
 Singh, and Bhye Laid Singh, and by 
 Abul Summud Khan, an eminent 
 warrior. The difficulties which so 
 many chiefs found insurmountable, 
 arose from the martial and refractory 
 spirit of its inhabitants, and from the 
 predatory habits of its barbarous 
 neighbours the Bhatties. 
 
 Abul Summud Khan having spon- 
 taneously relinquished his claims to 
 this country, was reimbursed for the 
 expense he had fruitlessly incurred 
 in attempting its subjugation ; and in 
 1809 the Bengal government resumed 
 the district, and proceeded to intro- 
 duce the British authority, with the 
 caution and moderation adapted to 
 the exigence and semi-barbarous state 
 of its population. 
 
HURTOONA. 
 
 671 
 
 The province of Hurrianna had 
 during a series of years been a prey 
 to successive invaders, and a scene of 
 incessant rapine and confusion, and 
 without the slightest vestige of a re- 
 gular government. Its inhabitants 
 from necessity had become warlike 
 and ferocious, unused to control, and 
 totally unacquainted with the advan- 
 tages of a just and regular adminis- 
 tration. The policy of every power 
 which had yet attempted its conquest 
 had been invariably directed to beat 
 down by main force, rather than at- 
 tempt to conciliate their attachment, 
 treating them always rather as na- 
 tural enemies than as subjects ; their 
 dispositions consequently became 
 hostile to every power that attempted 
 to enforce subordination, expecting 
 unmixed evil from all. Experience, 
 however, has repeatedly shewn that 
 this furious and turbulent spirit gra- 
 dually yields to a mild and conciliatory 
 conduct, which introduces merely 
 such restraints as are indispensable 
 to the general good, and is exerted in 
 confirming and supporting individual 
 rights. Although the benefits of this 
 novel species of government are not 
 at first obvious to them, yet it imper- 
 ceptibly operates a reform, when 
 combined with a local power of coer- 
 cion, capable of reducing to obedi- 
 ence those whom it may be found 
 impracticable to conciliate or con- 
 vince. 
 
 Upon these principles it was de- 
 termined to regulate the measures 
 adopted for the settlement of the 
 country, and to render the existing 
 aumils, zemindars, and farmers, in- 
 struments for the establishment of 
 tranquillity ; to consider them as par- 
 ties with the government and not op- 
 posed to it, and as interested in sup- 
 pressing rather than exciting disor- 
 ders. The Hurrianna has in conse- 
 quence ever since enjoyed a tran- 
 quillity unknown for centuries, al- 
 though in 1812 it suffered greatly 
 by a severe drought, and subsequent 
 scarcity, approaching nearly to a fa- 
 mine, which caused a considerable 
 diminution of the revenue. Under 
 these unfavourable circumstances, a 
 
 provisional settlement was effected 
 for the district, with the exception of 
 Futtehabad, for three years viz. 
 
 Rupees. 
 
 1813 2,23,7 66 
 
 1814 3,08,226 
 
 1815 3,39,360 
 
 ( Public MS. Documents , Metcalfe , 
 Lieut. White , Gardner , fyc.) 
 
 Hurripaul ( Haripala) . — A town 
 in the province of Bengal, district of 
 Hooghly, situated near the new Be- 
 nares road, twenty-three miles west 
 from Calcutta, and the seat of a com- 
 mercial residency. With the conti- 
 tiguous villages of Doorhutta and 
 Parbutpoor it contains a considerable 
 population, but it is more properly a 
 congerie of straggling hamlets than 
 a town . — {Fullarton, tyc.) 
 
 Hurripoor. — A fortified post in 
 Northern Hindostan, principality of 
 Sirmore, ten miles N.E. from Nahan ; 
 lat. 30° 46' N., Ion. 77° 30' E. 
 
 Hurrunlee Temple. — A small 
 temple in Northern Hindostan, fifteen 
 miles east of Serinagur; lat. 30° 15' 
 N., Ion. /9° 3' E., 9,534 feet above 
 the level of the sea. 
 
 Hurryhur (Hari Hara , Vishnu, 
 and SivaJ. — A town in the Mysore 
 Raja’s territories, forty-two miles 
 N. W. from Chitteldroogh, situated on 
 the east side of the Toombudra ; lat. 
 14° 31' N., Ion. 75° 59' E. From 
 barometrical observations, the height 
 of Hurryhur has been estimated at 
 1,831 feet above the level of Madras. 
 
 Hursool. — A village in the pro- 
 vince of Aurungabad, about two miles 
 N.N.E. from the city of that name. 
 Here are the remains of several ex- 
 tensive serais and Mahomedan tombs, 
 and the tract from hence to Aurun- 
 gabad is strewed with similar ruins. — 
 { Fullarton , fyc.) 
 
 Hursora. — A town with a good 
 ghurry, belonging to Holcar, in the 
 province of Malwa, three miles east 
 of Mow, which in 1820 contained 
 about 500 houses ; lat. 22° 33' N., 
 Ion. 75° 55' E. 
 
 Hurtoona, — A town in the pro- 
 
HUSTINAPOOR. 
 
 672 
 
 vince of Gujerat, principality of Bans- 
 wara, about thirty miles west of the 
 town of Banswara ; lat. 23° 30' N., 
 Ion. 74° 3' E. In 1820 it was the 
 capital of a small feudatory named 
 Dowlet Singh. — ( Malcolm , fyc.) 
 
 Hussein Abdaul. — A beautiful 
 valley in the north-west corner of the 
 Lahore province, situated about twen- 
 ty-four miles east from the Indus ; 
 lat. 33° 56' N., Ion. 72° 25' E. This 
 valley was always a favourite resting- 
 place of the Mogul emperors, during 
 their annual migrations to Cashmere; 
 but the gardens and buildings have 
 long gone to ruin. The tomb of a 
 devout Mahomedan named Hussein 
 Abdaul, which communicates the 
 name, is partly composed of marble, 
 and stands in a square enclosure. 
 This person was a famous saint of 
 Candahar, there known as Baba Wul- 
 lee. The surname Abdaul in the 
 Afghan language signifies mad. In 
 A.D. 1809 the hills to the south of 
 the valley of Hussein Abdaul formed 
 the boundary of the Cabul dominions 
 in this quarter of Hindostan. — ( El - 
 pkimtone, fyc.) 
 
 Husseinabad. — A village in the 
 province of Bengal, district of Dacca 
 Jelalpoor, situated on the Isamutty 
 river, twenty miles W.S.W. from the 
 city of Dacca. Near to this place on 
 the west bank of the river there is a 
 small Portuguese church, and the vi- 
 cinity is inhabited by a population of 
 native Catholics. — ( Fullarton, $c.) 
 
 Husseingunge — A town in the 
 King of Oude’s reserved territories, 
 situated about twenty-one miles west 
 from Lucknow. 
 
 Hussingabad ( properly Hoshung- 
 abadj . — A considerable town in the 
 province of Candeish, situated on the 
 south side of the Nerbudda, 135 
 miles N.W. from Nagpoor ; lat. 22° 
 40' N., Ion. 77° 51' E. The bed of 
 the Nerbudda here is much broken, 
 and about 900 yards broad, but there 
 are thirteen fords across within four- 
 teen miles of the town. The best is 
 at Goondra, three miles and a half 
 east to which there is a good carriage 
 
 road. All the fords near Hussinga- 
 bad become passable in the beginning 
 of January; in October the depth of 
 water (which is remarkably sweet, 
 and abounds with fish) in the shal- 
 lowest parts near the town is between 
 five and six feet. The valley here 
 through which it runs is but scan- 
 tily cultivated, and that only con- 
 tiguous to the villages, which lie 
 scattered along the banks at consi- 
 derable distances from each other. 
 During part of the month of February 
 the jungle here appears of the bright- 
 est scarlet from the flowers of the 
 butea frondosa, and at the same sea- 
 son the bassia lat if alia perfumes the 
 air with its powerful fragrance. The 
 flowers of the tree last-mentioned are 
 collected by the natives, and when 
 dry have the appearance of berries, 
 and are as sweet as raisins. A vinous 
 spirit with a smoky flavour is ex- 
 tracted from them by distillation. In 
 1827 a vein of anthracite, or blind coal, 
 was discovered here while digging 
 a well through grauwacke and slate. 
 
 Hussingabad has long been noted 
 as an important position, and was 
 visited by General Goddard, when 
 marching from Bengal to Gujerat by 
 the route of Bilsah and Bopaul, to 
 the Nabob of which place it then be- 
 longed, but was subsequently wrested 
 from him by the Raja of Nagpoor. It 
 is now the capital of a large pergun- 
 nah belonging to the British govern- 
 ment, and being the key of this quar- 
 ter of the Deccan, has been made a 
 permanent station for a military de- 
 tachment. In 1820, although the 
 houses covered an extensive surface, 
 they were meanly built, and thinly 
 populated. — ( Public Journals , Mal- 
 colm, Heyne, Sfc.) 
 
 Husseinpur ( HosainpurJ . — A 
 town in the province of Delhi, sixty- 
 five miles E. from the city of Delhi ; 
 lat. 28° 44' N., Ion. 78° 9' E. 
 
 Hustinapoor ( or Hastina Na- 
 gara.)— The supposed site of a fa- 
 mous and ancient city, much cele- 
 brated in Hindoo mythological poems, 
 fifty-nine miles N.E. from the city of 
 Delhi ; lat. 29° 9' N., Ion. 77° 55' E. 
 
HYDERABAD. 673 
 
 Hastinapura is about twenty miles 
 
 S.W, from Daranagur, on a branch 
 of the Ganges, formerly the main 
 channel of that river. There remains 
 only a small place of worship. The 
 extensive site of this ancient city is 
 entirely covered with large ant hills, 
 which has induced the inhabitants of 
 the adjacent country to suppose that 
 it had been overturned or destroyed 
 by the Termites. — ( Wilford , fyc.) 
 
 IJuswah. — A town in the province 
 of Allahabad, thirty miles N.W. from 
 Currah ; iat. 25°53 / N., Ion, 80°52'E. 
 
 Hutta. — A town and pergunnah 
 belonging to the British government 
 in the province of Allahabad, water- 
 ed by the Sonaut river, and situated 
 thirty-four miles N. by W. of Nowtah. 
 
 Huttany. — A large town in the 
 province of Bejapoor, thirty-five miles 
 west from the ancient capital ; lat. 
 16°43 / N., Ion. 75 0 1 5'E. This place 
 carries on an extensive commerce 
 with Bombay, Surat, and other em- 
 poriums. The manufactures are silk 
 and cotton sanees, piece goods, &c., 
 but the staple article is grain. Here 
 is an excellent durrumsalla, or place 
 of accommodation for travellers, from 
 the appearance of which, the impor- 
 tance of a town throughout the pro- 
 vince of Bejapoor may usually be es- 
 timated. It is capable of lodging 
 500 persons, the horses and camels 
 being picqueted round the building, 
 which is handsomely built of free- 
 stone. 
 
 Huttany was a considerable place 
 in 1679, when it was taken from Se- 
 vajee (who had previously reduced 
 it) by the confederates of Bejapoor, 
 who proposed to sell the inhabitants 
 for slaves ; but this measure was 
 warmly opposed by Sambhajee, Seva- 
 jee’s revolted son, who not being able 
 to carry his point, became reconciled 
 to his father. The English factory 
 at Carwar, in North Canara, about 
 the middle of the seventeenth century, 
 had considerable dealings at Huttany; 
 but, on account of its turbulence and 
 frequent revolutions, the intercourse 
 was discontinued. — -{Moor, tyc.) 
 
 VOL. i. 
 
 Hydaspes River.— See Jhylum 
 River. 
 
 Hyatnaguii. — A town in the King 
 of Oude’s territories, fifty miles east 
 from Lucknow; lat. 26° 49' N., Ion, 
 81° 33' E. 
 
 HYDERABAD. 
 
 A large province of the Deccan 
 which communicates its name to the 
 Nizam’s dominions collectively, and 
 situated between the sixteenth and 
 nineteenth degrees of north latitude. 
 In length it may be estimated at 280 
 miles, by 110 the average breadth. 
 This territory composed a considera- 
 ble portion of ancient Telingana, 
 which in the institutes of Acber is 
 called a district of Berar, but was 
 probably only in part possessed by 
 that emperor. Besides the original 
 provinces of Hyderabad, Bceder, and 
 Nandere, the Nizam, since his politi- 
 cal connection with the Britsh go- 
 vernment, has received the accession 
 of various extensive and fertile dis- 
 tricts in Aurungabad, Bejapoor, and 
 Berar, which have carried his fron- 
 tier north to the Tuptee and Wurda 
 rivers, and south to the Toombudra 
 and Krishna. The aggregate com- 
 prehends an area of about 95,009 
 square miles ; and the following are 
 the principal territorial subdivisions 
 of the Hyderabad province, as distin- 
 guished from other portions of the 
 Nizam’s dominions ; but our informa- 
 tion respecting their internal condi- 
 tion and statistics continues very 
 defective, and ought to be remedied. 
 
 1. Paungul. 9. Golconda. 
 
 2. Eidgheer. 10. Coilconda. 
 
 3. Ghunpoor. 11. Malkair. 
 
 4. Dawurconda. 12. Maiduck. 
 
 5. Nalgonda. 13. Kowlas. 
 
 6. Cummumait. 14. Elgundel. 
 
 7. Warangol. 15. Mullungur. 
 
 8. Bongheer. 16. Ramgheer. 
 The surface of Hyderabad is an ele- 
 vated table-land, hilly but not moun- 
 tainous, with a climate of a more 
 moderate temperature than its lati- 
 tude would indicate. At the city of 
 Hyderabad, and in the tracts north 
 of it, the thermometer during three 
 
 2 x 
 
HYDERABAD. 
 
 674 
 
 months of the year is often so low 
 as 45°, 40°, and even 85° of Fahren- 
 heit. To protect themselves against 
 this degree of cold, the lower classes 
 use a coarse woollen blanket, made 
 in the country ; the higher classes, 
 shawls and printed silks. A few of 
 the courtiers and chief noblemen 
 clothe themselves in English broad- 
 cloth, as a fashion or a luxury, but 
 the mode is not general. The Ni- 
 zam’s cavalry clothe themselves after 
 their own taste, but the infantry are 
 regularly dressed in British red cloth, 
 and are equipped with accoutrements 
 made either at Madras or Masulipatam. 
 
 Although there are many rivers 
 and streams in this province none of 
 them are navigable, being in general 
 mere channels to drain off the water 
 that falls during the rainy season ; 
 after which, having little or no regu- 
 lar supplies from springs, they be- 
 come dry. The territory is notwith- 
 standing naturally productive ; but 
 from the nature of the government it 
 has never attained any great prospe- 
 rity, the cultivators being wretchedly 
 poor, and much oppressed by their 
 immediate superiors, the jaghiredars, 
 who are subject to little restraint 
 from their nominal sovereign. To 
 the south of Hyderabad city an im- 
 mense tract of land is depopulated, 
 desolate, and much covered with jun- 
 gle, among which the traces of ruined 
 towns, villages, and enclosures, indi- 
 cate the prior existence of a numerous 
 and civilized population. When pro- 
 perly cultivated the fields yield abun- 
 dant crops of wheat of an excellent 
 quality, which is transported by in- 
 land carriers to the sea-coast, from 
 whence salt is brought in return. 
 The districts acquired by the Nizam 
 in 1803 are particularly productive, 
 and under prudent management ca- 
 pable of yielding a revenue of above 
 one million per annum. Owing to 
 defects in the fiscal arrangements 
 the government are almost totally 
 deprived of the benefits of foreign 
 commerce, the average import of Eu- 
 ropean goods into the Nizam’s exten- 
 sive dominions prior to 1809 not 
 exceeding £25,000 per annum. 
 
 In 1801 the aggregate amount of 
 the existing customs levied on im- 
 portations was about fifteen per cent., 
 and as a principal part of the reve- 
 nue of the state was then derived 
 from this source, the utmost reluc- 
 tance on the part of the Nizam was 
 to be expected to any alteration 
 tending to its reduction. The British 
 government, on the other hand, 
 wished to prevail on his highness to 
 abolish the collection of all imposts 
 whatever on the ingress and egress 
 of commodities, as the most likely 
 mode of ensuring the beneficial ad- 
 vantages which would result to both 
 parties from an unrestricted com- 
 merce. As this, however, could not 
 be attained, a moderate rate of two 
 and a-half per cent, was proposed as 
 a subsidiary condition, under the 
 apprehension of the difficulty that 
 would be experienced in attempting 
 to annihilate the whole. But the ex- 
 istence of even this moderate rate is 
 liable to many abuses and exactions, 
 detrimental to the private adven- 
 turer, and injurious to the public re- 
 venue ; for granting that it were con- 
 ceded, a great difficulty would be 
 experienced in fixing the value of the 
 various articles of merchandize with 
 such precision as to preclude litiga- 
 tion between the traders and the 
 custom-house officers. A general 
 permanent duty on the aggregate in- 
 voice value, which would be authen- 
 ticated by the signatures of the pub- 
 lic officers of each government, ap- 
 pears more eligible than by having 
 the value fixed by juries of mer- 
 chants : an arrangement no less re- 
 pugnant to the principles and usages 
 of Asiatic states (although customary 
 as to landed property) than produc- 
 tive of litigation, fraud, and delay. 
 
 At present the principal trade car- 
 ried on between the Nizam’s domi- 
 nions and those under the British go- 
 vernment, is the supply of cotton sent 
 from Berar to the Northern Circars, 
 and also to the markets at Vellore, 
 Arnee, and that vicinity. The traders 
 return loaded with salt and salted 
 fish; some cloths manufactured in 
 the northern Circars, and some Arnee 
 
HYDERABAD. 
 
 muslins. In 1808 it was discovered 
 that a considerable quantity of opium 
 was exported from the Nizam’s ter- 
 ritories to the Eastern Isles, and 
 there sold at a much cheaper rate 
 than the Company’s Bengal drug; 
 but although this trade interfered 
 materially with the monopoly of that 
 narcotic, it did not appear that, un- 
 der the condition of subsisting trea- 
 ties, the Nizam could be called on 
 to prohibit his subjects from engaging 
 in the traffic. 
 
 A great proportion of the Hyder- 
 abad territories is occupied jaghire- 
 dars, who are of two descriptions, 
 viz. Hindoo jaghiredars and zemin- 
 dars, such as the raja of Solapoor, 
 whose ancestors possessed their es- 
 tates from the first sovereigns of the 
 Deccan, and over whom the Nizam 
 exercises a very uncertain and unde- 
 fined authority ; the other descrip- 
 tion of zemindars consists of the 
 military officers in the Nizam’s ser- 
 vice, in number from forty to fifty. 
 Almost the whole country, with the 
 exception of the land set apart for 
 religious purposes, the crown lands, 
 and small parts held by old Hindoo 
 zemindars, is under the management 
 of some descriptiou of jaghiredar. 
 Since the introduction of red cloth 
 among the Nizam’s troops, the prin- 
 cipal jaghiredars have adopted the 
 same mode of clothing their infantry, 
 amounting to about 7,000 men. In 
 1812 the British subsidiary force 
 stationed in this part of the Deccan 
 consisted of one regiment of native 
 cavalry, one regiment of European, 
 and two regiments of native infantry 
 at Hyderabad. At Jalna, two regi- 
 ments of native cavalry and four 
 battalions of native infantry, and a 
 tloop of horse artillery. The officer 
 commanding this force receives his 
 instructions from the resident at the 
 court of the Nizam, and the conse- 
 quent reports respecting it are made 
 to the supreme government in Bengal. 
 It was originally intended by the Bri- 
 tish government that the Nizam’s 
 troops should be left to defend his 
 highness’s territories from the incur- 
 sions of all freebooters, without the 
 
 By 5 
 
 assistance or co-operation of the sub- 
 sidiary force, except in the event of 
 extreme exigence. They were, how- 
 ever, after experience, found wholly 
 unequal to the task, being ill-paid, 
 mutinous, and little disposed to ex- 
 ertion. Besides this, being composed 
 of distinct parties and squads belong- 
 ing to persons of rank residing at the 
 court of Hyderabad, and commanded 
 by their own officers, no combination 
 of movement or unity of action 
 could be expected from them. 
 
 In the time of Azim-ul-Omrah,the 
 dewan’s fees were only one-eighth of 
 each rupee ; but Meer Allum, on his 
 accession to office, raised them to 
 three-sixteenths. When Mooner-ul- 
 Mulk was appointed dewan, it was 
 determined that he should receive a 
 fixed salary of ten lacks of rupees 
 per annum, the excess of the mi- 
 nister’s fees beyond that sum to be 
 accounted for to government. From 
 a statement given in on this occasion, 
 it appeared that the minister’s fees, 
 or commission for seven years pre- 
 vious, averaged about seventeen lacks 
 per annum. The peshcar’s (a head 
 financial officer) fees were estimated 
 at 2,86,000 rupees per annum. It is 
 difficult to ascertain the real produce 
 of the jaghires held by the Nizam’s 
 officers, but the sum total, upon to- 
 lerable grounds, has been computed 
 to average eighty-five lacks per an- 
 num. The offerings transmitted from 
 all parts of the country, and pre- 
 sented on the Nizam’s birth-day, are 
 included in the public accounts ; but 
 those presented on ordinary occa- 
 sions directly to the Nizam amount 
 to one lack of rupees per annum, 
 and are always retained by his high- 
 ness in his own custody. The ag- 
 gregate may be thus computed : 
 Average receipts per an- 
 num Rs. 1,85,87,214 
 
 Minister’s fees 17,18,342 
 
 Peshcar’s do. 2,86,000 
 
 Amount of jaghires 85,00,000 
 
 Probable amount of pre- 
 sents 1,00,000 
 
 Average of the estimat- { 
 
 ed gross revenues of ( 2 91 91 946 
 
 the Nizam s govern- ( _J 
 
 ment, per annum ... ) 
 
HYDERABAD. 
 
 676 
 
 The Nizam receives from the Pesh- 
 car 80,000 rupees per month for the 
 current expenses of his personal es- 
 tablishment ; but a large proportion 
 of this, and probably the whole of 
 the presents, are deposited in his pri- 
 vate treasury. Besides these sources 
 of accumulation, there is another 
 appropriation from the minister’s fees 
 of about eight lacks, and the value 
 of jewels and other articles annually 
 purchased by the Nizam averages 
 about five lacks. They are paid by 
 the peshcar, and the amount is en- 
 tered in his accounts under the head 
 of commissions. In 1811 the deficit 
 of the receipts, in comparison with 
 the disbursements, continued to in- 
 crease, and the whole country was 
 in so deplorable a condition, that it 
 was utterly unable to support any 
 additional extortion. 
 
 While Telingana existed as an 
 independent Hindoo sovereignty, it 
 comprehended most of the tracts ly- 
 ing between the Krishna and Goda- 
 very rivers, the capital of which was 
 Warangol. At an early period it 
 was invaded and partly conquered by 
 the Mahomedans, and afterwards 
 formed part of the Great Bhamenee 
 empire of the Deccan. On the dis- 
 solution of that state, Telingana be- 
 came again the seat of an indepen- 
 dent government under the name of 
 Golconda, the first sovereign being 
 Cooly Cuttub Shah, who established 
 the Cuttub Shahy dynasty of Gol-' 
 conda. He began to reign in 1512, 
 and was assassinated in 1551. 
 
 Jumsheed Cuttub Shah ; died A.D. 
 1558. - 
 
 Ibrahim Cuttub Shah; died 1581. 
 
 Cooly Cuttub Shah ; died 1586. — 
 This prince founded the city of Hy- 
 derabad, and having no son, was suc- 
 ceeded by his brother Mahomed. The 
 successor to the last-named prince 
 was Abdallah Cuttub Shah, who be- 
 came tributary to the Mogul emperor 
 Shah Jehan ; and in this dependence 
 his kingdom remained until 1690, 
 when Golconda was taken by Au- 
 rengzebe, and Abou Hossein, the 
 reigning prince, made prisoner, and 
 confined for life in the fortress of 
 
 Dowletabad, where he died in the 
 year 1704. 
 
 On the destruction of the Mogul 
 empire, after the death of Aureng- 
 zebe, Nizam ul Mulk obtained posses- 
 sion of the Mahomedan conquests in 
 the Deccan about the year 1717; he 
 died in 1748, aged (it is said) 104 
 years, leaving six sons, Ghazi ud 
 Deen, Nassir Jung, Salabut Jung, 
 Bassalet Jung, and Moghul Ali. 
 
 Nassir Jung being on the spot at 
 Boorhanpoor when his father died, 
 succeeded, and was assassinated in 
 1750. 
 
 Muzufter Jung, the grandson of Ni- 
 zam ul Mulk, was placed on the 
 throne, and assassinated in 1751. 
 
 Salabut Jung, by the influence of 
 the French, was then proclaimed, and 
 reigned until 1761, when he was im- 
 prisoned, and in 1763 put to death 
 by his brother, Nizam Ali, who as- 
 cended the blood-stained throne. 
 Nearly the whole of his reign 
 was a scene of intricate negociation 
 or impending hostility with his ra- 
 pacious neighbours the Maharat- 
 tas ; arid that he was not finally 
 devoured, was entirely owing to the 
 intimacy of the political connexion 
 he latterly contracted with the British 
 government. During a temporary se- 
 paration of interests in 1795 war 
 with the Maharattas actually took 
 place, when the Nizam advanced to 
 Beeder to meet Dowlet Row Sindia, 
 who had drawn great part of his then 
 strong army from Upper Hindostan. 
 An action was fought, which was fol- 
 lowed by the retreat of the Nizam to 
 Kurdlah, where, allowing himself to 
 be shut up and deprived of supplies, 
 he was compelled to sign a conven- 
 tion, by the terms of which he ad- 
 mitted all the Maharatta claims, 
 agreed to cede to them the fort and 
 district of Dowletabad, to pay three 
 crores of rupees, and to deliver Azim 
 ul Omrah, his prime minister, as a 
 hostage, into the custody of Nana 
 Furnavese. 
 
 That he was defeated in the above- 
 mentioned battle by Sindia’s disci- 
 plined legions will not be thought 
 surprising, after perusing with attend 
 
HYDERABAD. 
 
 677 
 
 tion the following official description, 
 written in 1815, of a portion of his own 
 troops. The late Nizam had two bat- 
 talions of female sepoys of one thou- 
 sand each, regularly trained to the 
 manual and platoon exercises, which 
 mounted guard in the interior of the 
 palace, and accompanied the ladies of 
 the palace when they moved. They 
 were with the Nizam during the war 
 with theMaharattasin 1795, and were 
 present at the battle of Kurdlab, 
 where at least they did not behave 
 worse than the rest of the army. One 
 of these battalions was commanded 
 by Mama Burrun, and the other by 
 Mama Chumbehee, two of the prin- 
 cipal female attendants of the Ni- 
 zam’s family. The present Nizam still 
 keeps up a reduced establishment of 
 these women, and Mooner ul Moolk 
 (the prime minister in 1815) has also 
 a party of them. They are dressed 
 as British sepoys formerly used to be, 
 carry musquets, and do the French 
 exercise with tolerable correctness. 
 They are called the Zuffer pultuns, 
 or victorious battalions, and the fe- 
 males composing them are called 
 Gardunees, a corruption of our guard. 
 Their pay is five rupees per month. 
 
 In 1798 the British interests at the 
 court of Hyderabad, which had been 
 greatly impaired, or rather nearly 
 subverted, by the increasing influence 
 of a strong French party, were re- 
 stored by the vigorous measures of 
 the Marquis Wellesley, immediately 
 after his assumption of the supreme 
 government. The force under M. 
 Raymond consisted of 13,000 men, 
 and constituted, in fact, the only ef- 
 ficient portion of the Nizam’s military 
 strength ; and from the known prin- 
 ciples of that adventurer, and his con- 
 nexion with France, there was little 
 doubt that if the chance of war ever 
 seemed to waver, he would co-operate 
 with whatever foe opposed the British. 
 The Nizam’s minister, Azim ul Om- 
 ra, had for some time viewed with 
 considerable alarm a growing influ- 
 ence, which he w'as no longer able to 
 control, and in consequence was 
 ready to promote the objects of the 
 British government. In September 
 
 1798 the Nizam was prevailed on to 
 accede to a treaty, according to which 
 a detachment of six thousand men, 
 with guns and artillery-men in pro- 
 portion, were to be entertained by 
 his highness, and the subsidy raised 
 from six to twenty-four lacks of ru- 
 pees per annum. It was also agreed 
 that the officers and servants of the 
 French party should be secured and 
 delivered up, not as prisoners of war, 
 but to be restored to their own coun- 
 try, without waiting for exchange 
 or cartel. While these negociations 
 were going on, a force was assembled 
 in the Northern Cirears under Col. 
 Roberts, who on receiving intimation 
 from the resident, Capt. Achilles 
 Kirkpatrick, marched to Hyderabad, 
 where the French troops were mostly 
 stationed. These he adroitly sur- 
 rounded, and ' resistance appearing 
 hopeless, the officers were secured, 
 the corps dissolved, and the men dis- 
 banded without bloodshed, and their 
 place in the Nizam’s service occupied 
 by British troops. 
 
 It being found necessary in 1800 
 to augment the subsidiary force sta- 
 tioned in the Hyderabad dominions 
 to 8,000 regular infantry and 1,000 
 regular cavalry, a new treaty was en- 
 tered into on the 12th October of 
 that year, when the Nizam was in- 
 duced, with the view of insuring 
 punctuality of payment, to cede to 
 the British government all the terri- 
 tories he had acquired by the treaty 
 of Seringapatam in 1792, and also 
 under that of Mysore in 1799. Cer- 
 tain of the tracts ceded by this treaty 
 being inconveniently situated to the 
 north of the Toombudra, it was de- 
 termined, for the purpose of render- 
 ing the boundary well defined, that 
 his highness should retain Copaul and 
 Gujunderghur, and other districts 
 north of the Toombudra, and in lieu 
 thereof assign Adoni, and whatever 
 territory he possessed to the south of 
 that river, or to the south of the 
 Krishna, below its junction with the 
 Toombudra ; the estimated value of 
 the whole being about sevent} 7 -two 
 lacks of rupees per annum. These 
 arrangements being accomplished, it 
 
HYDERABAD. 
 
 678 
 
 was determined that all British claims 
 on the Nizam, of every description, 
 should cease : from which date also 
 all demands on account of the subsi- 
 diary force were to terminate, as the 
 whole was in future to be subsisted 
 and paid by the British government. 
 By this treaty it was likewise decided 
 that all external political relations 
 should be exclusively managed by the 
 British government, which undertook 
 to protect his highness from invasion 
 from without and internal insurrec- 
 tion, and to procure a total exemp- 
 tion from all claims for choute on the 
 part of the Maharattas. His libera- 
 tion from this harassing demand was 
 to the Nizam an important favour, 
 as the choute levied on the districts 
 within his country by the Peshwa and 
 his jagheerdars amounted to forty- 
 five lacks per annum. 
 
 In 1803 Nizam Ali finished his long 
 life and reign, and was succeeded on 
 the Hyderabad throne by his eldest le- 
 gitimate son, Secunder Jah, the pre- 
 sent reigning Nizam. He was entire- 
 ly indebted to the British government 
 for the tranquillity of his accession, 
 and as a token of his gratitude offered 
 to relinquish the tribute of seven 
 lacks, paid on account of the Gun- 
 toor circar; but the acceptance of 
 this douceur was declined by the 
 Marquis Wellesley, then governor- 
 general. Soon after the Asophia (Ni- 
 zam’s) dominions received a very con- 
 siderable augmentation ; for in 1804 
 a partition treaty having been con- 
 cluded with Dowlet Row Sindia and 
 the Nagpoor Raja, the latter ceded 
 to the Nizam all the country of which 
 he collected the revenue in conjunc- 
 tion with the Nizam, and fixed the 
 Nagpoor frontier towards the west 
 at the Wurda river, from where it 
 issues out of the Injardy hills, to its 
 junction with the Godavery. The 
 hills on which Nernallah and Ga- 
 welghur stand, with a district conti- 
 guous, to the amount of four lacks of 
 rupees revenue, to remain with the 
 Nagpoor Raja ; but every other tract 
 south of the Injardy hills, and west of 
 the Wurda, to be transferred to the 
 Nizam. From Sindia he received all 
 
 the territories that chief possessed 
 prior to 1803, situated to the south 
 of the Ajuntee hills, including the 
 fo t and fertile district of Jalnapoor, 
 the town of Gandapoor, and all the 
 other districts between that range of 
 hills and the Godavery. These were, 
 in fact, first ceded by Sindia to the 
 British government : but immediately 
 afterwards transferred in perpetuity 
 to the Nizam. In consequence of 
 these arrangements the Hyderabad 
 sovereignty received a great increase 
 of territory, and obtained for the first 
 time a compact and well-defined 
 boundary. 
 
 Secunder Jah for a short time ex- 
 pressed the utmost gratitude to the 
 British government, both for the 
 tranquillity of his accession and the 
 augmentation of his kingdom ; but it 
 soon appeared that his conduct was 
 regulated by no fixed principles, being 
 directed by a few ignorant and vi- 
 cious creatures who surrounded his 
 person, and whom he permitted to 
 control his actions. The most offi- 
 cious of these were Assud YarKhan 
 and Jaffer Yar Khan, his highness’s 
 foster-brothers, and two individuals, 
 named Burkendauze Khan and Roz- 
 dar Khan. The two persons first 
 named were low illiterate creatures ; 
 the other two had been common se- 
 poys, and had been noticed by the 
 Nizam for their skill in shooting, 
 ever since they had undertaken to 
 exercise it on the late prime minister, 
 Azim ul Omra. Although these per- 
 sons were never permitted to sit 
 down when the British resident was 
 present, they were on other occasions 
 often indulged with seats, and ho- 
 noured with the familiar conversa- 
 tion of his highness, while noblemen 
 of rank and character, compelled to 
 attend the court, were kept at a dis- 
 tance with the appearance of studied 
 indignity. Like most of the factious 
 miscreants with which the city of Hy- 
 derabad swarmed, his highness’s as- 
 sociates evinced a decided hostility 
 to the British government, and of 
 course to the prime minister, Meer 
 Allum, who disdained to take the 
 usual methods of obtaining their 
 
HYDERABAD. 
 
 679 
 
 good offices ; while their enmity was 
 fostered by his rival Raja Mohiput 
 Ram, in prosecution of whose schemes 
 they were accustomed to exercise a 
 species of vulgar wit on the English, 
 to alarm the Nizam’s mind with ex- 
 aggerated representations of their 
 ambition, and to extol the prowess 
 of Holcar and Sindia. The governor- 
 general of India was represented as a 
 fictitious functionary, acting without 
 the authority of the English govern- 
 ment, and the arraignment of the 
 Marquis Wellesley in the House of 
 Commons was adduced as a proof 
 of the assertion. As part of their 
 system, they were in the habit of 
 prompting the Nizam to resist every 
 proposition whatever from the British 
 authorities, and of abusing the mi- 
 nister and his adherents as British 
 partizans, always concluding with the 
 most fulsome and extravagant com- 
 pliments on his highness’s sagacity, 
 penetration, and courage. 
 
 This conjuncture of affairs pre- 
 sented externally an appearance of 
 solidity to the alliance, while in 
 reality the foundation was utterly de- 
 cayed, for in the event of war, not 
 only would the resources and forces 
 claimable by treaty have been with- 
 held, but the British subsidiary force 
 would have been virtually placed in 
 the country of an enemy, and conse- 
 quently exposed to all the hazards of 
 such a situation, without the advan- 
 tage of the occupation of posts, the 
 establishment of depots, or security 
 of communication with the British 
 territory. No alternative was there- 
 fore left, but either to abandon the 
 alliance altogether, or to make an 
 effort to replace it on its proper basis 
 by a direct and decided interference. 
 The adoption of this measure, how- 
 ever, appeared so fundamental a de- 
 viation from the system professed by 
 the Marquis Cornwallis, during his 
 second mission to India, and also by 
 his successor Sir George Barlow, 
 that the latter thought it necessary 
 to state some argument in vindica- 
 tion of the measure. On this subject 
 he observed, that the adoption of 
 the system of non-interference pre- 
 
 supposed a just conception on the 
 part of the Nizam of the true prin- 
 ciples and solid advantages of the 
 alliance, and also a sincere disposi- 
 tion to maintain it. It also pre- 
 supposed a degree of firmness, dis- 
 cernment, and dignity on his part, 
 which would lead him to reject the 
 councils of profligate and interested 
 advisers, who should endeavour to 
 persuade him that the obligations of 
 the alliance w ? ere those of degrada- 
 tion, and as such urge him to re- 
 nounce it. Unsupported by these 
 just and reasonable presumptions, Sir 
 George considered the system of non- 
 interference as altogether deprived 
 of its foundation, and that the change 
 on the part of the British government 
 would be adopted, not from choice, 
 but from necessity. He viewed the 
 measure, not as a renunciation of 
 general political principles, but as 
 extorted by the general impractica- 
 bility of applying those principles to 
 the condition of his highness’s go- 
 vernment, without the certain loss of 
 the benefits expected from an adhe- 
 rence to them ; the mere adoption of 
 a measure of security against a great 
 and impending danger. 
 
 The propriety of interfering with 
 the Nizam’s internal government be- 
 ing in this manner decided, he was in 
 1807 addressed in such terms by the 
 British government as would con- 
 vince him, but without specifically 
 mentioning them, that it w^as ac- 
 quainted with the secret machina- 
 tions he had been carrying on. He 
 was also informed that the British 
 government would not tacitly suffer 
 the benefit of the alliance to be ha- 
 zarded, or ultimately subverted, by 
 the insidious intrigues of designing 
 persons, who in furtherance of their 
 own objects would induce him to 
 believe that his interest and security 
 were distinct from those of his allies, 
 and who, according to the suggestions 
 of the moment, made every proposal 
 from that quarter appear an object of 
 contempt or alarm. 
 
 While these discussions were going 
 on, it became necessary for Meer 
 Allum, the prime minister, to take 
 
680 
 
 HYDERABAD. 
 
 up his abode at the British residency, 
 assassination being then so common 
 at Hyderabad as to render him ap- 
 prehensive of being carried off by 
 unfair means ; and the Buckshy Be- 
 gum, the Nizam’s mother, and head 
 of the Asophia family, was so much 
 affected by her son’s disgraceful con- 
 duct, that she implored the resident 
 to interfere and rescue him from the 
 hands of his profligate associates. 
 Affairs having reached this crisis, the 
 Nizam himself became alarmed, and 
 began to manifest contrition for his 
 extravagant and unprincely behaviour 
 towards his family, made his apologies 
 to the Begums, and requested their 
 advice regarding the course of policy 
 he ought to pursue, and it appears 
 they counselled him to adhere strictly 
 to his alliance with the British. The 
 resident then being apprized of the 
 Nizam’s repentance, proceeded to 
 bring forward the following propo- 
 sitions, viz. 
 
 1. The dismissal of Raja Mohiput 
 Ram and Ismael Yar Jung. 
 
 2. That some provision should be 
 made for Noor ul Omrah. 
 
 3. That the civil and military au- 
 thorities of Berar should be separated, 
 and entrusted to persons in whom 
 the British government could confide. 
 
 4. That the resident should be 
 admitted to an audience when he re- 
 quired it. 
 
 These propositions, after under- 
 going some slight modification, were 
 ratified by the Nizam, who expressed 
 his unalterable attachment to the 
 British nation, and his resolution to 
 conform to all the stipulations of the 
 alliance. It still, however, continued 
 necessary vigilantly to watch and ri- 
 gorously to oppose the recurrence 
 of these evils, now, in appearance, 
 corrected. On the other hand, such 
 constant interference as would prove 
 vexatious to the Nizam, or excite 
 in his mind a sense of dependence, 
 was cautiously avoided, the legitimate 
 objects of the alliance being perfectly 
 compatible with the free exercise of 
 his highness’s rights of sovereignty 
 within his own dominions. 
 
 In process of time, as Secunder 
 
 Jah’s mind became less gloomy, he 
 proposed a hunting excursion, in the 
 course of which, having passed near 
 to the British cantonments, he was 
 prevailed on to inspect the lines. 
 He was received with a royal salute, 
 after which, having looked at the 
 ordnance, he expressed his admira- 
 tion of the appearance and discipline 
 of the troops, and paid many com- 
 pliments to Colonel Montresor, their 
 commander. This casual visit only 
 derives importance, because his high- 
 ness had been led by his private ad- 
 visers to believe that thfe subsidiary 
 brigade had been secretly augmented 
 with the view of getting possession 
 of Hyderabad and Golconda, seizing 
 on his person, and placing another 
 prince on the throne. These appre- 
 hensions were all dissipated, and on 
 his return home, when the females of 
 his family made him the offerings usual 
 after a safe return from any perilous 
 enterprize, he refused to receive 
 them, declaring with indignation that 
 he had been deceived with respect to 
 the designs of the British govern- 
 ment, to which he would in future 
 entrust the security of his person 
 and protection of his throne. 
 
 The reconciliation was, however, 
 of very short duration ; for on the 
 death of the prime minister, Meer 
 Allum, in 1 808, new difficulties arose, 
 with endless intrigue and discussion, 
 caused by the spirit of perverseness 
 and caprice which distinguishes the 
 Nizam’s character. The British go- 
 vernment was at first disposed to 
 support the pretensions of Shums 
 ul Omra, a nobleman of excellent 
 character ; but the Nizam objected 
 to him that, in the first place, he 
 was not a Shiah in religion, nor a 
 Seid by birth ; secondly, that he was 
 allied to Feridoon Jah, his highness’s 
 brother ; and thirdly, that he was at 
 the head of the pagah (a sort of 
 bodyguard) party, an office that had 
 always been maintained by the sove- 
 reigns of the Deccan as a counter- 
 poise to the power of the minister, 
 and that the possession of that office 
 was consequently ineligible to the 
 ministerial office, as he would there- 
 
681 
 
 HYDERABAD. 
 
 by engross the whole power of the 
 state, civil and military. 
 
 To the first objection, Capt. Sy- 
 denham, then resident at Hyderabad, 
 replied, that the selection of a mi- 
 nister should be regulated by political 
 considerations alone, and could have 
 no relation to the religious tenets of 
 the different candidates. The second 
 objection he endeavoured to repel by 
 referring to the altered circumstances 
 of the state, and the absence of all 
 danger from his brother’s rivalry, 
 while his highness’s throne was sus- 
 tained bv the arms and resources of 
 the British empire. To the third 
 objection Capt. Sydenham observed, 
 that there was no longer any neces- 
 sity to secure the obedience of the 
 officers of government by employing 
 them as checks on each other, as it 
 was now in the power of the Nizam 
 to keep them all in due subordina- 
 tion ; besides which, the British al- 
 liance, he remarked, had wholly 
 altered the relative condition of the 
 Pagah chieftains. Formerly the chief 
 of the Pagahs was entrusted with the 
 care of his highness’s person, was 
 foremost in battle, and led his troops 
 on all services of danger or despera- 
 tion ; now the case was changed, 
 for the British detachment, in fact, 
 formed the Pagah party of the Ni- 
 zam’s army, where that confidence 
 was placed which had formerly been 
 reposed in the Pagah corps. 
 
 These reasons, however, not suf- 
 ficing to satisfy the Nizam, Mooneer 
 ul Mulk, the son of Azim ul Omira, 
 was, after much discussion, appointed 
 prime minister ; and his character, as 
 illustrative of a native court and its 
 political instruments, deserves notice. 
 Although the descendant of a prime 
 minister, he is not destitute of abili- 
 ties ; but personally he is extremely 
 pusillanimous, a perpetual liar, and 
 everlasting intriguer, with polite and 
 plausible manners. He is a true be- 
 liever in the doctrines of astrology, 
 and maintains an establishment of 
 soothsayers in his house, by whose 
 predictions not only all his public 
 business is conducted, but also the 
 ordinary pursuits of life, down to 
 Vol. I. 
 
 the auspicious moment for eating and 
 drinking. His questions to these 
 
 sages are generally proposed in writ- 
 ing, and so firm is his belief in their 
 prescience, that he always cautions 
 them in predicting the event not to 
 consult his wishes, but to tell him 
 the real truth, whatever it may be. 
 
 His master, the Nizam, is still more 
 irrational, and is known to be oc- 
 casionally afflicted with temporary 
 insanity. This infirmity, in 1811, 
 
 reached to such an excess, that he 
 no longer trusted the preparation of 
 his food to any person, abstaining 
 from every dish he had not cooked 
 with his own hands. Sitting in sullen 
 silence in the female apartments, 
 where none but his menial servants 
 were admitted, he ceased to appear 
 in public, and wholly neglected the 
 affairs of government. Even in bet- 
 ter times, when his intellects are 
 more composed, he continues to* 
 evince a strong and restless feeling 
 of distrust towards the British nation, 
 which, however absurd the notion 
 may appear, he considers hostile to 
 his interests, and desirous of aggran- 
 dizing their empire at his expense ; 
 and so powerful is the influence of 
 this delusion over his mind, that he 
 twists and exaggerates the most trivial 
 circumstance to suit the bias of his 
 temper. His greatest misfortune, 
 and the cause of most of the errors 
 of his life, is the awkward uneasiness 
 he feels in the society of the only 
 persons who are suitable companions 
 for him, or whose presence is likely 
 in the slightest degree to recall him 
 to a sense of his own dignity, and 
 of the duty he owes his subjects. 
 
 In 1815 the Nizam’s sons residing 
 at Hyderabad collected around them 
 all the dissolute vagabonds and Patan 
 bravoes, with which the city swarmed, 
 and committed the most flagitious 
 excesses. The most profligate of 
 these princes were the two youngest, 
 Shums ud Dowlah and Mubariz ud 
 Dowlah ; who were supported by the 
 Nizam’s wife and mother. In the 
 August of that year they proceeded 
 to the extremity of seizing an atten- 
 dant on the British embassy for the 
 
 2 Y 
 
682 
 
 HYDERABAD. 
 
 purpose of extorting money, and 
 were in consequence apprehended 
 and removed to Golconda, but not 
 without considerable bloodshed, and 
 the death of a British officer belong- 
 ing to the escort. When at last des- 
 patched to the fortress, the two ladies 
 resolved to accompany them, in hopes 
 of influencing the Nizam to relent; 
 but on this occasion he evinced un- 
 expected firmness, declaring that he 
 believed the Begums wished to get 
 rid of himself instead of the English. 
 The principal subordinate instigators 
 of the tumult were subsequently 
 seized and executed. 
 
 In A.D. 1818, after an interval of 
 four years, during which he had never 
 passed the gate of his palace, the 
 Nizam, accompanied by some ladies 
 of his family, and attended by Moo- 
 neer ud Mulk, Raja Chundoo Laid, 
 and other ministers, went to a garden 
 a little way to the southward of the 
 city, and in the opposite direction to 
 the residency. The troops assembled 
 to escort him on this occasion were 
 estimated at about 8,000, but pro- 
 bably did not exceed two-thirds of 
 that number. While on this excur- 
 sion he hunted sometimes, but in 
 general he secluded himself with his 
 usual privacy, and in three weeks 
 returned to his palace in the city. 
 The effort of making the excursion, 
 and the time selected, were so much 
 at variance with his accustomed ha- 
 bits, that they excited no small sur- 
 prise, and many extraordinary motives 
 were assigned to account for such a 
 display of unseasonable activity. But 
 although the Nizam’s aversion to the 
 control of the British was sufficiently 
 notorious, and his wishes for the suc- 
 cess of the Peshwa Bajerow equally 
 so, yet if on this occasion he had 
 been stimulated by his servants to the 
 adoption of active measures, they 
 certainly had greatly overrated both 
 his boldness and perseverance. 
 
 Notwithstanding this contumacy, 
 on the conclusion of the Pindary war 
 in that year, and on the expulsion of 
 the Peshwa, the British government, 
 which had succeeded to all his rights, 
 not only gave up to the Nizam the 
 
 arrears of choute due by him, but 
 abrogated all claims whatever that 
 the Poona state had upon that of 
 Hyderabad. Some exchange of ter- 
 ritory, alike convenient to both par- 
 ties, were made, and the whole of 
 these arrangements were reduced into 
 the form of a treaty on the 12th of 
 December 1822. Soon afterwards 
 the supreme government, whose Ben- 
 gal treasury was overflowing, re- 
 deemed the peshcush of 6,30,630 ru- 
 pees paid annually to the Nizam on 
 account of the Guntoor Circar, for a 
 capital sum of one million two hun- 
 dred pounds sterling. At present 
 (1827) the powers of the state are prin- 
 cipally centred in Raja Chundoo Laul 
 (a seik of Nanok Shah’s persuasion), 
 while the apathy of his master seems 
 to increase with his years. But al- 
 though the efficiency given to the 
 military establishment, by the intro- 
 duction of the British, has no doubt 
 contributed to the maintenance of 
 public tranquillity, yet it may still be 
 asserted that the Hyderabad territo- 
 ries are as ill governed as any part of 
 India. — ( Public MS. Documents, Sy- 
 denham, H. Russell, A. Kirkpatrick, 
 Ferishta, Orme, Malcolm , Blacker, 
 Heyne , tf-c.) 
 
 Hyderabad. — The capital of the 
 preceding province and of the Ni- 
 zam’s dominions, situated in lat. 17° 
 1 5' N., Ion. 78° 35'K Hyderabad or 
 Baugnuggur stands on the south side 
 of the Musah river, which runs very 
 rapidly in the rains, but in the dry 
 season has scarcely two feet of water. 
 It is surrounded by a stone wall, 
 which is no defence against artillery, 
 but which formerly served as a pro- 
 tection against the incursions of pre- 
 datory cavalry. Within the wall the 
 city is about four miles in length, by 
 three in breadth. The streets are 
 narrow, crooked, and badly paved. 
 The houses are mostly of one story, 
 built of wood and other combustible 
 materials. Over the river Musah 
 there is a large arched bridge, suffi- 
 ciently broad to allow two carriages 
 to pass. The most remarkable build- 
 ings are the palace and mosques, of 
 
HYDERABAD. 
 
 683 
 
 which last there are a considerable 
 number, this city having long been 
 the principal Mahomedan station in 
 the Deccan. About six miles to the 
 west is the celebrated fortress of 
 Golconda, occupying the summit of 
 a conical hill, and by the natives 
 deemed impregnable. Secunderabad, 
 where the subsidiary brigade is can- 
 toned, stands about three miles north 
 of the city, and is now a large and 
 populous military village. The sur- 
 rounding country has a barren rugged 
 aspect, and the ranges of hills have 
 a remarkably jumbled irregular ap- 
 pearance. Vegetables and grapes 
 grow in this vicinity to considerable 
 perfection, which is more owing to 
 the temperature of the climate than 
 the goodness of the soil. 
 
 Hyderabad being one of the few 
 remaining Mogul governments, more 
 of the old forms and ceremonies are 
 retained at the Nizam’s court than 
 at any other of Hindostan. Some of 
 the higher and wealthier Mahome- 
 dans use a few articles of European 
 manufacture in their dress, and in the 
 furniture of their houses, but this 
 has principally occurred among the 
 ministers of the Nizam. These arti- 
 cles consist of glass ware, lustres, 
 china, chintz covering for sofas, 
 and some articles of plate after the 
 European fashion. The nobles at 
 Hyderabad have either been bred up 
 as soldiers or courtiers, and expend 
 their incomes in keeping up as large 
 a retinue of servants and dependants 
 as their wealth will allow, or they 
 consume their property in the profli- 
 gacy and corruption of the court 
 where they reside. Within the city 
 the Nizam possesses large magazines, 
 in which are deposited the presents 
 received at various times from the 
 different native and European pow- 
 ers. The rooms are filled from the 
 floor to near the ceiling with bales of 
 woollens, cases of glass, glass-ware, 
 china-ware, clocks, watches, and 
 other European manufactures. These 
 articles have been received as pre- 
 sents by the reigning Nizam, his fa- 
 ther, and grandfather, some so far 
 back as the time of Dupleix and 
 
 Bussy. They have ever since con- 
 tinued locked up in the magazines, 
 where they are likely to remain. 
 
 This city, formerly named Baug- 
 nuggur, was founded about the year 
 1585, by Mahomed Cooly Cuttub 
 Shah. It was taken and plundered 
 by the Mogul armies of Aurengzebe, 
 A.D. 1687, the principal inhabitants 
 having previously retired to the 
 neighbouring fortress of Golconda. 
 The late Nizam Ali transferred the 
 royal residence from Aurungabad, 
 which had hitherto been the capital, 
 to this place ; the former, owing to 
 the fluctuation of his limits, being 
 latterly placed in a corner of his do- 
 minions, and too near the Maharatta 
 frontier. It has never since expe- 
 rienced any molestation from with- 
 out, and having been the residence of 
 the court, has progressively increased 
 in wealth and population. Of the 
 latter no very accurate estimate has 
 ever been made, but from a combina- 
 tion of circumstances there is reason 
 to suppose it approaches or exceeds 
 200, OOOpersons, including the suburbs. 
 
 Travelling distance from Calcutta 
 by the northern Circars 902 miles; 
 by Nagpoor 1,043 ; from Madras 
 352 ; from Bombay 480 ; from Delhi 
 923 ; from Nagpoor 321 ; from Poona 
 387 ; and from Seringapatam 406 
 miles. — ( Sydenham , H. Russell , 
 Heyne , Upton, Rennell, fyc.) 
 
 Hyderabad. — The capital of the 
 modern principality of Sinde ; lat. 
 25° 22' N., Ion. 6S 6 41' E. The for- 
 tress stands on a rocky hill, the base 
 of which, distant about 1,000 paces, 
 is washed by a branch of the Indus 
 named the Fulalee. The nearest 
 point of the main channel of the In- 
 dus bears from the fort W. by S. 
 three miles. It is of an irregular 
 pentagonal figure, built to suit the 
 shape of the mass of rock on which 
 it stands, defended by round towers, 
 and a high brick wall perforated with 
 loop-holes. In many places the sides 
 of the hill are so steep, that the as- 
 cent to the fortress would be difficult, 
 even were it breached at the foun- 
 dation. The weakest part of the fort 
 
DOOLOORIA. 
 
 634 
 
 is towards the south-east, opposite to 
 a break in the rock from the Fula- 
 lee. The northern side of the fort 
 has a dry ditch cut in the rock, but 
 not above twelve feet broad. The 
 walls have loop-holes for matchlocks, 
 but the artillery is placed so high as 
 to be useless against an enemy very 
 near the fort. Its natural situation 
 is strong, and the whole is capable 
 of resisting every native attack, but 
 would present a feeble opposition to 
 European assailants. On all these 
 walls there were, in 1809, about se- 
 venty pieces of artillery mounted, 
 but except eight or ten they were all 
 in a very bad condition. 
 
 There are several handsome 
 mosques within the fort, but no build- 
 ings worthy of notice in its vicinity, 
 except Gholaum Shah’s (the founder 
 of the principality) tomb, on a hill 
 to the south of the fort. The shops 
 in the bazar are kept well supplied, 
 and are mostly tenanted by Hindoo 
 Banyans. Although no encourage- 
 ment is given to industry by the 
 Ameers, the artizans are numerous 
 and skilful, especially the armourers, 
 who are noted for the excellence of 
 their workmanship, and the artificers 
 who embroider in leather. 
 
 The soil in this vicinity is of a 
 light sandy nature and colour, yet 
 very fruitful when properly cultivated 
 and watered. Two miles and a half 
 to the south of Hyderabad is a table- 
 land, extending about two miles, and 
 twelve miles to the southward is a 
 range of rocky hills, part of which 
 approaches theFulalee, and is called 
 the Gunga hills. Three miles west by 
 south is a village on the eastern bank 
 of the Indus, from which boats are 
 constantly crossing with passengers 
 to Cotrie, on the opposite side, which 
 is on the route from Tatta to Hyde- 
 rabad. This city is the head-quarters 
 of the Ameers or present rulers of 
 Sinde, yet the revenue collected only 
 amounts to the trifling sum of 60,000 
 rupees per annum, and the popula- 
 tion to about 15,000 persons. There 
 is not, however, any standing army 
 kept at Hyderabad, each Ameer re- 
 taining a few -troops, which serve in 
 time of peace to garrison the fort. — 
 
 ( Maxjield , Smith , Kinneir , Pottinger , 
 **•) 
 
 Hyderghur. — A town in the pro- 
 vince of Oude, thirty-two milles S.E. 
 from Lucknow; lat. 26° 37 r N., Ion. 
 81°17'E. 
 
 END OF VOLUME f. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED BY J. L. COX, GREAT QUEEN STREET, 
 LINCOLN ’S-INN HELDS. 
 
GETTY CENTER LIBRARY 
 
 3 3125 00886 2720