825 



BAHAR. 



BAHAWULPOOR. 



77 20' W. long. The government consists of a Governor in Council 

 and a House of Assembly. 



A Board of Education was established in 1848 ; the governor ia 

 chairman of the Board, and the schools are regularly examined by an 

 inspector. There were 25 public schools in 1851, with 42 teachers 

 and about 1700 scholars, of whom nine-tenths are either coloured or 

 black. The system of education adopted is that of the British and 

 Foreign School Society. There are also several schools under the 

 superintendence of the episcopal clergymen, and some private estab- 

 lishments chiefly for the education of children of white persons. 

 The Bahamas are in the diocese of Jamaica ; and the religious duties 

 of the island are conducted by one archdeacon, eight rectors, a 

 church missionary, two stipendiary curates, besides lay preachers and 

 dissenting ministers. In 1847 a new museum and library were 

 established at Nassau. An asylum, of poor-house, provides for the 

 aged, sick, infirm, or otherwise helpless poor of the whole colony, and 

 there ia also a dispensary : the expenses of both institutions are 

 defrayed by the House of Assembly. In Nassau are five churches 

 belonging to the Church of England, one to the Free Church of 

 Scotland, three to the Wesleyan Methodists, and three to Baptists. 



Nassau is the only town which contains any good buildings ; these 

 are few, and the number increases slowly. Among them are three 

 spacious ranges of barracks, one of which is appropriated to the 

 officers; the other two to the private soldiers. In 1848 the sum of 

 1000/. was voted by the local legislature for the improvement of 

 Nassau Harbour. Under this grant the greater portion of a shallow 

 shoal, situated in the centre of the western entrance channel to the 

 harbour, has been removed by submarine blasting. On March 30th, 

 1850, considerable damage was sustained by the town of Nassau by a 

 tornado. 



(Bryan Edwards's Hit. of the Welt Indies ; Columbian Navigator ; 

 Parliamentary Papers.) 



BAHA'R, a very extensive province of Hindustan, is situated 

 between 22 and 27" N. lat. ; it is computed to contain upwards of 

 50,000 square miles. Bahar is bounded N. by Nepaul, E. by Bengal, 

 S. by Gundwana, and W. by Allahabad, Oude, and Gundwana. 



Bahar, together with Bengal, was added to the Mohammedan 

 dominions in the beginning of the 13th century by Cuttub, the 

 successor to Mohammed of Ghizne. In 1530 Bahar was conquered 

 by Baber, and with him began the dynasty of the Moguls in Hin- 

 dustan. This district came into possession of the British East India 

 Company on August 12th, 1765, and was conveyed by firmaun from 

 the Mogul Shah Allum. In return for the princely dominion 

 (including Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa) thus ceded, an annual payment 

 of 26 lacs of rupees, equal to about 300,000i. sterling, was assured by 

 the Company to the Mogul as a quit-rent. 



Bahar is one of the moat fertile, best cultivated, and most populous 

 districts in Hindustan. It has the advantage of a temperate climate, 

 is well watered, is provided with easy internal communications, and 

 hag the further advantage of being a thoroughfare for the commerce 

 of Bengal with the upper provinces. 



The province may be considered as divided into three districts. 

 The first and second of these divisions consist almost entirely of a 

 level plain containing about 26,000 square miles of fertile and highly 

 cultivated land. These two divisions are separated by the Ganges, 

 which runs with an easterly course for 200 miles through the province. 

 The plain on the north of this stream extends for 70 miles to the 

 forests of Nepaul and Morung, and is separated from Goruckpoor in 

 the province of Oude by the river Gandaki, and from Purneah in 

 Bengal by the CosL The second district extends from the south 

 bank of the Ganges, and is separated from Allahabad on the west by 

 the river Caramnassa, which Major Rennell supposes to be the Com- 

 menases of Arrian. ('Indike,' 4.) On the east this second division 

 extends to the confines of Rajmahal, where it meets a branch of the 

 southern hills in Bengal, near to the pass of Tellinghurry. The third 

 district, which comprises nearly 20,000 square miles, is composed of 

 high and rugged hills, and is bounded on the west by Allahabad and 

 Gundwana ; on the south by Gundwana and Orissa ; on the east by 

 Bengal, and on the north by the zillah or district of Bahar. This 

 hilly tract ia subdivided into three ' belads ' named Palaman, Ram- 

 ghur, and Chuta Nagpore (Little Nagpore). The whole division 

 sometimes goes by the name of Nagpore. 



The principal rivers of Bahar are the Ganges, the Sone, the 

 Gandaki, the C'aramnassa, the Dommodah, and the Dewah. Besides 

 these there are a great number of smaller streams. The tracts south 

 of the Ganges require artificial irrigation. The climate of the hilly 

 districts is bracing and healthy, but the plains are subject to great 

 alternations of temperature. 



A Iniye quantity of saltpetre in produced in Bahar in artificial beds, 

 consisting of the refuse of vegetable and animal matters in a state of 

 uposition, mixed with calcareous and other earths. Agates and 

 cornelians are found. There is some coal. The manufacture of 

 cotton cloths ia general throughout the province. Indigo is exten- 

 sively cultivated in Tirhut. Opium is produced very abundantly 

 and of excellent quality in all the districts of the province. Wheat, 

 barley, and rice of excellent quality, sugar, betel-nuts, and essences, 

 particularly the attar of roses, are among the ordinary productions of 

 the province. 



The inhabitants of Bahar, particularly in the upper part of the 

 province, are superior in size and strength to their neighbours the 

 Bengalese ; from one-fourth to about one-third of them are Moham- 

 medans, and the remainder Hindoos. The birth-place of Buddha is 

 within the province, and previously to the Mohammedan conquest 

 the Buddhist religion was professed by the chiefs ; but this system 

 of faith has since been completely eradicated from among them. 

 There were in the province in 1841, under the East India Company, 

 three schools, which had 253 scholars. 



The province of Bahar ia divided into sis zillahs, or districts, 

 namely, Boglipore, Bahar, Tirhut, Sarun (the asylum) ; which 

 district of Sarun comprehends Bettiah or Chumparun, formerly a 

 separate district ; Shahabad (the royal residence), and Ramghur (the 

 house of Rama). It is traditionally believed that previous to the 

 Mohammedan invasion of Bahar, this province formed two inde- 

 pendent sovereignties, the northern division bearing the name of 

 Mithila, and the southern that of Magadha. 



(Mill's British India; Ayeen Akbery ; Rennell's Memoir; Parlia- 

 mentary Papers.) 



BAHA'R, a zillah, or district, of Hindustan, occupying the southern 

 part of the central portion of the province just described. This dis- 

 trict is bounded N. by the Ganges, E. by Boglipore, S. by Rainghur 

 and Boglipore, and W. by Shahabad. The southern boundary has 

 been but ill defined. The extreme length of the district from east to 

 west is 120 miles, and its greatest breadth from north to south ia 

 80 miles. The area includes 5694 square miles : the population, 

 according to the latest estimate, was 2,500,000. 



The district of Bahar is for the greatest part a level plain through- 

 out, bxit interspersed with rugged, barren, naked, and for the most 

 part, isolated hills. About the centre of the district are three re- 

 markable clusters of hills. One of these clusters, the Berabur Pahur, 

 is on the west side of the river Phalgu ; another, the Rajagripa, is on 

 the east side of that river ; and the third, which is a long narrow 

 ridge, is adjacent to Sheikhpoorah. These hills do not exceed an 

 elevation of 700 feet; but part of the Viudhyan chain in Bahar 

 attains double this height. 



The Ganges is generally a mile wide in this district, and is not 

 anywhere fordable within its limits. In addition to this stream the 

 district is watered by the Sone, the Punpun, the Phalgu or Fulgo, 

 the Saeri, and the Panchaue, with their numerous branches. The 

 Sone, or Golden River, flows into the Ganges, and is a river of some 

 commercial importance. The climate of Bahar is considered to be 

 generally healthy. In spring the heat is very great, and is in some 

 places increased by the reflection of the sun from the sands in the 

 beds of rivers, or from naked rocks. In the winter the natives 

 generally kindle fires in their sleeping apartments although frosts are 

 rare. This district produces excellent wheat, barley, and rice ; the 

 rice is much esteemed and is in great request in the markets of 

 Calcutta. The cultivation of cotton, tobacco, and indigo is limited. 

 The plains are universally cultivated to the very bases of the hills ; 

 but the greater part of the hills themselves are utterly unfit for any 

 kind of tillage. A great portion of the lands in the vicinity of the 

 Ganges gives two annual crops. 



The principal towns in the district are Patna (Padmavali, 'the 

 lotus-bearing'), the capital of the province; Gaya, the capital of the 

 district ; and Dinapoor. The villages are exceedingly numerous, and 

 consist of mud-built houses, huddled together without regard to 

 comfort or ventilation. 



There are six places of pilgrimage in the district ; these are Gaya, 

 Rajagripa, Baikuntha, the river Punpun, Lohadanda, and Chyaban 

 Muni. The first four are much frequented, particularly Gaya, which 

 as the birth-place of Buddha is held in great veneration by Buddhists, 

 while it is considered sacred by the Hindoos as having been the scene 

 of one of Vishnu's victories which he gained over a giant. The 

 government derives a revenue from pilgrims who frequent these holy 

 places, by which means their numbers are known ; 200,000 persons 

 have been taxed in a year as pilgrim-visiters at Gaya. In many parti- 

 culars the superstitious customs of the inhabitants of this district are 

 of a very low grade. 



(Rennell's Memoir; Dr. Hamilton's Statistical Survey of Bahar; 

 Parliamentary Papers.) 



BAHA'R, a town in the province and district of the same name, 

 which was in all probability once the capital of both ; but has been 

 superseded as to the province by Patna and as to the district by Gaya. 

 Bahar is situated in 25" 13' N. lat., 85 35' E. long. ; about 297 miles 

 from Calcutta and 35 miles from Patua. It is in its present condition a 

 large straggling place, whose buildings surround a ditch which formed 

 the boundary of the ancient city, now nearly deserted. Here are the 

 remains of a heavy building of stone, covered by several diminutive 

 domes; the interior is divided into as many cells, resembling the 

 ancient mosques iu the upper provinces of Hindustan. The best 

 part of the town consists of a long but narrow street, paved irregularly 

 with bricks and stones. The place altogether contains about 5000 

 houses, but is politically of little or no importance. The surrounding 

 country is well cultivated and improved by artificial irrigation. 



BAHAWU'LPOOR, an extensive division of the province of 

 Mooltan in Hindustan, is 280 miles long and 120 miles broad. The 

 town of Bahawulpoor is in 29 19' N. lat., 71 29' E. long.; about 



