69 



DACCA JELALPORE. 



DACIA. 



irregular by numerous bays, capes, and islands. At the foot of the 

 Javornig, which rises on its southern bank, the peninsula of Dervoseck 

 stretches far into the lake ; on the west ia the island of Vorneck, on 

 which is the village of Ottock. While passing over the more shallow 

 parts the rocky bottom of the lake presents a very dark appearance, 

 occasioned by numerous funnel-shaped cavities of various dimensions, 

 and all distinguished by significant names. Its general depth compared 

 with other lakes is inconsiderable : the cavity of Rescheto, the deepest 

 part of the whole lake, ia only 56 feet deep below the mean surface 

 of the lake. The lake is remarkable for great variation in the height 

 of its water, which is owing to the nature of the limestope rocks. 

 The bottom of the lake, especially of the funnels, is full of clefts and 

 fissures, through which the water passes at forty different openings 

 into subterranean caverns and channels, and re-appears under the 



form of the Bistriza and Baronniza in the valley of Laibach. Duriug 

 the dry season, which generally occurs in autumn, the bottom of the 

 lake is covered with luxuriant herbage, which is made into hay. 

 : Only a very small portion of the lake however is susceptible of 

 j cultivation ; millet and buck-wheat are sown, which ripen in six 

 weeks ; but as the waters of the lake frequently do not subside for 

 I three or even more years, the sowing and harvest are of course very 

 irregular. In January 1834 the waters left the lake and did not 

 1 return till March 1835. During the interval gram and vegetables were 



i sown and gathered, and cattle grazed on the bottom of the lake an 



occurrence which, for the long cessation of the waters, is said to be 

 unprecedented. The lake abounds in pike and other fish ; it is also 

 frequented by numerous aquatic fowl, 

 CZORTKOV. [QALICIA-] 



D 



T4ACCA JELALPOUE (Dhaka), one of the districts into which 

 -'-' the province of Bengal is divided, lies between 23 and 25 

 N. lat , and between 90 and 91" E. -long., and is bounded N. 

 by the district of Mymunsingh, E. by Tiperah, S. by Tiperah and 

 Backergunge, and W. by Rajeshahy and Jessore. The limits of this 

 district were much more extensive before the year 1800 than they 

 are at present, reaching as far south as the sea, and as far north as 

 the Garrow Mountains. It then contained an area of more than 

 15,000 square miles, but it is now reduced to somewhat less than 

 6000 square miles. The surface of this district is uniformly low and 

 level, and being intersected by the Ganges and Brahmaputra, a great 

 part of the i-oil ia periodically covered with water by the over- 

 flowing of those rivers during the rainy season. At these times the 

 villages which are built on artificial embankments have the appear- 

 ance of small islands. The deposits left by these inundations fertilise 

 the soil. The lands are only partially cultivated : towards the north 

 and west are very extensive tracts of jungle ; in these are great 

 numbers of wild elephants which cause much loss to the neigh- 

 bouring farmers, and prevent the extension of cultivation. Towards 

 the south and the east nearly seven-eighths of the land are under 

 cultivation, producing rice, betel-nut, hemp, cotton, and sugar. The 

 abundance of the rice harvests has caused the district to be called 

 the Granary of Bengal 



D.icca is principally known in Europe for its manufactures of 

 cotton goods. The striped and figured muslins of Dacca were long 

 celebrated throughout the world for the beauty and delicacy of their 

 fabric. The productions of Paisley and Manchester have however 



t entirely displaced the Dacca nm.-<IiiM. 



The ruins of ancient mosques and Hindoo temples are spread all 

 over the country ; and in many places are seen the remains of 

 fortresses constructed to oppose the invasion of the Mughs. The 

 settled estates are mostly parcelled out into small talooks, or zamin- 

 daries, and these are divided and subdivided into very insignificant 

 farms. The principal towns are DACCA, Rajnaghur, Narraingunge, 

 Furreedpore, and Soonergoug. Rajnayhur stands on the left side of 

 the Puddah, the grand outlet of the Ganges, in 23 20' N. lat., 

 90 25' E. long., 23 miles S. by W. from Dacca; Narraingunge 

 stands on the right side of a branch of the Brahmaputra, about 

 8 miles S.E. from Dacca, in 23 37' N. lat., 90 35' E. long. This 

 town contains more than 15,000 inhabitants, and is one of the 

 greatest inland places of trade in Bengal. Salt, tobacco, indigo, and 

 grain are the principal articles of this trade. Numerous indigo j 

 factories are established on the banks of the river where the soil is 

 favourable for the growth of the indigo plant. On the opposite bank 

 of the river is a Mohammedan mosque, to which great numbers of 

 devotees resort from the neighbouring towns to see what is described 

 as the footmark of the prophet of Mecca. Similar footmarks are 

 shown hi several other places in India, and impart a peculiar sanctity \ 

 to the buildings fn which they are placed. FurreedjMire is situated , 

 on the right side of the Puddah, or Great Ganges, 5 miles from its i 

 bank*, and 40 miles from Dacca : it is the residence of the principal 

 civil and judicial officers for the district. Soonergony stands on one 

 of the branches of the Brahmaputra, in 23 39' N. lat., 90 43' 



i?., about 13 miles S.E. from Dacca. This is said to have been 

 in ancient times a large city, and the seat of government before the 

 builrling of the town of Dacca; it is now little more than a village; 

 it was long celebrated for its manufacture of beautiful cloths, some 

 of which are still made in the village. 



DACCA, the capital of the district just described, is situated on 

 a branch of th<: Ganges, called the Booree Gunga (Old Ganges), about 

 100 in the mouth of the river, in 23 43' N. lat., 90 28' 



K. long. Dacca is comparatively a modern town. In 1608 the seat 

 of government was removed to it by Islam Khan, then governor of 

 Bengal ; in compliment to the emperor, the name of the place was 

 then changed from Dacca to Jehangire Nuggur. In the reign of 



ijzebe the town of Dacca exhibited a considerable degree of 



lour. Its former limits contain the ruins of many magnificent 

 paei, and palaces, bridges, and other buildings, but their sites 



are now for the most part overrun with jungle. The streets are 

 narrow and crooked, and the houses are for the most part mean. 

 The native population in 1801 was estimated at about 200,000, rather 

 more thau one-half of whom were Mohammedans aud the rest 

 Hindoos. Several Portuguese, Greek, and Armenian merchants are 

 settled in the place. The city contains about 120 Hindoo places of 

 worship, and about 180 Mohammedan ; the Roman Catholics, 

 Armenian and Greek Christians, and Protestants, have also places of 

 worship in Dacca. There are a government college, several mission 

 schools of the Baptist Missionary Society, and schools for children 

 of Hindoos aud Mohammedans. The government offices, the jail, 

 the native hospital, the lunatic asylum, and the military orphan 

 asylum, arc among the public buildings. There are twelve bazaars. 

 The manufacture of gold ornaments, musical instruments, uecklaces, 

 and idols forms extensive sources of employment. The country 

 around Dacca is low and level, and in the wet season is flooded. 

 Rice is largely cultivated. 



DA'CIA, the aucient name of a country north of the Danube, 

 bounded E. by the Euxine, or BUck Sea, W. by the Tibiscus, 

 now the Theiss. The ancient Dacia comprehended Transylvania, the 

 Banat of Temeswar, Hungary, east of the Theiss, the Bukowiua, 

 Wallachia, Moldavia, and Bessarabia. When Dacia was made a 

 Roman province it extended from the Theiss to the Hierasus (the 

 Poretos of Herodotus and the modern Pruth), the Carpathians, and 

 the Danube ; Bessarabia therefore was not included in the province. 

 The Daci were anciently called Davi, according to Strabo (p. 304, c), 

 and hence, he adds, the name Davug was commonly applied to a 

 slave in Attica, many of the Athenian slaves being imported from 

 the countries about the Danube. This appears from the plays of 

 Terence, which were founded on a Greek model. The country was 

 inhabited by the Daci and the Getfc : the Daci occupied the part 

 towards Germany and the source of the Danube ; the Getoc occupied 

 the part towards the east and the Euxine. (Strabo, p. 304, c). Both 

 the Getse and Daci spoke the same language. (Strabo, p. 305, a). 

 The Getac were better known to the Greeks in consequence of their 

 frequent migrations to the banks of the Danube. The Latin name 

 Daci included the Gette. The principal river of Dacia ia the Tibiscus, 

 which, with its tributary the Marisus (Maros), falls into the Danube. 

 There are several small rivers besides the Aluta (the Alt), the Aravus, 

 and others, which also fall into the Danube. Alexander the Great found 

 the Getse on the north bank of the Danube, where he defeated them 

 and took their town, B.C. 335. In B.C. 292, Lysimachus having 

 penetrated into the heart of their country, was surrounded, and 

 obliged to surrender with his whole army in the plains of Bessarabia. 

 Gold coins with the name of Lysinaachus have been found in great 

 numbers at Varh<fly, a village of Transylvania, which occupies the 

 site of Sarmizegethusa, the Dacian capital, whither they were carried 

 by the conquerors among the plunder, or as part of the ransom of 

 Lysimachus and the other prisoners. In B.C. 10, the Romans made 

 an expedition up the Maros against Cotiso, king of the Daci, but 

 without results. Ovid, who was exiled among the Get;e, has described 

 the people and the climate. Domitian celebrated his pretended 

 exploits against the Dacians by assuming the title Daeicus. (Juvenal, 

 ' Sat.' vi. 204). The first expedition of the emperor Trajan against 

 the Daci was in A.D. 101. The Daci were led by their king Dece- 

 balus, and the war, which lasted nearly five years, ended in their 

 submission (Dion Cossius, Ixviii.) to the Romans. Their chief 

 town Sarmizegethusa, afterwards called Ulpia Trajani, in memory 

 of the victory which was gained, was situated near the Iron Gate 

 Pass into Transylvania, near the head of the valley of the Temes. 

 The Column of Trajan in Rome records the leading events of these 

 expeditions. To consolidate his conquest Trajan erected the famous 

 bridge across the Danube below the Iron Gate (some remains of it 

 are still seen below the village of Scala Gladova), and constructed 

 three great roads from the Danube one from the mouth of the 

 Karasch at Uj Palanka to Tiviscum (Temeswar); a second from Orsova 

 up the valleys of the Czerua and the Temes through the Iron Gate 

 Pass, and along the Maros to the border of Moldavia ; and the third 



