940 



INDIA, OR HINDOSTAN. 



Territories and Population of the British East India Company. 



Independent States. 



Presidency of Bengal 

 " Madras 

 " Bombay 



Vassal State of the Nizam (Hyderabad) 

 " King of Oude 



" Rajah of Nagpore 



" Mysore 

 " Satarah 

 " Gwickwar (Guzerat) 



" Travancore and Cochin 



Rajpootana and smaller States 



Square Miles. 



305,400 

 . 142,000 

 68,000 

 9C,000 

 20,000 

 70,000 

 27,000 

 14,000 

 18,000 

 8,000 



283,000 



Population, 



70,000,000 



13,500,000 

 6,-500,000 



10,000,000 

 3,000,000 

 3,000,000 

 3,000,000 

 1 ,500,000 

 2,000,000 

 1,000,000 



16,500,000 



Calcutta^ the capital of Bengal, stands upon the Hoogly, in a marshy and unhealthy spot 

 It consists of two parts ; the one inhabited by the natives, dirty and meanly built, called the 

 Black Town, is a mere assemblage of thatched mud huts ; the other, occupied by the Euro- 

 peans, called the Chouringee, is described as resembling a village of palaces. Calcutta is the 

 residence of the governor-general of India, and is one of the most wealthy, populous, and 

 commercial cities of Asia, having about 600,000 inhabitants. Fort William, at Calcutta, is 

 remarkable for the vast extent and great strength of its works. Serampore^ in the vicinity, be- 

 longs to Denmark ; it is a small town with 13,000 inhabitants, and is chiefly remarkable, as 

 being the principal station of the Baptist missionaries in India ; they have here a college for 

 the instruction of native youth, and a celebrated printing establishment, from which have issued 

 translations of the Bible into eight Indian languages, and of the New Testament into 24 In- 

 dian dialects. Dacca, upon the branch of the Ganges called the Old Ganges, was once the 

 capital of Bengal, and is famous for the beautiful products of its looms, particularly its fine 

 muslins. It has 200,000 inhabitants. Mooshedabad, upon the Ganges, with 130,000 inhabi- 

 tants, and Patna, upon the same river, with 300,000, are, like most of the Asiatic cities, 

 meanly built, but their manufactures are important. 



Benares, higher up the Ganges, is the largest city of India, and has long been celebrated 

 as the chief seat of Braminical learning ; it is also venerated by the Hindoos as a holy place, 

 and crowds of pilgrims annually visit it from all parts of the country. The houses are high, 

 and are ornamented with verandahs and galleries, and^ covered with painted tiles of brilliant 

 colors. The temples are generally small, but they are numerous, and covered with sculptures 

 of high finish. Sacred bulls, consecrated to Siva, the Destroyer, the third member of the 

 Hindoo trinity, are seen strolling about the streets, and groups of monkeys, sacred to Ha- 

 numan, or the Man Monkey, are climbing over the temples, or pillaging the shops, with- 

 out check, of fruits and sweetmeats. Benares is also a great manufacturing city, and the 

 great mart for the shawls of the north, the diamonds of the south, the muslins of Dacca, 

 and the English manufactures, brought from Calcutta. Jlllahabad, at the confluence of the 

 Jumna with the Ganges, is regarded by the Hindoos as the queen of holy cities, and is an- 

 nually visited by thousands of pilgrims ; the prayagas, or points where the tributaries of the 

 Ganges join the main stream, being regarded as places of peculiar sanctity, ablution in which 

 atones even for deadly sins. It is now much reduced, having but 20,000 inhabitants, but its 

 citadel, which has been rendered impregnable by the English, renders it the principal strong- 

 hold of British India. 



Agra, on the .lumna, once the splendid residence of the Great Mogul Akbar, is now princi- 

 pally in ruins. It still contains 60,000 inhabitants, and has of late begun to recover its com- 

 merce. The most remarkable building is the mausoleum of Tajmalial, erected by her husband ; 

 it is built of marble, and forms a square of 570 feet, surmounted by a marble dome 70 feet 

 high, and 4 minarets of great elegance ; the walls are adorned with exquisite mosaics, made of 

 precious stones, and a beautiful and spacious garden surrounds the building. The mausoleum 

 of Akbar, at Sicandara, 6 miles distant, is little inferior to this. 



Delhi, also upon the Jumna, and at one time the residence of the brilliant court of the Grand 

 Mogul, is now much reduced, but still contains 300,000 inhabitants. The imperial palace is 

 one of the most magnificent residences in the world ; it is surrounded by a high and strong wall 

 of about a mile in circuit. The principal mosque, considered the most splendid Mahometan 

 temple in India, rises upon a vast platform surrounded with a beautiful colonnade, and is 260 

 feet long ; its rich decorations, its domes, and lofty minarets, 130 feet in height, are much ad- 



