942 



INDIA, OR HINDOSTAN. 



BtsnairaT. 



IS lined through iis whole length by colon- 

 nades, are paved with huge masses of gran- 

 ite. In the 14lh and 15th centuries, Bis- 

 nagar was the capital of a powerful empire. 

 The city appears to have been built entirely 

 of granite, and some of the stones are 50 

 feet in length. One of its public thorough 

 fares passes under a natural arch or gateway 

 of rock. 



In the kingdom of Oude is Lucknoiv, the 

 capital, and the residence of the most bril- 

 liant native court in India. It contains many 

 magnificent buildings, and 300,000 inhabit- 

 ants. 



Hyderabad is the residence of the Nizam, 

 or sovereign prince of the State, called the 

 kingdom of the Deccan. It has a population of 200,000 souls. Golconda, in its neighbor- 

 hood, is a celebrated mart for diamonds. Jlurungabad, in the same State, has 60,000 inhab- 

 itants. Ellora, in its vicinity, is famous for its magnificent cave-temples of enormous size and 

 exquisite finish. 



Bejapoor, or Viziapoor, in the south, was once a very populous city, and capital of the 



kingdom of the Deccan, and still 

 exhibits some of the noblest 

 remains of Mahometan art in 

 the country ; it has been called 

 the " Palmyra of the Deccan." 

 The mausoleum of the Sultan 

 Mahmoud, and the Joomah 

 Musjeed, or Friday Mosque, 

 are most splendid buildings. 

 Upon a bastion near one of the 

 gates of the city, is a great gun, 

 supposed to be partly of gold ; 

 it is 15 feet long, and 5 feet in 

 diameter. It was fired once during the siege of the city, and the natives imagine the ball to be 

 flying yet. 



.N'agpore is the capital of the Mahratta kingdom of the same name ; population, 125,000. 

 Baroda, the capital of the States of Guickwar, another Mahratta prince, has 100,000 in- 

 habitants. 



In the province of Ajmere, called also L'ajpootana, on account of its containing several Raj- 

 poot principalities, the most important town is Jyepore^ one of the best built cities in India, with 

 60,000 inhabitants. The royal palace is built to represent a peacock's tall, the colored glass 

 of the windows representing the rich spots of the plumes. Oodipoor or Odeypoor has a splen- 

 did palace on the border of a beautiful lake, and Is increasing in population and importance. It 

 is a place of great natural strength, being enclosed within an amphitheatre of hills, which can be 

 entered only by one dee]) and dangerous defile. 



12. Kingdom of Sindia. This kingdom, which is entirely surrounded by the British terrl- 

 orles, comprises parts of the old provinces of Agra, Candelsh, and Malwah, and has an area of 

 40,000 square miles, with 4,000,000 inhabitants. Givalior, the capital, is a flourishing and 

 populous city, built in a vast plain, out of which suddenly rises a hill 340 feet high, containing 

 the citadel. Population, 80,000. Oogein Is a town with 100,000 inhabitants, celebrated 

 among the Hindoos for Its schools and its observatory. 



13. Confederation of the Seiks, or kingdom of Lahore, comprising Lahore, Cashmere, Mul- 

 tan, and part of the kingdom of Cabul, has an area of 175,000 square miles, and 8,000,000 in- 

 habitants. Cashmere, however, has lately been detached from It, and probably now forms an 

 independent State. Lahore, the capital, is a commercial and manufacturing town, standing in 

 the midst of a fertile and well cultivated country, with 100,000 inhabitants. ^Rmretsir, an 

 iin])crtant commercial mart, with about 50,000 inhabitants, contains the celebrated well of im- 



