1850.] 



City of A urungahad. 



5 



, , , , „, The form of the city is parallelogramical, the 



Form, length and breadth J 1 



circumference. greatest length being two miles and a half dia- 



gonally from north-east to south-west, and one mile and a quarter 

 from north to south ; the whole circumference slightly exceeding six 

 miles. 



Houses A careful enumeration of houses gives a return 



of the city, and suburbs, as 7,131, of which 5,038 

 belongs to the city, and 2,093 to the suburbs. Brick houses of 

 one story constituted nearly the half of the gross amount, whilst 

 chuppered huts fell very little short, leaving but one-eighth for 

 houses of the better sort, containing from two to four stories. The 

 general style of building adopted, is a wall of kiln burnt bricks, with 

 a sloping tiled roof; very generally the front is formed of wood-work, 

 and in the houses of many of the richer merchants this frontage dis- 

 plays a great deal of clever workmanship, by the way the skreens 

 and pillars are curved ; elaborate patterns of foliage, cover the pan- 

 nels, and quaint corbelled cornices support projecting balconies, and 

 pent roofs : the best specimens of these buildings are to be seen in 

 the neighbourhood of the Shah Gunj, and in Begumpoora. The 

 houses of the higher classes are generally enclosed quadrangular 

 spaces having much of the enclosure occupied with gardens, tanks, 

 open aqueducts, and fountains ; with one or two exceptions, all the 

 houses of this description are in rapid progress to decay, and pre- 

 sent a wretchedly dilapidated appearance. 



The chowk or public market place is placed 

 nearly in the centre of the town, and is held eve- 

 ry afternoon : it is a square space, towards which all the great 

 thoroughfares converge. On one side is a range of shops kept by 

 Borahs, in which European articles are exposed for sale, but the 

 whole of these are of a mean description. Spacious streets leading 

 to the several gateways, were the bazars in former days, which the 

 altered circumstances of the city have now destroyed. The Shah 

 Gunj is a handsome quadrangle, the centre occupied by a large 

 musjed, whilst verandahed shops surround the sides. In the vicini- 

 ty of this square are to be found the dwellings of former wealthy 

 merchants. 



