O U G 
tolerate themfelves one minute in any known fin, nor im¬ 
pertinently betray their fouls to ruin for that which they 
call light and trivial; which is fo indeed in refpeft of the 
acqueft, but overwhelmingly ponderous in regard of the 
pernicious confequence. Decay of Chr. Piety. 
OUESS'ANT. See Ushant. 
OUE'ZE, a river of France, which runs into the Sorgue 
four miles north-north-eaft of Avignon. 
OUGE'IN, or Oojein, a city of India, the capital of 
the Mahratta chief Dowlut Rao Scindia, in the province 
of Malwa, his hereditary territory. See Mahrattas and 
Malvva, vol. xi. 
The prefent city of Ougein is of an oblong form, about 
fix miles in circumference, and furrounded by a ftone 
wall with round towers. Within this fpace there is fome 
wafte ground, but the inhabited part occupies by far the 
greateft portion; it is much crowded with buildings, and 
is very populous. The houfes are built partly of brick, 
partly of wood. Of the brick houfes the frame is firft 
copftructed of wood, and the interftices filled up with 
brick. They are covered either with lime, tarras, or 
tiles. The principal bazar, or market, is a fpacious and 
regular flreet, paved with ftone. The houfes on each fide 
are of two ftories; the lower, to which you mount from 
the ftreet by five or fix fteps, are "moftly built of ftone, 
and taken up with fhops; the upper, of brick or wood, 
ferv.e for the habitations of the owners. The moft re¬ 
markable buildings are four mofques, erected by private 
individuals, and a great number of Hindoo tempies. Of 
the latter the moft confiderable is a little way out of the 
town, at a place called Unk-pat, held in great veneration, 
as being that where Krifhna and his brother received the 
rudiments of their education. Here is a ftone tank, with 
fteps leading down to the water’s edge, faid to be of great 
antiquity; but it has been of late years enclofed with a 
ftone wall, and two temples have been erected within the 
inclofure. Thefe temples are fquare, with pyramidal 
roofs. That on the right, as you enter the gate, contains 
the images of Rama, Lakfhiman, and Sita, in wiiite mar¬ 
ble ; and that on the left, thofe of Krifhna and Radha, 
the firft in black, the fecond in white, marble. All thefe 
figures are well executed. Scindia’s palace is an exten- 
five and fufficiently-commodious houfe, but without any 
claim to magnificence; and it is fo clofely furrounded by 
other buildings, as to make but little appearance on the 
_outfide. Near it is a gate, the only remains of a fort, 
laid to have been built foon after the overthrow of the 
ancient city, which affords a good fpecimen of the old 
Hindoo architecture. 
Within the city, and near the eaftern wall, is a hill of 
a confiderable height, on the top of which is a Hindoo 
temple of Mahadeva, and adjoining to it the tomb of a 
Muflulman faint. This hill is confpicuous from a diftance, 
and afpeftator from the top of it commands an extenfive 
profpeft on every fide. To the northward he fees, at the 
diftance of four miles, the rude and mafly ftru<5ture of 
Kalideh, or Calydeh, an ancient palace, built on an ifland 
in the river Sipparah, by a king of the family of Gour. 
A defcription of this extraordinary fabric is inferted in 
the Oriental Repertory, vol. i. from a letter of fir C. W. 
Malet, dated Oujein, 13th of April, 17S5. By an ex¬ 
tract from a lviltory of Malwa, or Malava, thefe build¬ 
ings appear to have been conftrufted by, or in the reign 
of, (ultan Nafir ud-deen Gilgee, who afeended the throne 
of Malava in the year of the Hegira 905, (A.D. 1500,) 
and reigned eleven years. Thefe lingular buildings, we 
may judge from their name, were eredled or confecrated 
to the honour of Kali, confort of Mahadeva, (fee thofe 
articles,) to whom the temple on the hill within the city 
appears above to be dedicated. Thefe are two fquare 
buildings, each covered with a hemifpherical cupola, and 
divided below into eight apartments, befides the fpace in 
the centre. The communication to the ifland is by a 
ftone bridge over one of the branches into which the river 
Sipparah is here divided. Below the bridge are feveral 
• Vol. XVIII. No. 1226. 
E I N. 85 
apartments conftrufted on a level with the water; and 
the rocky bed of the river is cut into channels of various 
regular forms, fuch as circles, fpirals, fquares, &c. to 
which, in the dry feafon, the current is confined. Turn¬ 
ing to the weftward, the fpeCator, from the top of the hill 
above-mentioned, traces the winding courfe of the Sippa¬ 
rah through a fertile valley, where fields of corn and 
clumps of fruit-trees, interfering, diveriify the profpeC, 
till his attention is arrefted by the fort of Beiroungurh, 
fituated clofe on the oppofite bank. It is about a quarter 
of a mile in length, furrounded by a rampart of earth ; 
and contains an ancient temple, dedicated to the tutelar 
divinity of the place, whofe name it bears. Beiroungurh 
means the Fort of Beiroun, or Bheroo, a Mahratta pro¬ 
nunciation of Bhairava, the offspring of Mahadeva. In. 
the Sanfcrit language Bhairava means tremendous. Still 
farther up the ftream, and nearly oppofite to the middle 
of the town, are the gardens of two Mahratta nobles, 
containing the luxuries of nature, with extenfive artificial 
decorations. Beyond thefe, at the diftance of half a mile 
from the river, is a grove of trees on a riling ground. It 
contains the tomb of a Mahometan faint; and is remark¬ 
able for having been the lcene of a bloody aftion, fought 
about the year 1762, between Madajee Scindia and one of 
his rebellious officers, named Raghu, who marched to 
Ougein at the head of thirty thoufand men to attack his 
fovereign with only five or fix thoufand. With this in¬ 
equality the fight began on the plain near the tomb above- 
mentioned ; but Scindia was joined by a party of fix thou¬ 
fand Gofains, (religious mendicants,) and, a chance-lnot 
killing Raghu, the rebel party was wholly routed. 
The fouth wall of Ougein is walked by the Sipparah, 
which here makes a fudden turning. This extremity of 
the city is called Jeyjing-poora, that is, the Quarter of 
Jeyfing, and contains an obfervatory, built by the en¬ 
lightened and liberal rajah of that name. He alfo built 
obfervatories at four other cities, viz. at Ambheer, his own 
capital, (fince named from him Jeynagar,) Matra, Benares, 
and Delhi. He publilhed, in 1728, a fet of aftronomical 
tables, which, in compliment to the then reigning em¬ 
peror, he entitled Zij Mahommedlhahy. Of thefe five 
obfervatories, and the aftronomical tables, and labours 
in that fcience, of this illuftrious prince the rajah Jeyfing, 
(or more correftly Jayafinha,) a learned and very mtereft- 
ing account is given in vol. v. of the Afiatic Refearches, 
by Dr. W. Hunter,'from whofe “ Narrative of a Journey 
from Agra to Oujein,” in vol. vi. of that work, this arti¬ 
cle is chiefly taken. See the article Benares, vol. ii. 
The rajah Jeyfing held the city and territory of Ougein 
of the emperor, in quality of fubahdar ; but it foon after 
fell into the hands of the Mahrattas, and has belonged to 
the family of Scindia for three generations. The diftrift 
depending immediately on the city yields a revenue of five 
lacks of rupees (6o,oool.) per annum, and comprehends 
175 villages. The officers of government are almoft the 
only Mahratta inhabitants of Ougein. The bulk of the 
people, both Hindoos and Muffuimans, fpeak a diale£t 
very little different from that of Agra and Delhi. The 
Muffuimans form a very .confiderable portion of the inha¬ 
bitants; and of thefe the tribe of Bo/irah amounts to 
about 1500 families. This fingular tribe forms a large 
fociety in moft of the cities and large towns of Hindooftan 
and the Deccan. Surat is., laid to contain 6000 families. 
The head-quarters of the tribe are Burhanpoor, where 
their moulla, or high-prieft, refides. A younger brother 
of the moulla refides in Ougein. They exercife both a tem¬ 
poral and fpiritual authority over their feft, which forms 
the moft ufeful and induftrious clafs of the inhabitants. 
The foil in the vicinity of Ougein, and indeed over the 
greateft part of the province of Malwa, is a black vege¬ 
table mould, which, in the rainy feafon, becomes fo foft, 
that travelling is hardly praCicable. On drying, it cracks 
in all directions ; and the fiflures are fo wide and deep in 
many parts by the road-fide, that it is dangerous for a 
traveller to go off the beaten track; as a horfe, getting his 
Z foot 
