JESSORE, a district of the province of Bengal, to the north-east of Calcutta, bounded on the north by the Ganges, and on the west by Dacca, Jelalpoor, and Buckergunge; on the south by the sea, and on the east by Kishenagur. In the Ayeen Akberry it is called Khalafabad. The northern part of this district is very fertile; but the southern division is in the Sunderbunds, and composed of salt marshy islands covered with trees. Some parts lie so low that embankments are found necessary to protect them against inundation. The land is fertile, and would produce rice in any quantity. At present, though so near Calcutta, these low-lying tracts are neglected and waste; and being covered with jungle, they are only resorted
to by salt-makers and river-pirates, the latter of whom sally out on vessels as they pass any of the innumerable branches of the Ganges by which this marshy country is intersected. The principal towns are Jessore or Moorley, Culna, and Mahmudpoor. In reply to certain queries circulated in 1801 by the Marquis Wellesley, the inhabitants were stated at 1,200,000, in the proportion of nine Mahomedans to seven Hindus. Jessore was formerly the name of the capital; it is now called Moorley.