RAJEMAL (the royal residence), the capital of the above district, is situated on the western bank of the Ganges, at the foot of a range of hills. The modern town consists only of one street, composed of stone, generally two stories in height, with the ruins of a palace, which has been much injured by the encroachments of the river. Its empty halls, marble porticoes, and half-decayed vaults, still present images of its former grandeur. An inconsiderable traffic continues to be carried on with the inhabitants of the hills; and there are quarries which supply the neighbourhood with flags and millstones. This place decayed from various causes, namely, an inundation of the Ganges, which swept away a con-
siderable part of it; a conflagration, which destroyed another portion of it; and, lastly, the transfer of the seat of government to Dacca. There is a tradition that this city was in very ancient times the seat of a Hindu government. It is first mentioned by Mahomedan historians in 1576, under the name of Agamahel, or the house of fire. In the reign of Akbar, about 1591, Rajah Mauss Singh, on his return from the conquest of the Afghans of Orissa, fixed upon this city for the capital of Bengal, the name of which he changed to Rajamahal. He erected a palace, and surrounded the town with a rampart of brick and other fortifications. The city suffered considerable injury from the troops of Aurungzebe, who took it after a short siege. It was afterwards the residence of the military collector of the district, which contributed to its support; but since the union of the district with Bogliapor, and the transfer of the public offices to that town, it has fallen into decay. It is seventy miles north-north-west from Moorshedabad. Long. 87. 43. E. Lat. 25. 2. N.