CUTTACK, an extensive district of Hindustan, in the province of Orissa, lying chiefly between the twentieth and twenty-second degrees of north latitude. To the north it is bounded by Midnapoor and Mohurbunge, on the south by the Circars, on the east by the Bay of Bengal, and on the west by different small states in the interior of Orissa. Its length is computed at about 140 or 150 miles, and its average breadth at about sixty miles. The country varies in the quality of its soil; in some parts it is fertile and highly cultivated, other parts are sandy and barren, and that lying near the hills is overrun with brushwood. This district is inhabited by a great many weavers, who manufacture muslins, in pieces chiefly for turbans. But its chief source of gain is the celebrated temple of Juggernaut, which is annually visited by some hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, who, besides offerings to their idol, pay a considerable tribute to government, in addition to the sums of money spent on their route. Many Brahmins are dependents on this temple, and do not therefore attend to agriculture. The country is well watered by the Mahanuddy and Bramnee or Bonnee rivers, and their branches, and many small streams. Its chief towns are Cuttack, Juggernaut, Balasore, and Jagepore. This district is mentioned so early as the year 1212, under the title of Jagepore, by the Mahommedan historians; and it was not properly subdued till the year 1569, when it was conquered and annexed to Bengal. It was ceded in the year 1751 to the Mahrattas, and came into the possession of the British in the year 1803, during the administration of Marquis Wellesley, who subdivided it into the southern and northern districts of Juggernaut and Balasore. The inhabitants are estimated at 1,200,000, almost wholly professing Brahminical doctrines.