SERINAGUR, a town of Hindustan, in the province of Serinagur, of which it is the capital. It is situated in the centre of a valley watered by the river Alcananda, which extends a mile and a half to the eastward, and the same distance to the westward, of the town. It is of an elliptical form, being in length about three quarters of a mile, and much less in breadth. The houses are built of rough stone and mud, generally raised to a second floor, and covered with slate. They are remarkably crowded together; and the streets are so narrow as scarcely to leave room for two persons to pass. The house of the former rajahs is in the middle of the town, and is the largest, being raised to a fourth story, and built of a coarse granite. The town is now in a ruinous condition, having been reduced to poverty and insignificance by a variety of causes; by the invasion of the Nepalese at the end of the year 1803, the earthquake which took place in the same year, the encroachments annually
made by the Alcananda, and, finally, by the oppressive government under its Ghoorkhali rulers. The inhabitants are chiefly Hindus, the number of Mahommedan families not exceeding sixty or seventy, and most of these being petty shopkeepers. The Hindu inhabitants are chiefly the descendants of emigrants from the Doab and province of Oude. Seringapur is the seat of an inconsiderable trade, the most profitable branch of which consists of a traffic in silver and specie, which is carried on to a considerable amount by the leading persons in the town, who are agents of the great banking-houses at Najibabad and in the Doab, and who are employed in the sale of merchandise and coins. The other articles of trade are the produce of the hills, consisting of coarse hempen cloth, hemp, lead, copper, drugs, gums, wool, and a sort of flannel made of wool. From Bootan are imported cow-tails, musk, saffron, borax, salt, drugs of different kinds, and a few shawls that are sent circuitously from Cashmere. Hawks are also brought from the hills. The articles received in exchange are coarse cotton and woollen cloths, silk, spices, Lahore salt, sugar, and tobacco. The air of Seringapur is unfavourable to strangers, on which account many of the merchants forsake it during the rainy season. Long. 79. 18. E. Lat. 30. 11. N.