DAMMOODAH, a river of Hindustan, rising in the
British district of Ramgurb, presidency of Bengal, and taking a south-easterly direction through the districts of Pachete, Bancoora, Burdwan, and Hooghly. It falls into the river Hooghly in Lat. 22. 13., Long. 88. 7., after a total course of 350 miles. The valley of the Dammodah abounds in mineral wealth; but as the river is navigable only during the periodical rains of autumn, when, moreover, it is subject to sudden rises and inundations, considerable difficulty is experienced in providing means of transport for the coal and iron of Bancoora and its vicinities. The defect is about to be remedied by the construction of a branch railway quitting the Calcutta Trunk line, near Burdwan, and running in a westerly direction to the rich collieries of Rancegunge. The most severe inundation experienced on the Dammodah occurred in 1823, when the destruction of life and of property was incalculable. A similar visitation took place in 1834; and in 1840 the rise of the river was so great as to overtop the embankments, which sustained considerable damage from the flood. (E. T.)