GHAZEPORE, a town of Hindustan, and the capital of the district of the same name, situated within the jurisdiction of the lieutenant-governor of the north-western provinces. The town is built on the left bank of the Ganges, which is here crossed by ferry, and, according to Bishop Heber, is as wide as the Hooghly in the vicinity of Calcutta. At the eastern extremity of the town is the palace of Meer Cossim Ali, the Nawaub of Bengal, who rendered himself infamous by the massacre of his British prisoners. The building is at present a custom-house, its numerous apartments being converted into store-rooms and habitations for the guards and officials. At the west end of the town are the military cantonments; and in their vicinity is the cenotaph monument to Lord Cornwallis, who died here in 1805. A government stud is maintained close to the town, and the races annually held here are reckoned among the best in India. According to the census of 1853, the population of the town amounts to 38,573.
The district, of which this town is the chief place, embraces an area of 2181 square miles. It is one of the most fertile districts in India, remarkably well supplied with water, being bounded and traversed by several noble rivers, among which are the Ganges, Goggra, Karamnassa, and Tons. Besides grain of all kinds, it produces cotton and sugar, as well as opium and very fine indigo; and it has long
been celebrated for its attar of roses and rose water. The entire population is returned at 1,596,324, of whom 1,438,085 are Hindus and 158,239 Mohammedans. Ghazepore, with other territory, was ceded to the East India Company in 1775 by the Vizier of Oude. The town of Ghazepore is in Lat. 25. 32., Long. 83. 39. (E. T.)