RUNGPOOR, a district of British India, in the presidency of Bengal, lying between N. Lat. 25.16. and 26.21., E. Long. 88.26. and 89.50.; bounded on the N. by Cooch Behar, E. by the districts of Goalpara and Mymensing, S. by that of Bograh, and W. by that of Dinajapore; length, from S.E. to N.W., 106 miles; breadth, 60; area, 4030 square miles. The most part of the surface is low, sloping gradually from N.W. to S.E. to the bank of the Brahmapootra, which flows along the eastern frontier of the district. Many other rivers and watercourses of smaller size intersect the country; and in the rainy season a great part of it is laid under water. There are no considerable
Runjee Singh
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lakes; but many small sheets of stagnant water called jhils. The climate differs in some respects from that of those parts of India which lie farther S. and W. The hot winds of spring are unknown in many parts of the district, and of short duration in the rest; the earlier part of the summer is tempered by cool breezes from the E., and it is not till June that extreme heat begins to set in. In the winter hoar-frosts occur at some places. The soil produces rice, wheat, barley, pulse, &c., as well as indigo and tobacco. Cotton has not been successfully raised here. The principal branch of industry is the preparation of indigo, for which there are 50 large factories, conducted upon European methods, besides about 350 of inferior size. The commerce is not very active. Indigo is the chief article of export; besides this, silk, tobacco, sugar, carpets, &c., are exported; and the imports include cotton, woollen, and silk fabrics, salt, metals, &c. The country which now forms the district of Runjpoor seems to have belonged originally to the ancient Hindu states of Camroop, which at the close of the fifteenth century was conquered by the kingdom of Bengal, and this in its turn fell under the sway of the emperors of Delhi. It came into the possession of Great Britain in 1765, by a grant from the Emperor Shah Alam. The capital is an insignificant town of the same name, consisting of a large mosque surrounded by a crowd of wretched huts. Pop. of the district, 2,559,000.