a city of Hindustan, in the district of Ranjeshy, province of Bengal, of which it was at one time the capital. Its original name was Muksoosabad; but this was changed to its present denomination. It extends, including Cossimbazar, eight miles on both sides of the Bhagirattty or Cossimbazar River, a branch of the Ganges, about 120 miles above Calcutta. It is a modern city, and was never fortified, excepting by an occasional rampart, in 1742, during the Mahratta invasion. The streets are narrow and inconvenient, insomuch that they are impassable for European carriages. The buildings are in general bad. Most of the houses have only one story, with tiled roofs; and the palace of the nabob is so insignificant as to be passed without observation. From the market-place runs a long narrow winding street, composed of mean houses and huts, which is again intersected by others still more narrow and miserable. The sewers originally intended to carry off the water, having been destroyed, the streets become nearly impassable after a heavy fall of rain, and emit putrid effluvia. In the year 1813, a canal was dug between the Bhagirattty and the great Ganges rivers, which, independently of its commercial benefits, tended to ameliorate the unhealthiness of the town. But notwithstanding these exertions, it was remarkably unhealthy in 1814, and many Europeans suffered in the general mortality which prevailed. Various causes are assigned for the unhealthiness of Moorsheadabad, in consequence of which the population is on the decline. It is still, however, a place of great inland traffic, and the river is constantly covered with boats. The district of Moorsheadabad comprises a portion of territory in the immediate vicinity of the city, and contains, according to estimate, 1,020,572 persons. This district is the chief seat of the manufacture of woven silk and taffeta, both plain and flowered; and many other sorts for inland commerce and exportation are made more abundantly than at any other place where silk is woven. In 1757 Moorsheadabad was superseded as the capital of Bengal by Calcutta. Long. 88.15. E. Lat. 27.1. N.