a town of Hindustan, and the capital of a native state of the same name. It is a place of great extent, the site occupied by the town and fort measuring upwards of eight miles in circumference. It had also in former times the reputation of considerable strength; being surrounded by a mud wall of great height and thickness, with a very wide and deep ditch. The fort stands at the eastern extremity of the town; its situation is more elevated, its walls are higher, and its ditch is of greater width and depth. It is of a square figure; one of its sides originally overlooked the country, while the other three were within the town, but since the enlargement of the city, which took place after the siege of 1805, the fortress has been brought entirely within the city walls. The ditch, from the nature of the ground, may be easily filled from an adjoining lake, and being thus rendered unfordable, presents a formidable obstacle to a besieging army. The rajah of Bhurtapore and most of his people are Jants. It was in 1700 that this tribe first attracted notice in Hindustan. They migrated from the right bank of the Indus into the province of Mooltan, and were allowed to settle in several parts of the country between the Ganges and the Jumna. They are, according to Bishop Heber, the finest people in point of bodily advantages and martial spirit that he had seen in India; and their country is one of the most fertile and best cultivated. Chooram, their elected leader, is said to have erected the fortress of Bhurtapore at the commencement of the eighteenth century, by means of the plunder which he had carried off from Aurungzebe's army during its retreat from the Mahattas towards Ahmednuggur. He transmitted this stronghold to his successors, by one of whom it was held at the time the British advanced into Central India. In 1803 a treaty of perpetual friendship was concluded between him and General Lake; but notwithstanding this, he espoused the declining cause of Holkar in 1804, and admitted his routed army into the fortress. Lord Lake reached Bhurtapore on the 3rd January 1805, and forthwith commenced a series of operations against the fort. A breaching battery of six eighteen-pounders, and one of four eight-inch, and four five-inch mortars, were the means of attack. The British army, from its limited numbers compared with the extent of the place, acted under every disadvantage. Their operations were confined to one point, and the besieged consequently could easily procure supplies from the surrounding country. Undismayed by these obstacles, Lord Lake made four successive attempts to storm the fortress, in all of which he was repulsed with great slaughter; his loss amounting, in killed and wounded, to about 3000. The rajah, notwithstanding his success, fearing that British courage and skill would ultimately prevail, sent his son to Lord Lake's camp with the keys of the fortress, and agreed to compel Holkar to quit Bhurtapore. A second treaty was then concluded with the rajah, and several additional precautions adopted to secure his fidelity. This signal overthrow of the British by the Jants, the defenders of Bhurtapore, was celebrated all over India, and was by many regarded as the forerunner of their expulsion from Hindustan. But in the lapse of twenty years an opportunity occurred for a new trial of strength, which terminated in the complete triumph of the British arms. A dispute occurred in the family of the rajah respecting the succession; the cousin having usurped the inheritance of the son. Sir David Ochterlony prepared to expel the usurper, but was restrained by orders from the governor-general. Afterwards, however, it was determined to attack this great stronghold; and on the 10th December 1825 Lord Combermere assumed the command of the British army before Bhurtapore. As it was vain to batter in breach, on account of the extraordinary thickness of the wall, the besiegers proceeded by mining; and on the 18th January 1826, a mine of considerable dimensions having been first sprung, the signal was given for the assault. In the course of two hours every gateway and bastion, and the whole rampart surrounding the town, with the gates of the citadel, were in possession of the besiegers, and thus was effaced the transient stain which the former failure at Bhurtapore had cast on the glory of the British arms. On the 4th February the rightful rajah was reinstated in his inheritance; and some years after, on attaining his majority, was admitted to the exercise of independent authority. It was at the same time determined to dismantle the fortress; and the principal bastions, and parts of several curtains, were accordingly blown up, and left in a state of ruin. The territory of which Bhurtapore is the principal place has an area of 1978 square miles, and contains a population of 600,000. Its revenue is computed at L170,000 per annum, and its ruler maintains a military force of 200 artillery, 1500 cavalry, and 3700 infantry. Bhurtapore is thirty-four miles N.W. from Agra. Lat. 27° 13' Long. 77° 33'.