an extensive district of Hindustan, province of Orissa, lying between the 20th and 22d degrees of north latitude, and between the 86th and 88th degrees of east longitude. It is bounded on the north by the British districts of Midnapore and Hidalghee; on the north-west by the petty native state termed the Cuttack Mehals; on the west by the district of Ganjam, and on the east and south-east by the Bay of Bengal. Cuttack has an area of 7635 square miles. Its length is computed at about 200 miles, and its average breadth at about 60. The country varies in the quality of its soil: in the delta of the Mahanudly, which resembles the Sunderbunds at the estuaries of the Ganges in its numerous sluggish winding streams, it consists of a deep mud, the surface of which is covered with coarse reedy grass and brushwood; westward of the delta extends the Mogulbandi, a dry tract with a sandy soil, yet highly cultivated, and producing most of the grains common in Bengal. Inland of this is the hill country, in which the land fit for tillage bears a trifling proportion to the extent of rocks and forests which occupy this region. The district is well watered by the Mahanudly, the Brahmanee, the Byturnee, and by some minor streams which fall into the Chilka Lake. This shallow but extensive piece of water is situate in the southern quarter of the district, and measures upwards of forty miles in length and sixteen in breadth. It communicates with the sea by a narrow channel, and its waters are saline. The chief towns are Cuttack, Juggernaut, Balasore, and Jagepore. The population is officially returned at 2,127,555; an amount which, compared with the area, affords a relative density of about 280 to the square mile. This district is mentioned as early as the year 1212, under the title of Jagepore, by the Mohammedan historians; and it was not finally subdued till 1592, when it was conquered and annexed to Bengal. It was ceded in 1751 to the Mahrattas, and came into the possession of the British in 1803, during the administration of Marquis Wellesley, who subdivided it into the southern, northern, and central districts of Balasore, Cuttack Proper, and Poorce or Juggernaut. By its subjection the British acquired a political supremacy over the group of native states known as the Cuttack Mehals.

the capital of the above district, was formerly fortified, and contained a number of good houses and bazaars; but during the period of its possession by the Mahrattas it fell into decay. Its position is naturally strong, being on a neck of land washed by the Mahanudly and Gunjoory rivers, and it is a place of some consequence. The low country round the town is under water during the rainy season for a circuit of ten miles, and the station is considered unhealthy. In 1592 it withstood the Mogul arms for nearly a month. Pop. of town estimated at 40,000. Lat. 20° 28′; Long. 85° 55′.