a city of Hindustan, in the district of the same name, and province of Bengal, of which it was at one time the capital. Its original name was Muktoosarbad, but this was changed to its present denomination. It extends, including Cosimbazar, eight miles on both sides of the Bhagiratty or Cosimbazar 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 storey, with tiled roofs; and the palace of the nawaub 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 Bhagiratty 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. A strong desire is stated to have been manifested by the present nawaub for the improvement of its sanitary condition. It is still, however, a place of great inland traffic, and the river is constantly covered with boats. A Mohammedan college was some years since founded here, to which an English professorship was subsequently attached. In 1757 Moorshedabad was superseded as the capital of Bengal by Calcutta. Long. 88° 15' E., Lat. 24° 12' N.

The district of which this place is the chief town has an area of 1856 square miles, and a population estimated at a million of inhabitants. Before the commercial charter of the East India Company had ceased, this district was the principal seat of its silk manufacture. The production and manufacture are still carried on by private individuals. The principal silk manufacture is that of Corals. The dignity of the Nawaub of Moorshedabad, which has become purely titular, is supported by the grant on the part of the British government of the magnificent allowance of L160,000 per annum. Shah Allum, the Emperor of Delhi, conferred the territory upon the East India Company by the grant of the Dewanny in 1765.