an extensive province of Hindustan, in the Deccan, between N. Lat. 17, 16, and 22, 23. E. Long. 81, 35, and 87, 20. It has Bengal for its boundary to the N., to the S. the River Godavary, to the E. the Bay of Bengal, and to the W. the province of Gundwana. It may be estimated from N.E. to S.W. at 400 miles in length by 70 in average breadth. This province, in the interior, is of a rude and barbarous aspect, consisting for the most part of rugged hills, uninhabited jungles, and deep water-courses. It is surrounded by pathless deserts, forests, or valleys; and the atmosphere is pestilential. At present the British rule over nearly one half of this extensive region and the remaining part, is possessed by tributary zemindars, who pay a fixed rent to the British, under whose jurisdiction they live. The woody and interior division of the country belongs to them; whilst the other division, belonging to the British, comprehends all the low lands extending along the coast, a tract generally plain and fertile, but not well cultivated or peopled. The low lands along the Bay of Bengal abound with wild animals, such as hogs, deer, tigers, and jackals; and the high lands are infested by such numbers of wild animals, that in many places they are regaining possession of the country from which they were driven by the progress of cultivation. Fish swarm in the rivers, which are also infested with reptiles and alligators; and in the plains and jungles are innumerable noxious insects. The chief rivers are the Godavary and Mahanuddy, besides innumerable mountain streams of a short course. The inhabitants of Orissa belong to four principal tribes—1. The Urins, Orias, or Odras, who occupy the plains and valleys, especially towards the W. 2. The Coles, also called Hos, in the N., a tribe in a half savage condition, remarkable for honesty, truthfulness, and good nature. 3. The Khonds, in the centre of the country, who have made some progress in civilization; but practise abominable superstitious rites, with human sacrifices, which have been attempted, but hitherto in vain, to be suppressed by the British government. 4. The Saurias, or Sauras, in the S., who, though in general peaceable and harmless, are addicted to the same superstitions as the Khonds, and are even more wild and savage than they. A race of Hindu princes governed the country till 1592, when they were conquered by the viceroy of Akbar, to whose dominion the country was annexed as a dependent government. From disjointed fragments of its history, and from existing relics, it appears to have been a flourishing empire, even before the Mohammedan invasion; but it soon afterwards fell into decay. Pop. about 4,534,813.