a collectorate of British India, in the presidency of Bombay, lying between N. Lat. 16° 10' and 18° 34', E. Long. 75° and 76° 28'; bounded on the N. and E. by the Nizam's dominions, S. and S.W. by the collectorates of Belgaum and Sattara, W. and N.W. by those of Poona and Ahmednuggur. Its length from N.W. to S.E. is 170 miles; greatest breadth, 50; area, 4991 square miles. The country is undulating, presenting a series of hills and valleys, with comparatively few trees. Its chief rivers are the Kestnah, which washes the southern border, the Bheema and the Seena. The soil is admirably adapted for the growth of cotton, which is the principal crop raised. There is a great want of internal communications, as there is no good road in any part of the country; while the rivers Bheema and Seena, when swollen at the time of the monsoons, offer serious impediments in the way of travelling. Considerable care has been bestowed on agriculture; but as European implements have not yet been generally introduced, there are still great deficiencies, both in the cultivation of the soil and in the mechanical arts. Sholapore was acquired by the East India Company in 1818, after the fall of the Peishwa. It was at first included in the collectorate of Poona, but in 1838 formed into a separate collectorate. Pop. 675,115.

capital of the above collectorate, stands in a level tract near its eastern extremity, 165 miles S.E. of Poona and 220 S.E. of Bombay. It is a place of no natural strength, but has been so strongly fortified as to be of much importance in a military point of view. It is oblong in form, surrounded by a substantial stone wall, and a broad deep ditch, outside of which, on the north and east, is a suburb, also fortified; while on the south the ditch expands into a tank, with a mound on three sides of it. A church has been built here, but there are no other important edifices. Sholapore has frequently changed masters in the early periods of Indian history. It was taken by escalade in 1818, by a British force under General Pritzter.