Bardwân, an important district in the division of the same name, under the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, situated between 23° 53' and 22° 46' N. lat., and between 88° 39' and 86° 52' E. long. It is bounded on the N. by the districts of Birbhùm and Murshidâbâd, from which it is separated by the River Ajai; on the E. by the districts of Nadiyâ and Hùglï, the River Bhâgirathi separating it from the former; on the S. by the districts of Hugh and Midnapur; and on the W. by the districts of Bânkurâ and Mânbhùm. For fiscal purposes the Board of Revenue returns its area at 3150 square miles :— cultivated, 2810; cultivable, but not cultivated, 190; and uncultivable, 150. The census of 1872 gives the police area at 3523 square miles, with a population of 2,034,745 souls, inhabiting 5191 villages, and residing in 435,416 houses. Persons per square mile, 578; per village, 392; per house, 4 , 7. Hindus number 1,679,363, or 82 , 5 per cent.; Mahometans, 348,024, or 17 , 1 per cent.; Christians, 890, or Ί per cent.; and persons of unspecified religion, 6468, or ’ 3 per cent.

Bardwân is a flat plain, and its scenery is uninteresting. Chief rivers—the Bhâgirathi, Dâmodar, Ajai, Bânkâ, Kunur, and Khari, of which only the Bhâgirathi is navigable by country cargo boats throughout the year. Agricultural products—paddy, indigo, pulses, oil-seeds, sugar-cane, potatoes, tobacco, wheat, onions, garlic, pumpkins, melons, cucumbers, and vegetables of various kinds. Bardwan district is one of the best cultivated in Lower Bengal. Minerals— iron, copper, lime and sandstone, and above all, coal. The greater portion of the coal-bearing rocks, known as the Dâmodar or Raniganj field, is enclosed between the Rivers Dâmodar and Ajai, and lies between 23° 35' and 23° 45' N. lat., and 86° 40' and 87° 15' E. long., at a distance of from about 120 to 160 miles north-west from Calcutta. The beds are composed of coarse and fine sandstones and felspathic coal-seams, the latter being frequently continuous over considerable areas. Those known as the Lower Dâmodars are coarse conglomerates, with white sandstones and numerous coal-seams of very irregular character. The working of the Râniganj coal (which at present, 1874, is included within the Bardwân district) dates from 1774, when a company was formed by several English gentlemen for the purpose of mining the collieries; and in the following year 91 tons of Bardwân coal were despatched to Calcutta. In 1860, 49 collieries were worked, chiefly conducted with European capital, and yielded a total out-turn of 313,300 tons. In 1868 the out-turn of the whole coal-field exceeded 500,000 tons. There are now 44 coal-mines at work within the Bardwân district, of which 19 mines turn out more than 10,000 tons of coal apiece per annum. In the larger and better mines coal is raised by steam from pits and galleries. In the smaller mines or workings coal is raised by hand-labour from open quarries. In the Râniganj coal-field 61 steam engines, with an aggregate of 867 horse-power, are at work. Only one seam (or set of seams) of a less thickness than 8⅛ feet is worked, and the average thickness of the seams at the Raniganj mines is about 15 or 16 feet. The pits are mostly shallow, very few being more than 150 feet deep. The Bengal Coal Company, with its mines at Raniganj and westwards, is alone able to raise more than 200,000 tons of coal annually. Silk and cotton cloth, brass utensils, silver and gold ornaments, and indigo, are the principal manufactures of the district. Three indigo factories in Bardwan are conducted with European capital. Articles of trade consist of rice, tobacco, pulses, wheat, oil-seeds, jute, sugar, salt, English and country made cloths, cotton, molasses, timber, and coal. In 1790 the total revenue of the Bardwan district amounted to £508,093, in 1820 to £453,321, and in 1870 (after transfers of a large part of its area to adjoining districts) to £388,773. The expenditure in 1797 amounted to £11,213, in 1820 to £17,338, and in 1870 to £63,435. The land tax is the principal source of revenue, which amounted in 1790 to £503,272, in 1850 (from a reduced area) to £309,618, and in 1870 to £305,806. For the protection of person and property Government maintained in 1871 a regular constabulary force 682 strong, at a total cost of £11,622 a year, besides 11,052 men of the village watch possessing service lands or paid by the villagers. Bardwan contained 939 schools in 1871-72, attended by 21,926 pupils, and costing £4328 annually to the state. For administrative purposes the district is divided into six magisterial subdivisions—Bardwan, Kalna, Kâtwâ, Bud-bud, Raniganj, and Jahânâbâd, with 22 police circles. Exclusive of the Bardwan city described below, there are seven towns in the district containing a population of more than 5000 souls. They are also municipalities, and are as follows 1. Kâlnâ—population: Hindus, 22,463; Mahometans, 3557; Christians, 38; others, 1278; total, 27,336: municipal income in 1872, £1185; expenditure, £980; rate of taxation, 10∣d. per head. 2. Syâmbâzâr—population: Hindus, 19,341; Mahometans, 294; total, 19,635: municipal income, £276; expenditure, £224; rate of taxation, 3jd. per head. 3. Raniganj — population: Hindus, 17,927; Mahometans, 1473; Christians, 178; total, 19,578: municipal income, £871,12s.; expenditure, £871,12s.; rate of taxation, 3d. per head. 4. Jahânâbâd: Hindus, 10,222; Mahometans, 3187; total, 13,409: municipal income, £238, 18s.; expenditure, £250, 14s.; rate of taxation per head, 4∣d. 5. Bali—population: Hindus, 8150; Mahometans,

669; total, 8819: municipal income, £173,4s.; expenditure, £214, 4s.; rate of municipal taxation, 4∣d. per head. 6. Kâtwâ—population: Hindus, 6817; Mahometans, 1131; Christians, 15; total, 7963: municipal income, £513, 14s.; expenditure, £513, 14s.; rate of taxation, Is. 3⅛d. per head. 7. Dainhât—population: Hindus, 7389; Mahometans, 173; total, 7562: municipal income, £398, 8s.; expenditure, £386, 8s.; rate of taxation, Is. 0 jd. per head. The East Indian Railway and the Grand Trunk road leading to the North-Western Provinces pass through the district, which has also fifteen other roads communicating with the neighbouring districts. The climate of Bardwan was considered a few years back to be the healthiest in Bengal. But an epidemic fever broke out about 1867, and is still (1874) raging in the district. It causes havoc and depopulation among the cultivating classes. The Maharaja of Bardwan, one of the largest landholders in Bengal, has an income estimated at £400,000 to £500,000 sterling a year. Bardwan district was acquired by the East India Company under the treaty with Nawa,b Mir Kasim in 1760, and confirmed by the Emperor Shah Alam in 1765. The land revenue was fixed in perpetuity with the zamindâra in 1793.

Bardwân, the principal town of the district of the same name, situated on the route from Calcutta to Benares, and a station on the East Indian Railway, lies in 23 q 14' 15" N. lat., and 87° 53' 57" E. long. Jacquemont formerly described Bardwân town “as consisting of an assemblage of crowded suburbs, of wretched huts, with walls of mud, and covered with thatch, having no temples of striking aspect, and few handsome houses.” At the present time Bardwân is a well-built, busy town, with commodious streets, dotted with large tanks, and surrounded by luxuriant gardens. The Mahârâjâ’s palaces are handsome buildings, furnished in the English style, with elegant mirrors and nick-nacks from Paris, and some tolerable oil paintings. Bardwân forms the headquarters of the civil authorities of the division and district, consisting of the commissioner, the judge, magistrate, and collector, and their European and native assistants. In 1814 the town contained a population estimated at 53,927 souls; and in 1872, 32,321. Details of population in 1872:—Hindus, 22,013; Mahometans, 9927; Christians, 223; persons of unspecified religion, 158; total, 32,321. Municipal income in 1871, £5450; expenditure, £5450; rate of taxation, 3s. 4jd. per head. In 1695 Bardwân was besieged by a rebel chief of the Great Mughul. The city soon fell into the hands of the besiegers, the Râjâ was slain in battle outside the walls, and the ladies of his family committed suicide, to avoid falling into the hands of the conquerors. The present Mahârâjâ is a well-educated, liberal-minded man. He maintains a great public school in the town at his own cost, and is ever forward with help in time of distress or famine, as in 1866 and 1874.