KALISH (Polish; Kalisz), the chief town of a government of the same name in Russian Poland, is situated in 51° 46' N. lat. and 17° 7' E. long., 135 miles due west of Warsaw on the banks of the Prosna, which there forms the boundary of Prussia. It is one of the oldest and finest cities of Poland, is the seat of a Roman Catholic bishop, and possesses a castle, a gymnasium, a teachers’ institute, a theatre, and a large public park. The industrial establishments comprise a brewery, cloth factories, a ribbon factory, and tanneries. In 1871 the population amounted to 18,088, of whom more than 8000 were Jews.

Kalish is identified with the Calisia of Ptolemy, and its antiquity is indicated by the abundance of coins and other objects of ancient art which have been discovered on the site, as well as by the numerous grave mounds existing in the neighbourhood. In modern times it has been the scene of the decisive victory of Augustus the Strong over the Swedish general Mardefeld on 29th October 1706, of several minor conflicts in 1813, and of the friendly meeting of the Russian and the Prussian troops in 1835, in memory of which an iron obelisk was erected in the town by Nicholas I. in 1841. The treaty of 1813 between Russia and Prussia is dated from Kalish.