RANGPUR a district of British India, in the lieutenant-governorship of Bengal, lying between 25° 3' and 26° 19' N. lat. and 88° 47' and 89° 56' E. long., is bounded on the N. by Jalpdiguri district and Kuch Behar state, on the E. by the Brahmaputra, separating it from Goalpara and Maimansinh, on the S. by Bogra, and on the W. by Dinajpur and JalpAiguri. The district is one vast plain; the greater part of it, particularly towards the east, is inundated during the rains, and the remainder is traversed by a network of streams which frequently break through their sandy banks and ])lough for themselves new channels over the fields. Agricultural industry has taken full advantage of the natural fertility of the soil, which is composed of a sandy loam. The river system is constituted by the Brahmaputra and its tributaries, chief of which are the Tista, Dharla, Sankos, and Dudhkumar. There are no embankments or artificial canals in the district, nor does the alluvial soil produce any minerals. The climate of Rangpur is generally malarious owing to the numerous stagnant swamps and marshes filled with decaying vegetable matter. The average annual rainfall is 86 T 4 inches. The Northern Bengal State Railway cuts through the western half of the district from north to south, with a branch to Rangpur town....
In 1881 the population was 2,097,964 (males 1,067,701, females 1,030,263); Hindus numbered 816,532, Mohammedans 1,279,605, and Christians 86. The population is for the most part rural; the only towns containing upwards of 10,000 inhabitants are Rangpur, the capital ( q.v .), Barakhatta (11,393), Bliogdabari (10,892), and Dimlah (10,503). The district contains an area of 3486 square miles, Sbout three-fourths being under continuous cultivation. The staple crops are rice, wheat, and other grains, oil-seeds, and jute; among the miscellaneous crops are indigo, sugar-cane, betel-leaf, betel-nut, and mulberry for silkworms. Spare land capable of cultivation can hardly be said to exist,—even the patches of waste land yield a valuable tribute of reeds and cane. Of industries the chief is the manufacture of paper from jute fibre; other products are striped cotton carpets, silk cloth woven from the cocoon of a worm fed on the castor-oil plant, baskets and mats, brass-ware, and ornaments carved in ivory and buffalo horn. In 1883-84 the gross revenue of Rangpur district was £165,165, of which the land-tax contributed £102,248.
The tract comprised within the district of Rangpur was formerly the western outpost of the ancient Hindu kingdom of Kamrup. The realm appears to have attained its greatest power and prosperity under Raja Nilambhar, who was treacherously overthrown by Husain Shah, king of Bengal, at the close of the 15tli century. On the conquest of the kingdom of Bengal about 1542 by the renowned Afghan Sher Shah, subsequently emperor of Delhi, Rangpur appears to have become incorporated with the empire. During the turbulent period which followed the death of Sher Shah it threw off allegiance to Delhi, but the country was re-annexed by Akbar in 1584, though it was not completely subjugated till the time of Aurangzeb, about 1661. Rangpur passed to the East India Company in 1765 under the firman of the emperor Shah Alam. Numerous changes have since taken place in the jurisdiction, in consequence of which the district area has been much diminished.
RANGPUR principal town and administrative headquarters of the above district, is situated on the north bank of the Ghaghat river in 25° 44' N. lat. and 89° 17' E. long., and contains a population (1881) of 13,320.
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