POONAH, a city of Hindustan, in the province of Bejapore, and capital of the peshwa, the chief of the Mahratta state. Situated about thirty miles to the east of the Ghauts, it is an open and defenceless town, covering little more than two square miles, and indifferently built, so that it has rather the appearance of a large village than that of a town. It has long and narrow streets, and the houses are indifferently built; the better sort are raised with large blocks of granite to the height of about fourteen feet, after which the superstructure is composed of timber frames, with slight brick-walls. The ordinary houses are only one story high, with tiled roofs. The lime which cements the bricks and tiles is so bad, that the rain washes away any building that does not depend on timber for its support. There is an ancient palace or castle, in which the peshwa’s brother and other members of the family reside; it is surrounded by high and thick brick walls, with round towers at the angles, and has only one entrance through a pointed arch. Here the peshwa assembles the Brahmins, to whom he gives alms at the great feast when the rainy season terminates, and who are accustomed on this occasion to beg their way to Poonah from all parts of India. The family of the peshwa have, besides the castle, a modern house for their own residence in another part of the town. In 1809 the peshwa made arrangements for the erection, of a palace, to be built by British architects. Poonah was, in the flourishing period of the Mahratta power, a great place of rendezvous for the different independent chiefs, with their numerous followers, in order to consult on the general interests of the confederacy, and, when at war, to settle the plan of operations. These meetings were held about the middle of October, at the end of the rainy season, and were sometimes attended by 400,000 or 500,000 people, who were encamped in the surrounding plain, and were well supplied with every necessary, such as wood, grain, and fodder, which were brought down the rivers. The inhabitants are well provided from extensive markets; and in one long street a great variety of articles are displayed, such as mirrors, globes, lamps, &c. The slaughter of kine is prohibited; and poultry is never reared or eaten except by the very lowest castes. The streets are named after mythological personages, with the addition of warry, which is equivalent to street. Poonah is situated at the confluence of the Moota with the Moola River, their union forming the Mootamoola, which runs into the Beemah; the latter river forms a junction with the Krishna, and, during the rainy season, a journey by water may be effected from within seventy-five miles’ distance of the western coast of India to the Bay of Bengal. The Moòla washes the city on the north side, where it is two hundred yards in breadth, and in the dry season very shallow. In one of the suburbs, called the Sungum, situated on the opposite side of the Moota River, about two miles from the city, the British ambassador with his suite resides, and other British subjects. The cantonments for the subsidiary force are also in this vicinity. Mythological excavations are found to the eastward of the city, but greatly inferior to those of Elora and Elephanta. The practice of sacrificing the widow along with the deceased husband was common at Poonah, and this cruel and barbarous rite was performed at the confluence of the Moota and Moola Rivers, held sacred by the Hindus, and close to the British residency. The burning of widows is now declared a crime by the British government, and is prevented by the interference of the civil power; so that these enormities under the name of religion can no longer be practised under the eye of the British authorities. The population of Poonah is estimated at 100,000, on the most moderate computation.

The first notice of Poonah occurs in the early part of the seventeenth century, when it was included in the jaghire or estate of Thahjee, father of the famous Sevajee, who built the palace there for his own residence. In 1740 the office and the power of the peshwa was usurped by Bajeerow, who having confined his master Ram Rajah to the fortress of Sattara, fixed his residence at Poonah, and died there in 1759. The dignity was transmitted to his grandson Madhoorow, who died in 1772, and was succeeded by his son Narrain Row, who was murdered by his uncle Ragoba; and shortly afterwards a posthumous child of the deceased was placed on the throne. He died in 1795, and the elder of the two sons of Ragoba, named Bageerow, succeeded. During these disputes Scindia and Holkar interfered, and seized the sovereignty. A treaty was in consequence concluded between the peshwa and the British, who re-established his authority; and this good understanding continued for nearly fifteen years. But in 1817, the peshwa, anxious to emancipate himself from the bondage of the British yoke, entered into the hostile combination which was then formed amongst the native powers for the assertion of their independence. As the contest ended in the triumph of the British armies, the peshwa was compelled to fly, and, after a contest of nearly two years, he at last consented to resign his office, and to retire on a pension to Benares. A descendant of Ram Rajah was raised to the nominal dignity of the peshwa, now become a mere pageant, and a pensioner on the British, on condition of his residing at Sattara; and a British resident, denominated a [7:18:364]commissioner, is now stationed at Poonah. The travelling distance from Bombay is 98 miles, from Hyderabad 387, from Oojain 442, from Nagpoor 486, from Delhi 913, and from Calcutta by Nagpoor 1208 miles. Long. 74. E. Lat. 18. 30. N.