BEJAPOUR, or Visiapour, a large province of Hindostan, in the Deccan, extending from the 15th to the 18th degree of north latitude. It has the province of Aurungabad on the north; Toombudra, Wurda, and the district of Canara, on the south; Aurungabad and Hyderabad along the course of the Beema river, on the east; and the Indian Ocean on the west. It is estimated at 320 miles in length by 200 in average breadth.

Towards the west, where the country approaches the great mountain chain of the Ghauts, it is hilly and unequal; but its eastern districts are more level, and they are well watered by many fine rivers, the chief of whic are the Krishna, the Toombudra, the Beema, and the Gutpurba. Rice is the great staple of agriculture, an the other productions are the same as in all the provinces [7:4:541] of the Deccan and in Hindostan generally. It has been long noted for a peculiar breed of horses, which are reared on the banks of the Beema, and serve to mount the best cavalry in the Mahratta armies, in which they are highly prized. The Mahrattas, who at an early period conquered the Deccan, possessed until recently the whole seacoast; and being averse to maritime intercourse, all their trade, which was considerable, was carried on by land. The principal towns are Bejapour, Satarah, Goa, Warree, Colapoor, Darwar, Shahnoor, Hoobly, and Merritch. The population of this province may be estimated at 7,000,000, of whom not above one twentieth part are Mahommedans, the remainder being Hindoos, with a few Portuguese Christians. This district of country was long the scene of such anarchy, that agriculture was neglected, and population received a check; but now that it is under British rule, commerce and cultivation, being adequately protected, will again flourish. In Bejapour the Krishna divides the Mahratta tongue on the north from that of Canara on the south; and on the southern side also of this river the houses of the lower classes are distinguished by being flat-roofed, and covered with mud and clay, from those on the northern side, where the roofs are pitched and thatched.

After the dissolution of the great Bhamence dynasty of the Deccan, a new race of independent sovereigns arose in 1489, who ruled over the country from the river Beema to Bejapour. About 1689 the city of Bejapour was besieged and taken by Aurungzebe; while the Mahratta empire was at the same time growing into importance. Subsequently to the death of Aurungzebe, the Mahrattas subdued Bejapour, and have ever since retained possession of it. After the conclusion of the war with Dowlut Rao Scindia in 1804, this country, along with all the rest of the Mahratta territories, became a prey to anarchy, from the contending claims and insubordination of different chiefs. Some settlement of these disputes, however, was effected by the interference of the British under Sir Arthur Wellesley; and in 1818 almost the whole of this province was conquered by the British; while the Peishwa Bajerow, the last head, of the Mahrattas, was expelled from his throne.

Bejapour, the ancient capital of the above province, and once an extensive, splendid, and opulent city, which now exhibits to the view only heaps of ruins, the remains of its ancient greatness while it was the flourishing capital of an independent sovereignty. It is situated in a fertile plain, and is a place of very great extent, consisting of three towns within one another, the innermost of which is the citadel; the next is the fort, not less than eight miles in compass; and the exterior is environed by a wall many miles in circumference. The fort now contains several distinct towns; and although a great part of the area which it incloses is covered with ruins, there is still room for corn fields and extensive inclosures. The inner fort, although a mile in circumference, appears but a speck m the larger one; and they are both in a manner lost in the larger circumference of the outer wall. The citadel or inner fort is a place of very great strength, well built, of the most massy materials, and encompassed by a ditch lθθ yards wide, which was formerly well supplied with water, but is now nearly filled up with rubbish, so that 1 ts original depth cannot be discovered. The fort consists θt a strong curtain, numerous towers of a large size, a tausse-tray, ditch, and covered way. The interior presents a . ea P θl ruins, all the buildings having fallen into disrepair except a handsome mosque built by Ali Adil Shah.

'itmn this fort was situated the king’s palace, also the °uses.of the nobility, and large magazines, besides many extensive gardens. Beyond the walls were extensive suburbs and noble palaces; and it is asserted by the natives that Bejapour contained, according to authentic records, 984,456 houses and 1600 mosques. The number of houses is probably overrated; that of the mosques, in the opinion of recent travellers, is no exaggeration. The outer wall of the city pn the western side runs nearly south and north, and is of great extent. It is built of stone, and is of prodigious thickness, and about twenty feet in height, with a ditch and rampart; and at intervals of a hundred yards are capacious towers, built of large hewn stones. The whole is now in a ruinous condition; the wall and the towers having in many places fallen into the ditch, and in other parts being covered with rubbish. Several mosques and mausoleums, adorned with all the embellishments of eastern architecture, are to be seen in Bejapour. The fort in the interior is adorned with many of these edifices, in rather better preservation than the works. Amongst these is the great mosque, which is ninety-seven yards long by fifty-five broad. The wings, which are fifteen yards broad, project seventy-three yards from the north and south ends, inclosing on three sides, with the body of the mosque, a large reservoir of water and a fountain. The mausoleum of Sultan Mahmood Shah is a plain building 153 feet square, over which is reared a dome 117 feet in diameter at its greatest concavity, and called by the natives the grand cupola. The mosque and mausoleum of Ibrahim Adil Shah, king of Bejapour, which was probably completed about the year 1620, is said to have cost L.700,000, and to have occupied 6533 workmen for the space of thirty-six years. It is built on a basement 130 yards in length by 52 in breadth, and raised 15 feet. Inside is a plain building 115 feet by 76, covered by an immense dome raised on arches. The mausoleum is a room 57 feet square, inclosed by two verandas, 13 feet in breadth and 22 feet in height. There are, besides, many other public buildings, more or less injured by time and the violence of the Mahrattas. Almost all the buildings, the palaces in the fort excepted, are of massive stone, and in the most durable style; and at the same time the workmanship is minutely clcgant. There arc here some cannon of an enormous calibre: one brass gun, fixed in the centre, would require an iron bullet weighing 2646 pounds. The city is well watered, having, besides numerous wells, several rivulets running through it. It is but thinly inhabited, and has been long comprehended in that part of the Bejapour province belonging to the Mahrattas. This city is said at one time to have been immensely rich; and large sums of money and valuables are still found secreted among the ruins. It was besieged and taken by Aurungzebe in person a.d. 1689, after which it fell into decay. Long. 75. 47. E. Lat. 16. 46. N.