BENGAL,

A large and important province of Hindostan, situated, towards its eastern extremity, between the 21st and 27th degrees of north latitude. It is bounded on the north by the kingdom of Nepaul, the territories of the Sikkim Raja, and by the high country of Bootan; it has the bay of Bengal on the south; Assam, and Ava the country of the Burmese, on the east; Bahar on the west, for the greater part of its frontier; and towards the south-west the provinces of Gundwana and Orissa. Its length, including Midnapoor, maybe estimated at 350 miles, and its average breadth at 300.

Bengal, especially as it approaches the sea, may be designated a level country. Even in its northern parts it is scarcely reached by any of the branches that diverge from the great Himalaya range; and such elevated tracts as it does contain can only be considered as exceptions to the uniformity of level which prevails throughout the province. The hills that occasionally occur are besides of no elevation; and it is only from the contrast of the adjacent ground that they have acquired this appellation. These hilly parts are mostly situated in the districts of Birboom, Silhet, Chittagong, and the eastern boundaries of Tiperah, and form but an inconsiderable proportion of the whole area. The Ganges, which enters on the western frontier, and runs diagonally across Bengal, gives to the country its peculiar character and aspect. About 200 miles from its mouth it spreads out into numerous branches, forming a large delta, composed, where it borders on the sea, of a labyrinth of creeks and rivers, named the Sunderbunds, about 200 miles broad, and exhibiting, during the annual inundation, the appearance of an immense sea. At this time the rice fields to the extent of some hundreds of miles are submerged, and are navigated by boats of various sizes and shapes, many of them handsome, and fitted both for commerce and for state. The scene presents to a European eye many objects of singular novelty and interest; namely, the fields covered with water to a great depth, with ears of rice floating on the surface; the stupendous dikes, which restrain, without altogether preventing, the excesses of the inundations; and peasants in all quarters repairing to the markets, and even to the fields, on embarkations prepared for themselves, their families, and their domestic animals, from a fear of the swelling waters sweeping away their habitations, with all that they contain, in the absence of their boats. The many navigable streams which fall into the Ganges intersect the country in every direction, and afford a wonderful facility of internal communication. In most parts boats can approach by means of lakes, rivulets, and water-courses, to the door of almost every cottage; and even in the driest season there is scarcely any spot 20 miles distant from a navigable river. Those parts of Bengal which in general lie beyond the annual inundation are, however, reached by extraordinary floods, which frequently cause the most extensive damage, carrying away the cattle, grain, and habitations of the peasants. In this general devastation, houses and fields are seen raised above the level of the surrounding flood, and exhibiting the triumph of art and industry over every natural disadvantage. The lower region of the Ganges is the richest and most productive portion of Bengal, abounding in valuable produce and manufactures. The elevated tract occupying the south-west angle of the country is of less value, and also inferior in extent. The Brahmaputra is another great river, of which the sources are unknown, but supposed to be at no great distance from those of the Ganges; and these two streams taking opposite courses until they are more than 1200 miles asunder, and again approaching each other, intermix their waters before they reach the ocean. The other principal rivers of Bengal are the Roop-narrain, [7:4:565]the Dummooda, Teesta, Kooram, Korotaya, Ma' nas, Cosi, Conki, &c. In a level country such as Bengal, where the soil is composed of yielding and loose materials, the courses of the rivers are continually shifting, from the wearing down of their different banks, and also from the water being turned off, by obstacles in its course, into a different channel. As this channel is gradually widened, the old bed of the river is left dry, or, ceasing to have a current, it is converted into a stagnant marsh. These changes in the courses of the rivers lead to other important changes in the existing arrangements of society, and affect in a most serious manner the condition of landed property. A river is the basis of population and improvement Land is cultivated, manufactures are established, and towns are built in its vicinity, because it affords the easy means of transporting the produce, whether of land or labour, to the most distant market; and hence a change in its course is necessarily attended with the most injurious consequences. The new channel into which the river flows is of course so much land lost, while the old one is a lake or marsh; and the adjacent lands are overflowed, while the lands lying on the former bank lose their fertility from the want of water, as well as the means of transporting their produce. Thus one man’s property is diminished, while that of another is enlarged or improved; and in the mean time the land-tax on both continues the same. Owing to these frequent aberrations of rivers, towns disappear, and the inhabitants are deterred, by the uncertainty of retaining for any length of time their places of abode, from rearing comfortable or substantial dwellings. The rich will not lay out their wealth on magnificent villas which the capricious flood may sweep away; and hence they have little comfort in their houses, and the country is destitute of ornament. The dwellings of the poorer classes are composed of such slight materials that they seldom last for more than three years; and villages are removed to a distance of four or five miles with little inconvenience, a change of the site being considered an ordinary casualty, frequently occasioned by an unseasonable shower.

The position of Bengal places it within the range of the tropical heats; and the year is distinguished into three seasons, the cold, the hot, and the rainy. The cold season begins in October, when the rains cease. During the succeeding four months the temperature is mild and agreeable; Fahrenheit’s thermometer falling frequently to 70°. The spring and the dry season then succeed, and continue for four months, during which the heat continues progressively to increase, until it becomes almost intolerable to the natives themselves; the thermometer in the shade rising to 100°. In the beginning of April occasional thunder storms, in the middle and in the south-eastern parts of Bengal, with rain or hail driven by sudden tempests of north-west wind, temper the immoderate heat. In the eastern districts mild and refreshing showers of rain are still more frequent; but towards the west, in the country contiguous to Bahar, a parching west wind prevails in the day-time during the greater part of the hot season, and at night a cool breeze from the opposite quarter. These west winds sometimes give place to easterly gales, which continue for days and weeks. The southerly and northerly winds, which alternately prevail in the bay of Bengal during the summer and the winter, extend their influence over that part of the flat country which faces the bay, until they are diverted in their progress up the country by mountains corresponding with the course of the Ganges. About the beginning of June the south-west Monsoon, with thunder and lightning that seems to rend the sky, ushers in the periodical rains, which refresh the atmosphere and the parched earth. The rains continue 0r four months, when all the rivers are in flood; and in the latter part of this season, in September, if the rains break up early, the weather is extremely close and sultry, and the inhabitants, especially the Europeans, become sickly. Fogs are frequent during the dry months; and dews continue copious and refreshing, and greatly assist vegetation, as they afford nearly as large a supply of moisture as the loose soil of the country appears to require. These heavy dews are supposed to be no more than sufficient to compensate the daily evaporation by the sun during the dry season, and so far to contribute to salubrity. The damp of the climate is ascribed to the want of any general system of drainage in a level country; to the luxuriant vegetation; and to the denseness of the woods, which obstruct the free circulation of the air, and retain an undue quantity of moisture, amid decayed leaves and other putrid vegetable substances. This is found in all countries to be a fertile source of disease; and there is little doubt that the clearing of the forests and a judicious system of drainage would be followed in Bengal, as in all other parts, by a decided improvement in the climate.

The soil of this province is generally composed of clay mixed with a considerable proportion of siliceous sand, fertilized by various salts, and by decayed substances, animal and vegetable. In the flat country the soil is generally alluvial; the basis is sand, on which, in the inundated tracts, are annually deposited, by the retiring waters, clay, calcareous matter, and other fertilizing substances. In the tracts which lie beyond the reach of the inundation a period of thirty years is scarcely sufficient to cover the barren sand with soil sufficient to fit it for the labours of the husbandman; and in the lapse of half a century the superincumbent soil is not half a span in depth.

Bengal, refreshed by the periodical rains, followed by a mild and dry winter, and afterwards by great heat, yields in the proper seasons all the productions both of the tropical and the temperate climates. Of the grains which contribute to the subsistence of man, rice is of the first importance; it is the great staple of Bengal agriculture, is particularly luxuriant within the tract of inundation, and thrives in all the southern districts. It is sown at all seasons, and vegetates in low situations, where it ripens during the rains earlier or later, according as the field is overflowed to a greater or less depth. The general seasons of cultivation, joined to the influence of soil and climate, have produced an endless diversity in the different species of rice. The other grains are limited in their varieties. In ascending the Ganges, wheat and barley occupy the first place in husbandry; they are sown at the commencement of the winter, and reaped in the spring. The different species of pulse, such as peas, chiches, pigeon-peas, kidney-beans, &c. are cultivated throughout Bengal, and no season is without its appropriate species; they are mostly sown or reaped in winter, and thriving on poor soils, and requiring little culture, are highly prized as an article of husbandry. Millet and other small grains, though they constitute the food of the poorest classes, and bear a very low price, are still of importance, because they are restricted to no particular season, and, vegetating rapidly, they fill up an interval after a tardy harvest, which does not permit the usual course of husbandry. Maize is less cultivated in Bengal than in those countries where the climate is suitable, having no preference above millet to compensate the greater labour of its culture. Potatoes have lately been introduced into Bengal, and have succeeded well. They are suited to the climate, and the small potato is little inferior to those raised in England. Esculent plants are found in Bengal in great abundance and variety. The different species of the cucumber are much more numerous than in Europe, and whole fields are covered with them. The water-melon is of incredible size, and its stalk, [7:4:566]leaves, and blossoms form a finely variegated matting, with which most of the cottages in the village are entirely covered.^[1. Tennant’s Indian Recreations, vol. ii. p. lõ4. ] Asparagus, cauliflower, and other esculent plants are raised; but they arc entirely tasteless; and fields, after they arc sown, must be watched for several days, to defend them against the depredations of numerous flocks of birds by day and of large bats by night. In some fields which are infested by wild boars, elephants, buffaloes, or deer, a stage is erected, on which a watchman is placed to scare away the wild animals. .

The universal and vast consumption of vegetable oils which takes place in Bengal is supplied by the extensive cultivation of mustard, linseed, sesamum, and palma-christi; besides what is supplied from the cocoa-nut. The scsa-mum comes to maturity during the rains, or soon after them; the others during the cold season. Among the most important and valuable productions of Bengal are tobacco, sugar, indigo, cotton, and silk, most of which require land solely appropriated to their peculiar culture; and of late years coffee has been successfully cultivated. Tobacco, which was unknown in India before the discovery of America, is now produced everywhere. The sugar-cane has flourished in Bengal from the remotest times; there is now scarcely a district in which it is not successfully cultivated, and there seems to be no limit to its production in Bengal, except the demand for it. It is cheaply and frugally manufactured, and, if it were allowed to come into the British market on equal terms with West India sugar, would form an important article of export. The manufacture of indigo appears to have been known and practised in Bengal from the earliest times; and from the East, Europe was supplied with this dye, until the superior produce of America engrossed the market. But a few Europeans, by their skilful manufacture of indigo, renewed this branch of trade in Bengal, where the natural quality of the commodity is superior to that produced in North America. Cotton is raised in great abundance. The produce was formerly equal to the consumption; but a large quantity is now imported from the banks of the Jumna and the Deccan, where it is raised more cheaply than in Bengal. A fine sort of cotton is still grown in the eastern districts, for the most delicate manufactures. The great supply of cotton required by the flourishing manufactures of Great Britain has gradually given rise to a demand for the cotton of India; and cotton wool is now one of the staple exports of Bengal. Silk is an ancient product of India, originally introduced, it is said, from China. It was brought from India to Greece and Italy, from which Europe was chiefly supplied. Bengal has now recovered its share in supplying this valuable article, although the raw silk which it produces is scarcely equal to the finest Italian silk. A coarse species of silk is procured from the wild silkworm, which is found in the countries bordering on Bengal, and in several districts included within it. It is found useful in the fabrication of inferior silks; though it is far inferior to the produce of the domesticated insect. There are many other articles produced, or which might be produced, in Bengal, that amore extended commerce would bring into notice; various drugs used in dyeing, gum-arabic, and many other sorts of gums and resins for manufactures, which are the produce of trees that grow spontaneously in Bengal. Of hemp and flax in all their varieties, with various substitutes for these articles, Bengal produces a greater abundance than almost any other country; but the true hemp, though it is found in many places, is little used by the natives, except for the seed oil as a medicine, or for an intoxicating in gredient, which is often mixed with the tobacco of the hookah. .

The orchard is a great object of cultivation with the peasant in Bengal; and it attaches him to his native soil from the superstitious predilection which he feels for the trees planted by his ancestor. The seasons, however from the long continuance of the rains, which occupy the greater part of the summer, are not particularly favourable for bringing fruit to maturity. Orchards of mango-trees, the fruit of which affords a wholesome variety in the diet of the Indian, diversify the plains. The cocoa nut flourishes in all those parts of Bengal which are not remote from the tropic; and plantations of oreca are common in the central parts. The bassia thrives on the poorest soils, especially in the hilly districts; its produce is esculent and nutritious, and it yields an intoxicating spirit. From its seeds is expressed an oil, which in mountainous countries is used instead of butter. There are many other sorts of useful trees, which either grow wild in Bengal, or thrive with little care, a particular enumeration of which is unnecessary. The bamboo, however, may be mentioned on account of its usefulness in supplying the peasant with materials for his buildings, and also in yielding him profit. Clumps of these continue to flourish so long as they are not too abruptly thinned.

The agriculture of Bengal is in rather a backward state. The plough, which is drawn by a single yoke of oxen, is an awkward implement, and the branch of a tree is a wretched substitute for the harrow. The corn is not threshed, cattle being employed to tread it out from the ear. There are neither barns nor inclosures; and the practice of stacking corn is very unusual. Rice is completely preserved by the husk in which it is inclosed, and requires no further care; and the other grain is thrown aside in the same manner, without being threshed, and having no defence against the inclemencies of the weather. The grain is winnowed in the wind, and is stored either in jars of unbaked earth, or in baskets made of twigs or of grass. The practice of storing grain under ground, which is frequent in Benarcs and the western provinces, is not suitable to the damp climate and soil of Bengal.

In many parts cultivation depends on the artificial aid of irrigation; and the great object of the Bengal farmer is to procure an equable supply of water. Owing to the inequalities of the country, the lower parts are frequently inundated by sudden rains, while the higher grounds are scorched by the long continuance of dry weather; and, to secure a supply of water, various expedients are resorted to. In the management of forced rice, dams retain the water on extensive plains, or preserve it in tanks to irrigate the lower lands. In some places a supply of water is secured by ridges surrounding the field, or by dams advantageously constructed. In other provinces water is raised from wells by cattle or by the hand, where the supply from the rains is deficient. Each of these methods is resorted to by the peasants themselves; but some considerable works, which require greater contrivance and expense, such as reservoirs or ponds, which are easily formed in hilly countries by constructing dams across the gorges of valleys, as well as water-courses and dikes, are more generally m a progress of decay than of improvement. Many tanks have also been dug, not only for supplying the inhabitants with water for domestic purposes, but also for irrigation. But these excavations have in some parts been increased to a destructive extent from ostentation; and as no one is interested in their repair, which does not, as their original construction, give any reputation for piety, they are soon [7:4:567]choked up with aquatic plants, which produce putrid smells, bad water, and distempers. The rotation of crops, which is so much attended to in every well-regulated system of husbandry, does not enter into the plans of the Bengal farmer. He never thinks of extending the course of his crops beyond the year, nor of choosing articles for cultivation adapted to restore the fertility of his land, impoverished by a previous crop. The want of capital is a great obstacle to the improvement of agriculture as well as of manufactures. The peasantry, among whom the land is divided in small lots, are too poor and too prejudiced to introduce improved modes of cultivation. They go on in the ordinary routine of their employments handed down from father to son. Capital has not accumulated in the country; the division of labour has not been introduced; and every man is alternately husbandman and artisan, the latter personally conducting the whole process of his art even from the formation of his tools to the sale of his productions. In the intervals of his employment he generally betakes himself to agriculture as a resource; and in this manner the same person always follows a variety of employments. Such farmers are ill qualified to prosecute any improved system of husbandry, or to supply the place of opulent and intelligent proprietors, who would introduce large farms and a better system of cultivation. Other obstacles to the improvement of husbandry consist in the assemblage of peasants in the villages, and in the want of inclosures; yet it is difficult to adopt a different arrangement in a country infested by tigers and gang-robbers or river pirates, and where solitary dwellings and unattended cattle would be dangerous.

The lands in Bengal, prior to the entrance of the British, were occupied by the rajahs and zemindars, by whom they were let out to tenants of various descriptions. The titles of these different classes of proprietors or occupiers were not very exactly defined; and in the anarchy which prevailed in the country, rights of every description were often violated. When the British obtained possession of Bengal, along with the privileges of collecting the land revenues, great differences of opinion arose among them respecting the character of the zemindars and the rights of the tenantry; some asserting that they were not proprietors of the soil, but merely collectors of the revenue for the behoof of the sovereign, who, according to the eastern maxims of policy, was the proprietor of all the lands in the country. Without entering, however, into tin’s controversy, which appears rather of an abstract than a practical nature, it seems certain, and is indeed admitted on all hands, that the lands were assessed in a certain rate for the public tax; and that as long as this tax was regularly paid, the proprietors or occupiers of land were secured in the possession of their properties, which they mortgaged for debts, and quietly transmitted to their heirs through a series of generations. It was to them that government looked for the immediate payment of the tax, which they again collected from the under-tenants, called the ryots or cultivators. Whether we admit the zemindars to be proprietors, or merely government stewards, it seems clear that the tax was a sort of quit-rent, and that its regular payment was the tenure by which they held meir properties.

In 1765 the right of collecting the revenues of Bengal w as acquired by Lord Clive from the emperor Shah Allum; and he proceeded to levy this tax, aided by the native collectors of the Mogul sovereigns. From 1767 to 1769 ne superintendence of the revenue was entirely committed to Mahommed Reza Khan. In 1769 supervisors were sent mt 0 several districts, with native officers to assist them. In 1770 this system was changed, and the admi- rus trat ion of the land revenues was committed to two boards, one to sit at Moorshedabad, the other at Patna. In 1772 the lands were farmed out for five years, and Mahommed Reza Khan was deprived of all power by Mr Hastings, who constituted Calcutta the seat of the fiscal government, and employed collectors to receive the land revenues. In 1773 another change took place, these collectors being withdrawn, and six provincial councils appointed; but in 1781 the councils were withdrawn, the former system of collectors was again organized, and a supreme board of revenue, which still continues, was established at Calcutta. It appeared, however, that the great error of the company’s agents consisted in overtaxing the country; and in consequence, the agriculture of Bengal was rapidly declining when Lord Cornwallis, in 1789, took means for a permanent settlement of the land revenues. Accordingly, in 1793, he concluded an agreement for a ten years’ tax with the landholders, which was afterwards made perpetual. The land-tax was, however, still too high, and the lands of many of the most ancient zemindars of the country were brought to sale for arrears of taxes; nor does it appear that the settlement so much boasted of has tended in any degree to promote the prosperity of agriculture. But these details, which relate to the revenue and policy of the East India Company, will be more properly considered under the article Hindostan.

Cotton piece goods form the staple manufacture of India. The district of Dacca, in the eastern quarter of Bengal, has long been famed for the manufacture of plain muslins, distinguished by various names according to the fineness and the closeness of their texture, as well as for flowered, striped, or chequered muslins, of the most beautiful and exquisite fabrics. Several kinds, woven more closely, are manufactured on the western side of the delta of the Ganges; but those of a more rigid texture do not seem to be limited to particular districts. Coarse turbans and handkerchiefs are also made in almost every province. Under the general appellation of calicoes are included various species of cloth, which are still distinguished by their Indian designations. Khasahs are manufactured to the north and east of the Ganges, in that part of Bengal which is situated between the Mahanuddy and Issamutty rivers, from Maulda to Berbazie. Cloths of a similar quality are made near Tanda, in the nabob of Oude’s dominions, and baftas in the south-east corner of Bengal, near Luckipoor; as also on the western frontier of Benares, near Allahabad, and in some other districts. Other sorts of cloth less familiar to the English reader, and which it would be superfluous to enumerate, are fabricated in various districts. Sackcloth is made from packthread in many places, and especially on the northern frontier of Bengal Proper; and it is there employed as clothing by the mountaineers. Cotton is manufactured into canvass in the neighbourhood of Patna and Chatgaon, flannel is wrought at Patna and other places, and blankets are everywhere made. A coarse cotton cloth, dyed red w itb cheap materials, is generally used, and is chiefly manufactured in the middle of the tract between the Jumna and the Ganges. Other sorts, chiefly dyed blue, as well as fine and coarse calicoes, dyed with permanent or fugitive colours, are prepared for inland commerce or for exportation. The seats of this manufacture in Bengal are the city of Patna and the neighbourhood of Calcutta; and it appears to have been in ancient times brought to so great perfection in India, that the ingenuity of the European manufacturers has added little improvement except in the superior elegance of the patterns. Dimities of various kinds and patterns, and cloths resembling diaper and damask linens, are made at Dacca, Patna, Tanda, and many other places. Moorshedabad and its neighbourhood is the chief seat of the manufacture of woven silk and taffeta, both plain and flowered[7:4:568]; and the western and southern corner of Bengal, of plain gauzes for home consumption. At Malda, and in some towns of the province of Burdwan, mixed goods of silk and cotton are manufactured.

The internal trade of Bengal consists chiefly in the exportation from the grain districts of corn and rice, in exchange for salt. This article is monopolized by the grasping policy of the government; and its manufacture is a source of severe oppression to the natives. A great proportion of the salt used in Bengal is manufactured in deserts overflowed at every tide by the sea, and the air of which is extremely noxious, from the combined effect of heat and moisture. These deserts are besides infested by tigers and alligators, by which many of the unfortunate salt-workers annually perish; and to recruit their working numbers fresh supplies are procured by the most unjustifiable artifices, the labourers being either decoyed or compelled to engage in this unhealthy employment. The price of salt being artificially raised by the company’s monopoly, the poor are obliged to use it more sparingly, though it is necessary to give a relish to the naturally insipid provisions of the Hindoo. It is still a great article of internal trade, in exchange for grain, for the supply of the cities and for exportation. Cotton, which is imported from the western provinces, and tobacco, which is exchanged for betel-nut, together with some sugar, make up the principal articles for home comsumption. Piece goods, silk, saltpetre, opium, sugar, and indigo, were formerly engrossed by the Company; but trade has been now laid open to individual enterprise, and these articles are bought and sold by every description of merchants.

The internal trade of Bengal is greatly aided by the navigable communications which intersect the country in every direction, and, during the rainy season, afford the .only practicable means of conveyance. The boats used in this navigation vary in their form and construction, .being each adapted to the nature of the rivers which they generally traverse. The flat vessels, which make their way in the upper parts of the river, and in its tributary streams, would be ill adapted for the wide and stormy navigation of the lower Ganges; while, on the other hand, the lofty boats used in the Ganges, from Patna to Calcutta, would be equally ill suited to the shallow rivers of the western districts, or to the creeks that occur in the eastern navigation. The windings, and the various breadth and velocity of the stream, must be considered in the construction of the craft which are to ply on it. In some .parts it is found most convenient to descend with the .stream and return with the track rope; in other parts the oar is the chief dependence; and, owing to the windings of the river, no reliance can be placed on the sail; so that, in all these cases, a different construction of boats must be employed. The introduction of steam navigation generally on the Ganges would be a most important improvement; and, where the depth of the river is sufficient to admit steam-vessels, they will of course supersede every other craft. It is on rivers such as the Ganges, which descend with a rapid current to the ocean, that navigation by steam is so peculiarly advantageous; the vessel being propelled with a given velocity, which can be at all times commanded against the force, and through all the windings, of the stream. The number of boatmen that plied on the river Ganges, about fifty years ago, was estimated by Major Rennell at 30,000. They are now supposed to exceed ten times that number. Besides plying on the river, most of them are husbandmen on a small scale; and occasionally join the bands of robbers and river pirates who plunder the. unwary traveller. The highways throughout Bengal, which were formerly in good order, have been allowed to fall into complete disrepair. A magnificent road from the banks of the Goggra or Devra river to the Brahmaputra, formed, for a length of 400 miles, a safe and convenient communication at all seasons through the countries subject to the annual inundations; but of this road the remains can only now be traced. A road from Calcutta to Benares has been constructed by government to facilitate the movement of troops, and has proved of very general utility. In general, however, the traveller is directed through Bengal merely by a beaten pathway; but no artificial road, nor any other accommodation, alleviates his fatigue; and in the rainy season the intercourse by land is entirely stopt. Colebrooke, in his account of the husbandry of Bengal, ascribes the total decay of these magnificent roads, with the ruin of all the public inns or serais built on them, to the want of durable materials for their construction, which would require to be brought from hilly countries, at an enormous expense, or bricks would have to be burned for the purpose. As there are no roads, so neither is there throughout the province, except in large towns, any inn or place of accommodation for the traveller; all that can be procured in the small towns is an empty house or hut, where he may have shelter from the weather. The route from one town to another is often extremely tedious, the towns being scattered in various directions, and at great distances; and although the making of roads, the digging of tanks, and the planting of trees, are among the religious duties of the Hindoos, yet they are seldom exercised with any view to utility; so that the trees soon become a jungle, the haunt of wild beasts, which devour travellers; the tank becomes a dirty puddle; and the road generally leads, not from one market-town to another, but to some river where he performs his ablutions. Such being the state of the roads, they are not adapted for wheel-carriages; and merchandise is accordingly transported on the backs of oxen, sometimes on horses of the tattoo breed, and more rarely on buffaloes; the latter, though more docile, travelling at a slower rate than the ox, and not bearing a much larger burden. The owners of the cattle also act more frequently in the capacity of merchants than of carriers.

Bengal carries on an extensive commerce with Britain. The exports consist chiefly of all the staple articles of the country, such as cotton, silk, cotton piece-goods, &c. The imports are metals of all sorts, wrought and unwrought: woollen and cotton manufactures of various kinds, which can be sent from Britain, and sold cheaper than the home manufactures of the same description; naval and military stores; gold and silver bullion; and almost every article of British manufacture. To Madras and the coast of Coromandel are exported grain, pulse, sugar, saltpetre, molasses, ginger, long pepper, clarified butter, oil, silk wrought and unwrought, muslins, spirits, and provisions The returns consist of salt, red wood, some fine long cloth, izances and chintzes, and remittances of specie. An extensive trade is carried on to China and the countries and islands to the east. The exports are opium, for which, though it is a contraband article of trade, the demand is increasing in China; saltpetre, gunpowder, iron, firearms, cotton, silk, and cotton piece-goods. From thf eastern islands and the Malay coast Bengal receives pepper, tin, wax, dammer, brimstone, gold-dust, specie, bete - nut, spices, benzoin, &c.; from China, tutenague, sugarcandy, tea, alum, dammer, porcelain, lacquered ware, and a variety of manufactured goods; from Manilla, m ı go of a very fine quality, sugar, and sapan wood ar specie. To Bombay and the Malabar coast the eχ P or are mostly the same as to the Coromandel coast an ° Madras. The returns are teak timber, elephants to e > lac, &c.; sandal wood, coir-rope, pepper, and cardamum from Malabar. To Arabia and Persia are exported throug [7:4:569]the Persian Gulf grain, sugar, silk and cotton piece-goods, hardware, small articles of Indian manufacture, &c.; to Ava and the Burman empire, silk and cotton goods, firearms, iron nails, naval and military stores, and a variety of European goods, the demand for which is daily increasing all over the Last.

The wild animals are such as are commonly found in Hindostan, namely, the tiger, the leopard, the wild boar, the jackal, the buffalo, and the elephant, with apes, monkies, &c. which swarm in all the woods, and sometimes plunder the fruit shops of a village; for, being considered sacred animals; they are never disturbed by the natives. The elephant is tamed for domestic uses, as also the camel and the buffalo, and they are extremely useful in the military service, and as beasts of burden. The buffalo is naturally a fierce animal; it is black, while the common cows and oxen are most of them white, and are so small, that when seen at a distance by Europeans, they are commonly mistaken for flocks of sheep. The breed of the buffalo crossed with the common breed of cattle produces a pleasing variety in the herd of the farmer. The native Bengal horse is a thin, ill-shaped, and poor-looking animal, and is never used in the team. The sheep are naturally of a diminutive breed, thin and lank, and of a dark gray colour; though, when fattened for the table, the mutton equals that of Europe. All the towns of Bengal are infested by Pariah dogs, and by jackals, which, with the approach of evening, begin their howlings in the woods and jungles, when they quit their retreat to prowl for garbage in the streets. The bull being a sacred animal, rambles about the country, and is caressed and fondled by the people; to feed him being deemed a meritorious act of religion. The crow, the kite, mayana, and sparrow, hop about the dwellings of the Bengalese with a familiarity unknown in Europe. Storks are seen in great numbers, and feed on the toads, snakes, frogs, lizards, and insects, which abound in the country. The Ganges and its numerous tributary streams abound in a variety of excellent fish, which are at times so cheap that they become the food of the poorest classes. The smallest kinds are acceptable in a curry, the standing dish of the Bengalese; which, with their pilau, comprehends the whole art of Indian cookery. The bickty or cockup, the sable-fish, and the mangoe, are all excellent and rich, particularly the last, which forms a favourite dish at every European table, especially during the two months when they are in roe. Mullet abound in all the rivers, and may be killed with small shot as they swim against the stream with their heads out of the water. Oysters, not so large, but of fully as good a flavour as those in Europe, are procured from the coast of Chittagong. Alligators and por-puses abound in all the Bengal rivers, which contain incredible quantities of small turtle, but of a bad quality, and only used by the inferior castes among the natives.

It is extremely difficult to obtain any accurate estimate of the population of Bengal; and the most contradictory accounts have been published on this subject. The heavy assessment imposed on the land by the British on obtaining possession of Bengal, and the various modes of-extortion resorted to in collecting it, had the effect of discouraging agriculture, and of causing a decrease in the population. But since the decennial settlement of 1793 the country has enjoyed comparative tranquillity, having been entirely exempted from the calamity of war, although it has been infested by gang-robbers, or dacoits, who in formidable bands plunder and frequently murder the farmers and cultivators. By the vigilance of the government, this evι1 has been greatly diminished; the agriculture of Bengal has flourished under the protection which it has enjoyed; and the population has consequently increased. Various estimates have been made of the inhabitants at different times, on rather imperfect data. But until the administration of the Marquis Wellesley in 1801, no actual investigation was ever attempted'. In 1772 Lord Clive computed the population of the British provinces of Bengal and Bahar at 20,000,000; Sir W. Jones at 24,000,000; Mr Colebrooke at 27,000,000; and in 1790 another estimate was made which carried the number to 32,987,000. In 1807 Dr Francis Buchanan was selected by the government to make a survey of the different districts of Rungpoor, Dinagepoor, and Purneah. This survey was executed with the most laborious accuracy, and it is remarkable that it carried the amount of the population far beyond any other estimate. This census, however, high as it may be thought, was completely confirmed by the subsequent survey of Burdwan by Mr Bayley in 1814. The following estimate of the population of the province is founded on the returns of the magistrates and collectors in 1801, on Dr Buchanan’s survey of the three districts above mentioned, and on Mr Bayley’s survey of Burdwan.
[table]

The principal city of Bengal is Calcutta. Besides the large cities of Dacca and Moorshedabad, it also contains many prosperous inland trading towns, such as Hooghly, Serajegunge, Bogwangola, Cossimbazar, each containing a large population, of which no authentic return has yet been received. The population of the following towns is subjoined, and, though not founded on actual enumeration, it proceeds on the best probable data that could be procured.
[table]

Small villages, containing from 100 to 500 inhabitants, are very numerous; forming, in many parts of the country, a continuous town for many miles along the banks of the rivers, and presenting to the inland navigator as he passes along, the cheerful bustle of a crowded population. The genuine Bengalese towns are not arranged into streets, but into divisions of east, west, north, south, and centre. The Hindoos, Mahommedans, and Portuguese, reside each in their own quarter; and the Hindoo portion is further subdivided into quarters for the Brahmins, scribes, weavers, oil-makers, washermen, barbers, cultivators, potters, &c. A Bengal hut has a pent roof, constructed of two sloping sides, which meet in a ridge forming the segment of a circle, so that they have the appearance of a boat turned upside down. The genuine Bengalese has one hut for himself and another for his cattle; and the [7:4:570]rich increase the number of apartments without altering the plan of the building. The frame of the house in general consists entirely of bamboos; in the houses of the wealthy wooden posts or beams are used, which are neither polished nor painted, and are seldom fastened with nails. The door is the only opening in the hut.

The elevated tracts in Bengal are inhabited by a race of a different origin from the inhabitants of the plains. In the northern mountains, beyond the limits of the province, the natives appear to be of a Tartar origin, by which race also the northern parts of Bengal are peopled. The high country which Bengal includes on the west is peopled by several races of mountaineers, who are supposed to be the aborigines of the country, being distinguished by religion, character, language, and manners, as well as by features, from the Hindoo natives. The vast mountainous tract which occupies the centre of India is inhabited by various tribes, some of whom have scarcely emerged from a state of barbarity. In the mixed population of Bengal the Hindoos and Mahommedans are easily seen to be a distinct class, as, among the latter, the Mogul, the Afghan, and their immediate descendants, may be distinguished from the naturalized Mussulman. The Bengalese character has never been held in high esteem throughout Hindostan; and those who are of a foreign descent in Bengal are fond of dwelling on their ancient origin and the countries of their ancestors. The native Bengalese are generally considered of a pusillanimous character, and seldom avenge their injuries by open combat; yet many of them have acquired high distinction in the British service as brave and active soldiers. They are in general a lively, handsome race of men, of a brown colour, middling stature, thin, but well made; of an oval countenance, with black eyes and hair, and many with aquiline noses. Like all the Asiatics, they rank very low in the scale of morality, lying, cheating, pilfering, and tricking in all their dealings, without the least scruple or any appearance of shame; so that in Bengal a man of real veracity is a wonderful phenomenon. Forgery is often resorted to, and perjury is so common as frequently to perplex the course of justice, two sets of witnesses swearing to facts directly in the teeth of each other. They are also addicted to robberies, thefts, burglaries, river-piracies, and all sorts of depredations where darkness, secrecy, or surprise, can give them the advantage. They are obsequious to their superiors, but insolent and contumelious to their inferiors. Domestic slaves are numerous both among the Hindoos and Mahommedans; and it is from this class that concubines are selected by the richer classes, all of whom are provided with household slaves. Reading, writing, and arithmetic, comprise the whole course of school instruction in Bengal, which generally lasts about eighteen months. But the influence of the British has now begun to take root, and is rapidly extending itself throughout Bengal. British schools have been established in Calcutta and other parts, where the English language is taught; the Bengalese females are initiated in reading, writing, sewing, knitting, and the other domestic employ, ments of European women; and a great revolution is evidently about to take place in the habits, opinions, and . manners of the people.^[2. Bishop Heber mentions that there are now in Calcutta and the surrounding villages twenty boys’ schools, containing from sixty to a hundred and twenty each, and twenty-three girls’ schools, with twenty-five or thirty pupils each. ]

Of Bengal prior to the Mahommedan conquest in 1303 our knowledge is very imperfect. It was ruled by the sovereigns of Delhi until 1340, when it was erected into an independent monarchy. But the line of independent monarchs ended in 1538, with its conquest by the Afghans. In 1576 it was subdued by the generals of the emperor Acbar; and in 1580 it was formed into a soubah or viceroyalty of the Mogul empire by Raja Tooder Mull. Bengal continued to be ruled by governors under the Mo°∙ul dynasty, and its revenues to be remitted to the imperial treasury, to the amount of about one and a half million, until the year 1740, when the Mogul empire began to fall to pieces. In 1765 Lord Clive procured the right of collecting the revenues; and from this period it has been under the dominion of the East India Company.

Bengal, Bay of, a portion of the Indian Ocean, of the figure of a triangle, having on its western side the coast of Bengal, and on the east the coast of Arracan, Pegu, and the Malayan peninsula. Its two sides, from Bengal to Ceylon on the west, and to Junkseylon on the east, may be estimated at 1120 miles in length, and the whole is comprehended within the latitudes of 8° and 20° N. At the bottom of the bay the breadth from Chittagong to Balasore is not above 250 miles; and at its mouth, from Cape Comorin to the Malayan peninsula, the breadth may be estimated at 1200 miles. The western and eastern coasts of the Bay of Bengal form a singular contrast in all the points most essential to a navigator. On the western coast there are no harbours for large ships, while on the eastern coast there are many excellent harbours, such as Arracan, Cheduba, Negrais, and Syriam, in Pegu: a harbour near Martaban, Tavay River, and King’s Island; and several harbours in the Mergui Archipelago, besides Junkseylon, Telebone, and Pula Lada. Off the west coast of Coromandel there are no soundings about 30 miles from the shore, while the east coast has soundings two degrees from it. Coromandel presents an open country: it is often parched with drought from winds blowing over sultry sands; the mouths of its rivers are shallow from bars of sand, and it is often visited by dangerous gales. The east coast, on the other hand, is covered with wood. The climate is always temperate; the rivers are deep and muddy; and the weather is generally calm. The monsoons blow over the Bay of Bengal, though it is remarkable that here, as in many parts of India, strong winds are found blowing directly from the sea, while at some distance from the land it is a dead calm. Thus in Bengal there are strong northerly winds, while at sea calms prevail until May and June; and on the Malabar coast the south-west monsoon does not commence blowing till the beginning of the rainy season, but on shore there are strong westerly winds about and after the time of the vernal equinox. (f.)