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MALDA

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 485 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MALDA , a See also:

district of See also:British See also:India, in the See also:Rajshahi See also:division of Eastern See also:Bengal and See also:Assam. See also:Area, 1899 sq. m.; pop. (1901), 884,030, showing an increase of 8.5 in the See also:decade. The administrative headquarters are at See also:English Bazar (pop. 13,667) near the See also:town of Old Malda. The district is divided into two almost equal parts by the Mahananda See also:river, flowing from See also:north to See also:south. The western See also:tract between the Mahananda and the See also:main stream of the See also:Ganges is an alluvial See also:plain of sandy See also:soil and See also:great fertility. The eastern See also:half is an elevated region broken by the deep valleys of the Tangan and Purnabhaba See also:rivers and their small tributary streams. The soil here is a hard red See also:clay; and the whole is overgrown with thorny See also:tree See also:jungle known as the katal. Agri-cultural prosperity centres on the Mahananda, where See also:mango orchards and high raised plots of mulberry See also:land extend continuously along both See also:banks of the river. The Ganges nowhere intersects the district, but skirts it from its north-western corner to the extreme south. The Mahananda flows in a deep well-defined channel through the centre, and joins the Ganges at the See also:southern corner.

Its tributaries are the Kalindri on the right, and the Tangan and Purnabhaba on the See also:

left See also:bank. The two See also:principal See also:industries are the See also:production of See also:indigo and See also:silk. The first has declined, and so has the second as far as concerns the See also:weaving of piece goods, but the rearing of silkworms and the export of raw silk and silk See also:thread are carried on upon a large See also:scale. No railway touches the district, but the communications by See also:water are See also:good. Malda supplied two great capitals to the See also:early See also:Mahommedan See also:kings of Bengal; and the sites of See also:Gaur and See also:Pandua exhibit the most interesting remains to be found in the See also:lower valley of the Ganges. (See GAUR.) The connexion of the See also:East India See also:Company with Malda See also:dates from a very early See also:period. As far back as 1676 there was a factory there. In 1770 English Bazar was fixed upon for a commercial residency, the buildings of which at the See also:present See also:day See also:form both the public offices and private See also:residence of the See also:collector.

End of Article: MALDA

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