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MIDNAPORE

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Originally appearing in Volume V18, Page 419 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MIDNAPORE , a See also:

town and See also:district of See also:British See also:India, in the See also:Burdwan See also:division of See also:Bengal. The town is 68 m. W. of See also:Calcutta; it has a station on the Bengal See also:Nagpur railway. Pop. (1901), 33,140. It is an important centre of See also:trade, being the See also:terminus of a navigable See also:canal to Calcutta, and also the junction for the Sini See also:branch of the Bengal-Nagpur railway. There are manufactures of See also:brass and See also:copper See also:wire. It has an See also:American See also:mission, a municipal See also:college, and a public library founded in 1852. The DISTRICT OF MIDNAPORE has an See also:area of 5186 sq. in. The See also:general See also:appearance is that of a large open See also:plain, of which the greater See also:part is under cultivation. In the See also:northern portion the See also:soil is poor, and there is little See also:wood. The See also:country along the western boundary, known as the See also:Jungle Mahals, is undulating and picturesque; it is almost uninhabited.

The eastern and See also:

south-eastern portions are swampy and richly cultivated. The See also:chief See also:rivers of the district are the See also:Hugli and its three tributaries, the Rupnarayan, the Haldi and the Rasulpur. Th Midnapore high-level canal used also for See also:irrigation runs almost due See also:east and See also:west from the town of Midnapore to Ulubaria on the Hugli 16 m. below Calcutta, and affords a continuous navigable channel 53 M. in length. There is also a tidal canal for See also:navigation, 26 m. in length, extending from the Rupnarayan See also:river. The district is traversed as well by the Bengal-Nagpur railway towards See also:Orissa, with a branch to See also:Chota Nagpur. The jungles in the west of the district yield See also:lac, tussur, See also:silk, See also:wax, See also:resin, See also:fire-wood, See also:charcoal, &c., and give shelter to large and small See also:game. The See also:principal exports are See also:rice, silk and See also:sugar; and the chief imports consist of See also:cotton See also:cloth and twist. See also:Salt, See also:indigo, silk, mats and brass and copper utensils are manufactured. Both silk and indigo are decaying See also:industries. The See also:population in 1901 was 2,789,114, showing an increase of 6% in the See also:decade. The See also:early See also:history of Midnapore centres See also:round the See also:ancient town of See also:Tamluk, which in the beginning of the 5th See also:century was an important Buddhist See also:settlement and maritime See also:harbour. The first connexion of the See also:English with the district See also:dates from 176o, when Mir Kasim ceded to the East India See also:Company Midnapore, See also:Chittagong, and Burdwan (then estimated to furnish one-third of the entire See also:revenue of Bengal) as the See also:price of his See also:elevation to the See also:throne of Bengal on the deposition of Mir Jafar.

End of Article: MIDNAPORE

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