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MURSHIDABAD.
until the opening of the railway it formed the main line of communication with Behar and the North-west. On its east or left bank are situated Jangipur, Jiáganj, Murshidabad, Kásimbázár, and Barhampur; on the right bank are to be seen the ruins of Badrihát and Rángániáti. From the west, the Singá joins the Ganges; and the Páglá, Bánsloi, Dwarká, Brahmini, Mor, and Kuiya ultimately find their way into the Bhagirathí by numerous inter-connections. The left bank of the Bhágírathi is embanked along its entire length, except for the first 25 miles, which are unprotected. There are no canals in the District.
The mineral products of Murshidabad are entirely confined to the elevated western tract, known as the Rárh. Iron is found in places, but not in sufficient quantity to repay smelting. Calcareous earth called ghutin also occurs in several places, and is extensively used for making lime. Kankar or nodular limestone crops up generally over the western half of the District, and is applied to road-making purposes. Jungle products consist of tasar silk, beeswax, medicinal roots and drugs, and lac; the lac insect is domesticated on jute plants and the Butea frondosa tree, by jungle tribes of Santáls and Dhangars. In the southwest of the District, at the confluence of the Mor and Dwarká rivers, there is a tract of low-lying country, about 16 square miles in extent, known as the Hejál, which is used for pasturing cattle. During the rains it is covered with water, and yields crops of dus and boro rice; but during the dry season, the Goálás utilize it for pasturing large herds of cattle. Besides the Hejál, there are numerous smaller pasturage grounds scattered over the District. Wild beasts are now very uncommon in Murshidábád, and are yearly becoming more and more scarce, being driven away by the advance of cultivation. Several kinds of deer are, however, found in the Rárh tract.
The History of Murshidabad District centres round the city of the same name, the latest Muhammadan capital of Bengal, and still the residence of the titular Nawab. In 1704, Murshid Kulí Khán, also known in English histories as Jafar Khán, changed the seat of Government from Dacca to the little town of Maksudábád, where he built a palace, and called the place after his own name. This change was undoubtedly determined by the superior position of the new capital, with reference to the growing wants of the administration. Dacca had served its purpose as a frontier station against the inroads of the Arakan and Portuguese pirates; and danger in that quarter was now terminated by the conquest of Chittagong, and the relinquish all designs upon the independent kingdom of Assam. The importance of the European Settlements on the Huglí, together with the growth of commerce and manufacture at Kasimbázár, were sufficient reasons to determine a wise ruler to post himself permanently on the main line of communication between the upper Ganges valley
