JURSHID BID SUB-DIVISIO.V-JURSIIDABAD. 31 rainfall over a period of twenty-eight years is 56'o inches. The rainfall in 1883 was only 40 inches, or 20 inches below the average. As regards health, Murshidabad District ranks perhaps below the general standard of Bengal. The stagnant pools formed by the Bhagirathi during the dry season constitute a perennial source of malaria ; and cholera is rarely absent from the city and suburbs of Murshidabad. Enlargement of the spleen is found in nine out of every ten cases observed. Elephantiasis and hydrocele are also endemic. It is on record that not only the trading emporium of Kasimbázár, but also several flourishing weaving villages, have been absolutely depopulated by malarious fever within the present century. The vital statistics show a death-rate during 1883 of 24•67 per thousand. There were, in 1883, five charitable dispensaries in the District, at which 1076 in-door and 34,099 out-door patients were treated during the year. There is a Government lunatic asylum at Barhampur, constructed out of a portion of the old barracks in 1874. [For further information regarding Murshidabad, see The Statistical Account of Bengal, by W. W. Hunter, vol. ix. pp. 1–265 (Trübner & Co., London, 1876); The Statistical and Geographical Report of Murshidibád District, by Colonel Gastrell, Revenue Surveyor (1857); Report on the Rizers of Bengal, by Captain "l'. S. Sherwill (1858); the Bengal Census Reports for 1872 and 1881; and the several annual Administration and Departmental Reports of the Bengal Government.] Murshidabad Sub-division.-Sadr or head-quarters Sub-division of Murshidabad District, Bengal. Area, 997 square miles; number of towns and villages, 1381; houses, 112,718. Population (1881) 551,745, of whom 260,614 were Hindus, 290,671 Muhammadans, 402 Christians, and 58 of other religions. Number of persons per square mile, 553; villages per square mile, 14; houses per square mile, 122 ; inmates per house, 4'9; proportion of males, 48 per cent. This Sub-division comprises the 10 police circles of Sujáganj, Gora bázár, Barwán, Nawada, Hariharpára, Talangi, Gowas, Daulatbázár Gokaran, and Kalianganj. In 1873 it contained 7 revenue and magis. terial courts. Murshidabad Sub-division.- Properly the City of Murshidabad Sub-division. --See LALBAGH SUB-DIVISION, by which name it is distinguished from the Sadr Sub-division of Murshidábád District. Murshidabad (or Maksudábád).-Principal city in the District of the same name, Bengal; situated in 24° 11' 5" n. lat., and 88° 18'50” E. long., on the left bank of the Bhagirathi. Murshidabád is still the most populous town in the District, though its historical importance has entirely departed. The diminution in the number of inhabitants probably commenced immediately from the date when it ceased to be the capital of Bengal, in 1772. We have no estimate of the population in
