VUSSEERABAD CANTONMENT AND TOITV. 419 head-quarters of Núrpur tahsil. Situated in lat. 32° 18'10" N., and long. 75° 55' 30" E., on a small tributary of the Chakki torrent, 2000 feet above sea-level, and 37 miles west of Dharmsála sanitarium, Núrpur was formerly the capital of a small Native State. It is picturesquely perched upon the side of a hill, crowned by the ruins of a fine oli fort, erected by Raja Basu, who removed his capital hither from the plains. Núrpur was for long the chief town of the District, both in size and commercial importance; but, owing to the decay of its chief industry, shawl- wearing, it now presents a poverty - stricken and depopulated appearance. The population of Núrpur, which was returned at 9928 in 1868, had fallen to 7337 in 1875, and to 5744 in 1881. Classified according to religion, the population in the latter year comprised - Hindus, 3298; Muhammadans, 2432; Sikhs, 8; Jain, I ; and Christians, 5. Number of houses, 982. Municipal income (1883-84), £558, being at the rate of is. Id. per head of the population. The principal inhabitants are Rájputs, Kashmiris, and Khattris, the last-named being descendants of fugitives from Lahore, who fled from the exactions of the later Muhammadan rulers. The Kashmiris settled in Núrpur in 1783, driven from their country by fansine; and were reinforced by others from a like cause in 1833. They carried with them the national manufacture of their native valley, that of shawls of pashmina wool, and made the town famous for the production of these and other woollen cloths. The value of the annual out-turn of pashmina goods was estimated in 1875 to be about two likhs of rupees, or £20,000. The shawls, however, were inferior to those of Kashmir, en to those of Amritsar and other towns in the Punjab plains. They found a local sale within the Province, but seldom penetrated to foreign markets. The pashm used was imported in part direct from Ladakh, in part from Amritsar. Owing to the collapse in the shawl trade which followed the Franco-Prussian war, the trade has dwindled, and is now confined to the manufacture on a small scale of shawls and woollen fabrics of an inferior description. The Kashmiris, thrown out of employ, are being encouraged to take to sericulture. Núrpur contains a large bázár, and, as it forms an entrepôt of supplies from the plains, as well as of exit for the trade from the north, still presents a comparatively busy appearance. The public buildings consist of the usual tahsili courts and offices, a police station, post-office, dispensary, school-house, staging bungalow, and two sariis. Nusseerábád. - Cantonment in Ajmere, Rajputána. — See Nasir. ABAD. Nusseerábád.—Tiluk and town in Shikárpur District, Sind, Bombay Presidency. See NASIRABAD. Nusseerabád.--Town in Rái Bareli District, Oudh. - See NASIRAB.AD.
