Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 3.djvu/644

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BHA—BHA

trick, he can add it to tlie tliree remaining declared aces, and score four aces again, and so on. Marriages can be declared over and over a^ain ; thus kin 3, queen of hearts are declared, and the player draws another king of hearts. He plays the declared king and wins the trick, Ke can then marry the queen again. Some players object to this, calling it bigamy ; but if only permitted after the declared king is played, it is not bigamy, but the marriage of a widow. Bezique follows the same rule : if, say, the knave is played away, another knave makes another bezique ; and so on with double and triple bezique, if the former declared cards which remain unplayed can be matched from cards in hand to make the requisite combinations. Sequence can be declared over and over again, and compound declarations made among the declared cards are now generally allowed. The sevens of trumps do not count, nor does the last trick, 01 at all events these only count by agreement. The game is 3000 up. The great points to aim at are to declare four aces or sequence, which can then be declared over and over again, if fresh aces or sequence cards are taken into hand (the duplicate sequence cards being first played away). "With fair chance of sequence every- thin<* else, even aces or chance of double bezique, should be sacrificed.

(h. j.)

BHÁGALPUR, a division or commissionersliip of British India, under the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, comprising the districts of Bhdgalpur, Monghir, Santdl Pargands, and Purniah, lies between 23 and 27 N. lat., and 85 3 and 89 E. long. It is bounded on the N. by the independent state of Nepdl and the British district of Ddrjiling; on the E. by the districts of Jalpdiguri, Dinajpur, Mdlclah, Murshidabad, and Bfrbhum ; on the S. by the districts of Birbhum, Mdnbhum, and HazaribAgh ; and on the W. by the districts of Gayd, Patnd, and Tirhut. According to the census report of 1872, Bhagalpur division contained an area of 18,685 square miles, with a total population, of 6,613,358 (i.e., 354 to the square mile), in habiting 19,247 villages and 1,801,497 houses. Of this population, 4,925,714, or 74 5 per cent, are Hindus; 1.121,630, or 17 per cent., Mahometans; 2469 Chris tians; 53 Buddhists; 563,492, or 8 5 per cent., of unspeci fied religion, chiefly consisting of aboriginal tribes.

Bhágalpur, a district of British India in the division of the same name, under the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, situated between 26 35 30" and 24 32 39" N. lat., and 87 33 51" and 86 3 21 32" E. long. It is bounded on the 1ST. by the independent state of Nepdl, on the E. by the districts of Purniah and the Santdl Pargands, on the S. by the Santdl Pargands and Hazarfbdgh, and on the W. by the districts of Monghir and Tirhut. Bhdgalpur is a long and narrow district, divided into two unequal parts by the River Ganges. In the southern portion of the district the scenery in parts of the hill-ranges and the high lands which connect them is very beautiful. The hills are of the primary formation, with fine masses of contorted gneiss. The ground is broken up into picturesque gorges and deep ravines, and the whole is covered with fine forest trees and a rich undergrowth. Within this portion also lie the lowlands of Bhagalpur, fertile, well planted, well watered, and highly cultivated. The country north of the Ganges is level, but beautifully diversified with trees and verdure. Three fine rivers flow through the district the Ganges, Kusi, and Ghagri. The Gauges runs a course of 60 miles through Bhdgalpur, is navigable all the year round, and has an average width of three miles. The Kusi rises in the Himdlayas and falls into the Ganges near Colgong (Kahlgdon), within Bhdgalpur. It is a fine stream, navigable up to the foot of the hills, and re ceives the Ghagri eight miles above its debouchure.


The census of 1872 disclosed a population of 1,826,290 souls, inhabiting 2739 towns or villages ; and 329,372 houses, giving an average of 422 per square mile, 667 per village, and 5 5 per house. Of the total population, 1,639,949, or 89 8 per cent., are Hindus; 169,426, or9-3 per cent., Mahometans; 532 Christians; 19 Buddhists; 16,364, or 9 per cent., of unspecified religions, chiefly of aboriginal tribes, consisting of hillmen, Nats, Santals, &c. In the early days of British administration these hill people gave much trouble. They were the original inhabitants of the country whom the Aryan conquerors had driven back into the barren hills and unhealthy forests. This they avenged from generation to generation by plundering and ravaging the plains. The efforts to subdue or restrain these marauders proved fruitless, till Augustus Cleveland, the collector of Bhagalpur in the latter half of last century, won them by mild measures, and successfully made over the protection of the district to the very hill people who a few years before had been its scourge. Rice, wheat, barley, oats, Indian corn, various kinds of millet, pulses, oil-seeds, tobacco, cotton, indigo, opium, flax and hemp, and sugar-cane, are the principal agricultural pro ducts of Bhagalpur district. The jungles afford good pasturage in the hot weather, and abound in lac, silk cocoons, catechu, resin, and the mahitd fruit, which is both used as fruit and for the manu facture of spirits. Iron, gold, coal, and building stone are found, but no iron or coal is at present smelted or worked. Gold is washed from the river sand in small particles. Silk cloth, called tasar, and pots similar to Chinese ware, are the principal manufactures of Bhagalpur. Principal seats of trade Bhagalpur, Ghogha, Colgong (Kahlgaon), Pirpainti, and Sultanganj on the East Indian Rail way; Umarpur, Puraini, Chandpur, Belhar, Jaipur, Kutaria, Sabalpur, Panjwara, and Chandan, in the south of the district ; and Bihpur, Krishnagauj, Muraliganj, and Pratapganj north of the Ganges. Besides nine principal roads with a total length of 368 miles, which form the means of external and internal communication, 62 miles of the East Indian Railway connect Bhagalpur with Calcutta and Upper India. For administrative purposes Bhagalpur district is divided into four magisterial subdivisions, viz., the headquarters subdivision, and those of Biinki, Madhupura, and Supul ; and for police purposes into twelve (hands. A regular police, 600 strong, was maintained in 1872 at a total cost of 9569, or an average of one man to every 7 06 square miles, and 2979 of the population. Besides the regular police there were, in 1872, 3666 village watch men, supported at an estimated cost of 5700, paid by the land holders and villagers, exclusive of the service lands which they enjoy rent free. The total net revenue of the district, in 1870-71, amounted to 139,545, of which 72,161, or 51 71 per cent., was derived from the land; expenditure, 82,570. For the education of the people there were, in 1872, 14 Government and aided schools, attended by 876 pupils, and maintained at a total cost of 2313, of which Government contributed 929. The unaided schools num bered 314, attended by 3593 pupils. The climate of Bhagalpur partakes of the character both of the deltaic districts of Bengal and of the districts of Behar, between which it is situated. The hot season sets in about the end of March, continues till the beginning of June, the temperature at this time rising as high as 110 Q Fahr. The rains usually begin at the end of June and last till the middle of September ; average annual rainfall, 55 inches. The cold season commences at the beginning of November and lasts till March. During December and January the temperature falls as low as 41 Fahr. The average annual temperature is 78. Bhagalpur formed a part of the ancient Sanskrit kingdom of Anga. In later times it was included in the powerful Hindu kingdom of Magadha or Bchar, and in the 7th century A.D. it was an independent state, with the city of Champa for its capital. It afterwards formed a part of the Mahometan kingdom of Gaur, and was subsequently subjugated by Akbar, who declared it to be a part of the Dehli empire. Bhagalpur passed to the East India Company by the grant of the Emperor Shah Alam in 1765.

(w. w. h.)


Bhágalpur, the principal town of the district and division of the same name, situated on the right bank of the Ganges, here seven miles wide, in 25 11 N. lat. and 87 E. long. The town is two miles in length and a mile in width, but lies in a low, open valley, and consists of scattered market-places meanly built. Its most interesting objects are two ancient round towers, each about 70 feet high. Adjacent to the town are the two Cleveland monu ments, one erected by Government, and the other by the Hindus, to the memory of the civilian, who, at the end of last century, " by conciliation, confidence, and benevo lence, attempted and accomplished the entire subjection of the lawless and savage inhabitants of the Jungleterry of Rajmahal." Bhdgalpur is the headquarters of the com missioner of the division and of the judge and collector of the district ; it is also a station of the East Indian Railway. Its Government school was attended by 361 pupils in 1872. In the same year the town contained a population of 69,678 souls, of whom 50,673, or 72 per cent., are Hindus; 18,455, or 26 per cent., Mahometans; 19 were Buddhists, 342 Christians, and 189 unclassified. Municipal income, in 1872, 2951, 6s.; expenditure, 3470, 14s. ; incidence of municipal taxation, 10