BOOEO BOOTAN 85 many of the customs of that country. They manufacture muslins, flowered silks, and bro- cades, and in the time of Ta vernier (about 1665) used to export considerable quantities of their fabrics to Persia, Egypt, Turkey, Russia, and Poland, though even then Boorhanpoor had passed the meridian of its prosperity. The vicin- ity is noted for excellent grapes. This town was founded about 1414 by Malik Nasir, ruler of Candeish, and for a long time was the capital of the country. In 1599 it was besieged and taken by Akbar, king of Delhi, who reduced Candeish to a province of his empire. It was plundered by the Mahrattas in the reign of Aurungzebe in 1685, and in 1720 was wrested from the empire of Delhi by Azaf Jah or Ni- zam ul-Mulk, viceroy of the Deccan. It was subjugated by Madhajee Sindia in the latter part of the 18th century ; was occupied by the British under Col. Stevenson in 1803, restored the same year, and finally with the whole of Sindia's territory, or Gwalior, passed under British protection in 1844. BOORO, Boaro, or Boeroe, an island of the Malay archipelago between lat. 3 and 4 S., and IOQ. 126 and 127 E. ; area, about 2,000 sq. m. ; pop. 100,000. The surface is mountainous, the highest peak, Mount Donel, rising 10,400 feet; the soil is fertile, producing rice, sago, fruits, aromatic plants, and dyewoods. The island is well watered, and abounds with deer and babyroussa hogs. Fort Defence, on the E. side, is a Dutch station ; on the north is Cajeli bay, where plentiful supplies can be obtained. BOOTAN, or Bhutan, an independent territory of India, between lat. 26 30' and 28 30' N., and Ion. 88 30' and 92 E., on the N. E. fron- tier of Bengal, among the Himalaya mountains, which separate it from Thibet on the N., and branch out over a great part of its surface. It is bounded E. by a region inhabited by savage mountain tribes, S. by the British districts of Assam and Goalpara, and the native state of Cooch-Bahar, and W. by the native state of Sikkim ; length from E. to W., 215m.; breadth, 115 m. ; area, 19,130 sq. m. Some of the high- est summits of the Himalaya chain lie on its N". border, from which the surface sinks by broken and abrupt descents to the Brahmapootra. The rivers are numerous, and have violent cata- racts. The most important of them traverse the country from N. to S., and fall into the Brahmapootra. There are many bridges over the torrents, some of which are of very inge- nious construction. In the lower part of the country the vegetation presents the usual fea- tures of the tropics; higher up are forests of pine, birch, maple, and yew, while the hills are covered with fruits common to Europe, such as apples, apricots, and berries. The soil in many places is well tilled. Rice, wheat, barley, turnips, gourds, and melons are raised in large quantities. The trade is chiefly with Bengal and Thibet ; the exports comprise rice, wheat, Hour, horses, linen, musk, and fruits ; and the imports, cattle, hogs, dried fish, tobacco, cot- ton, woollens, indigo, tea, gold, silver, and em- broideries. Iron and copper are found, but not in large quantities. The inhabitants are tall, with smooth, dark skins, high cheek Boo tana. bones, and the broad faces common to the Chinese and Tartars. Though courageous when attacked, they are by no means a war- like people, and have little knowledge of mili- tary art. They are industrious and devoted almost altogether to agriculture. The climate in the valleys at the foot of the Himalaya is very unhealthy. The religion is Buddhism, and there are many priests and monasteries, but morality is at a very low ebb. Polyandry and polygamy are both general, and no reli- gious ceremony is observed in marriage. There are two sovereigns, one spiritual, called the dhurma rajah, and the other secular, known as the deb rajah. The chief towns are Tassisudon, Wandipoor, Poonakha, Ghassa, Paro, and Muri- chom ; but for the most part the people live in small villages. In ancient Brahmanical legends Bootan is called Madra. Up to the last century little is known with regard to its political con- dition. In 1772 the Booteahs ravaged the ter- ritory of Cooch-Bahar, whereupon the latter state applied to the British for assistance, which being granted, the rajah of Bootan was attack- ed within his own dominions, defeated, and forced to solicit aid from Thibet. By the mediation of the latter state, a treaty of peace was concluded in 1774. The British sutfered severely for many years from the incursions of the Booteahs into the Dooars, a strip of fertile frontier country at the foot of the mountain passes leading from Boqan into Assam and Bengal. The Assam Dooars were occupied by the British in 1841, a rent being paid for them to the Bootan government. As
