Page:The Imperial Gazetteer of India - Volume 10 (2nd edition).pdf/167

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NAGAR TOII'N AND RIVER. 155 Nagar (or Rújnagar). — Town and ancient capital of Birbhúm District, Bengal. Lat. 33° 56' 50" N., long. 87° 21' 45" E. Formerly of considerable importance as the metropolis of the Hindu princes of Birbhúm, prior to the conquest of Bengal by the Muhammadans in 1203 A.D. In 1244 it was plundered by the Uriyás. The site of Nagar is now covered with crumbling houses, mouldering mosques, and weed-choked tanks; the ancestral palace of its Rájás has almost fallen into ruins. North of the town, and buried in dense jungle, are the remains of an ancient iud fort said to have been built in the last century as a defence against the Maráthás. The famous Nagar wall or entrenchment, extending in an irregular and broken line around the town for a distance of 32 miles, is now undergoing a rapid process of decay. The ghuts or gateways have long ceased to be capable of defence, and many parts of the wall have been washed almost level with the ground by the annual rains. Nagár ( Vagore, the ancient 'Thellyr '). —Seaport in Negapatam táluk, Tanjore District, Madras Presidency; situated in lat. 10° 49' 26" N., and long. 79° 53' 24" E., 3 miles north of, and officially included within, the NEGAPATAN municipality. The harbour is conveniently situated at the mouth of the river Vettár, and a considerable trade is carried on (in native vessels) in areca-nuts, spices, timber, and ponies, with the Straits and Burma. The average annual value for the five years ending in 1883-84, was £36,864 for imports, and £6545 for exports. In 1883-84, the imports were valued at £61,749, of which £60,808 came from foreign ports; the exports were valued at £2861, of which £1266 were to foreign ports. Nagár has a celebrated mosque with a minaret go feet high, and is resorted to during its annual festival by Muhammadan pilgrims from all parts of India. The town, with a small territory surrounding it, was sold by the Rajá of Tanjore to the Dutch at Negapatam in 1771, but was soon afterwards wrested from them by the Nawab of the Karnátik with the aid of the English. It was afterwards restored to the Rájá, who made a grant of it to the English in 1776. In the campaign of 1780–81, food supplies were obtained hence for the British troops. Haidar ceded the place to the Dutch, from whom it passed to the English in 1781.-(For municipal and population details, see NEGAPATAM.) Nágar. ---River of Northern Bengal. Approaching Dinajpur District from Purniah at its extreme northernniost point, it flows southward for about go miles, marking the boundary between Dinájpur and Purniah, till it falls into the MAHANANDA (lat. 25° 29' 45" N., long. 88° 7' E.), at the point where the latter river first touches on Dinajpur. Navigable by large cargo-boats during the rainy season. Chief tributaries—Pátki and kulik, The bed of the Nagar is rocky in the north, but becomes