JURSUID:13:ID CITY. 33 Government to this place through fear of Prince Azim-us-Shán, who had attempted to assassinate him at Dacca. It scems more probable that he was induced to take this step by political considerations. Dacca had lost its importance, for the Maghs and the Portuguese were no longer dangerous; and the banks of the Bhagirathí afforded a more central position for the management of the three Provinces of Bengal, Behar, and Orissa. The new city also was situated on the line of trade, along which the treasures of India were now beginning to find their way to the European settlements on the luglí; and it commanded the town of Kasimbázár, where all the foreigners had important factories. Moreover, the situation in those days was regarded as very healthy. The further history of the city is involved in the sketch of the general history of MURSHIDABAD DISTRICT. The City and its Buildings. - Vurshidabad exhibits at the present day but few traces of its former grandeur. The chief object of attraction is the palace of the Nawab, on the banks of the river, and the centre of the city. It is a large and imposing pile of buildings in the Italian Style, and its proportions are by some preferred to those of the Government House at Calcutta. It took ten years in building, and was completed in 1837, at a cost of £167,000. The architect was General Macleod, of the Bengal Engineers; but all the other persons engaged on the work were natives. The edifice itself is called by the natives the Aina Mahál; and, together with other buildings enclosed within the same wall, it is known as the Nizánat kili or fort. The palace is 125 feet long, 200 wide, and 80 high. It has a splendid marble floor, and contains a banqueting-hall 290 feet long, with sliding doors encased in mirrors. In the centre of the building is a dome, from which hangs a vast and most superb chandelier of 150 branches, presented to the Nawab by the Queen. Beneath stands a beautiful ivory throne, with painted and gilded flowers, a specimen of the perfection of that ivory work for which Murshidábád is famous. Hung on the walls are portraits of the present Nawáb, his ancestors, and his sons.'-(Travels of a Hindu, vol. i. pp. 79, 80.) The zanáná, or private apartments, are situated to the right of the main entrance, and in the rear of the palace. Within the same enclosure is the Inámbára or house of prayer,' which is built directly in front of the northern principal door. Outside the kilá, and a short distance on the left along the road leading to Barhampur, is a magnificent range of coach-houses and stabling for horses and elephants. The Nizámat College, which has been built exclusively for the education of the relatives of the Nawab, at a cost of £7800, is situated in the opposite direction, a little way up the river. The present Imámbára dates only from A.H. 1264 (A.D. 1847), as is denoted by an inscription composed of the letters of the words, “The VOL. X.
