BHIWANA, h'he-wii'na. A town of British India, in the District of Hissar, Punjab, 55 miles west of Dellii (Map: India, C 3). It has a con- siderable trade in metaU. sugar, spices, and salt, and is the chief trading centre of the district. Population, 35.500.
BHOPAL, h'ho-pal' (ii/io/, its founder + Hind.
pill, dam I. The capital of the British political
agency, and of the native State of the same name.
Central India (Map: India, C 4). Population,
in 1891, 70.300. It is surrounded by a dilapidated
stone wall of about two miles in circuit. The
fort, which is the residence of the Xawab. stands
on a huge rock outside the town. Other inter-
esting buildings comprise the Begum's palace,
two mosques, the arsenal, and the mint. The
to^TTi is clean, has fine promenade gardens, is well
lighted, and owns and operates its own water-
works, which utilize two immense tanks in the
immediate neighborhood — one being 2 miles in
length, and the other measuring 4^7^ miles by IVo-
Each sends forth a river, and most probably
both were formed by the embanking and dam-
ming up of their respective streams.
BHOPAL. A territory and British political
agency of Central India", situated within the
basins of the Ganges and the Xerbudda. in lati-
tude 22° 32' to 23= 46' X., and longitude 76° 25'
to 78° 50' E. It comprises 31 native administra-
tions, including the native State, and is under
the immediate superintendence of the Governor-
General. Area, 8200 square miles: population,
in 1801. 2.006.860: in 1901, 1,198,350.
BHRIGU, b'hre'goo. The name of a Brah-
manical tribe, ahd also of the discoverer of fire,
according to the mythology of the Vedas.
BHUJ, b'hnnj, or BHOOJ (named after its
founder. Bhuj or Bhoj ) . The capital of the
native State of Cutch or Kachh, India, situated
at the foot of a fortified hill of the same name,
in latitude 23° 15' N., and longitude 69° 44' E.,
about 35 miles from the sea (Jlap: India, A 4).
Its mosques and pagodas, interspersed with plan-
tations of dates, give to the town an imposing
appearance from a distance. A temple dedicated
to the cobra de capello is an interesting feature.
Bhuj is celebrated for its manufactures in gold
and silver. Population, about 25,400.
BHURTPORE. See Bu.vktpub.
BHUTAN, b'hoo-tan'. An independent State
of India, situated on the southern slope of the
Himalayas (Map: India. F 3). It is bounded
on the south by Bengal, and on the north and
east by Tibet. Some of the mountains attain an
altitude of over 16.000 feet. The area is esti-
mated at 16,000 square miles, and the popula-
tion at 200,000. Some poitions of the territory
are fertile, and produce millet, wheat, and rice.
The supply, however, is insufficient to meet the
domestic demand. Cattle are reared and consid-
erable numbers of a peculiar breed of ponies are
exported. The manufactures comprise coarse
cloths, silks, arms, and the production of musk.
The natives are linguistically and physically of
Tibetan stock, with some infiision of Ari-an, and
possibly also of Dravidian blood. Polygamy and
polyandry prevail. The common religion is
Buddhism in its Lamaistic form, with added su-
perstitions of local origin. The administration of
the State consists of a spiritual and secular ad-
mi.ture, divided between the secular Del R;ija,
who nominally is elected for a term of three years
by the penlops, or magnates, from their midst,
but in reality is the nominee of the predominat-
ing chieftains, and the Dharm Raja, the pre-
sumed reincarnation of Buddha, who is supposed
to interest himself solely with the spiritual
control of the State. The capital is Punakha, or
Dosen, a strong natural fortress, Bhutan for-
merly comprised considerable tracts of territory
now included in Bengal and Assam, which have
been annexed by the British Government in re-
taliation for outrages committed by the na-
tives. After an attack by the natives in 1865,
a punitive expedition was sent by the British
Government, with the result that a treaty was
concluded with the ruler of Bhutan, by the terms
of which he was to receive a subsidy of 50,000
rupees (about .$16,000) as a guarantee against
further aggression.
BIAFRA, be-a'fra. Bight of. An inlet of
the Gulf of Guinea (q.v. ) (Map: Africa, E 4).
The name is usually applied to that portion of
the Gulf of Guinea which extends along the west-
em coast of Africa between Cape Formosa on the
north an(J Cape Lopez on the south, and thus
borders Calabar, the German possession of Kam-
erun, and the northern part of French Congo.
The width of the bight is over 400 miles from
cape to cape. The island of Fernando Po lies
just off the Kamerun coast, and Prince's Island
and the island of Saint Thomas lie in the broad
entrance to the bight.
BIALOWICZA, byil'li-ve'cha, or ByiXOV-
YEZHSK.Y. PlSHTCHA, FOBEST OF. See LlTH-
BIALYSTOK, byal'e-stdk', or BIELOSTOK,
byal'd-stok'. A garrison town in the Government
of Grodno, ^Yestcm Russia, on the Bialy, a trib-
utary of the Narew, 45 miles southwest of Grod-
no (Map: Russia, B 4). It is well built, has a
commodious market, several churches, and a
municipal palace and park, called the "Versailles
of Poland,' the former residence of the C'oimta
of Braniski, Bialystok has manufactures of
woolen goods, leather, hats, soap, etc. Popula-
tion, in 1892, 62.626; in 1897, 63.927.
BIAN'CA, Ital. pron. byiin'ka. (1) In
Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, the gentle
younger sister of Katharine. She marries Lu-
centio after Katharine's marriage to Petruchio.
(2) In Shakespeare's Othello, a flame of Cassio.
(3) The heroine of Massinger and Fletcher's Fair
Maid of the Inn. (4) In Dean Milman's Fazio,
the wife of Fazio, who from jealousy denounces
her husband. She repents, but, failing to save
him, becomes insane and dies.
BIANCA VILLA, byan-kft-vel'lft (It. hinnca,
white + villa, tovm) . A city in Sicily, on the
southwest slope of Jlount Etna. 20 miles north-
west of Catania (Map: Italy. .110). The streets
are paved with lava, and in the vicinity are tho
basaltic grotto of Scila and the grotto of the
.Archi in the lava of 1607. with a tunnel half a
mile long at the height nf nearly 7000 feet. The
country prodiices wine and gr:un. and the cotton
from all this part of Sicilv bears the name of
Biancavilla. The town was founded as an .-Mba-
nese colonv in 1480. Population, in 1881, 13,319;
in moi. 133.-)S.
BIANCHI, bvan'k* (It., the Whites, plur. of
bianco: cf. Eng. blayil:) . A political party in
