The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Nagpur

NAGPUR, näg- or nŭg-poor′, or NAGPORE, India, a city, district and division of the Central Provinces. (1) The city, capital of the district and division, and also of the Central Provinces, 520 miles by rail east of Bombay, although at an elevation of 1,100 feet above sea-level, occupies an unhealthful situation on the banks of the Nag. The municipal limits include, besides the town proper, the native suburb of Sitabaldi, the European station of Sitabaldi, the small suburb of Takli, and a considerable area of land under cultivation. In the centre rises Sitabaldi Hill, crowned with the fort, which is garrisoned by a small detachment from the British regiment at Kamptee, nine miles distant. There are some Hindu temples and mausolea built in the best style of Mahratta architecture, and several schools. The chief manufactures are cotton and woolen cloths. There is a trade in wheat and other grain, salt, country cloth, European piece and miscellaneous goods, silk, etc., and coal is obtained from a bed at a depth of 200 feet, which is estimated to contain 17,000,000 tons. Here, in 1817, a British force of 1,350 men defeated a Mahratta army of 18,000 men. Nagpur was formerly the seat of a line of rajahs, which became extinct in 1853, when their territory was annexed to the British dominions. Pop. 101,415. (2) The district of Nagpur has an area of 3,483 square miles; pop. about 800,000; (3) the division of Nagpur, divided into five districts, has an area of 23,521 square miles. Fruits, vegetables, cotton, rice, maize oilseed and oranges are cultivated. The locality is also rich in minerals, coal, antimony, ochre, gold being extensively mined. The territory was annexed by the British in 1853, previous to which it had been part of the Mahratta kingdom under the rule of the rajahs of Berar. Pop. 3,109,838.