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Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 6, p. 236.

236 3LBALASI2ROR TO I'IV (190I), 8,530. The town is surrounded by a stone wall with flanking bastions and four gates. On the high ground to the north stands the Nawab's palace. On a hill 3 miles from the town an annual fair is held in August in honour of Dungaria Mahadeo. The town is administered as a municipality. Balasore District.--Northern District of the Orissa Division of Bengal, situated between 20° 44' and 21° 57' N. and 86° i6' and 87° 3i' E., with an area of 2,085 1 square miles. The District of Mid- napore bounds it on the north-east; the wooded hills of the Tributary States of Mayuirbhanj, Nilgiri, and Keonjhar lie along the northern and western flank; and on the south the Baitarani river marks the boundary of Cuttack. The Bay of Bengal forms the eastern boundary. Balasore District consists of a strip of alluvial land lying between the sea and the hills which rise from the western boundary. This strip varies in breadth from about 30 miles at the north- Physica. east extremity to io miles at the narrowest or central portion and 40 miles in the south. Along the coast is a belt of land about 3 miles broad, which is impregnated with salt and unfit for cultivation. The western portion which runs along the foot of the hills is jungly and uncultivable. Between these two extremes lies the fertile arable country which constitutes the greater part of the District. It is watered, proceeding from north to south, by the river systems of the Subarnarekha, Haskura, Saratha, Panchpara, Burha- balang, Kansbans, Salandi, and Baitarani. The Subarnarekha, which rises in Chota Nagpur, pursues a winding course of some 60 miles in this Iistrict. It communicates with the coast canal at Jamkunda lock, and is largely used by country boats from Calcutta. The Haskura is a hill stream which rises in Mayurbhanj; it contains very little water in the hot season, but during the rains it receives and carries away a great portion of the Subarnarekha floods. The Saratha runs a course parallel to the Haskura. The Panchpara is formed by the confluence of several hill streams from Mayurbhanj, the principal being the Bans, Jamira, and Bhairingi, which unite, bifurcate, and reunite in the wildest confusion. The tide runs up only Io miles; and although the inter- lacings constantly spread into open swamps, yet one of them, the Bans, is deep enough at certain parts of its course for boats of 4 tons burden. The Burhabalang, on which Balasore town is situated, runs a tortuous course of 35 miles; the name signifies ' The old twister.' The tide runs up 23 miles and though sea-going steamers can no longer enter it, owing to the sand-bar across its mouth, it is navigable by brigs and sloops as far as Balasore town. The Kansbans, which is formed by the confluence of a number of small hill streams rising in the Tributary 1 The area shown in the Censuts Resort of 1901 was 2,059 square miles; that given above is taken from figures supplied by the Surveyor-General.