MĀLEGA0N TOWN 83
Bengal and Assam, situated in 25° 2' N. and 88° 8' E., at the con-
fluence of the Kālindri with the Mahanandd. Population (igoi),
3)743- The town is admirably situated for river traffic, and probably
rose to prosperity as the port Of PANDUA. During the eighteenth
century it was the seat of thriving cotton and silk manufactures, and
both the French and Dutch had factories here. In i8io Mālda was
already beginning to lose its prosperity; and, though some trade is still
carried on in grain, it shows signs of poverty and decay. ' Malda was
constituted a municipality in 1869. The income during the decade
ending 1901-2 averaged Rs. 3,450, and the expenditure .Rs. 3,300.
In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 3,400, mainly from a tax on persons
(or property tax) ; and the expenditure was 88. 3,000. 'rhe town
contains a mosque built in 1566. At Nimasarai, near the confluence
of the Mahānandā and Kālindri, stands an old brick tower with stones
shaped like elephant tusks projecting from its walls. It resembles
the Hiran Alinār at Fatehpur Sikri, and was probably intended for
a hunting tower.
Mālegaon Taluka. - Tdluka of Nāsik District, Bombay, lying
between 20 2o' and 20° 53' N. and 74° r8° and 74 49' E., with an
area of 777 square miles. It contains one town, MALEGAON (popula
tion, 19,054), the head-quarters; and 146 villages. The population in
19or was 96,707, compared with 86,243 in 1891. The density, 124
persons per square mile, is below the District average. The demand
for land revenue in 1903-4 was 25 lakhs, and for cesses Rs. 17,000.
Mālegaon is hilly in the north; but in the south, except for a few small
hills, it is flat and treeless. Three ranges run through the tāluka, and
are crossed by numerous cart-tracks into Khandesh and the adjoining
tāluka, the most southerly range being traversed by a section of the
Bombay-Agra trunk road. The tāluka is healthy and well watered.
The chief rivers are the Girna with its tributaries in the centre, and
the Bori in the north. The Girnā passes close to Malegaon town.
The annual rainfall averages 21 inches.
Mālegaon Town.--Head-quarters of the tāluka of the same name
in Ndsik District, Bombay, situated in 20 33' N. and 74° 32' E., on
the trunk road from Bombay to Agra, 154 miles north-east of Bombay
and 24 miles north-east of Manmād on the Great Indian Peninsula
Railway. Population (igoi), 19,054. Malegaon was formerly a
cantonment, but the troops have now been finally withdrawn. It has
a municipality, established in 1863. The income during the decade
ending igoi averaged Rs. 24,000. In 1903-4 the income was
Rs. 32,000. The town contains two cotton-ginning factories, about
3,ooo hand-looms for cotton weaving, which employ 7;000 persons,
a Subordinate judge's court, two English schools, and a dispensary.
Malegaon was occupied by Arab troops during the Pindari War, and
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