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lation (1901), 1,462. To the north-west is a fort about half a mile
in length, with a low rampart wall and bastions encircling the crest
of the hill on which it stands; it is strong towards the south, but
assailable from the hills to the north. The fort is said to have
been constructed about the middle of the twelfth century by a chief of
the Bdlnot clan of Rdjputs (a branch of the Solankis). According to
the Musalman historians, it was taken by Muzaffar Shah of Gujarat
at the end of the fourteenth century, and twice by Mahmfid Khilji of
Mdlwd in the middle of the fifteenth century. Subsequently, it be-
longed alternately to the Rands of Udaipur and the Mughal emperors.
In or about r65o Shah Jahdn granted it in ji;ir to Raja Rūp Singh
of Kishangarh, who partially built a palace there, but Rand Raj Singh
retook it in r66o. Twenty years later, Aurangzeb invaded Mewar
and captured Mdndalgarh, and in 17oo he made it over to Jujhar
Singh, the Rathor chief of Pisangan (in Ajmer District), from whom
it was recovered by Rand Amar Singh in 17o6 ; and it has since
remained in the uninterrupted possession of his successors. In the
town are a primary school, attended by about 6o boys, and a dispen-
sary. Iron mines are still worked at Bigod and other places in the
district.
Mandapeta.-Town in the Rdmachandrapuram tdluk of Godavari
District, Madras, situated in 16° 51' N. and 81° 55' E. Population
(igoi), 8,38o. Local affairs are managed by a Union panchrz)W.
Manddrgiri.-Hill about 700 feet high, in the Bdnka subdivision
of Bhagalpur District, Bengal, situated in 24° So' N. and 87° 2' E.,
about 40 miles south of the town of Bhdgalpur. The hill, which
consists of a huge mass of granite overgrown near the summit with
low jungle, is a sacred spot to the Hindus, who consider it the
mythological mountain Manddr, which was used in churning the
ocean. The oldest buildings are two ruined temples near the top
of the hill, which are ascribed by local tradition to a legendary
Chola king who was cured of his leprosy by bathing at a tank
here. There are two inscriptions and some rude carvings on the
rock, and numerous artificial tanks have been cut in the side of the
hill, some of which go back to the time of Aditya Sen (A.D. 675).
The largest of these, known as the Sitakund, is Too feet long by 5oo
feet wide and stands 500 feet above the surrounding plain.
[M. Martin, Eastern India, vol. ii, pp. 60-3.]
Mandasor Zila.-District of the Gwalior State, Central India,
lying between 23 33' and 25° i9' N. and 74° 11' and 75° 54' E.,
with an area of 1,721 square miles. The population in T9oi was
196,434, giving a density of 114 persons per square mile. The
district contains three towns-MANDASOR (population, 20,936), the
head-quarters, NFMACH (including the cantonment, 21,588), and
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