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Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 21, p. 160.

16o RAJSHAHI DIVISION RAMPVR BOALIA (21,589). The chief place of commercial impor- tance is the jute mart of Sirajganj. A considerable amount of trade also passes through SARA, where the northern section of the Eastern Bengal State Railway meets the Padma, or main stream of the Ganges; SAIDPUR is the head-quarters of this section. GAUR and PANDUA were capitals of the early Muhammadan rulers of Bengal and contain ruins of great interest; DEVIKOT, GHORAGHAT, MAHASTHAN, and SHERPUR also possessed some importance under Muhammadan rule, and many traditions of earlier times are associated with the ruins at these places; but with these exceptions the Division contains few places of historical interest. Rajshahi District (the `royal territory ').-District in the South- western corner of the Rajshahi Division, Eastern Bengal and Assam, lying between 24° 7' and 25° 3' N. and 88° 18' and 89° 21' E., with an area of 2,593 square miles. It is bounded on the north by Dinajpur and Bogra Districts; on the east by Bogra and Pabna ; on the south and south-west by the Padma, or main stream of the Ganges, which separates it from Nadia and Murshidabad ; and on the west by Malda. The District is composed of three entirely distinct tracts. The north-western portion, bordering on Malda and Dinajpur, is elevated and undulating, with a stiff red clay or quasi-laterite Physical aspects. soil where not cultivated, it is covered with brush- , wood, interspersed with large trees, the remains of an extensive forest. Along the bank of the Padma or Ganges is a comparatively high and well-drained tract of sandy soil, while the central and eastern Ihiinas are a swampy depression, waterlogged and abounding in marshes ; the rivers that once drained this tract have been cut in half by the Padma and their mouths have silted up. With the 'exception of the PADMA, which forms the southern boundary of the District, and of the MAHANANDA, which runs for a short distance along its western border, the river system is a net- work of moribund streams and watercourses, some of which are connected with the Padma and others with the Brahmaputra. The Baral is an offshoot of the Padma, which eventually mingles its waters with those of the Atrai ; its upper channels have silted up, and from December to June there is now scarcely any current. The Narad was formerly another important branch of the Padma, but its channel is now practically dry even during the rains. The chief representatives of the Brahmaputra system are the Atrai and the JAMUNA. The former is navigable throughout the year by small cargo boats, the latter only in the rains. Another river, whose lower reaches are usually passable by country boats, is the Baranai, which flows in an easterly direction through the subdivision of Nator. The District slopes slightly from west to east; its drainage is