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Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 21, p. 232.

232 Rf4NGPUR TOWN in Eastern Bengal and Assam, situated in 25' 45' N. and 89° 15' E. Population (igoi), 15,96o. The name of Rangpur (the `abode of bliss') is said to be derived from the legend that Raja Bhagadatta, who took part in the war of the Mahabharata, possessed a country residence here. Rangpur was captured by the Afghan king Ala-ud-din Husain, who ruled at Gaur from 1493 to 1519. It is an unhealthy place, and suffered severely in- the earthquake of 1897, when nearly all its build- ings were wrecked. Rangpur was constituted a municipality in 1869. The municipal income during the decade ending 1901-2 averaged Rs. 31,ooo, and the expenditure Rs. 26,ooo. In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 53,000, of which Rs. 9,ooo was derived from a tax on persons (or property tax), Rs. 8,ooo from a conservancy rate, and Rs. 9,ooo from a tax on vehicles; the expenditure in the same year was Rs. 59,000. Two channels have been dug to drain the marshes in the neighbour- hood of the town, but one of them was rendered useless by the earth- quake of 1897. The town contains the usual public offices. The District jail has accommodation for 263 prisoners. The principal jail industries carried on are oil-pressing, surki-pounding, string- and rope- making, bamboo and cane-work, cloth-weaving, carpentry, paddy-husking, and wheat and pulse-grinding. The Rangpur District school was founded in 1832 by the local zamindirs, and was taken over by Government in 1862; there were 385 pupils in igoi. The Tajhat estate maintains a high school, for which a good building has recently been erected. A technical school, known as the Bayley-Gobind Lal 'technical Institute, was founded in 1889, and is affiliated to the Sibpur Engineering College; it has ioi pupils on its rolls. Ranibagh.-Village in the Outer Himalayas, Naini Tal District, United Provinces. See KnTxcovknl. Ranibennur Taluka.-South-easternmost tdluka of Dharwar Dis- trict, Bombay, lying between 14° 24' and 14° 48' N. and 75° 27' and 75° 49' E., with an area of 405 square miles. The population in igoi was 104,274, compared with 92,978 in i89i. The density, 257 persons per square mile, slightly exceeds the District average. There are three towns, RANII3ENNUR (population, 14,851), the head-quarters, ByADU1 (6,659), and TUMINKATTI (6,341); and 116 villages. The demand for land revenue in 1903-4 was 1-78 lakhs, and for cesses Rs. 13,000- The country is generally flat, with a low range on the north and a group of hills in the east, and is well supplied with water. The prevailing soil is black in the low-lying parts and red on the hills and uplands. Important protective irrigation works have been constructed at Asundi and Medleri. The capital outlay to the end of 1903-4 on these tanks was 1-6 lakhs, and they supplied 341 acres in that year. Ranibennur Town.-Head-quarters of the tdluka of the same name in Dharwar District, Bombay, situated in 14° 37' N. and 75° 38'E.,