படிமம்:Fort at Baharampur, West Bengal, c 1850.jpg

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From the Original

Boorhanpoor, formerly the capital of the province of Candeish, is situated in lat. 21° 16' N, and long. 76° 18' E., on the north bank of the Taptee river, which rises in the province of Gundwana, and running westward, nearly in a parallel line with the Nerbudda, falls into the Gulf of Cambay at Surat. This beautiful stream, which is fordable during the dry season, laves the walls of the picturesque ruins of the King's Fort, whose time-worn bastions and dilapidated ramparts are mirrored on the tranqui. surface of its shining waters.

Boorhanpoor, when under Moslem rule, was a large and flourishing city. Being founded by a holy person of great repute, it was early chosen as the residence of one of the most powerful chiefs established in the Deccan-Boorhan-ood-deen, who is represented to have been one of those ambitious and daring impostors which Islamism has so often produced since the days of its founder. This chief raised himself to great authority during his lifetime; and, since his death, has been esteemed as a saint. His mausoleum, at Rozah, surpasses in splendour the imperial sepulchre of Aurungzebe; and far greater honours are paid to his memory. Lamps are still kept burning over the venerated duat, and his sarcophagus is canopied by a pall of green velvet-the sacred colour, which indicates that those who are permitted to use it, are either descendants of the prophet, or have performed the pilgrimage to Mecca. The precincts of the building are the abode of moollahs, and other pious men, who are in daily attendance at the tomb ; and upon great occasions, large nobuts (or drums), which are kept in one of the ante-chambers for the purpose, are beaten by the faithful to commemorate the merits of the deceased saint.

The King's Fort (or Citadel of Boorhanpoor), no longer formidable as a place of arms, is picturesque in its decay. Rising boldly from an elevated bank of the river, it conveys to the spectator an idea of strength which a closer inspection does not warrant: for its vast tenantless courts are cambered with huge fragments of ruins, and rank vegetation has penetrated to its most secret recesses. Still it is an interesting relic of Moslem grandeur fading before the relentless footsteps of Time; and the deserted chambers and ruined courts cannot be contemplated without a feeling of sadness. The adjoining city is still comparatively populous, and has been considered to be one of the largest and best built in the Deccan. The greater number of the houses are of brick, handsomely ornamented; and many of them are three storeys high: there is also a large chowk or market-place), and an extensive thoroughfare called the Raj Bazaar. The remains of Mohammedan tombs and mosques in the neighbourhood, show that Boorhanpoor, under its original masters, was an important place. Its principal religious edifice, the Jumma Musjid, still bears substantial evidence of the wealth of its rulers, and is a handsome building of grey marble, crowned with lofty minarets. The followers of Boorhan-ood-deen, by whom this mosque as well as the fort was built, are still very numerous among the resident population, and constitute a peculiar sect known by the denomination of Bohrahs. They are a noble-looking race, and are distinguished from the rest of the inhabitants by a costume, in which is blended that of the place, and also of Arabia, the supposed birthplace of the saint whose precepts they follow. They are men of active habits, and generally of great wealth, acquired in mercantile pursuits. The best houses in the city are occupied by the Bohrahs, and they are celebrated all over India for their commercial probity and enterprise.

After the decline of the Mohammedan empire in Hindoostan, Boorhanpoor and its adjacent territory fell into the hands of the Mahrattaa, and these, with the neighbouring fortress of Asseerghur (styled the key of the Deccan), were among the first trophies of the campaigns which, under Lake, Wellesley, and others, ultimately subdued the formidable power which had risen upon the ruin of the Mohammedan states, and threatened to involve the whole of India in a cruel and devastating war.