=Barrackpur=, Bengal. 23N. 88E. Prominent town in Sepoy mutinies, 1824, 1857. Contains Lady Canning's tomb. =Barsana=, United Provs. 28N. 77E. Fabled to be a res. of Radha, mistress of Kishna. Pillaged by imperial troops, 1774. =Barwani=, Central India. 22N. 75E. Said to have been f. by Rana Chandra Singh, c. 1650. Near town is sacred hill of Jains, and temple with inscription dating from 1166. =Basarh=, Bengal. 26N. 85E. Visited by Buddha, and sacred town of Buddhists. Visited by explorers Fa Hian and Hieun Tsiang. =Basavapatna=, Mysore. 14N. 76E. Captured by Bijapurs, 1637; destroyed by Hyder Ali, 1763; plundered by Mahrattas, 1791. Ancient res. of Baba Budan. =Basra= ('fortress'), Asiatic Turkey. 30N. 48E. F. under Omar, 656. Contains tomb of Zobeir. (See 'Travels of Marco Polo.') =Bassein=, Bombay. 19N. 73E. Ceded to Portuguese, 1534; taken by Mahrattas, 1765; by British, 1780. =Batala=, Punjab. 32N. 75E. F. by Rai Ram Deo, c. 1465. Contains tomb of Shamsher Khan, foster-brother of Akbar. =Batavia= ('good land'), East Indies. 6S. 107E. First European settlement f. by Pieter Both, 1610; new city f. by Jean Koen, 1621. Unsuccessfully besieged by Kings of Bantam and Jacantra, 1619. Earthquake experienced, 1699. =Bayana=, Punjab. 26N. 77E. Contains temple with inscription dated 1043. Fort near captured by Mohammed Ghori, 1196; by Sikanda Lodi, 1492; by Humayun, 1535. =Bayazid=, Turkish Armenia. 39N. 44E. Captured by Russians, 1828, 1854, 1877. Yielded to Turkey by Treaty of Berlin, 1878. =Bednore= ('bamboo city'), Mysore. 14N. 75E. Capital of Rajah of Ikari, 1645. Taken by Hyder Ali, 1763; by General Matthews, 1783; by Tippoo Sahib, 1784. =Beer-Sheba= ('well of the oath'), Palestine. 31N. 35E. Only ruins remain of ancient city famous in Biblical history from time of Abraham's digging a well and planting a grove. =Begampur=, Bombay. 18N. 76E. Contains tomb of daughter of Aurungzebe. =Behar= ('monastery'), Bengal. 25N. 86E. Famous as ancient centre of Buddhism, and as city in which Buddha preached. =Behistun= ('place of the gods'), Persia. 34N. 47E. Rock on which cuneiform inscriptions recounting deeds of Darius I. are engraved; discovered by Sir Henry Rawlinson, 1835. =Beit Jibrin=, Syria. 32N. 35E. Visited by W. M. Thomson, and described in 'The Land and the Book.' =Bela=, Baluchistan. 26N. 66E. Contains tomb of Sir Robert Sandeman. =Belgaum=, Bombay. 16N. 75E. Taken by Aurungzebe, 1686; by Hyder Ali, 1776; by British, 1818. =Bellary=, Madras. 15N. 77E. Captured by Sivaji, the Mahratta, c. 1678; ceded to British, 1800. =Benares= ('the splendid'), N.W. Provs. 25N. 83E. Visited by Hsuan Tsang in 7th century A.D. Religious capital of India, containing many temples. Taken by Sultan Mahmoud, 1190; ceded to England, 1775; outbreak during Indian Mutiny, 1857. (See Sir Edwin Arnold's 'Light of Asia,' Burton's 'Vikram and the Vampire.')