KAMRUP, a district of British India, in the Brahmaputra valley division
of Eastern Bengal and Assam. The headquarters are at Gauhati. Area, 3858
sq. m.; pop. (1901), 589,187, showing a decrease of 7% in the decade. In
the immediate neighbourhood of the Brahmaputra the land is low, and
exposed to annual inundation. In this marshy tract reeds and canes
flourish luxuriantly, and the only cultivation is that of rice. At a
comparatively short distance from the river banks the ground begins to
rise in undulating knolls towards the mountains of Bhutan on the north,
and towards the Khasi hills on the south. The hills south of the
Brahmaputra in some parts reach the height of 800 ft. The Brahmaputra,
which divides the district into two nearly equal portions, is navigable
by river steamers throughout the year, and receives several tributaries
navigable by large native boats in the rainy season. The chief of these
are the Manas, Chaul Khoya and Barnadi on the north, and the Kulsi and
Dibru on the south bank. There is a government forest preserve in the
district and also a plantation where seedlings of teak, _sal_, _sissu_,
_sum_, and _nahor_ are reared, and experiments are being made with the
caoutchouc tree. The population is entirely rural, the only town with
upwards of 5000 inhabitants being Gauhati (11,661). The temples of Hajo
and Kamakhya attract many pilgrims from all quarters. The staple crop of
the district is rice, of which there are three crops. The indigenous
manufactures are confined to the weaving of silk and cotton cloths for
home use, and to the making of brass cups and plates. The cultivation
and manufacture of tea by European capital is not very prosperous. The
chief exports are rice, oil-seeds, timber and cotton; the imports are
fine rice, salt, piece goods, sugar, betel-nuts, coco-nuts and hardware.
A section of the Assam-Bengal railway starts from Gauhati, and a branch
of the Eastern Bengal railway has recently been opened to the opposite
bank of the river. A metalled road runs due south from Gauhati to
Shillong.
KAMYSHIN, a town of Russia, in the government of Saratov, 145 m. by
river S.S.W. of the city of Saratov, on the right bank of the Volga.
Pop. (1861), 8644; (1897), 15,934. Being the terminus of the railway to
Tambov, Moscow and the Baltic ports, it is an important port for the
export of cereals and salt from the Volga, and it imports timber and
wooden wares. It is famous for its water-melons. Peter the Great built
here a fort, which was known at first as Dmitrievsk, but acquired its
present name in 1780.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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