Ghazipur

Ghazipur, a town and district of British India, in the Benares division of the United Provinces. The town stands on the left bank of the Ganges, 44 m. E. of Benares. It is the headquarters of the government opium department, where all the opium from the United Provinces is collected and manufactured under a monopoly. There are also scent distilleries, using the produce of the rose-gardens in the vicinity. Lord Cornwallis, governor-general of India, died at Ghazipur in 1805, and a domed monument and marble statue (by Flaxman) are erected over his grave. Pop. (1901) 39,429.

The district of Ghazipur has an area of 1389 sq. m. It forms part of the great alluvial plain of the Ganges, which divides it into two unequal portions. The northern subdivision lies between the Gumti and the Gogra, whose confluences with the main stream mark its eastern and western limits respectively. The southern tract is a much smaller strip of country, enclosed between the Karamnasa and the great river itself. There are no hills in the district. A few lakes are scattered here and there, formed where the rivers have deserted their ancient channels. The largest is that of Suraha, once a northern bend of the Ganges, but now an almost isolated sheet of water, 5 m. long by about 4 broad. Ghazipur is said to be one of the hottest and dampest districts in the United Provinces. In 1901 the population was 913,818, showing a decrease of 11% in the decade. Sugar refining is the chief industry, and provides the principal article of export. The main line of the East Indian railway traverses the southern portion of the district, with a branch to the Ganges bank opposite Ghazipur town; the northern portion is served by the Bengal & North-Western system.

* * *