ROORKEE  , or RURKr, a

town of British India, in the Saharanpur district of the United Provinces, on the Oudh & Rohilkhand railway, 22 M . E. of Saharanpur . Pop . (1901) 17,197 . It is the headquarters of the workshops of the Ganges canal, and also of the Bengal Sappers and Miners . Two heavy batteries of artillery are usually stationed in the cantonment . The Thomason Civil Engineering College, founded in 1848, was transferred from the Public Works to the Education Department in 1895 and reorganized . It was instituted in order to train natives in engineering, and students originally received stipends . After 1875 the emoluments were limited, and became in the nature of scholarships, but the education of all students, remained practically free till 1896, when fees began to be charged . The college works in co-operation with the workshops and foundry of the canal, and also trains in surveying, photography and other subjects, having chemical, physical, electrical and mechanical laboratories and workshops .