SYLHET  , a See also:

• TOWN

town and See also:

• DISTRICT

district of See also:

• BRITISH

British See also:

• INDIA
• INDIA, FRENCH

India, in the See also:

• SURMA, or BARAK

Surma valley See also:

• DIVISION (from Lat. dividere, to break up into parts, separate)

division of Eastern See also:

• BENGAL
• BENGAL, BAY OF

Bengal and See also:

• ASSAM

Assam . The town is on the right See also:

• BANK

bank of the See also:

• RIVER

river Surma, on rising ground, embowered in groves . Pop . (1901), 13,893 . There are manufactures of mats, carved See also:

• IVORY (Fr. ivoire, Lat. ebur)
• IVORY, SIR JAMES (1765-1842)

ivory and shells, and See also:

• FURNITURE (from " furnish," Fr. fournir)

furniture . There is an unaided See also:

• COLLEGE (Collegium)

college, founded in 1892, which is mainly supported by a native See also:

• GENTLEMAN (from Lat. gentilis, " belonging to a race or gens," and " man "; Fr. gentilhomme, Span. gentil hombre, Ital. gentil huomo, in its original and strict signification, a term denoting a man of good family, the Lat. generosus (its invariable transl

gentleman . There are two dispensaries and an See also:

• ENGLISH

English See also:

• CHURCH
• CHURCH (according to most authorities derived from the Gr. Kvpcaxov [&wµa], " the Lord's [house]," and common to many Teutonic, Slavonic and other languages under various forms—Scottish kirk, Ger. Kirche, Swed. kirka, Dan. kirke, Russ. tserkov, Buig. cerk
• CHURCH, FREDERICK EDWIN (1826-1900)
• CHURCH, GEORGE EARL (1835–1910)
• CHURCH, RICHARD WILLIAM (1815–189o)
• CHURCH, SIR RICHARD (1784–1873)

church . The See also:

• GREAT

great See also:

• EARTHQUAKE

earthquake of the 12th of See also:

• JUNE

June 1897 destroyed every substantial See also:

• BUILDING

building, but caused very little loss of See also:

• LIFE

life . Sylhet is the largest town in Assam, but is steadily decaying, being 30 M. from a railway and inaccessible to steamers during the dry See also:

• SEASON (0. Fr. seson, seison, mod. saison, Lat. satio, sowing time, the spring, from serere, to sow; in Late Lat. the word is found with its present meaning, the spring being considered as particularly the season of the year)

season . The DISTRICT OF SYLHET has an See also:

• AREA

area of 5388 sq. m . It consists of the See also:

• LOWER

lower valley of the Surma or Barak river, and for the most See also:

• PART

part is a See also:

• UNIFORM

uniform level broken only by scattered clusters of sandy hillocks called tads, and;bintersected by a network of See also:

• RIVERS
• RIVERS, ANTHONY WOODVILLE, or WYDEVILLE, 2ND EARL (c. 1442—1483)
• RIVERS, EARL
• RIVERS, RICHARD SAVAGE, 4TH EARL (c. 1660—1712)

rivers and drainage channels . It is a broad and densely-cultivated See also:

• PLAIN (O. Fr. plain, from Lat. plenum)

plain, except in the extreme See also:

• NORTH
• NORTH, BARONS
• NORTH, MARIANNE (1830—1890)
• NORTH, ROGER (1653-1734)
• NORTH, SIR THOMAS (1535?-16o1?)

north, where the enormous rainfall converts many square See also:

• MILES, NELSON APPLETON (1839— )

miles of See also:

• LAND

land into one huge See also:

• LAKE
• LAKE, GERARD LAKE, 1ST VISCOUNT (1744-1808)

lake during the rains, and in the See also:

• SOUTH
• SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

south, where eight See also:

• LOW, SETH (1850- )
• LOW, WILL HICOK (1853- )

low ranges of hills, spurs of the See also:

• TIPPERA (Tripura)

Tippera mountains, run out into the plain, the highest range being about 1500 ft. above See also:

• SEA (in O. Eng. sae, a common Teutonic word; cf. Ger. See, Dutch Zee, &c.; the ultimate source is uncertain)
• SEA, COMMAND OF THE

sea-level .

There is also a small detached See also:

• GROUP

group in the centre of the district called the Ita hills . The district is watered by the branches of the Surma (q.v.) which are navigable by large boats, and support a busy See also:

• TRAFFIC

traffic . The See also:

• CLIMATE

climate is extremely See also:

• DAMP

damp and the rainfall is heavy, reaching an See also:

• ANNUAL

annual See also:

• AVERAGE

average of over 150 in.; the See also:

• RAINY, ROBERT (1826-1906)

rainy season generally lasts from See also:

• APRIL

April to See also:

• OCTOBER

October . In 1901 the See also:

• POPULATION (Lat. populus, people; populare, to populate)

population was 2,241,848, showing an increase of 4% in the See also:

• DECADE (from Gr. Oka, ten)

decade . More than See also:

• HALF

half are Mahommedans . See also:

• TEA (Chinese cha, Amoy dialect t€)

Tea cultivation is a flourishing See also:

• INDUSTRY (Lat. industria, from indu-, a form of the pre, position in, and either stare, to stand, or struere, to pile up)

industry in the See also:

• SOUTHERN

southern hills . The Assam-Bengal railway crosses the district, but See also:

• TRADE (O. Eng. trod, footstep, from tredan, to tread; in M. Eng. the forms teed, trod and trade appear, the last in the sense of a beaten track)
• TRADE, BOARD OF

trade is still largely river-See also:

• BORNE, KARL LUDWIG (1786–1837)

borne . Great damage was done by the earthquake of June 1897, which was followed by an outbreak of malarial See also:

• FEVER (Lat. febris, connected with fervere, to burn)

fever . Sylhet passed into the hands of the British in 1765, with the See also:

• REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest of Bengal, of which it formed an integral part until 1874, being included in the Dpca division . In that See also:

• YEAR

year it was annexed, together with the adjoining district of See also:

• CACHAR, or KACHAR

Cachar, to the See also:

• CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief-commissionership of Assam which was amalgamated with eastern Bengal in 1905 . See Sylhet District Gazetteer (See also:

• CALCUTTA

Calcutta, 1905) .