RAJSHAHI

formerly Rampur Boalia, city, west-central Bangladesh. It lies just north of the Padma (Ganges) River. Selected by the Dutch in the early 18th century as the site of a factory (trading post), it was constituted a municipality in 1876. Now an industrial centre, it produces silk, matches, timber, and processed agricultural products. It has a hospital, the Varendra Research Museum, a sericulture institute, and the University of Rajshahi (1953) and eight affiliated colleges. To the northwest of Rajshahi lies an elevated and undulating Barind region; to the south is the high, well-drained Padma Valley; and a swampy depression carries off the drainage of the land in the immediate vicinity of the city. The chief crops in the area are rice, jute, pulses, and sugarcane. The region's sericulture accounts for almost the entire silk output of Bangladesh. Other cottage industries include weaving, metalworking and woodworking, and pottery. The region is believed to have formed part of the old Pundra, or Paundravardhana kingdom, the country of the Pods, whose capital was at Mahasthan. Pop. (1981) city, 171,600.