BARIND

also called Barind Tract, geographic region in parts of northwestern Bangladesh and north-central West Bengal state, India. It lies northwest of the confluence of the Ganges (Padma) and Brahmaputra (Jamuna) rivers and is bordered by the floodplains of the Mahananda River (west) and the Karatoya River (east), tributaries of the Ganges and of the Brahmaputra, respectively. Barind is a comparatively high, undulating region, with reddish and yellowish clay soils. It is cut by ravines and is divided into separate sections by the Atrai River and one of its tributaries, the Jamuna, or Little Jamuna (not to be confused with the Brahmaputra River to the east). Agricultural plots are commonly irrigated and stand between stretches of wasteland and scrub. Rice is the predominant crop, but wheat, mustard, pulses, and palmyra (Tal) palms also are cultivated. To the east and southeast of the Barind is the lower Atrai Basin (Bhar Basin), a vast area of lowland marshes that floods completely during the rainy season; settlements there must be raised on stilts or built on earthen mounds. The fertile soils of this region are especially suited to rice cultivation.