SHRIRAMPUR

also called Serampur, or Serampore town, West Bengal state, northeastern India, just west of the Hooghly River, part of the Calcutta urban agglomeration. Originally a Danish settlement founded in the 18th century and called Frederiksnagar, the town was acquired by the British in 1845. A Baptist mission was begun there in 1793. Serampore College was established (1818) by three Baptist missionaries, who were also the first in India to cast type in an Indian alphabet; the earliest Bengali newspapers were issued in Shrirampur in 1818. The first Indian paper mills were built there in the 1870s. It was constituted a municipality in 1865. Jute, rice, and cotton milling and the manufacture of chemicals, rope, jewelry, handlooms, and metal polish are important industries. Shrirampur has a library, hospital, the Government Weaving Institute, and a textile-technology school. A large festival is held annually. Pop. (1991) 137,028.