Muttra

Muttra, a district and its capital in the Northwest Provinces of British India. The former occupies an area of 1,453 square miles along the banks of the Jumna, being bounded by Agra S., Aligarh and Gurgaon N., Bhartpur W., and Manipuri and Etah E. The surface, except in the S.W., is uniformly level. The agricultural products are scanty, although the soil towards the E. is remarkably rich, but enough is grown in the way of cereals, pulse, and cotton to keep the population, almost entirely Hindu, in fair prosperity. The climate is liable to great extremes, and the Jumna, sometimes an expanse of mud, sometimes a widespread flood, adds to the general unhealthiness. The central portion of the district is one of the most sacred spots in India as being the home of Krishna, the favourite Hindu god, and Balarama, his brother. Here, too, Buddhism took its rise. The city of Muttra stands on the right bank of the Jumna, 30 miles above Agra. Its antiquity must be considerable, and even in 400 A.D. it was an important Buddhist centre. For this reason the Mohammedan conquerors more than once laid a heavy hand on the place, and destroyed many temples and monasteries, lint it is still the goal of thousands of pilgrims. The British cantonments lie outside the city.