BENGAL, BAY OF, part of the Indian Ocean, lying be tween peninsular India and Burma. The Ioo-fathom line runs parallel to the Coromandel coast some som. away, and encloses the Andaman and Nicobar islands, submerged continuations of the Arakan ranges, on the east. Opposite the mouth of the Ganges the submarine platform is greatly extended. The bay receives many large rivers : the Ganges and Brahmaputra on the north, the Irrawaddy on the east, and the Mahanadi, Godavari, Kistna and Cauvery on the west ; all remarkable for their deltas. The Deccan coast provides no harbours, Madras having a mere open roadstead, but on the east the drowned coast has given many good ports, such as Akyab, Moulmein and Rangoon. Islands in clude the Andaman, Nicobar and Mergui groups. Cheduba and other islands off the Burmese coast are remarkable for a chain of mud volcanoes, occasionally active.