BROACH or BHARUCH, an ancient city and modern dis trict of British India, in the northern division of Bombay. The city is on the right bank of the Nerbudda, about 3om. from the sea, and 2o3m. N. of Bombay. The area, including suburbs, occu pies 2i square miles. Pop. (1921) 42,648. The sea-borne trade is confined to a few coasting vessels. There is a considerable cotton industry; flour milling and handicrafts are also carried on. The fort containing the civil courts, the gaol, church, municipal offices, etc., stands on a hill above the river. Broach is the Barakacheva of the Chinese traveller Hsiian Tsang and the Barygaza of Ptolemy and Arrian. Upon the conquest of Gujarat by the Mohammedans, and the formation of the State of that name, Broach formed part of the new kingdom. On its overthrow by Akbar in 1572, it was annexed to the Mogul empire and governed by a nawab. The Mahrattas became its masters in 1685, from which period it was held in subordination to the Peshwa until 1772, when it was captured by a force under Gen. Wedderburn, who was killed in the assault. In 1783 it was ceded by the British to Sindhia in ac knowledgment of certain services, but was stormed in 1803 by a detachment commanded by Col. Woodington, and finally ceded to the East India Company by Sindhia.
The District of Broach contains an area of 1,468 square miles. Consisting chiefly of the alluvial plain at the mouth of the river Nerbudda, the land is rich and highly cultivated, and though it is without forests it is not wanting in trees. The district is well supplied with rivers, having in addition to the Nerbudda the Mahi in the north and the Kim in the south. Pop. (1921) comprises several distinct races or castes, who, while speaking a common dialect, Gujarati, inhabit separate villages. The principal crops are cotton, millet and pulse. There is extensive dealing in cotton, the dealers being organized in a guild. Besides the cotton mills in Broach city there are several factories for ginning and pressing cotton, some of them on a very large scale. The district is traversed by the Bombay and Baroda railway, which crosses the Nerbudda opposite Broach city on an iron-girder bridge of 67 spans.