MURSHIDABAD, a town and district of British India, in the Presidency division of Bengal. The administrative headquar ters of the district are at Berhampore (q.v.). The town of Mur shidabad is on the left bank of the Bhagirathi, an old and sacred channel of the Ganges. Pop. (1931) 9.483. It was the latest Mohammedan capital of Bengal. In 1704 the nawab Murshid Kuli Khan changed the seat of government from Dacca to Mak sudabad, which he called after his own name. Even after the conquest of Bengal by the British, Murshidabad remained for some time the seat of administration. The town is still the resi dence of the descendant of the Nawab Nazims of Bengal, who ranks as the first nobleman of the province, with the style of nawab bahadur of Murshidabad. His palace, dating from 1837, is a fine building in Italian style. A cemetery on the right bank of the river contains the tombs of Ali Vardi Khan and Sirajuddaula. The Imambara, built in 1847, is the largest in Bengal. Murshida bad still retains such industries as carving in ivory, gold and silver embroidery, and silk-weaving.
The DISTRICT OF MURSHIDABAD has an area of 2,091 sq.m. and a population (1931) of 1,370,677. It is divided into two nearly equal portions by the Bhagirathi. In the tract to the west, known
as the Rarh, the general level is high, but interspersed with marshes and seamed by hill streams. The Bagri, or eastern half, is a low-lying alluvial plain liable to annual inundation. The prin cipal industry is that of silk, but it is now declining.
MUS, the name of a Roman family of the plebeian Decian gens. (I) PUBLIUS DECIUS MUS in 343 B.C. rescued the Roman army from a difficulty in the Samnite War (Liv. vii. 34). In 34o, as consul with T. Manlius Torquatus as colleague, he commanded in the Latin War. The decisive battle was fought near Mt. Vesuvius. The consuls, in consequence of a dream, had agreed that the general whose troops first gave way should devote him self to destruction, and so ensure victory. The left wing under Decius became disordered, whereupon, repeating after the chief pontiff the solemn formula of self-devotion he dashed into the ranks of the Latins, and met his death (Livy viii. 9). (2) His son, also called PUBLIUS, consul for the fourth time in 295, followed the example of his father at the battle of Sentinum, when the left wing which he commanded was shaken by the Gauls (Livy x. 28).