SIRIPIND, Hindustan, a district in the protected Sikh territory, at the north-weetern extremity of the province of Delhi, is situated between 30 and 31• N. lat., re and 77° E. long., having the river Sutlej on the north, and on the east the head branches of the Jumna. It consists of extensive plains, which, lying at the head of India, as its name Import& divide the great desert from the lofty Himalayas, and form an open communication between the Punjab and the rest of Hindustan. The sacred river Sereawattee flows through the centre of the district. The country is well peopled and generally cultivated, but the periodical rains are not always sufficient to insure a crop. After a rainy season, duriog which the banks of the streams are flooded, the plains are clothed with good pasture, and the climate, cooled by the rains, is temperate and healthy. In the hottest season, however, the inhabitants are at times driven for alicIter to subterranean dwellings. The principal towns are, Palialah, which is the largest
and moat flourishing ; Tahnesir, an object of religious veneration to the I iindoos; and &meek Sirhincl, the ancient capital, now a heap of ruins, stands on the road to Beltuipoor, in 30' 40' N. lat., 75' 55' W. long., distaut 27 miles N.W. from Umballah, and 155 miles N.N.W. from the city of Delhi. It was founded or rebuilt in the 14th century, by Feroze IlL, who erected a fort in the town, and opened canals from the Sutlej and the Jumna for the irrigation of the neighbouring district. Lying in the route of the Persian and Tartar invaders of Hindustan, the town was exposed to the ravages of war, and In 1707 was pillaged by the Sikhs, a disaster from which it has never recovered.