fantry, the order and ease of whose
marching powers are immensely enhanced by the music of a good regimental
band. In the navies of various countries bands are maintained on board
flag-ships and sometimes on board other large ships.

BANDA, a town and district of British India, in the Allahabad division of
the United Provinces. The town is near the right bank of the river Ken, 95
m. S.W. of Allahabad. The population in 1901 was 22,565. The town possesses
65 mosques and 168 Hindu temples. It was formerly, but is no longer, a
military cantonment.

The district is the most barren and backward portion of the province. It
contains an area of 3061 sq. m. In some parts it rises into irregular
uplands and elevated plains, interspersed with detached rocks of granite;
in others it sinks into marshy lowlands, which frequently remain under
water during the rainy season. The sloping country on the bank of the Jumna
is full of ravines. To the S.E. the Vindhya chain of hills takes its origin
in a low range not exceeding 500 ft. in height, and forming a natural
boundary of the district in that direction. The principal river of the
district is the Jumna, which flows from north-west to south-east, along the
N.E. boundary of the district, for 125 m. In 1901 the population was
631,058, showing a decrease of 11% in the decade, due to the effects of
famine. The black soil of the district yields crops of which the principal
are millet, other food-grains, pulse, rice, cotton and oil-seeds. Banda
cotton enjoys a high repute in the market. A branch railway from Manikpur
to Jhansi traverses the length of the district, which is also crossed by
the East Indian main line to Jubbulpore.

Banda, which forms one of the districts included under the general name of
Bundelkhand, has formed an arena of contention for the successive races who
have struggled for the sovereignty of India. Kalinjar town, then the
capital, was unsuccessfully besieged by Mahmud of Ghazni in A.D. 1023; in
1196 it was taken by Kutab-ud-din, the general of Muhammad Ghori; in 1545
by Shere Shah, who, however, fell mortally wounded in the assault. About
the year 1735 the raja of Kalinjar's territory, including the present
district of Banda, was bequeathed to Baji Rao, the Mahratta peshwa; and
from the Mahrattas it passed by the treaties of 1802-1803 to the Company.
At the time of the Mutiny the district, which was poverty-stricken and
over-taxed, joined the rebels. The town of Banda