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Almora

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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a town and district of British India, the chief town and administrative headquarters of the Kumaon division of the United Provinces, situated on a mountain-ridge of the Himalayas 5494 ft. above the sea. Pop. (1901) 8596. The town has a college called after Sir Henry Ramsay; a government high school; a Christian girls' school; and a large cantonment. The town was captured by the Gurkhas in 1790, who constructed a fort on the eastern extremity of the ridge. Another citadel, Fort Moira, is situated on the other extremity of the ridge. Almora is also celebrated as the scene of the British victory which terminated the war with Nepal in April 1815, and which resulted in the evacuation of Kumaon by the Gurkhas and the annexation of the province by the British.

The District of Almora was constituted in 1891, together with Naini Tal, by a redistribution of the two former districts of Kumaon and the Tarai. It lies among the mountains of Kumaon, between the upper waters of the Ganges and the Gogra, here called the Kali. Area, 5419 sq. m.; pop. (1901) 465,893, showing an increase of 13% during the decade. Tea is grown in the district, which includes the military sanatorium of Ranikhet. The nearest railway via Naini Tal is the extension of the Oudh and Rohilkhand line from near Bareilly to Kathgodam.