Baleshwar
[key], town, Odisha (Orissa) state, E India, near the Bay of Bengal on the
Burhabalang River. It was the first British settlement (1657) in what was
then Bengal; French, Dutch, and Danish trading posts were established later.
Goods were unloaded there for transport by boat to Bengal. Baleshwar was an
important trade center for rice and salt in the 18th cent. The Dutch and
Danish areas were ceded to Great Britain in 1846, but a French settlement
remained until the French administration of Chandannagar was relinquished to
the Indians in 1947. It is a district administrative center with trading in
fish, hardware, and rice. There is also rice milling, fish curing, weaving,
and a number of light manufactures. Baleshwar is linked by road and rail to
Kolkata (Calcutta) and towns in the Odisha.
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