Daoudnagar

Daoudnagar. See Daudnagar.

Dapsang

Dapsang, a mountain in the part of the Himalaya system called Karakorum, in Baltistan or Little Tibet, 28,700 feet high.

Darabgherd

Darabgherd, or Darab, a town of Persia, 115 miles SE. of Shiraz. Pop. 4000.

Daraganj

Daraganj, a suburb of Allahabad, on the right bank of the Ganges. Pop. 15,159.

Darbhangah

Darbhangah, a town of Behar province, on the Little Baghmati River, 78 miles NE. of Patna by rail. It has large bazaars and a handsome market-place, extensive tanks, a hospital, and the maharajah's palace, with fine gardens, menagerie, and aviary. There is an active trade in oil-seeds, food-grains, timber, salt, iron, lime, etc. Pop. (1891) 73,561; (1901) 66,244.

Dardanelles

Dardanelles (anc. Hellespont), a narrow channel separating Europe from Asia, and uniting the Sea of Marmora with the Archipelago. The name is derived from the ancient city of Dardanus in the Troad, on the southern shore. The strait extends 40 miles south-westward, and has a varying breadth of 1 to 4 miles. From the Sea of Marmora a strong current runs through it to the Archipelago. Both sides are strongly fortified. A treaty concluded between the five great powers and Turkey in 1841 arranged that no non-Turkish ship of war should pass the Dardanelles without the express consent of Turkey. Xerxes and Alexander crossed the Dardanelles in 480 and 334 B.C., the former to enter Europe, and the latter to enter Asia. Leander, to visit Hero, nightly swam across - a feat performed in 1810 by Lord Byron.

Dardistan

Dardistan, a region of Central Asia, bordering on Baltistan, the north-western portion of Cashmere, consists of lofty mountains and high-lying valleys. Its interest depends mainly on the fact that its inhabitants, the Dards, are an Aryan people, speaking a Sanskritic tongue mixed with Persian words. They are Moslems. The chief districts are Hasora, Gilghit, and Tassin; some include Chitral.

Dar-es-Salaam

Dar-es-Salaam, a seaport of German East Africa, 45 miles S. of Zanzibar. Pop. 21,000.

Dar-fertit

Dar-fertit, a thinly-peopled territory south of Dar-Fur, beyond the Bahr-el-Arab, and north of the Niam-Niam country. Schweinfurth was the first European to visit the region in 1870-71.

Dar-Fur

Dar-Fur, a country of Central Africa, one of the divisions of the Sudan or 'Land of the Blacks,' situated approximately in 10° to 16° N. lat., and in 22° to 28° E. long. It is hilly in parts, and traversed by a mountainous ridge called Marra. Towards the north it is level, sandy, and almost destitute of water. During the rainy season (June - September) it exhibits a rich vegetation. Tobacco, which is used by the natives in every form, abounds. The chief minerals are copper and iron. The wealth of the inhabitants consists principally in cattle. Dar-Fur, long a notorious centre of the slave-trade, was annexed to Egypt in 1875; but in 1884 fell under the power of the Mahdi. Since 1900 trade with Egypt has been revived again, and is now considerable. Pop. 4,000,000, mainly zealous Moslems.