DINANT

historic tn., prov. Namur, Belgium (50° 16’ N., 4° 54’ E.), on r. bk. of the Meuse, at the base of limestone cliffs (caves) on which stands a dismantled citadel; important in the Middle Ages; in 15th cent. had pop. of 60,000 and employed 8,000 workers in chased copper and bra work (‘dinanderies’); besieged and captured in 1466 by Charles the Bold, who destroyed the whole male population, ‘Sack of Dinant’; plundered by French in 1554, and captured by them in 1675. At the opening of the World War the citadel was captured by the Germans and gallantly recaptured by Fr. troops. On Aug. 15, 1914, Ger. cavalry, which had advanced through | the Ardennes, made a bold but unsucce ful attempt to capture the town. On Aug. 23 a battle was fought along the Meuse, above and below Dinant, with the result that the Fr. lost their hold on the river-line and were forced to retreat S., leaving Belgium in the hands of the barded; the fine old church of Notre Dame, at the foot of the cliffs, was gravely damaged, and many of the inhabitants were murdered in cold blood. The place remained in Ger, hands until the Armistice, Nov. 11, 1918. Pop. 8,000. town, on Ganges, Patna district, Bihar and Ori a, India; military cantonment. seaport and watering-place, Britt any, France. Pop. 4,800. Madura district, Madras, India; fortre formerly of strategical importance; tobac-