​SUNDARBANS, orSunderbunds, a tract of waste country inBengal, India, forming the seaward fringe of the Gangeticdelta. It has never been surveyed, nor has the census beenextended to it. It stretches for about 165 m., from themouth of the Hugli to the mouth of the Meghna, and is borderedinland by the three settled districts of the Twenty-four Parganas,Khulna and Backergunje. The total area (including water)is estimated at 6526 sq. m. It is a water-logged jungle, in whichtigers and other wild beasts abound. Attempts at reclamationhave not been very successful. The forest department realizesa large revenue, chiefly by tolls on produce removed. Thecharacteristic tree is thesundri (Heritiera littoralis), from whichthe name of the tract has been derived. It yields ahard wood, used for building, and for making boats, furniture,&c. The Sundarbans are everywhere intersected by riverchannels and creeks, some of which afford water communicationbetween Calcutta and the Brahmaputra valley, both for steamersand for native boats.