District of Uttar Pradesh in India
The
Bareilly district
pronunciation
ⓘ
belongs to the state
Uttar Pradesh
in
northern India
. Its capital is
Bareilly
city and it is divided in six
administrative division
or
tehsils
:
Aonla
,
Baheri
, Bareilly city,
Faridpur
,
Mirganj
, and
Nawabganj
. The Bareilly district is a part of the
Bareilly Division
and occupies an area of 4120 km
2
with a population of 4,448,359 people (previously it was 3,618,589) according to the census of 2011.
[2]
The modern City of Bareilly was founded by
Mukrand Rai
in 1657. Later it became the capital of the
Rohilkhand
region before getting handed over to Nawab Vazir of Awadh and then to the
East India Company
, becoming an integral part of
India
.
History
[
edit
]
Ancient period
[
edit
]
Historically, the region was the capital of the ancient kingdom of
Panchala
. The Panchalas occupied the country to the east of the
Kurus
, between the upper Himalayas and the river
Ganges
. The country was divided into Uttara-Panchala and Dakshina-Panchala. The northern Panchala had its capital at
Ahichatra
(also known as Adhichhatra and Chhatravati, near present-day
Aonla
) tehsil of Bareilly district, while southern Panchala had it capital at Kampilya or
Kampil
in
Farrukhabad district
. The famous city of
Kannauj
or Kanyakubja was situated in the kingdom of Panchala. According to the epic
Mah?bh?rata
,
Bareilly
region (
Panchala
, in present - day Uttar Pradesh and nearby regions) is said to be the birthplace of
Draupadi
, who was also referred to as 'Panchali'.
The position of the Panchala kingdom in
Iron Age Vedic India
.
The last two Panchala clans, the Somakas and the Srinjayas are mentioned in the
Mahabharata
and the
Puranas
. King
Drupada
, whose daughter
Draupadi
was married to the
Pandavas
belonged to the Somaka clan.
[3]
However, the
Mahabharata
and the
Puranas
consider the ruling clan of the northern Panchala as an offshoot of the
Bharata
clan. Divodasa, Sudas, Srinjaya, Somaka and
Drupada
(also called Yajnasena) were the most notable rulers of this clan.
[4]
During 176 ? 166 BC, Panchala coins were minted at Bareilly and the surrounding areas. It was the Kushan and Gupta kings who established mints here. The city's continued status as a mint town since the beginning of the Christian era was helped by the fact that Bareilly was never a disturbed area (except at the time of the Indian Independence Struggle).
[
citation needed
]
Found at Ganga Ghati in abundance were the Adi Vigraha and Shree Vigraha coins of the Pratihara Kings that were minted here between the 4th to the 9th centuries. Dating to this period are also the silver coins ? similar to those of Firoz Second ? known as Indo-Sasanian.
[5]
Medieval period
[
edit
]
After the fall of the Kingdom of Panchala, the city was under the rule of local rulers.
According to British historian Matthew Atmore Sherring the district of Bareilly was formerly a dense jungle inhabited by a race of
Ahirs
and was called Tappa Ahiran.
[6]
[7]
Regions of
Uttar Pradesh
including
Rohilkhand
(with Bareilly as its capital)
In 1623 two Afghan brothers of the
Barech
tribe, Shah Alam and Husain Khan, settled in the region, bringing with them many other Pashtun settlers. The Rohilla Daud Khan was awarded the
Katehr
region in the then northern India by
Mughal
emperor
Aurangzeb
Alamgir (ruled 1658?1707) to suppress
Rajput
uprisings, which had afflicted this region. Originally, some 20,000 soldiers from various
Pashtun
Tribes (
Yusafzais
, Ghoris,
Lodis
,
Ghilzai
, Barech,
Marwat
,
Durrani
,
Tanoli
,
Tarin
,
Kakar
,
Khattak
,
Afridi
and Baqarzai) were hired by Mughals to provide soldiers to the Mughal armies and this was appreciated by Aurangzeb Alamgir, an additional force of 25,000 men was given respected positions in Mughal army. However most of them settled in the
Katehar
region during
Nadir Shah
's invasion of northern
India
in 1739 increasing their population up to 100,0000. Due to the large settlement of Rohilla
Afghans
, the
Katehar
region gained fame as Rohilkhand.
Meanwhile,
Ali Mohammed Khan
(1737?1749), captured the city of Bareilly and made it his capital, later uniting the
Rohillas
to form the state of 'Rohilkhand', between 1707 and 1720, making Bareilly his capital. According to 1901 census of India, the total Pathan population in Bareilly District was 40,779, out of a total population of 1,090,117.
[8]
Their principal clans were the
Yusafzais
, Ghoris,
Lodis
, Ghilzai, Barech,
Marwat
,
Durrani
,
Tanoli
,
Tarin
,
Kakar
,
Khattak
, Afridi and Baqarzai. Other important cities were
Rampur
,
Shahjahanpur
,
Badaun
, and others.
[9]
Hafiz Rahmat Khan
, standing right to
Ahmad Shah Durrani
, who is shown on a brown horse.(during The '
Third battle of Panipat
') 14 January 1761
Ali Muhammad was succeeded by
Hafiz Rahmat Khan
Barech (1749?1774), whom he appointed as the
regent
of Rohilkhand on his deathbed.
[10]
[
better source needed
]
Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech extended the power of Rohilkhand from
Almora
in the North to
Etawah
in the South-West.
The term
Rohilla
is derived from the
Pashtu
Roh
, meaning
mountain
, and literally means
a mountain air
, and was used by the
Baluch
and
Jats
of the
Derajat
region to refer to the Pashtun mountains tribes of
Loralai
,
Zhob
and
Waziristan
regions. The
Rohillas
and are men of a taller stature and a fairer complexion than the general inhabitants of the district. The Muslims in the area are chiefly the descendants of
Yousafzai Afghans
tribe of Pashtuns, called the Rohilla Pathans of the
Mandanh
sub-section, (but other Pashtuns also became part of the community), who settled in the country about the year 1720.
[11]
Rohilla's
Sardar
like Daud Khan, Ali Muhammad Khan, and the legendary
Hafiz Rahmat Khan
Barech were from the renowned
Afghan
tribe the
Barech
, who were originally from the
Kandahar Province
of Afghanistan. In
Uttar Pradesh
, it was used for all Pashtuns, except for the
Shia
Bangashes
who settled in the
Rohilkhand
region, or men serving under Rohilla chiefs. Rohillas were distinguished by their separate language and culture. They spoke
Pashto
among each other but gradually lost their language over time and now converse in
Urdu
.
Bishop Heber described them as follows ? "The country is burdened with a crowd of lazy, profligate, self-called sawars (cavaliers), who, though many of them are not worth a rupee, conceive it derogatory to their gentility and Pathan blood to apply themselves to any honest industry, and obtain for the most part a precarious livelihood by sponging on the industrious tradesmen and farmers, on whom they levy a sort of blackmail, or as hangers-on to the wealthy and noble families yet remaining in the province. These men have no visible means of maintenance, and no visible occupation except that of lounging up and down with their swords and shields, like the ancient Highlanders, whom in many respects they much resemble."
[11]
Rohilkhand (under
Hafiz Rahmat Khan
Barech) was on the winning side at the
Third Battle of Panipat
of 1761 and successfully blocked the expansion of the
Maratha
Empire into north India. In 1772 Rohilkhand was invaded by the
Marathas
; however the
Nawabs of Awadh
came to the aid of the
Rohillas
in repulsing the invasion. After the war Nawab
Shuja-ud-Daula
demanded payment for their help from the Rohilla chief, Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech. When the demand was refused the Nawab joined with the British under
Governor
Warren Hastings
and his
Commander-in-Chief
,
Alexander Champion
, to invade Rohilkhand. Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech was killed in the ensuing battle at
Miranpur Katra
in 1774.
Nawab Saadat Ali Khan surrendered Rohilkhand to the
East India Company
by the treaty of 10 November 1801.
[12]
During this period too, Bareilly retained its status as a mint. Emperor Akbar and his descendants minted gold and silver coins at mints in Bareilly. The Afghan conqueror Ahmed Shah Durani too minted gold and silver coins at the Bareilly mint.
During the time of Shah Alam II, Bareilly was the headquarters of Rohilla Sardar Hafiz Rehmat Khan and many more coins were issued. After that, the city was in possession of Awadh Nawab Asaf-ud-Daulah. The coins that he issued had
Bareilly
,
Bareilly Aasfabad
, and
Bareilly kite and fish
as identification marks. After that, the minting of coins passed on to the East India Company.
[13]
The Rohillas, after fifty years' precarious independence, were subjugated in 1774 by the confederacy of British troops with the Nawab of Oudh's army, which formed a charge against Warren Hastings. Their territory was in that year annexed to Oudh. In 1801 the Nawab of Oudh ceded it to the Company in commutation of the subsidy money.
[11]
Modern period
[
edit
]
A 1912 map of 'Northern India The Revolt of 1857?59' showing the centres of rebellion including the principal ones:
Meerut
,
Delhi
, Bareilly, (
Kanpur
),
Lucknow
,
Jhansi
, and
Gwalior
Bareilly (
Rohilkhand
) was a major centre during the
Indian Rebellion of 1857
(also known as India's First War of Independence).
It began as a
mutiny
of native soldiers (
sepoys
) employed by the British
East India Company
's army, against perceived race based injustices and inequities, on 10 May 1857, in the town of
Meerut
, and soon erupted into other mutinies and civilian rebellions which were mainly centred on north central India along the several major river valleys draining the south face of the Himalayas
[See red annotated locations on Map at right]
but with local episodes extending both northwest to
Peshawar
on the
north-west frontier
with
Afghanistan
and southeast beyond Delhi.
There was a widespread popular revolt in many areas such as Awadh, Bundelkhand and Rohilkhand. The rebellion was therefore more than just a military rebellion, and it spanned more than one region. The communal hatred led to ugly communal riots in many parts of U.P. The green flag was hoisted and Muslims in Bareilly, Bijnor, Moradabad and other places the Muslims shouted for the revival of Muslim kingdom.
[14]
The main conflict occurred largely in the
upper Gangetic plain
and
central India
, with the major hostilities confined to present-day
Uttar Pradesh
, Bihar, northern
Madhya Pradesh
, and the
Delhi
region.
[15]
The rebellion posed a considerable threat to British East Indian Company power in that region,
[16]
and it was contained only with the fall of
Gwalior
on 20 June 1858.
[15]
Some
[
who?
]
regard the rebellion as the first of several movements over ninety years to achieve independence, which was finally achieved in 1947.
During the Mutiny of 1857 the Rohillas took a very active part against the English, but since then they had been disarmed.
[11]
During the First War of Indian Independence in 1857, Khan Bhadur Khan issued silver coins from Bareilly as an independent ruler. These coins are a novelty as far as the numismatist is concerned.
[17]
The population in 1901 was 1,090,117. Bareilly, also, was the headquarters of a brigade in the 7th division of the eastern army corps in British period.
[11]
Geography
[
edit
]
Bareilly is located at 28°10′N, 78°23′E, and lies in
northern India
. It borders
Pilibhit
and
Shahjahanpur
on East and
Rampur
on west,
Udham Singh Nagar
(
Uttarakhand
) in North and
Badaun
in South. It is a level terrain, watered by many streams, the general slope being towards the south. The soil is fertile and highly cultivated, groves of noble trees abound, and the villages have a neat, prosperous look. A tract of forest jungle called the tarai stretches along the extreme north of the district and teems with large game such as tigers, bears, deer and wild pigs. The river Sarda or Gogra forms the eastern boundary of the district and is the principal stream. Next in importance is the
Ramganga
, which receives as its tributaries most of the hill torrents of the Kumaon mountains. The Deoha is another great drainage artery and receives many minor streams. The
Gomati
or Gumti also passes through the district.
[11]
Demographics
[
edit
]
Historical population
Year
| Pop.
| ±% p.a.
|
---|
1901
| 1,089,874
| ?
|
---|
1911
| 1,094,419
| +0.04%
|
---|
1921
| 1,013,649
| ?0.76%
|
---|
1931
| 1,072,140
| +0.56%
|
---|
1941
| 1,175,935
| +0.93%
|
---|
1951
| 1,268,950
| +0.76%
|
---|
1961
| 1,478,490
| +1.54%
|
---|
1971
| 1,779,867
| +1.87%
|
---|
1981
| 2,273,030
| +2.48%
|
---|
1991
| 2,834,616
| +2.23%
|
---|
2001
| 3,618,589
| +2.47%
|
---|
2011
| 4,448,359
| +2.09%
|
---|
source:
[18]
|
According to the
2011 census
Bareilly district has a
population
of 4,448,359,
[1]
roughly equal to the nation of
Croatia
[19]
or the US state of
Louisiana
.
[20]
This gives it a ranking of 39th in India (out of a total of
640
).
[1]
The district has a population density of 1,084 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,810/sq mi).
[1]
Its
population growth rate
over the decade 2001?2011 was 23.4%.
[1]
Bareilly has a
sex ratio
of 883
females
for every 1000 males,
[1]
and a
literacy rate
of 60.52%. 35.26% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes make up 12.52% of the population.
[1]
Religion
[
edit
]
Religions in Bareilly district (2011)
[21]
|
Religion
|
|
Percent
|
Hinduism
|
|
63.64%
|
Islam
|
|
34.54%
|
Sikhism
|
|
0.63%
|
Other or not stated
|
|
1.19%
|
Distribution of religions
|
Hindus
form 63.6% of population.
[21]
Islam is a significant minority. Bareilly is the seat of one of the most important modern Islamic revival movements in India, the
Barelvis
. The Barelvi madrassas mobilised Islamic scholars across the country to issue a joint
Fatwa
against the
Islamic State
.
[22]
There is a
Roman Catholic Diocese of Bareilly
.
Languages
[
edit
]
Languages of Bareilly district (2011)
[23]
Others (0.76%)
At the time of the
2011 Census of India
, 90.76% of the population in the district spoke
Hindi
, 8.48%
Urdu
and 0.47%
Punjabi
as their first language.
[23]
Administrative divisions
[
edit
]
The Bareilly district has six tehsils namely,
Aonla
,
Baheri
, Bareilly (Sadar),
Faridpur
,
Meerganj
and
Nawabganj
.
[24]
Economy
[
edit
]
Bareilly is a category "A" district i.e. having socio-economic and basic amenities parameters below the national average.
[25]
Education
[
edit
]
Rohilkhand University
in Bareilly was established in 1975. In August 1997, it was renamed as Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Rohilkhand University. Presently, 80 colleges are affiliated to it.
[26]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
"District Census Handbook: Bareilly"
(PDF)
.
censusindia.gov.in
.
Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India
. 2011.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 12 December 2023
. Retrieved
5 December
2023
.
- ^
"District Census Handbook - Pune - Part XII-B"
(PDF)
.
Census of India
. 2011. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 11 March 2016.
- ^
Pargiter, F.E. (1972).
Ancient Indian Historical Tradition
, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, p.117
- ^
Raychaudhuri, H.C. (1972)
Political History of Ancient India
, Calcutta: University of Calcutta, pp.65?8.
- ^
"When Bareilly was in currency"
.
The Times of India
.
Archived
from the original on 22 February 2011
. Retrieved
1 November
2010
.
- ^
Sherring, Matthew Atmore (1872).
Hindu Tribes and Castes
. Thacker, Spink & Company. p.
237
.
Ahirs.
- ^
Hindu Tribes and Castes, Volume 1 page 334
- ^
Imperial Gazetteer of India by W M Hunter
- ^
An Eighteenth Century History of North India: An Account of the Rise And Fall of the Rohilla Chiefs in Janbhasha By Rustam Ali Bijnori by Iqtidar Husain Siddiqui Manohar Publications
- ^
Genealogy of Rampur princely state
Archived
12 October 2007 at the
Wayback Machine
,
[1]
Archived
13 January 2013 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Chisholm, Hugh
, ed. (1911).
"Bareilly"
.
Encyclopædia Britannica
. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 397.
- ^
Hafiz
Archived
14 February 2012 at the
Wayback Machine
British Library.
- ^
"When Bareilly was in currency"
.
The Times of India
.
Archived
from the original on 22 February 2011
. Retrieved
1 November
2010
.
- ^
R. C. Majumdar
: Sepoy Mutiny and Revolt of 1857 (page 2303-31)
- ^
a
b
Bandyopadhyay 2004
, pp. 169?172
Bose & Jalal 2003
, pp. 88?103 Quote: "The 1857 rebellion was by and large confined to
northern Indian Gangetic Plain
and central India.",
Brown 1994
, pp. 85?87, and
Metcalf & Metcalf 2006
, pp. 100?106
- ^
Bayly 1987
, p. 170 Quote: "What distinguished the events of 1857 was their scale and the fact that for a short time they posed a military threat to British dominance in the Ganges Plain."
- ^
"When Bareilly was in currency"
.
The Times of India
.
Archived
from the original on 22 February 2011
. Retrieved
1 November
2010
.
- ^
"Decadal Variation In Population Since 1901"
.
Archived
from the original on 8 August 2019
. Retrieved
8 August
2019
.
- ^
US Directorate of Intelligence.
"Country Comparison:Population"
. Archived from
the original
on 13 June 2007
. Retrieved
1 October
2011
.
Croatia 4,483,804 July 2011 est.
- ^
"2010 Resident Population Data"
. U. S. Census Bureau. Archived from
the original
on 19 October 2013
. Retrieved
30 September
2011
.
Louisiana 4,533,372
- ^
a
b
"Table C-01 Population by Religion: Uttar Pradesh"
.
censusindia.gov.in
.
Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India
. 2011.
Archived
from the original on 20 September 2022
. Retrieved
26 July
2022
.
- ^
Ali, Mohammad (19 November 2015).
"Madrasas run a fatwa campaign against IS in Bareilly"
.
The Hindu
.
ISSN
0971-751X
.
Archived
from the original on 11 August 2023
. Retrieved
26 July
2022
.
- ^
a
b
"Table C-16 Population by Mother Tongue: Uttar Pradesh"
.
www.censusindia.gov.in
.
Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India
.
Archived
from the original on 20 September 2022
. Retrieved
26 July
2022
.
- ^
"Tehsils in Bareilly district"
.
Archived
from the original on 20 February 2018
. Retrieved
28 February
2018
.
- ^
"MINUTES OF THE 34th MEETING OF EMPOWERED COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER AND APPROVE REVISED PLAN FOR BALANCE FUND FOR THE DISTRICTS OF GHAZIABAD, BAREILLY, BARABANKI, SIDDHARTH NAGAR, SHAHJANPUR, MORADABAD, MUZAFFAR NAGAR, BAHRAICH AND LUCKNOW (UTTAR PRADESH) UNDER MULTI-SECTORAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME IN MINORITY CONCENTRATION DISTRICTS HELD ON 22nd JULY, 2010 AT 11.00 A.M. UNDER THE CHAIRMANSHIP OF SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS"
(PDF)
. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011
. Retrieved
29 May
2011
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
link
)
F. No. 3/64/2010-PP-I, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS
- ^
"About the University"
. M.G.P. Rohilkhand University website. Archived from
the original
on 30 April 2009.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Bayly, Christopher Alan
(1987),
Indian Society and the Making of the British Empire
, The New Cambridge History of India, vol. II.1, Cambridge University Press,
ISBN
978-0-521-38650-0
- Bose, Sugata
;
Jalal, Ayesha
(2003),
Modern South Asia: History, Culture, Political Economy
(2nd ed.), London: Routledge, p.
253
,
ISBN
0-415-30787-2
- Metcalf, Barbara D.; Metcalf, Thomas R. (2006),
A Concise History of Modern India
(2nd ed.), Cambridge University Press, p. 337,
ISBN
0-521-68225-8
- Bandyopadhyay, Sekhara (2004),
From Plassey to Partition: A History of Modern India
, New Delhi: Orient Longman, p. 523,
ISBN
81-250-2596-0
- Brown, Judith M. (1994),
Modern India: The Origins of an Asian Democracy
(2nd ed.), Oxford University Press, p. 480,
ISBN
0-19-873113-2
External links
[
edit
]
Places adjacent to Bareilly district
|
---|
|
28°25′N
79°23′E
/
28.417°N 79.383°E
/
28.417; 79.383
|
---|
General
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Mythology, history
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Districts
| |
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Rivers, dams, lakes
| |
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Languages, people
| |
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Transport
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Lok Sabha constituencies
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See also
| |
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Other Divisions
| |
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