The Barabanki district is one of four districts of Faizabad division, lies at the very heart of Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh state of India, and forms as it were a centre from which no less than seven other districts radiate. It is situated between 27°19' and 26°30' north latitude, and 80°05' and 81°51’ east longitude; it runs in a south-easterly direction, confined by the nearly parallel streams of the Ghagra and Gomti. With its most northern point it impinges on the Sitapur district, while its north-eastern boundary is washed by the waters of the Ghagra, beyond which lie the districts ofBahraich district and Gonda district. Its eastern frontier marches with Faizabad district, and the Gomti forms a natural boundary to the south, dividing it from the Sultanpur district. On the west it adjoins the Lucknow district. The extreme length of the district from east to west may be taken at 57 mi (92 km), and the extreme breadth at 58 mi (93 km); the total area is about 1,504 sq mi (3,900 km2): its population amounts to 2,673,581, being at the rate of 686.50 to the square km. The Barabanki city is the district headquarters. Barabanki district has been known to be a favourite haunt of saints and ascetics, literatteurs and intellectuals, besides being a battlefield for freedom fighters.
The district under British rule had an area of 1,769 sq mi (4,580 km2). In 1856 it came, with the rest of Oudh, under British rule. During the Sepoy war of 1857-1858 the whole of the Bara Banki talukdars joined the mutineers, but offered no serious resistance after the capture of Lucknow.
It stretches out in a level plain interspersed with numerous jhils or marshes. In the upper part of the district the soil is sandy, while in the lower part it is clayey and produces finer crops. The district is well fed by rivers Ghaghra (forming the northern boundary), Gomti (flowing through the middle of the district) and Kalyani and their tributaries, for the major part of the year. Some rivers dry out in the summer, and get flooded during the rainy season, creating havoc. The changing course of the river Ghagra changes the land area in the district, year to year.
The principal crops are rice, wheat, pulse and other food-grains and sugarcane. Trade in agricultural produce is active. Both the bordering rivers are navigable; and the district is traversed by two lines of the Northern Railway and North-Eastern Railway, with branches having total length of 131 km. It has good road connectivity also including National Highways (NH 24A, NH 28, NH 28C & NH 56A), State Highways and various link roads.
The minority population in the district is over 24 per cent.
History
The district of Barabanki also known as the Entrance to Poorvanchal, has the privilege of being the penance ground to numerous saints and ascetics. This is a place of great antiquity.History
There are several ancient sayings to the naming of this district. It was known before the Muslim conquest as Jasnaul, from Jas, a raja of the Bhar tribe, who is said to have founded it before 1000 AD. With a change of proprietors came a change of name. The Muslim owners divided the lands into twelve shares, over which the respective proprietors quarrelled so incessantly that they were called the Barah Banke, or twelve quarrelsome men. Banka, in Awadhi, meaning a bully or brave. Others derive the name from ban, meaning wood or jungle, and interpret Barabanki as the twelve shares of jungle.
District Barabanki was known as Dariyabad with its headquarters at Dariyabad town established by an officer in the army of Mohammed Shah Shariqi by the name Dariab Khan. It remained the district headquarters till 1858 AD, The headquarters were later moved toNawabganj in 1859 AD. the other popular name of Barabanki
Ramayana Era
It is said that in ancient times this district was part of the kingdom ruled by Suryavanshi kings, whose capital was Ayodhya. KingDashrath and his famous son, Ram were of this dynasty. Guru Vashisht was their Kulguru, and he preached and taught the young royal princes of the dynasty at Satrikh, initially known as Saptrishi.
Parijaat tree a sacred baobab tree in the village of Kintoor on the banks of Ghaghra. Near a temple (known as Kunteshwar Mahadev temple) established by Kunti, is a special tree called Parijaat which is said to grow from Kunti's ashes. Historically, though these saying may have some bearing or not, but it is true that this tree is from a very ancient background.
After 1000 till 1525
This district was under the rule of the Chandravanshi kings for a very long period. During the Mahabharat era, it was part of the 'Gaurav Rajya' and this part of land was known by the name Kurukshetra. Pandav along with their mother Kunti had spent some time on the banks of river Ghaghra during their exile.
Bazaar Dharam Mandi (Dhamedi) and the famous Lodheshwar Mahadeva's Shivling are other proof that this region had an important place even five thousand years ago during the Mahabharat period.
Pre-historic
Greater part of Barabanki was included in Pachhimrath country (the territory between rivers Ghaghra and Gomti[12]), one of the five divisions of the kingdom of Rama.
Before 1000 AD. Jas, a raja of the Bhar tribe is said to have founded the locality of Jasnaul which later, after the Muslim conquest of the region came to be known as Bara Banki or Barabanki.
Sihali, was conquered, and its sovereign, a Siharia Chhattri, was killed. Kintur was captured, and its Bhar queen, Kintama slain.
Independence movement
The Muslims had made their first permanent settlement in this district at Satrikh, in 421 AH. / 1030 AD.[5]
As per the historical documentation available, in 1030 AD. this region was attacked by Sayyed Salar Masood, nephew of Mahmood of Ghazni. In 1032 AD. Salar died.
The battle in which Somvanshi Rajput chief Sohil Deo (or Sohel Dal) of Sahet-Mahet a small northern kingdom (he was the conqueror ofSayyed Salar Masood) was subversed by Sri Chandradeo, the Rathor monarch of Kannauj was fought in Satrikh village of the district.
In 1049 AD. / 441 AH, the Kings of Kanauj and Manikpur were defeated and driven from Oudh by Qutub-ud-din of Medina. The Muslim invasion was more successful in Bara Banki than elsewhere. In 586 AH. / 1189 AD, Sihali was conquered by Shekh Nizam-ud-din of Herat, Ansari. Zaidpur was occupied by them in 636 AH, when Sayyad Abd-ul-Wahid turned out the Bhars, altering the name of the town from Suhalpur. The colony of Musalman Bhattis is reported to have arrived about the same time, although some place it as early as 596 AH. / 1199 AD. They came from Bhatnair or Bhattiana, in the Punjab and Rajputana and settled at Mawai Maholara.
After 1350 AD. Muslim immigrants started to settle in great number in the district until nearly to middle of eighteenth century.[15] At the Muslims first permanently settled in Oudh.
Rudauli was occupied about 700 AH, in the reign of Alla-ud-din Khilji, whose forces had just about the same time destroyed Anhalwara, Chittor, Dcogir, Mandor, Jessulmere, Gagraun, Bundi, in fact nearly every remaining seat of Chhattri power. Rasulpur was conquered about 1350 AD. / 756 AH. Daryabad was founded about 850 AH. / 1444 AD, by Dariab Khan Subahdar. Fatehpur was colonized by Fateh Khan, a brother of Dariab Khan, and about the same time. The villages of Barauli and Barai, near Rudauli, were occupied, and gave their name to large estates about the middle of the fifteenth century.
Simultaneously, however, with this latter immigration of the Muslims there was one of Chhattris. The mysterious tribe of Kalhans, which numbers some twenty thousand persons, are said to be descended from Achal Singh, who came in as a soldier of fortune with Dariab Khan about 1450 AD. Raja Achal Singh is a great name in the Middle Ages of Oudh; he had large property—some state that his capital was Bado Sarai, on the old bank of the Ghagra.
At this time Ibrahim Shah Sharqi, reigned at Jaunpur. Oudh was the battle ground—the border land between Sharqis of Jaunpur and the Lodis of Delhi—and their princes, as the tide of conquest surged backwards and forwards. Dariab Khan settled Hindu soldiers as garrisons,—the war being now one between Muslims, and no longer one of religion. The Kalhans are said to have come from Gujarat, the same nursery of Chhattris from which the Ahban, the Pan war, the Gahlot, the Gaur, the Bais, and many other Oudh clans, are believed to have emigrated.
The isolated Suryajvanshi estate of Haraha and the Somvanshi Bahrelia estate of Surajpur were established by small colonies of Chhattri soldiers, who had been dismissed from service about eighteen generations ago (in 1877).
Mughal era (1526–1732)
During the reign of the great Mughal emperor Akbar this district was divided under the sirkars of Oudh, Lucknow and Manikpur. The following parganas are mentioned in Akbar's time videAin-i-Akbari:
Nawabs of Awadh (1732-1856)
In 1165 AH. / 1751 AD, the Raikwars seem to have headed a great Hindu movement to shake off the Musalman Government.
Safdar Jang, the wazir, had been absent at Delhi; his naib, Newal Rae, had been defeated and killed at the Kali nadi three years before by the Bangash Afghans of Farukhabad, who then overran the whole province except a few of the fortified towns. In 1749 AD, Safdar Jang himself, with an army of 60,000 men, was defeated by them ; and if at this time the Oudh Chhattris had risen, the Mughal authority might have been overthrown, but they waited till after Safdar Jang, in 1750 AD. / 1164 AH, had bribed or beaten the Rohillas out of the country.
Then the tribes gathered themselves together under the leadership of Anup Singh, the Raja of Ramnagar Dhameri; the Janwar of Balrampur, the Bisens of Gonda, and numerous other lords assembled their forces for an attack on Lucknow, now denuded of the troops which had gone into Rohilkhand. The Shekhzadas of Lucknow came out to meet the enemy, they were joined by the Khanziidas of Mahmudabad and Bilahra, who were connected with them by marriage.
The battle was fought at Chheola Ghat on the Kalyani, on the road to Lucknow. The Musalmans, headed by Nawab Muizz-ud-din Khan of Mahmudabad, won the day. The Balrainpur raja was killed it is said, and an immense number of the allied host, some 15,000 were killed or wounded on both sides. Nor would this number be at all remarkable when large armies, inflamed against each other by religious hatred in addition to the ordinary motives, fought at close quarters. From this event dates the rise of the Khanzadas. The Raikwars were proportionately depressed; the estates of both Baundi and Ramnagar were broken up, and but a few villages left with the raja. The process of agglomeration commenced again, seventy years afterwards, about 1816, on the death of the sagacious Saadat Ali Khan, and before annexation, in 1856, the Ramnagar raja had recovered the whole family estate and added to it largely, while his brother of Baundi had similarly added 172 villages to his domain.
The principal chiefs of Bara Banki during the last years of Nawabi were:
Taluqa of Ramnagar — The large property consisted of 253 villages belongs to Raja Sarabjit Singh. The Raja was the head of the Raikwar clan, who immigrated to Oudh from the hill country about Kashmir in about 1400 A. D. It is a curious fact that whereas all Rajputs place a special value on the wood of the neem tree, the Raikwars alone are forbidden to use it.
Taluqa of Haraha — The proprietor of this taluqa was Raja Narindr Bahadur, the head of the Surajbans Thakurs. His father, Raja Chbatarpat Singh, is yet alive. Both father and son were afflicted with mental incapacity. The estate, which consisted of sixty-six villages, paid a revenue of Rs. 55,000, was under the management of the local authorities. Certain members of the Raja's family held the estates of Ranimau Qiampur in a separate qubuliat in the Nawabi, and they have thus escaped being placed under the taluqdar's sanad.
Taluqa of Surajpur — This estate comprised fifty-six villages. The proprietor was Raja Udatt Partab Singh, the head of Bahrelia Bais Thakurs. The Raja was mentally and physically unfit to manage his estate ; but so long as his maternal grandfather, Udatt Narain, lived there was no fear of under-proprietors, tenants or patwaris defrauding the family.
The late Raja Singji was a most formidable and violent landholder until he was attacked by Maharaja Man Singh, captured and taken prisoner to Lucknow, where he died in jail. It was mainly owing to the bad example set by Singji that the Daryabad district was so turbulent under the native Government, that amils and chakladars were to use a native expression unable to breathe in it— (Nak men dam karta tha.)
Taluqa of Jahangirabad — The taluqdar of Jahangirabad was a Qidwai Sheikh, Raja Farzand Ali Khan. He owed his position to two circumstances:
- his marriage with the daughter of Raja Razzaq Bakhsh, the late proprietor of the taluqa;
- to a fortuitous incident which occurred about three years before annexation.
Farzand Ali was the darogah in charge of the Sikandarbagh at Lucknow. On one occasion of the last king of Oudh visiting the garden, he was struck with the appearance of this young man, and presenting him with a khilat, directed him to attend at the palace.
With such a signal mark of the royal favour, Farzand Ali's advancement was rapid, and, under the interest of the influential eunuch, Bashir-ud-daula, he obtained a farman designating him the Raja of Jahangirabad. This taluqdar followed the deposed king to Calcutta, and was there during the mutinies. Raja Farzand Ali was very intelligent, and well able to manage his estate with prudence and circumspection.
Taluqa of Barai — Chaudhri Ghulam Farid, a Siddiqi Shekh, was the largest landholder of the Rudauli tahsil. He owned thirty-nine villages. At the summary settlement before annexation, he contemplated depriving the children of his cousin, Mumtaz Ahmad, of their share in the estate, unmindful of the past long possession of his cousin; but at the earnest representations of Sayyad Abdul Hakim, an extra assistant commissioner, who was respected throughout the district, he made a fair division; in fact, he gave them half the estate.
Taluqa of Usmanpur - The Taluqdar of Usmanpur were Bisen rajput. This is the most famous Bisen Khanzada family. This estate was founded by one Kaunsal Singh (Raja Khushal Singh), who obtained an estate as a reward for military service under the Mughal Emperor Humayun. One of his sons Lakhan Singh converted to Islam, and took the name Lakhu Khan. The estate of Usmanpur was founded by Ghanzafar Khan, who was confirmed ownership of Usmanpur and neighbouring villages by the Nawabs of Awadh. He owned forty villages.
Taluqas of Satrikh —This estate comprised 85 villages. All the villages pay their 'Lagan' (Tax)to the Taluqedar of Satrikh. After 1857, Satrikh estate was ruled by Taluqedar Qazi / Kazi Ikram Ahmad and preceded by Qazi Kamaluddin Ahmad. The previous Chaudhry's were dispossessed for resistance to the British during the War of Independence. They were descendants of the original Usmani's who immigrated to Oudh in the early part of the millennium.
Taluqas of Rudauli —there were in all forty-three.
1857 war of independence
Unlike what occurred in the districts of Hardoi, Gonda, and Lucknow, the whole body of the taluqdars in this district joined the cause of the deposed king and the mutineers. They offered no resistance however, of any moment to the advance of the British troops after the capture of Lucknow ; in the battle of Nawabganj. Many kings and princes opposed the expansion of British rule into this district by waging wars against them. During the British Raj, several kings fought for their independence and laid down their lives doing so, the great revolutionaries. Raja Balbhadra Singh Chehlari along with about 1000 revolutionaries sacrificed their lives for independence from the British rule. In 1857 at Nawabganj Sir Hope Grant defeated the revolutionaries. During the middle of the nineteenth century the revolutionaries put up their last front at Bhitauli which proved unsuccessful in comparison to the strong British forces. Leaving behind the Bhitauli front the aids along with Begum Hazrat Mahal, Nana Saheb entered into the territory of Nepal to continue their freedom struggle from there. The last battle of the First War of Indian Independence was fought in December 1858 AD here in this district.
British (1858-1947)
The Sadr station (district headquarter) was placed at annexation and also after the mutinies at Daryabad, but owing to the stagnation of water in the immediate vicinity of the town, and to the prevalence of fever, the head quarters were removed in 1859 to Nawabganj, Bara Banki.
In 1921 Gandhiji started the Non-cooperation Movement, thereby igniting the flame of independence once again. Here too, the district leading from the front, opposed the arrival of Prince of Wales to India. In the War of Independence against the British from the year 1922 to 1934 during the Khilafat movement the district participated whole heartidely in the growing movement against foreign fabrics, etc. Protests were organised and large number of freedom fighter courted arrests at the Government High School, Nawabganj, Shri Rafi Ahmad Kidwai was also arrested. During 1922 Khilafat Movement, 1930 Salt Movement, and in 1942 AD the Quit India Movement, the people of this district actively participated in these movements thereby giving sleepless nights to the British Raj. As a result, the District Congress Office was sealed. But, the local leaders continued their protests remaining underground. The Haidergarh Post office was looted on 24 August 1942 as a mark of protest by the revolutionaries. Similar incidents took place at the HPO Barabanki and Satrikh. The people of this district enthusiastically respond to the call of Satyagraha and large numbers courted arrest.
Geography
The district is for the most part flat to monotony, there is an utter absence of mountains; the most elevated point is about four hundred and thirty feet above the sea; and there are few points of view from which any expanse of country can be surveyed. The verdure and beauty of the groves with which it is studded in every direction redeem the prospect from bare ugliness, and when the spring crops are green and the jhils yet full of water, the richness of the landscape is very striking. Here and there patches of uncultivated waste are to be seen, but a high assessment and security of tenure are rapidly converting them into waving fields of corn. Towards the north, especially along the old bank of the Ghaghra, the ground is undulating and richly wooded, while to the south there is a gentle slope down to the Gomti. The monotonous level is broken on the north by an abrupt fall, the ridge running parallel to the Ghaghra at a distance of from one mile (1.6 km) to three miles (5 km), is said to indicate what was formerly the right bank of the river. The district is intersected at various parts by rugged ravines.
Location and boundaries
The district Barabanki is situated about 29 km in the East direction of Lucknow the Capital of Uttar Pradesh. This district being one of the four districts of Faizabad division, is located in the heart of Awadh region and it lies between Latitudes 26° 30' North and 27° 19' North and Longitudes 80° 58' East and 81° 55' East. District Barabanki is surrounded by district Faizabad in the East, districts Gonda and Bahraich in the North East, district Sitapur in the North West, district Lucknow in the West, district Rae Bareli in the South and district Sultanpur in the South East. The riverGhaghra forms the North Eastern Boundary separating Barabanki from Bahraich and Gonda.
Area
According to the 1991 census the area of the district was 4401 km². The districts were reconstituted and Tehsil Rudauli of this district was merged with district Faizabad, thereby reducing the land area of the district. Now the area of the district stands reduced to 3895.4 km². The area is liable to vary from year to year due to the slightest change in the course of the river Ghaghra, because this slight variation makes a noticeable change in the overall area of the district.
Topography
The district can be topographically divided into three main regions.
- Tarai region, the area in the North East towards river Ghaghra.
- Gomti par region, the wide area from South West to South East of the district.
- Har region, which is situated at some height to the Gomti Par region, the whole tract is gently undulating land with gentle slope from the North West to South East.
The district is well fed by rivers Ghaghra, Gomti and Kalyani with their tributaries for major part of the year. Although some of them dryout during summers and create havoc during rainy season by flooding.
Ghaghra
The principal river in the district is the Ghaghra, at a short distance from Bahramghat; in the Fatehpur tahsil the rivers Chauka and Sarda meet, and their united stream is called the Ghaghra. Both those component rivers take their rise in the Himalaya and at their confluence form a stream, which at Bahramghat is in the rainy season from one and a half to two miles (3 km), and in the dry season half mile in breadth. The Gogra divides the Bara Banki district from the districts of Bahraich and Gonda. It flows in a south-easterly direction past Faizabad, and finally empties itself into the Ganges at Arrah, above Dinapore. This river is navigable for flat-bottomed steamers as far as Bahramghat; but the traffic is at present confined to country boats which ply in considerable numbers between Bahramghat and Sarun district. It has been stated that the ancient course of the river is indicated at a distance of from one to two miles (3 km) from the existing right bank by a ridge about 20 feet (6.1 m) high. The low lands between the ancient and present channels generally have fine crops of rice, but the water sometimes lies too long after the rains and rots them, and the spring crops cannot be sown. The river is not utilized for purposes of irrigation. Some portion of Tehsil Fatehpur and some portion of Tehsil Ram Sanehi Ghat falls on its banks.
The Ghaghraflows for forty-eight miles on the border of the district; the dry weather discharge is 19,000 cubic feet (540 m3). The principal ferries are at Kaithi, Kamiar, and Paska Ghat; there is a boat-bridge during the cold season at Bahramghat.
Gomti
Next in importance is the Gomti, which runs through the tahsil of Haidargarh and some portion of the tehsil Ram Sanehi Ghat and separates the Bara Banki district from the districts of Lucknow, Sultanpur and Faizabad. It runs like the Ghagra in a south-easterly direction, has a well-defined bank and a stream which is fordable in the dry weather, and is about 40 yards broad. There is considerable traffic on the Gumti by country boats.
The Gomti flows for 105 miles (169 km) through, or on the border of the district, but its course is so circuitous that the direct distance from the point of entrance to that of exit is only forty-two miles; it is not therefore so useful for navigation, and it lies too low for irrigation; its dry weather discharge is 500 cubic feet (14,000 L). Its water is actually at a lowet level than that of the Ghagra. At the junction of the Kalyani the former is only 301 feet (92 m) above the sea; at Rudauli, the watershed between it and the Ghagra the altitude is 340 feet (100 m); and at Kaithi Ghat the Ghagra is 314 feet (96 m).
Kalyani
Kalyani is a small river of local origin. It rises in the Fatehpur tahsil, and after wandering through the district in a most tortuous course, empties itself into the Gomti near the village of Dwarkapur. It flows through the district along with its tributaries, covering most of central portion of the district. Kalyani creates havoc during the rains, flooding considerable part of the district, though during summers there is hardly any water in certain sections of the river. It is an important source of water for major period of the year, with banks precipitous at a number of places.
In the rains of 1872, the river Kalyani presented a vast volume of water 269 feet (82 m) broad, 337 feet (103 m) deep, rushing along with a velocity of 5.74 miles per hour and with a discharge of 51,540 cubic feet per second (1,459 m3/s). In ordinary monsoons the highest discharge is about a quarter less than this.
The river is crossed by the railway with a girder bridge with (6) six openings, each of 60 feet (18 m).