Page:Bulandshahr- Or, Sketches of an Indian District- Social, Historical and Architectural.djvu/51

 The only ground for regret is that when the old historical site was adopted, the old historical name of Baran was not also restored. Bulandshahr, which in English characters especially—has a most cumbrous and barbaric appearance, has no literary authority. Apparently it was imposed by the Muhammadans during the reign of Aurangzeb, when the ruling power was possessed with a mania—like the modern French—for the abolition of every name that suggested recollections of an earlier dynasty. In large towns, such as Mathurá and Brindaban, where also the experiment was tried, the popular appellation was too strongly rooted in the affections of the people to admit of suppression by imperial edict; but in a little place like Baran, where too the majority of the inhabitants happened to be Muhammadans, there was no difficulty in giving effect to the official innovation. The most favourable opportunity for reviving the older and shortername has unfortunately been lost, but even now the change might be effected without causing more than a very slight and merely temporary inconvenience; for the name Baran is still perfectly familiar to the people and even officially it continues to be used as the designation both of the Pargana (or Hundred) and also of the parish, which is a very extensive one; the title Bulandshahr being applied exclusively to the town, and originally only to the Upper Town, or Fort. In meaning, it corresponds precisely with the English 'Higham,' and was suggested by the great elevation of the Castle Hill, which far overtops any other ground for many miles away. It is said by some to have been merely an Urdu rendering of the Hindi Uncha-nagar, a form that had already come into use and would bear the same signification; but, in the absence of any documentary proof of this assertion, I very strongly doubt whether the Hindus under the Delhi Emperors ever knew the place by any other name than that of Baran. There would seem to be no reason why they should substitute one indigenous name for another; while the object that the Muhammadans had, in introducing a name from their own vocabulary, is easily intelligible.

Tradition goes that in prehistoric times the town was called Banchhati—which would mean 'a forest-clearing'—and that it was founded by a Tomar, or Páṇḍava chief from Ahár, named Parmál. The site of this original settlement is the high ground now occupied by the Collector's House and the new Town Hall, and lies immediately to the west of the modern town. The spot used to be known as the 'Moti Chauk,' or 'Moti