Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057345).pdf/10

 2 HAI ished river Ganga sandy hillocks are found. On the very highest of these mud wells are made freely, but only used with earthed pots. The pargana is covered with singularly fine groves; towards the east the great sál forest of the tarái ciowns the high bluft which borders the ancient river's channel, in which a succession of small lakes appear, where the current has worn the deepest. This river is considered sacred; its old banks therefore are crowned with the fanes and shrines of many sects, some lately erected, many in all stages of decay. At the great fair of Gola Gokarannáth soine 200,000 people assemble in April each year to bathe in the sacred tank of Mabádco. The stranger ascending one of the hills behind the town will see to the north, as far as the eye can reach, nothiug but a sea of tree-tops waving densely as the corn in the harvest field; this is the vanguard of the great forest of the Himalayan Tarái. To the south he will see a high plateau stretching far away to the horizon, following the course of the river, generally covered with sál forest, but here and there rising into bare mounds of dun sand crowned with hoary ruins. To the east and west he will see a champaign country, sparkling with lakes em- bosomed in many groves, and during the continuance of the fair the prospect is made up mainly by vast numbers of pilgrims, their tents, shops, horses, and elephants all glistening with bright colours, the crowd gathering thicker and thicker round the sacred tank. This last is lined with masonry, and is surrounded with temples, and the yet more nu me- rous tombs of the Gosháins, high priests, cach of whom is honoured with a separate mausoleum. The object of worship is a large stone which bears the mark of a heavy blow with an iron mace. Tradition reports that the Emperor Aurangzeb ordered the stone to be pulled up, but that the effort of many elephants was of no avail, and when the emperor approached the spot to discover the obstacle, flames burst forth from the ground, and the dismayed monarch retreating, made a grant to the shrine of the offended deity. The present pargana of Haidarabad covers an area of 98 square miles, of which 41 are cultivated; it has a population of 35,708, at the rate of 317 to the square mile, but a portion of the area is reserved forest.; of them 4,711 are Musalmans. The above area includes the little pargana of Sikandrabad at the south-east corner. The population consists largely of Kurmis. The landlords are nearly all resident; the estates compact and znanageable: the principal are Kotwára, Gola, Sikandrabad, all owned by converted Ahbans (see Kheri article). To the south, near the Kathna, are the ruins of the jungle fort of Muham- dabad; another is found at Ahmadnagar. Both attest the former greatness of the Sayyads of Pibáni by whom they were erected. Their time- worn walls are now overgrown with dense jungle. Everywhere through- out the pargana are found the curious fluted cupolas which mark the burial places of the Gosháíns. There are all the elements of prosperity in Haidar- abad if the usurers do not acquire the mastery. HAIDARABAD Town--Pargana Asywan-Tahsil MOHA'N-District UNAO—This town lies 12 miles west of the tahsil station Mohan, and 19 miles north of the sadr station Unao. Two miles west of Asíwan there is an unmetalled road to Unao. This town was founded by one Haidar