Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057352).pdf/123

 PAR 115 . ... 13. ... 11 27 to i Sul'anpur Fyzahad 9.63 to! 8 9 to 69 to 9.8 to) 992 to 1 Proportion of Hindus to Muhammadans.—The district may be said to be peopled by Hindus ; the proportion of the latter to Muhammadans, and others not Hindus (the number of the latter is insignificant) being 11.27 to 1. This large preponderance of Hindus appears to be common to the greater portion of the province of Oudh, the exceptions being the central districts of Lucknow, Bara Banki, and Sitapur. I have shown in the margin the varying ratios for each district Lucknow 4.17 to I of the province. It is a curious fact, that the Bara Bapki 5.87 to 1 districts of Rae Bareli and Lucknow, which are Ungo to contiguous, should respectively exhibit the high- Rae Bareli * 22-21 to 1 Partabgarh est and lowest proportion. Looking at the map, 9.16 to 1 it would seem, that the larger preponderance is in the border districts, that is, in those adjoining Gouda Balıraich the older provinces of the north-west,* while of Sitapult 6.9 to 1 these again the preponderance is highest in the Hardoi four districts which are bounded by the Ganges. Kheri The remaining four districtst form the heart of Oudh, and are enclosed on the north by the Naipál range: no doubt it was this portion of the country on which the Muhammadan conquerors established a stronger and more lasting hold, as is evident by there being more of their large towns, "qasbas," and religious endowments than elsewhere. Muhammadan settlements.— The Muhammadan conquerors established scats of government at Lucknow and Fyzabad ; near the latter place, which for many years was the capital of Oudh, is the famous shrine of Ajodhya, and it is no doubt to be inferred that many of the vast numbers of Hindus annually attracted thither in course of time settled in the adjacent country; and while thus largely increasing the population of the pargana of Haweli Oudhỉ and of the district of Fyzabadę generally, counteracted the numerical influence of the rising Muhammadan settlement. After a time, too, the capital was transferred from Fyzabad to Lucknow. Thus the seat of government at Lucknow came to be, in a sense, the sole centre, around and within a certain radius of which others and more or less power- ful Muhammadan settlements sprung up. These served to keep in check the surrounding Hindu communities, little disposed though the latter seem to have been to offer serious molestation to the invader. As time wore on, it would appear that those settlements and families which were furthest removed from the influence of the reigning head, and the benefits of court alliances, gradually decayed, were supplanted, or removed elsсwhere. Mr. J. C. Williams, C.S., in para. 125 of his census report, lays it down " as a general rule, that Muhammadan influence is strong, their lands extensive, and their numbers, among the population great, in exactly inverse proportion to the influence, numbers and territorial possessions of the great Rajput clans," and to this, in a general sense, I subscribe. fi.e, Lucknow, Bara Banki, Sitapur, and Bahraich. $ 7,012 to the square mile, 616 to the square milo.
 * i.e, Kberi, Hardoi, Unao, Rae Bareli, Partahgarh, Sultanpur, Fyzabad, and Gonda.