Page:The Imperial Gazetteer of India - Volume 2 (2nd edition).pdf/439

 BIJNA UR. ment

property.

The

429

mineral products of the District consist only of a

scanty supply of kankar or nodular limestone, not sufficient, however, to supply local wants.

The Chandi

Hills

and the

forest

belt give

shelter to numberless wild animals, while the comparative seclusion of

the eastern country secures excellent sport to occasional visitors.

The

fauna includes the tiger and the wild elephant, besides the usual game, birds,

and

fish.

The

proximity of the Ganges and the

hills,

together

with the large forest area, keep the climate comparatively moist, and

impart a pleasant greenness to the open plains.

—

History Bijnaur can lay little claim to historical importance, as it remained a mere distant portion of the Rohilla dominion until the extinction of their authority by the Oudh Wazi'rs, and never bore a Nevertheless, it makes conspicuous part in the annals of Upper India. an early appearance in literature, since Hwen Thsang, the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim of the 7th century a.d., mentions Mandawar, 8 miles .

About the as, even at that date, a flourishing city. some Agarwala Baniyas, from Murari in Meerut (Merath) District, crossed the Ganges into this tract, and, finding Mandawar in In 1400, Timur visited ruins, restored it and settled on the spot. massacred a large number of Bijnaur, committing his usual atrocities the inhabitants, and gained a decisive victory in a battle near Lai Dhang. Thence he marched to Hardwar, and crossed into the Doab. We hear no more of the District till the time of Akbar, when it formed Most of the part of the Sarkdr of Sambhal in the Subahat of Delhi. north of Bijnaur,

year 1114,



may be found in Akbar’s great revenue list under the names which they still retain. The larger part of the soil had already been brought under cultivation, and the large revenue which it afforded to the Mughal Emperors sufficiently proves its rising existing fiscal sub-divisions

prosperity.

During the most prosperous age of the Delhi Empire, Bijnaur seems have shared in the general freedom from historical incidents, which was the happy lot of regions remote from court intrigue and dynastic quarrels. But as the power of the Mughals relaxed, the Rohilla Afghans appeared upon the scene in Upper India, and settled in the (^See Bareilly tract to the east of the Ganges about the year 1700. District.) Their first great leader, Ali Muhammad, received a grant of the neighbouring country, which bore thenceforth the name of Rohilkhand. The Subahdar of Oudh quarrelled with the new-comer, and induced the Emperor Muhammad Shah to march against him. Ali Muhammad surrendered to the Emperor, gained the favour of his suzerain, and was reinstated in his government about the year 1748. On his death he left his territories to his sons, under the guardianship of Hafiz Rahmat Khan, the national hero of Rohilla legend. In 1771, the Marathas, having placed the puppet Emperor Shah Alam on the

to