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The district of Bareilly
lying between latitude 28 degree 1'
and longitude 78 degree 58'k and 79
degree 47'E was once the part of ancient
Panchala, which was bound by the river
Gomati in the east, Yamuna in the
west, Chambal in the south and on
the north it approaches the Himalayan
foothills. During the later Vedic
period Panchala acquired considerable
significance - in fact it became the
matrix of Later Vedic Civilization.
From archaeological point of view the
district of Bareilly
is very rich. The extensive remains
of Ahichhatra, the Capital town of
Northern Panchala have been discovered
near Ramnagar Village of Aonla Tehsil
in the district. It was during the
first excavations at Ahichhatra (1940-44)
that the painted grey ware, associated
with the advent of the Vedic Aryans
in Ganga Yamuna Valley, was
recognized
for the first time in the earliest
levels of the site. Nearly five thousand
coins belonging to periods earlier
than that of Guptas have been yielded
from Ahichhatra.
According to the tradition the foundation
of the modern town of Bareilly may
be dated some time in the first half
of the sixteenth century. It is said
that one Jagat Singh Katehriya founded
a village called Jagtpur about the
year 1500. In 1537 his two sons Bas
Deo and Barel Deo were responsible
for founding Bareilly. The place was
named after the two brothers as Bans
Bareilly. The name Jagatpur is still
retained by one of the mohallas of
the old city. During the reign of
Mughal
Emperor Mohammad Akbar the Katehriyas
rose in revolt but it was crushed
by the Mughal General Almas Ali Khan.
Bas Deo of Bareilly who was then ruling
over a considerable Mughal authority
did not become effective here till
the Afghan Rohilla nobles who were
entrenched in these parts were overthrown.
The development of the city was accelerated
in 1657. When the Mughal Faujdar of
Bareilly was Mukrand Rai. He is credited
to have built the new city of Bareilly
by clearing out the Sal forest. The
mohalla Makrandpur Sarkar was named
after him and that of AlamgiriGanj
after Mughal Emperor Mohammad
Aurangzaib Alamgir. The mohallas
of Beharipur, Malookpur and Kazitola
were also founded by him. He also
built the Jamia Masjid and a large
fort where the Qila Police Station
is situated.
In the eighteenth century, the district
of Bareilly (now a district of western
Uttar Pradesh) was
a part of the administrative division
known as Rohilkhand. The tract of
land forming the subah or province
of Rohilkhand was formerly called
Katehr/Katiher. In the twelfth century
it was ruled by different clans of
Rajputs referred to by the general
name of Katehriyas.[10] At the beginning
of the thirteenth century, when the
Delhi Sultanate was firmly established,
Katehr was divided into the provinces
of Sambhal and Budaun. But the thickly
forested country infested with wild
animals provided just the right kind
of shelter for rebels. And indeed,
Katehr was famous for rebellions against
imperial authority. During the Sultanate
rule, there were frequent rebellions
in Katehr. All were ruthlessly crushed.
Sultan Balban (1266-1287) ordered
vast tracts of jungle to be cleared
so as to make the area unsafe for
the insurgents. The slightest weakening
of the central authority provoked
acts of defiance from the Katehriya
Rajputs. Thus the Mughals initiated
the policy of allotting lands for
Afghan settlements in Katiher. Afghan
settlements continued to be encouraged
throughout the reign of Aurangzeb
(1658-1707) and even after his death.
These Afghans, known as the Rohilla
Afghans, caused the area to be known
as
Rohilkhand. The Mughal policy of encouraging
Afghan settlements for keeping the
Katehriyas in check worked only as
long as the central government was
strong. After Aurangzeb’s death, the
Afghans, having themselves become
local potentates began to seize and
occupy neighboring villages. It was
with the immigration of Daud Khan,
an Afghan slave (Roh in Pakhtun/Pashto
means 'mountaineer') in the region
that the Afghan Rohillas had come
into prominence. His adopted son Ali
Muhammad Khan succeeded in carving
out an estate for himself in the district
with his headquarter at Aonla. He
was ultimately made the lawful governor
of Kateher by the Mughal emperor,
and the region was henceforth called
Rohilkhand i.e. "the land of
the Ruhelas".
The proprietary settlements of the district
during the period between 1191 to
1701 is difficult to ascertain as
most of them were uprooted by the
Rohillas. Persian king Nadir Shah
invaded and sacked Delhi in 1739,
giving a mortal blow to the Mughal
Empire. Chief Ali Mohammad (1721-48)
of Rohilla tribe, a Pakhtun tribe
from Afghanistan, were allies of Nadir
Shah and was awarded Bareilly and
surrounding territories. Rohillas
settled in Bareilly and surrouding
districts with 40,000 Afghans. This
Rohilla state was based in Bareilly,
and it was called Rohilkhand.
When the Marathas invaded Rohilkhand
in November 1772, they were repulsed
by the Rohillas with the help of the
Nawabs of Avadh. After the war when
Nawab Shuja-Ud-Daula of Avadh demanded
the indemnity from the Rohilla Chief
Hafiz Rahmat Khan for the help given
to him, but the demand was rejected
by the Rohillas. The annoyed Nawab
then with the help of Warren Hastings
of the British East India Company
invaded Rohilkhand. In the ensuing
battle of Mirranpur Katra in 1774,
Hafiz Rahmat Khan was killed and the
authority of the Avadh was established
over the entire territory of the Rohillas.
The Avadh supermacy did not continue
for long due to the mounting debt
on account of the maintenance of British
forces in the region led to the surrender
of the whole of Rohilkhand (including
Bareilly) to the British East India
Company by the treaty of November
10, 1801. The news of the outbreak
of the struggle of independence which
started at Meerut reached Bareilly
on May 14,1857. The people rose in
revolt, occupied treasury and burnt
the records of Kotwali, Khan Bahadur
Khan, the grandson of Hafiz Rahmat
Khan was able to form his own government
by appointing Sobha Ram Diwan, Madar
Ali Khan and Niyaz Muhammed Khan generals
and Hori Lal as paymaster. With the
failure of this first war of the independence
everywhere, Bareilly too was completely
subjugated by the British on 7th May
1858. Khan Bahadur Khan was sentenced
to death and was hanged in the Kotwali
on February 24, 1860.
The question of Muslim identity, assumed
seriousness during the decline of
Muslim power in South Asia. The first
person to realize it's acuteness was
the scholar theologian, Shah Waliullah
(1703-62). He laid the foundation
of Islamic renaissance in South Asia
and became a source of inspiration
for almost all the subsequent social
and religious reform movements of
the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
His immediate successors, inspired
by his teachings, tried to establish
a modest Islamic state in the north-west
region of South Asia and they, under
the leadership of Sayyed Ahmad (1786-1831)
of Bareilly, popularly known as Sayyed
Ahmad Shaheed Barelvi, persevered
in this direction. Sayyed Ahmad Barelvi
led a poorly trained but highly motivated
Muslim army from Bareilly to Punjab
to fight the Sikhs who have occupied
Punjab and were persecuting Muslims.
The French trained and equipped modern
Sikh army defeated and massacred thousands
of brave Bareilly Muslims soldiers
at Balakot near Kaghan Valley, Pakistan.
The mausoleums of two great Muslim
warriors, Sayyed Ahmad Shaheed Barelvi
and his general Shah Ismail, and the
graves of the thousands of Muslim
soldiers from Bareilly are located
at Balakot.
In the early part of the twentieth century,
Bareilly was again the focus of another
Muslim movement, this time it gave
rise to a new backward Muslim sect,
that resulted in furthur splitting
the unity of Islam.
The Barelvi
theological movement was inspired
by Ahmad Raza Khan of Bareilly (1856-1921).
The Barelvis justified the meditational
and custom-laden Islam, closely tied
to the intercession of the Pirs (saints)
of the shrines. They believe that
Prophet Mohammad was made of Divine
Radiance (Noor) and had knowledge
of the unknown (Ilm-ul-Ghaib). Both
these beliefs are contradictory to
the Islamic teachings since it gives
the divine attributes to humans and
the worship of tangible objects. These
Barelvi beliefs has resulted in the
'worship' of the graves' (Qabar Parasti)
of Muslim saints and the year round
celebration of the birthday of Prophet
Mohammad, known as Milad-un-Nabi.
Page Last Updated:
Friday, March 28, 2008 17:21:00 -0400
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