History
At the end of 10th century, a line of princes of Chhinda dynasty ruled the area of Pilibhit. Nothing else is know but their name and the fact that they made a canal out of River Sarada is recorded in an archaic script written in Sanskrit found near Dewal village.[35] Local history commences with the rise of Rohela power in the area in the 18th century, when Pilibhit fell in the hands of Rohella warrior Hafiz Rahmat Khan, after the death of Ali Mohammed Khan. Hafiz Rahmat Khan was killed in 1774 in a battle near Miranpur Katra with the Nawab of Oudh, who was aided by British force lent by Warren Hastings and was added to Oudh.[36] According to records available on papers, in 1801 when Rohilkhand was ceded to the British in lieu of payment of tribute, Pilibhit was a pargana of the district of Bareilly, which lost it in 1833, the arrangement being temporary and the tract being again united with Bareilly in 1841. In 1871 the Pilibhit subdivision was formed comprising Jahanabad, Pilibhit and Puranpur. the last of which was eventually converted into a separate district in 1879.[37]
At the introduction of the British rule, the parganas of Pilibhit, Jahanabad and Bisalpur was formed into separate tehsils. Puranpur was united for this purpose with Khutar. A redistribution of the area was effected in 1824, when the Bisalpur tehsil contained the parganas of Bisalpur and Maurari, which afterward become a single area, Jahanabad was joined with Richha to form tehsil Pareva and Pilibhit with Baheri, the HQ being at Pilibhit. In 1851 Baheri and the other tarai pargana were taken under direct management and in 1863 Richha was attached to the new Baheri tehsil, pargana Jahanabad being assigned to Pilibhit which also received Puranpur on its transfer in 1865. The latter, in 1871, a became subtehsil dependent on Pilibhit. The promotion of Puranpur into a full tehsil occurred in 1879, while Bisalpur throughout remained a separate subdivision. Thus the area is now divided into three tehsils and four parganas. Puranpur and Bisalpur constitute individual tehsils and parganas and the tehsil of Pilibhit comprises the paraganas of Pilibhit and Jahanabad.[38]
- 1857 Sepoy Mutiny at Pilibhit
During the great 1857 Indian Sepoy Mutiny, news of the raising of troops under the leadership of Khan Bahadur Khan Rohilla at Bareilly reached Pilibhit on June 1, 1857, and tumults at once brook out amongst the population in the city, while the surrounding villages remained prey to the rapacity and extortion of the rival Zamindars. The Joint Magistrate was forced to flee to Nainital. The mutineers of city nominally admitted the authority of Khan Bahadur Khan Rohilla, Nawab of Bareilly, and the grandson of Hafiz Rahmat Khan. British order was restored on May 13, 1858 by the British force lent by Commander Colin Campbell, 1st Baron Clyde of 9th Regiment of Foot of British Army with the help of Captain William George Drummond Stewart of 93rd (Sutherland) Highlanders of the British Army, after winning the Bareilly battle. Some of the mutineers were captured and sentenced to death.[39]
- Pilibhit at a glance in 1901
According to the Imperial Gazetteer of India, vol. 20, page 143, published by Government of India, below is the demogarphy of Pilibhit as of 1901.[40]
| Area | Population | Density | Total literacy | Male literacy | Female literacy | No of School | No of Pupil |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
[edit]Historical facts
It is believed by locals that Pilibhit was ruled by an ancient king named Mayurdhwaj or Moredhwaj or King Venu, a great devotee of lord Krishna and a loyal friend of Arjun. King Venu's name and the geography of his kingdom can be traced in the Hindu epic Mahabharat.[41]
According to the Imperial Gazetteer of India, vol. 20, page 138, Pilibhit was ruled by the Chhinda dynasty in the 10th century. An inscription in Sanskrit has been found in the dewal village of Puranpur area, which records that the princes of the Chhinda dynasty made a canal out of the River Sarada in the 10th century.[42]
According to a British officer, historian Lieutenant-Colonel[43] James Tod (1782–1835), Maharana Pratap's son, Amar Singh, fought 17 wars with the Mughal emperor Akbar, but after Maharana Pratap's death, in 1595 he conditionally accepted the Mughals as rulers. At this time, many of Maharana Pratap's band of loyal Rajputs became disillusioned by the surrender and left Rajasthan. This group included Rathores, Deoras, Chauhans, Parihars, Tomars, Kashwahas, Ranas, Tharus and Jhalas. Collectively, they are called Tharu at present and are settled mostly in the sub-Himalayan belt on the boundary of Nepal in and around of dense forest of present district Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh. Many of the Tharu tribe are still living in the remote forest area of the district and trying to conserve the tradition and culture they brought from Rajasthan.
The city Pilibhit was an administrative unit in the Mughal era under Bareilly suba. For security, the Mughal subedar Ali Mohammed Khan constructed four magnificent gates around the administrative building in 1734 AD. These gates were named Barellwi darwaza at the west, Hussaini darwaza at the east, Jahanabadi darwaza at the north and Dakhini darwaza at the south. Because of a lack of proper maintenance, all the gates have been lost; only their ruins remain.[44]
Pilibhit was invaded by the Marathas in 1772 AD. This was the time when the Kurmi community came into this region. The Marathas were the ancestors of the Kurmi community, one of the major communities in the region.[45] The last king of the Shah dynasty of Nepal was sheltered in Pilibhit by the ruler of Rampur suba Faizullah Khan in 1789 AD, after being attacked by the Gorakha king of Nepal.[46]
The freedom fighter Maulana Enayetulla, from Pilibhit, voluntarily played host to the exiled Queen of Avadh, Begum Hazrat Mahal, who reached Nepal in late 1859.[47][48]
There is a memorial place at Khakra chouki (today's Police Center), where 21 freedom fighters were hanged on 14 January 1909, on the day of Makar Sankranti, who refused to follow British government's order and rebelled against them. In respect for these 21 martyrs, a rock (named All Martyrs) was underpinned in the compound of the police center.
Mohandas K. Gandhi addressed a huge rally on 12 November 1929 in the field of Gauri Shankar temple along with Kasturba and Mirabehn. He planted a tree in the temple campus, which is still there.[49]
