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Bareilly, also spelled Bareli, is a city in Bareilly district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is among the largest metropolises in Western Uttar Pradesh and is the centre of the Bareilly division as well as the historical region of Rohilkhand. The city lies in the Indo-Gangetic Plains, about 252 kilometres (157 mi) northwest of the state capital, Lucknow, and 265 kilometres (165 mi) east of the national capital, New Delhi. With a population of 903,668 in 2011, it is the eighth most populous city in the state, 17th in northern India and 54th in India. It is located on the bank of Ramganga River and is the site of the Ramganga Barrage built for canal irrigation.
The earliest settlement in what is now Bareilly was established in 1537 by a local chieftain Jagat Singh Katehriya who named it 'Bans-Bareli' after his two sons Bansaldev and Bareldev. The town came under the rule of the Mughals in 1569 and had become the capital of a local pargana by 1596. The foundation of the modern city of Bareilly was laid by Mughal governor Mukrand Rai in 1657, and in 1658 it became the seat of the governor of Budaun. The weakening of Mughal Empire lead to the rise of the Kingdom of Rohilkhand, of which Bareilly was a major centre. The city came under the control of Oudh State in 1774 after the fall of Rohillas in the First Rohilla War and was then ceded to the British East India Company by the Nawab of Oudh in 1801. A Military station was established in 1811 to the south of the city, where a fort was constructed in 1816. Bareilly was freed by the rebels during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and remained independent under the rule of Khan Bahadur Khan until it was re-annexed by the British in 1858.
Bareilly is renowned for being the place of origin of the Barelvi movement, a Sunni Islamic movement formed by Islamic scholar Ahmad Raza Khan to counter the growing influence of the Deobandi movement and Wahhabism. His shrine, located at the Bareilly Dargah, is visited by millions of his followers every year on the occasion of Urs-e-Razavi.
The city has been known as Nath Nagri due to the presence of several ancient Shiva temples, and more recently as Jumka City. It is a centre for furniture manufacturing and trade in cotton, cereal and sugar. Bareilly is one of the 100 Smart Cities being developed in India, and one of the nine counter magnet cities of the National Capital Region (NCR). The city is served by the Bareilly Airport which has direct flights to Delhi, Lucknow, Mumbai and Bangalore. The Bareilly Junction railway station located in the city is among the top 100 booking stations of Indian Railways while Izzatnagar is the divisional headquarters of one of the three divisions of North Eastern Railways.
According to the epic Mahābhārata, the Bareilly region (Panchala) is said to be the birthplace of Draupadi, who was also referred to as 'Panchali' (one from the kingdom of Panchāla) by Kṛṣṇā (Lord Krishna). When Yudhishthira becomes the king of Hastinapur at the end of the Mahābhārata, Draupadi becomes his queen. The folklore says that Gautama Buddha had once visited the ancient fortress city of Ahichchhatra in Bareilly. The Jain Tirthankara Parshva is said to have attained Kaivalya at Ahichchhatra.
In the 12th century, the kingdom was under the rule by different clans of Kshatriya Rajputs. Later, the region became part of the Muslim Turkic Delhi Sultanate for 325 years before getting absorbed in the emerging Mughal Empire. The foundation of the modern City of Bareilly foundation was laid by Mughal governor Mukrand Rai in 1657 during the rule of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. Later the region became the capital of Rohilkhand region before getting handed over to Nawab Vazir of Awadh and then to East India Company (transferred to British India) and later becoming an integral part of India. The region has also acted as a mint for a major part of its history.
From an archaeological point of view, the district of Bareilly is very rich. The extensive remains of Ahichchhatra, 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 Ahichchhatra (1940–44) that the painted grey ware, associated with the advent of the Aryans in the Ganges–Yamuna Valley, was recognised for the first time in the earliest levels of the site. Nearly five thousand coins belonging to periods earlier than that of the Guptas have been yielded from Ahichchhatra. It has also been one of the richest sites in India from the point of view of the total yield of terracotta. Some of the masterpieces of Indian terracotta art are from Ahichchhatra. In fact the classification made of the terracotta human figurines from Ahichchhatra on grounds of style and to some extent stratigraphy became a model for determining the stratigraphy of subsequent excavations at other sites in the Ganges Valley. On the basis of the existing material, the archaeology of the region helps us to get an idea of the cultural sequence from the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC up to the 11th century AD. Some ancient mounds in the district have also been discovered by the Deptt. of Ancient History and culture, Rohilkhand University, at Tihar-Khera (Fatehganj West), Pachaumi, Rahtuia, Kadarganj and Sainthal. Apart from this, artefacts of painted grey ware culture of the Iron Age have also been discovered near the city.
Bareilly was founded in 1537 by Jagat Singh Katehriya, a Rajput who named it Bareilly after his two sons Bansaldev and Baraldev. The city was mentioned by the historian Budayuni. The foundation of the modern city of Bareilly was laid by Mughal governor Mukrand Rai in 1657. In 1658, Bareilly became the headquarters of the province of Budaun. The Mughals encouraged the settlements of loyal Afghans (Pathans) in the Bareilly region to control the native Katehriya Rajputs. After the death of Emperor Aurangzeb, the Afghans began to settle in the villages and assimilated with the local Muslims. These descendants of these assimilated Afghans are known as Pathans. After the fall of the Mughal Empire, created anarchy and many Pathans migrated from the Rohilkhand region. Bareilly (like other cities in Uttar Pradesh) experienced economic stagnation and poverty due to the breakdown of trade and security, leading to the migration of Rohilla Muslim Pathans to Suriname and Guyana as indentured labour.
Under Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech at the 1761 Third Battle of Panipat, Rohilkhand blocked the expansion of the Maratha Empire into northern India. In 1772 it was invaded by the Marathas, repulsing the invasion with the aid of the Nawab of Awadh. After the war, Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula demanded payment for the nawabs' help from Barech. When his demand was refused, the nawab joined the East India Company (under Governor Warren Hastings and his Commander-in-Chief, Alexander Champion) to invade Rohilkhand. The combined forces of Daula and the Company defeated Barech (who was killed in battle at Miranpur Katra, ending Rohilla rule) in 1774. Rohilkhand was handed over to Daula, and from 1774 to 1800 the province was ruled by the Nawab of Awadh who surrendered Rohilkhand to the East India Company in a treaty signed on 10 November 1801. During the reign of Shah Alam II, Bareilly was the headquarters of Rohilla Sardar Hafiz Rehmat Khan and many coins were minted. The city was later in the possession of Awadh Nawab Asaf-ud-Daulah, and his coins had Bareilly, Bareilly Aasfabad and the Bareilly kite and fish as identification marks. Coins were then minted by the East India Company.
After the Rohilla War, the change in the power structure increased discontent throughout the district.
The most popular trades in and around Bareilly during the 1820s were manufacturing glass, jewellery, glass and lac bangles and gold and silver thread, crimping, bean drying, wire drawing, charpoy weaving, keeping a grocer's shop and selling kebabs.
Bareilly was a centre of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The rebellion began as a mutiny of Indian soldiers (sepoys), employed in the three Presidency armies, against race- and religion-based injustices and inequities on 10 May 1857 in Meerut. It expanded into other mutinies and civilian rebellions, primarily in the major north-central Indian river valleys; local episodes extended northwest to Peshawar (on the northwest frontier with Afghanistan) and southeast (beyond Delhi). There were riots in many parts of Uttar Pradesh, and Muslims in Bareilly, Bijnor and Moradabad called for the revival of a Muslim kingdom.
The Rohillas actively opposed the British, but were later disarmed. Khan Bahadur Khan Rohilla, grandson of Hafiz Rahmat Khan, formed his own government in Bareilly in 1857 and a widespread popular revolt in Awadh, Bundelkhand and Rohilkhand took place. In 1857, Khan Bhadur Khan issued silver coins from Bareilly as an independent ruler. When the rebellion failed, Bareilly was subjugated. Khan Bahadur Khan was sentenced to death, and hanged in the police station on 24 February 1860.
Bareilly Central Jail housed a number of political prisoners who supported the independence movement including Yashpal (who married while imprisoned on 7 August 1936 was the first such ceremony in an Indian jail). The rules were changed, preventing future prison marriages.
Bareilly is in northern India, at 28°10′N 78°23′E / 28.167°N 78.383°E. On its east are Pilibhit and Shahjahanpur, Rampur on the west, Udham Singh Nagar (Uttarakhand) to the north and Badaun to the south. The city is level and well-watered, sloping towards the south. Its soil is fertile, with groves of trees. A rain forest in the north, known as the tarai, contains tigers, bears, deer and wild pigs. The river Sarda (or Gogra) forms the eastern boundary and is the principal waterway. The Ramganga receives most of the drainage from the Kumaon mountains, and the Deoha also receives many small streams. The Gomati (or Gumti) is also nearby.
Bareilly lies 252 metres (827 ft) above sea level, and is located off the left bank of Ramganga. Deoranian, Nakatiya and Shankha, all minor tributaries of Ramganga, flow through the city. The historical core of Bareilly lies approx 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the left of Ramganga. Since the 19th century, the city has been expanding to the south, with neighbourhoods like Civil Lines and Bareilly Cantt established during British rule; however, after the Independence of India, much of the expansion has been towards the north of the old city. Smaller industrial centres founded during British rule, like C.B. Ganj and Izzatnagar, also merged with the city. The city has an urban area of 106 square kilometres (41 sq mi), while together with its metropolitan area it covers 123 square kilometres (47 sq mi).
Bareilly has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification: Cwa) with hot summers and cool winters. The average temperature for the year is 25 °C. June, with an average temperature of 32.8 °C is the warmest month, while the coolest month of the year is January, with an average temperature of 15 °C. Bareilly receives 1038.9 mm precipitation for the year on average. The month with the most precipitation on average is July with 307.3 mm of precipitation, while November is the month with the least precipitation on average, with an average of 5.1 mm. There are an average of 37.7 days of precipitation, with the most precipitation occurring in August with 10.3 days and the least precipitation occurring in November with 0.5 days. The summer is noticeably wetter than the winter, although rain falls throughout the year.
Bareily has been ranked 17th best "National Clean Air City" under (Category 2 3-10L Population cities) in India according to 'Swachh Vayu Survekshan 2024 Results'
The street system in Bareilly is traditional, with most roads oriented towards different cities. The city centre is the intersection of Nainital Road and Bada Bazaar–Shyam Ganj Road at a street known as Kutubkhana. It is a congested street, and the entry of cars or heavy vehicles is prohibited during the day. The Patel Chowk Choraha–Chaupla and Chowki Chauraha–Chaupla Roads run from Lucknow Road to Delhi Road (Old National Highway 24). Nainital Road (including the old National Highway 74 or Pilibhit By-pass Road) and Badaun Road began at Kutubkhana. Heavy traffic is allowed on these roads only from Koharapeer Sabji-Mandi and Chaupla Crossroads. Bareilly is on the Ganges plain, with fertile alluvial soil; however, the lower plain is flood-prone. The city is on the Ramganga, with seven other rivers passing through the district. The lower Himalayas are 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of the river.
According to the 2011 Indian Census, Bareilly had a population of 903,668, of which 476,927 were males and 426,741 were females. The sex ratio was 895. Population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 107,323. The total number of literates in Bareilly was 543,515, which constituted 60.1% of the population, of which male literacy is 66.5% and female literacy is 55.7%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Bareilly was 68.3%, of which male literacy rate was 72.7% and female literacy rate was 63.2%. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes had a population of 71,215 and 2,771 respectively. In 2011, Bareilly had a total of 166222 households.
Bareilly has a majority of Hindus, with 58.58% following Hinduism according to the 2011 Indian Census. Islam is the second most followed religion in the city, with about 38.80% followers. Sikhism (0.90% followers), Christianity (0.78% followers), Jainism (0.05% followers) and Buddhism (0.05% followers) are also practised in the city. Apart from that, about 0.03% people follow some other religions, while about 0.81% of the people did not state their religion.
The city lends its name to the Barelvi movement, which originated in British India to counter the influence of the Deobandi movement and Wahhabism. It follows the Sunni Hanafi school of jurisprudence, and has hundreds of millions of followers in South Asia. Seven ancient Hindu temples dedicated to Shiva are located in the city – Dhopeshwar Nath, Madhi Nath, Alakha Nath, Tapeshwar Nath, Bankhandi Nath, Pashupati Nath and Trivati Nath, due to which the city is also known by the name of Nath Nagri. There is a Roman Catholic Diocese of Bareilly.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Bareilly”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.