Raebareli district

Above the high bank of the Ganges, the landscape is eroded by tributary channels so that it consists of various mostly-flat plateaus separated by nalas.^[4] The soil in the Ganges uplands is typically a light loam with a fair amount of sand mixed in; the plateaus have more fertile soil than the ravines along the nalas.^[4] Wheat is the main cereal crop grown in this area; there are only a few localities where the water collects in hollows and rice is the staple crop.^[4] Historically, this tract was well-shaded by mango and mahua groves.^[4]

A bit further north, there is a belt of slightly lower-lying land with stiffer clay soil interspersed with broad shallow wetlands and patches of barren usar land.^[4] This area stretches from Khiron towards Lalganj and Thalrai, and then on to Bela Bhela and Rohanian.^[4] Rice is the main crop grown here — in many areas, the soil is too stiff to support rabi crops, and in still other areas, it only supports a light crop of gram and linseed after the rice harvest.^[4]

A mostly continuous chain of jhils runs through this clayey region for the entire length of the district.^[4] They are parallel to the courses of the Ganges and the Sai, and they may represent an old river bed.^[4] This group of jhils is distinctly deep and narrow compared to elsewhere in the district,^[4] and many of them are oxbow or irregular in shape.^[3] The soil here is much less stiff than the surrounding clay, and instead it ranges from sand to light loam.^[4] The chain of jhils forms three distinct systems: in the west, near Khiron, they form the source of the Basaha; closer to Dalmau, they form a series of small channels that eventually join the Sai; finally, in the east near Salon, they form one of the Naiyas which eventually goes into Pratapgarh district.^[4] The jhils all dry up mostly or entirely during the hot season.^[4]

Sai catchment

The Sai uplands generally resemble the Ganges uplands, although here the least fertile soils are more extreme than in the Ganges uplands.^[4] The good soils along the Sai, though, are among the best in the district for agriculture.^[4] On the south side of the river, west of Raebareli, many nalas cut up the terrain.^[4] The Sai basin narrows further east, around Pandri Ganeshpur.^[4]

Bachhrawan-Jais plain

The northern part of the district generally has firm loamy or clayey soil, with rice as the staple crop.^[4] This area is studded with various jhils, of which the largest are the Mung Tal, Hanswa, Khaur, and Salothu.^[4] Like the jhils on the Dalmau plain, these northern jhils largely dry up during the hot season.^[4] Settlements in this region are more sparsely distributed than elsewhere in the district.^[3]

Forests

Woodlands once covered a large area in Raebareli district, but this has mostly been cleared to make room for agriculture.^[3] In the 1800s, William Henry Sleeman described a large jungle stretching out for 12 miles on either side of the Sai, which historically formed a stronghold of the Nain Kanhpurias; after their participation in the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the British cut down parts of it to break it up.^[4] Patches of dhak jungle remain throughout the areas with stiff soils, as well as along the Sai, but their total area is negligible.^[4]

The common trees of Raebareli district are the same as the rest of southern Awadh.

Due to extensive deforestation in modern times, the number and variety of wild animals present in Raebareli district has fallen significantly.^[3] In the early 19th century there were wild tigers, hyenas, and buffaloes in the high tamarisk woodlands along the Ganges, but these had disappeared by 1900. The Indian wolf was also once common, but by the 20th century it had become rare. Antelopes, also once common, have similarly declined and are now represented by a few nilgai along the Ganges as well as some blackbucks along the Ganges and around Bachhrawan. Wild cattle also exist in small numbers along the Sai and Ganges, and jackals are also sometimes seen.^[4] Other mammals include foxes, cats, and mongooses.^[3]

The birds present in the district are similar to surrounding districts.^[4] There are plenty of waterfowl and snipe during the cold months, and quail are also fairly common.^[4] There are also some black partridges and sandgrouses on the Ganges floodplain.^[4] The red-headed parrot was also formerly caught for its feathers.^[4]

History

Raebareli district did not exist as a distinct administrative division until 1858.

The resulting district boundaries were very irregular and in 1869 there was a significant administrative overhaul.[4] All of Bihar tehsil except for Khiron and Sareni were transferred into Unnao district, and the Haidergarh pargana was moved into Barabanki district.^[4] Meanwhile, the parganas of Inhauna, Mohanganj, Rokha Jais, and Simrauta were moved into Raebareli district from Sultanpur district, while the parganas of Salon and Parshadepur were taken from Pratapgarh district.^[4]

As a result of these changes, the tehsil arrangement of Raebareli district was altered.^[4] A new Dalmau tehsil was formed containing the parganas of Dalmau, Khiron, and Sareni, leaving Raebareli tehsil containing the single pargana of Raebareli.^[4] Salon remained a tehsil headquarters, as it had been under Pratapgarh district, comprising the parganas of Salon, Parshadepur, and Rokha Jais (replacing Ateha, which was left in Pratapgarh district).^[4] In the north of the district, the remnants of the Haidergarh and Mohanganj tehsils were united under the new Maharajganj tehsil, which comprised the parganas of Mohanganj, Simrauta, Inhauna, Kumhrawan, Bachhrawan, and Hardoi.^[4]

When Raebareli district was first formed, it was made the seat of Raebareli division, along with Sultanpur and Pratapgarh districts, but in 1891 this division was merged with Lucknow division.^[4]

Early history

The history of what is now Raebareli district is mostly unknown until the time of the medieval Delhi Sultanate. The only sources for this period are local traditions. One thing that most traditions agree on is that this region was originally ruled by the Bhars, and most old ruins in the district are generally attributed to them. The Bhars appear to have been in power in this area longer than anywhere else in Awadh, and they were not finally subjugated until the reign of Ibrahim Shah of the Jaunpur Sultanate (early 15th century). According to legend, the cities of Raebareli and Dalmau take their names from two Bhar rulers named Dal and Bal, but if they ever existed, it is impossible to assign any dates to them. In any case, tradition holds that the Bhars were later driven out by the Rajputs and, to a lesser extent, the Muslims.^[4]

The Rajputs that came to rule over the area of today's Raebareli district mostly belonged to three main clains: the

At the time of the Ain-i-Akbari in the late 1500s, the area of today's Raebareli district was divided between three different sarkars in two subahs: most belonged to Manikpur sarkar in Allahabad Subah, while portions in the north and west were included in Awadh and Lucknow sarkars in Awadh Subah.^[4]

12 mahals (i.e. parganas) of Manikpur sarkar were located partly or totally in the area of Raebareli district. In the north was Bhilwal, aka Bhalol, which was named after a village in what is now Barabanki district; it was later transferred to

Two other mahals from Manikpur sarkar covered parts of Raebareli district: Qariat Guzara and Qariat Paegah. These were each very scattered entities consisting of various villages throughout the Salon tehsil as well as Pratapgarh district (Qariat Guzara had 262 villages and Qariat Paegah had 256). The purpose of Qariat Guzara is unclear; the word guzara means "maintenance", and it has been suggested that this mahal consisted of either villages assigned to the ruler's own (private) servants or villages whose revenues went towards the cost of entertaining royal messengers or other public servants passing through Manikpur. As for Qariat Paegah, the word paegah refers to a stable, indicating that its villages' revenues were set aside to defray the expenses incurred through the purchase and maintenance of the royal cattle. The two mahals each had their own courts as well as their own qanungos, whose descendants are still known as Guzaras and Paegahwalas respectively.^[4]

In the sarkar of Awadh, there were two mahals that covered parts of Raibareli district; these were Inhauna and Subeha.^[4] In the Ain-i-Akbari, Inhauna is said to have been held by Chauhans who had recently converted to Islam, which is possibly a reference to the Bhale Sultans, although they were mostly based further east.^[4] Alternatively, this could be a confused reference to the Bais of Inhauna, who are known to have converted to Islam in large numbers at an early date.^[4] As for Subeha, it was a very large mahal at that point; besides the later pargana of that name in today's Barabanki district, it also included the northern part of the later pargana of Simrauta, and possibly the northwestern part of Inhauna as well, although its exact boundaries at the time are uncertain.^[4]

At the time of the Ain-i-Akbari, the western part of today's Raebareli district was part of Lucknow sarkar, but the correspondence here is harder to trace. The modern parganas of Khiron and Sareni, in Baiswara, were then divided into several mahals that later ceased to exist. The ones in Sareni include

After Akbar died, the Rajput clans in the region once again enjoyed a period of relative independence. From this period until the foundation of Oudh State in the 18th century, the history of this area is basically synonymous with the history of its Rajput dynasties. It was during this period that the Saibasi branch of the Bais established their large domain.^[4]

When Saadat Ali Khan I was made governor of Awadh, he travelled through the region to secure the submission of the Rajput leaders. In order to earn their loyalty, he acknowledged the Rajput chiefs' rulership and entrusted them with collection of revenues within their own territories. This policy was generally successful.^[4]

Asaf-ud-Daula succeeded to the throne in 1774 and granted his mother the parganas of Salon, Jais, and Nasirabad in jagir. He also put Raebareli, Dalmau, Khiron, and Thulendi under the control of the chakladar of Baiswara at about the same time. From then until the British annexation of Awadh, the area of today's Raebareli district was then divided between the chaklas of Salon and Baiswara.^[4]

Divisions

Raebareli district is divided into 7 tehsils and 21 community development blocks, as follows:^[3]

• Maharajganj tehsil
  • Bachhrawan block
  • Shivgarh block
  • Maharajganj block
• Tiloi tehsil
  • Singhpur block
  • Tiloi block
  • Bahadurpur block
• Rai Bareli
  tehsil
  • Harchandpur block
  • Amawan block
  • Sataon block
  • Rahi block
• Lalganj tehsil
  • Khiron block
  • Sareni block
  • Lalganj block
• Dalmau tehsil
  • Dalmau block
  • Deenshah Gaura block
• Unchahar tehsil
  • Jagatpur block
  • Unchahar block
  • Rohniya
    block
• Salon tehsil
  • Dih block
  • Chhatoh block
  • Salon block

Municipalities

Rae Bareli district has 9 statutory towns, including 2

Raebareli district has 1,773 villages, of which 1,733 are inhabited and 40 are uninhabited.[3] As of 2011, a majority of the populated villages (950 of them or 56%) have a population between 500 and 1,999 people.^[3] At the extreme ends of the spectrum, there are 67 villages (4% of the total) with a population below 200, and there are 16 (1%) with a population greater than 10,000.^[3]

In some places, a village's population is entirely clustered in the main site, or abadi, while in other cases a village consists of multiple hamlets, or purwas, dotting the landscape.^[4] There are over 8,000 such hamlets in Raebareli district, many of which are extremely small and consist of only two or three houses.^[4] These hamlets are typically founded by cultivators who want to live close to their fields in order to tend to them better.^[4]

Economy

Raebareli district is predominantly agrarian and it produces large amounts of grain.^[3] The district is self-sufficient in grain production and also exports some to places like Europe, Japan, and North America.^[5]

In 2006 the

Powerplant at Unchahar (National Thermal Power Limited, NTPC)^[7]

Agriculture

There are two main harvests, the

Rice is by far the most important kharif crop.^[4] The district is well-suited to rice cultivation: the northern part of the district is situated in a belt of clayey soil ideal for growing rice, and in the south, the lake-studded area between Dalmau, Raebareli, and Salon is also a major rice-growing region.^[4] There are two types of rice known as early (dhan or kuari) and late (jarhan).^[4] Late rice produces a higher yield per acre, but is more cost-intensive to produce.^[4] It involves transplanting the rice plants once they reach a height of 5 or 6 inches into special enclosures called jhatas that are reclaimed from lakes or marshes, or alternatively into adjoining land well-suited for irrigation.^[4] Late rice is sown after the onset of the monsoon rains and harvested in November.^[4] Its land is usually not used to grow rabi crops.^[4] Early rice, meanwhile, is more dependent on rainfall.^[4] It is sown in July and then weeding begins two weeks later.^[4] It is harvested in mid-September, and then in October the fields are prepared for rabi crops such as peas, barley, or wheat.^[4]

The other main kharif crop is

Among the rabi crops, the most important are wheat and barley. Wheat is economically more important than barley, although it is less extensively grown. It does best in light, loamy soil and is usually irrigated. Preparation of wheat fields begins before the monsoon rains come, when they are treated with manure, and then in late September they are cleared of weeds. The wheat is sown in early October, then given a first watering in early November once the plants reach 2 or 3 inches in height. The fields are again irrigated in December, and often also a third time in late January, and then the crop is harvested in late March and early April. As for barley, it is usually grown mixed with gram, although sometimes it's mixed with wheat instead, or grown alone. It is grown in all types of soil and usually is not irrigated, instead relying on good rains during the winter.^[4]

Gram is commonly grown either with barley or

Although now banned,[4] poppy was historically one of the most important crops grown in Raebareli district.^[4] Raebareli was one of the main poppy-producing districts in the region, and poppy was "the great rent-paying crop" in the district — on multiple occasions, income from poppy production was enough to pay the entire government revenue.^[4] Like wheat, poppy thrives best in lighter soils and was extensively irrigated; it was planted in late October and weeded soon after sprouting.^[4] The weeding, as well as irrigation, was repeated 3 or 4 times before the harvest in February and March.^[4] There was a dramatic increase in poppy cultivation in the late 19th century, peaking in 1884 and declining somewhat after that.^[4]

Zaid crops

The zaid harvest is a comparatively minor one — in 1980–1981, zaid croplands covered an area of just 8,223