Bareilly Knowledge Guide
History
Establishment
Bareilly was founded in 1537 by Basdeo, a Katehriya Rajput. The city was first mentioned by the historian Budayuni, who wrote that Husain Quli Khan was appointed the governor of "Bareilly and Sambhal" in 1568. The divisions and revenue of the district "being fixed by Todar Mal" were recorded by Abul Fazl in 1596. 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 rebellious Katehriya Rajputs. After the death of Emperor Aurangzeb's death, the Afghans began to settle in the villages and assimilated with the local Muslims. These descendants of the 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.
British East India Company
Under 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 British (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. By 1801, subsidies due under the treaties to support a British force had fallen into arrears. To pay the debt, Nawab Saadat Ali Khan 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.
Modern period
After the Rohilla War, the change in the power structure increased discontent throughout the district. Increased taxation from 1812 to 1814 increased resentment of the British: "Business stood still, shops were shut and multitudes assembled near the courthouse to petition for the abolition of the tax." The Magistrate Dembleton, already unpopular, ordered the assessment to be made by a Kotwal. A skirmish between rebels and the sepoys (under Captain Cunningham) cost 300–400 lives. In 1818, Robert Glyn was posted as Acting Judge and Magistrate of Bareilly and the Joint Magistrate of Bulundshahr.Robert Glyn asked Ghulam Yahya to write an account of "craftsmen, the names of tools of manufacture and production and their dress and manners". 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.
Independence
Bareilly Central Jail housed a number of political prisoners during the British Raj, 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.