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[GAZETTEER MAIN PAGE] [CHAPTER-1] [CHAPTER-2] [CHAPTER-3] [CHAPTER-4] [CHAPTER-5] [CHAPTER-6] [CHAPTER-7] [CHAPTER-8] [CHAPTER-9] |
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Chapter- 2
HISTORY
The history of the district may be traced back to remote antiquity.The presence of
certainold indigenous people like Ahirs, Bhars, Cherus and meos, who probably represent
the remnants of the descendants of the aborigines,amply testifies that in primitive times
the region including this district was inhabited, though the bulk of the area was covered
with forest and only clearings here and there served as human habitations.
The mute memorials in the shape of fragments of masonry, broken pottery,etc. which have
been found in a number of kheras or mounds on which stand many modern villages ant towns
bespeak the enjoyment of settled and civilisation by this area since very early times.
The earliest people of the Aryan stock, who settled in this region were probably the
krivis, a Rigvedic tribe. They originally resided on the banks of the sindhu and the
Chenab and seem to have moved from there to the east,across the Yamuna, to the area which
after wards came to be known as the Panchala, lying within
the bounds of Madhyadesa, a stronghold of Vedic culture and civilisation.Their
domination roughly extended to the present districts of Bareilly, Badaun and
Farrukhabad and the adjoining parts of Uttar Pradesh including portions of this district.
Extending from the Ganga in the west to the
Saryu in the east, it had two divisions -the northern, with its capital at Ahichhatra and
the southern, with its capital at Kampilya, now in the Farrukhabad district. .
According to Pauranic tradition,Brihadvasu, son of Ajamidha, a Bharata king of Turvasu
family, was the founder of the kingdom which later came to be known as South Panchala with
Kampilya and Makandi as its capitals, It
After the death of Bhrimyasva, the kingdom was divided among his five sons, each receiving
a small principality. But Divodesa, an important king of. this dynasty extended the
kingdom considerably and probably integrated
all the five units under him. During the reign of Sudasa, probably fifth in [descent from
Divodasa the kingdom rose to great eminence. He was the chief participant in the
celebrated "battle of ten kings " and defeated the
To avenge his defeat by Drona, Drupada practised austerity to beget a son, who would be
able to fulfil his desire. As a result of performing tapa, he was favoured with a
son,named Dhristadyumna.
In course of time the Pandava brothers had to leave the kingdom due to the hostile
attitude of their cousin, Duryodhana, son of Dhritarashtra, the king of Hastinapur. While
wandering from place to place, they happened to arrive at the capital of South Panchala at
the opportune moment of the Svayamvara of the kings daughter, Draupadi. Arjuna, the third
Pandava, who impressed Drupada with his skill in archery and other Qualities, won the
kings daughter for himself and his brothers. The alliance proved a turning point in the
fortunes of the Pandavas. They were offered a part of the kingdom with Indraprastha as its
capital, but they were not allowed to live in peace. In a game of dice, Yudhishtira lost
his kingdom to Duryodhana and had to go in exile for thirteen years spending the last year
incognito. After the expiry of the period of their banishment, the Pandava, not receiving
their due share in the kingdom, were forced to fight at Kurukshetra, the war known as
Mahabharata, for their claim,about 1400 B.C. Drupada sided with the Pandavas. The Somakas
and the Srinjayas, the remnants of the Panchalas, appear to have joined Drupada in the
war. Participation in the Mahabharata war gave Drupada an opportunity to pay off past
scores by getting Drona killed at the hands
of his son, Dhristadyumna., who himself was put to death by Ashvatthama, son of
Dronacharya, After the great war the Pandavas ruled over this region probably till the
reign of Janamejaya.
Practically nothing is heard in the post-Mahabharata period about the two divisions, the
common name, Panchala, being used for the entire region. The principality of North
Panchala seems to have merged into or become a dependency of the kingdom of South
Panchala, and Kampilya, which had till then been the capital of the South Panchala, came
to be its chief city. It was one of the prominent centres of Brahmanical learning and
culture. No details about the kings who ruled this region are available and in the absence
of any recorded material the history of this tract relating to this period is obscure.
That the Kuru-Panchala continued, is testified by the tradition that Janamejaya, son of
Parikshit, a Kuru king, performed a great sacrifice on the banks of the river Arind at
Bardan, now Known as Parham, a corrupt form of Parikshitgarh, of this district which
formed part of Panchala. The occasion for the sacrifice was, allegedly provided by the
death of Parikshit, of a snake bite. A masonry tank said to have been built by Janamejaya
to mark the site of the sacrificial pit, Known as Parikshit kund, still exists at this
place. close to this village a very large and high khera containing the ruins of a fort
and some stone sculptures has been found . It is said to date back to the time of
Parikshit. A popular belief is that as a consequence of the virtues of that sacrifice
snakes are still harmless in this place and its neighborhood.
According to the chhandogya Upanishad the whole of the northern doab, including the area
covered by the South Panchala, of which this district formed part. suffered from natural
calamities such as floods. locusts and hailstorms. The capital of the Kurus being washed
away, Nichakshu, fourth in line from Janamejaya, shifted his capital from Hastinapur to
Kausambi. Their migration across the South Panchala and passage through that region
brought about a fusion of the Kurus and the Panchalas about 820 B.C.
For about three centuries the history of this region is shrouded in obscurity except that
in the sixth century B.C. Bimbisara, a prominent ruler of the Haryanka dynasty of Magadha,
extended his kingdom up to Kannauj, obviously including the present district of
Mainpuri.In that period Panchala ranked as a minor power. In the list of the sixteen
premier states it figures as the tenth.Again little is Known about the history of this
district till about the middle of the fourth
century B.C. when the territory was annexed
to the Nanda empire of Mahadha, probably in the reign of Mahapadma, who was a great
military genius. This tract which was under the Panchalas was in all probability, a part
of the Nanda dominion as its dependency. It appears from the Arthasastra of Kautilya that
during this period the Panchala territory had its own republican form of government, the
title of the head being raja. The prosperous condition of this area, the land being
exceedingly fertile and the government efficient, was in striking contrast with the
conditions prevailing in the area directly governed. It testifies to the fact that Nanda
allowed a considerable amount of autonomy to
the Panchala region including this district. In the Mauryan period Panchala retained its
separate entity probably as a vassal of that empire. Ashoka, the most important king of
the dynasty, patronised Buddhism and took keen interest in the regulations meant for a
spiritual life. A number of mounds containing the ruins of buddhist shrines, the viharas
at places like Anjani, Jasrao and
Asauli prove that due to the efforts of Ashoka, the district came under the influence of Buddhism.
With the downfall of the Mauryas, a new dynasty, known as Sunga, came to power under
Pushyamitra ( 184-148 B.C.) who revived the
Brahmanical religion. During this period the region, covering this district; which
continued to be known as Panchala, was overrun by the yavanas ( Greeks), along with the
other parts of the empire, as mentioned in the Yuga purana, a section of the Gargi
Samhita. The Yavanas stayed for a short time in this
region and the last Yavana king, Menander, probably ruled over the South Panchala
region which, according to Patanjali, extended to the east as far as the Kuru kingdom and
to the south-cast to the territory of the
Surasena.
The Greeks were followed by the Sakas and the Kusanas.In the beginning of the Christian
era or the first century B.C. It is likely that the region containing this district passed
over to the administration of a Saka Kshatrapa, Ranjuvuala, who made Mathura his capital.
His coins are also found in this district.
Thereafter the district came under the sway of the Kusanas. Kaniska. the greatest of the
Kusana emperors, conquered the whole of Northern India. A number of coins of his reign and
of that of Huviska, one of his descendents have been found at Mainpuri. A hoard of
Indo-Sassanian coins discovered at Eka, a village in this district, prove that they had
some kind of ties with the Kusanas.
Hereafter, no details are available about the history of this district till the time of
Harsha, except that it become part of the kingdom of the Guptas and the Maukharis in
succession. During Harshas reign ( 606-647 A.D.), the Chinese pilgrim, Hiuen Tsang,
traveled from Ahichhatra to Sanssika. It may be presumed that during his journey he might
have traversed a part to the Mainpuri district. He does not mention any place of this
district probably because none was known to possess any significance from the Buddhist
point of view.
For more than half a century after the death of Harsha, the history of this region as that of the rest of northern India spells anarchy and confusion. In the first quarter of the eighth century a very powerful monarch, Yashovarman, occupied the throne of Kannauj, and ruled from 725 A.D. to 752 A.D. After his defeat by Lalitaditya of Kashmir, the history of the region, including this district, is completely obscure. Another king who ascended the throne of Kannauj was Vajrayudha, whose accession may be placed about 770 A.D. His existence is borne out by an incidental reference made by Rajshekhar, a dramatist of the Pratihara court, in the Karpuramanjari. He mentions Kannauj as the capital of Vajrayudba, the king of Panchala, in reference to the record of a travel of a merchant named Sagardatta, who had gone on business to the royal city. The reference may signify that Panchala was the name of a country, of which Kannauj was the capital. It is evident that the country comprising the present district was occasionally called Panchala.
The Ayudhas were ousted about the beginning of the ninth century A.D.by Nagabhatta ll.
(805-833 A.D. ), a Gurjara Pratihara king and the district continued for more than a
century under the subordination of the Pratiharas. In
1018 A.D. Mahmud of Ghazni, after sacking and plundering the magnificent temples of
Mathura which were known for their fabulous wealth, marched across Mainpuri on his way to
Kannauj. No resistance seems to have been offered to his advance in this district which
probably had on holy or rich town to attract the conquerors fanaticism or greed. On
reaching Kannauj, Mahmud gave a death-blow to the already tottering Gurjara-Pratihara
power. The reputed Arab scholar, Alberuni, came to India in the wake of Mahmud invasions
and wrote a book on India in which he has referred to Panchala as one of the nine great
kingdoms.
During the period of transition between the Gurjara Pratiharas and the Gahadvalas several
small principalities sprang up. Taking
advantage of the unsettled conditions then prevailing, the Rashtrakutas made themselves
independent at Budaun. In an undated Budaun inscription, Vodamayuta (Budaun)is
specifically described as the ornament of the land of Panchala, of which this district
formed part, and is praised so profusely as to prove that it was the only prominent city
in the possession of chandra, a Rashtrakuta king. The omission of Kannauj, which was
considered the most glorious city of that period in the inscription, implies that Kannauj
presumably was not included
In the last decade of the eleventh century Chandradeva Gahadavala (10[89-1100A.D.)
established his authority over Kannauj after defeating the Rashtrakuta ruler of Panchala.
The last great king of this dynasty was Jayachandra ( 1170 - 1194 A. D. ) , famous alike
in legend and history, whose power and extensive Jurisdiction struck even the Muslim
historians. In 1194 A. D. he was defeated and killed by shihab-ud-din Ghuri at Chandawar
in Agra district on the band of the Yamuna near Mainpuri. The victorious army proceeded
southward along the left bank of the Yamuna towards Rapri which is situated about 72 km.
from Mainpuri and attacked the petty chieftain of that place at Kharka about 5 Km. north -
west of Rapri and defeated the ruler. To commemorate the victory the name of the place was
changed to Fatehpur. the conquests of Ghuri left the district in a state of anarchy.
MEDIEVAL PERIOD
By 1206 A. D. Ghuri had completed the conquest of the lower western doab, including this
district, which there after became a part of the sultanate of Delhi. The same year, before
his departure, Ghuri bestowed the government of the conquered tracts including this
district, on his trusted lieutenant, Qutb -ud -din Aibak ( 1206 - 1210 ) During the
regency of Aibak, the hindu chiefs of this district tried to resist the Muslim over –
lordship of this region, but their attempts to recover their lost domains failed as a
result of Aibak s ceaseless campaigns against
them. Rapri this district became the headquarters of an iqta or fief and continued to be
the seat of government for several centuries under successive Muslim rulers.
In 1259, Bhongaon in this district was given away as a fief to Malik Sher Khan, a nephew
of Balban, by the then sultan , Nasir-ud-din Mahmud (1246-1265). he held it till 1260 .
In 1312, Malik Kafur, the veteran commander of sultan Ala-ud-din Khilji ( 1296-1316 ),
stayed at Rapri while returning with huge quantities of rich booty from Malabar and Dwar
Samudra in the Deccan. He founded here a mosque with an inscription which is an eulogy of
Ala-ud-din s reign. Subsequently upon Kafur
was conferred the fief of Rapri by the sultan.
In 1392, the district became the centre of intense political activity when Bir Bhan, the
muqaddam of Bhongaon, supported by the Tomar raja of Gwalior and Sarvadharan of Etawah,
raised the standard of revolt against sultan Muhammad Shah Tughluq ( 1390 - 1394). But the
large force dispatched by the sultan under Islam Khan, the vizier, crushed the rebellion,
and devastated the district and its adjoining areas.
In 1393, Bir Bhan again rose in arms and was joined by Sarvadharan and Abhai Chand , the
muqaddam. The sultan sent another expedition under Mukarrab-ul-Mulk, the governor of
Jalesar, in Etah district, to deal with the rebels. When the two parties came in sight of
each other. Mukarrab-ul-Mulk adopted a conciliatory course, and by promises and
engagements, induced the raise to submit, The duped insurgents were then taken to Kannauj,
where they
Muhammad Shah died in 1394 , and was succeeded by his son, Nasiruddin Mahmud shah, who
appointed Khwaja Jahan Malik Sarwar as the governor of Jaunpur. Malik Sarwar succeeded in
extending his sway as far as Rapri in this district, with the result that the
administration of the district passed into the hands of Sharqi rulers of Jaunpur.
A Quarrel then arose the same year between sultan Nasir-ud-din Mahmud and Nusrat Shah,
grandson of Feroze Shah Tughluq,the latter aspiring for the imperial[l throne. The two
rivals fought with each other till 1398 , when Iqbal Khan a
court noble, and a third aspirant for the throne, came upon the scene. Iqbal Khan (
1398 - 1405 ) by means of violence and treachery, displaced Mahmud shah and firmly
established himself at Delhi.
Khwaja Jahan Malik Sarwar ( 1394- 1399 ) was succeeded by his adopted son, Malik Mubarak Shah , who, by adopting the title of
Sultan and striking coins in his name, deepened the rift with Delhi which had been caused
earlier
In 1405, Iqbal Khan was killed in the Punjab and the
nobles at Delhi invited the exiled sultan, Nasir-ud-din Mahmud shah, to reoccupy
the throne on which he remained till his death in 1412. No important event took place so
In the year 1429-30, Qutb khan, son of Hasan Khan, held the fief of Rapri which was
resumed by Mubarak Shah ( 1421-1434, the successor of Khizr Khan, in 1429-30 , when the former s complicity was suspected in the series of revolts organised
by the Rajput chiefs against the authority of the sultan. During the reign of Ala-ud-din
Alam Shah ( 1444-1450) Rapri came again into the possession of Qutb Khan and Rai pratap or
pratap Rudra held Bhongaon Rai pratap according to Sir H.E. Elliott was a son of Raja
Sangat,the great grandson of Chatir Deo, the
brother of Prithvi Raj, the last chauhan king of Delhi, who was vanquished in 1193 by
shihab-ud-din Ghuri. The father of the Emperor's vizier, Hamid Khan had some years before,
carried off the wife of Rai Pratap and plundered his estates, The Rajput chief, implacable
in his vendetta, offered support to Ala-ud-din who needed assistance to strengthen his
position as a ruler. The demanded as the price of his help the death of Hamid Khan.
Ala-ud-din unwisely embraced the injured husband's cause and gave order for Hamid Khan's
execution, but the vizier escaped and seizing Delhi offered it to Bahlul Lodi. Ala-ud-din
retired to Budaun and soon after resigned his crown to Bahlul, who,in 1450, assumed the
imperial title. Thus the abduction of the Chauhan Rani of Bhongaon was an important cause
of the downfall of the Saiyed dynasty.
The accession of Bahlul Lodi (1450 - 1488) did not affect Rai Pratap's status as he was confirmed in his
position by the sultan. In 1452, during a[ visit to Rapri, Bahlul encountered Qutb Khan's
intransigence but the defiant chief was pardoned as quietly as he was punished and
restored to his jagirs. The chiefs of Bhongaon and Rapri promised allegiance to the sultan
and were left in full possession of their
territories . The same year, when sultan Bahlul was preoccupied in the task of
consolidating his empire, Mahmud Sharqi ( 1451-1457), son and successor of Ibrahim Sharqi,
attacked Delhi. After an indecisive engagement at Etawah, a treaty was made between the
parties through the good offices of Rai Pratap and Qutb Khan. Under the truce Mahmud had
to relinquish his claims to Shamsabad. But in1457 Muhammad Shah Sharqi, who had succeeded
his father Mahmud. attacked Shamsabad. and occupied it. This success disturbed Rai Pratap
he went over to the victorious party of Muhammad shah
Sharqi by shifting his loyalty from sultan Bahlul. The same year, war broke out
between Muhammad Shah Sharqi and his brother Husain, in which the former lost his life.
Bahlul made a truce with Husain Sharqi and Rai Pratap again professed loyalty to sultan
Bahlul on the advice of Qutb Khan.
In 1461 , when Bahlul was in Shamsabad, Rai Narsing, son of Rai Pratap came to pay his
respects to the sultan. Dariya Khan Lodi, the governor of Sambhal and a close relation of
sultan Bahlul, Killed Rai Narsing at Shamsabad to avenge the humiliation which he had suffered earlier at the
hands of Rai Pratap who is said to have wrested the kettledrum and drum from him This
heinous crime went unpunished and Rai Pratap and Qutb Khan, once again went over to the
side of Husain Sharqi. In 1479 , an other battle
was fought
Bahlul died in 1488 and his son, Nizam Khan , ascended the throne in 1489, with the title of Sikadar shah ( 1489-1517), His youngest brother Alam Khan was governor of Rapri at this time. and had asserted his independence by assuming the royal title. After celebrating his accession, Sikandar Lodi marched against Alam Khan, who shut the gates of Rapri, but, unable to stand a siege, fled. Sikandar conferred Rapri on Khan-i-Khanan Farmuli, the sultan's guardian in youth, who, in 1502 , aided Sikandar against Binayak Deo of Dholpur and remained consistently loyal to his new master. In 1494, Barbak Shah. brother of Sikandar and governor of Jaunpur, who had turned hostile, was defeated by the sultan. With Barbak's death came the end of the Jaunpur kingdom. after an independent existence for a country, and thereafter Mainpuri and the surrounding doab ceased to be the battle-ground for the armies of the two kingdoms during Sikandar's reign.
Sikandar Lodi died in 1517 , and was succeeded by his son, Ibrahim Lodi ( 1517-1526), in
1518, the emperor's brother, Jalal Khan, asserted his claim as an independent ruler of
Jaunpur and fought, but was defeated by the sultan and later on executed. This brought to
an end the vexed politics which had from time to time in the past influenced the fortunes
of this part of the country.
In reorganizing the affairs of the empire after defeating Ibrahim Lodi at Panipat in
1526-1530) took the fief of Rapri from Husain Khan Nuhani, an Afghan chieftain and
conferred it upon Muhammad Ali Jang, a
veteran soldier
In February, 1530 , Babur stayed at Rapri where he was inspired to compose some devotional
poems based on the thoughts contained in the walidia Risala written by Ubaidullah Abrar
Naqshbandi, a famous Sufi saint of Khorasan
After Babur's death in 1530 , civil strife broke out everywhere and the region covered by
the present district of Mainpuri and the adjoining parts turned into a theatre of war. The
chaos and confusion which overtook the Mughal empire, enabled the Rajputs of Mainpuri to
assert their independence, which was facilitated by the rise of the Afghans. Humayun (
1530-1556), the son and successor of Babur,was unable to withstand these rivals. in 1540
when he was defeated by Sher Shah Suri at Kannauj, his escape was interrupted by a force
consisting of 3,000 cavalry,mainly of chauhan
Rajputs who had assembled at Bhongaon in this district. They fought with the imperialists
inflicting heavy causalities on them but they were ultimately routed.
During Sher Shah's rule ( 1540-1545) the chiefs of this district and the adjoining parts
remained loyal to the sultan and maintained peace and tranquillity in this region. Rapri
was often visited by Sher Shah and his
successors. The Phatak Ahirs and Mewatis who lived along the borders of the Yamuna in the mainpuri district gave Sher Shah much trouble, and
the latter had to send a force consisting of 12,000 horse to crush them . In 1556, the
exiled Mughal emperor, Humayun, came to India and Mainpuri again came under the Mughals.
During the early years of Akbar's reign some parts of the present district had turned
hostile and complaints were received of their want only plundering the people of the
region. in 1562, Akbar proceeded to restore order. people, numbering 4'000 came to offer
resistance and a severe fight took place in the village Paronkha of pargana Bewar in
tahsil Bhongaon of this district. The emperor himself was hit by seven arrows of which
five pierced his shield, but the i urgents
were overpowered.
Under Akbar's regime ( 1556-1605) , the Mainpuri tract was in cluded in the subah of Agra
and the mahals were divided among the sirkars of Agra and Kannauj . The mahal of Rapri in
the present tahsil of Shikohabad, was in the sirkar of Agra and possessed a brick fort
.This mahal consisted of the parganas of Ghiror in tahsil Mainpuri , Mustafabad in tahsil
Jasrana and Shikohabad, having a cultivated area of 4,77,201 bighas and was assessed to a
revenue of 1,35,08,035 dams. The area was chiefly inhabited by Chauhan Rajputs, who were
bound to send a force consisting of 200 horse and 4,000 foot to the imperial army.
The rest of the district was within the sirkar of Kannuj. Bhongaon, the headquarter of the
present tahsil was noted for brick fort and a tank called Somnat "full of water
extremely sweet." It had a cultivated area of 3'37'105 bighas and was liable to pay
45.77.010 dams as revenue and 53,316 dams as suyurghal. Among the residents Chauhan
Rajputs were prominent. The were expected to supply 1,000 horse and 10,000 foot to the
imperial army. Patti Alipur in the present tahsil of Bhongaon was assessed at 11,53,632
dams on 38,418 bighas and was chiefly inhabited by Rajputs. It supplied 20 horse and 500
foot. Sauj in tahsil Karhal, was the home of the Dhakara clan of Rajputs, evidently a
warlike rather than a cultivating race. This mahal had a cultivated area of 64,070 bighas
and fetched 12,00,000 dams, supplying 200 horse and 3,000 foot. The mahal of Kuraoli in
tahsil Mainpuri had a cultivated area of 40,445 bighas and was assessed to 14,09,988 dams
with a liability of 20 horse and 1,000 foot. The inhabitants were mainly Rajputs. The
mahal of Etawah in the sirkar of Agra included the parganas of Karhal and Barnahal. The
chief castes Were Chauhans and Bhadauriya Brahmins and the whole mahal paid 1,07,39,325
dams and contributed 2,000 cavalry and 15,000 infantry.
After Akbar's death in 1605, the district underwent no major change under his successors
and this peaceful state of affairs remained un affected till Aurangzeb's death (1707).
After the death of Aurangzeb 1707, a keen contest ensued for the imperial throne,
providing opportunities to adventurers to try their luck in grabbing territory. Muhammad
Khan, a Bangash Afghan,born about 1665 A.D. and settled at Mau-Rashidabad ( a suburb of
Farrukhabad town), emerged at this stage as a powerful leader of a band of free-booters
and was destined to play a very significant role in the subsequent history of the Mughal
empire. He helped Farrukhsiyar in the battle of Samugarh near Agra with 12,000 men, and
was rewarded with honours and jagirs in Bundelkhand and Farrukhabad He saw several ups and
downs in the subsequent regime of Muhammad
Shah (1719-49) His Farrukhabad jagir included practically the entire district of Mainpuri.
In 1737 , a few years before Muhammad Khan's death, a large force under Baji Rao's
lieutenants, Malhar Rao Holkar, and Pilaji Jadhav, crossed the Yamuna near Rapri and laid
siege to Shikohabad. The Governor, Lalji Khatri, saved the town from destruction by paying
a sum of one and a half lakh rupees. The invaders were routed subsequently by
Burhan-ul-Mulk Saadat Khan and driven back with heavy losses across the Yamuna. Muhammad
Khan Bangash died in 1743 leaving his estate without a good administrator .
In 1748 , Emperor Muhammad Shah was succeeded by his son Ahmad shah, who appointed Safdar
Jang, as nawab vizier of Avadh. The inroads of the Marathas, and the Abdali raids between
1743 and 1750 further weakened the
In the same year ( 1754 ) Safdar Jang died and he was succeeded by his son,
Shuja-ud-daula, as the nawab-vizier of Avadh. Towards the end of 1756, Ahmad Shah Abdali
again swooped down on the plains of Hindustan and plundered Delhi, Mathura and Agra in
1757. Before Quitting Delhi, Abdali planned and dispatched an expedition against the
rebellious provinces of Avadh and Allahabad, in accordance with his scheme which embraced
the restoration of the empire to Alamgir II and winning back for him the lost provinces of
the empire from the hands of rebel governors. For various reasons Shuja-ud-daula was the
first target of this scheme . Ahmad Khan Bangash also had not yet given up his long
cherished desire of adding the Allahabad subah to his paternal dominions and through his
envoy he instigated Shah Abdali to send an army against Shuja-ud-daula. Despite all this
Abdali passed over the ambitious claims of the Bangash chief. Imad-ud-Mulk Ghazi-ud-din
was asked to plan an expeditionary force against Shuja-ud-daula with some of the Mughal
princes at the head of the army. Accordingly, the Delhi princes, Hidayat Baksh and Mirxa
Baba were sent to lead the expedition. The army reached Agra on 23rd March , 1757 and,
crossing the Yamuna on 25th March at the Rajghat ferry, proceeded towards the town of
Mainpuri and reached there on 31st March, being joined on the way by various allies. Here
a five days; halt was made to chalk out a plan of action in consultation with Ahmad Khan
Bangash before proceeding to Avadh. Their aim was to drive out the Marathas from the doab,
including Mainpuri. in the approach of this army the Maratha officials fled away from
Etawah and Mainpuri and the whole of this region came back to its legitimate master. But
hardly did this accession of territory prove profitable as the Abdali troops, habitually
given to loot and plunder, ransacked the defenseless inhabitants and no civil
administration could be established While the two princes were thus occupied in the doab.
news came that Shuja-ud-daula had dispatched an army to oppose the Delhi armament and that
it was advancing with great speed towards Farrukhabad. This shook Ahmad Khan Bangash and he took leave in order to save
his own capital. Gradually the Rohillas also left the imperial cause and Ghazi-ud-din
Imad-ul-Mulk' mission failed. Shuja-ud-daula also asked for Maratha aid which was readily
given because of the Maratha interests in the doab, particularly in the regions of
Mainpuri and Farrukhabad. After minor skirmishes between the two parties, peace was
concluded in Jun , 1757 and the
Marathas recovered their lost possessions in the
doab, including Mainpuri district. With the Maratha defeat at the battle of Panipat in
1761, their dominions in the doab, including Bhongaon, Mainpuri, Etawah were given over to
Hafiz Rahmat Khan. Dunde Khan established himself at Shikohabad along with a few other
mahals in the neighbourhood.
Shuja-ud-daula entered into a treaty of alliance with the British in August. 1765 agreeing
to pay 50 lakh rupees, and all his dominions were restored to him in order to create a
strong buffer state to check the Maratha in roads in the central doab, including Mainpuri
district. But the Marathas, who had recovered
after their set-back in 1761, re-entered the doab and plundered the country upto
Rohilkhand in 1771. The parganas of Etawah and Mainpuri held by Hafiz Rahmat Khan after
1761, were recovered by the Marathas in December, 1770 and were occupied by their
garrisons. In 1772, the Marathas were expelled by Sir Robert Barker from Rohilkhand and
their reverse prompted Shuja-ud-daula ( in1774) to round off his dominion by the addition
of this region of the doab. No opposition was made by the weakened Maratha garrisons to
hold it and they withdrew from these districts. Anup Giri Gosain was appointed deputy
governor of the entire mid-doab in his possessions ( districts of Etawah, Etah, Mainpuri,
Etc.) and the territory was farmed out to him for an annual sum of fifty-one lakhs of
rupees, payable in eleven installments. From this time onwards Mainpuri and other parganas
of the neighbourhood continued to form part of the dominions of the Nawab vizier of Avadh
and were finally ceded to the British in 1801.
Mainpuri became the headquarters of the civil administration and small cantonments were
established there and at Shikohabad . In 1803, the second Anglo-Marathas under Adult Rao
Sindhia and other Central India chiefs was
In November, 1804, Jaswant Rai Holkar, who was eluding the British, came to Farrukhabad
where his army was overwhelmed by General Lake, and he fled through Mainpuri attacking the
cantonment there. His force was, however, driven out and thrown across the Yamuna by the
British cavalry under Capt. Skinner who had been following him from Farrukhabad in hot
pursuit. Except for these two years or thereabout of turmoil the district generally
remained peaceful after the advent of British rule in 1801 till the freedom struggle of
1857.
At the beginning of 1857 , the commissioner of the Agra division was on tour in the
Mainpuri district when his attention was drawn to a mysterious distribution of chapatis ( Loaves of bread)being
made with astonishing rapidity. Nothing could be elicited from the bearers who appeared to
Know no more of the purport of the symbols than of the fact that on the receipt of a cake,
five more were to be prepared and forwarded without delay to villages further in advance
along the line of the Grand Trunk road where they could be called for. In this manner the
cakes traveled often over 160 to 200 miles in a night. He saw some more which had that
morning been delivered on the Etawah side of Mainpuri. on the following day the
commissioner heard of them at the extremity of Etah and Aligarh. Enquiries were made as to
the meaning of this mysterious movement but beyond a conjectural tracing of its source in
Bundelkhand of Nagpur and the fact that it was generally acknowledged to be of Hindu
origin, the recipients being for the most part Hindus, nothing was discovered. In January.
the sullen demeanor of the troopers of the 3rd Light Cavalry, who formed part of the
commander - in - chief's escort through Mathura and Bharatpur was noticed and commented
on, but these seemed to have been the only indications of the coming storm, and went
unheeded.
On the 11theMay, a broken telegraphic message announcing the revolt of the 3rd Cavalry at
Meerut reached Agra, and the following day, the tidings arrived at Mainpuri. A
consultation among the officers in the station was held, and it was decided to send away
the women and children to Agra, But only one family actually left. The alarm which
prevailed among the Christian community in every military station after the rebellion at
Meerut was to a certain degree shared by the residents of this station also. Rao Bhawani
Singh, the uncle of Raja Tej Singh of Mainpuri, and claimant of the raj volunteered to
raise a body of chauhan Thakurs and with his assistance , Mr.John Power, the magistrate
and collector of Mainpuri, began to enlist a force with which he hoped to resist any
attack by the revolutionaries.
On 19th may, the first symptoms of disaffection were displayed by the detachment of the 9th Native Infantry stationed at Mainpuri; on that day a sepoy who was guarding the malkhana fired his musket and shot a crow. The sepoy was immediately taken into custody and ordered to be escorted to Aligarh, the headquarters of the regiment, but was released by the guard en route. From then onwards the sepoys on guard assumed a threatening the defiant demeanour.
In the afternoon of 21st May , Martin, head clerk of the Collectorate, received a message
that his wife was reaching Mainpuri as there was much excitement and alarm at Kanpur. She
arrived with three other ladies in the evening. At about 5 A.M. on 22nd May, two
sergeants, Montgomery and Scott, came galloping and roused everyone informing that a
strong force of freedom fighters was heading towards Mainpuri from Aligarh. On receiving
this news Martin's wife left for Agra immediately and on the way did not come across
anything untoward. late at night on that date, news arrived at Mainpuri of the uprising at
Aligarh where the sepoys of the 9th Native Infantry had murdered their officers and
appealed to their brethren at Mainpuri to follow the same course . Arrangements were at
once made for the removal of the ladies and children to Agra. It was ultimately decided
that the detachment should be removed to Bhongaon where they should not get information
about the revolt at Aligarh. Accordingly Lt. Dekantzow was sent on the advance with the
main body and Lt. Crawford followed him after leaving a small guard at the treasury and at
the quarter guard.About four o'clock the following morning Lt. Crawford galloped in and
reported to the magistrate that his men had broken into open rebellion and had fired at
him and added that he believed Lt. Dekantzow to have been killed. Lt. Crawford declared
his own intention of riding off to Agra, as nothing more could be attempted. In this
opinion Cocks concurred and as the sepoys were now approaching the station, firing their
muskets and shouting, he and Rev. Kellner drove off with Lt. Crawford . John Power still
hoped that Lt. Dekantzow must have escaped as Lt. Crawford had not actually seen him fall,
and resolved to do what he could to prevent the outbreak from spreading to the city. With
this object he proceeded to the bridge over the Isan river on the Grand Trunk road
accompanied by his brother, James power, who had returned after escorting the ladies, At
the bridge they were Joined by Rao Bhawani Singh with a small force of horse and foot and
by Dr. Watson with sergeants Mitchell, Scott and Montgomery of the road and canal
departments and Me Glone, a clerk in the magistrate's office. Here they took up their
position, in the hope of keeping the highway open and of preventing a junction between the
approaching revolutionaries and their supporters in Mainpuri city.
In the meantime the rebels had returned to the station, firing into and plundering the
houses of sergeant Montgomery and Dr Watson and breaking open and looting the magazine of
the rear guard from which they carried off all the ammunition Lt. Dekantzow
was forced to accompany them as their prisoner, and while the rear guard was being
plundered, his life was in great danger. Then they turned towards the Kachahri where they
were met by the jail
Rao Bhawani Singh advised power and others to go to the gurhee (fortress) as their houses
were not safe from the attacks of the sepoys. The party , accordingly, took shelter there.
Bhawani Singh then left for the Kachahri from
where he brought Lt. Dekantzow to the gurhee (fortress). Dekantzow joined Power and again
took possession of the Kachahri but on his return he found the whole of the malkhana (room
containing the unclaimed and confiscated property) looted, the sepoys having helped
themselves to swords, iron bound sticks and other weapons which had accumulated during
ages past
In the afternoon, the treasure amounting to rupees three lakhs was placed in the gurhee
(fortress) under the charge of Rao Bhawani Singh and Power then took up his position in
the court which was garrisoned and fortified. The garrison consisted of all those officers who were at the bridge at the time of the
loot and some 200 matchlock men and a body of horse belonging to the irregular cavalry.
These men were sent for patrolling and reconnoitering in order to prevent the sepoys from
sacking the Kachahri in which the Europeans had taken shelter . So great was the fear of
these fighters that no business was transacted and the revenue and criminal administration
collapsed.
The revenue collection was suspended as every collector
was worried about himself and nobody bothered to realise the dues. Thanadars sent no
reports. There was anarchy and confusion all over the district. The authority of the
British, in their own words, was only confined within the range of their muskets. Not a
day passed with out the apprehension of the British being attacked by the rebels who were
passing through Mainpuri on their way to Delhi. After the revolt at Fatehgarh, the fall of
Etah to the revolutionaries and the sack of Etawah, John Power reported on 25th May that,
though he wasn't an alarmist, he considered the position of the British to be Very
unpleasant. Lying on the high road to Agra. and Delhi , Mainpuri was the focus on which
converged the revolutionaries from Jhansi, Kanpur, Farrukhabad and Gwalior on their great
Journey to Delhi which they considered to be a pilgrimage. Every now and then there were
bloody engagements between the British force and the refractory villages. one such
engagement took place in the village, named Ghinsupur, where the British force had gone to
liquidate the revolutionaries.
When Maj. Hayes and Capt. Carey had left Mainpuri on 1st June, the loyal garrison guarding
the Britishers at Mainpuri was Joined by Maj. Raikes at the head of 70 troopers of the 1st
Gwalior Cavalry. Some six of eight Sikhs from various disbanded Corps and about ten of the
Native Infantry also jointed the garrison. Power then proceeded to raise a body of mounted
police and succeeded in collecting about a
hundred well armed and mounted men. This force which was placed under the command of Lt.
Dekantzow was surprised by the main body of freedom fighters at Bhongaon. The Britishers
lost a number of men and Lt. Dekantzow received a sever wound on his head . The rebels
then attacked the police station, the thanadar ran away and all the persons guarding the
station were killed. They also plundered and burnt the tahsil.
Shortly afterwards sergeants Wills and his wife and children were wounded by the
revolutionaries at the Nabiganj toll barrier, and the former died soon after his removal
to Mainpuri. In the early part of June, writes Powers. " our position became
extremely precarious, as all the surrounding districts broke out into open revolt and
Mainpuri was the only spot in which authority was upheld , The worst information came from Kanpur, Fatehgarh,
Lucknow and Jhansi. The Grand Trunk road swarmed with mutineers proceeding to Delhi whose
spies intrigued about us and whose piequets reconnoitered our position at Kachahri .The
thanas, tahsils, schools, bungalows and chowkis along the Etah branch of the Grant Trunk
road were burnt and all Mustafabad was in rebellion. Every night villages were seen
burning in all directions around us, and every hour brought notice of some heavy affray
having occurred, of the commission of some fearful murder". The police administration
in the district was either overthrown or the members of the police force had themselves
started revolting in different parts of the district. Towards the end of June the British
authority in the district virtually came to an end. The mounted police also revolted and
the telegraph connections with other districts were cut.
On 28th, June news came from Karhal to the British that the Jhansi insurgents were coming
and on June 29th the advanced guard of that force actually reached Mainpuri town. This
consisted of the 14th Irregular cavalry and the 12th Native Infantry. The jail was broken
open on 29th with the help of Rao Bhawani Singh's men who had defected to he side of
revolutionaries, the jail guards and jail officials, and that marked the fall the what
little authority had remained with the British. The Collectorate Sowa's and mounted levies
started plundering the government property. The British now hurriedly evacuated the
district and prepared to Move to Agra, leaving the government treasury to the care of Raja
Tej-Singh, (who till this time had posed as savior of the British), and Rao Bhawani Singh.
Some days after, the Sagar revolutionaries consisting of nearly five hundred sepoys on
foot , and one thousand sowars with two large guns wore reported to be arriving at
Mainpuri. Power finding himself unable to oppose the revolutionaries immediately left the
district for Agra . The Raja took possession of all the guns, muskets and everything which
was left in the office. Raja Tej Singh had been deprived the three-fourth of his estates
by the Settlement of 1840 , and though a money
On 30th June the Sagar revolutionaries entered the city The Raja took possession of the
district and appointed thanadars and tahsildars to bring order in the district and collect
the revenue. In the meantime , the British refugees reached Shikohabad and stayed there
for four days. The troops of Maj. Raikes who had loyally escorted the British upto
Firozabad, when ordered to proceed to Agra, revolted and marched off to Gwalior. Back at
Mainpuri, the Sagar revolutionaries killed Richards, Donovan and Lawrence, three clerks
who had remained behind to try and save their property.
In Shikohabad. the rebellion was at its height. In Kuraoli too, there was an uprising. The
Raja made a proclamation that any person carrying information to the Europeans would be
severely punished . After this he went
The position in this region towards the end of December, 1857 became highly intriguing.
The doab districts down to Aligarh, including Mainpuri, came under British occupation in
October, the Ganga forming the dividing line between the British and the revolutionaries
with the result that Brig. Grant's column moved freely from Agra to Kanpur, including
Mainpuri. But with the withdrawal of Grant's troops the state of things in Mainpuri
changed very much for the worse. British claims were openly repudiated . the raja of
Mainpuri, Taj Singh, who had allied himself with the nawab of Farrukhabad was conducting
the war of liberation in the upper doab. He plundered Mainpuri and reoccupied it. In December the whole of middle doab was more
completely than ever in the possession of the liberators.
During this time Agra was also threatened and the people to Farrukhabad became restive and
ventured to carry their plans of conquering British territories to the west and north and
the intermediate districts(including Mainpuri) towards Agra were so much in danger of
falling into the hands of revolutionaries that reinforcement from Delhi had to be sent to
the fighting lines. large bodies of Pathans and Rohillas assembled on the opposite bank of
the Ganga and crossed it. On hearing that Brig. Seaton was coming with a force from Kasganj to join Walpole at
Mainpuri, Tej Singh
It was after this action that Hedson performed one of the most daring exploits of his
adventurous career. Accompanied by his Second-in-command, McDowell, and 75 men, he rode
across a countryside swarming with rebels to
Although after the fall of Mainpuri to the British the rush of the revolutionaries started
towards Lucknow, yet they gave tough fight to the British wherever both me each other. One such place was Sandi in Fatehgarh,
opposite Mainpuri, where there was a force of 4,000 men and several guns hovering about
the nearby ghat on the Ganga and in the
neighbouring ghat at Moorah several revolutionary chiefs including Raja Tej Singh of
Mainpuri had assembled with a strong force of cavalry and infantry and some guns.
The complexion of the great uprising was,
however, changing for the worse for the revolutionaries and to the advantage of the
British The capture of Lucknow and Jhansi had given it a decided turn in favour of the
British The struggle began showing unmistakable symptoms of collapse and by June 1858
every thing had been lost for the revolutionaries.
The district was re-occupied by the civil authorities and though it was not by means
brought under complete control till late 1858 , no other events of any importance took
place within its borders. The raja of Mainpuri, after a vain effort to induce the
insurgents in Farrukhabad to re-enter and once more raise the doab, a scheme which was
foiled by Seaton's victory at Kankar in April, 1858, engaged in another campaign on his
own account. But he met with little success being repulsed from Shikohabad and finally
compelled to surrender to Hume at Etawah on 11th June, 1858. He was removed to Banaras where he
lived on a nominal allowance of Rs 250. A trial was held in which Tej Sing was held guilty
of creating disorder in the district. An article featured in the Hindu Pat--- of 8th July,
1858 , on the trial of Taj Singh pleaded for his acquittal on the ground, "that he
was a victim of circumstances, that he had spilt neither white man's blood nor black blood
and that he had been reduced to this state by his rival (Rao Bhawani Singh) who had been
unrelenting in his efforts to compass his ruin ", Taj Singh was, however , not
granted pardon and Bhawani Singh became the new raja of Mainpuri
The 20th century began with the resurgence of spirit of nationalism in the whole of India
and Mainpuri was no exception. The youth of the district had been restless for quite a
long time. The year 1915-16 saw the birth of revolutionary activities in the district when
Dammi Lal, Karori Lal Gupta , Sidh Gopal Chaturvedi, Gopinath, Prabhakar Pande,
Chandradhar Jauhri and Shiv Kishan Joined hands with Genda Lal Dixit of Etawah , who
organised a group against The British. The news of their underground activities reached
the authorities who arrested the prominent leaders and brought them to trial at Mainpuri,
in what came to be known as the Mainpuri conspiracy case. Various terms of imprisonment
were awarded to these revolutionaries .
In 1919-20 , the foundation of a district Congress committee was laid in Mainpuri. The
whole country was now humming with political activity which had been generated by the
Khilafat movement and the Non-co-operation Movement of the Congress. These movements were
launched together after the League-Congress Pact of Lucknow in 1916 in which both the
parties decided to join hands in order to attain independence from the British. The people
of this district nearly forgot about the Mainpuri case and the people who had been
harassed by the police Kept out of this movement.
Thakur Digvijay Singh, a local leader addressed a public meeting in 1921 at Bewar
exhorting the people to boycott everything foreign. A local Congress committee was formed
at Barnahal in 1921 but all the office-bearers of this committee were apprehended by the
police. Prominent among those who went to jail in the Non-co-operation movement of this
district were Gulab Singh, Chandra Bhan Raja Singh and Rewati Ram.
As the movement was gaining momentum an unfortunate incident that took place at Chauri
Chaura in the Gorakhpur district led Gandhiji to call off the movement which appeared to
him to be lapsing into ways of violence. Nothing worth noting took place till 1929 when a
District Political Conference was held at Bewar. It was presided over by Sri Shri Prakash,
of Banaras. a governor of Bombay in post-independence India.
About the same time a conference of 'Nav Jawan Bharat Sabha;' a revolutionary
organisation, was held at Bewar. It was presided over by Vinayak Sakharam Dandekar and it
is said that Sardar Bhagat Singh and Chandra Shekhar Azad had also attended it in
disguise. Gandhiji and Jawaharlal Nehru who were on a hurricane tour of the whole of
Northern India in order to mobilize support for the newly launched civil disobedience
movement after the visit of the Simon Commission, came to Mainpuri where they were
accorded an enthusiastic welcome. Large numbers of volunteers were enrolled and Karori
Lal, who had been previously convicted in the Mainpuri conspiracy case, headed
Mahatma Gandhi's visit to the district imparted a keener edge to the political awareness
of its people, and the declaration of 'Complete Independence' as the political goat at the
Lahore Session of the Congress in 1929 greatly stimulated political activity in this
district, bringing a number of local freedom fighters into prominence in the agitation
which marked the year 1930 in the district.
Large-0scale arrests were made in the district to crush the movement. Among the most
reputed Congress workers of the district in 1930 were
Motilal Shambhu Dayal, Govind Varma and Bhawani Singh. people made salt, discarded the use
of foreign cloth and other goods and courted arrest by violating various laws made by the
British government. To counteract the Congress movement the British Government patronised
'Aman Sabhas' which were anti-nationalist bodies organised to create distensions among the
freedom fighters. To counteract the influence of these Sabhas, the Congress organised
public meetings where their subversive activities were explained. Meetings were organised
by the Congress to expose the unworthy designs behind these Amans Sabhas and their
influence was largely dissipated. Congress also mounted a campaign for total prohibition.
Palm trees were cut and liquor shops in the district were picketed. The police charged the
picketteers with lathis arresting many of them
A batch of Congress workers of the district went to Soron in the Etah district to
participate in a massive rally organised there. The police opened fire on the
demonstrators killing many persons. When the party was returning to Mainpuri after
cremating the martyrs, its leader, Mathura Prasad Gupta and some others were, and
arrested, tried and jailed. All the political prisoners were, however, released in
pursuance of the Gandhi-Irwin Pact of 1931.
Upon the failure of the Round Table Conferences, the Congress party was outlawed and a
number of repressive ordinances was issued by the British government, and this served only
to lend greater Vigour to the civil disobedience movement. The congress organised a no-tax
campaign to dissuade people from paying land revenue with a view to paralyse the
government. The appeal had the desired effect and land revenue practically remained unpaid
leading to large scale arrests in the district . In 1934 , when the ban was lifted from
the congress, the dissolved district committees were revived.
During the Second World war the Congress declined to lend support to the British in the
war effort. The congress ministers resigned .Meetings were held at Mainpuri to explain the
stand of the Congress in relation to the war.
The battle of India's struggle was subsequently taken to the legislatures and ultimately
the British had to leave the country.
With the enactment and adoption of the Constitution of India on January 26, 1950, India
became a Sovereign Democratic Republic .