RAE BARELI, a town and district of British India, in the Lucknow division of the United Provinces. The town is on the river Sai, 48 m. S.E. of Lucknow, on the Oudh & Rohilkhand railway. Pop. (1901) 15,880. It possesses many architectural features, chief of which is a strong and spacious fort erected in 1403, and constructed of bricks 2 ft. long by 1 ft. thick and 1½ wide. Among other ancient buildings are the magnificent palace and tomb of nawab Jahan Khan, governor in the time of Shah Jahan, and four fine mosques. The town is an important centre of trade, and muslins and cotton cloth are woven.
The District of Rae Bareli has an area of 1748 sq. m. The general aspect of the district is slightly undulating, and the country is beautifully wooded. The soil is remarkably fertile, and the cultivation of a high class. The principal rivers of the district are the Ganges and the Sai: the former skirts it for 54 miles and is everywhere navigable for boats of 40 tons; the latter traverses it from N.W. to S.E. In 1901 the population was 1,033,761, showing a slight decrease during the decade. The principal crops are rice, pulse, wheat, barley, millet and poppy. Rae Bareli town is connected with Lucknow by a branch of the Oudh & Rohilkhand railway, which in 1898 was extended to Benares.
See Rae Bareli District Gazetteer, Allahabad, 1905.