Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924024153987).pdf/304

This page needs to be proofread.

BAR

226

BARA BANKI DISTRICT ARTICLE.

ABSTEACT OF CHAPTERS. I.

Nat UEAL

FEATURES.

Ageicultuee.

II.

IV.

III.

Administration.

—HiSTOET.

CHAPTER

I.

NATURAL FEATURES. Situation of the district, natural features, general aspect, change of head-quarters from Daryabad to Bara Banki Table showing the area and population Table showing details of land revenue, number of villages and division of proprietary tenures Statement showing to what castes the villages were decreed at the regular settlement Elvers

— —

The Gogra— The Gumti — The Kalyani The Jamuriha and Eeth The means of communication afforded — Drainage Eoads The railway The unmetaUed roads, tanks, and jhfls ^WeUs Groves— Climate— EainfaU ^Wild animals Flora.

Physical features and geography. The Bara Banki district, a component Lucknow division, lies at the very heart of Oudh, and forms as it were a centre from which no less than seven other districts radiate. It is situated hetween 27° 19' and 26° 30' north latitude, and 80° 81' east longitude it runs in a soxith-easterly direction, confined by the nearly With its most northern point parallel streams of the Gogra and Gumti. it impinges on the Sitapur district, while its north-eastern boundary is washed by the waters of the Gogra, beyond which lie the districts of Bahraich and Gonda. Its eastern frontier marches with Fyzabad, and the Gumti forms a natural boundary to the south, dividing it from the district of Sultanpur. On the west it adjoins the district of Lucknow. The extreme length of the district from east to west may be taken at fifty-seven miles, and the extreme breadth at fifty-eight ; the total area is about one thousand seven hundred and sixty- nine square miles its population amounts to 1,102,165, being at the rate of 630 to the square mile. of the

General aspect. To the eye of the traveller accustomed to hiU scenery, the fair level district presents a tame appearance it is for the most part flat to monotony, there is an utter absence of mountains ; the most elevated point is about four hundred and thirty feet above the sea and there are few points of view from which any expanse of country can be surveyed. The verdure and beauty of the groves with which it is studded in every direction redeem the prospect from bare ugliness, and when the spring crops are green and the jhils yet fuU of water, the richness of the landscape is very Here and there patches of uncultivated waste are to be seen, strikiag. but a high assessment and security of tenure are rapidly converting them into waving fields of com. Towards the north, especially along the old bank of the Gogra, the ground is undulating and richly wooded, while to the south there is a gentle slope down to the Gumti. The monotonous level is broken on the north by an abrupt fall, the ridge running parallel to the Gogra at a distance of from one mile to three miles, is said. to indicate what was formerly the right bank of the river. The district is intersected at various parts by rugged ravines.