Historical region of North India Rohilkhand Madhyadesh | |
Location | Uttar Pradesh |
State established: | 1690 CE |
Language | Kauravi dialect of Hindi, Standard Urdu, previously Rohilla Urdu and Pashto |
Dynasties | Panchala (Mahabharata era) Mughals (1526–1736) Rohillas (1736–1858) |
Historical capitals | Aonla, Bareilly and Rampur |
Separated subahs | Bareilly, Bijnor, Budaun, Moradabad, Pilibhit, Rampur and Shahjahanpur |
Rohilkhand (today Bareilly, Moradabad, Badaun and Rampur) is a region in the northwestern part of Uttar Pradesh, India, that is centered on the Bareilly and Moradabad divisions. It is part of the upper Ganges Plain, and is named after the Rohilla tribe of Pathans. The region was called Madhyadesh and Panchala in the Sanskrit epics Mahabharata and Ramayana . [1] During the colonial era in India, the region was governed by the Royal House of Rampur. [2]
Rohilkhand means "the land of the Rohilla". The term Rohilla first became common in the 17th century, with Rohilla used to refer to the people coming from the land of Roh, which was originally a geographical term that corresponded with the territory from Swat and Bajaur in the north to Sibi in the south, and from Hasan Abdal (Attock) in the east to Kabul and Kandahar in the west. [3] A majority of the Rohillas migrated from Pashtunistan to North India between the 17th and 18th centuries.
Rohilkhand lies on the upper Ganges alluvial plain and has an area of about 25,000 square kilometres (9,700 sq mi) (in and around the Bareilly and Moradabad divisions).
The Ganges Doab to the south and west, Kumaon to the north, Nepal to the east, and the Awadh region to the southeast mark its borders.
The Rohilla Afghan leader Daud Khan led the settlement in the Katehar region in northern India under orders of the Mogul emperor Aurangzeb (ruled 1658–1707) to suppress the Katheria Rajput uprisings. Rajput's first king was Raja Ram Singh Katheria. These katheriya Rajputs contained 18 clans of Rajput Vansh, including the Chauhan, Rathore, Gehlot, Sisodia, Nikumbh, and Pundir. Originally, some 20,000 soldiers from various Pashtun tribes (Yusafzai, Ghori, Osmani, Ghilzai, Barech, Marwat, Tareen, Kakar, Naghar, Afridi and Khattak) were hired as soldiers by the Mughals. Aurangzeb was impressed with their performance and an additional force of 25,000 Pashtuns was recruited from modern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Afghanistan and were given respected positions in the Mogul Army. Most Pashtuns settled in the Katehar region and brought their families from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Afghanistan. During Nadir Shah's invasion of northern India in 1739, led by the general Ahmed Shah Abdali, a new wave of Pashtuns increased the population to over 1,000,000. Due to the large settlement of Rohilla Afghans, the Katehar region became known as Rohilkhand. Bareilly was made the capital of the Rohilkhand state and it became Pashtun majority city with Gali Nawaban as the main royal street. Other important cities were Moradabad, Rampur, Shahjahanpur, and Badaun. [4] [ ISBN missing ] [5] [ ISBN missing ]
In 1752, the Maratha were asked by Safdarjung, the Nawab of Oudh, to help him defeat Pashtun Rohilla. The Maratha forces and Awadh forces besieged the Rohillas, who had sought refuge in Kumaon, but had to retreat when Ahmad Shah Abdali invaded India. [6] [7]
After the Third Battle of Panipat, thousands of Pashtun and Baloch soldiers settled in northern India. These diverse ethnic, cultural, and linguistic groups merged over time to form the Urdu-speaking Muslims of South Asia.
During the Capture of Delhi (1771), Marathas defeated Rohilla chieftain Zabita Khan. After taking control of Delhi, the Marathas sent a large army in 1772 to punish Afghan Rohillas for their involvement in Panipat. They desecrated the grave of Rohilla chieftan Najib ad-Dawla and captured Najibabad. [8] With the fleeing of the Rohillas, the rest of the country was burnt, with the exception of the city of Amroha, which was defended by some thousands of Amrohi Sayyid tribes. The Rohillas who could offer no resistance fled to the Terai region. Though the Marathas left Rohilkhand hastily due to the arrival of the monsoon, which was difficult for their armies, their threat forced the Rohillas to seek an alliance with the Nawabs of Awadh.
In the presence of Robert Barker, the commander of the British East India company troops at Awadh, a treaty was signed between Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula and Hafiz Rahmat Khan on 15th June 1772, which ensured the safety of Rohilkhand by Awadh and its British allies from the Marathas in exchange for Rs 40 lakh. The families of the Rohilla chiefs imprisoned by the Marathas were also released, through the intervention of the Nawab.
In 1773, the Marathas once again crossed the Ganges at Ramghat in Badaun, and advanced towards Rohilkhand. The Nawab of Awadh with his British allies came to the aid of the Rohillas and the Marathas were forced to retreat. The Nawab of Awadh now demanded the payment that had been promised for his help. But Hafiz Rahmat Khan refused by sending letters to the Nawab and the British, pleading his inability to pay due to internal strife and discontent among his dependent chiefs. [9]
This led to the First Rohilla War. Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula’s troops, supported by British troops, invaded Rohilkhand. Hafiz Rahmat Khan was killed in the ensuing Battle of Miranpur Katra in 1774 [10]
Rohilkhand fell to Awadh, and was plundered and occupied. The majority of the Rohillas left. They fled across the Ganges in numbers, to start a guerrilla war; or emigrated. A Rohilla state under British protection was set up in Rampur. Faizullah Khan managed to become the nawab of the newly created Rampur State.
The whole of Rohilkhand (including Pilibhit and Shahjanpur) was surrendered by Saadat Ali Khan II to the East India Company by the treaty of 10 November 1801. [11]
Name | Reign began | Reign ended |
---|---|---|
Ali Mohammed Khan | 1719 | 15 September 1748 |
Faizullah Khan | 1764 | 24 July 1793 |
Hafiz Rahmat Khan (regent) | 15 September 1748 | 23 April 1774 |
Muhammad Ali Khan Bahadur | 24 July 1793 | 11 August 1793 |
Ghulam Muhammad Khan Bahadur | 11 August 1793 | 24 October 1794 |
Ahmad Ali Khan Bahadur | 24 October 1794 | 5 July 1840 |
Nasrullah Khan (regent) | 24 October 1794 | 1811 |
Muhammad Said Khan Bahadur | 5 July 1840 | 1 April 1855 |
Yusef Ali Khan Bahadur | 1 April 1855 | 21 April 1865 |
Kalb Ali Khan Bahadur | 21 April 1865 | 23 March 1887 |
Muhammad Mushtaq Ali Khan Bahadur | 23 March 1887 | 25 February 1889 |
Hamid Ali Khan Bahadur | 25 February 1889 | 20 June 1930 |
Muhammad Said Khan Bahadur | 5 July 1840 | 1 April 1855 |
Raza Ali Khan Bahadur | 20 June 1930 | 6 March 1966 |
Murtaza Ali Khan Bahadur [lower-alpha 1] | 6 March 1966 | 8 February 1982 |
The Third Battle of Panipat took place on 14 January 1761 between the Maratha Confederacy and the invading army of the Durrani Empire. The battle took place in and around the city of Panipat, approximately 97 kilometres (60 mi) north of Delhi. The Afghans were supported by three key allies in India: Najib ad-Dawlah who persuaded the support of the Rohilla chiefs, elements of the declining Mughal Empire, and most prized the Oudh State under Shuja-ud-Daula. The Maratha army was led by Sadashivrao Bhau, who was third-highest authority of the Maratha Confederacy after the Chhatrapati and the Peshwa. The bulk of the Maratha army was stationed in the Deccan Plateau with the Peshwa.
The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian empire and later a confederation that controlled large portions of the Indian Subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Shivaji of the Bhonsle dynasty as the Chhatrapati. Although Shivaji came from the Maratha caste, the Maratha empire also included warriors, administrators, and other nobles from the Maratha and several other castes from what is known today as Maharashtra. The Maratha Kingdom was expanded into a full-fledged Empire in the 18th Century under the leadership of Peshwa Bajirao I.
The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh was a province of India under the British Raj, which existed from 22 March 1902 to 1937; the official name was shortened by the Government of India Act 1935 to United Provinces (UP), by which the province had been commonly known, and by which name it was also a province of independent India until 1950.
Balaji Baji Rao, often referred to as Nana Saheb I, was the 8th Peshwa of the Maratha Confederacy. He was appointed as Peshwa in 1740 upon the death of his father, the Peshwa Bajirao I.
Bareilly is a city in Bareilly district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is among the largest metropolises in Western Uttar Pradesh and is the centre of the Bareilly division as well as the historical region of Rohilkhand. The city lies in the Indo-Gangetic Plains, about 252 kilometres (157 mi) northwest of the state capital, Lucknow, and 265 kilometres (165 mi) east of the national capital, New Delhi. With a population of 903,668 in 2011, it is the eighth most populous city in the state, 17th in northern India and 54th in India. It is located on the bank of Ramganga River and is the site of the Ramganga Barrage built for canal irrigation.
Rohillas are a mixed Indian community of Pashtun heritage, historically found in Rohilkhand, a region in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It forms the largest Pashtun diaspora community in India, and has given its name to the Rohilkhand region. The Rohilla military chiefs settled in this region of northern India in the 1720s, the first of whom was Ali Mohammed Khan.
Moradabad is an industrial city, commissionerate, and municipal corporation in Moradabad district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is situated on the banks of the Ramganga river, at a distance of 167 km (104 mi) from the national capital, New Delhi and 344 km north-west of the state capital, Lucknow. Based on the 2011 census, it is 10th most populous city in the state and 54th most populous city in the country. It is one of the largest cities in the Western UP region, serving as a crucial hub for employment, education, industry, culture, and administration.
The Bareilly district belongs to the state Uttar Pradesh in northern India. Its capital is Bareilly city and it is divided in six administrative division or tehsils: Aonla, Baheri, Bareilly city, Faridpur, Mirganj, and Nawabganj. The Bareilly district is a part of the Bareilly Division and occupies an area of 4120 km2 with a population of 4,448,359 people according to the census of 2011.
Bijnor district is one of the 75 districts in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. Bijnor city is the district headquarters. The government of Uttar Pradesh seeks its inclusion in National Capital Region (NCR) due to its close proximity to NCT of Delhi.
Moradabad district is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh, India. The city of Moradabad is the district headquarters. Moradabad district is part of Moradabad division. It used to be the second most populous district of Uttar Pradesh out of 75 after Prayagraj till a new district Sambhal was carved out of it in 2011.
Najib ad-Dawlah, also known as Najib Khan Yousafzai, was a Rohilla Yousafzai Afghan who earlier served as a Mughal serviceman but later deserted the cause of the Mughals and joined Ahmed Shah Abdali in 1757 in his attack on Delhi. He was also a House chief of Rohilkhand, and in the 1740s founded the city of Najibabad in Bijnor district, India. He was instrumental in winning the Third Battle of Panipat.
The First Rohilla War of 1773–1774 was a punitive campaign by Shuja-ud-Daula, Nawab of Awadh on the behalf of Mughal Emperor, against the Rohillas, Indian descendants of Afghan highlanders settled in Rohilkhand, northern India. The Nawab was supported by troops of the British East India Company, in a successful campaign brought about by the Rohillas reneging on a debt to the Nawab.
Hafiz Rahmat Khan was the Regent of Rohilkhand in North India, from 1749 to 1774. He was a Pashtun by background, ruling over Rohillas. Hafiz Rahmat Khan had served honorably throughout the reign of three Mughal Emperors: Ahmad Shah Bahadur, Alamgir II and Shah Alam II. He was also a mentor of Prince Mirza Jawan Bakht.
Nawab Faizullah Ali Khan was the first Nawab of Rampur. The princely state of Rampur was set up in year 1774, after the First Rohilla War, by the dismemberment of the Rohilla Kingdom of Rohilkhand. Faizullah Khan, the only surviving heir of Ali Mohammed Khan and opponent of the forces of Awadh and the British East India Company in the war, was installed as ruler of what was the newly created Rampur State. It bordered the Maratha Empire to the south, making it a strategic point. Under tutelage of the East India Company, Faizullah Khan ruled peacefully for 20 years. The capital Rampur was founded, and the Raza Library collection gathered.
According to the epic Mahābhārata, Bareilly region (Panchala) is said to be the birthplace of Draupadi, who was also referred to as 'Panchali' by Kṛṣṇā. When Yudhishthira becomes the king of Hastinapura at the end of the Mahābhārata, Draupadi becomes his queen. The folklore says that Gautama Buddha had once visited the ancient fortress city of Ahicchattra in Bareilly. The Jain Tirthankara Parshva is said to have attained Kaivalya at Ahichhatra.
The Second Rohilla War was a conflict between the Kingdom of Awadh and East India Company, and the Rohillas of Rampur State in 1794.
The Capture of Delhi was a battle in 1771 when the forces of the Maratha Empire led by Mahadaji Shinde captured Delhi along with the Red Fort and gave Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II the throne back with a treaty. The Marathas captured Delhi from Najib Khan's son Zabita Khan who was put in charge by the Afghans. With this capture, the Marathas regained their lost supremacy in North India after the Third Battle of Panipat and conquered much of the lost territories which they lost after that battle.
The Kingdom of Rohilkhand was a late modern Indian kingdom under nominal Mughal suzerainty, that rose under the declining Mughal Empire in 1721 and continued to exist until 1774 when it was defeated by Oudh the British transformed its significantly reduced borders into the princely state of Rampur. Nawab Ali Mohammed Khan became the first Nawab of Rohilkhand, having been previously elected as overlord by various Afghan chiefs at the age of fourteen. He would carve out the future kingdom from the collapsing Mughal Empire and go on to the found the Rohilla dynasty. The crown would go on being held by the Rohillas until the kingdom came to an end in 1774, and thereafter the same dynasty would rule over Rampur.
The Rohilla dynasty was a dynasty that ruled over much of North-West Uttar Pradesh in the form of Rohilkhand and later until 1947, the Princely state of Rampur. At the height of their power the dynasty ruled over the Kingdom of Rohilkhand and held suzairnty over the Kingdom of Kumaon and Kingdom of Garhwhal.
Roh was a historical region in present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan which was the original homeland of the Indian community of Rohillas. The historical region of Rohilkhand in India derives its name from the Rohilla community. Some of the dynasties of India, namely Lodi, Sur and Karrani dynasties, originated from Roh.
The designation Rohilla developed during the seventeenth century as a fairly broad notion of the people coming from Roh or Rõh, corresponding roughly with the mountainous terrain of the eastern Hindu Kush and the Sulaiman Range. Only in the seventeenth-century Indian and Indo-Afghan works is Roh used as a more specific geographical term which corresponded with the territory stretching from Swat and Bajaur in the north to Sibi and Bhakkar in Sind, and from Hasan Abdal in the east to Kabul and Kandahar in the west.