—
BIJ
310 in Bijnaur
itself,
The
diawln.
and the larger
villages of Araosi
and Rahimnagar Pan-
villages are not otherwise remarkable.
At Banthra, which is situated at the southern end of thepargana on the Lucknow and' Cawnpore imperial road, 5 miles from the boundary, is a thana at which 18 men and a chief constable are stationed and at Bani bridge, on the Sai, which bounds the pargana, is a small police post, where a force of five more has been placed.
police
The metalled road from Lucknow
Cawnpore passes over
to
this bridge.
from Lucknow. The other roads are two unmetalled roads that run from Mohanlalganj to Jandbganj, an old bazar a mile to the north of Bani bridge, and from Bani bridge itself to Mohan. They It is about 15 miles
are substantially bridged throughout.
The town of Bijnaur has a road to itself. There are no great bazars in the pargana. It is too near Lucknow, and, moreover, a great deal of the produce is exported south to Cawnpore.
To the west of the imperial road runs the Lucknow and Cawnpore Railway, which has a station at Harauni, where the unmetalled road from Bani The population of the pargana is 67,353, or 400 to Mohan crosses the line. to the square mile, but it falls at the rate of 1,005 on the cultivated area. It
is
thus distributed between the two creeds of Hindus and Musalmans,
and between the two
classes of agriculturists
and non-agriculturists
93 '3 per cent.
Hindus...
...
...
...
...
,,..
...
Musalmans
...
...
...
..
...
...
67
,,
Agriculturists ... Non-agriculturists
...
...
...
...
...
58'9
,,
...
41'1
,,
In
...
...
percentage of Musalmans
...
...
'
one of the lowest of the parganas in the district. The Lodhs and Basis seem to have been the earliest colonists. The name Bijnaur itself is said to have been derived from Bijli Raja, a Pasi, whose fort was at Nathawan, about a mile to the north of Bijnaur an elevated mound of considerable extent and striking appearance from the wide plains in which it is situated still marks its site. This raja is said to have possessed 12 forts, amongst which were Kalipachchim, Mati, Parwar Purab, lying to the east of the pargana, and others whose names are forgotten, but which extended up to Sars^wan and the Gumti in a direction north-east. The pargana still stretches up to the same point. The subjugation of this raja is uncertain. It is claimed by the Hindus and it is claimed by the Musalmans. The cause of war is a common one in tradition. The Pasis were powerful, and they wished to force on a family of Brahmans an alliance with one of their sons. The Brahmans temporised and in good time received assistance from Jai Chandar, the Raja of Kanauj, and the Pdsis were overcome and expelled. its
it is
the story of the P^sis themselves. And it is told by a tribe of live at and formerly colonised Sissaindi, some 10 miles to the south of Bijnaur, but who have applied the story to a chapter in their own history; and certainly it is a widely-spread tradition that when Alha and ITdal, the two captains of Raja Jai Chandar of Kanauj, came to coerce the refractory Bhars and pitched their camp below Lachhman Tila,
This
is
Gautams, who
