Bawan is a large village and corresponding

community development block In India, a Community development block (CD block) or simply Block is a sub-division of Tehsil, administratively earmarked for planning and development. The area is administered by a Block Development Officer (BDO), supported by several technic ...

Hardoi district Hardoi district is a district situated in the center of Uttar Pradesh, India. The district headquarters is in the city of Hardoi. Hardoi is the third largest district of Uttar Pradesh. It falls under Lucknow division in the history region of A ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is located 10km west of

Hardoi Hardoi is a city and municipal board in Hardoi district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Hardoi district. History The early history of Hardoi is obscure. The name suggests a Bhar, a Dalit caste of ...

, on the south side of the road to Bazpur-Naktaura and the Sai Ghat. Bawan was historically the seat of a

pargana Pargana ( bn, পরগনা, , hi, परगना, ur, پرگنہ) or parganah, also spelt pergunnah during the time of the Sultanate period, Mughal times and British Raj, is a former administrative unit of the Indian subcontinent and each ...

since at least the time of the Mughal Emperor

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

, and it is also the site of a mela held in honour of Darshan Debi on the first Sunday of

Bhadon Bhādõ ( pa, ਭਾਦੋਂ, ) is the sixth month of the Nanakshahi calendar and Punjabi calendar. This month coincides with Bhadra in the Hindu calendar and the Indian national calendar, and August and September in the Gregorian and Julian c ...

, at a site called the Suraj Kund. The main staple crops here are

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

, and

gram The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a Physical unit, unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one one thousandth of a kilogram. Originally defined as of 1795 as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure wate ...

. Markets are held on Mondays and Thursdays. As of 2011, the population of Bawan is 13,524, in 2,230 households.

History

According to tradition, Bawan was founded by a person named Rajpal before the reign of

Rama Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...

Ayodhya Ayodhya (; ) is a city situated on the banks of holy river Saryu in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Ayodhya, also known as Sāketa, Saketa, is an ancient city of India, the birthplace of Rama and ...

. It is said that later, the 11th-century Muslim folk hero

Ghazi Sayyid Salar Masud Ghazi Salar Masud or Ghazi Miyan (1014 – 1034 CE) was a semi-legendary Muslim figure from India. By the 12th century, he had become reputed as a warrior, and his tomb (''dargah'') at Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh, India, had become a place of pilgrima ...

sent a force from

Kannauj Kannauj ( Hindustani pronunciation: ənːɔːd͡ʒ is a city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city's name is a corrupted form of the class ...

to conquer Bawan, and that the Muslim soldiers who died in the ensuing battle were buried near the Suraj Kund. Another one of Salar Masud's companions, Makhdum Abdul Qasim, is said to have fasted here for 40 days, and his shrine is still visited on Thursday evenings by people who leave

sweetmeats Confectionery is the Art (skill), art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlappi ...

and light small lamps in his memory. At the turn of the 20th century, Bawan was described as a large village both in population and in physical area, with a population of 3,800 people as of the 1901 census. Of these, 1,021 were Muslim, while the main Hindu caste was the

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...

s. The Darshan Debi mela, which had previously been "of considerable importance", was still observed but its attendance was smaller than it had been in the past. The weekly veneration of Makhdum Abdul Qasim's shrine was also noted, with an attendance of about 200 people at the time. Bawan hosted a market twice per week at the time. The 1961 census recorded Bawan as comprising 6 hamlets, with a total population of 4,993 (2,704 male and 2,289 female), in 968 households and 703 physical houses. The area of the village was given as 2,478

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

s. The 1981 census recorded Bawan as having a population of 7,384, in 1,306 households, and covering an area of 992.32

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

Villages

Bawan CD block has the following 140 villages:

References

{{Hardoi district Villages in Hardoi district