Bulandshahr, formerly Baran, is a city and a

municipal board A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

Bulandshahr district Bulandshahr district (also spelled Bulandshahar) is a district in the Meerut region in the North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (UP), situated between the two rivers Ganga and Yamuna. It is a part of the National Capital Region of India, and Bula ...

in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Bulandshahr district and part of Delhi NCR region. According to the Government of India, the district Bulandshahr is one of the Minority Concentrated Districts of India on the basis of the 2011 census data on population, socio-economic indicators and basic amenities indicators. The distance between Bulandshahr and New Delhi is 88.1 km.

Etymology

An early history of Bulandshahr and its origin of name is given by British

District magistrate and collector A District Collector-cum-District Magistrate (also known as Deputy Commissioner in some states) is an All India Service officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) cadre who is responsible for ''land revenue collection'', ''canal reven ...

for the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million p ...

Frederic Salmon Growse Frederic Salmon Growse (1836 – 19 May 1893) was a British civil servant of the Indian Civil Service (ICS), Hindi scholar, archaeologist and collector, who served in Mathura and Bulandshahr in the North-Western Provinces during British rule in ...

, in a paper titled "Bulandshahr Antiquities" published in the ''Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal'' in 1879. Bulandshahr was founded as 'Baran' by the king

Ahibaran Maharaja Ahibaran ( sa, अहिबरन) was a legendary Indian king (Maharaja) of Baran, a city of traders. Maharaja Ahibaran was born as Sooryavanshi Kshatriya on 26th of December. The Baranwal communities claim descent from him and also c ...

. Since it was perched on a highland it came to be known as "high city", ( fa, بلند شهر), which translates as Bulandshahr in Persian language during the Mughal era.

History

Early history

Growse's discoveries in the 1880s showed that Baran was inhabited by Buddhists between 400 and 600 AD. The kingdom of Baran came to an end probably during the 12th century. In 1192 CE when Muhammad Ghauri conquered parts of India, his general Qutubuddin Aibak surrounded Fort Baran and conquered it and the Raja Chandrasen Dodiya was killed and Aibak took control of the Baran kingdom. The ancient ruins found at places in Bhatora Veerpur, Ghalibpur, etc. are indicative of the antiquity of Bulandshahr. There are several other important places in the District from where statues belonging to the medieval age and objects of ancient temples have been found. Even today, several of these historical and ancient objects such as coins, inscriptions etc. are preserved in the

State Museum Lucknow State Museum, Lucknow is a prominent museum located in the capital city of Uttar Pradesh, India. The museum is currently located in the Nawab Wajid Ali Shah Zoological Gardens, Banarasi Bagh, Lucknow. The museum was established in 1863 from t ...

British rule

Raja Lachhman Singh ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested fr ...

(1826–1896), who served the government from 1847 and wrote a ''Statistical Memoir of the Bulandshahr District'', moved to Bulandshahr following retirement.

Indian Rebellion of 1857

A large number of

Ahir Ahir or Aheer are a community of traditionally non-elite pastoralists in India, most members of which identify as being of the Indian Yadav community because they consider the two terms to be synonymous. The Ahirs are variously described as a ...

Gurjar Gurjar or Gujjar (also transliterated as ''Gujar, Gurjara and Gujjer'') is an ethnic nomadic, agricultural and pastoral community, spread mainly in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, divided internally into various clan groups. They were tradit ...

and Rajput rulers, called

zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as ...

s, rebelled and attacked Bulandshahr itself on 21 May 1857. The Gurjars and Rajputs plundered multiple towns such as Secunderabad. They burnt down Telegraph lines and Dak Bungalows. The rebelling Nawab, Walidad Khan also belonged from Bulandshahr. The presence of Nawab Walidad Khan in Bulandshahr had completely paralysed the British about this time. The rebels had secured a mud fort under Walidad Khan at Malagarh. The Indian Rebellion of 1857 is generally associated with the surrounding areas, such as Meerut, Delhi and

Aligarh Aligarh (; formerly known as Allygarh, and Kol) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district, and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the capita ...

. On 20 May 1857, the 9th regiment of Bulandshahr looted the treasury at Bulandshahr. Sir Alfred Comyn Lyall was subsequently appointed assistant magistrate of Bulandshahr, and Lord Roberts was also present in the district. Hindi scholar, archaeologist and

district magistrate and collector A District Collector-cum-District Magistrate (also known as Deputy Commissioner in some states) is an All India Service officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) cadre who is responsible for ''land revenue collection'', ''canal reven ...

of Bulandshahr from 1876 to 1884, Frederic Growse, resided at Collector's House, Bulandshahr. In 1884 he published ''Bulandshahr; or, Sketches of an Indian district; social, historical and architectural''. Raja Babu Park had been constructed in Bulandshahr in 1837, and a statue of Queen Victoria was placed there in 1901, when the park was renamed ‘Maharani Victoria Park’."Census of India 2011: Bulandshahr village and town directory"
Series 10, PART XII-A. File:Garden Gate, Bulandshahr (1880s).jpg, Garden Gate, Bulandshahr (1880s) File:Town Hall Bulandshahr. North Verandah. Photograph by Chunni Lál.jpg, Town Hall Bulandshahr. North Verandah (Chunni Lál) File:Collector's House, Bulandshahr.jpg, Collector's House, Bulandshahr, image from text of 1886.

Post-independence

Following India's independence, ‘Maharani Victoria Park’ was renamed after Shri Rajeshwar Dayal Saxena (Raja Babu), president of the Civil Bar Association and later president of Municipal Board, Bulandshahar. Later it was renamed again back to 'Raja Babu Park'. In 1969 a statue of ‘Mahatma Gandhi’was established in the park.

Geography

The distance between Bulandshahr and New Delhi is 68 km. It lies in the Bulandshahr District on the Agra to Delhi Road, and is surrounded by Delhi, Meerut,

Moradabad Moradabad () is a city, commissionary and municipal corporation in Moradabad district of Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Moradabad is situated on the banks of the Ramganga river, at a distance of from the national capital, New Delhi and ...

Badaun Budaun is commonly pronounced Badayun is a city and a seat of Budaun district, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located near the Ganges river in the centre of Western Uttar Pradesh. Budaun was the capital of Delhi Sultanate for four years from 1210 C ...

and

Demographics

As per provisional data of 2011 census, Bulandshahr urban agglomeration had a population of 235,310, out of which males were 125,549 and females were 111,761. Population in the age groups of 0 to 6 years was 30,886. The total number of literates were 160,203, of which 90,761 were males and 69,442 were females. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population was 78.37%.

Administration and politics

Bulandshahr is one of seven administrative sub-divisions of the District of Bulandshahr.

Buildings

Bulandshahr has four gates; Bunford Club Gate, Fatehganj Gate, Growseganj Gate and Moti Bagh Gate.

Events

The town hosts an annual exhibition known as 'numaish'.

Notable people

* Capt. Abbas Ali *

, legendary founder of the city * Ziauddin Barani, Indian historian *

Kay Baxter Kay Baxter (October 3, 1945 – May 16, 1988) was a pioneer female bodybuilder. Baxter competed in women's bodybuilding from 1979 to 1986, competing in four IFBB Ms. Olympia competitions between 1982 and 1985. She was inspirational for m ...

, dramatist, journalist and teacher * Amit Bhadana, YouTuber and comedian *

Ashiq Ilahi Bulandshahri Muḥammad ‘Āshiq Ilāhī Bulandshahrī Muhājir Madanī (''Muḥammad ‘Āshiq Ilāhī al-Baranī al-Madanī'') was a prominent Indian Islamic scholar. He was a disciple of Muhammad Zakariyya Kandhlawi. Biography Ashiq Ilahi was born in B ...

, Indian Islamic scholar *

Sonal Chauhan Sonal Chauhan (born 16 May 1987) is an Indian actress, singer and model who predominantly works in Telugu and Hindi language films. She made her acting debut with Hindi film ''Jannat'' and her Telugu film debut with ''Rainbow'', both in 2008. ...

* Banarasi Das * Jaiprakash Gaur * Saloni Gaur * Arif Mohammad Khan *

Bhuvneshwar Kumar Bhuvneshwar Kumar Singh (born 5 February 1990) is an Indian international cricketer who is playing for the Indian cricket team. He currently plays for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League and Uttar Pradesh in domestic cricket. He is ...

, fast bowler in the Indian cricket team. *

Satish Kumar Satish Kumar (born 9 August 1936) is an Indian British activist and speaker. He has been a Jain monk, nuclear disarmament advocate and pacifist.'' ''Now living in England, Kumar is founder and Director of Programmes of the Schumacher College ...

* Hitesh Kumari, former minister of UP irrigation department, and MLA from Debai assembly constituency. * Gajendra Pal Singh Raghava, scientist expert in bioinformatics, winner of awards including Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology * Lakhan Rawat, cricketer * Arfa Khanum Sherwani, Indian journalist * Kushal Pal Singh, CEO of

DLF Limited Delhi Land & Finance (DLF Limited) is a commercial real estate developer. It was founded by Chaudhary Raghvendra Singh in 1946 and it is based in New Delhi, India. DLF developed residential colonies in Delhi such as, Model Town, Rajouri Garde ...

, India's largest real estate developer. * Neera Yadav, ex-officer of the

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the India ...

. * Yogendra Singh Yadav, youngest ever Param Vir Chakra winner

Gallery

File:Bulandshahr Railway Station.jpg, Bulandshahr Railway Station File:Bulandshahr street frontage.png, Bulandshahr street frontages 2012 File:Sunaro wali gali, Bulandshahr.jpg, Sunaro wali galli File:Cow, Bulandshahr, India (2012).png, Cow on street File:Maman road, Bulandshahr .jpg, Maman road, Bulandshahr File:Bulandshahr vegetable market.jpg, Bulandshahr vegetable market

References

External links

''Bulandshahr: Or, Sketches of an Indian District: Social, Historical and Architectural''
Frederic Salmon Growse, Benares (1884). {{Authority control Cities in Uttar Pradesh