Kheri District

Lakhimpur Kheri district is the largest district in Uttar Pradesh, India, on the border with Nepal. Its administrative capital is the city of Lakhimpur.

Lakhimpur Kheri district is a part of Lucknow division, with a total area of . The national government designated Lakhimpur Kheri as a Minority Concentrated District on the basis of 2001 census data, which identifies it as requiring urgent aid to improve living standards and amenities.

Dudhwa National Park, and Pilibhit Tiger reserve are in Lakhimpur Kheri and are the only national park in Uttar Pradesh. They are home to many rare and endangered species including 65+ Tigers, leopards, swamp deer, hispid hares and Bengal florican

Etymology

Etymologically Lakhimpur was known as ''Luxmipur''.

Kheri is a town from Lakhimpur.
Theory suggests that the name derives from the ''khair'' trees that once covered large tracts in the area.

History

The early history of Lakhimpur Kheri district is obscure, but it has many ancient ruins, and several places are associated with episodes in the Mahabharata. According to tradition, this area was once under the rule of the Lunar race of Hastinapur. The village of Balmiar-Barkhar, near Muhamdi, is popularly identified as the capital of the ancient Virata Kingdom, although this is more commonly located in Rajasthan. Kundalpur, near Khairigarh, is said to be where Krishna carried off Rukmini, and Kheri itself is held to be where Kshemakarna performed the sacrifice to drive out the Nagas. (Ahar, in Bulandshahr district, is also popularly identified as the site of both episodes.)

One of the earliest known finds in the district is a stone horse of the 4th-century king Samudra Gupta (the fragmentary inscription mentions his name), which formerly stood in a heavily forested area near Khairigarh and has since been moved to the Lucknow Museum. This king of Magadha performed ''Ashvamedha yajna'' in which a horse is left to freely roam in the entire nation, so as to display the power of king and to underline the importance of his conquest. As in much of Awadh, coins of the 9th-century king Bhoja Deva of Kannauj are commonly found in Lakhimpur Kheri district.

This area was supposedly once ruled by the Pasis, although no traces of this remain today. Most of the cultivated areas in the district have been historically ruled by Rajputs and Muslims instead. The earliest Rajput clan known in the area are the Bachhil, who are described as rulers in an inscription at Dewal (in Pilibhit district) dated to 992 CE. The Bachhils probably ruled over the northern and western parts of Lakhimpur Kheri district, and they had strongholds at Barkhar, near Muhamdi; Kamp, on the Sarda; Nigohi, in modern Shahjahanpur district; and Garh Gajana near Dewal. The Ahbans are the only other early Rajput known to have been here at an early date; they came to the region at the time of the first Muslim conquests and ruled from Pataunja in today's Sitapur district.

As for the Muslims, they appear to have arrived in this district at a later date than elsewhere. There are no local traditions of the Muslim folk hero Ghazi Sayyid Salar Masud here, in contrast to neighboring Bahraich district, and Muslim rule was only established very gradually and was never very strongly felt. Lakhimpur Kheri was then something of a backwater, very heavily forested and barely mentioned in contemporary sources. One tradition attributes the fort of Khairigarh to Muhammad bin Tughlaq, but it is more commonly said to have been built in 1379 under Firoz Shah Tughlaq instead. Khairigarh was one of several forts constructed along the northern frontier, on the north bank of the Sarju, in order to protect the lowlands against incursions from Doti and Nepal. However, these forts were supposedly abandoned shortly after completion and remained so for centuries.

Mughal era

At some point, the city of Khairabad (in today's Sitapur district) became a seat of Muslim government, but exactly when is not clear. During the reign of Akbar, Khairabad formed a sarkar of Awadh Subah, and most of the present-day district belonged to this sarkar. 8 of its 22 mahals, or parganas, lay partly or entirely in the area covered by the present district. The first of these was Barwar-Anjana, a vast mahal that was mostly covered by forest. It included the later parganas of Muhamdi, Magdapur, Atwa Piparia, Pasgawan (which has the namesake village of Barwar), and Aurangabad, as well as Ahmadnagar and Pindarwa in modern Hardoi district. Barwar-Anjana remained a single territorial unit until the time of Ibadullah Khan, who ruled as Raja of Muhamdi in the early 1700s. In the Ain-i-Akbari, this mahal is described as being ruled by Brahmins and Rajputs (although which clan is not specified), mustering an infantry force of 1,000 and a cavalry force of 50, and providing a revenue of 4,325, 237 dams to the imperial treasury.

Bordering Barwar-Anjana was the mahal of Bhurwara, which was also heavily forested and not extensively cultivated. It included the later parganas of Haidarabad, Bhur, and Kukra Mailani, although its boundaries were never clearly defined, and it was ruled by the Ahbans. The mahal of Khairigarh also had imprecise boundaries; besides the later pargana of the same name, it included the area that would later become the Nighasan and Palia parganas, as well as the northern half of Dhaurahra. The Ain-i-Akbari calls Khairigarh one of the most important forts in Hindustan, and the landowners in this mahal consisted of various Rajput clans: Bais, Bisen's, and Bachhils, as well as an unknown group called "Kahanah".

In the southern part of the present-day district was the mahal of Paila, which was smaller at that point than it would later become; it was ruled by the Ahbans. The mahal of Kheri included the later pargana of Srinagar along with most of Kheri pargana. Kheri itself had a fort made of burnt brick. The remaining part of Kheri pargana was then part of the small mahal of Basara, which consisted of the southwestern corner between the Sarayan and Jamwari rivers. Finally, the later pargana of Kasta formed part of the large mahal of Nimkhar, which was mostly based in present-day Sitapur district.

A small part of the current district was included in the sarkar of Bahraich at the time of Akbar. The mahal of Firozabad, ruled by the Tomar Rajputs, probably covered the southern part of the later Dhaurahra pargana in addition to Firozabad. It mustered a "surprisingly large" force of 8,000 infantry and 200 cavalry, and there was a brick fort at its headquarters.

From Akbar's time until the end of the 1700s, the history of Lakhimpur Kheri district is essentially the history of the various zamindari dynasties that ruled the area. The greatest of these was the Sayyids of Barwar, who had originally been granted a large estate in Hardoi district by Akbar. Muqtadi Khan, the great-grandson of the original grantee, was "entrusted with the management of Barwar" after the death of the former Bachhil ruler there. He then built a large fort at Barwar, and he greatly expanded his territory during the reign of Aurangzeb before dying in 1683.

Some of the Rajput States of the district estd. before Mughal era were Isanagar, Jhandi and Lakhahi. Oel and Singahi were established in Mughal era.

Under the Nawabs of Awadh, the old system of sarkars and mahals remained in use until the reign of Asaf-ud-Daula, who replaced them with chaklas. The entire area of Lakhimpur Kheri district was included in the chakla of Khairabad, which also included most of Hardoi and Sitapur districts, but at times Muhamdi formed a separate chakla, and some of the southeastern parganas were occasionally put under the chakla of Bahraich.

Modern era

In the year 1801, when Rohilkhand was ceded to the British, part of this district was included in the cession, but after the Anglo–Nepalese War of 1814-1816 it was restored to ''Oudh''. On the annexation of ''Oudh'' in 1856 the west of the present area was formed into a district called Mohammadi and the east into Mallanpur, which also included part of Sitapur. In the Indian Rebellion of 1857 Mohammadi became one of the chief centres of Indian independence movement in northern ''Oudh''. The refugees from Shahjahanpur reached Mohammadi on 2 June 1857, and two days later Mohammadi was abandoned, most of the British party were shot down on the way to Sitapur, and the survivors died or were murdered later in Lucknow. The British officials in Mallanpur, with a few who had fled from Sitapur, escaped to Nepal, where later on most of them died. Till October 1858, British officials did not make any other attempt to regain control of the district. By the end of 1858 British officials regained the control and the headquarters of the single district then formed were moved to Lakhlmpur shortly afterwards.

In, 2021 eight people were killed and eleven people were injured in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence when a car rammed into the protesting farmers.

Geography

The district is within the Terai lowlands at the base of the Himalayas, with several rivers and lush green vegetation. Situated between 27.6° and 28.6° north latitude and 80.34° and 81.30° east longitudes, and about in area, it is roughly triangular in shape, the flattened apex pointing north. The district is located at about the height of 147 meters above sea level. Lakhimpur Kheri is bounded on the north by the river Mohan, separating it from Nepal; on the east by the Kauriala river (branch of the Ghaghara), separating it from Bahraich; on the south by Sitapur and Hardoi; and on the west by Pilibhit and Shahjahanpur.

Climate

The climate is hot throughout the year except the rainy seasons. During summer(March to June), the temperature can reach above and in winters(October to February) it can drop to around . The nights are very cold during winter and fog is very common in this season. The annual average rainfall in Lakhimpur Kheri is , mostly in the monsoon months (July to September).

Rivers

Several rivers flow across Lakhimpur. Some of these are Sharda, Ghagra, Koriyala, Ull, Sarayan, Chauka, Gomti, Kathana, Sarayu and Mohana.

;Sharda Barrage

The Lower Sharda BarrageIndo-Nepal Water Resource Negotiation: Deepening Divide over Border Project - Rakesh Tiwary, South Asia Journal, January - March 2006.Design and Construction of selected Barrages in India (1981), Publication number 149, Central Board of Irrigation and Power, Malcha Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi. is constructed on the Sharda River, about downstream of the Upper Sharda Barrage, and nearly from Lakhimpur city. This project is part of the Sharda Sahayak Pariyojana (SSP) and primarily depends on water diverted from the Karnali (Ghaghra) at Girjapur through the Sharda Sahayak link canal of length for over eight months in the year during the lean season; but it indents on Sharda supplies during the monsoon between July and October when the Karnali carries a lot of silt.

The SSP aims at irrigating culturable command area (CCA) of 16,770 km² with 70 per cent irrigation intensity. The long feeder channel of SSP takes off from the right bank of Sharda Barrage with discharge of 650 m³/s. Supplies are then fed into the different branches of the Sharda canal system, namely, the Daryabad branch, the Barabanki branch, the Haidergarh branch, the Rae Bareli branch and the Purva branch.

SSP provides protective canal irrigation for cultivable area of 2 m ha to lakhs of farmers in 150 development blocks of 16 districts in eastern Uttar Pradesh. The project was commissioned in 1974, and completed in 2000 with an estimated cost of 1300 crore rupees( 13,00,00,00,000).

Flora and fauna

Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in Lakhimpur Kheri has two core areas, Dudhwa National Park and Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary, which were merged in 1987. Dudhwa National Park is known as the first National Park of the state after the formation of Uttarakhand and is a national protected area. It is home to many rare and endangered species including tigers, leopards, rhinoceros, hispid hare, elephants, black deer and swamp deer. Dudhwa has approximately 400 species of birds including egrets, cormorants, herons and several species of duck, goose and teal. Its swamps and lakes are particularly attractive to water birds, including varieties that migrate here from the Himalayas to spend the winter months. Bird watching is common at the Banke Tal.

The visit of Sir D.B. Brandis in 1860 to the area culminated in a forest area of the present day Dudhwa National Park being brought under the control of Government in 1861 for preservation. In Kheri District all the Sal and miscellaneous forests and grasslands in Kharigarh Pargana, between the Mohana and Suheli rivers, were included in the then North Kheri Forest Division. More areas were reserved for protection between 1867 and 1879 and added to the Division. The area of the Division was legally constituted as Reserved Forests in 1937.

The Sonaripur Sanctuary, comprising , was created in 1958 to specifically protect swamp deer (Cervus duvaceli duvaceli). The area was too small and was later enlarged to and renamed as Dudhwa Sanctuary in 1968. Later, more area was added to the Sanctuary and in 1977, it was declared Dudhwa National Park. The total area of the Park was of which was the core zone and the balance of was a buffer zone.

The area was established in 1958 as a wildlife sanctuary. On 1 February 1977 wildlife sanctuary became a national park and after 11 years in 1988 it was established as a tiger reserve. Dudhwa Tiger Reserve lies on the India-Nepal border in the foothills of the Himalaya. Dudhwa Tiger Reserve was created in 1987–88 comprising Dudhwa National Park and Kishanpur Sanctuary (). With an addition of to the buffer zone in 1997, the present area of the tiger reserve is . Distance from Lakhimpur railway station to Dudhwa is about by road.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Lakhimpur Kheri District has a population of 4,021,243 roughly equal to the nation of Liberia or the US state of Oregon.

This gives it a ranking of 56th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 25.38%. Kheri has a sex ratio of 894 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 60.56%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes made up 26.40% and 1.33% of the population respectively. The tribal population are Tharus living along the Nepal border.

At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 93.25% of the population in the district spoke Hindi (or a related language), 3.10% Urdu