Kothili Bazar was a small town in Basti district of Awadh in modern

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 ...

(south of Basti, not to be confused with the surviving community of the same name near Gaur, north-west of Basti). This town was destroyed by the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

during the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...

History

In March–April during the

, the inhabitants of Mahua Dabar intercepted a boat carrying six British soldiers. These soldiers were surrounded and killed by the people of Mahua Dabar. On 20 June 1857 the British 12th Irregular Horse Cavalry surrounded the town, destroyed almost every building, and according to local legend slaughtered every inhabitant. The town was razed to the ground and only farming was allowed. The

tilling Tilling can mean: * Tillage, an agricultural preparation of the soil. * TILLING (molecular biology) * Tilling is a fictional town in the Mapp and Lucia novels of E. F. Benson. * Tilling Green, Ledshire, is a fictional village in Patricia Wentworth ...

of the land removed all ruins of the destroyed town. Mahua Dabar, a town of 5,000 people, completely disappeared from history and geography. In 1994, Mohammad Abdul Latif Ansari, the great-grandson of one of the survivors that managed to escape Mahua Dabar before the British encirclement of the town started researching the location of his ancestral destroyed town. The-then Basti district

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

, R.N. Tripathi created a committee of historians from the

University of Lucknow The University of Lucknow (informally known as Lucknow University, and LU) is a public state university based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Founded in 1920, the University of Lucknow is one of the oldest government owned institutions of higher edu ...

; and they found an 1831 map after 13 years of research which showed the location of the Mahua Dabar town. All the maps after

1857 Events January–March * January 1 – The biggest Estonian newspaper, ''Postimees'', is established by Johann Voldemar Jannsen. * January 7 – The partly French-owned London General Omnibus Company begins operating. * Janua ...

showed the area as farmland. On 3 July 2011,

Jagdambika Pal Jagdambika Pal is an Indian politician. He is a former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He was also a member of 15th Lok Sabha & 16th Lok Sabha and was a member of Indian National Congress, until he resigned on 7 March 2014. Political career He ...

and other members of

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

of the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the R ...

, opened

Commemorative plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...

at Mahua Dabar.Mahua Dabar commemorative plaque
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References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahua Dabar

Mahua Dabar Kothili Bazar was a small town in Basti district of Awadh in modern Uttar Pradesh, India (south of Basti, not to be confused with the surviving community of the same name near Gaur, north-west of Basti). This town was destroyed by the British Raj ...

British East India Company Military of British India Mutinies Rebellions in India 1857 in India Resistance to the British Empire Massacres committed by the United Kingdom Basti district Bengal Presidency