districts
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
in the
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
of
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 ...
in
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 ...
, and Pilibhit city is the district headquarters. Pilibhit district is a part of
Bareilly Division
Bareilly division is an administrative geographical unit of Uttar Pradesh state of India. Bareilly is the administrative headquarters of the division. Part of the Rohilkhand region, Bareilly division has four major cities in west Uttar Prades ...
Pilibhit Tiger Reserve
Pilibhit Tiger Reserve is located in Pilibhit district of Uttar Pradesh and was notified as a tiger reserve in 2014.
It forms part of the Terai Arc Landscape in the upper Gangetic Plain along the India-Nepal border. The habitat is characterized ...
in September 2008.
History
Pilibhit district had its origins as a subdivision of
Bareilly district
The Bareilly district belongs to the state Uttar Pradesh in northern India. Its capital is Bareilly city and it is divided in six administrative division or tehsils: Aonla, Baheri, Bareilly city, Faridpur, Mirganj, and Nawabganj. The Barei ...
in 1871, consisting of the
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 ...
Pilibhit
Pilibhit is a city and a municipal board of Pilibhit district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Pilibhit is the north-easternmost district of Bareilly division, situated in the Rohilkhand region of the sub-Himalayan Plateau belt next to f ...
, and
Puranpur
''Puranpur'' is a town and a municipal board in Pilibhit district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Puranpur is divided into 25 wards for which elections are held every 5 years. After independence and Partition of India the large numbers o ...
, with a magistrate based in Pilibhit. It was then officially upgraded to a separate district in November 1879.
The early history of Pilibhit district is obscure. This area is traditionally considered to have formed part of the Panchala kingdom, whose capital was at
Ahichchhatra
Ahichchhatra ( sa, अहिच्छत्र, translit=Ahicchatra) or Ahikshetra ( sa, अहिक्षेत्र, translit=Ahikṣetra), near the modern Ramnagar village in Aonla tehsil, Bareilly district in Uttar Pradesh, India, was the ...
, although there are no historical documents to confirm this. On the other hand, the many ruin sites in the district indicate that there was extensive settlement here, and that the forests which historically covered the area used to be smaller.
Archaeological sites
At Neoria Husainpur is a large area of ruins that became covered by dense forest. Mahof has a large ruined brick fort; Simaria Ghosu, not far away, has a mud fort, but it appears to have been built later than other ruins in the area. Several octagonal wells and a large masonry tank at Khaj appear to be the remains of a large town. Perhaps the most important ruins in the district are at Balai Khera, close to the town of Jahanabad. Nearby to the west is a mound called Parasua-kot, which is from the same time as Balai Khera.
There are many ruins in the forests of
Puranpur
''Puranpur'' is a town and a municipal board in Pilibhit district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Puranpur is divided into 25 wards for which elections are held every 5 years. After independence and Partition of India the large numbers o ...
tehsil, often marked by "unusually large bricks, often carved and chiselled in a most artistic manner." The ruins at Dhanaura have been partly washed away by the Chauka, but there are still several large ruin-covered mounds here, over a large area. Another site is at Suapara, a short distance north of Puranpur. The massive fortress at Shahgarh appears to have been occupied during a fairly late period, since coins of the Varmmas of
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
have been found inside its walls. Further south is a large unnamed site where fragments of pottery, bricks, and glazed tiles have been found.
In the Bisalpur tehsil, there are extensive ruins at Marauri, on the Khanaut, and at Barkhera in the north there is a large mound that is traditionally said to mark the spot of a city built by the legendary Raja Vena.
Dewal inscription
The 10th-century Dewal inscription, which was found in 1829 at Allahabad Dewal, near Deoria. It is a
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
inscription, dated to year 1049 of the
Vikram Samvat
Vikram Samvat (IAST: ''Vikrama Samvat''; abbreviated VS) or Bikram Sambat B.S. and also known as the Vikrami calendar, is a Hindu calendar historically used in the Indian subcontinent. Vikram Samvat is generally 57 years ahead of Gregorian Calend ...
(992 or 993 CE) and written in the so-called ''kutila'' or "crooked" script. The entire inscription is written as a 37-stanza poem, full of metaphors and mythological allusions, and documenting the construction of two temples to
Shiva
Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...
and
Parvati
Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi i ...
by a local ruler and his wife. It was composed by a man named Nahila, son of Sivarudra, who was evidently well-versed in Sanskrit grammar and rhetoric.
The ruler mentioned in the inscription, Lalla of the Chhinda family, is described as a ''mandala-putra'', or ruler of a province, and he was probably a feudatory of the kings of
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 ...
. The text says that he "brought the river Katha to his capital", which according to H.R. Nevill probably refers to the digging of the canal now called the Katni. It also says that Lalla had the two temples built and endowed them with a quarter of the revenue from several villages. He gave the site the name "Devapalli", which is probably the same as "Dewal". The site of Garha Khera, a large 800-square-foot mound with two small tanks, was probably Lalla's capital; the Katni winds its way around this site. Atop a large mound on the south side of Allahabad Dewal are the remains of a large temple, which is where the Dewal inscription was found.
Medieval through Early Modern
Whatever happened in the area after the time of the Dewal inscription is unknown. It is completely absent from contemporary sources for several centuries. The Muslim conquerors appear to have had no interest in the region, which may have been densely forested around this time. The first reference to Pilibhit is possibly in 1256, when the Delhi Sultan Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad led troops to
Awadh
Awadh (), known in British historical texts as Avadh or Oudh, is a region in the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which was before independence known as the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. It is synonymous with the Kośāla region of ...
by way of "Tilibhat". Pilibhit may also be the "Talpat" mentioned during the reign of Sultan Ghiyas-ud-Din Balban.
The Katehria Rajputs came to rule over the Pilibhit area at some point. Tradition holds that their leader Kharag Singh conquered the western part of this district from the local tribes. From this base, the Katehrias were only nominally subjects of the Sultans of Delhi. In 1379, after Kharag Singh murdered the governor of
Budaun
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 ...
, Firoz Shah led a scorched-earth campaign in the region, causing widespread destruction and resulting in the entire area between Budaun and Bilaspur becoming a hunting ground.
During
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 ...
's reign, the area of today's Pilibhit district was a remote backwater. In the
Ain-i-Akbari
The ''Ain-i-Akbari'' ( fa, ) or the "Administration of Akbar", is a 16th-century detailed document recording the administration of the Mughal Empire under Emperor Akbar, written by his court historian, Abu'l Fazl in the Persian language. It for ...
, the area included the parganas of Balai and Punar, and
Bareilly
Bareilly () is a city in Bareilly district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is among the largest metropolises in Western Uttar Pradesh and is the centre of the Bareilly division as well as the historical region of Rohilkhand. The city ...
, with a small part possibly belonging to Gola in today's
Shahjahanpur district
Shahjahanpur district is a districts of Uttar Pradesh India. It is a part of Bareilly division. It was established in 1813 by the British Government. Previously it was a part of district Bareilly. Geographically the main town is Shahjahanpur ...
. Balai was based at what is now called Balai Khera, and Punar was the old name of Puranpur. These parganas were all nominally part of the sarkar of Budaun, but in practice they were under the governors of Bareilly. During this period, Pilibhit district's history is essentially the same as Bareilly district's, with nothing to set it apart.
Modern times
During the freedom struggle, the rural folks showed Bravery. One freedom fighter Shri Bhadain Lal, Vill Rampur Amrit near Bilsanda who killed a British Police Inspector. He was jailed & imprisoned at Lalitpur Central Jail. The Britishers during the freedom struggle were chased out. They were given shelter by a few villagers at Mankapur. The Britishers in return offered them Land & Gardens near banks of Khannout River. In 191-72 the Nank Matah damp leaked & flooded the Deoha River. Many people died as the flood has taken place in odd hours. Leaving the 1977 Lok Sabha elections when Md Shamshul Hasan Khan of Sherpur became MP, all MPs were from other districts. Local politicians could not win the Loksabha Elections. Thus politically the district remained backward so was its economic growth.
Pilibhit Tiger Reserve
Pilibhit Tiger Reserve is located in Pilibhit district, Mahof range of Uttar Pradesh state in India. It lies along the India-Nepal border in the foothills of the Himalayas and the plains of the 'terai' in Uttar Pradesh. It is one of India's 50 Project Tiger Tiger reserves.
Pilibhit is one of the few well-forested districts in Uttar Pradesh. According to an estimate of the year 2004, Pilibhit district has over 800 km2 (310 sq mi) forests, constituting roughly 23% of the district's total area. Forests in Pilibhit have at least a good number of tigers and a good prey base for their survival as per records and assumption there were 36 tigers in 2016–17, then counts goes up till 45 in 2017–18, and present August 2019 to November 2020 there are 65 tigers in this reserve and more. Although some illegal human residents are still present in the reserve, the government is aiming to remove them. During winter tigers could easily be seen in the countryside near forest areas. It holds a wide range of different animal and bird species.
Pilibhit forests area is a home for the striped cats, tigers, bears, and many species of birds. A proposal, created in 2005, to make a home for the endangered cats in Pilibhit forests was sent to the government of India in April 2008. Pilibhit Tiger Reserve was declared in September 2008 based on its special type of
ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...
with vast open spaces and sufficient feed for the elegant predators.
Geography of the reserve
The northeastern boundary of the reserve is the
Sharda river
The Sharda River, also called Kali River and Mahakali River, originates at Kalapani in the Himalayas at an elevation of in the Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand, India. It flows along Nepal's western border with India and has a basin area ...
(Nepali: Mahakali River) which defines the Indo-Nepal border, while the southwest boundary is marked by the River Sharda and the River Ghaghara. The reserve has a core zone area of 602.79 km2 (232.74 sq mi) and a buffer zone area of 127.45 km2 (49.21 sq mi). Elevation ranges from 168 to 175 meters above MSL.
Demographics
According to the 2011 census Pilibhit district has a
population
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...
of 2,031,007, roughly equal to the nation of
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
or the US state of
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
. This gives it a ranking of 226th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of . Its
population growth rate
Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 83 million annually, or 1.1% per year. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to ...
over the decade 2001-2011 was 23.83%. Pilibhit has a
sex ratio
The sex ratio (or gender ratio) is usually defined as the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. Many species devia ...
of 889
females
Female (symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete during sexual reproduction.
A female has larger gametes than a male. Females a ...
for every 1000 males, and a
literacy rate
Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...
of 63.58%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 16.42% and 0.08% of the population respectively.
At the time of the
2011 Census of India
The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Information ...
, 83.03% of the population in the district spoke
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
and 1.13%
Bhojpuri
Bhojpuri (;Bhojpuri entry, Oxford Dictionaries , Oxford U ...
as their first language.
Tourist attractions
* Chuka Beach
*
*
*
*
Pilibhit Tiger Reserve
Pilibhit Tiger Reserve is located in Pilibhit district of Uttar Pradesh and was notified as a tiger reserve in 2014.
It forms part of the Terai Arc Landscape in the upper Gangetic Plain along the India-Nepal border. The habitat is characterized ...
Bareilly Airport
Bareilly Airport is a domestic airport serving Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India at Indian Air Force's Trishul Air Base in Izzatnagar, located north from the city centre.
Terminal 1
Bareilly Airport was inaugurated by state civil aviation mi ...
is a nearest airport to Pilibhit Tiger Reserve and Pilibhit and this airport is located around 43 km from Pilibhit.
Bareilly Airport is connected to cities like Mumbai, New Delhi and Bengaluru with direct flights.
Railway Station
*
Pilibhit Junction railway station
Pilibhit Junction is important railway station in Izzatnagar railway division
Izzatnagar railway division at Izzatnagar railway station located in Bareilly is a railway division under North Eastern Railway zone of Indian Railways. This railway ...
Bisalpur Railway Station Bisalpur may refer to:
* Bisalpur, Nepal, a village development committee in Baitadi District of western Nepal
* Bisalpur, Pilibhit, a city in Uttar Pradesh, India
** Bisalpur (Assembly constituency)
* Bisalpur, Rajasthan, a town in the Ton ...
UPSRTC
The Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) is a public sector passenger road transport corporation which services Uttar Pradesh, India, and adjoining states of North India. It operates as a state and interstate bus service and ...
Bus Stand
* Pilibhit
UPSRTC
The Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) is a public sector passenger road transport corporation which services Uttar Pradesh, India, and adjoining states of North India. It operates as a state and interstate bus service and ...
Bus Depot
* Puranpur Bus Stand
* Bisalpur Bus Stand
* Amaria Bus Stand
Kalinagar
Kalinagar is a town and a nagar panchayat in Pilibhit district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
Kalinagar is a new tehsil of district Pilibhit
Pin code -262124
Geography
Kalinagar is located at . It has an average elevation of 184 me ...
Puranpur
''Puranpur'' is a town and a municipal board in Pilibhit district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Puranpur is divided into 25 wards for which elections are held every 5 years. After independence and Partition of India the large numbers o ...
Hamdard (Wakf) Laboratories
Hamdard Laboratories (India), is a Unani pharmaceutical company in India (following the independence of India from Britain, "Hamdard" Unani branches were established in Bangladesh (erstwhile East Pakistan) and Pakistan). It was established in ...
Simranjeet Singh
Simranjeet Singh (born 27 December 1996) is an Indian field hockey player who plays as a midfielder for the Indian national team.
He was part of the Indian squad that won the 2016 Men's Hockey Junior World Cup. He made his senior team debut in ...
Nalneesh Neel
Nalneesh Neel is an Indian actor who has acted in various Bollywood and Hollywood films. He is best known for his roles in '' The White Tiger'', ''III Smoking Barrels'', ''Chhichhore'', ''Gulabo Sitabo'', '' Bhor'', ''Fukrey Returns'', '' Raees ...