Bareilly

Bareilly, also spelled Bareli, 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 lies in the Indo-Gangetic Plains, about northwest of the state capital, Lucknow, and east of the national capital, New Delhi. With a population of 903,668 in 2011, it is the eighth most populous city in the state, 17th in northern India and 54th in India. It is located on the bank of Ramganga River and is the site of the Ramganga Barrage built for canal irrigation.

The earliest settlement in what is now Bareilly was established in 1537 by a local chieftain Jagat Singh Katehriya who named it 'Bans-Bareli' after his two sons Bansaldev and Bareldev. The town came under the rule of the Mughals in 1569 and had become the capital of a local pargana by 1596. The foundation of the modern city of Bareilly was laid by Mughal governor Mukrand Rai in 1657, and in 1658 it became the seat of the governor of Budaun. The weakening of Mughal Empire lead to the rise of the Kingdom of Rohilkhand, of which Bareilly was a major centre. The city came under the control of Oudh State in 1774 after the fall of Rohillas in the First Rohilla War and was then ceded to the British East India Company by the Nawab of Oudh in 1801. A Military station was established in 1811 to the south of the city, where a fort was constructed in 1816. Bareilly was freed by the rebels during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and remained independent under the rule of Khan Bahadur Khan until it was re-annexed by the British in 1858.