Basti district


 * For the movie, see ''

Basti district (: जिला बस्ती, : جِل بستی) is one of the of  ,  and  town is the district headquarters. Basti district is a part of.

Origin of name
Previously Basti was Ashram of Rishi (sage) Vashistha and the place was known as Vashisthi. After years it changes from Vashisthi to Basti.

The tract comprising the present district was remote and much of it was covered with forest. But gradually the area became inhabitable, for want of recorded and reliable history it cannot, with any degree of certainty, be said how the district came to known by its present name on account of the original habitation having being selected by the  as a seat of his Raj, an event which probably occurred in the 16th century. In 1801, Basti became the headquarters and in 1865 it was chosen as the headquarters of the newly established district.

Ancient period
In ancient period the country around Basti was known as .The Shatapatha Brahmana speaks of as one of the countries of the  Aryans and the grammarian  mentions it in one of his. It was the in the eldest son of, that the glory of the Kosala royal dynasty reached its culmination. According to the tradition, in itself Rama's elder son  ascended the throne of Kosala while the younger son Lav became the ruler of the northern part of the kingdom with it capital Shravasti. In the 93rd generation from Ikshvaku and 30th from Rama was Brihadbala, the last famous king of the Ikshvaku density who was killed in Great battle.

With the decline of the in sixth century CE,  also began gradually to become desolate. At this time a new dynasty, that of the s, with its capital as, assumed an important position on the political map of northern India and perhaps this kingdom in included present district also.

In the beginning of the 9th century CE, the Gurjara Pratihara king,, overthrew the who was then ruling at , and made this city the capital of his growing empire which rose to its greatest height in the reign of the famous  (836-885 A.D.). From the time of the power of  become to decline and  was divided into small chieftainships, but all of them had ultimately to yield to newly growing power of  of. (1170-1194 A.D.), the last important ruler of the dynasty was killed in the battle of (near ) fighting against the invading army of. Soon after his death occupied by the Turks.

According to legends, for centuries Basti was a wilderness and that greater part of was occupied by the. No definite evidence is available about the Bhars origin and early history. The evidence of an extensive kingdom in the district can be gleaned only from the ruins of ancient brick buildings popularly ascribed to the Bhars and found extant in a number of villages of this district.

Medieval period
In the beginning of the 13th century CE, Nasir-ud-din Mahmud, the elder son of Iltutmish, became the governor of in 1225 and is said to have completely crushed all resistance on the part of the Bhars. In 1323, Gayasuddin Tuglaq march through Bahraich and on his way to Bengal but he seems to have avoided the perils of the forest of district Basti and went by river from. Till 1479 CE, Basti and its adjoining districts appeared to be remained under the control of the rulers of. After annexing the Jaunpur Sultanate, handed over the governorship of the area covered by the sultanate to his nephew Muhammad Farmuli (Kala Pahar) with the headquarters at, which included this district and the adjoining areas.

About this time, Mahatma, the well known poet and philosopher lived at in this district.

It is said that before the advent of the leading Rajput clans, there were the local Hindus and Hindu Rajas in the districts and they are said to have supplanted the aboriginal tribes like Bhars, Tharus, Domes and Domekatars, whom general tradition declares to have been the early rulers, at least after the fall of ancient kingdoms and this appearance of the Buddhist faith. These Hindus included the Bhumihars, Sarvariya Brahmans and Visen. This was the state of the Hindu society in the district before the arrival of the from the west. In the middle of the 13th century the Srinetra was the newcomer to have first established in this reign. Their chief, Chandrasen, expel the Domkatar from the eastern. The Kalhans Rajput of Gonda province established themselves in Pargana Basti. South of the Kalhans country lay Nagar, Ruled by a Gautam Raja. There was also an ailed clan in Mahuli known as Mahsuiyas are Rajputs of Mahso.

Other Rajput clan of special mention was that of .It is said that three chief Mukund fled from Chittaur who ruled on undivided part (now it is in district Siddharthnagar) of district Basti. By the last quarter of the 14th century Amorha a part of district Basti were ruled by dynasty.

During the reign of Akbar and his successor the district formed a part of the Gorakhpur sarkar of the Awadh. In the earlier days of his reign the district served as the asylum for the rebel leaders like Ali Quli Khan, Khan Zaman, the governor of. During the period in 1680  sent one Qazi Khalil-ur-Rahman as the chakledar (holder of the tract) of  probably to get the regular payment of revenue from the local chiefs. Kalil-ur-Rahman marched from Ayodhya to force the chieftains of the districts adjoining Gorakhpur to make payment of revenue. As a result of this move, the rajas of Amorha and Nagar, who had recently acquired power, promptly tendered their submission and confrontation was thus averted. The governor then proceeded to Maghar which he again garrisoned, compelling the raja of Bansi to retire to this fortress on the bank of Rapti. The town of Khalilabad, now headquarters of newly created district, was named after Khalil-ur-Rahman, who tomb was erected at Maghar. A road leading from to Gorakhpur was constructed. In February 1690, Himmat Khan ( son of Khan Jahan Bahadur Zafar jang Kokaltash, subahdar of Allahabad ) was appointed subahdar of and faujdar (military commander ) of  who held the charge of Basti and adjoining districts for a long time.

Modern period
A great and far reaching change came over the sense when Saadat Khan was appointed governor of the subah of Avadh including the (commaandarship) of on 9th September, 1772. At that time and were held by the Sarnet raja; Binayakpur by the Chauhan chieftain of Butwal; Basti by the Kalhan ruler; Amorha by the Kayastha raja; Nagar by the Gautams; Mahuli by the elder line of Suryavamsis; while  alone was under the direct control of the nawab's deputy, who was strengthened by the Muslim garrison.

In November 1801 Saadat Ali Khan, successor of surrendered Gorakhpur, which then was inclusive of the present district Basti and other territory to the East India Company. Routledge had become as a first Collector of .Some steps had been taken by Collector to inforce some order in the matter of collection of land revenue yet in order to assist the process a force was raised in March, 1802 by Caption Malcolm Mcleod. To cure the local chieftains of their obstinate attitude all their Fords, save those of Basti and Amorha Raja, were raise to ground.

The part played by the in the Freedom Struggle of 1857 is generally not ascribable exclusively; as the district was still forming but an outlying portion of, possessing no civil station of its own. After capture of Gorakhpur by the English on January 5 1858, the freedom fighter had moved west ward a form double entrenchment at amorha in the south western part of the district, to obstruct the march of Rowcroft from Gorakhpur. The army opposed to Rowcroft was composed of about 15000 men entrenched at Belwa this large army of the nationalists comprised troops led by Mehndi Hasan the of, the Rajas of Gonda, Nanpara, Atrauli and the Raja of Chaurda in the Behriech district and many other talukdars including Guljar Ali, the rebel Sayyed of Amorha. In this action at Amorha which was one of the most memorable events of the freedom struggle, the freedom fighters were able to encircle the British force oppose to them. In this struggle the loss freedom forces was estimated between 4 and 5 hundred killed and many others wounded. The position of the freedom forces at Amorha was reinforced by Mohammad Hasan of who had join them later, with four thousand men. Rowcroft, hearing the arrival of Mohd. Hasan at Amorha, sent a detachment, under Major Cox. These were the events which had marked the conclusion of the freedom movement, so for the Basti was concerned.

With the restoration of order and the discomfiture of the freedom fighters came the day of reckoning, and a heavy account had to be settled. Mohd. Hasan escaped the hard of the victors in consideration of his assistance once given to Colonel Lennox. The Bobu of Bakhira was hanged and the Raja of the Nagar avoided a similar fate by staving himself to death in prison with the bayonet of the prison guard. The Rani of Amorha lost her property for her complicity in the war independence which was given to Rani of Basti. The agent of Basti Rani was given land assessed at Rs. 1000=00. Similarly several others who had supported the British in some way or other betraying the freedom fighters, were awarded grants of land. The supporters of the freedom movement having been suppressed and the leaders annihilated, the alien rulers settled down to organized the civil administration. The peace of the district was secured by the maintenance of a garrison at Gorakhpur and also by the recognized police force. The one event of prime interest was the formation of the present district on May 6, 1865.

The non-co-operation Movement began to appear in the district towards the close of 1920. In the preparation for this movement Mahatma Gandhi along with had visited the district on October 8, 1919. He addressed a large gathering at Hathiyagarh Rehar near old town of the district. Fortunately for India's struggle for freedom, the fatal inertia that had practically put an end, after calling off the Non-co-operative movement, to all its outwards activities, was removed by an action of the British government, namely the appointment of in 1928. The people of this district received a fresh impetus with the next visit of Mahatma Gandhi along with Jawahar Lal Nehru on October 8, 1929.

The Quit India resolution pass by All India Congress Committee in its session at Bombay on August 8, 1942, marked the turning point in India's struggle for freedom. In Basti the movement had taken a serious turn. It was due to several causes, particularly the poverty of the people and nearness of the area to the B.H.U. at, from where batches of students arrive with the message of Do or Die. The students of staged demonstration and organized meeting on August 15, 1942. A few days later the Railway station at Gaur was attacked causing damage to government property.

In 1946 the Congress was again returned and it formed the Government. Then the came the long cherished dream of Independence true on the midnight of August 14-15, 1947. On the ave of Independence, thousands from the town and surrounding country side assembled at district headquarter Basti to hail freedom. National flag was hoisted at the Collectorate and other government and semi government buildings, private buildings too, throughout the district were bedecked with flag.

Geography
The district lies between the parallels of 26° 23' and 27° 30' north latitude and 82° 17' and 83° 20' east longitude in North India. Its maximum length from north to south is about 75 km and breadth from east to west about 70 km. Basti lies between the newly created district on the east and  on the west. On the south, the separates it from  and newly created, while on the north, the district is bounded by. The district lies entirely in the submontane plain, with no natural elevations to diversify its surface.

According to the 1991 census, Basti covered an area of 7,309 km2 and was the seventh largest district in the state. Because of the changing course of the, the district's area is subject to frequent alterations.

Climate
Basti's is more equable than that of the adjoining districts to the south. The year may be divided into four seasons. Winter, from mid-November to February, is followed by summer, which lasts until approximately the middle of June. The period from mid-June to the end of September is the southwest season, and October to mid-November is the post-monsoon or transition period. During the monsoon season, and for brief spells of a day or two in winter, heavily clouded or overcast skies prevail. During the rest of the year the skies are mostly clear or lightly clouded. The average annual rainfall of the district is 1166 mm. During the winter season the mean minimum temperature is about 9°C and the mean maximum temperature 23°C. During the summer, the mean minimum is about 25°C and the mean maximum about 44°C. In the southwest monsoon and post-monsoon seasons the is above 70%. Thereafter the humidity decreases, and in the summer the air is very dry. The winds are in general very light, with a slight increase during the late summer and monsoon seasons. The average annual wind speed ranges from 2.0 to 7.1 km/h.

Demography
According to the 2001 census, the district has a population of 2,068,922 persons, of whom 1,079,971 are males and 988,951 females (sex ratio 916). The population density is 682 persons per square kilometer. Literacy: As of 2001, the rate has increased to 54.28% from 35.36% in 1991. The literacy rate is 68.16% for males (increased from 50.93% in 1991) and 39.00% percent for females (increased from 18.08% in 1991).

Many villages, including Tikariya, Udaipur, Kanraha, and Kawalpur, have large populations of. Saandpur and Bachaipur have many, and Gauriya and Khatamsarai have many. All these villages are situated on the Basti, Gonda, Faizabad border.