ALIGARH, a district of British India, in the Meerut division, and under the jurisdiction of the Lieutenant-Governor of the North-West Provinces, lies between lat. 27° 29' and 28° 10' 30" N., and between long. 77° 32' 30" and 78° 42' 30" E. It contains an area of 1954 square miles, of which upwards of two-thirds, or 884,060 acres, are under cultivation. Population in 1865 returned at 925,538 souls, and by the census of 1872 ascertained to be 1,073,108. Aligarh is bounded on the N. by the Bulandshahr district and a portion of Budáon; on the E. by Etah district; on the S. by Mathurá district; and on the W. by Gurgáon and Mathurá districts. The district is nearly a level plain, but with a slight elevation in the centre, between the two great rivers, the Ganges and Jamná. The only other important river is the Kálí Nadí, which traverses the entire length of the district from north-west to south-east....
The civil station and principal town is Koel, situated a short distance to the south of Aligarh Fort. The chief products are wheat, barley, joár, bajrá, pulses, oil-seeds, gram, and indigo. There are no manufactures. In 1870-71 the total net revenue of the district was returned at £233,709, and the expenditure at £45,488; the land revenue in the same year amounted to £196,655, or 84 per cent. of the total net revenue. Nine towns are returned as containing a population of upwards of 5000 souls, as follows :— Koel, the civil station and principal city, population within municipal limits, 55,228; Hátrás, population, 33,100; Atraulí, population within municipal limits, 15,895; Sikandrá Ráo, population within municipal limits, 11,988; Jaláli, population, 7516; Mursán, population, 6113; Tapal, population, 6031; Bíjaigarh, population, 5779; and Hardeoganj, population, 5202. There are five municipal towns in the district, the revenue raised being derived from octroi duties. The following was the municipal revenue and its incidence per head in 1871-72 Koel (Alígarh), municipal revenue, £5467; incidence, 1s. 11¾d. per head of the municipal population. Hátrás, municipal revenue, £5221, 16s.; incidence per head, 3s. 1¾d. Sik-andra Ráo, municipal income, £505, 12s.; incidence, 10d. per head. Atraulí, municipal income, £709; incidence, 10¾d. per head. Hardeoganj, municipal income, £462, 18s.; incidence, 1s. 9¼d. per head. In 1871-72, the district contained 370 schools, attended by a total of 7939 pupils, of whom 6766 were Hindus and 1173 Mahometans. For the protection of person and property, a regular police force is maintained, consisting of 1056 men of all grades, equal to one man to every 1∙85 square mile of area, or one to every 1016 of the population. The Village Watch or rural police numbered 2000 in 1871, equal to one man to every ∙67 square miles, or one to every 536 inhabitants.
Al í garh Fort, in the district of the same name, is situated on the Grand Trunk Road, in lat. 27° 56' N., and long. 78° 8' E. The fort consists of a regular polygon, surrounded by a very broad and deep ditch. It was captured from the Marhattás under the leadership of Perron, a French officer, by Lord Lake’s army, in September 1803, since which time it has been much strengthened and improved. In the rebellion of 1857 the troops stationed at Aligarh mutinied, but abstained from murdering their officers, who, with the other residents and ladies and children, succeeded in reaching Hátrás.
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