HARDOI, a British district of Oudh, India, under the jurisdiction of the lieutenant-governor of the NorthWestern Provinces, lying between 26° 53' and 27° 47' N. lat., and between 79° 44' and 80° 52' E. long, with an area in 1878 of 2285 ’ 64 square miles. The district is an irregular parallelogram between the Gumti and Ganges; its greatest length from north-west to south-east is 78 miles; and the average breadth is 46 miles. It is bounded on the N. by Shâhjahânpur and Kheri; E. by Sitâpur, the Gumti forming the boundary-line; S. by Lucknow and UnAo; and W. by Farrukhâbâd, the Ganges marking the boundary. It is a level district watered by the Ganges, Râmgangâ, Garra, Sukhetâ, Sâi, Baita, and Gumti,—the three rivers first named being navigable by boats of 500 maunds, or about 17 tons burden. Towards the Gauges, the land is uneven, and often rises into hillocks of sand cultivated at the base, and their slopes covered with lofty mung grass. The soil of Hardoi is lighter than that of perhaps any other district of Oudh, 27 per cent, being sand, 56 per cent, loam, aud 17 per cent. clay. Several large jhils or lakes are scattered throughout the district, the largest being that of Sândi, which is 3 miles long by from 1 to 2 miles broad. These ghils are largely used for irrigation, 126,000 acres being watered from them. Large tracts of forest jungle still exist. Leopards, black buck, spotted deer, and nilgäi are common; the mallard, teal, grey duck, common goose, and all kinds of waterfowl abound....
The inhabitants of Hardoi district in 1869 numbered 981,517, of whom 500,994 were males and 430,523 females (Hindus, 845,293; Mahometans, 85,824; Christians, 48; “others,” 352). The nine largest towns are,—Shâhâbâd, 18,254 inhabitants; Sandila, 15,511; Bilgrâm, 11,534; Mallânwân, 11,670; Saudi, 11,123; Pihanf, 7582; Hardoi (the administrative headquarters of the district), 7156; Gopamau, 5949; and Pali, 5122. The principal religious fairs are the following:—At Bilgrâm, in September, on the occasion of the Ram Lila festival, lasting ten days and attended by about 40,000 persons; at Hattia Haran, during the whole month of Bliâdra (August and September), attended by 100,000 persons; at Barsuya, in April and November, the Pramhaηska Sanιddh festival, lasting for only a single day on each occasion, and attended by from 15,000 to 20,000 persons. These, together with several other smaller fairs, are held for religious purposes, and have no commercial importance. Rice, wheat, and other food-grains form the great staples of agriculture. The area under crops is 844,560 acres or 1319 square miles, being more than one-half the entire area. The Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway from Lucknow to Shâhjahânpur runs through Hardoi for a distance of 62 miles. There are also 329 miles of raised and bridged roads, and 73 miles of minor roads, intersecting the district. The principal imports are cotton, salt, country cloth, and European piece-goods; the chief exports,—food-grains, sugar, tobacco, horned cattle, and hides. The value of the imports in 1875 was £102,952; of the exports, £62,977. The gross revenue of the district in 1875 amounted to £170,952, the expenditure to £18,478. The regular police (1873) consisted of 436 officers and men, costing £6610. The number of schools in 1875 was 142, with 5877 pupils. The average rainfall for the ten years ending 1872 was 32 inches. Malaria fevers, epidemic cholera, and smallpox prevail.
History.— The first authentic records of Hardoi are connected with the Mussulman colonization. Bâwan was occupied by Sayyid Sâlâr Masâud in 1028, but the permanent Moslem occupation did not commence till 1217. Owing to the situation of the district, Hardoi formed the scene of many sanguinary battles between the rival Afghan and Mughal empires. Between Bilgrâm and Sândi was fought the great battle between Humâyun and Sher Shâh, in which the former was utterly defeated. Hardoi, along with the rest of Oudh, became British territory under Lord Dalhousie’s proclamation of February 1856.
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