| Voice of Basti : Ramkrishna
Gupta
Basti is a very backward district of India.
The educational facilities provided by government is unsatisfactory
The quality of education is very poor.
There are very few teachers in the schools.
Unemployment is a major problem faced by us. It needs urgent assistance.
Government schemes and policies are not properly implemented. This
is the main reason for Basti to remain still backward.
Basti District
Area, Population & Sex Ratio
Population in Basti (Census 2011)
Total Population
Total : 2461056
Male : 1256158
Female : 1204898
Under 6 population
Total : 372315
Male : 193740
Female : 178575
Disabled population
Total disabled population : 43888
In seeing : 24797
In speech : 4166
In hearing : 1492
In movement : 9079
Mental : 4354
Rank ( VoiceOfBharat.org Analysis
)
Backwardness : 232
Sex Ratio Rank : 282 (Rank one is least sex ratio - Cenus 2001)
HIV Category District : C (HIV Sentinel Surveillance 2004 - 2006)
Disability : 196 (Census 2001)
Literacy Ratio : 477 (Census 2001)
Minority : Does not figure in MCD
Brief About District
ORIGIN OF NAME OF DISTRICT
The tract comprising the present district was remote and much of
it was covered with forest. But gradually the area became inhabitant,
or want of recorded and aunthetic 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 (Basti) having being
selected by the Kalhan Raja as a seat of his Raj, an event which
probably occurred in the sixteenth century. With the passage of
time, the place prospered and in 1801 it became the Tehsil headquarter
and was chosen as the district headquarter of the newly established
district in 1865. Since then it has steadily grow both in population
and in general importance.
ANCIENT HISTORY
In ancient times the country around Basti was known as Kosala.The
Shatpath Brahman speaks of Kosala as one of the countries of the
Vadic Aryans and the grammarian Panini mentions it in one of his
Sutras. It was the in RAM CHANDRA the eldest son of Dashratha, that
the glory of the Kosala royal density reach its culmination. He
is credited with the establishment of an ideally lawful state, the
proverbial RAM RAJYA . In Kosala itself Rama's elder son Kush ascended
the thrown of Ayodhya and the younger son Love became the ruler
of the northern part of the kingdom with it capital Shrawasti. In
the 93rd generation from Ikshvaku and 30th from Rama was Brihadbala,
the las famous king of the Ikshvaku density who was killed in Great
Mahabharta battle.
With the decline of the Guptas in sixth century
A.D., Basti also began gradually to become desolate. At this time
a new dynasty, that of the Maukharies, with its capital as Kannauje,
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 A.D., the Gurjara
Pratihara king, Nagbhatta II, overthrew the Ayodhyas who was then
ruling at Kannauj, and made this city the capital of his growing
empire which rose to its greatest height in the reign of the famous
Mihirbhoj(836-885 A.D.). From the time of Mahipal the power of Kannauj
become to decline and Avadh was divided into small chieftainships,
but all of them had ultimately to yield to newly growing power of
Gahadwals of Kannauj. Jaychandra(1170-1194 A.D.), the last important
ruler of the dynasty was killed in the battle of Chandawar(near
Etawah) fighting against the invading army of Shahabuddin Mohd.
Gauri. Soon after his death Kannauj occupied by the Turks.
According to legends, for centuries Basti was a
wilderness and that greater part of Avad was occupied by the Bhars.
No definite evidence is available about the Bhars origin and early
history. The evidence of an extensive Bhar 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 HISTORY
In the beginning of the 13th century, Nasir-ud-din
Mahmud, the elder son of Iltutmish, became the governor of Avad
in 1225 and is said to have completely crushed all resistance on
the part of the Bhars. In 1323, Gayasuddin Tuglaq march through
Behriech and Gonda on his way to Bengal but he seems to have avoided
the perils of the forest of district Basti and gone by river from
Ayodhya. In 1479 Basti and adjoining district appear to have remained
under control of the successor of Khawaja Jahan who was ruler of
kingdom of Jaunpur. Bahlol Lodi handed over the charge of the government
of this reign on his nephew Kala Pahar Formula with headquarters
at Behraich and which fairly included the district of Basti and
adjoining parts.
About this time, Mahatma Kabir, the well known
poet and philosopher lived at Maghar 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, atleast 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 Rajputs 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
Basti. 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
Chauhan.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 Kayasth dynasty.
During the reign of Akbar and his successor the
district formed a part of the Sarkar Gorakhpur. In the earlier days
of his reign the district served as the asylum for the rebel Afgan
leaders like Ali Quli Khan, Khan Zaman, the governor of Jaunpur.
During the Moghal period in 1680 Aurangzeb sent one Qazi Khalil-ur-Rahman
as the chakledar ( holder of the tract ) of Gorakhpur 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 Sant Kabir Nagar, was named after Khalil-ur-Rahman, who
tomb was erected at Maghar. A road leading from Ayodhya to Gorakhpur
was constructed. In February 1690, Himmat Khan ( son of Khan Jahan
Bahadur Zafar jang Kokaltash, subahdar of Allahabad ) was appointed
subahdar of Avadh and faujdar (military commander ) of Gorakhpur
who held the charge of Basti and adjoining districts for a long
time.
MODERN HISTORY
A great and far reaching change came over the sense
when Saadat Khan was appointed governor of the subah of Avadh including
the faujdari (commaandarship) of Gorakhpur on 9th September, 1772.
At that time Bansi and Rasulpur 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 Maghar 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
Nawab Shujauddaula 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 Gorakhpur.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 Basti in the freedom struggle
of 1857 is generally not ascribable exclusively; as the district
was still forming but an outlying portion of Gorakhpur, 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 an 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 Nazim of Sultanpur, 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 Gorakhpur 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 organised
the civil administration. The peace of the district was secured
by the maintenance of a garrison at Gorakhpur and also by the recognised
police force. The one event of prime interest was the formation
of the present district on the sixth of May, 1865.
The Non-Co-operation Movement begin to appear in
the district towards the close of 1920. In the preparation for this
movement Mahatma Gandhi along with Jawahar Lal Nehru had visited
the district on October 8, 1919. He had addressed a large gathering
at Hathiyagarh Rehar near old town of district Basti. 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 Siman Commission 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 Varansi, from where batches of students arrive with the message
of Do or Die. The students of Walterganj staged demonstration and
organised 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.
TOPOGRAPHY
The district,in spite of its
apparent uniformity of aspect, it divided topographically into several
distinct tract namely, the low valley of the Ghaghra in the south,
extending from that river to its tributary, the Kuwana; the central
upland ,between the latter river and the rapti; and the low and
ill-drained paddy belt between the Rapti and the Nepal boundary.
RIVER SYSTEM AND WATER RESOURCES
The district has two main river systems namely, the Ghaghra
and Rapti, both of which ultimately form a part of the great Gangetic
system. The other streams of the district are the Kuwana,its tributaries
are, the Rawai, The Manwar and the Katnehia, and the Ami is a tributary
of Rapti.
The Ghaghra
River Ghaghra is formed by the combined waters of Kauriyala,Girwa,
Chauka and other streams, which have their origin in the mountains
of Kumaun and Nepal. The Ghaghra forms the southern boundary of
the district, from its entry opposite the sacred town of Ayodhya,where
for a short distance it is usually known as the Saryu,as far as
Belghat on the border of Gorakhpur. The river flows continually
shifting cannel within a broad sandy bed. During the rains it carries
as immense volume of water, but in dry weather it shrinks to small
dimensions. The river has a constant tendency to change its course
during the floods, and in this manner large tracts of land from
time to time are transferred either to the northern or southern
banks, rendering the total area of the district subject to incessant
variation. These changes have occasionally been accompanied by the
formation of large islands and deep stream rule prevails, the constant
shifting of the jurisdiction of such lands from one district to
another results in considerable inconvenience.
Tributaries of the Ghaghra:-
The Ghaghra receives directly hardly any of the drainage of the
district, as exception the immediate neighborhood of its bands,
all the surplus water is intercepted by its affiance. Occasionally
the river overflows its banks and submerges the adjoining lowlands,
with the result the water is actually transferred from the river
to the Manwar or Kuwana. The latter, in its lower reaches near Bhanpur,
is joined with the Ghaghra by cross channel and from that point
onwards it acts as an arm of the Ghaghra.
The Kuwana
The Kuwana also known as Kuano,
rises in the low ground in the east of Bahraich district and thence
flows through the centre of Gonda. It first touches the district
in the stream west of Rasulpur. It then separates the Basti east
pargana from Basti West, Nagar West, Nagar East and after passing
through Mahuli West and Mahuli East leaves the district in the south-Easter
corner, at short distance from its junction with the Ghaghra in
Gorakhpur
TRIBUTARIES OF THE KUWANA
:
It has several tributaries, the important ones being Rawai,Manwar
and Katnehia.sees in the :
The rawai
The Rawai joins the Kuwana on the right bank and is a small
stream which rises in the north of Amorha and thence flows between
steep and sandy banks frequently infected with reh, through the
western half of paragana Basti for a short distance and ultimately
joins the Kawana.
The Manwar
The Manwar Manorama, rises in Gonda and flows in an easterly
direction along the edge of Sikri forest to the district boundary.
For a short distance it separates the latter district from Gonda
and is then joined by the Chamnai, a small and sluggish stream.
after the junction the Manwar bents to the south-east and flows
through the centre of pargana Amorha, on the eastern boundary of
which it receives a small tributary called Ramrekha on its right
bank. It then passes through the two paraganas of Nagar East and
Nagar West and joins the Kawana in Lalganj in Mahuli West.
The Kathnaya
The only tributary of any importance that is received by the
Kuwana on its left bank is the Katnehia, which rises in the swamps
to the north of Basti East and flows in the south easterly direction
along the borders of the Nagar East, where it units with the Garehia,
a similar stream which has its origin in the south of Rasulpur.
Their combined water continues in a south easterly direction along
the borders of Nagar East and Mahuli West parganas, then turning
south to join the Kuwana at Mukhlishpur in Mahuli East.
The Ami
The Ami is the chief tributary of the Rapti. The Ami is a stream
which commences at a short distance from Rapti in Rasulpur and issues
from a large tract of paddy land.
GEOLOGY
The district is underlain by Quaternary alluvium comprising
and of various grades, gravel, kankar and clay. The Alluvium can
be classified into two groups, the Older alluvium and the Newer
alluvium.
Older alluvium:- It is of middle
Pleistocene age and generally occupies high ground which is not
affected by floods during the rainy season.
The Newer alluvium:- It covers
the lower height and is mainly conferred to the flood plains along
the river channels and belongs to the upper Pleistocene to the recent
age.
Minerals
Kankar:- Substantial deposits of kankar are available in the
tahsil of Harriya only.
Reh:- Reh is also reported from some localities of the district.
CLIMATE
The climate of the district is more equable than the adjoining
districts to the south.The year may be divided into four seasons.
The winter season, from mid-November to February is followed by
the summer season lasting till about the middle of June. The period
from mid-June to the end of September constitutes the south-west
mansoon season. October to mid-November is the post mansson or transition
period.
Rainfall :- The average annual
rainfall in the district is 1166 mm.
Temperature :- During the winter
seasons the mean minimum temperature is about 9 degree Celsius and
mean maximum 23 degree Celsius while during the summer seasons the
minimum is about 25 degree Celsius and mean maximum is about 44
degree Celsius.
Humidity :- In the south-west
mansoon and the post mansoon seasons the relative humidity is high,
being above 70 percent. Thereafter the humidity decreases and in
the summer air is very dry.
cloudiness :-During the mansoon
season, and for brief spells of a day or two in association with
passing disturbances in winter, heavily clouded or overcast skies
prevail. In the rest of the year the skies are mostly clear or lightly
clouded.
Winds :- Winds are in general
very light with a slight increase in force the late summer and mansoon
seasons. The average annual wind blow in the district is ranging
from 2 to 7.1 km/hrs.
Flora & Fauna
FLORA
In the former days a large part of the district was covered with
forest of sal and other trees, but since then most of it has been
cleared and brought under the plough . Though the district is no
longer rich in timber, it can still be described as well-wooded,
owing to the numerous clumps of mango (Mangitera indica), mahua
(Madhuca longifolia), sal (Sorea robusta), and bamboo (Bambusa arundinacea).
Plantations of fast growing
species such as bamboo, Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus teritrornis), mango
and shisham (Dalbergia sissoo) have been raised in the district.
FAUNA
WILD ANIMALS
The wild animals which are found in this district include the nilgai
(Boselaphus tragocamelus), antelok (Anelok cervicapra), pig (Sus
scrofa), wolf (Canis lupus), jackal (Conis aureus), fox (Vulpes
bengalensis), hare (Lepus ruficandatus), monkey (Macaca mulatta),
wild cat (felis bengalensis) and the porcupine (Hystric leucura)
.
BIRDS
The game - birds of the district include the usual varieties
found through out the plains. Among them mention may be made of
the peafowl(pavo cristatus), the black partridge (frencolinus francolinus)
and the gray partridge(francalinus pondicervanus). Basti is famous
for the number and variety of water fowls which visit it during
the winter season. The goose (Anser anser), comon teal (Anas crecca),
red-cristed pochard duck(netta rufina), white-eyed pochard (aythya
rufa) and widgeon (mareca penelope) visit the district only in winter
and inhabit the fringes of rivers lakes and swamps.
REPTILES
Snakes are common in the district especially in the rural areas,
the chief being the Cobra (Naja Naja), karait (Bungarus caeruleus),
and rat-snake (ptyas mucosus). Indian crocodile or naka (Crocodilus
pulustris), and the ghariyal (gavialis gangeticus) are also found
in the river Ghaghra.
FISH
Fish of almost all the varieties that occur elsewhere in the state
are found in the rivers, lakes and ponds of the district, the common
species being rohu (lebeo rohita), bhakur (Catla catla), nain (Cirrhina
mrigala), parhin (Wallagonia attu), krunch (lebeo calbasu), tengan
(Mystus seenghla) and etc.
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