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Rohilkhand (Hindi: रुहेलखण्ड, Urdu: روہیل کھنڈ) is a region of northwestern Uttar Pradesh state of India.[1][2]. Rohilkhand lies on the upper Ganges alluvial plain and has an area of about 25,000 km² (10,000 square miles). It is bounded by the Ganges River on the south and the west by Uttarakhand and Nepal on the north, and by the Awadh region to the east. The region is named for the Rohilla tribe, and was known as Madhyadesh in the Hindu epic Mahabharata.[3].
[edit] History The area was made famous by the previous settlement of Rohillas, who were Pathan highlanders of the Yusufzai tribe who were awarded the Katehr region in northern India by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir to suppress Rajput uprisings. Later it gained fame as Rohilkhand due to large settlements of Rohilla Pathans. Roh means mountains and in Pashto Rohilla means mountaineer.[4]. Rohillas were distinguished from local people by their tall stature, fair complexion, and by their separate language and culture. They used to speak Pashto among each other but gradually lost their language.[5] Today, the Afghan proper refer to themselves as Ban-i-Afghan or Ban-i-Isrial to differentiate themselves from the Indian Pathan.[6] Rohilkhand was invaded by the Marathas after Panipat war. The Rohillas requested military help from the Nawab of Oudh in exchange for money. After the defeat of the Marathas, the Rohillas refused to pay. In the Rohilla War of 1773–74 the Rohillas were defeated. The Rohillas started guerilla warfare against the British occupation of Rohilkhand.[7] The Rohillas were hunted down and slaughtered mercilessly by the British and were scattered in the countryside and settled in many small towns. Later, the British transferred Rohilkhand to British empire in 1774. In 1737, the country round Farrukhabad was in the hands of an Afghan jagirdar, Kaiam Khan Bangash. The province, known now as Rohilkhand and then as Kuttahir, was in the occupation of a band of Afghan mercenary soldiers known as Rohels or Rohillas, from "Roh", the Pushtu or Afghan word for mountain. The Whig historians have depicted the Rohillas as little, if at all, lower than the angels. They were really a set of faithless and blood-thirsty mountaineers, who had made themselves especially hateful to the Hindus by their plunder of the holy places at Allahabad and Benares[citation needed]. About 1673 two brothers, Shah Alam and Hussein Khan, left their native hills and obtained some petty office under the Mughals. Shah Alam's grandson, Ali Mahomed, a man of resource and courage and quite devoid of scruple, was eventually appointed governor of Sirhind. Taking advantage of the invasion of Ahmad Shah Abdali, he added in 1748 to the lands already acquired by him those formerly owned by officers absent on field service. In this way he acquired the whole of Kuttahir and changed its name to Rohilkhand.[8] [edit] Rulers of Rohilkhand
[edit] Further reading
[edit] References
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. [edit] External links
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