Bawan is a large village and corresponding

community development block In India, a community development block (CD block) or simply Block is a sub-division of District, administratively earmarked for planning and development. In tribal areas, similar sub-divisions are called tribal development blocks (TD blocks). T ...

Hardoi district Hardoi district is a district situated in the center of Uttar Pradesh, India. The district headquarters is in the city of Hardoi. Hardoi is the third largest district of Uttar Pradesh. It falls under Lucknow division in the historical region ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is located 10 km west of

Hardoi Hardoi is a city and municipal board in Hardoi district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Hardoi district. It is also known as Prahalad Nagari. Hardoi is about 110 km from the state capital Lucknow ...

, on the south side of the road to Bazpur-Naktaura and the Sai Ghat. Bawan was historically the seat of a

pargana Pargana or parganah, also spelt pergunnah, equivalent to Mohallah as a subunit of Subah (Suba), was a type of former administrative division in the Indian subcontinent during the time of the Delhi Sultanate, Mughal and British Colonial empire ...

since at least the time of the Mughal Emperor

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

, and it is also the site of a mela held in honour of Darshan Debi on the first Sunday of

Bhadon Bhādõ (Shahmukhi: ; Gurmukhi: , ) is the sixth month of the Nanakshahi calendar and Punjabi calendar. This month coincides with Bhadra in the Hindu calendar and the Indian national calendar, and August and September in the Gregorian and ...

, at a site called the Suraj Kund. The main staple crops here are

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

, and

gram The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a Physical unit, unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one thousandth of a kilogram. Originally defined in 1795 as "the absolute Mass versus weight, weight of a volume ...

. Markets are held on Mondays and Thursdays. As of 2011, the population of Bawan is 13,524, in 2,230 households.

History

According to tradition, Bawan was founded by a person named Rajpal before the reign of

Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda' ...

Ayodhya Ayodhya () is a city situated on the banks of the Sarayu river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ayodhya district as well as the Ayodhya division of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ayodhya became th ...

. It is said that later, the 11th-century Muslim folk hero

Ghazi Sayyid Salar Masud Syed Salar Masud Ghazi (10 February 1014 – 15 June 1034), also known as Ghazi Miyan, was a semi-legendary Muslim figure and military leader associated with the Ghaznavid invasions of India in the early 11th century. Born on February 10, 1014, i ...

sent a force from

Kannauj Kannauj (Hindustani language, Hindustani pronunciation: ) is an ancient city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar palika, Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Ut ...

to conquer Bawan, and that the Muslim soldiers who died in the ensuing battle were buried near the Suraj Kund. Another one of Salar Masud's companions, Makhdum Abdul Qasim, is said to have fasted here for 40 days, and his shrine is still visited on Thursday evenings by people who leave

sweetmeats Confectionery is the art of making confections, or sweet foods. Confections are items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates, although exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confections are divided into two broad and somewh ...

and light small lamps in his memory. At the turn of the 20th century, Bawan was described as a large village both in population and in physical area, with a population of 3,800 people as of the 1901 census. Of these, 1,021 were Muslim, while the main Hindu caste was the

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

s. The Darshan Debi mela, which had previously been "of considerable importance", was still observed but its attendance was smaller than it had been in the past. The weekly veneration of Makhdum Abdul Qasim's shrine was also noted, with an attendance of about 200 people at the time. Bawan hosted a market twice per week at the time. The 1961 census recorded Bawan as comprising 6 hamlets, with a total population of 4,993 (2,704 male and 2,289 female), in 968 households and 703 physical houses. The area of the village was given as 2,478

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

s. The 1981 census recorded Bawan as having a population of 7,384, in 1,306 households, and covering an area of 992.32

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

Villages

Bawan CD block has the following 140 villages:

References

{{Hardoi district Villages in Hardoi district