Baghpat region
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Baghpat Tahsil 1908
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts.Many units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
North-western tahsil of Meerut District, United Provinces, comprising the parganas of Baghpat, Baraut, Kutana, and ChhapraulT, and lying between 28 47' and 29 18' N. and 77° 7' and 77 29' E., with an area of 405 square miles. The population rose from 259,656 in 1S91 to 297,506 in 1901. There are 218 vil- lages and six towns, the chief of which are Baraut (population, 7,703), Baghpat (5,972), the tahsil head-quarters, Khekra (8,918), and Chhaprauli (7,058). In 1903-4 the demand for land revenue was Rs. 6,65,000, and for cesses Rs. 1,07,000. The density of population is high, being 735 persons per square mile. The tahsil lies between the Jumna and Hindan ; but even the narrow khadars of those rivers are fairly fertile, and a great part consists of an excellent loam, while ample irrigation is provided by the Eastern Jumna Canal. In 1903-4 the area under cultivation was 336 square miles, of which 190 were irrigated.
After 1947
Unusual names
As in 2024
Sandeep Rai, March 24, 2024: The Times of India
Baghpat: Hundreds of years ago, men in villages of present-day Baghpat region of Uttar Pradesh were given titles based on their appearances, individual characteristics or the work they performed. These titles have continued generation after generation, resulting in clans being formed within the villages, which continue to bear unusual names.
For instance, a person who had the job of separating husk from the wheat crop post-harvest got the moniker ‘bhoot’ since the husk often used to stick to his body, giving him aghost-like appearance.
Another person who used to fight with others viciously, got the tag of ‘bichchoo’ (scorpion) and his descendants still continue to be identified by this tag. A few other examples include chidia (bird), gappad (gossip monger) and ghoda (horse) clans. In local parlance, these clans are referred to as ‘bounk’.
“Villages in the region are caste-based. For instance, everyone in Bijrol village is a Tomar and there are so many names common here that it becomes difficult to identify people having similar names. That’s where ‘bounk’ is useful. The system helps villagers remember their ancestors and identify as a clan,” said Amit Rai Jain, a Baghpat resi- dent and member of the Culture and History Association, an organisation comprising historians of western UP.
Binay ‘Bhoot’, a resident of Binoli who belongs to the Tomar caste, says that their clan names may have come from “things that happened 500 years ago but we are so used to the tag that the meaning doesn’t matter any longer.” “It is our identity now and we are proud of it,” he added.
Mange Ram, a Bavli village resident reveals why his bounk name is ‘kirariya’ (a village name for Rock Agama, a species of redhead lizard). “I heard from my elders that one of our ancestors, some 350 years ago, had developed a strange fever after which his face became reddish and he got the nickname ‘kirariya’. We’ve around 50 families today bearing the same bounk,” he said.
Gaurav Singh, village head of Bavli, also identifies himself with his bounk ‘rangila’. “The term might sound offensive with a negative connotation on the character of a person but no one feels bad about it,” Singh said. While Bavli is more about insects and reptiles, nearby Kirthal village boasts of its ‘heers’, ‘ranjhas’ and even ‘majnus’. These characters find mention in the centuries-old folk love stories.
“Maybe our ancestors were more romantic than we are,” laughs Sudhir Chauhan from the ‘ranjha bounk’. “Frankly speaking, we do not know where it came from. I tried to find out and the history goes back to 6 or 7 centuries and now it’s part of our lives. When someone outside of the village teases us, we simply laugh it off. I was asked once ‘where is your heer?’ and I had replied ‘filhaal to gharwali hai, heer ka to pata nahi (as of now I have a wife, don’t know where ‘heer’ is),” added Chauhan.
The bounk system is not confined to Baghpat alone. Some of the other districts of western UP share the system too. Bijnor bounks are more about strength and power. For instance, a village in the area houses many ‘saand (bulls) bounk’. “Our family used to be physically very strong and most men were above six feet in height and ate a lot. No wonder, we were given the ‘saand’ nickname and today our clan has dozens of families,” said Vineet Kumar from Fazalpur.
