Banda Town
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.
Banda Town
Head-quarters of the District and tahsil of the same name, United Provinces, situated in 25 28' N. and 8o° 20' E., near the river Ken, on the Midland section of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, and on a metalled road from Fatehpur to Saugor. Population (1901), 22,565. Banda was a mere village till the commencement of the nineteenth century, when the Nawab, Shamsher Bahadur, settled here. Its importance was increased by its selection as head-quarters of a Dis- trict, and by a flourishing trade in cotton. After the removal of the Nawab in 1858, owing to his disloyalty in the Mutiny {see Banda District), the town began to decline, while the growth first of Rajapur, and then of Karwl, has largely deprived Banda of its principal trade.
It is a straggling and ill-built town, but with clean wide streets, and contains 65 mosques, 168 Hindu, 1 Sikh, and 5 Jain temples. Besides the usual public offices, there are a dispensary and stations of the Church Missionary Society and American Methodist Missions. The chief mosque is that built by All Bahadur, the last Nawab. Portions of the former palace are now used as public offices or as native residences. A mile from Banda. stand the ruins of a fort called Bhuragarh, which was built in 1 784, and stormed by British levies in 1804. Banda has been a muni- cipality since 1865. During the ten years ending 1901 the income and expenditure averaged Rs. 23,000. In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 28,000, chiefly derived from octroi (Rs. 21,000); and the expendi- ture was Rs. 25,000. The only local industries are the preparation of articles made of agate, and the manufacture of lathis or staves. There are 1 1 schools, attended by 840 pupils.
