Ancient period Historically, the region was the capital of the ancient kingdom of
Panchala. The Panchalas occupied the country to the east of the
Kurus, between the upper Himalayas and the river
Ganges. The country was divided into Uttara-Panchala and Dakshina-Panchala. The northern Panchala had its capital at
Ahichatra (also known as Adhichhatra and Chhatravati, near present-day
Aonla) tehsil of Bareilly district, while southern Panchala had it capital at Kampilya or
Kampil in
Farrukhabad district. The famous city of
Kannauj or Kanyakubja was situated in the kingdom of Panchala. According to the epic
Mahābhārata,
Bareilly region (
Panchala, in present - day Uttar Pradesh and nearby regions) is said to be the birthplace of
Draupadi, who was also referred to as 'Panchali'. . The last two Panchala clans, the Somakas and the Srinjayas are mentioned in the
Mahabharata and the
Puranas. King
Drupada, whose daughter
Draupadi was married to the
Pandavas belonged to the Somaka clan. However, the
Mahabharata and the
Puranas consider the ruling clan of the northern Panchala as an offshoot of the
Bharata clan. Divodasa, Sudas, Srinjaya, Somaka and
Drupada (also called Yajnasena) were the most notable rulers of this clan. During 176 – 166 BC, Panchala coins were minted at Bareilly and the surrounding areas. It was the Kushan and Gupta kings who established mints here. The city's continued status as a mint town since the beginning of the Christian era was helped by the fact that Bareilly was never a disturbed area (except at the time of the Indian Independence Struggle). Found at Ganga Ghati in abundance were the Adi Vigraha and Shree Vigraha coins of the Pratihara Kings that were minted here between the 4th to the 9th centuries. Dating to this period are also the silver coins – similar to those of Firoz Second – known as Indo-Sasanian.
Medieval period After the fall of the Kingdom of Panchala, the city was under the rule of local rulers. According to British historian Matthew Atmore Sherring the district of Bareilly was formerly a dense jungle inhabited by a race of
Ahirs and was called Tappa Ahiran. including
Rohilkhand(with Bareilly as its capital) In 1623 two Afghan brothers of the
Barech tribe, Shah Alam and Husain Khan, settled in the region, bringing with them a number of other Pashtun settlers. The Rohilla Daud Khan was awarded the
Katehr region in the then northern India by
Mughal emperor
Aurangzeb Alamgir (ruled 1658–1707) to suppress
Rajput uprisings, which had afflicted this region. Originally, some 20,000 soldiers from various
Pashtun Tribes (
Yusafzais, Ghoris,
Lodis,
Ghilzai, Barech,
Marwat,
Durrani,
Tanoli,
Tarin,
Kakar,
Khattak,
Afridi and Baqarzai) were hired by Mughals to provide soldiers to the Mughal armies and this was appreciated by Aurangzeb Alamgir, an additional force of 25,000 men was given respected positions in Mughal army. However most of them settled in the
Katehar region during
Nadir Shah's invasion of northern
India in 1739 increasing their population up to 100,0000. Due to the large settlement of Rohilla
Afghans, the
Katehar region gained fame as Rohilkhand. Meanwhile,
Ali Mohammed Khan (1737–1749), captured the city of Bareilly and made it his capital, later uniting the
Rohillas to form the state of 'Rohilkhand', between 1707 and 1720, making Bareilly his capital. According to 1901 census of India, the total Pathan population in Bareilly District was 40,779, out of a total population of 1,090,117. Their principal clans were the
Yusafzais, Ghoris,
Lodis, Ghilzai, Barech,
Marwat,
Durrani,
Tanoli,
Tarin,
Kakar,
Khattak, Afridi and Baqarzai. Other important cities were
Rampur,
Shahjahanpur,
Badaun, and others. , who is shown on a brown horse.(during The '
Third battle of Panipat') 14 January 1761 Ali Muhammad was succeeded by
Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech (1749–1774), whom he appointed as the
regent of Rohilkhand on his deathbed. Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech extended the power of Rohilkhand from
Almora in the North to
Etawah in the South-West. The term
Rohilla is derived from the
Pashtu Roh, meaning
mountain, and literally means
a mountain air, and was used by the
Baluch and
Jats of the
Derajat region to refer to the Pashtun mountains tribes of
Loralai,
Zhob and
Waziristan regions. The
Rohillas and are men of a taller stature and a fairer complexion than the general inhabitants of the district. The Muslims in the area are chiefly the descendants of
Yousafzai Afghans tribe of Pashtuns, called the Rohilla Pathans of the
Mandanh sub-section, (but other Pashtuns also became part of the community), who settled in the country about the year 1720. Rohilla's
Sardar like Daud Khan, Ali Muhammad Khan, and the legendary
Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech were from the renowned
Afghan tribe the
Barech, who were originally from the
Kandahar Province of Afghanistan. In
Uttar Pradesh, it was used for all Pashtuns, except for the
Shia Bangashes who settled in the
Rohilkhand region, or men serving under Rohilla chiefs. Rohillas were distinguished by their separate language and culture. They spoke
Pashto among each other but gradually lost their language over time and now converse in
Urdu. Bishop Heber described them as follows – "The country is burdened with a crowd of lazy, profligate, self-called sawars (cavaliers), who, though many of them are not worth a rupee, conceive it derogatory to their gentility and Pathan blood to apply themselves to any honest industry, and obtain for the most part a precarious livelihood by sponging on the industrious tradesmen and farmers, on whom they levy a sort of blackmail, or as hangers-on to the wealthy and noble families yet remaining in the province. These men have no visible means of maintenance, and no visible occupation except that of lounging up and down with their swords and shields, like the ancient Highlanders, whom in many respects they much resemble." During this period too, Bareilly retained its status as a mint. Emperor Akbar and his descendants minted gold and silver coins at mints in Bareilly. The Afghan conqueror Ahmed Shah Durani too minted gold and silver coins at the Bareilly mint. During the time of Shah Alam II, Bareilly was the headquarters of Rohilla Sardar Hafiz Rehmat Khan and many more coins were issued. After that, the city was in possession of Awadh Nawab Asaf-ud-Daulah. The coins that he issued had
Bareilly,
Bareilly Aasfabad, and
Bareilly kite and fish as identification marks. After that, the minting of coins passed on to the East India Company. The Rohillas, after fifty years' precarious independence, were subjugated in 1774 by the confederacy of British troops with the Nawab of Oudh's army, which formed a charge against Warren Hastings. Their territory was in that year annexed to Oudh. In 1801 the Nawab of Oudh ceded it to the Company in commutation of the subsidy money. The main conflict occurred largely in the
upper Gangetic plain and
central India, with the major hostilities confined to present-day
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, northern
Madhya Pradesh, and the
Delhi region. The rebellion posed a considerable threat to British East Indian Company power in that region, and it was contained only with the fall of
Gwalior on 20 June 1858. The population in 1901 was 1,090,117. Bareilly, also, was the headquarters of a brigade in the 7th division of the eastern army corps in British period. ==Geography==