Bairat
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.
Bairat
(Vairata)—Head-quarters of the tahsil of the same name in the Torawati nizamat of the State of Jaipur, Rajputana, situated in 2 7 2 7 / N. and 76 12' E., about 42 miles north-by-north-east of Jaipur city. Population (1901), 5,637. The place contains a vernacular middle school attended by 138 boys, and an elementary indigenous school. Bairat is of very great antiquity, two inscriptions of the time of Asoka (250 r. c.) having been found within a mile of the town, besides copper coins believed to be of an even earlier date. It has been identified as the capital of the old province of Matsya, celebrated in Hindu legends as the abode of the five Pandavas during their exile of twelve years from Delhi. The earliest historical notice of the place is that of the Chinese pilgrim, Hiuen Tsiang, in a.d. 634 ; he mentions the existence of eight Buddhist monasteries, but found them much ruined and the number of monks small. In the beginning of the eleventh century Mahmud of Ghazni invaded the country and sacked the town, which is said to have remained more or less deserted for about 500 years ; but it was certainly in existence in Akbar's time, as it is mentioned in the Ain-i-Akbari as possessing very profitable copper- mines. The latter have not been worked for many years. [Archaeological Survey of Northern India, vols, ii and vi.]
