Narnaul Town
Narnaul Town, 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, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Head-quarters of the tahsil of the same name in the Mohindargarh nizdmat, Patiala State, Punjab, situated in 28° 3' N. and 76° 10' E., on the banks of the Chhalak Nadi, 37 miles from Rewari, with which it is connected by the Rewari-Phulera branch of the Rajputana-Malwa Railway. It is, next to Patiala, the most impor- tant town in the State, having a population (1901) of 19,489. The town is undoubtedly of some antiquity. Tradition assigns its founda- tion to Raja Launkarn, after whose wife Nar Laun it was named ; but in the Mahabharata the country south of Delhi is called Narrashtra, whence more probably is derived Narnaul. By the Muhammadan historians it is first mentioned as assigned by Altamsh as a fief to his Malik, Saif-ud-din ; and in 141 1 it was in the possession of Iklim Khan and Bahadur Nahir, and plundered by Khizr Khan. It claims to be the birthplace of Sher Shah ; and Ibrahim Khan, his grandfather, died here, his tomb still existing in the town. Sher Shah's vassal, Haji Khan, was expelled from Narnaul by the redoubtable Tardi Beg on the restoration of Humayun ; and, in the reign of Akbar, Shah Kuli Mahram adorned the town with buildings and large tanks. Under Aurangzeb, in 1672, Narnaul was the centre of a remarkable religious revolt. A body of Satnamis, a sect w'ho considered themselves im- mortal, attacked the town, took it, and established a rude government. They were eventually suppressed with great slaughter. When the Mughal power decayed, Narnaul became an apanage of Jaipur. In 1795 it was taken by Appa Khande Rao and George Thomas from Lakwa Dada, an officer of De Boigne, and was afterwards given to Murtaza Khan Bahraich. In reward for his service in the Mutiny of 1857, Maharaja Narindar Singh of Patiala obtained the ilaka of Narnaul, valued at 2 lakhs annually. The modern town has a consider- able trade in cotton, ghi, wool, and other products. It has also some manufactures, lime and carts being the chief. It possesses a grain market, an Anglo-vernacular middle school, a dispensary, and a police station. Narnaul was constituted a municipality in 1906.
