Sarda
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.
Sarda
The name given to part of a river-system flowing from the Himalayas thiough north-western Oudh. Two streams, the Kuthi Yaiikti and Kalapam, rising in the lofty Panch Chulhi mountains in the noith-east corner of Kuraaun close to the Tibet frontier, unite after a few miles to form the Kali river or Kali Ganga, which divides Nepal from Kumaun. At a distance of 106 miles from its source, the Kali receives the Sarju or Ramganga (East) at Pacheswar. The Sarju and its tributary, the Ramganga (East), rise in a lofty range leading south from the peak of Nanda Kot, and unite at Rameswar, from which point the combined stream is called indifferently by either name. From the junction at Pacheswar the name Kali is gradually lost and the river is known as Sarju or as Sarda. At Banndeo the waters descend on the plains in a series of rapids, the course to this point being that of a mountain stream over a steep rocky bed.
The Sarda now divides into several channels, which reunite again after a few miles at Mundia Ghat (ferry), where the last rapids occur, and the bed ceases to be composed of boulders and shingle. From this point the river forms the boundary between Nepal and Pilibhit District of the United Provinces for a short distance, and then cuts across and enters Kherl District. In Plllbhit it is joined on the right bank by the Chauka, which is now a river of the plains, rising in the tarai, but may have been originally formed as an old channel of the Sarda. The river is at first called both Sarda and Chauka in Kheri, and its description is rendered difficult by the many changes which have taken place in its course. Four distinct channels may be recognized, which are, from south to north, the Ul, the Sarda or Chauka, the Dahawar, and the Suhell. The first of these is a small stream which joins the Chauka again. The name Sarda is occasionally applied to the second branch in its lower course through Sltapur, but this is more commonly called Chauka. After a long meandering course it falls into the GOGRA at Bahramghat. This channel appears to have been the principal bed from the middle of the eighteenth to the middle of the nineteenth century. The largest volume of water is, however, at present brought down by the Dahawar, which leaves the Chauka in pargana Dhaurahra. The Suhell brings down little water and joins the KAURI ALA (afterwards called the Gogra).
