Laur
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.
Laur
The name of an old Hindu kingdom, which at one time occupied the north-western portion of what is now the District of Sylhet, Eastern Bengal and Assam. Gor or Sylhet proper was con- quered by the Muharnmadans in a. d. 1384, but Laur retained its independence for another two hundred years. One of the Rajas, named Gobind, was summoned to Delhi and there embraced the Muhammadan faith ; and his grandson, Abid Reza, abandoned Laur and built the town of Banivachung at the beginning of the eighteenth century. Under the Mughal empire the Rajas of Laur were held responsible for the defence of the frontier, and their estates were not actually assessed to revenue till the middle of the eighteenth century. In 1765 Laur came under the civil administration of the British, with the rest of Bengal.
Lauriya Nandangarh
Village in the Bettiah subdivision of Champaran District, Bengal, situated in 26° 59' N. and 84° 25' E. Population (1901), 2,062. The village contains three rows of huge conical mounds, which General Cunningham believed to be the tombs of early kings, belonging to a period antecedent to the rise of Buddhism. Near these mounds stands a lion pillar inscribed with the edicts of Asoka. It is a single block of polished sandstone, 32 feet 9 inches high, the diameter tapering from 35-5 inches at the base to 26-2 inches at the top. The capital supports a statue of a lion facing the north ; the circular abacus is ornamented with a row of Brahmani geese. The pillar is now worshipped as a linga, and is commonly known as Bhim Singh's lath or club.
