Rohilkhand

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Rohilkhand (Hindi: रुहेलखण्ड) is a region of northwestern Uttar Pradesh state of India.^[1] Rohilkhand lies on the upper Ganges alluvial plain and has an area of about 25,000 km² (10,000 square miles). It is bounded by the Ganges River on the south and the west by Uttarakhand and Nepal on the north, and by the Awadh region to the east. The region is named for the Rohilla tribe, and was known as Madhyadesh in the Hindu epic Mahabharata.^[2]

[edit] History

Amongst the local ethnically Indian Rohillas also thrived an immigrant population of Pashtuns who had migrated to India from the North-West Frontier region of Pakistan. These Pashtuns belonged to the Yusufzai tribe of Pushtuns. In northern India, they were awarded the Katehr by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir so that their support could be gained in order to suppress Rajput uprisings. It was because of its Pashtun settlements that Rohilkhand gained its fame.

Rohilla Pashtuns were distinguished from local Indian people by their eastern Iranian racial characteristics those being, their tall stature, fair complexion, and by their Iranian language and culture. With each other they spoke Pashto but with the non-Pashtuns they spoke Urdu.^[3] However, some Pathan families in Rohilkhand today can still speak/understand Pashto. The reason was that until recent times, most of them were able to travel to Pakhtunkhwa.^[4] Rohilkhand was invaded by the Marathas after Panipat war.

The Rohillas requested military help from the Nawab of Oudh in exchange for money. After the defeat of the Marathas, the Rohillas refused to pay. In the Rohilla War of 1773-4 the Rohillas were defeated.

The Rohillas started guerilla warfare against the British occupation of Rohilkhand.^[5] The Rohillas were hunted down and slaughtered mercilessly by the British and were scattered in the countryside and settled in many small towns. Later British transferred Rohilkhand to British empire in 1774.