Moradabad News: Moradabad is the first division of Uttar Pradesh whose gazetteer has been written. Usually, the gazetteer only republishes the records from the British period, but Moradabad has rewritten its history, its culture on the basis of standards and has written a new history. The state government has considered the rewriting of the gazetteer of Moradabad division as a standard and has instructed to prepare gazetteers of all the districts of the state. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath released the gazetteer- part 2 of Moradabad division.

According to the definition of gazetteer, gazetteer presents details of geographical structure, history, political, social and economic status and cultural heritage of a particular area. This was the objective behind writing Moradabad Mandal Gazetteer. However, making a small change in the established tradition of gazetteer, it was decided to include public welfare schemes and development projects in Mandal Gazetteer.

The first volume of the Moradabad Divisional Gazetteer published in the year 2023 was the first step towards these objectives. Soon the challenges of this journey also started to be reflected. Due to various difficulties and time-limits, the first volume of the Divisional Gazetteer could not include the historical and cultural aspects of the Moradabad divisional area in detail. The first volume of the Divisional Gazetteer actually took the form of a compilation of data related to various dimensions and schemes of transparent, equitable and inclusive administration.

What is in the second part of the gazetteer?
The limitations of the first part of the divisional gazetteer gave birth to the second part of the gazetteer. In the second part of the gazetteer, an attempt has been made not only to record the historical, social and cultural dimensions of the Moradabad divisional area, but also to find the truth that is entangled, blurred and disappearing in the threads of beliefs and stories. It is through this search for truth that it has been discovered that the birthplace of King Bharat, who gave his name to Bharatvarsh, Rishi Kanva Ashram was located in the Mandawar area of ​​Bijnor.

Later, Mandawar was a major centre of Buddhism, which the Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang has mentioned in his book. According to religious texts, Sambhal is the place where Lord Kalki will appear. Abul Fazal has mentioned the famous temple of Lord Vishnu, 'Hari Mandir', located in Sambhal in 'Ain-e-Akbari'. However, according to the Moradabad Gazetteer (1911), Hari Mandir did not exist, but a mosque had taken the place of the temple.

While probing various popular beliefs, new opinions emerged regarding the antiquity of the sites. Shri Pataleshwar Mahadev Temple located in Bhamarua village of Rampur is said to have been built by the Nawab rulers. However, the Rampur Riyasat Gazetteer (1911) and documents stored in Raza Library indicate that the temple is older than the Nawab period. This tangle of beliefs and facts comes out entangled in mysterious stories in the context of the tomb of Tuti located in Rampur. In an attempt to unravel these stories, the life of Nawab Sardar Dulhan (Tuti Begum) is revealed, who has an important role in the development of literature and music in Rampur Riyasat and who is the only Begum of Rampur whose tomb still exists.

The place given to the people who contributed in the gazetteer
takes us back centuries in search of the origin of various handicrafts and industries prevalent in the Mandal. In this sequence, it has been learnt that many special handicrafts have also become extinct in the passage of centuries, such as Rampur's special cotton cloth - Khes. The contribution of various people associated with the Mandal has been given space in the gazetteer. There are two aspects of this subject - one, preserving the memory of important people and second, an attempt to analyse their thoughts. The second part of the Mandal Gazetteer is actually a journey to find answers to multidimensional questions related to the historical, social and cultural existence of the Mandal.