==============+=======
Districts. |Number.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~
Dehra Dûn | 1,904
Sahâranpur | 40,821
Muzaffarnagar | 37,786
Meerut | 94,723
Bulandshahr | 77,132
Aligarh | 25,179
Mathura | 24,630
Agra | 3,792
Farrukhâbâd | 1,613
Mainpuri | 1,559
Etâwah | 1,313
Etah | 1,485
Bareilly | 7,289
Bijnor | 24,969
Budâun | 7,174
Morâdâbâd | 28,024
Shâhjahânpur | 1,150
Pilibhît | 2,625
Cawnpur | 4,473
Fatehpur | 377
Bânda | 183
Hamîrpur | 817
Allahâbâd | 1,236
Jhânsi | 486
Jâlaun | 94
Lalitpur | 199
Benares | 3,179
Mirzapur | 2,267
Jaunpur | 463
Ghâzipur | 245
Ballia | 1,224
Gorakhpur | 672
Basti | 876
Kumâun | 40
Garhwâl | 1,987
Tarâi | 2,567
Lucknow | 1,062
Unâo | 377
Râê Bareli | 117
Sîtapur | 1,452
Hardoi | 332
Kheri | 2,235
Faizâbâd | 802
Gonda | 328
Bahrâich | 2,146
Sultânpur | 112
Partâbgarh | 83
Bârabanki | 346
+~~~~~~~
Total |414,082
==============+=======
Gaur.—A sept of Râjputs who are supposed to take their name from the
kingdom of Gauda, in Bengal; but as shown in the articles on Gaur
Brâhmans, their name may be derived from Gauda, the modern Gonda in
Northern Oudh. Colonel Tod [414] ranks them among the thirty-six royal
races and remarks:—“The tribe was once respected in Rajasthân, though
it never attained to any considerable eminence. The ancient kings of
Bengal were of this race, and gave their name to the capital Lakhnauti.
We have every reason to believe that they were possessors of the land
afterwards occupied by the Chauhâns, as they are styled in the old
Chronicles, The Gaur of Ajmer. Repeated mention is made of them in the
wars of Prithivi Râja as leaders of considerable renown, one of whom
formed a small state in the centre of India, which survived through
seven centuries of Mughal domination, till it at length fell a prey
indirectly to the successes of the British over the Marhattas, when
Sindhiya in 1809 annihilated the power of the Gaur and took possession
of his capital Sûpar.” He gives the five sâkha of the Gaur as Untahir,
Silhala, Tunwar, Dasena, and Budâno.
[The Gaurs of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh.] 2. According to
Sir H. M. Elliot [415] they fall into three sub-divisions, the Bhat
Gaur, Bâhman Gaur, and Chamar Gaur, names derived from some intercourse
with Bhâts, Brâhmans, and Chamârs. “To these are sometimes added the
Katheriya Gaur, descended from a Katheri, or carpenter. But it may be
doubted if the Katheriya are really Gaurs. No argument, however, can be
derived from the fact that daughters of Gaurs marry in Katheriya
families, because the Chamar Gaur and Bâhman Gaur also intermarry.” The
Katheriya really take their name from Katehar, the old name of
Rohilkhand. “The Chamar Gaur, who are divided into Râja and Râê, rank
the highest,” which is accounted for by the legend already given in the
special article on that sept. In Farrukhâbâd [416] they call themselves
Râthauriya, and are said to have come from Shâhjahânpur under the
brothers Sârhê and Bârhê. Each received a Chaurâsi or block of
eighty-four villages. Bârhê’s descendants chiefly settled in the
country now forming the Pargana of Shamsâbâd West, while Sârhê kept to
the south in Shamsâbâd East and Bhojpur. The Etâwah branch say they
came from Sûpar in the west as early as 650 A.D., having expelled the
Meos, and they allege that their power was broken by the Banâphar
heroes, Alha and Udal, early in the 12th century. [417]
[The Gaurs of Oudh.] 3. As regards the Gaurs of Oudh, the Hardoi
tradition [418] runs that Kuber Sâh Gaur was deputed by Jay Chand of
Kanauj to collect tribute from Thatheras. While he was at Kanauj twin
sons were born to him. Of these the Brâhmans in attendance on the
Thathera chief predicted that they would achieve greatness and expel
him from his kingdom. To avert such disaster the Thathera Chief ordered
the babes to be done away with; and the Brâhmans, giving out that if
Kuber Sâh should return and look upon his children’s faces he would
die, caused them to be buried alive. Hardly had the deed been done when
Kuber Sâh returned, heard the evil news, and had the babes dug up. Both
were still alive. One of them had lost an eye and was hence named
Kâna,—“one-eyed.” The other was named Anâi or Pakhni,—“under the wall.”
From them are sprung the Kâna and Anâi or Pakhni sub-divisions of the
Gaurs. One family in Unâo [419] profess to hold their lands by virtue
of a grant from the Emperor Bâbar. They are Bâhman Gaurs of the Modal
gotra. There is another colony of Gaurs in Pargana Harba, who are
claimed by the others as an offshoot from themselves. They also are
Bâhman Gaurs of the same gotra, but give a different account of their
origin. According to them Banthar was formerly inhabited by a race of
Gaddis or cow-herds who lived by the pasturage and paid an annual
tribute of ghi to the Government. One year, whether with intent to
defraud or to show their insubordination, they filled the vessels in
which the tribute was sent with cowdung and covered it over with a
small quantity of ghi. The fraud was discovered at court, and Gorapdes
Gaur, who held a military command at Delhi, was directed to raise a
body of followers and extirpate the offenders. After performing this
service, he received a grant of the conquered villages and settled
there with his clan.
[Religion.] 4. In the village of Dudhâwal, in the Lucknow [420]
District, stands a pîpal tree, and there is a small monument, a
memorial of the place where the Bâhman Gaur widows used to perform
sati, to which the Bâhman Gaur to this day bring offerings for the old
family priests of their tribe on the occasion of a marriage or any
other solemn ceremony in their house.
5. In Sîtapur they appear usually to give brides to the Tomar and Ahban
septs, and to take brides from the Bâchhal, Janwâr, and occasionally
from the Ahban. In Farrukhâbâd the Katheriya Gaur give their daughters
to the Sombansi, Bais, and Bamtelê, and receive girls from the Chandel
and Kaithiya septs. In Hamîrpur they give brides to the Chauhân,
Bhadauriya, Kachhwâha, Parihâr, Chandel, Râthaur, and Chamar Gaur, and
take wives from the Dikhit, Nandwâni, and Bais. In Hardoi they claim to
belong to the Bharadwâja gotra, marry girls of the Raikwâr, Chandel,
Dhâkrê, Janwâr, Kachhwâha, and Gaharwâr septs, while they give wives to
the Sombansi, Chauhân, Pramâr, Râthaur, Dhâkrê, Nikumbh, and Raikwâr.