==============+==========
Districts. | Numbers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~
Sahâranpur | 102
Muzaffarnagar | 132
Meerut | 958
Bulandshahr | 3,063
Aligarh | 147
Mathura | 1,053
Agra | 465
Farrukhâbâd | 4,741
Mainpuri | 1,908
Etâwah | 3,224
Etah | 2,804
Bijnor | 65
Budâun | 6,123
Morâdâbâd | 2,442
Shâhjahânpur | 2,531
Pilibhît | 323
Cawnpur | 13,246
Fatehpur | 1,663
Bânda | 1,477
Hamîrpur | 1,770
Allahâbâd | 197
Jhânsi | 1,083
Jâlaun | 1,816
Lalitpur | 565
Benares | 12
Jaunpur | 31
Ghâzipur | 1
Ballia | 7
Gorakhpur | 184
Azamgarh | 1
Tarâi | 29
Lucknow | 269
Unâo | 1,847
Râê Bareli | 472
Sîtapur | 4,536
Hardoi | 11,687
Kheri | 1,145
Faizâbâd | 23
Bahrâich | 39
Sultânpur | 86
Partâbgarh | 385
Bârabanki | 216
+~~~~~~~~~~
Total | 72,850
==============+==========
Gaurahar.—A small Râjput sept found in Rohilkhand and the borders of
Aligarh. They are supposed to be descended from the Chamar Gaur, and it
is sometimes added, by way of reproach, that they have a little Ahîr
blood in their veins. They trace their origin to Kainûr in the west,
whence they say they came to serve the Emperors of Delhi. [421]
Gauriya; Bangâli Gusâîn.—A Vaishnava order of recent origin. This
community “has had a more marked influence on Brindaban than any of the
others, since it was Chaitanya, the founder of the sect, whose
immediate disciples were its first temple builders. He was born at
Nadiya, in Bengal, in 1485 A.D., and in his youth is said to have
married a daughter of Vallabhachârya. However that may be, when he had
arrived at the age of twenty-four he formally resigned all connection
with secular and domestic affairs and commenced his career as a
religious teacher. After spending six years in pilgrimage between
Mathura and Jagannâth he finally settled down at the latter place,
where, in 1527 A.D., being then only forty-two years old, he
disappeared from the world. There is reason to believe that he was
drowned in the sea, into which he had walked in an ecstacy, mistaking
it for the shallow waters of the Jamuna, where he saw in a vision
Krishna sporting with the Gopis. His life and doctrines are recorded in
a most voluminous Bengâli work entitled Chaitanya Charitâmrita,
composed in 1590 by one of his disciples Krishna Dâs. Two of his
colleagues Adwaitanand and Nityanand, who like himself are styled Mahâ
Prabhus, presided over his establishments in Bengal, while other six
Gusâîns settled at Brindaban. Apart from metaphysical subtleties, which
naturally have but little hold on the minds of the populace, the
special tenet of the Bengali Vaishnavas is the all-sufficiency of faith
in the divine Krishna; such faith being adequately expressed by the
mere repetition of his name without any added prayer or concomitant
feeling of genuine devotion. Thus roughly stated, the doctrine appears
absurd; and possibly its true bearing is as little regarded by many of
the more ignorant among the Vaishnavas themselves, as it is by the
majority of superficial outside observers. It is, however, a legitimate
deduction from sound principles; for it may be presumed that the formal
act of devotion would never have been commenced, had it not been
prompted at the outset by a devotional intention, which intention is
virtually continued so long as the act is in performance. The sectarial
mark consists of two white perpendicular streaks down the forehead
united at the root of the nose and continued to near the tip. Another
characteristic is the use of a rosary of one hundred and eight beads
made of the wood of the tulasi.” [422]
2. The order takes its name from the city of Gaur, the ancient capital
of Bengal, which now lies a mass of ruins in the Mâlda District.