BAREILL Y DISTRICT 3
dotted with fine groves of mangoes, while thejrnjmunl (EugeniaJ nabolana),
shishamn (Da/bergia Sissoo), tamarind, and various figs (Ficus glornerala,
religiosa, infectoria, and indica) are also common. Groves and villages
are often surrounded by bamboos, which flourish luxuriantly. The
area under trees, which is increasing, amounts to about 32 square
miles.
Leopards are frequently found in the north of the District, and
wolves are common in the east. Antelope are seen in some localities,
andpdrha or hog deer haunt the beds of rivers. The ordinary game-
birds are found abundantly, and fish are plentiful. Snakes are also
very numerous.
The climate of the District is largely influenced by its proximity to
the hills, Bareilly city and all the northern parganas lying within the
limits of the heavier storms. The rainy season begins earlier and
continues later than in the south, and the cold season lasts longer.
The north of the District is unhealthy, on account of excessive moisture
and bad drinking-water. The mean temperature varies from 54° to 60°
in January, and from 85° to 93° in May, the hottest month.
The annual rainfall in the whole District averages nearly 44 inches;
but while the south-west receives only 39, the fall amounts to nearly
47 inches in the north and exceeds 48 in the north-east. Fluctuations
from year to year are considerable; in I883 less than 19 inches was
received, and in 1894 nearly 65 inches.
Before the Christian era the District was included in the kingdom of
Northern PANCHALA; and the names are known, from coins found at
RAMNAGAR, of a number of kings who probably
reigned in the second century B.C. These kings
were connected by marriage with a dynasty ruling in the south of
Allahabad, and it has been suggested they were the Sunga kings of the
Puranas . A kingdom called Ahichhattra, in or near this District, was
visited by Hiuen Tsiang in the seventh century A.D., and is described
as flanked by mountain crags. It produced wheat and contained many
woods and fountains, and the climate was soft and agreeable.
In the early Muhammadan period the tract now known as Rohilkhand
was called Katehr, and the Rajputs who inhabited it gave continual
trouble. Shahab-ud-din, or his general Kutb-ud-din, captured Bangarh
in Budaun District about the year 1194; but nothing more is heard of
the Muhammadans in this neighbourhood till Mahmud II made his
way along the foot of the hills to the Ramganga in I252. Fourteen
years later, Balban, who succeeded him, marched to Kampil, put all
the Hindus to the sword, and utterly crushed the Katehriyas, who had
hitherto lived by violence and plunder. In i290 Sultan Firoz invaded
1 Journal, Asiatic Society of Bengal, I897, p. 303; A. Cunningham, Coins of
Ancient India.
B 2
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