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Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 7, p. 126.

I26 BASTr DISTRICT identification has been abandoned in favour of a site just outside the north-east angle of the District, in Nepal. The northern part had certainly relapsed into jungle by the fifth century A. D., when it was visited by Fa Hian, though the ruins of earlier buildings were. numerous. The traditions of the Rajput clans who now hold the District point to the conclusion that they began to enter it late in the thirteenth century, displacing the Bhars and the Domkatars; but little reliance can be placed on them. A number of petty Rajas held the country and fought with each other. In Akbar's reign the Muhammadans penetrated the District after taking Gorakhpur, and maintained a garrison at Maghar; and Basti was included in the Subah of Oudh. About 16io the Muslims were expelled; but they returned in force in r680, and opened up the country. Most of the Dis- trict was included in the Gorakhpur sarkdr, and its later history is that of GORAKHPUR DISTRICT, from which it was only separated in 1865, though ceded to the British by the Nawiab Wazir of Oudh in I80o. Many ancient mounds are found in the District, but few have been excavated. Bhuila, already referred to, was examined by General Cunningham and his assistant '. A stflpa at Piprahwa in the north of the District was recently excavated, and yielded an interesting find of relics in an inscribed casket . Gupta coins are occasionally found in various localities. The only Muhammadan building of interest is the shrine of Kabir at MAGHAR. Basti contains 4 towns and 6,903 villages. Population is increasing steadily. The numbers at the last four enumerations were as follows (I872) 1,473,029, (i88i) i,630,612, (1891) 1,785,844, and (I901) . ,846,I53. There are five tahsils-DOMARIAGANJ, BANSI, HARAIYA, BASTI, and KHALILABAD-the head-quarters of each being at a place of the same name. BASTI, the District head-quarters, is the largest town. The following table gives the chief statistics of population in 190o:- Number of I Ta.sil. eEE . I_--- gj s Scl^ 4 Domariaganj I , 322,32 Domnaridganj . 59 i 1,'1I 322,321 544:1 + 2.9 9,470 Bans . . 62 I 1,343 402,277 64i +10.9 9,938 Haraiya . ;47 ... 1,461 333,80o 698 - 5.1 9,395 Basti . I 536 I 1,600 393,079 733 + 4.0 12,8o8 Khalilabad 564 1 ,388 394,675 70 + 3-7 10,393 District total 2,792 4 6,903 1,846,153 66 + 3.4 52,004 Archaeological Survey Reports, vol. xli, p. io8. 2 Journal, Royal Asiatic Society, 1S98, p. 573.