194 BIJNOR DISTRICT
with chital (Cervus axis) and sdmbar (Cervus unicolor). The deer
have, however, been almost exterminated, and the carnivora have con-
sequently retired farther into the hills. A tiger occasionally strays
down, and leopards are still met with in ravine tracts. Antelope are
common, and a few hog deer and wild hog survive along the Ramganga
and Ganges. Four-horned deer and barking-deer are occasionally met
with in the forests. There are some hyenas, and the lynx is not
unknown. Wild elephants come down from the hills during the
rains. The chief game-birds are duck, snipe, peafowl, black partridge,
jungle-fowl, quail, and sand-grouse.
Its proximity to the Himalayas renders the climate of Bijnor cool
and pleasant, while the abundance of drainage channels prevents the
District from being as unhealthy as other tracts near the foot of the
mountains. The annual rainfall averages 44 inches, varying from 38
near the Ganges to 47 in the north of the District. Between 1864 and
1898 the variations from the average did not exceed 25 per cent. in
twenty-seven years, while in four years the fall was in excess, and there
were four years of considerable deficit.
Legend ascribes the foundation of Bijnor town to the mythical king
Ben or Vena, who is familiar in tradition from the Punjab to Billar.
In the seventh century the Chinese pilgrim, Hiuen
History. Tsiang, visited a kingdom the capital of which has
been identified with MANDAWAR. The early history of Muham
madan rule is obscure, but raids by the Mongols are referred to. In
1399 Timur ravaged the District, fighting several pitched battles and
massacring a large number of the inhabitants. Thence he marched
to Hardwar, returning to the Doab. No more is heard of Bijnor
till the time of Akbar, when it formed part of the sarkdr of Sam-
bhal in the Sfabah of Delhi. During the most prosperous age of
the Delhi empire, the District shared in the general freedom from
historical incidents, though in 1566 and again in 1587 peace was dis-
turbed by ambitious jdgarddrs or by rebels fleeing from other parts of
India. As the power of the Mughals relaxed, the Rohilla Pathans
began to assert independence, under Ali Muhammad. Although this
chieftain had managed to annex the rest of ROHILKHAND by 174o, his
first acquisitions in Bijnor seem to have been made in 1748, after
his return from exile, while his friend, Dunde Khan, occupied another
tract about the same time. The remainder of the District was rapidly
acquired, and before his death in 1749 Ali Muhammad made a grant of
the northern portion to Najib Khan, who was to become a great leader.
In the forests on the border of the District lies a strong fort, called
Lal Dhang, which often proved a safe refuge in the struggles between
the Rohillas and the Nawabs of Oudh. Here, in r75z, after a trying .
siege, the Rohillas gave a bond to the Marathii,s, as the price of release,
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