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Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 13, p. 25.

HANSOT 25 Hansi Town.-Head-quarters of the tahsil of the same name in Hissār District, Punjab, situated in 29° 7′ N. and 75° 58′ E., on the Rewāri-Bhatinda branch of the Rajputana-Mālwā Railway, 15 miles from Hissār. Population (19oi), 16,523. This is one of the most ancient towns in Northern India, and appears to have been a stronghold of the Kushans, though local tradition attributes its foundation to Anang Pal, the Tomar king of Delhi. According to the authorities quoted in Tod's Rajasthan, As! or Hānsi was assigned to the son of Bisaldeo Chauhān about A. D. 1000. Masūd, son of Mahmuid of Ghazni, took it, after one failure, in 1036, but, according to I+irishta, it was recovered by the Delhi Raja in 1043. Prithwi Rāj made considerable additions to the fort at Hansi, converting it into an important military stronghold. It fell into the hands of Muhammad of Ghor in 1192, and was, until the foundation of Hissar, the administrative head-quarters of the neighbour- hood. Hansi was depopulated by the famine of 1783, and lay deserted until 1798, when the famous adventurer George Thomas, who had seized upon the greater part of Hariāna, fixed his head-quarters here. Thenceforth the town began to revive, and on the establishment of British rule in 1803 it was made a cantonment, where a considerable force, consisting chiefly of local levies, was stationed. In 1857 the troops mutinied, murdered all Europeans upon whom they could lay hands, and combined with the wild Rājput tribes in plundering the country. On the restoration of order, the cantonment was given up. A high brick wall, with bastions and loopholes, surrounds the town, while the canal, which flows at its feet, contributes to its beauty by a fringe of handsome trees. Since the Mutiny, however, the houses have fallen into decay and the streets lie comparatively deserted, owing to the removal of the troops. The ruins of the fort overlook the town on the north. It contains two mosques and the tomb of Saiyid Niamat Ullah, killed in resisting Muhammad of Ghor. The mosque and tombs of Kutb Jamal-ud-din and his successors are on the west of the town, with the tomb of Ali Mir Tijāra. Near by is a mosque called the Shahid Ganj, situated probably on the scene of Masüd's first unsuccess- ful attempt to take Hansi. The municipality was created in 1867. The income during the ten years ending 1902-3 averaged Rs. 18,5oo, and the expenditure Rs. r8,8oo. In 1903-4 the income and expenditure were Rs. 30,000 and Rs. 2o,ooo respectively, the chief source of income being octroi. The town has 6 cotton-ginning factories, 2 cotton-presses, and 2 com- bined ginning and pressing factories, and is a local centre of the cotton trade. The number of factory hands in 1904 was 1,285. It possesses a vernacular middle school and a dispensary. Hansot.--Town in the Anklesvar tdluha of Broach District, Bombay, situated in 21° 35′ N. and 72° 48′ E., on the left bank of the