HARDOI  , a

town and district of British India, in the Lucknow division of the United Provinces . The -town is 63 m . N.E. of Lucknow by rail . Pop . (19o1) 12,174 . It has a wood-carving industry, saltpetre works, and an export trade in grain . The DISTRICT OF HARDOI has an area of 2331 sq. m . It is a level district watered by the Ganges, Ramganga, Deoha or Garra, Sukheta, Sai, Baita and Gumti—the three rivers first named being navigable by country boats . Towards the Ganges the land is uneven, and often rises in hillocks of sand cultivated at the base, and their slopes covered with lofty munj grass . Several large jhils or swamps are scattered throughout the district, the largest being that of Sandi, which is 3 M. long by from I to 2 m. broad . These jhils are largely used for irrigation . Large tracts of forest jungle still exist .

Leopards,

black buck, spotted deer, and nilgai are common; the mallard, teal, grey duck, common goose, and all kinds of waterfowl abound . In 190'1 the population of the district was 1,092,834, showing a decrease of nearly 2 % in the decade . The district contains a larger urban population than any other in Oudh, the largest town being Shahabad, 20,036 in 1901 . It is traversed by the Oudh and Rohilkhand railway from Lucknow to Shahjahanpur, and its branches . The chief exports are grain, sugar, hides, tobacco and saltpetre . The first authentic records of Hardoi are connected with the Mussulman colonization . Bawan was occupied by Sayyid Salar Masaud in 1028, but the permanent Moslem occupation did not begin till 1217 . Owing to the situation of the district, Hardoi formed the scene of many sanguinary battles between the rival Afghan and Mogul empires . Between Bilgram and Sandi was fought the great battle between Humayun and Sher Shah, in which the former was utterly defeated . Hardoi, along with the rest of Oudh, became British territory under Lord Dalhousie's proclamation of February 1856 .