BULANDSHAHR, a town and district of British India in the Meerut division of the United Provinces. The town is on a height on the right bank of the Kali-Nadi, whence its name Bu landshahr (high town). The population in 1931 was 24,898.
The District of Bulandshahr has an area of 1,904 sq.m. on a level plain, with a gradual but very slight elevation about midway between the Ganges and Jumna. The Ganges canal intersects the district, and serves both for irrigation and navigation. The Lower Ganges canal has its headworks at Narora. In 1931 the popula tion was 1,136,885. The district is very highly cultivated and thickly populated. The chief centre of trade is Khurja, an im portant centre of the cotton-ginning trade.
Mahmud of Ghazni in A.D. 1018 received the submission of the Hindu raja and his followers to Islam. In 1193 the city was cap tured by Kutb-ud-din. In the 14th century the district was sub ject to invasions of Rajput and Mongol clans who made perma nent settlements. Under the Mogul empire peace was restored, the most permanent effect of this period being the large proportion of Muslims among the population, due to the zeal of Aurangzeb. The decline of the Mogul empire gave free play to the turbulent spirit of the Jats and Gujars, under the nominal domination of the Mahrattas. After Koil and the fort of Aligarh had been cap tured by the British in 1803, Bulandshahr and the surrounding country were at first incorporated in the newly created district of Aligarh (1805).