Bareilly is a city in Bareilly district in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Located on the Ramganga, it is the capital of Bareilly division and the geographical region of Rohilkhand. The city is 252 kilometres (157 mi) north of the state capital, Lucknow, and 250 kilometres (155 mi) east of the national capital, New Delhi. Bareilly is the fourth city in Uttar Pradesh with compressed natural gas (CNG) filling stations (after Lucknow, Kanpur and Agra). It is the seventh-largest metropolis in Uttar Pradesh and the 50th-largest city in India. Bareilly also figured amongst the PM Narendra Modi's ambitious 100 Smart City list in India. The city is also known by the name Nath Nagri (known for the four Shiva temples located in four corners of the region - Dhopeshwar Nath, Madni Nath, Alakha Nath and Trivati Nath), Ala Hazrat,Shah Sharafat Miyan and Khankahe Niyazia (derived the famous Muslim Mausoleum), Zari nagari and historically as Sanjashya (where the Buddha descended from Tushita to earth). The city is a centre for furniture manufacturing and trade in cotton, cereal and sugar. Its status grew with its inclusion in the "counter magnets" list of the National Capital Region (NCR), a list also including Hissar, Patiala, Kota and Gwalior. The city is also known as Bans-Bareilly. Although Bareilly is a production centre for cane (bans) furniture, "Bans Bareilly" is not derived from the bans market; it was named for two princes: Bansaldev and Baraldev, sons of Jagat Singh Katehriya, who founded the city in 1537.[4] Bareilly's 2011 population was 898,167. According to the epic Mahabharata, Bareilly region (Panchala) is said to be the birthplace of Draupadi, who was also referred to as 'Panchali' (one from the kingdom of Panchala) by K???a (Lord Krishna). When Yudhishthira becomes the king of Hastinapura at the end of the Mahabharata, Draupadi becomes his queen. The folklore says that Gautama Buddha had once visited the ancient fortress city of Ahichchhatra in Bareilly. The Jain Tirthankara Parshva is said to have attained Kaivalya at Ahichchhatra. In the 12th century, the kingdom was under the rule by different clans of Kshatriya Rajputs. With the Islamic Turkic Invasion the region became a part of the Delhi Sultanate before getting absorbed in the emerging Mughal Empire. The foundation of the modern City of Bareilly foundation was laid by Mukrand Rai in 1657. Later the region became the capital of Rohilkhand region before getting handed over to Nawab Vazir of Awadh and then to East India Company (transferred to the British India) and later becoming an integral part of India. The region has, also, acted as a mint for a major part of its history. From archaeological point of view the district of Bareilly is very rich. The extensive remains of Ahichchhatra, the Capital town of Northern Panchala have been discovered near Ramnagar village of Aonla Tehsil in the district. It was during the first excavations at Ahichchhatra (1940–44) that the painted grey ware, associated with the advent of the Aryans in the Ganges–Yamuna Valley, was recognised for the first time in the earliest levels of the site. Nearly five thousand coins belonging to periods earlier than that of Guptas have been yielded from Ahichchhatra. It has also been one of the richest sites in India from the point of view of the total yield of terracotta. Some of the masterpieces of Indian terracotta art are from Ahichchhatra. In fact the classification made of the terracotta human figurines from Ahichchhatra on grounds of style and to some extent stratigraphy became a model for determining the stratigraphy of subsequent excavations at other sites in the Ganges Valley. On the basis of the existing material, the archaeology of the region helps us to get an idea of the cultural sequence from the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC up to the 11th century AD. Some ancient mounds in the district have also been discovered by the Deptt. of Ancient History and culture, Rohilkhand University, at Tihar-Khera (Fatehganj West), Pachaumi, Rahtuia, Kadarganj and Sainthal. Bareilly was founded in 1537 by Basdeo, a Katehriya Rajput. The city was first mentioned by the historian Budayuni, who wrote that Husain Quli Khan was appointed the governor of "Bareilly and Sambhal" in 1568. The divisions and revenue of the district "being fixed by Todar Mal" were recorded by Abul Fazl in 1596. The foundation of the modern city of Bareilly was laid by Mukrand Rai in 1657. In 1658, Bareilly became the headquarters of the province of Budaun.[8] The Mughal policy of encouraging Afghan settlements to control the Katehriyas succeeded if the central government was strong. After Aurangzeb's death, the Afghans (who had become local potentates) began to seize and occupy neighbouring villages. After the fall of the Mughal Empire, many Pathans migrated from Rohilkhand. Bareilly (like other cities in Uttar Pradesh) experienced economic stagnation and poverty, leading to the migration of Rohilla Muslim Pathans to Suriname and Guyana as indentured labour.[9]