Bareilly is a city in Bareilly district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the centre of Bareilly division and the geographical region of Rohilkhand. The city is 252 kilometres north west of the state capital, Lucknow, and 250 kilometres east of the national capital, New Delhi. With a population of 898,167 in 2011, it is the eighth most populous city in the state, seventeenth in Northern India and fifty-fourth in India. It is located on the bank of Ramganga River and is the site of the Ramganga Barrage built for canal irrigation.
Bareilly was founded in 1537 by Jagat Singh Katehriya who named it 'Bans-Bareli' after his two sons Bansaldev and Baraldev. The town came under the rule of Mughals in 1569 and had become the seat of a local pargana by 1596. The foundation of the modern city of Bareilly was laid by Mughal governor Mukrand Rai in 1657, and in 1658, it became the seat of the governor of Budaun. The weakening of Mughal Empire lead to the rise of the Kingdom of Rohilkhand, of which Bareilly was a major centre.