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west of Karnal , with which it is linked by a metalled road :' (Kunjpura- Karn al-Kaithal-Khanauri Ro ad) . Bes ide s, the other two State Highways whi ch pa ss through Kaithal are: (i) Kala Amb -Ambala-Pehowa-Kaithal-Nar- wana- Fat ehabad Road (S .H. 2) and (ii) Me erut -Sonepat -Gohana-A sandh- Kait hal-Pat iala Road (S.H . 11 ). It has al so a rai lway sta tion on the Kuruk- she tr a-Nar wan a section . Its popul ation was 34,8 90 in 196 1 an d in crea sed to 45, 199 in 1971 . Th e town is si tua te d on the bank s of an ex ten sive art ific ial lake , called the Bidki yar Lak e with numerou s bathing places and flights of steps. A high wa ll partl y of pakk a br ic ks and partly of mud en clo sed the town. It had 8 gates of whi ch Ka mal Gat e to th e eas t,Keor ak and Sur aj Kund Gate s to the north and Kas ai an d Dogran Gat@sto the west were the princip al ones. The se gates are now in a dil apid ated co ndition thou gh they still mark diff erent exits from the old town. Th e town is said to have be en founded by th e famou s Mahabharata hero, Yu dhisht hi ra, in commemoratio n of Pandava s' victory in Ma habh arata against th e Kauravas. He had sel ected the sit e because of its tra di tional as sociation with Han uman, the mon key-god, and named it as Kapisth ala, a Sanskrit word mean in g 'a n ab ode of mon keys'!, which later ca me to be kn ow n as Ka ith aI. Ev en now in th e sub urb s of the ci ty, on the Bidk iya r Lake and Sur aj Kund, thousand s of monkeys can be seen. In the heart of the town, there is a palatial tem ple in which Hanuman is wor shipp ed. It app ea rs th at Kai thal whi ch was mor e or less a rural settl ement before , ass umed the ch ara cter of an urb an loc ation about the period of Mahabh arata. It is stated th at a ba tt le was fought ne ar Kaithal between Sult ana Raziya and th e rebel force s of Delhi . Sultan a was killed and buried at this place . In Tabaqat-i- Nas iri , the author Minh aj-ud-din bin Sir aj-ud-din write s that wh en Sult ana Razi ya and Ma lik Altuni ya re ached Kaithal during their flight , the rebel forces left them and the y were arre sted by the Hindus and were killed . This defe at took pl ace on the 24th RaM ul awwal A.H. 638 corresponding to Oct ober, 1240. Sultana Razi ya was ass ass in ated on the following da y.2 1. In th e eas t of the tow n th ere is a mound about whi ch it is said that Hanuman wa s bo rn at this pl ace. This mound is known as Anjni Ka Tila (Anjni was the mother of Hanurnan). Acco rding to another tr adition, Hanuman wa s cr ea ted by th e Gandharvas at the Arnrita Tira tha, whi ch is near vi llag e Pab nava-ll mile s (18 kilometres ) to the south -east of Th anesa r (cL Kurukshetra Dar pa n). ' 2. Elli ot and Dowson, The Histor y of India , As ToM by Its Own Hi storians, Volume II , 19 69, p. 337. Howeve r acc ording to Ib an Batuta, Sult ana Raz iya was murd ered by a rusti c for the sake of he r je wel s clo se to the sp ot wh ere a"grave is stitt seen near th e Tur ku l;in Gate of the prese nt cit y of Delhi . ".' The to wn was reno va ted and a fort con st ru cted during Akbar's reign . After the Third Battle of Panip at, the Sikhs conquered the area between the Satluj, Gh agghar and the Saras wati streams and plundered the towns. Kaithal was then und er th e posses sion of a Nawab who was said to be licentious and profligate . Bh ai De su Sin gh, who ruled over the are a towards the west of Ghagghar strea m, att ac ked Kaithal in 1767 and the town , after a brief fight. fell into th e hand s of the Sikh chieftain who se de sc endant s, the Bha is of Kaithal, ranked am ong the most important and powerful Cis-Satluj Chiefs. 1 After the death of Bh ai Ud ai Sin gh, the gr andson of Bhai De su Singh, the East India Company annexed thc town and the estate in 1843. The Sikhs gave strong resistance in th e skirmi she s which to ok place at the time of actual possession of the to wn. Many Briti sh soldi ers and offi cer s were kill ed whi ch fact is evi- denced by a cemet ery th at still exists in the compound adj ac ent to the civil courts . Th e prin cipal buildings of antiquarian interest in the town are described below: Tomb of Sheikh Shahab-ud-din.-P rince Shahab- ud- din Balkhi is said to have come from Balakh in Central Asia in 673 Hijri (A.D. 1274 ). He was slain in a battle at Kaithal and his grandson built the tomb to his memory. It is now in ruins. Tomb of Shah Wilayat .-It is a small tomb restored probably in the time of Aurangzeb. The mosque in the enclosure is a much earlier structure . It is belie ve d to ha ve been built in the time of the Ghori rulers. 1. "The Marathas of Kaithal relate a tradition according to which the Sikh Sardars of Ka ithal used to offer Chauth to the Marathas. The Marathas once besieged the town of Kaithal on the Sikhs' refusal to make the payment in time. After that a large number of Maratha s se ttled in KaithaI . ~ithal does indeed appear to have been once a centre of Maratha po wer in this area and in the town itself names of squares of spots are still named after the Marathas , e.g. Maratha Ghati, Maratha Chauk, Chhatar Mohalla, etc . At a distance of about half a kilometre from the town is a sati monument worshipped by the Punjab Marathas. In the town itself is a temple known locally as the Maratha Mandir which has a Hindi inscription on a small tablet of red stone. This temple, the Maratha Mohallas, and the pakka house s of some Maratha families are said to be the grateful tokens raised by the Rani of Kaithal, in recognition of the services rendered by some local Marathas, whQ re stored to her, her property robbed by some thieves after a daring pursuit ." (Hari Ram Gupta, Marathas and Panipat, 1961, p. 291) towards the south of the town near the railway line l• The mosque was built by the Sheikh himself in the time of Emperor Akbar . It is said that Sheikh- Tayab belonged to a Hindu Kanungoian family and was later converted to Islam. Tomb of Shah KamaL-It is a masonry structure with dome, situated outside the town on the east towards Kamal . Shah Kamal is said to have come from Baghdad and the tomb was erected by his de scendants. Samadh SitaJpuri .-It is a shrine over the remains of Sitalpuri near gaushala. Sitalpuri was a friend of Sh ah Kamal . Gen er ally the corpses of Hindus are first taken to this samadh before cremation. Bidkiyar Lake.-This is situated to the east of the town . It was made in the time of Aurangzeb by Bidkiyar, a resident of Kaithal . Raja Udai Singh of the Bhai family also carried out some repairs during his time. It has extensive flights of steps on the town side only. Asthan Anjani .-It is dedicated to Anjani (Anj ana) , the mother of Hanuman. Hanuman is said to have been born here. It is a mound and hence known as 'Anjni ka Tila'. Old Fort.-It is said to have been built by Akbar. Raja Udai Singh altered and repaired it . The old fort has since been demolished and only some ruins on the banks of Bidk iya r Lake indicate its site. Fort and PaJace.-Desu Singh, the first ruler of Bh ai family of Kaithal, built the fort of Kaithal and several other small garhis. After him, his son, Lal Singh, made additions to the fort of Kaithal; in fact, re-built it, for previously it was a mud structure. It was further enlarged and beautified in the time of Bhai Udai Singh. He also built a palace after the mod el of the house of General David Ochterlony at Kam al, but on a bigger scale, and a bridge over Bidkiyar Lake near the palace. The tahsil offices are located in the fort whereas the new palace buil t by Bhai Udai Singh serves as a rest house-cum-SubDivisional Magistrate's office and residence . Kaithal is at present a flouri shin g to wn and trade centre.

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