Bhangeri

The original name was Mahavatpur, or "the place where the elephant trainers live." Prior to British establishment in the region, a few nomads inhabited the area around the rivulet Solani and practiced subsistence agriculture. The Solani [2] rivulet overflowed in monsoons carrying runoff from Doon valley. This made the fields fertile and hospitable to wild beets and starfruit. The rivulet forms the farmlands' northern boundary. At that time, Roorkee was a tiny hamlet under the aegis of Landhaura Riyasat.[3] After the commencement of work on Ganga Canal by Colonel Proby Cautley and subsequent establishment of Thomason College of engineering in 1847 (now Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee) [4] Roorkee began to grow. Bhangeri started taking shape only after the Corps of Bengal Sappers and Miners (now Bengal Engineer Group) established cantonment outside its southwest limits in 1853.[5] The British officers and soldiers resided inside the cantonment. Most of the Indian foot soldiers, led by Sahatu (????) Ram Yadav, built their shelters around a Banyan tree located in the middle of the village near chote pandatji ka ghar.[6] This settlement of 50 - 60 people formed the village's nucleus.

Bhangeri is a village in Roorkee tehsil in the green terai region of Sivalik Hills of the Himalayas. Its official name is Bhangeri Mahavatpur. Gradually, villagers gave up their traditional profession of training elephants. High-quality cannabis (Bhang) plants grow naturally in the uncultivated lands around the village. Residents started calling the village Bhangeri, or "the place where bhang grows." The name stuck, and the village came to be known popularly as Bhangeri and officially as Bhangeri Mahavatpur.