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{{Short description|Village in Uttar Pradesh, India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Siron Khurd
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| other_name = Sīyaḍoṇi
| nickname =
| settlement_type = Village
| image_skyline =
| image_alt =
| image_caption =
| image_map =
| map_caption =
| pushpin_map = India Uttar Pradesh
| pushpin_label_position = right
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Uttar Pradesh, India
| coordinates = {{coord|24.82667|N|78.31939|E|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = [[India]]
| subdivision_type1 = [[States and territories of India|State]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[Uttar Pradesh]]
| subdivision_type2 = [[List of districts of India|District]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[Lalitpur district, India|Lalitpur]]
| subdivision_type3 = [[Tehsil]]
| subdivision_name3 = [[Lalitpur, India|Lalitpur]]
| established_title = 
| established_date =
| founder =
| named_for =
| government_type =
| governing_body =
| unit_pref = Metric
| area_footnotes = <ref name="Census 2011 A"/>
| area_rank =
| area_total_km2 = 4.389
| elevation_footnotes =
| elevation_m =
| population_total = 1437
| population_as_of = 2011
| population_rank =
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_demonym =
| population_footnotes = <ref name="Census 2011 A"/>
| demographics_type1 =
| demographics1_title1 =
| demographics1_info1 =
| timezone1 = [[Indian Standard Time|IST]]
| utc_offset1 = +5:30
| postal_code_type = [[Postal Index Number|PIN]]
| postal_code = 284124
| registration_plate =
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
'''Siron Khurd''' is a village in [[Jakhaura]] block of [[Lalitpur district, India|Lalitpur district]], Uttar Pradesh, India. It is identified with the early medieval city of '''Sīyaḍoṇi''', which was a major commercial and political centre during the 10th century under the [[Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty|Gurjara-Pratihāra empire]]. As of 2011, Siron Khurd had a population of 1,437, in 238 households.

== Geography ==
Siron Khurd is located about 15 km northwest of [[Lalitpur, India|Lalitpur]], the district headquarters.<ref name="Shah 1988">{{cite journal |last1=Shah |first1=K. K. |title=Salt Merchants of Siyadoni |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |date=1988 |volume=49 |pages=134–7 |jstor=44148363 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44148363 |access-date=20 July 2023}}</ref>{{rp|134}}

According to the [[2011 Census of India|2011 census]], Siron Khurd has a total area of 438.9 [[hectare]]s, of which 266.6 were currently farmland and 58.6 were under non-agricultural use. 59.0 hectares were classified as cultivable but not currently under any agricultural use, and 10.1 were classified as non-cultivable. No forests, orchards, or pastures existed on village lands.<ref name="Census 2011 A"/>{{rp|114}}

== History: the early medieval city of Sīyaḍoṇi ==
Siron Khurd is identified with the early medieval city of '''Sīyaḍoṇi'''. The primary source for the medieval city is a single inscription found at Siron Khurd in the late 1800s. This inscription contains two separate parts: the first part is a copy of 27 different deeds recording donations made on separate occasions between 907 and 968; the second part is a poem recounting the exploits of a [[brahmin]] family called Rayakabhatta.<ref name="Shah 1988"/>{{rp|134}}<ref name="Chattopadhyaya 1994"/>{{rp|136}} These inscriptions provide historians a source of information

=== Commerce ===
Sīyaḍoṇi was first and foremost a commercial centre.<ref name="Chattopadhyaya 1994"/>{{rp|137}} According to Aman Mishra, Sīyaḍoṇi's growth as a city was because of its location on an important trade route. Mishra writes that the city's economy was primarily based on long-distance trade, and locals also engaged in [[rent-seeking]] behaviour such as charging rent on land or interest on loans.<ref name="Mishra 2022">{{cite journal |last1=Mishra |first1=Aman |title=Sīyaḍoṇi: an unplanned town of the Gurjara-Pratīhāra times |journal=Urban History |date=2022 |pages=1–18 |doi=10.1017/S096392682200030X |s2cid=250401937 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/urban-history/article/abs/siyadoni-an-unplanned-town-of-the-gurjarapratihara-times/50B5F95637B740634E388318F6DA78CA |access-date=22 July 2023}}</ref>{{rp|abstract}}

At least five different marketplaces (''[[haat|haṭṭa]]''s) are attested at Sīyaḍoṇi: Dosihaṭṭa, Prasannahaṭṭa, Caturhaṭṭa (possibly identical with the "Catuṣkahaṭṭa" mentioned elsewhere in the text), Kallapālānāmsatkahaṭṭa (which was owned by the Kallapālas), and Vasantamahattakahaṭṭa (which was possibly named after a guild leader). Sīyaḍoṇi also had a [[customs house]] (the ''Sīyaḍoṇi satka [[maṇḍapikā]]'') and apparently a [[mint (facility)|mint]] as well.<ref name="Chattopadhyaya 1994"/>{{rp|136–7}}

Various types of artisans are mentioned in the Sīyaḍoṇi inscription: potters, stonecutters, sugar boilers, oil millers, and liquor distillers. Only two merchant specialties are mentioned: those mainly dealing in salt and those dealing in [[betel]]. Sīyaḍoṇi's salt merchants seem to have been especially prominent – of the 27 donation deeds in the Sīyaḍoṇi inscription, 17 were by salt merchants. Salt was a highly prized commodity in early medieval India, and Sīyaḍoṇi's salt merchants likely gained their wealth from importing salt and then shipping it off to various destinations, where they sold it for a large profit.<ref name="Shah 1988"/>{{rp|134, 136–7}}

=== Governance ===
Sīyaḍoṇi was a sub-capital of the [[Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty|Gurjara-Pratihāra empire]], ruled by local feudatories subject to the main Gurjara-Pratihāra kings. The exact nature of this arrangement is unclear; the feudatories may have been assigned to govern the city on a temporary basis. Four different rulers of Sīyaḍoṇi are mentioned in the Sīyaḍoṇi inscription, over a period of about 60 years:<ref name="Chattopadhyaya 1994"/>{{rp|138, 140–1}} Bhoja, Mahendrapāla, Kṣitipāla, and finally Devapāla. They are mentioned with various titles, such as ''mahāpratihāra'', ''samādhigataśeṣamahāśabda'', and ''mahāsāmantādhipati''.<ref name="Shah 1988"/>{{rp|134}}

The feudatory rulers of Sīyaḍoṇi appointed ''[[panchakula (town council)|pañcakula]]''s to serve as the city's administrative body. The names of some ''pañcakula'''s members are recorded, but their backgrounds are not. Other officials, such as ''karaṇika''s and ''kauptika''s, are also attested at Sīyaḍoṇi.<ref name="Chattopadhyaya 1994"/>{{rp|138, 143}}

While Sīyaḍoṇi was under the rule of these feudatories, the city itself seems to have had at least some autonomy. For example, the first donation mentioned is one where the whole town, as a corporate body, granted a field to the temple of Nārāyaṇabhattāraka.<ref name="Shah 1988"/>{{rp|134–5}}

=== Layout of the city ===
The Sīyaḍoṇi inscription calls the city a ''paṭṭana'', indicating it was a relatively large city. Brajadulal Chattopadhyaya wrote that Sīyaḍoṇi was probably physically larger than the contemporary city of Tattānandapura (present-day [[Ahar, Uttar Pradesh]]) because of Sīyaḍoṇi's many marketplaces. Multiple types of streets are mentioned in the Sīyaḍoṇi inscription; there was probably some functional distinction between them. One street is mentioned as belonging to merchants (''vaṇijonijarathyā'').<ref name="Chattopadhyaya 1994"/>{{rp|134, 136}}

Several different terms for residences are encountered: ''aparasaraka'' (houses with a porch or [[vestibule (architecture)|vestibule]]), ''āvāsanikā'' (dwellings in general), and ''gṛhabhitti'' (house sites). There does not seem to have been any segregation of castes into different neighbourhoods.<ref name="Chattopadhyaya 1994"/>{{rp|136, 139}}

=== Temples and temple donations ===
Several different temples are attested in the Sīyaḍoṇi inscription: those of Nārāyaṇabhattāraka, Śivabhattāraka, Bhaillasvāmī, and Sīgākīyadeva. These were all built by merchants. The donations recorded in the inscription include merchants assigning various houses and shops to these temples, so that their rent would go to the temple. This rent was mostly paid in cash. Besides the ''[[dramma (Indian coin)|dramma]]'', which is the most commonly attested coin from early medieval India, many different forms of currency are mentioned in the Sīyaḍoṇi inscription (not all of which are necessarily local in origin, or even coins). <ref name="Chattopadhyaya 1994"/>{{rp|137, 143–5}}

<ref name="Chattopadhyaya 1994">{{cite book |last1=Chattopadhyaya |first1=Brajadulal |author-link=Brajadulal Chattopadhyaya |title=The Making of Early Medieval India |date=1994 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New Delhi |isbn=0-19-564076-4 |url=https://ia801503.us.archive.org/28/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.117938/2015.117938.The-Making-Of-Early-Medieval-India.pdf |access-date=17 July 2023}}</ref>{{rp|137, 143}}

== Demographics ==
As of 2011, Siron Khurd had a population of 1,437, in 238 households.<ref name="Census 2011 A"/>{{rp|108}} This population was 53.0% male (761) and 47.0% female (676). The 0-6 age group numbered 246 (134 male and 112 female), or 17.1% of the total population. 267 residents were members of Scheduled Castes, or 18.6% of the total.<ref name="Census 2011 B">{{cite web |title=Census of India 2011: Uttar Pradesh District Census Handbook - Lalitpur, Part B (Village and Town Wise Primary Census Abstract) |url=https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/1249/download/4010/DH_2011_0936_PART_B_DCHB_LALITPUR.pdf |website=Census of India |access-date=19 June 2023}}</ref>{{rp|68–9}}

== Infrastructure ==
As of 2011, Siron Khurd had 1 primary school; it did not have any kind of healthcare facilities. Drinking water was provided by well and hand pump; there were no public toilets. The village had no post office or public library; there was at least some access to electricity for residential and agricultural purposes. Streets were made of both ''[[Indian vernacular architecture#kachcha|kachcha]]'' and ''[[Indian vernacular architecture#pucca|pakka]]'' materials.<ref name="Census 2011 A">{{cite web |title=Census of India 2011: Uttar Pradesh District Census Handbook - Lalitpur, Part A (Village and Town Directory) |url=https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/1248/download/4006/DH_2011_0936_PART_A_DCHB_LALITPUR.pdf |website=Census of India |access-date=19 June 2023}}</ref>{{rp|108–13}}

== See also ==
*[[Ahar, Uttar Pradesh]]: Site of the contemporary city of Tattānandapura
*[[Gwalior]]: Another major political centre under the Gurjara-Pratiharas during the 10th century

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Lalitpur district, Uttar Pradesh}}

[[Category:Villages in Lalitpur district, India]]

Siron Khurd - Revision history

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