Dih, Raebareli

Dih is named after the old deserted site to the north of the present village, but the old site's history is generally unknown.[4] At some point, Dih was held by the Bhale Sultans, but it was later conquered by the Kanhpurias "after a gallant defence."[4] At the turn of the 20th century, Dih was described as a large village surrounded by extensive orchards, irrigated by wells and a large tank on the north side of the village.[4] The village lands were mostly held by the taluqdar of Tikari, except for one small mahal which was held by Brahmin landlords and another, Bairagipur, which was revenue-free.[4] At that point, Dih had a primary school, a cattle pound, and a small bazar hosting markets twice per week.[4] The Ramlila fair was noted as having a large attendance at the time.[4] A village bank was established in June 1901.[4] As of the census that year, Dih had a population of 3,489 people, and Pasis were the main cultivating caste.[4]

The 1951 census recorded Dih as comprising 25 hamlets, with a total population of 4,067 people (2,103 male and 1,964 female), in 886 households and 829 physical houses.[7] The area of the village was given as 2,505 acres.[7] 275 residents were literate, 266 male and 9 female.[7] The village was listed as belonging to the pargana of Parshadepur and the thana of Nasirabad.[7]

The 1961 census recorded Dih (as "Deeh") as comprising 17 hamlets, with a total population of 4,011 people (2,083 male and 1,928 female), in 899 households and 866 physical houses.[6] The area of the village was given as 2,503 acres and it had a post office at that point.[6] Average attendance of the twice-weekly market was about 2,000 people at the time, while attendance of the Dussehra festival was about 6,000.[6]

The 1981 census recorded Dih (as "Deeh") as having a population of 6,571 people, in 1,735 households, and having an area of 1,013.77 hectares.[3] The main staple foods were listed as wheat and rice.[3]

The 1991 census recorded Dih (as "Deeh") as having a total population of 8,393 people (4,443 male and 3,950 female), in 1,601 households and 1,601 physical houses.[5] The area of the village was listed as 985 hectares.[5] Members of the 0-6 age group numbered 1,798, or 21% of the total; this group was 51% male (958) and 49% female (840).[5] Members of scheduled castes made up 43% of the village's population, while no members of scheduled tribes were recorded.[5] The literacy rate of the village was 28% (1,788 men and 561 women).[5] 2,965 people were classified as main workers (2,245 men and 720 women), while 365 people were classified as marginal workers (26 men and 339 women); the remaining 5,063 residents were non-workers.[5] The breakdown of main workers by employment category was as follows: 1,307 cultivators (i.e. people who owned or leased their own land); 1,041 agricultural labourers (i.e. people who worked someone else's land in return for payment); 19 workers in livestock, forestry, fishing, hunting, plantations, orchards, etc.; 0 in mining and quarrying; 9 household industry workers; 89 workers employed in other manufacturing, processing, service, and repair roles; 50 construction workers; 223 employed in trade and commerce; 13 employed in transport, storage, and communications; and 214 in other services.[5]

Dih CD block has the following 71 villages:[2]