by the East India Company in February 1856, Gonda became a separate district of the Gonda-Bahraich Commissionership. Annexation passed off quietly, although the Gonda raja exhibited strong disapproval of the measure and was with difficulty persuaded to leave his fort at Gonda and meet the district officer.
During the Non Cooperation Movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi people from this district actively participated. On October 9, 1929, Gandhi visited the district along with PanditJawaharlal Nehru.
Gonda played a significant role in the Indian struggle for independence. So many people from the region actively participated including Maharaja Devi Bakhsha Singh, who escaped later to Nepal. Revolutionaries like Chandra Shekhar Azad also took shelter here and one of his partymen Rajendra Lahiri was incarcerated and hanged in the Gonda Jail on 17 December 1927 in Kakori Conspiracy
