In 1632, the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan appointed Rustam Khan, the governor of Kather Sambhal to capture it and he set up a fort at this place and named it as Rustam Nagar. Later on it was named as Moradabad after Shah Jahan's son Murad Baksh, and this name persists. Physical development of the city was started after the construction of Jama Masjid order given by Shah Jahan to Rustam Khan in 1637. The city is on the west of river Ramganga, 980 feet above sea-level, and has a station on the Oudh and Rohilkhand railway, 868 miles from Calcutta. The population in 1901 was 75,128.
For the early history of Moradabad see History of Bareilly. It passed into the possession of the British in 1801. The population in 1901 was 1,191,993
