Lakhimpur Kheri district is the largest district in Uttar Pradesh, India, on the border with Nepal. Its administrative capital is the city of Lakhimpur. Lakhimpur Kheri district is a part of Lucknow division, with a total area of . The national government designated Lakhimpur Kheri as a Minority Concentrated District on the basis of 2001 census data, which identifies it as requiring urgent aid to improve living standards and amenities. Dudhwa National Park, and Pilibhit Tiger reserve are in Lakhimpur Kheri and are the only national park in Uttar Pradesh. They are home to many rare and endangered species including 65+ Tigers, leopards, swamp deer, hispid hares and Bengal florican Etymology Etymologically Lakhimpur was known as Luxmipur. Kheri is a town from Lakhimpur. Theory suggests that the name derives from the khair trees that once covered large tracts in the area. History The early history of Lakhimpur Kheri district is obscure, but it has many ancient ruins, and several places are associated with episodes in the Mahabharata. According to tradition, this area was once under the rule of the Lunar race of Hastinapur. The village of Balmiar-Barkhar, near Muhamdi, is popularly identified as the capital of the ancient Virata Kingdom, although this is more commonly located in Rajasthan. Kundalpur, near Khairigarh, is said to be where Krishna carried off Rukmini, and Kheri itself is held to be where Kshemakarna performed the sacrifice to drive out the Nagas. (Ahar, in Bulandshahr district, is also popularly identified as the site of both episodes.) One of the earliest known finds in the district is a stone horse of the 4th-century king Samudra Gupta (the fragmentary inscription mentions his name), which formerly stood in a heavily forested area near Khairigarh and has since been moved to the Lucknow Museum. This king of Magadha performed Ashvamedha yajna in which a horse is left to freely roam in the entire nation, so as to display the power of king and to underline the importance of his conquest. As in much of Awadh, coins of the 9th-century king Bhoja Deva of Kannauj are commonly found in Lakhimpur Kheri district. This area was supposedly once ruled by the Pasis, although no traces of this remain today. Most of the cultivated areas in the district have been historically ruled by Rajputs and Muslims instead. The earliest Rajput clan known in the area are the Bachhil, who are described as