Buckingham

Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R)

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Map of England

Buckingham (बकिंघम) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire. Buckingham was the county town of Buckinghamshire from the 10th century, when it was made the capital of the newly formed shire of Buckingham, until Aylesbury took over this role early in the 18th century. Buckingham is twinned with Neukirchen-Vluyn, Germany and Mouvaux, France.

Location

Buckingham town lies approximately 16 km west of Central Milton Keynes, 26 km south-east of Banbury, and 34 km north-east of Oxford.

Origin

• Bucca - In the 7th century, Buckingham, literally meadow of Bucca's people is said to have been founded by Bucca, the leader of the first Anglo Saxon settlers.

• Baka (बक) is mentioned in Mahabharata (I.90.80). It gives History and family tree of Puru, Bharatas and Pandavas commencing from Daksha.

• Baka (बक) is mentioned in Mahabharata (III.13.100)

Jat clans

• Bukan (बुकन)/ Bukan (बुकां) is a Jat clan.

• Bukar (बुकर) gotra Jats live in Tonk district in Rajasthan.

History

Buckingham and the surrounding area has been settled for some time with evidence of Roman settlement found in several sites close the River Great Ouse, including a temple south of the A421 at Bourton Grounds which was excavated in the 1960s and dated to the 3rd century AD. A possible Roman building was identified at Castle Fields in the 19th century. Pottery, kiln furniture and areas of burning found at Buckingham industrial estate suggest the site of some early Roman pottery kilns here.

In the 7th century, Buckingham, literally meadow of Bucca's people is said to have been founded by Bucca, the leader of the first Anglo Saxon settlers. The first settlement was located around the top of a loop in the River Great Ouse, presently the Hunter Street campus of the University of Buckingham. Between the 7th century and the 11th century, the town of Buckingham regularly changed hands between the Saxons and the Danes, in particular, in 914 King Edward the Elder and a Saxon army encamped in Buckingham for four weeks forcing local Danish Viking leaders to surrender. Subsequently, a fort was constructed at the location of the present Buckingham parish church.

Buckingham is mentioned in the Burghal Hidage, a document commonly ascribed to the early tenth century, but more probably of the period 878–9, which describes a system of forts set up by King Alfred (d.899) over the whole of the West Saxon kingdom. When King Edward encamped at Buckingham with his army in 914, he was therefore restoring a fort which had already existed for more than a generation. This tactical move was part of a putsch against the Danish Vikings who controlled what had been southern Mercia, and which involved the taking of control of Viking centres at Bedford, Northampton, Cambridge and eventually the whole of East Anglia by the end of 917.

Buckingham is the first settlement referred to in the Buckinghamshire section of the Domesday Book of 1086. Buckingham was referred to as Buckingham with Bourton, and the survey makes reference to 26 Burgesses, 11 smallholders and 1 Mill.

The town received its charter in 1554 when Queen Mary created the free Borough of Buckingham with boundaries extending from Thornborowe Bridge (now Thornborough) to Dudley Bridge and from Chackmore Bridge to Padbury Mill Bridge. The designated borough included a bailiff, twelve principal burgesses and a steward.Yeomanry House, the offices and home of the commanding officer of the Buckinghamshire Yeomanry, was built in the early 19th century.

The town suffered from a significant fire that raged through the town centre on 15 March 1725, with the result that many of the main streets of the town were destroyed including Castle Street, Castle Hill and the north side of Market Hill. The result was 138 dwellings (out of a total of 387 in the town at that time) being consumed in the fire. The current fine range of Georgian architecture in these streets today is as a direct result of that fire, but the immediate aftermath was difficult for the town. Collections were made in surrounding towns such as Aylesbury and Wendover to help those made homeless and by 1730, only a third of the homes had been rebuilt. Due to many buildings being considered to be of historic interest, a number of them have been granted 'listed building' status.

The town was connected to the London and North Western Railway by the Buckinghamshire Railway in 1850.

Jat History

Dalip Singh Ahlawat writes that Jat Blood flows in the people of England as the Celts, Jutes, Angles, Saxons and Danes were descendants of Scythian Jats. This is evident from Jat Clans surnames still prevalent in England though they follow Christianity.

Economy

Buckingham has a variety of restaurants and pubs, typical of a market town. It has a number of local shops, both national and independent. Market days are Tuesday and Saturday which take over Market Hill and the High Street cattle pens.