Pali

Pali stands on the right bank of the Garra River in Awadh. A local account tells how a Brahmin named Gyan Pande, his brother and the commander Sheikh Mohi-ud-Din received land after helping Raja Harhar suppress a revolt. They cleared forest beside the river and founded the town, with Brahmin and Sheikh neighbourhoods on opposite sides.

Pali was the centre of a pargana recorded in the Ain-i-Akbari, then larger than the later district around the town. It included the country later known as Shahabad and Pachhoha, as well as parts of neighbouring parganas. Under the Nawabs of Awadh it became the headquarters of the deputy in charge of the Sandi-Pali chakla, giving the riverside town a place in the region's administration.