Kalpi

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Kalpi is a town in the Jalaun District of Uttar Pradesh state in India, on the right bank of the Yamuna.

1 History
2 Arcaeology of Kalpi
3 Location and industry
4 References

[edit] History

The city of Kalpi is believed to be known as Kalpriya Nagari in the ancient times. Over the period of time the name of the city got abbreviated to Kalpi. Kalpi is said to have been founded by King Vasudeva at the end of the 4th century. In 1196 it fell to Qutb-ud-din Aybak, the viceroy of Mohammed Ghori, and during the subsequent Muslim period it played a significant part in the history of central India. During Akbar's reign, Kalpi was a governor's seat and had a mint for copper coinage. Kalpi is also considered by some as the birth place of Ved Vyas, the author of Mahabharata.

About the middle of the 18th century it passed into the hands of the Marathas. It was captured by the British in 1803, and after 1806 remained in British possession until India's independence in 1947. In May 1858 Sir Hugh Rose (Lord Strathnairn) defeated here a force of about 10,000 freedom fighters under the Rani of Jhansi.The British East India Company made it one of their principal stations for providing "commercial investment".

[edit] Arcaeology of Kalpi

Kalpi has many historical as well as archaeological sites. Few of them are enlisted below:

Kalpi Fort
Lanka Tower

Most recently the archaeological department of Uttar Pradesh has discovered a prehistoric site that has been dated back 45000 years. Excavation work is in progress on this site.

Excavation in Kalpi

[edit] Location and industry

The old town, which is on the Yamuna river, has the ruin of a fort, and several temples of interest, while in the neighborhood are many ancient tombs. Away from the river to the south-east is a lofty modern town ornamented with representations of the battles of the Ramayana. Kalpi is still a centre of local trade (principally in grain, ghee and cotton) with a station on the railway line from Jhansi to Kanpur, which crosses the Yamuna here.

In late 1970s and early 1980s Kalpi was one of the areas in central India affected by dacoits, and was frequented by the much dreaded Phoolan Devi gang. It has been declared an Industrial belt by the Government of India and is known for the hand-made paper produced here.