Kannauj district
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kannauj District is an administrative district of Uttar Pradesh state in northern India, along the river Ganga, or Ganges. The historic town of Kannauj, northwest of Kanpur, is the administrative center.
Contents |
[edit] Geography
Kannauj is located at [1]. It has an average elevation of 139 metres (456 feet).
Ganga (or Ganges) is the main river of the district at the North East border of the district. Kali river is at the northern border of the district while the Ishan river flows through the District.
The climate of the district is characterized by a hot dry summer and a pleasant cold season. The average rainfall of the District is approximately 80cm.
The district is bounded by the districts of Farrukhabad to the north, Hardoi to the northeast, Kanpur Nagar to the east, Kanpur Dehat to the southeast, Auraiya to the south, Etawah to the southwest, and Mainpuri to the west. The district is divided into three tehsils and seven development blocks. The district was split from Farrukhabad on September 18, 1997, and is part of Kanpur Division.
[edit] Population
The District's population was 1,388,923 in 2001. Of these, 1,156,951 (or 83.3%) lived in rural areas, while 231,972 (or 16.7%) lived in urban areas.[2]
[edit] History
Kannauj has a rich archeological and cultural heritage. Many Bronze age weapons and tools and large numbers of stone statues have been found here. The ancient names of this place, Kanyakubja or Mahodya, are found in the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and the Puranas).
Amavasu founded a kingdom, the capital of which became Kanyakubja. Jahnu was such a powerful king that the river Ganga is said to have been named after him as Jahnaui. This region rose into great prominence during the Mahabharata period. Kampilya was the capital of South Panchala and the scene of the famous Svayamvara of Draupadi.
Panchala, the tenth in the list of the sixteen premier states (Mahajanpada) in the time of Mahavira and Buddha, was the region covered by the present districts of Bareilly, Badaun and Farrukhabad. This territory was annexed to the Nanda empire of Magadha about C.400 B.C. Many coins found at Mathura, Kannauj, and in the Panchala region have been associated with the Mitra rulers. The area flourished between C.100 B.C. and C.200 A.D. Kannauj was known as Kangora or Kanogiza by the geographer, Ptolemy (C.140 A.D.).
Fa-hien, the Chinese pilgrim, visited Kannauj between 399 and 414 A.D., during the reign of Chandragupta II, at a retreat at the Dragon-Shrine. Fa-hien observed, "This country is very productive and the people are flourishing and happy beyond compare. When men of other nations come, care is taken of all of them and they are provided with what they require". He noted the monolithic elephant pillar erected by Asoka at Sankisa.
Harivarman appears to have been the founder of the Maukhari dynasty of Kannauj. Harsha also advanced towards Kannauj. The Chinese pilgrim, Hiuen Tsang, visiting Kannauj in 643 A.D., found 100 Buddhist monasteries with more than 10,000 priests. He mentions Kah-Pi-Ta (Kapitha, identified with Sankisa) as the other important place of the district.
Between the eight and the tenth centuries, a tripartite struggle for the resources of the rich Gangetic plains, with three empires -- the Rashtrakutas of Manyakheta, the Pala Dynasty of Bengal and the Prathihara dynasty of Gujarat -- annexing the seat of power at Kannauj for short periods of time.
Rajyapala was the ruler of Kannauj when Mahmud of Ghazni attacked India. After sacking Mathura, Mahmud proceeded towards Kannauj. In 1018 A.D. he encountered "a city which raised its head to the skies and which in strength and beauty might boast of being unrivalled."
An inscription of the Chalukya dynasty of Lata, dated 1050 A.D., associates the Rashtrakuta dynasty with Kannauj. Kannauj recovered a large measure of its old importance during 1114 A.D. to 1154 . During the reign of the Chauhans (1170-1194 A.D.) Kannauj became powerful and was annexed to Delhi. Kannauj, as (Jaichand of Kannauj's capital) was the scene of Svayamvara of his daughter Samyogita, who was carried off by Prithviraj III. Mohammad Ghauri invaded India and killed Jaichand in 1193 A.D.
Ghiyas ud din Balban, who then possessed the Delhi throne, (1268-87) marched towards this region and divided the whole area into a number of military commands. Although order was restored, the region was continually up in arms against imperial authority. Reinforced by the neighboring Chauhans and Solankhis, the Rajputs of this area broke out in open rebellion. In 1394, with another regional rebellion afoot, the sultan conferred on Khwaja Jahan the title of Malik-ul-Sharq "and appointed him governor of Hindustan from Kannauj to Bihar devolving upon him full power." Malik-ul-Sharq died in 1399 and his adopted son, Mubarak Shah became the virtual ruler at Delhi and reached Kannauj.
In 1414, under the Saiyid dynasty in 1423, Mubarak Shah Saiyid marched to Kampil to suppress the Rajputs. Kannauj became a fief under the sovereignty of the Mughals. In 1527 Babar mobilised his forces to capture Chanderi but lost Kannauj and Shamsabad to the Afghans. Kannauj became a dependency of the rebels who found themselves at the head of Muslims and Rajputs. Humayan's continued occupation in the north gave the ambitious Sher Shah Suri a free hand to prosecute his designs in the east. It appears that immediately after the capture of Kannauj Sher Shah destroyed the old city and built a fort of burnt brick there "and on the spot of gaining victory he built a city Sher Sur." The Afghans were overthrown in 1855 and the power of the Mughals was once again established by Humayun, who had returned to India after 12 years; he died soon after, in January 1556, and was succeeded by his son Akbar.[3]
