Kannauj

?Kannauj Uttar Pradesh • India
Kannauj
Coordinates:
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Area • Elevation	• 139 m (456 ft)
District(s)	Kannauj
Population	71,530 (2001[update])

Kannauj (Hindi कन्नौज, Urdu: کنوج), also spelt Kanauj, is a city and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city's name is traditionally derived from the term Kanyakubja (maiden's womb). Kannauj is an ancient city, in earlier times the capital of a great Hindu kingdom. Kanyakubja Brahmin's are originally from Kannauj.Kannauj is known for the distilling of scents and is a market center for tobacco, perfume, and rose water.

Kannauj is the administrative headquarters of Kannauj District. The population was 71,530 in 2001, up from 58,932 in 1991. It has given its name to a distinct dialect of the Hindi language known as Kanauji.

History

The Kanauj Triangle, focal point of the Palas, Pratiharas and Rashtrakutas.

Formerly known as Kanyakubja, the town is known to have been an important city during the Gupta empire. It was a centre of hindu culture and political status for centuries. Kannauj is frequently referred to in the epic Mahabharata and is alluded to by Patañjali in the second century B.C. In the year 405 A.D. when great Chinese pilgrim Fa-hien visited the city it had only two Buddhist monasteries and it was not very large. When Hiuen Tsang visited the city in 636 A.D., however, Kannauj had grown large. Hiuen Tsang stayed here for seven years.

Kannauj reached the pinnacle of its glory in the 7th century under emperor Harshavardhana (606-647 A.D.) Harshavardhana made Kannauj his capital. At that time it had earned the name of Mahodaya Sree due to its grandeur and prosperty. Kannauj then had a teeming population, with hundreds of Hindu and Buddhist temples and monasteries, extending along the east bank of the Ganges for about four miles. It had beautiful gardens and tanks, and was strongly fortified. Harshavardhana, however, was greatly weakened after being defeated by the Chalukya emperor Pulakesin II; his empire fell apart soon after his death.

By the end of the 8th century, Kannauj became the focus of a three-way contest by the three dominant dynasties of the time, the Pratiharas of Malwa, the Rashtrakutas of the Deccan, and the Palas of Bengal. The Pala king Dharmapala installed a proxy king at the end of the 8th century.

When the Pratihara king Nagabhata II conquered Kannauj in the 9th century Kannauj became the Pratihara capital for nearly 200 years. This happened about 836.^[1] During this period, it became known as a center for poetry. The Pratiharas ruled much of northern India in the latter half of the 8th century, but they had weakened by the early 10th century. The Rashtrakuta king Indra III captured Kannauj in 916, and by the end of that century, the Pratihara domains had been reduced to a small kingdom around the town of Kannauj.

In 1019, the town was sacked by Mahmud of Ghazni, beginning a chaotic period for the city. After this sacking of Kannauj, the area came to be dominated by the Chandela Rajput clan of Bundelkhand. The Gahadvala dynasty, descended from former vassals of the Pratiharas, established themselves as rulers of Kannauj at the end of the 11th century.

Gahrwar Rajputs and Kannauj

After the dismemberment of the Pratihara empire, .here were, repeated incursions in this region. When the "earth" was thus badly disturbed by political upheavals and destructive raids, a bold adventurer of the Gahadavala sept named Chandradeva, arose into this region and by his "noble prowess" put an end to "all distress of the people". The rule of Gahadavala dynasty over the district is incontestably proved by the discovery at Kudarkot of a copper plate grant dated in the reign of Chandradeva. Chandradova founded the Gahadavala dynasty at Kanyakubja after defeating a chief named Gopala. His jurisdiction extended almost over the whole of the present Uttar Pradesh including this district. Chandradeva was succeeded by Madanpala. However, he ruled for a very short period. Madanapala was succeeded by hit son Govindachandra. Two copper plate grants of Govindachandra, dated respectively Samvat 1161, or A. D. 1104, and Samvat 1174 or 1117 A. D. have been found in village Bisahi, two miles north-east of tahsil Bidhuna of the district Another copper plate grant of this king dated Samvat 1166 or A. D. 1109 has been found at Rahan in the district. Govindachandra seems to have wielded substantial power in the state while he was only a "juvaraja" or crown prince. He defeated the invading bands of Muslims sometimes before 1109 A. D., for the Rahan plate records that he "again and again by the play of his matchless fighting" compelled the Hammira (i e. Amir) to "lay aside his enmity". The Rahan plate further described Govindachandra as "terrific" in cleaving the frontal gloves of arrays of irresistible mighty large elephants from Gauda", which shows that Govindachandra must have made some encroachments in Magadha. In short, Govindachandra made himself a considerable power and under him the glories of this region revised. Govindachandra was succeeded by his son Vijayachandra sometimes in 1155 A. D. Like his father, Vijayachandra also successfully faced Muslim agressions. By the very beginning of the reign of Vijayachandra an unmistakable symptom of decline of the Gahadavala power manifested itself in the loss of Delhi. The full significance of this loss was realised when, about a generation later, the Muslims attacked Delhi region and occupied it, rendering the Gahadavala frontier practically defenceless. Vijayachandra was succeeded by his son Jaichandra in 1170 A. D. He may be described as the last great king of the Gahadavala dynasty, whose power and extensive jurisdiction struck even Muslim historians. During the reign of Jaichandra, the Chauhans. who starting from their territories in Ajmer had annexed Delhi and were at this time bidding for supremacy in the North under the vigorous rule of Prathviraja III. Towards the .south there were the Chandellas whose power at this time was at its height. Apart from this, there were repeated Muslim invasions in North-western India which had already threatened the unity of India The most important event of his region was the celebration of the Swayamvara of his daughter Sanyogita, who was however, carried away by force, in the midst of the ceremonies by Prithviraja. Perhaps, this was the cause which sowed the seed of enemity between these two northern monarrmes. Though there is no reliable evidence of conflict between these two kings, its quite probable that they were positively hostile to each other, lack of sympathy between these two kings is show by their mutual non-cooperation on the eve of the final conquest of India by the Muslims, led by Mohammad Gohori.

Monuments

The size and scale of the ancient town can be gauged from the fact that existing ruins extend over the lands of five villages, occupying a semicircle fully 4 miles in diameter. While no historic Hindu structures remain intact, the "great mosque", constructed by Ibrahim Shah of Jaunpur in 1406 out of the remains of demolished Hindu temples, is still known to Hindus as "Sita's Kitchen". Brahmins in Bengal and Assam trace their origin to a migration southwards from this city in the 9th and 10th centuries.

Geography

Kannauj is located at ^[2]. It has an average elevation of 139 metres (456 feet).

Demographics

As of 2001^[update] India census^[3], Kannauj had a population of 71,530. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Kannauj has an average literacy rate of 58%, lower than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 64%, and female literacy is 52%. In Kannauj, 15% of the population is under 6 years of age.

References

External links

• District Kannauj Website.

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.