| Voice of Kannauj : Ajay
Pandey
In kannauj farmers cultivate potatoes to earn their living. Due
to lack of knowledge about the market farmers do not earn good profits.
Many farmers in our district are very poor. Government should keep
a check on the amount of chemical fertilizers used. People here
are entangled in the vicious circle of poverty. There are no factories
or industries in our district, so unemployment is on a higher side.
For rural development government should bring in small industries
so that people have enough employment opportunities. People migrate
to various Metros in search of jobs. Women and children work in
Beedi factories. Children are deprived of education and Beedi making
affects the health of the women.
Kannauj District
Area, Population & Sex Ratio
Geographical Area : 1994.5 Km2
Population in Kannauj (Census 2011)
Total Population
Total : 1,658,005
Male : 882,546
Female : 775,459
Under 6 population
Total : 251,533
Male : 132,588
Female : 118,945
Disabled population
Total disabled population : 25416
In seeing : 10183
In speech : 1728
In hearing : 1088
In movement : 10370
Mental : 2047
Rank ( VoiceOfBharat.org Analysis
)
Backwardness : 361
Sex Ratio Rank : 75
(Rank one is least sex ratio - Cenus 2001)
HIV Category District : C
(HIV Sentinel Surveillance 2004 -2006)
Disability : 370 (Census 2001)
Literacy Ratio : 338 (Census 2001)
Minority : Does not figure in MCD
Water : Flouride in Groundwater above permissible limits
Brief About Kannauj District
Kannauj is one among the most ancient
place of India having rich archeological and cultural heritage,
The ancient name of this place is Kanyakubja or Mahodya (as per
Balmiki Ramayana, Mahabharat and Puran) later name kanyakubja was
changed as Kannauj the present name of the District.
The early history of the region now
covered by the present district of Kannauj goes back to remote
antiquity. During the Bronze age numerous pre historical weapons
and tools were find here. Large numbers of stone statues are found
here. Kannauj can claim great antiquity in sculpture. The Aryans
settled in this region who were close allies of Kurus. The
traditional history of the district from the earliest times till
the end of The Mahabharata war is gleaned from the Puranas &
Mahabharata
'Amavasu' founded a kingdom, the capital
of which later was Kanyakubja (Kannauj). Jahnu was a powerful king
since 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 it was here that
the famous Svayamvara of Draupadi. The name Panchala being used
for the entire region, of which Kampilya (Kampil) was the chief
city which has till then been the capital of South Panchala.
Panchala figures as the tenth in the
list of the sixteen premier states (Mahajanpada) in the time of
Mahavira and Buddha and is said to have comprised the region covered
by the present districts of Bareily , Badaun and Farrukhabad. About
the middle of the fourth century B.C., probably in the reign of
Mahapadma, this territory was annexed to the Nanda empire of Magadha.
Ashoka also built a monolithic pillar at Sankisa, which was noticed
by the Chinese traveller, Fa-hien. A large number of coins were
found at places like Mathura and Kannauj and in Panchala region
which are supposed to be associated with the Mitra rulers. The basis
of the coins are generally believed to have flourished between C.100
B.C. and C.200 A.D.
Kannauj was a famous and important
city in the second century is also attested to by its mention under
the name of Kangora or Kanogiza by the geographer, Ptolemy (C.140
A.D.). The present district of Farrukhabad shared the fruits of
the golden age of the Guptas and contributed much towards its peace
and prosperity.
Fa-hien, the Chinese pilgrim visited
Kannauj between 399 and 414 A.D., during the reign of Chandragupta
II. Fa-hien spent his retreat at the Dragon-Shrine and when it was
over he travelled seven yojanas to the south-east, which brought
him to Kannauj. Sankisa was one of the greatest Buddhist pilgrims
centre at the time of Fa-hien's visit. Fa-hien remarks "This country
is very productive and the people are flourishing and happy beyond
compare. When man of other nations come, care is taken of all of
them and they are provided with what they require". There was a
renewed invasion of the Hunas with far greater success. After this,
Harivarman appears to have been the founder of the Maukhari house
of Kannauj. Harsha also advanced towards Kannauj. The Chinese pilgrim,
Hiuen Tsang, visited Kannauj in 643 A.D.. There were 100 Buddhist
Monasteries with more than 10000 priests. A religious assembly was
also held here by Harsha. Hiuen Tsang mentions Kah-Pi-Ta (Kapitha,
identified with Sankisa) as the other important place of the district.
The close of the 10th century was marked
by the Muslim invasion of India. Rajyapala was the ruler of Kannauj
when Mahmud of Ghazni attacked India. After sacking Mathura, Mahmud
proceeded towards Kannauj in 1018 A.D. He saw "a city which raised
its head to the skies and which in strength and beauty might boast
of being unrivalled." Mahmud captured all the seven forts of Kannauj
in 1019 A.D.
An inscription of the Chalukya dynasty
of Lata, dated 1050 A.D. associates the Rashtrakuta dynasty with
Kannauj. During 1089-90 A.D. Chandradeva the first Gahadavala king
of Kannauj ruled and have protected the sacred places of Kushika
(Kannauj). Kannauj once more recovered a large measure of its old
importance during 1114 A.D. to 1154 . During the reign of Chauhans
(1170-1194 A.D.) Kannauj became powerful and annexed to Delhi. Kannauj
(Jaichandra's capital) was the scene of Svayamvara of his daughter
Samyogita, who was carried off by Prithviraj III. Mohammad Ghauri
invaded India and killed Jaichandra in 1193 A.D.
Jaichand's son, Harichandra continued
to occupy Kannauj even after 1193 A.D. The Muslim supremacy over
the kingdom was perplexing or abhorrent to him and so he discreetly
omitted any specific reference to Harichandra or his Muslims overlord.
In 1233-34 Iltutmish ordered the Kannauj Garrison to join the imperial
forces in an expedition against Kalinjar. In 1244, The district
of Kannauj was conferred by the dissolute Alauddin Masaud on his
uncle Jalaluddin for his maintenance. The royal forces reached Kannauj
and besieged the fort of Balsandah. This fortress was very strong
and the royal forces returned with immense booty.
Ghiasuddin Balban, who then possessed
the Delhi throne, (1268-87) marched towards this region and divided
the whole area into a number of military commands. At each of these
place he erected forts,garrisoned with seasoned Afghan troops. Balban
himself remained in the vicinity for many months. Ziauddin Barani
writes "Sixty years have passed since these events, but the roads
have ever since been free from robbers." In 1290 Jalaluddin Firoz
Khalji visited the fort of Bhojapur and is believed to have built
bridge across the Ganga near the fort. In 1346-47 Muhammad Tughlaq
went on another expedition on to this region and reach Sargdaori.
In 1392, after a gap of about forty five years, this region was
once again up in arms against the imperial authority of this area.
In collusion with the Chauhans and Solankhis of the surrounding
tracts, the Rajputs of this area broke out in open rebellion. In
1394, the suspected outbreak of another rebellion in this region,
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, Khizr Khan (whom Timur had
left in charge of his possessions in India) occupied the throne
of Delhi and inaugurated the rule of Saiyid dynasty. Immediately
after his accession in 1423, Mubarak Shah Saiyid marched to Kampil
to suppress the Rajputs of the place.
On Sikandar Lodhi's death in 1517,
his son, Ibrahim, became emperor. He reached Kannauj where he was
greeted by Azam Humayun Sarvani, the governor of Kannauj. The result
was that several Afghan chiefs willingly joined and Kannauj became
a fief under the sovereignty of the Mughals. Kannauj appears to
have been recovered by Afghans. In 1527 Babar mobilised his forces
against the rebel chief of Chanderi. Babar now captured 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 and gave
the ambitious Sher Shah Suri a free hand to prosecute his designs
in the east. In July 1537, he entrusted the government of Kannauj
to his brother-in-law Nur-ud-din Mohammad. Sher Shah Suri now cut
off Humayun's communication with Delhi while the desertion of Hindal
and Nur-ud-din (governor of Kannauj) completely blocked Humayun
from all sides. Humayun fled across the river to Mainpuri and later
in 1543 left India for Kandahar.
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." In 1555 the Afghans were over thrown and
the power of the Mughals was once again established by Humayun,
who returned India after 12 years but he died soon in January 1556
and he was succeeded by his son Akbar. Kannauj was the headquarter
of a Sirkar containing 30 Mahals. Kampil, Saurikh, Sakrawa, Sakatpur
and Kannauj of Akbar's time have also retained their old names except
Kannauj. In 1592 Kannauj was given to Muzaffar Hussain Mirza, but
he proved to be a drunkard and was soon deprived.
In 1610, Jahangir (1605-27) granted
the government of Kannauj to Abdurrahim, the son of great Bairam.
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