| Voice of Kaushambi

Kaushambi District
Area, Population & Sex Ratio
Geographical Area : 1835.9 Km2
Population in Kaushambi (Census 2011)
Total Population
Total : 1,596,909
Male : 838,095
Female : 758,814
Under 6 population
Total : 263,467
Male : 136,764
Female : 126,703
Disabled population
Total disabled population : 23409
In seeing : 12395
In speech : 1548
In hearing : 680
In movement : 7124
Mental : 1662
Rank ( VoiceOfBharat.org Analysis
)
Backwardness : 218
Sex Ratio Rank : 139
(Rank one is least sex ratio - Cenus 2001)
HIV Category District : C
(HIV Sentinel Surveillance 2004 -2006)
Disability : 390 (Census 2001)
Literacy Ratio : 533 (Census 2001)
Minority : Does not figure in MCD
Brief About Kaushambi District
The present Kaushambi district was carved out of Allahabad district
on 4th April 1997. The District Headquarter, Manjhanpur
is situated in the south-west of the Allahabad on the north bank
of the Yamuna river,about 55 km away from Allahabad. It is surrounded
by the districts Chitrakoot in the south, Pratapgarh in the north,
Allahabad in the east & Fatehpur in the west.
According
to the Paramatthajyotika, the commentary on the Suttanipata, Kaushambi
was the hermitage of the sage Kosamba, after whom it came to be
known by that name. Buddhaghosa records that Kausambi was so named
because in course of founding the city, a large number of Kusamba
trees were uprooted. Buddhaghosa seems to echo a tradition also
known to the Jainas, though in a slightly different version. According
to the Jain Vividha-tirthe-kalpa Kaushambi was so called because
it abounded in Kusamba trees.
According
to the Puranas, Nicaksu, the sixth in line from Pariksita, transferred
his capital from Hastinapura to Kaushambi, as Hastinapura was ravaged
by flood, invasion of locusts and upheavals in the Kuru family itself.
Evidently, according to the legend, the city of Kaushambi was important
enough to be selected as the new capital of the scion of the Pandavas.
The legend, thus corroborates the antiquity of the city as recorded
in the Brahmanas, Mahabharata and Ramayana.
During
Buddha’s time Kaushambi was one of the six most important and prosperous
towns of India. It was a nerve center of ancient Indian communications
as the principal routes from north to south and east to west met
at the city. It was a terminus of river traffic and an important
emporium of Madhyadesa. The city retained its importance at least
up to the sixth century A.D.,as it was visited by the Chinese pilgrims
Fa-Hien and Yuan-Chwang.
The
ruins of the well-known site of Kaushambi (25o20’ 30”N.,
81o23’12”E.) are situated on the left blank of the river
Yamuna at a distance of 51.2 km from Allahabad in a south-westerly
direction. The remains of the ancient city viewed from a distance
give the impression of an imposing hillock, which, when approached
nearer, reveals itself as a chain of rolling mounds, standing
high above the surrounding plains, girdled on the south by the Yamuna.
The Vindhyan range across the horizon at not a great distance beyond
the river Yamuna provides the southern frame of the Panorama.
The
chain of mounds has a peripheral circuit of about 6.45 km. The rampart
proper has an average height of 9 to 10 meters from the surrounding
from the field-level. The towers or the bastions, however, are considerably
higher, those in the north-western corners being as high as 21.33m.
The fortified city forms an irregular oblong on the plan. The city
was provided with gates on three sides-east, west and north. The
location of the southern gate can not be determined on account of
the erosion caused by the Yamuna. Besides the bastions, gates and
sub-gates, the city was encircled on three sides by a moat, which,
though filed up at places, it still discernible on the northern
side. At some points, however, there is evidence of more than one
moat. The defences of Kaushambi betray an advanced knowledge of
fortification. At places the gates are provided with curtain-walls
on the outside, the same being best illustrated near the eastern
gate.
The
entire city, thus encircled by the rampart wall and moat, is littered
with a huge mass of brickbats indicating the density of structures
in the city. With the passage of time, The habitation levels inside
the city went on rising and an approximate thickness of 17m of habitation
deposit furnishes the vertical record of city’s life and antiquity.
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