Muzaffarnagar District
Encyclopedia
Muzaffarnagar district is a district
Districts of Uttar Pradesh
The Indian state of Uttar Pradesh borders with Nepal and the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttarakhand and National Capital Territory of Delhi. The Himalayas lies in the north of the state and the Deccan Plateau is at the south...

 of Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...

 state in northern India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. It is part of Saharanpur division
Saharanpur Division
Saharanpur division is an administrative geographical unit of Uttar Pradesh state of India. The city of Saharanpur is the administrative headquarters of the division.- Administrative jurisdiction :...

. The town of Muzaffarnagar
Muzaffarnagar
Muzaffarnagar is a major city and a municipal board in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city was established in Mughal period by a Sayyid Jagirdar, Munawar Lashkar Ali, and so named in honour of his father, Muzaffar Ali Khan. It is the headquarters of the Muzaffarnagar district. It is a...

 is the district headquarters.

Communication

Muzaffarnagar District is situated in the Western Region of Uttar Pradesh, 120 km. from Delhi. It lies on National Highway No. 58, Delhi to Dehradun. Muzaffarnagar District is well connected by the rail and road network.

Ancient period

Muzaffarnagar district, situated in the fertile Doab
Doab
A Doab is a term used in India and Pakistan for a "tongue" or tract of land lying between two confluent rivers...

 region of Yamuna
Yamuna
The Yamuna is the largest tributary river of the Ganges in northern India...

 and Ganges rivers, was suitable for human habitation in ancient times. The earliest settlement discovered in this district is in Mandi village and belongs to the Harappan civilization; it appears that this Janapada was a part of Harappa
Harappa
Harappa is an archaeological site in Punjab, northeast Pakistan, about west of Sahiwal. The site takes its name from a modern village located near the former course of the Ravi River. The current village of Harappa is from the ancient site. Although modern Harappa has a train station left from...

 civilisation, for the pots and pans and other objects, which are of the type of that era, are seen occasionally in use here and in neighbouring villages. The area witnessed the arrival of Aryans from the present Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...

 and, in the Ramayana
Ramayana
The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...

-Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....

 epic period, it was considered a part of the Kuru (East) Mahajanapada territory; Usinara and Panchala Mahajanapadas were its eastern neighbours then. According to a local tradition, the legendary Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....

 war - between the Kauravas and the Pandavas - was fought in the fields of the present village of 'Pachenda' and their army camps were located respectively at the sites now famous as 'Kaurawali' and 'Pandavli'. Being close to Hasthinapur and Kurukshetra
Kurukshetra
Kurukshetra is a land of historical and religious importance. Historically the land belonged to Punjab now a district in Haryana state of India. It is a holy place and is also known as Dharmakshetra . According to the Puranas, Kurukshetra is named after King Kuru, the ancestor of Kauravas and...

, it should have been important during Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....

 period. It was probably on a trade route as some Greco
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...

-Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 coins have also been excavated. Further archeological excavations are in progress. Most of the empire building invasions, from the east and the west, across the vast swathe of Gangetic plains of India, passed through Muzaffarnagar/Saharanpur regions. However, not much reliable information is known.

Medieval period

Muzaffarnagar's early medieval history is obscure till the Indo-Mughal period. Timur
Timur
Timur , historically known as Tamerlane in English , was a 14th-century conqueror of West, South and Central Asia, and the founder of the Timurid dynasty in Central Asia, and great-great-grandfather of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Dynasty, which survived as the Mughal Empire in India until...

's army had marched to Delhi through this region in 1399; its people fought it unsuccessfully. In Mughal
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire ,‎ or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...

 Emperor Akbar's time, most of the Muzaaffarnagar district region, called Sarwat then, belonged to the sarkar (cercle) of Saharanpur. Akbar bestowed pargana
Pargana
A pargana is a former administrative unit of the Indian subcontinent, used primarily, but not exclusively, by the Muslim kingdoms.Parganas were introduced by the Delhi Sultanate, and the word is of Persian origin. As a revenue unit, a pargana consists of several mouzas, which are the smallest...

 of Sarwat on Sayyid Mahmud Khan Kundliwal which remained with his descendants up to 17th century. After killing Peer Khan Lodi styled as Khan Jahan lodi, Shahjahan bestowed title of deceased Peer Khan Lodhi and Pargana of Sarwat on Sayyid Muzaffar Ali Khan, whose son Munawar Lashkar Ali established the town and named it Muzaffarnagar in honour of his father, and Sarwat also became Muzaffarnagar. The history of this district remained closely associated with these Sayyid rulers. It was the birthplace of the Sayyid Brothers, Hasan and Abdullah, famous as king makers in Mughal history.
Marathas rose as power who control most of doab region in 18th century.

Colonial period

The last of the invaders were the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, who marched into it from the east and, in 1803, the expanding British East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...

 occupied the region of Saharanpur
Saharanpur
Saharanpur is a city and a Municipal Corporation in the state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India. It is the administrative headquarters of Saharanpur District as well as Saharanpur Division...

, which included the present Muzaffarnagar district. This district's boundaries and jurisdiction changed frequently and its separate existence may be said to start from 1826. When North India rebelled against British occupation in 1857, Muzaffarnagar region was part of this uprising, now referred to as the First War of Indian Independence. The centre of revolt operations was Shamli
Shamli
Shamli is a city, tehsil and now a district headquarters in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located on the Delhi - Saharanpur highway. It is around 100 km from Delhi, 38 km from Panipat and 65 km from Saharanpur...

, which was liberated for some time. After the uprising failed, British retribution was severe here, with a large scale massacre of freedom fighters in Shamli and of their Rohillas Pathan supporters in Thanabhavan and nearby, crippling the region completely. However, the covert spirit of self-rule survived and in 1899 an office of the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...

 was opened in Muzaffarnagar city, to continue the freedom struggle through peaceful means. Muzaffarnagar's prominent freedom fighters of this period are: Pt. Sunder Lal, Lala Hardayal, Shri Shanti Narayan and Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan
Liaquat Ali Khan
For other people with the same or similar name, see Liaqat Ali Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan was a Pakistani statesman who became the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Defence minister and Commonwealth, Kashmir Affairs...

, who became the first prime minister of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

, after the partition of British India in 1947, Haji Ahmad Bakhsh, who became MLA for 1957-1967 was a prominent freedom fighter who lost his son while he was in jail during freedom struggle. he could not attend the burial of his only son because British jailor did not permit him to go without maafinaama. when he refused to give maafinaama he was penalized by 50 kodas on his back.

Legends

Several legends have formed in this district around a number of devotional/religion places, e.g. Sukartal, Kharad etc. In the village of Kharad, there are two famous temples of Maa (Hindu Mother goddess) Shakubari Devi and Maa Sitla Devi. Another part of this village, known as the 'Forest', also has its own legends and is famous as the place of Gods and Sages. It is believed that in this forest, a saint, Sant Baba Gopal Giri, worshipped gods and goddesses and he was rewarded with a formula to get alive after death. Some old people say that, there are such medicines in this forest that can make alive any dead body, as happened in the times of Baba Gopal Giri. It is believed that in his sleep, Baba Gopal Giri had a dream that Maa Shakumbri Devi desires to stay in this forest. After this, the Baba took donations from nearby villagers and made the temple of Maa Shakumbri Devi. On completion of the temple, Goddess Shakumbri Devi made it her abode and the Baba fell dead.

Geography

Muzaffarnagar district is roughly rectangular in shape, lying between north latitude 29º 11' 30" and 29º 45' 15" and east longitude 77º 3' 45" and 78º 7'. Its total area is 4049 km2. The greatest length of district, from east to west, is 97.6 km, and its greatest breadth, from north to south, 57.6 km; the average length and breadth are about 85 km and 50 km respectively. It has an average elevation of 232 metres. The district is covered by two major holy rivers from two sides; in the east there is the Ganges and in the west there is the Yamuna. The Yamuna and Ganges rivers separate it from the neighbouring districts, (Karnal
Karnal
Karnal is an important city and the headquarters of Karnal District in the Indian state of Haryana.Karnal is said to have been founded by the Kauravas in the Mahabharata era for the king Karna, a mythological hero and a key figure in the epic tale...

, Haryana
Haryana
Haryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...

) to its west and (Bijnor
Bijnor
Bijnor variously spelt as Bijnaur and Bijnour, is a city and a municipal board in Bijnor district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India...

, Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...

) to the east, respectively; Saharanpur and Meerut districts are to its north and south.

The district is divided into 14 blocks, these are:
Sr. No. Block Name Sr. No. Block Name
1 Kookra 8 Budhana
2 Bhagra 9 Shahpur
3 Purkazi 10 Kandla
4 Chatrawal 11 Kairana
5 Morna 12 Un
6 Jansath 13 Shamli
7 Khatauli 14 Thanabhavan

Demographics

According to the 2011 census
2011 census of India
The 15th Indian National census was conducted in two phases, houselisting and population enumeration. Houselisting phase began on April 1, 2010 and involved collection of information about all buildings...

 Muzaffarnagar district has a population
Demographics of India
The demographics of India are inclusive of the second most populous country in the world, with over 1.21 billion people , more than a sixth of the world's population. Already containing 17.5% of the world's population, India is projected to be the world's most populous country by 2025, surpassing...

 of 4,138,605, roughly equal to the nation of Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

 or the US state of Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

. This gives it a ranking of 49th in India (out of a total of 640
Districts of India
A district is an administrative division of an Indian state or territory. Districts are further subdivided, in some cases into Sub-Divisions, and otherwise directly into tehsils or talukas.District officials include:...

). The district has a population density of 1033 PD/sqkm . Its population growth rate
Family planning in India
Family planning in India is based on efforts largely sponsored by the Indian government. In the 1965-2009 period, contraceptive usage has more than tripled and the fertility rate has more than halved , but the national fertility rate is still high enough to cause long-term population growth...

 over the decade 2001-2011 was 16.8 %. Muzaffarnagar has a sex ratio
Sex ratio
Sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population. The primary sex ratio is the ratio at the time of conception, secondary sex ratio is the ratio at time of birth, and tertiary sex ratio is the ratio of mature organisms....

 of 886 females
Women in India
The status of women in India has been subject to many great changes over the past few millennia. From equal status with men in ancient times through the low points of the medieval period, to the promotion of equal rights by many reformers, the history of women in India has been eventful...

 for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate
Literacy in India
Literacy in India is key for socio-economic progress, and the Indian literacy rate grew to 74.04% in 2011 from 12% at the end of British rule in 1947. Although this was a greater than sixfold improvement, the level is well below the world average literacy rate of 84%, and India currently has the...

 of 70.11 %.

As per the 2001 census figures, Muzaffarnagar district's population, is 9,45,768 - males 3,839,300 and females 1,645,300 - and the number of literates is 173,530 - males 109,630 and females 63,9000. It has a majority of Muslims and a large population of Hindu. Sikhs, Christians and Jains are other communities present.

Minority population is about 37% of the total population of the district. Muzaffarnagar is a category "B1" district i.e. having socio-economic parameters below the national average.

Economy

Muzaffarnagar is an important industrial
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...

 district with sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...

, steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...

 and paper
Paper
Paper is a thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon, drawing or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....

 being the major products
Product (business)
In general, the product is defined as a "thing produced by labor or effort" or the "result of an act or a process", and stems from the verb produce, from the Latin prōdūce ' lead or bring forth'. Since 1575, the word "product" has referred to anything produced...

. It has 11 sugar mills such as Tikaula Sugar Mills & Distilleries run by Mr. Nirankar Swarup s/o Shri Somansh Prakash which receive produce from district and the surrounding region; more than 70% of its population is engaged in agriculture. The Muzaffarnagar market
Market
A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...

 of Jaggery
Jaggery
Jaggery is a traditional unrefined non-centrifugal whole cane sugar consumed in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. It is a concentrated product of cane juice without separation of the molasses and crystals, and can vary from golden brown to dark brown in color...

 (heat-dried sugar-cane juice, called 'Gud' in local language) is the largest in the world. There are a number of steel plants viz. Rana Steels, Barnala Steels, U.P Steels, Sidhbali Steels etc. A very famous resort at Delhi Dehradun highway Grand Cheetal. Some state of the art centers for health, like Dr. Tarique Salim's Max Relief near Almaspur Chauraha.

Cultural life

Culturally, it is part of Western Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...

, with Indo-Islamic flavour. The older parts of the city have a Mughal feel, many monuments of Mughal period are spread in the villages and towns of this district. Jansath Tehsil, about 22 km from district headquarters, has many Havelies (grand mansions) of the Sayyids: Sheeshmahal, Killi Darwaja etc. are a few of them.

"Jansath House" is an old palatial bangalow situated at Ansari Road, owned by senior advocate Sh Jamil Ahmad, this bangalow was earlier owned by Sayyid Brothers of Jansath. Maulana Iftikharul Hassan saheb of Kandhla on his visit to city stay at this bangalow and give his sermons here.

Bahoro Ka Mandir, situated on Ansari Road, Muzaffarnagar is a very quiet spiritual place to spend time as very few people visit it. The special thing about this temple is its Ekadash Shivalinga (eleven Shivlingas). The peculirity of this temple is that it is birth place of a great saint Shree 1008 Narayan Swami Ji.

Vahelna
Vahelna
Vahelna is a small village in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, India. This village is situated on the outskirts of Muzaffarnagar just 4 km away from the city. It has created an important landmark in the history of Muzaffarnagar...

, 4 km from the city, is a holy site for Jains. Vahelna is an excellent example of Hindu-Muslim brotherhood as the walls of Mosque, Shiv Mandir and Jain Mandir touch each other.





World famous Muslim cleric and author of books on Islamic jurisprudence, Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi is from Thana Bhawan of this District. Founder of tablighi Jamaat Movement Maulana Ilyas is from Kandhla in Muzaffarnagar district. Writer of Fazail e AAmal is also from the same Kandhla.





Famous Hindi writer Vishnu Prabhakar is from Mirapur in Muzaffarnagar.

Education

There are two medical colleges and five engineering colleges in this district. There are three or four management colleges and eight degree colleges in the city. The educational resources of Muzaffarnagar are very good. The city is rapidly developing its educational system.

D.A.V. (PG) College, Muzaffarnagar is a well known Science college in this region. It has also been selected by the UP Government as one of the best three colleges of Uttar Pradesh. The College awards these degrees: BCA, BBA, B.Sc.- Biotechnology, M.Sc.- Biotechnology, M.Sc.- Microbiology and M.Sc.- Biochemistry.

The city also has a Medical College Muzaffarnagar Medical College
Muzaffarnagar Medical College
Muzaffarnagar Medical College is a emerging Institution of Medical Sciences in Western UP. It is providing low cost health care to the sorrounding rural areas of District Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Saharanpur & other nearby areas.-Location:...

 situated on Merrut-Muzaffarnagar Highway nearly 10 km on the outskirts of the city which is affiliated to CCS
CCS
-Geosynthetics:*Cellular confinement systems , a honeycombed geosythethetic matrix filled with granular material used for soil confinement, stabilization and reinforcement.-Places:*Abbreviation for Caracas, Venezuela....

 university & approved by Medical Council of India
Medical Council of India
The Medical Council of India was the statutory body for maintenance of uniform and high standards of medical education in India. The Council grants recognition of medical qualifications, gives accreditation to medical colleges, grants registration to medical practitioners, and monitors medical...

. Along with M.B.B.S, this college is offering various other courses.

Up to 12th education, there are several good schools like Holy Angel's Convent school, S.D. public School, Bhagwanti saraswati vidya mandir, D.A.V Public school, S.D. inter college, G.C. public school, M.G. Public school, Lala Jagdish Prasad saraswati vidya mandir inter college etc.

phulat is 5 km far from khatauli tehsil this place is well known by lot wali's and this village also participate in 1857 revolution for freedom of India, evenladies also take part in revolution.

External links

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