Aligarh (; formerly known as Allygarh, and Kol) is a city in the state of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district, and lies northwest of state capital

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and divisio ...

and approximately southeast of the capital,

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the NCT Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati B ...

. The districts which adjoin Aligarh are Gautam Buddha Nagar, Bulandshahr, Sambhal,

Badaun Budaun is commonly pronounced Badayun is a city and a seat of Budaun district, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located near the Ganges river in the centre of Western Uttar Pradesh. Budaun was the capital of Delhi Sultanate for four years from 121 ...

, Kasganj, Hathras, Etah and

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the states and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the to ...

. As of 2011, Aligarh is the 53rd most populous city in

. The

recorded history Recorded history or written history describes the historical events that have been recorded in a written form or other documented communication which are subsequently evaluated by historians using the historical method. For broader world hi ...

of Aligarh begins with the establishment of the Aligarh Fort in the 16th century. It is a university town, notable as the seat of

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...

, which was founded here as Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College in 1875, initiating the Aligarh Movement.

History

Written references to the city commence only from 12th century onward; however, archeological records suggest that the town used to be inhabited by Jains. The area of Aligarh before the Ghurid conquest of the region, was under the sway of

Dor Rajputs Dor Rajput (also known as Doda) are a Rajput clan of India. In the late tenth century, the Dor Rajputs "seem to have extended their sway" over parts of Northern India, "ruling at first as feudatories of Tomara kings of Delhi", they "became more po ...

in twelfth century. In 1194, Qutb-ud-din Aibak had mounted a successful invasion of the region and Hisam-ud-din Ulbak was installed as the first Muslim governor; court-historian Hasan Nizami noted Kol to be "one of the most celebrated fortresses of Hind". Beginning the 13th century, the place featured — as Kol or Koil — in multiple Persian (as well as non-Persian) Sultanate sources as a center of economic prominence esp. for production of distilled wine. By the mid-13th century, the town commanded enough importance for (would-be Sultan) Ghiyas ud din Balban to erect a minaret. Under the Khiljis and Tughlaqs, the prominence continued unabated; it had become an '' iqta'' by the times of

Alauddin Khalji Alaud-Dīn Khaljī, also called Alauddin Khilji or Alauddin Ghilji (), born Ali Gurshasp, was an emperor of the Khalji dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate in the Indian subcontinent. Alauddin instituted a number of significant administrative ...

. Kol is mentioned in

Ibn Battuta Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battutah (, ; 24 February 13041368/1369),; fully: ; Arabic: commonly known as Ibn Battuta, was a Berber Maghrebi scholar and explorer who travelled extensively in the lands of Afro-Eurasia, largely in the Muslim ...

's '' Rihla'', when Ibn Battuta, along with 15 ambassadors representing Ukhaantu Khan, emperor of the

Mongol The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...

Chinese

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongols, Mongol-led Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Division of the M ...

, travelled to Kol city en route to the coast at Cambay (in

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the nin ...

) in 1341. According to Battuta, it would appear that the district was then in a very disturbed state since the escort of the Emperor's embassy had to assist in relieving

Jalali Jalali may refer to: People * Jalali (surname) Places * Jalali, Uttar Pradesh, a town and a nagar panchayat in Aligarh district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India * Jalali, Uttarakhand, a small town situated in Almora district in the state of U ...

from an attacking body of Hindus and lost an officer in the fight. Ibn Batuta calls Kol "a fine town surrounded by mango groves". From these same groves the environs of Kol would appear to have acquired the name ''Sabzabad'' or "the green country". In the reign of

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, H ...

, Kol was made a Sirkar and included the ''dasturs'' of Marahra, Kol ba Haveli, Thana Farida and Akbarabad. Akbar and

Jahangir Nur-ud-Din Muhammad Salim (30 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was the fourth Mughal Emperor, who ruled from 1605 until he died in 1627. He was named after the Indian Sufi saint, Salim Chishti. Ea ...

visited Kol on hunting expeditions. Jahangir clearly mentions the forest of Kol, where he killed wolves. During the time of Ibrahim Lodhi, Muhammad, son of Umar, was the governor of Kol. He built a fort at Kol and named the city Muhammadgarh, after himself, in 1524–25. Sabit Khan, who was then the governor of this region, rebuilt the old Lodhi fort and named the town Sabitgarh, after himself. The ruler of Koil was Bargujar King Bahadur Singh who, in 1753, rose against the destruction of Hindu temples. The Jat ruler,

Surajmal Suraj Mal (13 February 1707 – 25 December 1763) was a Jat ruler of Bharatpur in present-day state of Rajasthan. Under him, the Jat rule covered the present-day districts of Agra, Aligarh, Bharatpur, Dholpur, Etawa, Hathras, Mainpuri, Ma ...

, with consent of Safdar Jang, occupied the fort of Koil. Bahadur Singh continued the battle from another fort and died fighting in what is known as the "Battle of Ghasera". It was renamed Ramgarh and Rao Durjan Singh Ponia of Bijauli was made the kiledar of the fort. When a Persian Mughal

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the ...

commander, Najaf Khan, captured Ramgarh, he renamed it and gave it its present name of Aligarh. Aligarh Fort (also called Aligarh Qila), as it stands today, was built by French engineers under the control of French officers Benoît de Boigne and Perron.

Battle of Aligarh (1803)

The Battle of Aligarh was fought on 1 September 1803 during the

Second Anglo-Maratha War } The Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1805) was the second conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India. Background The British had supported the "fugitive" Peshwa Raghunathrao in the First Anglo-Maratha W ...

(1803–1805) at Aligarh Fort. The British 76th Regiment, now known as the

Duke of Wellington's Regiment The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, forming part of the King's Division. In 1702, Colonel George Hastings, 8th Earl of Huntingdon, was authorised to raise a new regiment, which he ...

besieged the fort, which was under the control of the French officer Perron, and established British rule. In 1804, the Aligarh district was formed by the union of the second, third and fourth British divisions with the addition of Anupshahr from Muradabad and Sikandra Rao from Etawa. On 1 August 1804, Claude Russell was appointed the first Collector of the new district.

Administration

Aligarh district is divided into five

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

s, namely Kol Tehsil, Khair Tehsil, Atrauli, Gabhana and Iglas. These tehsils are further divided into 12 blocks. The city is administered by Nagar Nigam Aligarh (Municipal Corporation), which is responsible for performing civic administrative functions administered by Mayor and Municipal Commissioner (PCS Officer). Infrastructure development of the city is looked after by the Aligarh Development Authority (ADA) administered by Divisional Commissioner (chairman) and vice-chairman (PCS Officer). Aligarh is the headquarters of Aligarh Police Range and

Aligarh Division Aligarh division, also known as Aligarh-city and Kol, is one of the administrative divisions of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. This division consisted of all the districts of the lower Doab: *Aligarh District *Etah District *Hathras Distr ...

. A DIG looks after Aligarh for legal condition and law; a Commissioner looks for four districts of

(Aligarh, Etah, Hathras, Kasganj).

Demographics

According to the 2011 Census, Aligarh has a total population of 874,408, of which 461,772 are males and 412,636 are females. Population in the age range 0–6 years is 119,543. The literacy rate is 59.15%, of which the male literacy rate is 63.42% and female literacy rate is 54.37%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Aligarh was 68.5%, of which male literacy rate was 62.9% and the female literacy rate was 70.8%The

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

have a population of 138,184 and 332 respectively. There were 147363 households in Aligarh as of 2011. The city lies in the cultural region of

Braj Braj, also known as Vraj, Vraja, Brij or Brijbhoomi, is a region in India on both sides of the Yamuna river with its centre at Mathura- Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh state encompassing the area which also includes Palwal and Ballabhgarh in Har ...

Geography

Location

Aligarh is located at the coordinates . It has an elevation of approximately 178 metres (587 feet). The city is in the middle portion of the doab, the land between the

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

and the Yamuna rivers. The

Grand Trunk Road The Grand Trunk Road (formerly known as Uttarapath, Sarak-e-Azam, Shah Rah-e-Azam, Badshahi Sarak, and Long Walk) is one of Asia's oldest and longest major roads. For at least 2,500 years it has linked Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent ...

passes through it via NH-91 is 134 km from capital of India.

Climate

Aligarh has a hot semi-arid climate ( Köppen ''BSh'') a little too dry to be a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate (''Cwa''). Summers start in April and are hot with temperatures peaking in May. The average temperature range is . The monsoon season starts in late June, continuing until early October, bringing high humidity. Aligarh gets most of its annual rainfall of during these months. Temperatures then decrease, and winter sets in December, and continues until February. Temperatures range between . Winters in Aligarh are generally mild, but 2011–12 experienced the lowest temperature of 1 °C. The fog and cold snaps are extreme.

Economy

The city is an agricultural trade centre. Agricultural product processing and manufacturing are important. Aligarh is an important business center of Uttar Pradesh and is most famous for its lock industry. Aligarh locks are exported across the world. In 1870, Johnson & Co. was the first English lock firm in Aligarh. In 1890, the company initiated production of locks on a small scale here. Aligarh is famous for its brass hardware and sculpture. Today, the city holds thousands of manufacturers, exporters, and suppliers involved in the brass, bronze, iron and aluminum industries. Indian Diecasting Industries which manufactures aluminum and zinc die-casting parts is located at Sasni Gate in Aligarh. Harduaganj Thermal Power Station (also referred as Kasimpur Power House) is 15 km from the city. Narora Atomic Power Station is located 50 km from Aligarh. Aligarh hosts

Heinz The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six contin ...

-sauce manufacturing unit in Manzurgarhi, Satha sugar mill on the Aligarh-Kasimpur Power House route and a cement factory of UltraTech Cement company. Wave Distillery, making Kingfisher beer, is located at Atrauli in Aligarh.

Education

Aligarh is a major educational hub, housing over 100 independent colleges and educational institutions. Notable tertiary institutions include: * ACN College of Engineering and Management Studies * Aligarh College of Engineering and Technology *

* Jamia Al Barkaat Aligarh

Art and craft

Aligarh is associated with an appliqué and

embroidery Embroidery is the craft of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In modern days, embroidery is usually seen ...

art known as ''phool patti ka kaam''.

Locations

Cultural landmarks

Aligarh has several popular landmarks. Most notable few of them are Aligarh fort, Jama Masjid, Khereshwar Temple which is the birthplace of Swami Shri Haridas Ji, Dor fortress (1524), which is now in ruins, lies at the city's centre; its site is in the area now called Upper Fort (Balai Qila) and is occupied by an 18th-century mosque. The area Shah Jamal is very famous for a Sufi saint Syed Shah Jamal is also known as Shamsul Arifeen, of whom the tomb is located at Shahjamal area and surrounded by a graveyard. The Sufi Saint is mentioned by Ibn Battuta in his book ''The Travels of Ibn Battuta''. The saint is said to be of Sufi Chishtiya order. The Annual Cultural Exhibition, popularly known as Numaish, is held at the exhibition ground in January and February. The land Numaish Ground was donated by Nawab Rehmat Ullah Khan Sherwani. The cultural shows take place at three grand stages (Kohinoor, Krishnanjali and Muktakash). In all, more than 150 stage events featuring artists from across

take place during a period of 28–30 days.

Historical places

Shekha Jheel Shekha Bird Sanctuary is a bird sanctuary at a lake near the village of Shekha, east of Aligarh and {{cvt, 5, km from the Grand Trunk Road (GT Road) in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is notable for birding as many birds overwinter the ...

, Bird Sanctuary * Maulana Azad Library, AMU (Estd 1875) * Sir Syed Masjid in

's campus.

Aligarh Muslim University

(AMU) is one of the oldest central universities. It was established by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan as Madrasatul Uloom Musalmanan-e-Hind in 1875–78 which later became Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College (MAO College). It was designed to train Muslims for government services in India and prepare them for advanced training in British universities. The Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College became Aligarh Muslim University in 1920. It is famous for its Law, Medical, and Engineering College.

Museums

Ibn Sina Academy of Medieval Medicine and Sciences maintains 'Museum on History of Medicine and Sciences' and 'Museum on Arts, Culture and Orientalism'. It was established by a family Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman and Syed Ziaur Rahman at the heart of the city and near a busy market of Dodhpur.

Transport

By rail

Aligarh Junction railway station is the primary station for Aligarh city and is a major stop on the Delhi-Kolkata route. It is an A-Class railway station. It is one of the oldest railway station of this route. It connects Aligarh to the states of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the four ...

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sc ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . ...

, north-east and most of Uttar Pradesh, and important stations of cities such as New Delhi railway station, Mumbai Central,

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

, Bhopal Junction railway station, Indore,

Jammu Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi, the city of Jammu, with an area of ...

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the ...

Jhansi Jhansi (; Hindi: झांसी, Urdu: ) is a historic city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It lies in the region of Bundelkhand on the banks of the Pahuj River, in the extreme south of Uttar Pradesh. Jhansi is the administrative ...

Puri Puri () is a coastal city and a municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, south of the state capital of Bhubaneswar. It is also known as ''S ...

Kanpur Central railway station Kanpur Central (formerly known as Cawnpore North Barracks, station code: CNB) is a central and junction railway station in the city of Kanpur and is one of the five central Indian railway stations. It is third busiest in country after Howrah ...

, Etawah Junction railway station, Tundla Junction railway station, Agra Cantonment railway station and

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

. Aligarh railway station handles over 136 trains daily (in both directions) and serves around 204,000 passengers every day. Aligarh has one Branch Railway Line to Bareily. Aligarh City has following railway stations: * Aligarh Junction: an A-Class Railway Station *Somna (Gabhana) railway station *Mahrawal railway station *Kalua railway station *Daudkhan railway station *Mandrak railway station *Harduaganj railway station (Satha, near Kasimpur Power House) *Manjoorgarhi railway station (Chherat)

By road

Aligarh is 140 km from New Delhi. It is one of the Division of UPSRTC. Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) buses serve cities all over the state and cities in

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in the North India, northern part of India. It is often referred to as t ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital city, capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar, and Rewa, India, Rewa being the othe ...

and

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ...

. Aligarh City has three UPSRTC bus stations: *Aligarh Depot(Old Bus Station/Gandhi Park Bus Station) bus station *Masoodabad(esta. 2000) (Budh Vihar Bus Station/New Bus Station/Workshop Bus Station/Raghuveerpuri Bus Station) Depot bus station(non-functional from 2018 to 2021)(now functioning since 2021 post renovation into a well facilitated Bus Station) *ISBT Rasualabad Sarsaul (New Bus Station/Sootmill Bus Station)(functioning since 2018 due to sudden non-functioning of Massodabaad Bus Station during 2018-2021 period) There are buses plying from Aligarh to Delhi at frequent intervals via 1) Khair, Tappal, Palval, Faridabad, Delhi - The route is under construction between Khair and Palval and should be strictly avoided by cars. No toll charges. 2) Khair, Tappal, Yamuna expressway, Noida, Greater Noida, Delhi, Gurgaon - Best and recommended route for Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon. Toll Charges are ₹120 between Aligarh and Delhi. 3) Old GT Road, Bulandshahr, Ghaziabad, Delhi - NH 91 - It is a 4-lane highway. Toll charges are ₹190. Following Highways are connected to Aligarh: * National Highway 91 - It connects

to national capital

. Ghaziabad-Bulandshahr-Aligarh section is a 4-Lane Highway. *

National Highway 93 Route 93 or Highway 93 can refer to: International * European route E93 Australia - Victoria Canada * Alberta Highway 93 * British Columbia Highway 93 * Newfoundland and Labrador Route 93 * Ontario Highway 93 China * G93 Chengyu Ring Exp ...

- It connects Moradabad to Taj Nagri

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...

via Aligarh. Aligarh-Agra section is constructed as Brijbhoomi Expressway. * Yamuna Expressway - It is a 6-Lane Expressway connecting Greater Noida with Agra. Aligarh City has Mahanagar Bus Service (City Bus Service) which provides local transport to Aligarh. *Route-1 J N Medical-Uperkot *Route-2 Gandhi Park-Sarsaul *Route-3 Ghantarbagh-Quarsi *Route-4 Gandhi Park-Boner *Route-5 Etah Chungi-Collectrate Apart from this an Electronic Bus Service has been running within the city since January 2022.

By air

The nearest international airport from Aligarh is

Indira Gandhi International Airport Indira Gandhi International Airport is the primary international airport serving Delhi, the capital of India, and the National Capital Region (NCR). The airport, spread over an area of , is situated in Palam, Delhi, southwest of the New De ...

. It is 140 km from Aligarh. Aligarh Airport, in Dhanipur, is under construction on NH 91. Dhanipur Air Strip is used as Flying Club. The Government of Uttar Pradesh signed a memorandum of understanding with the Airports Authority of India in February 2014 for the development of the airport. The land acquisition for airport will be initiated soon and after its development flight operations will be started under regional connectivity scheme.

Notable people

Businessmen and entrepreneurs

* Sheela Gautam, founder of Sheela Foam Limited-Sleepwell. * Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder of Paytm

Educationalists

* Ziauddin Ahmad, mathematician, M.L.A. (Central), Vice-Chancellor of

Movement. He established several institution including J.N. Medical College *

Roshan Ara Bokhari Roshan Ara Bokhari is a Pakistani dancer and dance choreographer. She was born in Aligarh in 1934. Bokhari's mother is Main Abdul Aziz and she inherited a love for dance and music from her family. Early life Bokhari started her early education ...

, dancer, choreographer and dance teacher * Masud Husain Khan, linguist, the fifth Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia and the first Professor Emeritus in Social Sciences at

Syed Ahmad Khan Sir Syed Ahmad Khan KCSI (17 October 1817 – 27 March 1898; also Sayyid Ahmad Khan) was an Indian Muslim reformer, philosopher, and educationist in nineteenth-century British India. Though initially espousing Hindu-Muslim unity, h ...

founder of

Writers, poets and publishers

A.R. Akela Anant Rao(Yadav) "A. R." Akela (born 30 September 1960) is an Indian author, poet, folk singer and publisher. Publication Akela owns the publishing business ''Anand Sahitya Sadan''. See also * Dalit literature *Lalai Singh Yadav Lalai Sing ...

, Dalit author and publisher, owner of "Anand Sahitya Sadan * Syed Amin Ashraf, Urdu poet and professor of English at AMU * Qurratulain Hyder, Padma Bhushan, Urdu novelist, writer, and journalist * Akhlaq Mohammed Khan, pen name Shaharyar, Urdu poet,

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

lyricist and served as Professor at

* Munshi Nawal Kishore, book publisher * Jainendra Kumar, Hindi writer *

Gopaldas Neeraj Gopaldas Neeraj (popularly known as Neeraj; 4 January 1925 – 19 July 2018) was an Indian poet and author of Hindi literature. He was also a poet of Hindi Kavi sammelan (Poets Meet). He was born in the village of Puravali, near Mahewa in Et ...

, poet, recipient of Padma Bhushan *

Saghar Nizami Saghar Nizami (1905–1983), also known as Samad Yar Khan, was an Indian poet and writer of ghazal and nazm in Urdu. He was one of the earliest disciples of Seemab Akbarabadi (1882–1951) and was a recipient of the third highest Indian honou ...

, Urdu Poet * Prem Kishore Patakha, Hindi Humorous Poet * Maitreyi Pushpa, Hindi fiction writer *

Rameshraj Tewarikar Rameshraj Tewarikar (born 15 March 1954) Hindi is a scholar, poet. He is famous for his distinctive talent in the area of Satire and Rasa, and they are one of the major scholars who develop the Tewari and Rasa tradition of poetry. Early li ...

, Hindi Tewari poet, Editor:′ Tewari-Paksha (tri-monthly)

Historians

* Irfan Habib, eminent Indian historian and Professor Emeritus at

* Mohammad Habib (1895–1971), noted Indian historian and served as Professor Emeritus at

Film actors

* Shamim Ara, Pakistani film actress * Bharat Bhushan,

actor, scriptwriter and producer * Aadesh Chaudhary, Indian television actor *

Nitin Chauhaan Nitin Chauhaan (born 11 November 1988) is an Indian television actor and model. He is winner of TV reality show ''Dadagiri'' (season 2) and participated in the reality television show '' MTV Splitsvilla 5''. He also appeared in the ''Zindagi ...

, Indian television actor * Ravindra Jain, Bollywood music director * Alka Nupur, former actress, kathak dancer * Chandrachur Singh, Bollywood actor * Hasan Zaidi, Indian television actor * Zarina, Indian artist

Sports persons

* Piyush Chawla, Indian cricketer * Zafar Iqbal, Former hockey captain of India *

Annu Raj Singh Annu Raj Singh (born 17 February 1984) is an Indian shooter from Aligarh. She along with Heena Sidhu won the gold medal in women's Pairs 10 metre air pistol at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she competed in both the 1 ...

, international shooter * Rinku Singh, Cricketer

Politicians

Zafar Alam Zafar Alam may refer to: * Zafar Alam (Uttar Pradesh politician) (born 1944) * Zafar Alam (Bihar politician) {{hndis, Alam, Zafar ...

ex-MLA from Aligarh (Assembly constituency) *

Zameer Ullah Khan Zameer Ullah Khan is an Indian politician and a member of the 15th and 16th Legislative Assembly of India. He represents the Koil constituency of Uttar Pradesh and is a member of the Samajwadi Party. Early life and education Zameer Ullah Khan ...

ex-MLA from

Koil (Assembly constituency) Koil Assembly constituency is one of the 403 constituencies of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly, India. It is a part of the Aligarh district and one of the five assembly constituencies in the Aligarh Lok Sabha constituency. First ele ...

and Aligarh (Assembly constituency) * * Satish Kumar Gautam, current MP from, Aligarh (Lok Sabha constituency) * Sheela Gautam,ex MP & owner of Sleepwell * Jamal Khwaja, ex MP *

Sanjeev Raja Sanjeev Raja is an Indian politician from the Bharatiya Janata Party. Raja is a Member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from Aligarh in Aligarh district Aligarh district is a district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. This dist ...

, current MLA *

Bijendra Singh Bijendra Singh (born 25 December 1956) is an Indian politician. He stood for the 2004 Lok Sabha elections on the Indian National Congress ticket and had been a Member of Parliament from Aligarh. He is the resident of village Dhonda near glas ...

, ex MP * Chaudhary Sunil Singh, ex MLC * Dalbir Singh Chaudhary, MLA from Baruli vidhansabha constituency * Rajendra Singh, ex Agriculture and Irrigation Minister, Govt of Uttar Pradesh * Sandeep Singh, MLA Atrauli, grandson of Sh. Kalyan Singh *

Thakur Jaivir Singh Thakur Jaivir Singh is an Indian politician from Bharatiya Janata Party. He is elected from the Barauli constituency in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly in 2022. He registered the highest margin win of 92,000 votes among the rural const ...

, ex MLA (Now MLC) * Roohi Zuberi, advocate * Kalyan Singh, ex governor

Medical professionals

* Khwaja Abdul Hamied, Pharmacist, founder of Cipla (pharmaceutical company) *

Prerna Kohli Dr. Prerna Kohli is a clinical psychologist, social worker and author. She was awarded the ‘100 Women Achievers of India’ in 2016 by the President of India for her work on mental health. Career Kohli completed Ph.D. in clinical psychology f ...

, clinical psychologist, social worker and author * Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman, Unani physician and author * Ashok Seth, an Indian interventional cardiologist

Social activists

Jai Kishan Das Raja Jai Kishan Das Chaube, CSI, Rai Bahadur (24 November 1832 – 30 April 1905) was an Indian administrator and close associate of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, founder of Aligarh Muslim University. He was born on 24 November 1832 at Moradabad to Brin ...

, a close associate of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan