Azamgarh district is one of the three districts of

Azamgarh division Azamgarh division is an administrative unit of Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Azamgarh division consists of:- * Azamgarh District * Ballia District * Mau District See also * Districts of Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh, the most populous st ...

in the

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepen ...

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 ...

Etymology

The district is named after its headquarters town, Azamgarh. Azam, a son of Vikramajit, founded the town in 1665. Vikramajit, a descendant of Gautam of Mehnagar in pargana Nizamabad, had embraced the faith of Islam. He had two sons, namely, Azam and Azmat. It is also known as land of the sage

Durvasa In Hindu scriptures, Durvasa ( sa, दुर्वासा, ) also known as Durvasas (Sanskrit: दुर्वासस्), is a legendary rishi (sage). He is the son of Anasuya and Atri. According to some Puranas, Durvasa is a partial avat ...

whose ashram was located in Phulpur sub-district, near the confluence of Tons and Majhuee river, north from the Phulpur sub-district headquarters.

History

Towards the end of the 16th century, a

Gautam Rajput The Gautam Rajputs is a Rajput clan found in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. Jodha Singh Attaiya a great chieftain during Indian rebellion of 1857 also belongs to this ancient clan. History Some people fought for ...

from Azamgarh district was assimilated into the Mughal court at

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

, where he had gone in search of greater influence. His mission was a success, with the royal court eventually awarding him 22 parganas in the Azamgarh region that marked the establishment of a family line which culminated in his descendants becoming

raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

s of the area. This was a typical route whereby relatively obscure lineages rose to prominence.

Colonial era

The district was ceded to the British in 1801 by the wazirs of

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 division ...

. Both Hindu and Muslim landowners (known as Rautaras) of Azamgarh aided the

Sepoy Mutiny The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the for ...

against the British in 1857. On 3 June 1857 the 17th Regiment of Native Infantry mutinied at Azamgarh, murdered some of their officers, and carried off the government treasure to

Faizabad Faizabad (Hindustani pronunciation: ɛːzaːbaːd is a city situated near the southern banks of Saryu river in Ayodhya district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The area of this Faizabad region is administered by Ayodhya Municipal Corpo ...

. The district became a centre of the fighting between the

Gurkha The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with endonym Gorkhali ), are soldiers native to the Indian subcontinent, Indian Subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of Northeast India. The Gurkha units are composed of Nepalis and Indian Go ...

s and the rebels, and was brought under control in October 1858 by Colonel Kelly. The most notable rebels were Late. Janab Lal Mohammed Chivtahvin. Later, many of the local land owners were crushed by the British. Later, residents of Azamgarh participated in various national movements including the Civil Disobedience Movement and the Quit India Movement in 1942. The historian, social reformer, nationalist

Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan Rahul Sankrityayan (born Kedarnath Pandey; 9 April 1893 – 14 April 1963) was an Indian writer and a polyglot who wrote in Hindi. He played a pivotal role in giving travelogue a 'literary form'. He was one of the most widely travelled scholars ...

was born in Kanaila village in this district.

Geography

Azamgarh district has an area of . The district lies 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 Ghagahara. Azamgarh district is surrounded by the districts of Mau in the east,

Gorakhpur Gorakhpur is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, along the banks of the Rapti river in the Purvanchal region. It is situated 272 kilometers east of the state capital Lucknow. It is the administrative headquarters of Gorakhpur dis ...

in the north, Ghazipur in the south-east, Jaunpur in the south-west, Sultanpur in the west and Ambedkar Nagar in the north-west. The slope of the land is from northwest to southeast. Roughly speaking, the district consists of a series of parallel ridges, whose summits are depressed into beds or hollows, along which the rivers flow; while between the ridges are low-lying rice lands, interspersed with numerous natural reservoirs. Azamgarh district is further divided into 7 sub-districts, and 22 development blocks. There are 4,106 villages (3,792 inhabited and 314 uninhabited) in the district.

Education

Colleges

Government Medical College, Azamgarh Government Medical College and Super Facility Hospital, Azamgarh is a state-run medical college located in Chakrapanpur of Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh. The college has guidance and mentorship of Baba Raghav Das Medical College, Gorakhpur. Histor ...

is a state medical college located at Chakrapanpur, Azamgarh. * Government Engineering College, Azamgarh is a constituent college of

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University (AKTU), before 2015 as the Uttar Pradesh Technical University (UPTU), is a public collegiate university in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was established as the Uttar Pradesh Technical University ...

(formerly Uttar Pradesh Technical University) and has its campus at Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology in

. * Shibli National College, Azamgarh located at

Azamgarh District Azamgarh district is one of the three districts of Azamgarh division in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Etymology The district is named after its headquarters town, Azamgarh. Azam, a son of Vikramajit, founded the town in 1665. Vikramajit ...

. It is affiliated to

Veer Bahadur Singh Purvanchal University Veer Bahadur Singh Purvanchal University (VBSPU), formerly Purvanchal University, is a State university (India), public state university based in Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was established in 1987 as a residential-cum-affiliating unive ...

. Jaunpur

Important places in Azamgarh district

According to the district's official website, the nine important places in Azamgarh district are:- * Azamgarh City * Nizamabad * Maharajganj *

Mubarakpur Mubarakpur is a town and a municipal board in Azamgarh district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located at a distance of 13 km north-east of the district headquarters in Azamgarh. Geography Mubarakpur is located at . It has ...

* Mehnagar *

* Dattatreya * Govindsahab *

Avantikapuri Awantikapuri is a place in Azamgarh district Azamgarh district is one of the three districts of Azamgarh division in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Etymology The district is named after its headquarters town, Azamgarh. Azam, a son of ...

(Awank)

Economy

In 2006 the

Ministry of Panchayati Raj The Ministry of Panchayati Raj is a branch of the Government of India. Ministry of Panchayati Raj looks into all matters relating to the Panchayati Raj and Panchayati Raj Institutions. It was created in May 2004. The ministry is headed by a ...

named Azamgarh one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). It is one of the 34 districts in Uttar Pradesh currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Azamgarh district has a

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 4,613,913, This gives it a ranking of 30th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of . Its

population growth rate Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 83 million annually, or 1.1% per year. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to ...

over the decade 2001-2011 was 17.11%. Azamgarh has a

sex ratio The sex ratio (or gender ratio) is usually defined as the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. Many species d ...

of 1019

females Female (symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females ...

for every 1000 males, and a

literacy rate Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...

of 72.69%. Scheduled Castes made up 25.39% of the population. Azamgarh district's total population was 3,939,916 as per 2001 census with population density of . The population consists of 393,401 urban and 4,220,512 rural; 2,137,805 females and 2,082,707 males. The literacy rate is 70.93%.

Languages

The official language is

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

and additional official is

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Bhojpuri is the native language of Azamgarh. The Bhojpuri variant of

Kaithi Kaithi (), also called Kayathi () or Kayasthi (), is a historical Brahmic script that was used widely in parts of Northern and Eastern India, primarily in the present-day states of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar. In particular, it was us ...

is the indigenous script of Bhojpuri language. At the time of the

2011 Census of India The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Information ...

, 55.58% of the population in the district spoke Bhojpuri, 35.28%

and 8.21%

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Local media

Mostly all major English, Hindi and Urdu dailies including

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Ly ...

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

Dainik Jagran ''Dainik Jagran'' ( Hi:दैनिक जागरन , , ) is an Indian Hindi language daily newspaper. It was ranked 5th in the world and 2nd in India by circulation in 2016. In 2019 Quarter 4, according to Indian Readership Survey, Daini ...

, Amar Ujala, Hindustan, Rashtree Sahara, Inquilab, Hausla News, Third eyes, Dainik Manasha Mail. Hindi and Urdu dailies also have their bureaus in the city. Almost all big Hindi TV news channel have stringers in the city.

Notable people

Notable people from Azamgarh district include:-
''NB This list excludes those from Azamgarh itself which are listed in that article''
Azmi is a common toponymic surname among Indian Muslims from Azamgarh. *

Abdul Haq Azmi Abdul Haq Azmi (1928 – 30 December 2016) was an Indian Muslim scholar who was a senior professor of hadith at the Darul Uloom Deoband. He was an alumnus of Darul Uloom Mau and Darul Uloom Deoband. His students included Mahmood Madani, Mohamm ...

(1928–2016), Indian Islamic scholar, cousin-uncle of Rana Ayyub *

Abdul Lateef Azmi Abdul Lateef Azmi (also written as Abdul Latif Azmi - 1917–2002) was an Urdu litterateur and among the close associates of the founders of Jamia Millia Islamia. He joined Jamia Millia as a student of B.A. in 1936 and served the university over ...

(1917–2002), Indian Urdu writer *

Abu Azmi Abu Asim Azmi (born 8 August 1955) is a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. He represents the Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar Constituency, Mumbai. He belongs to the Samajwadi Party. He is the President of the Maharashtra state branch of ...

(born 1955), Indian politician, MLA from Maharashtra and former Member of Rajya Sabha *

Ahmad Ali Barqi Azmi Ahmad Ali Barqi Azmi (25 December 1954 – 5 December 2022) was an Indian poet in the Urdu language. His poetic collections included ''Rooh-e-Sukhan''. Professionally, he served in the Persian service of All India Radio, New Delhi. He devoted h ...

(born 1954), Indian Urdu poet * Azizullah Azmi (1929–2010), Indian politician, MP of Lok Sabha * Baba Azmi, Indian film cinematographer, husband of

Tanvi Azmi Tanvi Azmi is an Indian film and television actress. Early life and career She was born to Marathi-Hindi actress Usha Kiran and Manohar Kher. Azmi portrayed a troubled doctor in the tele-series, ''Jeevanrekha'' and as a young widow in telefil ...

Habib al-Rahman al-'Azmi Habib al-Rahman al-'Azmi was born in Maunath Bhanjan,Muhammad Asad, Islamic Culture, vol 69. p 60. Mau district (Uttar Pradesh), India. He completed the formal education from Mau in 1922 and began teaching. He is known for his scholarly work ...

(1901-1992), Indian Islamic scholar of hadith and fiqh * Iliyas Azmi (born 1934), Indian politician, MP of Lok Sabha *

Kaifi Azmi Kaifi Azmi (born Athar Husain Rizvi; 14 January 1919 – 10 May 2002) was an Indian Urdu poet. He is remembered as the one who brought Urdu literature to Indian motion pictures. Together with Pirzada Qasim, Jaun Elia and others he participate ...

(1919–2002) was an Indian Urdu poet, husband of

Shaukat Azmi Shaukat Kaifi (21 October 1926 – 22 November 2019), also credited as Shaukat Azmi, was an Indian theater and film actress. Her husband was the Urdu poet and film lyricist, Kaifi Azmi. The couple were leading lights of the Indian People's Thea ...

and father of

Shabana Azmi Shabana Azmi (born 18 September 1950) is an Indian actress of Hindi film, television and theatre. One of India's most acclaimed actresses, Azmi is known for her portrayals of distinctive, often unconventional female characters across several ge ...

* Khaleel-Ur-Rehman Azmi (1927–1978), Indian Urdu poet and literary critic * Mohammed Badi Uzzaman Azmi (1939–2011), British-Pakistani television and film actor *

Muhammad Mustafa Azmi Muhammad Mustafa Al-A'zami (1930 – 20 December 2017) was an Indian-born Saudi Arabian contemporary hadith scholar best known for his critical investigation of the theories of fellow Islamic scholars Ignác Goldziher, David Margoliouth, and J ...

(1930–2017), Indian Islamic scholar of hadith * Mushtaq Ahmed Azmi (1919–2011), Indian adult educationist and UNESCO official *

Obaidullah Khan Azmi Obaidullah Khan Azmi is an Indian Sunni Islamic politician from Indian National Congress.Seema Azmi Seema Azmi (also known as "Seema") is an Indian film and theater actress. Biography Seema Azmi was born in Guwahati, Assam, India, with Azamgarh origin, and was brought up in Delhi where she completed her schooling and graduated from Delhi ...

, Indian actress of film and stage * Shahid Azmi (1977–2010), Indian human rights lawyer * Shakeel Azmi (born 1971), Indian Urdu lyricist and poet * Waqar Azmi (born 1970), British-Indian civil servant *

Shaikh Shamim Ahmed Azmi Shaikh Shamim Ahmed (20 March 1938 – 22 September 2019) was an Indian politician and social worker. In 1980, he was elected as an Member of the Legislative Assembly (India), MLA from the Mumbai Chinchpokli Constituency as an Indian National ...

(1938–2019), former MLA and

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

leader from Mumbai *

Qamaruzzaman Azmi Qamaruzzaman Azmi (born 23 March 1946), also known as Allama Azmi, is an Indian Islamic scholar, philosopher and speaker. He is president of the World Islamic Mission. From 2011 to 2021, he was listed in The 500 Most Influential Muslims in the ...

(born 1946), Indian Islamic scholar * Saeed-ur-Rahman Azmi Nadvi (born 1934), Indian Islamic scholar *

Mirza Aslam Beg General Mirza Aslam Beg ( ur, ; born 2 August 1931), also known as M. A. Beg, was a Pakistan Army officer, who served as the 3rd Chief of Army Staff from 1988 until his retirement in 1991. His appointment as chief of army staff came when hi ...

- Chief of army staff of Pakistan Army in 1987–1991 * Bisram, Bhojpuri writer and poet *

Hamiduddin Farahi Hamiduddin Farahi (18 November 1863 – 11 November 1930) was an Indian Islamic scholar known for his work on the concept of ''nazm'', or coherence, in the Quran. He was instrumental in producing scholarly work on the theory that the verse ...

- religious scholar, educationist, writer, chief administrator of Madrasatul Islah - from Fariha village *

Amin Ahsan Islahi Amin Ahsan Islahi ( ur, مولانا امین احسن اصلاحی; 1904 – 15 December 1997), was a Pakistani Muslim scholar best known for his Urdu exegesis of the Quran, ''Tadabbur-i-Quran'' "Pondering on the Quran", which he based ...

- Islamic scholar - from Bamhur village * Aslam Jairajpuri - Islamic scholar * Shamim Jairajpuri - zoologist * Zafarul Islam Khan - Chairman of Delhi Minority Commission,

Author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and

Journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

based in New Delhi. He is currently editor and publisher of The

Milli Gazette ''The Milli Gazette'' is an Indian English language digital news publication (formerly a fortnightly compact newspaper) based in Delhi. Founded in January 2000, the publication describes itself as the Indian Muslims' Leading News Source. In 20 ...

Wahiduddin Khan Wahiduddin Khan (1 January 1925 – 21 April 2021), known with the honorific "Maulana", was an Indian Islamic scholar and peace activist and author known for having written a commentary on the Quran and having translated it into contemporary E ...

- Indian

Islamic Scholar In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...

and peace activist known for having written a commentary on the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

and having translated it into contemporary English. He has been listed in

the 500 Most Influential Muslims ''The 500 Most Influential Muslims'' (also known as ''The Muslim 500'') is an annual publication first published in 2009, which ranks the most influential Muslims in the world. The publication is compiled by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies C ...

of the world. Padma Bhusan *

Chhannulal Mishra Pandit Chhannulal Mishra (born 3 August 1936) is a celebrated Hindustani classical singer from Banaras, a noted exponent of the Kirana gharana (school) of the Hindustani classical music and especially the Khayal and the 'Purab Ang' – Thumri. ...

- Hindustani classical singer. * Laxmi Narayan Mishra - modern Hindi dramatist *

Shibli Nomani Shibli Nomani ( ur, – ; 3 June 1857 – 18 November 1914) was an Islamic scholar from the Indian subcontinent during the British Raj. He was born at Bindwal in Azamgarh district of present-day Uttar Pradesh.Prem Chand Pandey - Indian scientist and academic * Shyam Narayan Pandey - writer and poet - from Dumraon village, (now in

Mau district Mau district is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh state of India, and Mau town is the district headquarters which is also one of the few remaining areas of handloom saree production in eastern Uttar Pradesh, specializing in Sadiya silk sar ...

but was in Azamgarh district at the time) * Badri Nath Prasad, mathematician, founder of The Allahabad Mathematical Society *

Vibhuti Narain Rai Vibhuti Narain Rai (born 28 November 1950) is an ex police officer and author from India. He obtained an Master of Arts, M.A. in English literature from Allahabad University in 1971 and joined the Indian Police Service in 1975 as a part of th ...

- former IPS officer and former Vice Chancellor - Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya *

Rahul Sankrityayan Rahul Sankrityayan (born Kedarnath Pandey; 9 April 1893 – 14 April 1963) was an Indian writer and a polyglot who wrote in Hindi. He played a pivotal role in giving travelogue a 'literary form'. He was one of the most widely travelled scholars ...

- Hindi Travel writer - from Kanaila Village * Prakash Singh - DGP-Police, BSF Indian Police Reform movement (Honoured with Padma Shri Award and presidents Police Medal) * Vinod K. Singh - (

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

), director - Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal. *

Ayodhya Prasad Upadhyay Ayodhya Singh Upadhyay ‘Hari Oudh', (15 April 1865 – 16 March 1947) was a writer of Hindi literature. He was the Chairman of the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan and had been conferred the title of Vidyavachaspati. Life He worked in the Hindi Depar ...

- Hindi poet - from Nizamabad *

Kausar Yazdani Kausar Yazdani (born 1935 in Katalpur village, Uttar Pradesh) and died in 2011. He was an Indian Islamic scholar, author, journalist and activist and former Secretary for Dawah, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind. His specialisation is in comparative studies ...

- Islamic scholar born 1935.

Tehsil/Town in Azamgarh district

* Azamgarh *

Burhanpur Burhanpur'' is a historical city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative seat of Burhanpur District. It is situated on the north bank of the Tapti River and northeast of city of Mumbai, southwest of the state's capi ...