Jaunpur () is a city and a

municipal board A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

Jaunpur district Jaunpur district is a district in the Varanasi Division of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The district headquarters is Jaunpur which is situated on the banks of the Gomti River. It is located 228 km southeast of the state capital Luc ...

in the Indian

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

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 ...

. It is located 228 km southeast 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 division ...

. Demographically, Jaunpur resembles the rest of the

Purvanchal Purvanchal () is a subregion of the Bhojpuri region of India which comprises eastern Uttar Pradesh. Purvanchal region gained independence from the Avadh and Mughal rule under Zamindar Balwant Singh, a Bhumihar zamindar from Benaras State. I ...

area in which it is located.

History

Earlier the Jaunpur district was ruled by the

Bhar The Bhar are a caste in India. History Influenced by the Arya Samaj movement, as were members of other castes, Baijnath Prasad Adhyapak published ''Rajbhar Jati ka Itihas'' in 1940. This book attempted to prove that the Rajbhar were former ...

, historically known as Sultan, having its historical dates from 1359, when the city was founded by the

Sultan of Delhi The following list of Indian monarchs is one of several lists of incumbents. It includes those said to have ruled a portion of the Indian subcontinent, including Sri Lanka. The earliest Indian rulers are known from epigraphical sources fou ...

Feroz Shah Tughlaq and named in memory of his cousin,

Muhammad bin Tughluq Muhammad bin Tughluq (1290 – 20 March 1351) was the eighteenth Sultan of Delhi. He reigned from February 1325 until his death in 1351. The sultan was the eldest son of Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq, founder of the Tughlaq dynasty. In 1321, the youn ...

, whose given name was Jauna Khan. In 1388, Feroz Shah Tughlaq appointed Malik Sarwar, a

eunuch A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millenni ...

, who is notorious for having been the lover of Feroz Shah Tughlaq's daughter, as the governor of the region. The Sultanate was in disarray because of factional fighting for power, and in 1393 Malik Sarwar declared independence. He and his adopted son Mubarak Shah founded what came to be known as the Sharqi dynasty (dynasty of the East). During the Sharqi period the Jaunpur Sultanate was a strong military power in Northern India, and on several occasions threatened the Delhi Sultanate. The War Elephants Citranand and Udiya Collide in Battle

The War Elephants Citranand and Udiya Collide in Battle

View at Juanpore, on the River Ganges (IV, June 1847, p

The Jaunpur Sultanate attained its greatest height under the younger brother of Mubarak Shah, who ruled as Shams-ud-din Ibrahim Shah (ruled 1402–1440). To the east, his kingdom extended to Bihar, and to the west, to Kanauj; he even marched on Delhi at one point. Under the aegis of a Muslim holy man named Qutb al-Alam, he threatened the

Sultanate of Bengal The Sultanate of Bengal ( Middle Bengali: শাহী বাঙ্গালা ''Shahī Baṅgala'', Classical Persian: ''Saltanat-e-Bangālah'') was an empire based in Bengal for much of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. It was the domina ...

under Shihabuddin Bayazid Shah. During the reign of Husain Shah (1456–76), the Jaunpur army was perhaps the biggest in India, and Husain decided to attempt a conquest of Delhi. However, he was defeated on three successive attempts by

Bahlul Khan Lodi Bahlul Khan Lodi (12 July 1489) was the chief of the Pashtun Lodi tribe. Founder of the Lodi dynasty from the Delhi Sultanate upon the abdication of the last claimant from the previous Sayyid rule. Bahlul became sultan of the dynasty on 19 Apr ...

. It is a dominant trend in modern historiography of the period that this defeat was a cause of a large number of eunuchs in the military ranks. Finally, under

Sikandar Lodi Sikandar Khan Lodi (died 21 November 1517), born Nizam Khan, was a Pashtun Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate between 1489 and 1517. He became ruler of the Lodi dynasty after the death of his father Bahlul Khan Lodi in July 1489. The second and most ...

, the Delhi Sultante was able to reconquer Jaunpur in 1493, bringing that sultanate to an end. The Jaunpur Sultanate was a major center of

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Sufi knowledge and culture. The Sharqi dynasty was known for its excellent communal relations between Muslims and

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

s, perhaps stemming from the fact that the Sharqis themselves were originally indigenous converts to Islam, as opposed to descendants of

Persians The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group who comprise over half of the population of Iran. They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language as well as of the languages that are closely related to Persian. ...

or Afghans. Jaunpur's independence came to an end in 1480, when the city was conquered by

Sikander Lodhi Sikandar Khan Lodi (died 21 November 1517), born Nizam Khan, was a Pashtun Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate between 1489 and 1517. He became ruler of the Lodi dynasty after the death of his father Bahlul Khan Lodi in July 1489. The second and most s ...

, the Sultan of

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 ...

. The Sharqi kings attempted for several years to retake the city, but ultimately failed. Although many of the Sharqi monuments were destroyed when the Lodis took the city, several important

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

s remain, most notably the Atala Masjid,

Jama Masjid A congregational mosque or Friday mosque (, ''masjid jāmi‘'', or simply: , ''jāmi‘''; ), or sometimes great mosque or grand mosque (, ''jāmi‘ kabir''; ), is a mosque for hosting the Friday noon prayers known as ''jumu'ah''.* * * * * * * ...

(now known as the Bari (big mosque) Masjid) and the Lal Darwaza Masjid. The Jaunpur mosques display a unique architectural style, combining traditional Hindu and Muslim motifs with purely original elements. The old bridge over the

Gomti River The Gomti, Gumti or Gomati River is a tributary of the Ganges. According to beliefs, the river is the son of Rishi Vashishtha and bathing in the Gomti on Ekadashi (the 11th day of the two lunar phases of the Hindu calendar month) can wash away ...

in Jaunpur dates from 1564, the era of the Mughal

Emperor 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, Hum ...

. The bridge is still being used for transportation. The Jaunpur Qila, a fortress from the

Tughlaq The Tughlaq dynasty ( fa, ), also referred to as Tughluq or Tughluk dynasty, was a Muslim dynasty of Indo- Turkic origin which ruled over the Delhi sultanate in medieval India. Its reign started in 1320 in Delhi when Ghazi Malik assumed the ...

era, also remains in good form. Jaunpur district was annexed into

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

based on the Permanent settlement of 1779, and thus was subject to the

Zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as ...

i system of land revenue collection. During the

Revolt of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...

the Sikh troops in Jaunpur joined the Indian rebels. The district was eventually reconquered for the British by

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 ...

troops from

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

. Jaunpur then became a district administrative center.

Present state

Jaunpur is the district headquarters. The district has 2

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-p ...

and 9

Vidhan Sabha The State Legislative Assembly, or Vidhan Sabha, or also Saasana Sabha, is a legislative body in the states and union territories of India. In the 28 states and 3 union territories with a unicameral state legislature, it is the sole legislati ...

constituencies.

Geography

Rivers

Gomti The Gomti, Gumti or Gomati River is a tributary of the Ganges. According to beliefs, the river is the son of Rishi Vashishtha and bathing in the Gomti on Ekadashi (the 11th day of the two lunar phases of the Hindu calendar month) can wash a ...

, Sai,

Varuna Varuna (; sa, वरुण, , Malay: ''Baruna'') is a Vedic deity associated initially with the sky, later also with the seas as well as Ṛta (justice) and Satya (truth). He is found in the oldest layer of Vedic literature of Hinduism, such ...

, Pili, Mayur and Basuhi are the five

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

s which make its land fertile.

Demographics

As per

2011 Indian Census 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 ...

, Jaunpur NPP had population of 180,362 of which male and female were 93,718 and 86,644 respectively, that is a sex ratio of 1024 females per 1000 males. Child population in the age range of 0–6 years was 22,710. The total number of literates in Jaunpur was 128,050, which constituted 71% of the population with male literacy of 75.2% and female literacy of 66.5%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Jaunpur was 81.2%, of which male literacy rate was 86.1% and female literacy rate was 75.9%. 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 ...

population was 12,703 and 195 respectively. There were 26216 households as of 2011.

Economy

GSG, GS Green Enterprise Katehari-Leduka Jaunpur was established in March 2017 by the Govt. of Uttar Pradesh, under U.P. Industrial Area Development Act, 1976 to facilitate concentrated effort on Industrial development of eastern Uttar Pradesh. In its 1st phase of activity, the authority has a fully developed growth center area on 10 acres of land, under growth center scheme of Govt. of India. Hawkins Cookers Limited company has one of the three manufacturing plants in India at Jaunpur to manufacture pressure cookers and cookware. Satharia Industrial Development Authority was established in November 1989 by the Govt. of Uttar Pradesh, under U.P. Industrial Area Development Act, 1976 to facilitate concentrated effort on Industrial development of eastern Uttar Pradesh. Sidhwan-Rampur Industrial Development Authority has now setting its base in Rampur Nirvachan Kshetra on Jaunpur-Bhadohi Road in Mariyahu tehsil. In its 1st phase of activity, the authority has a fully developed growth center area on 508 acres of land, under a growth center scheme of Govt. of India. Virtually all kinds of industrial, commercial and social infrastructural facilities, such as medical, educational, residential, roads, transportation, drainage, telecommunication, dedicated industrial power 33/11 KV supply, post office, bank, water supply, community center, shopping center, and field hostel have been fully established and are operative. Under One District, One Product (ODOP) Scheme 2018 of the UP Govt., perfume and carpet industry have been selected for Jaunpur district.

Landmarks

There are a number of tourist attractions in Jaunpur including monuments, and holy places.

Monuments

* Shahi Bridge * Shahi Quila Jaunpur Fort

Religious sites

* Atala Masjid, Jaunpur * Jama Masjid, Jaunpur * Lal Darwaza Masjid, Jaunpur * Sheetala Chaukia Dham Mandir Jaunpur

Transportation

Rail

Jaunpur is well-connected with all major cities of India thanks to

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tota ...

. It has four major railway stations:

Jaunpur City Railway Station Jaunpur City railway station is one of the railway stations in Jaunpur district, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is situated on the southwest side of the city about 5 km from Jaunpur Junction railway station. This station is under the administra ...

(JOP) and (JNU), Shahganj Junction (SHG), Janghai Junction,

Kerakat railway station Kerakat railway station (KCT) is a passenger rail station serving the town of Kerakat and nearby villages. It is situated from . It is very famous and small station of this area. This station has two platforms. Outline Kerakat railway stati ...

(KCT). Zafarabad (ZBD) also a railway station where's many train routes are diverted i.e., Allahababd, Varanasi, Lucknow Via Sultanpur, Lucknow via Shahganj, Ghazipur via Jaunpur junction.

Road

Jaunpur is well-connected to

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 ...

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 ...

, Allahabad and other cities like Azamgarh, Mirzapur, Janghai, Sultanpur,

Kerakat Kerakat or Kirakat is a town and nagar panchayat in Jaunpur district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh with a population of approximately 13,500. It is situated near the Gomati River, which helps the land around the town stay very fertile. Ke ...

Ghazipur Ghazipur is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ghazipur city is the administrative headquarters of the Ghazipur district, one of the four districts that form the Varanasi division of Uttar Pradesh. The city of Ghazipur also constitu ...

etc. Mariahu NH-56, SH-36 are the roadways connecting all major cities to Jaunpur.Jaunpur to Babatpur NH-56 is now 4-lane highway. On 20 December 2021 Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh

Yogi Adityanath Yogi Adityanath (born on 5 June 1972 as Ajay Singh Bisht),

and Minister for Road Transport & Highways

Nitin Gadkari Nitin Jairam Gadkari (; born 27 May 1957) is an Indian politician from Maharashtra who is the current Minister for Road Transport & Highways in the Government of India. He is also the longest serving Minister for Road Transport & Highways cu ...

announced new highways worth ₹1500 crore that are currently under construction. They are: * Jaunpur-Mariyahu-Bhadohi (38KM) * Machlishahr-Janghai-Bhadohi (48KM) * Janghai-Bhadohi Greenfield Bypass (36KM)

Air

The nearest airport is Lal Bahadur Shastri Airport in

, which is roughly from the city. The other nearest airport to Jaunpur is in

Prayagraj Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...

which is roughly away. An airport was planned to be built near Pali village of Mariyahu Tehsil in 2018 which was later cancelled.

Education

University

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 ...

, formerly Purvanchal University, is in Jaunpur. It was established in 1987 as a residential-cum-affiliating university and is named after Vir Bahadur Singh, former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. * Umanath Singh Autonomous State Medical Collage (UNS ASMC), in Siddiqpur has also been inaugurated by Prime Minister under One District One medical college during late 2021.

Notable institutes

Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) is a system of central schools for talented students predominantly from rural areas in India. They are run by Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, Noida, an autonomous organization under the Department of School Educa ...

, 21 km south from the district headquarters on Lumbini - Duddhi Road in Katghara Village near Mariahu

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 administ ...

. * Prasad Institute of Technology, affiliated to Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University * Tilak Dhari Singh Post Graduate Degree College, is in heart of the Sadar tehsil. It has stadium, parking and auditorium facilities as well.

Local media

Mostly all major English, Hindi and Urdu dailies including

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 se ...

, Hindustan Times, The Hindu,

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, Rashtreey Sahara, Inquilab, Hausla News available in Jaunpur. Hindi and Urdu dailies also have their bureaus in the city. Almost all major Hindi TV news channel have stringers in the city. A Hindi newspaper Tarunmitra is also published from Jaunpur. The city also catches Radio FM waves from neighboring city

they are: * RED FM 93.5 *

Radio Mirchi Radio Mirchi (also known as 98.3 Mirchi) is a nationwide network of private FM radio stations in India. It is owned by the EntertainmentNetwork India Ltd (ENIL), which is one of the subsidiaries of The Times Group. ''Mirchi'' is Hindi for re ...

98.3 * Big FM 92.7 * Vividh Bharti 100.6

Notable people

Ravi Kishan celebrates his 44th birthday

* Hasan Abidi *

Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay (30 March 1899 – 22 September 1970) was an Indian Bengali-language writer. He was actively involved with Bengali cinema as well as Bollywood. The creator of the Bengali detective Byomkesh Bakshi, Sharadindu compos ...

* Munna Bajrangi *

Banarasidas Banarasidas (15861643) was a Shrimal Jain businessman and poet of Mughal India. He is known for his poetic autobiography - ''Ardhakathānaka'', (The Half Story), composed in Braj Bhasa, an early dialect of Hindi linked with the region around Ma ...

* Ashok Bhushan * Yadavendra Dutt Dubey * Syed Wazir Hasan * Majid Ali Jaunpuri an Islamic scholar * Muhammad Jaunpuri *

Ravi Kishan Ravi Kishan Shukla (; born 17 July 1969), popularly known as Ravi Kishan, is an Indian actor, politician, film producer and television personality. He currently serves as Member of parliament, Lok Sabha from Gorakhpur. His film works are predo ...

* Shailendra Yadav Lalai *

Mohammad Akram Nadwi Mohammad Akram Nadwi (born c. 1963) is an Islamic scholar and the Dean of Cambridge Islamic College, principal of Al-Salam Institute, and an Honorary Visiting Fellow at the Markfield Institute of Higher Education. He is the author of the 43 vo ...

an Islamic scholar * Dinesh Kunwar Patel * Sushma Patel * Tribhuvan Ram * Dhananjay Singh * Harivansh Singh * Indu Prakash Singh * Lalji Singh * Shakeel Ahmed Samdani * Jagdish Sonkar *

Rajesh Vivek Rajesh Vivek Upadhyay (31 January 1949 – 14 January 2016) was an Indian actor. He is best known to Hindi film audiences for his role as the astrologer Guran in '' Lagaan'' (2001) and as the postmaster Nivaran in '' Swades'' (2004). He had ...

* Girish Chandra Yadav

Reference

External links

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Jaunpur district Cities in Uttar Pradesh