Basti district is one of the

districts of Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in India, has 75 districts. These districts, most of which have populations above 10 lakhs, and are grouped into 18 divisions for administrative convenience. Division wise listing of districts Area-wis ...

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 ...

, India, and a part of

Basti Division Basti Division is an administrative geographical unit of Uttar Pradesh state of India. Basti is the administrative headquarters of the division. Currently (2005), the division consists following districts A district is a type of administrati ...

. Basti city is the district headquarters.

Origin of name and history

Basti was originally known as Vaishishthi. The origin of the name Vaishishthi is attributed to the fact that this area was the ashram of Rishi (sage)

Vashistha Vasishtha ( sa, वसिष्ठ, IAST: ') is one of the oldest and most revered Vedic rishis or sages, and one of the Saptarishis (seven great Rishis). Vashistha is credited as the chief author of Mandala 7 of the ''Rigveda''. Vashishtha ...

in ancient period.

Rama Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...

with his younger brother

Lakshmana Lakshmana ( sa, लक्ष्मण, lit=the fortunate one, translit=Lakṣmaṇa), also spelled as Laxmana, is the younger brother of Rama and his loyalist in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He bears the epithets of Saumitra () and Ramanuja () ...

had been here for some time with Rishi Vashistha. The tract comprising the present district was remote and much of it was covered with forest. But gradually the area became inhabitable, for want of recorded and reliable history it cannot, with any degree of certainty, be said how the district came to be known by its present name on account of the original habitation (Basti) having been selected by the Kalhans Raja Udai Raj Singh as a seat of his Raj, an event which probably occurred in the 16th century. In 1801, Basti became the Tehsil headquarters and in 1865 it was chosen as the headquarters of the newly established district.

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 ...

Udai Raj Singh was the first ruler of Kalhans dynasty based at Basti. In 1801, the town Basti became a ''

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 ...

'' headquarter, and in 1865, it was chosen as the headquarters of the newly established Basti district of Gorakhpur Commissionary. Specifically, it happened on 6 May 1865. At first, the plan was to use the Rapti and Jamuwar rivers as the boundary between Basti and Gorakhpur districts, but this plan was abandoned. Instead, the boundary cut across existing parganas, with a few areas east of the Jamuwar becoming part of Basti district, while the eastern parts of Maghar and Binayakpur parganas remained in Gorakhpur district. New

s were established, and most of the original 8 parganas were split into two, for a new total of 13 parganas. Subordinate to the parganas were 131

tappa Tappa is a form of Indian semi-classical vocal music. Its specialty is a rolling pace based on fast, subtle and knotty construction. Its tunes are melodious and sweet, and depict the emotional outbursts of a lover. Tappe (plural) were sung mostly by ...

s, which were of significant administrative significance. The resulting setup was the following: Amorha Khas is a historical place situated at a distance of 41 km from the district headquarters. Its old name is Ambodha, and it was once a province (state) of Raja Zalim Singh. Raja Zalim Singh's Mahal is here, old wall of mahal is still there with the mark of a bullet used by the English. The famous temple Ramrekha Mandir is here. Ramrekha Temple is one of the most ancient Hindu Mandir of Lord Ram and Goddess Sita. Lord Shri Ram stayed here for one day during his journey of Janakpur-Ayodhya. Lord Shri Rama and Sita with Lakshmana journeyed towards Ayodhya by the road called Ram Janki Marg (present-day State Highway 72) near Chhawani. In the Great Revolt of 1857, about 250 martyrs of Amorha State were hanged by the British Government from peepal trees located at Chhawani.

Geography

The district lies between the parallels of 26° 23' and 27° 30' North Latitude and 82° 17' and 83° 20' East longitude. Its maximum length from north to south is about 75 km. and breadth from east to west about 70 km. The district lies between newly created district Sant Kabir Nagar on the east and Gonda on the west on the south, the Ghaghra river near Amorha Khas previously known as Amorha Province or State of Raja Zalim Singh separates it from the Faizabad (Ayodhya) and newly created district Ambedkar Nagar. On the north it is bounded by district Sidharth Nagar.

Flora and fauna

The forest cover of the district has dwindled with increasing use of land for agriculture. There are areas with high prevalence of mango (''

Mangifera indica ''Mangifera indica'', commonly known as mango, is a species of flowering plant in the family Anacardiaceae. It is a large fruit tree, capable of growing to a height of . There are two distinct genetic populations in modern mangoesthe "Indian ty ...

''),

mahua Mahua Acharya Mahua or Mahuaa may refer to: Botany * '' Madhuca longifolia'' or mahua, a tree in the family Sapotaceae * ''Mahua'' (moss), a genus of mosses in family Hypnaceae Culture and entertainment * Mahua (snack), a Chinese fried dough twi ...

(''Madhuca longifolia''), sal (''Shorea robusta''), and

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

('' Bambusa arundinacea'') trees. Some of the wild animals of the district are the

nilgai The nilgai (''Boselaphus tragocamelus'') (, literally meaning "blue cow") is the largest Asian antelope and is ubiquitous across the northern Indian subcontinent. It is the sole member of the genus ''Boselaphus'' and was described by Peter S ...

(''Boselaphus tragocamelus''), antelok (''Anelok cervicapra''),

pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus ...

('' Sus scrofa''),

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

(''Canis lupus''),

jackal Jackals are medium-sized canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word "jackal" has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-backed ...

(''Conis aureus''), fox (''

Vulpes bengalensis The Bengal fox (''Vulpes bengalensis''), also known as the Indian fox, is a fox endemic to the Indian subcontinent from the Himalayan foothills and Terai of Nepal through southern India, and from southern and eastern Pakistan to eastern India an ...

''), hare (''Lepus ruficandatus''), monkey (''

Macaca mulatta The rhesus macaque (''Macaca mulatta''), colloquially rhesus monkey, is a species of Old World monkey. There are between six and nine recognised subspecies that are split between two groups, the Chinese-derived and the Indian-derived. Generally ...

''),

wild cat Felidae () is the family of mammals in the order Carnivora colloquially referred to as cats, and constitutes a clade. A member of this family is also called a felid (). The term "cat" refers both to felids in general and specifically to the dom ...

('' Felis bengalensis'') and the porcupine (''Hystric leucura''). Several species of game birds are also seen, including the

peafowl Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera '' Pavo'' and '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female peafowl are ref ...

('' Pavo cristatus''), the black

partridge A partridge is a medium-sized galliform bird in any of several genera, with a wide native distribution throughout parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. Several species have been introduced to the Americas. They are sometimes grouped in the Perd ...

(''Frencolinus francolinus'') and the gray partridge (''Francalinus pondicervanus''). A number of migratory water fowls visit the water bodies of the district in winter, such as the

goose A goose ( : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera ''Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and '' Branta'' (the black geese). Some other birds, mostly related to the ...

('' Anser anser''),

common teal The Eurasian teal (''Anas crecca''), common teal, or Eurasian green-winged teal is a common and widespread duck that breeds in temperate Eurosiberia and migrates south in winter. The Eurasian teal is often called simply the teal due to being th ...

(''Anas crecca''),

red-crested pochard The red-crested pochard (''Netta rufina'') is a large diving duck. The scientific name is derived from Greek language, Greek ''Netta'' "duck", and Latin ''rufina'', "golden-red" (from ''rufus'', "ruddy"). Its breeding habitat is lowland marshes a ...

(''Netta rufina''), white-eyed pochard (''Aythya rufa'') and the

wigeon The wigeons or widgeons are a group of birds, dabbling ducks currently classified in the genus ''Mareca'' along with two other species. There are three extant species of wigeon, in addition to one recently extinct species. Biology There are ...

('' Mareca penelope''). The cobra (''

Naja naja The Indian cobra (''Naja naja''), also known as the spectacled cobra, Asian cobra, or binocellate cobra, is a species of cobra found in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan, and a member of the "big four" species that are ...

''),

krait ''Bungarus'' is a genus of venomous elapid snakes, the kraits ("krait" is pronounced , rhyming with "kite"), found in South and Southeast Asia. The genus ''Bungarus'' has 16 species. Distribution Kraits are found in tropical Asia, from near Ira ...

(''

Bungarus caeruleus The common krait (''Bungarus caeruleus''), also known as Bengal krait, is a species of highly venomous elapid snake of the genus ''Bungarus'' native to the Indian subcontinent. It is a member of the "Big Four" species that inflict the most snake ...

''), and rat-snake (''

Ptyas mucosus ''Ptyas mucosa'', commonly known as the oriental ratsnake, Indian rat snake, ''darash'' or ''dhaman'', is a common non-venomous species of colubrid snake found in parts of South and Southeast Asia. Dhamans are large snakes. Typical mature total ...

'') are commonly found. The Indian crocodile or naka ('' Crocodylus palustris''), and the ghariyal (''Gavialis gangeticus'') are also found in the river Ghaghra. The common fish species are

rohu The rohu, rui, ruhi or roho labeo (''Labeo rohita'') is a species of fish of the carp family, found in rivers in South Asia. It is a large omnivore and extensively used in aquaculture. Description The rohu is a large, silver-colored fish o ...

(''Lebeo rohita''), bhakur (''

Catla catla Catla (''Labeo catla''), ( bn, কাতলা, translit=kātlā) also known as the major South Asian carp, is an economically important South Asian freshwater fish in the carp family Cyprinidae. It is native to rivers and lakes in northern Indi ...

''), nain (''Cirrhina mrigala''), parhin (''Wallagonia attu''), krunch ('' Labeo calbasu''), and tengan (''Mystus seenghala'').

Demographics

Religion

According to the 2011 census, Basti district had 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 2,464,464, of which only 5.6% lived in urban areas. This ranked it the 178th most populous district in India. The district had 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 18.21%. Basti had 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 963

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 67.22%. The child sex ratio of Basti was 922 females for every 1000 males. Scheduled Castes made up 20.85% of the population.

Languages

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 ...

, 80.25% of the population in the district spoke

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 ...

, 14.29%

Awadhi Awadhi (; ), also known as Audhi (), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in northern India and Nepal. It is primarily spoken in the Awadh region of present-day Uttar Pradesh, India. The name ''Awadh'' is connected to Ayodhya, the ancient city ...

, 3.21% Bhojpuri and 2.14%

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' The district Basti may be considered as the demarcation of the

and Bhojpuri. In cities and urban areas, due to increase in the educated population, Modern Standard Hindi is also spoken in daily conversations. The social media population for electoral district Basti, Uttar Pradesh is for Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. The Twitter population for Basti is 53119. Total Facebook users of Basti are 554912. Total Instagram accounts in Basti are 456822. The YouTube accounts in Basti are 541813.

Indian diaspora

During the mid to mid 1800s to the early 1900s many people from the district of Basti migrated through the

Indian indenture system The Indian indenture system was a system of indentured servitude, by which more than one million Indians were transported to labour in European colonies, as a substitute for slave labor, following the abolition of the trade in the early 19th c ...

to Fiji,

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, as well as to Guyana,

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

, Suriname, and other Caribbean countries. Most of them stayed and carried their traditions in those then European colonies. The former

President of Guyana The president of Guyana is the head of state and the head of government of Guyana, as well as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Republic, according to the Constitution of Guyana. The president is also the chancellor of the Or ...

Cheddi Jagan Cheddi Berret Jagan (22 March 1918 – 6 March 1997) was a Guyanese politician and dentist who was first elected Chief Minister in 1953 and later Premier of British Guiana from 1961 to 1964. He later served as President of Guyana from 199 ...

's parents were from Basti district. In Trinidad, the name of the Indian majority village, Basta Hall, is derived from Basti.

Medical services and hospitals

* Autonomous State Medical College, Basti (U.P.)

Administration

Basti town is the district headquarters of the district. Basti district, a part of Basti division, is formed of four tehsils: Basti Sadar, Harraiya, Bhanpur and Rudhauli and 14 development blocks, 139 Nyay Panchayats, two Parganas named Amorha and Nagar as well as 10 Gram Sabhas. The development blocks included are: * Amorha (Pargana) * Nagar (Pargana) * Basti * Bahadurpur * Bankati * Dubauliya * Gaur * Harraiya (Tahsil) * Kaptanganj * Kudaraha * ParasRampur * Ramnagar * Rudhauli (Tehsil) * Saltaua Gopal Pur * Sau Ghat * Vikram Jot

Economy

The district is noted for its cotton textiles and sugar industries. Cottage industries and small-scale industries including the manufacturing units of brassware, iron and carpentry goods, agricultural implements, bricks, agro-products, foot-wear, soaps, candles, and pottery are present here. Basti is also known for its bamboo, eucalyptus (''Eucalyptus teritrornis''), mango and shisham (''Dalbergia sissoo'') populations. Four sugar factories are housed in the district. Sugarcane, maize, paddy, pulses, wheat, barley, and potato are commonly cultivated. Most of the population depends for their livelihood on agricultural practices. The district is well-connected through NH 28 which reflects on its good economy. The city is well-connected through railways also. In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Basti 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). City is also known for nationwide youth organisation National Association of Youth founded by Bhavesh Kumar Pandey and run from Basti. The organization organizes Basti Mini Marathon every year since 2012.

Transportation

By air

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 ...

(

Ayodhya Ayodhya (; ) is a city situated on the banks of holy river Saryu in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Ayodhya, also known as Saketa, is an ancient city of India, the birthplace of Rama and setting of the great epic Ramayana. Ayodhya wa ...

) and

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 ...

airports are the nearby airports.

By railways

Basti railway station lies on the main line connecting

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 ...

with

and places in Bihar and Assam in the east passes through the south of the district. The main line has 7 railway stations which are, from east to west, Munderwa, Orwara, Basti, Govindnagar, Tinich, Gaur, and Babhnan within the district.

By roadways

Basti is well connected with the nearby cities of

and Gonda. There is a daily Intercity express between

, Basti,

, Gonda, and Lucknow. National Highway 2a part of the East West Corridor project of Government of India and

NHAI The National Highways Authority of India or NHAI (Hindi: भारतीय राष्ट्रीय राजमार्ग प्राधिकरण) is an autonomous agency of the Government of India, set up in 1995 (Act 1988) and i ...

, also passes through Basti.

Landmarks

* Amorha Khas is situated at a distance of 41 km from the district headquarters. Its old name was Ambodha, and it was once a province (state) of Surajbansi Rajput Raja Zalim Singh. Zalim Singh's Mahal is here, Old wall of mahal is still there with the mark of a bullet used by the English. Also a temple Ramrekha Mandir is here. * Chhawani is a police station and is situated at a distance of 40 km from the district headquarters. It was the main shelter for Indian fighters during the 1857 mutiny. * Vikramjot is a Block and small market of the Basti district 46 km away from the headquarters of Basti district. * Harraiya is one of the tehsils in Basti district and also a legislative assembly. * Ramrekha Mandir is one Hindu Mandir of Lord Ram & Goddess Sita. * Makhauda Dham is a Hindu religious spot.

Education

The district have medical college named Autonomous State Medical College and one Rajkiya Engineering College in Government Polytechnic, Basti.Rajkiya Engineering College in Government Polytechnic
/ref> The district follows a usual 10+2+3 pattern of education as elsewhere in India. Some notable schools and institutions of the district are : * St. Basil's School (affiliated to

CISCE The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) is a privately held national-level board of school education in India that conducts the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) Examination for Class X and the Indian ...

) * Sarla International Academy (affiliated to CBSE)

Notable people

Notable people from the district include: * Arvind Kumar Chaudhary – former

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for Basti (Lok Sabha constituency). * Ram Prasad Chaudhary – former cabinet minister in UP Government. * Harish Dwivedi –

BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mo ...

elected at the 2014 Indian general elections from the Basti (Lok Sabha constituency). ember of parliament *

Jagdambika Pal Jagdambika Pal is an Indian politician. He is a former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He was also a member of 15th Lok Sabha & 16th Lok Sabha and was a member of Indian National Congress, until he resigned on 7 March 2014. Political career He ...

– former chief minister of UP Government *

Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena (15 September 1927 – 23 September 1983) was a Hindi writer, poet, columnist and playwright. He was one of the seven poets who first published in one of the " Tar Saptaks", which ushered in the ‘Prayogvaad’ (Experiment ...

– Hindi poet who received the government Sahitya Academy prize * Brijesh Shandilya - playback singer from Basti

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 ...

. * Ramchandra Shukla – regarded as the first codifier of the history of Hindi literature in a scientific system *

Obaid Siddiqi Obaid Siddiqi FRS (7 January 1932 – 26 July 2013) was an Indian National Research Professor and the Founder-Director of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) National Center for Biological Sciences. He made seminal contribu ...

– biologist (geneticist), referred to as the founder of modern biology in India; founded TIFR (Molecular Biology Dep.) and NCB, Bangalore * Raghvendra Pratap Singh politician and a member of 17th Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh * Raj Kishor Singh – former cabinet minister in UP Government. * Yogendra Singh, sociologist * Bhalchandra Yadava former politician and Member of Parliament Khalilabad (Lok Sabha constituency) in Uttar Pradesh.

Origin of name and history

Geography

Flora and fauna

Demographics

Religion

Languages

Indian diaspora

Medical services and hospitals

Administration

Economy

Transportation

By air

By railways

By roadways

Landmarks

Education

Notable people

See also

References

External links