Varanasi division is an administrative geographical unit 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 ...

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 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 so ...

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 ...

is the administrative headquarters of the division. Currently (2018), the division consists of districts of

Chandauli Chandauli is a town and a nagar panchayat in Chandauli district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Chandauli District. Geography Chandauli is located at . It has an average elevation of . It comes ...

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 ...

, and Jaunpur and is loosely equivalent to the

Benares State Benares or Banaras State was a kingdom and later princely state in what is today Uttar Pradesh, India. On 15 October 1948, Benares' last ruler signed the accession to the Indian Union. The state was founded by the local zamindar, Raja Balw ...

Districts

* Jaunpur

History

In the 18th Century the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

was dissolving, and the eastern portion of present-day Uttar Pradesh State came under the control of

Saadat Ali Khan I Saadat Ali Khan Nishapuri (c. 1680 – 19 March 1739) was the Subahdar Nawab of Awadh (Oudh) from 26 January 1722 to 1739 and the son of Muhammad Nasir. At age 25 he accompanied his father on the final campaign of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb a ...

, the first Nawab of Awadh. In 1722, Saadat Ali Khan sublet his southern territories, comprising the present-day districts of

Bhadohi Bhadohi is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is home to the largest hand-knotted carpet weaving industry hub in South Asia. The city is 45 km west of Varanasi and 82 km east of Allahabad. Demographics As of 2011 Indi ...

, Jaunpur,

, Mirzapur, Sonbhadra, and

, to

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 ...

Mir Rustam Ali. Mir Rustam Ali was deposed in 1738, and Mansa Ram became zamindar. On Mansa Ram's death in 1739, his son Balwant Singh succeeded him, and established himself raja of

. Balwant Singh and added present-day

and

Ballia Ballia is a city with a municipal board in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The eastern boundary of the city lies at the junction of two major rivers, the Ganges and the Ghaghara.The city is situated east of Varanasi and about 380 ...

districts to his territories. Balwant Singh died in 1770, and the British intervened to get the Nawab to recognize his son and heir,

Chait Singh Rafa'at wa Awal-i-Martabat Maharaja Sri Chait Singh Sahib Bahadur (died 29 March 1810), commonly known as Chait Singh, was a ruler of Kingdom of Benares in northern India. Maharaja Balwant Singh's elder son, Rafa'at wa Awal-i-Martabat Raja Sri ...

, as raja. The Nawab of Awadh ceded the territory to the British in 1775, and the British confirmed Chait Singh as ruler. The British deposed Chait Singh in 1781, and under his heir Mahip Narayan Singh, took administrative control over most of the territory, organizing it into Benares Division, comprising four districts: Benares, Ghazipur, Jaunpur, and Mirzapur. The rajas, later maharajas, of Benares retained certain administrative rights and revenues within the division, and directly governed a portion of the division, known as the Benares Estate. The rajas' principal residence was at Ramnagar, across the Ganges River from Benares. Ballia district was separated from Ghazipur in 1879. The Division had an area of 10,431 square miles, and was part of the United Provinces of British India. The administrative headquarters was at Benares. The Division's population was 4,395,252 in 1872, 5,178,005 in 1881, 5,368,480 in 1891, and 5,069,020 in 1901. The decrease from 1891 to 1901 was attributed to an epidemic of fever following disastrous floods in 1894, and to famine and emigration. The 1901 census recorded the division's population as 91% Hindu, not quite 9% Muslim, with small populations of Christians and Sikhs. In 1911, the Benares Estate, which included two areas governed directly by the Maharajas, was separated from the division to form the Princely State of

Benares 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 tra ...

. In 1947 India became independent, United Provinces were renamed

. In 1948 the Maharaja of Benares acceded to the Government of India, and Benares State was reintegrated into Benares division, with the western portion becoming Bhadohi tehsil and the eastern portion becoming Chania tehsil of Varanasi district. In 1989 the southeastern portion of Mirzapur district was separated into Sonbhadra district. In 1996 Bhadohi district, also called Sant Ravidas Nagar district, was separated from Varanasi district. In 1997 Chandauli district was separated from Varanasi district."India Districts". statoids.com. Accessed 18 November 2017
/ref> After 2000, Varanasi division was reduced in size, with the districts of Bhadohi, Mirzapur, and Sonbhadra separated into Mirzapur division, and Ballia district made part of Azamgarh division.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varanasi Division Divisions of Uttar Pradesh

Districts

History

See also

References