About Opentopia
Opentopia Directory Encyclopedia Tools

Jaunpur

Encyclopedia : J : JA : JAU : Jaunpur

Jaunpur is a city in Jaunpur District in Uttar Pradesh state of India.

Jaunpur district is located to the northwest of the district of Varanasi in the eastern portion of the North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. At the time of the 2001 census, Jaunpur district had a population of 3,911,678 inhabitants, with Jaunpur city itself having a population of 168,851 people. Demographically, Jaunpur resembles the rest of the Purvanchal area in which it is located: a primarily rural agricultural population with high illiteracy and low human development.

Jaunpur's notable history dates from 1388, during which period the Sultan of Delhi Feroz Shah Tughlaq appointed Malik Sarwar, a eunuch, as governor of the region. The Sultanate was weakened by the 1398 sacking of Delhi by the Mongols under Timur, and Malik Sarwar then declared independence. He and his adopted son founded what came to be known as the Sharqi dynasty. During the Sharqi period the Jaunpur Sultanate was a strong military power in Northern India, and on several occasions threatened the Delhi Sultanate. Jaunpur was then a major center of Urdu and Sufi knowledge and culture. The Sharqi dynasty was known for its excellent communal relations between Muslims and Hindus, perhaps stemming from the fact that the Sharqis themselves were originally indigenous converts to Islam, as opposed to descendants of Persians or Afghans. Jaunpur's independence came to an end in 1480, when the city was conquered by Sikander Lodi, the Sultan of Delhi. 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 mosques remain, most notably the Atala Masjid, Jama Masjid (now known as the Bari 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 in Jaunpur dates from 1564, the era of the Mughal emperor Akbar. The Jaunpur Quila, a fortress from the Tughlaq era, also remains in ruined form.

Jaunpur district was annexed into British India based on the Permanent settlement of 1779, and thus was subject to the Zamindari system of land revenue collection. During the Revolt of 1857 the Sikh troops in Jaunpur joined the Indian rebels. The district was eventually reconquered for the British by Gurkha troops from Nepal. Jaunpur then became a district administrative center.

Modern Jaunpur shares the underdevelopment of most of Eastern Uttar Pradesh. There are currently no major industries operating in the city, and traditional industries such as perfume making have become increasingly unviable.

Politically, Jaunpur is divided between the Samajwadi Party (SP) which tends to represent the interests of the Backward Castes and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) which tends to represent the interests of the Scheduled Castes.

The two major educational institutions in Jaunpur are Purvanchal University, located approximately 10km outside the city, and Tilak Dhari College (TD College) on the south bank of the Gomti. In addition, there is an engineering college, Prasad Institute Of Technology, Jaunpur affiliated with UP Technical University, Lucknow and a college of Purvanchal University.

Shahi Bridge over the Gompti River
Enlarge
Shahi Bridge over the Gompti River

Contents

List of sultans of Jaunpur

Sharqi Dynasty

List of Institutes of Jaunpur

Population

2001 census: 159,996

External links

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Search Titles
0123456789
ABCDEFGHIJ
KLMNOPQRST
UVWXYZ?

E-mail this article to:

Personal Message: