Muzaffarnagar district

This article is about the district. For its eponymous headquarters, see Muzaffarnagar.

Muzaffarnagar district मुज़फ़्फ़रनगर जिला
District of Uttar Pradesh
Location of Muzaffarnagar district in Uttar Pradesh
Country	India
State	Uttar Pradesh
Administrative division	Saharanpur
Headquarters	Muzaffarnagar
Tehsils	Muzaffarnagar,Budhana,Jansath,Khatauli
Government
• Lok Sabha constituencies	Muzaffarnagar, (Lok Sabha constituency)
• Assembly seats	Muzaffarnagar, Budhana, Charthawal, Khatauli, Meerapur, Purqazi
Area
• Total	4,008 km2 (1,547 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	2,827,154
• Density	710/km2 (1,800/sq mi)
Demographics
• Literacy	68.68 per cent
Major highways	NH 58
Website	Official website

Muzaffarnagar District (Hindi: मुज़फ़्फ़र नगर ज़िला, Urdu: مُظفٌر نگر ضلع‎) is a district of Uttar Pradesh state in northern India. It is well known for its agricultural prosperity (Highest agricultural GDP in UP) and is one of the most prosperous districts of Uttar Pradesh. This district, being one of the highest producer of sugarcane in the country, is also known as "Sugar Bowl of India". It is part of Saharanpur division. The city of Muzaffarnagar is the district headquarters.This district is also the part of National Capital Region.

Communication

Muzaffarnagar District is situated in the Western Region of Uttar Pradesh, 120 km. from Delhi. It lies on National Highway No. 58, Delhi to Dehradun. Muzaffarnagar District is well connected by the rail and road network.

History

See also: History of Uttar Pradesh

Ancient period

Muzaffarnagar district, situated in the fertile Doab region of Yamuna and Ganges rivers, was suitable for human habitation in ancient times. The earliest settlement discovered in this district is in Mandi village and belongs to the Harappan civilization; it appears that this Janapada was a part of Harappa civilisation, for the pots and pans and other objects, which are of the type of that era, are seen occasionally in use here and in neighbouring villages. The area witnessed the arrival of Aryans from the present Punjab and, in the Ramayana-Mahabharata epic period, it was considered a part of the Kuru (East) Mahajanapada territory; Usinara and Panchala Mahajanapadas were its eastern neighbours then. According to a local tradition, the legendary Mahabharata war - between the Kauravas and the Pandavas - was fought in the fields of the present village of 'Pachenda' and their army camps were located respectively at the sites now famous as 'Kaurawali' and 'Pandavli'. Being close to Hasthinapur and Kurukshetra, it should have been important during Mahabharata period. It was probably on a trade route as some Greco-Roman coins have also been excavated. Further archeological excavations are in progress. Most of the empire building invasions, from the east and the west, across the vast swathe of Gangetic plains of India, passed through Muzaffarnagar/Saharanpur regions. However, not much reliable information is known. Sarvat name was derived from the sanskrit word " Sravana Vata" as Rishi Sravana stayed here and a temple existed at that place in village Sarvat, inhabited by the old Tyagi rulers of this area.

Medieval period

Muzaffarnagar's early medieval history is obscure till the Indo-Mughal period. Timur's army had marched to Delhi through this region in 1399; its people fought it unsuccessfully. In Mughal Emperor Akbar's time, most of the Muzaffarnagar district region, called Sarwat then under the Mahal control of Taga / Tyagi brahmans of Sarvat village, belonged to the sarkar (circle) of Saharanpur. Akbar bestowed pargana of Sarwat on Sayyed Mahmud Khan Barha which remained with his descendants up to the 17th century. After killing Peer Khan Lodi styled as Khan Jahan lodi, Shahjahan bestowed title of deceased Peer Khan Lodhi and Pargana of Sarwat on Sayyed Muzaffar Khan Barha, whose son Munawwar Lashkar Khan Barha established the city and named it Muzaffarnagar in honour of his father, and Sarwat also became Muzaffarnagar. The history of this district remained closely associated with these Sayyid rulers. It was the birthplace of the Sayyid Brothers, Abdullah Khan Barha & Hussain Ali Khan Barha famous as king makers in Mughal history. Marathas rose as power who control most of doab region in the 18th century.

Colonial period

The last of the invaders were the British, who marched into it from the east and, in 1803, the expanding British East India Company occupied the region of Saharanpur, which included the present Muzaffarnagar district. This district's boundaries and jurisdiction changed frequently and its separate existence may be said to start from 1826. When North India rebelled against British occupation in 1857, Muzaffarnagar region was part of this uprising, now referred to as the First War of Indian Independence. The centre of revolt operations was Shamli, which was liberated for some time. After the uprising failed, British retribution was severe here, with a large scale massacre of freedom fighters in Shamli and of their Rohillas Pathan supporters in Thanabhavan and nearby, crippling the region completely. However, the covert spirit of self-rule survived and in 1899 an office of the Indian National Congress was opened in Muzaffarnagar city, to continue the freedom struggle through peaceful means. Muzaffarnagar's prominent freedom fighters of this period are: Pt. Sunder Lal, Lala Hardayal, Shri Chandra Muni Tyagi (Vakil), Shri Shanti Narayan, and Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan, who became the first prime minister of Pakistan, after the partition of British India in 1947, Haji Ahmad Bakhsh, who became MLA for 1957-1967 was a prominent freedom fighter who lost his son while he was in jail during freedom struggle. he could not attend the burial of his only son because British jailor did not permit him to go without maafinaama. when he refused to give maafinaama he was penalized by 50 kodas on his back.

Legends

Several legends have formed in this district around a number of devotional/religion places, e.g. Shukartaal, Kharad(खरड) etc. In the village of Kharad(खरड), there are two famous temples of Maa (Hindu Mother goddess) Shakumbhari Devi and Maa Sheetla Devi. Another part of this village, known as the 'Forest', also has its own legends and is famous as the place of Gods and Sages. It is believed that in this forest, a saint, Sant Baba Gopal Giri, worshipped gods and goddesses and he was rewarded with a formula to get alive after death. Some old people say that, there are such medicines in this forest that can make alive any dead body, as happened in the times of Baba Gopal Giri. It is believed that in his sleep, Baba Gopal Giri had a dream that Maa Shakumbhari Devi desires to stay in this forest. After this, the Baba took donations from nearby villagers and made the temple of Maa Shakumbri Devi. On completion of the temple, Goddess Shakumbhari Devi made it her abode and the Baba fell dead.

Geography

Muzaffarnagar district is roughly rectangular in shape, lying between 29°11′30″N and 29°45′15″N and between 77°3′45″E and 78°7′E. Its total area is 4008 km². The greatest length of district, from east to west, is 97.6 km, and its greatest breadth, from north to south, 57.6 km; the average length and breadth are about 85 km and 50 km respectively. It has an average elevation of 232 metres. The district is covered by two major holy rivers from two sides; in the east there is the Ganges and in the west there is the Yamuna. The neighbouring districts, Shamli to its west and Bijnor to the east, Saharanpur to its north and Meerut to its south.

The district is divided into 10 blocks, these are:

Sr. No.	Block Name
1	Kookra
2	Budhana
3	Baghra
4	Shahpur
5	Purquazi
6	Charthawal
7	Morna
8	Jansath
9	Khatauli
10	Muzaffarnagar

On 28 September 2011 Muzaffarnagar district lost Shamli and Kairana tehsil which formed a new district Shamli district.

Muzaffarnagar district map till date 28 September 2011 (Before the creation of Shamli district)

Demographics

Religions in Muzaffarnagar
Religion			Percent
Hindus			58%
Muslims			38%
Jains			2%
Others†			0.2%
Distribution of religions †Includes Sikhs (0.1%), Buddhists (<0.1%).

According to the 2011 census Muzaffarnagar district has a population of 2,827,154, roughly equal to the nation of Lebanon or the US state of Oregon. This gives it a ranking of 125th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 960 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,500/sq mi) . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 16.8%. Muzaffarnagar has a sex ratio of 886 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 70.11%. Minority population is about 40% of the total population of the district Muzaffarnagar is a category "B1" district i.e. having socio-economic parameters below the national average.

Economy

Muzaffarnagar is an important industrial district with sugar, steel and paper being the major products. There are a number of steel plants viz. Rana Steels, Barnala Steels, U.P Steels, Sidhbali Steels etc. There are resorts and restaurants at Delhi-Dehradun highway and some state of the art health centers.

Cultural life

Culturally, it is part of Western Uttar Pradesh, with Indo-Islamic flavour. The older parts of the city have a Mughal feel, many monuments of Mughal period are spread in the villages and towns of this district. Jansath Tehsil, about 22 km from district headquarters, has many Havelies (grand mansions) of the Sayyids: Sheeshmahal, Killi Darwaja etc. are a few of them.

"Devi Mandir" located on the banks of Kali nadi river holds vital mythological value and is considered to be one of the oldest temple in and around the area. Amongst several other legends attributed to the temple, prominent one is of a nawab getting cursed by the temple priest after he tried stopping the evening ceremonies of the temple forcefully for his hunting in the adjoining forest was disturbed by the sounds of temple bells and aarti chants. As per the legend the nawab fell sick the as soon as he returned home that evening and various hakeems from even the adjoining areas failed to revive him for full three weeks. When every effort seemed to be failing the munshi of the nawab reminded him of the curse and the nawab realizing the real reason of his sickness then sent his munshi with gifts of gold and silver and a letter of forgiveness to the priest, but the angry priest in turn refused to accept them and declared that he would only take the curse back on the condition that the nawab himself came and asked for forgiveness from goddess in the temple. The nawab agreed to it and went asking for forgiveness to the temple, after much pleading the priest is then said to have taken back the curse healing the nawab then and there. In appreciation of the miracle, the nawab is said to have issued a farmaan forbidding any hunting in the forest around temple premises.

Shiv chowk is the Heart of Muzaffarnagar it is situated in the middle of the City,Billions of kawadiya visit this temple in the Shivratri,i.e the holy place and the special thing about this temple it is situated on the water passing.

"Jansath House" is an old palatial bangalow situated at Ansari Road, owned by senior advocate Sh Jamil Ahmad, this bangalow was earlier owned by Sayyid Brothers of Jansath. Maulana Iftikharul Hassan Saheb of Kandhla on his visit to city stay at this bangalow and give his sermons here.

Bohoron Ka Mandir, situated on Ansari Road, Muzaffarnagar is a very quiet spiritual place to spend time as very few people visit it. The special thing about this temple is its Ekadash Shivalinga (eleven Shivlingas).

Vahelna, 4 km from the city, is a holy site for Jains. Vahelna is an excellent example of Hindu-Muslim brotherhood as the walls of Mosque, Shiv Mandir and Jain Mandir touch each other.

World famous Muslim cleric and author of books on Islamic jurisprudence, Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi is from Thana Bhawan of this District. Founder of tablighi Jamaat Movement Maulana Ilyas is from Kandhla in Muzaffarnagar district. Writer of Fazail e AAmal is also from the same Kandhla.

Famous Hindi writer Vishnu Prabhakar is from Mirapur in Muzaffarnagar.

Education

There are two medical colleges and five engineering colleges in this district. There are four management colleges and eight degree colleges in the city. The city is rapidly developing its educational system.

• Muzaffarnagar Medical College is situated the on Meerut-Muzaffarnagar Highway nearly 10 km on the outskirts of the city. It is affiliated to Chaudhary Charan Singh University and approved by Medical Council of India. Along with M.B.B.S, this college offers various other courses.
• Sukhsagar Medical Institute and Research Center, New Mandi, Muzaffarnagar offers various courses in naturopathy and yoga.
• S.D.Degree College is a commerce college affiliated to C.C.S. University, Meerut. It awards degrees: M.Sc, M.Com, B.Com, B.Sc.
• D.A.V. (PG) College is a science college that has been selected by the UP Government as one of the best three colleges of Uttar Pradesh. The College awards these degrees: BCA, BBA, B.Sc.- Biotechnology, M.Sc.- Biotechnology, M.Sc.- Microbiology and M.Sc.- Biochemistry.
• Gandhi Polytechnic Muzaffarnagar is a polytechnic college. Affiliated to Uttar Pradesh Board of Technical Education (BTEUP),Lucknow, College Awarded Engineering Diploma in- Electrical, Mechanical, Civil etc.

Up to 12th standard education, there are several good schools like Holy Angels' Convent School, S.D.Public School, Bhagwanti Saraswati Vidya Mandir, D.A.V.Inter College, Gyan Deep Public School, D.A.V Public school, S.D. Inter College, G.C. Public School, M.G. Public school, Lala Jagdish Prasad Saraswati Vidya Mandir Inter College etc.

See also

• 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots

External links

• Official website