Kalpi

Kalpi, or Calpee, a town of British India, in the Jalaun district of the United Provinces, on the right bank of the Jumna, 45 m. S.W. of Cawnpore. Pop. (1901), 10,139. It was founded, according to tradition, by Vasudeva, at the end of the 4th century A.D. In 1196 it fell to Kutab-ud-din, the viceroy of Mahommed Ghori, and during the subsequent Mahommedan period it played a large part in the annals of this part of India. About the middle of the 18th century it passed into the hands of the Mahrattas. It was captured by the British in 1803, and since 1806 has remained in British possession. In May 1858 Sir Hugh Rose (Lord Strathnairn) defeated here a force of about 10,000 rebels under the rani of Jhansi. Kalpi had a mint for copper coinage in the reign of Akbar; and the East India Company made it one of their principal stations for providing the “commercial investment.” The old town, which is beside the river, has ruins of a fort, and several temples of interest, while in the neighbourhood are many ancient tombs. There is a lofty modern tower ornamented with representations of the battles of the Ramayana. The new town lies away from the river to the south-east. Kalpi is still a centre of local trade (principally in grain, ghi and cotton), with a station on the Indian Midland railway from Jhansi to Cawnpore, which here crosses the Jumna. There are manufactures of sugar and paper.