Sultanpur

Sultanpur, a town and district of British India, in the Fyzabad division of the United Provinces. The town is on the right bank of the river Gumti, midway between Benares and Lucknow, on the Oudh & Rohilkhand railway. Pop. (1901), 9550.

The District Of Sultanpur has an area of 1713 sq. m. The surface is generally level, being broken only by ravines in the neighbourhood of the rivers. The central portion is highly cultivated, while in the south are widespread arid plains and swampy jhils or marshes. The principal river is the Gumti, which passes through the centre of the district and affords a valuable highway for commerce. Minor streams are the Kandu, Pili, Tengha and Nandhia, the last two being of some importance, as their channels form the outlet for the superfluous water of the jhils, draining into the Sai. There are no forests in the district, only stunted dhdk jungles used for fuel. In 1901 the population was 1,083,904, showing an increase of less than I % in the decade. Sultanpur is a purely agricultural district with a very dense population. The principal crops are rice, pulses, wheat, barley, sugar-cane and a little poppy. The main line of the Oudh & Rohilkhand railway from Lucknow to Rae Bareli and Mogul Serai serves the south-western portion.

The only incident worthy of note in the history of the district since the British annexation of Oudh is the revolt of the native troops stationed at Sultanpur during the Mutiny. The troops rose in rebellion on the 9th of June 1857, and, after murdering two of their officers, sacked the station. Upon the restoration of order Sultanpur cantonment was strengthened by a detachment of British troops; but in 1861 it was entirely abandoned as a military station.

See Sultanpur District Gazetteer (Allahabad, 1903).