Saharanpur district

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

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District of Uttar Pradesh in India

Saharanpur district

District of Uttar Pradesh

Mora village

Location of Saharanpur district in Uttar Pradesh

Country|  India
State| Uttar Pradesh
Division| Saharanpur
Headquarters| Saharanpur
Government

• Lok Sabha constituencies| Saharanpur
• Vidhan Sabha constituencies| Saharanpur, Saharanpur nagar, Gangoh, Nakur, Deoband, Rampur Maniharan, Behat
Area

• Total| 3,860 km2 (1,490 sq mi)
Population

(2011)

• Total| 3,466,382
• Density| 900/km2 (2,300/sq mi)
Demographics

• Literacy| 62.61%[1]
Time zone| UTC+05:30 (IST)
Vehicle registration| UP-11
Airport| Sarsawa Airport
Website| saharanpur.nic.in

Saharanpur district is the northernmost of the districts of Uttar Pradesh state, India. Bordering the states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and close to the foothills of Shivalik range, it lies in the northern part of the Doab region.

The district headquarters are in Saharanpur, which is also the headquarters of Saharanpur Division. Other principal towns are Sarsawa, Behat, Deoband, Gangoh and Rampur Maniharan.

## Geography

[edit]

Saharanpur is located at 29°58′N 77°33′E﻿ / ﻿29.97°N 77.55°E﻿ / 29.97; 77.55, about 130 kilometres (81 mi) south-southeast from Chandigarh and 170 kilometres (110 mi) north-northeast from Delhi and 61 Km. South of Dehradun and about 70 Km. South East from the town of Paonta Sahib, Himachal Pradesh. It has an average elevation of 284 metres (932 ft). It is bordered by Yamunanagar and Karnal districts of Haryana to the west, Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh to the northwest, Dehradun district of Uttarakhand to the north, Haridwar district of Uttarakhand to the east and Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts to the south.

It is the northernmost district of Uttar Pradesh, bounded by the Yamuna to the west. The northern border of the district is formed by the southern slopes of the Sivallik Hills. Below the Sivallik is the Bhabhar, and south of that, the Terai. The west of the district is khadir land next to the Yamuna, generally composed of clayish soil, and produces two small tributaries of the Yamuna: the Budhi and Saindh.

## Historical

[edit]

See also: History of Uttar Pradesh and Saharanpur division

Historical populationYear| Pop.| ±% p.a.

|
|

1901| 728,601| —
1911| 687,620| −0.58%
1921| 653,460| −0.51%
1931| 727,731| +1.08%
1941| 822,231| +1.23%
1951| 942,849| +1.38%
1961| 1,132,537| +1.85%
1971| 1,414,231| +2.25%
1981| 1,821,543| +2.56%
1991| 2,309,029| +2.40%
2001| 2,896,863| +2.29%
2011| 3,466,382| +1.81%
source:[2]

Saharanpur district name is said to be derived from the ancient holy shaktipeeth of Mata Shahkumbari Devi temple situated in Behat region. However, some claims are made to suggest that it was in honor of Sufi Saint Shah Haroon Chisti.

### Medieval period

[edit]

During the reign of Shamsu’d-Din Iltutmish (r 1211–1236), the region became a part of the Delhi Sultanate. At that time, most of the area remained covered with forests and marshlands, through which the Paondhoi, Dhamola, and Ganda Nala rivers flowed. The climate was humid and malaria outbreaks were common. Muhammad bin Tughluq, the Sultan of Delhi (1325–1351), undertook a campaign in the northern doab to crush the rebellion of the Shivalik kings in 1340, when according to local tradition he learned of the presence of a sufi saint on the banks of the Paondhoi River. After visiting the sage, he ordered that henceforth this region would be known as 'Shah-Haroonpur', after the Sufi Saint Shah Haroon Chishti.[3] The simple but well-preserved tomb of this saint is situated in the oldest quarter of Saharanpur city, between the Mali Gate/Bazar Dinanath and Halwai Hatta. By the end of the 14th century, the power of the Sultanate had declined and it was attacked by Emperor Timur (1336–1405) of Central Asia. Timur had marched through the Saharanpur region in 1399 to sack Delhi and people of the region fought his army unsuccessfully. A weakened Sultanate was later conquered by the Central Asian Mogul king Babur (1483–1531).

### Mughal period

[edit]

In the 16th century, Babur, a Timurid descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan from Fergana Valley (modern-day Uzbekistan), invaded across the Khyber Pass and founded the Mughal Empire, covering India, along with modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh[4] The Mughals were descended from Persianised Central Asian Turks (with significant Mongol admixture).

During the Mughal period, Akbar (1542–1605), Saharanpur became an administrative unit under the Province of Delhi. Akbar bestowed the feudal jagir of Saharanpur to the Mughal treasurer, Sah Ranveer Singh, a Hindu Rohilla who laid the foundations of the present-day city on the site of an army cantonment. The nearest settlements at that time were Shekhpura and Malhipur. Saharanpur was a walled city, with four gates: the Sarai Gate, the Mali Gate, the Buria Gate, and the Lakhi Gate. The city was divided into the neighbourhoods named Nakhasa Bazar, Shah Behlol, Rani Bazar and Lakhi Gate. The ruins of Shah Ran Veer Singh's old fort can still be seen in the Chaudharian locality of Saharanpur, not far from the better known 'Bada-Imam-bada'. He also built a large Jain temple in Muhallah/Toli Chaundhariyan,[5] it is now known as the 'Digamber-Jain Panchayati Mandir'.

### The Sayyids and Rohillas

[edit]

Mughal emperors Akbar and later Shah Jehan (1592–1666) bestowed the administrative pargana of Sarwat on Muslim Sayyid families. In 1633 one of them founded a city and named it and the surrounding region Muzaffarnagar, in honour of his father, Sayyid Muzaffar Ali Khan. The Sayyids ruled the area until the 1739 invasion by Nadir Shah. After his departure, anarchy prevailed across the entire doab with the region ruled or ravaged in succession by Jats. Taking advantage of this anarchy, the Rohillas took control of the entire trans-Gangetic region.

Ahmad Shah Durrani, the Afghan ruler who invaded Northwestern and Northern India in the 1750s, conferred the territory of Saharanpur as Jagir on Rohilla chief Najaf Khan, who assumed the title of Nawab Najeeb-ud-Daula and took up residence in Saharanpur in 1754,. He made Gaunsgarh his capital and tried to strengthen his position against Maratha Empire attacks by entering an alliance with the Hindu Gurjar chieftain Manohar Singh. In 1759, Najeeb-ud-Daula issued a Deed of Agreement handing over 550 villages to Manohar Singh, who became the Raja of Landaura.

### Maratha period

[edit]

In 1757, the Maratha army captured the Saharanpur region, which resulted in Najeeb-ud-Daula losing control of Saharanpur to the Maratha rulers Raghunath Rao and Malharao Holkar. The conflict between Rohillas and Marathas came to an end on 18 December 1788 with the arrest of Ghulam Qadir, the grandson of Najeeb-ud-Daula, who was defeated by the Maratha general Mahadaji Shinde. The most significant contribution of Nawab Ghulam Qadir to Saharanpur city is the Nawab Ganj area and the Ahmedabadi fortress therein, which still stands. The death of Ghulam Qadir put an end to the Rohilla administration in Saharanpur and it became the northernmost district of the Maratha Empire. Ghani Bahadur Banda was appointed its first Maratha governor. The Maratha Regime saw the construction of the Bhuteshwar Temple and Bagheshwar Temple in Saharanpur city. In 1803, following the Second Anglo-Maratha War, when the British East India Company defeated the Maratha Empire, Saharanpur came under British suzerainty.[6]

### British colonial period (1803–1947 AD)

[edit]

When India rebelled in 1857 against the foreign Company's occupation, now referred to as the First War of Indian Independence, the Saharanpur and the present-day Muzaffarnagar Districts were part of that uprising. The centre of freedom fighters' operations was Shamli, a small town in the Muzaffarnagar region which was liberated for some time. After the uprising failed, British retribution was severe. Death and destruction was particularly directed against the Muslims of the region, whom the British considered as the main instigators of the rebellion; Muslim society was devastated beyond recognition. When social reconstruction started, the cultural and political history of Muslims began to revolve around Deoband and Aligarh. Muhammad Qasim Nanautawi and Rashid Ahmad Gangohi, both proponents of the reformer Shah Waliullah's ideology for social and political rejuvenation, established a school in Deoband in 1867. It found popularity and global recognition as the Darul Uloom Deoband. Its founders' mission was twofold: to raise and spread a team of scholars able to awaken the religious and social consciousness of Muslims through peaceful methods and to make efforts, through them, to educate Muslims in their faith and culture; and to bring about a feeling of nationalism and national unity by promoting the concept of Hindu-Muslim unity and a united India. Muslim scholars in the city of Saharanpur were active supporters of this ideology and went on to establish the Mazahir Uloom theological seminary six months later.

## Demographics

[edit]

Historical populationYear| Pop.| ±% p.a.

|
|

1901| 241,612| —
1911| 264,297| +0.90%
1921| 261,915| −0.09%
1931| 311,227| +1.74%
1941| 359,218| +1.44%
1951| 397,342| +1.01%
1961| 498,034| +2.28%
1971| 643,086| +2.59%
1981| 854,377| +2.88%
1991| 1,101,171| +2.57%
2001| 1,378,881| +2.27%
2011| 1,734,495| +2.32%
source:[2]

According to the 2011 census the Saharanpur district had a population of 3,466,382,[7] roughly equal to the nation of Panama[8] or the US state of Connecticut.[9] This gives it a ranking of 92nd in India (out of a total of 640).[7] The district has a population density of 939 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,430/sq mi) .[7] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 19.59%.[7] Saharanpur has a sex ratio of 887 females for every 1000 males,[7] and a literacy rate of 72.03%. 30.77% of the population lived in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 22.05% and 0.03% of the population respectively.[7]

### Religion

[edit]

Religions in Saharanpur district (2011)[10]

Religion |  | Percent
Hinduism |

| 56.74%
Islam |

| 41.95%
Sikhism |

| 0.54%
Other or not stated |

| 0.77%
Distribution of religions

Hinduism is followed by over 56% of people. Islam is the second-largest religion in the district with over 41.95% adherents. Sikhism is followed by 0.54% people. Hindus generally dominate rural areas while Muslims are majority in urban areas.[10]

Tehsil  | Hindus  | Muslims  | Others

|
|
|

Behat | 47.79%  | 51.19%  | 1.03%
Saharanpur | 51.35%  | 46.78%  | 1.87%
Nakur | 60.00%  | 38.54%  | 1.46%
Deoband | 59.80%  | 39.77%  | 0.43%
Rampur Maniharan | 79.24%  | 20.19%  | 0.57%

### Languages

[edit]

Languages of Saharanpur district (2011)[11]

Hindi (80.90%)

Urdu (18.57%)

Others (0.53%)

At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 80.90% of the population of the district spoke Hindi and 18.57% Urdu as their first language.[11]

## Education

[edit]

### Medical College

[edit]

* Sheikh-Ul-Hind Mahmood Mahmood Hasan Medical College, a government medical college which provides healthcare for all citizens of the state and to train students. The present medical college is planned to have a 500-bed hospital with road access to the Saharanpur-Ambala National Highway. The proposed annual intake of MBBS Students is expected to be 100 from 2014 to 2015.[12]

## Villages

[edit]

* Agwanhera[13]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "District-specific Literates and Literacy Rates, 2001". Registrar General, India, Ministry of Home Affairs. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
2. ^ a b Decadal Variation In Population Since 1901
3. ^ History The Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 21, p. 369\. 1909.
4. ^ The Islamic World to 1600: Rise of the Islamic Empires (The Mughal Empire) Archived 27 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
5. ^ Madhu Jain, O. C. Handa, and Omacanda Handa, Wood Handicraft: A Study of Its Origin and Development in Saharanpur, Indus Publishing (2000), pp. 22–24. ISBN 81-7387-103-5
6. ^ Mayaram, Shail (16 February 2024). Against history, against state: counterperspectives from the margins Cultures of history. Columbia University Press, 2003. ISBN 978-0-231-12731-8.
7. ^ a b c d e f "District Census Handbook: Saharanpur" (PDF). censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 2011.
8. ^ US Directorate of Intelligence. "Country Comparison:Population". Archived from the original on 13 June 2007. Retrieved 1 October 2011. "Panama 3,460,462 July 2011 est."
9. ^ "2010 Resident Population Data". U. S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 30 September 2011. "Connecticut 3,574,097"
10. ^ a b "Table C-01 Population by Religion: Uttar Pradesh". censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 2011.
11. ^ a b "Table C-16 Population by Mother Tongue: Uttar Pradesh". www.censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
12. ^ "Shaikhul Hind Medical College inaugurated". www.milligazette.com. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
13. ^ Integrated Management Information System (IMIS)

* v
* t
* e

Places adjacent to Saharanpur district

|  | Sirmaur district, Himachal Pradesh |

|
|

|  |
Yamuna Nagar district |

Saharanpur district

| Haridwar district
|  |
Karnal district | Shamli district | Muzaffarnagar district

Links to related articles

* v
* t
* e

Cities and towns in Saharanpur district

Saharanpur|

* Mathana
* Ambehta
* Behat
* Chhutmalpur
* Chilkana Sultanpur
* Deoband
* Gangoh
* Kailashpur
* Nakur
* Nanauta
* Rampur Maniharan
* Saharanpur
* Sarsawan
* Titron

Other districts|

* Agra
* Aligarh
* Ayodhya
* Ambedkar Nagar
* Amethi
* Amroha
* Auraiya
* Azamgarh
* Bagpat
* Bahraich
* Ballia
* Balrampur
* Banda
* Barabanki
* Basti
* Bhadohi
* Bijnor
* Bulandshahr
* Chandauli
* Chitrakoot
* Deoria
* Etah
* Etawah
* Farrukhabad
* Fatehpur
* Firozabad
* Gautam Buddha Nagar
* Ghaziabad
* Ghazipur
* Gonda
* Gorakhpur
* Hamirpur
* Hardoi
* Hapur
* Hathras
* Jalaun
* Jaunpur
* Jhansi
* Kannauj
* Kanpur Nagar
* Kanpur Dehat
* Kasganj
* Kaushambi
* Kushinagar
* Lakhimpur Kheri
* Lalitpur
* Lucknow
* Maharajganj
* Mahoba
* Mainpuri
* Mathura
* Mau
* Meerut
* Mirzapur
* Moradabad
* Muzaffarnagar
* Pratapgarh
* Prayagraj
* Raebareli
* Rampur
* Saharanpur
* Sant Kabir Nagar
* Shravasti
* Siddharthnagar
* Shamli
* Sambhal
* Sitapur
* Sonbhadra
* Sultanpur
* Unnao
* Varanasi

* v
* t
* e

Divisions and Districts of Uttar Pradesh, India

Agra division|

* Agra
* Firozabad
* Mainpuri
* Mathura

Aligarh division|

* Aligarh
* Etah
* Hathras
* Kasganj

Ayodhya division|

* Ambedkar Nagar
* Amethi
* Ayodhya
* Barabanki
* Sultanpur

Azamgarh division|

* Azamgarh
* Ballia
* Mau

Bareilly division|

* Bareilly
* Budaun
* Pilibhit
* Shahjahanpur

Basti division|

* Basti
* Sant Kabir Nagar
* Siddharthnagar

Chitrakoot division|

* Banda
* Chitrakoot
* Hamirpur
* Mahoba

Devipatan division|

* Bahraich
* Balrampur
* Gonda
* Shravasti

Gorakhpur division|

* Deoria
* Gorakhpur
* Kushinagar
* Maharajganj

Jhansi division|

* Jalaun
* Jhansi
* Lalitpur

Kanpur division|

* Auraiya
* Etawah
* Farrukhabad
* Kannauj
* Kanpur Nagar
* Kanpur Dehat

Lucknow division|

* Hardoi
* Lakhimpur Kheri
* Lucknow
* Raebareli
* Sitapur
* Unnao

Meerut division|

* Bagpat
* Bulandshahr
* Gautam Buddh Nagar
* Ghaziabad
* Hapur
* Meerut

Mirzapur division|

* Mirzapur
* Sant Ravidas Nagar
* Sonbhadra

Moradabad division|

* Amroha
* Bijnor
* Moradabad
* Rampur
* Sambhal

Prayagraj division|

* Fatehpur
* Kaushambi
* Pratapgarh
* Prayagraj

Saharanpur division|

* Muzaffarnagar
* Saharanpur
* Shamli

Varanasi division|

* Chandauli
* Ghazipur
* Jaunpur
* Varanasi

* v
* t
* e

Saharanpur division topics

General|

* Sivalik Hills
* Doab

Mythology, history|

* Indus Valley Civilisation
* Aryan Civilization
* Kushan Empire
* Mughals
* British Raj

Districts|

* Muzaffarnagar
* Saharanpur
* Shamli

Rivers, dams, lakes|

* Ganges
* Hindon
* Yamuna
* Paondhoi
* West Yamuna Canal

Languages, people|

* Hindustani
* Punjabi
* Standard Hindi
* Haryanvi language
* Urdu
* Western Hindi languages

Transport|

* NH 73
* NH 72 A
* NH 58
* SH 12
* SH 57[Yamnotri Expressway]
* SH 82

Lok Sabha constituencies|

* Muzaffarnagar
* Kairana
* Saharanpur

See also|

* Cities and towns in Shamli district
* Cities and towns in Muzaffarnagar district
* Cities and towns in Saharanpur district
* Villages in Muzaffarnagar district
* Villages in Saharanpur district
* Villages in Shamli district
* People from Muzaffarnagar
* People from Saharanpur
* People from Shamli

Other divisions|

* Agra
* Aligarh
* Ayodhya
* Azamgarh
* Bareilly
* Basti
* Chitrakoot
* Devipatan
* Gorakhpur
* Jhansi
* Kanpur
* Lucknow
* Meerut
* Mirzapur
* Moradabad
* Prayagraj
* Varanasi

* v
* t
* e

Minority Concentrated Districts in India

Andaman and Nicobar Islands|

* Nicobar

Arunachal Pradesh|

* Changlang
* East Kameng
* Lower Subansiri
* Papum Pare
* Tawang
* Tirap
* West Kameng

Assam|

* Barpeta
* Bongaigaon
* Cachar
* Darrang
* Dhubri
* Dima Hasao
* Goalpara
* Hailakandi
* Kamrup
* Karimganj
* Kokrajhar
* Morigaon
* Nagaon

Bihar|

* Araria
* Darbhanga
* Katihar
* Kishanganj
* Purnia
* Sitamarhi
* West Champaran

Delhi|

* North East Delhi

Haryana|

* Gurgaon
* Sirsa

Ladakh|

* Leh

Jharkhand|

* Gumla
* Pakur
* Ranchi
* Sahibganj

Karnataka|

* Bidar
* Kalaburagi

Kerala|

* Wayanad
* Malappuram

Madhya Pradesh|

* Bhopal

Maharashtra|

* Buldhana
* Hingoli
* Parbhani
* Washim

Manipur|

* Chandel
* Churachandpur
* Senapati
* Tamenglong
* Thoubal
* Ukhrul

Meghalaya|

* West Garo Hills

Mizoram|

* Lawngtlai
* Mamit

Odisha|

* Gajapati

Sikkim|

* North Sikkim

Uttar Pradesh|

* Amroha
* Baghpat
* Bahraich
* Balrampur
* Barabanki
* Bareilly
* Bijnor
* Budaun
* Bulandshahr
* Ghaziabad
* Kheri
* Lucknow
* Meerut
* Moradabad
* Muzaffarnagar
* Pilibhit
* Rampur
* Saharanpur
* Shahjahanpur
* Shrawasti
* Siddharthnagar

Uttarakhand|

* Haridwar
* Udham Singh Nagar

West Bengal|

* Bardhaman
* Birbhum
* Cooch Behar
* Dakshin Dinajpur
* Howrah
* Kolkata
* Maldah
* Murshidabad
* Nadia
* North 24 Parganas
* South 24 Parganas
* Uttar Dinajpur

Source: "List of 90 Minority Concentration Districts" (PDF). www.minorityaffairs.gov.in. Retrieved 2 September 2020.

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* United States
* Israel

29°54′N 77°41′E﻿ / ﻿29.900°N 77.683°E﻿ / 29.900; 77.683
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