Kannauj district

Kannauj District is an administrative of   in northern, along the river , or Ganges. The historic town of, northwest of , is the administrative center.

Geography
Kannauj is located at. It has an average elevation of 139 s (456 ).

(or Ganges) is the main river of the district at the North East border of the district. Kali river is at the northern border of the district while the Ishan river flows through the District.

The climate of the district is characterized by a hot dry summer and a pleasant cold season. The average rainfall of the District is approximately 80cm.

The district is bounded by the districts of to the north,  to the northeast,  to the east,  to the southeast,  to the south,  to the southwest, and  to the west. The district is divided into three s and seven development blocks. The district was split from Farrukhabad on, and is part of.

Population
The District's population was 1,388,923 in 2001. Of these, 1,156,951 (or 83.3%) lived in rural areas, while 231,972 (or 16.7%) lived in urban areas.

History
Kannauj has a rich archeological and cultural heritage. Many weapons and tools and large numbers of stone statues have been found here. The ancient names of this place,  or, are found in the , , and the ).

founded a kingdom, the capital of which became Kanyakubja. was such a powerful king that the river is said to have been named after him as Jahnaui. This region rose into great prominence during the Mahabharata period. was the capital of South and the scene of the famous Svayamvara of.

Panchala, the tenth in the list of the sixteen premier states (Mahajanpada) in the time of and, was the region covered by the present districts of ,  and. This territory was annexed to the of  about C.400 B.C.  Many coins found at, Kannauj, and in the  region have been associated with the  rulers. The area flourished between C.100 B.C. and C.200 A.D. Kannauj was known as Kangora or Kanogiza by the geographer,  (C.140 A.D.).

, the Chinese pilgrim, visited Kannauj between 399 and 414 A.D., during the reign of, at a retreat at the Dragon-Shrine. Fa-hien observed, "This country is very productive and the people are flourishing and happy beyond compare. When men of other nations come, care is taken of all of them and they are provided with what they require". He noted the monolithic elephant erected by  at Sankisa.

appears to have been the founder of the dynasty of Kannauj. also advanced towards Kannauj. The Chinese pilgrim,, visiting Kannauj in 643 A.D., found 100 Buddhist monasteries with more than 10,000 priests. He mentions Kah-Pi-Ta (Kapitha, identified with Sankisa) as the other important place of the district.

Between the eight and the tenth centuries, a tripartite struggle for the resources of the rich Gangetic plains, with three empires -- the Rashtrakutas of Manyakheta, the Pala Dynasty of Bengal and the Prathihara dynasty of Gujarat -- annexing the seat of power at Kannauj for short periods of time.

was the ruler of Kannauj when attacked India. After sacking, Mahmud proceeded towards Kannauj. In 1018 A.D. he encountered "a city which raised its head to the skies and which in strength and beauty might boast of being unrivalled."

An inscription of the of Lata, dated 1050 A.D., associates the  with Kannauj. Kannauj recovered a large measure of its old importance during 1114 A.D. to 1154. During the reign of the (1170-1194 A.D.) Kannauj became powerful and was annexed to. Kannauj, as ('s capital) was the scene of Svayamvara of his daughter Samyogita, who was carried off by. invaded India and killed Jaichand in 1193 A.D.

, who then possessed the Delhi throne, (1268-87) marched towards this region and divided the whole area into a number of military commands. Although order was restored, the region was continually up in arms against imperial authority. Reinforced by the neighboring s and Solankhis, the Rajputs of this area broke out in open rebellion. In 1394, with another regional rebellion afoot, the sultan conferred on Khwaja Jahan the title of Malik-ul-Sharq "and appointed him governor of Hindustan from Kannauj to Bihar devolving upon him full power." Malik-ul-Sharq died in 1399 and his adopted son, Mubarak Shah became the virtual ruler at Delhi and reached Kannauj.

In 1414, under the in 1423, Mubarak Shah Saiyid marched to Kampil to suppress the Rajputs. Kannauj became a fief under the sovereignty of the Mughals. In 1527 mobilised his forces to capture Chanderi but lost Kannauj and Shamsabad to the Afghans. Kannauj became a dependency of the rebels who found themselves at the head of Muslims and Rajputs. Humayan's continued occupation in the north gave the ambitious a free hand to prosecute his designs in the east. It appears that immediately after the capture of Kannauj Sher Shah destroyed the old city and built a fort of burnt brick there "and on the spot of gaining victory he built a city Sher Sur." The Afghans were overthrown in 1855 and the power of the Mughals was once again established by Humayun, who had returned to India after 12 years; he died soon after, in January 1556, and was succeeded by his son.