Gonda district

This article is about the district. For its eponymous headquarters, see Gonda, Uttar Pradesh.
Gonda district
District of Uttar Pradesh

Location of Gonda district in Uttar Pradesh
Country India
State Uttar Pradesh
Administrative division Devipatan
Headquarters Gonda, Uttar Pradesh
Tehsils 4
Government
 • Lok Sabha constituencies Gonda, Kaiser ganj(partial)
Demographics
 • Literacy 58.71%
 • Sex ratio 921
Major highways 1
Website Official website

Gonda is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh, India. The city of Gonda is the district headquarters, and also the administrative centre for the Devipatan Division.

With an area of 3,404 square kilometres (1,314 sq mi), Gonda has borders with Shrawasti district to the north, Balrampur and Siddharthnagar districts to the northeast, Basti district to the east, Faizabad district to the south, Bara Banki district to the southwest, and Bahraich district to the northwest. The district lies between 26° 47' and 27° 20' north latitude and 81° 30' and 82° 46' east longitude.

History

Mulagandhakuti. The remains of Buddha's hut in Jetavana Monastery, Sravasti in Gonda Division

The territory covered by the present district of Gonda formed part of the ancient Kosala Kingdom. After the death of Rama, the celebrated sovereign of the Solar line who ruled Kosala, the kingdom was divided into two portions defined by the Ghaghara river. The northern portion was then ruled by his son, Lava with the city of Sravasti as his capital.[1]

More recently, ancient Buddhist remains dating to the early days of Buddhism have been found throughout the region, including at Sravasti.[2]

During the medieval period, the first Muslim invasion of the region, to the north of the Ghaghara River, took place in the second quarter of the 11th century under Syed Salar Masud. The rulers of Gonda and surrounding districts formed a league to offer united resistance to Masood. In the second half of the 13th century Gonda was included in the government of Bahraich by the early Muslim rulers, and hence has no independent history of its own. Further, there is no specific reference about the district until the reign of the Tughlaqs.

In 1394, the district came under the rule of Khwaja Jahan Malik Sarwar, the founder of the Sharqi dynasty of Jaunpur. From earliest days of Muslim domination till the advent of Akbar, the history of Gonda district is primarily the history of local clans. During the early phase of this period the whole of Gonda was ruled by aboriginal Dom, Tharu Tribe, Bhar, Pasi and the like. The district formed an integral part of the empire of Akbar (1556–1605).

With the annexation of the province of Awadh by the East India Company in February 1856, Gonda became a separate district in the Gonda-Bahraich Commissionership. Annexation passed off quietly, although the Gonda raja exhibited strong disapproval of the measure and was with difficulty persuaded to leave his fort at Gonda and meet the district officer.

Citizens of the district actively participated in the Non Cooperation Movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi. On October 9, 1929, Mahatma Gandhi visited the district along with Jawaharlal Nehru.

Gonda played a significant part in the Indian struggle for independence, with many people from the region actively involved: including Maharaja Devi Baksha Singh, who escaped to Nepal,[3] freedom fighters like Sh. Chandra Shekhar Azad took shelter in the district, and Rajendra Lahiri was incarcerated and hanged in the Gonda Jail. India's 5th president Hon'ble Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was also educated at the Government High School in Gonda district.

In more recent times, the district received media attention throughout India due to the protracted court case surrounding the murder of 13 people known as the 1982 Gonda Encounter.[4][5]

Industry

There are several sugar mills, rice mills and many other small industries and handicraft industry. One of the India's six Indian Telephone Industries is situated at Mankapur, and the largest sugar mill in India is situated at Kundarkhi.[6]

In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Gonda one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640).[7] It is one of the 34 districts in Uttar Pradesh currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).[7]

Climate

Gonda has a tropical monsoon climate, typical of India's plains districts. There are three seasons: summer, rainy, and winter. Summer is from March to June. The average temperature of the summer is nearly 30 °C (86 °F). A hot wind known as the Loo blows in May and in early June. The rainy season is from July to October. Winter is from November to February, with the second half of December and first half of January the coldest.

Forest

There are two remarkable areas of natural vegetation. The first is the forests of Kuwano, which has various types of trees like sagon, haldu, sal, shishaw, tibau, mahua, bass, neem, jamun, mayo, etc.; The second is the forest of Mankapur to Tikri and around Tikri, which features trees such as tibau, sakhu, sal, etc.

Soil

Gonda features sandy, loamy, and clay soils. Water percolates downward in sandy soils, so those are not very fertile. Nevertheless, zayad crops are produced near the banks of rivers in this soil. Loamy soil, light yellow in colour, is fertile and contains fossils and minerals. It is found in the upper part of Gonda around Khorahsa, Dumariya Deeh, Gonda, Itia thok, Mankapur, etc. Clay soil can retain water, so it is suitable for crops that require more irrigation, such as rice grown in paddy fields, though it becomes hard when it dries. Clay soil is found around Colonel Ganj, Itiathok, and Mankapur.

Demographics

Population

According to the 2011 census Gonda district has a population of 3,433,919,[8] roughly equal to the nation of Panama[9] or the US state of Connecticut.[10] This gives it a ranking of 95th in India (out of a total of 640).[8] The district has a population density of 857 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,220/sq mi).[8] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 24.17%,[8] higher than the average of Uttar Pradesh (20.09%). Gonda has a sex ratio of 921 females for every 1000 males,[8] and a sex ratio among children 0–6 years old of 926, both higher than the state average (908 and 899 respectively).

The human development index of the Gonda district is very low.[11]

Languages

Languages spoken in the district include Awadhi, a tongue of the Hindi continuum spoken by over 38 million people, mainly in the Awadh region;[12] and Hindi.

Famous Places

Swaminarayan Chhapaiyā: The village of Chhapaiya is situated at a distance of 50 km from the district headquarters. The chief interest of the place is Swaminarayan temple which marks the birthplace of Swaminarayan, or Sahajanand Swami, who was born here on 2 April 1781 as Ghanshyam Pande. Ghanshyam left Chhapaiya at the age of 11 to travel to the pilgrimage sites around India. He completed his pilgrimage in Western Gujarat, where he assumed the leadership of Swaminarayan Sampradaya. The very famous Akshardham temples in New Delhi and in Gandhinagar, Gujarat built by his spiritual successor, Pramukh Swami Maharaj, are both dedicated to him. His followers consider him to be a manifestation of the Supreme Godhead.[10] There have been many movies about the Swaminarayan filmed in this temple in Chhapaiya and in nearby places in the district.

Ayodhya : "Sri Ram Janm bhumi" situated from 40 Km from district head Quarter.

Khaira Bhawani(Mandir) : One of the Shaktipeeth, Near Gonda railway station.

Paska (Sukar Khet): This place is situated the river bank of Saryu about 45 km south-west from district headquarters. It is considered as an ancient religious site. A large number of devotee's takes holy dips in Saryu here for 'Mukti'. Paska is also related with Tulsidas and known as his 'Guru Bhumi'.

Varahi Dev: About 6 km in east from Paska another ancient place of Varahi Devi known as Uttari Bhawani is situated in Tarabganj Tehsil. An old temple of Bhagwati's attract a large number of devotees here, especially on the occasion of Navratri. The place is known as a part of Suker Jhet. The image of Adi Shakti Varahi is related with Shakti of Varha in Paska.

Prash: This place is in north of Saryu and situated in Tehsil Tarabganj. The place is related with ancient Saint Parashar, grand son of Vashishtha and son of Sakti. A temple in his memory is situated here.

Tirrey Manorama: At 21 km north of Gonda city this holy place is situated. Big fair is organized here on Kartik Purnima every year. Prithvi Nathan Mahadeo: At a short distance in south of Kharagupur old temple of Lord Shiva is situated. Legend relates it with Mahabharata. This area was then known as Pancharayan. The present temple was reconstructed by Maharaja Man Singh of Ayodhya.

Jhali Dham: This place is known as place of devotion and situated at one km from Prithvi Nathan Mahadeo. This is a shrine of a famous saint. This shrine is the main attraction of the place.

Parvati Mahadeo: The place is related with history of Ramayana. It is situated in village Mahadeo on bank of Parvati Jheel.

Colonelganj: Colonelganj is city board and tehsil headquarter. The old name of place was Sakraura. It was a village of no particular importance till the year 1780. Later on the suppression were maintained here till its annexation. The place was selected as the military headquarter during the freedom struggle of 1857.

Gandhi Park: Gandhi's one of the 4th biggest marble statue near town hall.

Education

Gonda is categorised as one of the socially and educationally backward districts of Uttar Pradesh. The literacy rate is 58.71%,[8] much behind the state average (69.72%). The backwardness of the region and slow developmental rate is clearly reflected by literacy gap (male to female) of 23.10% in the district as compared to 19.98% gap for the state.[13]

The government of India has created a special scheme for such district through the backward region grant fund. Gonda is one of the recipients of this fund. The primary schools of Gonda District are functioning well, which provides a path to raising the education standard of the district.[14]

Degree colleges

All colleges of Gonda are affiliated with Faizabad University.

Public Health

Gonda has 15 hospitals, 27 Ayurvedic hospitals, 11 Homeopathic hospitals and 2 Unani hospitals, in addition to 66 Government Primary Health Centres.

Gonda is one of the most backward districts of the India in public health parameters. Gonda is one of the districts in the list of top 100 districts in order of Infant Mortality Rate in 2011 census data. It also comes in the top 57 districts with the highest maternal mortality rate[44]

References

External links

Bahraich district Shrawasti district Balrampur district
Siddharthnagar district
Basti district
   Gonda district  
Bara Banki district Faizabad district

Coordinates: 27°15′N 82°00′E / 27.250°N 82.000°E / 27.250; 82.000

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