- Kannauj
Infobox Indian Jurisdiction
native_name = Kannauj | type = city | latd = 27.07 | longd = 79.92
locator_position = right | state_name = Uttar Pradesh
district = Kannauj
leader_title =
leader_name =
altitude = 139
population_as_of = 2001
population_total = 71,530| population_density =
area_magnitude= sq. km
area_total =
area_telephone =
postal_code =
vehicle_code_range =
sex_ratio =
unlocode =
website =
footnotes =Kannauj (
Hindi कन्नौज,Urdu : کنوج), also spelt "Kanauj", is a city and amunicipal board orNagar Palika Parishad inKannauj district in theIndia n state ofUttar Pradesh . The city's name is traditionally derived from the termKanyakubja (maiden's womb). Kannauj is an ancient city, in earlier times the capital of a greatHindu kingdom. KanyakubjaBrahmin 's are originally from Kannauj.Kannauj is known for the distilling of scents and is a market center for tobacco, perfume, and rose water.Kannauj is the administrative headquarters of Kannauj District. The population was 71,530 in 2001, up from 58,932 in 1991. It has given its name to a distinct dialect of the
Hindi language known as Kanauji.History
Formerly known as Kanyakubja, the town is known to have been an important center during the
Gupta empire . It was a centre of hindu culture and political status for centuries. Kannauj is frequently referred to in the epic "Mahabharata" and is alluded to byPatañjali in the second century B.C. In the year 405 A.D. when great Chinese pilgrim Fa-hien visited the city it had only two Buddhist monasteries and it was not very large. WhenHiuen Tsang visited the city in 636 A.D., however, Kannauj had grown large. Hiuen Tsang stayed here for seven years.Kannauj reached the pinnacle of its glory in the
7th century under emperorHarshavardhana (606-647 A.D.) Harshavardhana made Kannauj his capital. At that time it had earned the name of Mahodaya Sree due to its grandeur and prosperty. Kannauj then had a teeming population, with hundreds of Hindu and Buddhist temples and monasteries, extending along the east bank of the Ganges for about four miles. It had beautiful gardens and tanks, and was strongly fortified. Harshavardhana, however, was greatly weakened after being defeated by theChalukya emperorPulakesin II ; his empire fell apart soon after his death.By the end of the
8th century , Kannauj became the focus of a three-way contest by the three dominant dynasties of the time, thePratihara s ofMalwa , theRashtrakuta s of theDeccan , and the Palas ofBengal . ThePala kingDharmapala installed a proxy king at the end of the8th century .When the
Pratihara kingNagabhata II conquered Kannauj in the9th century Kannauj became the Pratihara capital for nearly 200 years. This happened about 836. [Srivastra, A. L., "History of India, 1000-1707", p. 2] During this period, it became known as a center for poetry. ThePratihara s ruled much ofnorthern India in the latter half of the8th century , but they had weakened by the early10th century . TheRashtrakuta kingIndra III captured Kannauj in916 , and by the end of that century, thePratihara domains had been reduced to a small kingdom around the town of Kannauj.In
1019 , the town was sacked byMahmud of Ghazni , beginning a chaotic period for the city. After this sacking of Kannauj, the area came to be dominated by theChandela Rajput clan ofBundelkhand . TheGahadvala dynasty, descended from former vassals of the Pratiharas, established themselves as rulers of Kannauj at the end of the11th century .Monuments
The size and scale of the ancient town can be gauged from the fact that existing ruins extend over the lands of five villages, occupying a semicircle fully 4 miles in diameter. While no historic
Hindu structures remain intact, the "great mosque", constructed byIbrahim Shah ofJaunpur in1406 out of the remains of demolished Hindu temples, is still known to Hindus as "Sita 's Kitchen".Brahmins inBengal andAssam traces their origin to a migration southwards from this city in the 9th and 10th centuries.Geography
Kannauj is located at coord|27.07|N|79.92|E| [ [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IN/36/Kannauj.html Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Kannauj] ] . It has an average elevation of 139
metre s (456 feet).Demographics
As of 2001 Indiacensus [GR|India] , Kannauj had a population of 71,530. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Kannauj has an average literacy rate of 58%, lower than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 64%, and female literacy is 52%. In Kannauj, 15% of the population is under 6 years of age.References
External links
* [http://kannauj.nic.in/ District Kannauj Website.]
*1911
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.