CHAPTER - 19
PLACES OF INTEREST
Akbarpur Auncha (Pargana-Ghiror, Tahsil - Mainpuri)
The village lies in Lat. 27.20, N. and long 79.14, E., and is said to owe its name to Emperor Akbar during whose reign a brick and mud fort, now in ruins, was erected on an elevated site. The second half of the name its probably derived from the elevated{uncha} equality of the site.
Akbarpur Auncha has an area of 1,655 hectares and a population of 3,460. It lies 25 Km. to the west of Mainpuri Town and is the centre of a bi-weekly Market. A Police station has been established here recently. An Intermediate college, One senior basic School and two junior basic schools are Located here.
The antiquity of the place is borne out from the large number of old bricks and fragments of stone statuary scattered all over the area. Many of them have given rise to several Hindu shrines one such edifice is the Rikhi Asthan built by chaudhri Jai chand of Farrukhabad at the time of settlement in 1873 , on the remains of an ancient shrine. It consists of a platform with steps leading of an ancient shrine. It consists of a platform with steps leading down to a shallow tank , about half a km. to the north-east of the village. There is a Sanskrit inscription dated 334 Sambat or 277 A.D. if the Sambat is Bikrami, which is dubious, The sculpture represents the Vaishnav cult. The old shrine is still intact, being covered with stone slabs, and having a passage towards the west, now blocked up. Chaudhri Jai chand who owned this and the neighboring village of Achalpur, once arrived here with a diseased finger which had not responded to treatment.He took a vow to refurbish the shrine when the trauma disappeared. In a few days his finger became normal, and the pledge was redeemed. The Chaudhri wanted to open the old shrine, but was dissuaded by an ominous dream. An earlier step taken by him to clear part of the adjoining forest had wiped out several of his horses and elephants. The succeeding owner lost his son in a similar bid . A fair after the name of chaman Rishi is held at the shrine every year in the month of March and is frequented by about 5,000 persons.
Barnahal (pargana Barnahal, Tahsil Karhal)
This village is situated in Last. 27 d. 5' N. and Long . 78d 55' E., and is 32 km. south from Mainpuri and 16 km. west from Karhal. Located here are a police-station, a hospital, a dispensary, a family planning centre two higher secondary schools, a senior Basic school and two Junior Basic schools, It has an area of 635 hectares and a population of 4,325.
Markets are held on Mondays and Fridays and an annual fair on the day of the Ram Naumi. Farming is the main occupation of the people.
Bewar (pargana Bewar, Tahsil Bhongaon)
This town lies in Lat. 27 d.14' N and Long 79 d. 21' E., on the grand trunk road at the point where it is crossed by the Bareilly-Etawah road, 27 km. east of Mainpuri. The name, which is locally pronounced Bewar, is said to be derived from the ver shrub which once grew is abundance in the neighboring area.
Bewar which has an area of 0.35 sq. km and a population of 1,187 is administered by a town area committee which besides other works of public utility, has undertaken supply of drinking water. The town is electrified. A Police Station, a Bus Station, a Hospital, a nursing home , a family planning centre, three higher secondary schools, two junior high school, and three primary schools are among the institutions functioning here. The office of the block development officer is also located here. Several industrial and commercial establishments have come up recently at the place It has a fair bazar, containing number of shops catering to the local needs of the people and handing the trade in commodities like wheat, rice, potato and ground-nut. A cattle fair is also held here in the month of May . It attracts large crowds of visitors.
Bhongaon (pargana and Tahsil Bhongaon
Bhongaon town lies in Lat. 27 d. 17' and Long. 79 d 14' E. and , is well connected by roads and lies at the junctions of the Agra road with the Grand Trunk road about 14 km. to the east of Mainpuri. It is a very old town and includes the sites of three villages Bhongaon, Mahabatpur and Ahmadpur. The Grand Trunk road passes right through the town dividing it into two unequal parts, the larger of which is in the north, while the Tahsil with its buildings is situated to the south.
According to tradition the town was founded by, a mythical Raja Bhim Sen after whom it was called Bhimgram or Bhimgaon. It was the headquarters of a pargana under Akbar, and a high mound on which stands a fort, now in ruins, marks the residence of the amil or governor.
The town site is long and narrow and somewhat raised about the level of the surrounding country, especially towards the south where the surface dips down to form an extensive jhil. The whole town site, where not interfered by excavations, drains in to the jhil, which in its turn, when full to overflowing, drains by a nala into the Isan Nadi 5 km. to the south of the place . The central road is well kept and clean, and from it turns off the winding lane which runs through and past the old bazar. Shops line both sides of the road, and the town has a railway station, a public works department rest house, a police-station, a hospital, a nursing home, family planning centre, a bank, a sarai, a post office, a degree college, three higher secondary institutions, three junior high schools, three primary schools, and two public libraries. It has an area of 0.44 sq. km. and population of 9.992 , and is administered by a town area committee and is electrified. There are some old buildings of artistic merit. The temple of Mahadeo stands near the sarai and provides accommodation to pilgrims. There is a mosque in the centre of the town, in the Pathan quarter, which is further noticeable for its high enclosure walls and deep arrow lanes, interspersed with ruined houses. Several industrial and commercial establishment have come up in the town.
Ghiror (pargana Ghiror, Tahsil Mainpuri)
Ghiror, a large electrified village, lies in Lat. 27 deg. 12 'N and Long. 78 deg. 51' E., on the Agra Branch of the Grand Trunk road, 25 km.distant from Mainpuri and 22 km. from Shikohabad . It has an area of 769 hectares and a population of 3,869. It was formerly the site of a tahsil, and now contains a police station, located in the old tahsil, a hospital, the office of a block development officer, a maternity and child welfare centre, a family planning centre, a senior Basic school, a Junior Basic school and a bazar, where a bi-weekly market is held with brisk trade in cloth , grain and cattle. Metalled roads connects the village with Jasrana, Shikohabad, Mainpuri, and Kosma Railway Station and Kuraoli. About 8 km. to the east is the Kosma Station.
Karhal (Paragon And Tahsil Karhal)
Karhal, which lies in Lat. 27 deg. North and Long. 79 deg. East is the headquarters of a tahsil of the same name is administered as a town area and lies on the Mainpuri-Etawah Road, 27 km. south of Mainpuri and 25 km. North-East of the Etawah Railway Station.
The metalled road from Etawah to Mainpuri skirts the town on the east, and the principal street winds of at right angles to it, to form the bazar. A brisk local trade is carried on in Ghee and Cotton. It has an area of 0.86 sq.km. and population of 9,488.
Karhal has a water works, a hospital, a family planning centre, a telephone exchange, two intermediate colleges, three Junior High Schools, three Primary Schools, and a no. of industrial and commercial establishments. It also contains several offices, the principal one being that of the Block Development Officer. The Devi Mela, the Jaini Mela, the Ram Lila and the Jagdhar Mela which are held regularly, attract larger crowds.
Karimganj ( pargana Kuraoli, tahsil Mainpuri)
This village lies in Lat. 27 deg. , 19 ' N . and Long. 79 deg. 8' E., at 9 km. away from Mainpuri on the Etah road. That Karimganj was once a flourishing town is discernible from a khera which stands on the road west side of the road, with a long lake girdling it. On the road lies a fragment of a gateway, and on the ground beyond the road there are signs of another gateway, Numerous remnants of brick houses exist in the vicinity. A broken image catches the eye near the road. Some other pieces of statuary found here have been removed. On the top of another khera lie the remains of the fort which once belonged to Khan Bahadur Khan, a noted adventurer who lived about two centuries ago but is still remembered as far afield as Kasganj and Aliganj in the Etah district and Nabiganj at the other end of Mainpuri. Vague legends suggest that he broke up the central part of the town to build his fort , and after his death none of his survivors lived in the town. The village has an area of 1,656 hect. and a population of 3,770 It is electrified and in it are located one junior Basic school , and one senior Basic school .
Kishni ( pargana Kishni, tahsil Bhongaon)
This village lies in Lat. 27 deg. 2' N. and Long . 79 deg 18' E. on the Etawah Farrukhabad metalled road 35 km. from Mainpuri and 39 km. from the Etawah railway station. The terminus of the unmetalled road running from Sirsaganj along the south of the district is here. The village has an area of 1,260 hectares and a population of 3,790 and contains a police-station, a senior Basic school, s junior Basic school, a hospital, a maternity and child welfare centre, a dispensary, a family planning centre beside the office of the block development officer. There are some shops where the basic necessities of life can be had. The place is the centre of a bi-weekly market.
Kuraoli (pargana Kuraoli, tahsil Mainpuri)
Kuraoli, the chief town of the pargana of the same name, lies in Lat. 27 deg. 25' N. and Long.79deg. 2' E. on the road from Mainpuri to Etah in the northern corner of the district some 22 km. distant from Mainpuri. It has an area of 0.47 sq. km. and a population of 9,497 and is administered by a town area committee and the availability of electricity has given rise to several new industrial and commercial establishments. The place is served by a police-station , a dispensary, a degree college two intermediate colleges, tow junior high schools and a primary school. The office of the development block is also located here.
There are several hamlets of Kuraoli proper, and the inhabited site of Sujrai is included in the Town and lies to the south of the Grand Trunk Road, the rest of the town lying to the north The main Bazar of the town consists of a street leading to a Market place. There are several mosques and temples in and around the town. The 'Satia' oculists had a considerable local reputation. They treat nothing but cataract, using a minute daggar-shaped Lancet to prick with, and a blunt one like a bodkin to press out the discharge from the puncture. A good many of the boxes and clogs inlaid with wirework which are well known in the district are made here. The place has developed into a centre of trade in wheat, Rise, Pulses, potato and oil-seeds.
Mainpuri(Pargana and Tahsil Mainpuri)
Mainpuri, the headquarter town of the district of the same name, lies in Lat. 27 deg. 14'15'' N. and Long. 79 deg. 3'5'' E., on the Agra branch of the Grand Trunk road, and on the Shikohabad Farrukhabad branch of the northern railway. The town, which lies south of the Isan , is made up of two parts, Mainpuri proper and Mukhamganj, lying respectively north and south of the Agra road, The former existed, according to tradition, in the days of the pandava's, while another lore connects its name with an image known as Main Deo. The place seems to nave been of little importance till the chauhans migrated here from Asauli in the 13th, 14th or 16th century according to different versions. The town contains a large fort composed partly of brick and partly of mud, belonging to the Raja of Mainpuri. Muhkamganj was founded in 1803 , by Raja Jagat Singh (or Jagatman) who built a fort under which a city soon sprung up. The chaubes flocked to it from Mathura , the Kayasthas from Bhongaon and the Saraugis from Karimganj and Kuraoli.
The Agra branch of the Grand Trunk roads runs through the centre and forms a wide street, lined of either side by shops which constitute the principal bazar. Besides a tahsil and police-station , the town contains a large sarai and a grain market called Raikesganj, after the collector who built it about 1849 and a fine street , called Laneganj, after another collector. The civil Lines, with the district offices and jail, lies north of the Isan, which is crossed by a stone bridge , Besides the Bhanwat road, another road approaches the railway station from the west branching off from the Etawah road. About a kilometer from the outskirts of the town on the Kuraoli road is a temple of Devi, where a fair is held in the month of chait after the Holi. The town is densely populated and divided into muhallas like Katra, Misrana. Chautiana, Purohitana, Satiana, Baghban Agarwala, Lohai, Chhapaiti, Gariwan, Saraogien, Dariba and Garhi. There were formerly walls round the city and six gates, the Debi, Tal , Madar, Deoraya and Ganesh Darwazas, the name of the sixth not being recorded.
The place is noted for the production of articles of carved wood inlaid with brass wire. It has one power ginning mill, providing employment to some workers, but is not on the whole successful, suffering from over production . Trade is chiefly local, only wheat, potato and rice are exported.
For many years after the introduction of British rule the only schools were maktabs and pathshalas, which received no official support. The first school stated on the western lines was that of the American Presbyterian Mission. For higher education, now gaining ground, the town has a degree college and four higher secondary colleges. In addition to these, there are four junior secondary schools and eighteen primary schools, besides four public libraries and a reading room. Most of the local population is served by four hospitals, a family planning centre , a T. B. Clinic, a dispensary providing it with adequate medical facilities, It has an area of 7.77 sq. km. and a population of 43,849. It has also a P. W.D. inspection house, four banks and two cinema houses. Mainpuri has been a municipality since 1866 . The town is electrified and water is supplied through water pipe-lines.