Azamgarh district

Azamgarh district is an administrative district of the state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India. The district headquarters is the town of Azamgarh. It forms part of the Azamgarh division, which also includes the districts of Ballia and Mau.

Key facts

Geography

The district lies in the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh, in the alluvial plain of the middle Ganga basin. It is drained chiefly by the Ghaghara (Saryu) river along its northern fringe and the Tons (Tamsa) and Choti Sarju rivers in the interior. The terrain is a flat, fertile plain typical of the Indo-Gangetic belt, supporting intensive cultivation. Azamgarh is bordered by the districts of Mau to the east, Ghazipur to the south-east, Jaunpur to the south-west, Sultanpur and Ambedkar Nagar to the west, and Gorakhpur and Deoria to the north and north-east.

History

According to local tradition, the town of Azamgarh was founded in the 17th century by Azam Khan, a zamindar of the region, after whom both the town and the district are named. The area was historically part of the Kosala and later the Magadha cultural sphere, and through the medieval period it lay within successive Delhi-based polities and then the dominions of the Nawabs of Awadh. Following the cession of territory to the East India Company in 1801, the area was reorganised under British administration, and Azamgarh was constituted as a separate district in 1832.

The district was a centre of activity during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and produced several figures associated with the Indian freedom movement and Urdu and Persian literary traditions.

Administration

The district is administered by a District Magistrate and is divided into several tehsils, including Azamgarh Sadar, Lalganj, Sagri, Phulpur, Nizamabad, Mehnagar and Budhanpur. For development administration it is further divided into community development blocks, with rural local government exercised through gram panchayats, kshetra panchayats and the zila panchayat.

Demographics and society

Azamgarh is one of the more populous districts of Uttar Pradesh, with a predominantly rural population. The principal language is Bhojpuri, alongside Hindi and Urdu, which are used for official, educational and literary purposes. The district has a notable Muslim minority alongside a Hindu majority, and is historically associated with the Shibli school of Islamic scholarship centred at Shibli National College and the Darul Musannefin Shibli Academy.

Economy

The economy is largely agrarian. Major crops include paddy, wheat, sugarcane, pulses and oilseeds, supported by canal and tube-well irrigation. The district is well known for the Nizamabad black pottery, a traditional handicraft that has been recognised with a Geographical Indication tag. Azamgarh also has a long tradition of migration for work, both within India and to the Gulf countries, and remittances form an important element of the local economy.

Education and culture

Educational and cultural institutions of note include Shibli National College, founded in 1883 by the scholar Shibli Nomani, and the Darul Musannefin Shibli Academy, a research institute established in 1914 that publishes the journal Maarif. The district is associated with several Urdu poets and writers, including Kaifi Azmi and Rahi Masoom Raza, and with the freedom fighter and parliamentarian Maulana Hasrat Mohani's wider intellectual milieu.

Transport

The district is served by the North Eastern Railway, with Azamgarh railway station being the main junction. National and state highways connect it to Varanasi, Lucknow, Gorakhpur and Allahabad (Prayagraj). The Purvanchal Expressway, which links Lucknow with Ghazipur, passes through the district and has substantially improved road connectivity.

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