Najibabad

Overview

Najibabad is a town and municipal board in the Bijnor district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Located in the Moradabad division, it lies in the upper Doab region near the foothills of the Shivalik range, close to the boundary with Uttarakhand. The town is historically associated with the eighteenth-century Rohilla chieftain Najib-ud-Daula, after whom it is named, and is best known today for the nearby ruined fort of Patthargarh.

Key facts

Background

Najibabad was founded in the mid-eighteenth century by Najib-ud-Daula (also known as Najib Khan), a Yusufzai Pathan who rose to prominence in the service of the Mughal court and later became a major power broker in northern India during the decline of the empire. He established the town as the seat of his territory in the region that came to be known as Rohilkhand, and built the fortified complex of Patthargarh in its vicinity as his stronghold and treasury.

After Najib-ud-Daula's death in 1770, the town passed to his son Zabita Khan and grandson Ghulam Qadir. The fortunes of the Najibabad chiefs declined sharply after Ghulam Qadir's sack of Delhi and blinding of the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II in 1788; he was subsequently captured and executed by the Maratha general Mahadji Scindia, and Patthargarh was largely destroyed. The territory eventually came under British control following the cession of the Doab region after the second Anglo-Maratha settlements in the early nineteenth century, and was administered as part of the Bijnor district of the United Provinces.

Geography and connectivity

Najibabad lies in the plains adjoining the Shivalik foothills, with the Ganges to the south and the Kotdwar–Lansdowne hill tracts of Uttarakhand to the north. The town is an important junction on the Northern Railway, with the Najibabad Junction railway station serving as a branching point for lines towards Moradabad, Saharanpur, Haridwar and Kotdwar. National and state highways link Najibabad to Bijnor, Nagina, Haridwar and the hill town of Kotdwar, making it a transit point between the western Uttar Pradesh plains and the Garhwal region.

Economy

The local economy is based on agriculture and agro-trade, with sugarcane, wheat and rice being the principal crops of the surrounding countryside. Sugar milling, grain trading and small-scale manufacturing are notable activities, and the town serves as a market centre for surrounding rural areas of Bijnor district.

Landmarks

• Patthargarh fort — the ruined eighteenth-century fortress of Najib-ud-Daula, located a short distance from the town; one of the principal historical sites of Bijnor district.
• Najibabad Junction railway station — a heritage-era railway junction on the Northern Railway network.
• Several old mosques and tombs dating from the Rohilla period survive in and around the town.

Significance

Najibabad is significant as one of the principal urban centres associated with the Rohilla polity that emerged in northern India during the eighteenth century, and the surrounding region forms part of the historical Rohilkhand cultural sphere. As a railway junction, it also has strategic importance for traffic between the western Uttar Pradesh plains and the Garhwal Himalaya.

Related topics

• Bijnor district
• Moradabad division
• Najib-ud-Daula
• Patthargarh
• Rohilkhand
• Ghulam Qadir
• Uttar Pradesh
• Kotdwar

References

• Wikidata: Q2543489
• Imperial Gazetteer of India, articles on Bijnor district and Najibabad.