Shahjahanpur City
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Shahjahanpur City
Administrative head-quarters of Shahjahan- pur District and tahsil^ with cantonment, United Provinces, situated in 2 7 53 r N- and 79 54' E., on the left bank of the Deoha or Garra 1 river, crowning the high ground just above its junction with the Khanaut, with a station on the Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway, 768 miles by rail from Calcutta and 987 from Bombay. Population has fluctuated. The numbers at the four enumerations were as follows: (1872) 72,136, (1881) 77,404, (1891) 78,522, and ( I 9 CI ) 76,458, of whom 73,544 resided in the municipality and 2,914 in cantonments. Hindus numbered 35,636 in 1901 and Muhammadans 40,017.
The date usually assigned to the foundation of the city is 1647, after the defeat of the Rajputs in this neighbourhood by Diler Khan and Bahadur Khan, and a mosque was built here by the latter in that year. The city has no history apart from that of the District, which has already been related. There are few buildings of any interest. The old fort was completely destroyed after the Mutiny and the mosque referred to above and a few tombs, including that of Bahadur Khan, one of the founders of the city, are the only memorials of the former rulers. The principal public buildings, besides the ordinary District offices, are the municipal hall, the District school, and the male and female dispensaries. The American Methodist Mission has its head- quarters here, and possesses several churches and an orphanage.
A new meeting-house has recently been built by the Arya Samaj. Shahjahanpur is the head-quarters of an officer of the Opium depart- ment. The municipality was constituted in 1864. During the ten years ending 1901 the income and expenditure averaged Rs. 74,000 and Rs. 72,000 respectively. In 1903-4 the income was 1-4 lakhs, including octroi (Rs. 58,000), rents of municipal markets (Rs. 27,000), and sale of refuse (Rs. 23,000). The municipality also has Rs. 30,000 invested. The expenditure amounted to 1-3 lakhs, including con- servancy (Rs. 39,000), roads and buildings (Rs. 13,000), public safety (Rs. 24,000), and administration (Rs. 18,000). Shahjahanpur is remarkable for the excellence of its drainage and general sanitation. British troops form the usual garrison of the cantonment, and in 1901-2 Boer prisoners were encamped here.
The income and expenditure of the cantonment fund in 1903-4 were Rs. 15,000 and Rs. 18,000. The trade of Shahjahanpur is small compared with its population. Sugar is the chief article of manufacture and commerce. The Rosa (Rausar) factory, which lies two miles south of the city, is the only establishment managed by Europeans. It deals with about 10 or 1 2 "per cent, of the sugar produced in the District, and employed 632 hands in 1903. Raw sugar was formerly purchased for refining, but cane-crushing machinery has recently been erected, to supplement the supply. Rum is also manufactured and exported to many parts of India. The District high school has 188 pupils, and the tahsili school 2 14, while the municipality maintains 4 schools and aids 17 others, with 1,452 pupils,
