Sonpur Town
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.
Sonpur Town
Head-quarters of the Feudatory State of the same name in Bengal, situated in 20° 51 N. and 83° 55' E., on the Maha- nadi river at its junction with the Tel, 54 miles by road south of Sambalpur station on the Bengal-Nagpur Railway. Population (1901), 8,887. The town contains two large tanks and a temple of Mahadeo, in which copperplates have been found giving the name of a king who reigned here in the tenth century. Coins and other remains are also found on the site, indicating that Sonpur was a comparatively large town at an early period. When the MahanadI was the highway be- tween Sambalpur and Cuttack, Sonpur was a place of considerable importance, of which the transfer of trade to the railway has partially deprived it. There is some local traffic on the river, and various industries are carried on in the town, among which may be mentioned the manufacture of brass images, gold-, silver-, and copper-work, silk and cotton cloth weaving, and the manufacture of iron implements. Sonpur possesses two English middle schools with 55 pupils, a girls' school, and a Sanskrit school.
