Historical

The History of Sarnath India began with the arrival of Gautam Buddha at this place in 528 B.C. after he attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya. Here he preached his first discourse to his five former companions. This event is described in Buddhist texts as dharmachakra – pravartana, meaning the turning of the Wheel of Law. The Buddha taught them al that he had learned and thus they also became enlightened. This marked the foundation of the first Buddhist Sangha or the community of monks.

According to the History of Sarnath Uttar Pradesh, the Chinese traveler Hiouen Thsang had mentioned that the Deer Park at Sarnath was the forest gifted by the king of Benares of the Jataka, as a place where the deer might roan around unmolested. Thus Sarnath came to be named as ‘Migadaya’, so called because the deer could wander unharmed.

History of Sarnath India also mentions that the first preaching delivered by the Buddha at Sarnath is known in Pali as the Dhammacakkhapavathana Sutta. Other Suttas delivered here include Anattalakhana Sutta and the Saccavibhanga Sutta. The Buddha’s main teachings after his enlightenment centered around the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.

After preaching his first discourse at Sarnath, the Buddha spent the next rainy season at the Mulagandhakuti vihara in Sarnath. By then, the Buddhist Sangha had grown to 60 in number. The Buddha then sent the members of the Sangha to preach his teachings all around.

The flourish of Buddhism in Sarnath can be attributed to a large extent to the support of kings and wealthy merchants inhabiting the region. By the 3rd century B.C., Sarnath had flourished as a major center for arts, and the town reached its zenith during the Gupta reign (4th -6th century A.D.). According to the History of Sarnath Uttar Pradesh, when the Chinese traveler Hsuan Tsang visited Sarnath in the 7th century, there were 30 monasteries and 3000 monks living in Sarnath.

Sarnath came to be a major center of the Sammatiya school of Buddhism, one of the Nikaya or Hinayana schools. The occurrence of images of Heruka and Tara at Sarntah monasteries indicate that Vajrayana Buddhism also flourished here.

The end of the 12th centyru saw Sarnath being ransacked by Turkish Muslims. The site was extensively plundered for building materials and has been lying in ruins since then. Thereafter, Sarnath remained completely deserted until 1836, when the British began excavations and restoration of this historic city.

The city is said to be associated with earliest traditions of the Hindus according to which Maya, the father-in-law of Ravana, founded this place which has, therefore, been call Maidant-ka-Khera. According to another version Maya, a distinguished architect, got from king Yudhishther the land on which the city of Meerut now stands and he called this place Mayrashtra, a name which in course of time became shortened to Meerut. Tradition are so has it that the district formed part of the dominions of Mahipal, king of Indraprashta and the word Meerut is associated with his name.

Meerut was conquered by Muslims in 1192, ravaged by Timur in 1399, and became part of the Mughal empire. An important town of the Jat Bharatpur kingdom (mid 18th cent.), it subsequently fell to the British, who made it a major military cantonment. Meerut has always been known as a place for the revolutions, be it the 1857 mutiny or The Quit India Movement. It is the Meerut cantonment where the revolution for the freedom first began.

Meerut is famously associated with the Indian Revolution of 1857 against the British East India Company, when chants of popular Hindi slogan "Dilli Chalo" ("Let's march to Delhi!") were first raised here. Meerut cantonment is the place where the rebellion started when Hindu and Muslim soldiers were given rifle cartridges with a coating made of animal fat.

Meerut is famously associated with the Indian Revolution of 1857 against the British East India Company, when chants of popular Hindi slogan "Dilli Chalo" ("Let's march to Delhi!") were first raised here. Meerut cantonment is the place where the rebellion started when Hindu and Muslim soldiers were given rifle cartridges with a coating made of animal fat.

In ancient India it was the capital of Vatsa Dynasty who were the ones amongst the sixteen Mahajanapadas of India.

The Puranas state that the Vatsa kingdom was named after a Kaśī king, Vatsa.[1] The Ramayana and the Mahabharata attribute the credit of founding its capital Kauśāmbī to a Chedi prince Kuśa or Kuśāmba. The Puranas state that after the washing away of Hastinapura by the Ganga, the Bhārata king Nicakṣu, the great-great grandson of Janamejaya, abandoned the city and settled in Kauśāmbī. This is supported by the Svapnavāsavadattā and the Pratijñā-Yaugandharāyaṇa attributed to Bhāsa. Both of them have described the king Udayana as a scion of the Bhārata family (Bhārata-kula). The Puranas provide a list of Nicakṣu’s successors which ends with king Kṣemaka.[2]

Gautama Buddha visited Koushambi several times during the reign of Udayana on his effort to spread the dharma, the Eightfold Path and the Four Noble Truths. Udayana was an Upasaka (lay follower) of Buddha. The Chinese translation of the Buddhist canonical text Ekottara Āgama states that the first image of Buddha, curved out of sandalwood was made under the instruction of Udayana.According to the Puranas, the 4 successors of Udayana were Vahināra, DanḍapāṇI, Niramitra and Kṣemaka. Later, the Vatsa kingdom was annexed by the Avanti kingdom. Maniprabha, the great-grandson of Pradyota ruled at Kauśāmbī as a prince of Avanti.[8]

Ashoka the great also gave importance to this place and positioned an Asokan Pillar in Kaushambi which has its inscriptions there in Pali. A Jaina temple was also constructed in Kaushambi. Both, the pillar and the temple still exists in there and the ruins of Vatsa empire and its University are till date being excavated by different Archaelogists.

At the time of Partition, a lot of affluent Muslim feudal families left for Pakistan. This is why we see a lot of dilapidated Havelis, Villas and old places there. Yet there is a substantial Muslim population there. Especially the Chail Tehsil is famous for valiant and brave Muslims who had been since olden days preferred the marshal and armed services from Mughal period up to the British dominion.

In last few decades, this district even had many renowned landlords and feudal families like that of Asharfi Lal Srivastava of Bara (a village at 6km milestone of Kaushambi and 8km ahead of Sarai Akil.). He himself was the Manager of a great landowner of Allahabad, K.P. Tandon, who had plenty of land in the colonial vicinage of Civil Lines. Gram Bara is presently looked after by Niranjan Lal Srivastava, grandson of Asharfi Lal and an attorney in Allahabad Court who lives in his ancestral bungalow in Allahabad city with his family.

The history of Jhansi attracts tourists from all over the world. Ruled by the Chandela kings, Jhansi was previously known as Balwant Nagar. It was in the 11th century that Jhansi began losing its importance slowly. During the 17th century, under Raja Bir Singh Deo of Orchha, Jhansi again became popular.

One of the best administrators of Jhansi was Raja Gangadhar Rao. In the year In 1842 Raja Gangadhar Rao married Mannikarnika. After this marriage she was named as Lakshmi Bai. Lakshmi Bai was the Rani of Jhansi or Queen of Jhansi who led her forces against the British during the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. She sacrificed her life during this first struggle of Indian Independence in 1858. Also known as the Joan of Arc of India, Lakshmi Bai's name is famous throughout the world and symbolises strength, valor and courage.

During 1853, the Britishers wanted to take over Jhansi as the king had no son as the heir to the throne. Lakshmi Bai fought against the British with other revolutionaries of that period. So it was Jhansi ki Rani Lakshmi Bai who led the Sepoys of the 1857 revolt that sowed the seeds of India's struggle for independence.

Lakshmi Bai became a martyr on 17th June 1858 during a battle with the British soldiers at Gwalior. Later in 1861, the British Government gave the Jhansi Fort and city to Jiyaji Rao Scindia.

In independent India, Jhansi is a part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. At present Jhansi is a Divisional Commissioner's Headquarter t

It is known till the 18th century by the earlier name of Kol. After the British occupation of Aligarh in September 1803, the present Aligarh district was formed in 1804

Both Akbar and Jahangir visited Kol on hunting expeditions. Jahangir clearly mentions the forest of Kol, where he killed wolves. From the study of the place-names of the district, it appears that the district was once fairly well covered by forest, thickets and grooves. The early history of the district, indeed down the 12th century AD is obscure.

Kol or Koil, was the earliest name of the city and Aligarh was the name of the fort nearby. Kol covered not only the city but the entire district, though its geographical limits kept changing from time to time. The origin of the name of Kol is obscure. In some ancient texts, Kol has been referred to in the sense of a tribe or Caste, name of a place or mountain and name of a sage or demon. During the time of Ibrahim Lodhi, when Muhammad, son of Umar was the governor of Kol, he built a fort at Kol and named the city after his own name as Muhammadgarh in 1524-25; and Sabit khan who was the governor of this region during the time of Farrukh Siyar and Muhammad Shah, rebuilt the fort and named the town after his own name Sabitgarh. After the occupation of Kol by the Jats in 1775, it was re-named Ramgarh and finally, when a Shia commander, Najaf khan, captures Kol, he gave it its present name of Aligarh. Aligarh Fort (also called Aligarh Qila), as it stands today, was built by French engineers under the control of French officers Benoît de Boigne and Perron.

The Mauryans ushered Buddhism in this region of India, which is evident from the profusion of numerous Buddhist cave temples in and around Aurangabad. Temples built by Satvahanna and Rashtrakuta rulers are located here. The famous caves of Ajanta are a part of this Buddhist tradition. The heritage of Aurangabad is linked with different Muslim rulers and dynasties of India. The city was founded in 1610, on the site of a village named Khirki, by a local Muslim noble Malik Ambar. His son Fateh Khan ruled it and named the city as Fatehpur in 1626. Aurangzeb, the last great Mughal ruler, took over this city in 1653 and renamed it as Aurangabad. Due to its strategic location in peninsular India, Aurangzeb made Aurangabad his capital. He used this city as a base to quell the rising power of the Marathas.

Chandannagar was established as a French colony in 1673, when the French obtained permission from Ibrahim Khan, the Nawab of Bengal, to establish a trading post on the right bank of the Hughli River. Bengal was then a province of the Mughal Empire. It became a permanent French settlement in 1688, and in 1730 Joseph François Dupleix was appointed governor of the city.

In 1756 war broke out between France and Great Britain, and Colonel Robert Clive of the British East India Company and Admiral Charles Watson of the British Navy bombarded and captured Chandannagar on March 23, 1757. The town's fortifications and many houses were demolished thereafter, and Chandannagar's importance as a commercial center was eclipsed by that of Calcutta just downriver. Chandernagore was restored to the French in 1763, but retaken by the British in 1794 in the Napoleonic Wars. The city was returned to France in 1816, along with a 3 sq. mi. enclave of surrounding territory. It was governed as part of French India until 1950, under the political control of the governor-general in Pondicherry. By 1900 the town's former commercial importance was gone, and it was little more than a quiet suburb of Calcutta, with a population of 25,000 (1901). The European town was noted for its clean wide thoroughfares, with many elegant residences along the riverbank.

The town of Hooghly-Chuchura was founded by the Portuguese in the 16th century. Some religious edificies were built and the city flourished as a trading port. In the 17th century, political disorder struck the city and the Mughal governor of Bengal expelled the Portuguese. In 1656 the Dutch erected a factory on the site of the town, on a healthy spot of ground, much preferable to that on which Kolkata (Calcutta) is situated. At that point Kolkata was the principal Dutch settlement in Bengal (although not known by the name). In 1759 a British force under Colonel Forde was attacked by the garrison of Chinsura on its march to Chandernagore, but in less than half an hour the Dutch were entirely routed. In 1795, during the Napoleonic wars, the settlement was occupied by a British garrison. At the peace of 1814 it was restored to the Dutch. It was among the cessions in India made by the king of the Netherlands in 1825 in exchange for the British possessions in Sumatra.

Both Chinsurah and Hooghly played an active role in the Bengal renaissance and the freedom movement of India. Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay at Joraghat in Chinsurah composed Vandemataram, India’s national song. Nazrul Islam's famous revolutionary songs were penned while he was imprisoned by the British in Hooghly Jail. The town was home to Jyotish Chandra Ghosh (Mastar mashay), hailed as guru by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Notable figures associated with the town include Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Bhudeb Mukhopadhyay, Murarimohan Mukherjee and so on.

Plassey is a place of great historical importance. In 1757 a battle was fought between British and last nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. Siraj –ud-daula the nawab was defeated and later killed and Mir Zaffer who ditched Siraj-ud-daula and became the British agent was made Nawab.

The place to see at Plassey is nothing but the memorial which was erected by Lord Curzon at the mango grove where the actual battle of Plassey took place.