Etawah

Etawah, also known as Ishtikapuri, is a city situated on the banks of Yamuna River in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Etawah District. Etawah's population of 256,838 makes it the 180th most populous city in India. The city lies southeast of the national capital New Delhi, northwest of the state capital Lucknow, east of Agra, northeast of Gwalior, northeast of Bhind, 55 km from Mainpuri, 156 km west of Kanpur and 360 km from Prayagraj. The city was an important centre for the Indian Rebellion of 1857. It is also the sangam or confluence of the Yamuna and Chambal rivers.
It is the 26th most populous city in Uttar Pradesh.
There are six revenue divisions in Etawah district-Etawah, Bharthana, Jaswantnagar, Saifai, Chakarnagar and Takha.In the medieval times Etawah was ruled by various rulers like Sultans of Delhi, Mughals and most notably in the late 13 th Century to early 16th century by the Tomaras of Gwalior who came from Delhi and settled in Gwalior and ruled the adjacent areas.

Demographics

As per the 2011 census, Etawah city had a population of 256,790, of which males were 135,829, and females were 120,961 - an increase of 22% from 211,460 in 2001 census. The literacy rate was 82.89 per cent.
Hinduism is majority religion in Etawah city with 74.64% followers. Islam is second most popular religion in city of Etawah, with approximately 23.61% following it. In Etawah city, Christianity is followed by 0.19%, Jainism by 1.05%, Sikhism by 0.24% and Buddhism by 0.24%. Around 0.01% stated 'Other Religion', approximately 0.19% stated 'No Particular Religion'.
Main spoken languages are Hindi, Urdu, and Sindhi
Total no. of Slums in Etawah city numbers 5,528 in which population of 33,188 resides. This is around 12.92% of total population of Etawah city.

Name

During Rajput era the king of Chauhan dynasty Sumershah had gone to the bank of the Yamuna river in Etawah, where he saw an incredible act of nature. He saw a goat and a wolf drinking water together on the bank of the Yamuna. After seeing this incident, the king went to astrologers and consulted about the incident, who advised him to build a fort at the place where the wolf and the goat were drinking water together. According to astrological calculation, building a fort would benefit the king.When construction work of the fort started at the decided location, then, while digging foundation the laborers working there found a brick of gold and silver, which made them excited and they started shouting "Eeet Mili, Eeet Mili" after hearing which the place was named as "Eeet Aaya" which later turned into ‘Etawah’.
Etawah is still sometimes referred to as the city of bricks and both tradition and the appearance of the ground suggest that the modern city was founded on an ancient Khera or town site, so that it is not improbable that the existence of old bricks or old brick kilns may have led to its present name. According to some scholars, the region from Bateshwar in district Agra to Bhareh was known as ‘Ishtapath’ and there are a large number of temples of Lord Siva, who was ‘Isht Dev’ of the people of that region. From the word ‘Isht’ the town was given the name of Ishtkapuri a reference to which is found in Bhavishya Puran.

History

Ancient era

It is believed that the land existed right from the Bronze Age in the medieval times. It once formed part of the ancient country of Panchala which is said to have extended from the foot of the Himalayas in the north to the river Chambal in the south. This region rose into great prominence during the period of Mahabharata. Many local traditions are attached to the modern Chakar Nagar which is a tehsil nearby which most probably seems to be Ekchakra mentioned in Mahabharata. It was Ekchakra where Pandavas along with their mother Kunti spent their secret abode of one year during the period of their exile. There is a belief that the city was founded by King Bharat. During the fourth century A.D., Guptas once again established imperial unity in India. The Chinese traveler Fa-Hien also visited a city named ‘A-lo i.e. Alvi, which has been identified with modern Airwa nearly town, and spent his treat at the Dragon Shrine. Fa-Hien described it as "a city near a large forest". There are the remains of Buddhist and Jain temples evidently of every ancient date in large number. In the ninth and tenth centuries, this region was under the rule of Gurjara Pratihara rulers. The conquest of Kannauj by Nagabhata II handed Pratiharas control over this region. But the place was said to be evolved as an affluent region under Mihir Bhoj, the Pratihara King.
With the coronation of Harsha as a king the city came under the Thaneshwar dynasty. Hiuen Tsang in his works has also dwelt upon the prosperity of this region.

Medieval Era

The defeat of Jaichandra of Kannauj in the Battle of Chandawar in 1193 A.D at the hands of Shahab-ud-din Ghori, the city passed under influence of Muslim power, which by end of the century held in different degrees of subjection the whole of North India except Malwa and some contiguous districts. Muslim rule in Etawah faced Maratha invasion for short period within their rule in Etawah. However, the local history of the city during the early years of the thirteenth century is more or less the account of the settlement and emergence of certain Rajput clans. The Gaurs occupied part of Phaphund and Bidhuna near the Kanpur boundary, both falling in turn to Chandelas of Mahoba. The Chauhans occupied the western portion of the district, with extensive tracts now in Mainpuri. During this period; however, some disturbance related to tax arouse in Nasir-ud-din Muhammad Shah's rule, yet these issues were put to end by Tomar ruler of Gwalior in 1390. In 1400–1401 Mallu Iqbal Khan marched towards this region and was opposed by Rai Sumar Singh or Sabir of Etawah and other Zamindars of the vicinity on the banks of the Ab-i-Siyah near Patiali. The opposing army of Rai was defeated and chased down to the confines of Etawah where they took shelter.
Etawah was associated with various important historical events like Jaunpur Campaign, reigns of rulers like Bahlul Lodi, Ibrahim Lodi, Babur, Humayun and Akbar. In the fourth year of Akbar's reign, Bahadur Khan, a younger brother of Ali Quli Khan, was granted the Jagir of Etawah at the insistence of Maham Anka, the foster mother of the Emperor. After this, Etawah district underwent major changes during reign of Rohillas and the Oudh Government.

Colonial Era

The cession on 10 November 1801, the city was made over to the British Government by the Nawab Saadat Ali Khan together with the rest of the lower Doab and other tracts. This action was taken in return for a guarantee of protection, and by way of payment for the maintenance of the Oadh local forces which were ultimately stationed at Kanpur. Still for some years Etawah was threatened with Maratha inroads, while scenes occurred with the zamindars in the earlier years of the British administration which recall the experiences of the imperial officers in the 16th century, and it was not until the zamindars of Saudaus, Sahson and Kamait had been finally settled with in 1816 A.D.

The Revolt of 1857

On 25 December 1857, a British Column arrived in the city. Kunwar Johar Singh now surrounded and blew up the Etawah tahsil building from where Taj Khan was resisting the British advance. On 6 January 1858, the British reoccupied Etawah, but struggle was hardly crushed.

Freedom Struggle

In 1907, rumours were afloated in Etawah that Zorawar Singh Nigam, had organized a conspiracy to throw out the British. But on enquiry it was found baseless and a person Khalil who was responsible for the rumour, was arrested and sentenced. In 1914–15, the city came into prominence as a centre of revolutionary activity when Gendalal Dixit, a teacher at Auraiya nearby town, formed the Shivaji Samitti with object of liberating the country. Gendalal Dixit had also organized a group of young men called ‘Matri-Vedi’.
In 1920 Mahatma Gandhi launched his non-cooperation movement all over the country. In Etawah, the response of the people to this movement was enthusiastic and wide spread. In 1920–21, the district congress committee was formed with Maulana Rahamat Ullah as its president. In 1925, Jyoti Shankar Dixit of Etawah was arrested in connection with the Kakori conspiracy case but later released. In 1928, boycott of the Simon Commission; followed by; the civil disobedience movement in 1930 and Quit India Movement 1942 were started in Etawah, as in other parts of the country.
After Independence of India till January 1974, 548 freedom fighters were awarded Tamra Patras, i.e. copper plates containing a record of the services rendered by them or their forebears.

Municipal Council, Etawah

Municipal Council, Etawah was founded through Notificatin-332 date 11 July 1884 on 16 August 1884. At that time district was divided into 10 wards. Now it has 36 wards. The chairman is Jyoti Santu Gupta with Executive Officer Shri Anil Kumar.

Sr.No	Name of Ex-officio members	Position	Name of
1	Mr. Ansar Ahmad	Member of Parliament	Kalikabre, Etawah
2	Mr. Rajendra Sngh Kushwaha	MLA, Sadar	Tulsi Adda, Etawah

Ward no.	Name of elected candidate	Director/ Member	Name of ward
1	Mr. Gambhir Singh	Member	K.F.M Khan II
2	Mr. Ravi Kumar	Member	Friends Colony II
3	Mr. Abhay Singh	Member	Katra Balsingh I
4	Mr. Arvind	Member	Sundarpur
5	Mr. Dilip Kumar Dubey	Member	Katra Sahab Khan
6	Mr. Jayveer Singh	Member	Friends Colony III
7	Mrs. Shanti Devi	Member	Gaadipura
8	Mr. Mahendra Kumar	Member	Vijay Nagar III
9	Mrs. Madhu	Member	Civil Line I
10	Mrs. Usha Devi	Member	Mewati Tola
11	Mr. Mohammad Anees	Member	Sabitganj
12	Ms. Mithilesh	Member	Vijay Nagar I
13	Mrs. Rajanshri	Member	Purabia Tola Nalapar
14	Mrs. Neelam Dubey	Member	Karanpura
15	Mrs. Uma	Member	Friends Colony I
16	Mrs. Santosh Kumari	Member	Lalpura
17	Mr. Shabir	Member	Shahgraan
18	Mrs. Roopkiran Verma	Member	Ghatiya Ajmat Ali II
19	Mr. Deepak	Member	Chaugurji
20	Mrs. Manju Devi	Member	Vijay Nagar II
21	Mr. ratnesh	Member	Ashok Nagar I
22	Mr. Srikrishna Yadav	Member	Ghatiya Ajmat Ali II
23	Mr. Imran Hashmi	Member	Katra Shamsher Khan
24	Mrs. Lilavati	Member	K.F.M Khan I
25	Mr. Vimal	Member	Maksoodpura
26	Mrs. Nazma	Member	Chhipaiti
27	Mrs. Ruby Begum	Member	Bairuntola
28	Mr. Iqbal	Member	Pathvaria
29	Mr. Sharad Bajpayee	Member	Akalganj
30	Mr. Sunil	Member	Ashok Nagar II
31	Mrs. Pushpa	Member	Civil Line II
32	Mr. Shafeek Mast Khan	Member	Urdu Mohalla
33	Mr. Udayraj Singh	Member	Ashok Nagar III
34	Mr. Mohd Iliyaas	Member	Naurangabad
35	Mr. Anil	Member	Katra Balsingh II
36	Mr. Vaibhav Kumar	Member	Purabia Tola Pajava

Header text	Name of elected candidate
1	Mr. Mohd Nazir Ansari
2	Mr. rakesh Yadav
3	Mr. Amit Soni
4	Mr. Ramesh Prajapati