Mainpuri district
Mainpuri district is one of the districts in the Agra division of Uttar Pradesh, India. Mainpuri town is the district headquarters. It consists of six tehsils, namely Mainpuri, Bhongaon, Karhal, Kishni, Kurawali and Ghiror.
Mainpuri forms part of the ancient legendary region of Lord Krishna's land called Braj. It is bounded on the north by Etah district, on the east by the districts Farrukhabad and Kannauj, on the south by Etawah district and on the west by the districts Firozabad and Etah. It lies between north latitude 260 53′ to 270 31′ and east longitude 780 27′ to 790 26′. According to the 2011 census, Mainpuri district has a population of 1,847,194. The district has a population density of 670 inhabitants per square kilometre. Mainpuri has a sex ratio of 876 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 78.26%.
History
Mainpuri district was formed in 1837, when the massive Etawah district was divided. Mainpuri itself had previously been the seat of Etawah district since 1801, when the British had annexed the territory from the Nawab of Awadh. Another major change was when Etah district was split off in 1845.Several copper harpoons and antenna swords have been found in Ganeshpur village in 2022 which are from Copper Hoard Culture.
Mainpuri formed part of the kingdom of Kanauj, and after its fall it was divided into a number of petty principalities, of which Rapri and Bhongaon were chief. In 1194 Rapri was made the seat of a Muslim governor. Mainpuri fell to the Babur’s invasion in 1526, and, although temporarily wrested from them by the short-lived Afghan dynasty of Sher Shah, was again occupied by them on the reinstatement of Humayun after the victory of Panipat. Like the rest of the lower Doab, towards the end of the 18th century Mainpuri passed into the power of the Maratha Empire and finally became a portion of the province of Oudh. When this part of the country was ceded to the British in 1801, Mainpuri town became the headquarters of the extensive district of Etawah, which was in 1856 reduced by the formation of Etah and Mainpuri into separate collectorates. On the outbreak of the mutiny in 1857, the regiment stationed at Mainpuri revolted and attacked the town, which was successfully defended by the few Europeans of the station for a week, until the arrival of the Jhansi mutineers made it necessary to abandon the district.
Kak Nadi, Senghar Nadi, and Sehar Nadi were some of the rivers in the area which have since dried up.
Administration
The Mainpuri district is headed by an IAS officer of the rank of District Magistrate. The district is further sub-divided into sub-divisions or Tehsils, each headed by a Sub Divisional Magistrate.These Tehsils are further divided into Blocks, each headed by a Block development officer.
Tehsils
The six sub-divisions or Tehsils in Mainpuri are as follows:- Mainpuri
- Bhogaon
- Karhal
- Kishni
- Ghiror
- Kurawali
Blocks
- Mainpuri
- Ghiror
- Bewar
- Jagir
- Sultanganj
- Karhal
- Kurawali
- Kishni
- Barnahal
Geography
Generally speaking, the soils of the district are typical of those found elsewhere in the Indo-Gangetic plain, and are classified on two principles according to whether the distinctions recognised are natural or artificial. Both are well-understood and commonly employed by the cultivator. Of the natural divisions bhur is the name for soil containing a large proportion of sand, while matyar is the name of soil containing a large proportion of clay. Between these two is a loamy soil called domat with clay and sand more evenly divided. A lighter soil is known as pilia, coming between domal and bhur. The barren soil known as usher is found at the heads and partly down the courses of the smaller rivers such as Ahnaiya and Puraha, the Sengar and Arind and the numerous minor esteems. It appears to be a clay deposit too compact to permit cultivation in places too impregnated with Reh and other deleterious mineral substances to permit the growth of even grass.
Wasteland: The barren land consists for the most part of usar plains.
Forests: The total area covered in the district is. A considerable area of the barren land is covered with dark jungle. A great deal of wasteland is covered with the coarse grass known locally as ganra or sinkh. Ganra is used for thatching and making ropes and mats. The babul grows in large clumps on the usar plains and is, indeed, the only tree which flourishes on them. Its cultivation has for some time been encouraged by the increase of moisture due to the canals and the great demand for wood both for fuel and carpentry. Its timber is hard and close-grained and is used for building purposes, fuel and charcoal.
Water Bodies
Kali Nadi
The Kali Nadi forms the northeastern boundary of the district separating it from Etah and Farukkhabad. It is a narrow stream, but perennial, and even during the spring and summer months is only fordable at certain places. There is a bridge with a 545-foot span on the Farukkhabad Road.Isan Nadi
Next to the Kali comes the Isan, which is here a considerable stream, fordable only in a few places during the rainy season. During the remainder of the year the volume of running water is small, and in years of unusual drought there is no apparent stream, but the pools that remain are fed by the springs. During the first part of its course and to within four miles of its junction with Kali Nadi about three miles northwest of Mainpuri, it runs through a loam and usar country, has a comparatively shallow bed, and often overflows the neighbouring lands in times of flooding.The Arind or Rind
The Arind is an insignificant stream in this district, which it enters to the north of pargana Mustafabad, between the Etawah and Kanpur branches of the Ganges Canal, and traverses in an exceedingly sinuous course from the northwest to the southeast corner. A straight line from its point of entry to its point of exit is almost the longest which could be drawn on the district map. It presents a striking contrast to the Kali and Isan.Lakes
Mainpuri abounds in swamps and marshes, particularly in its central portion, but few of them are of sufficient size or permanence to be considered lakes. Mention will only be made here of the more considerable ones, and for the others reference should be made to the accounts of parganas. In all 36,870 acres are recorded in the revenue record as underwater, even the largest, as they are seldom supplied by springs. There is also a long narrow lake of considerable size to the southwest of Mainpuri city, between it and the Kanpur branch of the Ganges canal, which drains by two cuts towards the Isan.Drainage
The general slope of the country, is from northwest to southeast, and this is the direction in which the rivers run and which is therefore followed in the main by the drainage. There are however, numerous inequalities of surface caused by the greater or less elevation of the river beds and by sand bridges, and the general disposition of the drainage differs somewhat in different portions of the district. In the center tract, which lies highest, the main drainage arteries are the Isan and the Arind. Pargana Karhal has been seriously affected by the canal. The Kali and Isan and their catchment basins all belong to the Ganges system, and all the other rivers to that of the Yamuna.Demographics
According to the 2011 census Mainpuri district has a population of 1,868,529, roughly equal to the nation of Kosovo or the US state of West Virginia. This gives it a ranking of 255th in India. The district has a population density of. Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 15.69%. Mainpuri has a sex ratio of 876 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 78.26%. 15.44% of the population lived in urban areas. Scheduled Castes made up 19.71% of the population. Hindi and Braj Bhasha is the predominant language, spoken by 59.22% and 40.28 of the population.Mainpuri is a predominantly Hindu district, with Muslims as the largest minority. In rural areas Hindus are nearly 96% of the population. There are around 8,800 Buddhists in the district.
In Mainpuri, the total population is approximately 12.3 lakh and 35 percent of this population is composed of Yadav caste. Other dominant castes of the district are Shakyas, Thakurs, Brahmins, SCs and Muslims.
Amenities
All the following tables are as of 2011.Drinking water
The following table shows how households get their main source of drinking water:| Source of drinking water | Rural | Urban | Total |
| Tap water | 12.71% | 31.44% | 15.65% |
| Tap water | 4.01% | 8.08% | 4.65% |
| Well | 1.36% | 0.57% | 1.23% |
| Hand pump | 81.3% | 52.1% | 76.7% |
| Tube well/borehole | 0.34% | 6.87% | 1.37% |
| All others | 0.3% | 0.9% | 0.39% |
Lighting
The following table shows how households get their main source of lighting:| Type of lighting | Rural | Urban | Total |
| Electricity | 16.4% | 73.7% | 25.4% |
| Kerosene | 82.3% | 24.9% | 73.3% |
| Solar | 0.6% | 0.1% | 0.5% |
| Other oil | 0.4% | 0.35% | 0.39% |
| All others | 0.2% | 0.36% | 0.2% |
| No lighting | 0.12% | 0.54% | 0.19% |