Meerut
Meerut is a city that serves as the administrative headquarters of the Meerut district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city lies in western Uttar Pradesh and is part of the Indian National Capital Region. Meerut is located northeast of the national capital, New Delhi, and northwest of the state capital, Lucknow. As of 2025, Meerut’s urban population is estimated at ≈ 1.875 million. The population of Meerut Municipal Corporation is projected to be about 1.907 million, while the wider Meerut metropolitan region is estimated at approximately 2.077 million. Meerut is the second or third-most populous city in NCR, after Delhi and Ghaziabad.
In 1803, Meerut was as a significant location during the British colonial era, serving as the site of one of India’s largest cantonments. Meerut was one of the first locations where the 1857 rebellion against British rule began. It has been called the "Sports City of India" due to its sports goods industry. Meerut produces large number of musical instruments in India. It is also one of Asia's largest gold markets. The city is an education hub in western Uttar Pradesh and has the third-highest per capita income after Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddha Nagar.
India's first Regional Rapid Transit System, Delhi Meerut RRTS, is partially operational in Meerut and serves as an inter-city high-speed metro corridor. Meerut is connected by three expressways, including the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, the Ganga Expressway, and the Meerut-Kanpur Expressway.
Origin of the name
The name Meerut is believed to have evolved from Mayarashtra, the capital city of the mythological kingdom ruled by Mayasura, a legendary architect and the father of Mandodari, wife of Ravana. Over the centuries, the name underwent several transformations—such as Mairashtra, Mai-dant-ka-khera, and Mairaath—before settling into its current form, Meerut.Another tradition attributes the city’s origin to King Yudhishthira, who is said to have granted the land to Mayasura in recognition of his architectural prowess. According to this account, Mayasura named the region Maharashtra, which eventually morphed into Meerut due to linguistic and historical evolution.
An alternative version suggests, that Meerut was part of the dominions of King Mahipala, the ruler of Indraprastha, and that the city’s name is derived from his association with the area.
History
Ancient era
Archaeological excavations conducted between 1950 and 1952 at Vidura-ka-Tila, a collection of several mounds named after Vidura northeast of Meerut, concluded that Meerut contains the remains of the ancient city of Hastinapur, the capital of the Kauravas and Pandavas of Mahabharata, which was washed away by floods from the Ganges.Meerut also contained a Harappan settlement known as Alamgirpur, the easternmost settlement of the Indus Valley civilisation. Meerut was a centre of Buddhism during the reign of Mauryan emperor Ashoka, and remains of Buddhist structures were found near the Jama Masjid in the present day city. The Ashoka Pillar, at Delhi Ridge, was carried to Delhi from Meerut by Firuz Shah Tughluq. It was later damaged in a 1713 explosion and restored in 1867.
In Hindu mythology, Meerut has a strong connection to the Mahabharata. One of the main characters in the epic, Draupadi, is believed by the locals to have been born here.
Muslim conquests
In the eleventh century AD, the region to the south-west of the city was ruled by Har Dat, the Dor Raja of Bulandshahr. He built a fort, which was long known for its strength and was mentioned in the Ain-i-Akbari. He was later defeated by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1018 and surrendered along with his forces to Mahmud. The Jama Masjid, a prominent local landmark, was said to be built by Mahmud's vizier in this period. Shortly after its capture, the city was regained by the local Hindu raja and part of his fortifications, built for the city's defence, survived into modern times. Muhammad of Ghor's mamluk general Qutb-ud-din Aybak attacked and captured Meerut in 1193.Timur attacked and sacked Meerut in 1399. The city was held by Ilyas Afghan and his son Maula Muhammad Thaneswari, who were assisted by non-Muslims led by Safi. Timur tried to negotiate a surrender, but the inhabitants of the fort replied saying that Tarmashirin had tried to capture the city in the past, but failed. Incensed, Timur attacked the city with 10,000 cavalry. The forces scaled the walls and Safi was killed in the battle. The inhabitants were killed and their wives and children were enslaved. The fortifications and houses were razed to the ground, and the prisoners were ordered to be flayed alive.
The city then came under the rule of the Mughal Empire and saw a period of relative tranquility. During the rule of Mughal Emperor Akbar, there was a mint producing copper coins in the city. During the reign of Akbar, Meerut was listed in the Ain-i-Akbari as a pargana under Delhi Sarkar, producing a revenue of 4,391,996 dams for the imperial treasury and supplying a force of 300 infantry and 100 cavalry.
A major part of Meerut was controlled by Sayyid jagirdars of Abdullapur, from 16th to late 18th century. Sayyed Mir Abdulla Naqvi Al Bukhari built Kot Fort in Abdullapur in 16th century, and it became his main residence. The descendants of Syed Sadarudin Shah Kabir Naqvi Al Kannauji Bukhari are still present in Meerut; Sadarudin was a chief advisor of Sikandar Lodi and the father of saint Shah Jewna. The famous Pakistani writer Syed Qudrat Naqvi Al Bukhari was born in Meerut.
Nawab Mansab Ali Khan was one of the most influential personalities of Meerut; he built the famous Karbala and Masjid, known as Mansabiya, in 1882.
The city saw Sikh and Maratha invasions in the 18th century, with interruptions by Taga Brahman and Rohillas. Walter Reinhardt, a European soldier, established himself at Sardhana, and some parts of the district came under his rule. Upon his death, these areas came into the hands of Begum Samru. During this time, the southern part of the district had remained under Maratha rule.
Colonial era
In 1803, with the fall of Delhi, Daulat Rao Scindia of the Marathas ceded the territory to the British East India Company. The cantonment of Meerut was established in 1806 due to its proximity to Delhi and its location in the fertile Ganga–Yamuna Doab region. The city was made headquarters of the eponymous district in 1818.Meerut is often associated with the 1857 rebellion against Company rule in India. The slogan "Dilli Chalo" was first spoken in the city, and the Meerut cantonment was the place where the rebellion started. Another name for Meerut is "Kranti Dhara," or "the land of revolution," denoting the place where India's independence movement began.
The revolt, which catapulted Meerut into international prominence, began in March 1857 in Barrackpore, Bengal. Indian sepoy Mangal Pandey shot at two of his commanding officers, missed, then attempted suicide. He was later executed. By April, Pandey's uprising had spread across North India and reached Meerut, which was then the second-largest East India Company garrison. Here, Europeans and native sepoys were evenly balanced, with a little more than 2,000 on each side. The European cantonment was separated from the Indian one. Sadar Bazar and Lal Kurti Bazar were close by, the latter named after the red uniforms worn by the Presidency armies. On 24 April 1857, Meerut's commander, Colonel Carmichael Smyth, paraded 90 Indian sepoys of the Bengal Cavalry, most of whom had come from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. He ordered the soldiers to fire the new Enfield cartridges they had been supplied with. The cartridges were covered with paper that had to be torn off, and Muslim soldiers believed the paper was greased with pig fat and Hindus thought it was greased with cow fat. Thus, they refused to touch them when ordered to.
All 85 soldiers were stripped of their uniforms, and court-martialed; they were all sentenced to a decade in prison. The prisoners, who were upper-class members of a cavalry regiment, were shocked at the harsh sentences handed down to them. On 10 May 1857, Kotwal Dhan Singh opened the gates of the prison. These soldiers, along with the other imprisoned soldiers, escaped prison and declared themselves free. They proceeded to mutiny, attack, and kill several Company officials in the city to bring it under their control. This marked the beginning of a widespread revolt across northern India, as the soldiers marched towards Delhi. 10 May is celebrated as a local holiday in Meerut.
Meerut was also the venue of the Meerut Conspiracy Case in March 1929, in which several trade unionists, including three Englishmen, were arrested by the colonial authorities for organising a railway strike action. The case quickly became the subject of attention in England, inspiring a 1932 play titled Meerut Prisoners by left-wing Manchester street theatre group the Red Megaphones, which highlighted the detrimental effects of capitalism and industrialisation. Electricity was first introduced to Meerut in 1931. In the 1940s, during the height of the Indian independence movement, cinema-goers in Meerut had an unofficial policy of refusing to stand up when God Save the King played before the film was shown. The last session of the Indian National Congress before the independence of India in 1947, was held at Victoria Park in Meerut on 26 November 1946. It was in this session that the Constitution-making committee was constituted.