Etawah district General information
Etawah district is a district in the southwestern portion of Uttar Pradesh state of India. Etawah town is the district headquarters. Etawah district is part of Kanpur Division.
History
In 1885 when Dasahra and Muharram coincided, communal distrubance broke out between the Hindus and the Muslims. In 1885, the Indian National Congress was established in Bombay by A.O. Hume. In Etawah it had, however, not assumed the shape of a political organization. But some of the prominent moderate leaders of the district such as Zorawar Singh Nigam, Baleshwar Prasad and Surya Narain held public meetings under a pandal and passed resolutions which merely contained certain complaints for submission to government and some were in the form of prayer.
In 1907 rumours were afloat in Etawah that Zorawar Singh Nigam had organised a conspiracy to throw out the British. A special team of police officers headed by the inspector general of police and two deputy inspectors general hastened to Etawah. But on enquiry it was found baseless and a person named Khalil who was responsible for the rumour was arrested and sentenced. In 1914-15 the district came into prominence as a center of revolutionary activity when Gendalal Dixit, a teacher at Auraiya, formed the Shivaji Samiti with the object of liberating the country. At his persuasion, Brahmachari, a dacoit leader also joined the revolutionary movement and with his help, he organised the other dacoits operating in the Chambal and the Yamuna ravines. They decided to plunder the house of a money lender, but a spy informed the police. The spy mixed poison in the food being prepared for the party and Brahmachari ate it. He at once understood that there was foul play and promptly shot the spy who tried to escape under the pretext of getting water. The police alerted by the shots closed in on them and a gun battle followed. Thirty-five men of the Brahmachari group were killed. Brahmachari, Gendalal Dixit and a few others were arrested and locked up in the Gwalior fort. Gendalal Dixit had also organised a group of young men called "Matri-Vedi". They unsuccessfully attempted top free Gendalal Dixit from the Gwalior fort and were arrested. Their trial took place at Mainpuri and which became known as the Mainpuri Conspiracy case. The first session of the Congress attended by Mahatma Gandhi who had recently returned from South Africa was held at Lucknow in 1916. The national movement had so far been confined to the urban intelligentsia but his appearance on the Indian political scene gave a new direction and meaning to the freedom struggle which was now carried to the masses. In Etawah a large number of persons enrolled themselves as volunteers.
In 1920, the Congress declared that its objective was "the attainment of Swarajya by the people of India by all legitimate and peaceful means." Towards this end, Mahatma Gandhi launched his famous Non-co-operation Movement all over the country in August of that year. 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 Rahmat Ullah as its president. He was soon arrested by the authorities. Mahatma Gandhi suspended the Non-co-operation Movement in 1922, after Chauri Chaura incident which involved loss of a few lives. But the movement roused the consciousness of the people against alien rule and gave them a new confidence and courage to fight it. The Congress contested and won a seat allotted to the district in the council election. In 1925, Jyoti Shankar Dixit of village Lalpura and Mukandi Lal of Etawah city were arrested in connection with the Kakori Conspiracy case but were later released. The later had also taken part in the Mainpuri Conspiracy case and had remained in jail upto 1939. In 1928, when the Simon Commission visited India it was subjected to boycott all over the country and in this connection Jawaharlal Nehru visited Etawah. In Etawah black flag demonstrations and protest meetings and hartals against the Commission were organised all over the district. On November 23, 1929 Gandhiji visited the district and addressed a large public meeting at Auraiya.
In 1930, the Civil Disobedience movement was started in Etawah, as in other parts of the country. The first phase of the movement was violation of the Salt Act. Numerous arrests were made. The police made lathi charge on the students of the Government Intermediate College, Etawah, who hoisted the Congress flag on the college building, and when thousands of persons assembled to protest against this act of oppression the police arrested about 1,500 persons. Inspite of this the people of the district kept up their non-violent struggle. British goods were boycotted and foreign cloth burnt publicly. In this connection about 1,000 arrest were made. A large number of peasants also joined the Congress. All the political prisoners were released as a result of the Gandhi-Irwin Pact in 1931. On May 10, 1931, a large gathering was organised at village Nagla Dhakau (in tahsil Bharthana) to march in a procession to welcome the released leaders. On hearing this the police rushed to the venue and opened fire on the processionists killing three persons. The district participated in the elections for the Legislative Assembly in 1936 and the two seats allotted to the district were won by the Congress.
The Quit India Movement of 1942 received wide support from people in the district. Hartals were observed, protest meetings were held and processions taken out. There was also wholesale defiance of the prohibitory orders under section 144 Cr. P.C. and the Congress flag was hoisted on all Congress offices and on numerous private buildings. There were mass arrests, imposition of collective fines, and lathi charges. On August 12, 1942 the police opened fire at Auraiya killing at least six persons. This movement clearly showed that there was universal discontent against British rule and was an indication that the British could not hold on to India for any length of time. By 1945, when the Second World War ended, British public opinion had veered round to granting complete independence to India. The British Parliament by passing the Indian Independence Act, 1947 decided to quit India for good. On August 15, 1947, the country was liberated from alien rule and declared independent. The district of Etawah has had its due share in the fight and rejoicings of freedom. Etawah celebrated the event with befitting glee and rejoicing in every home. National flag was hoisted on the collectorate building. It flew on almost all the private and government buildings.
Boundaries and Area
The district of Etawah lies in the southwestern portion of Uttar Pradesh 26° 47" north latitude and 72° 20" east longitude and forms a part of the Kanpur Division. In shape it is a parallelogram with a length from north to south 70 Km. and East to west 66 Km. on one side and 24 Km. on the other side. It is bounded on the north by the districts of Farrukhabad and Mainpuri, while the small extent of western border adjoins tahsil Bah of the Agra district. The eastern frontier marches with the district of Auraiya, and along the south lie Jalaun and the district of Gwalior, the division line being, except for a short distance, the Chambal and Yamuna rivers. The total area in 1999 is calculated to be 2434 Km.
Topography
Etawah lies entirely in the Gangetic plain, but its physical features vary considerably and are determined by the rivers which cross it. It is divisible into four portions of district natural characteristics. The first of these consists of the country lying north-east of the Senger river, which runs across it from west to east almost parallel to the Yamuna; it includes the northern portions of tahsils Etawah and Bharthana. The second tract lies south of the Senger and extends as far as the high lands immediately overlooking the Yamuna. It comprises a slightly undulating switch of country covering portions of Etawah and Bharthana and the bulk of a Auraiya Tahsil (now in Auraiya District). The tract includes the parts of some tahsils that adjoins the river Yamuna. Beyond the Yamuna, stretching from the borders of tahsil Bah in Agra to the confluence of the Sindh, Kuwari, Chambal and Yamuna rivers, lies the high and broken country formerly known as Janibrast. These tracts differ from each other in a very marked degree though each presents general conformity within its own limits.
The Pachar
The northern portion of the district, which is separated from the rest by the Sengar, is known in the language of the country as Pachar. It presents a level expanse of upland, of which the surface is only broken by occasional sandy ridges or by one or two inconsiderable streams such as the Pandu and Arind or Rind, and the latter's tributaries, the Ahneya and Puraha. The soil is for the most part a rich loam of great fertility, interspersed with large tracts of usar and frequently varied by beds of clay, the centers of which form marshes or jhils out of which rise some small streams. It forms the most important part of the district from an agricultural point of view and is thickly studded with well populated sites and hamlets.
The Ghar
The second tract between the Sengar and the Yamuna locally known as the Ghar. Its characteristic soil is a red a light but fertile sandy loam. The surface, which is not quite level, lies lowest nearly midway between the two rivers and one like the pachar, the Ghar is a plain of culturable soil unbroken by usar, while in the depressions the clay is found in much smaller beds. Here and there the ground rises into hillocks of sand and bhur, but these are for the most part confined to the Bharthana tehsil. Some of the largest towns in the district lie in this tract, in close proximity to the old Mughal road; yet the population is less dense and the village sites are smaller than in the northern portion of the district. The extension of canal irrigation to the Ghar, however, has considerably altered the characteristics of the tract and done much to assimilate in to the Pachar.
The Karka
South of the Ghar lie the uplands and ravines along the banks of the Yamuna and these form the third natural division of the district known as the Karka. The population here is scanty and the village sites are usually buried far away amid ravines; but the characteristics are not entirely uniform. If, a section of the Karka were taken from the uplands to the river, it would show first a tract of cultivated land similar in character and, as a rule, quite equal to the soil of the Ghar, secondly, a large area of wild and deep ravines covered with grass and thorny brushwood and in parts quite bare; thirdly, a low-lying plain of rich soil, subject to the floods of the Yamuna where it overflows in the rains; and fourthly, a fringe or strip of rich alluvial deposit along the very edge of the stream. Sometimes, however, the two latter and most valuable portions are altogether wanting, and the river sweeps right up to the foot of other bluffs that terminate the ravine ground. In some places, especially to the cast of the district, where the broken ground is wildest and covers the largest area, the ravines do not run down evenly and directly to the river but are divided as it were into two stages or steps, the first being separated from the last by be uneven plain of rough clay not unlike Bundelkhand soil.
The Par
The fourth tract comprises the lands lying between the Yamuna and the Chambal known as Par, and those on the right bank of the Chambal between it and the Kunwari. It is divided into four portions, namely Patti Kamait, Taluqas Chakarnagar and Sahson, Taluqa Bhareh and Taluqa Sandaus; and includes portions of the three tahsils Auraiya, Bharthana and Etawah. It extends from the borders of tahsil Bah in the Agra district to the point where the Yamuna, Chambal, Sindh and Kuwari unite. Patti Kamait comprises the western portion lying within the Etawah tahsil and extends as for as Kandhesi Ghar in Bharthana tahsil. To the last, where the space between the rivers is narrowest, the ravines Join and leave no level around between them; but towards the west the streams separate and in the centre is found a fine tableland of good loam, some four or five miles wide. There are few ridges of sand, and where the rivers again trend towards each other the soil is a friable clay full of holes and fissures like the well known black soil of Bundelkhand. This upland is bordered on either side by a network of intricate ravine beyond which there exists but little alluvial land, though a few bays of white sandy kachhar soil are found on the Yamuna bank.
Levels
The portion of the district lying north of the Yamuna presents no great changes of level. It may be described as a plain intersected by shallow river valleys formed by small streams such as the Ahneya, Sengar and Rind, sloping from north-west to south-eat. A line of levels taken north and south across the district, two miles south-east of Hardoi in Etawah tahsil, shows that the recorded height above the sea near the village of Karri on the Mainpuri border is 191 feet near the Sarai Bhopat station of the East Indian Railway on the road from Etawah to Jaswantngar. The bed of the Sengar lies just 20 feet below this, the recorded level being 171 feet. The Etawah branch of the canal runs along the centre of this tract and the levels along it will give a clear idea of the south-easterly slope. At Hardoi the recorded height is 50053 feet; near Bharthana it is 482.00 feet; at Chachund 474 feet; and near Kanchausi, on the Kanpur border, 459 feet. The heights in the trans-Yamuna tract are not recorded, but this portion of the district lies at a somewhat higher elevation. The country, however, is too narrow and broken in character for transverse sections to convey an adequate idea of its general contour: the slope follows that of the rest of the district and is from north-west to south-east.
Soils
In the Pachar and Ghar tracts the soils are broadly distinguishable into dumat or loam, matiyar or clay, and bhur or sand. Besides these are found everywhere low-lying beds of clay in which water collects during the rains and rice alone can be grown; these clay beds are known as Jhabar. In the Kurka and trans-Yamuna tract several other classes of soil are met with. In the ravines of the river and the land immediately adjacent to them are found fields full of kankar and gravel, the soil of which is called Pakar; this is in fact a sandy soil mixed with gravel. Below the ravines and in the wider valleys between them the soil that is flooded by the Yamuna is called kachhar; and along the edges of the streams there is a rich strip of alluvial deposit which is known as Tir. Both kachhar and tir vary greatly in quality: some patches of these soils consist of a rich reddish clay which lets at a high rental; other portions are composed of a dark colored loam; and others again are while and sandy in appearance and less fertile.
River System
The rivers and streams of the district consist of the Yamuna its two large affluent, the Chambal and, the Kuwari; the Sengar, and its tributary Sirsa; The Rind or Arind and its tributeries the Ahenya, the Puraha and the Pandu.
The Yamuna
The Yamuna first touches the frontier of the district at the village of Bawat in the north-west of tahsil Etawah. For 24 Km. it forms the boundary between the district and Agra and then continues in a winding course, with a south-easterly direction, till it describes a remarkable curve near the village of Harauli before it unites its waters with those of the Chambal at Bhareh. Rain forced at this point by the latter stream it turns abruptly to the south and then once more sweeps eastward. Thenceforward its course lies almost due east, and it forms the common boundary of this district and Jalaun. The total length of the Yamuna in the district is about 112 Km. The bank on one side is unusually steep and precipitous whilst on other it is low and upon to the overflow of the river in the rains. For this reason the river spreads much in times of flood, and the surface velocity being small it covers a large area with a rich alluvial deposit in the rains. This natural tendency of the Yamuna to undulate the land along its banks is increased by the action of its tributary, the Chambal which rushing into it almost at right angles, throws lack by its greater volume and velocity the waters of the Yamuna and acts for the time as a sort of weir which still further retards that river.
The Chambal
South of the Yamuna flows the large river of the Chambal; this rises in Malwa on the northern slope of the Vindhyas near Mhow. It first touches the district at the village of Murong in the trans-Yamuna tract of Etawah tahsil, and for 40 Kms. forms the boundary of the district with the state of Madhya Pradesh. At Barechcha it is for the first time flanked on either side by land belonging to this district and for the remainder of its course of 35 Kms. flows through this district. Near its confluence with the Yamuna at Bhareh it forms a large though less abrupt curve than that river. In appearance and character the Chambal closely resembles the Yamuna and has within this district, a channel of equal dimensions. It is exceedingly liable to sudden and heavy floods owing to the step gradient of its bed before it debouches on the alluvial plain, and from the superior velocity of its stream, it discharges a greater volume of water than the Yamuna. Its waters are remarkable for their crystal-like clearness, and even after the two ricers have united the water of the Chambal may for some distance be distinguished from that of the Yamuna, which always carries either sand or mud in suspension. The Chambal seldom overdoes its banks. Both descriptions of land are sandy and the stream is too swine to allow of the deposit of fertilizing silt; consequently the alluvial patches along the Chambal are of much smaller extent and value than those along the Yamuna.
The Kuwari
This river is also the tributary of the Yamuna. This forms the district boundary with state of Madhya Pradesh for some 16 Kms. and for a like distance flows through the district till it unites with the Yamuna some 8 Kms. below the junction of that river with the Chambal. Rising in Madhya Pradesh not far from the old town of Morar, it flows north-west, north-east turns east and finally south-east, almost in a semi-circle, till it is joined by the Sindh in the extreme south of tahsil Auraiya. The Sindh which joins it, and sometimes gives its name to the short length of the united stream which joins the Yamuna differs in no way from it. Both, like the Chambal, are subject to great and sudden freshets during the rains, though they dwindle to insignificant streams in the hot season.
The vast stretch of the land from the confluence of Yamuna and Chambal upto the confluence of Sindh and Yamuna locally known as Pachnada, presents an extensive view Sylvan beauty during the rainy season and also in the winters. But it turns into an arid expanse during the summers.
The Sengar and Sirsa
It enters Etawah near the village of Dhanuha in the north of Etawah tahsil, and after traversing the district in a south-easterly direction, parallel to the Yamuna, passes into Kanpur district. In the upper part of its course the stream is not of much importance; its sides are low and shelving and its banks generally culturable. But at Amritpur, some 6 Kms. north of the town of Etawah, it is joined by the Sirsa, which up to this point bad shown a slight tendency to converge towards it. Thence forward the Sengar runs in a deep bad, and the drainage from the surrounding country tears its banks into ravines, which are only insignificant in comparison with the yawning fissures that disfigures the banks of the Yamuna. These ravines increase in extent and wildness as the river proceeds eaastward: they are altogether unfit for cultivation, but in places afford useful pasturage and produce Babul or Rionj trees, which are valuable for timber and bark. The Sirsa, which is merely a branch of the Sengar that separates near Umargarh in Jalesar, enters Etawah 17 Kms. west of the Sengar, and flows in a well defined channel to its junction with that stream, but it is of a small size.
The Rind and Arind
The river rises in Aligarh district and enters Etawah first at the village of Bhankhera in the north-east border of tahsil Bidhuna. After running along the district boundry for about 11 Km. in a tortuous course, it turns sharply southwards at Sabhad and meanders in a south easterly direction through Bidhuna till it finally passes into Kanpur. The Rind has a perennial stream, which shrinks considerably in size in the hot weather. At the village of Lakhna, where its course is more decidely deflected to east, it is joined by two tributaries known as Ahneya and Puraha.
The Ahneya and Puraha
These take rise in a series of lakes, the former near Kakan and the latter near Sauj in the Mainpuri district and little more than the drainage channels for carrying off superflous rain water. In the hot or cold season they are normally dry but in rains the Puraha, owing to its sinous course, injures a considerable amount of land on either bank.
Pandu
It is the only stream of the Etawah district which flows into the Ganga. It rises in the extreme north-east of Bidhuna tahsil in a large clay depression forming a lake lying between Sabhad and Nurpur. It flows eastwards into the Farrukhabad district.
Lakes and Jhils
The general excellence of the natural drainage afforded by the rivers and their tributary streams and watercourses over the bulk of the district is exemplified by the general rarity of lakes and marshes. The only portions that might be considered an exception to this rule are the northern portions of the district in tahsils Etawah, Bharthana and Bidhuna. Here the existence of clay beds in hollows has rendered conditions favorable for the extensive. Those that they exist are situated for the most part on the borders of the district, especially in tahsil Bidhuna, where they lie somewhat beyond the influence of the natural drainage lines or of the artificial cuts made in connection with the canals. The most important of these Jhils are those at Hardoi, Raan, Parauri and Baralokpur in tahsil Etawah; at Sarsainawar, Kunetha, Mahauri, Kudrel, Sonthna and Usarahar in tahsil Bharthana; and at Durmangadpur, Mundai, Hardoi, Barauli, Auton, Yakubpur, Tirhwa, Dhupkari or Thulpia and Manaura in tahsil Bidhuna the last five all lying close to the Farrukhabad boundary.
Waste Land
The average area returned as barren waste for the five years ending in 1997 was 13435 Hectares or 56.98 per cent of the entire district. This also consists either of Usar plains, in which the soil is rendered sterile by the saline efflorescence known as Reh or else of ravine jungle. This however, excludes the area under water and also the land occupied by sites, roads and the like amounting to 18662 Hectares.
Climate
The average annual rainfall in the district is 792 mm and in the year 1998 Zila Sankhikiya Patrika it is given to be 640 mm. About 85% of the annual normal rainfall in the district is received during the south west mansoon months from June to September, August being the rainiest month.
Temperature
After February there is a steady increase in temperature. May is generally the hottest month with the mean daily maximum temperature at about 42 °C and the mean daily minimum at about 26 °C. The nights are warmer in June than in May. The heat in the summer is intense and the hot, dry and dust-laden westerly winds which are common in the hot season make the weather severely trying. In this season maximum temperatures on individual days sometimes reach 46 °C or over. With the onset of the south-west mansoon over the district by about the third week of June there is appreciable drop in the day temperature and the weather becomes more bearable. But the nights still continue to be as warm as in the latter part of the summer. With the with drawl of the mansoon by about the end of September there is a slight increase in the day temperature. There is a rapid drop in the night temperature after the with drawl of the mansoon. After November both day and night temperatures decrease rapidly till January, which is usually the coldest month with the mean daily maximum temperature about 23 °C and the mean daily minimum temperature at about 8 °C. During the cold season the district as affected by cold waves and fog and the minimum temperature occasionally goes down to 3 °C.
Humidity
During the rainy season the relative humidity is generally high being over 70%. Thereafter the humidity decreases and by summer which is the driest part of the year the relative humidities in the afternoons become less than 30%.
Winds
Winds are generally light and are mostly from directions between south-west and north-west. In May, the south-west mansoon season winds on many days blows also from directions between north-east and south-east.
Population
The population of the district in the census of 1991 resulted to be 4242310 (Auraiya district's population included) with the density of about 946 persons per sq. km. The sex ratio is 816 females per 1000 males in rural area and 870 females per 1000 males in urban area.
Language and Script
The language of practically the entire poopulation is what is known as western Hindi. The returns of the census 1981 showed that this language was spoken by about 96.8 per cent of the population. In 1971, the percentage of Hindi speaking persons was 96.4. Western Hindi is split up into several subdivisions. In 1981, the language known as Hindustani or Urdu was spoken by about 3.10 per cent (3.35 per cent in 1961) of the people, representing for the most part the inhabitants of Etawah city, while the bulk of the people spoke Antarbedi, or its varient called Pachharua, so called after the tract of that name. In the trans-Yamuna portion of the district the dialect is known as Bhadauri, which is a form of Bundelkhandi, itself a branch of Hindi. It derives its name from Bhadawar, the home of the Bhadoria Rajputs. A few people also speak Punjabi, Bengali or Sindhi. Devannagri script is being used for Hindi and its allied branches such as Garhwali, Kumauni etc. and the script used for Urdu is Persian. The other languages generally using their own scripts.
Religion and Caste
In 1991, Hindus percentage was 92.79% against the state average of 83.76% and 6.63% of Muslims as compared to the state average of 15.48%. The remaining 0.58% of the district population was comprised of Sikhs, Christians, Jains and Buddhists.
Dress
The people of Etawah have colorful and different attires. The Sari-blouse-petticoat trio is the most favourite dress of ladies of all denominations, though women in Dupatta-kurta-salwar combinations are usually met with.
The best known Etawah's outfit is the 'Sari'. This graceful attire is a rectangular piece of Cloth, normally 5 to 6 meters in length and over a meter in width. It is worn without any pins or buttons or fastenings. The tightly fitted short blouse worn under a sari draped over the wearer's shoulder, is known as the Pallav or palloo. The style, color and texture of a saree varies from one to another and may be made from cotton, silk or one of several man-made materials. Its ageless charm is provided from the fact that it is not cut or tailored for any particular size, and can fit any woman.
Another form of outfit supported by Indian women is known as Salwar-suit. Kurta is a long tunic worn over pyjama like trousers, drawn in at the waist and ankles, known as 'Salwar', or a tight fitting trouser known as 'Chudidaar'. This dress is popular among the Muslim and Punjabi ladies and unmarried Hindu girls. The collarless or mandarain collared kurta, can be worn over a chudidaar and is popular with both men and women.
The men in village use to wear the traditional attires like kurtas, lungis, dhotis and pyjama. The collerless Khadi (homespun cloth) jackets known as 'Nehru Jackets' are popular also popular. The muslim women wear the traditional all enveloping 'Burkha' and the men use to wear a round cap on their head.
Ornaments
Men are not so fond of ornaments, sometime they wear a gold or silver ring on their finger, and a thin chain around the neck. Women, generally, adorn their wrists with churis (banglse) made of glass, silver or gold, anguthis (finger rings), necklaces, nose-ring, nose-pendent, nose-stud, ear-ring, payal, bichua (only maried women) waist girdle and the like. The poor people usually go in for silver ornaments and the rich have gold pieces sometimes studded with precious stones and pearls. The lust for heavy jewellery is, however, on the decline partly due to the high prices of gold and silver, and poartly because of social transformation and fear of loss.
Food
Wheat constitutes the staple food of the people, other materials commonly consumed here as food being maize, barley, gram and jowar. Chapaties prepared from kneaded wheat or corn flour are generally eaten with dal or gur and milk. The pulses consumed here are urd, arhar, moong, chana, masur etc. One major meal is taken at about 1 P.M. in the day. Breakfast consists of tea and any of the Indian or western stuff. At nightfall the people take a light meal. Among edible fats ghee, vanaspati and mustard oil are more commonly used. The pure ghee of Etawah is quite famous for its thickness and purity. Spicy diet is not preferred though people are quite fond of pickles, chutneys and bari-mangauris.
Dance & Music
Regional Music and Dance
Popular varieties of folk music prevalent through out western U.P. e.g. the Allaha, Phaag, Kajari and Rasiyas, etc. are popular in this district as well, and are sung at different times of the year. Folk songs known as Dhola, Unchari and Langadia are also very common in the villages. Bhajans, Kirtan in a chorus to the accomplishment of musical instruments is very much liked by the inhabitants of the district.
A number of open air performances, combining the rural style of folk music and dancing with a central theme are a regular feature of rural life in the district. The dance named Banjasha is one of the most popular folk dances of villagers of the district. Nautankis and dramas based on mythology are often staged and attract large gatherings, particularly in the villages.