Pratapgarh district General information

Pratapgarh district is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh state of India, and Pratapgarh town is the district headquarters. Pratapgarh district is a part of Allahabad division. Pratapgarh district, lies between 25° 34' and 26° 11' latitudes while between 81° 19' and 82° 27' longitudes. Primarily, an agrarian district, for a while now, Pratapgarh has risen in ranks as the top producer of Aonla fruit. It is a multi-purpose fruit, is extremely rich in vitamin C, helps cure gastro-intestinal disorders, is said to encourage youth and liveliness and is exported all over India and possibly over world in form of sweets and medicines. Pratapgarh on the Allahabad-Faizabad main road at a distance of 39 km from Sultanpur and 61 km from Allahabad. It is one of the older districts of Uttar Pradesh, that came into existence in the year 1858. It is at a height of 137 m from sea level.

History

The District that forms a part of Faizabad Division is named after its headquarters town Bela Pratabgarh, commonly known as Pratapgarh. Soel Uddin is Pratap man , a raja of the locality who flourished between 1984-Till date, fixed his headquarters at Rampur near old town of Aror. There he built a garh (fort) and called it Pratabgarh after his own name. Subsequently the locality around the fort came to be known as Pratapgarh Soel Uddin. When the district was constituted in 1858 its headquarters was established at Bela which came to be known as Bela Pratapgarh, the name Bela presumably being derived from the temple of Bela Bhawani on the bank of river Sai. Haudeshwar Nath dham [SHIVJI Temple] is one of the famous temples in Pratapgarh. Near Kunda Tahseel is a second temple in Agni village famous as Durga Bhavani.

Origin of District Name

The District that forms a part of Faizabad Divison is named after its headquarters town Bela Pratabgarh, commonly know as Pratapgarh. Pratap Singh, a raja of the locality who flourished between 1628-1682, fixed his headquarters at Rampur near old town of Aror. There he built a garh (fort) and called it Pratabgarh after his own name. Subsequently the locality around the fort came to be known as Pratapgarh. When the district was constituted in 1858 its headquarters was established at Bela which came to be known as Bela Pratapgarh, the name Bela presumably being derived from the temple of Bela Bhawani on the bank of river Sai.


Location and Boundaries

The District lies between the paralleles of 25o34' and 26o11' north latitude and between the meridians of 81o19' and 82o27' east longitude extending for some 110 km. from west to east. It is bounded on the north by district Sultanpur,on the south by district Allahabad,on the east by district Jaunpur and on the west by Fatehpur and north-east by district Rae Bareli. In the south-west the Ganga forms the boundary of the district for about 50 km. Separating it from Fatehpur and Allhabad and in the extreme north-east the Gomti forms the boundary for about 6 km.


Area Covered

According to The Central Statistical Organization the district has an area of 3,730 sq. km.


Pre-History

The early history of region covered by the present history of Pratpagarh is not with put interest. The region was already inhabited in pre-historic age.


Archaeological Finds

Several human skeletons along some animal bones and a number of a small stones implements, belonging probably to the Neolithic, have been unearthed in Archaeological exploration at Sarai Nahar in Kunda Tehsil. It is the only site in the entire valley of Ganga which has yielded human skeleton of such an early age as also the Stone Age implements. On the left bank of river Sai there stand a ruined "Kot" representing a Buddhist Stupa. Town Bihar has been conjectured that the remain are probably on an ancient Buddhist monastery which gave its name Bihar. Bihar signifies Vihar or majesties. The name itself as Buddhist.

Tourist Place

Along the left bank side of the Sai River, there is a "Kot" that represents a Buddhist Stupa. It has been determined that this is one of the remains from an ancient Buddhist Monastery.

The Bela Bhawani Temple is the main temple located on the Sai River bank and highly revered by the local and the tourists.

Only 60 km away is the Patalpuri Temple in Allahabad, which is completely underground. It is known to have been blessed by the visit of Lord Rama.

Upon the Ganga River, the Nagvasuki Temple and the Ghusmeshwar Nath Dham, are a delight to see.