Kannauj

Kannauj Kannauj
city
Population  (2001)
• Total	71,530

Kannauj (Hindi कन्नौज), also spelt Kanauj, is a city and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city's name is traditionally derived from the term Kanyakubja (maiden's womb). Kannauj is an ancient city, in earlier times the capital of a great Hindu kingdom. Kannauj is known for the distilling of scents and is a market center for tobacco, perfume, and rose water.

Kannauj is the administrative headquarters of Kannauj District. The population was 58,932 in 1991. It has given its name to a distinct dialect of the Hindi language known as Kanauji.

History

Formerly known as Kanyakubja (called Kanogiza by Ptolemy), the town is known to have been an important center during the Gupta empire. It was a centre of Brahmanical influence for centuries. Kannauj is frequently referred to in the epic Mahabharata and is alluded to by Patañjali in the second century B.C. In the year 405 A.D. when great Chinese pilgrim Fa-hien visited the city it had only two Buddhist monastries and it was not a very big city. Kannauj had become a large city by the time when Hiuen Tsang visited the city in 636 A.D. Hiuen Tsang stayed here for seven years.

Kannauj reached the pinnacle of its glory in the 7th century under emperor Harshavardhana (606-647 A.D.) Harshavardhana made Kannauj his capital. At that time it had earned the name of Mahodaya Sree due to its grandeur and prosperty. Kannauj then had a teeming population, with hundreds of Hindu and Buddhist temples and monasteries, extending along the east bank of the Ganges for about four miles. It had beautiful gardens and tanks, and was strongly fortified. Harshavardhana, however, was greatly weakened after being defeated by the Chalukya emperor Pulakesin II; his empire fell apart soon after his death.

By the end of the 8th century, Kannauj became the focus of a three-way contest by the three dominant dynasties of the time, the Pratiharas of Malwa, the Rashtrakutas of the Deccan, and the Palas of Bengal. The Pala king Dharmapala installed a proxy king at the end of the 8th century. However, when the Pratihara king Nagabhata II conquered Kannauj in the 9th century Kannauj became the Pratihara capital for nearly 200 years. During this period, it became known as a center for poetry. The Pratiharas ruled much of northern India in the latter half of the 8th century, but they had weakened by the early 10th century. The Rashtrakuta king Indra III captured Kannauj in 916, and by the end of that century, the Pratihara domains had been reduced to a small kingdom around the town of Kannauj.

In 1019, the town was sacked by Mahmud of Ghazni, beginning a chaotic period for the city. After this sacking of Kannauj, the area came to be dominated by the Chandela Rajput clan of Bundelkhand. The Gahadvala dynasty, descended from former vassals of the Pratiharas, established themselves as rulers of Kannauj at the end of the 11th century. Kannauj recovered some of its former prosperity under the Gahadvalas, but the respite was brief, for the city was sacked again in 1194 by Mohammed of Ghori, and by the early years of the 13th century it was incorporated into the Delhi Sultanate. Kannauj has never since recovered its importance.

Monuments

The size and scale of the ancient town can be gauged from the fact that existing ruins extend over the lands of five villages, occupying a semicircle fully 4 miles in diameter. While no historic Hindu structures remain intact, the "great mosque", constructed by Ibrahim Shah of Jaunpur in 1406 out of the remains of demolished Hindu temples, is still known to Hindus as "Sita's Kitchen". Brahminism in lower Bengal also dates its origin from a migration southwards from this city in the 9th and 10th centuries.

Geography

Kannauj is located at 27.07°N 79.92°E / 27.07; 79.92. It has an average elevation of 139 metres (456 feet).

Demographics

As of 2001 India censusTemplate:GR, Kannauj had a population of 71,530. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Kannauj has an average literacy rate of 58%, lower than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 64%, and female literacy is 52%. In Kannauj, 15% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Places of Intertest in and around Kannauj

• Kannauj Museum :

This museum depicts an archeologically significant variety of clay idols. In ancient times Kannauj was best known for its art and culture like Mathura, Kashi and Kaushambi. During the Maurya period it was a fully developed place. The clay models found here show that this was a very progressive district in that period. The great Chinese visitor Hiuen Tsang praised Kannauj during his visit to India. The sculptures from antiquity can be categorized as follows:

i. Ancient Period (exact time period not available) ii. Maurya Period (325 BC) iii. Shudag period (184 BC) iv. Kushar Period (100 AD) v. Gupta period (319 AD to 450 AD) vi. Post Gupta period (450 to 650 AD) and Harsh Period

• Lakh Bahosi Bird Sanctuary :

The Bird Sanctuary at Lakh Bahosi is a major tourist attraction for bird watchers. Bird watching can be done from month of November to the end of March in this sanctuary. December, January, and February are the months when one can see the greatest variety of birds in the 3 sq. km. sanctuary area. A total of approxmately 97 bird families are found in India, according to surveys; birds from 49 families have been seen at Lakh Bhosi Bird Sanctuary.

• Gauri Shankar Temple in Kannauj city.

• Annapurna Templeat Tirwa, Kannauj.

• Dargah of Haji Sharif in Kannauj city.

External links

• District Kannauj Website.

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)