Kotkapura
Kotkapura
Kotkapura | |
|---|---|
city | |
| Population (2001) | |
| • Total | 80,741 |
Kotkapura is a historic city 50 km from Bathinda, in the state of Punjab, India. It is the largest city in the Faridkot District and used to have one of the largest cotton markets in India.Kotkapura is popular due to world renowened astrologer Sardar Ujjal Singh.He has been honoured by the guild of international astrologers.Many people know about kotkapura due to his fame.Kotkapura is also popular due to Kapura Brar who is known as a traitor of sikh religion.Kapura Brar has refused to handover his fort to the tenth guru of sikhs Guru Gobind Singh.For more information go to sikhiwiki.com and answers.com. Kotkapura is also known for its railway crossing gate.
Demographics
As of the 2001 Indian census,[1] Kotkapura has a population of 80,741. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Kotkapura has an average literacy rate of 61%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 65%, and female literacy is 57%. In Kotkapura, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age. Alternatively, Kotkapura has a population of 128,000, not including significant floating population due to seasonal work demands in the cotton market and fields.
History
Bhallan, founder of the Faridkot principality died issueless in 1643. He was succeeded by his nephew, Kapura Brar, who founded the town of Kotkapura in 1661. Nawab Kapura was the chaudhry of eighty-four villages. Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th guru of the Sikhs, en route from Machhiwara, reached Kotkapura and asked Kapura for his fort to fight the pursuing Mughal army. Kapura was a Sikh, but did not want to earn the ire of the Mughals by helping Guru Gobind Singh openly in his war with them and refused the fort to the guru.[2]
Nawab Kapura’s state was captured in 1803 by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. In 1808, Ranjit Singh captured the principality of Faridkot up to Muktsar, but vacated the area on the behest of the British[3]. During the Anglo-Sikh Wars in 1845, Pahara Singh Brar, aided the British by providing secret intelligence to the British army and was rewarded with territory after the British victory over Maharaja Ranjit Singh.