Aligarh

[ah-lee-guhr, al-uh-gahr]

Aligarh, city (1991 pop. 480,520), Uttar Pradesh state, N central India. A district administrative headquarters and an important agricultural trade center, it also has a number of processing plants for agricultural goods. It is famous chiefly for Aligarh Muslim university, opened in 1875 as Anglo-Oriental College, which is the leading school for Indian Muslims. The city, whose native name is Koil, has ancient Buddhist remains and many Muslim buildings.

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Licensed from Columbia University Press

Aligarh

Aligarh (Hindi: अलीगढ़, Urdu: علی گڑھ) is a city in Aligarh District in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city is located about 90 miles southeast of New Delhi. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh District, Aligarh Police Range and Aligarh Division, and has a population of half a million. It is mostly known as a university town where the famous Aligarh Muslim University is located. The Aligarh division includes Aligarh, Etah, Hathras and Kanshi Ram Nagar districts.

History

Aligarh was known by the earlier name of Kol or Koil before 18th century . Kol covered not only the city but the entire district, though its geographical limits kept changing from time to time. The origin of the name of Kol is obscure. In some ancient texts, Kol has been referred to in the sense of a tribe or caste, name of a place or mountain and name of a sage or demon. From the study of the place-names of the district, it appears that the district was once fairly well covered by forest, thickets and grooves. The early history of the district, indeed down the 12th century AD is obscure. According to Edwin T. Atkinson, Koil name was given to the city by Balarama, who slew here the great Asura (demon) Kol and with the assistance of the Ahirs subdued this part of the Doab In another account, Atkinson points out a "legend" that Kol was founded by Dor tribe of Rajputs in 372 A.D. This could be further confirmed by an old fort, the Dor fortress, now in ruins, which lies at the city's centre.

Some time before the Muslim invasion, Kol was held by the Dor Rajputs and that in the time of Mahmud of Ghazni the chief of the Dors was Hardatta of Baran . There is some reason to believe that Koil was once the seat of a Buddhist community as statues of Buddha and other Buddhist remains have been found in excavations made in the eminence on which the citadel of Koil stood. It also had Hindu remains indicating that in all probability the citadel contained in succession a Buddhist and a Hindu temple .

In the year 1194 A.D., Qutb-ud-din Aybak marched from Delhi to Koil which was "one of the most celebrated fortresses of Hind" . Qutb-ud-din Aybak appointed Hisam-ud-din Ulbak as the first muslim governor of Koil .

Koil is also mentioned in Ibn Battuta's Rihla, when Ibn Battuta along with 15 ambassadors representing Ukhaantu Khan, the Mongol Emperor of the Yuan dynasty in China, traveled to Koil city enroute to the coast at Cambay (in Gujarat) in 1341. . According to Ibn Battuta , it would appear that the district was then in a very disturbed state since the escort of the Emperor's embassy had to assist in relieving Jalali from an attacking body of Hindus and lost one of their officers in the fight. Ibn Batuta calls Koil "a fine town surrounded by mango groves". From these same groves the environs of Koil would appear to have acquired the name of Sabzabad or "the green country" .

In the reign of Akbar, Koil was made a Sirkar and included the dasturs of Marahra, Kol ba Haveli, Thana Farida and Akbarabad . Both Akbar and Jahangir visited Kol on hunting expeditions. Jahangir clearly mentions the forest of Kol, where he killed wolves .

During the time of Ibrahim Lodhi, Muhammad, son of Umar was the governor of Kol, built a fort at Kol and named the city after his own name as Muhammadgarh in 1524-25; and Sabit khan who was the governor of this region during the time of Farrukh Siyar and Muhammad Shah, rebuilt the old Lodi fort and named the town after his own name Sabitgarh. After the occupation of Kol by the Jat ruler Surajmal in 1757, it was re-named Ramgarh and finally, when a Shia commander, Najaf khan, captured Kol, he gave it its present name of Aligarh. Aligarh Fort (also called Aligarh Qila), as it stands today, was built by French engineers under the control of French officers Benoît de Boigne and Perron .

Battle of Ally Ghur (1803)

The Battle of Ally Ghur was fought on September 1, 1803 during the Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803-1805) at Aligarh Fort. The British 76th Regiment, now known as the Duke of Wellington's Regiment laid siege of the fort which was under first-rate French officer Perron and established British rule after overtaking the fort. In 1804, the Aligarh district was formed by the union of the second third and fourth British divisions with the addition of Anupshahr from Moradabad and Sikandra Rao from Etawa. On the 1st of August 1804, Mr Claude Russell was appointed the first Collector of the new district

Establishment of Aligarh Muslim University (1875)

In 1875, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan founded the Muhammadan Anglo Oriental College in Aligarh and patterned the college after Oxford and Cambridge universities that he had visited on a trip to England. This later became Aligarh Muslim University in 1920.

Geography

Aligarh is located at . It has an average elevation of 178 metres (587 feet). The city is situated in the middle portion of Doab, or the land between the Ganges and Yamuna Rivers. The Grand Trunk Road passes through the city.

Climate

This is a city having a hot and dry temperature. The coldest months of the year here are between December and January, where the mean temperature ranges between 15 degrees Celsius and 12.2 degrees Celsius. The hottest months of the year are between May and June where the mean temperature lies between 32.2 degrees Celsius and 33.8 degrees Celsius, in shade. .

Demographics

As of the census of 2001 , Aligarh had a population of 667,732. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Aligarh has an average literacy rate of 55%, lower than the national average of 59.5%; with 59% of the males and 41% of females literate. 16% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Languages Spoken

The main languages spoken here in Aligarh are Hindi, English and Urdu. This is because the state Uttar Pradesh is a core of Hindi-Heartland, like the other states of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan. In fact, so rich is the value for Hindi here that the accent used in Hindi here is the standard accent of Hindi language.

The most spoken dialect of Hindi in Aligarh is Hindustani. Basically, most of the people in Aligarh speak in Hindustani. Hindi is used more in the administrative fields. Today, Hindustani is also divided into two forms. Hindustani that is written in Devanagiri script is referred to as Hindi while Hindustani written in Nastaliq script is referred to as Urdu. Till date, Uttar Pradesh is proud of the many poets, and laureates it has produced, both in Hindi and Urdu.

Another popular language spoken in Aligarh is Awadhi. This is the dialect that is spoken mainly by the rural population, in Oudh. This language is a mix of Urdu and Khadi Boli that was propagated by Sufi poets of their time, especially by Amir Khusrau. However according to the latest census report of Uttar Pradesh, it has been found that Bhojpuri is the most spoken dialect in the state, after Hindi. So there is a variety of dialects spoken in Aligarh; depending on the location and caste of people of Aligarh.

Economics

The city is an agricultural trade centre . The processing of agricultural products and manufacturing are also important .

Aligarh has always been an important business center of Uttar Pradesh which is most famous for its locks industry. The locks that are produced in Aligarh are export quality, and exported to different parts of the world. In 1870, Johnson & Co. was the first English locks firm to be set up in Aligarh. In 1890, the Johnson & Co. initiated the manual production of locks on a small scale here .

Being a railroad junction, Aligarh has developed into a commercial center of an agricultural region which produces wheat, sugarcane, cotton, corn, barley and millet. In addition to the lock industry, the other industries of Aligarh include flour milling, processing of raw cotton and manufacture of butter and glass.

Aligarh is also famous for its brass hardware and sculptures. Today, the city holds a number of manufacturers, exporters and suppliers involved in brass, bronze, iron and aluminium industry.

There is a thermal power station 15 km away from the city. It is called Harduaganj Thermal Power Station (also referred as Kasimpur Power House).

Education

Aligarh is a city of Uttar Pradesh that is held in high esteem for the educational facilities offered here. The most famous educational facility found here is the Aligarh Muslim University that is found spread across the city civil lines area. This is a residential academic institution having an international repute.

You find more than 250 courses offered in the Aligarh Muslim University in both traditional and modern fields of education. Aligarh Muslim University was built following the pattern of Cambridge and Oxford in the year, 1920. Being a premier central university of Uttar Pradesh, you find many facilities and maintained institutions under the University that draws students from not only the whole of india, but students from all corners of the world like West Asia and South East Asia. This is an institution that admits students irrespective of caste, sex, religion or creed. There are some courses here with seats reserved for students from SAARC and Commonwealth countries.

Mangalayatan University, founded by the renowned philanthropist, social worker and Journalist - Pawan Jain, is also set up in Aligarh .

Other famous schools of this city are:

Our Lady of Fatima Secondary School
Delhi Public School
St. Fidelis
Gagan Public Senior Secondary School, Aligarh
Blue Bird Senior Secondary School
Aligarh Public School
Heritage International School (Tala Nagari & Premier Nagar)
Three Dots
Raghuveer Bal Mandir
Ingraham Institute
D.S. Degree college
T.R. Girls college
Indian Institute of Medical Representative (IIMR)
Institute Of Information Management Technology (IIMT)
Shivadan Singh Institute of technology and management (SSITM)
Aligarh College of Engineering & Technology (ACET)
Aligarh College of Engineering and Management (ACEM)
S.T.High School (Minto Circle)
Taameer-e-Millat Islamia School, Dodhpur
Albarkat Institute of Management (Anoop Shehar Road)
zakir Hussain sr Sec School
Saraswati vidhya mandir, Mathura road, Asana Ajeetpur Aligarh.
H.B. Inter College
B.L.Jain Inter College
Sri Sai Ayurvedic College
Iqra Public School

Important places

There are 2 popular landmarks in Aligarh. One is Aligarh fort and another is Sir Syed Masjid in Aligarh Muslim University's campus. Another old fort, the Dor fortress (1524), now in ruins, lies at the city's centre; its site is located in the area now called Upper Kot and is occupied by an 18th-century mosque. The city also contains tombs of Muslim saints .

Aligarh is also famous for its kachauri, sweets and namkeens. Kunjilal , Khyaliram and Vikas sweets are among the well known sweets shops, while Babboo and Dabboo lead the namkeen segment. The Annual Cultural Exhibition, popularly known as numaish, held at Exhibition ground is a very famous event and a huge affair in the month of January and February. The Aligarh is also famous for Sherwanis, especially the legendary Mehdi Hasan's shop.

Markets
Aligarh is one of the famous cities of the beautiful state of Uttar Pradesh in India. In addition to being a tourist destination with many places for you to visit, there are quite a few well known markets here worth visiting while in Aligarh. Some of the more famous markets of Aligarh include the Center Point Market, Railway Road market, Shamshad market and Amir Nisha.

The Amir Nisha market is a major shopping hub of Aligarh which is a favorite amongst the women. This is because there is a variety of clothes, cosmetics and jewelry available in the many stores here. The Shamshad market is popular with students as there are many educational book stores here stocking books for all students from all branches. If you want to go to a place for food, then you have to visit the food market, Center point.

You find various eating joints that satisfy your taste buds like Baskin Robbins, Kwality, Mezbaan and Wheelers. There is also a Lord Hanuman temple found in the vicinity, called the Tikaram Mandir. There is always a huge rush here on Tuesdays; so if you don’t like crowds, avoid visiting it on Tuesdays.

The economy of Aligarh is mainly dependant on lock manufacturing and exporting. This is because the lock industry of Aligarh is an old industry, which had started in the Mogul era. It was the British that provided the lock industry, which was once unorganized, the boost it needed. You can find many types of locks of various size and kinds here to buy in Aligarh.

You can also buy brass products in Aligarh as brass sculptures are hot amongst tourists here. The sculptures are finely cast, and found in various shapes and sizes. When buying these sculptures, keep your luggage in mind. You can also buy Aligarh pajamas while in Aligarh. This dress material is of a fine quality, and has no parallel in India anywhere in India.

Cineplexes
Aligarh has many movie theatres such as Grand Surjit, Vadra, Nandan, Lakshmi, Nishat and Tasveer Mahal. Grand Surjit is the latest Cineplex among them with the best facilities to offer. Adlabs is planning to build a 'state-of-the-art' cineplex in the city in the coming time.

Important Residential Places

This city is divided into two areas known as Old Aligarh (City) & New Aligarh (Civil Lines).

New Aligarh

It consists of Azim Compound, Zakaria Market, Sir Syed Nagar,Friends Colony,Jamalpur, Badar bagh, Habib Bagh, Bhamola, Zohrabagh, Dodhpur, Jeevangarh, Kela Nagar,Firdaus Nagar,Janakpuri, Professor colony, Gyan sarover, Maan sarover, Avantika-1 and 2, Shyam Nagar, Medical Colony, Lekhraj Nagar and Ramghat road.

Old Aligarh

Rasalgunj or Russellganj (named after Mr Claude Russell, the first Collector of Aligarh district), Nai Basti, Avas Vikas Colony, Manik Chowk, Delhi Gate, Gular Road, Anona House, Pahasu House, Sasni Gate, Mahavir Ganj, Railway Road, Babri Mandi, Mitha Kuan, Jaiganj, Upper Kot, Gambhir pura, Mahendra Nagar, Bank Colony (Premier Nagar), Saray Sultani,Achal Talab,Khirni gate, Janak Puri and Vikram Colony are some of the residential areas in old Aligarh.