Kalpi is a historical city and
municipal board
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...
in
Jalaun district in
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. It is on the right bank of the
Yamuna
The Yamuna ( Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of B ...
.
Once Kalpi was more important Than Orai It is situated 78 kilometres south-west of
Kanpur from which it is connected by both road and rail.
People from Kalpi
Birbal
Birbal (; born Mahesh Das; 1528 16 February 1586), or Raja Birbal, was a Saraswat Hindu Bhatt Brahmin advisor and main commander (''Mukhya Senapati'') of army in the court of the Mughal emperor, Akbar. He is mostly known in the Indian subcon ...
Ved Vyas
Krishna Dvaipayana ( sa, कृष्णद्वैपायन, Kṛṣṇadvaipāyana), better known as Vyasa (; sa, व्यासः, Vyāsaḥ, compiler) or Vedavyasa (वेदव्यासः, ''Veda-vyāsaḥ'', "the one who cl ...
Ji
History
Ancient
It is believed that the city was known as Kalap dev ki kalpi in ancient times, later abbreviated to Kalpi. Kalpi is also known as the birthplace of Sage
Vyasa
Krishna Dvaipayana ( sa, कृष्णद्वैपायन, Kṛṣṇadvaipāyana), better known as Vyasa (; sa, व्यासः, Vyāsaḥ, compiler) or Vedavyasa (वेदव्यासः, ''Veda-vyāsaḥ'', "the one who cl ...
, the writer of the
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the s ...
and
Puranas. He collected the chants of
Vedas
upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute th ...
and assembled them in an arranged manner. Kalpi is said to have been founded by King Vasudeva at the end of the 4th century BCE.
Medieval
In 1196 it fell to
Qutb-ud-din Aibak
Qutb ud-Din Aibak ( fa, قطبالدین ایبک), (1150 – 14 November 1210) was a Turkic general of the Ghurid king Muhammad Ghori. He was in charge of the Ghurid territories in northern India, and after Muhammad Ghori's assassination i ...
, the viceroy of
Mohammed Ghori
Mu'izz ad-Din Muhammad ibn Sam ( fa, معز الدین محمد بن سام), also Mu'izz ad-Din Muhammad Ghori, also Ghūri ( fa, معز الدین محمد غوری) (1144 – March 15, 1206), commonly known as Muhammad of Ghor, also Gh ...
, and during the subsequent Muslim period it played a significant part in the history of central India. In the early 16th Century
Rajput
Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...
king of
Chittor
Chittorgarh (also Chittor or Chittaurgarh) is a major city in Rajasthan state of western India. It lies on the Berach River, a tributary of the Banas, and is the administrative headquarters of Chittorgarh District. It was a major stronghold ...
Rana Sanga defeated
Ibrahim Lodhi
Ibrahim Khan Lodi (or Lodhi) (Pashto: ابراهیم خان لودي), (1480 – 21 April 1526) was the last Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate, who became Sultan in 1517 after the death of his father Sikandar Khan Lodi. He was the last ruler of th ...
twice and establish his control over some parts of
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
including Kalpi and Chandawar and appointed Manik Chand Chauhan to rule there.
Rana Sanga also died in Kalpi in January 1528 poisoned by his own Nobles. The city was then captured by the
Mughals
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
under
Babur. During
Akbar's reign, Kalpi was a governor's seat and had a mint for copper coinage.
[ The witty ]Raja Birbal
''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia.
The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested fr ...
of Akbar's court is considered to be born near this city. About the middle of the 18th century the city was lost by the Mughals
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
and it passed into the hands of the Marathas
The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a ...
.[
]
Modern
The town was captured by the British in 1803, and after 1806 remained in British possession[ until India's independence in 1947. Kalpi was a part of ]Bundelkhand Agency
The Bundelkhand Agency was a political agency of the British Raj, managing the relations of the British government with the protected princely states of the Bundelkhand region.
History
Historical background
The Marathas ceded parts of Bu ...
, formed in 1811, and also housed its headquarters from 1818 to 1824. During this period the political agent to Governor General of India
The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 1 ...
was appointed and headquartered in Kalpi. The British East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...
made it one of their principal stations for providing "commercial investment".[ In May 1858 Hugh Rose (Lord Strathnairn) defeated here a force of Indian rebels led by the ]Rani of Jhansi
Lakshmibai, the Rani of Jhansi (; 19 November 1828 — 18 June 1858),Though the day of the month is regarded as certain historians disagree about the year: among those suggested are 1827 and 1835. was an Indian queen, the Maharani consort of ...
.[ The fortified post of Kalpi, the former residence of the rulers of Jalaun State, was dismantled in 1860 by the British and its place was taken by a market known as Whiteganj. Tourist sites include Vyas temple, Lanka Meenar, 84 Gumbaj and many Dargah like Dargah of Meer Syed Mohammad Tirmizi, and Sufi Khanqah colled Khanqahe Muhammadia, Kalpi is also the birthplace of Ved Vyas ji. There is a Kali Haveli and Rang Mahal of Beerbal named Rang Mahal.
]
Geography
Kalpi is located at . It has an average elevation of 112 metres (367 feet).The climate in Kalpi is warm and temperate. The rainfall in Kalpi is significant, with precipitation even during the driest month. The temperature averages 25.9 °C. The average annual rainfall is 892 mm.
Location
The old town, which is on the Yamuna
The Yamuna ( Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of B ...
river has the ruin of a fort, and several temples of interest, while in the neighborhood are many ancient tombs.[ Away from the river to the south-east is a lofty modern town ornamented with representations of the battles of the ]Ramayana
The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...
.
The Gaud Sarasawath Brahmin (GSB) community who are followers of Kashi Math Samsathan Varanasi has set up a temple of Shri Bala Veda Vyasa in memory of the great sage Veda Vyasa. In 1998 Sudhindra Thirtha, the swami of Kashi Math Samsthan, envisioned setting this temple right at the birthplace of Veda Vyasa. It is also a tourist attraction.
Economy
Kalpi is still a centre of local trade (principally in grain, ghee and cotton) with a station on the North Central Railway (India) line from Jhansi
Jhansi (; Hindi: झांसी, Urdu: ) is a historic city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It lies in the region of Bundelkhand on the banks of the Pahuj River, in the extreme south of Uttar Pradesh. Jhansi is the administrative head ...
to Kanpur, which crosses the Yamuna here.[ In late 1970s and early 1980s, Kalpi was one of the areas in central India affected by ]dacoit
Dacoity is a term used for "banditry" in the Indian subcontinent. The spelling is the anglicised version of the Hindi word ''daaku''; "dacoit" is a colloquial Indian English word with this meaning and it appears in the ''Glossary of Colloquial ...
s, and was frequented by the much dreaded Phoolan Devi
Phoolan Devi (1963–2001), popularly known as the Bandit Queen, was an Mallah woman who grew up in poverty in a village in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Her family was in a land dispute which caused many problems in her youth and after b ...
gang. It has been declared an industrial belt by the Government of India
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...
and handmade paper is produced there.
Transport
Railways
Kalpi is a major Railway Station of Kanpur-Jhansi railway section of North Central Railway.
Roadways
Kalpi lies on NH 27 on Kanpur-Jhansi section of National Highway. It is connected to cities of Kanpur, Jhansi and Orai by UPSRTC
The Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) is a public sector passenger road transport corporation which services Uttar Pradesh, India, and adjoining states of North India. It operates as a state and interstate bus service and ...
Buses at Kalpi bus station.
Airways
The nearest airport is at Kanpur near Chakeri (100 kilometres) which has direct flights to Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
, Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...
and Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
but is expected to be connected to major cities of India by 2021.
Gallery
File:Closed Cemetery- Treasure on right bank of river Yamuna at Kalpi..JPG, The British Memorial Cemetery on the banks of Yamuna River
File:Closed Brtish Cemetery.JPG, The majestic British Cemetery situated next to River Yamuna
File:Yamuna River( Road Bridge).JPG, Yamuna River (road bridge)
References
Bibliography
*
External links
Excavation in Kalpi
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Jalaun district
Bundelkhand
Archaeological sites in Uttar Pradesh