Bahraich is a city and a municipal board in Bahraich district in the state of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

, India. Located on the Saryu River, a tributary of the Ghaghara river, Bahraich is north-east of

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

, the state capital. The districts of Barabanki, Gonda, Balrampur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Shravasti and Sitapur share boundaries with Bahraich. A factor which makes this town important is the international border shared with

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

Geography and climate

It has an average elevation of . Bahraich has a warm humid subtropical climate with hot summers from April to July. The rainy season is from July to mid-September when Bahraich gets an average rainfall from the south-west monsoon winds, and occasionally frontal rainfall will occur in January. In winter the maximum temperature is around and the minimum is in the range. Fog is quite common from late December to late January. Summers are extremely hot with temperatures rising to the range, the average highs being in the high of 30s (degree Celsius). Average annual rainfall is (approx).

Demographics

As of 2011 Indian Census, Bahraich had a total population of 186,223, of which 97,653 were males and 88,570 were females. Population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 24,097. The total number of literates in Bahraich was 119,564, which constituted 64.2% of the population with male literacy of 66.5% and female literacy of 61.7%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Bahraich was 73.7%, of which male literacy rate was 76.4% and female literacy rate was 70.8%. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes population was 9,584 and 170 respectively. Bahraich had 30460 households in 2011.

Religion

Majority of the population of Bahraich are

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

(56%), followed by

Hindus Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

(42%), with small populations of

Sikhs Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Sikh'' ...

, Jains,

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

and Buddhists.

Politics

The city of Bahraich falls under the Bahraich Assembly constituency held by Anupama Jaiswal of BJP. It is part of the Bahraich Lok Sabha constituency held by Anand Kumar Gond of BJP.

Transportation

Roads

Bahraich is well connected with other districts of

. UPSRTC and private operators provide road connectivity to

Kanpur Kanpur (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), originally named Kanhapur and formerly anglicized as Cawnpore, is the second largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh after Lucknow. It was the primary ...

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

, Bareilly, Haridwar, Shimla,

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, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

, Muradabad, Rampur, Ghaziabad, Shahajahanpur,

Jaipur Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...

, Sitapur, Lakhimpur, Hardoi,

Unnao Unnao is a city and district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Unnao is located on the eastern bank of the Ganges River, and it is a satellite city of Kanpur. Administratively, Unnao lies within Unnao district, the district of Unnao and is ...

, Balrampur, Gonda, Barabanki, Pratapgarh, Shimla, Mathura, Jhansi, Jaunpur,

Gorakhpur Gorakhpur is a city in the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, along the banks of the West Rapti River, Rapti river in the Purvanchal , Purvanchal region. It is situated 272 kilometres east of ...

, Basti,

, Shravasti and

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

. There are buses for Lucknow in every 15 minutes. National Highway 927 connects the city to Barabanki and state capital

Railways

Bahraich railway station is a main railway station in Bahraich district, Uttar Pradesh. Its code is ''BRK''. It serves Bahraich city. The station consists of 3 platforms, two for broad gauge and one for meter gauge. Bahraich to Jarwal Road is a Broad gauge station 55 kilometres (34 miles) from district headquarters and lies on Delhi–Barauni line. Plans for converting the Bahraich – Gonda tracks to broad-gauge have been in talks since October 2018. It is complete as of July 2020, but due to lack of electrification, only diesel locomotives are run in these tracks. According to the railway board,

crore Crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes the quantity ten million (107) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. In many international contexts, the decimal quantity is formatted as 10,000,000, but when used in the context of the India ...

is to be invested to electrify the whole Bahraich-Gonda-Balrampur-Gorakhpur line, with expected completion by the year 2021.

October 2024 communal violence

In October 2024, Bahraich witnessed communal tensions during a Durga idol immersion procession. The violence was triggered by a disagreement over music being played out from loudspeakers while the procession was passing through the area. A Hindu youth, Ram Gopal Mishra, was reportedly shot 14 times, resulting in his death. The incident took place near a mosque, heightening religious tensions and prompting the suspension of internet services in the area. The violence led to public outrage and demands for justice. Some eyewitnesses from the Hindu community have alleged that stone-pelting initiated from a house belonging to a local Muslim resident, which they claim contributed to the escalation of violence. They assert that police response included lathi charges against them, which further inflamed tensions.

Media

Bahraich has an

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

relay station known as Akashvani Bahraich. It broadcasts on FM frequencies @ 100.1 .

Notable people

* Syed Zafar Mahmood- Indian Civil-Servant and former 'Officer on Special Duty' for the Indian Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (26 September 1932 – 26 December 2024) was an Indian economist, bureaucrat, academician, and statesman, who served as the prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jaw ...

* Tahir Mahmood – former Chairman, National Minorities Commission * Mahfoozur Rahman Nami – Indian Muslim scholar, politician and an author * Meena Shah - national badminton champion of India. recipient of the Padma Shri and the Arjuna award * Waqar Ahmad Shah – former speaker of

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly, also known as Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha, is the lower house of Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Indian state Uttar Pradesh. There are 403 seats in the house. Member of the Legislative Assembl ...

and former cabinet minister in the

Government of Uttar Pradesh The Government of Uttar Pradesh (International Organization for Standardization, ISO: ''Uttara Pradēśa Sarakāra''; often abbreviated as GoUP) is the subnational government of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh with the governor as its appoin ...

Yasar Shah Yasar Shah is an Indian politician and a member of the 16th and 17th Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh. He represents the Matera constituency of Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district and is a member of the Samajwadi Party. He was also Minist ...

– Former cabinet minister in the Government of Uttar Pradesh * Mohsin Zaidi –

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

poet

References

External links

Bahraich District Govt. of Uttar Pradesh, Brief History Municipal Board Of Bahraich Website Location & Road Map of Bahraich
* {{Authority control Cities and towns in Bahraich district Cities in Uttar Pradesh