Gopamau
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Gopamau is a town and
nagar panchayat A nagar panchayat () or town panchayat or Notified Area Council (NAC) in India is a settlement in transition from rural to urban and therefore a form of an urban political unit comparable to a municipality. An urban centre with more than 12,00 ...
in Hardoi district,
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 India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. Located just west of the Gomti river, Gopamau is a historic town that once served as a
pargana Pargana or parganah, also spelt pergunnah, equivalent to Mohallah as a subunit of Subah (Suba), was a type of former administrative division in the Indian subcontinent during the time of the Delhi Sultanate, Mughal and British Colonial empire ...
headquarters. Important industries include cap making, tobacco, and agricultural products. As of 2011, the population of Gopamau is 15,526, in 2,346 households. The town has several slum areas (namely Achrajan, Banjara, Ghanauji East & West, Lalpir, and Matehna), which are home to 36.07% of town residents.


History

Gopamau's early history is purely traditional, and those traditions are often somewhat conflicting. The earliest inhabitants were the Thatheras, who are said to have lived in cleared areas in the forests known as Mawa Sarai or Mawa Chachar. There was an image of Mahadeo called Gopinath here, which still exists, as well as two red stone idols called Kaurehru Deo and Badal Deo. The Thatheras were then driven out by the Ahbans Rajputs under Gopal Singh and Sarup Singh, also known by the nicknames Gopi and Sopi, who had been on their way from Patan to Gaya. Upon reaching
Kannauj Kannauj (Hindustani language, Hindustani pronunciation: ) is an ancient city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar palika, Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Ut ...
, the king Jaichand sent them to subdue the Thatheras, which they did. Sopi then made his residence at Bhainsri, while Gopi went further north to Gopamau. Tradition also holds that Salar Masud's army then came to Gopamau. He was not the first Muslim in Gopamau — a devotee from
Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
named Azmat Shah had already settled in the town under Raja Gopi. Unwilling to betray his patron, Azmat Shah advised Gopi to abandon the city in order to prevent bloodshed, and thus the city came under Salar Masud's control. Salar Masud then went on to Satrikh, where he appointed Mir Sayyid Aziz-ud-Din to be the governor of Gopamau. Mir Sayyid Aziz-ud-Din, also known as the Lal Pir, remained governor until two years after Masud died at
Bahraich Bahraich is a city and a municipal board in Bahraich district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Located on the Saryu River, a tributary of the Ghaghara river, Bahraich is north-east of Lucknow, the state capital. The districts of B ...
; Lal Pir was killed in battle against Hindus. The
dargah A Sufi shrine or dargah ( ''dargâh'' or ''dargah'', Turkish: ''dergâh'', Hindustani: ''dargāh'' दरगाह درگاہ, ''dôrgah'') is a shrine or tomb built over the grave of a revered religious figure, often a Sufi saint or dervi ...
of Lal Pir is the oldest building in Gopamau; it was built in 1232 and later restored in 1795 by Nawab Muhammad Ali Khan, the Subahdar of Arcot, who was himself a Gopamau native. He also rebuilt the Jami Masjid from Akbar's time in 1786; the building had previously been destroyed by an earthquake. At the same time as Lal Pir's death, Azmat Shah took poison to commit suicide, and his tomb is in the Azmat Tola neighbourhood. Another tradition says that the Ahbans rajas were defeated by the Chishti Shaikhs, who had been sent by the Delhi Sultan Altamsh. Their leader, Khwaja Taj-ud-Din Husain, built a fort and a mosque at Gopamau, and he was also responsible for the construction of Lal Pir's dargah in 1232 (on the advice of his religious mentor Khwaja Qutb-ud-Din). The Chishtis founded the Chishtpura quarter on the east side of town, which also has a well built during the reign of
Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...
by Khwaja Habibullah, with an inscription dating it to 979 AH. Another Shaikh group, the Kannaujias, founded a new mohalla during the reign of Akbar; one prominent member of this group was Anwaruddin Khan, who became Subahdar of Arcot in 1745. The
Sayyid ''Sayyid'' is an honorific title of Hasanid and Husaynid lineage, recognized as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatima and Ali's sons Hasan ibn Ali, Hasan and Husayn ibn Ali, Husayn. The title may also refer ...
s of Gopamau trace their origin to the year 1208, when their ancestor Sayyid Muin-ud-Din came here from Kannauj. His descendants, Abdul Qadir and Abdul Jalal, were appointed qanungos of Gopamau
pargana Pargana or parganah, also spelt pergunnah, equivalent to Mohallah as a subunit of Subah (Suba), was a type of former administrative division in the Indian subcontinent during the time of the Delhi Sultanate, Mughal and British Colonial empire ...
during the reign of
Humayun Nasir al-Din Muhammad (6 March 1508 – 27 January 1556), commonly known by his regnal name Humayun (), was the second Mughal emperor, who ruled over territory in what is now Eastern Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Northern India, and Pakistan from ...
. The so-called mohalla of the
mufti A mufti (; , ) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion ('' fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatāwa'' have played an important role thro ...
s originated when one Sheikh Muhammad Adam Siddiqi came to Gopamau in 1543, during the reign of
Sher Shah Suri Sher Shah Suri (born Farid al-Din Khan; 1472 or 1486 – 22 May 1545), also known by his title Sultan Adil (), was the ruler of Bihar from 1530 to 1540, and Sultan of Hindustan from 1540 until his death in 1545. He defeated the Mughal Empire, ...
. A member of this family, Muhammad Zaman, was appointed mufti, and the office remained in the family until the British annexation. The most famous member of this family was Wahaj-ud-Din, a renowned scholar who wrote the ''Fatwa-i-Alamgiri'' and served as the tutor of
Dara Shikoh Dara Shikoh (20 March 1615 – 30 August 1659), also transliterated as Dara Shukoh, was the eldest son and heir-apparent of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. Dara was designated with the title ''Padshahzada-i-Buzurg Martaba'' () and was favoured ...
. Another Muslim mohalla, Zaidpuria, was founded in 1562 by Qazi Bhure Faruqi and Hazrat Bandagi Nizam-ud-Din, who had come from Zaidpur in today's Barabanki district. One member of this family, Ghulam Hasan Khan, was appointed subahdar of Gujarat by
Azam Shah Mirza Abu'l Fayaz Qutb-ud-Din Mohammad Azam (28 June 1653 – 20 June 1707), commonly known as Azam Shah, was briefly the seventh Mughal emperor from 14 March to 20 June 1707. He was the third son of the sixth Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and his ...
. The Khatiban mohalla derives its name from the '' khatib''s who read prayers for the ruler. This position was hereditary and it was held by the same family from the time of Akbar until the British took over. Another neighbourhood was named after the '' mutawalli''s, or custodians of the mosques, who claim descent from one Sheikh Ghiul, who came to Gopamau during the reign of Ala-ud-Din. The title was first granted to Sheikh Karim by
Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...
and again stayed in the family until the British annexation. One distinguished member of this family was Sheikh Maulvi Abdul Karim, a celebrated lawyer who wrote a work on jurisprudence called the ''Fatwa-i-Majma-ul-Masael''. The
Banjara The Banjara are nomadic tribes found in India. Etymology The Gor usually refer to themselves as ''Banjaras'' and outsiders as ''Kor'', but this usage does not extend outside their own community. A related usage is ''Gor Mati'' or ''Gormati'', ...
s and Batwars, two groups who each had a mohalla named after them, both claim descent from followers of Salar Masud. Of the historic Hindu quarters, the main one was that of the Kayasths, who were divided into two branches: one held the office of qanungo from the time of Humayun until
Wajid Ali Shah Mirza Wajid Ali Shah () (30 July 1822 – 1 September 1887) was the eleventh and last King of Awadh, holding the position for 9 years, from 13 February 1847 to 11 February 1856. Wajid Ali Shah's first wife was Alam Ara who was better known a ...
; the other branch was that of the muharrirs. One member of that branch was Lala Nauniddh Rai, who rose to distinction during the reign of
Aurangzeb Alamgir I (Muhi al-Din Muhammad; 3 November 1618 – 3 March 1707), commonly known by the title Aurangzeb, also called Aurangzeb the Conqueror, was the sixth Mughal emperors, Mughal emperor, reigning from 1658 until his death in 1707, becomi ...
. Constantly harassed by the Muslim governors, he ended up resigning his office of revenue collector in frustration and becoming a mendicant. The revenue fell into arrears and the matter eventually reached Delhi, and Nauniddh Rai ended up being restored to his office. He went on to build the tank and temple of Gopinath in 1699. During the reign of
Asaf-ud-Daula Mirza Asaf-ud-Daula (23 September 1748 – 21 September 1797) was the Nawab wazir of Oudh ratified by Shah Alam II, from 26 January 1775 to 21 September 1797, and the son of Shuja-ud-Dowlah. His mother and grandmother were the Begums of ...
, 30 of the nawab's elephants were kept and watered here, which ended up destroying the steps leading to the tank. At the turn of the 20th century, Gopamau had a slight Muslim majority and hosted bazaars on Thursdays and Sundays. It had a middle vernacular school, at the house of Maulvi Tafazzul Husain in the Qazi's mohalla, a branch post office, a cattle pound, and a fort. The town was noted for producing ''arsis'', or thumb mirrors made out of silver.


Geography

Gopamau is located at . It has an average elevation of 143 metres (469 feet).


Demographics

At the 2001 India
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
, Gopamau had a population of 12,604. Males constituted 54% of the population and females 46%. Gopamau had an average literacy rate of 37%, lower than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy was 44%, and female literacy was 30%. In Gopamau, 19% of the population was under 6 years of age. The 2011 Census of India recorded the population of Gopamau as 15,526 people, of whom 8,192 were male and 7,334 were female. The corresponding
sex ratio A sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. However, many species deviate from an even sex ratio, ei ...
of 895 females to every 1000 males was slightly lower than the district urban ratio of 899. The sex ratio in the 0-6 age group was 972, which was the highest among towns in Hardoi district. Members of scheduled castes made up 9.5% of the town's population, while there were no recorded members of scheduled tribes living in town at the time. The
literacy rate Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...
of Gopamau was 52.25% (counting only people age 7 and up), which was the lowest among towns in the district. Female literacy was very low, with only 45.94% of women and girls able to read and write, compared to 57.81% of men and boys. In terms of employment, 21.34% of Gopamau residents were classified as main workers (i.e. people employed for at least 6 months per year), while 11.90% were counted as marginal workers. The remaining 66.77% were non-workers. Employment status varied significantly according to gender, with 45.93% of men but only 8.40% of women being either main or marginal workers.


References

{{Hardoi district Cities and towns in Hardoi district