Muzaffarnagar is a city under

Muzaffarnagar District Muzaffarnagar district is a district of Uttar Pradesh state in northern India. It is part of Saharanpur division. The city of Muzaffarnagar is the district headquarters. This district is the part of National Capital Region. History Medieva ...

in the Indian State 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 ...

. It is situated midway on the

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 wi ...

Haridwar Haridwar (; ) is a city and municipal corporation in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India. With a population of 228,832 in 2011, it is the second-largest city in the state and the largest in the district. The city is situated on the ri ...

Dehradun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislativ ...

National Highway (

NH 58 This article is about the old number of Delhi-Meerut-Roorkee-Haridwar-Badrinath National Highway. National Highway 58 (NH 58) was a national highway in India before it was renumbered. It linked Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh near New Delhi with Ba ...

) and is also well connected with the national railway network. It is known as the sugarbowl of Uttar Pradesh. The city previously called Sarwat and is located in the middle of the highly fertile upper

Ganga-Yamuna Doab ''Doab'' () is a term used in South Asia Quote: "Originally and chiefly in South Asia: (the name of) a strip or narrow tract of land between two rivers; spec. (with) the area between the rivers Ganges and Jumna in northern India." for the tract ...

region and is very near to New Delhi and Saharanpur, making it one of the most developed and prosperous cities of Uttar Pradesh. It comes under the Saharanpur division. This city is part of Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) and

Amritsar Delhi Kolkata Industrial Corridor Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha ...

(ADKIC). It shares its border with the state of Uttarakhand and it is the principal commercial, industrial and educational hub of Western Uttar Pradesh. As of July 2021, Chandra Bhushan Singh, IAS is the District Magistrate of Muzaffarnagar.

History

The town was established in 1633 by the son of a

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

Commander

Sayyid ''Sayyid'' (, ; ar, سيد ; ; meaning 'sir', 'Lord', 'Master'; Arabic plural: ; feminine: ; ) is a surname of people descending from the Prophets in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali ...

Muzaffar Khan during the reign of

Shah Jahan Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram (5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), better known by his regnal name Shah Jahan I (; ), was the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire, reigning from January 1628 until July 1658. Under his emperorship, the Mugh ...

. In 1947, when the country got independence

Indian flag The national flag of India, colloquially called the tricolour, is a horizontal rectangular tricolour flag of India saffron, white and India green; with the ', a 24-spoke wheel, in navy blue at its centre. It was adopted in its present form ...

was hoisted for the first time in the Muzaffarnagar City. In 1901, during the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi language, Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Q ...

, it was a district in the

Meerut Meerut (, IAST: ''Meraṭh'') is a city in Meerut district of the western part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city lies northeast of the national capital New Delhi, within the National Capital Region and west of the state capi ...

Division in

United Provinces of Agra and Oudh The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh was a province of India under the British Raj, which existed from 1902 to 1921; the official name was shortened by the Government of India Act 1935 to United Provinces (UP), by which the province had been ...

. On October 18, 1976, during " The Emergency, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's suspension of democracy in India, between 25 and 30 people protesting against

compulsory sterilization Compulsory sterilization, also known as forced or coerced sterilization, is a government-mandated program to involuntarily sterilize a specific group of people. Sterilization removes a person's capacity to reproduce, and is usually done throug ...

were killed when

Uttar Pradesh police The Uttar Pradesh Police (UP Police), ( IAST: ), is the primary law enforcement agency within the Uttar Pradesh state of India. Established in 1863 as the Office of the Inspector General of Police, United Provinces under the ''Police Act, 1861' ...

fired into the

crowd Generally speaking, a crowd is defined as a group of people that have gathered for a common purpose or intent such as at a Demonstration (people), demonstration, a Sport, sports event, or during looting (this is known as an acting crowd), or ...

2013 Muzaffarnagar riots

The

2013 Muzaffarnagar riots The clashes between the Hindu and Muslim communities in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, India in August–September 2013, resulted in at least 62 deaths including 42 Muslims and 20 Hindus and injured 93 and left more than 50,000 peopl ...

between Hindus and Muslims resulted in 62 deaths. According to a May 2015 report in

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new on ...

: Some politicians have demanded that the city name be changed from Muzaffarnagar to Lakshminagar.

Geography

Muzaffarnagar is 272 meters above sea level in the Doab region of

Indo-Gangetic Plain The Indo-Gangetic Plain, also known as the North Indian River Plain, is a fertile plain encompassing northern regions of the Indian subcontinent, including most of northern and eastern India, around half of Pakistan, virtually all of Bangla ...

. It is 125 kilometres north east of the national capital,

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the NCT Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati B ...

, and 200 kilometres south east of

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which ...

, and near to

Roorkee Roorkee (Rūṛkī) is a city and a municipal corporation in the Haridwar district of the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is from Haridwar city, the district headquarter. It is spread over a flat terrain under Sivalik Hills of Himalayas. The ...

Saharanpur Saharanpur is a city and a municipal corporation in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is also the administrative headquarters of Saharanpur district. Saharanpur city's name was given after the Saint Shah Haroon Chishti. Saharanpur is declared as on ...

Bijnor Bijnor is a city and a municipal board in Bijnor district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal osci ...

influenced

humid subtropical A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

climate characterised by much hot summers and cooler winters. Summers last from early April to late June and are extremely hot. The monsoon arrives in late June and continues until the middle of September. Temperatures drop slightly, with plenty of cloud cover but with higher humidity. Temperatures rise again in October and the city then has a mild, dry winter season from late October to the middle of March. June is the warmest month of the year. The temperature in June averages 30.2 °C. In January, the average temperature is 12.5 °C. It is the lowest average temperature of the whole year. The average annual temperature in Muzaffarnagar is 24.2 °C. The highest and lowest temperatures ever recorded in Muzaffarnagar are on 29 May 1994 and on 23 December 1990 respectively. The rainfall averages 929 mm. The driest month is November, with 8 mm of rain. Highest precipitation falls in July, with an average of 261.4 mm.

Demographics

2011 census, Muzaffar Nagar municipality had a population of 392,451 and the urban agglomeration had a population of 494,792. The municipality had a

sex ratio The sex ratio (or gender ratio) is usually defined as 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. Many species de ...

of 897 females per 1,000 males and 12.2% of the population were under six years old. Effective literacy was 80.99%; male literacy was 85.82% and female literacy was 75.65%. The city has 55.79%

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

, 41.39%

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

, 1.7%

Jains Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle bein ...

, 0.67%

Sikhs Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

, 0.67%

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

s and 0.17%

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Muzaffarnagar city is governed by Municipal Council which comes under the remit of the Muzaffarnagar Urban Agglomeration. The city's population is 392,451; the urban/metropolitan population is 494,792, of which 261,338 are males and 233,454 are females.

Language

The

Khariboli Kauravi ( hi, कौरवी, ur, ), also known as Khaṛībolī is a set of Western Hindi varieties of Shauraseni Prakrit mainly spoken in Northwestern Uttar Pradesh. Standard Hindi and Urdu are based on Khariboli, specifically on its De ...

dialect is the native tongue of the city which resembles the Haryanvi dialect of adjoining

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ...

. The official languages of Hindi and English are also widely understood.

Economy

Sugar and

jaggery Jaggery is a traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar consumed in the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and Africa. It is a concentrated product of cane juice and often date or palm sap without separation of the molasses and crystals, an ...

production are important industries in the district. As a result of the farming activities around, the city is an important hub of

trading business. Muzaffarnagar is an industrial city with sugar, steel and

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre e ...

being the major industries. District Muzaffarnagar has 8 sugar mills. More than 40% of the region's population is engaged in agriculture. According to Economic Research firm ''Indicus Analytics'', Muzaffarnagar has the highest agricultural GDP in Uttar Pradesh, as well as UP's largest granary.

Healthcare

Muzaffaranagar has both public and private healthcare system. The District hospital is the major government hospital in the city along with several general practitioners in the city. The city is also catered by a private medical college (

Muzaffarnagar Medical College Muzaffarnagar Medical College (MMC) in Muzaffarnagar, Western Uttar Pradesh, India. It provides low cost health care to the surrounding rural areas of Muzaffarnagar district, Saharanpur district & other nearby areas. Location Muzaffarnagar Med ...

) on the outskirts of the city.

Transportation

Bada Darwaza (Front Gate) Kakrouli Muzaffarnagar

Muzaffarnagar connected by road and railway networks. The

Ghaziabad Ghaziabad () is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and a part of Delhi NCR. It is the administrative headquarters of Ghaziabad district and is the largest city in western Uttar Pradesh, with a population of 1,729,000. Ghaziabad Muni ...

line passes through the city.

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...

provides connections to

Western Uttar Pradesh Western Uttar Pradesh is a region in India that comprises the western districts of Uttar Pradesh state, including the areas of Rohilkhand and those where Khariboli, Braj and Kannauji are spoken. The region has some demographic, economic and cu ...

, Jammu & Kashmir,

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the States and union territories of India, Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and T ...

, and other parts of the country. Dehradun Shatabdi Express and Dehradun Jan Shatabdi Express trains pass through and halt at the Muzaffarnagar station. National Highway 58 (India)

The National Highway - 58 (NH-58) passes through Muzaffarnagar city. This highway provides connections towards Delhi on the southern direction and upper reaches of the Himalayas in the

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in the North India, northern part of India. It is often referred to as t ...

state in the northern direction. The highway is the backbone of road transportation for the Muzaffarnagar city as well as the

Garhwal region Garhwal (IPA: /ɡəɽʋːɔɭ/) is one of the two administrative divisions of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Lying in the Himalayas, it is bounded on the north by Tibet, on the east by Kumaon, on the south by Uttar Pradesh state, and on the ...

of Uttarakhand. Cities and areas of Hardwar, Rishikesh, Dehradun as well as

Badrinath Badrinath is a town and nagar panchayat in Chamoli district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. A Hindu holy place, it is one of the four sites in India's Char Dham pilgrimage and is also part of India's Chota Char Dham pilgrimage circuit. ...

and

Kedarnath Kedarnath is a town and Nagar Panchayat in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand, India, known primarily for the Kedarnath Temple. It is approximately 86 kilometres from Rudraprayag, the district headquarter. Kedarnath is the most remote o ...

are served by this highway. City transportation mostly consists of tricycles and 3-wheeled vehicles, rickshaws. An international airport, Muzaffarnagar International Airport, was proposed in the city in order to reduce the traffic at the

Indira Gandhi International Airport Indira Gandhi International Airport is the primary international airport serving Delhi, the capital of India, and the National Capital Region (NCR). The airport, spread over an area of , is situated in Palam, Delhi, southwest of the New De ...

, however, the same was transferred to the Jewar Airport.

Environmental concerns

Muzaffarnagar lies approximately halfway on the road from Delhi to Uttarakhand

Rishikesh Rishikesh, also spelt as Hrishikesh, is a city near Dehradun in Dehradun district of the Indian state Uttarakhand. It is situated on the right bank of the Ganges River and is a pilgrimage town for Hindus, with ancient sages and saints medita ...

(the NH-58). As a result, many roadside resorts and eateries have sprung up on the highway near the city. Especially, the town of

Khatauli Khatauli is a city and nagar palika in Muzaffarnagar district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. A part of National Capital Region, the town is situated 100 km away from the national capital New Delhi. Khatauli lies on th ...

is famed for its canal side forest park named "Cheetal". Once visited for the sight of

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the ...

and

rabbits Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit spe ...

and other wild animals, the Cheetal is now encroached by privately owned

dhaba A dhaba is a roadside restaurant in the Indian subcontinent, primarily across Pakistan and India. They are on highways, generally serve local cuisine, and also serve as truck stops. They are most commonly found next to petrol stations, and mo ...

s and resorts thus sidelining the animals.

Notable people

Kapil Dev Agarwal Kapil Dev Agarwal is an Indian politician. He is a third-time M.L.A. from Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. He belongs to Bhartiya Janta Party and he was also a former Chairman of Muzaffarnagar Nagar Palika. He was appointed a Minister of State (in ...

, politician, MLA from Muzaffarnagar City and state minister in Uttar Pradesh Government. * Gourav Baliyan, wrestler *

Rajpal Singh Baliyan Rajpal Singh Baliyan is an Indian politician and member of the 18th Uttar Pradesh Assembly. Baliyan represented Budhana (Assembly constituency) constituency of Uttar Pradesh and is a member of Rashtriya Lok Dal. Political career Rajpal Bali ...

, political figure, MLA from Budhana Assembly Seat. * Sanjeev Balyan, politician, Member of parliament Muzaffarnagar Loksabha * Kartar Singh Bhadana, political figure *

Kamna Chandra Kamna Chandra is an Indian writer who has written plays for All India Radio and stories and dialogues for the screen which include the films '' Chandni'', '' 1942: A Love Story'' (directed by her son-in-law Vidhu Vinod Chopra), ''Prem Rog'' and t ...

, Haryana film writer *

Sumit Jain Sumit Kumar Jain (born 13 June 1984) is an Indian software engineer and Internet entrepreneur. He started online real-estate portal Commonfloor.com for property seekers in 2007. Prior to that, he used to work with Oracle. As the co-founder an ...

, entrepreneur, co-founder & CEO Opentalk.to , co-founder and ex-CEO of

Commonfloor.com CommonFloor.com is an Indian real estate portal founded in 2007 by three computer science graduates from IIT Roorkee and JSSATE. On 8 January 2015, CommonFloor received funding from Google Capital. On 7 January 2016, the classifieds advertisin ...

Divya Kakran Divya Kakran (born 1998) is a freestyle wrestler from India. Divya has won 60 medals, including 17 gold medals in the Delhi State Championship, and has won the Bharat Kesari title eight times. She has been vocal about being disappointed by the ...

, wrestler *

Swami Kalyandev Kalyandev ji Maharaj (21 June 1876 (claimed) – 14 July 2004), known as Swami Kalyandev, was an Indian-born ascetic who was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award in India, for his social work in the villages of India. Biog ...

(1876–2004), an

ascetic Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...

in the fields of education and social reform, awarded the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished servi ...

by the Indian government *

Liaquat Ali Khan Liaquat Ali Khan ( ur, ; 1 October 1895 – 16 October 1951), also referred to in Pakistan as ''Quaid-e-Millat'' () or ''Shaheed-e-Millat'' ( ur, lit=Martyr of the Nation, label=none, ), was a Pakistani statesman, lawyer, political theorist ...

, first Prime Minister of Pakistan (once lived in Muzaffarnagar) * Nishu Kumar, Indian professional football player, plays as full back at

Kerala Blasters FC Kerala Blasters Football Club (), commonly referred to as The Blasters, is an Indian professional football club based in Kochi, Kerala, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top tier of football in India. The club was established ...

and

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 ...

. * Harendra Singh Malik, former Rajya Sabha MP, prominent Jat leader from Western Uttar Pradesh. * Pankaj Kumar Malik, political figure, MLA from Charthawal Assembly Seat. * Alam Muzaffarnagari, Indian Urdu writer *

Vishnu Prabhakar Vishnu Prabhakar (21 June 1912 – 11 April 2009) was a Hindi writer. He had several short stories, novels, plays and travelogues to his credit. Prabhakar's works have elements of patriotism, nationalism and messages of social upliftment. He wa ...

, novelist, writer, journalist *

Sultan Rahi Sultan Rahi ( ur, ﺳﻠﻄﺎﻥ ﺭﺍﮨﯽ ; June 24, 1938 – January 9, 1996) was a Pakistani actor, producer and screenwriter. He established himself as one of the leading and most successful actors of Pakistani and Punjabi cinema, and ...

, Pakistani actor *

Sumit Rathi Sumit Rathi (born 26 August 2001), is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Indian Super League club Mohun Bagan. Career Early career He started his career at AIFF Elite Academy, later joining Indian Arrows who pla ...

, Indian football player, plays for ATK and Indian U-17 Football Team *

Rajpal Singh Saini Rajpal Singh Saini is a politician from Rashtriya Lok Dal and former Member of the Parliament of India representing Uttar Pradesh in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament. Early life and education Rajpal Saini was born in L ...

, political figure *

Nawazuddin Siddiqui Nawazuddin Siddiqui (; born 19 May 1974) is an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is an alumnus of the National School of Drama. Siddiqui's feature film debut was alongside director Prashant Bhargava in ''Patang'' (2012). He g ...

, Bollywood actor * Narain Singh,

Gurjar Gurjar or Gujjar (also transliterated as ''Gujar, Gurjara and Gujjer'') is an ethnic nomadic, agricultural and pastoral community, spread mainly in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, divided internally into various clan groups. They were trad ...

leader and deputy chief minister of UP *

Brahma Singh Brahma Singh is an Indian Horticultural scientist, known for his expertise on protected cultivation and his efforts in developing agro-technologies for the high altitude areas of the Himalayan Mountains, Himalayan region of Leh and for identifyi ...

, scientist and agriculturist; awarded the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is confe ...

by the Indian government. *

Shaukat Thanvi Shaukat Thanvi (2 February 1904 – 4 May 1963) was a Pakistani writer and humorist.Rakesh Tikait Rakesh Tikait (born 4 June 1969) is a national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) from Uttar Pradesh, India. Early life Tikait was born on 4 June 1969 in Sisauli town of Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. He is the son of a promine ...

, Farmer leader * A. M. Turaz, Indian poet, lyricist, and script writer

References

External links

Muzaffarnagar Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muzaffarnagar Cities and towns in Muzaffarnagar district Cities in Uttar Pradesh