Nagwa is a village with a population of 8,000 and {{convert, 1300, acre, km2, adj=on in the

Ballia district Ballia district is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ballia district is a part of Azamgarh division situated in the east of Uttar Pradesh. The main economic activity is agriculture. City is the district headquarters and commercial ...

in the eastern part 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 ...

in India. A large percentage of the population consists of Hindus. The village is 6 km east of

Ballia Ballia is a city with a municipal board in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The eastern boundary of the city lies at the junction of two major rivers, the Ganges and the Ghaghara. The city is situated east of Varanasi and about 380 k ...

District Headquarters close to the

River Ganges The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary riv ...

. It is the birthplace of Indian hero

Mangal Pandey Mangal Pandey (died 8 April 1857) was an Indian soldier who played a key role in the events that led to the Indian Rebellion of 1857, which resulted in the dissolution of the East India Company and the beginning of the British Raj through the ...

. Many statues and sculptures of martyrs were placed in Ballia after the Independence of India.

, widely regarded in India as the First Martyr 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 ...

's First War of Independence in 1857, was born and brought up in this village. In the movie "Mangal Pandey" the name of Ballia is not mentioned due dispute amongst the locals. People from Ballia believe that he lived in the thatched kutiyas. After a certain period he moved to the main Ballia market from Nagwa for trade.

An overview over rival claims

News i
Mid Day
of August 15, 2004: "One hundred and forty-seven years after this sepoy of the 35th battalion in Barrakpur (Kolkata) was executed by the colonial rulers, he seems to have lost his identity, with two districts, four villages and several families in Uttar Pradesh fighting among themselves to claim him, and the state administration's not sure enough to be the last word on the issue." In the heart of the village there is a primary school. After many efforts of villagers, government recognised a university named after Mangal Pandey which is under construction.

External links

Villages in Ballia district