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Pihani is a town and
nagar palika parishad In India, a municipal council, also known as municipality, nagar palika, nagar parishad, nagar parisad or nagar sabha, is a self-governing Urban Local Body that administers a smaller urban areas than municipal corporations, with population of 10 ...
(municipal board) in
Hardoi district Hardoi district is a district situated in the center of Uttar Pradesh, India. The district headquarters is in the city of Hardoi. Hardoi is the third largest district of Uttar Pradesh. It falls under Lucknow division in the historical region ...
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 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 ...
. Historically, the city was a centre of sword production, leading to at least one British writer calling it "the
Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...
of
Oudh The Kingdom of Awadh (, , also Oudh State, Kingdom of Oudh, Awadh Subah, or Awadh State) was a Mughal subah, then an independent kingdom, and lastly a British protectorate in the Awadh region of North India until its annexation by the Br ...
". Today, important industries in Pihani include
jaggery Jaggery is a List of unrefined sweeteners, traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar consumed in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, North America, Central America, Brazil and Africa. It is a concentrated product of Sugarcane juice, cane jui ...
and woven
carpet A carpet is a textile floor covering typically consisting of an upper layer of Pile (textile), pile attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century synthetic fiber, synthetic fibres such as polyprop ...
s. As of 2011, the town's population is 36,014, in 5,626 households. Pihani also serves as the headquarters of a
community development block In India, a community development block (CD block) or simply Block is a sub-division of District, administratively earmarked for planning and development. In tribal areas, similar sub-divisions are called tribal development blocks (TD blocks). T ...
in Shahabad tehsil.


Geography

Pihani is located at . It has an average elevation of 141 
metre The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...
s (462 
feet The foot (: feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is an organ at the terminal part of the leg made up of ...
).


Demographics

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 ...
, Pihani had a population of 27,535. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Pihani has an average literacy rate of 46%, lower than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 53%, and female literacy is 38%. In Pihani, 19% of the population is under 6 years of age.


Transport

Pihani is well connected with Hardoi City  . Government and private buses are available for Hardoi, Lucknow, Kanpur and Delhi.


History

There are two different accounts of the founding of Pihani. The first, traditionally told by Hindu locals, holds that Pihani was originally settled by Dube Brahmins from
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 ...
. They had supposedly been invited by Raja Lakhan Sen, a Gaur king who had conquered the fort of Simaurgarh (near Mansurnagar) from the
Thathera The Thathera (literally meaning 'the beater', also known as Thathrias) is a Hindu and Sikh artisan caste in India, whose traditional occupation is the making of brass and copper utensils. In 2014, the craft of the Thathera community of Jandial ...
s. The Muslim account, on the other hand, says that Pihani was founded by Sayyid Abdul Ghafur, who served as
qazi Qazi may refer to: * Qadi A qadi (; ) is the magistrate or judge of a Sharia court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and minors, and supervision and auditing of public works. History ...
of Kannauj under the Mughal emperor
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 ...
. In 1540, after
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 ...
's defeat by
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, ...
, Abdul Ghafur refused to acknowledge Sher Shah's rule and left Kannauj to take shelter in the jungle where Pihani now stands. The name "Pihani" is thus said to derive from the word ''pinhani'', meaning "concealment". One of the main historical monuments in Pihani is the ornate tomb of Nawab Sadr Jahan, who served as a minister under
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 ...
. It consists of a double dome supported by red sandstone pillars, while the surrounding area is shaded by large
tamarind Tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') is a Legume, leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is indigenous to tropical Africa and naturalized in Asia. The genus ''Tamarindus'' is monotypic taxon, monotypic, meaning that it contains only this spe ...
trees. An inscription in
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
says that the tomb's construction began in 1071 AH and finished 10 years later. Sadr Jahan's son, Badr-i-Alam, is also buried here. Another monument is the ruined fort of Nizam Murtaza Khan (Badr-i-Alam's son); its western gate is still extant, as are the high walls built of
kankar Kankar or (kunkur) is a sedimentological term derived from Hindi (and ultimately Sanskrit) which is occasionally applied in both India and the United States to detrital or residual rolled, often nodular calcium carbonate formed in soils of se ...
blocks. Under the
Nawabs of Awadh The Nawab of Awadh or Nawab of Oudh was the title of the rulers of Kingdom of Awadh (anglicised as Oudh) in northern India during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Nawabs of Awadh belonged to an Iranian dynasty''Encyclopædia Iranica'', R. B. B ...
, Pihani was renowned for the quality of its sword blades. It also produced woven turbans (aka
dastar A dastār is an item of headwear associated with Sikhism and Sikh culture. The word is loaned from Persian through Punjabi. In Persian, the word ''dastār'' can refer to any kind of turban and replaced the original word for turban, ''dolband'' ...
s), but both of these industries had declined by the turn of the 20th century. At the turn of the 20th century, Pihani was described as having two distinct quarters named Bari Pihani and Chhoti Pihani. Bari Pihani was older and more run-down at the time, while Chhoti Pihani, or Nizampur, had been founded by Nizam Murtaza Khan and was more prosperous, with many trees providing shade. Pihani remained a minor commercial centre, with a police station, post office, cattle pound, and several schools: one middle school, a lower primary school for boys, and two lower primary schools for girls.


Economy

As of 1971, the economy of Pihani was described as dominated by primary activities. The main items imported were cloth, groceries, and
kerosene Kerosene, or paraffin, is a combustibility, combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in Aviation fuel, aviation as well as households. Its name derives from the Greek (''kērós'') meaning " ...
oil. The main items manufactured were handloom, shoes, and agricultural implements. The biggest exports were cane sugar, paddy, and wheat.


Villages

Pihani CD block has the following 123 villages:


References


External links


pihaninpp.in (Official website of Pihani)
{{Hardoi district Cities and towns in Hardoi district