Jaunpur City
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Jaunpur City
Head-quarters of the District and tahsil of the ame name, United Provinces, situated in 25 degree 45' N. and 82 degree 41' E., on the Oudh and Rohilkhand and Bengal and North-Western Railways, 515 miles by rail from Calcutta and 977 miles by rail from Bombay. It lies on the banks of the Gumtl river, and at the junction of metalled roads from Allahabad, Fyzabad, Azamgarh, Benares, and Mirzapur. Population has been almost stationary for the past twenty years. The numbers at the last four enumerations were as follows : (1872) 35,003, (1881) 42,845, (1891) 42,815, and (1901) 42,771. In 1901 the popu- lation included 26,091 Hindus and 16,596 Musalmans.
The origin of the name Jaunpur, also known as Jawanpur, and occa- sionally as Jamanpur, is uncertain. Hindus derive it from Jamadagni, a famous rishi in whose honour a shrine has been raised, while Musalmans assert that the city takes its name from Ulugh Khan Juna, afterwards Muhammad Shah (II) bin Tughlak of Delhi. Up to the fourteenth century the neighbouring town of Zafarabad was of greater importance; but ancient remains show that a town existed also on the present site of Jaunpur. A shrine sacred to Karar Bir, the giant demon slain by Rama, king of Ajodhya, still stands near the fort ; and tradition says that the fort itself is on the site of a temple built by Bijai Chand of Kanauj in the twelfth century. In 1359 Flroz Shah Tughlak halted at Zafarabad on his way to Bengal, and was struck by the suitability of the neighbourhood for the foundation of a new city, which was at once commenced. Some years later Jaunpur became the head-quarters of a governor, and in 1394 a eunuch named Khwfija-i- Jahan received the appointment.
He soon declared himself independent ; and for nearly a century, as has been related in the history of Jaunpur District, his successors ruled a varying area, which
sometimes extended from Bihar to Sambhal and Aligarh (Koil), while
they even threatened Delhi. Jaunpur remained the seat of a governor
till the reorganization of the empire by Akbar, who raised Allahabad
to the position of a provincial capital. From that date Jaunpur
declined in political importance, though it retained some of its former
reputation as a centre of Muhammadan learning, which had gained for
it the title of the Shlraz of India. On the acquisition of the province
of Benares in 1775, Jaunpur became British territory, and an Assistant
was posted here subordinate to the Resident at Benares. A Judge-
Magistrate was appointed in 1795, and in 18 18 Jaunpur became the
head-quarters of a Sub-Collector and shortly afterwards of a Collector.
The main portion of the city lies on the left bank of the Gumtl, while some outlying quarters and the civil station are situated on the right bank. The river is crossed here by a magnificent stone bridge built by Munim Khan, governor under Akbar. In the city proper are situated the splendid monuments of the Jaunpur kings, which form the finest specimens of Pathan architecture in Northern India. Very little remains of the earlier fort built by Flroz Shah. It was an irregular quadrangular building, overlooking the Gumtl and surrounded by a stone wall built round an artificial earthen mound. The materials were largely obtained from temples. In 1859 the towers and most of the buildings in the fort were destroyed. A magnificent gateway, added in the sixteenth century, a small mosque built in 1376, and a spacious set of Turkish baths constructed by Ibrahim Shah, are alone fairly complete. The earliest mosque is that known as the Atala Masjid, which was built by Ibrahim Shah, and completed in 1408. It consists of a fine courtyard with double-storeyed cloisters on three sides, and the mosque itself on the west. The most striking feature is the magnificently decorated fasade, 75 feet in height, with a breadth of nearly 55 feet at the base, which stands before the dome of the mosque and recalls the propylons of Egypt It consists of a great arched gateway surmounted by a pierced screen, and forming a recess in a gigantic frame flanked by massive towers. Smaller gateways of similar construction stand on either side. The Atala Masjid is said to occupy the site of a temple of Atala Devi which Flroz Shah attempted to appropriate, but which he was induced to leave on account of the threatening attitude of the people. The Dariba Masjid, built by two of Ibrahim's nobles, has a domed hall and two wings, marked by a low fa9ade of the peculiar Jaunpur type, but with little ornamentation.
It is said to have been built on the site of a temple of Bijai Chand
of Kanauj. Only the great piers and beautiful central screen remain
to show the magnificence of the Jhanjhrl mosque, which was built by
Ibrahim Shah on the site of Jai Chand's temple at Muktaghat, but was
demolished by Sikandar Lodl. The Lai Darwaza mosque, erected
by BibI Rajl, the queen of Mahmud Shah, is smaller than the Atala
Masjid, the propylon being only 49 feet high. The cloisters, which
are of one story, are in a poor state of preservation. The Jama Masjid,
or great mosque of Husain Shall, is believed to have been founded
as early as 1438 ; but work on it was suspended for many years, and
it was not completed till 1478. The mosque stands on a raised terrace,
and its courtyard is surrounded on three sides by cloisters with aisles,
the upper story of which was pulled down by Sikandar Lodl. There
is a massive domed entrance gateway in each of these sides, which
also suffered at the hands of the Lodl king, and the fourth is occupied
by the mosque proper with its majestic facade 84 feet in height. This
mosque is being gradually restored. Close to the northern gateway
stands a small enclosure in which lie the modest tombs of Husain
Shah and some of his descendants ; the tombs of the earlier rulers
are situated on a platform in another part of the city. Many smaller
mosques and tombs are to be seen, but no traces exist of the palaces
and college which once graced Jaunpur. The modem public buildings
are few and unimportant; they include the usual courts and two
dispensaries, one of which is maintained by the Zanana Bible and
Medical Mission.
Jaunpur has been a municipality since 1867. During the ten years ending 1901 the income and expenditure averaged Rs. 39,000 and Rs. 37,000 respectively. In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 58,000, chiefly derived from octroi (Rs. 39,000) and rents and fees (Rs. 11,000); and the expenditure was Rs. 57,000, including conservancy (Rs. 14,000), administration and collection (Rs. 10,000), and public safety (Rs. 1 1,000). The town is celebrated for the manufacture of perfumes from the flowers of the rose, jasmine, and screw-pine, and from the root of the khaskhas grass {Andropogon muricata). Papier-mache articles, such as cigar-cases, book-covers, &c, are also made. The town was formerly noted for its paper manufacture, but this has died out. There is some trade in grain, and in the distribution of imported goods ; but Jaunpur is not an important commercial centre. Two high schools and six of lower grade have a total attendance of 607 pupils. In addition to these, Arabic is taught at the Jama Masjid.
[A. Fiihrer, The Sharqi Architecture of Jaunpur (1889).]
