![]() | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations .(November 2016) |
Ratangarh Aazamgarh | |
---|---|
Village | |
Coordinates: 29°06′11″N78°21′47″E / 29.103°N 78.363°E | |
Country | ![]() |
State | Uttar Pradesh |
District | Bijnor |
Founded by | Rao Zokha Singh Tyagi |
Languages | |
• Official | Hindi |
Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
PIN | 246734 |
Telephone code | 01345 |
Vehicle registration | up-20-.... |
Nearest city | Moradabad |
Lok Sabha constituency | bijnor |
Vidhan Sabha constituency | chandpur |
Ratangarh is a village in the northwestern Rohilkhand region of Uttar Pradesh state of India. It is located in the administrative district of Bijnor.
Ratangarh was founded in the early nineteenth century by Rao Zokha Singh Tyagi Atreya. He was a former commander (or Rao) of the northern branch of the Maratha Confederate Army, whose control ranged to the Tarai baselands of the Himalayas. After the Maratha decline that followed the Battle of Delhi, he became a mercenary-adventurer. For a period, he served as the commanding general (Sipehsalar) of the principality of Sardhana near Meerut. He then moved on to found his own principality (or riyasat) with Ratangarh at its center. Ratangarh (literal meaning: Jewel Fort) was established near the site of an older defunct settlement called Azamgarh (literal meaning: Supreme Fort). Since the last days of the Mughal Empire, government revenue documents have interchangeably referred to the village as Ratangarh, Azamgarh-urf-Ratangarh (literally: Azamgarh-alias-Ratangarh), or Ratangarh-urf-Azamgarh.
Along with the rest of Rohilkhand, Ratangarh was affected by the general rebellion against the British in 1857. Economic depression followed for a period. However, it was one of the first settlements in India to be electrified, in the mid-1920s, and this brought about a revival. A school was established in the 1930s. A largely feudal agrarian system (Zamindari) held sway until the 1940s, after which a combination of legislature-driven land reform (such as the Uttar Pradesh Zamindari Abolition Act, 1950, and the Uttar Pradesh Imposition of Ceiling on Land Holdings Act, 1960) and the Bhoodan movement brought about land redistribution, similar to other areas of Rohilkhand. At the independence and partition of India in 1947, the region as a whole witnessed an influx of Punjabis and Sikhs from the areas that now make up Pakistan, though Ratangarh itself was relatively unaffected by this demographic change.
In a notable event, on 6 April 1885, a meteorite was sighted over Ratangarh and fell close to the nearby settlement of Chandpur.
The village reflects the broader cultural background of the region of Rohilkhand, flavored by its proximity to the hill state of Uttarakhand. The language is the Western Hindi/Urdu dialect of Khari Boli, and is extensively Persianized in its vocabulary. The population is largely Hindu with a significant Muslim (both Shia and Sunni) minority. Local castes in this region of Rohilkhand include Tyagi, Ahirs/Yadavs, Jat, Rajput, Rohilla Pashtun (after whom the region is named), and Dalit.
As in Uttarakhand and Nepal, the most important festival is Dashehra, commemorating the victory of Lord Ram over Ravan. A traditional folk-play ( Ramlila ), that dramatizes the Ramayan, is enacted over several consecutive nights, culminating on Dashehra. Though the play has Hindu religious significance, both the Hindu and Muslim communities participate in the festivities. Other important festivals include Holi, Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Azha, Moharram and Diwali.
For the first century after its foundation, the environs of the village were heavily forested and contiguous with the Tarai forests that hemmed the Himalayan foothills. Wildlife (chital deer, monkey, hare, porcupine, wolf and leopard) was widespread. Pressures stemming from the rapid population increase in the twentieth century resulted in mass deforestation. These species are now confined to the nearby Jim Corbett National Park, with only monkeys and peacocks remaining in numbers in the village area. Snakes and hares continue to be common in the farm fields.
Ratangarh is located at latitude 29°6'10"N and longitude 78°21'50"E, along the highway that connects Fina (often anglicized as "Pheona") with Noorpur. The main village has a triangular shape, with the highway, a string of ponds and a rural road as the three edges. The village is at an approximate altitude of 750 feet, and the terrain is largely flat.
The temperature ranges from a daytime maximum of about 42 °C (108 °F) at the height of summer to a nighttime minimum of about 0 °C (32 °F) during the coldest period of winter. There are five seasons: hot and dry summer, monsoonal rains, mild autumn, moderate winter and mild spring. Midwinter frost is common, and often damaging to crops and fruit. As with many areas of northwestern India, northern Pakistan and western Nepal, the region is part of the non-monsoonal Western Disturbance rain system that provides winter rains necessary for the wheat crop. While it gets relatively hot in the summer, the 1886 edition of the Imperial Gazetteer of India compared the district's climate favorably to that of both the Tarai and areas further south: "Its proximity to the Himalayas renders the climate of Bijnor cool and pleasant, while the abundance of drainage channels prevents the District from being as unhealthy as other tracts near the foot of the mountains."
The economy is primarily based on agriculture (grains and fruit). Staples (mainly wheat, with some jau or barley and bajra or pearl millet) are produced. There are also many sugarcane fields, and fruit orchards (mango, mulberry, pomegranate, jamun or rose apple and shareefa or sugar apple). Limited quantities of anjeer or fig and ber or Indian jujube are also produced. In non-agricultural activity, there are some retail outlets, doctors, flour mills and teachers. Land reform and urban-bound migration and divestment by the former zamindars has resulted in some economic equalization, with a more evenly distributed pattern of land ownership, including by Dalits. Many youth from all segments of the population seek careers in the small towns nearby (Fina, Chandpur, Sherkot, Bijnor) or the larger towns further afield (Meerut, Hardwar, Delhi).
The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh was a province of India under the British Raj, which existed from 22 March 1902 to 1937; the official name was shortened by the Government of India Act 1935 to United Provinces (UP), by which the province had been commonly known, and by which name it was also a province of independent India until 1950.
Kauravi, also known as Khaṛībolī, is a dialect of Hindustani descended from Shauraseni Prakrit that is mainly spoken in northwestern Uttar Pradesh, outside of Delhi.
Muzaffarnagar is a city under Muzaffarnagar district in the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh. It is situated midway on the Delhi - Haridwar/Dehradun National Highway and is also well connected with the national railway network. It is known as the sugarbowl of Uttar Pradesh.
Harit Pradesh is a proposed new state of India comprising the western parts of the state of Uttar Pradesh. The etymology derives from harit, meaning 'green', and pradesh, meaning 'state'. Other proposed names include Braj Pradesh and Paschim Pradesh. It consists of an area of 79,832 km2, which is 33.14% of UP and a population of 7.42 crores, which is roughly 35-36% of UP.
Saharanpur is a city and a municipal corporation in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is also the administrative headquarters of Saharanpur district.
Rohillas are a mixed Indian community of Pashtun heritage, historically found in Rohilkhand, a region in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It forms the largest Pashtun diaspora community in India, and has given its name to the Rohilkhand region. The Rohilla military chiefs settled in this region of northern India in the 1720s, the first of whom was Ali Mohammed Khan.
The Bareilly district belongs to the state Uttar Pradesh in northern India. Its capital is Bareilly city and it is divided in six administrative division or tehsils: Aonla, Baheri, Bareilly city, Faridpur, Mirganj, and Nawabganj. The Bareilly district is a part of the Bareilly Division and occupies an area of 4120 km2 with a population of 4,448,359 people according to the census of 2011.
Bijnor district is one of the 75 districts in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. Bijnor city is the district headquarters. The government of Uttar Pradesh seeks its inclusion in National Capital Region (NCR) due to its close proximity to NCT of Delhi.
Bijnor is a city and a municipal board in Bijnor district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India.
Moradabad district is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh, India. The city of Moradabad is the district headquarters. Moradabad district is part of Moradabad division. It used to be the second most populous district of Uttar Pradesh out of 75 after Prayagraj till a new district Sambhal was carved out of it in 2011.
Chandpur is a town and a municipal board in Bijnor district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, India.
Noorpur is a City and a Municipal Board in Bijnor District in the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh.
Rudrapur is a city that serves as the headquarters of the Udham Singh Nagar district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Located at a distance of about 250 km (160 mi) northeast of New Delhi and 250 km (160 mi) south of Dehradun, Rudrapur is located in the fertile Terai plains in the southern part of Kumaon division over an area of 27.65 km2. With a population of 140,857 according to the 2011 census of India, it is the 5th most populous city of Uttarakhand.
Chaudhary Charan Singh University, formerly Meerut University, is a public state university located in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India. The university was established in 1965. It was later renamed to its current name after Chaudhary Charan Singh, former Prime minister of India. The university celebrated its silver jubilee in 1991.
Pheona or Pheena is a village in the northwestern Rohilkhand region of Uttar Pradesh state of India. It is located in the administrative district of Bijnor Spelling Feena, Funa, Phuna, Phoona, also may appear in some old records. But presently spelling PHEENA in English is in use.
An inverted Red Triangle is the symbol for family planning health and contraception services, much as the red cross is a symbol for medical services. It was first introduced by Frank Wilder in December 1968 for use throughout the Global South. It first appeared in India, followed by other countries such as Ghana, Gambia, Zimbabwe, Egypt and Thailand.
Bhoksa, also known as Buksa/Bukhasiya, are indigenous peoples living mainly in the Indian states of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. They are mostly concentrated in Dehradun and Nainital districts in the foothills of the outer Himalayas. They are also found in the Bijnor district of Uttar Pradesh, where they are known as Khas. Both communities have been granted Scheduled Tribe status.
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 Hindi and Braj are spoken. The region has some demographic, economic and cultural patterns that are distinct from other parts of Uttar Pradesh, and more closely resemble those of Haryana and Rajasthan states. The largest city of the region is Ghaziabad, while the second-largest city, Agra, is a major tourist destination.
Chandpur Assembly constituency is one of the 403 constituencies of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly, India. It is a part of the Bijnor district and one of the five assembly constituencies in the Bijnor Lok Sabha constituency. First election in this assembly constituency was held in 1957 after the delimitation order was passed in 1956. The constituency was assigned identification number 23 after "Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies Order, 2008" was passed in the year 2008.
Madhusudanpur Nand Urf Jhalra is a large village and near Meerut Pauri Highway National Highway 34 (India) Jhalra Gram Panchayat in Bijnor district block Mohammadpur Deomal of Uttar Pradesh in India.