A'zamgarh

A'zamgarh is the town and headquarters of the district of the same name in Uttar Pradesh, India, on the river Tons, notorious for its frequent and devastating floods. It was founded in 1076 AH (1665-6) by A'zam Khan I. The family's head, Abhiman Singh, had embraced Islam in the reign of Jahangir and was named Dawlat Khan. In 1951 the town had 26,632 inhabitants and the district 2,102,423. ¹

A series of battles between the successors of A'zam Khan I and the Nawabs of Awadh for political supremacy culminated in the battle of Dianpur in 1175 AH (1761-2), which killed both the Raja of A'zamgarh and the revenue collector of Nizamabad (Awadh). A'zamgarh was then occupied by Fadil 'Ali Khan, ruler of Ghazipur. After Shuja' al-Dawla was defeated by the British at Buxar in 1178 AH (1764-5), A'zam Khan II returned to his ancestral estate; on his death in 1185 AH (1771-2) the estate was annexed to the kingdom of Awadh. In 1216 AH (1801-2) Sa'adat 'Ali Khan, Nawab of Awadh, ceded it to the East India Company. ¹

The town was badly disturbed in the Mutiny of 1857, when the local prison was stormed. The dilapidated fort built by A'zam Khan I and a temple from the end of the twelfth/eighteenth century are its only notable buildings. Serious floods of 1871, 1894, 1896, 1898 and 1956 caused widespread damage, and the town earned a bad name for Hindu-Muslim riots. It is now known as a centre of culture, being the seat of the Dar al-Musannifin (Shibli Academy) and its Urdu journal, the Ma'arif. ¹