Mallawan, also spelled Mallanwan is a town and Nagar Palika Parishad in Hardoi district of Uttar Pradesh, India. It served as the original district headquarters from 1856 to 1858. It is located south of Bilgram, on the road to Unnao. Mallawan is a major centre of handloom weaving, with handloom cloth being a major export. As of 2011, the population of Mallawan is 36,915, in 6,086 households. It is included in the legislative assembly constituency of Bilgram-Mallanwan.
Geography It is located at 27°2'8"N 80°9'6"E and its average elevation is 142 metres. The River Ganga passes Mallawan, touching its border with Kannauj. Mallawan is located 47 km south-east of Hardoi and 92 km from state capital Lucknow.
Demography
Per 2011 census Mallawan had a total population of 36,915, out of which 19,404 (53%) were male and 17,511 (47%) female. It had a literacy rate of 68.71% & present literacy rate is 78.6%. It is divided into 25 wards. 57% of the population were Hindus, 42.5% were Muslims, and the remaining 0.5% belonged to other religions.
History It's possible that Mallawan was a Buddhist site at the same time that Kannauj was, given the short distance between them, but this is uncertain. An image of Asa Devi found in a temple here is "probably of Buddhist origin."
In early times, the Mallawan area was ruled by the Thatheras until they were driven out by the Chandelas (in the west) and the Kurmis (in the east). Then, in 1033, it was invaded by Ghazi Sayyid Salar Masud; the tomb of one of his companions is found in Mallawan, in the neighbourhood of Uncha Tola. According to tradition, Mallawan was once called "Ghazipur" in Masud's honour. Mallawan's Sheikh community claims to have originally come to the town at this time. Later, in 1544, three of the Sheikhs were given a grant in the neighbouring village of Mohiuddinpur by Sher Shah Suri, on the condition that they reside there, recite prayers five times daily in the mosque, and shooting ten arrows after reading the afternoon prayers.
The wandering saint Makhdum Shah, also called Misbah-ul-Ashiqin, came to Mallawan in 1415. His dargah is located here. Similar in style to that of Sadr Jahan in Pihani, it is clad with large kankar blocks, along with some sandstone, and it is crowned by a plain dome supported by 8 "richly ornamented" Hindu-style pillars. According to a book written in 1529 by one of his descendants, Makhdum Shah was invited to the imperial court at Delhi by Sikandar Lodi, but he declined and instead sent two of his followers. As a result, his follower Misbah-ul-Islam, Qazi Bhikari, was appointed qazi of Mallawan Pargana.
Mallawan is listed in the Ain-i-Akbari as the seat of a pargana. The town's jama masjid was built during Akbar's reign out of kankar blocks taken from an older building. By the turn of the 20th century, however, the mosque was described as being in ruins.
In 1726, Shitab Rai was made chakladar of Mallawan. He became infamous for acquiring property by burying landowners alive and then making their heirs sell it to him. According to the first British settlement report in the mid-19th century, the landowners' bones were still sometimes dug up by farmers around the old chakladar compound.
In 1765, Jesuit missionary and traveller Joseph Tiefenthaler visited Mallawan. He described it as a small but densely populated town surrounded by trees, with most buildings being made out of brick. There was a fort with towers, of mixed brick and mud construction, but by the early 1900s it had disappeared and the site had become farmland.
The 1773 treaty between the Nawab of Awadh and the British East India Company designated Mallawan as the site of a cantonment of British troops. The cantonment was by the road to Bilgram, in the village of Faizpur Kampu. It was in use until 1777, when it was moved to Kanpur, leading to Kanpur becoming a major city. Meanwhile, the Nawab had a military garrison in Mallawan itself until the 1850s.
With the advent of British Rule, followed by the annexation of Oudh in 1856, Mallawan was made district headquarter and possessed considerable political importance. During the struggle of 1857 the Raikawars, independence fighters from nearby village Rudamau, burned Mallawan's court house. Conditions worsened, leading to the move of the district headquarter to Hardoi.
At the turn of the 20th century, Mallawan was described as a very spread-out town, consisting of several villages agglomerated together. They were Mohiuddinpur in the north; Gangarampur, Mirzapur, Gobardhanpur, and Mallawan itself in the middle, and Bhagwantnagar in the south. Mallawan had seven muhallas at the time: Bhagwantnagar, Gurdasganj, Pathan Tola, Uncha Tola, Nasratnagar, Qazi Tola, and Chauhatta. The town had a police station, a post office, a cattle pound, an inspection bungalow, and a middle school, along with a Sanskrit patshala in Bajiganj. There was also a military encampment to the south of the road. Markets were held at Gurdasganj on Mondays and Fridays, and at Bhagwantnagar on Sundays and Wednesdays. Mallawan was not a major commercial centre at the time, although Bhagwantnagar was renowned for its dishes and brass spoons. The Man Devi fair, held in Kuar and Chait, then had an average attendance of about 4,000 people.
Education Mallawan is home to one of the oldest high schools in India, founded in 1857 by Ram Sahai Bajpai as Adarsh Shri Prasad Mahavidyalaya at Bajiganj. B.N.Inter College is also one of the oldest colleges, Its full name is Bhagwant Nagar Inter College. It is in Bhagwant Nagar.
Notable people
Brajesh Pathak – Cabinet Minister in Government of Uttar Pradesh.
Villages Mallawan CD block has the following 83 villages:
Village name Total land area (hectares) Population (in 2011) Khangheria 610 3,694 Manjhgaon 638.7 3,219 Bansa 1,452.3 5,062 Kanthari 506.3 2,777 Nayagaon 304.6 2,180 Tarhatiya 123.6 702 Maghiyaee Zaferpur 369.2 1,550 Daroo Kuinya 344.7 1,994 Herwal 370.5 1,335 Visheshwarpur 173.4 666 Santapur 66.9 0 Bhasoorha 81.2 585 Bakhaura 416.3 2,490 Newada Paras 421.8 1,674 Nasrat Nagar 68.1 0 Bandipur 327.3 0 Shyampur 178.6 0 Bhagwant Nagar 160.1 0 Govardhanpur 78.1 0 Mirzapur 84.1 0 Tendua 374.5 2,686 Goswa 248.4 2,137 Purwawan 813.3 4,435 Bikapur 262.7 1,966 Newada Mahmood 162.2 575 Ganga Rampur 181.6 0 Darapur 281.6 1,485 Bharhwal Salempur 393.7 2,118 Barauna 284.2 3,077 Raghorampur 159.5 806 Bhagtoopur 108.2 861 Nasirpur 148.8 434 Ishwarpur Saee 375.3 3,577 Munwarpur 107.4 528 Islampur Jagai 436.8 3,054 Manimau 128.6 789 Daudpur 136.2 467 Menhdipur 185.5 1,059 Sumerpur 162 880 Mahneypur 123 919 Mirnagar 144.1 617 Lachhipur 181.6 1,378 Bhool Bhawanipur 96.6 941 Sadipur 41.4 0 Mustafabad 101.3 1,030 Sukroula 128.6 798 Ausanpur 96.8 578 Harraiya 422.2 1,923 Hazratpur 73.6 1,051 Dasraichmau 118.8 458 Puranmau 352.7 2,129 Beria Nazirpur 452.9 3,247 Sahimpur 25.8 370 Murtaza Kullipur 109.2 986 Shahpur Pawanr Sisala 429.7 3,836 Shahpur Pawanr Pansala 767.8 962 Rampur 126.6 920 Mansoor Nagar 211.8 1,771 Mahmoodpur 132.4 379 Kodarmau 136.1 1,104 Nekpur 60.6 222 Kokatmau 250.3 1,314 Khairuddinpur 182 757 Kalyanpur 129.1 1,402 Sunasi 258.7 1,188 Tejipur 645.6 3,606 Musepur 63.2 0 Barhuwan 338.8 2,966 Akbarpur 188 2,209 Sarai Gauri 69.8 985 Rajaypur 165.7 997 Shahabuddinpur 184.9 1,083 Shahpur Ganga 354.5 3,864 Teria Bhawanipur 409.7 2,035 Fulai 541.5 2,188 Ibrahimpur 376.4 2,901 Sarai Sultan 160.2 1,757 Parmi 206.7 1,423 Atwara Chak Kola 376.5 2,076 Jalalabad 159.4 3,848 Bjikharipur Katiya 316 1,380 Sultanpur Kot 243.3 1,389 Alapur 127.7 1,119
References