Social,
Environmental & Economic Sustainability
Our analysis of the rank of the district
Backwardness : 218
Sex Ratio Rank : 139
(Rank one is least sex ratio - Cenus 2001)
HIV Category District : C
(HIV Sentinel Surveillance 2004 -2006)
Disability : 390 (Census 2001)
Literacy Ratio : 533 (Census 2001)
Minority : Does not figure in MCD
Brief About Kaushambi District
The present Kaushambi district was carved out of Allahabad
district on 4th April 1997. The District Headquarter,
Manjhanpur is situated in the south-west of the Allahabad on the
north bank of the Yamuna river,about 55 km away from Allahabad.
It is surrounded by the districts Chitrakoot in the south, Pratapgarh
in the north, Allahabad in the east & Fatehpur in the west.
According
to the Paramatthajyotika, the commentary on the Suttanipata, Kaushambi
was the hermitage of the sage Kosamba, after whom it came to be
known by that name. Buddhaghosa records that Kausambi was so named
because in course of founding the city, a large number of Kusamba
trees were uprooted. Buddhaghosa seems to echo a tradition also
known to the Jainas, though in a slightly different version. According
to the Jain Vividha-tirthe-kalpa Kaushambi was so called because
it abounded in Kusamba trees.
According
to the Puranas, Nicaksu, the sixth in line from Pariksita, transferred
his capital from Hastinapura to Kaushambi, as Hastinapura was
ravaged by flood, invasion of locusts and upheavals in the Kuru
family itself. Evidently, according to the legend, the city of
Kaushambi was important enough to be selected as the new capital
of the scion of the Pandavas. The legend, thus corroborates the
antiquity of the city as recorded in the Brahmanas, Mahabharata
and Ramayana.
During
Buddha’s time Kaushambi was one of the six most important and
prosperous towns of India. It was a nerve center of ancient Indian
communications as the principal routes from north to south and
east to west met at the city. It was a terminus of river traffic
and an important emporium of Madhyadesa. The city retained its
importance at least up to the sixth century A.D.,as it was visited
by the Chinese pilgrims Fa-Hien and Yuan-Chwang.
The
ruins of the well-known site of Kaushambi (25o20’ 30”N.,
81o23’12”E.) are situated on the left blank of the
river Yamuna at a distance of 51.2 km from Allahabad in a south-westerly
direction. The remains of the ancient city viewed from a distance
give the impression of an imposing hillock, which, when approached
nearer, reveals itself as a chain of rolling mounds, standing
high above the surrounding plains, girdled on the south by the
Yamuna. The Vindhyan range across the horizon at not a great distance
beyond the river Yamuna provides the southern frame of the Panorama.
The
chain of mounds has a peripheral circuit of about 6.45 km. The
rampart proper has an average height of 9 to 10 meters from the
surrounding from the field-level. The towers or the bastions,
however, are considerably higher, those in the north-western corners
being as high as 21.33m.
The fortified city forms an irregular oblong on the plan. The
city was provided with gates on three sides-east, west and north.
The location of the southern gate can not be determined on account
of the erosion caused by the Yamuna. Besides the bastions, gates
and sub-gates, the city was encircled on three sides by a moat,
which, though filed up at places, it still discernible on the
northern side. At some points, however, there is evidence of more
than one moat. The defences of Kaushambi betray an advanced knowledge
of fortification. At places the gates are provided with curtain-walls
on the outside, the same being best illustrated near the eastern
gate.
The
entire city, thus encircled by the rampart wall and moat, is littered
with a huge mass of brickbats indicating the density of structures
in the city. With the passage of time, The habitation levels inside
the city went on rising and an approximate thickness of 17m of
habitation deposit furnishes the vertical record of city’s life
and antiquity.
