Sambhal is a city located in the Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh, India. The city lies approximately 158 km (98 mi)[4] east of New Delhi and 355 km (220 mi)[5] north-west of the state capital Lucknow. It also falls within the Rohilkhand region in the Moradabad division of the state, being approximately 32 km (20 miles) from the city of Moradabad.[6] The city is considered significant by Hindus as the prophesized birthplace of Kalki, the tenth avatar of Vishnu [7] , as mentioned in scriptures like Mahabharata , Skanda Purana Bhavishya Purana & later Kalki Purana.

Sambhal
City
Shahi Jama Masjid, Sambhal
Sambhal is located in Uttar Pradesh
Sambhal
Sambhal
Location in Uttar Pradesh, India
Sambhal is located in India
Sambhal
Sambhal
Sambhal (India)
Coordinates: 28°35′N 78°33′E / 28.58°N 78.55°E / 28.58; 78.55
Country India
StateUttar Pradesh
DivisionMoradabad
DistrictSambhal
Government
 • MPZia ur Rahman Barq (SP)
 • MLAIqbal Mehmood (SP)
 • ChairmanAsiya Musheer Chaudhary (AIMIM)
Area
 • Total
16 km2 (6 sq mi)
Elevation203 m (666 ft)
Population
 (2011)[2]
 • Total
220,813
 • Density11,433/km2 (29,610/sq mi)
DemonymSambhali
Language
 • OfficialHindi[3]
 • Additional officialUrdu[3]
Time zoneUTC 5:30 (IST)
PIN
244302
Telephone code( 91) (05923)
Vehicle registrationUP-38
Websitesambhal.nic.in

History

edit
 
Shahi Jama Masjid at Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh (1789). Pencil and wash drawing. British Library, London[8]

Sambhal is sometimes identified as Shambhala, a village which is mentioned as the birthplace of Kalki, the next incarnation of Vishnu, in the Hindu Puranas (the city is also home to a "Shri Kalki Vishnu Mandir").[9][10]Mahabharata text also mentions Sambhal.[11] This was borrowed into the Buddhist mythology of Tibetan Buddhism where it is described as a mythological kingdom and a pure land beyond the Himalayas where the future Maitreya will emerge from.[12] According to Ibn Battuta, Toghon Temür the last Yuan dynasty emperor of China had sent an embassy to the Sultan of Delhi Muhammad bin Tughluq, requesting permission to rebuild a Buddhist temple at Sambhal, which at the time attracted pilgrims from Tibet.[13] Sambhal has been an urban center for hundreds of years and was a prominent town during the medieval period. Two legendary battles between Prithviraj Chauhan and Ghazi Saiyyad Salar Masud are claimed to have taken place here. At the time under local rulers, in the 13th and 14th-centuries it would go on to become a part of the Delhi Sultanate, first under Qutb ud-Din Aibak and later under Firuz Shah Tughlaq.[14]

 
Pencil & wash drawing of the Shahi Jama Masjid at Sambhal, by Thomas Daniell and William Daniell, 24 March 1789.[15]

Later it was a capital of the Lodi dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate under Sikandar Lodi for four years in the 15th-century. A folio from the Baburnama, depicts an award ceremony in Sultan Ibrahim Lodi's court before an expedition to Sambhal in the early 16th-century. After the collapse of the Delhi Sultanate, the city fell to the Mughals under Babur, briefly serving as the capital of the new empire. Babuis also claimed to have built a mosque here which is still extant. The city would later be governed by his son Humayun. Sambhal flourished under the rule of Akbar, Humayun's son, but subsequently deteriorated in popularity when Akbar's grandson Shah Jahan was made in charge of the city, and the local (sarkar) capital was shifted to Moradabad.[6][16]

Sambhal district

edit
 
A folio from the Baburnama: An awards ceremony in Sultan Ibrāhīm Lodi's court before an expedition to Sambhal in the early 16th century.
The district was announced on 28 September 2011 and created by the state government out of Moradabad district on 23 July 2012 as one of three new districts in the state. At the time of its creation, the state government decided to name the new district "Bhimnagar" in honour of the social reformer, Bhimrao Ambedkar. However, massive protests broke out in Sambhal town and the adjoining rural areas against the move to rename to the ancient town.[17] Sambhal had been known by the same name for over 500 years, had been an important town in medieval India, and had never had any connection with Bhimrao Ambedkar, a Dalit icon. The protests were successful and the government retained the name of Sambhal.[18]

Demographics

edit

As per provisional reports of the 2011 Census of India, the population of Sambhal city in 2011 was 221,334, of which 116,008 were male and 105,326 were female. The amount of total literates in Sambhal consist of 92,608 people, of which 51,382 are males while 41,226 are females. The average literacy rate in Sambhal city is 49.51%, of which male literacy was 52.27 percent, while female literacy being 46.45%. The sex ratio of Sambhal city is 908 per 1,000 males and the child sex ratio of girls is 936 per 1,000 boys. The amount of total children (0-6) in Sambhal city constitute 34,279 as per the records of Census India 2011. There were 17,702 boys and 16,577 girls. The children form 15.49% of the total population[2]

Religions in Sambhal (2011)[19]
Religion Percent
Islam
77.67%
Hinduism
22.00%
Other or not stated
0.31%
Distribution of religions

Sambhal is a Muslim-majority city in India with approximately 77.67% of the city's population following Islam as their religion. Hinduism is the second most common religion in the city of Sambhal with approximately 22.00% following it, followed by Christianity (0.12%), Sikhism (0.06%), Buddhism (0.03%), and Jainism (0.02%).

Languages in Sambhal town (2011)[20]

  Urdu (70.75%)
  Hindi (29.20%)
  Others (0.05%)

As of the 2011 census, 70.75% of the population recorded their language as Urdu and 29.20% as Hindi.[20]

Economy

edit

Sambhal has the largest market of menthol in South Asia. Most of menthol oil is exported to Western Europe and China.[21]

Education

edit

Sambhal has many schools and Inter colleges for primary and secondary level education affiliated with CBSE, ICSE, the UP Board, and the Madarsa Board.

Degree Colleges

edit

UP Board

edit

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, India". latlong.net. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Census of India Search details". censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  3. ^ a b "52nd REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER FOR LINGUISTIC MINORITIES IN INDIA" (PDF). nclm.nic.in. Ministry of Minority Affairs. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  4. ^ Ltd, rome2rio Pty. "New Delhi to Sambhal - 5 ways to travel via train, bus, taxi, and car". Rome2rio. Retrieved 31 August 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Ltd, rome2rio Pty. "Lucknow to Sambhal - 5 ways to travel via train, bus, taxi, car, and plane". Rome2rio. Retrieved 31 August 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ a b "Sambhal | India | Britannica".
  7. ^ "Kalki Mandir and why Sambhal is significant". India Today. 19 February 2024. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  8. ^ "Mosque, Sambhal (U.P.). 24 March 1789". web.archive.org. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
  9. ^ Śambhala, also Sambhala, is the name of a town between the Rathaprā and Ganges rivers, identified by some with Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh. In the Puranas, it is named as the place where Kalki, the last incarnation of Vishnu, is to appear (Monier-Williams, Sanskrit-English Dictionary, 1899).
  10. ^ "Places of Interest". District Sambhal, Government of Uttar Pradesh. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  11. ^ "The Mahabharata, Book 3: Vana Parva: Markandeya-Samasya Parva: Section CLXXXIX". Sacred Texts. p. 390.
  12. ^ Shambhala. Store norske leksikon.
  13. ^ "Shambhala / Shangri-la". Global Security. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  14. ^ "History Sambhal". District Sambhal, Government of Uttar Pradesh. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  15. ^ Daniell, Thomas; Daniell, William. "Perspective view of the mosque at Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh". RIBApix. Royal Institute of British Architects. Archived from the original on 24 June 2024. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
  16. ^ Ain-i-Akbari, Vol II, Tr.H.S. Jarrett, Atlantic Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi, repr., 1989. p. 295.
  17. ^ UP: Protest in Sambhal Over Change of District's Name Archived 16 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ "UP: Protest in Sambhal Over Change of District's Name".
  19. ^ "Table C-01 Population by Religion: Uttar Pradesh". censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 2011.
  20. ^ a b "2011 Census of India, Population By Mother Tongue - Uttar Pradesh (Town Level)". censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  21. ^ "Mentha Oil Rate Today: मेंथा ऑयल में बिकवाली, रिकॉर्ड उत्पादन से कीमतों पर दबाव". Financialexpress (in Hindi). Retrieved 19 August 2022.