Shikohabad Town
Shikohabad Town
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Head-quarters of the tehsil of the same name in Mainpuri District, United Provinces, situated in 27 6' N. and 78 57' E., on the Agra branch of the grand trunk road, and 2 miles from the Shikohabad station on the East Indian Railway. Popula- tion (1901), 10,798. The town is said to have been first colonized by a Musalman emigrant from Rapri, named Muhammad, after whom it was called Muhammadabad. The name was changed to Shikoh- abad in honour of Dara Shikoh. The Marathas held the place and built a fort north of the site; but during the eighteenth century it often changed hands, and belonged at different times to the Jats, the Rohillas, Himmat Bahadur, and Oudh. The British obtained pos- session in 1 80 1 and established a cantonment south-west of the town, the garrison of which was surprised by a Maratha force under Fleury in 1802, after which the troops were moved to Mainpuri. Besides the tahslR, a dispensary is situated here. The town is administered under Act XX of 1856, with an income of about Rs. 2,600. Shikohabad is celebrated for its sweetmeats and manufacture of country cloth.
A steam cotton-gin employed about 100 hands in 1904. The tahsilt school has about 140 pupils and a girls' school 45.
