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[GAZETTEER MAIN PAGE] [CHAPTER-1] [CHAPTER-2] [CHAPTER-3] [CHAPTER-4] [CHAPTER-5] [CHAPTER-6] [CHAPTER-7] [CHAPTER-8] [CHAPTER-9] |
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CHAPTER-7
COMMUNICATION
TRADE ROUTES AND
HIGHWAYS
Old-time
Trade Routes and Roads
The region covered by the present
district of Mainpuri formed part of the ancient
kingdom of the Mauriys and Guptas and of Harsh Vardhana. The old imperial highway which
ran from the north-western region of the country of Bengal has existed since the times of
the Mauriyas. It traversed the district connecting the Punjab, Delhi,and Agra to Allahabad
and places further east up to Calcutta. It enters the district from Agra and after passing
through Shikohabad and Sirsaganj passes into the Etawah district.
It
was the practice of the Hindu
Kings in ancient India to provide wells and avenues as well as roofed shelters on the
main roads.
Before the introduction of railways in
the district
it was
the mainline of communication . The old imperial highway came
to be known
from Sher
Shah Suri's times as the Badshahi road and it was the
percursor of the Grand Trunk road . This road
was well maintained having milestones, wells and serais and
long avenues of fairly well –
preserved trees. Another important provincial roads was the
section of
the Grand Trunk road which ran through the district , dividing a Bhongaon in
to two branches, one of which went
north-west towards Delhi and the other
south-west towards Agra. The former branch passed through Kuraoli and thee latter through Mainpuri
town and Shikohabad .The total length
of the
road in the district was 142.4 K.m.
The only other provincial road in the district was the Farrukhabad Etawah road which
crossed the Grand Trunk road at Bewar and ran south to Kishni , forming the principal lime
of traffic in the eastern portion of the district.
During the reign of Akbar the
main roads
in the district were the same as they are
at present except that they were unmetalled and there were ferries on the rivers instead of bridges as now.
During the rainy season the ferries were
generally difficult to negotiate Some
improvements were effected under the Bangash
and Rohilla administrations when some more
places were connected with roads.
After the cession of
the district to the East India company in
1801,an efforts was made to hold the landowners responsible for the upkeep
of the roads passing through their estates,
but it did not prove of much help. Then the
roads were n sought to be improved by the imposition of a road cess and the formation of a road and ferry fund committee to administer the proceeds. Till 1857,
all the land
routes were treated as local and no
road had been
metalled , but thereafter of roads
spring up , leading towards every direction.In 1876, the metalled roads consisted of the Mainpuri
Etawah , Shikohabad - Etah, Shikohabad Sirsaganj, Bhongaon-Agra , Mainpuri- Karhal
and Fatehgarh- Gwalior roads, besides certain third
class and village roads.
Many more roads were added in the following three decades but even in 1908, the
majority of the roads were poor, many of them being impossible to
travel upon during several months of
the year. many rivers flowing through the district presented obstacles in the construction of roads . The roads approaching the ferries passed
over expanses of drifting sand
skirting the river .
The following statement
gives the lengths of metalled roads in
the district in 1908:
| Road | Length (in Km.) |
Provincial |
|
| Grand Trunk road - Aligarh, Etah and Kanpur section | 60.00 |
| Grand Trunk road - Agra , Mainpuri and Bhongaon section | 73.60 |
| Etawah, Bewar, and Fatehgarh | 33.00 |
| Local | |
| Etah- Shikohabad | 32.00 |
| Shikohabad railway feeder | 2.40 |
| Jasrana- Mustafabad | 11.00 |
| Sirsaganj-Batesar | 3.40 |
| Ghiror- Jasrana | 15.30 |
| Ghiror-Kosma Feeder | 4.50 |
| Other Roads | 25.50 |
| Total | 260.70 |
In
addition, there were 274 km. unmetalled roads in the district .There was very little development of roads in the first
half of the twentieth century. However,
planned development of means of communication
and the construction of new roads was undertaken after 1947 by the
public works department of the State.
In 1947,the total length of metalled roads
in the district was 375 Km. which rose to 518 km. in 1963.
Highways
The roads of the district are now classified as national highways,State highways, district
roads, roads in the
Jurisdiction of the forest department and the local bodies.
The State public works department looks after
the national highway on behalf of the Central Government and
it also maintains the State highways and the major district roads. The forest department and local bodies
maintain roads lying within their jurisdictions. The Agra -Etawah-Fatehpur road is
a national highway which runs 41.42 km. in
the district.
The following statement gives the
names of the various highways, national and State , along
with their
lengths in the district . The roads are
metalled and bridged throughout their lengths:
| Highway | Length in district (in Km.) |
| National Highway | |
| Agra-Etawah-Fatehpur road | 41.82 |
| Grand Trunk road | 60.00 |
| Bareilly-Etawah | 32.46 |
The following statement gives the lengths of the district roads
Maintained by the public works department:
| Name of the road | Length in district (in KM.) |
Shikohabad-Bhongaon |
61.80 |
| Sirsaganj-Kishni | 58.18 |
| Etah-Shikohabad | 32.98 |
| Etawah-Mainpuri |
29.83 |
Shikohabad -Batesar |
19.72 |
| Mainpuri-Kuraoli |
17.80 |
| Sirsaganj- Kaorara |
5.58 |
| Kosma railway feeder |
5.23 |
| Chhachha-Alipur Khera |
5.00 |
| Bhongaon-railway feeder |
3.20 |
| Mainpuri-railway feeder |
2.00 |
There are also the following 3 shramdan roads in the district
,measuring about 18 km:
| Name of the road | Length in district (in KM.) |
| Mainpuri-Sansarpur Beon | 9.75 |
| Alipur Khera-Kali Nadi | 7.00 |
| Bachela road | 1.27 |
The Zila Parishad,
Mainpuri , Maintains 42 roads in the district of which
17 are metalled . The total length of the
unmetalled roads which connect various
villages is 236-.20 km. The following statement gives the
lengths of the metalled roads:
| Road | Length(in km.) |
| Kusiyari feeder | 0.80 |
| Mustafabad-Eka | 10.40 |
| Parham feeder | 0.40 |
| Bareilly-Etawah road extension Kusmara | 0.60 |
| Bareilly-Etawah road extension Kishni | 1.00 |
| Great circular road | 4.47 |
| Little circular road | 0.80 |
| Gola Bazar Sansarpur | 0.41 |
| Khuria-Mainpuri | 1.60 |
| Sirsaganj-Mainpuri | 2.40 |
| Katra bypass | 0.80 |
| Kishni-Harchandpur | 1.80 |
| RadhaRaman road | 1.42 |
| Isan bridge to Diwani | 1.17 |
| Jait to Diwani | 3.77 |
| Aron- Sirsaganj | 9.45 |
| Aron-Sirsaganj-Deviroad | 1.65 |
| Total | 42.94 |
MEANS OF CONVEYANCE
From the earliest times till the coming of the railway the usual means of
transport and travel were palanquins, horses, camels
and vehicles drawn by bullocks, buffaloes, horses and camels . The bulk
of the heavy goods was moved by means of
pack animals but valuable goods were usually
in carts and carriages . Horses and ponies were very
rarely used for draught purposes
during Mughal period and the familiar conveyance of later
days, the ekka, appears to have been
developed since Akbar's time.people in the village in the village depended largely on bullock carts and on vehicles drawn by horses
and camels .Camel carts (which have now disappeared from the roads)
were a common sight in olden days. With the construction
and improvement of metalled roads, speedy mechanised transport, which
has the added advantage of being able to play in
almost any kind of weather, also made its appearance and today motor cars,
buses tractors, motor -cycles, bicycles,
bicycle-rickshaws speed along the roads in the towns and the countryside . As and economical and convenient means of transport the bicycle is very popular
both in the
rural and urban areas of the district. Cycle-rickshaws are a recent
addition to the modes of
public conveyance and
are so popular that they have almost driven
almost driven ekkas and tongas off the roads. However, carts driven by bullocks and
buffaloes are even today the main forms of
conveyance in the rural areas of the district . In the urban areas the bicycle and cycle-rickshaw is a
popular means of conveyance .In
1974-75 , there were 50 tongas,155
rickshaws and 9,000 bicycles in the district
.
Vehicular
Traffic
Motor trucks and buses started operating in the district since the thirties of the present century . However, there were only a
few motor
vehicles in the district before1947.
In the following years the prices of buses
and trucks
declined due to the conclusion of
the Second World War (1936 -46) and motor vehicles began to be used on
the roads in
large numbers. In 1974-75 as many as 88 private passenger buses, 7 mini-buses, 80
trucks, 80 private cars and jeeps,70
taxi-cars and station wagons, 381 motor cycles and scooters, and 127
other motor vehicles operated district.
Bus Service
--Road transport was nationalized in the State
in 1947 to private such facilities to the raveling public as
stoppages at definite wayside places on the prescribed
routes, punctuality in the arrival
and departure of vehicles, fixed rates of fares and freights
and avoidance of overcrowding in
buses.
The U.P. Government Roadways was
constituted in to the U.P. State Road Transport Corporation in 1972 .The
number of nationalized routes and public buses plying from Shikohabad and Mainpuri sub- depots has increased
.The following statement
gives the names of the routes
in 1974-75 on which the buses of the
U.P. Road Transport Corporation, Agra region plied:
| Routes | Mileage(in km.) | Number of trips |
| Shikohabad Mainpuri | 51 | 6 |
| Shikohabad-Mainpuri-Korara | 29 | 1 |
| Shikohabad-Kishni Baya | 101 | 1 |
| Shikohabad-Kusmara | 303 | 1 |
| Shikohabad-Farrukhabad | 121 | 2 |
The district is linked by
the roadways to the district of Kanpur , Lucknow , Agra ,Etawah, Etah and Farrukhabad. Buses may also be
reserved for sight-seeing, excursions and marriage parties.
Railways
A railway line of the East India
Railway was opened for traffics in
the second half of the nineteenth century
, traversing the southern corner of
the district . It enters the district from Agra at
Makhanpur station and then after running 37km. in the district through stations at Shikohabad ,
Korara Bha dan leaves for Etawah .
A branch line between Shikohabad and Mainpuri
was opened for passenger traffic in
1905 , bringing the district headquarters on
the railway map of the country . Later
the whole line between line
Shikohabad and Farrukhabad was completed and
opened on January 1,1906 for traffic . It starts
from Shikohabad in the south - west
and goes to the south –east of the district , running through , besides Shikohabad , the station
at Araon, Takha , Tindauli, Mainpuri
city , Mainpuri Kuchehri, Bhongaon , and Mota in the district.
In November 1951, the railways were
nationalized and divided in to zones, Mainpuri
now lies on the Northern Zonal railway with headquarters at New Delhi.
Bridges
and Ferries
Bridges--There are a number of bridges and
culverts on the railway lines and roads in the
district, besides ten ferries under the Zila
Parishad .
Travel
Facilities
It is mentioned in the jatakas, that in past,
the roads were not dangerous for travelling
and in the
Ashokan edicts there were rest-houses
and wells on
the high roads . The Mauriyas had
a separate department to look after roads and
transport and provided a number of amenities
to travelers. Sher Shah Suri and the Mughal
emperors, particularly Jahangir, took great
interest in reducing the hardships of
travel by planting trees, building of serais and
wells along the sides of main
highways.
Due to the construction of big serais
on the old imperial road in the district ,
certain places have developed as commercial centres. There were serais at Nabiganj, Kuraoli, Sirsaganj, Bewar Bhongaon, Sarai Latif,
Mainpuri and Shikohabad . A few are now used as rest-houses but some others have been converted into such institutions as hospitals schools
The town of Mainpuri is centrally located having road
links with all the adjoining district of
Farrukhabad ,Etawah, Agra, and Etah and other districts of the State such as Mathura,
Lucknow and Kanpur. It possesses amenities like dharmaslas,
rest-houses , post and telegraph offices, telephones and
hospitals and a hospital , besides, of course, a police-station.
The inspection houses , rest-houses and dak bungalows in the district are maintained by
different departments of the government and
are chiefly for the use of their own their own officers
but officers of other departments, members of the public and tourists
are also accommodated in them on
payment , if accommodation can be spared .
A few hotels at Mainpuri and
Shikohabad provide lodging and boarding.
There are dharmasalas at Shikohabad ,
Kishni and certain other places also in
the district
. They are privately managed and the
charge is a nominal rent for the accommodation
; the visitor has to make his
own arrangements for boarding . Lists of inspection houses,dharmasalas etc; are given at the
end of the chapter in Statements A and
B
POST, TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE
Post-office --After the suppression of the struggle for the freedom of the country launched in 1857, the work of carrying and distributing the mails was entrusted
to the police
and that purpose offices were opened
at the tahsils
and the principal thanas. The system
proved unsatisfactory, and in 1865, a new scheme
was introduced, where by the
police
were relieved of postal duties and the distribution of the district dak started with a regular staff.The whole district was divided
into a number of circles, with a post -office
in each, the police –stations
generally on account of administrative
convenience, and the mails were carried by runners.There
were imperial dak lines from Mainpuri to the branch lines and district dak runners were employed to deliver the
dispatches.With the introduction of the
railways in the district the dak began to
carried by trains, the runners being employed in the interior of the
district . In 1870-71 about 1,18,747 deliveries were made by the department and amount of Rs 14,139 was earned . Further
improvements were made with a view to ensure the regular delivery of letters
in the villages and the system remained in
force till 1876-77 the administration of postal services was taken over by the Imperial Government . The
district dak was not, however, altogether replaced, only important offices were taken
over by the Imperial Government . There were 9 imperial post-offices functioning at Mainpuri , Bewar,Bhongaon, Karhal Kuraoli,
Mustafabad ,Sirsaganj, Shikohabad and Jasrana. The district dak offices numbered 13 and were located at Azamabad
Araun,Ekah,
Barnahal, Ghiror, Kurara Buzurg, Kishni ,
Kusmara, Ponchha, Nasirpur, Akharpur Aunchha, Pharha and Sultanganj. In 1907 , the
district dak
services were abolished and the
post-offices were placed under the management
of the Government of India.
The development and extension of roads and the consequent in crease in vehicular traffic and growth of population have led
to the opening of more and more
post-offices. In 1908 , there were 10
sub offices and 22 branch offices in addition to head office in the district . In 1974-75, they totaled 207;
about 9 villages being served by a
post-office . The number of post-offices per
100 sq.km. in rural areas of the district is
shown in the
following table :
| Tahsil | No. of post-offices per 100 sq. km. |
| Mainpuri | 4 |
| Shikohabad | 4 |
| Bhongaon | 4 |
| Jasrana | 3 |
| Karhal | 3 |
The Post Telegraph, a
Central Government establishment , is presided over by a director
-general, under are the postmasters generals of the various States. The district
is in the administrative jurisdiction of post-offices,Etawah, postal division with headquarters at
Etawah. He works under the adminstrative
control of the postmaster general of Uttar
Pradesh with heaquarters at Lucknow .
STATEMENT - A
List of Inspection Houses Reference Page No. 130
| Village/town | Name | Managing department |
| TAHSIL MAINPURI | ||
| Mainpuri | P.W.D. Inspection house | Public Works Department |
| Ditto | Zila Parishad inspection house | Zila Parishad |
| Ditto | Hydel inspection house | State electricity board |
| Ditto | Canal inspection house | Irrigation Department |
| Dunnahar | Canal inspection house | Irrigation Department |
| Ghiror | Canal inspection house | Irrigation Department |
| Aurangbad | Canal inspection house | Irrigation Department |
| Sarai Latif | Canal inspection house | Irrigation Department |
| Gangari | Canal inspection house | Irrigation Department |
| Brijhia | Canal inspection house | Irrigation Department |
| Kurra | Canal inspection house | Irrigation Department |
| Karhal | Dak Bungalow | Revenue Department |
| TAHSIL BHONGAON | ||
| Darapur Rasim | Inspection house | Irrigation (Canal ) Department |
| Belon | Inspection house | Irrigation (Canal ) Department |
| Semrai | Inspection house | Irrigation (Canal ) Department |
| Sewa | Inspection house | Irrigation (Canal ) Department |
| Ong | Inspection house | Irrigation (Canal ) Department |
| Saman | Inspection house | Irrigation (Canal ) Department |
| Dhandhos | Inspection house | Irrigation (Canal ) Department |
| Ram Nagar | Inspection house | Irrigation (Canal ) Department |
| Barauli | Inspection house | Irrigation (Canal ) Department |
| Nabiganj | Inspection house | Public Works Department |
| Kusmara | Inspection house | Zila parishad |
STATEMENT B
LIST OF DHARMSALAS
| Village/town/mohalla | Name of the Dharmshalas |
| Mainpuri | Narain Dharmsala |
| Mainpuri | Parvati Dharmsala |
| Mainpuri | Sabitri Dharmsala |
| Mainpuri | Jain Dharmsala |
| Mainpuri | Chaube Dharmsala |
| Mainpuri | Kr. Lal Singh Man Singh's Dharmsala |
| Mainpuri | Agrawal Dharmsala |
| Mainpuri | Adhati Singh Dharmsala |
| Kuraoli | Tiwari Dharmsala |
| Kuraoli | Lala Bilas Rai Dharmsala |
| Mahloli Village | Dharmsala |
| Karhal | Jain Dharmsala |
| Jasrana | Dharmsala |