Meerut
| Meerut मेरठ |
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 India
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| State : | Uttar Pradesh | ||
| District : | Meerut | ||
| Sub-district : | Meerut | ||
| Location : | 29 ° 0 ′ N , 77 ° 42 ′ E | ||
| Height : | 225 m | ||
| Area : | 142 km² | ||
| Residents : | 1,305,429 (2011) | ||
| Population density : | 9193 inhabitants / km² | ||
| Website : | Meerut | ||
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Meerut ( Hindi मेरठ ) is a city of millions in the fertile Doab landscape in the state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India .
Location and climate
The city of Meerut is located in the alluvial land of the Doab at an altitude of about 225 m, about 65 km (driving distance) northeast of the Indian capital Delhi . The climate is often humid and, by Indian standards, quite rainy (approx. 935 mm / year), with most of the precipitation falling in the monsoon season , ie from late June to mid-September.
population
Official population statistics have only been kept and published since 1991 .; older figures are also available for Meerut:
| year | 1847 | 1901 | 1951 | 1991 | 2001 | 2011 |
| Residents | 29,014 | 118,539 | 233.183 | 753.778 | 1,068,772 | 1,305,429 |
The Hindi and Urdu- speaking population consists of about 61% Hindus and about 36% Muslims ; Jains , Christians , Sikhs , Buddhists and others are numerically small minorities . As is customary in censuses in northern India, the male population is about 12% higher than the female.
economy
Meerut has been the center of the agriculturally productive region of the Doab since ancient times. The city acted as a center for handicrafts, trade and services of all kinds. It experienced an enormous economic boom under British rule and after the independence of India (1947). Because of its proximity to Delhi, numerous industrial companies of all kinds (paper, chemicals, electronics, tires, etc.) have settled here - in particular the manufacture of sportswear and shoes as well as musical instruments and armaments or weapons for domestic as well as international film productions are to be mentioned ( Gladiator , 300 et al.).
history
Meerut is associated with the city of Hastinapur mentioned in the Mahabharata , the home of the 5 Pandava brothers; a place of the same name is about 35 km northeast. At some point the site was destroyed by a flood of the Ganges . The archaeological site of Alamgir Pur , about 25 km west of Meerut, is considered to be the most easterly evidence of the Indus cultures . In the 4th and 3rd centuries BC Meerut was a center of Buddhism and Emperor Ashoka (r. 268–232 BC) had an edict column built here, which was brought to Delhi by Firuz Shah Tughluq at the end of the 14th century.
Around the year 1018 the north of India was devastated by the armies of Mahmud of Ghaznis ; the Friday Mosque ( Jama Masjid (Meerut) ) originally dates from this period. In 1192 Qutb-ud-Din Aibak took the city, which from then on belonged to the Sultanate of Delhi , on behalf of Muhammad of Ghurs . In 1398 she had to surrender to the Mongol army of Timur . After the Battle of Panipat (1526) it belonged to the Mughal Empire and became a mint. In the 18th century, Meerut came under the rule of the Marathas and the Sikhs ; since 1803 it was under British rule .
Meerut is known as the city where the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857 against the British colonial rulers began. The reason for the uprising against the British was the introduction of new rifles whose cartridges were said to have been treated with beef tallow and / or lard . The occasion is understandable, as the Hindus cattle are sacred and Hindus and Muslims pigs are considered unclean, and this was only the advanced triggers. The deeper reason, however, was the poor social and economic situation of the soldiers and their families.
Attractions
Despite its long history, for centuries there were no or only very few buildings made of natural stone in the sandy and loamy alluvial land of the Doab and also in Meerut; this had to be transported from afar or burned on site and so most of the stone buildings were not built until the British era.
- The oldest stone building is the Friday Mosque, built around 1020, which, however, was renewed under the Mughal Mughal Humayun in the middle of the 16th century.
- The Baley Miyan Mausoleum (Hindi: बले मियाँ की दरगाह, Bale Miyan ki Dargah ) was built by Qutb ud-Din Aibak in honor of his general Ghazi Saiyyad Salar Masud.
- The Shahpir Mausoleum ( Hindi : शाहपीर की दरगाह, Shahpeer ki Dargah ) was built by Nur Jahan , Jahangir's favorite wife , in 1628 in honor of a Sufi saint from red sandstone from Rajasthan . However, it has remained unfinished.
- The Suraj Kund , built in the early 18th century, is a pond within a well-tended garden area, fed by water from the Ganges Canal .
- The oldest stone building from more recent times is the Anglican St. John's Church , consecrated in 1822 , one of the oldest churches in northern India.
- The Augarnath Temple (or Kali Paitan Mandir ) is dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva . It stands at the point where the mutineers of 1857 planned their resistance.
- The most beautiful building in the city is Mustafa Castle , a palatial mausoleum built between 1896 and 1900 in honor of the poet Nawab Mustafa Khan Shefta .
sons and daughters of the town
- Haji Yakub Qureshi , Indian politician
- Annu Rani (* 1992), Indian athlete
Web links
- Meerut, sights - photo + brief information (English)
- Meerut Institute of Technology - Photo + tooltips (English)
