1. History and etymology

2. Geography

3. Economy

4. Demographics

5. Education
    CBSE affiliated Schools  UP Board affiliated intermediate colleges  UP Board affiliated Schools 

6. Notable people

7. Transport
    Air  Railways   Road    Expressway  

8. Famous Temples

9. Region

10. References

11. External links

Pratapgarh, also called Belha or Bela Pratapgarh, is a District of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Pratapgarh district, part of the Allahabad Division.

It is one of the oldest districts of Uttar Pradesh, that came into existence in the year 1858. It is at a height of 491m from sea level.

History and etymology

The district is named after its headquarter town Belha Pratapgarh, commonly known as Pratapgarh. Raja Pratap Bhadur Singh (1628–1682), a local king, located his capital at Rampur near the old town of Aror. There he built a garh (fort) and called it Pratapgarh after himself. Subsequently, the area around the fort started to be known as Pratapgarh. When the district was constituted in 1858, its headquarters was established at Belha, which came to be known as Belha Pratapgarh, the name Belha presumably being derived from the temple of Belha Bhawani on the bank of river Sai. It is popularly known as "Belha Maai" – meaning Mother Goddess Belha.

Several human skeletons along some animal bones and a number of a small stones implements, belonging probably to the Neolithic, have been unearthed in Archaeological exploration at Sarai Nahar in Kunda. It is the only site in the entire valley of Ganga which has yielded human skeleton of such an early age as also the Stone Age implements. On the left bank of river Sai there stand a ruined "Kot" representing a Buddhist Stupa.

Geography

Sai and the Ganges are the main rivers flowing through Pratapgarh district. The district lies between the parallels of 25°34′ and 26°11′ north latitude and between the meridians of 81°19′ and 82°27′ east longitude extending for some {{convert|110|km|mi}} from west to east. It is bounded on the north by the district of Sultanpur, on the south by Allahabad, on the east by Jaunpur, on the west by Fatehpur and north-west by Raebareli. In the south-west the Ganges forms the boundary of the district for about {{convert|50|km|mi}}. Separating it from Fatehpur and Allahabad and in the extreme north-east the Gomti forms the boundary for about {{convert|6|km|mi}}. According to the Central Statistics Office, India, the district has an area of {{convert|3730|km2|mi2}}.

Economy

In 2006, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Pratapgarh one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640).^[1] It is one of the 34 districts in Uttar Pradesh currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).^[1]

Primarily, an agragrian district, for a while now, Pratapgarh has risen in ranks as the top producer of Aonla (Amla). The fruit grown here is sold all over India and the world in the form of sweets and medicines.

Demographics

As of 2011 Pratapgarh district's population is 3,209,141.^[2] This gives it a ranking of 109th in India (out of a total of 640).^[3] The district has a population density of {{convert| 854 |PD/sqkm|PD/sqmi}} .^[3] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 16.2%.^[3] Pratapgarh has a sex ratio of 1005 females for every 1000 males,^[3] and a literacy rate of 73.1%.^[3]

Education

CBSE affiliated Schools

• ATL School
• Aatreya Academy
• AMEER MEMORIAL PUBLIC SCHOOL
• BABU RAM ADHAR SINGH SOMVANSHI INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
• Central Public School
• City Public School
• DOLPHIN PUBLIC SCHOOL
• Einstein Public School
• Ishan Public School
• JAMUNA MALTI GURUKULAM PUBLIC SCHOOL
• Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya
• N.B.S. Public School
• New Angels Senior Secondary School
• Pt Nagesh Dutt Public School
• Rajkiya ashram paddhati vidyalaya
• S.R.S International School
• St. Xavier's School Patti Pratapgarh
• Sangam International School
• Sanskar Global School
• Shanti Public School

UP Board affiliated intermediate colleges

• Shri ajab Narayan intermediate college,kohra,bhupimau,pratapgarh
• Abul Kalam Azad Inter College PBH
• Bharat Singh Inter College Kumhiya Patti Pratapgarh
• K.P.Inter College Pratapgarh
• Pt.JAWAHAR LAL NEHRU Inter college Ramapur Pratapgarh
• Rai Badripal Singh inter college Birapur
• Shitla Prasad Intermediate College
• Shivram Intermediate College
• Ganga Prasad Singh Intermediate College,Gonde Pratapgarh
• Dhagvan Deen Dube Intermediate College Paharpur Pratapgarh
• Raja Ram Kisan Inter college Dabhiyar Pratapgarh

UP Board affiliated Schools

• ramchandra public school pratapgarh
• St. Namdev Convent School
• Sarswati Sishu Mandir
• Shivrajpur Prathmik Vidyalaya
• Suresh Chandra Mishra Mahavidalaya
• Suryansh Public School
• Ganga Prasad Singh Public School,Gonde Pratapgarh

Notable people

• Munishwar Datt Upadhyay (1898-1983), statesman, leader in the Indian independence movement, educationist and the first Member of Parliament from Pratapgarh
• Raja Bajrang Bahadur Singh, founder vice chancellor of Pant Nagar University and later the first Governor of Himanchal Pradesh
• Dinesh Singh (1925-1995), Deputy Minister in the ministry of external affairs and served as a member of parliament
• Babu Gulab Singh (died 1857), Indian Freedom Fighter, participated and sacrificed in the war of Indian Rebellion of 1857
• Harivansh Rai Bachchan (1907-2003) poet and professor of Allahabad University, best known for his early work Madhushala; father of Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan
• Raghuraj Pratap Singh (born 1969) also known as Raja Bhaiya, politician, independent member of legislative assembly
• Jagadguru Kripalu Maharaj (1922 - 2013), Hindu spiritual leader and Saint from Mangarh
• Rajesh Kumar Mishra born in July 1970 S/o Shri Janaradn Prashad Mishra resident Dharuli Mufrid he is currently National Executive Member BJP cooperative cell Central Office Delhi from the district Pratapgarh he is a social worker and activist from the district.
• Bhanu Pratap Singh S/O Ram Singh Nickname NiTiN (born 25 February 1995) Village Amawan,Lalganj (Ministry of Agriculture Government of India)

Transport

Air

Nearest airport is Allahabad Airport located 70km away from city in Allahabad.

Railways

Railway is the main transport form in this district and some junctions are chilbilla , bhupiamau and Pratapgarh . Pratapgarh Junction railway station handles 42 trains daily.

• Old Delhi – Pratapgarh: Padmawat Express Daily from old Delhi station at 7:50 pm Train No. 14207/14208 Vai Ghaziabad-Morababad-Bareilly-Lucknow-Raibareli-Amethi.
• New Delhi – Varanasi: Kashi Vishwanath Express Daily from New Delhi station at 11:40 am Train No. 14257/14248 Vai Ghaziabad-Morababad-Bareilly-Lucknow-Raibareli-Amethi.
• Delhi Anand Vihar (T) – Varanasi: Garibrath Express from Anand Vihar Mega Terminal station at 6:15 pm Train No. 22407/22408 Vai Ghaziabad-Morababad-Bareilly-Lucknow-Raibareli-Amethi.
• Delhi Anand Vihar (T) – Puri: Neelanchal Express Sunday, Tuesday, Friday from Anand Vihar Mega Terminal station at 6:30 am Train No. 12875/12876 Vai Ghaziabad-Aligarh-Etawah-Kanpur-Lucknow-Raibareli-Amethi.
• New Delhi – New Farakka: NDLS–NFK Express Thursday from New Delhi station at 6:00 pm Train No. 14003/14004 Vai Ghaziabad-Morababad-Bareilly-Lucknow-Raibareli-Amethi.
• Old Delhi – Howrah: JSM–HWH SF Express Thursday from Old Delhi Station at 3:05 pm Train No. 12371/12372 Vai Ghaziabad-Morababad-Bareilly-Lucknow-Raibareli-Amethi.
• Chandigarh - Kunda (Pratapgarh) - Allahabad Unchahar Express/14218 Mail/Express. (Travel Time: 19h 20m 39 halts Distance: 893 km Avg Speed: 46 km/hr).
• Pratapgarh to Mumbai - Saket Express(Train Number 11068) & Udyog Nagari Express (Train Number 12173)

Road

• Allahabad -Faizabad Highway (NH-96)
• Lucknow Varanasi highway (NH-31)
• Patti Raniganj Delhupur road (MDR-164/E)

Expressway

Ganga expressway (coming soon)

Famous Temples

• Maa Pratapvaahini Sheetla Mata Temple
• Maa Panchmukhi Mandir
• Baba Kachnarveer Dham (An ancient temple of Lord Shiva, about 500 years old)
• Shri Manishwar Mahadev Mandir
• Aushaan Devi Temple
• Belha Devi Mandir
• Baba Harihar Nath Mandir
• Baba Shobh Nath Mandir
• Bhayaharan Nath Dham
• Bhakti Dham Temple
• Yaksha-Yudhishthira Samvad Asthal (Ajgara Dham)
• Chandika Dham
• Chamunda Dham, Baghrai
• Shri Ram Janki Hanuman Mandir
• Paliyan Nath Temple
• Baba Balukeshwar Nath Dham
• Baba Gopnath Dham
• Baba Belkharnath Dham (Famous with Kaanwariya Festival)
• Maharaj Jhatku Shah Temple in Dharauli Mufrid

Region

Pratapgarh district comes under Awadh region

References

External links

• Pratapgarh District Website
• Commercial website of Pratapgarh District
• Unofficial Pratapgarh District Website
• Pratapgarh News & Business Directory
• Pratapgarh News
• Unofficial Belha Devi web site
• Official Ghuisarnath Dham web site
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110820053031/http://bhayaharannathdham.com/ Official Bhayaharan Nath Dham web site]
• School, Kun
• Pratapgarh App

• Taisha miller
• Taishan
• Taishan County
• Taishan dialect
• Tai Shan (disambiguation)
• Taishan District
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• Taishan District, Tai'an
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• Taishanese dialect
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• Taishanese language
• Taishanese people
• Taishanese people in Hong Kong
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