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Aligarh
Aligarh (Hindi pronunciation: [əliːgəɽʱ]; formerly known as Koil[5]) is
a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative Aligarh
headquarters of Aligarh district and lies 342 kilometres (213 mi) City
northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately 130
kilometres (81 mi) southeast of the capital, New Delhi. The cities
and districts which adjoin Aligarh are: Gautam Buddha Nagar,
Bulandshahr, Sambhal, Badaun, Kasganj, Hathras, Etah and
Mathura, as well as Palwal district of Haryana. As of 2011, Aligarh is
the 53rd most populous city in India.

The recorded history of Aligarh begins in the 12th century, under the
name Kol.[6] Kol was a major city of the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal
Empire, serving as both a political and economic centre. Beginning
with a major rebuilding of the Aligarh Fort in the 16th century, the
city was renamed several times before eventually settling on the
current name, Aligarh, in the mid-1700s. It is notable as the seat of
Aligarh Muslim University, which was founded here as
Mohammadan Anglo-Oriental College in 1875, initiating the Aligarh
Movement.
From top, left to right: Sir Syed Mosque; Aligarh
Clock Tower; Bab-e-Syed, Church of Ascension;
History Aligarh Habitat Centre; Kennedy House
Complex
Written references to the city commence only from 12th century
onward; however, archaeological records suggest that the town used
to be inhabited by Jains.[7] The area of Aligarh before the Ghurid
conquest of the region was under the sway of Dor Rajputs in 12th
century.[5] Aligarh

In 1194, Qutb-ud-din Aibak mounted a successful invasion of the

region and Hisam-ud-din Ulbak was installed as the first Muslim
governor; court-historian Hasan Nizami noted Kol to be "one of the
most celebrated fortresses of Hind".[7] Beginning the 13th century,
the place featured — as Kol or Koil — in multiple Persian (as well as
non-Persian) Sultanate sources as a center of economic prominence,
especially for production of distilled wine.[5][7][a] By the mid-13th Location in Uttar Pradesh, India
Show map of Uttar Pradesh
century, the town commanded enough importance for (would-be
Show map of India
Sultan) Ghiyas ud din Balban to erect a minaret.[7] Show all
Coordinates: 27.88°N 78.08°E
Under the Khiljis and Tughlaqs, the prominence continued
unabated; it had become an iqta by the times of Alauddin Khalji.[7] Country India
State Uttar Pradesh
Kol is mentioned in Ibn Battuta's Rihla, when Ibn Battuta, along Division Aligarh
with 15 ambassadors representing Ukhaantu Khan, emperor of the District Aligarh
Mongol Chinese Yuan dynasty, travelled to Kol city en route to the
Named after Ali ibn Abi Talib[1]
coast at Cambay (in Gujarat) in 1341.[8][9] According to Battuta, it Government
would appear that the district was then in a very disturbed state • Type Municipal Corporation

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since the escort of the Emperor's embassy had to assist in relieving • Body Aligarh Municipal
Jalali from an attacking body of Hindus and lost an officer in the Corporation
• Mayor Prashant Singhal
fight. Ibn Batuta calls Kol "a fine town surrounded by mango
(BJP)[2]
groves". From these same groves the environs of Kol would appear
to have acquired the name Sabzabad or "the green country". Elevation 178 m (584 ft)
Population (2011)[3]
In the reign of Akbar, Kol was made a Sirkar and included the • Total 874,408
dasturs of Marahra, Kol ba Haveli, Thana Farida and Akbarabad.[10] • Rank 53
Akbar and Jahangir visited Kol on hunting expeditions. Jahangir Demonym Aligarian
clearly mentions the forest of Kol, where he killed wolves.[11]
Language
During the time of Ibrahim Lodhi, Muhammad, son of Umar, was • Official Hindi[4]
the governor of Kol. He built a fort at Kol and named the city • Additional official Urdu[4]
Muhammadgarh, after himself, in 1524–25. Sabit Khan, who was • Regional Braj Bhasha
then the governor of this region, rebuilt the old Lodhi fort and Time zone UTC+5:30 (IST)
named the town Sabitgarh, after himself. PIN Code 202001, 202002
Telephone code 0571
The ruler of Koil was Bargujar King Bahadur Singh who, in 1753, Vehicle registration UP-81
rose against the destruction of Hindu temples.[12] The Jat ruler,
Website aligarh.nic.in (https://ali
Surajmal, with consent of Safdar Jang, occupied the fort of Koil. garh.nic.in/)
Bahadur Singh continued the battle from another fort and died
fighting in what is known as the "Battle of Ghasera". It was renamed Ramgarh and Rao Durjan Singh Poonia of
Bijauli was made the kiledar of the fort.[13] When a Persian Mughal Shia commander, Najaf Khan, captured
Ramgarh, he renamed it and gave it its present name of Aligarh.[14] Aligarh Fort (also called Aligarh Qila), as it
stands today, was built by French engineers under the control of French officers Benoît de Boigne and Perron.[11]

Battle of Aligarh (1803)

The Battle of Aligarh was fought on 1 September 1803 during the Second Anglo-Maratha
War (1803–1805) at Aligarh Fort. The British 76th Regiment, now known as the Duke of
Wellington's Regiment besieged the fort, which was under the control of the French officer
Perron, and established British rule. In 1804, the Aligarh district was formed by the union
of the second, third and fourth British divisions with the addition of Anupshahr from
Muradabad and Sikandra Rao from Etawa. On 1 August 1804, Claude Russell was
appointed the first Collector of the new district.[15]

Administration
General Lord Gerard
Aligarh district is divided into five tehsils, namely Kol Tehsil, Khair Tehsil, Atrauli, Lake who oversaw the
Siege of Aligarh
Gabhana and Iglas. These tehsils are further divided into 12 blocks.

The city is administered by Nagar Nigam Aligarh (Municipal Corporation), which is

responsible for performing civic administrative functions administered by Mayor and Municipal Commissioner (PCS
Officer). Infrastructure development of the city is looked after by the Aligarh Development Authority (ADA)
administered by Divisional Commissioner (chairman) and vice-chairman (PCS Officer).

Aligarh is the headquarters of Aligarh Police Range and Aligarh Division. A DIG looks after Aligarh for legal
condition and law; a Commissioner looks for four districts of Aligarh Division (Aligarh, Etah, Hathras, Kasganj).

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Demographics
According to the 2011 Census, Aligarh has a total population of
Religions in Aligarh city (2011)[16] 874,408, of which 461,772 are males and 412,636 are females.
Religion Percent
Hinduism 55.36% Population in the age range 0–6 years is 119,543. The literacy rate is
Islam 42.64% 59.15%, of which the male literacy rate is 63.42% and female literacy
Christianity 0.53% rate is 54.37%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Aligarh
Other or not stated 0.47% was 68.5%, of which male literacy rate was 62.9% and the female
Distribution of religions literacy rate was 70.8%. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
have a population of 138,184 and 332 respectively. There were
147,363 households in Aligarh as of 2011.[3] The city lies in the
cultural region of Braj.[17]

Sunni Muslim, Aligarh Shia Muslim, Aligarh

Hindi is the most spoken language. Urdu is the second-largest language.[18]

Geography

Location
Aligarh is located at the coordinates 27.88°N 78.08°E.[19] It has an elevation of
approximately 178 metres (587 feet). The city is in the middle portion of the doab,
the land between the Ganges and the Yamuna rivers. The Grand Trunk Road
Languages in Aligarh (2011)[18] passes through it via NH-91 is 134 km from capital of India.

Hindi (81.5%)
Urdu (17.2%)
Climate
Others (1.20%)
Aligarh has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen BSh) a little too dry to be a
monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate (Cwa). Summers start in April
and are hot with temperatures peaking in May. The average temperature range is 28–38 °C (82–100 °F). The
monsoon season starts in late June, continuing until early October, bringing high humidity. Aligarh gets most of its
annual rainfall of 800 millimetres (31 in) during these months. Temperatures then decrease, and winter sets in
December, and continues until February. Temperatures range between 2–11 °C (36–52 °F). Winters in Aligarh are
generally mild, but 2011–12 experienced the lowest temperature of 1 °C. The fog and cold snaps are extreme.

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Climate data for Aligarh (1991–2020, extremes 1932–2011)

Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year

Record 30.7 33.3 41.7 44.8 47.5 46.7 44.5 42.1 40.2 41.7 36.1 32.8 47.5
high °C (°F) (87.3) (91.9) (107.1) (112.6) (117.5) (116.1) (112.1) (107.8) (104.4) (107.1) (97.0) (91.0) (117.5)

Mean daily
19.1 23.5 30.2 37.1 40.2 38.6 34.9 33.2 33.3 32.8 27.5 22.0 31.1
maximum
(66.4) (74.3) (86.4) (98.8) (104.4) (101.5) (94.8) (91.8) (91.9) (91.0) (81.5) (71.6) (88.0)
°C (°F)

Mean daily
7.3 10.4 15.0 20.5 24.6 26.5 26.2 25.5 23.9 19.2 13.2 8.6 18.4
minimum
(45.1) (50.7) (59.0) (68.9) (76.3) (79.7) (79.2) (77.9) (75.0) (66.6) (55.8) (47.5) (65.1)
°C (°F)

Record low 0.0 1.7 3.9 10.9 15.5 18.6 19.9 19.9 14.8 11.0 2.9 1.2 0.0
°C (°F) (32.0) (35.1) (39.0) (51.6) (59.9) (65.5) (67.8) (67.8) (58.6) (51.8) (37.2) (34.2) (32.0)

Average
15.2 16.5 10.4 12.0 27.2 66.2 217.7 216.3 107.7 17.2 2.7 3.7 712.8
rainfall mm
(0.60) (0.65) (0.41) (0.47) (1.07) (2.61) (8.57) (8.52) (4.24) (0.68) (0.11) (0.15) (28.06)
(inches)

Average
1.4 1.4 1.3 1.0 2.7 4.0 9.3 10.3 5.5 1.0 0.3 0.4 38.6
rainy days

Average
relative
humidity 66 57 46 33 34 48 68 75 67 52 57 62 72
(%)
(at 17:30 IST)

Source: India Meteorological Department[20][21]

Economy
The city is an agricultural trade centre.[22] Agricultural product processing and manufacturing are important.[23]

Aligarh is an important business center of Uttar Pradesh and is most famous for its lock industry. Aligarh locks are
exported across the world. In 1870, Johnson & Co. was the first English lock firm in Aligarh. In 1890, the company
initiated production of locks on a small scale here.[24]

Aligarh is famous for its brass hardware and sculptures. The city has many manufacturers, exporters, and suppliers
involved in the brass, bronze, iron and aluminium industries.[25]

Indian Diecasting Industries which manufactures aluminium and zinc die-casting parts is located at Sasni Gate in
Aligarh.[26]

Harduaganj Thermal Power Station (also referred as Kasimpur Power House) is 15 km from the city. Narora Atomic
Power Station is located 50 km from Aligarh.

Education

Universities and colleges

Aligarh Muslim University campus is spread over 467.6 hectares in the city.
Ibn Sina Academy of Medieval Medicine and Sciences
Jamia Al-Barkaat
Mangalayatan University

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