Meerut
Meerut is a metropolitan city and a municipal corporation in Meerut district in
the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is an ancient city with a fusion culture of
old and traditions values and morden advancements. It is located 56 km (35 miles)
north-east of New Delhi, the capital of india. It is a part of the National Capital
Region of India. It is the 16th largest metropolitan area in India and the
25th largest city in India. It ranked 292 in 2006 and 242 in 2020 in the list
of largest cities and urban areas in the world. Meerut is the 63rd fastest growing
urban area in the world. It is also the fastest developing city of Uttar Pradesh
after Noida and Ghaziabad. It has one of the biggest army garrisons/cantonments
in this part of the country.
The city is famous for its scissors, Handloom Cloths, Gold Jewellery, sports goods
(especially cricket goods), sweet meals, Gazak and Rewri; and is sometimes called
the city of scissors or the sports capital of India. Most of all, the city is famous
for the Indian Mutiny of 1857, which began here. With the cheap availability of
land as compared to Delhi, and being in the proximity of Delhi, the city is fast
developing as an industrial and education hub in Western Uttar Pradesh.
History
After the archaeological excavations at ‘Vidura-ka-tila’, a collection of several
mounds, in 1950-52, a site 23 miles north-east of Meerut, it was concluded to be
remains of the ancient city of Hastinapur, the capital of Kauravas and Pandavas
of Mahabharata[unreliable source?, which was washed away by Ganges floods.
Fragment of the 6th Ashoka Pillar in sandstone, with inscription or Edicts of Ashoka,
in Brahmi, originally from Meerut, now at British Museum.
However, even before the vedic period, Meerut contained a Harappan settlement known
as Alamgirpur. It was also the Easternmost settlement of the Indus valley civilization.
Meerut had been a centre of Buddhism in the period of Mauryan Emperor Ashoka (r.
273 BC to 232 BC.), and remains of Buddhist structures were found near the Jama
Masjid in the present day city.
In the eleventh century AD, the south-west part of the district was ruled by Har
Dat, the Dor Raja of Bulandshahr who built a fort, which was long known for its
strength and finds mention in Ain-i-Akbari. He was later defeated by Mahmud
Ghazni in 1018. Though, the first big invasion on the city came later in 1192 AD,
from Mohammad Ghori, when his general Qutb-ud-din Aybak attacked the city, and converted
all the Hindu temples into mosques. However, a much worse fate lay ahead for
the district, which came with the invasion of Timur in 1398, during which the Rajputs
offered a tough resistance at the fort of Loni, where he fought the Sultan of Delhi,
Muhammad Tughlaq. But, eventually they were all defeated and all the 1,00,000 prisoners
his army had taken in since his invasion of India were massacred, according to Timur’s
own accounts in Tuzk-e-Taimuri. Thereafter he went on to attack Delhi, where
he again massacred the local population, and returned to attack Meerut town, then
ruled by an Afghan chief, Ilias, and took the city in two days, leading to widespread
devastation, before heading North once again.
During the rule of Mughal Emperor, Akbar the Great (r. 1556-1605), there was a mint
for copper coins here.1857 Mutineers' Mosque
Meerut is famously associated with the Indian Rebellion of 1857 against the British
East India Company,[15] when chants of the popular Hindi slogan "Dilli Chalo" ("Let's
march to Delhi!") were first raised here. Meerut cantonment is the place where the
rebellion started when Hindu and Muslim soldiers were given rifle cartridges rumoured
to have a coating made of animal fat. The bullet wrapping was to be opened by mouth
before use, which affected the religious sensibilities of both Muslims and Hindus
as the fat used was alleged to be derived from lard and tallow; cows are held sacred
by Hindus and Muslims consider the pig unclean. During this revolt, Meerut leapt
into international prominence, when on 24 April, 1857 eighty-five of the ninety
troopers of the third cavalry refused to touch the cartridges and after court-martial
were sentenced to ten years imprisonment. This marked the beginning of a widespread
revolt across northern India.
Meerut was also the venue of the controversial Meerut Conspiracy Case in March 1929,
in which several trade unionists, including three Englishmen, were arrested for
organizing Indian-rail strike. This immediately caught attention back in England,
inspired the 1932 play titled Meerut Prisoners, by Manchester street theatre group,
the 'Red Megaphones', highlighting the detrimental effects of colonization and industrialization[17]
The city and district also suffered from communal (Hindu-Sikh) riots in 1984
and (Hindu-Muslim) riots in 1982 and 1987. In 2006, a fire at a consumer
electronics fair in Victoria Park Stadium killed over 56 (official counting) people.
But, according to some unofficial sources, the number of affected people is pegged
at more than 1500.
Media
Meerut is becoming an important media center, as journalists from all over Uttar
Pradesh and other Indian states are working in Meerut. Recently a lot of news channels
have started showing programs piroting in and around meerut. As media centers are situated in Meerut, the city
is getting a good amount of publicity on the national platform. The law and order
situation has improved a lot in the recent past and media has had an important role
to play in it. Radio stations shared with Delhi are Radio City 91.1 MHz, Big FM
92.7 MHz, Red FM 93.5 MHz, Radio One 94.3 MHz, Hit 95(95 MHz), Radio Mirchi 98.3
MHz, AIR FM Rainbow 102.6 MHz, Meow FM 104.8 MHz, AIR FM Gold 106.4 MHz. Many popular Bollywood artists hailed from
Meerut. Some of them are Mandakini (actress), Vishal Bhardwaj, Deepti Bhatnagar,
and the internationally acclaimed actor Naseeruddin Shah. Meerut is also the birthplace
of famous Bollywood singer Kailash Kher and Arun Govil who played the character
of Rama in India's most popular religious Telivison serial Ramayana.
Meerut also shelters some of the most renowned writers of India who have given a
major contribution in education, like M.L. Khanna, R.S. Aggarwal, M.K. Aggarwal,
and O.P. Aggarwal, Hari Om Pawar; famous poet of "Veer Rash" It has some of the most popular publication houses like Bharti
Bhawan publications, Chitra Prakashan, Jai Prakash Publications, Bharat Bharti Publications,
Rastogi Publications, and Vidya Publications.
Education
Meerut has always remained great attraction for IIT coaching for Western U.P. students
after Delhi. Meerut is an education hub of Western Uttar Pradesh having a total
of 4 universities, 50 Engineering colleges, 27 other colleges and countless institutitions
and schools. The city is home to the Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel University of Agriculture
& Technology and Chaudhary Charan Singh University (earlier known as Meerut University).
Swami Vivekanand Subharti University, and others.
A few well-known engineering colleges of Meerut are Sir Chhotu Ram Institute of
Engineering & Technology, Forte Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), Indian Institute
of Management and Technology (I.I.M.T), Bharat Institute of Technology (B.I.T),Radha
Govind Engg. College(RGEC) , Meerut Institute of Engineering and Technology (M.I.E.T)
which was recently visited by renowned scientist & former president of India Dr.
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and Vidya College Of Engineering . The city currently has
two medical colleges, namely Subharti Medical College and the government run Lala Lajpat
Rai Memorial Medical College. The city's prominent academic colleges are Meerut
College, R.G Degree College and N.A.S College.
Schooling at its best in Meerut having Sophia girls school excluseviely for girls
St. Marrys school, St. Thomas school, all ICSE and ISC for boys, as well as co eds such as Delhi Public school,
and scores of others giving spectacular, record breaking results.
Sports
Meerut has given many international players in many sports. Praveen Kumar (alias PK),Suresh
Raina(Murad Nagar very Near to Meerut City) and Raman Lamba, Indian cricket players,
belong to Meerut, so does Ms. Sania Sheikh The shooting champion. There are two sports stadiums in Meerut, namely Kailash Prakash
sports stadium and Victoria Park (Bhama Shah Park) cricket stadium. Meerut is the
top producer of sports goods (specially cricket goods) all over India. Vats sports
is a well-known goods producer. Meerut organises many sports tournaments. Kailash
Praksah Sports Stadium boasts of a National level Synthetic Basketball court and
swimming pool.
Transport
Meerut is the biggest city in NCR after Delhi.The nearest airport is the Indira
Gandhi International Airport which is about 80 km away. By road, Meerut is well-connected
to nearby cities like Delhi, Noida, Hapur, Faridabad, Modinagar, Ghaziabad, Saharanpur,
Haridwar etc. A large number of people commute to Delhi, Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad
and Gurgaon every day for work. Two national highway (NH-58, NH-119) pass through
Meerut. An expressway from Delhi to Meerut is under development.
There are 2 main bus terminals, namely Bhainsali bus terminal and Sohrab Gate bus
terminal from where Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) buses
ply to cities all over the state. Meerut has two railway stations Meerut City and
Meerut Cantt. The city is well connected to Delhi, Ghaziabad, Agra, Dehradun and
others by train.
Low Floor City Buses, Normal City Buses, auto rickshaws and rickshaws are convenient
public transport options to commute within the city. Many new transport infrastructure
projects like inner ring road, outer ring road and construction of new flyovers
have been passed. An airport (Bhim Rao Ambedkar Domestic Airport) is also under
construction and is expected to be completed by 2010.
Tourist Destinations
Augarnath Temple especially at 2nd Navratri night Meerut, with its imminent history and luxuriant
picturesque backdrop has a well-developed tourism sector. The notable tourist destinations
include:
• Jain temples of Hastinapur- According to Jain tradition, Hastinapur was one of
the earliest Indian cities like Ayodhya and Kashi and came into existence during
the time of Rishabhadeva (the first tirthankara) whose grandson, Somaprabha, was
the first ruler of the place. It is also said to be the birth place of three Jain
tirthankars, Shantinatha, Kunthnnath and Arahanatha.
• Jain Temple at Mohalla Teergaran - It is the oldest Jain temple of Meerut amongst
40 Jain temples. Its main statue is of Jain tirthanker Shantinath, which was built
at the same time when the main statue of Jain Temple, Hastinapur was built. This
temple is preserved by the Indian government for its old art work. The Digumber
statues in the temple are really fascinating. It's full name is 'Shri Shantinath
Digamber Jain Madir - Teergaran (Meerut)'.
• St. John's Church- This church was established by Chaplin Reverend Henry Fisher
on behalf of the East India Company in 1819 in the cantonment area and was completed
in 1822. It is considered one of the oldest churches in North India. The Church
was dedicated to the people by Bishop Wilson. It has a seating capacity of 10,000
people. During the war of 1857, this church was the scene of heavy fighting between
Indians and the British forces.
• The Jama Masjid was built by Hasan Mahdi, Mahmud of Ghazni’s wazir (chief minister)
in 1019 AD (older than the Kutb Minar). That makes it the 1st Masjid in North India.
And although it was restored by Humayun it is one of the oldest Muslim mosques in
India. The Tomb of Shah Pir was erected by the empress Nur Jahan in honour of a
local Muslim saint. Qutub-ud-din Aibak is believed to have built the Maqbara of
Salar Masood Ghazi (Baley Miyan). There are other mausolea and mosques indicating
the strong Muslim presence in Meerut.
• Martyr's Memorial (Shaheed Smarak)
• Gandhi Bagh (Company Garden)
• Suraj Kund
• Chandi Devi Temple
• Mansa Devi Temple
• Bale Miyan ki Dargah
• Shahpeer Sahab ki Dargah
• Jama Masjid (Built in 11th Century)
• Shahi Eid Gaah (Capacity of 1,00,000 Namazi)
• Basilica of Our Lady of Graces, Sardhana (Sardhana Church)
• Parikshitgarh
• Baleni
• Barnawa