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Etah is a town which is also the district headquarters of Etah district of Uttar Pradesh state, India.

Contents 1 History 2 Population 3 District At A Glance 4 Patna Bird Sanctuary 5 References

Etah was a town and district of British India, in the Agra division of the United Provinces. The town is situated on the Grand Trunk road. Pop. (1901) 8796. The district has an area of 1737 sq. m. The district consists for the most part of an elevated alluvial plateau, dipping down on its eastern slope into the valley of the Ganges. The uplands are irrigated by the Ganges canal. Between the modern bed of the Ganges and its ancient channel lies a belt of fertile land, covered with a rich deposit of silt, and abundantly supplied with natural moisture. A long line of swamps and hollows still marks the former course of the river; and above it rises abruptly the original cliff which now forms the terrace of the upland plain. The Kali Nadi, a small stream flowing in a deep and narrow gorge, passes through the centre of the district, and affords an outlet for the surface drainage. Etah was at an early date the seat of a primitive Aryan civilization, and the surrounding country is mentioned by Hsiian Tsang, the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim of the 7th century A.D., as rich in temples and monasteries. But after the bloody repression of Buddhism before the 8th century, the district seems to have fallen once more into the hands of aboriginal tribes, from whom it was wrested a second time by Rajputs during the course of their great migration eastward. With the rest of upper India it passed under the sway of Mahmud of Ghazni in 1017, and thenceforth followed the fortunes of the Mahommedan empire. At the end of the 18th century it formed part of the territory over which the wazir of Oudh had made himself ruler, and it came into the possession of the British government in 1801, under the treaty of Lucknow. During the mutiny of 1857 it was the scene of serious disturbances, coupled with the usual anarchic quarrels among the native princes. In 1901 the population was 863,948, showing an increase of 23% in the decade due to the extension of canal irrigation. It is traversed by a branch of the Rajputana railway from Agra to Cawnpore, with stations at Kasganj and Soron, which are the two largest towns. It has several printing presses, indigo factories, and factories for pressing cotton, and there is a considerable agricultural export trade.

2001 census: 107,098

 1.     Area (sq. k.m.)    4446  
 2.     Population (Census - 1991)      2244998
 3.     No. of  Tehsils 6
 4.     No. of  Blocks  15
 5.     No. of  Nyay Panchayats 149
 6.     No. of  Gram Sabha      905
 7.     No. of  Villages (Populated)    1507
 8.     No. of  Villages (Non-Populated)        103
 9.     Nagar Panchyat  12
10.     Nagar Palika Parishad   7
11.     Police Station (Rural)  11
12.     Police Station (Urban)  17
13.     Bus Station     173
14.     Railway Station 21
15.     Length of Railway Line (in k.m.)        147
16.     Post Offices (Rural)    284
17.     Post Offices (Urban)    27
18.     Branch of Nationakised Banks    52
19.     Kshetriya Gramin Banks  58
20.     Co-operative Banks      21
21.     Fair Price Shop (Rural) 1155
22.     Fair Price Shop (Urban) 154
23.     Bio-Gas 1736
24.     Cold Storage    15
25.     Rain Fall Normal (in mm)        722
26.     Length of Canal (in k.m.)       1121
27.     Govt. Tubewells 657
28.     Private Tubewells & Pump Sets       77018
29.     Vetenary Hospitals      24
30.     Registered Industries   28
31.     Small Scale Industries  8399
32.     Junior Basic Schools    2310
33.     Senior Basic Schools    619
34.     Higher Secondary Schools        161
35.     Degree Colleges 9
36.     I.T.I.  2
37.     Polytechnic     1
38.     Alopatic Hospitals/Dispensaries 23
39.     Ayurvedic Hospitals/Dispensaries        22
40.     Homeopathic Hospitals/Dispensaries      16
41.     Primary Health Centres  61
42.     T.B. Hospital   1
43.     No. of  Electrified Villages    1155
44.     Electrified Town Areas  12
45.     Cinema Halls    15
46.     No of seats in Cinema Halls     9424

Patna situated in the Jalesar tehsil of Etah district in U.P. was declared a full fledged sanctuary in 1990. The average year round temperature varies from 47o C in peak summers to 4o C in winters. After the abundant Indian monsoons fills the lake to its brim comes the best season to visit Patna, winter. Close to 200 different species of birds can be sighted during this time of the year. Though on paper it's the smallest bird sanctuary in U.P. covering a wetland area of a mere 1 km²., Patna vies with the best when it comes to its avifauna over 2,00,000 birds transform the lake into a riot of colours, sounds and forms. Each morning Patna reverberates with the songs of close to fifty thousand Pied Mynas who have made the adjoining areas of the lake their home glorifying the dawn of another beautiful day.

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

Coordinates: 27°38′N 78°40′E