BALLIA- Uttar Pradesh

Ballia district is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ballia district is a part of Azamgarh division situated in the east of Uttar Pradesh. The main economic activity is agriculture. City is the district headquarters and commercial market of this district. It is the birthplace of former prime minister of India Chandra Sekhar Singh There are six tehsils in this district: Ballia, Bansdih, Rasra, Bairia, Sikandarpur and Belthara. Rasra is the second major commercial area of the district, having a government sugar mill and a cotton weaving industry. Though Ballia’s core occupation is agriculture there are some additional small industries. Maniar is known for its bindi industry and is a major supplier.

History

Ballia district was established in 1879 out of Ghazipur district along with some parts of Azamgarh district. Before being separated, Ballia tehsil had formed a subdivision of Ghazipur district, comprising the parganas of Ballia, Doaba, and Kharid. In addition, the new district included the parganas of Lakhnesar and Kopachit from Ghazipur district, as well as Bhadaon and Sikandarpur from Azamgarh district. These formed the tehsil of Rasra.

Some administrative changes then took place in the following years. In April 1882, Bansdih tehsil was created out of Kharid pargana along with the new pargana of Sikandarpur East, which was formed out of 225 villages of Sikandarpur pargana. At the same time, 212 villages of Kopachit pargana were detached to form the new pargana of Kopachit East, which went into Ballia tehsil. Then in April 1883, tappa Dhaka of pargana Zahurabad was joined with Sikandarpur West, and in November 1884, 13 villages of Lakhnesar pargana that lay on the right bank of the Sarju were transferred back into Ghazipur district. Another major change happened in March 1892, when the parganas of Garha and Sarai Kota, previously in Muhammadabad tehsil of Ghazipur district, were moved into Ballia and placed in Ballia tehsil.

Other more minor changes also took place due to the shifting course of the major rivers. For example, in June 1892, the village of Diara Khawaspur was transferred into Ballia district from Shahabad district because it had now come to be on the left bank of the Ganges. Then in January 1896, the four villages of Bijaura, Sital Patti, Sheopur, and Bhelsipah were transferred into Ballia from Shahabad for the same reason. However, these changes had little impact on the local population because when the villages became flooded, residents generally retreated inland on the same side of the river, rather than crossing over into the new district.

Until 1794, the area of modern Ballia district had formed part of Benares State. On 27 October of that year, Raja Mahip Narayan Singh signed a treaty to cede the territory to the British.