Etawah

History

It is believed that the land existed right from the Bronze Age in the medieval times. It once formed part of the ancient Janapada of Panchala which is said to have extended from the foot of the Himalayas in the north to the river Chambal in the south. This region rose into great prominence during the period of Mahabharata. Many local traditions are attached to the modern Chakar Nagar which is a tehsil nearby which most probably seems to be Ekchakra mentioned in Mahabharata. It was Ekchakra where Pandavas along with their mother Kunti spent their secret abode of one year during the period of their exile. There is a belief that the city was founded by King Bharat. During the fourth century A.D., Guptas once again established imperial unity in India. The Chinese traveler Fa-Hien also visited a city named 'A-lo i.e. Alvi', which has been identified with modern Airwa nearly town, and spent his treat at the Dragon Shrine. Fa-Hien described it as "a city near a large forest" (atavi). There are the remains of Buddhist and Jain temples evidently of every ancient date in large number. In the ninth and tenth centuries, this region was under the rule of Gurjara Pratihara rulers. The conquest of Kannauj by Nagabhata II handed Gurjjaras control over this region. But the place was said to be evolved as an affluent region under Mihira Bhoja, the Gurjara Pratihara King. With the coronation of Harsha as a king (in 606 AD) the city came under the Thaneshwer Kingdom. Hiuen Tsang in his works has also dwelt upon the prosperity of this region. The defeat of Jaichandra of Kannauj in the Battle of Chandawar in 1193 A.D at the hands of Shahab-ud-din Ghori, the city passed under influence of Muslim power, which by end of the century held in different degrees of subjection the whole of North…