Midnapore
|
Midnapore মেদিনীপুর Medinipur, Midnapur |
|
|---|---|
| City | |
 Midnapore
|
|
| Coordinates: 22°25′26″N 87°19′08″E / 22.424°N 87.319°ECoordinates: 22°25′26″N 87°19′08″E / 22.424°N 87.319°E | |
| Country |
 India |
| State | West Bengal |
| District | Midnapore West |
| Government | |
| • Chairman | Pranab Basu |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Total | 169,127 |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Bengali, English |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
| PIN | 721 101 and 721 102 |
| Telephone code | 91-3222 |
| Vehicle registration | WB-33-xxxx, WB-34-xxxx |
| Lok Sabha constituency | Medinipur |
| Vidhan Sabha constituency | Medinipur, Kharagpur |
| Website | paschimmedinipur |
Midnapore (Pron: med̪iːniːpur) is the district headquarters of Paschim Medinipur district of the Indian state of West Bengal. It is situated on the banks of the Kangsabati River (variously known as Kasai and Cossye).
There are conflicting accounts of how the name Medinipur came to be. One account claims that Medinipur was named after a local deity "Medinimata" (literally "mother of the world", a Shakti incarnation). Another account claims that Midnapur was so named because in the heyday the number of mosques rivalled those in Medina.
A number of prehistoric sites of great interest are being excavated throughout the West Midnapore district. In ancient times the region seems to be highly influenced by Jainism and Buddhism. Coins issued by Samudragupta have been found in the near vicinity of the town. The kingdom of Shashanka and Harshavardhana also included part of undivided Midnapore in their kingdom. However, the most significant archaeological site in the region is the bustling port of Tamralipta near present-day Tamluk, a site noted in the travelogues of Faxian and Xuanzang. Later Chaitanya passed through the area on his way from Puri to Varanasi as documented in the Chaitanya Charitamrita. After the fall of last independent Hindu dynasty of Kalinga-Utkala, Gajapati Mukunda Deva in the 16th century, this region came under one of the five Sarkars of Mughalbandi Odisha i.e. Jaleswar Sarkar which was ruled by the Subehdar of Odisha. The north boundary of Jalshwar was Tamluk and south was Soro and Dhalbhumgarh in the west to the Bay of Bengal in the east. Bahadur Khan was the ruler of Jaleshwar Sarkar or Hijli (including Midnapore) during the time of Shah Jehan. He was defeated by Shah Shuja, the second son of Shah Jehan, then the subshdar of Bengal.
...
Wikipedia