Village in Uttar Pradesh, India
Sangrampur, also called Daundia Khera,[1] is a village in Sumerpur block of Unnao district, Uttar Pradesh, India.[2] Located on the high bank of the Naurahi river a bit to the west of the main Unnao-Dalmau road, it is most notable for its historic importance as the capital of the Bais of Baiswara.[1] It was the seat of a pargana beginning in the 1700s.[1] As of 2011, its population is 2,778 in 530 households. It has four primary schools and no healthcare facilities.[2]
History
The traditional account of Sangrampur's founding is connected with the origins of the Bais of Baiswara.[1] In 1191 Samvat, two Bais brothers named Abhai Chand and Pirthi Chand are said to have come to a bathing ceremony at the Shiurajpur ghat on the Ganges.[1] Also present was the queen of Argal, accompanied by a few attendants and soldiers.[1] The governor of the place attempted to rape her by force; her soldiers surrendered, and she cried out for help.[1] The two brothers were able to successfully intervene, but Pirthi Chand was killed in the fight.[1] When the queen's husband, the Raja of Argal, heard about what had happened, he "received the surviving brother, Abhai Chand, with much cordiality, [and] gave him his daughter in marriage, with the proprietorship of five villages as her dowry."[1]
Abhai Chand went on to found the village of Abhaipur, across the Ganges from Sangrampur in what is now Fatehpur district.[1] He then crossed the Ganges, where he fought a fierce battle against the Bhars who originally ruled the place; he named the site of the battle "Sangrampur", after the Sanskrit word sangrām, meaning battle or bloodshed.[1]
When the famous Bais raja Tilok Chand died, he divided his lands between his sons Raja Pirthi Chand and Rana Harhardeo.[1] Pirthi Chand inherited the western part of his father's lands and made his capital at the fort of Sangrampur.[1] His descendants later included the cadet branch rajas of Murarmau and Purwa Ranbirpur.[1]
The pargana of Daundia Khera did not exist at the time of the Ain-i-Akbari; its territory was at that time divided between the two mahals of Sidhupur (itself founded by one of the Bais rajas of Daundia Khera) and Unchgaon.[1] It was created in the 1700s by Rao Mardan Singh, who joined them together into one pargana which he called Daundia Khera.[1]
Babu Ram Baksh Singh, a descendant of Rao Mardan Singh, resided at a fort a bit to the north of Sangrampur; its ruins are still visible.[1] He had been "constantly in opposition to the king's troops", and in 1849 his entire estate was put under the direct management of the nazim Sobha Singh.[1] Ram Baksh Singh recovered the estate in 1850, but he "failed to pay the expected gratuity and was attacked and driven across the Ganges."[1] His fort was destroyed and his lands were confiscated, although he later managed to buy them back.[1] He was later hanged by the British at Baksar for his role in the Indian Rebellion of 1857, and his estates were confiscated.[1]
At the turn of the 20th century, Daundia Khera had five temples and one school.[1] Its population in 1901 was 990, including a Muslim minority of 101.[1]
The 1961 census recorded Sangrampur as comprising 4 hamlets, with a total population of 916 (494 male and 422 female), in 215 households and 124 physical houses.[3] The area of the village was given as 1,390 acres.[3] It had medical practitioner at the time, as well as 1 small manufacturer of garments, 6 makers of earthenware pottery, and 3 makers of sundry hardwares.[3]
India