Saharanpur district

Saharanpur district is the northernmost of the districts of Uttar Pradesh state, India. Bordering the states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and close to the foothills of Shivalik range, it lies in the northern part of the Doab region. It is primarily an agricultural area. The district headquarters are in Saharanpur, which is also the headquarters of Saharanpur Division. Other principal towns are Behat, Deoband, Gangoh and Rampur Maniharan. Saharanpur is located at , about south-southeast from Chandigarh and north-northeast from Delhi. It has an average elevation of . It is bordered by Yamunanagar and Karnal districts of Haryana to the west, Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh to the northwest, Dehradun district of Uttarakhand to the north, Haridwar district of Uttarakhand to the east and Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts to the south. It is the northernmost district of Uttar Pradesh, bounded by the Yamuna to the west. The northern border of the district is formed by the southern slopes of the Sivallik Hills. Below the Sivallik is the Bhabhar, and south of that, the Terai. The west of the district is khadir land next to the Yamuna, generally composed of clayish soil, and produces two small tributaries of the Yamuna: the Budhi and Saindh. History of Uttar Pradesh and Saharanpur division During the reign of Shamsu’d-Din Iltutmish (r 1211–1236), the region became a part of the Delhi Sultanate. At that time, most of the area remained covered with forests and marshlands, through which the Paondhoi, Dhamola, and Ganda Nala rivers flowed. The climate was humid and malaria outbreaks were common. Muhammad bin Tughluq, the Sultan of Delhi (1325–1351), undertook a campaign in the northern doab to crush the rebellion of the Shivalik kings in 1340, when according to local tradition he learned of the presence of a sufi saint on the banks of the Paondhoi River. After visiting the sage, he ordered that henceforth this region would be known as 'Shah-Haroonpur', after the Sufi Saint Shah Haroon Chishti.