The ordinary soil of Jaunpur is a mixture of mould, clay, and. sand; but in old river beds and the basins of temporary lakes a rich black alluvial deposit may occasionally be found. The harvests are those common to the rest of Upper India. The crops yielded are cotton, rice, bdjrα, joàr, moth, wheat, barley, oats, pease, and other pulses. Sugar yields the greatest profit, but it requires great care. Indigo, poppy, tobacco, and vegetables are also cultivated. The Gumti is liable to sudden inundations during the rainy season, owing to the high banks it has piled up at its entrance into the Ganges, which act as dams to prevent the prompt outflow of its flooded waters. These inundations extend to its tributary the Sai. Much damage was thus effected in 1774; but the greatest recorded flood took place in September 1871, when 4000 houses in the city were swept away, besides 9000 more in villages along its banks. On the other hand, Jaunpur has been comparatively free from drought, the great plague of the north-west generally, as of the rest of India. The district is almost entirely devoted to agriculture, and its trade is confined to raw materials and food-stuffs. The principal fairs are held at Mariahu in September, and at Karchuli in March; they are attended by from 20,000 to 25,000 pilgrims and traders. The Oudh and Rohilkhand railway passes through the district. There are 145 miles of metalled and 364 of unmetalled roads. The Gumti and Sai are navigable for boats of moderate burden. The climate is moist, and the temperature is more equable, and the rain more evenly distributed throughout the year, than in most districts of the North-Western Provinces. The average rainfall for 1861-70 was 43 inches; during that period the maximum was 51 ’ 6 inches, the minimum 22 inches. There are two charitable dispensaries.

In prehistoric times Jaunpur seems to have formed a portion of the Ajodhya principality, and when it first makes an appearance in authentic history it was subject to the rulers of Benares. With the rest of their dominions it fell under the yoke of the Musalman invaders in 1194. From that time the district appears to have been ruled by a prince of the Kanauj dynasty, as a tributary of the Mahometan suzerain. In 1388 Malik Sarwar Khwaja was sent by Muhammad Tughlak to govern the eastern province, lie fixed his residence at Jaunpur, made himself independent of the Delhi court, and assumed the title of Sultan-us-Shark, or eastern emperor. For nearly a century the Sharki dynasty ruled at Jaunpur, and proved formidable rivals to the sovereigns of Delhi. The last of the dynasty was Sultan Hussen, who passed his life in a fierce and chequered struggle for supremacy with Bahlol Lodi, then actual emperor at Delhi. At length, in 1478, Bahlol succeeded in defeating his rival in a series of decisive engagements. He took the city of Jaunpur, but permitted the conquered Hussen to reside there, and to complete the building of his great mosque, the Jama Masjid, which now forms the chief ornament of the town. Many other architectural works in the district still bear witness to its greatness under its independent Musalman rulers. Under the Lodi dynasty the history of Jaunpur contains nothing more than the stereotyped narrative of provincial intrigue, constant revolt, and bloody repression. When the last of that line was killed, a local kingdom was once more established for a short time in the district, but after the fall of Agra and Delhi Jaunpur was recovered, and the district thenceforward formed a portion of the Mughal empire. Nothing worthy of note occurred in connexion with this district until 1722, when it was transferred, with Benares, Ghazipur, and Chunar, to the naw<ib wazir of Oudh, who appointed a commander to the districts with the title of raja of Benares. The first connexion of the British with the district arose in 1765, when it passed for a short time into their hands after the battle of Baxar. In 1775 it was finally made over to them by the treaty of Lucknow. From that time nothing occurred which calls for notice till the date of the mutiny. On tjιe 5th June 1857, when the news of the Benares revolt reached Jaunpur, the Sikhs mutinied. The district continued in a state of complete anarchy till the arrival of the Gurkha force from Azamgarh in September. In November the surrounding country was lost again, and it was not till May 1858 that the last smouldering embers of disaffection were stifled by the repulse of the insurgent leader at the hands of the people themselves.

Jaunpur, a municipal town and the administrative headquarters of the above district, situated in 25° 41' 31" N. lat. and 82° 43' 38" E. long., on the northern bank of the river Gumti. Jaunpur is a very ancient city, the former capital of a considerable Mahometan kingdom, which once extended from Budâun and Etâwah to Behar. It abounds in splendid architectural monuments, most of which belong to the Pathân period, when the rulers of Jaunpur made themselves independent of Delhi. Among the remains are the fort of Firoz, the hammams or baths, the Atâla Masjid and the Jinjiri Masjid, mosques built by Ibrâhîm, the Dariba mosque constructed by two of Ibrâhîm’s governors, the Lâl Darwâza erected by the queen of Mahmud, the Jamâ Masjid or great mosque of Hussen, and the splendid bridge over the Gumti, erected by Mumzin Khân, governor under the Mughals, in 1569-73. During the mutiny of 1857 Jaunpur formed a centre of great disaffection. The town still possesses a considerable trade. There are two railway stations there. The population in 1872 was 23,327, comprising 12,369 Hindus and 10,949 Mahometans and 9 “others.”