Origin of the Name
The district is named after its Headquarter town, Unnao. About 1200 years ago, the site of this town was covered with extensive forests. Godo Singh, a Chauhan Rajput, cleared the forests probably in the the 3rd quarter of the 12th Century and founded a town, called Sawai Godo, which shortly afterwards passed into the hands of the rulers of the Kannauj, who appointed Khande Singh as the Governor of the place. Unwant Singh, a Bisen Rajput and a lieutenant of the Governor, killed him and built a fort here, renaming the place as Unnao after himself.
About the District
Situated between rivers Ganga and Sai, Unnao has, since ancient times, made place in the pages of history. The district has been popular from the view of history, literature, religious and cultural heritage.
The District is divided into 6 Tehsils Unnao, Hasanganj, Safipur, Purwa, Bighapur & Bangarmau and 16 development Blocks namely – Ganj Moradabad, Bangarmau, Fatehpur Chaurasi, Safipur, Miyanganj, Auras, Hasanganj, Nawabganj, Purwa, Asoha, Hilauli, Bighapur, Sumerpur,Bichia, Sikandarpur Sirausi, Sikandarpur Karan.
Local traditions connect a number of well known personages like Parashuram, Dasharatha, Sharvana, Valmiki, Sita, Lava-Kusha, Rama, Bakasura, Krishna, Mayuradhvaja, Ashvatthama and Astika, mentioned in the Ramayana & Mahabharata and the Puranas, with differrent places in the district, adding sanctity to them.
Many brave personalities who played a major role in the Country’s freedom struggle and sacrificed their lives for the country, were born here. Popular among them are Raja Rao Ram Bux Singh, Maulana Hasarat Mohani, Ram Beni Madhav, Pd. Vishambher Dayal Tripathi, Thakur Jsasingh, Narpat Singh, Barjor Singh, Hathi Singh, Devi Bux Singh, Mansab Ali, Kasturi Singh, Bhopal Singh and Chandrika Bux Singh.
The District is not left behind in the field of literature too, having produced learned persons right from Maharishi Valmiki to Gaya Pd. Shukla, Pratap Narayan Misra, Surya Kant Tripathi ‘Nirala’, Maulana Hasrat Mohani, Nand Dulare Bajpayee, Sumitra Kumari Sinha, Chandra Bhushan Trivedi (Ramai Kaka), Dr. Ram Vilas Sharma, Jagdambika Pd. Misra, Bhagwati Charan Verma, Pratap Narayan Misra and Shiv Mangal Singh ‘Suman’.