Origin of District Name :
The District that forms
a part of Faizabad Divison is named after its headquarters town Bela
Pratabgarh, commonly know as Pratapgarh. Pratap Singh, a raja of the
locality who flourished between 1628-1682, fixed his headquarters at
Rampur near old town of Aror. There he built a garh (fort) and called it
Pratabgarh after his own name. Subsequently the locality around the fort
came to be known as Pratapgarh. When the district was constituted in 1858
its headquarters was established at Bela which came to be known as Bela
Pratapgarh, the name Bela presumably being derived from the temple of Bela
Bhawani on the bank of river Sai.
Location and Boundaries :
The District lies between the paralleles of 25o34' and 26o11' north latitude and between the
meridians of 81o19' and 82o27'
east longitude extending for some 110 km. from west to east. It is bounded
on the north by district Sultanpur,on the south by district Allahabad,on
the east by district Jaunpur and on the west by Fatehpur and north-east by
district Rae Bareli. In the south-west the Ganga forms the boundary of the
district for about 50 km. Separating it from Fatehpur and Allhabad and in
the extreme north-east the Gomti forms the boundary for about 6 km.
Area Covered :
According to The Central
Statistical Organization the district has an area of 3,730 sq. km.
Pre-History :
The
early history of region covered by the present history of Pratpagarh is
not with put interest. The region was already inhabited in pre-historic
age.
Archaeological Finds :
Several human skeletons along some animal bones and a
number of a small stones implements, belonging probably to the Neolithic,
have been unearthed in Archaeological exploration at Sarai Nahar in Kunda
Tehsil. It is the only site in the entire valley of Ganga which has
yielded human skeleton of such an early age as also the Stone Age
implements. On the left bank of river Sai there stand a ruined "Kot"
representing a Buddhist Stupa. Town Bihar has been conjectured that the
remain are probably on an ancient Buddhist monastery which gave its name
Bihar. Bihar signifies Vihar or majesties. The name itself as
Buddhist.
