Kasganj

Kasganj is a city and a district headquarters of Kasganj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city is popularly known as Kasganj because it was established in a thick forest of kans, a vegetation grown abundantly here.HistoryPre-independenceKasganj was also known as 'Tanay' or 'Khasganj' during Mughal and British period. According to 'Imperial Gazetteer of India Vol. XV' (1908) by William Wilson Hunter Kasganj came in the hands of James V. Gardner (who was in the employ of the Marathas and later in the British service) and later died in here in Chhaoni, Kasganj. Before James Gardner, his father Colonel William Linnaeus Gardner was also stationed here. William Gardner built his estate in Kasganj after retiring from army and he also died in Kasganj in July, 1835. William and James Gardner belonged to the lineage of Baron Gardner of Uttoxeter, England. Evidences are that heir to the Barony of Gardner is still living somewhere around Kasganj. Famous writer and historian William Dalrymple also came to Kasganj in search of Julian Gardner, heir to the English Barony, while researching for his book White Mughals. Besides, the book of Fanny Parkes namely 'Wanderings of a Pilgrim in search of the Picturesque' gives details of her visits to Kasganj (then Khasgunge) and her mention of the town and Gardner Family.An older description mentioned Kasganj as standing on an elevated site, its drainage flowing towards the Kali Nadi(Black Stream) which runs about a mile south east of the town. The town was constituted a municipality in 1868. Kasganj set in the midst of the strategic Indo-Gangetic plain figured in military and political vicissitudes of ancient kingdom from the Mahabharata onwards. It formed part of the grand empire of Harshavardhan; and it finds mention in the accounts of the 7th century Chinese pilgrim Hsien Tsang (Xuanzang) who passed this way in 647 A.D.