Ballia

Ballia is a district in the State of Uttar Pradesh in India. The district is comprised of an irregularly shaped tract extending westward from the confluence of the Ganga and the Ghaghra, the former separating it from Bihar in the south and the latter from Deoria and Bihar in the north and east respectively. The boundary between Ballia and Bihar is determined by the deep streams of these two rivers. It is bounded on the west by Azamgarh, on the north by Deoria, on the north-east and south-east by Bihar and on the south-west by Ghazipur. The district lies between the parallels of 25º33' and 26º11' North latitudes and 83º38' and 84º39' East longitudes.

The district is spread over an area of 2981 sq. km. As per census 2001 it had a population of 2761.62 thousand.

There are six tehsils, 17 community development blocks, 163 nyan panchayats, 833 gram panchayats, and 2360 villages (530 uninhabited).

History

The origin of the name of the district, Ballia, has long been a matter of dispute. It is locally said to have been derived from the name of the sage Valmiki, the celebrated hindu poet and the author of RAMAYAN, whose having resided here was commemorated, by a shrine which has long been washed away. Another belief about the origin of the name is that it has been derived from the sandy nature of the land of the place, locally known as "ballua" (balu meaning sand).

The history of the district of Ballia begins with the year 1879. Asaf-ud-Daula, the nawab vizier of Avadh, made a formal cession of the sovereignty of the province of Benaras (Varanasi) to the East India Company in 1775. The tract was included in the zamindari of the raja and remained in his actual possession till 1794, when Raja Mahip Narayan Singh surrendered its control to the governor general. by the agreement of October 27 of that year In 1818 the pargana of Doaba, which had been a part of Bihia in district Shahabad of Bihar, was transferred to the revenue subdivision of Ghazipur which shortly afterwards was separated from Benaras (Varanasi) and became an independent district and then comprised the whole of Ballia also. In 1832 a redistribution of territory was made and pargana Sikandarpur and probably Bhadaon were assigned to Azamgarh and again in 1837 portions of Kopachit and Kharid were assigned to the same district For some time no further changes took place and the Ballia tahsil, comprising the Ballia, Doaba and Kharid parganas, formed a subdivisions of Ghazipur. on November 1,1879, a new district. that of Ballia, was created by adding to the old subdivision the parganas of Lakhnesar and Kopachit from the Rasra tahsil and those of Bhadaon and Sikandarpur from tahsil Nagra of Azamgarh. These parganas constituted a new tahsil with headquarters at Rasra. On April 10,1882 a third tahsil, Bansdih, was formed out of pargana Kharid and 225 villages of Sikandarpur, to which was given the name of Sikandarpur East. At the same time 212 villages of Kopachit were transferred to Ballia and made into the new pargana of Kopachit East. On April 1,1883, a further addition was made by uniting tappa Dhaka of paragana Zahurabad with Sikandarpur West and a year later on November 18,13 villages of Lakhnesar, lying on the right bank of the Saryu and surrounded by some villages of Ghazipur, were given back to that district. The last important change took place on March 9,1892, when 168 villages of pargana Garha, together with Saraikota of Muhammadabad, were made over to Ballia and included in the Ballia tahsil. This transfer was supplemented in July of the same year by extending the boundary of Garha so as to include the large village of Narainpur and two others. On June 9,1892 the village of Diara Khawaspur was transferred from Bhojpur in Bihar to Ballia as the Ganga had left it on the left bank and on January 9,1896, a still larger area, including the four villages of Bijapura, Sital Patti, Sheopur and Belsipah, was made over to Ballia from Bhojpur. In 1931, under the deep stream rule, 39 villages of pargana Ballia, 11 of pargana Doaba and 15 of pargana Garga lying on the banks of the Ganga were transferred from Ballia to district Bhojpur of Bihar, when 10 villages were also transferred from district Bhojpur (of Bihar) to Ballia.

In 1951 the village of Kondhia was transferred from tahsil Muhammadabad in the Ghazipur district to tahsil Rasra of district Ballia. A further change took place in 1970, when 31 villages were added to tahsil Bansdih from district Saran of Bihar and 14 villages were transferred from tahsil Bansdih to district Saran. At this time 64 villages of district Bhojpur and 3 villages to district Saran.
Subdivisions, Tahsils and Thanas:- The district has six subdivisions-Rasra, Bansdih, Ballia, Bairia, Sikanderpur, Belthra road each forming a tahsil of the same name respectively.

Politics

Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly) constituencies and their areas after delimitation order of 2008

357 Belthara Road Vidhan Sabha Constituency (SC) - 1-Belthara Road Tehsil; PCs 1-Pal Chandraha, 2-Tari Baragaon, 3-Nikasi, 7-Malap Harsenpur, 9-Padari, 10-Nagara, 18-Gothawan, 19-Deoriya, 20-Narahin & 21-Dihawan of 1-Nagara KC of 3-Rasara Tehsil.

358 Rasara Vidhan Sabha Constituency - KCs 2-Salempur, 3-Rasara, 4 –Kotawari, 5-Chilkahar, PCs 4-Atrooli Karmoota, 5-Shah Muhammadpur, 6-Tiyara Haiderpur, 8-Dewadhiya, 11-Kodai, 12-Sonapali, 13-Kharuon, 14-Athila, 15-Siswar Kalan, 16-Khaira Nisfi, 17-Rekuwan Naseerpur of 1-Nagara KC & 6-Nagarpalika Parishad Rasara of 3-Rasara Tehsil.

359 Sikanderpur Vidhan Sabha Constituency - 2-Sikanderpur Tehsil.

360 Phephana Vidhan Sabha Constituency - KCs 1-Garwar, 2-Phephana, 3-Chit, 4-Sohaon & Chitbara Gaon NP of 4-Ballia Tehsil.

361 Ballia Nagar Vidhan Sabha Constituency - KCs 5-Nagar, 6-Dubahar, PCs 133-Jawahin, 134-Hariharpur, 135-Repura, 136-Rampur Titihi, 137-Kachhuwa Khas, 138-Pindari, 139-Sinhakund, 140-Parsiyan, 141-Haldi, 142-Puras, 143-Rohuwan, 158-Hans Nagar of 7-Haldi KC & Ballia MB of 4-Ballia Tehsil.

362 Bansdih Vidhan Sabha Constituency - 5-Bansdih Tehsil.

363 Bairia Vidhan Sabha Constituency - 6-Bairia Tehsil; PCs 144-Bigahin, 145-Sonwani, 146-Samrath Pah, 147-Dudhaila, 148-Dighar, 149-Gangapur, 150-Majhouwan, 151-Belahari, 152-Mudadih, 153-Bharkhokha, 154-Baghunch, 155-Badilpur, 156-Pachrukhiya & 157-Narainpur of 7-Haldi KC of 4-Ballia Tehsil.

Places of interest
Surha Taal, Sahid Smarak, Ballia, Brigu Mandir, Dardari Mela, Botanical Garden, Ballia, Sri. Chain Ram baba Temple, Sri. Khapdia Baba Temple, Sri. Vigyan Dev Jee Maharaj, Sri. Kameshwar Dham, Sri. Jangli Baba mandir, Mangla Bhawani mandir, Ballia, Jai Prakash Nagar Samark