Bhadohi district

According to the epic Mahābhārata, the Pandavas escaped from Lakshyagrah through a tunnel and took shelter here at a place called Semradhnath. It is also said that Mata Sita, wife of lord Rama, lived here in the ashram of Maharshi Balmiki when she was abandoned by Lord Rama. Here, Lav and Kush were born and Mata Sita immersed herself in the lap of goddess Earth.

Bhadohi supposedly gets its name from Bhar Raj of the region which had Bhadohi as its capital, whose traces can be found in the names of ruined mounds and old tanks named after the Bhar rulers, a tributary of Kannauj kingdom, which in the early medieval period was included in the Kingdom of Jaunpur.

During the reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar, Bhadohi was made a dastur and included in the sarkar of Allahabad.

By the fifteenth century the Bhar were overpowered by Monas Rajputs with Sagar Rai as the first head of the clan, and his grandson, Jodh Rai received it as a zamindari sanad (deed) from Mughal Emperor Shah-e-Jahan.

However around 1750 AD due to non-payment of land revenue arrears, Raja Pratap Singh of Pratapgarh, in lieu of his paying the arrears gave the entire pargana to Balwant Singh of Benaras, subsequently he received it directly under a sanad from Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula of Awadh under British influence in 1770 AD.

In 1911, Bhadohi came under first Maharaja of the newly created princely state of Benares ruled by Maharaja Prabhu Narayan Singh and it remained with Benaras till 1947.[2][3][4]

Bhadohi was created on 30 June 1994 as the 65th district of the State. It was part of Varanasi district prior to its creation.

The Mayawati government changed this district's name from Bhadohi to Sant Ravidas Nagar (S.R.N.). The Akhilesh Yadav government resolved on 6 December 2014 to change the name back to Bhadohi.[5]

A carpet seller in Gopiganj, Bhadohi, India

Carpet weaving in Bhadohi-Mirzapur region dates back to the 16th century, during the reign of Mughal Emperor, Akbar[1] and is believed to have established when centuries ago, some Iranian master weavers stopped at Madhosingh village, near Khamaria, in Bhadohi while travelling in India, and subsequently set up looms here.[15]

The present day Bhadohi district is biggest carpet manufacturing centres in India, most known for its hand-knotted carpet. While the Mirzapur-Bhadohi region has the largest number of weavers involved in handmade carpet weaving cluster, engaging around 3.2 million people in the industry, Bhadohi alone employs 2.2 million rural artisans in its 100 percent export-oriented industry.[1] Bhadohi based organisations account for about 75% of the Rs 44 billion of total carpet exports from India, The annual turnover of carpet exports from Bhadohi was Rs 25 billion (approx) in 2010.

In 2010, the carpets of the region received the Geographical Indication (GI) tag, which means carpets manufactured in nine districts of the region, Bhadohi, Mirzapur, Varanasi, Ghazipur, Sonebhadra, Kaushambi, Allahabad, Jaunpur and Chandauli would be tagged with 'handmade carpet of Bhadohi'. Most of the production is aimed at foreign countries.[15]

Well-known carpet types from Bhadohi include cotton Dhurries, Chhapra Mir carpets, Abusan, Persian, Loribaft, Indo Gabbeh but also Nepalese carpets and more recent shaggy type carpets. They are manufactured in various qualities.

Bhadohi received a major boost in November 2018 as the government has extended the 'export excellence' tag to it. Under the 'Towns of Export Excellence' tag, carpet makers of the city will get financial assistance from the central government to procure modern machines, improve export infrastructure, and organise fairs and exhibitions in different parts of the world to attract global buyers. Bhadohi will be the 37th town in India to get this status. The tag would help put the carpet city on the world map.