Shahgarh, Amethi

The original fort of Shahgarh was founded by and named after Sultan Sah, brother of Bikram Sah of Amethi.[3] His descendants held the Shahgarh taluqdari estate.[3] Originally the estate supposedly consisted of 121 villages, suggesting a regular partition, but this is unlikely since another brother, Lachhmi Narain, received the much smaller Kannu estate.[3] From 1803 to 1810, the Shahgarh estate was leased to Raja Har Chand Singh of Amethi along with the entire pargana of Amethi; it then comprised 40 villages.[3] It had increased to 60 villages by 1846, when it was again leased to Amethi.[3] When Balwant Singh, the taluqdar of Shahgarh, resisted the lease, Raja Madho Singh of Amethi had him imprisoned.[3] The British officer William Henry Sleeman brought the issue before the Nawab of Awadh and in 1855 was able to secure Balwant Singh's release and restoration to his property; Balwant Singh later sided with the British during the Indian Rebellion of 1857.[3] At the turn of the 20th century, the Shahgarh estate consisted of 20 villages and 1 patti in pargana Amethi.[3] At that time, Shahgarh itself was described as a prosperous village with a market.[3]

The 1951 census recorded Shahgarh as comprising 13 hamlets, with a total population of 1,112 people (549 male and 563 female), in 254 households and 252 physical houses.[5] The area of the village was given as 701 acres.[5] 160 residents were literate, 158 male and 2 female.[5] The village was listed as belonging to the pargana of Amethi and the thana of Gauriganj.[5] The village had a district board-run primary school with 80 students in attendance as of 1 January 1951.[5]

The 1961 census recorded Shahgarh as comprising 13 hamlets, with a total population of 1,239 people (618 male and 621 female), in 279 households and 267 physical houses.[6] The area of the village was given as 701 acres and it had a post office at that point.[6] It was then part of Bhitua CD block.[6]

The 1981 census recorded Shahgarh as having a population of 1,722 people, in 355 households, and having an area of 274.39 hectares.[7] The main staple foods were listed as wheat and rice.[7]

The 1991 census recorded Shahgarh as having a total population of 2,152 people (1,130 male and 1,022 female), in 396 households and 382 physical houses.[4] The area of the village was listed as 276.00 hectares.[4] Members of the 0-6 age group numbered 388, or 18% of the total; this group was 52% male (201) and 48% female (187).[4] Members of scheduled castes numbered 402, or 19% of the village's total population, while no members of scheduled tribes were recorded.[4] The literacy rate of the village was 35% (474 men and 143 women, counting only people age 7 and up).[4] 724 people were classified as main workers (573 men and 151 women), while 0 people were classified as marginal workers; the remaining 1,428 residents were non-workers.[4] The breakdown of main workers by employment category was as follows: 371 cultivators (i.e. people who owned or leased their own land); 245 agricultural labourers (i.e. people who worked someone else's land in return for payment); 1 worker in livestock, forestry, fishing, hunting, plantations, orchards, etc.; 0 in mining and quarrying; 0 household industry workers; 1 worker employed in other manufacturing, processing, service, and repair roles; 0 construction workers; 4 employed in trade and commerce; 1 employed in transport, storage, and communications; and 101 in other services.[4]

Shahgarh CD block has the following 66 villages:[2]