Safipur

Safipur was originally founded in the 1300s by a Brahmin named Sai Sukul, who was a subject of the Raja of Ugu.[2] The town was formerly called Saipur in Sai Sukul's honour; the name Saipur was still the more common name in general use as late as the early 1900s.[2] Sai Sukul supposedly died in battle in 1389 when Ibrahim Sharqi of the Jaunpur Sultanate conquered the town.[2] Ibrahim then put his own lieutenants in charge of Saipur: Maulvi Akram, the ancestor of Makhdum Shah Safi; the paymaster Rao Mahesh Rao, whose descendants held the office of qanungo; the risaldar Sayyid Mir, whose descendants were zamindars; and Sayyid Hasan Reza, whose descendants were taluqdars and zamindars.[2]

Maulvi Akram's great-grandson, Makhdum Shah Safi, was a religious mendicant who lived at Saipur during the 1500s.[2] When he died, he was buried here, and the town's name was changed to Safipur in his honour.[2] The mausoleum of Makhdum Shah Safi, as well as the surrounding dargah complex, was built by a follower of his named Chaudhri Khaslat Husain, who was the taluqdar of Sandila.[2] A large mosque was added to the complex in the early 1900s by Chaudhri Muhammad Azim, who was also taluqdar of Sandila.[2] Makhdum Shah Safi's dargah is the most important in Safipur, although there are several others, including those of Ifhamullah, Kudratullah, Hafizullah, and Abdullah.[2]

Safipur was mentioned as the capital of a pargana in the Ain-i-Akbari; it maintained this status into the 20th century.[2]

Two high-ranking officials under the Nawabs of Awadh, Diwan Umed Rai and Maulvi Fazl Azim, were natives of Safipur.[2] They both had various buildings constructed in the town: Diwan Umed Rai built a bazaar and a sarai, and Maulvi Fazl Azim built many wells, mosques, and an imambara.[2]

At the turn of the 20th century, Safipur was described as "a flourishing, well-built town" with a daily standing market and bazaars held twice weekly in four muhallas.[2] It contained the tehsil headquarters, a police station, a munsif's court, a dispensary, and a middle school attended by 146 students.[2]

According to the Indian census of 2001,[3] Safipur had a population of 22,378. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. In Safipur, 17% of the population is under 6 years of age.

According to the 2011 census, Safipur has a population of 25,688 people, in 4,288 households.[1] The town's sex ratio is 932 females to every 1000 males; 13,299 of Safipur's residents are male and 12,389 are female.[1] Among the 0-6 age group, the sex ratio is 940, which is higher than the district urban average.[1] Members of Scheduled Castes make up 13.77% of the town's population, while no members of scheduled tribes were recorded.[1] The town's literacy rate was 60.9% (counting only people age 7 and up); literacy was higher among men and boys (66.8%) than among women and girls (54.5%).[1]

In terms of employment, 21.8% of Safipur residents were classified as main workers (i.e. people employed for at least 6 months per year) in 2011.[1] Marginal workers (i.e. people employed for less than 6 months per year) made up 10.8%, and the remaining 67.4% were non-workers.[1] Employment status varied heavily according to gender, with 51.2% of men being either main or marginal workers, compared to only 12.6% of women.[1]

Safipur CD block has the following 116 villages:[1]

• Salindh