Map - Sandila (Sandīla)

Sandila is a town and nagar palika parishad in Hardoi district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It serves as a tehsil headquarters within the district. Located midway between Hardoi and Lucknow, Sandila is a well-connected town with roads leading in all directions and a major broad gauge rail line passing through the south side of town. Important industries include sweets — its laddus are especially well-known — as well as beedi production and zardozi work.

Sandila is the oldest municipality in Hardoi district, established on 14 July 1868. As of 2011, its population is 58,346, in 9,663 households.

Nothing much is known about the ancient history of Sandila. According to folk sayings, it was a forested area, believed to be the worship land of legendary sage Shandilya. As per the British chronicles, the history of Sandila town started in the medieval period after Mohammad Ghori's capture of Delhi throne. Two brothers belonging to the martial Arkvanshi(Suryavanshi) Rajput clan viz. Salhia singh and Malhia singh established the towns of Salhiapura (later known as Sandila) and Malhiapura (later known as Malihabad), respectively. Sandila thus became the seat of Arkvanshi(Suryavanshi) power in the early 13th century and became a flourishing town under Arkvanshi Rajput. Arkvanshi held the region till last quarter of the 14th century, when a large army sent by Feroz Shah Tughlaq under his lieutenant Syed Makhdum Alauddin, captured the town and the adjoining areas after a fierce battle with Arkvanshies. The remains of Arkavanshi rule are seen in form of ruined fortresses in the mounds of Garhi Jindor, Malhaiyya garhi (Malaiyya), Sahinjana tila, Samad Khera, Muslewan garhi, Datli, Naurang garh (Tarauna), Sandi qila, and many others. After the decline of Arkavanshi power, Sandila came under the rule of Delhi sultanate. The folklore of Arakhs (also called Arkawanshis or अर्कवंशी) still sings about the bravery of its heroes, Salhia and Malhia who were the son's of Suryawanshi kingh Maharaja Trilokchand Arkawanshi. In 1952 Biswas a flight lieutenant of Indian Air Force who was working in a Communication Flight unit in Lucknow took charge of the aircraft carrying army officials who were returning to New Delhi after an official visit. After it took off, suddenly a crew member observed an engine malfunction; subsequently a fire broke out. Biswas first tried extinguish it, but it was difficult to control. He decided to attempt a forced landing, and made a belly landing near Sandila town in Uttar Pradesh and successfully saved the lives of all the passengers. Biswas was awarded the Ashoka Chakra for his extraordinary example of bravery, intelligence and rationality.[1] Sandila is also known for its delicacy that's ''Laddos of Sandila raja kurga parshad all fimaly person king of sandila 1865 Bc adders (rani ka sievala) and all family other county rest a fimaly

The growth of Sandila was sped up by an influx of refugees, many of whom are said to have been fleeing persecution by Muhammad Shah Tughlaq. His successor Firoz Shah visited Sandila twice, once in 1353 on the way to Lucknow and again in 1374 on the way to Bahraich. The oldest mosque in Sandila, now in ruins, was built in 769 AH on his orders. The Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi records that Sandila was ruled by Malik Hisam-ul-Mulk in 1375, and in 1394 it came under the control of Khwaja-i-Jahan, the first ruler of the Jaunpur Sultanate.

By the time of Sher Shah Suri, Sandila had become so crowded that one Sayyid Husain founded a new town next to it, called Ashraf Tola. The Sayyids were supporters of Sher Shah, and when Humayun was returned to power, he expelled them and looted the city. The Sayyids' estates were given to the Chandelas instead, but the Sayyids gradually recovered them beginning during the reign of Aurangzeb and then especially under the Nawabs of Awadh.

Up to this point, Sandila had never been a centre of government. In fact, the lack of government officials here made Sandila a convenient refuge for people who wanted to avoid imperial writs. That changed during the reign of Akbar, who transferred the qazi of Mahona to Sandila, and then the other pargana officials came to follow. This is reflected in the Ain-i-Akbari, which lists Sandila as the seat of a pargana in Lucknow sarkar of Awadh subah. It supplied the imperial treasury with a revenue of 10,623,901 dams and contributed a force of 5,000 infantry and 100 cavalry to the imperial army. Sandila itself is recorded as having a brick fort at the time. In addition, another mosque was built in Akbar's time, in 962 AH. Another historic monument is the Bara Khambha, or "hall of twelve pillars", was built in 971 AH; it contains the tomb of Makhdum Sahib, the ancestor of Sandila's preeminent Muslim family.

A third old mosque was built in 1121 AH according to its Persian-language inscription. In 1850 the European traveller W. Sleeman visited Sandila; he described it as somewhat in decline but "well-situated and possessing an excellent climate."

At the turn of the 20th century, Sandila was the 7th-largest city in the Awadh region, with a population of 16,843 people. A slight majority (8,876) were Muslim, while Hindus formed the second-largest religious group (7,948). Sandila then comprised four mohallas: Ashraf Tola, Malkhana, Mandai, and Mahetwana. The town had a tehsil office, a police station, and a town hall, along with a post office, a cattle pound, and a dispensary. There was a middle school, a boys' lower primary school funded by the municipality, a private school in Ashraf Tola, and two girls' lower primary schools. A new sarai, called the Quinn Sarai, had recently been built by Kunwar Durga Parshad near the railway station. Sandila hosted markets on Tuesdays and Saturdays; the main items for sale were paan, ghee, and laddu. It was also known for door pardahs and coloured cotton tablecloths "of a pretty design in large checks." Firewood was also exported to Lucknow via train. The largest source of income for the municipal government was through the collection of octroi.

Apart from this, the Begum Qudsia Aizaz Rasul (2 April 1909 – 1 August 2001) was the only Muslim woman in the Constituent Assembly of India that drafted the Constitution of India. Qudsia was married in 1929 to Nawab Aizaz Rasul, the taluqdar (landowner) of Sandila in Hardoi district of what was then Oudh (now a part of Uttar Pradesh). The match was arranged by Sir Malcolm Hailey and the marriage was entirely harmonious. Two years after the wedding, when Qudsia was fourteen, her father died in 1931. Shortly after this happened, her in-laws came and took her away to Sandila, which was to be her home in life and where she lies buried after her death. In Sandila, Qudsia came to be addressed after her husband's name as "Begum Aizaz Rasool," and this is the name by which she is known in all public records.