ALIGARH, a city and district of British India in the Agra division of the United Provinces. The city (pop. 83,878-in 1930 is also known as Koil. There are several flour-mills, cotton-presses and an important dairy farm. Aligarh f ort, situated on the Grand Trunk road, consists of a regular polygon, surrounded by a very broad and deep ditch. It became a key fortress under Sin8hia in '759, and was the depot where he drilled and organized his battal ions in the European fashion with the aid of De Boigne. It was captured from the Mahrattas by Lord Lake's army, in September So3. In modern times the chief pride of Aligarh is its associa tions with Western education for Mohammedans. The enlightened pioneer was Sir Sayyad Ahmad Khan (d. 1898), who founded in 1864 an institute for the translation and study of Western liter ature. This he steadily, and in face of much orthodox opposition, developed into the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental college and school. It attracted students from all over India and from outer Asia, and had a profound influence on the intellectual and political progress of Indian Mohammedans. In 192o it was advanced to the status of a university.
The district of Aligarh has an area of 1,947sq.m., and a population (1931) of 1,171,745. It is nearly a level plain, but with a slight elevation in the centre, between the two great rivers the Ganges and Jumna. The only other important river is the Kali Nadi, which traverses the entire length of the district from north-east to south-west. The chief trading centre is Hathras, where there are several factories for ginning and press ing cotton.