Karnal

Karnal is a city located in the state of Haryana, India and is the administrative headquarters of Karnal District. City is well connected as it lies on National Highway 01, in the south of the city lies the city of Panipat, Sonepat and in the north lies Kurukshetra and Yamunanagar city while in the east lies the river Yamuna , on the other end of which lies Saharanpur and Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh on the eastern Bank. Karnal was used by the East India Company army as a refuge during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 in Delhi. The Battle of Karnal between Nader Shah of Persia and the Mughal Empire took place in this city in 1739.

Etymology
The city associates itself with the character Karna from the Indian epic Mahabharata.

Ancient
At the end of 6th century A.D., the area was under the rule of the Vardhanas of Thanesar. The 7th century was a period of religious eclecticism, as Buddhism was declining and Hinduism was resurging in the Indo-Gangetic plains. The region was under Kanauji rule under the Pala Emperors of Bengal from 770 to 810 AD. The authority of Mihira Bhoja, the Pratihara ruler of Kanauj from 836 to 885 AD, penetrated as far as Pehowa, including Karnal.

Medieval
The Tomaras, established themselves as rulers of this region in the middle of the 9th century. About the beginning of the 10th century, as the Pratihara power began to decline, the Tomaras assumed independence. One of the Tomara rulers, Anangpal Tomar, found the city of Delhi and made it his capital, with the area of Karnal and modern-day Haryana being under his realm. The Tomaras came into conflict with the Chauhans of Ajmer, but continued to rule the Haryana country until the middle of 12th century when they were overthrown by the Chaha mana Vighnaraja IV. The country between the Satluj and the Yamuna including Karnal experienced relative peace for a century and a half except the plundering invasions and eventual conquests of Mahmud of Ghazi. The region then came under Ghurid rule after the Second Battle of Tarain when Muhammad Ghori captured the area. It remained under the Delhi Sultanate until 1526.

In 1526 at the First Battle of Panipat, Mughal emperor Babur defeated the Sultan of Delhi, Ibrahim Lodi, and captured parts of North India, along with Delhi and Panipat. He then established the Mughal Empire in North India.

Karnal is listed in the Mughal Ain-i-Akbari as a pargana under Delhi sarkar, producing a revenue of 5,678,242 dams for the imperial treasury and supplying a force of 800 infantry and 50 cavalry.

In A.D. 1739, Nader Shah of Persia invaded the Mughal empire and Karnal was the scene of the famed Battle of Karnal, in which Nader Shah decisively defeated the Mughal Emperor, Muhammad Shah. Muhammad Shah along with an enormous army occupied a strongly fortified camp at Karnal, but he yielded to the invader as his supplies were cut off from the open country by Shah and was starved into submission. The tactical defeat drastically weakened the Mughal Empire, while the Persian Empire prospered and subsequently hastened the establishment of the British Empire in India. The region then came under Afghan rule. On 24 Feb1739, the Iranian ruler Nadir Shah attacked India. Rao Bal Kishan, with his army and with the forces of Delhi, fought Nadir Shah. His army included 5000 infantry and 2000 cavalry. In February 1739, Nader Shah captured Sirhind and moved towards the field of Karnal, a battle destined to be fateful to the Mughal rulers. Every year on 24 Feb, Rao Bal Kishan Shaurya Diwas celebrated in Rewari.

Sikhs appeared on the scene in the 18th century. The importance of Karnal grew in the time of Raja Gajpat Singh of Jind State who after its capture in A.D. 1763 built the boundary wall and a fort and under whose rule the town increased considerably in size. On 14 January 1764, Sikh Chiefs defeated and killed Zain Khan Sirhindi, the Durrani Governor, and took possession of the whole of Sirhind province as far south as Panipat including Karnal.

Modern
During the Indian independence movement, a district political conference was organized at Karnal with Lala Lajpat Rai as its chairman.

Demographics
The population of the city as of 2011, is 328,500

The sex ratio in Karnal stood at 915 females per 1000 males in 2011, compared to the 2001 census figure of 862.

Government
Karnal Municipal Corporation is the municipal corporation governing Indian city of Karnal. The mayor of the city currently is Renu Bala Gupta and the municipal commissioner is Naresh Narwal, IAS.

Politics
The city is part of the Karnal Assembly constituency and Nayab Singh Saini of BJP is the current MLA from Karnal constituency.

Manohar Lal Khattar of BJP is the current elected MP from the Karnal Lok Sabha constituency.

Facilities
Karnal was ranked 24th (1st in Haryana) among 4000+ cities in the list of the cleanest cities of India under the government survey named Swachh Survekshan 2019.

Karnal was selected as one of the hundred Indian cities to be developed as a smart city under the Union government's plan Smart Cities Mission.

Education

 * St. Theresa's Convent Sr. Sec. School.
 * Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College.
 * Pratap Public School.
 * Maharana Pratap Horticultural University.
 * Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhayaya University of Health Sciences.

Research Institutes
==== National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal. ==== National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) has been complementing country’s massive dairy development programmes through its multifaceted activities in the areas of Dairy Research. NDRI is fully supported by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and functions as one of the National Institutes under its aegis. The institute also interacts with various National and International Institutes in Dairying and allied fields for exchange of information and advancing new knowledge both in basic and applied fields of dairy science. The contributions of the Institute in conducting, collating and co-ordinating research in Dairying have received worldwide recognition. The Institute was conferred Deemed University status by the University Grants commission in March, 1989. 67 For transfer of technology and dissemination of knowhow developed at the Institute, the Operational Research Project, a programme of integrated crop and milk production improvement, links the Institute with farming community of 40 villages around Karnal.

National Institute of Animal Genetics, Karnal
National Burea of Animal genetic Resources and National Institute of animal Genetics were set up on 21 September 1984. These Institutes were initially located in the Campus of Southern Regional Station of NDRI, Bangalore. Since 19 July 1985 the Bureau and Animal Genetics Institute are in Karnal. The broad aims of the Institutes are to conduct systematic surveys on animal and poultry genetic resources; to develop methodologies for the conservation of animal genetic resources in-situ through cryo-preservation and by developing transgenic forces; to establish data respository; to design methodologies for proper management and optimal utilisation of animal genetic resources; etc.

Directorate of Wheat Research, Karnal
Wheat Project Directorate (WPO) was made independent of Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi w.e.f. Ist September, 1990 and redesignated as Directorate of Wheat Research (DWR) with headquarters at Karnal.

Centre Soil Salinity Research Institute (CSSRI), Karnal
It was established in March 1969, under the aegis of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

Notable people

 * Kalpana Chawla, first Indo-American woman astronaut. In 2003, Chawla was one of the seven crew members that died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
 * Vikramjeet Virk A Bollywood Actor. He Was Born in 1984 Village Tharwa Majra Of Karnal. He’s Well Renowned Actor Working in Hindi, Punjabi, Telugu Films.
 * Anish Bhanwala, Indian shooter. He was brought up in Karnal, Haryana and competes in the 25 meter rapid fire pistol, 25 meter pistol, and 25 meter standard pistol events.
 * Mool Chand Jain, a leader of the Indian Independence movement.
 * General Arthur Power Palmer, Commander-in-Chief of India was born in 1840
 * Navdeep Saini, Indian cricketer
 * Liaquat Ali Khan, was born in Karnal. A Pakistan Movement leader, he was selected as the first Prime Minister of Pakistan by Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah