Khalilabad
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Khalilabad is a town in Uttar Pradesh state of northern India. It is the district headquarters for Sant Kabir Nagar District.
The town is small but has a history which can be traced back to Mughal emperors. Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb deputed his captain 'Khalilurehman' to suppress any revolts by hindu rajputs from near by villeges, notable among these were two brothers named Jai Singh and Vijay Singh. Vijay Singh was killed in a battle by Aurangjeb's forces and Jai Singh was forced to convert to Islam. Jai Singh was later known as Jasim Khan. His kin and relatives still live in a nearby village called 'Pach Pokhri'.
Khalilabad was a major trade centre for spices and handloom products. Traders from across India used to visit the weekly markets for trading spices and handloom products. Now the spices trade is totally gone, but the handloom market still thrives.
Khalilabad is named after the Mughal ruler of the place, Qazi Khalilurehman. There is a small fortress in the town, a part of which is being used as Police Headquarters. Facing this fort is a small temple of Goddess of Time (Samay Mai). This goddess is in form of an elephant statue. It is said that Qazi Khalilurehman was facing problems in construction of the fortress, walls used to collapse all of sudden, and someone suggested to him that if you can bring the Goddess of Time and get a temple made in front of your fortress, your problems will vanish. Qazi did so and succeeded in making of the fortress.
Rumors say that there is a tunnel in the fortress, believed to be 9 km long. It opens up in another nearby town called Magahar (the same place where noted Saint Kabir breathed his last, which is why the name of the newly formed district is Sant Kabir Nagar).
