Kanpur, << KAHN poor >> (pop. 2,765,348; met. area pop. 2,920,067), is one of the largest cities in Uttar Pradesh, a state in northern India. Kanpur lies on the west bank of the Ganges River. The city is a manufacturing, trade, and transportation center. Kanpur’s factories produce cotton, leather goods, military equipment, silk, and wool. The city has many modern buildings. The city’s oldest section, in the west, has narrow, winding streets lined by buildings that are crowded together.
An Indian leader ceded Kanpur, then called Cawnpore, to the British East India Company in 1801. Cawnpore grew rapidly from a small village into a thriving commercial city. In 1857, Indians killed the entire British population of the city during the Indian Rebellion (see Indian Rebellion). The city’s name was officially changed to Kanpur in 1948.
