Kursath, Unnao

The site of modern-day Kursath was originally occupied by a village called Khajuriya, which was ruled by a local tribe known as the Shahids.^[3] The remains of their fort still exist at Kursath.^[3] Supposedly the first Mughal emperor, Babur, sent a subahdar named Quds-ud-Din to subjugate the Shahids.^[3] Quds-ud-Din was successful, and he razed the old village of Khajuriya, which he re-founded and named "Qudsat" after himself, hence the present name.^[3] Some of the soldiers in Quds-ud-Din's army also received shares in the village lands: Quds-ud-Din got half, while the Sheikhs and Afghans each got a quarter.^[3] Their descendants all kept these shares, with Quds-ud-Din's being the village's zamindars.^[3]

At the turn of the 20th century, Kursath was described as follows: "The scenery is pleasant, the land level, the climate healthy, and the water mostly good; there is a little jungle towards the west."^[3] The old canal of Ghazi-ud-Din Haidar crossed through the town lands on the north side, where they flowed into the Sai river.^[3] Kursath had a lower primary school with 36 students and a market held once per week.^[3] Its population in 1901 was 6,431, including 4,357 Hindus and 2,074 Muslims.^[3] It had grown significantly in the past half-century — the population had been 5,373 in 1869.^[3]

The 1961 census recorded Kursath (as "Kursat") as comprising 29 hamlets, with a total population of 8,460 people (4,578 male and 3,882 female), in 1,532 households and 1,227 physical houses.^[4] It was the largest village in the district at the time.^[2] The village lands covered an area of 1,960 hectares, of which 1,082 were cultivated.^[2] At that time, it held a market on Sundays and Wednesdays, specialising in grain, vegetables, and various everyday essentials; its average attendance was recorded as 2,300 people.^[4] It also had the following small industrial establishments: 3 grain mills, 3 makers of edible fats and/or oils, 3 miscellaneous food processing facilities, 2 makers of cotton cloth by handloom, 7 makers of textiles, 12 makers of miscellaneous wooden products, 2 makers of shoes, 4 bicycle repair shops, and 2 unclassified manufacturers and/or repairers.^[4]

Kursath was first classified as a town for the 1981 census.^[5] At that time, its main items of manufacture were listed as rice and beedies.^[5]

As of 2001^[update] India census,^[6] Kursath had a population of 6,030. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Kursath has an average literacy rate of 42%, lower than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 49%, and female literacy is 35%. In Kursath, 21% of the population is under 6 years of age.

According to the 2011 census, Kursath has a population of 6,770 people, in 1,044 households.^[1] The town's sex ratio is 957 females to every 1000 males; 3,459 of Kursath's residents are male (51.1%) and 3,311 are female (48.9%).^[1] The 0-6 age group makes up about 16.7% of the town's population; among this group, the sex ratio is 982, which is the highest among towns in Unnao district.^[1] Members of Scheduled Castes make up 7.78% of the town's population, while no members of Scheduled Tribes were recorded.^[1] The town's literacy rate was 63.2% (counting only people age 7 and up); literacy was higher among men and boys (71.3%) than among women and girls (54.7%).^[1] The scheduled castes literacy rate is 46.1% (57.9% among men and boys, and 32.7% among women and girls).^[1]

In terms of employment, 21.8% of Kursath residents were classified as main workers (i.e. people employed for at least 6 months per year) in 2011.^[1] Marginal workers (i.e. people employed for less than 6 months per year) made up 9.1%, and the remaining 69.1% were non-workers.^[1] Employment status varied heavily according to gender, with 50.2% of men being either main or marginal workers, compared to only 10.7% of women.^[1]

18.8% of Kursath residents live in slum conditions as of 2011.^[1] There are 4 slum areas in Kursath: Bari West, Kasaita, Godiana, and Chamraudha (the largest).^[1] These range in size from about 40 to 90 households and have between 3 and 8 tap water access points.^[1] The number of flush toilets installed in people's homes ranges from 10 in Bari West to 45 in Chamraudha.^[1] All 4 areas are serviced by open sewers.^[1]