Banda

Banda, city, southern Uttar Pradesh state, northern India. It is located near the Ken River (a tributary of the Yamuna River).

Banda is an agricultural marketplace and lies at a road junction on a major rail line. The city’s trade has declined, however, and the road leading southward is no longer maintained. Banda is noted for its agates from the Ken riverbed, which are exported. There are several mosques and Hindu temples, and outside the city are the ruins of an 18th-century fort, Kalinjar. The city and the fort changed hands repeatedly during struggles between the Muslims, Marathas, French, and British. Pop. (2001) 134,839; (2011) 154,428.