Saharanpur is the 23rd largest Hindi speaking city of India with a total population of 7,00,000. Major employment in Saharanpur district is in Agriculture and in the Food, Medicine, Wood and Handicraft industry. The region is well known for wood carving and furniture making. Saharanpur has 48% Agricultural workers, 49% workers in Industry and other services and 3% household workers. Located in the Doab region, Saharanpur is a large agricultural district, there is abundant crop of grains, rice and fruits. Amongst the industries, the textiles, sugar, paper and cigarette factories are prominent. Sharing its borders with Haryana and Uttarakhand, Saharanpur is located close to the Himalayan region and is characterized as a sub humid region especially the upper Ganga plain areas. Human habitation in Saharanpur can be traced back to 2000 BCE. Many Archaeological sites have been discovered in the surrounding area and various Indian dynasties have ruled this region including the Nandas, Maurya, Shunga, Yaudheya, Kushana, Gupta, Yasodharman, Vardhana, Maukhari, Khatiks, Notyial, Chandela, Muktapida, Ayuddhas, Gurjara-Pratihara, and Palas. During the reign of Shamsud-Din Iltutmish (1211–36), the region became a part of the Delhi Sultanate. Muhammad bin Tughluq, the Sultan of Delhi (1325–1351), undertook a campaign in the northern doab to crush the rebellion of the Shivalik kings in 1340, when according to local tradition he learned of the presence of a sufi saint on the banks of the Paondhoi River. After visiting the sage, he ordered that henceforth this region would be known as Shah-Haroonpur, after the Sufi Saint Shah Haroon Chishti. The simple but well-preserved tomb of this saint is situated in the oldest quarter of Saharanpur city. During the reign of Akbar (1542–1605), Saharanpur became an administrative unit under the Province of Delhi. Akbar bestowed the reigns of this jagir to the treasurer to the Mughals, Sah Ranbirsingh, a Jain nobleman, who laid the foundations of the present day city on the site of an army cantonment. Saharanpur was ruled by the Sayyids and Rohillas as well. Residents of Saharanpur participated in the first war of independence of 1857. The Saharanpur Botanical Garden, is one of the oldest existing gardens in India, dating to before 1750. Then named Farahat-Bakhsh, it was originally a pleasure ground set out by a local chief, Intazam ud-ullah. In 1817, it was acquired by the British East India Company and placed under the authority of the District Surgeon. It was here that the tea-plant from China was first bought to for cultivation in India. In 1887, when the Botanical Survey of India was set up to reform the countrys botanical sciences, Saharanpur became the centre for the survey of the northern Indian flora
