Kanpur, spelled as Cawnpore before 1948, is the tenth most populous city in India and the largest within the state of Uttar Pradesh.
Kanpur;formerlyCawnpore; is the12th most populouscity inIndia. It is the administrative headquarters ofKanpur Nagar districtandKanpur division. It is the second largest industrial town in north India, followingDelhi. The name is believed to have derived fromKarnapur(meaning "town of Karna", one of the heroes of theMahabharata). Another theory is that it came from the nearby town ofMakanpur, earlier known as Khairabad, where the Sufi saint of theMadariyaSufi order, Badiuddin Zinda Shah Madar, settled.