KANAUJ  , an

ancient city of British India, in Farukhabad district, United Provinces, near the left bank of the Ganges . Pop . (1901), 18,552 . Kanauj in early times formed the capital of a great Hindu kingdom . Its prosperity dates from a prehistoric period, and seems to have culminated about the 6th century under Harsha . In 1019 it fell before Mahmud of Ghazni, and again in 1194 before Mahommed Ghori . The existing ruins extend over the lands of five villages, occupying a semicircle fully 4 M. in diameter . No Hindu buildings remain intact; but the great mosque, constructed by Ibrahim Shah of jaunpur in 1406 out of Hindu temples, is still called by Hindus " Sita's Kitchen." Kanauj, which is traditionally said to be derived from Kanyakubja (=the crooked maiden), has given its name to an important division of Brahmans in northern India . Hindu-ism in Lower Bengal also dates its origin from a Brahman migration southwards from this city, about Boo or goo . Kanauj is now noted for the distilling of scents .