As of 2011, the population of Kursath is 6,770, in 1,044 households.[1]
Major industries include the production of shoes and slippers, furniture, and zardozi work.[1]
This town is situated in between island of ponds from three sides (west east and south); it is open from the north, but this side is also covered with a medium size canal dereveted from sharda canal at chuadhary khera pul.
History
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]
