Kannauj (Hindi: क़न्नौज, Urdu: قنوج), also spelt Kanauj, is a city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city's name is traditionally derived from the term Kanyakubja (The city of the hunchbacked maidens). Kannauj is an ancient city, in earlier times the capital of Emperor Harshavardhan. It is said that Kanyakubja Brahmin's are originally from Kannauj. Kannauj is known for the distilling of scents and is a market center for tobacco, perfume, and rose water. It has given its name to a distinct dialect of the Hindi language known as Kanauji. It was called Calinipaxa during reign of Alexander the Great.

Kannuaj remained a focal point for the three powerful dynasties, namely the Gurjara Pratiharas, Palas and Rashtrakutas, between the 8th and 10th centuries. The conflict between the three dynasties has been referred to as the Tripartite struggle by many historians.

There were initial struggles but ultimately the Gurjar Pratihars succeeded in retaining the city. The Gurjar Pratihars ruled Malwa, which was bounded to the South by the Rashtrakuta Empire, and the Pala dynasty to the East. The Tripartite Struggle began with the defeat of Indrayudh at the hands of Gurjar Pratihar ruler Vatsaraja. The Pala ruler Dharampala was also keen to establish his authority at Kannauj, giving rise to a struggle between Vatsaraja and Dharampala. Dharampala was however defeated. Taking advantage of the chaos, the Rastrakuta ruler Dhruva surged northwards, defeated Vatsaraja, and took Kannauj for himself, completing the furthest northern expansion by a South Indian ruler.

Akhilesh Yadav (born 1 July 1973) is an Indian politician and the youngest chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. First time he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Kannauj in a by-election of 2000. He retained his seat in the 2004 and 2009 general elections. Thus he has won the Lok Sabha elections three times since 2000. He spearheaded the campaign to bring the Samajwadi Party back to power in the U.P. Assembly election 2012.

Akhilesh Yadav was born to Mulayam Singh Yadav and his first wife Malti Devi on 1 July 1973 in the Saifai village of Etawah district. He took his primary education from St. Mary's School, Etawah. Thereafter he studied in Dholpur Military School, Dholpur at (Rajasthan. He got Bachelor degree in Civil Engineering from Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Mysore and later opted for a Masters in environmental engineering from the University of Sydney.

Akhilesh gives credit to Janeshwar Mishra who intiated him to join politics.

He introduced modern elements in Samajwadi party's campaigning style.^{[citation needed]} In the 2012 general election he was able to provide the party with a new image.^{[citation needed]} He extensively campaigned across the state holding cycle rallies and public meetings at various locations.^{[citation needed]} His Rath Yatra conducted across the state was highly successful in bringing young voters and people from across all the communities into the Samajwadi party's fold.^{[citation needed]} His personality was a key role in helping the Party towards a victory in U. P. Assembly Elections of 2012,^{[citation needed]} with Samajwadi party winning 224 seats out of total 403.^{[citation needed]} Thus Samajvadi Party being the single largest party formed the government.^{[citation needed]}