LOCATION-
The district is situated in the north – eastern part of Uttar Pradesh. It forms part of the stretch of country laying beyond the river Ghagra in northeast corner of the Utter Pradesh. The district lies between the parallels of 26° 23′ and 27° 30′ North latitude and 82° 17′ and 83° 20′ East longitude. It comprises to a tract of some what irregular shape. The district is surrounded by Sant Kabir Nagar on the east and Gonda on west, on the south. Ghaghara river separate it from Faizabad and Ambedker Nagar while on the north the boundary marches with Sidharth Nagar district. It’s area is 2,688.00 Sq.km.

PHYSIOGRAPHY-
The north portion of the district is along with the boundry of district Siddharta Nagar. In this area there are small nalas & ponds. The river Ami is flowing on the north eastern border. The Garia river is regularised the eastern border of the district, at some distance. In the middle and southern part of the district, the river Kuwana and Ghaghara are the main rivers, besides these rivers there are so many rivers, nalas and ponds in the area. The whole land of the district is made by the soil carried out by the Ghaghara and tributaries.
This is generally plain and fertile land which is situated in the north revage of Ghaghra river. The normal flow of water is in the direction of northwest to southeast The district is drained by Ghaghara like big rivers along with so many small & big nalas. The river Ghaghara is flowing through the south corner of the district towards the tahsil Harraiya, Basti in the direction of west to east and makes the boundaries of district Basti and Faizabad and the river Kuwana is flowing through the tahsil Basti & Bhanpur. The river Manwan is flowing through tahsil Harraiya, Basti in northwest to southeast direction. The river Ami, in the north, has been divided, the boundaries of district Basti & Siddharth Nagar and in the east, the river Garia makes the boundry line of district Sant Kabir Nagar and flows in tahsil Basti in east direction.

In very ancient period the country around Basti was part of Kosala. The Shatapatha Brahmana speaks of Kosala as one of the countries of the Vedic Aryans and the grammarian Pa?ini mentions it in one of his Sutras. It was during the rule of Rama, the eldest son of Dasharatha, that the glory of the Kosala royal dynasty reached its culmination. According to the tradition, Rama’s elder son Kush ascended the throne of Kosala while the younger son Lav became the ruler of the northern part of the kingdom with its capital as Shravasti. In the 93rd generation from Ikshvaku and 30th from Rama was Brihadbala, the last famous king of the Ikshvaku density who was killed in Great Mahabharata battle. With the decline of the Guptas in sixth century CE, Basti also began gradually to become desolate. At this  time a new dynasty, that of the Maukharis, with its capital as Kannauj, assumed an important position on the political map of northern India and perhaps this kingdom in included present district also. In the beginning of the 9th century CE, the Gurjara–Pratihara king, Nagabhata II, overthrew the Ayodhyas who was then ruling at Kannauj, and made this city the capital of his growing empire which rose to its greatest height in the reign of the famous Mihira Bhoja I (836-885 A.D.). During the reign of Mahipal, the power of Kannauj began to decline and Awadh was divided into small chieftainships, but all of them ultimately yielded to the newly rising power of Gahadwals of Kannauj. Jaychandra (1170-1194 A.D.), the last important ruler of the dynasty was killed in the battle of Chandawar (near Etawah) fighting against the invading army of Muhammad of Ghor. Soon after his death Kannauj was occupied by the Turks. According to the legends, for centuries Basti was a wilderness and that greater part of Awadh was occupied by the Bhars. No definite evidence is available about the Bhars origin and early history. The evidence of an extensive Bhar kingdom in the district can be gleaned only from the ruins of ancient brick buildings popularly ascribed to the Bhars and found in abundance in a number of villages of this district.

In the beginning of the 13th century CE, Nasir-ud-din Mahmud, the elder son of Iltutmish, became the governor of Awadh in 1225 and is said to have completely crushed all resistance on the part of the Bhars. In 1323, Gayasuddin Tuglaq march through Bahraich and Gonda on his way to Bengal but he seems to have avoided the perils of the forest of district Basti and went by river from Ayodhya. Till 1479 CE, Basti and its adjoining districts appeared to be remained under the control of the rulers of Jaunpur Sultanate. After annexing the Jaunpur Sultanate, Bahlol Lodi handed over the governorship of the area covered by the sultanate to his nephew Muhammad Farmuli (Kala Pahar) with the headquarters at Bahraich, which included this district and the adjoining areas. About this time, Mahatma Kabir, the well-known poet and philosopher lived at Maghar in this district. It is said that before the advent of the leading Rajput clans, there were the local Hindus and Hindu Rajas in the districts and they are said to have supplanted the aboriginal tribes like Bhars, Tharus, Domes and Domekatars, whom general tradition declares to have been the early rulers, at least after the fall of ancient kingdoms and this appearance of the Buddhist faith. These Hindus included the Bhumihar Brahmins, Sarvariya Brahmans and Visen. This was the state of the Hindu society in the district before the arrival of the Rajputs from the west. In the middle of the 13th century the Srinetra was the newcomer to have first established in this reign. Their chief, Chandrasen, expel the Domkatar from the eastern Basti. The Kalhans Rajput of Gonda province established themselves in Pargana Basti. South of the Kalhans country Nagar, ruled by a Gautam Raja. There was also an ailed clan in Mahuli known as Mahsuiyas are Rajputs of Mahso. Other Rajput clan of special mention was that of Chauhan. It is said that three chief Mukund fled from Chittaur who ruled on undivided part (now it is in district Siddharthnagar) of district Basti. By the last quarter of the 14th century Amorha a part of district Basti were ruled by Kayasth dynasty. During the reign of Akbar and his successor the district formed a part of the Gorakhpur sarkar of the Awadh Subah. In the earlier days of his reign the district served as the asylum for the rebel Afghan leaders like Ali Quli Khan, Khan Zaman, the governor of Jaunpur. During the Mughal period in 1680 Aurangzeb sent one Qazi Khalil-ur-Rahman as the chakledar (holder of the tract) of Gorakhpur probably to get the regular payment of revenue from the local chiefs. Kalil-ur-Rahman marched from Ayodhya to force the chieftains of the districts adjoining Gorakhpur to make payment of revenue. As a result of this move, the rajas of Amorha and Nagar, who had recently acquired power, promptly tendered their submission and confrontation was thus averted. The governor then proceeded to Maghar which he again garrisoned, compelling the raja of Bansi to retire to this fortress on the bank of Rapti. The town of Khalilabad, now headquarters of newly created district Sant Kabir Nagar, was named after Khalil-ur-Rahman, who tomb was erected at Maghar. A road leading from Ayodhya to Gorakhpur was constructed. In February 1690, Himmat Khan (son of Khan Jahan Bahadur Zafar Jang Kokaltash, Subahdar of Allahabad) was appointed Subahdar of Awadh and faujdar (military commander) of Gorakhpur who held the charge of Basti and adjoining districts for a long time.

Culture & Festivals:-
Ram Chandra Shukla (4 October 1884 – 2 February 1941), better known as Acharya Shukla, is regarded as the first codifier of the history of Hindi literature in a scientific system by using wide, empirical research with scant resources and published Hindi Sahitya Ka Itihaas (1928–29). Mahatma Kabir, the well-known poet and philosopher used to live at Maghar in Basti district, Presently the place Maghar belongs to new district sant Kabir Nagar. The inhabitants of the district celebrate festivals like Nav Durga, Ramnaumi, Krishna Janmasthmi, Shivratri, Deepawali, Id-ul-Fitar, Id-uz-Zuha, Moharram, Dashara and Holi.

o Nav Durga Puja
The festival Nav Durga puja celebrated for 15 days All street of the city decorated with fancy electric light and beautiful nav durga murti. The people of the city celebrated this occasion with worm and happiness, the rural people also participate in this fair. The district administration make all preventive arrangement during this period.

o Kawariya Mela
This mela is celebrated in month of Aug. every year  (2nd tuseday of sawan month)

o Language
Vernaculars spoken in Basti include Awadhi in Basti West areas & Bhojpuri in Basti East Side.Most of the people read and write in Hindi.

o Food
Main food of the people are Roti (wheat), rice, Dal (arhar) and seasonal vegetables and fruits.

o Cloths
In rural area, most of the men wear Kurta, Dhoti and women wear sari and blowuse and in urbon area men wear shirt and pants , girls wear salwar shute and women wear sari and blowuse.

The district is noted for its cotton textiles and sugar industries. Cottage industries and small-scale industries including the manufacturing units of brassware, iron and carpentry goods, agricultural implements, bricks, agro-products, foot-wear, soaps, candles, and pottery are present here. Basti is also known for its bamboo, eucalyptus (Eucalyptus teritrornis), mango and shisham (Dalbergia sissoo) populations. Four sugar factories are housed in the district. Sugarcane, maize, paddy, pulses, wheat, barley, and potato are commonly cultivated. Most of the population depends for their livelihood on agricultural practices. The district is well-connected through NH 28 which reflects on its good economy. The city is well-connected through railways also.

In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Basti one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). It is one of the 34 districts in Uttar Pradesh currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF). City is also known for nationwide youth organisation National Association of Youth founded by Bhavesh Kumar Pandey and run from Basti. The organization organizes Basti Mini Marathon every year since 2012.

By Air:-
Faizabad (Ayodhya) and Gorakhpur airports are the nearby airports.

By Railways:-
Basti railway station lies on the main line connecting Lucknow with Gorakhpur and places in Bihar and Assam in the east passes through the south of the district. The main line has 7 railway stations which are, from east to west, Munderwa, Orwara, Basti, Govindnagar, Tinich, Gaur, and Babhnan within the district.

By Roadways:-
Basti is well connected with the nearby cities of Faizabad, Ayodhya, Gorakhpur and Gonda.

There is a daily Intercity express between Gorakhpur, Basti, Ayodhya, Gonda, and Lucknow. National Highway 2a part of the East West Corridor project of Government of India and NHAI, also passes through Basti.