Roorkee is a city and seat of a municipal council

Municipal council

A municipal council is the local government of a municipality. Specifically the term can refer to the institutions of various countries that can be translated by this term...

 in Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand , formerly Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Land of Gods due to the many holy Hindu temples and cities found throughout the state, some of which are among Hinduism's most spiritual and auspicious places of pilgrimage and worship...

, in far northern India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. It is located on the banks of the Ganges canal on the national highway

Indian highways

The National Highways Network of India, is a network of highways that is managed and maintained by agencies of the Government of India. These highways measured over as of 2010, including over of limited-access Expressways....

 between Delhi and Dehradun. Roorkee is known for Roorkee Cantonment

Roorkee Cantonment

Roorkee Cantonment is a cantonment town, in Roorkee, Haridwar district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and is one of country's oldest cantonments established in 1853, and the headquarters of Bengal Engineer Group since 1853.-History:...

, one of the country's oldest cantonments, and the headquarters of Bengal Engineer Group

Bengal Engineer Group

The Bengal Engineer Group or the Bengal Sappers or Bengal Engineers as they are informally known, are remnants of British Indian Army's Bengal Army of the Bengal Presidency in British India; now a regiment of the Corps of Engineers in the Indian Army. The Bengal Sappers have their regimental...

 (Bengal Sappers) since 1853. The renowned engineering college IIT Roorkee is located in this town.
According to one story, Roorkee derives its name from Rurimadi imran, the wife of some local Rajput chieftain.