Midnapore is the district headquarters of Paschim Medinipur

Paschim Medinipur

Paschim Medinipur district or West Midnapore district is the districts of the state of West Bengal, India. It was formed on January 1, 2002 after the Partition of Midnapore into Paschim Medinipur and Purba Medinipur. The district has 4 sub-divisions: Kharagpur, Medinipur Sadar, Ghatal and Jhargram...

 district of West Bengal

West Bengal

West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...

. It is situated on the banks of the Kangsabati River

Kangsabati River

Kangsabati River rises from the Chota Nagpur plateau in the state of Jharkhand, India and passes through the districts of Purulia, Bankura and Paschim Medinipur in West Bengal before draining in the Hooghly River.-Course:After rising near Jhalda in the Chota Nagpur plateau in Purulia district,...

 (variously known as Kasai and Cossye). This area had taken a pioneering role in India's freedom struggle. a large number of freedom fighters who had bravely faced the gallows are the sons of the soil of midnapore. In order to free their motherland of the yokes of bondage, They had willingly sacrificed themselves in the freedom pyre.
There are conflicting accounts of how the name Medinipur came to be.