Agriculture constitutes the fundamental economic and geographical base of Jaunpur District in eastern Uttar Pradesh. However, the agricultural landscape of the district has undergone significant transformation due to population growth, expansion of settlements, irrigation development, changing cropping practices, infrastructural development, market forces, technological advancement and environmental pressures. The present study examines the changing agricultural landscape of Jaunpur District through a geographical assessment of land use and agricultural land-use patterns. The study is based primarily on secondary data obtained from the Census of India, District Census Handbook, Government of Uttar Pradesh, National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), agricultural contingency-plan data and other governmental sources. The analysis covers major land-use categories including forest, agricultural wasteland, current fallow, other fallow, barren and unculturable land, land put to non-agricultural uses, pasture, trees and groves, net sown area and net irrigated area. The study compares land-use conditions during 2001, 2011 and 2021 and examines the direction and magnitude of change. Available data indicate that the net sown area declined from 291,303 ha in 2001 to 278,538 ha in 2011 and further to 274,778 ha in 2021, representing an overall decline of about 5.68% during 2001–2021. In contrast, land under non-agricultural uses increased from 44,217 ha in 2001 to 52,574 ha in 2021. Net irrigated area increased considerably between 2001 and 2011, although a slight decline occurred by 2021. The study demonstrates that Jaunpur is experiencing a gradual transition from an overwhelmingly agriculture-dominated landscape towards a more diversified land-use structure.