Hazaribagh district

Hazaribagh district
District of Jharkhand
Hazaribagh forest area,Lake in Hazaribagh Wildlife Sanctuary
Location of Hazaribagh district in Jharkhand
Country	India
State	Jharkhand
Division	North Chotanagpur
Headquarters	Hazaribagh
Government
•  Deputy Commissioner	Smt. Nancy Sahay (IAS)
•  Superintendent of police	Shri Arvind Kumar Singh (IPS)
•  Lok Sabha constituencies	Hazaribagh (shared with Ramgarh district)
•  Vidhan Sabha constituencies	5 ( Sadar, Barhi, Barkagaon, Barkathha, Mandu)
Area
• Total	3,555 km2 (1,373 sq mi)
Population  (2011)
• Total	1,734,495
• Density	490/km2 (1,300/sq mi)
Languages
• Official	Hindi
• Additional official	Urdu and English
• Other	Khortha and Santali
Demographics
•  Literacy	69.75%
• Sex ratio	946
Time zone	UTC+05:30 (IST)
Vehicle registration	JH-02
Major highways	NH 19 NH 20 NH 522
Website	hazaribag.nic.in

Hazaribagh district is one of the oldest districts of Jharkhand state, India and the district headquarter located in Hazaribagh town. It is located in the north east part of North Chotanagpur Division. The boundary of this district consists of districts of Gaya (BIHAR) and Koderma in the north, Giridih and Bokaro in the east, Ramgarh in the south and Chatra in the west.

Etymology

The district is named after its headquarters, the town of Hazaribagh. The name, Hazaribagh consists of two Persian words, hazar meaning "one thousand", and bagh meaning "garden" - so, the literal meaning of Hazaribagh is 'a city of one thousand gardens'. According to Sir John Houlton, a veteran British administrator, the town takes its name from the small villages of Okni and Hazari – shown in old maps as Ocunhazry. The last syllable in its name probably originated in a mango-grove, which formed a camping ground for troops and travellers marching along the ‘new military road’ from Kolkata to Varanasi, constructed in 1782 and the following years. ^[1]

History

There are ancient Cave Paintings in Isko, Hazaribagh district which are from Meso-chalcolithic period (9,000-5,000 BC). ^[2] There is a group of megaliths found close to Barkagaon that is about 25 km from Hazaribagh town at Punkri Barwadih, which has been proven to date back to beyond 3000 BCE. ^[3]

Hazaribagh region in the center of Bihar and Orissa province, 1912 map of British India

On 6 December 1972, Giridih district was split from Hazaribagh. ^[4] In 1999 this happened again with the creation of Chatra and Koderma. ^[4] Hazaribagh left Bihar when Jharkhand was formed on 15 November 2000. ^[4] On 12 September 2007, yet another district was created from Hazaribagh's territory: Ramgarh. ^[4]

Economy

Coal is the major mineral found in this district. This significant coal deposit reserves of this district include Charhi, Kuju, Ghato Tand and Barkagaon of North Karanpura Coalfield. The coal mines are the main source of livelihood for the residents of this district. People of this district are known to be very hard working.

Patratu and Bhurkunda was also coal mines areas of Hazaribagh but it is now in Ramgarh district.

In 2006, the Indian government named Hazaribagh one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). ^[5] It is one of the 21 districts in Jharkhand currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF). ^[5]

Administration

Blocks/Mandals

Hazaribag district consists of 16 Blocks. The following are the list of the Blocks in Hazaribagh district:

1. Barhi Block
2. Dadi Block
3. Barkatha Block
4. Daru Block
5. Bishnugarh Block
6. Katkamdag Block
7. Barkagaon Block
8. Katkamsandi Block
9. Chauparan Block
10. Ichak Block
11. Padma Block
12. Churchu Block
13. Sadar Block
14. Chalkusha Block
15. Tati Jhariya Block
16. Keredari Block

The district is divided into two sub-divisions: Hazaribagh and Barhi.

Hazaribagh sub-division comprises 11 blocks: Sadar, Hazaribagh, Katkamsandi, Bishnugarh, Barkagaon, Keredari, Ichak, Churchu, Daru, Tati Jhariya, Katkamdag and Dadi.

Barhi sub-division comprises 5 blocks: Padma, Barhi, Chauparan, Barkatha and Chalkusha.

Demographics

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 1901 241,612 —     1911 264,297 +9.4% 1921 261,915 −0.9% 1931 311,227 +18.8% 1941 359,218 +15.4% 1951 397,342 +10.6%	Year Pop. ±% 1961 498,034 +25.3% 1971 643,086 +29.1% 1981 854,377 +32.9% 1991 1,101,171 +28.9% 2001 1,378,881 +25.2% 2011 1,734,495 +25.8%
Source: Census of India [6]

According to the 2011 census, Hazaribagh district has a population of 1,734,495, ^[7] roughly equal to the nation of The Gambia ^[8] or the US state of Nebraska. ^[9] This gives it a ranking of 279th in India (out of a total of 640). ^[7] The district has a population density of 488 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,260/sq mi). ^[7] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 25.75%. ^[7] Hazaribagh has a sex ratio of 946 females for every 1000 males, ^[7] and a literacy rate of 69.75%. ^[7] 15.87% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 17.50% and 7.02% of the total population respectively.

Religion in Hazaribagh district (2011) [10]
Religion			Percent
Hinduism			80.56%
Islam			16.21%
Sarna			1.97%
Christianity			0.99%
Other or not stated			0.27%

Hindus make up 80.56% of the population, while Muslims make up 16.21%. Sarna makes 1.97% of the population, Christians are 0.99%. ^[10]

Languages of Hazaribagh district (2011) ^[11]

   Khortha (61.58%)

   Hindi (23.59%)

   Urdu (7.73%)

   Santali (3.48%)

  Others (Including Bengali, Bhojpuri, Nagpuri) (3.62%)

At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 61.58% of the population in the district spoke Khortha, 23.59% Hindi, 7.73% Urdu and 3.48% Santali as their first language. There is also a small population of Bengali speaking community who are one of the early settlers of the region. ^[11]

Politics

This section is transcluded from 6th Jharkhand Assembly. (edit | history)

District	No.	Constituency	Name	Party		Alliance		Remarks
Hazaribagh	20	Barkatha	Amit Kumar Yadav		Bharatiya Janata Party		NDA
	21	Barhi	Manoj Yadav		Bharatiya Janata Party		NDA
Hazaribagh	24	Mandu	Nirmal Mahto		All Jharkhand Students Union		NDA
	25	Hazaribagh	Pradip Prasad		Bharatiya Janata Party		NDA

There are 4 Vidhan Sabha constituencies in this district: Barkatha, Barhi, Mandu and Hazaribagh. All of these are part of Hazaribagh Lok Sabha constituency.

See also

• Hazaribagh
• Charowa dam

References

1. Houlton, Sir John, Bihar, the Heart of India, Orient Longmans, 1949.
2. "Cave paintings lie in neglect". The Telegraph . 13 March 2008. Archived from the original on September 6, 2018.
3. Choudhury, Indrajit Roy (3 December 2017). "Ancient megaliths of Hazaribagh". Archived from the original on 17 September 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
4. Law, Gwillim (2011-09-25). "Districts of India". Statoids. Retrieved 2011-10-11.
5. Ministry of Panchayati Raj (September 8, 2009). "A Note on the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme" (PDF). National Institute of Rural Development. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 5, 2012. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
6. "Table A-02 Decadal Variation in Population Since 1901: Jharkhand" (PDF). census.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
7. "District Census Handbook: Hazaribagh" (PDF). censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 2011.
8. US Directorate of Intelligence. "Country Comparison:Population". Archived from the original on June 13, 2007. Retrieved 2011-10-01. Gambia, The 1,797,860 July 2011 est.
9. "2010 Resident Population Data". U. S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 2010-12-27. Retrieved 2011-09-30. Nebraska 1,826,341
10. "Table C-01 Population By Religion: Jharkhand". census.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
11. "Table C-16 Population by Mother Tongue: Jharkhand". censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.

External links

• Official website

24°00′N85°15′E / 24.000°N 85.250°E / 24.000; 85.250