Bastar (district)

Bastar district
State	Chhattisgarh
Division :	Bastar
Administrative headquarters :	Jagdalpur
Area :	10,083 km²
Residents :	1,411,644 (2011 census)
Population density :	140 inhabitants / km²
Website :	bastar.nic.in

Chitrakot fall during the monsoons

The Bastar District ( Hindi बस्तर जिला Bastar Jilā ) is a district of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh . The administrative center is the city of Jagdalpur .

Geography and agriculture

The Bastar district is located in the south of Chhattisgarh on the border with the state of Orissa . Neighboring districts are Dantewada in the southwest, Narayanpur in the northwest, Kondagaon (all Chhattisgarh) as well as in Orissa Nabarangpur in the northeast and Koraput in the southeast. Before the Kondagaon district split in 2012, the Bastar district had an area of ​​10,083 square kilometers. The district was divided into the twelve Tehsils Keshkal, Baderajpur, Kondagaon, Makadi, Pharasgaon, Jagdalpur, Lohandiguda, Bastanar, Bastar, Bakaband, Tokapal and Darbha.

The area is on a plateau about 600 to 700  m high. The district is still heavily forested, but the trees in the rocky areas have withered. There dominate Balanites rexburghii , Gerber acacia ( Senegalia catechu locally khair called) and bombax malabaricum ( semar ). As useful trees which is Palmyra palm ( Borassus flabellifer ) most often. The proportion of irrigated fields is low, but wet rice, with an average yield of 984 kilograms / hectare, is the most important soil crop. There is practically no industry. A railway line runs eastwards from the Kirandul terminus via Jagdalpur.

The Indravati , which flows through the district in the north in a westerly direction, is the only significant river. Its 30-meter-high Chitrakot waterfall is one of the district's attractions. The Dantewada flows from the south .

history

The early history of the Bastar region is in the dark. Some inscriptions seem to indicate that a Nagvanshi dynasty ruled in the 11th century, with the capital in Barsur . The empire was known as Chakrakot . The state of Kanker was founded in 1192 by Bir Kanhar Deo. The Chakrakot kingdom fell into disrepair under the frequent attacks from the south and eventually became part of the Rajput Warangal kingdom of the Kakatiyas . Their most important ruler was Pratap Rudra Deo, who died in 1492 in a battle with Ahmad Shah Bahman. The brother of the slain Annam Deo left Warangal and founded his new kingdom in Bastar . The place remained the capital of the princely state of Bastar until 1750 . The ruler Dalpat Deo moved his capital to Jagdalpur, 18 km south-east . At this time there were first attacks by the Marathas . The state then came under British protectorate in 1853. In 1891 the state had a size of 33,830 square kilometers and a population of 196,000, of which 36,000 were assigned to the "tribal peoples" (cf. Adivasi ). The latter population group in particular was unruly towards the colonial system. Up until 1947 the district, especially around the capital, was the scene of a number of uprisings. The most important were: Halba rebellion (1774–79), Tarapur rebellion (1842–54), Meria rebellion (1842–63), Koi revolt (1859), Muria rebellion (1876) and the Bhumkal (1910) .

After Indian independence in 1947, the princely states of Bastar and Kanker were incorporated as the Bastar district in the Central Provinces , from which the state of Madhya Pradesh emerged in 1956 . The Bastar district initially comprised a much larger area than it does today: at around 40,000 square kilometers, it was one of the largest districts in India. In 1998, the original Bastar District was split into Bastar, Kanker and Dantewada Districts. The latter also included today's Bijapur and Sukma districts . In 2000, Bastar came to the newly established state of Chhattisgarh , which was formed from the eastern part of Madhya Pradesh. From the remaining Bastar district, the Narayanpur district split off in 2007 and the Kondagaon in 2012 , so that the Bastar district only comprises a small part of the original Bastar region.

population

Women from the Muria tribe at a folklore performance

According to the 2011 census, the Bastar district has 1,411,644 inhabitants within its borders (including the Kondagaon district). This corresponds to a population density of 140 inhabitants per square kilometer, which is below the average in Chhattisgarh (189 inhabitants per square kilometer). Compared to the last census in 2001, the population had grown by 17.8 percent, which is a little slower than the state average (22.6 percent). With a proportion of the urban population of only 13.7 percent, the former Bastar district is clearly rural. The literacy rate is well below average: only 54.9 percent of the population can read and write (the average in Chhattisgarh is 71.0 percent).

The majority of the inhabitants of the Bastar district belong to the indigenous population ( Adivasi ): According to the 2001 census, 66.3 percent of the inhabitants of the then Bastar district (including today's Kondagaon and Narayanpur districts) were classified as members of the tribal population ( scheduled tribes ). The largest group are the Gond , who make up nearly three quarters of the Adivasi population of the former district, followed by the Bhattra and Halba .

The Bastar district is predominantly Hindu : According to the 2001 census, 96.9 percent of the inhabitants of the then Bastar district are Hindus. Christians (1.3 percent), Muslims (0.8 percent) and other religions (1.4 percent) make up only smaller minorities.

Cities

city	Population (2011)
Bastar	10,048
Jagdalpur	125,463

literature

• SC Bhatt (Ed.): The Encyclopædic District Gazetteers of India. Volume 5: Central Zone: Madhya Pradesh. Gyan, New Delhi 1997, ISBN 81-212-0551-4 , pp. 29-39.
• Hira Lal Shukla: History of the People of Bastar. A Study in Tribal Insuregncy. Sharada Publishing House, Delhi 1992, ISBN 81-85616-04-3 .

Web links

Commons : Bastar District  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• official page

Individual evidence

1. ↑ printed in: Epigraghia Indica , Volume IX and X
2. ↑ Golden Book of India, 1893; P. 63.
3. ↑ Details in: Shukla (1992)
4. ^ Census of India 2011: Provisional Population Totals. Paper 2 of 2011: Chhattisgarh.
5. ↑ Census of India 2001: District Bastar (15), Chhattisgarh (22) (PDF; 54 kB)
6. ↑ www.census2011.co.in