Samba district is a district in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

n Union territory of

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...

formed in 2006. Before its formation, this area was part of

Jammu district Jammu district is the most populous of the districts in Jammu and Kashmir, India and is home to the winter capital (Jammu) of Jammu and Kashmir. The capital moves to Srinagar in the summer. Administrative divisions Jammu District has 7 Sub-D ...

and

Kathua district Kathua district is one of 20 administrative districts that comprise the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is surrounded by Jammu to the northwest, the Doda and Udhampur districts to the north, the state of Himachal Pradesh to the ...

Geography

The district covers

Samba Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havi ...

town and adjoining tehsils: Bari Brahmana, Vijay Pur and Ghagwal. The district is separated at some point from the Jammu district by "Purmandal Bridge". Samba is situated on the bank of Basantar River. At one side samba has its boundary with

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. Samba district consists of Eight blocks:

, Vijay Pur, Purmandal, Bari Brahmana, Nud, Rajpura, Sumb and Ghagwal. Each block consists of GREF

panchayat The Panchayat raj is a political system, originating from the Indian subcontinent, found mainly in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. It is the oldest system of local government in the Indian subcontinent, and historical men ...

s. The biggest village is Rajpura.

History

Samba was reportedly established in 1400 AD. It came under the suzerainty of Jammu in 1816 A.D., while it was annexed by Raja Gulab Singh in 1846 A.D. Historically Samba consisted of 22 towns (also known as Mandi), each headed by a separate family. Prior to 1947, Samba was a

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its adminis ...

. Samba became a district in 2006.

Politics

Samba District has three assembly constituencies: Samba , Vijaypur and Ramgarh(newly created constituency by delimitation commission). Both are part of Jammu (Lok Sabha constituency).

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, Samba District had a

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction usi ...

of 318,898, roughly equal to

The Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the a ...

. It is the 568th largest in India (of 640). The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate over the decade of 2001 to 2011 was 16.9%. Samba has a

sex ratio The sex ratio (or gender ratio) is usually defined as the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. Many species dev ...

of 886

females Female (symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females ...

for every 1,000 males, and a

literacy rate Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...

of 81.4%.

Religion

Samba district has an overwhelming Hindu majority, spread among

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

Sikhs Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The ter ...

, and others are the minority in the Samba district.

Languages

At the time of the 2011 census, 84.53% of the population spoke

Dogri Dogri ( Name Dogra Akkhar: ; Devanagari: डोगरी; Nastaliq: ; ) is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, India, with smaller groups of speakers in adjoining regions of western Himachal Prad ...

, 4.95%

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...

, 4.32%

Gojri Gojri (, ), also known as Gujari, Gujri, Gojari, or Gojri, is a variety of Rajasthani spoken by the Gurjars and other tribes of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. In India, the language is mainly spoken in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, ...

and 2.72%

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

as their first language.

Festivals & Fairs of Samba

Rath Kharda Mela

An eight day fair is organised in Narsingh and Annapurna Temple in Ghagwal of Samba district of

Jammu division The Jammu division (; ) is a revenue and administrative division within Jammu and Kashmir, a union territory of India. It consists of the districts of Jammu, Doda, Kathua, Ramban, Reasi, Kishtwar, Poonch, Rajouri, Udhampur and Samba. Mos ...

. This fair involves taking out procession of deity on a

chariot A chariot is a type of cart driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, dated to c. 2000&n ...

. Hence named ''Rath Kharda Mela''. Thousands of devotees are drawn from neighbouring states of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

and

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several pea ...

and also other parts of

Jammu Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi, the city of Jammu, with an area of ...

region. People from hilly areas of Jammu like:

Basohli Basohli (formerly Vishwasthali) is a town near Kathua in Kathua district in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is situated on the right bank of River Ravi at an altitude of 1876 ft. It was founded by Raja Bhupat Pal so ...

, Doda,

Kishtwar Kishtwar is a town, municipality and administrative headquarter of the Kishtwar District in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The district was carved out of the Doda district in 2007. It is located in the Jammu division. T ...

Bani Bani may refer to: Places Africa *Bani Department, a department in the Séno Province of Burkina Faso *Bani, Bani, Séno, Burkina Faso * Bani, Bourzanga, Bam, Burkina Faso *Bani, Gnagna, Burkina Faso * Bani, The Gambia *Bani River, a tributary ...

, Dudu Basantgarh put stalls in this fair and sell the handicrafts and woolen items like ''Pattus'', blankets & shawls''.'' During this fair, the temple is decorated with flowers and lights. Devotees visit the temple and pay obeisance to the main deity, Bhagwan Narsimha. A

Bhandara Bhandara () is a city and municipal council which serves the administrative headquarters of eponymous administrative Bhandara Taluka and Bhandara district in the state of Maharashtra, India. It is connected with NH-53 and NH-247. Overvie ...

is also organised for the devotees. Local farmers sow their fields in the name of Bhagwan Narsimha and while harvesting their crops offer a part of it to the temple during this fair. Besides Ghagwal, ''Rath Kharda Mela'' is also held at other places of Jammu division like: Ramgarh tehsil of

Udhampur Udhampur (ˌʊd̪ʱəmpur) is a city and a municipal council in Udhampur district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters of Udhampur District. Named after Raja Udham Singh, it serves as the district capital ...

district, Parnala village in

Billawar Billawar is a town and a notified area committee in Kathua district of the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Billawar was founded by Raja Bhog Pal in the 7th century A.D., it was a kingdom and its capital was Basohli until the 11t ...

tehsil and Hatli village in

Kathua Kathua is a city and municipal council located in Kathua district of Jammu Division of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, near its border with Punjab, India and Himachal Pradesh. The city is headquarters of Kathua district and is ...

Famous People

Alla Rakha Ustad Alla Rakha Qureshi (29 April 1919 – 3 February 2000), popularly known as Alla Rakha, was an Indian tabla player who specialized in Hindustani classical music. He was a frequent accompanist of sitar player Pandit Ravi Shankar and ...

Indian Classical Musician and tabla player * Raja Suchet Singh to whom the District also owes the famous Samba fort. In 1846 A.D it was annexed to J&K by Maharaja Gulab Singh making it an integral part of the state.

References

External links

Official website of Samba district in Jammu and Kashmir

Samba district on OpenStreetMap
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samba District Districts of Jammu and Kashmir