Bathinda is a city and
municipal corporation
Municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. The term can also be used to describe municipally o ...
in
Punjab
Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...
, India. The city is the administrative headquarters of
Bathinda district. It is located in northwestern India in the
Malwa Region, west of the capital city of
Chandigarh
Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...
and is the fifth largest city of
Punjab
Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...
. It is the second cleanest city in Punjab after
Mohali.
Bathinda is home to the
Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Technical University,
Central University of Punjab and
AIIMS Bathinda. The city is also home to two modern thermal power plants,
Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant and
Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant at Lehra Mohabbat.
Also located in the city is a
fertiliser
A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrition, plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from Liming (soil), liming materials or other non- ...
plant, two cement plants (
Ambuja Cements and
UltraTech Cement Limited), a large army cantonment, an air force station, a zoo,
and a historic
Qila Mubarak fort.
History

Bhatinda was changed to Bathinda to conform to the phonetical expression as locally pronounced.
According to
Henry George Raverty, Bathinda was known as ''Tabar-i-Hind'' (Labb-ut-Twarikh) or ''Tabarhindh'', which roughly translates as ‘Gateway to India’. The earliest mention of Tabar-i-Hind occurs in the ''Jami-Ul-Hakayat'' written about 607 Hijri or 1211 AD.
In 1004,
Mahmud of Ghazni
Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn Sabuktigin (; 2 November 971 – 30 April 1030), usually known as Mahmud of Ghazni or Mahmud Ghaznavi (), was Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire, ruling from 998 to 1030. During his reign and in medieval sources, he is usuall ...
besieged and captured the local fort, which was located on the route from the northwest into the rich
Ganges
The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...
valley. In 1190,
Muhammad of Ghor attacked and occupied the fort of Bathinda.
Prithviraj Chauhan
Prithviraja III (IAST: Pṛthvī-rāja; 22 May 1166 – February 1192), popularly known as Prithviraj Chauhan or Rai Pithora, was a king from the Chahamanas of Shakambhari, Chauhan (Chahamana) dynasty who ruled the territory of Sapadalaksha, w ...
, the ruler of this region, managed to recover possession of the fort thirteen months later in 1191 after the
First Battle of Tarain. However, Prithviraj Chauhan was killed in the
Second Battle of Tarain and the fort of Bathinda once again came under the control of
Muhammad Ghori.
In the 3rd century,
Rao Bhatti is credited with establishing the modern town of Bathinda in the
Lakhi jungle area. In 14th century, present region of bathinda was ruled by
Bhati and
Bhanot rulers of that time.
1488, Bathinda was conquered by
Rao Bika, son of
Jodha of Mandore (founder of
Jodhpur) and became part of
Bikaner
Bikaner () is a city in the northwest of the States and territories of India, state of Rajasthan, India. It is located northwest of the state capital, Jaipur. It is the administrative headquarters of Bikaner District and Bikaner division.
Fo ...
princely state. Bathinda was an important fort in the area from
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...
to
Lahore
Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...
during the time of the
Delhi Sultanate
The Delhi Sultanate or the Sultanate of Delhi was a Medieval India, late medieval empire primarily based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for more than three centuries. .
As per
Ain-i-Akbari, Bathinda was included in the ''
sarkar'' of
Sirhind in the
Subah of
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...
. In 1634, a battle named
Battle of Lahira (at Lahira in Bathinda) was fought between
Guru Hargobind and
Mughals
The Mughal Empire was an early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to the highlands of pre ...
. The town had become an important trade and commercial centre under
Mughal rule and the
Mughal Emperors such as
Akbar and
Aurangzeb
Alamgir I (Muhi al-Din Muhammad; 3 November 1618 – 3 March 1707), commonly known by the title Aurangzeb, also called Aurangzeb the Conqueror, was the sixth Mughal emperors, Mughal emperor, reigning from 1658 until his death in 1707, becomi ...
undertook many projects to enhance the fort of Bathinda.
In circa 1754, the town was conquered by Maharaja Ala Singh, the
Maharaja of Patiala and since then it followed the history of erstwhile princely state of
Patiala. With the dawn of independence and merger of Patiala and East Punjab States into a division called
Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU), Bathinda became a full-fledged district with headquarters at Bathinda city.
Demographics
Population
As per provisional reports of Census India, population of Bathinda city in 2011 is 285,813; male and female are 151,782 and 134,031 respectively. The sex ratio of Bathinda city is 868 females per 1000 males. The number of literate people in Bathinda city are 211,318 of which 118,888 are males while 92,430 are females, average literacy rate is 82.84 per cent of which male and female literacy is 87.86 and 77.16 per cent respectively. Total children (ages 0 to 6) in Bathinda city are 30,713: 16,472 boys and 14,241 girls. Child sex ratio of girls is 865 per 1000 boys.
Religion
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
is the majority religion in Bathinda city with 62.61% people following the faith.
Sikhism
Sikhism is an Indian religion and Indian philosophy, philosophy that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. It is one of the most recently founded major religious groups, major religio ...
is the second most popular religion in the city which is followed by 35.04% of the people. Minorities are Muslims, Christians, Buddhists and Jains.
Sikhs
Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Sikh'' ...
count for 70.89% of the population in
Bathinda District on a whole in spite of not being a majority in the city.
Geography and climate
Bathinda is in the northwestern region of India and is a part of the
Indo-Gangetic alluvial plains. The exact cartographic co-ordinates of Bathinda are . It has an average elevation of 201 metres (660 ft).
Bathinda's climate corresponds to semi-arid with high variation between summer and winter temperatures. Average annual rainfall is relatively low, in a range of 20 cm to 40 cm.
In recent times, Summer temperatures of 49 °C (120 °F) and winter temperatures of 1 °C (about 33 °F) were not unknown in Bathinda, lowest being -1.4 °C (29.48 °F) in the winter of 2013
Suburbs
*
Bhucho Mandi 15 km
*
Goniana 14 km
*
Maur Mandi 69 km
*
Rampura Phul 30 km
*
Talwandi Sabo 69 km
*
Raman 42 km
*
Sangat, India 69 km
Environmental issues
There has been increasing incidence of various types of cancer in and around Bathinda. It is attributed to the presence of polluting industries and the indiscriminate use of modern pesticides and other toxic materials in farming. A 2007 epidemiological study found that the surface waters of Bathinda are contaminated with
arsenic
Arsenic is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol As and atomic number 33. It is a metalloid and one of the pnictogens, and therefore shares many properties with its group 15 neighbors phosphorus and antimony. Arsenic is not ...
,
cadmium
Cadmium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, silvery-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12 element, group 12, zinc and mercury (element), mercury. Like z ...
,
chromium
Chromium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in Group 6 element, group 6. It is a steely-grey, Luster (mineralogy), lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal.
Chromium ...
,
selenium
Selenium is a chemical element; it has symbol (chemistry), symbol Se and atomic number 34. It has various physical appearances, including a brick-red powder, a vitreous black solid, and a grey metallic-looking form. It seldom occurs in this elem ...
and
mercury primarily due to the discharge of untreated waste water from surrounding industries. Unscientific farming practices, that emerged after the introduction of
Green Revolution
The Green Revolution, or the Third Agricultural Revolution, was a period during which technology transfer initiatives resulted in a significant increase in crop yields. These changes in agriculture initially emerged in Developed country , devel ...
, are also alleged to be a reason for growing incidence of not just cancer but also, high rates of spontaneous abortions, reproductive ailments, genetic deformities,
anaemia,
diarrhoea
Diarrhea (American English), also spelled diarrhoea or diarrhœa (British English), is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements in a day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration d ...
, vomiting,
fluorosis and a host of skin ailments including rashes and boils. Many young couples are also reported to be migrating out to save their children from adverse effects. Hence the government has completely banned the use of ground water in the city for drinking purposes.
In the cleanliness survey, conducted by the Union Ministry of Urban Development, Bathinda scored an all-India rank of 79 and number 1 rank in Punjab.
Government and politics
Bhatinda city is governed by Municipal Corporation Bhatinda. The administrative wing is headed by Municipal Commissioner Bikramjit Singh Shergill, while the elected wing is headed by Mayor.
Transportation
Bhatinda Railway Station has connectivity to most of the major cities in India. Four national highways:
NH 7 (
Fazilka -
Badrinath National Highway),
NH 54 (Kenchiyan,
Hanumangarh -
Pathankot
Pathankot () is a city and the district headquarters of the Pathankot district in Punjab, India. Pathankot is the sixth most populous city of Punjab, after Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala and Bathinda. Its local government is a municipal ...
National Highway),
NH 148B (Bathinda to
Kotputli) and
NH 754 (Bathinda to
Jalalabad, Fazilka) pass through/near the city.
Education
College education
Colleges within Bathinda include:
*
Adesh University
*
Adesh Institute of Medical Sciences and Research
*
Akal University,
Talwandi Sabo
*
Bathinda College of Law
*
Central university of Punjab
*
Government Rajindra College, Bathinda
*
Guru Kashi University
*
Institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition, Bathinda
Notable people
*
Manny Aulakh, Canadian international cricketer
*
Sunny and Inder Bawra, composer duo
*
Parduman Singh Brar, shotputter, Asiad gold medallist
*
Balwant Gargi
Balwant Gargi (4 December 1916 – 21 April 2003) was an Indian Punjabi language dramatist, theatre director, novelist, short story writer, and academic.
Early life
On 4 December 1916, in Canal House in Sehna, Barnala (Punjab (India), Punj ...
, writer and dramatist
*
Baba Ratan Hindi, who claimed to be the first Indian Muslim
*
Amrit Maan, actor, singer and lyricist
*
Kuldeep Manak, singer
*
Harbhajan Mann, actor and singer
*
Mayank Markande, cricketer
*
Mehar Mittal, actor and producer
*
Mehreen Pirzada, actress
*
Riaz ur Rehman Saghar, Pakistani poet and lyricist
*
Janmeja Singh Sekhon, politician
*
Avneet Sidhu, Commonwealth games gold-winning shooter
*
Balkar Sidhu, singer
*
Kul Sidhu, theatre artist and actress
*
Gurdial Singh, novelist
*
Gurpreet Singh, artist
References
External links
Official website of Bathinda district
{{Punjab (Indian state), state=collapsed