Durg is a city in the Indian state of

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (; ) is a landlocked States and union territories of India, state in Central India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the List ...

, east of the

Shivnath River Shivnath River (or Seonath River) is the longest tributary of the Mahanadi River, which joins it at Changori in the Janjgir-Champa district in Chhattisgarh, India). It has a total course of . The name comes from the god Shiva in Hinduism, making ...

and is part of the Durg-

Bhilai Bhilai is a city in Durg district of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, in eastern central India. Along with its twin-city Durg, the urban agglomeration of Durg-Bhilai Nagar has a population of more than a million, making it the second-larges ...

urban agglomeration. With an urban population of 1,064,077, Durg-

is the second largest urban area in Chhattisgarh after

Raipur Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the largest city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Chh ...

. It is the headquarters of

Durg District Durg district is a district situated in Chhattisgarh, India. The district headquarters is Durg. The district covers an area of 2,238 km². As of 2011 it is the second most populous district of Chhattisgarh (out of Districts of Chhattisgarh ...

History

The town was founded about the tenth century by a person named Jagpal, who originally came from Badhal Desh in

Mirzapur Mirzapur () is a city in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is known for its carpets and brassware industries, and the tradition of kajari and birha music. Straddled by the Kaimur extension of Vindhya mountains, it served as the headquarters of t ...

, and became treasury officer of the Kalachuri king of

. He was rewarded the land grant of Durg with 700 villages for his excellent services and later helped the Kalachuri king greatly in his conquests. The original name of the town was "Shiva Durg", literally meaning fort on the

. Durg used to have a fort that was the headquarters of one of the 18 ''Garhs'' or districts under the administration of the medieval Kalachuri kings.

Alexander Cunningham Major General Sir Alexander Cunningham (23 January 1814 – 28 November 1893) was a British Army engineer with the Bengal Sappers who later took an interest in the history and archaeology of India. In 1861, he was appointed to the newly crea ...

, a prominent British archaeologist, thought Durg must have been a place of some importance in medieval times as it name literally means "fort". When the Marathas of Nagpur invaded Chhattisgarh in 1741, they occupied the old Kalachuri fort and made it their base of operations.

Climate

Industry

Durg is high rich industrial areas which contribute highly in state and country GDP. Its main industrial areas are in Bhilai, Rasmada and Kumhari. Major industries belong to steel production, for example

Bhilai Steel Plant The Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP), located in Bhilai, in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, is India's first and main producer of steel rails, as well as a major producer of wide steel plates and other steel products. The plant also produces steel and ...

Demographics

As of 2001 India

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, Durg had a population of 231,182. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. 12.8% of the population is in the 0 to 6 years age range. Durg had an effective literacy rate of 82.7% of the population 7 years and older in 2001. In the 2011

, Durg-Bhilainagar Urban Agglomeration had a population of 1,064,077. Durg-Bhilainagar Urban Agglomeration includes: Durg (M Corp.), Bhilai Nagar (M Corp.), Dumardih (part) (OG),

Bhilai Charoda Bhilai Charoda is a municipal corporation and a part of Bhilai city in the state of Chhattisgarh, India. Charoda is an industrial area of Bhilai city. Asia's longest railway marshaling yard is in Charoda, Bhilai. Demographics As of 2001 pdate/s ...

(M Corp), Jamul (M), Kumhari (M) and Utai (NP). Durg Municipal Corporation had a total population of 268,679 in 2011, out of which 136,537 were males and 132,142 were females. Durg had a below six years population of 29,165. Durg had an effective literacy rate (7+ population) of 87.94 per cent, with male literacy of 93.72% and female literacy of 82.00. In 2011, the city had a sex ratio of 968.

Notable people

Santosh Araswilli Santosh Araswilli is an Indian professional table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, cou ...

, table tennis international medalist * Saba Anjum Karim, former player, Indian women's national field hockey team *

Bhupesh Baghel Bhupesh Baghel (born 23 August 1960), popularly known as Kaka, is an Indian politician who served as the third Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh from 2018 to 2023. He has been the president of Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee, Chhattisgarh ...

, Ex-Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh * Vijay Baghel, MP, Durg Lok Sabha constituency *

Saroj Pandey Saroj Pandey (born 22 June 1968) is an Indian politician belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). She is the National Vice President of Bharatiya Janata Party. Previsously, she served as member of the Rajya Sabha, upper house of the Indian ...

, mayor, MLA and MP *

Anurag Basu Anurag Basu (born 8 May 1970) is an Indian director, screenwriter, actor and producer in Hindi cinema. He is best known for films that tackle bold themes of passion, envy, and adultery. After initial setbacks, he achieved his breakthrough with ...

, Indian film Director *

Amit Sana Amit Sana (born 1 March 1983) is an Indian pop artist, playback singer, live performer and the finalist of ''Indian Idol 1''. He was also a part of the show Jo Jeeta Wohi Superstar. He sings predominantly in Hindi. Apart from this, he has also ...

, runner-up in ''Indian Idol 1'' * Tamradhwaj Sahu, Home Minister of Chhattisgarh * Harpreet Singh, IPL cricketer *

Arun Vora Arun Vora is an Indian politician and member of the Indian National Congress. Arun Vora has been popular leader in the Durg City constituency Assembly from where he has been MLA three times. Arun Vora belongs to a family of journalists and p ...

, MLA, Durg City Assembly constituency *

Motilal Vora Motilal Vora (20 December 1928 – 21 December 2020) was an Indian politician belonging to the Indian National Congress (INC). He served as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh (1985–1988; 1989). He was born in Nimbi Jodha, Jodhpur State, Briti ...

, treasurer,

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

Aakarshi Kashyap Aakarshi Kashyap (born 24 August 2001) is an Indian badminton player. She was selected to be part of the Indian team at the 2018 Asian Games. She was part of the national women's team that won the gold medal in 2019 South Asian Games. Early l ...

, International badminton player

References

External links

Official web site of Durg District - https://durg.gov.in/
{{Durg district Municipal corporations in Chhattisgarh