East Medinipur (Alternative spelling ''Midnapore'') district is an administrative unit in the Indian state of

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

. It is the southernmost district of Medinipur division – one of the five

administrative divisions Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

of West Bengal. The headquarters in Tamluk. It was formed on 1 January 2002 after the Partition of Medinipur into East Medinipur and West Medinipur which lies at the northern and western border of it. The state of

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

is at the southwest border; the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...

lies in the south; the

Hooghly river The Hooghly River (, also spelled ''Hoogli'' or ''Hugli'') is the westernmost distributary of the Ganges, situated in West Bengal, India. It is known in its upper reaches as the Bhagirathi. The Bhagirathi splits off from the main branch of the G ...

and

South 24 Parganas district South 24 Parganas (Pron: pɔrɡɔnɔs; abbr. 24 PGS (S)), or sometimes South Twenty Four Parganas and Dakshin 24 Parganas, is a district in the Indian state of West Bengal, headquartered in Alipore previously, with its Zilla Parishad now in ...

to the east;

Howrah district Howrah district (, ) is a district of the West Bengal state in eastern India. Howrah district is one of the highly urbanized area of West Bengal. It has thousands of years of rich heritage in the form of the great Bengali kingdom of Bhurshut. ...

to the

north-east The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...

; West Medinipur district to the west. East Medinipur comprises the sub-divisions of Tamluk, Contai and Haldia of erstwhile

Medinipur district Midnapore (Pron: mad̪aːniːpur), or sometimes Medinipur, is a former district in the Indian state of West Bengal, headquartered in Midnapore. On 1 January 2002, the district was bifurcated into two separate districts namely Purba Medinipur a ...

. Another sub-division, Egra has been created out of the erstwhile Contai sub-division during the partition of Medinipur. In 2011, the state government proposed to rename the district as Tamralipta district after the ancient port city of Tamralipta which used to lie near the modern district headquarters. East Medinipur saw many political movements during the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

. A parallel government named the Tamralipta Jatiya Sarkar was formed during the Quit India Movement in Tamluk. In 2007, East Medinipur witnessed the Nandigram violence, an incident of police firing that killed 14 farmers.

History

Tamralipta

Tamralipta, the port in ancient India, is believed by scholars to have been around modern-day Tamluk. It is mentioned in the writings of

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

(150 AD), the Greco-Egyptian writer, as well as

Faxian Faxian (337–), formerly romanization of Chinese, romanized as Fa-hien and Fa-hsien, was a Han Chinese, Chinese Chinese Buddhism, Buddhist bhikkhu, monk and translator who traveled on foot from Eastern Jin dynasty, Jin China to medieval India t ...

and

Xuanzang Xuanzang (; ; 6 April 6025 February 664), born Chen Hui or Chen Yi (), also known by his Sanskrit Dharma name Mokṣadeva, was a 7th-century Chinese Bhikkhu, Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making ...

, Chinese monks and travellers. It was the main port used by

Ashoka Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was List of Mauryan emperors, Emperor of Magadha from until #Death, his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynast ...

, the

Mauryan The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in South Asia with its power base in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya around c. 320 BCE, it existed in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The primary sourc ...

emperor. With too much siltation the port lost its importance around eighth century A.D. The supreme leader of Tamralipta Jatiya sarkar was Satish chandra Samanta.

Geography

Overview

Purba Medinipur district is part of the lower

Indo-Gangetic Plain The Indo-Gangetic Plain, also known as the Northern Plain or North Indian River Plain, is a fertile plain spanning across the northern and north-eastern part of the Indian subcontinent. It encompasses North India, northern and East India, easte ...

and

Eastern coastal plains The Eastern Coastal Plains is a stretch of landmass lying between the eastern part of the Deccan plateau and the Bay of Bengal in India. The plains stretch from the Mahanadi delta to Kaniyakumari at the southern tip of the Indian peninsula with ...

. Topographically, the district can be divided into two parts – (a) almost entirely flat plains on the west, east and north, (b) the coastal plains on the south. The vast expanse of land is formed of

alluvium Alluvium (, ) is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is ...

and is composed of younger and coastal alluvial. The elevation of the district is within 10 meters above the mean sea level. The district has a long coastline of 65.5 km along its southern and south eastern boundary. Five coastal CD Blocks, namely, Khejuri II, Contai II (Deshapran), Contai I, Ramnagar I and II, are occasionally affected by cyclones and tornadoes. Tidal floods are quite regular in these five CD Blocks. Normally floods occur in 21 of the 25 CD Blocks in the district. The major rivers are Haldi, Rupnarayan, Rasulpur, Bagui and Keleghai, flowing in north to south or south-east direction. River water is an important source of irrigation. The district has a low 899 hectare forest cover, which is 0.02% of its geographical area.

Major cities and towns

Major cities and towns include Panskura, Tamluk, Nandakumar,

Contai Contai is a coastal and subdivisional city and a municipality in East Medinipur district, West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Contai subdivision. Etymology In the 5th century, during the visit of Faxian, Fa-Hien, Contai was uninh ...

Egra Egra is a town in Purba Medinipur, East Medinipur district in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Egra subdivision. The ancient name of Egra was "Agrapattan". Geography Location Egra is located at . It has an ave ...

, Haldia, Mecheda, Mahishadal,

Digha Digha (), is a seaside resort town in the state of West Bengal, India. It lies in Purba Medinipur district and at the northern end of the Bay of Bengal. The town has a low gradient with a shallow sand beach. It is a popular sea resort in India ...

, Mandarmani,

Khejuri Khejuri (also spelled Khajuri) is a village and gram panchayat, in Khejuri II CD Block in Contai subdivision of Purba Medinipur district in the state of West Bengal, India. History According to Binoy Ghosh, in an era when the Magh and Por ...

, Ramnagar, Patashpur,

Kolaghat Kolaghat is a census town in Kolaghat (community development block), Kolaghat CD Block, Tamluk subdivision of the Purba Medinipur district, East Medinipur district in the state of West Bengal, India. Geography Location Kolaghat is located at ...

, Nandigram. Chandipur

Divisions

Administrative subdivisions

Purba Medinipur district is divided into the following administrative subdivisions: Tamluk subdivision consists of Tamluk municipality, Panskura municipality and seven community development blocks: Nandakumar, Moyna, Tamluk, Shahid Matangini, Panskura–I, Panskura–II and Chandipur (Nadigram–III). Haldia subdivision consists of Haldia municipality and five community development blocks: Mahishadal, Nandigram–I, Nandigram–II, Sutahata and Haldia. Egra subdivision consists of

municipality and five community development blocks: Bhagawanpur–I, Egra–I, Egra–II, Pataspur–I and Pataspur–II. Contai subdivision consists of

municipality and eight community development blocks: Kanthi–I, Kanthi–II, Kanthi–III, Khejuri–I, Khejuri–II, Ramnagar–I and Ramnagar–II, Bhagawanpur–II. Tamluk is the district headquarters. There are 21 police stations, 25 development blocks, 5 municipalities and 223 gram panchayats in this district. Other than in the municipality area, each subdivision contains community development blocks which in turn are divided into rural areas and census towns. In total there are 10 urban units: five municipalities and five

census town In India and some other countries, a census town is designated as a town that satisfies certain characteristics. India In India, a census town is one which is not statutorily notified and administered as a town, but nevertheless whose population ...

s. Panskura municipality was established in 2001.

Tamluk subdivision

* Two municipalities: Tamluk and Panskura * Nandakumar community development block consists of rural areas only with 12 gram panchayats. * Moyna community development block consists of rural areas with 11 gram panchayats and one census town: Garsafat. * Tamluk community development block consists of rural areas with 12 gram panchayats and two census towns: Anantapur and Dakshin Baguan. * Sahid Matangini community development block consists of rural areas with 10 gram panchayats and two census towns: Kakdihi and Shantipur. * Panskura community development block consists of rural areas only with 14 gram panchayats. *

community development block consists of rural areas with 13 gram panchayats and four census towns:

, Amalhara, Mihitikri and Kharisha. * Chandipur community development block consists of rural areas with 10 gram panchayats and two census towns: Kotbar and Ershal.

Haldia subdivision

* One municipality: Haldia. * Mahishadal community development block consists of rural areas with 11 gram panchayats and one census town: Garh Kamalpur. * Nandigram I community development block consists of rural areas with 10 gram panchayats and one census town: Nandigram. * Nandigram II community development block consists of rural areas with 7 gram panchayats and one census town: Ashadtalya. * Sutahata community development block consists of rural areas with 6 gram panchayats and one census town: Barda * Haldia community development block consists of rural areas only with 4 gram panchayats.

Egra subdivision

* One municipality:

. * Bhagabanpur I community development block consists of rural areas with 10 gram panchayats and two census towns: Benudiya and Hincha Gerya. * Egra I community development block consists of rural areas only with 8 gram panchayats. * Egra II community development block consists of rural areas only with 8 gram panchayats. * Patashpur I community development block consists of rural areas only with 9 gram panchayats. * Patashpur II community development block consists of rural areas only with 7 gram panchayats.

Contai subdivision

* One municipality:

. * Contai I community development block consists of rural areas only with 8 gram panchayats. * Deshapran community development block consists of rural areas with 8 gram panchayats and one census town: Basantia. *

Contai III Contai III (also known as Kanthi III block) is a Community development block in India, community development block that forms an administrative division in Contai subdivision of Purba Medinipur district in the Indian States and territories of Indi ...

community development block consists of rural areas only with 8 gram panchayats. * Khejuri I community development block consists of rural areas only with 6 gram panchayats. *

Khejuri II Khejuri II is a Community Development Block that forms an administrative division in Contai subdivision of Purba Medinipur district in the Indian state of West Bengal. History Khijri Khijri (or Khejuri) today is a small village about 125 kilom ...

community development block consists of rural areas only with 5 gram panchayats. * Ramnagar I community development block consists of rural areas with 9 gram panchayats and one census town: Khadalgobra. *

Ramnagar II Ramnagar II is a Community development block in India, community development block that forms an administrative division in Contai subdivision of Purba Medinipur district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of West Bengal. Geogr ...

community development block consists of rural areas only with 8 gram panchayats. * Bhagabanpur II community development block consists of rural areas only with 9 gram panchayats.

Assembly Constituencies

Purba Medinipur contains 16 assembly constituencies, equally divided between two Lok Sabha constituencies Tamluk and Kanthi. The MP for Tamluk is Dibyendu Adhikari (AITC) while the MP for Kanthi is Sisir Adhikari (BJP). These are members of the Adhikari family which has dominated politics in the district whose prominent member has been Suvendu Adhikari, now Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Purba Medinipur district has a

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 5,095,875, roughly equal to the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

or the US state of

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. This gives it a ranking of 20th in India (out of a total of

640 Year 640 ( DCXL) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 640 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming y ...

). The district has a population density of . Its

population growth rate Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 8.2 billion in 2025. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 70 million annu ...

over the decade 2001-2011 was 15.32%. Purba Medinipur has a

sex ratio A sex ratio is 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. However, many species deviate from an even sex ratio, ei ...

of 936 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 88.60%. 11.63% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 14.63% and 0.55% of the population respectively. Bengali is the predominant language, spoken by 98.31% of the population. The Bengali dialect around Kanthi is heavily influenced by nearby dialect of Odia and along the Odisha border, and the two dialects cannot be distinguished.

Religion

Hindus are the majority religion in the district. Muslims are the second largest religion.

Economy

In 2006 the

Ministry of Panchayati Raj The Ministry of Panchayati Raj () is a branch of the Government of India. The Ministry is in charge of the Panchayati Raj and Panchayati Raj Institutions. It was created in May 2004. The Ministry is headed by a minister of cabinet rank / Min ...

named Purba Medinipur one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of

). It is one of the 11 districts in West Bengal receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF). in East Medinipur Mat "

Madur Madur, in Antiquity known as Theches (), is a mountain in Sürmene, Turkey. In history '' Thálatta! Thálatta!'' ( — "The Sea! The Sea!") was the shouting of joy when the roaming 10,000 Greeks saw Euxeinos Pontos (the Black Sea) from Mount ...

" industry are very popular, it's occupation of most people. In the agriculture sector paddy, wheat, chilli, vegetable are also popular in

India India, officially the Republic of India, 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 by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Literacy and education

According to the 2011 census, the district has a literacy rate of 87.66 up from 80.20% of 2001 census. As per 2001 census, this district had a male literacy rate of 89.1% and female literacy rate was 70.7%. The education index of this district is 0.74 and it is ranked first in literacy in comparison to other districts of

. Given in the table below (data in numbers) is a comprehensive picture of the education scenario in Purba Medinipur district for the year 2013–2014. It may be noted that primary schools include junior basic schools; middle schools, high schools, and higher secondary schools include madrasahs; technical schools include junior technical schools, junior government polytechnics, industrial technical institutes, industrial training centres, nursing training institutes, etc.; technical and professional colleges include engineering colleges, polytechnics, medical colleges, para-medical institutes, management colleges, teachers training, and nursing training colleges, law colleges, art colleges, music colleges etc. Special and non-formal education centres include sishu siksha kendras, madhyamik siksha kendras, centres of Rabindra mukta vidyalaya, recognised Sanskrit tols, institutions for the blind and other handicapped persons, Anganwadi centres, reformatory schools etc.

Healthcare

The table below (all data in numbers) presents an overview of the medical facilities available and patients treated in the hospitals, health centres and sub-centres in 2014 in Purba Medinipur district.

Tourism

The coastal region of Purba Medinipur district is in the face of river Hoogly. With good coastal, landform, seasonal, rural and heritage diversity, it offers the potential for tourism in its typical coastlines and rural areas. The famous tourist spots are

Tamluk (Tamralipta)

Tamluk, district headquarters of Purba Medinipur district is situated on the bank of river Rupnarayan which is a very popular picnic spot. The other places are: * Bargabhima Temple is an 1150 years old Kali temple and is considered one of the 51 Shakti Peethas. According to Puran, the left ankle of Sati/Parvati fell here when Lord Vishnu cut the sacred body of Goddess Sati into several pieces to make Lord Shiva quiet. *Archeological Museum of Tamluk is a must-see place. It contains artifacts of tamra (copper) and has preserved a tamralipta with Greek inscriptions. It preserves the historical heritage of Bengal. *Rakhit Bati is another important place to visit in Tamluk. At the beginning of the 19th century, it was famous as a secret centre of the then revolutionary parties ''Anusilan Samiti'' and ''Gupta Samiti''. * There are many other ancient temples in Tamluk town to visit, i.e., Jagannath Temple, Hari Temple, Mahaprabhu Temple, Ram Jiu Temple, Rajbari Temple, etc.

Panskura

It is a municipality upgraded in 2002. It is one of the busiest towns in East Midnapore district. Panskura is known as "Valley of Flowers" with large supplies of flowers to other places. Panskura is also known for its green vegetables wholesale market near the Panskura Junction railway station. It is open every day after 10 pm until 7 am the next morning with a regular gathering of lakhs of people. Panskura is one of the busiest railway stations which extends up to Digha or Haldia directly through this station or by bus. The river Kansabati is a good picnic spot and Mahakali (Bhavatarini) temple nearby old Panskura bazar is a pilgrimage spot. Panskura is also well known for its cultural side. Many cultural schools and institutes are there. Panskura is famous for the recitation institute Chandabani ��ন্দবাণী

Mahishadal

Mahishadal is only 16 km from Tamluk town where tourists can visit the Mahishadal Rajbari, the museum there and Gopal Jiu temple. Geonkhali is a place 8 km from Mahishadal, a perfect picnic spot at the junction (mohona) of three rivers.

Digha

is a seaside resort town of Purba Medinipur district and, at the northern end of the Bay of Bengal, is the most popular seaside resort of

. Renowned for its beaches, Digha is visited by thousands of tourists every year. New Digha Beach 0221

Mandarmani

Mandarmani is a small virgin beach on the Bay of Bengal under Kalindi Gram Panchayat, only 14 km from Digha-Contai Road from Chaulkhola Bus Stop. It is a small fishing harbour and a fast developing tourist spot.

Haldia

Haldia, a city and a municipality in Purba Medinipur, is a major seaport approximately southwest of Kolkata near the mouth of the Hooghly River, one of the distributaries of the Ganges. It is being developed as a major trade port for Kolkata, intended mainly for bulk cargoes.

Notable people

* Khan Bahadur Alfazuddin Ahmed, MLA of Midnapore * Dr. Sheikh Omar Ali (1931–2015), physician and eight-term MLA * Firoja Bibi (born 1951), MLA of West Panskura * Phiroja Bibi (born 1951), MLA West Panskura *

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), also known by the honorific Bangabandhu, was a Bangladeshi politician, revolutionary, statesman and activist who was the founding president of Bangladesh. As the leader of Bangl ...

(born 1953), MLA of Moyna * Sheikh Mohammad Illias (born 1958), politician * Sheikh Ibrahim Ali (born 1989), MLA of East Panskura * Khan Samsul Alam, MLA of Egra * Birendranath Sasmal,

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

, freedom fighter and politician. Known for his efforts in the

Swadeshi movement The Swadeshi movement was a self-sufficiency movement that was part of the Indian independence movement and contributed to the development of Indian nationalism. Before the BML Government's decision for the partition of Bengal was made public i ...

* Satish Chandra Samanta, freedom fighter, politician and principal leader of Tamralipta Jatiya Sarkar * Sushil Kumar Dhara, freedom fighter, politician & another leader of Tamralipta Jatiya Sarkar * Ajoy Mukherjee, freedom fighter, politician & former Chief Minister of West Bengal * Matangini Hazra, freedom fighter, martyr in Quit India Movement * Basanta Kumar Das, freedom fighter, politician, member of the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

which helped to create the

Constitution of India The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India, legal document of India, and the longest written national constitution in the world. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures ...

* Anil Ghorai, poet, novelist and short story writer * Mani Lal Bhaumik,

Indian American Indian Americans are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly from India. The terms Asian Indian and East Indian are used to avoid confusion with Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans in the United States, who ar ...

physicist and an internationally bestselling author, entrepreneur and philanthropist * Anil Kumar Gain, Indian statistician and Mathematician, founder of

Vidyasagar University Vidyasagar University is a Public university, public research university that was established by an Act of the West Bengal legislature which was notified in the ''Calcutta Gazette'' on 24 June 1981. It is an affiliating university in Paschim Me ...

* Samit Bhanja, famous Indian actor * Abha Maiti, Indian politician and lawyer, minister of state for Industry in the

Morarji Desai Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (29 February 1896 – 10 April 1995) was an Indian politician and Indian independence activist, independence activist who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India between 1977 and 1979 leading th ...

government * Ashok Dinda, Indian cricketer turned politician * Suryakant Tripathi, Indian poet, novelist, essayist and writer. One of the most significant poets of

Hindi literature Hindi literature () includes literature in the various Central Indo-Aryan languages, also known as Hindi, some of which have different writing systems. Earliest forms of Hindi literature are attested in poetry of Apabhraṃśa such as Awad ...

* Phulrenu Guha, educationist and politician * Biswanath Mukherjee, Indian politician and leader of Communist Party of India . One of the founder members of AISF * Paresh Maity, painter and

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

and awardee 2014 * Jadugopal Mukherjee, Indian politician and

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...

, one of the leaders of Jugantar group * Somenath Maity, Indian artist famous for urban landscape paintings * Bhupal Chandra Panda, Indian revolutionary and politician * Biplab Roy Chowdhury, politician

Notes

References

External links

*
Legacy of Midnapore (Medinipur, Midnapur, Purba Medinipur, Paschim Medinipur, East Midnapore, West Midnapore)
*

{{Authority control Districts of West Bengal