Rajgarh District () is a district of
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...
in central
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 ...
. The city of
Rajgarh is the administrative headquarters of the district. The old name of Rajgarh was Jhanjhanipur. Rajgarh in Madhya Pradesh is one of the aspirational districts selected by
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...
. The district has an area of 6,154 km² and the population is 1,545,814 (2011 census).
The district lies on the northern edge of the
Malwa
Malwa () is a historical region, historical list of regions in India, region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic plateau, volcanic upland north of the ...
plateau, and the
Parbati River forms the eastern boundary of the district, while the
Kali Sindh River forms the western boundary. The district has seven
tehsil
A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a Zila (country subdivision), district including the designated populated place that ser ...
s,
Rajgarh,
Khilchipur,
Jirapur,
Biaora,
Narsinghgarh,
Sarangpur and
Pachore. The district is bounded by
Rajasthan
Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...
state to the north, and by the districts of
Guna to the northeast,
Bhopal
Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes,'' due to ...
to the east,
Sehore
Sehore is a city and a municipality in Sehore district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the district headquarters of Sehore District and is located on the Bhopal- Sehore-Indore highway, 38 km from Bhopal.
History
Sehore stands ...
to the southeast, and
Shajapur
Shajapur is a town in Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh States and union territories of India, state in west-central India. It is the headquarters of Shajapur district.
Geography
Shajapur is located at . It has an average elevation of . The hig ...
to the south and west. It is part of
Bhopal Division. There are 1728 villages in Rajgarh.
The district was created May 1948, and includes the territory of the former
princely states of Rajgarh, Narsinghgarh, Khilchipur, and parts of the states of
Dewas Junior and Senior (Sarangpur tehsil) and
Indore
Indore (; ISO 15919, ISO: , ) is the largest and most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The commercial capital of the state, it has been declared as the List of cleanest cities in India, cleanest city of In ...
(Jirapur tehsil, now part of
Khilchipur tehsil).
In addition to the town of Rajgarh,
Khilchipur, Kotravihar,
Narsinghgarh and
Kurawar are places of interest.
Topography
The District lies on the northern edge of the
Malwa Plateau, and the Parvati River forms the eastern boundary of the district, while the Kalisindh River forms the western boundary. Black soil, light red and core sands are the main soil type available in the district.
History
The district takes its name from the headquarters town Rajgarh. Rajgarh District was constituted after the formation of Madhya Bharat in May, 1948. Prior to this the area of the present District was parceled out among the States of Rajgarh, Narsinghgarh, Khilchipur, Dewas (Senior) Dewas (Junior) and Indore. Rajgarh was the headquarters of a mediatised State, ruled by the Umath Rajputs (a branch of the
Paramaras
The Paramara Dynasty (IAST: Paramāra) was an Indian dynasty that ruled Malwa and surrounding areas in west-central India between 9th and 14th centuries. They belonged to the Parmar (clan), Paramara clan of the Rajputs.
The dynasty was establi ...
), they enjoyed a Sanad Estate under the Sultans of Delhi and Mughal emperors in succession. The first capital was Duparia, now in Shajapur District. Later on it was shifted to Dungarpur (19 km from Rajgarh) and then to Ratanpur (19 km west of Narsinghgarh) and back. In order to avoid disturbance by the frequently passing Mughal armies, the Ruler of the Estate, Mohan Singh, acquired the present side, originally known as Jhanjhanipur from the Bhils in A.D. 1640. Finally he shifted the headquarters in the year 1645, giving the place its present name.
During the reign of Akbar (1556–1605) a Khilat and a Sanad were granted to Udaji of Tatanpur. At that time, Sarangpur was a Sarkar in the Subah of Malwa. Its jurisdiction extended from the western part of present Sehore District to the eastern part of Ujjain District. Among its twentyfour mahals many have retained their original names and are identified as Ashtah, Talain (Talen), Agra (Agar), Bajilpur (Bijilpur), Bhorsah, Khiljipur, Jirapur, Sarangpur, Sondarsi (Sundarsi), Sosner (Sunner) Sajapur, Kayath and Navgam (Tarana)1. In 1908, Rajgarh State was divided into seven Parganas, namely Newalganj, Biaora, Kalipith, Karanwas, Kotra, Seogarh and Talen. Narsinghgarh State was divided into four Parganas, namely Huzur (Narsinghgarh), Pachor, Khujner and Chhapera. The Parganas were placed in the charge of a Tahsildar each for revenue matters and magisterial work. 2 Khilchipur State was divided into three Paraganas. Sarangpur was as now, the tehsil headquarters of Dewas (Senior) and Dewas (Junior) States. Jarapur was a tehsil of Mahidpur District of former Indore State. It has now been abolished and merged in Khilchipur tahsil.
In 1645 with the permission of Rajmata, Deewan Ajab Singh defeated the Bhils in the hilly region of Rajgarh and he constructed a Palace in 1745 which was having five main gates namely, Itwaria, Bhudwaria, Surajpol, Panradia and Naya Darwaja. And it constitutes three very ancient temple namely Raj Rajeshwar Temple, Chatubhujnathji Temple and Narsingh Temple, and in which Rajmata and his 15-year-old son Rawat Mohan singh was living safely. In Jhanjherpur which was capital and it is having a palace due to which this place is known as Rajgarh and it had become famous.
Economy
Agriculture
Soil and cropping pattern :- The first and the most predominant black cotton soil known as kalmat (black soil) or chikat-kali (deep black) are highly fertile with great power of retaining moisture and bears excellent kharif and rabi crops with or without irrigation. Besides suitability, the black soil yields excellent wheat, gram, jowar and cotton crops high in quality and cotton crops high in quality and quantity.
Pilukhedi Industrial Area
Pilukhedi is an industrial area in Rajgarh district which has been developed by MP government. Many small and medium scale industries have been established in Pilukhedi, this area is continuously developing due to its proximity to Bhopal.The main industries here are Flour Mills, Food Processing Units, Steel Furniture, Readymade Garments, Embroidery Work, Wooden Furniture, As major industries are established.
Solar Power Plant
It is situated in Jaitpura, Ganeshpura and Khilchipur. NTPC's 50 MW Rajgarh solar power project in Madhya Pradesh is the biggest solar photovoltaic plant in the country using domestically manufactured modules. The 50 MW plant in Rajgarh, which was set up by
Tata Power Solar And ACME Solar group establish his 25 MW plant in Khilchipur
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 Rajgarh one of the country's 250
most backward districts (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 ...
).
[ It is one of the 24 districts in Madhya Pradesh currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).] Rajgarh is one of 84 district of NITI Ayog's Aspirational district Program.
Demographics
According to the 2011 census Rajgarh 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 1,545,814, which is more than that of nations like Eswatini
Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where i ...
or Mauritius
Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...
This gives it a ranking of 322nd 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 23.26%. Rajgarh 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 956 females
An organism's sex is female (symbol: ♀) if it produces the ovum (egg cell), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete (sperm cell) during sexual reproduction.
A female has larger gametes than a male. Females and male ...
for every 1000 males and a literacy rate
Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...
of 61.21%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 19.13% and 3.48% of the population respectively.
At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 74.58% of the population in the district spoke Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
and 24.20% Malvi as their first language.
Divisions
9 Tehsils in Rajgarh District :
# Rajgarh,
# Khilchipur,
# Biaora,
# Sarangpur,
# Narsinghgarh
# jirapur,
# Pachore,
# Khujner,
# Suthaliya
Education
ECGC, a premier Export Credit Agency (ECA) of Government of India (GOI) has earmarked Rs.2.50 crores during Financial Year 2018-19 for education projects including supporting secondary education of girls in Rajgarh, Madhya Pradesh.
Newaj River
The Newaj is left bank tributary of the river Parwan which is a right bank principal tributary of the Kalisindh. The Newaj River rises at an elevation of 634 m in the Astha tehsil of the Sehore district in Madhya Pradesh and traverses a total length of 220 km, out of which 205 km is in Madhya Pradesh. The Mohanpura dam site is located in Mohanpura Village of Biaora tehsil of Rajgarh.
Climate
The district has dry climate except in the south-west monsoon season. The year may be divided into four seasons. The period from March to the second week of June is the summer season. The succeeding period up to the end of September is the south-west monsoon season. October and November constitute the postmonsoon or retreating monsoon season. The cold season is from December to February.
The annual rainfall in the district is 813.6 mm. About 93 percent of the annual rainfall in the district is received during the monsoon June to September. In Rajgarh and Khilchipur tahsils-bordering Rajasthan, the rainfall
is generally below the district average.
Forest
The forests of the district belong to the dry deciduous mixed and scrub types. Mostly their timber value is small. The eastern forests are better than those in the western and central belts. The common species of the forests are ('' Anogeissus latifolia''), (''Acacia catechu
''Senegalia catechu'', previously known as ''Acacia catechu'', is a deciduous, thorny tree which grows up to in height. The plant is called ''kachu'' in Malay; the Malay name was Latinized to "catechu" in Linnaean taxonomy, as the species from ...
''), (''Ziziphus jujuba
Jujube (UK ; US or ), sometimes jujuba, scientific name ''Ziziphus jujuba'', and also called red date, Chinese date, and Chinese jujube, is a species in the genus '' Ziziphus'' in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae. It is often confused wit ...
''), ('' Carissa spinarum''), (''Anogeissus pendula
''Terminalia pendula'' is an Asian species of tree in the family Combretaceae. It is a medium-sized tree found in both primary and secondary tropical and sub-tropical forests. It is recorded from India to China, south to Thailand and Vietnam. It ...
''), ('' Acacia arabica''), ('' Buchanania latifolia''), ('' Butea frondosa''), and ('' Diospyros melanoxylon''). In the village forests there was a good number of chandan (''Santalum album
''Santalum album'' is a small tropical tree, and the traditional source of sandalwood oil. It is native to Indonesia (Java and the Lesser Sunda Islands), the Philippines, and Western Australia. It is commonly known as the true sandalwood, white ...
'') trees in Sarangpur tahsil. The common trees of the village areas araam (''Mangifera indica
''Mangifera indica'', commonly known as mango, is an evergreen species of flowering plant in the family Anacardiaceae. It is a large fruit tree, capable of growing to a height and width of . There are two distinct genetic populations in modern m ...
''), babul (''Acacia arabica''), ber (''Ziziphus jujuba''), gular ('' Ficus glomerata''), khakra or chheola (''Butea frondosa''), mahuta ('' Bassia latifolia''), nim ('' Melia indica'') and papal (''Ficus religiosa
''Ficus religiosa'' or sacred fig is a species of fig native to the Indian subcontinent and Indochina that belongs to Moraceae, the fig or mulberry family. It is also known as the bodhi tree, bo tree, peepul tree, peepal tree, pipala tree or ...
''). Jamun ('' Eugenia jambolana'') occurs along the nala banks as does the khajur (''Phoenix dactylifera
''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as the date palm, is a flowering-plant species in the palm family Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet #Fruits, fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across North Africa, northern A ...
'').
Rajgarh tourism
Shri Tirupati Balaji Mandir Zirapur
The glory of Tirupati Balajee is worldwide. Every year lakhs of people visit at Tirupati Dev, situated in south of India. One of the devotee from Zirapur, District Rajgarh of M.P. is Shri Om Prakash Mundra & his wife Shakuntala. When this couple reached to have darshan of Tirupati Balajee, a thought came in their mind, why not build the similar grand temple in Zirapur. It was a dream of Late Shri Kishanjee Mundra, resident of Baikunth and father of Shri O.P. Mundra to have such a grand temple at Zirapur also. Mundra couple then & their determined to construct the grand temple at Zirapur and returned to home town. Later they went with their other family members to Jhalariya Peeth situated at Didwana, (Rajasthan) and met Shree 1008 Shree Swami Shri Ghanshyamacharyajee Maharaj to detail about their dream. Swamijee immediately gave his consent for this great work. The starting was with the formation of Shree Shridhar Gyan Prasar Parmarthik Trust under the guidance of Swamijee Maharaj. Thereafter on 3 September 1998 at Zirapur, a town of Shri S.K. MLmdra with a small population of 25000 people, foundation of Balaji Temple was laid by Swami Shree Ghanshyamacharyajee Maharaj. The construction of temple took about 2 years. From 29 April to 4 May 2000 Pran Pratishtha Samaroh was conducted and Vyankatesh Lord Balajee temple was opened for public, and since then every day 2000–2500 devotees come here to have darshan and-get their wish fulfilled.
Jalpa Mata Temple
A famous temple of maa durga situated 6 km from rajgarh city on the top of the hill. Raja Umath of Rajgarh had once worshiped the mother to protect people. due to which the mother herself appeared here. Here every year 1111 meters long Chunar is taken from rajmahal to the court of Mata Rani.
Sakha shyamji temple
The temple of Shyamji (lord Vishnu) was built in the memory of the king Sangram Singh (Shyam Singh) by his wife Bhagyawati near parvati river in a village Kotra. During the 16-17th century, the king died in an encounter with a mughal soldier of Haji Wali. Temple contain many wall arts. The temple is protected by the state govt.
Dams in Rajgarh
Kundaliya Dam
The major dam constructed in 2018 near Zirapur is called Kundaliya. The Dam is constructed with the purpose of supplying pressurized water for farmers of nearly 419 villages to facilitate micro irrigation in their fields in Rajgarh and Agar malwa districts. The dam also serves the purpose of drinking water in both the districts.
Mohanpura Dam
A dam has been built on the Newaj river, 8 kilometers away from Rajgarh. The catchment area of the dam is 3726 square km. Water will be provided in the dam for irrigation, domestic and industrial use. It is proposed to irrigate about 35500 hectares in Kharif and 62250 hectares in Rabi season from the dam.
Notable people
* Ajijan Bai, Indian women freedom fighter.
See also
* Udankhedi
References
External links
Rajgarh District web site
Tirupati Darshan-Tamil Nadu District
{{Authority control
Districts of Madhya Pradesh
1948 establishments in India