Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district is one of twenty-three districts of state 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 ...

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 ...

. It is located in

Doaba Doaba, also known as Bist Doab or the Jalandhar Doab, is the region of Punjab, India that lies between the Beas River and the Sutlej River. People of this region are given the demonym "Doabia". The dialect of Punjabi spoken in Doaba ...

region. It consists of three

subdivision Subdivision may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Subdivision (metre), in music * ''Subdivision'' (film), 2009 * "Subdivision", an episode of ''Prison Break'' (season 2) * ''Subdivisions'' (EP), by Sinch, 2005 * "Subdivisions" (song), by Rush ...

Nawanshahr Nawanshahr () is a municipal council in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district in the Indian state of Punjab. It was previously a town; it later became a district in 1995. History Nawanshahr was founded by Nausher Khan, an Afghan, during the ...

, Banga, and

Balachaur Balachaur is a town in Balachaur tehsil in the Nawanshahr district, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar District of Punjab, India, Punjab, India. History The royal family of Jaipur visited Balachaur with their family for meditation and named the tehsil ...

. There are three legislative seats in the district, Nawanshahr, Balachaur and Banga. They fall under the

Anandpur Sahib Anandpur Sahib, also referred simply as Anandpur (), is a city in Rupnagar district (Ropar), on the edge of Shivalik Hills, in the Indian state of Punjab. Located near the Sutlej River, the city is one of the most sacred religious places in Si ...

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

Constituency.

, the district headquarters is about from

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 ...

, the state's capital. As of 2011, it is the third least populous district of Punjab (out of 22), after Barnala and

Fatehgarh Sahib Fatehgarh Sahib () is a city and a sacred pilgrimage site of Sikhism in the north west Indian state of Punjab. It is the headquarters of Fatehgarh Sahib district, located about north of Sirhind. Fatehgarh Sahib is named after Fateh Singh, the ...

History

Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district was formed from the

Hoshiarpur Hoshiarpur () is a city and a Municipal corporations in India, municipal corporation in Hoshiarpur district in the Doaba region of the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. It was founded, according to tradition, during the early part of the ...

and

Jalandhar Jalandhar () is a city in the state of Punjab, India, Punjab in India. With a considerable population, it ranks as the List of cities in Punjab and Chandigarh by population, third most-populous city in the state and is the largest city in the ...

districts of Punjab on 7 November 1995, as the sixteenth district of

Punjab State Punjab () is a state in northwestern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the north and northeast, Haryana to the south and southeast, ...

named from the headquarters town of

. Nawanshahr was founded by the migrants from

Rahon Rahon is a town and a municipal council in the district Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar of the Indian state of Punjab. Rahon is in Doaba region of Punjab. Doaba also known as Bist Doab, is the region of Punjab, India that lies between the Beas Riv ...

near the

Sutlej River The Sutlej River or the Satluj River is a major river in Asia, flowing through China, India and Pakistan, and is the longest of the five major rivers of the Punjab region. It is also known as ''Satadru''; and is the easternmost tributary of th ...

was in danger of being flooded. They named it Nawanshahar (meaning "New City").

Dewan ''Dewan'' (also known as ''diwan'', sometimes spelled ''devan'' or ''divan'') designated a powerful government official, minister, or ruler. A ''dewan'' was the head of a state institution of the same name (see Divan). Diwans belonged to the el ...

Banna Mal Misr (Gautam) was born in Gautam Brahmin (Shori Gotra) family of Nawanshahr. He was son of Vaid Jhanda Mal of Nawanshahr, Dewan Banna Mal was manager with full sovereign powers of His Highness Maharaja Sir Randhir Singh Bahadur of

Kapurthala Kapurthala () is a city in Punjab state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Kapurthala District. It was the capital of the Kapurthala State, a princely state in British India. The aesthetic mix of the city with its prominent b ...

's Estates in

Oudh The Kingdom of Awadh (, , also Oudh State, Kingdom of Oudh, Awadh Subah, or Awadh State) was a Mughal subah, then an independent kingdom, and lastly a British protectorate in the Awadh region of North India until its annexation by the Br ...

and served as Chief Minister Of

Kapurthala State Kapurthala State, was a kingdom and later princely state of the Punjab Province (1849–1947), Punjab Province of British India. Ruled by Ahluwalia Sikh rulers, spread across . According to the 1901 census the state had a population of 314,341 a ...

. Dewan Banna Mal built the temple Shivala Banna Mal near the Municipal Committee office,

. It was built in the year 1862 and tall and huge structure

Haveli A ''haveli'' is a traditional townhouse, mansion, or manor house, in the Indian subcontinent, usually one with historical and architectural significance, and located in a town or city. The word ''haveli'' is derived from Arabic ''hawali'', me ...

Banna Mal Di

in Vaidan Mohalla in Nawanshahr. Dewan Banna Mal's sons Dewan Acchru Mal Gautam (Revenue Minister) and Dewan Sundri Mal Gautam (Revenue Minister) of

built Brahmkund Mandir behind Shalimar Bagh in

. Dewan Banna Mal owned 3000 acres of land in the Mand area of

on the bank of River Beas Bana Malwala after Dewan Banna Mal Gautam's name and Brahampur, Phagwara villages in

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 ...

Phagwara Phagwara (; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Phagawāṛā'') is a city and a municipal corporation in the Kapurthala district of Punjab, India, Punjab. It is located from the district headquarters of Kapurthala, from the national capital New Delhi, from St ...

. Descendants of Banna Mal Today lives in Kapurthala, Phagwara, New Delhi and Dehradun, Pandit Daljit Parshad Gautam Advocate of

Renowned Civil Lawyer of Punjab practices in Kapurthala till his death in the Year 2010, Dewan Ambika Parshad ( Accountant General of Kapurthala State) his daughter Savitri Shori Mahajan a historian was married to The Great Historian of India and A Lawyer Vidya Dhar Mahajan, their daughters

Mridula Mukherjee Mridula Mukherjee (née Mahajan) is an Indian historian known for her work on the role of peasants in the Indian independence movement. She is an ex-chairperson of the Centre for Historical Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, a ...

And Sucheta Mahajan are Historian and Working as a professor of Indian history in JNU New Delhi. Later, the city was developed and constructed by Lala Paramanand Bhuchar (Sareen) who was the first major-scale thekedar of city. Lala Paramanand was given the first mould of large-brick design by

Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to: Queens regnant * Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland * Elizabeth II (1926–2022; ), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms * Queen B ...

in the presence of the Maharaja Patiala in his courtroom as a token of gratitude to establish brick factories (Batha) in the city. Lala Paramanand build first planned Mandi (now known as old Dana Mandi) in around 1920 which even has his name "PN" on bricks and name on Foundation Stone at old Dana Mandi Gate. He resided in Lalliyan Mohalla (Lalleyan da Mohalla) situated in center of city. The mohalla have his Haveli there along with a common haveli which was residence of 100 families, a historical landmark in that mohalla made with Nanakshahi bricks. Nawanshahr became a district in 1995 during the S. Harcharan Brar government, with strong efforts of the late S. Dilbag Singh, former Cabinet Minister and the then MLA of Nawanshahr. People of this district are economically sound. Many of the district's families have settled abroad. Consequently, much remittance is sent back to India, contributing to the district's economic development and prosperity. The prosperity of

area can be appreciated by the fact that the price of land here is high, and far more than most of the districts in the state except

Ludhiana Ludhiana () is the most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab.164.100.161.224 http://164.100.161.224 › filesPDF Ludhiana State: Punjab Business & Industrial Centre, Tier 2 1 ... The city has an estima ...

and

. Nawanshahr is rising due to the remittances from overseas Punjabis. Nawanshahr is connected to

and Jaijon by railway. On 27 September 2008 at Khatkar Kalan, 8 km from Nawanshahr, the Punjab government announced that a district in the state would be named after the freedom fighter

Bhagat Singh Bhagat Singh (27 September 1907 – 23 March 1931) was an Indian anti-colonial revolutionary who participated in the mistaken murder of a junior British police officer in December 1928 in what was intended to be retaliation for the deat ...

. The announcement was made by Punjab Chief Minister

Parkash Singh Badal Parkash Singh Badal (8 December 1927 – 25 April 2023) was an Indian politician and Sikh rights advocate who served as the 8th Chief Minister of Punjab from 1970 to 1971, from 1977 to 1980, from 1997 to 2002, and from 2007 to 2017, the longes ...

to mark the 101st anniversary of Bhagat Singh's birth. As a result, Nawanshahr district was renamed Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar.

Geography

Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district is located at . The total area is 1,258 square kilometres (km²). * SBS Nagar city has been declared by Swachh Survekshan-2020 as
the cleanest city in North India
.

Healthcare

This region has abundant health facilities. There are numerous private clinics and nursing homes. Some of them claim to have the latest medical equipment. There is an adequate number of Government Hospitals, Dispensaries and Primary Health Centers in this area. The hospitals in Nawanshahr have capacity of 64 beds and are equipped with latest medical tools. Banga and Balachaur hospitals have capacities of 30 beds each. Also Mukandpur, Urapar,

Sujjon Sujjon is a village in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district of Punjab, India, Punjab States and territories of India, State, India. It is located away from India Posts, sub post office Mahil Gailan, from Nawanshahr, from district headquarter ...

, Saroya and Muzzaffarpur proved a variety of health services. Health services are available for every village in the district. Veterinary hospitals can be found in Nawanshahr, Rahon, Saroya, and Balachaur.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar 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 612,310, roughly equal to the nation of

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

or the US state of

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

. This gives it a ranking of 522nd 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 4.58%. Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar 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 954

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 80.3%. Scheduled Castes made up 42.51% of the population and the largest caste in the district is

Ravidassia Ravidassia or the Ravidas Panth is a religion based on the teachings of Ravidas, Guru Ravidas. It was considered a sect within Sikhism until 2009. However, some Ravidassias continue to maintain Sikh religious practices, including the reverence of ...

with a population of 214,293 which makes 34.88% of the whole district population.

Gender

The table below shows the sex ratio of SBS Nagar district through decades. The table below shows the child sex ratio of children below the age of 6 years in the rural and urban areas of SBS Nagar district.

Religion

The table below shows the population of different religions in absolute numbers in the urban and rural areas of SBS Nagar district.

Language

In 2022, 94.63% of the population spoke Punjabi and 4.37%

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 ...

as their first language.

Health

The table below shows the data from the district nutrition profile of children below the age of 5 years, in SBS Nagar, as of year 2020. The table below shows the district nutrition profile of SBS Nagar of women between the ages of 15 and 49 years, as of year 2020. The table below shows the number of road accidents and people affected in SBS Nagar district by year.

Politics

Notable residents

Jazzy B Jaswinder Singh Bains (born 1 April 1970), better known by his stage name Jazzy B, is an Indo-Canadian singer and songwriter of Punjabi music, he has also worked in Indian films mainly Punjabi and Hindi. Early life and career Jazzy B was ...

, Indo-Canadian singer *

Amrish Puri Amrish Puri (22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005) was an Indian actor, who was one of the most notable and important figures in Cinema of India, Indian cinema and Theatre of India, theatre. He acted in more than 450 films, established himsel ...

, Indian actor *

Madan Puri Madan Puri (30 September 1915 – 13 January 1985) was an Indian actor of Hindi and Punjabi films. His brothers were actors Chaman Puri and Amrish Puri. As a character actor mainly in negative roles (villain), he acted in about 430 films in ...

, Indian actor * B.R. Chopra, film director and producer *

Yash Chopra Yash Raj Chopra (27 September 1932 21 October 2012) was an Indian film director and film producer who worked in Bollywood, Hindi cinema. The founding chairman of the film production and distribution company Yash Raj Films, Chopra was the reci ...

, film director and producer * Mohammed Zahur Khayyam, Indian music director *

Sukhshinder Shinda Sukshinder Shinda (born Sukshinder Singh Bhullar) is a British Indian playback singer-songwriter and bhangra record producer from Handsworth in Birmingham, England. He hails from Dhamai village in the Hoshiarpur district of Punjab, India. Sin ...

, Punjabi singer, music director, and producer *

Garry Sandhu Gurmukh Singh "Garry" Sandhu, is an Indian singer, songwriter, rapper and actor known for his work in Punjabi music The music of Punjab reflects the traditions of the Punjab region associated with Punjabi language. Punjab is currently divid ...

, Punjabi Singer, Actor, Song Editor * Inderjeet Singh, a

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

athlete and medalist in international games

Villages

* Bakapur * Barnala Kalan * Chak Alahi Bakhash * Chak Dana * Chak Mander *

Charan Charan (IAST: Cāraṇ; Sanskrit: चारण; Gujarati: ચારણ; Sindhi: چارڻ; IPA: cɑːrəɳə) is a caste in South Asia natively residing in the Rajasthan and Gujarat states of India, as well as the Sindh and Balochistan prov ...

* Chuharpur * Jabbowal * Jagatpur * Jagatpur Ther * Kanaun * Saidpur Theh * Raipur Daba Karnana * Kariam * Khankhana * Ladhian * Lodhipur * Muna * Naura * Ram Rai Pur Pharala * Sarhala Ranuan

References

External links

The official website of the district

Nawanshahr Portal

WikiMapia
{{Authority control Districts of Punjab, India 1995 establishments in Punjab, India Memorials to Bhagat Singh