Sonepat

Sonipat is a planned industrial city and administrative headquarter in Sonipat district of Haryana state of India. It comes under the National Capital Region and is around from New Delhi. It lies 214 km (128 miles) southwest of Chandigarh, the state capital. The Yamuna River runs along its eastern boundary. Sonipat was historically known as Sonprastha.

On 22 December 1972, Sonipat designated a full-fledged district. Sonipat Junction railway station is the main railway junction on Delhi-Kalka line. It lies on Delhi Western Peripheral Expressway, Eastern Peripheral Expressway (NE II) and Grand Trunk Road (NH 44) as well as the planned Delhi–Sonipat–Panipat Regional Rapid Transit System.

Etymology

According to legend, Sonipat was earlier known as Swarnprastha, (). which later on became Swarnpath, and then Sonipat.

History

Reference to the city comes in the epic '' Mahabharata'' as Svarnaprastha. It was one of the five villages demanded by Pandavas as the price of peace from Duryodhan in lieu of the kingdom Hastinapur. The other four villages were Panduprastha ( Panipat), Vyaghraprastha ( Baghpat), Tilaprastha ( Tilpat) and Indraprastha (Delhi).

Sonipat is listed in the Ain-i-Akbari as a pargana under Delhi sarkar, producing a revenue of 7,727,323 dams for the imperial treasury and supplying a force of 1000 infantry and 70 cavalry. It had a brick fort at the time, which was also mentioned.

Principalities of Sonipat

There were few principalities and zamindaris of Jat Chaudharys of different clans.
1. Kharkhoda- It was established by Dahiya Jats who were rulers in Nagaur, Rajasthan. They migrated to Bagar tract and then to Deswal tract- Kharkhoda (Sonipat). They set up their independent principality and there are over 52 villages in Sonipat of Dahiya Chaudharys.

2. Ahulana (Gohana)- After leaving Hansi stronghold, Malik Jat Chaudharys came and founded Gohana region and made Ahulana, their capital. It was founded by Raja Huleram Malik who from the lineage of Raja Jaitra Singh (Jatwan Malik). Ahulana principality had the rights of tax collection during the Mughal period. They also participated in the revolt of 1857.

Sonipat came under Islamic rule after the Second Battle of Tarain in 1193. The Sikhs under Banda Singh Bahadur fought the Battle of Sonipat against the Mughals in 1709. Khanda, Sonipat village witnessed the Battle of Sonipat and won the battle against Mughals under the military leadership of Banda Singh Bahadur

Battle of Sonipat

The one and only battle fought in Sonipat was Battle of Sonipat. After taking blessings from Guru Gobind Singh, Baba Banda Singh Bahadur first camped at Khanda, Sonipat and assembled a fighting force with Dahiya Jats. Khanda, Sonipat village witnessed the Battle of Sonipat against Mughals, which was won under the military leadership of Banda Singh Bahadur.

Geography and topography

Sonipat is located at .

The district headquarter is situated in Sonipat. Other smaller towns are Gohana, Ganaur, Mundlana, Kharkhoda and Rai. The total area of Sonipat district is 2,260 km² and its population is 10,64,000. Sonipat is bordered by the states of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh as well as the districts of Rohtak, Jind and Panipat. The River Yamuna runs along the eastern boundary of the district

District Sonepat comprises four sub-divisions, namely Ganaur, Sonepat, Kharkhoda and Gohana and eight blocks (Ganaur, Sonipat, Rai, Kharkhoda, Gohana, Kathura, Murthal  and Mundlana) has been carved out of Rohtak and made a full-fledged district on 22 December 1972. Sonepat is the largest tehsil followed by Gohana. It has one Municipal Corporation Sonipat and three municipal committees Ganaur, Gohana and Kharkhoda.

the Haryana Main water system in the district consists of the River Yamuna and the irrigation canals flowing out of it. There is no perennial river in the district. The underground water resources differ from area to area. The depth of the water table is the lowest in the Khader area along the Yamuna, where it is below 10 ft. It increases to 30 to 40 ft. in some of the western and south eastern part of the district. The ground water in some areas is saline and brackish. The ground water conditions indicate that the district faces the problem of occurrence of brackish water and water logging in eastern parts of the district.

Broadly speaking, the district is a continuous part of the Haryana-Punjab plain, but the area is not levelled in some parts. Over most of the district, the soil is fine loam of rich colour. However, some areas have sandy soil and others are composed of Kallar. The plain has a gradual slope to the south and east. The district may be roughly divided into three regions:

# The Khadar Along the River Yamuna is a narrow flood plain, three to six kilometres wide, and is formed by the river along its course. The Khader plain is 20 to 30 feet lower, adjoining upland plain. It is composed of fine clay loam left by the receding floods of the Yamuna. Currently, rice and sugar cane cultivation is undertaken by the farmers in the Khadar area. Recently, the farmers have started planting Banana, Pappaya and other fruits trees.
# The Upland Plain It consists of Sonepat tehsil lying to the west of the Khadar, and is the most extensive of the three regions: The Upland Plain is covered with old alluvium, which if properly irrigated, is highly productive. Extensive Farming of crops, oil seeds, horticultural plants, vegetables and flowers, is undertaken in this region. The ridges in Gohana tehsil represent the northern most extension of the Aravallis.
# The Sandy Region A very smaller part of the district is covered with soil consisting of sand or sandy loam. Parts of this region has high PH value leading to kallor land.

Soil Profile

District Sonepat, comprising Sonepat, Gohana and Ganaur sub divisions, has 343 villages and covers an area of 2,13,080 hectares. The irrigated area (both with the help of canal irrigation as well as through tubewells) is 2,86,504 acres and the un-irrigated rainfed area is 43,979 acres. Sonepat is an important saltpetre producing area. The saltpetre appears as efflorescence on the surface during the summer season, specially in the village of Sonepat sub-division.

Water logging is a serious problem effecting the productivity of land. The water logged area, which the water table is between 0 and 5 ft, faces a serious problem. Where the water table is between 5 and 10 ft., the problem of water logging is imminent. There has been an alarming rise in the water table during the last two decades, Specially in the areas adjoining the canals. This has led to appearance of Thur on the surface of soil, followed by sem in several parts of the district, specially the areas adjoining the Yamuna and minor canals running through the district.

The soil in Sonepat is rich and quite suitable for all types of agricultural crops as well as forest cover.

The types of soil may be classified according to textures as :

# Sandy (Raitali)
# Sandy loam (Bhuri)
# Loam (Rausli)
# Clay loam (Karti)
# Clay (Dakar)

Climate

Climate of Sonipat is dry with hot summer and a cold winter. The weather becomes milder during the monsoon (period July to September). The post-monsoon months October and November constitute a transition period, prior to the onset of winter.

The winter starts in December when day and night temperatures fall rapidly. January is the coldest month when the mean daily minimum temperature is 6-7°C. During cold waves, the minimum temperature may go down to the freezing point of water, and frosts can occur. During the summer months of May and June, the maximum temperature sometimes reaches 47°C. Temperature drops considerably with the advancement of monsoon in June. However, the night temperature during this period continues to be high.

Humidity is considerably low during the greater part of the year. The district experiences high humidity only during the monsoon period. The period of minimum humidity (less than 20%) is between April and May.

The annual rainfall varies considerably from year to year. However, the maximum rainfall is experienced during the monsoon season, which reaches it is peak in the month of July. In fact, the monsoon period accounts for 75% of the annual rainfall in the district. On an average there are 24 days in a year with rainfall of 2.5 mm (or more) per day in district Sonepat.

During the monsoon, the sky is heavily clouded, and winds are strong. Winds are generally light during the post-monsoon and winter months.

Sonepat experiences a high incidence of thunder storms and dust storms, often accompanied by violent squalls (andhis) during the period April to June. Sometimes the thunder storm are being accompanied by heavy rain and occasionally by hail storms. In the winter months, fogs sometimes appear in the district.

Demographics

Sonipat city is governed by Municipal Corporation which comes under Sonipat Metropolitan Region. The Sonipat city is located in Haryana state of India.

According to the 2021 Indian Census, the current estimate population of Sonipat city in 2023 is 382,000, while Sonipat metro population is estimated at 402,000. The last census was conducted in 2011 and the schedule census for Sonipat city in 2021 was postponed due to Covid. The current estimates of Sonipat city are based on past growth rate. Once govt conducts census for Sonipat city, we will update the same here in 2023. As per provisional reports of Census India, population of Sonipat in 2011 is 278,149. Although Sonipat city has population of 278,149; its urban / metropolitan population is 293,025.

Sonipat Literacy Rate and Sex Ratio

In education section, total literates in Sonipat city are 210,112 of which 118,281 are males while 91,831 are females. Average literacy rate of Sonipat city is 85.48 per cent of which male and female literacy was 90.82 and 79.45 per cent. The sex ratio of Sonipat city is 875 per 1000 males. Child sex ratio of girls is 784 per 1000 boys.

Sonipat Slum Population

Total no. of Slums in Sonipat city and its outgrowth numbers 19,033 in which population of 98,508 resides. This is around 34.05% of total population of Sonipat city and its outgrowth which is 289,333.

Religion

City

Tehsil (District)

Places of interest

Mughal architecture

There are several Mughal buildings on the outskirts of the city, including the Mosque of Abdullah Nasir-ud-din, who was a descendant from Mushid of Iran.

British Time Tehsil

This district was carved out of the erstwhile Rohtak district on 22 December 1972. The district is named after its administrative headquarters, Sonipat. Sonipat was earlier known as Sonprastha, which later became Svarnaprastha (Golden City), which is derived from two Sanskrit words, Svarna (Gold) and Prastha (Place). Over a period of time, the classical name Svarnprastha's pronunciation degraded into Svarnpat, and then to its current form, Sonipat. The earliest reference of this city comes in the epic Mahabharata, and at that time, it was one of the five villages demanded by the Pandavas in lieu of the kingdom of Hastinapur.

Yamuna River

The main water system in the district is the Yamuna River and its irrigation canals. The river flows besides the rural belt in the eastern side of district. It also acts as a natural boundary between the states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

Economy

Industrial estates

There are six HSIIDC industrial estates namely Sonepat city, Barhi, Kundli, Murthal and Rai. The development of Sonepat Industrial area in the city started in the 1950s with Atlas Cycle. Since then, many small and big industries have been established here. Atlas, E.C.E. or the Birla Factory, OSRAM India (formerly part of E.C.E., but in October 1998 it was acquired by OSRAM).

Rail Coach Naveenikaran Karkhana, Sonipat is a railway coach factory under RVNL which was successfully commissioned in October 2021.The Rail Coach Naveenikaran Karkhana at Sonipat is the first of its kind facility being set up to cater to the mid-life rehabilitation and refurbishment of coaches. The Rolling Stock Complex is designed for sustainable development with Industry 4.0 compliant assembly line.

Education

Colleges

* Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering & Technology

Universities

* Indian Institute of Information Technology, Sonepat
* Dr. B.R. Ambedkar National Law University, Sonipat (NLU)
* National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management
* Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University Of Science and Technology
* Ashoka University
* O. P. Jindal Global University
* Bhagat Phool Singh Mahila Vishwavidyalaya
* SRM University, Haryana
* World University of Design
* Rishihood University

Sports

In July 1973 the government established the Motilal Nehru School of Sports, Rai, Sonipat to provide education facilities with extra emphasis on sports. It trains athletes in field hockey, basketball, lawn tennis, equestrianism, gymnastics, swimming, shooting sports, volleyball, boxing, cricket, and football.

Bus Port

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways proposed the first bus port in the pattern of Airport on GT Road in Sector 7, Sonipat. It will be a joint venture between the Government of Haryana and NHAI.

* In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has decided to set up a bus port on the pattern of an airport in Sonipat.
* The proposed bus stand will be an ultra-modern 'bus port', with infrastructure at par with an international airport.
* To be constructed under design, built, finance, operate and transfer model, new bus ports will have digital displays, variable message signboards, CCTVs, surveillance system, deluxe waiting room, tourist information center, clock room, restaurant, food court, plaza, budget hotel, multiplex, administrative office, parcel room, maintenance workshop, fuel station, etc.

Municipal corporation

Sonipat Municipal Corporation is the governing civic body of the Urban Area in Sonipat. The Municipal Committee Sonipat was established in the year 1933.

Sonipat Lok Sabha

Sonipat (Lok Sabha constituency) is one of the 10 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in Haryana state in northern India. Satpal Brahmchari from Congress party (INC) is Member of Parliament from Sonipat Seat

Notable people

* Seema Antil (discus thrower)
* Sanchit Balhara (Bollywood score composer)
* Preeti Bose (cricketer)
* Manushi Chhillar, (actress, model and the winner of Miss World 2017)
* Amit Kumar Dahiya (Olympian wrestler)
* Hoshiar Singh Dahiya (PVC)
* Jai Tirath Dahiya (leader)
* Kushal Singh Dahiya (martyr)
* Mehar Singh Dahiya (martyr poet)
* Padam Singh Dahiya (politician)
* Ravi Kumar Dahiya (Silver medalist Olympics, Wrestling)
* Rizak Ram Dahiya (MP Rajya Sabha, ex. MLA Rai)
* Rohit Dahiya (cricketer)
* Vikas Dahiya (Indian hockey player)
* Vinod Kumar Dahiya (Olympian wrestler)
* Vivek Dahiya (actor)
* Yogeshwar Dutt (wrestler)
* Krishna Gahlawat (MLA Rai and former minister)
* Himanshu Malik (Bollywood actor)
* Jitender Malik (politician)
* Meghna Malik (actress)
* Pardeep Narwal (kabbadi player)
* Sanjay Pahal (cricketer)
* Rajat Paliwal (cricketer)
* Nisha Warsi (hockey player)

See also

* Battle of Sonipat
* Bahadurgarh
* Gurgaon
* Khanda

Notes

References

External links

Official website

{{Authority control

Cities and towns in Sonipat district
Satellite Cities in India