Surguja district is a district of 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 ...
. The district is one of the oldest districts of Chhattisgarh. The headquarters of the district is
Ambikapur.
The district lies in its eponymous Surguja dialectal region (where
Surgujia is spoken) and is to the east of the
Vindhyachal-
Baghelkhand region of peninsular India.
The district spread over a vast
mountainous area inhabited by many different people groups such as the
Gond,
Bhumij,
Oraon,
Panika
The Panika are a Hindu community found in the Indian states of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.
Traditionally they are weaver. They are also known as Panka and Panikar.
Etymology
They used to made Pankha(fan). ...
,
Korwa,
Bhuiya,
Kharwar,
Munda,
Chero,
Rajwar,
Nagesia,
Kanwar and
Santal
The Santal (or Santhal) are an Austroasiatic languages, Austroasiatic-speaking Munda peoples, Munda ethnic group of the Indian subcontinent. Santals are the largest tribe in the Jharkhand and West Bengal in terms of population and are also found ...
.
History
According to legend,
Lord Rama
Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda'' ...
had visited Surguja during his 14 years of exile into the forests. There are many places in connection to epic of
Ramayana
The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...
, which are named after Lord Rama, Laxmana and Goddess Sita such as Ramgarh, Sita-Bhengra and Laxmangarh.
[
Prior to the arrival of the ]Mauryas
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 source ...
, the area was ruled by the Nandas. In the third century BC the region was divided into tiny kingdoms. In 1613, a Rajput king belonging to the Rakshal clan attacked from Palamu in what is now Jharkhand, and took control of the area. In 1753, the Marathas invaded Surguja and forced the king to become a vassal. After the Third Anglo-Maratha War in 1818, the British gained control of the three princely states of Surguja, Koriya and Changbhakar. In 1820, Amar Singh was crowned as Maharaja. 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 ...
period, Surguja State was a princely state.[
In 1951, Surguja became part of the new state of Madhya Pradesh. In 2000, it was one of the districts in the new state of Chhattisgarh.
]
Geography
It lies between 23°37'25" to 24°6'17" north latitude and 81°34'40" to 84°4'40" east longitude. long east to west and broad north to south, this land has as area of about .
The high-lands of Surguja district have peculiar 'pat formations' – highlands with small tablelands. The Mainpat, the Jarang pat, the Jonka pat, the Jamira pat and the Lahsunpat are the major parts of the district. The average height of area is above . Some of the peaks are Mailan , Jam , Parta Gharsa , Kanda Dara , Chutai , and Karo . There are a number of other peaks. North–west Surguja is hilly in nature, and moving westwards, three distinct steps may be marked out: the first from Shrinagar on the east to the low-lands of Patna
Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...
and Kharsawan, the second from thence to the uplands around Sonhat and the third beyond Sonhat to above a height of . Central Surguja is a low basin through which the Rihand and its tributaries flow.[
The soil of the Surguja District can be broadly classified into four major types: red and yellow soils, alluvial soils, ]laterite
Laterite is a soil type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by intensive and prolo ...
soils, and medium blue soils.
Red and yellow soils are derived from the parent rocks of the Gondwana
Gondwana ( ; ) was a large landmass, sometimes referred to as a supercontinent. The remnants of Gondwana make up around two-thirds of today's continental area, including South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia (continent), Australia, Zea ...
System including sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock formed by the cementation (geology), cementation of sediments—i.e. particles made of minerals (geological detritus) or organic matter (biological detritus)—that have been accumulated or de ...
s. They are formed in-situ from the erosion
Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...
of such rocks caused by rain. This soil is found particularly in east Sitapur
Sitapur is a city and a municipal board in Sitapur district in the States and territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located 90 kilometres north of state capital, Lucknow. The traditional origin for the name is said to be by ...
, south Ambikapur, central Surajpur and Pratappur blocks. The red color is due to wide diffusion of iron while hydration of ferric oxide
Iron(III) oxide or ferric oxide is the inorganic compound with the formula . It occurs in nature as the mineral hematite, which serves as the primary source of iron for the steel industry. It is also known as red iron oxide, especially when us ...
results in a yellow color in the soil. This soil is of lighter texture and has a porous
Porosity or void fraction is a measure of the void (i.e. "empty") spaces in a material, and is a fraction of the volume of voids over the total volume, between 0 and 1, or as a percentage between 0% and 100%. Strictly speaking, some tests measure ...
and friable structure. Soluble
In chemistry, solubility is the ability of a substance, the solute, to form a solution with another substance, the solvent. Insolubility is the opposite property, the inability of the solute to form such a solution.
The extent of the solubi ...
salt is found in small quantities. Lime, kankar and free kankar are totally absent. These soils are poor in potash
Potash ( ) includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water- soluble form. , nitrogen
Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a Nonmetal (chemistry), nonmetal and the lightest member of pnictogen, group 15 of the periodic table, often called the Pnictogen, pnictogens. ...
, humus
In classical soil science, humus is the dark organic matter in soil that is formed by the decomposition of plant and animal matter. It is a kind of soil organic matter. It is rich in nutrients and retains moisture in the soil. Humus is the Lati ...
and carbonate
A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid, (), characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, a polyatomic ion with the formula . The word "carbonate" may also refer to a carbonate ester, an organic compound containing the carbonate group ...
and differ greatly in consistency, color, depth and fertility. On the uplands they are thin and gravelly, sandy, porous and light coloured alluvium, generally transported from elsewhere, are found along river banks in alternate layers of sand and silt in East Ramanujganj, North Ambikapur, and Surajpur, along the river banks of the Rihand, Kanhar, and the Hasdeo rivers and their major tributaries. The colour of the soil is not uniform but varies from yellow to grey. Laterite
Laterite is a soil type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by intensive and prolo ...
soils are well developed on the summits of the plateau regions of Samri and Sitapur tehsil including Shankargargh, Kusmi, Sitapur, Batoli and Mainpat blocks of Mainpat, Jamirapat, Lahsunpat and Jonkpat.
There are three river basins in Suguja district – those of the Hasdeo River, the Rihand River and the Kanhar River.[
In winters temperature dips to below and in summers it rises above .
]
Administration
Surguja district is divided into 7 tehsils:
* Ambikapur
* Lakhanpur
* Udaipur
* Dhourpur (Sub tehsil Lundra and Raghunathpur)
* Batauli
* Sitapur
Sitapur is a city and a municipal board in Sitapur district in the States and territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located 90 kilometres north of state capital, Lucknow. The traditional origin for the name is said to be by ...
* Mainpat
Transport
The District Headquarters of Sarguja is Ambikapur City. It is also the administrative headquarter of Sarguja Division. Ambikapur is connected with Rail, Road and Air transport.
Rail
Ambikapur Railway Station is connected to the Anuppur railway junction, a bordering town in 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 ...
, by a broad gauge railway. Trains reach Ambikapur from Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...
, Katni
Katni officially Murwara is a city on the banks of the Katni River in Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Katni District. It is in the Mahakoshal region of central India. The city is from the divisional headquarter ...
, Satna, Jabalpur
Jabalpur, formerly Jubbulpore, is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the 3rd-largest urban agglomeration of the state and the 38th-largest of the country. Jabalpur is the administrative h ...
, Durg
Durg is a city in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, east of the Shivnath River and is part of the Durg- Bhilai urban agglomeration. With an urban population of 1,064,077, Durg- Bhilai is the second largest urban area in Chhattisgarh after Rai ...
, 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 ...
and the state capital 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 ...
. More destinations, can be reached from Anuppur railway junction.
Road
Ambikapur is well connected by road to other major cities of Chhattisgarh such as Raipur, Bilaspur, Durg, Bhilai, Korba and Raigarh. Daily bus services also runs for Varanasi, prayagraj, Renukoot in U.P (170 km), Raipur (345 km) and Garhwa in Jharkhand, Aurangabad in Bihar. Bus services from Anuppur to Ambikapur operate via Manendragarh and Surajpur.
Air
Ambikapur Airport, now Maa Mahamaya Airport, is located at Darima, 12 km (7.5 mi) south of Ambikapur. The airport up-gradation work was finished in May 2023 at a cost of Rs. 48 crore from category 2C to 3C, to enable operations of 70-72 seater aircraft under UDAN Scheme. Making this the fourth public serving airport in Chhattisgarh after Raipur, Jagdalpur and Bilaspur. The airport is not functional at the moment.
Agriculture
About 90% of the working population depends on agriculture, in which 50.36% of working population are of cultivated and about 12.77% of the region are agriculture labourers.
Agriculture is directly connected with land and water resources. In Surguja the percentage concentration of cultivated land is maximum in central zone of the district stretching east to west direction. North and south of this one the percentage of concentration decreases, because of several factors, out of them here are two major factors.
The uplands and high lands are mostly covered with rocky wastelands, infertile soil, woods and scrubs, sloppy and forested area.
Unavailability of water for irrigation over most of area, improper drainage difficulty in digging wells due to rocky basement, undeveloped means of communication, transportation have restricted the extension of cultivated land.
On the other hand, the central surguja is relatively level and has fertile soils, some water is available for irrigation in various ways, and a means of communication is developed.
Double cropped area is generally associated with water supply, natural or artificial and the pressure of population. Wherever the physical condition permits and the pressure more over the land, two crops are raised in a year from the same field. As result, a particular pattern of use of land resources emerges, which helps in the delineation of planning regions on the basis of present available resources and the limit of their utilisation. Of course there is no uniformity in the distribution of double cropped area, but the study of its distribution will be of use in the need as well as the resources. Thus most of the concentration is to be found in two patches:
* Ramanujnagar block
* Ambikapur & Central North-East of Lundra, Rajpur, Shankargarh, Wadragnagar and Pratappur blocks
Almost the whole of the central plain has medium to relatively high value, with few exception due to local condition. In this part during summer most of the area remains uncultivated. Only in Ambiakpur block here is some concentration of double cropped area due to irrigation facilities. The per capita land is declining due to the increasing in rural population which can be fed by increasing the per acre output through bringing more and more cultivated land under double cropped system, by extending irrigation facilities, using better fertilizers and better culture.
The assessment of physical condition for different crops helps in arranging them so as to derive the optimum return of it, which may be done through the study of their distribution along with the average production. The production of land provided to different crops depends upon physically suitability of soil and availability of water etc. Not only this the local needs is also important in this connection. Roughly 41.67% out of the total geographical area is under cultivation.
Demographics
According to the 2011 census Surguja district has a population of 2,359,886, roughly equal to the nation of Latvia
Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...
or the US state of New Mexico
New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
. This gives it a ranking of 192nd 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 19.74%.[ Surguja 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 976 females 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 61.16%.
The divided Surguja district has a population of 840,352, of which 136,702 (16.27%) live in urban areas. The divided district has a sex ratio of 980 females per 1000 males. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 4.77% and 57.40% of the population respectively.
Languages
At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 65.07% of the population in the district spoke Surgujia, 13.2% Kurukh, 11.83% 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 ...
, 2.71% Bhojpuri
Bhojpuri may refer to:
* Bhojpuri language, an Indo-Aryan language of India and Nepal
* Bhojpuri grammar, grammatical rules of the language
* Bhojpuri nouns, nouns of the language
* Bhojpuri people, people who speak the language
* Bhojpuri region ...
, 2.39% Sadri, 0.91% Chhattisgarhi and 0.90% Odia as their first language.
Education
* Surguja University, Ambikapur
* Govt. Medical college, Ambikapur
* Govt. Nursing college, Ambikapur
* Govt. Engineering college, Ambikapur
* Govt. Polytechnic College, Ring road Ambikapur
* Govt. ITI college, M.G. road Ambikapur
* Rajiv Gandhi P.G. college, M.G.road Ambikapur( Govt.)
* Rajmohini devi girls P.G. college, Gaurav path Ambikapur (Govt.)
* Rajmohini devi agricultural science and research institute, Ajirma Ambikapur (Govt.)
* Govt.Multipurpose higher secondary school, Gudri chowk Ambikapur
* Central Govt.Sainik school, Mendrakala Ambikapur,
Minerals
Mineral belts of Surguja:
*Upper catchments of river or Sitapur-Samri belt: This belt is associated with eastern and south eastern part of the district. It abounds in bauxite and some amount of coal.
* Central-north Surguja (Wadrafnagar-Pa-–Pratappur-Surajpur-Ambikapur) belt: The reserve of coal, pyritic minerals, sulphur, mica berylluiim, byerites, copper, and galena are reported. Bishrampur, Bhatgaon, Tatapani, Ramkola, Lakhanpur and Basen are the main coal fields. Some fire-clay, mica, coal, galena, and silmenite are also reported in Wadrafnagar near the Uttar Pradesh border.
In Surguja bauxite deposits have been found in tertiary rocks. Due to decay and weathering of aluminium rich rocks, felspar usually kaolinised under tropical monsoon conditions, the weathering goes a step further and results in a residue rich in hydroxides of aluminium together with oxides of iron, manganese and titanium with sufficient contraction of aluminium hydroxides, economic deposits of bauxite originates. This process of 'bauxitisation' as it is called thrives well on a topographically elevated well drained plateaus of low relief. The recoverable reserves of bauxite in Surguja is 57.54 million tonnes, which is around 57% of total state reserve.
Out of 57.74 million tonnes, 42.21 million tonnes are under proved category, 13.56 million tonnes under probable category and remaining 1.76 million tonnes under are possible category. About 51 million tonnes of the total reserves are of metallurgical grade and the grade particular of 6 million tonnes are not known.
The economical deposits are located at entire pat (local name given to plateau or pleatux) region of eastern and south eastern Surguja including Mainpat, Samari and Jamirapat.
* Mainpat: bauxite is of good and thickness varies from 4–5 meters.
* Jamirapat and Samripat
Bauxite deposits of these areas are metallurgical grade I. These two major reserves are centred in Samri tehsil and adjacent plateaus – Jamripat, Jaranpat, Lahsunpat, Jonkapat and other small hill rocks.
Most of the coal in the Gondwana is found in Barakar series. Coal as a solid stratified rock composed mainly of hydrocarbon and capable of being used as a fuel to supply heat or light or both. The coal fields of Surguja belongs to Gondwana coal fields. The coal of this area is of good quality stream and gas coals. The coal fields of Surguja can be classified as:
*Middle Gondwana Coal Fields: Tatapani-Ramkola, Jhilmili and Sonhat
*Talchir Coal Fields: Bisrampur, Bansar, Lakhanpur, Panchbhaini and Damha-munda
*Mahanadi Valley: Hasdo-Rampur
Politics
Surguja district is part of Surguja (ST) Lok Sabha constituency. The assembly segments in Surguja district are: Lundra, Ambikapur and Sitapur. Lundra and Sitapur are reserved for Scheduled Tribes.
The current MLAs from Lundra, Ambikapur and Sitapur are Dr. Pritam Ram, T. S. Singh Deo and Amarjeet Bhagat respectively, all from the Indian National Congress. The MP for Surguja is chintamani maharaj from the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Geographical indication
Jeeraphool rice was awarded the Geographical Indication
A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town or region). The use of a geographical indication, as an indication of the product's source, is inten ...
(GI) status tag from the Geographical Indications Registry, under the Union Government of India
The Government of India (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 36 states and union territo ...
, on 14 March 2019 and is valid until 14 February 2028.
Jaivik Krishi Utpadak Sahkari Samiti Maryadit from Batauli, proposed the GI registration of Jeeraphool rice. After filing the application in February 2018, the rice was granted the GI tag in 2019 by the Geographical Indication Registry in Chennai
Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
, making the name "Jeeraphool" exclusive to the rice grown in the region. It thus became the first rice variety from Chhattisgarh before Nagri Dubraj rice and the 6th type of goods from Chhattisgarh to earn the GI tag respectively.
The GI tag protects the rice from illegal selling and marketing, and gives it legal protection and a unique identity.
See also
* Balrampur district, Chhattisgarh
* Surajpur district
* Ambikapur
References
* Surguja ka ek Adhyaan, by Samar Bahadur Singhdeo, 1957 Varanasi.
* Dr. Sanjay Alung-Chhattisgarh ki Riyaste/Princely stastes aur Jamindariyaa (Vaibhav Prakashan, Raipur1, )
* Dr. Sanjay Alung-Chhattisgarh ki Janjaatiyaa/Tribes aur Jatiyaa/Castes (Mansi publication, Delhi6, )
External links
Official website
{{coord, 23, 07, N, 83, 12, E, source:itwiki_type:adm3rd, display=title
Districts of Chhattisgarh
Coal mining districts in India