Gumla district is one of the twenty-four districts of

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

, India, and

Gumla Gumla is a city which is the district headquarters in the Gumla subdivision of the Gumla district in the state of Jharkhand, India. History Gumla began as a hamlet. A week-long "Cow Fair" (''Gau-Mela'') took place every year, where items in ...

town is the administrative headquarters of this district.

Etymology

For centuries, the place was a meeting center for people from the hinterland who flocked here to exchange goods using the barter system and the place was called ''Gaw-Mela''. Gumla is believed to derive its name from ''Gaw-Mela'', which consists of two words of

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 ...

(also used in several local

dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...

s), namely, ''Gaw'' (cows and the cattle) and'' Mela'', that is, a fair. The place became known as ''Gaw-mela'', and then the word transformed itself into Gumla.

History

During regin of the

Nagvanshi dynasty The Khokhra chieftaincy, also known as the Nagvanshi dynasty, was a principality that ruled the parts of Chota Nagpur plateau region (modern-day Jharkhand) during much of the medieval and early-modern period. The chieftaincy came to prominence wh ...

Navratangarh Navratangarh (Doisagarh) was one of the capitals of the Nagvanshi dynasty, who ruled parts of what is now the state of Jharkhand, India. It is located in Sisai block of Gumla district. It is said that king Durjan Shah shifted his capital from Kh ...

was one of the capital of Nagvanshi. Nawratan gadh

During British rule Gumla was under

Lohardaga Lohardaga is a town and the district headquarters of Lohardaga district in the Indian state of Jharkhand, west of Ranchi, the state capital. Earlier (early 1900s) Lohardaga was the commissionary headquarters for Chotanagpur. It was only late ...

district. In 1843 it was brought under Bishunpur province that was further named

Ranchi Ranchi (; ) is the capital city and also the largest district by population of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern ...

. In fact Ranchi district came into existence in 1899. In 1902 Gumla became Sub-division under Ranchi district. On 18 May 1983 Gumla District came into existence.

Sri Jagannath Mishra Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Assamese, Meitei ( Manipuri), Marathi, Malay (including Indo ...

then ruling

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

inaugurated it and Sri Dwarika Nath Sinha acquired the post of first deputy commissioner of the newly created district. Gumla is considered to be the birthplace of the Hindu God

Hanuman Hanuman (; , ), also known as Maruti, Bajrangabali, and Anjaneya, is a deity in Hinduism, revered as a divine ''vanara'', and a devoted companion of the deity Rama. Central to the ''Ramayana'', Hanuman is celebrated for his unwavering devotio ...

. A temple a few kilometers away from the city off the Gumla-

Ghaghra Ghaghra is a census town in the Ghaghra CD block in the Gumla subdivision of the Gumla district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. Geography Location Ghaghra is located at Area overview The map alongside presents ...

road is dedicated to him and his mother. The district contains mountains named Risyamook, which are mentioned in the

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 ...

. The district is currently a part of the

Red Corridor Red corridor designates the districts of India which has the presence and influence of Naxalites. As of March 2025, the corridor encompasses 18 districts across seven states, predominantly in Central and East India. History The Naxalite� ...

Geography

Gumla is located at . Geographically, Gumla is located on southern part of the

Chota Nagpur plateau The Chota Nagpur Plateau () is a plateau in eastern India, which covers much of Jharkhand state as well as adjacent parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal and Bihar. The Indo-Gangetic plain lies to the north and east of the plateau, and th ...

which forms the eastern edge of the Deccan plateau system. There are three major rivers, which flow through the Gumla district viz. the South Koel, the North Koel and the Sankh. There are various streams/ tributaries to the main rivers on which there are some picturesque waterfalls, as for example

Sadni Falls Sadni Falls (also called Sadnighagh Falls) is a waterfall located about from Rajadera village in Gumla district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. Geography Location Sadni Falls is located at The Falls The falls on the Sankh River is a s ...

. The terrain is highly undulating and there are existence of many rivers and streams. The forest cover of the district is 1.35 lakh hectares out of the total 5.21 lakh hectares of land i.e. round 27% of the total area of the district.

Climate

Climate of Gumla is characterized by a pleasant cold and temperate weather conditions. Gumla has a

sub-tropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones immediately to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 3 ...

climate. Temperature ranges from maximum 40 to 20 °C during summer, and minimum 21 to 3 °C during winter. The annual rainfall is about 1450 mm. From June to September the rainfall level is about 1,150 mm.

Administration

Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate: Karn Satyarthi (IAS)

Administrative Units

Sub Divisions

There are 3 subdivisions in gumla district: #

Chainpur Chainpur may refer to: India *Chainpur, Kaimur, Bihar **Chainpur Assembly constituency, Kaimur, Bihar *Chainpur, Saharsa, Bihar *Chainpur subdivision, Gumla district, South Chotanagpur division, Jharkhand **Chainpur block, Gumla **Chainpur, Gumla, ...

Blocks/Anchals

Gumla district consists of 12 Blocks. The following are the list of the Blocks in Gumla district:

Panchayats

There are 159 Panchayats in the district.

Villages

There are 952 Villages in the District.

Politics

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Gumla 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 1,025,213, roughly equal to the nation of

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

or the US state of

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

. This gives it a ranking of 439rd 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 23.21%. Gumla 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 993

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 65.73%. 6.35% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 3.17% and 68.94% of the population respectively.

Languages

At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 50.75% of the population in the district spoke

Sadri Sadri is a municipality in the Pali district of Rajasthan, India. Before it was formally founded, there were various settlements in the area which fell under the Jagir of the Rajput clan Sindhal Rathore who still reside in the central part of ...

, 29.61% Kurukh, 7%

, 4.69% Mundari, 3.73% Kharia and 2.31%

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

as their first language.

Economy

Gumla district has rich

natural Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the laws, elements and phenomena of the physical world, including life. Although humans are part ...

and

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): Mi ...

resources. There are 23

bauxite Bauxite () is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)), and diaspore (α-AlO(OH) ...

mines Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging *Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun Mi ...

and 68 stone mines in Gumla district. Besides these there is good number of brick makers. In Gumla District the important minerals like bauxite and

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 ...

(

aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

ore) are found in villages of Amkipani, Langdatanr, Chirodih, Jalim, Narma, Bahagara and Gurdari of Bishunpur block, Langatanr, Lupungpat and Chota-Agiatu in Chainpur block and Harup, Serengdag and Jalim in Ghaghra block. Beside these china clay is also found in some part of the district. Other mining activities like stone crusher, Brick kiln and stone chip mining lease are also available in different part of the district. In 2006 the Indian government named Gumla one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of

). It is one of the 21 districts in Jharkhand currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).

Education

In 1986, Rakesh Popli and his wife, Rama (an expert in childhood education), founded the first

Ekal Vidyalaya Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation (; EVF) is the principal organisation of the Ekal Abhiyan project, a one teacher school initiative in India. The foundation operates under the umbrella organisation of Ekal Abhiyan Trust and has a number of associated ...

(one-teacher) schools to bring education to the tribes of the region. From 2018, Deptt. of Higher and Technical Education, Govt. of Jharkhand is going to start Polytechnic College "Gumla Polytechnic". The Polytechnic college will be run and manage under "PPP" Mode by Gumla Educational Foundation. Three colleges under Ranchi University: * Kartik Oraon College * Karunavati Devi Memorial College * Women's College Technical Institute * Gumla Polytechnic * IIST Computer Institute * Media INFOTECH * Wings IT Schools in Gumla: * Adarsh Vidya Mandir School, Pugu * Chanchal Cygnus School, Dumerdih * D.A.V. Public School, Neemtoli * Don Bosco School, Bhamni * Kendriya Vidyalaya Gumla * Notre Dame School * Oxford Public School * S.S. High School * Saraswati Shishu-Vidya Mandir * Solitaire Educational Academy * St. Patrick School * St. Stephen's School * Ursuline Convent School * Wescott Public School * Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Masaria Dam St. Ignatius School, founded in 1935 and administered by the Jesuits, has produced international-level

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

players.

Culture

Gumla has a rich culture. The majority of people speak Nagpuri and

. *

Karma Karma (, from , ; ) is an ancient Indian concept that refers to an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptively called ...

- A holy festival celebrated by the people in almost all places of this district. *

Sarhul Sarhul is a spring festival celebrated in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Jharkhand, marking the commencement of the new year. The festival lasts for three days, from the third day of the Chaitra month in Shukla Paksha to ...

- A festival celebrated by the people and Jhankis and Rallies were organised around the main town Gumla. Ladies put flowers (Gulaichi Flower) on their hair and gents put it on their ears. *

Ramnavami Rama Navami () is a Hindu festival that celebrates the birth of Rama, one of the most popularly revered deities in Hinduism, also known as the seventh avatar of Vishnu. He is often held as an emblem within Hinduism for being an ideal king and h ...

- A holy festival celebrated with huge sound, and Jhankies and Rallies.

Tourist attractions

*Palkot Fort- Palkot Fort is a historic place which was one of the capital of the

. It is located in Palkot block of the district. * Palkot Wildlife Sanctuary *Anjan - Small village about away from Gumla. The name of the village has been derived from the name of goddess Anjani, mother of

. Many objects of archeological importance obtained from this place have been placed at

Patna Museum Patna Museum is the state museum of the Indian state of Bihar. Founded on 3 April 1917 during the British Raj to house the historical artefacts found in the vicinity of Patna, it is constructed in the style of Mughal and Rajput architecture, a ...

. It is believed to be the birthplace of Lord

. *Hapamuni - The ancient village Mahamaya

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

that is the identity of this village. Hapamuni Mahamaya temple traces its origin to 11th century. It also has some ancient rock sculpture in front of temple dating to that period. Moreover, with the arrival of Hapamuni agro tech, the village economy has reached new dimensions. *

Nagfeni Nagfeni is a village in the Sisai CD block in the Gumla subdivision of the Gumla district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. Geography Location Nagfeni is located at Area overview The map alongside presents a rugged area, consisting partly ...

- It is known for the

Jagannath Jagannath (; formerly ) is a Hindu deity worshipped in regional Hindu traditions in India as part of a triad along with (Krishna's) brother Balabhadra, and sister, Subhadra. Jagannath, within Odia Hinduism, is the supreme god, '' Purushot ...

temple and there is a big rock in the shape of snake 'Nag'. *

- It was the seat of old Nagvanshi kings located in Sisai block of the district. The fort of navratangarh is made by the king Durjansaal and it is the administration capital of Durjansaal . *Tanginath - Tanginath Dham is located in Gumla's Dumri block. Several devotees during the month of Shravan come to shrine which goes back to seventh or ninth Century AD.

References

External links

Official district government website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gumla District Districts of Jharkhand Minority concentrated districts in India 1983 establishments in Bihar