# Ambala district

Ambala district is one of the 22 districts of Haryana state in the country of India with Ambala town serving as the administrative headquarters of the district. District Ambala lies on the North-Eastern edge of Haryana and borders Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. Ambala district is a part of Ambala Division.

## History

Ambala district was annexed by the British from its former Sikh rulers after the First Anglo-Sikh War of 1845–1846.

## Divisions

This district falls under the Ambala Lok Sabha constituency, which is a reserved for the Scheduled Caste candidates only. This district also has four Vidhan Sabha constituencies, all of which are part of Ambala Lok Sabha constituency. Those are Ambala City, Ambala Cantt, Mulana and Naraingarh.
Administration of this district falls under the Ambala division and law and order falls under the Ambala Police Range. The district administration has two sub-divisions, Ambala and Naraingarh. District is further subdivided into 4 community development blocks and 7 revenue tehsils. Community development blocks are Ambala, Ambala Cantt, Barara and Naraingarh. Tehsils are Ambala, Ambala Cantt, Barara, Mullana, Saha, Shahzadpur and Naraingarh.

## Economy

Located in the Indo-Gangetic Plain, the land is generally fertile and conducive to agriculture. However, primary sector contributes much lesser to the economy of the district than it does to the economy of Haryana. Small scale industries form the bulk of the industrial landscape in the district. It is one of the largest producers of scientific and surgical instruments in the country and home to a large number of scientific instrument manufacturers due to which it is also referred as Science City .

## Demographics

According to the 2011 census, Ambala district had a population of 1,128,350 roughly equal to the nation of Cyprus or the US state of Rhode Island. It ranks 410th (out of a total of 640) in India in terms of population. The district has a population density of 720 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,900/sq mi) . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 11.23%. Ambala had a sex ratio of 885 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 81.75%. Scheduled Castes make up 26.25% of the population.

### Religion

Religion in Ambala district :
| Religious group | 2011 | 2011 |
| Religious group | Pop. | % |
| Hinduism | 955,096 | 84.65% |
| Sikhism | 138,202 | 12.25% |
| Islam | 22,143 | 1.96% |
| Christianity | 3,705 | 0.33% |
| Others | 9,204 | 0.82% |
| Total Population | 1,128,350 | 100% |

#### Population trends for major religious groups in Ambala district (1941–1961, 2001–2011)

| Religious group | Population % 1941 | Population % 1951 | Population % 1961 | Population % 2001 | Population % 2011 |
| Hinduism | 48.68% | 72.20% | 71.45% | 84.40% | 84.65% |
| Islam | 31.73% | 2.40% | — | 1.70% | 1.96% |
| Sikhism | 18.47% | 24.60% | 24.83% | 13.06% | 12.25% |
| Christianity | 0.72% | — | — | 0.28% | 0.33% |
| Jainism | 0.36% | — | — | 0.52% | 0.43% |
| Buddhism | 0.02% | — | — | 0.02% | 0.03% |
| Other / No religion | 0.04% | 0.8% | 3.73% | 0.01% | 0.35% |
Religious groups in Ambala District (British Punjab province era) :
| Religious group | 1881 | 1881 | 1891 | 1891 | 1901 | 1901 | 1911 | 1911 | 1921 | 1921 | 1931 | 1931 | 1941 | 1941 |
| Religious group | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % |
| Hinduism | 689,612 | 64.62% | 630,857 | 61.05% | 510,105 | 62.52% | 380,592 | 55.16% | 370,125 | 54.31% | 346,809 | 46.68% | 412,658 | 48.68% |
| Islam | 304,123 | 28.5% | 300,856 | 29.11% | 240,710 | 29.5% | 205,203 | 29.74% | 205,750 | 30.19% | 230,837 | 31.07% | 268,999 | 31.73% |
| Sikhism | 68,442 | 6.41% | 93,679 | 9.06% | 58,073 | 7.12% | 94,471 | 13.69% | 97,614 | 14.32% | 155,555 | 20.94% | 156,543 | 18.47% |
| Christianity | 3,773 | 0.35% | 5,204 | 0.5% | 4,362 | 0.53% | 7,483 | 1.08% | 5,679 | 0.83% | 7,141 | 0.96% | 6,065 | 0.72% |
| Jainism | 1,307 | 0.12% | 2,823 | 0.27% | 2,614 | 0.32% | 2,187 | 0.32% | 2,272 | 0.33% | 2,550 | 0.34% | 3,065 | 0.36% |
| Zoroastrianism | 6 | 0% | 7 | 0% | 14 | 0% | 34 | 0% | 30 | 0% | 2 | 0% | 48 | 0.01% |
| Buddhism | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 5 | 0% | 6 | 0% | 146 | 0.02% |
| Judaism | — | — | 0 | 0% | 2 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 1 | 0% | 2 | 0% | 4 | 0% |
| Others | 0 | 0% | 1 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 1 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 217 | 0.03% |
| Total population | 1,067,263 | 100% | 1,033,427 | 100% | 815,880 | 100% | 689,970 | 100% | 681,477 | 100% | 742,902 | 100% | 847,745 | 100% |
| Note: British Punjab province era district borders are not an exact match in the present-day due to various bifurcations to district borders — which since created new districts — throughout the historic Punjab Province region during the post-independence era that have taken into account population increases. |||||||||||||||
Religion in the Tehsils of Ambala District (1921) :
| Tehsil | Hinduism | Hinduism | Islam | Islam | Sikhism | Sikhism | Christianity | Christianity | Jainism | Jainism | Others | Others | Total | Total |
| Tehsil | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % |
| Ambala Tehsil | 105,591 | 56.19% | 66,681 | 35.48% | 11,777 | 6.27% | 2,582 | 1.37% | 1,260 | 0.67% | 35 | 0.02% | 187,926 | 100% |
| Kharar Tehsil | 68,950 | 48.25% | 29,977 | 20.98% | 41,844 | 29.28% | 1,884 | 1.32% | 239 | 0.17% | 0 | 0% | 142,894 | 100% |
| Jagadhri Tehsil | 83,749 | 66.1% | 38,874 | 30.68% | 3,683 | 2.91% | 160 | 0.13% | 237 | 0.19% | 1 | 0% | 126,704 | 100% |
| Naraingargh Tehsil | 73,201 | 67.91% | 31,384 | 29.11% | 2,610 | 2.42% | 257 | 0.24% | 346 | 0.32% | 0 | 0% | 107,798 | 100% |
| Rupar Tehsil | 38,634 | 33.26% | 38,834 | 33.43% | 37,700 | 32.46% | 797 | 0.69% | 190 | 0.16% | 0 | 0% | 116,155 | 100% |
| Note: British Punjab province era tehsil borders are not an exact match in the present-day due to various bifurcations to tehsil borders — which since created new tehsils — throughout the historic Punjab Province region during the post-independence era that have taken into account population increases. |||||||||||||||
Religion in the Tehsils of Ambala District (1941) :
| Tehsil | Hinduism | Hinduism | Islam | Islam | Sikhism | Sikhism | Christianity | Christianity | Jainism | Jainism | Others | Others | Total | Total |
| Tehsil | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % |
| Ambala Tehsil | 122,627 | 51.95% | 90,637 | 38.4% | 18,504 | 7.84% | 1,341 | 0.57% | 1,894 | 0.8% | 1,028 | 0.44% | 236,031 | 100% |
| Kharar Tehsil | 63,817 | 36.78% | 39,156 | 22.57% | 68,508 | 39.48% | 1,184 | 0.68% | 317 | 0.18% | 532 | 0.31% | 173,514 | 100% |
| Jagadhri Tehsil | 102,825 | 66.01% | 47,856 | 30.72% | 4,154 | 2.67% | 669 | 0.43% | 241 | 0.15% | 28 | 0.02% | 155,773 | 100% |
| Naraingargh Tehsil | 88,490 | 67.29% | 38,950 | 29.62% | 3,530 | 2.68% | 247 | 0.19% | 281 | 0.21% | 0 | 0% | 131,498 | 100% |
| Rupar Tehsil | 34,899 | 23.12% | 52,400 | 34.72% | 61,847 | 40.98% | 1,451 | 0.96% | 332 | 0.22% | 0 | 0% | 150,929 | 100% |
| Note1: British Punjab province era tehsil borders are not an exact match in the present-day due to various bifurcations to tehsil borders — which since created new tehsils — throughout the historic Punjab Province region during the post-independence era that have taken into account population increases. Note2: Tehsil religious breakdown figures for Christianity only includes local Christians, labelled as "Indian Christians" on census. Does not include Anglo-Indian Christians or British Christians, who were classified under "Other" category. |||||||||||||||

### Languages

* Hindi (84.57%)
* Punjabi (10.95%)
* Haryanvi (2.72%)
* Others (1.76%)
Hindi (In Devanagri Script) is the official languages and thus used for official communication. At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 84.57% of the population in the district spoke Hindi, 10.95% Punjabi and 2.72% Haryanvi as their first language.
| Language | 1911 | 1921 | 1931 | 1961 | 1991 | 2001 | 2011 |
| Hindi | 3.50% | 5.45% | — | 66.72% | 87.87% | 85.26% | 84.57% |
| Punjabi | 35.71% | 40.91% | 36.12% | 30.48% | 10.93% | 13.15% | 10.96% |
| Urdu | — | 53.05% | — | — | 0.19% | 0.11% | 0.11% |
| Hindustani | 56.39% | — | 60.58% | — | — | — | — |
| Pahadi | 3.10% | 0.07% | 2.62% | 0.23% | — | — | — |
| Haryanvi | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2.72% |
| Other | 1.30% | 0.52% | 0.62% | ~2.57% | 1.00% | 1.48% | 1.64 |

## Cities, towns, villages, and other communities

* Ambala (city)
* Ambala Cantonment (city)
* Shahzadpur (town)
* Naraingarh (city)
* Kurali
* Harbon
* Barara (town)
* Saha
* Badhauli (village)
* Mullana (town)
* Kardhan (urban village)
* Sountli (village)

## Notable people

* Abdullah Sahib, a Gilgit Agency Governor