# Karnal district

Karnal district is one of the 22 districts of Haryana, a state in North India which constitutes the National Capital Region (NCR) of the country. The city of Karnal is a part of the National Capital Region (NCR) and is the administrative headquarters of the district.
As it lies on National highway 44 (old NH-1), it has a well connected transport system to the nearby major cities like Delhi and Chandigarh. Karnal District is also well connected via railways. Karnal Junction lies on Delhi-Kalka line and major trains stops at this station. The district headquarter also has a small aerodrome known as karnal airport.

## History

Karnal district was conquered by the British in 1803. On 30 December 1803, the Daulat Scindia signed the Treaty of Surji-Anjangaon with the British after the Battle of Assaye and Battle of Laswari and ceded to the British, Hisar, Panipat, Rohtak, Rewari, Gurgaon, Ganges-Jumna Doab, the Delhi-Agra region, parts of Bundelkhand, Broach, some districts of Gujarat and the fort of Ahmmadnagar.$^{:73}$

## Sub-Divisions

The Karnal district is headed by an IAS officer of the rank of Deputy Commissioner (DC) who is the chief executive officer of the district. The district is divided into 4 sub-divisions, each headed by a Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM): Karnal, Indri, Assandh and Gharaunda.

### Revenue tehsils

The four sub-divisions are divided into five revenue tehsils, namely Karnal, Indri, Nilokheri, Gharaunda and Assandh, and three sub-tehsils, namely Nigdhu, Nissing and Kaimla. Kaimla is the largest village in Karnal district.

## Assembly constituencies

The Karnal district is divided into 5 Vidhan Sabha constituencies:
* Gharaunda
* Indri
* Karnal
* Nilokheri
* Assandh
* Kaimla
Karnal district is a part of Karnal (Lok Sabha constituency).

## Demographics

According to the 2011 census Karnal district has a population of 1,505,324, roughly equal to the nation of Gabon or the US state of Hawaii. This gives it a ranking of 333rd in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 598 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,550/sq mi) . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 18.22%. Karnal has a sex ratio of 996 females for every 1,000 males, and a literacy rate of 74.73%. Scheduled Castes made up 22.56% of the population.

### Religion

Religion in Karnal district (2011)
Religion
Percent
Hinduism
89.08%
Sikhism
8.38%
Islam
2.10%
Other or not stated
0.44% :
Religion in Karnal District :
| Religious group | 2011 | 2011 |
| Religious group | Pop. | % |
| Hinduism | 1,341,002 | 89.08% |
| Sikhism | 126,207 | 8.38% |
| Islam | 31,650 | 2.1% |
| Christianity | 2,049 | 0.14% |
| Others | 4,416 | 0.29% |
| Total Population | 1,505,324 | 100% |
Religious groups in Karnal 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 | 453,662 | 72.86% | 499,784 | 73.1% | 623,597 | 70.6% | 556,203 | 69.54% | 573,224 | 69.17% | 570,297 | 66.89% | 666,301 | 66.99% |
| Islam | 156,183 | 25.08% | 171,712 | 25.11% | 241,412 | 27.33% | 224,920 | 28.12% | 235,618 | 28.43% | 259,730 | 30.46% | 304,346 | 30.6% |
| Sikhism | 8,036 | 1.29% | 8,037 | 1.18% | 12,294 | 1.39% | 13,531 | 1.69% | 12,280 | 1.48% | 16,928 | 1.99% | 19,887 | 2% |
| Jainism | 4,655 | 0.75% | 4,065 | 0.59% | 4,739 | 0.54% | 4,213 | 0.53% | 4,222 | 0.51% | 4,190 | 0.49% | 2,789 | 0.28% |
| Christianity | 85 | 0.01% | 120 | 0.02% | 1,179 | 0.13% | 920 | 0.12% | 3,382 | 0.41% | 1,469 | 0.17% | 1,249 | 0.13% |
| Zoroastrianism | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 1 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 3 | 0% |
| Buddhism | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Judaism | — | — | 0 | 0% | 3 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Others | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Total population | 622,621 | 100% | 683,718 | 100% | 883,225 | 100% | 799,787 | 100% | 828,726 | 100% | 852,614 | 100% | 994,575 | 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 Karnal 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. | % |
| Karnal Tehsil | 154,965 | 66.62% | 73,199 | 31.47% | 2,780 | 1.2% | 723 | 0.31% | 940 | 0.4% | 0 | 0% | 232,607 | 100% |
| Panipat Tehsil | 119,229 | 68.6% | 50,664 | 29.15% | 133 | 0.08% | 1,298 | 0.75% | 2,472 | 1.42% | 0 | 0% | 173,796 | 100% |
| Kaithal Tehsil | 207,844 | 75.38% | 61,478 | 22.3% | 4,606 | 1.67% | 1,010 | 0.37% | 784 | 0.28% | 0 | 0% | 275,722 | 100% |
| Thanesar Tehsil | 91,186 | 62.2% | 50,277 | 34.3% | 4,761 | 3.25% | 351 | 0.24% | 26 | 0.02% | 0 | 0% | 146,601 | 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 Karnal 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. | % |
| Karnal Tehsil | 188,179 | 64.09% | 100,919 | 34.37% | 3,291 | 1.12% | 173 | 0.06% | 1,021 | 0.35% | 14 | 0% | 293,597 | 100% |
| Panipat Tehsil | 135,557 | 67.62% | 63,254 | 31.55% | 442 | 0.22% | 156 | 0.08% | 1,038 | 0.52% | 14 | 0.01% | 200,461 | 100% |
| Kaithal Tehsil | 241,650 | 72.72% | 81,039 | 24.39% | 8,496 | 2.56% | 423 | 0.13% | 694 | 0.21% | 1 | 0% | 332,303 | 100% |
| Thanesar Tehsil | 100,915 | 59.99% | 59,134 | 35.15% | 7,658 | 4.55% | 471 | 0.28% | 36 | 0.02% | 0 | 0% | 168,214 | 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 (54.28%)
* Haryanvi (32.04%)
* Punjabi (10.86%)
* Saraiki (1.06%)
* Others (1.76%)
At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 54.28% of the population in the district spoke Hindi, 32.04 Haryanvi, 10.86% Punjabi and 1.06% Saraiki as their first language.

## People from Karnal District

* Kalpana Chawla, first Indo-American woman astronaut. In 2003, Chawla was one of the seven crew members that died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
* Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan, First Prime Minister of Pakistan
* Vikramjeet Virk, Indian actor
* Navdeep Saini, Indian cricketer
* Manohar Lal Khattar, former Chief Minister of Haryana
* Kuldeep Sharma, Indian politician
* Harwinder Kalyan, Indian politician
* Karan Dev Kamboj, Indian politician