# Bagar region

Bagar, also Bagad (बागड़) a term meaning the "dry country", is a region refers in north-western India in north Rajasthan, West Haryana, south west Punjab, India where the Bagri language is spoken and which is inhabited by Bagri people. The region is characterised by sandy tracks and shifting sand dunes which are now irrigated by canals.

## Etymology

Bagar means the prairie (grazing shrubs and grassland) of northern Rajputana, which likely comes from eponymous Arabic word "bagar" meaning "cow" (sacred to Hindus), derived from the Arabic word "cattle". Baggara in Arabic means "cattle herders". Bagar tract refers to the semi-arid semi-fertile rain-fed sandy shrubby grassland tract at the confluence of arid Thar Desert and fertile bangar and khadir areas of Indo-Gangetic Plain, which as historically inhabited by the cattle herders who remained semi-nomadic until they began to adapt to settled life in the mid to late Medieval Period. Before the adoption of the Arabic name bagar, the area was earlier known as Jangladesh during the Vedic era of Mahabharata and even in early medieval times at least until the end of Hindu reign of Prithviraj Chauhan.

## Bagar tracts

Bagar (Hindi: बागड़) region is characterised by Bagar tracts which are long strips of shifting sand dunes called tibba (टिब्बा) and relatively semi-fertile lands and the area between them is called lal (लाळ) in northern districts of Rajasthan and along the northwestern districts of Haryana.

## Geography

The Bagar region has potentially very fertile alluvial soil interspersed with highly permeable very sandy tracts in several places with water table more than 100 feet below ground containing brackish water usually unfit for human consumption, where dust storms frequent during the warm summer months from April till the end of July when monsoon arrives.
Previously, the drinking water availability in the Bagar tract was solely based on the rain & wells and irrigation was possible only in the small areas of Ghaggar basin of Bagar region in districts of Fatehabad, Sirsa, Hanumangarh, Sri Ganganagar and Anupgarh where the seasonal Ghaggar river flows.
Earlier Western Yamuna Canal and after 1963 Bhakra Nangal Dam canal system provides the water for irrigation in most of Haryana including all of the Bagar region falling in Haryana on its western border.
The Ganga canal in 1927 and in 1984 Indira Gandhi Canal irrigation also known as Rajasthan Canal brought the water of Sutlej and Beas rivers to the fields of Rajasthan including its Bagar tract, stabilizing the sand dunes and soil erosion by preventing the expansion of desert.
Geographically, the Bagar region lies between the:
* Malwa, Punjab to the north,
* The Shekhawati region and the Marwar region of Rajasthan to the south.
* The Aravali Range to the southeast in the Charkhi Dadri district & Tosham tehsil of Bhiwani district,
* Ahirwal region of Haryana also in the southeast.
* The eastern border in bounded to the Haryanavi speaking region of haryana.
* In the west of Bagar region lies the Rohi(रोई)/Cholistan desert of Punjab (Pakistan) with a few Bagri speakers in the Bahawalpur district & Bahawalnagar district.
Geographical extent of Bagar region. :
| States | Districts |
| Rajasthan | Anupgarh district, Sri Ganganagar district, Hanumangarh district, Khajuwala, Chhatargarh, Loonkaransar, Pugal, Sri Dungargarh and Bikaner tehsils of Bikaner district, Taranagar, Sardarshahar, Rajgarh, Sidhmukh, Bhanipura, Ratangarh and Churu tehsils in Churu district. |
| Punjab | Abohar & Fazilka tehsils of Fazilka district, Southern villages of Sri Muktsar Sahib district. |
| Haryana | Sirsa district, Fatehabad district, Barwala, Adampur and Hisar tehsils of Hisar district. Siwani, Loharu and Tosham tehsils of Bhiwani district Badhra tehsil of Charkhi Dadri district |

## Bagri language

Bagri (बागड़ी), a dialect of overlapping Rajasthani language, Haryanvi language and Punjabi language of the Indo-Aryan family, is spoken by about five million speakers residing in Bagar region of Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab states in India.

## Politics of Bagar Region (Constituencies and MLA)

There are 40 Constituencies of Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan legislative assemblies where the Bagri language is spoken by majority of the population.
* In Punjab, there 4 constituencies of Fazilka and Sri Muktsar Sahib in South Punjab where Bagri speakers decide the fate of elections. Out of 4 constituencies only 1 constituency is reserved for SC candidate.
* In Haryana, there are 15 constituencies in north west haryana which comes under the Bagar region out of which 2 constituencies are reserved for SC candidates.
* In Rajasthan, there are 21 constituencies of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly which comes under the Bagar region in North Rajasthan. Meanwhile, 4 constituencies out of 21 constituencies are reserved for SC candidates.

### Rajasthan

Following is the list of the constituencies and the candidates from Bhartiya Janata Party, Congress party and the Independent candidates appeared in 2023 Rajasthan Legislative Assembly election from the Bagri speaking region of Rajasthan.
Bagar Region (बागड़) :
| Year | Seats | Indian National Congress | Indian National Congress | Bharatiya Janata Party | Bharatiya Janata Party | Others |
| 2023 | 21 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 2 |
| 2018 | 21 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 3 |
| 2013 | 21 | 1 | 10 | 16 | 8 | 4 |
Source: :
| Constituency | Constituency | Winner | Winner | Winner | Winner | Winner | Runner Up | Runner Up | Runner Up | Runner Up | Runner Up | Margin |
| # | Name | Candidate | Party | Party | Votes | % | Candidate | Party | Party | Votes | % | Margin |
| Sri Ganganagar district |||||||||||||
| 1 | Sadulshahar (1) | Gurveer Singh Brar | | BJP | 74,433 | 37.58 | Om Bishnoi | | IND | 58,973 | 29.77 | 15,460 |
| 2 | Ganganagar (2) | Jaydeep Bihani | | BJP | 81,001 | 44.66 | Karuna Ashok Chandak | | IND | 51,222 | 28.24 | 29,779 |
| 3 | Karanpur (3) | Rupinder Singh Kooner | | INC | 94,950 | 48.55 | Surender Pal Singh | | BJP | 83,667 | 42.78 | 11,283 |
| 4 | Suratgarh (4) | Dungar Ram Gedar | | INC | 1,16,841 | 55.87 | Rampratap Kasania | | BJP | 66,382 | 31.74 | 50,459 |
| Anupgarh district |||||||||||||
| 5 | Raisinghnagar (SC- 5) | Sohan Lal Nayak | | INC | 79,586 | 37.08 | Balvir Singh Luthra | | BJP | 65,561 | 30.54 | 14,025 |
| 6 | Anupgarh (SC-6) | Shimla Devi | | INC | 1,02,746 | 53.18 | Santosh Bawri | | BJP | 64,865 | 33.58 | 37,881 |
| Hanumangarh district |||||||||||||
| 7 | Sangaria (7) | Abhimanyu Poonia | | INC | 98,341 | 47.40 | Gurdeep Singh | | BJP | 56,331 | 27.15 | 42,010 |
| 8 | Hanumangarh (8) | Ganesh Raj Bansal | | IND | 89,323 | 37.03 | Amit Sahu | | BJP | 79,625 | 33.01 | 9,698 |
| 9 | Pilibanga (SC-9) | Vinod Kumar | | INC | 1,43,091 | 57.84 | Dharmendra Kumar | | BJP | 87,818 | 35.50 | 55,273 |
| 10 | Nohar (10) | Amit Chachan | | INC | 1,03,623 | 43.22 | Abhishek Matoria | | BJP | 1,02,728 | 42.85 | 895 |
| 11 | Bhadra (11) | Sanjeev Kumar Beniwal | | BJP | 1,02,748 | 44.68 | Balwan Poonia | | CPI(M) | 1,01,616 | 44.19 | 1,132 |
| Bikaner district |||||||||||||
| 12 | Khajuwala (SC-12) | Vishwanath Meghwal | | BJP | 91,276 | 51.47 | Govind Ram Meghwal | | INC | 73,902 | 41.67 | 17,374 |
| 13 | Bikaner West (13) | Jethanand Vyas | | BJP | 98,648 | 54.51 | Bulaki Das Kalla | | INC | 78,454 | 43.35 | 20,194 |
| 14 | Bikaner East (14) | Siddhi Kumari | | BJP | 89,917 | 53.07 | Yashpal Gehlot | | INC | 70,614 | 41.68 | 19,303 |
| 15 | Lunkaransar (16) | Sumit Godara | | BJP | 60452 | 29.98 | Rajendra Moond | | INC | 51583 | 25.58 | 8869 |
| 16 | Dungargarh(17) | Tarachand Saraswat | | BJP | 65,690 | 32.55 | Manglaram Godara | | INC | 57,565 | 28.52 | 8,125 |
| Churu district |||||||||||||
| 17 | Sadulpur (19) | Manoj kumar | | BSP | 64,368 | 32.92 | Krishna Poonia | | INC | 61,794 | 31.60 | 2,574 |
| 18 | Taranagar (20) | Narendra Budania | | INC | 1,08,236 | 49.52 | Rajendra Rathore | | BJP | 97,891 | 44.78 | 10,345 |
| 19 | Sardarshahar(21) | Anil Kumar Sharma | | INC | 99,582 | 42.27 | Rajakaran Choudhary | | IND | 77,250 | 32.79 | 22,332 |
| 20 | Churu (22) | Harlal Saharan | | BJP | 99,432 | 50.05 | Rafique Mandelia | | INC | 92,558 | 46.59 | 6,874 |
| 21 | Ratangarh (23) | Poosaram Godara | | INC | 1,09,383 | 53.69 | Abhinesh Maharshi | | BJP | 79,720 | 39.13 | 29,663 |

### Haryana

Following is the list of constituencies and Members of Legislative Assembly from the Bagri speaking region of North Western Haryana.
| District | No. | Constituency | Name | Party | Alliance | Remarks | Reservation |
| Fatehabad | 1 | Tohana -(39) | Paramvir Singh | Indian National Congress | INDIA | | |
| Fatehabad | 2 | Fatehabad – (40) | Dura Ram | Bharatiya Janata Party | NDA | | |
| Fatehabad | 3 | Ratia – (41) | Lakshman Napa | Bharatiya Janata Party | NDA | | SC |
| Sirsa | 4 | Kalanwali – (42) | Shishpal Singh | Indian National Congress | INDIA | | SC |
| Sirsa | 5 | Dabwali – (43) | Aditya Devilal | Indian National Lok Dal | None | | |
| Sirsa | 6 | Rania – (44) | Arjun Chautala | INLD | None | | |
| Sirsa | 7 | Sirsa – (45) | Gokul Setia | Indian National Congress | INDIA | | |
| Sirsa | 8 | Ellenabad – (46) | Bharat Singh Beniwal | Indian National Congress | INDIA | | |
| Hisar | 9 | Adampur (46) | Chander Parkash | Indian National Congress | INDIA | |
| Hisar | 10 | Uklana (48) | Naresh Selwal | Indian National Congress | INDIA | |
| Hisar | 11 | Barwala (51) | Ranbir Singh Gangwa | Bhartiya Janata Party | NDA | |
| Hisar | 12 | Hisar – (52) | Savitri Jindal | Independent | NDA | |
| Bhiwani | 13 | Loharu (54) | Jai Parkash Dalal | Bharatiya Janata Party | NDA | Cabinet Minister For Agriculture | |
| Bhiwani | 14 | Tosham (58) | Shruti Choudhry | Bhartiya Janata Party | NDA | |
| Charkhi Dadri | 15 | Badhra (55) | Umed Singh | Bharatiya Janata Party | NDA | |

### Punjab

Following is the list of constituencies and MLA in the Punjab Legislative Assembly from Fazilka district and southern part of Sri Muktsar Sahib district with the significant presence of Bagri Speakers in South Punjab, India.
| District | No. | Constituency | Name | Party | Bench |
| Fazilka | 1 | Fazilka – (80) | Narinderpal Singh Sawna | Aam Aadmi Party | Government |
| Fazilka | 2 | Abohar – (81) | Sandeep Jakhar | Indian National Congress | Opposition |
| Fazilka | 3 | Balluana – (82) (SC) | Amandeep Singh ‘Goldy’ Musafir | Aam Aadmi Party | Government |
| Sri Muktsar Sahib | 4 | Lambi – (83) | Gurmeet Singh Khudian | Aam Aadmi Party | Government |

## Gallery

* Sirsa district
* Fatehabad district
* Hisar district
* Bhiwani district
* Charkhi Dadri district
* Bagar tract through Ganganagar district, Anupgarh district, Hanumangarh district, Churu district and Bikaner district in Rajasthan
* Bagar tract through Fazilka district and southern villages of Muktsar district of Punjab (India)
* Bagri as minor language is spoken in Bahawalpur and Bahawalnagar district of Punjab, Pakistan, though not considered parts of Bagar tract.