# Sakchi

Sakchi was a village in north eastern Indian territory of Singhbhum which was selected by Jamsetji Tata to be the location of a planned steel city, which in 1919 became Jamshedpur. Sakchi is now part of the city between the Tata Steel site and the river Subarnarekha. Then it was known as Kalimati. Due to the presence of iron ore, river water and sand, Jamsetji Tata decided to establish TISCO (Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited) there. The company is now known as Tata Steel Ltd.

## Overview

Even today running through Sakchi is the Kalimati Road. During British India, a railway line connecting Jamshedpur to Howrah (Calcutta) was started. Jamshedpur is in the Indian mineral-rich state of Jharkhand which was earlier in South Bihar.
As Tata Steel was established, the first planned urban settlement started in Sakchi area and it included businessmen (Gujaratis, Parsis, Punjabis), servicemen (Biharis, Bengalis, Oriyas, Telugus, Kannadigas, Marathis, Tamils, and Malayalis). Many people who then migrated from West Bengal, East Bengal (now Bangladesh), Gujarat and Assam are now permanent residents of Jamshedpur city and their ancestral homes were either lost or sold after separation of East Pakistan (Bangladesh). Old houses of Bengalis, Parsis, Anglo-Indians and Gujaratis can still be seen in Aambagan, Hill Cart Road, Kalimati Road, Pennar road, Sakchi Bazar areas of Sakchi. A few such houses are also present in Bistupur.
Once, there used to be a single line railway track which would carry sand for the factory in present-day Aambagan Maidan near the Masjid, it does not exist anymore. Mode of transport in the Jamshedpur city were buggies and taxis. There were single lane roads with old British style street lamps. Most roads between Sakchi and Bistupur were surrounded by jungles.
The city is unique because it is a very small town even today with extreme ends being covered within 45 minutes (including traffic). It is not a metro city, yet it has the demography of a metro town as people from all ethnicities live here as permanent residents. Sakchi is located in the centre of the city, with Bistupur, Kadma, and Sonari lying in the West. In the East, lies Baradwari, Kasidih, Bhalubasa, Sitaramdera, Agrico and Sidhgora. In the North, lies Mango which is also one of the busiest locations of the city and down south lies Burmamines, Tatanagar station, Jugsalai and Parsudih.
Sakchi today has numerous cinema halls, Sakchi Bazaar used to hold Mangla Market (Tuesday market) every Tuesday on footpath, till 2010. Sakchi Market (or Sakchi Bazaar) is the oldest market in the city.

## History

In April 1904, Dorabji Tata, Shapurji Saklatvala and C. M. Weld, went on a journey to locate a site rich in iron, coal, limestone and water. One day they reached to Sakchi village, situated in the dense forests of the Chota Nagpur plateau, near the convergence of the Subarnarekha and Kharkai rivers. It appeared to be an ideal choice for a steel plant and the location was selected. Sakchi was a tribal village, mainly inhabited by the Bhumij and Santhal tribes. Sakchi village was populated by 17 families of Bhumij, and its two hamlets – Kashidih consisted 18 families of Bhumij and 3 families of Santhal; and Mahulbeda consisted 17 families of Santhal.
The construction of the plant began in 1908, the plant rolled its first steel ingot on 16 February 1912. In 1919, Lord Chelmsford renamed Sakchi to Jamshedpur in honour of its founder, Jamshedji Nusserwanji Tata.

## Civic administration

There is a police station at Sakchi.