Hoshiarpur district

Hoshiarpur is a district in Punjab.

Location of Hoshiarpur within Punjab

## History

The area of present Hoshiarpur District was also part of Indus Valley Civilization. Recent excavations at various sites in the district have revealed that the entire area near the Shivalik foothills was selected for habitation not only by the early Paleolithic man but also by those in the protohistoric and historic periods. The legends associate several places in the district with Pandavas. Dasuya is mentioned in epic of Mahabharata as the seat of Raja Virata in whose services the Pandavas remained for thirteen years during their exile. Bham, about 11 km west of Mahilpur, is said to be the place where the Pandavas passed their exile. Lasara, about 19 km north of Jaijon, also contains a stone temple stated to date back to the time of Pandavas. According to the Chinese pilgrim, Hieun Tsang, the area of Hoshiarpur was dominated by a tribe of Chandrabansi Rajputs, who maintained an independent existence for centuries before the Muhammadan conquest.

The country around Hoshiarpur formed part of the old kingdom of Katoch in Jalandhar. The state was eventually broken up, and the present district was divided between the, rajas of Datarpur and Jaswan. They retained undisturbed possession of their territories until 1759, when the rising Sikh chieftains commenced a series of encroachments upon the hill tracts. In 1815 Maharaja Ranjit Singh, forced the ruler of Jaswan to resign his territories in exchange for an estate on feudal tenure; three years later the raja of Datarpur met with similar treatment. By the close of the year 1818 the whole country from the Sutlej to the Beas had come under the government of Lahore, and after the First Anglo-Sikh War in 1846 passed to the British government. The deposed rajas of Datarpur and Jaswan received cash pensions from the new rulers, but expressed bitter disappointment at not being restored to their former sovereign position. Accordingly, the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Sikh War, in 1848 found the disaffected chieftains ready for rebellion. They organized a revolt, but the two rajas and the other ringleaders were captured, and their estates confiscated. Hoshiarpur is an ancient centre of Hindu epics and culture itself. In Bajwara (4 km east on Una Road from the present city) ruins of an ancient culture can still be found. Mythologically, Teh Dasuya of this district is estimated to be King Virat's kingdom where Pandavas spent their one-year exile.

### Bhrigu Samhita

Hoshiarpur is also highly popular for old Astrological facts where it is said to be that old documents where past, present and future birth of every person is written in detail, are safely kept at this place. Lots of people from all over the world visit Hoshiarpur to find out about their past, present and future in every birth they have or had taken in the past.

#### Significant cities

Among the numerous ancient cultural centers in Hoshiarpur was town Jaijon. Said to be Founded by Jaijjat rishi around 11th century at the Shivalik foothills, Jaijon was a flourishing trade centre. It was also known as a centre for oriental studies. Noted scholars and exponents of Sanskrit, Astrology, Ayurveda and music visited this place for meeting. Music composers Pandit Husan Lal and Bhagat Ram and noted Pakistani poet Tufail Hoshiarpuri belonged to the same place.

The late Ayurveda scholar Pandit Govind Ram Vatsyayan and the late Sanskrit laureate Acharya Vishwanath belonged to Jaijon. Over the years when Chandigarh came into existence Jaijon lost its glory and now it is a sleepy town on the border of Punjab and Himachal in the foothills of Shivaliks.

Mahilpur is an ancient village on the feet of Shivalik which was visited by Chinese Hyunshang who wrote this village as Sri Mahipalpur in his notes. Now Mahilpur has become a town.

Sadarpur is located near Garhshankar in the Shivalik Valley. It is a small town.

Jaijon still has a small old railway station from the British Era.

## Area

At present, Hoshiarpur has an area of 3198.2 km².

* Total area (km²): 3,365
* Total No. of villages: 1,449

## Demographics

### Population

According to the 2011 census Hoshiarpur district has a population of 1,579,160,[3] roughly equal to the nation of Gabon[4] or the US state of Idaho.[5] This gives it a ranking of 31st in India (out of a total of 640).[3] The district has a population density of 683 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,770/sq mi).[3] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 17.95%.[3] Hoshiarpur has a sex ratio of 962 females for every 1000 males,[3] and a literacy rate of 85.40%.[3]

Scheduled Castes population in the district is 34 percent of the total population. The proportion of Scheduled Castes population in Hoshiarpur district is higher than the state’s Schedule Castes population (32 percent) and is ranked at the 5th position among all the districts. It may be mentioned that proportion of the Scheduled Castes population varies among blocks of Hoshiarpur district. In four blocks the population of Scheduled Castes is more than 40 percent. Two blocks namely, Hoshiarpur-I and Hoshiarpur-II have 48 percent Scheduled Castes population. In Mahilpur block the proportion of Scheduled Castes population is 44 percent and in Bhunga block it is 41 percent while in the remaining blocks the proportion of Scheduled Castes population is less than 40 percent. The Scheduled Caste population in this district is 34.3%[6][7]

## Economy

In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Hoshiarpur one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640).[8] It is the only district in Punjab currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).

## Government and politics

### District administration

* The Deputy Commissioner, an officer belonging to the Indian Administrative Service, is in-charge of the General Administration in the district. He is assisted by a number of officers belonging to Punjab Civil Service and other Punjab state services.
* The Senior Superintendent of Police, an officer belonging to the Indian Police Service, is responsible for maintaining law & order in the district. He is assisted by the officers of the Punjab Police Service and other Punjab police officials.
* The Divisional Forest Officer, an officer belonging to the Indian Forest Service, is responsible for the management of the forests, environment and wildlife in the district. He is assisted by the officers of the Punjab Forest Service and other Punjab forest officials and Punjab wildlife officials.
* Sectoral development is looked after by the district head/officer of each development department such as PWD, Health, Education, Agriculture, Animal husbandry, etc. These officers are from various Punjab state services.

#### Subdivisions

The District of Hoshiarpur comprises four sub-divisions, ten development blocks, eight municipal councils and one notified area committee, as listed below:

#### Administrative divisions

* Hoshiarpur
* Dasuya
* Mukerian
* Garhshankar

#### Development blocks

* Hoshiarpur-I
* Hoshiarpur-II
* Bhunga
* Tanda
* Dasuya
* Mukerian
* Talwara
* Hajipur
* Mahilpur
* Garhshankar

#### Municipal councils

* Garhdiwala
* Hariana
* Tanda
* Mahipur
* Garhshankar
* Dasuya'
* Mukerian
* Sham Chaurasi
* Talwara

#### Notified area comittee

* Mahilpur
* Hoshiarpur
* Shamchurasi Kadiana