Rajgarh district

Rajgarh district (Hindi pronunciation: [ɾaːd͡ʒgəɽʱ]) is a district of Madhya Pradesh in central India. The city of Rajgarh is the administrative headquarters of the district. The old name of Rajgarh was Jhanjhanipur. Rajgarh in Madhya Pradesh is one of the aspirational districts selected by Government of India. The district has an area of 6,154 km² and the population is 1,545,814 (2011 census). The district lies on the northern edge of the Malwa plateau, and the Parbati River forms the eastern boundary of the district, while the Kali Sindh River forms the western boundary. The district has seven tehsils, Rajgarh, Khilchipur, Jirapur, Biaora, Narsinghgarh, Sarangpur and Pachore. The district is bounded by Rajasthan state to the north, and by the districts of Guna to the northeast, Bhopal to the east, Sehore to the southeast, and Shajapur to the south and west. It is part of Bhopal Division. There are 1728 villages in Rajgarh.

The district was created May 1948, and includes the territory of the former princely states of Rajgarh, Narsinghgarh, Khilchipur, and parts of the states of Dewas Junior and Senior (Sarangpur tehsil) and Indore (Jirapur tehsil, now part of Khilchipur tehsil).

In addition to the town of Rajgarh, Khilchipur, Kotravihar, Narsinghgarh and Kurawar are places of interest.

The District lies on the northern edge of the Malwa Plateau, and the Parvati River forms the eastern boundary of the district, while the Kalisindh River forms the western boundary. Black soil, light red and core sands are the main soil type available in the district.

The district takes its name from the headquarters town Rajgarh. Rajgarh District was constituted after the formation of Madhya Bharat in May, 1948. Prior to this the area of the present District was parceled out among the States of Rajgarh, Narsinghgarh, Khilchipur, Dewas (Senior) Dewas (Junior) and Indore. Rajgarh was the headquarters of a mediatised State, ruled by the Umath Rajputs (a branch of the Paramaras), they enjoyed a Sanad Estate under the Sultans of Delhi and Mughal emperors in succession. The first capital was Duparia, now in Shajapur District. Later on it was shifted to Dungarpur (19 km from Rajgarh) and then to Ratanpur (19 km west of Narsinghgarh) and back. In order to avoid disturbance by the frequently passing Mughal armies, the Ruler of the Estate, Mohan Singh, acquired the present side, originally known as Jhanjhanipur from the Bhils in A.D. 1640. Finally he shifted the headquarters in the year 1645, giving the place its present name.

During the reign of Akbar (1556–1605) a Khilat and a Sanad were granted to Udaji of Tatanpur. At that time, Sarangpur was a Sarkar in the Subah of Malwa. Its jurisdiction extended from the western part of present Sehore District to the eastern part of Ujjain District. Among its twentyfour mahals many have retained their original names and are identified as Ashtah, Talain (Talen), Agra (Agar), Bajilpur (Bijilpur), Bhorsah, Khiljipur, Jirapur, Sarangpur, Sondarsi (Sundarsi), Sosner (Sunner) Sajapur, Kayath and Navgam (Tarana)1. In 1908, Rajgarh State was divided into seven Parganas, namely Newalganj, Biaora, Kalipith, Karanwas, Kotra, Seogarh and Talen. Narsinghgarh State was divided into four Parganas, namely Huzur (Narsinghgarh), Pachor, Khujner and Chhapera. The Parganas were placed in the charge of a Tahsildar each for revenue matters and magisterial work. 2 Khilchipur State was divided into three Paraganas. Sarangpur was as now, the tehsil headquarters of Dewas (Senior) and Dewas (Junior) States. Jarapur was a tehsil of Mahidpur District of former Indore State. It has now been abolished and merged in Khilchipur tahsil.

In 1645 with the permission of Rajmata, Deewan Ajab Singh defeated the Bhils in the hilly region of Rajgarh and he constructed a Palace in 1745 which was having five main gates namely, Itwaria, Bhudwaria, Surajpol, Panradia and Naya Darwaja. And it constitutes three very ancient temple namely Raj Rajeshwar Temple, Chatubhujnathji Temple and Narsingh Temple, and in which Rajmata and his 15-year-old son Rawat Mohan singh was living safely. In Jhanjherpur which was capital and it is having a palace due to which this place is known as Rajgarh and it had become famous.

Soil and cropping pattern :- The first and the most predominant black cotton soil known as kalmat (black soil) or chikat-kali (deep black) are highly fertile with great power of retaining moisture and bears excellent kharif and rabi crops with or without irrigation. Besides suitability, the black soil yields excellent wheat, gram, jowar and cotton crops high in quality and cotton crops high in quality and quantity.