Fatehabad District is one of the twenty two
districts
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
of the state of
Haryana
Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...
, India. Fatehabad was founded by
Firuz Shah Tughlaq
Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq (1309 – 20 September 1388) was a Muslim ruler from the Tughlaq dynasty, who reigned over the Sultanate of Delhi from 1351 to 1388. .
Fatehabad district was carved out of
Hisar district
Hisar district is one of the 22 districts of Haryana, India. Hisar city serves as the district headquarters. Hisar district has four sub-divisions that is, Hisar, Barwala, Hansi and Narnaud, each headed by an SDM. The district is also part of H ...
on 15 July 1997.
It borders districts of
Mansa Mansa may refer to:
Places In India
* Mansa, Gujarat, a town in northern Gujarat, Western India; the capital of:
** Mansa, Gujarat Assembly constituency
** Mansa State, a princely state under the Mahi Kantha Agency in India
* Mansa district, ...
and
Sangrur
Sangrur is a city in Sangrur district of the Indian state of Punjab, India. It is the headquarters of Sangrur District.
Geography
Sangrur is located at . It has an average elevation of 237 metres (778 feet).
Climate
Health s ...
in state of
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
in north,
Sirsa district
Sirsa district is the largest district of Haryana state. Sirsa is the district headquarters. It is located on National Highway 9 and from the capital Delhi.
Etymology
The district is named after its headquarters, Sirsa. The name, Sirsa is deri ...
in west,
Jind district
Jind district is one of the 22 districts of Haryana state in northern India. Jind town is the administrative headquarters of the district. It is part of Hisar Division and was created in 1966.
During the Sikh Empire, Jind lies in the heart of ...
in east,
Hisar district
Hisar district is one of the 22 districts of Haryana, India. Hisar city serves as the district headquarters. Hisar district has four sub-divisions that is, Hisar, Barwala, Hansi and Narnaud, each headed by an SDM. The district is also part of H ...
and district of
Hanumangarh
Hanumangarh is a city in the Indian state of Rajasthan, situated on the banks of the river Ghaggar also identified as Ancient Sarasvati river, located about 400 km from Delhi. It is the administrative seat of Hanumangarh District. The ci ...
in state of
Rajasthan
Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...
in south.
Etymology
Fatehabad is named after Fateh Khan, son of
Firuz Shah Tughlaq
Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq (1309 – 20 September 1388) was a Muslim ruler from the Tughlaq dynasty, who reigned over the Sultanate of Delhi from 1351 to 1388. (who laid the foundation of Fatehabad).
The name 'Fatehabad' is a combination of two words: 'Fateh' and 'ābād' where 'Fateh' is the name of eldest son of
Firuz Shah Tughlaq
Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq (1309 – 20 September 1388) was a Muslim ruler from the Tughlaq dynasty, who reigned over the Sultanate of Delhi from 1351 to 1388. and 'ābād' translates to 'prosperous' or 'settled'.
History
Indo-European language
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutch ...
-speaking Hindu sanatani people first settled on the banks of the
Sarasvati
Saraswati ( sa, सरस्वती, ) is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning. She is one of the Tridevi, along with the goddesses Lakshmi and Parvati.
The earliest known mention of Saraswati as a god ...
and
Drsadvati River
The Drishadvati river (IAST:, "She with many stones") is a river hypothesized by Indologists to identify the route of the Vedic river Saraswati and the state of '' Brahmavarta''. According to ''Manusmriti'', the ''Brahmavarta'', where the Rishis ...
s rivers then expanded to cover a wider area of
Hisar and Fatehabad. The area was probably included in the kingdom of the
Pandava
The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, IAST: Pāṇḍava) refers to the five legendary brothers— Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva—who are the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. They are acknowledg ...
s and their successors.
Pāṇini
, era = ;;6th–5th century BCE
, region = Indian philosophy
, main_interests = Grammar, linguistics
, notable_works = ' (Sanskrit#Classical Sanskrit, Classical Sanskrit)
, influenced=
, notable_ideas=Descript ...
mentions a number of towns in the region including
Aisukari,
Taushayana and
Rori, which have been identified with Hisar,
Tohana
Tohana is a town and a municipal council, just 60 km from Fatehabad City in Fatehabad district in the Indian state of Haryana. Its name comes from the Sanskrit 'Taushayana'. It is known as the City of Canals (Nahro ki Nagri).
Geography
...
and
Rohri
Rohri ( Sindhi: روهڙي; ur, ) is a city of Sukkur District, Sindh province, Pakistan. It is located on the east bank of the Indus River, located directly across from Sukkur, the third largest city in Sindh. Rohri town is the administrative ...
respectively. According to the
Puranas
Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...
, the areas of Fatehabad district remained a part of the
Nanda Empire
The Nanda dynasty ruled in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent during the fourth century BCE, and possibly during the fifth century BCE. The Nandas overthrew the Shaishunaga dynasty in the Magadha region of eastern India, and expanded ...
and the real name of Fatehabad was Dhanagarh. The city name Dhanagarh was given by Dhana Nanda who was the King of Nanada empire and his territory was from Pataliputra to Beas river in the north. Furthermore, the discovery of
Ashoka
Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, ...
n pillars at Hisar and Fatehabad shows that this area remained a part of
Mauryan empire
The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...
. The people of
Agroha area assisted
Chandra Gupta Maurya in the war against the
Indo-Greek Kingdom
The Indo-Greek Kingdom, or Graeco-Indian Kingdom, also known historically as the Yavana Kingdom (Yavanarajya), was a Hellenistic-era Greek kingdom covering various parts of Afghanistan and the northwestern regions of the Indian subcontinent ( ...
.
After the fall of the Mauryas and
Shungas
The Shunga Empire (IAST: ') was an ancient Indian dynasty from Magadha that controlled areas of the most of the northern Indian subcontinent from around 185 to 73 BCE. The dynasty was established by Pushyamitra, after taking the throne of the M ...
, the Agras along with the
Yaudheya
Yaudheya (Brahmi script: 𑀬𑁅𑀥𑁂𑀬) or Yoddheya Gana (Yoddheya Republic) was an ancient militant confederation. The word Yaudheya is a derivative of the word from yodha meaning warriors.“Yaudheyas.” Ancient Communities of the Himal ...
s – the republican tribes of the region – asserted their independence. The Agras settled in the region covering
Barwala and Agroha, the capital headquarters, from where they issued coins. As attested by the discovery of coin-moulds and
terracotta
Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous.
In applied art, craft, construction, a ...
s, the region was a part of the
Kushan empire
The Kushan Empire ( grc, Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; xbc, Κυϸανο, ; sa, कुषाण वंश; Brahmi: , '; BHS: ; xpr, 𐭊𐭅𐭔𐭍 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓, ; zh, 貴霜 ) was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, i ...
. According to
Anant Sadashiv Altekar
Anant Sadashiv Altekar (24 September 1898 – 25 November 1960; ) was a historian, archaeologist, and numismatist from Maharashtra, India. He was the Manindra Chandra Nandy's Professor and Head of the Department of Ancient Indian History and Cu ...
, the Yaudheys made a second bid for independence towards the end of the 2nd century AD when they succeeded in freeing their homeland and ousted the
Kushans
The Kushan Empire ( grc, Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; xbc, Κυϸανο, ; sa, कुषाण वंश; Brahmi: , '; Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit, BHS: ; xpr, 𐭊𐭅𐭔𐭍 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓, ; zh, wikt:貴霜, 貴霜 ) was a Sync ...
. This finds support from seals discovered at the
Agroha Mound
Agroha, locally known as ''Ther'', is an archaeological site located in Agroha, in the Hisar district of India.
Location
The mounds are located about 1.5 km from the town of Agroha, 20 km from Hisar city and 190 km from Ne ...
.
The early 11th century saw the
Ghaznavid
The Ghaznavid dynasty ( fa, غزنویان ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a culturally Persianate, Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turkic ''mamluk'' origin, ruling, at its greatest extent, large parts of Persia, Khorasan, much of Transoxiana and the northwest ...
make inroads in this area.
Sultan Masud led expeditions towards
Agroha. The
Chauhan
Chauhan, historically ''Chahamana'', is a clan name historically associated with the various ruling Rajput families during the Medieval India in Rajasthan.
Subclans
Khichi, Hada, Songara, Bhadauria, Devda etc. are the branches or subclan ...
s seem to have taken special measures for protecting the area against Mongol incursions. The area of Agroha passed under Ghurid rule after the defeat of
Prithviraj Chauhan III in the
Second Battle of Tarain
The Second Battle of Tarain was fought in 1192 between the Ghurid forces of Muhammad Ghuri and the Rajput Confederacy of Prithviraj Chauhan. It took place near Tarain (modern Taraori), which is , north of Delhi. The battle ended in a decisi ...
(1192).
After the Battle of Tarain,
Sultan Shihab-ud-din Muhammad Ghuri placed one of his generals in the Indian campaigns. But it appears that any meaningful control could not be established. Seizing the opportunity, a Rajput clan, Jats, a branch of
Tomar/Tanwar Rajput
Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...
s, widely extended their power in Fatehabad area including Agroha. Firuz (1351–88) shot these areas into prominence. The ruler came to have somewhat unusual fancy for the tract (Hisar). He established new towns of Fatehabad and Hissar and rebuilt
two canals; one taking off from
Ghaggar
The Ghaggar-Hakra River is an intermittent river in India and Pakistan that flows only during the monsoon season. The river is known as Ghaggar in India, before the Ottu barrage, and as the Hakra in Pakistan, downstream of the barrage, ending ...
at Phulad and following the course of Joiya up to the town of Fatehabad. After the death of Firuz (1388), chaos and confusion spread all round. The situation deteriorated still further when
Timur
Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...
invaded in 1398. During his invasion, Timur invaded Fatehabad which was captured without any opposition from the inhabitants. Lastly, the invader reached Tohana but he could not set-up his permanent rule over the area. He soon left for
Samana after looting these areas. The areas of Fatehabad came under the control of
Mughals-
Babar
Babar ( ur, ), also variously spelled as Baber, Babur, and Babor is a male given name of Pashto, and Persian language, Persian origin, and a popular male given name in Pakistan. It is generally taken in reference to the Persian language, Persian ...
and
Humayun
Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad ( fa, ) (; 6 March 1508 – 27 January 1556), better known by his regnal name, Humāyūn; (), was the second emperor of the Mughal Empire, who ruled over territory in what is now Eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan, Northern ...
.
There is a small mosque known as Humanyun mosque at Fatehabad. The legend assigns the association of the mosque to the Mughal Emperor Humayun who in his flight after his defeat at the hands of
Sher Shah Suri
Sher Shah Suri ( ps, شیرشاه سوری)
(1472, or 1486 – 22 May 1545), born Farīd Khān ( ps, فرید خان)
, was the founder of the Sur Empire in India, with its capital in Sasaram in modern-day Bihar. He standardized the silver coin ...
happened to pass through Fatehabad. Fatehabad was one of important
Mahals during
Akbar
Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...
's time. By 1760, the areas became the scene of a sort of triangular duel between the sturdy
Sikhs of north-east, marauding
Bhatti
Bhatti () is a clan of Rajputs and Jats found in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Bhattis along with Bhuttos and Bhatias claim to have originated from the Hindu Bhati Rajputs.
In the years preceding the Indian rebellion of 1857 the British ...
s of north-west and the
Muslim chiefs of the south. None of them could, however, hold the region permanently except for the Bhattis who became the masters of Fatehabad pargana. In 1774, Maharaja Amar Singh of Patiala along with his famous minister Dewan Nanumal laid
siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...
to the stronghold of Bighar near Fatehabad which fell shortly afterwards.
The Raja then took Fatehabad and Sirsa and invaded Rania held by Bhattis. Tohana also was seized by the Chief of Patiala. But after a treaty of
Jind
Jind is one of the largest and oldest city in Jind district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is administrative headquarter of Jind district. Rani Talab is the main destination for tourists while Pandu-Pindara and Ramrai are the main religiou ...
in 1781, Fatehabad and Sirsa were made over to the Bhattis and remaining territories were allowed to be retained by the
Sikhs
Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ...
. By 1798, Agroha and Tohana were important parganas under the control of
George Thomas. When George Thomas was driven out from here by the
Sikh
Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...
-
Maratha
The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a M ...
Confederacy, a French officer, Lt. Bourquian, controlled these areas on behalf of Marathas. He is said to have rebuilt the towns of Tohana and
Hissar. Later these areas were placed under the charge of Illias Beg, a Mughal noble of
Hansi
Hansi, is a city and municipal council in Hisar district in the Indian state of Haryana. It appears that at one time Hansi was larger, more prosperous and more important than Hisar. The town has several important buildings of archeological import ...
.
In November 1884, the Sirsa district was abolished and Sirsa tahsil after the distribution of villages was formed. In 1889, 15 villages forming a detached block known as
Budhlada were transferred form Kaithal tahsil to Fatehabad tahsil. The
Barwala tahsil containing 139 villages was abolished with effect from 1 January 1891 and its area was distributed between 3 contiguous tahsils; 13 villages going to Hansi, 24 to Hissar and 102 to Fatehabad. At the same time 13 villages were transferred from Hissar tahsil to Bhiwani tahsil and a sub-tahsil was established at Tohana in Fatehabad tahsil. In 1923, the Tohana sub-tahsil was transferred from Fatehabad to Hissar tahsil. In 1972, Tohana sub-tahsil was upgraded to tahsil. Two sub-tahsils, one at Ratia of tahsil of Fatehabad and other at
Adampur of Hissar tahsil were created in 1979. By the end of 1978, the Hissar district comprised 486 villages, divided between tahsils of Fatehabad (166); Hissar (115), Hansi (119) and Tohana (86). Fatehabad came into existence as a full-fledged district with effect from 15 July 1997, now having three sub-divisions, three tahsils and three sub-tahsils.
Administrative set-up
Fatehabad district is a part of
Sirsa Lok Sabha constituency and the district has three seats in
Haryana Vidhan Sabha
The Haryana Legislative Assembly or the Haryana Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral state legislature of Haryana state in India.
The seat of the Vidhan Sabha is at Chandigarh, the capital of the state. The Vidhan Sabha comprises 90 Members of L ...
: Fatehabad, Tohana and Ratia.
Geology
Being a part of Indo-Gagnetic planes, most of the part is covered by alluvial soil, interrupted by randomly located sand dunes. Soil varies from sandy to loamy.
The northern part of district is drained by
Ghaghara-Hakra system.
Ground water is alkaline in nature.
Climate
The climate of the district is of
tropical
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in
the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...
type with intensively hot summer and cool winter, with a temperature of 47 °C in June and 2 °C in December and January. The average rainfall of the district is 400 mm. The average annual rainfall in the district is 395.6 mm. The rainfall increases generally from the west towards the east and varies from 339.1 mm at Fatehabad to 428.4 mm at
Hisar. About 71 percent of the annual normal rainfall is received during the short south-west monsoon period, July to September, July and August being the rainiest months.
20% of rainfall occurs in non-monsoon period, which is mostly contributed by
western disturbances
A western disturbance is an extratropical storm originating in the Mediterranean region that brings sudden winter rain to the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent, which extends as east as up to northern parts of Bangladesh and South easter ...
.
Transportation
Fatehabad is situated at
NH-9 which servers major road transportation in district.
Cheap transportation facilities are available via state bus transport. The current working main bus stand is situated in Model Town in the Fatehabad city, though the new bus stand at Sector 5, Hisar Road is almost ready to serve. Buses stop at arbitrary places in villages and towns for people to board buses.
Auto-rickshaws are available in urban region. Manually driven rickshaws and E-rickshaws are also found.
Major railway stations include Bhattu and Tohana which serve the
Northern Railways Zone of India.
Demographics
According to the
2011 census Fatehabad district has a
population
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...
of 942,011,
roughly equal to the nation of
Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
or the US state of
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
. This gives it a ranking of 461st in India (out of a total of
640).
[ The district has a population density of .][ Its ]population growth rate
Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 83 million annually, or 1.1% per year. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to ...
over the decade 2001–2011 was 16.79%.[ Fatehabad has a ]sex ratio
The sex ratio (or gender ratio) is usually defined as the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. Many species devia ...
of 902 females
Female (symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete during sexual reproduction.
A female has larger gametes than a male. Females a ...
for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate
Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...
of 69.1%. Scheduled Castes make up 30.19% of the population.[
]
Religion
Hindus are in majority in Fatehabad district. Nearly the entire Muslim population of the district migrated to Pakistan during Partition
Partition may refer to:
Computing Hardware
* Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive
* Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job
Software
* Partition (database), the division of a ...
.
Languages
At the time of the 2011 Census of India
The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Information ...
, 31.38% of the population spoke Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
, 32.72% Punjabi, 20.81% Haryanvi
Haryanvi ( ' or '), also known as Bangru, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the state of Haryana in India, and to a lesser extent in Delhi. Haryanvi is considered to be part of the dialect group of Western Hindi, which also includes Kharibo ...
and 11.56% Bagri as their first language.[.]
Villages
Civic Amenities
Electricity is provided by Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN).
All major towns and villages are provided piped drinking water facilities. Towns and villages located in fresh water areas are served by tubewell network. Others are served by canal based system. (popularly called नहरी पानी)
Notable Individuals
* Rajat Nagpal
Rajat Nagpal is an Indian singer, composer, producer and mix engineer associated with Punjabi and Hindi music. He is trained in Indian and Western classical music. He has been working as a studio engineer and a music producer at Beatfactory S ...
;a singer, producer and composer
* Mankirt Aulakh, a Punjabi singer and music producer
*Shweta Mehta, a fitness model
References
External links
Fatehabad district
Fatehabad directory
Fatehabad at a Glance at Haryana Tourism
Report of ground water board on Fatehabad, 2013
{{Districts of Haryana
Districts of Haryana
Minority Concentrated Districts in India
1997 establishments in Haryana