Kunda is a village and gram panchayat in the Kunda CD block in the Chatra subdivision of the

Chatra district Chatra district is district one of the twenty-four districts of Jharkhand state, India. The district was formed after separation from Hazaribagh district in 1991. Chatra is the administrative headquarters of this district. The district covers a ...

in the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

History

Kunda fort was strongly fortified and located on a hill in the later

medieval period In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

. In 1660, Daud Khan, the Mughal governor of Bihar during the reign of

Aurangzeb Alamgir I (Muhi al-Din Muhammad; 3 November 1618 – 3 March 1707), commonly known by the title Aurangzeb, also called Aurangzeb the Conqueror, was the sixth Mughal emperors, Mughal emperor, reigning from 1658 until his death in 1707, becomi ...

, occupied the fort and completely destroyed it. Later in the same century, a rebuilt Kunda fort came under the possession of Raja of Ramgarh. In 1734,

Alivardi Khan Alivardi Khan (1671 – 9 April 1756) was the fourth Nawab of Bengal from 1740 to 1756. He toppled the Nasiri dynasty of Nawabs by defeating Sarfaraz Khan in 1740 and assumed power himself. During much of his reign Alivardi encountered frequen ...

conquered and destroyed it. With the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

acquiring the ''

diwani Diwani is a calligraphic variety of Arabic script, a cursive style developed during the reign of the early Ottoman Turks (16th century - early 17th century). It reached its height of popularity under Süleyman I the Magnificent (1520–1566 ...

'' of Bengal, Bihar and Odisha in 1765, it derived the right to collect revenue from the estates of Ramgarh,

Kharagdiha Kharagdiha is a village in the Jamua CD block in the Khori Mahua subdivision of the Giridih district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It had been known as Curruckdea or Curruckdeah during the British Raj. Geography Location Kharagdiha is loc ...

, Kendi and Kunda. In 1769, the area came in contact with the British when Captain Camac visited the area with the objective of establishing some sort of order in the " Jungleterry" region. In 1771, Capt. Camac subdued the Rajas of Kharagdiha and Kunda. Although the

Kol uprising Kol uprising, also known in British records as the Kol mutiny was a revolt of the tribal Kol people of Chhota Nagpur that took place between 1831 and 1832. It was due to economic exploitation brought on by the systems of land tenure and admini ...

of 1829-1839 did not seriously affect the area, its administrative structure was altered. The parganas of Ramgarh, Kharagdiha, Kendi and Kunda "became parts of the south-west frontier agency and formed into a division named Hazaribagh with

Hazaribagh Hazaribagh is a city and a municipal corporation in Hazaribagh district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It is also the administrative headquarters of Hazaribagh district and divisional headquarters of North Chotanagpur division. It is known ...

as the administrative headquarters." The ruins of old Kunda palace/ fort can still be seen in a dilapidated condition some 3–4 miles from the present Kunda village. The present structure was possibly built in the late 17th/ early 18th century. Of particular interest to tourists is an intriguing cave, half a mile from the old palace. Every year on 14th

Phalguna Phagun () is a month of the Hindu calendar. In India's national civil calendar, Phalguna is the twelfth month of the year and corresponds with March/April in the Gregorian calendar.Henderson, Helene. (Ed.) (2005) ''Holidays, festivals, and ce ...

Maha Shivaratri Maha Shivaratri is a Hindu festival celebrated annually to worship the deity Shiva, between February and March. According to the Hindu calendar, the festival is observed on the fourteenth day of the first half (night start with darkness - ...

, there is a large gathering.

Geography

Location

Kunda is located at .

Area overview

The map alongside shows that the forests (mark the light shading), covering around 60% of Chatra district, are evenly spread across the district. It is a

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

area with an elevation of about above mean sea level. Efforts are on to get the first unit of the

NTPC Limited NTPC Limited, formerly known as National Thermal Power Corporation, is an Indian central Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under the ownership of the Ministry of Power and the Government of India, who is engaged in the generation of electricit ...

’s

North Karanpura Thermal Power Station North Karanpura Thermal Power Station is an upcoming coal-based thermal power plant located in Tandwa in the Simaria subdivision of the Chatra district, Jharkhand. The power plant is owned by NTPC Limited NTPC Limited, formerly known as Nat ...

(3x660 MW), ready in 2021.

North Karanpura Coalfield North Karanpura Coalfield is located in Ranchi, Hazaribagh, Chatra and Latehar districts in the Indian state of Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its ...

Central Coalfields Limited Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) is a subsidiary of Coal India Limited (CIL), an undertaking of the Government of India. CCL was established in 1956 as National Coal Development Corporation Limited and is a Category-I Mini Ratna company sinc ...

, spread over in the southern part of the district, with spill over to neighbouring districts, and having coal reserves of 14 billion tonnes is among the biggest in India. The map provides links to three CCL operational areas. Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the district. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map.

Demographics

According to the 2011 Census of India, Kunda (location code 348474) had a total population of 2,989, of which 1,554 (52%) were males and 1,435 (48%) were females. Population in the age range 0–6 years was 626. The total number of literate persons in Kunda was 1,232 (52.14% of the population over 6 years).

Civic administration

Police station

Kunda police station serves Kunda CD block.

CD block HQ

Headquarters of Kunda CD block is at Kunda village.

References

{{Chatra District Villages in Chatra district