Panchmahal, also known as Panch Mahals, is a district in the eastern portion of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

State western

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. ''Panch-mahal'' means "five tehsils/talukas" (5 sub-divisions), and refers to the five sub-divisions that were transferred by the

Maharaja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, an ...

Jivajirao Scindia Maharaja Jivajirao Scindia KStJ (26 June 1916 – 16 July 1961) was an Indian prince and government official. In the British Raj, he was the ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Gwalior in central India from 1925 until 1947. Afte ...

of Gwalior State to the British:

Godhra Godhra is a municipality in Panchmahal district in Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Panchmahal district. Originally the name came from ''gou'' which means "cow" and ''dhara''- which have two meanings dependi ...

, Dahod, Halol, Kalol and

Jhalod Jhalod (also written as Zalod) is a large town of historical and commercial importance.Also it is second largest City after Dahod.Jhalod serves as administrative headquarters of Jhalod Taluka in Dahod District, Gujarat, India. It is situated on ...

Devgadh Baria Devgadh Baria is a municipality in Dahod district in the state of Gujarat, India. It is a small town nestled in the foothills on the eastern border of Gujarat State. It is 41 kilometers from Godhra in the west, 55 kilometers from Dahod in the ea ...

. The district had a population of 2,390,776 of which 12.51% were urban as of 2001. The district is located on eastern end of the state. It is bordered by

Dahod district Dahod district is a district of Gujarat state in western India. This largely tribal district is mostly covered by forests and hills. Geography Dahod is located in eastern Gujarat. It is located at the tripoint between Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madh ...

to the north-east & east, Vadodara district to the southwest and

Chhota Udaipur Chhota Udaipur is a town and a municipality in Chhota Udaipur district in the state of Gujarat, India. It is the headquarters of Chhota Udaipur district. History Chhota Udaipur was originally ruled by Bhil king , The last Bhil king of Chhota ...

district to southeast, Kheda district to the west and Mahisagar district to the north.

Name

''Panch-mahal'' is a

Hindustani Hindustani may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Hindustan (another name of India) * Hindustani language, an Indo-Aryan language, whose two official norms are Hindi and Urdu * Fiji Hindi, a variety of Eastern Hindi spoken in Fiji, and ...

or Gujarati word derived from Panch ("five") and Mahal which adopted from its original usage in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

for a place or type of building, later adopted in Hindi to refer to a province, district or its division, an estate etc. The district was originally called the

Pavagadh Pavagadh is an ancient Triassic Period location with Enriched History from periods of Treta Yuga and Dvapara Yuga. In present day, Pavagadh is a municipal operated region in Panchmahal district about away from Vadodara in Gujarat state in wes ...

Panch Mahals, because it consisted of five mahals administered from Pavagadh:

, Kalol, Halol, Dahod, and

History

The history of Panchmahals district revolves around the city of

Champaner Champaner is a historical city in the state of Gujarat, in western India. It is located in Panchmahal district, 47 kilometres from the city of Vadodara. The city was briefly the capital of the Sultanate of Gujarat. History Champaner is named ...

and the nearby

Pavagadh Hill Pavagadh Hill is situated within a plain in Panchmahal district, Gujarat, western India. A volcanic eruption occurred in the region approximately 500 million years ago and the etymology of Pavagadh is associated with this eruption: ''Pav-gadh'' ...

. Champaner was established in the 7th century (647) in the territory of King

Vanraj Chavda Vanaraja (IAST: Vanarāja Cāvaḍā) was the most prominent king of the Chavda dynasty who ruled Gujarat from c. 746 CE to c. 780 CE. Life Early life Kṛishṇabhaṭṭa’s (also known as Kṛṣṇakavi) ''Ratnamālā'' () says that in 695/ ...

of Chavda dynasty. In the 13th century, Chauhans acquired the city from Muslim rulers under

Alauddin Khalji Alaud-Dīn Khaljī, also called Alauddin Khilji or Alauddin Ghilji (), born Ali Gurshasp, was an emperor of the Khalji dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over lar ...

. Their rule continued until 1484, when Sultan

Mahmud Begada Sultan Mahmud Begada or Mahmud Shah I (), was the most prominent Sultan of the Gujarat Sultanate. Raised to the throne at young age, he successfully captured Pavagadh and Junagadh forts in battles which gave him his name ''Begada''. He establishe ...

captured the city. Thereafter

became center of the district under the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

(1575 to 1727). The author of the ''Mirat-i Sikandari'', writing in 1611, spoke high praise of the

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree ''Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South a ...

es of the region, calling them the best in the kingdom, and said that

sandalwood Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus ''Santalum''. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods for us ...

grew abundantly here and was used to build houses. Throughout the 1600s, the forests around Dahod and Champaner were used as hunting grounds for wild

elephants Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae and ...

In October 1997, Panchmahal was divided into two districts: Panchmahal, with district headquarters at Godhra, and Dahod, a new district with headquarters at the town of the same name.

Economy

In 2006 the

Ministry of Panchayati Raj The Ministry of Panchayati Raj is a branch of the Government of India. Ministry of Panchayati Raj looks into all matters relating to the Panchayati Raj and Panchayati Raj Institutions. It was created in May 2004. The ministry is headed by a m ...

named Panchmahal one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of

640 Year 640 (Roman numerals, DCXL) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 640 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar er ...

). It is one of the six districts in Gujarat currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF). The Panchmahal district is rich in

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...

resources. In 2011, 23.26% of the total land area of the Panchmahal district was covered by

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

. 97.80% of the forested area in Panchmahal was classified as

reserved forest A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

. Common trees in the forests of Panchmahal include

mahuda Mahuda is a census town in Baghmara (community development block), Baghmara Community development block in India, CD block in Dhanbad Sadar subdivision of Dhanbad district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Jharkhand. Geogra ...

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panicl ...

, and

khakhra Khakhra is a thin cracker common in the Gujarati cuisine of western India, It is made from mat bean, wheat flour and oil. It is served usually during breakfast. See also * Gujarat * Gujarati people * Indian cuisine * List of Indian breads Ind ...

. Since 1989, the Forest Department has planted new trees throughout the district in order to increase the total forest area and counter

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...

. Panchmahal district is the largest producer of

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...

trap A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research. Trap or TRAP may also refer to: Art and entertainment Films and television * ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...

, and

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tect ...

in Gujarat, for use as road material. Manganese ore is also commercially mined in Panchmahal; quartz and manganese are the two largest mineral resources in the district, with total production of the two combined exceeding 400,000 tonnes in 2011. Panchmahal also has the most extensive

graphite Graphite () is a crystalline form of the element carbon. It consists of stacked layers of graphene. Graphite occurs naturally and is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions. Synthetic and natural graphite are consumed on large ...

deposits in the state of Gujarat, and there are

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

quarries in several parts of the district.

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

is the main source of employment for the people of Panchmahal: 75.88% of the district's total working population was employed in agriculture in 2011, compared with 49.61% for the state as a whole. The main crops are

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

, tur, gram, castor,

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

, and

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

. Of these, the most widely cultivated are rice, maize, wheat, castor, and tur, in that order, owing to their relative profitability and ease of cultivation. In the hillier eastern parts of the district, gram is grown as a second crop, after rice and maize are harvested; its widespread cultivation is particularly characteristic of Panchmahal. The main livestock animals in Panchmahal are buffaloes, particularly of the Mehsani and Surati breeds,

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

, and goats. Many animals are kept for dairy products, and

dairy farms A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

have traditionally been an important source of employment for many rural families. Additionally, around 3,000 people were employed in

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

in the Panchmahal district in 2011, almost entirely in ponds and artificial tanks due to the lack of major year-round rivers in the area. Industry is concentrated in Godhra, Kalol, and Halol. The largest manufacturing categories in the district in 2011 included

Rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...

and

Plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...

Products, Basic

Metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

Industries,

Machinery A machine is a physical system using power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromolecule ...

and Parts Except Electrical, and

Mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

and Quarrying.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, Panchmahal 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 2,390,776, roughly equal to the nation of

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

or the US state of

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

. This gives it a ranking of 187th in India (out of a total of

). 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 17.92%. PanchMahal 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 945 females 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 72.32%. The divided district has a population of 1,642,268. Scheduled Castes and

Scheduled Tribes The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

make up 66,529 and 374,413 which is 4.05% and 22.80% of the population respectively. Hindus are 1,507,636 while Muslims are 125,235. 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 ...

, 95.44% of the population in the district spoke

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

, 2.28%

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

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 ...

as their first language.2011 Census of India, Population By Mother Tongue
/ref>

Politics

Villages

Dalukhadia Dalukhadia (or Dalukhadiya) is a small village in Panchmahal district, Gujarat, India. It has a population of around 1000 people of all castes. The main castes are Patel, Vankar and Shkatriya. Patel is the dominating caste, consisting of around ...

References

External links and Sources

*
Official website
{{Authority control Districts of Gujarat 1861 establishments in British India