Dumka ( Santali: ᱫᱩᱢᱠᱟᱹ), the headquarters of the Dumka district and Santhal Pargana region, is a city in the state of

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in 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 and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . I ...

, India. It was made the headquarters of the Santhal Pargana region, which was carved out of the

Bhagalpur Bhagalpur is a city in the Indian state of Bihar, situated on the southern banks of the river Ganges. It is the 2nd largest city of Bihar by population and also the headquarters of Bhagalpur district and Bhagalpur division. Known as the Si ...

and Birbhum district after the Santal Hool of 1855. Dumka was carved out of the southern part of

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

along with 18 other Districts on 15 November 2000 to form Jharkhand as 28th State of India. Dumka is a peaceful and green city and also sub-capital of

. The nearest important cities are

Rampurhat Rampurhat is a city and a municipality in Birbhum district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Rampurhat subdivision. According to Census 2011 Rampurhat is the third most populous city in Birbhum district and 82 ...

and

Deoghar Deoghar (pronounced ''Devaghar'') is a major city in Jharkhand, India. It is a holy sacred place of Hinduism. It is one of the 12 ''Jyotirlinga''s sites of Hinduism ( Baidyanath Temple). The sacred temples of the city make this a place for pi ...

Etymology

There are two theories on how Dumka got its name. The first one suggests that Dumka's name derives from the Santali word ''sumk'' for "shunted" or "small," because during the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

, it was a small town compared to

and

. The other is that Dumka derives its name from the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

word ''

damin-i-koh Damin-i-koh (or sometimes referred to simply as Damin) was the name given to the forested hilly areas of Rajmahal hills broadly in the area of present Sahebganj, Pakur and Godda districts in the Indian state of Jharkhand. Etymology Damin-i-koh ...

'', which means 'skirts (an edge, border or extreme part) of the hills'.

History

Early history

The earlier inhabitants of the present-day district of whom there is some record, it appears, were the Paharias (for example, the Maler and Sauria Paharias). The

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

traveler

Megasthenes Megasthenes ( ; grc, Μεγασθένης, c. 350 BCE– c. 290 BCE) was an ancient Greek historian, diplomat and Indian ethnographer and explorer in the Hellenistic period. He described India in his book '' Indica'', which is now lost, but ha ...

identified these people as Mallis. He referred to the Sauria Paharias as ''savar''s of Odisha. Medieval History: Due to inaccessibility of the area caused by the cliffs of the

Rajmahal Hills The Rajmahal Hills are located in the Santhal Pargana division of Jharkhand, India. They were located on the northern margin of the Gondwana supercontinent, and its hills are today inhabited by the Sauria Paharia people whilst its valleys are d ...

, it was a place of strategic economic importance, with a fort at Teliagarhi. After the 1539 victory 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 ...

at Chousa, the area fell into the hands of the Afghans, but it was soon lost to the

Mughals 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 ...

under Akbar when Hussain Quli Khan was made viceroy of

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

British Raj

The English representative, Dr. Gabriel Bokgliton, procured a

farman Farman Aviation Works (french: Avions Farman) was a French aircraft company founded and run by the brothers Richard, Henri, and Maurice Farman. They designed and constructed aircraft and engines from 1908 until 1936; during the French national ...

from Shah Jahan. Between 1742 and 1751 the area of Dumka close to Rajmahal witnessed frequent inroads by the

Marathas 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 ...

under Raghoji Bhosle and Peshwa Balaji Rao. On 1745 Raghoji Bhosle entered Rajmahal via the hills and jungles of Santal Pargana. The early stay of the English was spent in subduing the Paharias. In 1769 Dumka remained a Ghatwali police post under

Birbhum District Birbhum district () is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the northernmost district of Burdwan division—one of the five administrative divisions of West Bengal. The district headquarters is in Suri. Other imp ...

of Bengal. On 1775 Dumka was transferred to

Bhagalpur Division Bhagalpur division is an administrative geographical unit of Bihar state of India, with Bhagalpur as the administrative headquarters of the division. , the division consists of Bhagalpur district, Banka district and is located on the bank of ...

. In 1865 Dumka was made an independent district after being carved out of Bhagalpur. On 1872 Dumka was made headquarters of the whole district of Santal Pargana. In 1889 Paul Olaf Bodding started his service in India (Dumka/Benagaria) after

Lars Olsen Skrefsrud Lars Olsen Skrefsrud (4 February 1840 – 11 December 1910) was a Norwegian Lutheran missionary and language researcher in India. Biography Skrefsrud came from the parish of Fåberg situated north of Lillehammer in Oppland, Norway. As a youn ...

, and Bodding created the first alphabet for the Santhals. The NELC-church was created as a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

Church in this area - before the Catholics had established a mission in this area at all. On 1902 The first

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

was established. FInally in 1920 Motor cars and buses were introduced.

Post Independence

Firstly on 1952 The Apostolic Prefecture of Malda was erected. In 1962, it was promoted to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dumka. Then in 1983 Dumka was made the divisional headquarters of Santhal Pargana. On 15 November 2000 Dumka became the sub-capital of Jharkhand. In 2011 Dumka is connected with the newly built Jasidih-Dumka railway line. On 2012 Intercity express to Ranchi started via Jasidih. Later in 2017 Jharkhand opens pilot training center in Dumka. Finally on 2018 Four-lane road from Dudhani to Tata Showroom constructed.

Geography

Dumka is located at . It has an average elevation of 137 metres (449 feet).

Demographics

India

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

, Dumka is a Nagar Parishad city in district of Dumka, Jharkhand. The Dumka city is divided into 23 wards for which elections are held every five years. The Dumka Nagar Parishad has population of 47,584 of which 25,364 are males while 22,220 are females as per report released by Census India 2011. Population of children with age of 0-6 is 5371 which is 11.29% of total population of Dumka (Nagar Parishad). In Dumka Nagar Parishad, Female Sex Ratio is of 876 against state average of 948. Moreover, Child Sex Ratio in Dumka is around 891 compared to Jharkhand state average of 948. Literacy rate of Dumka city is 89.92% higher than state average of 66.41%. In Dumka, Male literacy is around 93.46% while female literacy rate is 85.87%.

Religion and Languages

The Catholic minority is served by its own Roman Catholic Diocese of Dumka. Besides the official language

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 ...

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Santali and

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

are important. Here the major religions are: *

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

* Islam *

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle bein ...

Climate

Dumka has a humid subtropical climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Cwa''), with warm, wet summers and mild winters.

Economy

Shopping Malls

There are six Shopping Malls in Dumka. * V-Mart: This is the first mall to be opened in Dumka and this is situated near Veer Kuwar Singh Chowk, Dumka. * M-Baazar: This is situated below Hotel Suvidha, near Marwari Chowk. * 1-India Family Mart: This is situated in Thana Road, Dumka. * Bazaar India: This is situated in Bhagalpur Road, Dumka just beside Punjab National Bank. * V2: This is situated just opposite to 1-India Family Mart in Thana road, Dumka. * Reliance Trends: This is a mall in Dumka district which was opened on 5 August 2019. This is situated in Jail Road, Dumka, opposite to Mary filling station. *Reliance Smart store near Gandhi maidan *Virat superstore near genda talkie

Culture

Dumka District contains many Hindu temples, such as Basukinath, Sirshanath, Maluti Mandir, Shiv Pahar and Dharamsthana. Crowds visit these places during the month of Sawan. Hizla Mela (Fair) is organized every year in Hizla and continues for a week. It is a fair of great cultural importance, thousands of people visit during the fair.

Politics

The first Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Babulal Marandi, hailed from Dumka constituency. In 2000, when Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar, NDA came to power in Jharkhand with Marandi as the Chief Minister. Shibu Soren is another politician associated with Dumka. He also has a temporary residence in Dumka. In 2014, state election BJP coalition got majority in Assembly and Raghubar Das become the Chief Minister of Jharkhand, another politician associated with Jamsedhpur.

Education

There are various Higher Secondary schools in Dumka: * St. Teresa Girls School *Sido Kanhu High School * +2 Zila School * National School * Govt. Girls School * Dumka Central School Some reputed schools which provide secondary level education are: * North Valley International School, * St. Joseph's High School * Bal Bharti School Other schools include Ananda Marg School ( Kurwa), Modern Sainik School, Green Mount Academy and New Life Academy at Kathikund. For higher education Dumka offers many colleges e.g.-

Sido Kanhu Murmu University Sido Kanhu Murmu University (SKMU), formerly Siddhu Kanhu University, is a public university situated in the Santhal Parganas region of Jharkhand state in eastern India. It has its headquarters at Dumka, the second capital of Jharkhand. The univ ...

was established in 1992 at Dumka and covers whole Santhal Pargana. Many colleges are affiliated or constituent to SKMU in the division. St. Xavier's College, Dumka offers various courses. Others include Santhal Pargana College (S.P. college), A.N. College, and S.P. Mahila College, which offer undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate courses. Phulo-Jhano Murmu College of Dairy Technology at Hansdiha, Dumka is Jharkhand's first Dairy Technology college established in 2019. It is affiliated by Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi. GTRTC, Dumka (Government Tool Room and Training Centre) was established in 2007 by the Department of Industries, Government of Jharkahnd with the assistance of Ministry of MSME, Government of India. It offers various training programmes to meet need for technical manpower required in the manufacturing sector. Lahanti Institute of Multiple Skills was established by Evangelical Social Action Forum to provide skills training to unemployed youth in the remote regions of Santhal Pargana. Dumka also have a Govt. Polytechnic College, a Govt. Women's Polytechnic College and also a govt. ITI for technical education. Dumka Engineering College was established as an institution under PPP model between the

Government of Jharkhand The Government of Jharkhand also known as the State Government of Jharkhand, or locally as State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Jharkhand and its 24 districts. It consists of an executive, led by the Gove ...

and Techno India Group. Phulo Jhano Murmu Medical College and Hospital was established in 2019 and it also contains hospitals for serving population of Dumka.

Tourist places

* Basukinath

Temples

* Maluti temple Village -

Maluti Maluti (also Malooti) is a village in Shikaripara CD block in the Dumka subdivision of the Dumka district of Jharkhand, India. It was built under the Baj Basanta dynasty. The area has 72 old temples, which are edifices to the kings of the Pala D ...

is an ancient temple village of Dumka District under Shikaripara police station. It is near the border of West Bengal and Jharkhand State. There are many Shiva, Bishnu, Durga

Terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...

temples. File:Maluti_teracotta_temple.jpg, Maluti teracotta temple File:Maluti_Temple.jpg, Maluti Temple File:Malooti1.jpg, Malooti mandir File:Malooti2.jpg, Malooti mandir File:Malooti3.jpg, Malooti mandir File:Malooti4.jpg, Malooti mandir File:Malooti5.jpg, Malooti mandir File:Malooti6.jpg, Malooti mandir

Tourist spots

* Masanjore is a picnic spot situated 30 km to Dumka. This small village is about 30 km south of Dumka. The Masanjore dam on the

Mayurakshi River Mayurakshi River (also called Mor River) is a major river in Jharkhand and West Bengal, India, with a long history of devastating floods. It has its source on Trikut Hills, about from Deoghar in Jharkhand state. It flows through Jharkhand ...

is a tourist draw. From the counterpart rupee fund created through supplies of wheat and other materials from Canada for use in India, Canada Govt. devoted those funds to further development of the Mayurakshi project and

Massanjore Dam Massanjore Dam is a hydropower generating dam over the Mayurakshi River located at Massanjore near Dumka in the state of Jharkhand, India. The Massanjore dam (also called Canada Dam ), across the Mayurakshi, was commissioned in 1955. It was formall ...

was commissioned in 1955. The Dam is still mentioned as Canada Dam. The dam is bounded by hills and forests. Mayurakshi Bhawan Bungalow and Inspection Bungalow, offer accommodation within the village. By road, Masanjore is connected with Vakreshwara (59 km),

Sainthia Sainthia (formerly Nandipur) is a city and a municipality in Suri Sadar subdivision of Birbhum district in the Indian state of West Bengal. The city is known as business city of Birbhum district. The city is under the jurisdiction of Sainthia po ...

(50 km),

Tarapith Tarapith is a 13-century Hindu temple in Chandipur village Rampurhat II CD block in Rampurhat subdivision of Birbhum district of the Indian state of West Bengal, known for its Tantric temple and its adjoining cremation (Maha Shmashan) groun ...

(70 km),

(62 km) and

(98 km). * Chutonath - It is situated 20 km from the district headquarters. Chutonath is a religious place of Hindu god Lord Chutonath. This festival is celebrated mainly in the month of April. This area has become a tourist attraction. * Dharmasthan - It is temple situated in Tin bazaar at the heart of Dumka Town, it is known for the Goddess

Kali Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In this tra ...

, during the Durga puja 7 days special puja is organised here.

Natural places

* Kurwa park (Shrishti Pahar) - It is a small picnic spot about 5 km to the east of Dumka. It has a park, facilities for boating and a small hill. A temple is also situated here.

Transport

Rail

In July 2011, Dumka was connected to Jasidih with the newly built Jasidih - Dumka railway line. Since then, the city has seen a growing number of three-wheelers on the road. in June 2015, Dumka Rampurhat Train service is also started.

Road

Dumka is connected by road to the neighboring cities such as Deoghar, Bhagalpur, Dhanbad, Rampurhat. Buses are the preferred mode of transport and are run by both government agencies and private operators. Dumka has good connectivity to neighboring districts with buses. There is a luxury night bus service between Dumka - Ranchi and

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

Air

Nearby airports are: Deoghar Airport * Kazi Nazrul airport , Durgapur * Birsa Munda Airport, Ranchi *

Jay Prakash Narayan Airport Jayprakash Narayan International Airport is an international airport serving Patna, the capital of Bihar, India. It is named after the independence activist and political leader, Jayprakash Narayan. It is the 14th busiest airport in India. ...

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport is an international airport located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, serving the Kolkata Metropolitan Area and is the aviation hub for eastern and northeastern India. It is located approximatel ...

References

External links

Official Site

Santal-Tribes of Dumka

Media coverage of Engg college in Dumka.

Tools Room and Training Centre(GTRTC) Dumka
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Anga Desh Cities and towns in Dumka district