Salyan District () IPA: ʌljan in Karnali Province, is one of the seventy-seven

districts of Nepal Districts in Nepal are second level of administrative divisions after provinces. Districts are subdivided into municipalities and rural municipalities. There are seven provinces and 77 districts in Nepal. After the 2015 reform of administrat ...

. Salyan covers an area of with a population of 213,500 in 2001 and 241,716 in 2011. The district's administrative center is named Salyan or ''Salyan Khalanga'', today it is part of Shaarada Municipality. The district is known for its

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

temples including

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

temples in Chhayachhetra and Laxmipur, and the

Devi ''Devī'' (; ) is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is Deva (Hinduism), ''deva''. ''Devi'' and ''deva'' mean 'heavenly, divine, anything of excellence', and are also gender-specific terms for a deity in Hinduism. The concept ...

temple at Khairabang in Shaarada municipality, one of nine in Nepal.

History

Salyan was one of the ''

Baise Rajya Baise Rajya () were sovereign and intermittently allied petty kingdoms on the Indian subcontinent, ruled by Khas, Khasas from History of Nepal, medieval Nepal, located around the Karnali River, Karnali-Bheri River, Bheri river basin of modern-day ...

'', a confederation of 22 petty kingdoms in the Karnali (Ghagra) region. It was ruled by Samala Shahis before unification. About 1760 CE all these kingdoms were annexed by the

Shah Dynasty The Shah dynasty (), also known as the Shahs of Gorkha or the Royal House of Gorkha, was the ruling Chaubise Thakuri dynasty and the founder of the Gorkha Kingdom from 1559 to 1768 and later the unified Kingdom of Nepal from 1768 to 28 May ...

during the unification of Nepal.

Etymology

''Salyan'' derives from the Nepali word ''sallo'' which means pine tree or conifer.

Geography and climate

Although Salyan is considered a hilly district, its southwest salient is actually outside the Pahari-inhabited hill region, in the lower

Siwalik Hills The Sivalik Hills, also known as Churia Hills, are a mountain range of the outer Himalayas. The literal translation of "Sivalik" is 'tresses of Shiva'. The hills are known for their numerous fossils, and are also home to the Soanian Middle Pale ...

that are more an extension of the

Terai The Terai or Tarai is a lowland region in parts of southern Nepal and northern India that lies to the south of the outer foothills of the Himalayas, the Sivalik Hills and north of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. This lowland belt is characterised by ...

. The Babai River flows through the southwestern Siwaliks section after draining Dang Valley. A tributary ''Sharad Khola'' drains the eastern half of Salyan's hill region—including the district center, then exits these hills by cutting through the Mahabharat Range to its confluence with the Babai. The western half of Salyan's hill region is drained by the Bheri.

Demographics

At the time of the

2011 Nepal census Nepal conducted a widespread national census in 2011 by the Nepal Central Bureau of Statistics. Working in cooperation with the 58 municipalities and the 3,915 Village Development Committees at a district level, they recorded data from all the m ...

, Salyan District had a population of 242,444. As first language, 99.4% spoke Nepali, 0.3% Magar, 0.1%

Newar Newar (; , endonym: Newa; , Pracalit script: ), or Nepami, are primarily inhabitants in Kathmandu Valley of Nepal and its surrounding areas, and the creators of its historic heritage and civilisation. Page 15. Newars are a distinct linguisti ...

, 0.1%

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

and 0.1% other languages. Ethnicity/caste: 57.1% were

Khas Khas peoples or Khas Tribes, (; ) popularly known as Khashiya are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group native to the Himalayan region of the Indian subcontinent, in what is now the South Asian country of Nepal, as well as the Indian stat ...

Chhetri Chhetri (Kshetri, Kshettri, Kshetry or Chhettri), ( ; IAST: ''Kṣetrī'') historically called Kshettriya or Kshetriya or Khas are Nepali language, Nepali speaking people historically associated with the warrior class and administration, some of ...

, 15.1% Magar, 11.8%

Kami are the Deity, deities, Divinity, divinities, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forc ...

, 3.5% Sanyasi/Dasnami, 3.5%

Thakuri The Thakuri (Nepali: ठकुरी) . This term is Nepalese title ""Thakuri"", which translates to 'master of the estate'. The term denotes the royal descendants of kings of Baise Rajya and Chaubisi Rajya. During the height of their influence ...

, 3.0%

Damai Damai ( ; IAST: ''Damāĩ'') is an occupational caste found among indigenous people comprising 45 subgroups. Their surnames take after the subgroup they belong to. People belonging to this caste are traditionally tailors and musicians capable o ...

/Dholi, 2.6% Hill Brahmin, 1.8% Sarki, 0.6%

, 0.3% Badi, 0.1% Gaine, 0.1%

Gurung Gurung (exonym; ) or Tamu (endonym; Gurung language, Gurung: ) are a Tibetan people, Tibetan ethnic group living in the hills and mountains of Gandaki Province of Nepal. Gurungs speak Tamu kyi which is a Sino-Tibetan language derived from the ...

, 0.1% Kumal, 0.1%

Musalman Musalman may refer to: *Mussulman, variant of an archaic term for "Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, th ...

, 0.1% other Terai and 0.1% others. Religion: 97.7% were

, 1.3%

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

, 0.8%

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

, 0.1%

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

and 0.1% others. Literacy: 63.9% could read and write, 3.5% could only read and 32.5% could neither read nor write.

Population by census 1971–2021

Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8) ImageSize = width:350 height:303 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:300000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:50000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:1000 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1971 text:1971 bar:1981 text:1981 bar:1991 text:1991 bar:2001 text:2001 bar:2011 text:2011 bar:2021 text:2021 PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:left bar:1971 from: 0 till:141457 bar:1981 from: 0 till:152063 bar:1991 from: 0 till:181785 bar:2001 from: 0 till:213500 bar:2011 from: 0 till:241716 bar:2021 from: 0 till:238668 PlotData= bar:1971 at:141457 fontsize:XS text:141,457 shift:(-14,5) bar:1981 at:152063 fontsize:XS text:152,063 shift:(-14,5) bar:1991 at:181785 fontsize:XS text:181,785 shift:(-14,5) bar:2001 at:213500 fontsize:XS text:213,500 shift:(-14,5) bar:2011 at:241716 fontsize:XS text:241,716 shift:(-14,5) bar:2021 at:238668 fontsize:XS text:238,668 shift:(-14,5)

Administration

The district consists of ten

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

, out of which three are urban municipalities and seven are rural municipalities: * Shaarda Municipality * Bagchaur Municipality * Bangad Kupinde Municipality * Kalimati Rural Municipality * Tribeni Rural Municipality * Kapurkot Rural Municipality * Chatreshwari Rural Municipality * Kumakh Rural Municipality * Siddha Kumakh Rural Municipality * Darma Rural Municipality

Former village development committees

Prior to the restructuring of the district, Saylan District consisted of the following municipalities and village development committees: * Badagaun * Bafukhola * Bajh Kanda * Bame Banghad * Bhalchaur *

Chande The ''chande'' is a drum used in the traditional and classical music of South India and particularly in Yakshagana theatre art of Karnataka. It follows the Yakshagana Tala system. The rhythms are based on pre-classical music forms that Carnat ...

* Chhayachhetra * Damachaur * Dandagaun * Darmakot * Devasthal * Jhajhari Pipal * Dhakadam * Dhanwang * Hiwalcha * Jhimpe * Jimali * Kabhrechaur * Kajeri * Kalagaun * Kalimati Kalche * Kalimati Rampur * Kavra * Khalanga * Korbang Jhimpe * Kotbara * Kotmala * Kubhinde * Laxmipur * Lekhpokhara * Majh Khanda * Marke * Marmaparikanda * Mulkhola * Nigalchula * Phalawang * PipalNeta * Rim * Saijuwal Takura * Sarpani Garpa * Sibaratha * Siddheswar * Sinwang * Suikot * Syanikhal * Tharmare * Tribeni ** Halde Now kalimati Rular muncipatity 2

Maps

Besides the United Nations/Nepal map of districts and VDCs shown above, their ''Map Centre'' has a downloadable PDF version adding municipalities, roads and water detail: : From 1992 to 2002 a definitive series of large scale topographic maps were surveyed and published through a joint project by

Government of Nepal The Government of Nepal () is the central executive authority of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. The government is led by the Prime Minister of Nepal, prime minister (K. P. Sharma Oli, K.P. Oli since 15 July 2024) who selects all the o ...

Survey Department and

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

's Ministry for Foreign Affairs contracting through the ''FinnMap'' consulting firm. Japan International Cooperation Agency substituted for FinnMap in

Lumbini Zone Lumbini () was one of the fourteen zones of Nepal until the restructure of zones to provinces. Within the zone is the city of Lumbini, widely believed to be the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism and renowned as a major ...

. Topographic sheets at 1:25,000 scale covering 7.5 minutes latitude and longitude map the Terai and Middle Mountains. Less populated high mountain regions are on 15 minute sheets at 1:50,000. JPG scans can be downloade
here:
ref> These sheets cover Salyan District: *2881 08D ''Bajedichaur'' (1999) *2881 11D ''Chisapani Mulatati'' (1997) *2881 12A ''Mehelkuna'' (1999) *2881 12B ''Botechaur'' (1999) *2881 12C ''Ghuiyabari'' (1998) *2881 12D ''Baluwa'' (1998) *2881 16A ''Dhakeri'' (1997) *2881 16B ''Dhobaghat'' (1997) *2882 05A ''Karkigau'' (1999) *2882 05C ''Salli Bajar'' (1999) *2882 05D ''Swikot'' (1999) *2882 06C ''Pharulachaur'' (1999) *2882 06D ''Simruth'' (1999) *2882 09A ''Kubhinde Daha'' (1999) *2882 09B ''Khalanga'' (1999) *2882 09C ''Suketal'' (1999) *2882 09D ''Shitalpati'' (1998) *2882 10A ''Tharmare'' (1999) *2882 10B ''Sukhaodar'' (1999) *2882 10C ''Luham'' (1998) *2882 10D ''Nerpa'' (1999) *2882 13A ''Hamsapur'' (1998) *2882 13B ''Panchakule'' (1998) *2882 14A ''Tulsipur'' (1999) *2882 14B ''Dubrin'' (1999)

References

External links

* {{Coord, 28, 22, N, 82, 10, E, type:adm2nd_region:NP_source:enwiki, display=title * Districts of Nepal established during Rana regime or before Districts of Karnali Province