Sirmaur district
Encyclopedia
Sirmour is the most south-eastern district of Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...

, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. It is largely mountainous and rural, with 90% of its population living in villages. It includes the towns of Nahan
Nahan
Nahan नाहन is a town in Himachal Pradesh in India and is the headquarters of the Sirmaur District.- Geography :Nahan is located at . It has an average elevation of 920 metre- Demographics :...

 (its capital), as well as the Shivalik Fossil Park
Shivalik Fossil Park
Shivalik Fossil Park is a fossil park situated at Saketi, India, 14 km from Nahan, the district headquarters of Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh....

 at Suketi
Suketi
Suketi is a village in Sirmaur District, Himachal Pradesh, India. It has Asia's oldest Fossil park. At a distance of 21 km from Nahan, it displays lifesize fiber reinforced plastic models of pre-historic animals whose fossil skeletons were unearthed here. The park is the first of its kind in...

, where fossils of over 85 million years old have been found.

There are six tehsil
Tehsil
A Tehsil or Tahsil/Tahasil , also known as Taluk and Mandal, is an administrative division of some country/countries of South Asia....

s in this district, namely Nahan, Renuka, Shilai, Rajgarh, Pachhad and Paonta Sahib
Paonta Sahib
Paonta Sahib पौंटा साहिब is a small beautiful town in the south of Sirmour district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It is an important religious spot for Sikhs and a bustling industrial town...

.

Agriculture is the backbone of economy here. Farmers of Sirmour produce potato and ginger. Sirmour is also known for its good quality of peach that comes from the Rajgarh region which is also called the Peach Bowl. Sirmour is known for growing tons of fruits every year. Dhaula Kuan near Paonta Sahib is known for its Govt operated fruit research centre. Sirmour district is significantly capable of growing both Apple and Mangos on its land. Tomato is also becoming choice for farmers these days. Village Lana-cheta is known for its fertile land and farmers here grow grains as first option.
The Giri River divides the district into two almost-equal parts: Giripar and Giriwar.

The most commonly practised religion in the district is Hinduism. People worship deities (devtas) just like people in many other districts of the state.
Hindi and Pahari are the languages spoken here.
Nati is the popular folk dance.

History

Sirmour (also spelled as Sirmour) was an independent kingdom in India
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...

, founded in 1616 by Raja Rasaloo of Jaisalmer
Jaisalmer
Jaysalmer , nicknamed "The Golden City", is a town in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located west from the state capital Jaipur. It was once known as Jaisalmer state. The town stands on a ridge of yellowish sandstone, crowned by a fort, which contains the palace and several ornate Jain...

 whose one of the ancestor's name was Sirmour. It became a part of Greater Nepal
Greater Nepal
Greater Nepal is a concept referring to the state of Nepal extending beyond present boundaries to include territories ceded to the British East India Company under the Sugauli Treaty that ended the Anglo-Nepalese War in 1814–16...

, before becoming a princely state
Princely state
A Princely State was a nominally sovereign entitity of British rule in India that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule such as suzerainty or paramountcy.-British relationship with the Princely States:India under the British Raj ...

 in British India, located in the region that is now the Sirmour district of Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...

. The state was also known as Nahan, after its main city, Nahan
Nahan
Nahan नाहन is a town in Himachal Pradesh in India and is the headquarters of the Sirmaur District.- Geography :Nahan is located at . It has an average elevation of 920 metre- Demographics :...

. Sirmur was ruled by the chiefs of Rajput
Rajput
A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...

 lineage, who used the title "Raja
Raja
Raja is an Indian term for a monarch, or princely ruler of the Kshatriya varna...

".

Economy

In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj
Ministry of Panchayati Raj
The Ministry of Panchayati Raj is a branch of the Government of India looking after the ongoing process of decentralization and local governance in the States....

 named Sirmaur one of the country's 250 most backward districts
Poverty in India
Poverty is widespread in India, with the nation estimated to have a third of the world's poor. According to a 2005 World Bank estimate, 41.6% of the total Indian population falls below the international poverty line of 1.25 a day...

 (out of a total of 640
Districts of India
A district is an administrative division of an Indian state or territory. Districts are further subdivided, in some cases into Sub-Divisions, and otherwise directly into tehsils or talukas.District officials include:...

). It is one of the two districts in Himachal Pradesh currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).

Demographics

According to the 2011 census
2011 census of India
The 15th Indian National census was conducted in two phases, houselisting and population enumeration. Houselisting phase began on April 1, 2010 and involved collection of information about all buildings...

  has a population
Demographics of India
The demographics of India are inclusive of the second most populous country in the world, with over 1.21 billion people , more than a sixth of the world's population. Already containing 17.5% of the world's population, India is projected to be the world's most populous country by 2025, surpassing...

 of 530,164 , roughly equal to the nation of Cape Verde
Cape Verde
The Republic of Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, 570 kilometres off the coast of Western Africa...

. This gives it a ranking of 542nd in India (out of a total of 640
Districts of India
A district is an administrative division of an Indian state or territory. Districts are further subdivided, in some cases into Sub-Divisions, and otherwise directly into tehsils or talukas.District officials include:...

). The district has a population density of 188 PD/sqkm . Its population growth rate
Family planning in India
Family planning in India is based on efforts largely sponsored by the Indian government. In the 1965-2009 period, contraceptive usage has more than tripled and the fertility rate has more than halved , but the national fertility rate is still high enough to cause long-term population growth...

 over the decade 2001-2011 was 15.61 %. Sirmaur has a sex ratio
Sex ratio
Sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population. The primary sex ratio is the ratio at the time of conception, secondary sex ratio is the ratio at time of birth, and tertiary sex ratio is the ratio of mature organisms....

 of 915 females
Women in India
The status of women in India has been subject to many great changes over the past few millennia. From equal status with men in ancient times through the low points of the medieval period, to the promotion of equal rights by many reformers, the history of women in India has been eventful...

 for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate
Literacy in India
Literacy in India is key for socio-economic progress, and the Indian literacy rate grew to 74.04% in 2011 from 12% at the end of British rule in 1947. Although this was a greater than sixfold improvement, the level is well below the world average literacy rate of 84%, and India currently has the...

 of 79.98 %.

External links

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