History
Jharkhand / Jharkand is the 28th state of the Indian Union. The state of Jharkhand, located in eastern India was carved out from the state of Bihar on November 15, 2000 with Ranchi as its capital. The date is important as it also marks the birth anniversary of the legendary Bhagwan Birsa Munda. Jharkhand shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Orissa to the south, and West Bengal to the east.
Jharkhand spans an area of 79,700 km and the population of the state is over 26,909,428. Nearly seventy five percent of the population of the state is tribes. Sarhul is the most famous festival among the tribes. Forests and woodlands cover a significant 29 percent of the state. Asian elephant, tiger and bison are among the inhabitants of these forests. The main languages spoken in Jharkhand are Santhali, Mundari, Kurukh, Khortha, Nagpuria, Sadri, Khariya, Panchparagnia, Ho, Malto, Karmali, Hindi, Urdu, and Bangla.
The Chota Nagpur Plateau forms most of the area of Jharkhand. The plateau is the source of many rivers including Damodar, Koel and Subarnarekha. This area is also famous for its abundant mineral wealth - iron, coal, uranium, graphite, and magnate are among the minerals found here. Jharkhand is a mineral state and accounts for 40% of mineral wealth of India. The region accounts for 35.5% of the country's known coal reserves, 90% of its cooking coal deposits, 40% of its copper, 22% of its iron ore, 90% of its mica and huge deposits of bauxite, quartz and ceramics. Jharkhand is one the most industrialized regions of the country today. Jamshedpur, Bokaro and Ranchi are centers of heavy industry based on these mineral resources. Jamshedpur is the Industrial Capital of the state. Bokaro is also well known for its Iron and Steel. The extremely mineral-rich state of Jharkhand has the potential to be the economic powerhouse of India in no time.
One of the biggest tourist attractions in Jharkhand is its peaceful nature and blissful remoteness where time seems to have lost its pace and stood still for decades. Jharkhand is immensely abundant in thick verdant forests, plateaus, low rolling hills, ample scenic beauty and diversity, rare herbs, wildlife sanctuaries, precious minerals, placid backwaters, mountainous limpid lakes and rivers, spectacular waterfalls, etc. Jharkhand has both bustling towns and quiet pastoral villages, surrounded by pacific forests, plateaus, hills, coal mines, and Iron and Steel industries. It is a rich land of great scenic beauty, placid backwaters, refreshing and rejuvenating greenery, alien and exotic cultures, and winsome rustic simplicity. Travel Jharkhand will introduce you to some of the most romantic and peaceful idyllic hill stations like the Netarhat region; awe-inspiring waterfall like the gushing Lodh Falls and the Hundru Falls; and the traditional tribal villages that offer a perfect feel of the ancient village life.
Jharkhand historyThe movement for a separate state of Jharkhand is an odyssey spread over a century which is traced back to the early 1900s, when Jaipal Singh, an Indian Hockey captain and Olympian, suggested the idea of a separate state consisting of the southern districts of Bihar. The idea did not become a reality, however, until August 2, 2000, when the Parliament of India passed the Bihar Reorganization Bill to create the state of Jharkhand, carving 18 districts out of Bihar to form Jharkhand state on 15 November 2000. On that day it became the 28th state of India.
According to some historians, there was already a distinct geo-political, cultural entity called Jharkhand even before the period of Magadha Empire. Many scholars now believe that the language used by tribes in the state of Jharkhand is identical to the one used by Harappa people. This has led to a great interest in the deciphering of Harappa inscriptions using rock paintings and language used by these tribes. For a greater part of Vedic age, Jharkhand remained buried. During the age of Mahajanpadas around 500 BC, India saw the emergence of 16 large states that controlled the entire Indian subcontinent. In those days the northern portion of Jharkhand state was a tributary to Magadha (ancient Bihar) Empire and southern part was a tributary to Kalinga (ancient Orissa) Empire. According to legend, Raja Jai Singh Deo of Orissa had declared himself the ruler of Jharkhand in the 13th century.
The Singh Deo's of Orissa have been very instrumental in the early history of Jharkhand. The local tribal heads had developed into barbaric dictators who could govern the province neither fairly nor justly. Consequently, the people of this state approached the more powerful rulers of Jharkhand's neighboring states who were perceived to have a more fair and just governance. This became the turning point in the history of the region wherein rulers from Orissa moved in with their armies and created states that were governed for the benefit of the people and involved their participation, thus ending the barbarism that had marked the region for centuries. The good tribal rulers continued to thrive and were known as the Munda Rajas, and exist to this day. Later, during the Mughal period, the Jharkhand area was known as Kukara. After the year 1765, it came under the control of the British Empire and became formally known under its present title, "Jharkhand" - the Land of "Jungles" (forests) and "Jharis" (bushes).
The colonization of Jharkhand has to mentioned in Jharkhand history. Colonization by the British East India Company resulted in spontaneous resistance from the local people. Almost one hundred years before India’s First War of Independence (1857), adivasis of Jharkhand were already beginning what would become a series of repeated revolts against the British colonial rule. All of these uprisings were quelled by the British through massive deployment of troops across the region.