Sabarkantha district

Sabarkantha district is one of the 33 districts of Gujarat state of India, located in the northeastern part of the state. The administrative headquarters of the district are located in Himatnagar.

At a glance
The General outline of the district:


 * Geographical Location: 23.030 to 24.30 N latitude and 72.43 to 73.39 E. longitude
 * Climate: minimum temperature of 9o C in winter, maximum temperature of 49o C in summer
 * Soil: white, black, rocky, stony, sandy and hilly
 * Rivers: Sabarmati, Khari, Meshvo, Hathmati, Harnao, Vatrak and Mazam
 * Crops: paddy, millet, cotton, wheat, sorghum, tobacco, groundnut, castor, raido, vegetables, tomatoes and cauliflower
 * Total villages: 1,389
 * Number of Gram Panchayats: Gram Panchayat - 714, Group Gram Panchayat - 325
 * Municipality: 06
 * National Highway No. 48 passes through here.

Geography
Sabarkantha District is bounded by Rajasthan to the north and northeast, the Banaskantha district and the Mehsana district to the west, the Gandhinagar district to the south and the Aravalli district to the southeast.

It is spread across an area of 5390 km2.

History
During the Western Satrap rule, the region was known as Shwabhra (શ્વભ્ર). The region was under the rule of Satrap Rudradama in 150 A.D. as indicated in Ashoka's Major Rock Edicts at Junagadh. The river of the region was originally named Shwabhravati and is now known as the Sabarmati River. The region is also named in the auxiliary text Gaṇapāṭha of Pāṇini's grammar work, Aṣṭādhyāyī.

During the British Raj, Vijaynagar in the Sabarkantha district was the capital of Vijaynagar State or Pol State, one of the princely states of the Mahi Kantha Agency.

The present-day district of Sabarkantha was formed in 1949 through the merger of 29 princely states and some parts of the British-governed Ahmedabad district. When the former Bombay state was bifurcated in 1960, Sabarkantha became a part of the newly-formed Gujarat.

Economy
In 2006, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Sabarkantha one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). It is one of six districts in Gujarat currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).

Divisions
Sabarkantha district has eight talukas:


 * 1) Himatnagar
 * 2) Idar
 * 3) Prantij
 * 4) Talod
 * 5) Khedbrahma
 * 6) Poshina
 * 7) Vadali
 * 8) Vijaynagar

Demographics
According to the 2011 census, the Sabarkantha district has a population of 2,428,589, roughly equal to the nation of Kuwait or the U.S. state of New Mexico. This gives it a ranking of 183rd in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 328 PD/sqkm. Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 16.56%. Sabarkantha has a sex ratio of 950 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 76.6%.

The residual district had a population of 1,388,671, of which 237,158 (17.08%) lived in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes made up 125,462 (9.03%) and 328,243 (23.64%) of the population, respectively.

There are 1,285,218 Hindus, 90,027 Muslims and 9,990 Jains, within the total population.

Language
At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 97.85% of the population in the district spoke Gujarati and 1.63% spoke Hindi as their first language.

Forts
Idariyo Gadh, Idar is an ancient fort, known as 'Ilva Durga' which finds mention in Mahabharat and in the travelogue of the Rathore Rajputs in the Mahi Kantha Agency at the time of British Raj. It is an example of a naturally protected hill fort, located at the southern edge of the Aravalli Range. At the foothill are the ruins of an old palace with carved balconies. The entry to Idar is through a three story clock tower cum entrance gate, with an arch and semi-circular dome at the top. The road, with a bazaar on both sides, leads to the tower and ends at the foothills of Idar fort.

Villages

 * Pedhmala
 * Takhatgadh Kampa

Vijay Villas Vijaynagar
Vijay Villas Vijaynagar is nested on the foothills of the Aravalli Ranges and is on the edge of the few dense forests left in Gujarat in the Sabarkantha district, which is on the border of Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Darbargadh
About 18 km from Ambaji in Sabarkantha district, Poshina represents traditional village life, populated by the tribal communities of the Garasias, Bhils and the pastoral Rabaris. Poshina is home to a tribal shrine which contains thousands of terracotta horses standing in rows as offerings to the local goddess. Nearby villages have similar horses carved in reverence to her.

The Darbargadh Poshina, once a palace, and now a heritage hotel, has gateways, a massive dome, numerous pillars and arches, a courtyard, gardens, lawns and terraces. It's owned by the descendants of the Chalukyas, whose empire spread through much of Gujarat and Central India in the 12th century. It also contains old Jain sandstone temples of Parshvanath and Neminath and an old Shiva temple.

The Sabarkantha district is host to the Chitra Vichitra Fair in Gunbhakhari village, a couple of weeks after Holi.

Polo Forest
Polo forest is spread across 400 km2, located near Abhapur village in Vijaynagar taluka of Gujarat. Polo forest is surrounded by hills from where the Harnav River is crossing and spread across the forest, ancient Shiv temple, Jain temple and other heritage site located in nearby areas. Every year, the Gujarat government celebrates the Polo festival by organizing travel events which include adventure activities, cycling and camping.

Notable people

 * Umashankar Joshi (1911–1988), writer and scholar, born in Bamna (now Aravalli district).
 * Rashid Patel, Indian cricketer.
 * Zohraben Chavda (1923–1997), Gandhian social reformer and member of the 3rd Loksabha from Banaskantha.
 * Manoj Joshi, actor and comedian, born in Himmatnagar.
 * Praful Khoda Patel, politician and administrator of Diu, Daman and Dadra Nagar Haveli.