Sagar, Madhya Pradesh

Sagar is a city, municipal corporation and administrative headquarter in Sagar district of the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India. The city is situated on a spur of the Vindhya Range, 1758 ft above sea-level around 172 km northeast of the state capital, Bhopal.

Sagar has been selected as one of the hundred Indian cities to be developed as a smart city under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flagship Smart Cities Mission.

History
The ancient Indian kingdom of Chedi had its capital at Suktimati, which was located at Sagar during contemporary times. The history of Sagar District before 1022 A.D. is generally unknown; after that, records are available. Sagar was under the rule of Ahir Rajas and their capital was at Garhpehra. In 1660, Udenshah founded the present town of Sagar.

After 1735, the city came under the rule of the Peshwas. When Chhatrasal gave a region (Subha) to Bajirao, he appointed Govindpant Kher (later Bundele) as an administrator. Govindpant founded the city of Sagar next to the Sagar Lake and made the city his capital. In 1818, a large part of the Sagar district was ceded by Peshwa Baji Rao II to the British East India Company. Administratively, the position of Sagar and the neighbouring territories underwent frequent changes.

The Saugor territory was first placed under the superintendent of Political Affairs of Bundelkhand. Later, in 1820, this area, called the 'Saugor and Nerbudda Territories,' was placed under the administration of an agent to the governor-general. The region fell under the North-Western Province, following its constitution in 1835. In 1842 occurred the Bundela rising, the quelling of which demanded more direct attention from the Governor-General. But the order was restored in the following year, and the Saugor and Nerbudda Territories were again placed under the political control of an Agent named to the Governor-General. The arrangement, however, was not found to be satisfactory, and these territories were once again restored to the North-Western Provinces in 1853. After that in 1861, the Saugor and Nerbudda territories and the Nagpur state formed a Commissioner's Province called Central Provinces.

Geography
Sagar has an average elevation of 427 metres (1401 ft) and is located in the central part of India, just north of the upper limit of the Vindhya mountain ranges.here is a lake in middle of the city.

Climate
Sagar has humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cwa) with hot summers, a somewhat cooler monsoon season and cool winters. Very heavy rainfalls in the monsoon season from June to September.

Demographics
As per 2011 Indian Census, Sagar municipal corporation limit had a total population of 274,556, of which 143,425 were males and 131,131 were females. The population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 32,610. The total number of literates in Sagar was 216,422, which constituted 78.8% of the population with male literacy of 82.6% and female literacy of 74.6%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Sagar was 89.5%, of which male literacy rate was 93.7% and the female literacy rate was 84.8%. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes population was 54,432 and 3,052 respectively. Sagar had 52833 households in 2011.

Tehsils and community development blocks of Sagar

 * Banda
 * Bina
 * Garhakota
 * Malthone
 * Rehli
 * Sagar
 * Khurai
 * Shahgarh
 * Rahatgarh
 * Deori
 * Kesli
 * Jaisinagar

Economy
The nominal GDP of the district was estimated at Rs. 30,517 crores in 2020–21. It's 7th Largest District economy of Madhya Pradesh. Agriculture forms the backbone of the Sagar economy. Many districts completely rely on the income generated from agriculture taken up in the city. The farmers use the latest technologies pertaining to the sector of agriculture so that a healthy crop is obtained. A strong agriculture economy has led to an improvement in the living standards of people living in the city of Sagar. The chief crops grown here are chickpeas, wheat, oilseeds, and soghum. Sagar is also into poultry farming, animal husbandry, dairy farming, fisheries, forestry, and cattle fairs.
 * Agriculture

With many proposed large and small scale industries, the economy of Sagar is bound to grow at a fast pace. It is also a major hub for useful minerals. The stainless steel complex is also in Sagar. The lakha banjara lake in the centre of the city provides a wonderful panorama. Dr. Hari Singh Gour central university First and one of the oldest universities of Madhya Pradesh established in 1946 is in Sagar. Due to its scenic beauty and proximity to Khajuraho tourism also contributes to strengthening its economy. In Madhya Pradesh, Sagar is the sixteenth largest district in size. These small scale industries mainly manufacture steel utensils, detergent cake, and powder, agricultural equipment, welding electrodes, plastic goods, alum, caustic soda, solvent plant, granitbillie stone, pipes, acrylic sheets, PVC cable, acrylic products, incense sticks, all-purpose flour, etc. Bidi (A traditional Tobacco used in India) making is one o
 * Industry

Tourist places
Sagar has a noatble tourist places.
 * Garhpehra Temple :- This is also called old Sagar,was the capital of the Dangi Kingdom. It is situated six miles north of Sagar on Jhansi road. Gadphara still has some historical remains. The fort build on a low range of hills, is approached by a steep road leading to bastion, a rough gateway and a white washed temple on a platform. There are remains of a summer residence called a Shish Mahal or Glass palace of the Dangi Rular. It is a square building very much like a Muslim tomb consisting of two stores, each room having a veranda all around. The glassed tiles of various colors are fixed alternatively in the panel of the battlement and in the ribbing of the domes. It is attributed to Raja Jaisingh who is supposed to have live about 200 years ago. In the neighbour hood is a tomb which is treated as an object of worship.Below the hill toward the north is small lake called Motital.
 * Eran :- An ancient site lying at the junction of Bina and Reuta rivers, 6 miles from Bamora station on the central railways. By its natural situation, Eran is at the gate of Bundelkhand on one side and Malwa at the other. The name is derived from the abundant growth of ERAKA, a sort of grass of emollient and diligent properties. The village of Eran has a most interesting collection of archaeological relics. There is a fort in rulings attributed to the Dangis, who formerly dominated over this region. The site had a number of Vishnu shrines but nothing now remains except some of the lower courses of  masonry, four standing columns with there architrave and some beams and part of door ways. The Principal statue is a colossal Varaha about 10 feet high. The excavation conducted by the Department of Archaeology of the University of Sagar have yielded relics similar to those found at Maheshwar and Tripuri showing that Eran formed the Northern most limit of the Chalcolithic culture in Madhya Pradesh.
 * Rangir :- A village situated 10 miles from Rehli and 21 miles from Sagar on Sagar Rehli Road on the bank of the Dahar river. It was site of an engagement between Chatrasak Bundela and Khaliq, the Mugal Fauzdar of Damoni. On the adjoining Hill stands a temple of Harsiddi Devi in whose honour fairs are held in the months of Asvina and Chaitra.The Chaitra fair is an important one and large number of people visit the temple. The image of the goddess is held in great veneration and people believe that she changes her form thrice  every day, as a child at dawn, a young girl at mid day and an old women in the evening. A government rest house of forest department is located here
 * Khimlasa
 * Rahatgarh Waterfall
 * Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary
 * Sagar lake
 * Aabchand Caves :- In the ravines of river Gadheri,ensconced in the dense growth of Abchand reserve forest ( 23 45′ N and 78 55′ E), about 22 miles east of Sagar on the Sagar-Damoh road, exist about a dozen rock-cut caves with paintings of the same type as found at Singhanpur and Adamgarh.The largest cave is about 40 feet in length and its walls contain more than a dozen paintings showing activities of the pre-historic men.The hunting scenes represent individual or group of hunters. They are equipped with bows and arrows, spears and other weapons. The game animals shown in these paintings,are bison's, bulls,deer antelopes, tiger, boars etc. In one of the Shelters a fierce fight between two tigers is fitfully depicted.The primitive people seem to have amused themselves with songs and dances. At one place seven figures are shown dancing hand-in- hand in a row. In front of them are played instruments like drums, dhapli and flutes. The colours used in these paintings are yellow, green, red, black, and white. The red colour shows different shades, dark orche and pink. The super- imposition or overlapping is also clear in some cases. There are alos some symbolic representations such as the swastikia, taurine, cross and the tree within railing symbols.
 * Mandi BamoraBamora, Tehsil Khurai :– A large village, lying 23 degree 35’N and 79 degree 05’E is a railway station on the Bina-Itarsi line of the Central Railway. There is a ruined temple built of stone without mortar similar to the one at Janjgir. The date of erection is not known, but it is believed to be very ancient. It contains a small stone image of a Varaha and one of a horse with rider. In one corner is an image of Shiva placed there since the temple passed out of its original use. There are also Buddhist ruins in the village.

Cuisine
Sweets in Sagar's local delicacy include Chironji ki Barfi, Surkhi ki Mangodi, Gujrati Namkeen.

By Air
Sagar have own airport named Dhana Airport The apron area can accommodate 10–12 small aircraft. It also has a helipad.the airfield is often used by Madhya Pradesh Government Aviation and VIP charter aircraft as well as Medical evacuation flights.

The nearest Domestic Airport is Dumna Airport, Jabalpur roughly four hour drive from Sagar. The second nearest Domestic Airport is Raja Bhoj Airport, Bhopal, 200 km from the city. It is well connected to a spectrum of cities like Varanasi, Delhi, Lucknow, Kathmandu, Bhopal, Hyderabad and Kolkata via Indigo, Air India, Spice Jet, Jet Konnect and Jet Airways.

By Rail
It has its own Railway Station named as Sagar Railway Station which is connected to the major cities of Madhya Pradesh. It is well connected to the cities such as Delhi, Gwalior, Agra, Mathura, Jammu, Amritsar, Mumbai, Bangalore, Bhopal, Chennai, Goa and Hyderabad.

By Road
Sagar is 21 km from Karrapur, 29 km from Girwar, 45 km from Rehli, 64 km from Garhakota, 83 km from Damoh, 160 km from Jabalpur, 181 km from Bhopal, 208 km from Jhansi, 375 km from Indore through Madhya Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (MPSRTC) and some private travel services.

Education

 * Bundelkhand Medical College, established in 2007
 * Dr. Hari Singh Gour University, formerly known as Sagar University, was founded on 18 July 1946 by Hari Singh Gour.
 * Indira Gandhi Engineering College, Sagar, established in 1981
 * Swami Vivekananda University, established in 2011
 * Sagar Homoeopathic Medical College, established in 2002

Notable people

 * Hari Singh Gour, pleader, jurist, parliamentarian, social reformer, First Vice-Chancellor of Delhi University
 * Sudha Jain, Indian politician
 * Gopal Bhargava, Indian politician
 * Govind Namdev, Television and film actor
 * Mahendra Mewati, Theatre and film actor
 * Mukesh Tiwari, Theatre and film actor
 * Virendra Kumar Khatik, Indian politician