Bharatpur district

The place was ruled by an Indo-Scythian tribal community of Sinsinwar clan, who came to India in 100 AD. Gohad city was built in 1505 AD and developed as a famous Jat state which was later ruled by the Marathas. In 1733 AD, Maharaja Suraj Mal built the city of Bharatpur. It is believed that it was a well-fortified city under his rule. Bharatpur was carved out from Mewat and got its name from Lord Bharat (Lord Rama’s brother).[1]

Ranas of Gohad and the British signed a treaty and British helped the Jats to restore their rule from the Marathas in 1804 AD. In 1805, British signed a treaty with Marathas and the region came under the Maratha rule again.[2]

When Bharatpur was a princely state, it was the only political entity ever to have a chartreuse colored flag.[3]

The first person to top the state board with first position and the first I.A.S officer from the district was Deepak Trivedi, a 1985 batch officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre.

Bharatpur, also known as ‘Eastern Gate of Rajasthan’, is located in the Braj region 180 km away from Delhi. Geographically, the district is situated between 26° 22' and 27° 83' N and 76° 53' and 78° 17' E and its average height above sea level is around 183 m. Bharatpur city is the district headquarters and is also known by the name of Lohagarh. It is situated very close to the main cities of Rajasthan and other states. Distance between Jaipur and Bharatpur is around 178 km whereas Agra lies at a distance of 55 km from the district. Mathura is located at a distance of 34 km. Bharatpur touches Gurgaon of Haryana in the north, Mathura in the east, Agra of Uttar Pradesh and Dholpur of Rajasthan in the south and Dausa and Alwar in the west.[4]

There are only three main seasonal rivers in this District, namely Ban Ganga, Rooparel and Gambhir. Ban Ganga starts from Ramgarh Dam of Jaipur district , passes from Bharatpur and meets in river Gambhir near tehsil Bayana of District Bharatpur. Gambhir river starts from Panchna Dam of district Karauli and after passing from Bharatpur meets River Yamuna in Uttar Pradesh. Rooparel River starts from hills of district Alwar and enters into Bharatpur from tehsil Kaman. Instead of this, a Dam, namely, Bandh Baretha is situated near the village Baretha on river Kakund which starts from the hills of district Karauli. The water of this dam is used for drinking and irrigation purpose for this district. The capacity of this dam is 684.00 million cusik feet (29 Gaze feet).[5]

Bharatpur District has ten revenue subdivisions and eleven tehsils. They have the same names and borders, except that Weir Subdivision is divided into Weir Tehsil and Bhusawar Tehsil. The other ten tehsils are: Bayana, Bharatpur, Deeg, Kaman, Kumher, Nadbai, Nagar, Pahari, Uchchain and Roopwas (Rupbas).[6]

In the 2011 census, the Bharatpur District had a population of 2,548,462,[7] roughly equal to the nation of Kuwait[8] or the US state of Nevada.[9] This gave it a ranking of 166th among districts of India (out of a total of 640).[7] The district had a population density of 503 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,300/sq mi).[7] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 21.32%.[7] Bharatpur had a sex ratio of 877 females for every 1000 males,[7] and a literacy rate of 71.16%.[7]

At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 98.26% of the population in the district spoke Hindi, 0.90% Punjabi and 0.71% Urdu as their first language.[10]

The nearest airport is situated at Agra, which is 56-kms from Bharatpur. Delhi is 184 Kms from Bharatpur. Regular rail services connect Bharatpur with all the major cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur and Agra. The Bharatpur railway station is about 5 Kms from the park/bird sanctuary.[17]

Bharatpur District is famous for Keoladeo National Park, a major wintering area for migratory birds. Established as a duck-hunting reserve by the Maharajas of Bharatpur, it was known as the best duck shooting resort in the British Empire. The site was declared a bird sanctuary in 1956 and later upgraded to National Park. UNESCO has listed it as a world heritage site[18]. Keoladeo National Park attracts 364 species of birds, including many from India, but also from Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Siberia, China and Tibet, including the rare Siberian crane. As the monsoons arrive and the wetlands and marshes start to fill with water, birds start pouring into the park. Other points of interest include Lohagarh Fort, Bharatpur Palace, Jawahar Burj and Fateh Burj.[19]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bharatpur district.

• Official website
• Bharatpur History
• "District Bharatpur: Gram Panchayat, Samiti and Ward Map". Excise Department, Government of Rajasthan. Archived from the original on 20 May 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2013.