Raipur

The earliest archaeological evidence from old sites and ruins of fort indicate the existence of Raipur since the 9th century. However, there are enough literary evidences which define the history of Raipur since the time of the Maurya Empire. Raipur district was once part of Southern Kosal and considered to be under the Maurya Empire. Raipur had later been the capital of the Haihaya Kings, controlling the traditional forts of Chhattisgarh for a long time. Satawahana Kings ruled this part till the 2nd-3rd century AD. Samudragupta had conquered this region in the fourth century, but the region came under the sway of Sarabhpuri Kings and then Nala Kings in 5th and 6th centuries. Later on Somavanshi kings had taken the control over this region and ruled with Sirpur as their capital city. The Kalchuri Kings of Tumman ruled this part for a long time making Ratanpur as capital. It is believed that the King Ramachandra of this dynasty established the city of Raipur and subsequently made it the capital of his kingdom.[6]

Another story about Raipur is that King Ramachandra's son Brahmdeo Rai had established Raipur. His capital was Khalwatika (now Khallari). The newly constructed city was named after Brahmdeo Rai as ‘Raipur’. It was during his time in 1402 A.D. that the temple of Hatkeshwar Mahadev was constructed on the banks of the river Kharun which still remains one of the oldest landmarks in Raipur. After the death of king Amarsingh Deo, this region had become the domain of Bhonsle Kings of Nagpur. With the death of Raghuji the III, the territory was assumed by the British government from Bhonsle's and Chhattisgarh was declared a separate Commission with its headquarters at Raipur in 1854. After independence, Raipur district was included in the Central Provinces and Berar. Raipur district became a part of Madhya Pradesh on 1 November 1956 and subsequently became a part of Chhattisgarh on 1 November 2000 with Raipur becoming the capital of the new state.[7]

As of the 2011 census, Raipur Municipal Corporation had a population of 1,010,087, of which 519,286 are males and 490,801 are females —a sex ratio of 945 females per 1000 males, higher than the national average of 940 per 1000.[8] 124,471 children are in the age group of 0–6 years, of which 64,522 are boys and 59,949 are girls —a ratio of 929 girls per 1000 boys. There are 769,593 literates (420,155 males, 349,438 females). The effective literacy was 86.90%; male literacy was 92.39% and female literacy was 81.10%, significantly higher than the national average of 73.00%.[1][9]

The urban agglomeration had a population of 1,122,555, of which males constitute 578,339, females constitute 544,216 —a sex ratio of 941 females per 1000 males and 142,826 children are in the age group of 0–6 years. There are a total of 846,952 literates with an effective literacy rate of 86.45%.[2]

Raipur has become a big educational hub of Chhattisgarh due to the presence of many institutes of national importance in engineering, management, medical and law. It is the only city in India which is home to IIM, NIT, AIIMS, Hidayatullah National Law University (HNLU), and IIIT.[13]

View of the Rajkumar College, Raipur

• Abdul Qadir Raipuri, a spiritual reformer and well known guide of Islam.
• Anurag Basu, noted Bollywood movie director, was born in Raipur and later moved to the neighboring city of Bhilai.
• Habib Tanvir, noted theater artist and playwright, was born in Raipur in 1923.
• Harinath De, Indian historian, scholar and a polyglot, later became the first Indian librarian of the National Library of India (then Imperial Library) spent his childhood and did his initial schooling in Raipur.
• Harshad Mehta, infamous stock broker, spent his childhood in Raipur after his parents moved here from Mumbai.
• K. S. Sudarshan, former chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, was born in Raipur in 1931.
• Lucky Ali, noted Bollywood singer/composer/actor did a part of his schooling from Rajkumar College, Raipur[14]
• Mohammad Hidayatullah, former Chief Justice of India and former acting president of India, received his primary education at the Government High School of Raipur until 1922.
• Ravishankar Shukla, the first Chief Minister of the state of Madhya Pradesh, spent his childhood and was educated in Raipur.
• Shekhar Sen, world-famous musical monoact player, born and raised in Raipur.
• Swami Vivekananda spent two years of his teenage in Raipur from 1877 till 1879 when his father was transferred here.[15]
  

  Swami Vivekananda spent 2 years of his teenage in this building at Raipur
• Teejan Bai, famous traditional performing artist for Pandavani.
• Vallabhacharya, a Hindu theologian and philosopher was born in the village of Champaran about 60 km (37 mi) away from Raipur in 1479
• Veer Narayan Singh,[16][17] freedom fighter, he was jailed at Raipur by the British Army.
• Vidya Charan Shukla, former Union Minister and a nine-term parliamentarian, was born in Raipur

• Raipur Junction railway station
• Swami Vivekananda Airport
• Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium
• Samta colony
• Raman Singh
• Bhupesh Baghel

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Raipur.

• Raipur District Administration
• DPR Chhattisgarh
• DPR Raipur District
• Raipur Land Records