Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Pradesh to the northwest, Maharashtra to the southwest, Jharkhand to the northeast, Odisha to the east, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to the south. Formerly a part of Madhya Pradesh, it was granted statehood on 1 November 2000 with Raipur as the designated state capital.
The Sitabenga Caves in Chhattisgarh, one of the earliest examples of theatre architecture in India, are dated to the Mauryan period of 3rd century BCE.
The region was split between rivaling dynasties from the sixth to twelfth centuries, and parts of it were briefly under the Chola dynasty in the 11th century. Eventually, most of Chhattisgarh was consolidated under the Kingdom of Haihaiyavansi, whose rule lasted for 700 years until they were brought under Maratha suzerainty in 1740. The Bhonsles of Nagpur incorporated Chhattisgarh into the Kingdom of Nagpur in 1758 and ruled until 1845, when the region was annexed by the East India Company, and was later administered under the Raj until 1947 as the Chhattisgarh Division of the Central Provinces. Some areas constituting present-day Chhattisgarh were princely states that were later merged into Madhya Pradesh. The States Reorganisation Act, 1956 placed Chhattisgarh in Madhya Pradesh, and it remained a part of that state for 44 years.
Chhattisgarh is one of the fastest-developing states in India. Its Gross State Domestic Product is , with a per capita GSDP of . A resource-rich state, it has the third largest coal reserves in the country and provides electricity, coal, and steel to the rest of the nation. It also has the third largest forest cover in the country after Madhya Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh with over 41.21% of the state covered by forests.

Etymology

There are several theories as to the origin of the name Chhattisgarh, which in ancient times was known as Dakshina Kosala, the native place of Rama's mother Kausalya. "Chhattisgarh" was popularised later during the time of the Maratha Empire and was first used in an official document in 1795. The Bastar region was previously referred to as and.
The most popular theory claims that Chhattisgarh takes its name from the 36 ancient forts in the area. The old state had 36 demesnes : Ratanpur, Vijaypur, Kharound, Maro, Kautgarh, Nawagarh, Sondhi, Aukhar, Padarbhatta, Semriya, Champa, Lafa, Chhuri, Kenda, Matin, Aparora, Pendra, Kurkuti-kandri, Raipur, Patan, Simaga, Singarpur, Lavan, Omera, Durg, Saradha, Sirasa, Menhadi, Khallari, Sirpur, Figeswar, Rajim, Singhangarh, Suvarmar, Tenganagarh and Akaltara. However, most historians disagree with this theory as 36 forts have not been found and identified.
According to the opinion of Hiralal, it is said that at one time there were 36 strongholds in this area, that is why its name was Chhattisgarh. But even after the increase in the number of strongholds, there was no change in the name, Chhattisgarh is the State of India which has been given the status of 'Mahtari'. There are two regions in India which are named for special reasons – one was 'Magadha' which became "Bihar" due to the abundance of Buddhism viharas and the other was 'Dakshina Kosala' which became "Chhattisgarh" due to the inclusion of thirty-six strongholds.
Another view, more popular with experts and historians, is that Chhattisgarh is the corrupted form of Chedisgarh meaning Raj or "Empire of the Chedis". In ancient times, Chhattisgarh region had been part of the Chedi dynasty of Kalinga, in modern Odisha. In the medieval period up to 1803, a major portion of present eastern Chhattisgarh was part of the Sambalpur Kingdom of Odisha.

History

Ancient and medieval history

During post Vedic period the Chhattisgarh region south-east to Daśārṇas was referred as Pulinda. Pulinda tribe were dominating tribe in this region.
Surguja District of Chhattisgarh is notable for finding of Mauryan and Nanda period coins. Few gold and silver coins of the Nanda - Mauryan ages, picked up at Akaltara and Thathari of the adjacent district of Bilaspur. Another major discovery was Sirpur of Chhattisgarh. According to the Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsang, Ashoka erected Buddhist stupas in Shripura, the ancient capital of Dakshina Kosala.
Sitabenga Caves are one of the earliest examples of theatre architecture in India located on Ramgarh hill of Chhattisgarh dated to Mauryan period of 3rd century BCE.
Jogimara Caves contain ancient Brahmi inscription and the oldest painting known in India. The inscription can be translated as either a love proclamation by a girl or a dancer-painter creating a cave theatre together. In ancient times, this region was known as Dakshina Kosala. This area is also mentioned in Ramayana and Mahabharata.One of the earliest statues of Vishnu has been excavated from Shunga period site at Malhar.
The plains region of Chhattisgarh was formerly under the Mauryas, although they likely did not exercise much direct control in the region. After the collapse of the Mauryas, Kharavela of the Mahameghavahana dynasty, which was based in neighbouring Kalinga, took over most of Dakshina Kosala. Later in the third century, the Sathavahanas took over Dakshina Kosala, but this was contested and it returned to Megha rule. Mahendra of Dakshina Kosala, who is believed to be identified with a Megha monarch, was the ruler when Samudragupta carried out his Dakshinapatha conquests and conquered Dakshina Kosala, as recorded in Gupta inscriptions in the early 4th century CE. Afterwards the Guptas held control over Chhattisgarh through vassal rulers, and shared control with the contemporaneous Vakatakas. In the late 5th century CE, the Vakataka ruler Harisena recorded his conquest of the Dakshina Kosala region.
After the death of Vakataka ruler Harisena, the Rajarsitulyakula dynasty centred at Arang, former Gupta feudatories, took power and briefly ruled all of Dakshina Kosala. They were contemporaneous with the Nala dynasty, which was centered on the Bastar and Koraput regions. Both these dynasties were succeeded by the Sharabhpurias in the early 6th century, who were likely also former Gupta vassals who had their capital at present-day Sirpur. The Panduvanshis of Mekala, centered in the northern Chhattisgarh plain, and the Panduvamshis of Dakshina Kosala both ruled parts of Chhattisgarh, but the chronology of these kingdoms is not certain. These kingdoms variously controlled the region from the 6th to 8th centuries CE. There is some evidence that the Somavanshis, who later gained power in Kalinga, originated from the Panduvanshis of Dakshina Kosala and were driven out by the Kalachuris of Tripuri in the late 8th century. The Kalachuris of Tripuri held on to the region for the next 200 years, splitting off their territories in Kosala in the late 10th century to be given to a vassal branch which also called itself Kalachuris.
The Kalachuris of Ratnapura, who were these vassals, became independent at the start of the 11th century to rule and fight off challenges to their authority by neighbouring kingdoms, most notably the Eastern Gangas. The last known successor is from the late 13th century, after which the records become less available. By the early 14th century, it appears as if the dynasty split into two branches: one ruling from Ratnapur and another moving to Raipur. This is attested to by inscriptions of the king Vahara in the late 15th century, identified with a figure Bahar Sahai in local tradition at the end of the 18th century. Vahara fought against the Afghans and shifted the capital to Kosgain from Ratnapur. These rulers are now identified as the Haihaiyavanshis and acknowledged the nominal overlordship of the Mughals when they arrived. In the late 14th century, Bastar was ruled by a dynasty which claimed descent from the brother of Prataparudra, the last Kakatiya king, Annamaraja.
Most of Chhattisgarh was consolidated under the Haihaiyavanshi Kingdom, who ruled central Chhattisgarh and held smaller kingdoms like Kanker under their authority. The Haihaiyavanshis continued to rule the region for 700 years until they were invaded by the Marathas in 1740 and came under their authority. Chhattisgarh was directly annexed to the Maratha Nagpur Kingdom in 1758 on the death of Mohan Singh, the last independent ruler of Chhattisgarh.

Modern history

Chhattisgarh was under Maratha Rule from 1741 to 1845. It came under British rule from 1845 to 1947 as the Chhattisgarh Division of the Central Provinces. Raipur gained prominence over the capital Ratanpur with the advent of the British in 1845. In 1905, the Sambalpur district was transferred to Odisha and the estates of Surguja were transferred from Bengal to Chhattisgarh.
The area constituting the new state merged into Madhya Pradesh on 1 November 1956, under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, and remained a part of that state for 44 years. Prior to that, the region was part of the Central Provinces and Berar under British rule. Some areas constituting the Chhattisgarh state were princely states under British rule, but were later on merged into Madhya Pradesh.

Separation of Chhattisgarh

The demand for Chhattisgarh to be a separate state first rose in the 1920s, with similar demands appearing at regular intervals; however, a well-organised movement was never initiated. Several all-party platforms were created and usually resolved around petitions, public meetings, seminars, rallies and strikes. The demand was raised by the Raipur Congress unit in 1924 and was also discussed in the Indian Congress at Tripuri. A discussion about forming a Regional Congress organisation for Chhattisgarh took place. In 1954, when the State Reorganisation Commission was set up, the demand was put forward but was rejected. In 1955, the demand was raised in the Nagpur assembly of Madhya Bharat.
In the 1990s, the demand became more prominent, resulting in the formation of a statewide political forum known as the Chhattisgarh Rajya Nirman Manch. The forum was led by Chandulal Chadrakar and several successful region-wide strikes and rallies were organised under it, all of which were supported by major political parties, such as the Indian National Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The new National Democratic Alliance government sent the Separate Chhattisgarh Bill for approval by the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, where it was unanimously approved and then submitted to the Lok Sabha. The bill was passed in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, which allowed the creation of the state of Chhattisgarh. K. R. Narayanan gave his consent to the Madhya Pradesh Reorganisation Act on 25 August 2000 and the government of India set 1 November 2000 as the day Chhattisgarh would be separated from Madhya Pradesh. As such, Chhattisgarh was formed from Madhya Pradesh.