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Midnapore district

Coordinates: 22°25′26″N 87°19′08″E / 22.424°N 87.319°E / 22.424; 87.319
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For other uses, see Midnapore (disambiguation).

Midnapore
Former District
Clockwise from top: Mahishadal Rajbari, Nabaratna Temple in Pathra, Kurumbera Fort, Jhargram Palace, Rameshwar Temple in Jhargram, Bargabhima Temple
Location of Midnapore district in West Bengal
Location of Midnapore district in West Bengal
Coordinates: 22°25′26″N 87°19′08″E / 22.424°N 87.319°E / 22.424; 87.319
Country India
State West Bengal
DivisionMedinipur
HeadquartersMidnapore
Area
 • Total
14,081 km2 (5,437 sq mi)
Population
 (2001)
 • Total
9,610,788
 • Density680/km2 (1,800/sq mi)
 • Urban
983,905
Demographics
 • Literacy74.90 per cent
 • Sex ratio955 ♂/♀
Languages
 • OfficialBengali[1][2]
 • Additional officialEnglish[1]
Time zoneUTC+05:30 (IST)
Websitewww.midnapore.gov.in

Midnapore (Pron: mad̪aːniːpur), or sometimes Medinipur, is a former district in the Indian state of West Bengal, headquartered in Midnapore. On 1 January 2002, the district was bifurcated into two separate districts namely Purba Medinipur and Paschim Medinipur. It was the largest district of West Bengal by area and population at the time of bifurcation.[3]

Etymology

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There are conflicting accounts of how the name Medinipur came to be. One account claims that Medinipur was named after a local deity "Medinimata" (literally "mother of the world", a Shakti incarnation). According to Sri Hari Sadhan Das, the district got its name from "Medinikar", the founder of the city in 1238, who was the son of "Prankara", the feudal king of "Gondichadesh". He was also the writer of "Medinikosh". Hara Prasad Shastri thinks that the city Medinikar established it around the time he wrote the book (1200-1431). He is said to have built the fort called "Kornelgola" situated in the city.[4][5]

History

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In ancient times the region seems to be highly influenced by Jainism and Buddhism. The kingdom of Shashanka and Harshavardhana also included part of undivided Midnapore in their kingdom. However, the most significant archaeological site in the region is the bustling port of Tamralipta near present-day Tamluk, a site noted in the travelogues of Faxian and Xuanzang. Later Chaitanya passed through the area on his way from Puri to Varanasi as documented in the Chaitanya Charitamrita. After the fall of last independent Hindu dynasty of Kalinga-Utkala, Gajapati Mukunda Deva in the 16th century, this region came under one of the five Sarkars of Mughalbandi Odisha i.e. Jaleswar Sarkar which was ruled by the Subehdar of Odisha. The north boundary of Jaleswar was Tamluk and south was Soro and Dhalbhumgarh in the west to the Bay of Bengal in the east. Bahadur Khan was the ruler of Jaleswar Sarkar or Hijli (including Midnapore) during the time of Shah Jehan. He was defeated by Shah Shuja, the second son of Shah Jehan, then the subahdar of Bengal.[4][5][6][7]

During the era of the Muslim rulers of Bengal nawab, Alivardi Khan's general Mir Jafar fought successfully against Mir Habib's lieutenant Sayyid Nur near Midnapore in 1746. This was part of his campaign to regain Odisha and thwart the Maratha attacks on Bengal. Mir Habib came up from Balasore and was joined by the Marathas, but Mir Jafar fled to Burdwan, leaving Mir Habib to retake Midnapore with ease. Alivardi Khan defeated Janoji Bhosle, a Maratha chieftain, in a severely contested battle near Burdwan in 1747 and Janoji fled to Midnapore. The Marathas held on to Odisha including Midnapore until 1749 when it was reconquered by Alivardi Khan. The Marathas continued to raid Midnapore, which proved disastrous for the residents.[4][5][6][7]

Midnapore on James Rennell's Mid-18th Century Map.

In 1756, Alivardi Khan died and his successor was Siraj-ud-daulah. On 20 June 1757, he was betrayed by Mir Jafar to the East India Company under the command of Lord Robert Clive at Plassey. This consolidated the company's hold on Bengal and Odisha (along with Midnapore). The district of Midnapore which included Dhalbhum or Ghatshila, now in Singhbhum, Jharkhand was annexed in 1760 along with Burdwan and Chittagong both handed over to the East India Company by Mir Qasim. The last free king of Dhalbhum was imprisoned in Midnapore.[4][5][6][7]

Some of the Malla kings of Mallabhum in the Bankura district held land in northern Midnapore district, while the Raj rules of Narajole, Jhargram, Lalgarh, Jamboni, and Chandrakona held sway in their local areas. The Raj rulers in Rajasthan would pay homage to Jagannath but carves out their own territories under the supremacy of the Hindu empires of Odisha. The Mallick Zamindars also ruled over an extensively large area during the British rule. They also built the Jagannath Temple of Midnapore.[8]

Midnapore district was bifurcated into two districts, Purba Medinipur and Paschim Medinipur, on 1 January 2002.[9]

Demographics

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Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
19012,789,114—    
19112,821,201+0.11%
19212,666,660−0.56%
19312,799,093+0.49%
19413,190,647+1.32%
19513,359,022+0.52%
19614,341,855+2.60%
19715,509,247+2.41%
19816,742,796+2.04%
19918,331,912+2.14%
20019,610,788+1.44%
Note: After 2001, the Midnapore district was bifurcated into two separate districts namely Purba Medinipur and Paschim Medinipur. The census data is addition of two splitted districts.
Source: Census of India[10]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Fact and Figures". Wb.gov.in. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  2. ^ "52nd Report of the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities in India" (PDF). Nclm.nic.in. Ministry of Minority Affairs. p. 85. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  3. ^ "Census of India 2001, West Bengal, District Census Handbook, Madinipur, Series – 20, Part – A & B, Village and Town Directory, Village and Town Wise Primary Census Abstract" (PDF). Directorate of Census Operations, West Bengal. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d Das, Hari Sadhan (1997). Medinipur O Swadhinata (in Bengali). Calcutta, India: Reba Das.
  5. ^ a b c d Basu, Jogesh Chandra (1921). Medinipurer Itihas (in Bengali) (Vol 1 ed.). Haridāsa Caṭṭopādhyāẏa, Gurudāsa Caṭṭopādhyāẏa. p. 43.
  6. ^ a b c ".:: Legacy of Midnapore - Midnapore ::". www.midnapore.in. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  7. ^ a b c Pandey, Jhimli Mukherjee (22 August 2008). "1400-yr-old monastery unearthed". The Times of India.
  8. ^ Behera, K.S. "Gloom and Bloom : The Case of Jagannatha Temples in Midnapore District" (PDF). Orrisa Review (June 2004). Government of Odisha. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  9. ^ Saha, Sudhir Chandra (1973). "The Scheme for Partition of Midnapur in Different Phases and ITS Impact". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 34: 175–181. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44138712.
  10. ^ "A-02: Decadal variation in population 1901-2011, West Bengal, India, 2011" (PDF). www.censusindia.gov.in.
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