Jhabua District

Jhabua District is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The town of Jhabua is the administrative headquarters of the district. It has an Area of 6,782km² and a population 1,396,677 (2001 census), a 24% increase from its 1991 population of 1,129,356. There are 5 major towns in Jhabua: Alirajpur, Jobat, Petlawad, Jhabua, and Ranapur.

Jhabua is the westernmost district in Madhya Pradesh. It is bounded by Ratlam District to the north, Dhar District to the east, and the state of Gujarat to the south and west. The district is part of Indore Division.

Jhabua is a predominantly "Adivasi" (meaning "original people", also known as tribals) district, and suffers from high rates of illiteracy and poverty. Almost half of the population lives below the poverty line. The Bhil and Bhilala peoples inhabit the interior of the district. The Bhils celebrate Bhagoria, a tribal festival which coincides with Holi, with great fervour.

The district is highly drought-prone and degraded waste lands form the face for Jhabua. The women make lovely ethnic items including bamboo products, doll, bead-jewellery and other items that have for long decorated the living rooms all over the country. The men have since ages adorned "Teer-Kamthi", the bow and arrow, which has been their symbol of chivalry and self defence.

A small village of 320 people in 1971, Deojhiri is 8km north-east of Jhabua on the Ahmedabad-Indore State Highway No.22. It is at a distance of 1 km on the western side of the road, on the Sunar river. As the name of the village denotes there is an ancient temple of Lord Shiva ("Deo") and ("Jhiri") or a perennial spring. The spring has been built up into a "Kund". A festival is held on Baisakh Poornima, which falls mostly in the month of April according to the Gregorian calendar. Katthivada in Jhabua district is noted for its large mangoes.

The great freedom fighter Chandra Shekhar Azad was born and spent his childhood in a village called Bhavra (now Azadnagar) in Jhabua district.

Divisions

Jhabua district consists of 8 Tehsils: Thandla, Petlawad, Meghanagar,Jhabua, Bhavra, Jobat, Alirajpur and Ranapur.

External links

* [http://jhabua.nic.in Jhabua District web site]