Sironj

Sironj
—  city  —
Sironj Location of Sironj in Madhya Pradesh and India
Coordinates	24°06′N 77°42′E / 24.1°N 77.7°E / 24.1; 77.7Coordinates: 24°06′N 77°42′E / 24.1°N 77.7°E / 24.1; 77.7
Country	India
State	Madhya Pradesh
District(s)	Vidisha
Population	42,100 (2001[update])
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Area • Elevation	• 464 metres (1,522 ft)

Sironj is a city and a municipality in Vidisha district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

Geography

Sironj is about 120 km north of Bhopal, the capital of Central Indian State of Madhya Pradesh. Although it lies in the Vidisha district and is about 85 km from Vidisha town, which is the district headquarters. It is much easier to reach Sironj from Bhopal than from Vidisha, on account of better roads and more frequent buses plying between Bhopal and Sironj. It takes about 2.5 hours by a public transport bus to reach Sironj from Bhopal, connected with fine state highway 23. These buses are available from Berasia bus stand of Bhopal. The nearest railway station is Ganj Basoda, 45 kilometres east of Sironj, which lies on the main Mumbai-Delhi, Delhi-Chennai railway route. For a person coming from Delhi, the best train to take is Hazrat Nizamuddin- Habibganj Bhopal Express which leaves Delhi at 9 O’clock in night and reaches Ganj Basoda at 6 in the morning. Thereafter, one has to take a bus from here to Sironj, which is about 1 hour drive,or one can arrange taxi very easily from here. Presently Shri Laxmikant Sharma,, Higher education minister, govt. of M.P. is Member of Legislative assembly from Sironj-Lateri Legislature. The roads are now good enough to ply around the town.^[1]

Terrainwise, Sironj is a mixture of undulating hilly tracts coupled with black cotton soil plains. The area was once full of forests but now almost completely devoid of them, barring the forests on the fringes of the block in remote villages. Sironj has a mixed population of Hindus, Muslims and Jains. While the villages are dominated mostly by Hindus, in the town, the Hindus and Muslims are almost in equal numbers. There is a considerable Jain population in Sironj. Most of the inhabitants of Sironj are traders, surrounded by the agriculturist community of about 300 villages that surround it.

Sironj, formerly known as Sironcha covers a vast history behind. Before the formation of Madhya Pradesh state, Sironj lies Under Tonk Province in Rajasthan. There are many mosques and ancient temples all over the town. The Jama Masjid said to be Built By Aurangzeb. During 18th century, great Trignometric Survey is organised by Sir George Everest to measure the Height of Mount Everest in which sironj is one of the three Observatories in India. This survey was later completed by Radhanath Sikdar using a Theodolite. The ruins of These Observatory still alive near Sironj, in a Village called BHOORI TORI on Guna road.one can find there a good English architecture. The Girdhari Temple situated in the town is assigned to the 11th century AD. It is known for its sculptures and fine carvings. The temples of Jatashankar and Mahamaya are said to be old and sacred. It is said that Tatya Tope of 1857-fame has halted here for some time. More information about Tatya tope's Sironj Hault is available in the book Operation Red Lotus by Parag Tope. The Mahamaya temple is 5 km to the southwest of Sironj. It is situated on a hill. An annual fair is held here.

History

Historically, Sironj was a part of the Malwa region, on the fringes of Bundelkhand, and has been a Jain pilgrimage. As a part of the kingdom of the Nawabs of Tonk, it bordered Gwalior State under the Scindhias. At the time of independence of India, Sironj was a part of the Tonk state of Rajasthan. Thus, it became a land-locked district of Rajasthan surrounded from all four sides by Madhya Pradesh. Under the State Reorganization Act of 1956, Sironj was made a part of Madhya Pradesh. However, it lost its status of a district and became a block (sub-district) under the Vidisha district of MP.

Being very close to the medieval trade route between Delhi and Gujarat, Sironj was full of traders. The most famous of such traders were the Maheshwaris, who later left Sironj taking offence on the actions of the Nawab of Sironj. Their deserted palaces still dominate the skyline of Sironj, which was famous for its three tiered market. In a single building, there were shops that were partly underground and partly on the surface (meant for customers on feet), shops that were slightly raised (for the customers on the horseback) and shops on the first floor (for the customers on elephant -back). Many of these shops survive. Sironj is amongst the oldest city in Country, it also known for Moughal district at that time of Mughals, century ago it was big trade centre connected directly to ship port of Gujarat, water cooling pots, woven mats made here and exported to outside country around that time. To know more about Sironj one can get the book Aasar e Malwa describing berief history of area. Moreover it has famous Madan Mohan temple said to be constructed Centuries before, temple have same sibling in Vrindavan.

Demographics

As of 2001^[update] India census^[2], Sironj had a population of 42,100. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Sironj has an average literacy rate of 55%, lower than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 62%, and female literacy is 47%.In Sironj, 17% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Economy

Main crops of Sironj area are Wheat, maize and gram in winters and Soyabean and lentils in rains. Wheat from Sironj and other parts of Vidisha are famous throughout India and are sold at premium prices in the markets of Delhi and all over India. Soyabean from this area forms the backbone of the Soya-oil industry based at Indore and Datia.

Politics

Sironj plays important role in State Politics,it gave state two Ministers and due to Hindu-Muslim equal population elections are sometime unpredictable, mainly Congress and BJP are pole parties.

References

1. ^ "Welcome to Bidisha". Districts of Madhya Pradesh. Madhya Pradesh Portal. Archived from the original on 2007-01-04. http://web.archive.org/web/20070104051203/http://vidisha.nic.in/tourism/sironj.htm#Bk1. Retrieved 2007-03-20. 
2. ^ "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 2004-06-16. http://web.archive.org/web/20040616075334/http://www.censusindia.net/results/town.php?stad=A&state5=999. Retrieved 2008-11-01.