| Karnal | |
| Settlement Type: | Metropolitan City |
| Pushpin Map: | India Haryana#India |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Haryana, India |
| Coordinates: | 29.686°N 76.989°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Haryana |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | Karnal |
| Subdivision Type3: | Region |
| Subdivision Name3: | North India |
| Founder: | Raja Karna |
| Named For: | Karna |
| Government Type: | Municipal Corporation |
| Governing Body: | Karnal Municipal Corporation[1] |
| Leader Title1: | Mayor |
| Leader Name1: | Renu Bala Gupta |
| Leader Title2: | Municipal Commissioner |
| Leader Name2: | Abhishek Meena, IAS[2] |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Area Footnotes: | [3] |
| Area Total Km2: | 87 |
| Population Total: | 357,334 |
| Population As Of: | 2016 |
| Timezone1: | IST |
| Utc Offset1: | +5:30 |
| Postal Code Type: | PIN |
| Postal Code: | 132001 |
| Area Code: | 0184 |
| Demographics Type1: | Languages[4] [5] |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Official |
| Demographics1 Info1: | Hindi |
| Registration Plate: | HR-05 |
| Blank Name Sec1: | literacy rate |
| Blank Info Sec1: | 84.60%[6] |
| Blank1 Name Sec1: | Sex ratio |
| Blank1 Info Sec1: | 996/1000 Female/Male |
| Demographics1 Info2: | Haryanvi[7] |
| Demographics1 Title2: | Regional |
Karnal is a city located in the state of Haryana, India and is the administrative headquarters of Karnal District. City is well connected as it lies on National Highway 01, in the south of the city lies the city of Panipat, Sonepat and in the north lies Kurukshetra and Yamunanagar city while in the east lies the river Yamuna, on the other end of which lies Saharanpur and Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh on the eastern Bank. Karnal was used by the East India Company army as a refuge during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 in Delhi. The Battle of Karnal between Nader Shah of Persia and the Mughal Empire took place in this city in 1739.[8]
The city associates itself with the character Karna from the Indian epic Mahabharata.[9]
At the end of 6th century A.D., the area was under the rule of the Vardhanas of Thanesar.[10] The 7th century was a period of religious eclecticism, as Buddhism was declining and Hinduism was resurging in the Indo-Gangetic plains. The region was under Kanauji rule under the Pala Emperors of Bengal from 770 to 810 AD. The authority of Mihira Bhoja, the Pratihara ruler of Kanauj from 836 to 885 AD, penetrated as far as Pehowa, including Karnal.
The Tomaras, established themselves as rulers of this region in the middle of the 9th century.[11] About the beginning of the 10th century, as the Pratihara power began to decline, the Tomaras assumed independence. One of the Tomara rulers, Anangpal Tomar, found the city of Delhi and made it his capital, with the area of Karnal and modern-day Haryana being under his realm. The Tomaras came into conflict with the Chauhans of Ajmer, but continued to rule the Haryana country until the middle of 12th century when they were overthrown by the Chaha mana Vighnaraja IV.[12] The country between the Satluj and the Yamuna including Karnal experienced relative peace for a century and a half except the plundering invasions and eventual conquests of Mahmud of Ghazi. The region then came under Ghurid rule after the Second Battle of Tarain when Muhammad Ghori captured the area. It remained under the Delhi Sultanate until 1526.
In 1526 at the First Battle of Panipat, Mughal emperor Babur defeated the Sultan of Delhi, Ibrahim Lodi, and captured parts of North India, along with Delhi and Panipat. He then established the Mughal Empire in North India.
Karnal is listed in the Mughal Ain-i-Akbari as a pargana under Delhi sarkar, producing a revenue of 5,678,242 dams for the imperial treasury and supplying a force of 800 infantry and 50 cavalry.[13]
See main article: Battle of Karnal. In A.D. 1739, Nader Shah of Persia invaded the Mughal empire and Karnal was the scene of the famed Battle of Karnal, in which Nader Shah decisively defeated the Mughal Emperor, Muhammad Shah.[14] Muhammad Shah along with an enormous army occupied a strongly fortified camp at Karnal, but he yielded to the invader as his supplies were cut off from the open country by Shah and was starved into submission. The tactical defeat drastically weakened the Mughal Empire, while the Persian Empire prospered and subsequently hastened the establishment of the British Empire in India. The region then came under Afghan rule. On 24 Feb1739, the Iranian ruler Nadir Shah attacked India. Rao Bal Kishan, with his army and with the forces of Delhi, fought Nadir Shah. His army included 5000 infantry and 2000 cavalry. In February 1739, Nader Shah captured Sirhind and moved towards the field of Karnal, a battle destined to be fateful to the Mughal rulers. Every year on 24 Feb, Rao Bal Kishan Shaurya Diwas celebrated in Rewari.[15] [16]
Sikhs appeared on the scene in the 18th century. The importance of Karnal grew in the time of Raja Gajpat Singh of Jind State who after its capture in A.D. 1763 built the boundary wall and a fort and under whose rule the town increased considerably in size.[17] On 14 January 1764, Sikh Chiefs defeated and killed Zain Khan Sirhindi, the Durrani Governor, and took possession of the whole of Sirhind province as far south as Panipat including Karnal.
During the Indian independence movement, a district political conference was organized at Karnal with Lala Lajpat Rai as its chairman.
The population of the city as of 2011, is 328,500[18]
| Religion | Population (1911)[19] | Percentage (1911) | Population (1941)[20] | Percentage (1941) | Population (2011)[21] | Percentage (2011) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12,772 | 20,462 | 274,498 | |||||
| 8,667 | 15,844 | 3,938 | |||||
| 130 | 647 | 21,033 | |||||
| 210 | 125 | 776 | |||||
| Others | 182 | 366 | 1,895 | ||||
| Total Population | 21,961 | 37,444 | 302,140 |
The sex ratio in Karnal stood at 915 females per 1000 males in 2011, compared to the 2001 census figure of 862.
Karnal Municipal Corporation is the municipal corporation governing Indian city of Karnal. The mayor of the city currently is Renu Bala Gupta and the municipal commissioner is Naresh Narwal, IAS.
The city is part of the Karnal Assembly constituency and Nayab Singh Saini of BJP is the current MLA from Karnal constituency.[22]
Manohar Lal Khattar of BJP is the current elected MP from the Karnal Lok Sabha constituency.
Karnal was ranked 24th (1st in Haryana) among 4000+ cities in the list of the cleanest cities of India under the government survey named Swachh Survekshan 2019.[23]
Karnal was selected as one of the hundred Indian cities to be developed as a smart city under the Union government's plan Smart Cities Mission.[24]
National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) has been complementing country’s massive dairy development programmes through its multifaceted activities in the areas of Dairy Research. NDRI is fully supported by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and functions as one of the National Institutes under its aegis. The institute also interacts with various National and International Institutes in Dairying and allied fields for exchange of information and advancing new knowledge both in basic and applied fields of dairy science.The contributions of the Institute in conducting, collating and co-ordinating research in Dairying have received worldwide recognition. The Institute was conferred Deemed University status by the University Grants commission in March, 1989.For transfer of technology and dissemination of knowhow developed at the Institute, the Operational Research Project, a programme of integrated crop and milk production improvement, links the Institute with farming community of 40 villages around Karnal.[29]
National Burea of Animal genetic Resources and National Institute of animal Genetics were set up on 21 September 1984. These Institutes were initially located in the Campus of Southern Regional Station of NDRI, Bangalore. Since 19 July 1985 the Bureau and Animal Genetics Institute are in Karnal.
The broad aims of the Institutes are to conduct systematic surveys on animal and poultry genetic resources; to develop methodologies for the conservation of animal genetic resources in-situ through cryo-preservation and by developing transgenic forces; to establish data respository; to design methodologies for proper management and optimal utilisation of animal genetic resources; etc.
Wheat Project Directorate (WPO) was made independent of Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi w.e.f. Ist September, 1990 and redesignated as Directorate of Wheat Research (DWR) with headquarters at Karnal.
It was established in March 1969, under the aegis of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).