| Kangra district | |
| Other Name: | Nagarkot, Trigarta |
| Settlement Type: | District of Himachal Pradesh |
| Coordinates: | 32.2167°N 76.3167°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  India |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Himachal Pradesh |
| Subdivision Type2: | Division, Part of |
| Subdivision Name2: | Kangra |
| Subdivision Type3: | Tehsils |
| Seat Type: | Headquarters |
| Seat: | Dharamshala |
| Leader Title: | Lok Sabha Constituency, part of |
| Leader Name: | |
| Leader Title1: | Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha |
| Leader Name1: | Kishan Kapoor[1] |
| Leader Title2: | Deputy Commissioner |
| Leader Name2: | Nipun jindal, IAS[2] |
| Leader Title3: | Superintendent of Police |
| Leader Name3: | Vimukt Ranjan, IPS[3] |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Area Total Km2: | 5739 |
| Elevation Min M: | 500 |
| Elevation Max M: | 5930 |
| Elevation Max Point: | Hanuman Tibba[4] |
| Population Total: | 1,510,075 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 |
| Population Density Km2: | 263 |
| Timezone1: | IST |
| Utc Offset1: | +5:30 |
| Postal Code Type: | PIN |
| Registration Plate: | HP- 68(RTO), |
| Blank1 Name Sec1: | Largest city |
| Blank1 Info Sec1: | Dharamshala |
| Blank1 Name Sec2: | Climate |
| Demographics1 Info1: | Hindi |
| Blank2 Name Sec1: | Gender ratio |
| Blank2 Info Sec1: | 1012 females/1000 males |
| Blank3 Name Sec1: | Literacy rate |
| Blank3 Info Sec1: | 85.67% |
| Blank5 Name Sec1: | Vidhan Sabha Constituencies |
| Blank5 Info Sec1: | 15 |
| Blank2 Name Sec2: | Avg. summer temperature |
| Blank2 Info Sec2: | 32°C |
| Blank3 Name Sec2: | Avg. winter temperature |
| Blank3 Info Sec2: | 20°C |
Kangra district is the most populous[5] district of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Dharamshala is the administrative headquarters of the district.
See also: History of the Punjab and Kangra Fort. Kangra is known for having one of the oldest serving Royal Dynasty in the world, the Katoch of the Kangra State.[6] In 1758, Raja Ghamand Chand was appointed nazim or governor of Jullundur Doab under the Afghans. Ghamand Chand was a brave and strong ruler who restored the prestige of Kangra. As he was unable to capture Kangra Fort, he built another fort at Tira Sujanpur on the left bank of the Beas, almost opposite to Alampur on a hill overlooking the town. He died in 1774 and was succeeded by his son, Tegh Chand, who died too soon in 1775.[7] Ghamand Chand's grandson, Raja Sansar Chand (r. 1775–1823) established the supremacy of Kangra over all the surrounding hill states. During his reign, Kangra became a major centre for the arts and several palaces were built.[8]
In 1805, the neighbouring hill states rebelled, with the aid of the Gurkha army. Raja Sansar Chand was forced to seek the help of Maharaja Ranjit Singh of the Sikh Empire . The Gurkha army was expelled but Ranjit Singh also annexed the most fertile part of the Kangra valley, reducing the Katochs of Kangra as well as the neighbouring rajas to the status of vassals.[8] Kangra was annexed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh's Sikh Empire in 1810.
Kangra became a district of British India in 1846, when it was ceded to British India at the conclusion of the First Anglo-Sikh War. The British district included the present-day districts of Kangra, Hamirpur, Kullu, and Lahul and Spiti. Kangra District was part of the British province of Punjab. The administrative headquarters of the district were initially at Kangra, but were moved to Dharamshala in 1855.[9] [10]
According to the 2011 census Kangra district had population of 1,510,075. The district has a population density of 263PD/sqkm. Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 12.77%. 5.71% of the population lives in urban areas. Kangra district has a sex ratio of 1012 females per 1000 males and a literacy rate of 85.67%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes made up 21.15% and 5.60% of the population respectively.
District highlights of 2011 Census[11]
The native people are the Kangri people and the native language is Kangri, which is very similar to Dogri. The majority of the people are Hindu, although many Tibetans and others who follow Buddhism have also settled here recently. There are also other minorities such as Sikhs, Muslims, and Christians.
Jhamakda is a folk dance of Kangra. It is exclusively performed by women. It features percussion instruments and songs.[12]
| 2011[13] | |||
| 1,461,140 | |||
| 19,797 | |||
| 14,511 | |||
| 8,929 | |||
| 3,023 | |||
| 194 | |||
| Others | 2,481 | ||
| Total Population | 1,510,075 |
| 1901[14] | 1911[15] [16] | 1921[17] | 1931[18] | 1941[19] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 722,554 | 725,156 | 722,277 | 752,098 | 846,531 | |||||||
| 39,672 | 38,859 | 38,263 | 40,483 | 43,249 | |||||||
| 4,176 | 3,992 | 3,019 | 5,663 | 8 | |||||||
| 1,220 | 1,910 | 2,083 | 2,396 | 4,809 | |||||||
| 385 | 386 | 363 | 576 | 788 | |||||||
| 113 | 81 | 56 | 94 | 101 | |||||||
| 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3,890 | |||||||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| Others | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| Total population | 768,124 | 770,386 | 766,065 | 801,312 | 899,377 | ||||||
| Others | Total | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kangra Tehsil | 129,089 | 8,574 | 833 | 214 | 0 | 130 | 138,840 | ||||||||
| Dehra Tehsil | 141,009 | 5,370 | 1,035 | 28 | 0 | 2 | 147,444 | ||||||||
| Nurpur Tehsil | 83,565 | 18,659 | 2,067 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 104,304 | ||||||||
| Harimpur Tehsil | 194,801 | 6,067 | 362 | 1 | 97 | 3 | 201,331 | ||||||||
| Palampur Tehsil | 166,397 | 3,207 | 398 | 231 | 0 | 23 | 170,256 | ||||||||
| Kulu Tehsil | 131,670 | 1,372 | 114 | 104 | 4 | 3,938 | 137,202 | ||||||||
At the 2011 Census, 70.88% of the population in the district spoke Kangri, 14.92% Pahari, 5.55% Hindi, 2.64% Gaddi and 2.06% Punjabi as their first language.[20]
See main article: 14th Himachal Pradesh Assembly.
| Constituency | Party | MLA | Remark | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Name | |||||
| 6 | Nurpur | BJP | Ranveer Singh | |||
| 7 | Indora (SC) | INC | Malender Rajan | |||
| 8 | Fatehpur | INC | Bhawani Singh Pathania | |||
| 9 | Jawali | INC | Chander Kumar | Cabinet Minister | ||
| 10 | Dehra | IND | Hoshyar Singh | |||
| 11 | Jaswan-Pragpur | BJP | Bikram Thakur | |||
| 12 | Jawalamukhi | INC | Sanjay Rattan | |||
| 13 | Jaisinghpur (SC) | INC | Yadvinder Goma | |||
| 14 | Sullah | BJP | Vipin Singh Parmar | |||
| 15 | Nagrota | INC | Raghubir Singh Bali | |||
| 16 | Kangra | BJP | Pawan Kumar Kajal | |||
| 17 | Shahpur | INC | Kewal Singh Pathania | |||
| 18 | Dharamshala | BJP | Sudhir Sharma | |||
| 19 | Palampur | INC | Ashish Butail | |||
| 20 | Baijnath (SC) | INC | Kishori Lal | |||
Dhauladhar Wildlife Sanctuary is located at an altitude of 1600 m going up to 4400 m, Dhauladhar Wildlife Sanctuary was established in 1994 by the Wildlife Department of Himachal Pradesh Government. It is situated in Kangra district. The wildlife sanctuary is covered by snow-clad mountains from three sides. The flora of Dhauladhar Wildlife Sanctuary includes deodar, rhododendron, oak, spruce, pine, and mixed conifers. This wildlife sanctuary is home to animals such as red fox, black bear, leopard sambar, Asiatic lion, angora rabbit, and deer. It covers an area of 982.86 sq.km.[21]
Pong Dam Lake Wildlife Sanctuary covers an areas of 207.95 sq. km. in Kangra district. It is spread through the submerged area between Pong Dam Terrace (Talwara) to the bridge on Beas River at Dehra. It was created in1975, by building the highest earthfill dam in India on the Beas River in the wetland zone of the Siwalik Hills.
