| Sonipat | |
| Settlement Type: | City |
| Pushpin Map: | India Haryana#India3 |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Haryana, India |
| Coordinates: | 28.99°N 77.022°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  India |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Haryana |
| Subdivision Type2: | Division |
| Subdivision Name2: | Rohtak |
| Subdivision Type3: | District |
| Subdivision Name3: | Sonipat |
| Government Type: | Municipal Corporation |
| Governing Body: | Sonipat Municipal Corporation[1] |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Nikhil Madan (INC)[2] |
| Leader Title2: | Municipal Commissioner |
| Leader Name2: | Sunita Verma, IAS[3] |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Area Footnotes: | [4] |
| Area Total Km2: | 181 |
| Elevation M: | 224.15 |
| Population Total: | 382,000 |
| Population Footnotes: | [5] |
| Population Urban Footnotes: | [6] |
| Population Urban: | 402,000 |
| Demographics Type1: | Languages[7] [8] |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Official |
| Demographics1 Info1: | Hindi, Haryanvi |
| Demographics1 Title2: | Additional official |
| Demographics1 Title3: | Regional |
| Demographics1 Info3: | Haryanvi[9] |
| Timezone: | Indian Standard Time |
| Utc Offset: | +5.30 |
| Postal Code Type: | PIN |
| Postal Code: | 131001 |
| Area Code Type: | Telephone Code |
| Area Code: | +91-130 |
| Registration Plate: | HR-10, HR-69(Commercial Vehicles), HR-99(Temporary), DL-14 Sonipat (Delhi NCR), HR-86 |
| Blank1 Name Sec1: | Sex Ratio |
| Blank1 Info Sec1: | 1.19 |
| Blank2 Name Sec1: | Effective literacy |
| Blank2 Info Sec1: | 85.48% |
| Iso Code: | IN-HR |
Sonipat is a planned industrial city & administrative headquarter in Sonipat district of Haryana state of India. It comes under the National Capital Region and is around from New Delhi. It lies 214 km (128 miles) southwest of Chandigarh, the state capital. The Yamuna River runs along its eastern boundary.
On 22 December 1972, Sonipat designated a full-fledged district. Sonipat Junction railway station is the main railway junction on Delhi-Kalka line. It lies on Delhi Western Peripheral Expressway, Eastern Peripheral Expressway (NE II) and Grand Trunk Road (NH 44) as well as the planned Delhi–Sonipat–Panipat Regional Rapid Transit System.
According to legend, Sonipat was earlier known as Sonprastha, which later on became Swarnprastha (lit. 'Golden City').[10] [11] Later, the name Swarnprastha changed into Swarnpath, and then to its current form, Sonipat.[12]
Reference to the city comes in the epic Mahabharata as Svarnaprastha. It was one of the five villages demanded by Pandavas as the price of peace from Duryodhan in lieu of the kingdom Hastinapur. The other four villages were Panduprastha (Panipat), Vyaghraprastha (Baghpat), Tilaprastha (Tilpat) and Indraprastha (Delhi).[13]
Sonipat is listed in the Ain-i-Akbari as a pargana under Delhi sarkar, producing a revenue of 7,727,323 dams for the imperial treasury and supplying a force of 1000 infantry and 70 cavalry. It had a brick fort at the time, which was also mentioned.[14]
Sonipat came under Islamic rule after the Second Battle of Tarain in 1193. The Sikhs under Banda Singh Bahadur fought the Battle of Sonipat against the Mughals in 1709. Khanda, Sonipat village witnessed the Battle of Sonipat and won the battle against Mughals under the military leadership of Banda Singh Bahadur[15]
Sheo Nath singh a rebel leader of his own tribe of Gaur Brahmins from Bahalgarh village in sonipat received forty-two villages and title of Raja from Shah Alam II of Mughal empire on conditions that he stopped his rebellious activity and fought against the alien tribes like Afghans and Persians for the protection of sonipat.His son Kanwar pirthi singh lost his whole estate against the mighty British empire because of his independent attitude. His son Pandit Murari Lal only received mauza Bahalgarh village for his help in the mutiny of 1857, protecting the children and women from the rebels.[16]
The one and only battle fought in Sonipat was Battle of Sonipat. After taking blessings from Guru Gobind Singh, Baba Banda Singh Bahadur first camped at Khanda, Sonipat and assembled a fighting force with Dahiya Jats. Khanda, Sonipat village witnessed the Battle of Sonipat against Mughals, which was won under the military leadership of Banda Singh Bahadur.[17] [18]
Sonipat is located at .[19]
The district headquarter is situated in Sonipat. Other smaller towns are Gohana, Ganaur, Mundlana, Kharkhoda and Rai. The total area of Sonipat district is 2,260 km2 and its population is 10,64,000. Sonipat is bordered by the states of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh as well as the districts of Rohtak, Jind and Panipat. The River Yamuna runs along the eastern boundary of the district
District Sonepat comprises four sub-divisions, namely Ganaur, Sonepat, Kharkhoda and Gohana and eight blocks (Ganaur, Sonipat, Rai, Kharkhoda, Gohana, Kathura, Murthal and Mundlana) has been carved out of Rohtak and made a full-fledged district on 22 December 1972. Sonepat is the largest tehsil followed by Gohana. It has one Municipal Corporation Sonipat and three municipal committees Ganaur, Gohana and Kharkhoda.
the Haryana Main water system in the district consists of the River Yamuna and the irrigation canals flowing out of it. There is no perennial river in the district. The underground water resources differ from area to area. The depth of the water table is the lowest in the Khader area along the Yamuna, where it is below 10 ft. It increases to 30 to 40 ft. in some of the western and south eastern part of the district. The ground water in some areas is saline and brackish. The ground water conditions indicate that the district faces the problem of occurrence of brackish water and water logging in eastern parts of the district.
Broadly speaking, the district is a continuous part of the Haryana-Punjab plain, but the area is not leveled in some parts. Over most of the district, the soil is fine loam of rich color. However, some areas have sandy soil and others are composed of Kallar. The plain has a gradual slope to the south and east. The district may be roughly divided into three regions:
District Sonepat, comprising Sonepat, Gohana and Ganaur sub divisions, has 343 villages and covers an area of 2,13,080 hectares. The irrigated area (both with the help of canal irrigation as well as through tubewells) is 2,86,504 acres and the un-irrigated rainfed area is 43,979 acres. Sonepat is an important saltpetre producing area. The saltpeter appears as efflorescence on the surface during the summer season, specially in the village of Sonepat sub-division.
Water logging is a serious problem effecting the productivity of land. The water logged area, which the water table is between 0 and 5 ft, faces a serious problem. Where the water table is between 5 and 10 ft., the problem of water logging is imminent. There has been an alarming rise in the water table during the last two decades, Specially in the areas adjoining the canals. This has led to appearance of Thur on the surface of soil, followed by sem in several parts of the district, specially the areas adjoining the Yamuna and minor canals running through the district.
The soil in Sonepat is rich and quite suitable for all types of agricultural crops as well as forest cover.
The types of soil may be classified according to textures as :
Climate of Sonipat is dry with hot summer and a cold winter. The weather becomes milder during the monsoon (period July to September). The post-monsoon months October and November constitute a transition period, prior to the onset of winter.
The winter starts in December when day and night temperatures fall rapidly. January is the coldest month when the mean daily minimum temperature is 6-7°C. During cold waves, the minimum temperature may go down to the freezing point of water, and frosts can occur. During the summer months of May and June, the maximum temperature sometimes reaches 47°C. Temperature drops considerably with the advancement of monsoon in June. However, the night temperature during this period continues to be high.
Humidity is considerably low during the greater part of the year. The district experiences high humidity only during the monsoon period. The period of minimum humidity (less than 20%) is between April and May.
The annual rainfall varies considerably from year to year. However, the maximum rainfall is experienced during the monsoon season, which reaches it is peak in the month of July. In fact, the monsoon period accounts for 75% of the annual rainfall in the district. On an average there are 24 days in a year with rainfall of 2.5 mm (or more) per day in district Sonepat.
During the monsoon, the sky is heavily clouded, and winds are strong. Winds are generally light during the post-monsoon and winter months.
Sonepat experiences a high incidence of thunder storms and dust storms, often accompanied by violent squalls (andhis) during the period April to June. Sometimes the thunder storm are being accompanied by heavy rain and occasionally by hail storms. In the winter months, fogs sometimes appear in the district.
Sonipat city is governed by Municipal Corporation which comes under Sonipat Metropolitan Region. The Sonipat city is located in Haryana state of India.
| Title | Count | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|
| District | – | Sonipat | |
| Area | – | 2260 km2 | |
| Division | – | Rohtak | |
| Subdivisions | 4 | Gohana, Kharkhoda, Sonipat, Ganaur | |
| Tehsils | 4 | Gohana, Kharkhoda, Sonipat, Ganaur | |
| Subtehsils | 2 | Khanpur Kalan,Rai | |
| Blocks | 8 | Sonipat, Gohana, Ganaur, Kharkhoda, Kathura, Mundlana, Rai, Murthal | |
| Revenue Villages | 349 | – | |
| Municipal Council/Committees/Co | 4 | Gohana, Kharkhoda, Sonipat, Ganaur | |
| No. Of parliamentary Constituency | 1 | Sonipat | |
| No. Of Assembly Constituencies | 6 | Rai, Kharkhoda, Sonipat, Gohana, Ganaur, Baroda |
In education section, total literates in Sonipat city are 210,112 of which 118,281 are males while 91,831 are females. Average literacy rate of Sonipat city is 85.48 percent of which male and female literacy was 90.82 and 79.45 percent. The sex ratio of Sonipat city is 875 per 1000 males. Child sex ratio of girls is 784 per 1000 boys.
Total no. of Slums in Sonipat city & its Out Growth numbers 19,033 in which population of 98,508 resides. This is around 34.05% of total population of Sonipat city & its outgrowth which is 289,333.
| Religion | Population (1911)[20] | Percentage (1911) | Population (1941) | Percentage (1941) | Population (2023) | Percentage (2023) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4,794 | 7,706 | 270,837 | 93.61 % | ||||
| 6,510 | 8,933 | 11,394 | 3.94% | ||||
| Jain | Not known | Not known | Not known | Not known | 3,532 | 1.22 % | |
| 6 | 226 | 1,903 | 0.66 % | ||||
| 56 | 13 | 484 | 0.17 % | ||||
| Others | 648 | 903 | 1,008 | 0.35 % | |||
| Total Population | 12,014 | 17,781 | 382,000 | 100% |
| Religion | Population (1941)[21] | Percentage (1941) | Population (2023) | Percentage (2023) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 176,709 | 1,584,770 | 95.87% | |||
| 35,275 | 51,414 | 3.11% | |||
| Jain | Not Known | Not known | 6,878 | 0.41% | |
| 613 | 5,112 | 0.30% | |||
| 724 | 1,602 | 0.09% | |||
| Others | 2,687 | 3226 | 0.19% | ||
| Total Population | 216,008 | 1,653,001 | 100% |
There are several Mughal buildings on the outskirts of the city, including the Mosque of Abdullah Nasir-ud-din, who was a descendant from Mushid of Iran.
This district was carved out of the erstwhile Rohtak district on 22 December 1972. The district is named after its administrative headquarters, Sonipat. Sonipat was earlier known as Sonprastha, which later became Svarnaprastha (Golden City), which is derived from two Sanskrit words, Svarna (Gold) and Prastha (Place). Over a period of time, the classical name Svarnprastha's pronunciation degraded into Svarnpat, and then to its current form, Sonipat. The earliest reference of this city comes in the epic Mahabharata, and at that time, it was one of the five villages demanded by the Pandavas in lieu of the kingdom of Hastinapur.
See main article: Yamuna River. The main water system in the district is the Yamuna River and its irrigation canals. The river flows besides the rural belt in the eastern side of district. It also acts as a natural boundary between the states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
See also: Amritsar Delhi Kolkata Industrial Corridor, Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor, Delhi Western Peripheral Expressway and National Capital Region (India).
There are six HSIIDC industrial estates namely Sonepat city, Barhi, Kundli, Murthal and Rai. The development of Sonepat Industrial area in the city started in the 1950s with Atlas Cycle.[22] Since then, many small and big industries have been established here. Atlas, E.C.E.[23] or the Birla Factory, OSRAM India (formerly part of E.C.E., but in October 1998 it was acquired by OSRAM[24]).
Rail Coach Naveenikaran Karkhana, Sonipat is a railway coach factory under RVNL which was successfully commissioned in October 2021.The Rail Coach Naveenikaran Karkhana at Sonipat is the first of its kind facility being set up to cater to the mid-life rehabilitation and refurbishment of coaches. The Rolling Stock Complex is designed for sustainable development with Industry 4.0 compliant assembly line.[25]
In July 1973 the government established the Motilal Nehru School of Sports, Rai, Sonipat[26] to provide education facilities with extra emphasis on sports. It trains athletes in field hockey, basketball, lawn tennis, equestrianism, gymnastics, swimming, shooting sports, volleyball, boxing, cricket, and football.
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways proposed the first bus port in the pattern of Airport on GT Road in Sector 7, Sonipat.[27] [28] [29] It will be a joint venture between the Government of Haryana and NHAI.[30] [27]
Sonipat Municipal Corporation is the governing civic body of the Urban Area in Sonipat. The Municipal Committee Sonipat was established in the year 1933.[33]
Sonipat (Lok Sabha constituency) is one of the 10 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in Haryana state in northern India.*Ramesh Chander Kaushik is Member of Parliament from Sonipat Seat