| Hoshiarpur district | |
| Settlement Type: | District |
| Image Caption: | Graveyard in Todarpur |
| Coordinates: | 31.5833°N 134°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  India |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Punjab |
| Subdivision Type2: | Region |
| Subdivision Name2: | Doaba |
| Seat Type: | Headquarters |
| Seat: | Hoshiarpur[1] |
| Leader Title1: | MP |
| Leader Name1: | Raj Kumar Chabbewal(AAP) |
| Leader Title2: | MLA |
| Leader Name2: | Pandit Bharma Shankar Jimpa(AAP)(Hoshiarpur City) |
| Leader Title3: | Mayor |
| Leader Name3: | Surinder Shinda (AAP) |
| Leader Title4: | Deputy commissioner |
| Leader Name4: | Komal Mittal |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Area Total Km2: | 3,365 |
| Population Total: | 1,586,625 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Blank2 Title: | Sex Ration |
| Population Blank2: | 961 |
| Demographics Type1: | Languages |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Official |
| Demographics1 Info1: | Punjabi |
| Timezone1: | IST |
| Utc Offset1: | +5:30 |
| Blank1 Name Sec1: | Literacy |
| Blank1 Info Sec1: | 85.40% |
Hoshiarpur district is a district of Punjab state in northern India. Hoshiarpur, one of the oldest districts of Punjab, is located in the North-east part of the Punjab state and shares common boundaries with Gurdaspur district in the north-west, Jalandhar district and Kapurthala district in south-west, Kangra district and Una district of Himachal Pradesh in the north-east. Hoshiarpur district comprises 4 sub-divisions, 10 community development blocks, 9 urban local bodies and 1417 villages. The district has an area of 3365 km2. and a population of 1,586,625 persons as per census 2011.[2]
Hoshiarpur, along with the districts of Nawanshehar, Kapurthala and parts of Jalandhar, represents one of the cultural regions of Punjab called Doaba or the Bist Doab - the tract of land between two rivers, namely Beas and Sutlej. The area, along with the Shivalik foothills on the right side of Chandigarh-Pathankot road in Hoshiarpur, is sub mountainous. This part of the district is also known as Kandi area. The two rivers, Sutlej and Beas along with two other seasonal streams, provide drainage to the region. Besides these, the Kandi region is full of seasonal streams.
Hoshiarpur district falls into two nearly equal portions of hill and plain country. Its eastern face consists of the westward slope of the Solar Singhi Hills; parallel with that ridge, a line of lower heights belonging to the Siwalik Range traverses the district from south to north, while between the two chains stretches a valley of uneven width, known as the Jaswan Dun. Its upper portion is crossed by the Sohan torrent, while the Sutlej sweeps into its lower end through a break in the hills, and flows in a southerly direction until it turns the flank of the central range, and debouches westwards upon the plains. This western plain consists of alluvial formation, with a general westerly slope owing to the deposit of silt from the mountain torrents in the sub-montane tract. The Beas has a fringe of lowland, open to moderate but not excessive inundations, and considered very fertile. A considerable area is covered by government woodlands, under the care of the forest department. Rice is largely grown, in the marshy flats along the banks of the Beas. The district, owing to its proximity to the hills, possesses a comparatively cool and humid climate. Cotton fabrics are manufactured, and sugar, rice, other grains and indigo are among the exports.
Hoshiarpur is also known as a City of Saints. There are many deras in this district. Several religious fairs are held, at Anandpur Sahib, Dasuya, Mukerian and Chintpurni, all of which attract an enormous concourse of people.
The District Govt. College was once a campus for Punjab University, and it was predominantly inhabited by Gujjar and Saini, Dogras of Jammu-Punjab Region during the reign of the Sikh Empire.
The area of present Hoshiarpur District was also part of Indus Valley Civilization. Recent excavations at various sites in the district have revealed that the entire area near the Shivalik foothills was selected for habitation not only by the early Paleolithic man but also by those in the protohistoric and historic periods. The legends associate several places in the district with Pandavas. Dasuya is mentioned in epic of Mahabharata as the seat of Raja Virata in whose services the Pandavas remained for thirteen years during their exile. Bham, about 11 km west of Mahilpur, is said to be the place where the Pandavas passed their exile. Lasara, about 19 km north of Jaijon, also contains a stone temple stated to date back to the time of Pandavas. According to the Chinese pilgrim, Hieun Tsang, the area of Hoshiarpur was dominated by a tribe of Chandrabansi Rajputs, who maintained an independent existence for centuries before the Muhammadan conquest.
The country around Hoshiarpur formed part of the old kingdom of Katoch in Jalandhar. The state was eventually broken up, and the present district was divided between the, rajas of Datarpur and Jaswan. They retained undisturbed possession of their territories until 1759, when the rising Sikh chieftains commenced a series of encroachments upon the hill tracts. In 1815 Maharaja Ranjit Singh, forced the ruler of Jaswan to resign his territories in exchange for an estate on feudal tenure; three years later the raja of Datarpur met with similar treatment. By the close of the year 1818 the whole country from the Sutlej to the Beas had come under the government of Lahore, and after the First Anglo-Sikh War in 1846 passed to the British government. The deposed rajas of Datarpur and Jaswan received cash pensions from the new rulers, but expressed bitter disappointment at not being restored to their former sovereign position. Accordingly, the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Sikh War, in 1848 found the disaffected chieftains ready for rebellion. They organized a revolt, but the two rajas and the other ringleaders were captured, and their estates confiscated. Hoshiarpur is an ancient centre of Hindu epics and culture itself. In Bajwara (4 km east on Una Road from the present city) ruins of an ancient culture can still be found. Mythologically, Teh Dasuya of this district is estimated to be King Virat's kingdom where Pandavas spent their one-year exile.
Hoshiarpur is also popular for old astrological facts where it is said to be that old documents where past, present and future birth of every person is written in detail, are safely kept at this place. Many people visit Hoshiarpur to find out about their past, present and future in every birth they have or had taken in the past.[3]
Among the numerous ancient cultural centers in Hoshiarpur was town Jaijon. Said to be Founded by Jaijjat rishi around 11th century at the Shivalik foothills, Jaijon was a flourishing trade centre. It was also known as a centre for oriental studies. Noted scholars and exponents of Sanskrit, Astrology, Ayurveda and music visited this place for meeting. Music composers Pandit Husan Lal and Bhagat Ram and noted Pakistani poet Tufail Hoshiarpuri belonged to the same place. Jaijon also have a small old railway station from the British era.[4]
Ayurveda scholar Pandit Govind Ram Vatsyayan and Sanskrit laureate Acharya Vishwanath belonged to Jaijon.
Mahilpur is an ancient village on the feet of Shivalik which was visited by Chinese Hiuen Tsang who wrote this village as Sri Mahipalpur in his notes.
According to the 2011 census Hoshiarpur district has a population of 1,586,625,[5] roughly equal to the nation of Gabon[6] or the US state of Idaho.[7] This gives it a ranking of 310th in India (out of a total of 640).[5] The district has a population density of 683PD/sqkm.[5] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 17.95%.[5] Hoshiarpur has a sex ratio of 961 females for every 1000 males,[5] and a literacy rate of 85.40%. Scheduled Castes made up 35.14% of the population.[5]
The Hoshiarpur district has one of the highest Scheduled Caste population (34%) population in Punjab. The Hoshiarpur-I and Hoshiarpur-II have 48 percent Scheduled Castes population. In Mahilpur block the proportion of Scheduled Castes population is 44 percent and in Bhunga block it is 41 percent while in the remaining blocks the proportion of Scheduled Castes population is less than 40 percent.[8] [9]
The table below shows the sex ratio of Hoshiarpur district through decades.
| 2011 | 961 | |
| 2001 | 935 | |
| 1991 | 924 | |
| 1981 | 919 | |
| 1971 | 899 | |
| 1961 | 902 | |
| 1951 | 877 | |
| 1941 | 879 | |
| 1931 | 867 | |
| 1921 | 856 | |
| 1911 | 828 | |
| 1901 | 878 |
The table below shows the child sex ratio of children below the age of 6 years in the rural and urban areas of Hoshiarpur district.
| 2011 | 863 | 865 | |
| 2001 | 800 | 815 |
| 2011[12] | |||
| 1,000,743 | |||
| 538,208 | |||
| 23,089 | |||
| 14,968 | |||
| Others | 9,617 | ||
| Total Population | 1,586,625 |
The table below shows the population of different religions in absolute numbers in the urban and rural areas of Hoshiarpur district.
| Hindu | 2,52,667 | 7,48,076 | 2,15,934 | 6,55,989 | 1,35,337 | 6,03,892 | |
| Sikh | 74,051 | 4,64,157 | 69,954 | 5,04,908 | 41,240 | 4,45,807 | |
| Muslim | 2,828 | 20,261 | 2,081 | 13,313 | 352 | 6,090 | |
| Christian | 2,133 | 12,835 | 1,561 | 11,165 | 625 | 8,081 | |
| Other religions | 3,290 | 6,327 | 2,544 | 3,287 | 2,066 | 317 |
| 1901[14] | 1911[15] [16] | 1921[17] | 1931[18] | 1941[19] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 603,710 | 498,642 | 500,339 | 526,182 | 584,080 | |||||||
| 312,958 | 281,805 | 289,298 | 328,078 | 380,759 | |||||||
| 71,126 | 134,146 | 132,958 | 173,147 | 198,194 | |||||||
| 1,173 | 998 | 1,079 | 1,016 | 1,125 | |||||||
| 813 | 2,978 | 3,745 | 3,764 | 6,165 | |||||||
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| Others | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Total population | 989,782 | 918,569 | 927,419 | 1,032,187 | 1,170,323 | ||||||
| Others | Total | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hoshiarpur Tehsil | 113,680 | 145,985 | 62,517 | 953 | 510 | 95 | 323,740 | ||||||||
| Dasuya Tehsil | 95,572 | 132,105 | 40,509 | 4,729 | 328 | 3 | 273,246 | ||||||||
| Garh Shankar Tehsil | 150,991 | 67,584 | 70,310 | 363 | 284 | 7 | 289,539 | ||||||||
| Una Tehsil | 223,837 | 35,085 | 24,858 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 283,798 | ||||||||
At the time of the 2011 census, 93.74% of the population spoke Punjabi and 5.27% Hindi as their first language.[20]
In the year 2017, Hoshiarpur district had the highest number of malaria cases in Punjab at 153.[21]
The table below shows the data from the district nutrition profile of children below the age of 5 years, in Hoshiarpur, as of year 2020.
| Low-birth weight | 20,188 | 17% | 22% | |
| Stunted | 22,403 | 19% | 26% | |
| Wasted | 13,379 | 12% | 17% | |
| Severely wasted | 2,845 | 2% | 7% | |
| Underweight | 14,413 | 12% | 21% | |
| Overweight/obesity | 4,437 | 4% | 4% | |
| Anemia | 72,602 | 70% | 60% | |
| Total children | 116,139 |
The table below shows the district nutrition profile of Hoshiarpur of women between the ages of 15 to 49 years, as of year 2020.
| Underweight (BMI <18.5 kg/m^2) | 56,089 | 11% | 14% | |
| Overweight/obesity | 211,477 | 41% | 31% | |
| Hypertension | 186,652 | 36% | 18% | |
| Diabetes | 66,736 | 13% | NA | |
| Anemia (non-preg) | 281,589 | 54% | 62% | |
| Anemia (preg) | NA | NA | 38% | |
| Total women (preg) | 24,123 | |||
| Total women | 519,345 |
In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Hoshiarpur one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). It is the only district in Punjab currently receiving funds from the Backward regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).[24]
Hoshiarpur has 6,480 registered industrial units, which employ more than 31 thousand employees. There are 24 large and medium industries, where more than 15,000 people work.[25]
| No. | Constituency | Name of MLA | Party | Bench | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 39 | Mukerian | Jangi Lal Mahajan | Opposition | ||
| 40 | Dasuya | Karambir Singh Ghuman | Government | ||
| 41 | Urmar | Jasvir Singh Raja Gill | |||
| 42 | Sham Chaurasi (SC) | Dr. Ravjot Singh | |||
| 43 | Hoshiarpur | Bram Shanker | |||
| 44 | Chabbewal (SC) | Dr. Raj Kumar Chabbewal | Opposition | ||
| 45 | Garhshankar | Jai Krishan Singh | Government | ||
The District of Hoshiarpur comprises four sub-divisions, ten development blocks, eight municipal councils and one notified area committee, as listed below: