Jharkhand, << jahr KAHND >> (pop. 32,988,134), is a state in eastern India. Its name means land of the forest. Ranchi is the state capital. Jharkhand is rich in mineral wealth, especially iron, coal, bauxite, mica, copper, and limestone. The Indian government created Jharkhand in November 2000 by taking land from the southern districts of Bihar.
People and government
People.
The central part of Jharkhand is the most densely populated section of the state. Hindus make up about two-thirds of the state’s population. Slightly more than 10 percent of the Hindus belong to the scheduled castes, the lowest social class in Hindu society. Laws attempt to protect the scheduled castes from discrimination.
Small ethnic groups known as tribes make up about 25 percent of the population of Jharkhand, which is often referred to as a tribal state. About 30 tribes live in Jharkhand, mainly in the Chota Nagpur region. Many members of certain tribal groups, especially the Mundas and the Oraons, have converted to Christianity. Muslims make up about 15 percent of Jharkhand’s population.
The major languages spoken in Jharkhand include Bengali, Hindi, Santhali, and Urdu. Many people also understand Hindi. Slightly more than half of the people of Jharkhand can read and write. The literacy rate is much lower for women than for men, and the rate for the tribal groups is lower than the state’s average.
Government.
The head of state is the governor, who is appointed by the president of India to a five-year term. Jharkhand has an 82-seat elected legislative assembly. The governor selects a cabinet of ministers from the assembly. The chief minister oversees the administration of the government. Jharkhand elects 14 members to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament. It sends 5 representatives, nominated by the state legislature, to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Parliament.
An official called a collector is responsible for administration at the district level. Elected gram panchayats (village councils) are in charge of local administration. Some panchayat seats are reserved for women.
Land
Land features.
Jharkhand contains much of the Chota Nagpur Plateau, which is not one plateau, but a series of plateaus and valleys stretching across the northern half of the state. The highest of the plateaus, Hazaribagh Plateau, has an average height of about 3,600 feet (1,100 meters). The granite peak of Parasnath is the state’s highest point, reaching 4,478 feet (1,365 meters). The valleys and plains of the Chota Nagpur region lie between 660 and 980 feet (200 and 300 meters) above sea level. The most important of the valleys is the Damodar Valley.
Ranchi Plateau, near the center of the state, is composed of granite. Its average height is about 1,970 feet (600 meters) above sea level.
Rivers.
The Damodar River runs across Jharkhand, crossing north of Ranchi. The Damodar is a source of irrigation, fish, water, and electric power. However, it also causes widespread destruction when it floods during monsoon season, from June to August.
Smaller rivers in Jharkhand include the South Koel, in the southern part of the state, and the Barakar, in the northeastern section of the state.
Climate.
In the summer, the state’s average high temperature rises to about 99 °F (37 °C). In the winter months of December and January, the average low temperature is 46 °F (8 °C).
About 95 percent of the rain falls during the monsoon season—from June to August—and in September. Average annual rainfall is about 53 inches (134 centimeters).
Wildlife.
Almost all of Jharkhand’s wildlife is found in reserves. Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary, Betla National Park, and Hazaribagh National Park have elephants, barking deer, sloth bears, leopards, tigers, bison, cheetal (spotted deer), and wild boars. Smaller mammals include honey badgers, porcupines, and giant squirrels.
Economy
Agriculture.
Jharkhand relies on other Indian states for much of its agricultural products. About half of the land is fit for agriculture, but productivity is low. Most of the cultivated land is not irrigated.
Forests cover over 25 percent of the state. The tribes have made their living from the forests for hundreds of years. Important forest products include the leaves of the tendu tree, lac (an insect resin used to make shellac), timber, and medicinal plants. Sal wood is used for building and construction. Its bark yields a black dye and resin used in making typewriter ribbons and carbon paper.
Manufacturing.
After India achieved independence in 1947, the Indian government worked to develop industry in the region. Giant thermal power plants operate in Patratu, Tenughat, Bokaro, and Chandrapura. Bokaro and Jamshedpur have steel mills, and Bharat and Jamshedpur have heavy-engineering companies.
Mining.
Jharkhand is rich in mineral wealth. It has about one-third of India’s reserves of coal and copper, one-fourth of India’s iron ore, and almost half of the country’s mica reserves. Jharkhand also has several educational institutions for the study of mining and technology.
Hazaribagh is the main center of mica production. Dhanbad is the center of the Indian coal industry. Copper is found in the southeastern part of the state as well as near Chatra in the north and near Dumka in the east.
There are major deposits of bauxite (the ore from which aluminum is made) in the areas to the west of Ranchi, especially near Lohardaga. Trains transport it to Luri, south of the Damodar river, for processing.
Transportation and communication.
To support the development of industry in Jharkhand, the state’s railway and road networks have been improved and expanded. Trains between Delhi and Kolkata pass through Jharkhand. Ranchi and Jamshedpur have airports.
Tourism.
Ranchi, which sits at an altitude of about 2,300 feet (700 meters) above sea level, is a popular health and vacation resort. There are a number of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in Jharkhand where elephants, tigers, leopards, and smaller mammals can be found. Netarhat, near the border with Chhattisgarh, is a resort with thick forests. Famous pilgrimage sites (places visited for religious purposes) include Parasnath, which is holy to the Jains, and Rajrappa, a temple town at the intersection of the Damodar and Bhairavi rivers.
History
Traces of a civilization in the southern part of the Hazaribagh district suggest that there have been human settlements in Jharkhand since at least 1000 B.C. Jharkhand shares its early history with present-day Bihar, where a kingdom known as Magadha flourished in the 500’s B.C.
The heavily forested Chota Nagpur region has always had a largely tribal population. Jharkhand was part of the Gupta empire during the A.D. 300’s and 400’s, in the classical period of Hindu culture. During this period, India’s literature, sculpture, and other arts reached high levels of accomplishment.
From about 455 to the early 1500’s, armies from central Asia and from what are now Afghanistan and Iran invaded the area. Beginning around 455, the Huns invaded from central Asia. Muslim armies came from Arabia in the early 700’s. Around 1000, Mahmud of Ghazni began a series of raids into northern India from his base in what is now Afghanistan. During these attacks, Mahmud destroyed Hindu temples and looted Indian cities.
In 1206, the Muslim general Qutb ud-Din Aybak proclaimed himself sultan (ruler) of northern India and established the Delhi Sultanate. In 1398, the armies of the central Asian leader Timur, also known as Tamerlane, swept over India. Timur looted Delhi, then returned to his capital at Samarqand in what is now Uzbekistan. After Timur’s attack, the Delhi Sultanate began to break apart.
In 1526, a central Asian leader named Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi, the last sultan of Delhi, at the Battle of Panipat. Babur then established the Mughal Empire and conquered much of northern India. The Mughal Empire ruled until the 1700’s.
In 1765, much of Jharkhand came under the rule of Great Britain, which later became the United Kingdom. Tribal revolts against British rule began in 1772. In 1785, the British executed tribal chief Tilka Manjhi, the leader of one of the revolts, but the unrest continued. Rebellions in the 1800’s included the Ho revolt in 1820, the Kol insurrection in 1832, the Santhal rebellion in 1855, and the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857. In the late 1800’s, tribal leader Birsa Munda initiated a struggle against the British forces, who killed Birsa and put down the rebellion in 1900.
In the 1910’s, the idea of a separate state was first suggested. The tribal people of Bihar felt alarmed by the rapid depletion of forests, the rapid increase in land cultivated by settlers from the plains, and the threat to their traditional ways of life. Many tribal people also felt that Hindi-speaking Biharis were given better job opportunities than they were. In 1929, the movement presented a formal request for a Jharkhand state to the British government, but the British did not act on the request.
In December 1947, shortly after India gained its independence from the United Kingdom, supporters of a new state created the All India Jharkhand Party, with the goal of establishing Jharkhand. The party submitted a formal request for the creation of Jharkhand state to the States Reorganization Committee in 1955, but their demand was not met.
In 1972, a group of political activists led by Shibu Soren founded the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), or Jharkhand Freedom Movement, in the coal district of Dhanbad. The JMM brought together tribal people and working-class people from the industrial area. In 1973, N. E. Horo, the leader of the Jharkhand Party, presented a memorandum to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi asking for a separate Jharkhand state.
In the late 1980’s, the All Jharkhand Students Union held a series of general strikes in support of the movement. In 1995, the Bihar government agreed to create the Jharkhand Area Autonomous Council, which provided some self-government for the region. However, elections for the council did not take place until 1997.
In August 2000, the Bihar Reorganization Bill, calling for the establishment of Jharkhand, was introduced to the Lok Sabha. The Lok Sabha passed the bill on Aug. 2, 2000, and the Rajya Sabha passed it on Aug. 11, 2000. Jharkhand was created on Nov. 15, 2000.
