Banswara District: History, Geography, Natural Places to See - RajRAS

The district of Banswara gets its name from the ‘bans’ or bamboo trees that once grew here in abundance. Located in southern Rajasthan, the city is also known as the Cherrapunji of Rajasthan (Receives highest rainfall in the state) and ‘City of Hundred Islands’, due to presence of numerous islands on the Mahi River at Chachakota. Banswara is also the greenest City in the Rajasthan.

History of Banwara

Since antiquity, Banswara has been land of tribes. Around 1400 BC, Bhils and Minas roamed and ruled the land. The princely state of Banswara was established by Jagmal Singh after defeating and killing a Bhil ruler Bansia or Wasna. The district is said be named after the same Bhil ruler or probably for the “bans” or bamboo forests in the area.

The rulers of the state bore the title ‘Maharawal’ from 1688 onwards. Banswara State became a British protectorate on 16 November 1818.

Banswara district forms eastern part of the region known as Vagad or Vagwar. Another popular name of the city is ‘Little Kashi’ or ‘Lodhikashi’, due to the presence of 12 and a half Swayambhoo Shivalingas.

Banswara: Location, Area & Administration

District of Banswara is situated in the southern most part of Rajasthan, at an average altitude of 302 meters. It is the small district with area of 5037 sq. km and lies between 23.11° N to 23.56° N latitudes and 73.58° E to 74.49° E. longitudes. The district boundary in the east and south coincides with the state boundaries of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat respectively, where as the northern-eastern and western boundaries of Banswara coincide with district boundaries of Pratapgarh and Dungarpur districts, respectively.

Banswara district is composed of 11 tehnsils namely Abapura, Anandpuri, Banswara, Bagidora, Choti Sarvan, Gangadtalai, Ghatol, Ganoda, Garhi, Kushalgarh, Sajjangarh.(Ref)

Geography of Banswara

Banswara is also known as ‘City of Hundred Islands’ due to presence of numerous islands on the Mahi River named “Chachakota” (where the islands located). During rainy season, the region is surrounded natural surrounding water falls including Kagdi fall (Singpura) Juha fall, Kadeliya fall, Bhuadara fall, Jhulla fall & Cha-cha falls. Tropic of Cancer passes through the district.

The district is a mix of different geographies with fertile plains of maize, wheat, rice, cotton soya bean and gram covering the entire central and western regions, while the Aravallis range make up the eastern side. The rich teak forests and mango, khajur (date) and mahua trees are home to diverse wildlife.

Rivers of Banswara

Mahi

Mahi is the largest river of the district, which originates from Amjera hills near Dhar in Madhya Preadesh. It enters Rajasthan from Khatun Village in the district and cuts twice the tropic of cancer.
Tributaries of Mahi include Som, Jhakham, Anas, Chanp, Erav, Hiran and Kagdi.

Natural Resources

The mineral wealth of the district is constituted mainly by non-metallic minerals like rock phosphate, limestone (Oda-bassi, Kalinjara), marble (Tripura-Sundri), dolomite, soapstone, graphite etc. The metallic minerals occuring in the district include manganese(Leelwana,Talwada), iron(Loharia), lead-zinc and copper ores. Recently presence of gold is reported in Jagpura-Bhukhia, Teemrana Mata, Khamera-Undwala area of the district.

Population

As per 2011 Census, the district has total population of 17,98,194. The main occupation of the people, specially of tribals, is agriculture. The tribals live in a small one-room houses, known as “tapra”, which lie scattered all over the area. The main dialect spoken in the district is Wagri, a mixture of Gujrati and Mewari.