Dang district, India

Dang is a district in the state of Gujarat in India. The administrative headquarters of the district are located in Ahwa. Dang has an area of 1,764 km² and a population of 228,291 (as of 2011).[1] As of 2011, it is the least populous district of Gujarat (out of 33).[2] As per the Planning Commission, Dang is one of the most economically distressed district out of 640 districts in India.[3] 98% of the population belongs to one of the scheduled tribes.[4][5] The five Kings of Dangs are the only hereditary royals in India whose titles are currently recognized by the government owing to an agreement made during the British Raj in 1842.[6][7]

Dang district

Dandakaranya
district
Location of Dang district in Gujarat
Coordinates:
Country India
StateGujarat
HeadquartersAhwa
Area
 • Total1,764 km2 (681 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)
 • Total228,291
Languages
 • OfficialGujarati, Hindi, English
 • SpokenKhandeshi, Gujarati, Bhili, Marathi, Hindi
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
Websitedangs.nic.in

Etymology

The origin of the name of the Dang is uncertain. In common parlance the word 'dang' means a hilly village. There is another connotation of the word 'dang' which means bamboo (a place of bamboo). The name is also associated with Hindu mythology. It is related to the Dandakaranya of the Ramayana. It is said that during the exile, Rama passed through this area on his way to Nashik.[8]

Kings of Dang
The Dangs (orange) within Surat Agency, British India
See also: Surat Agency

The five Royal Bhil Kings of Dangs are currently the only hereditary rulers in India.[9]

Before Independence several wars were fought between the five tribal kings of Dang and the British Raj. According to the history of Dang, the biggest war to took place at 'Lashkaria Amba', in when the kings of all the five states joined together to protect Dang from British rule.[6] The British were beaten and agreed to a compromise.[6]

As per the treaty signed in 1842 the British were allowed to use the forests and their natural products against which they had to pay around 3,000 silver coins to the five kings. Currently the kings receive a monthly political pension by the Government of India, which is the main source of their income. This payment is continued even though all privy purses for the Princely states of India were stopped in 1970 since the agreement was between then monarchy of Dangs and the British.[6][10]

At the end of each fiscal year during Holi, the kings gather in Ahwa for a traditional royal ceremony, in their richly decorated buggies and bands with tribal dancers, to receive the payment as per the agreement of 1842.[7] In ancient Indian Scriptures Dang is known as Dand Aranyaka, meaning Bamboo Forest.[10] Recently the Dangs Kings have urged the government to protect their depleting forest cover due to illegal logging.[11]

The five kingdoms are Daher-Amala, Linga, Gadhvi, Vasurna and Pimpri.[12]

Rulers[6][7]
  1. Linga - Raja Bhawarsinh
  2. Daher-Amala - Raja Tapatrao Anandrao Pawar
  3. Gadhvi - Raja Karan Singh Yashwantrao Pawar
  4. Vasurna - Raja Dhanrajsinh Chandrasinh Suryavanshi
  5. Pimpri - Raja Trikamrao Sahebrao Pawar

Demographics
Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
190118,333—    
191128,926+4.67%
192124,142−1.79%
193133,495+3.33%
194140,236+1.85%
195147,282+1.63%
196171,567+4.23%
197194,185+2.78%
1981113,664+1.90%
1991144,091+2.40%
2001186,729+2.63%
2011228,291+2.03%
source:[13]

According to the 2011 census Dang district has a population of 228,291,[2] roughly equal to the nation of Vanuatu.[14] This gives it a ranking of 587th in India (out of a total of 640).[2] The district has a population density of 129 inhabitants per square kilometre (330/sq mi) .[2] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 21.44%.[2] Dang has a sex ratio of 1007 females for every 1000 males,[2] and literacy rate of 76.8%.[2]

At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 59.60% of the population in the district spoke Gujarati, 32.55% Khandeshi, 3.88% Bhili, 1.99% Marathi and 1.72% Hindi as their first language.[15]

Economy

In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Dang District as an economically distressed district, one of 250 out of a total of 640 districts.[16] It is one of the six districts in Gujarat currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).[16]

Forest

Dang District has part of a forest that includes Purna Wildlife Sanctuary,[17] which is shared between the districts of Dang and Tapi in Gujarat and Nandurbar District in Maharashtra,[18][19] and Vansda National Park in Navsari District, which shares a continuous tract of forest with Valsad district.[17][20]

A rusty-spotted cat was sighted for the time in 1991 in Shoolpaneshwar Wildlife Sanctuary.[21]

In Purna and Ratanmahal Wildlife Sanctuarys, eight bird species are considered locally extinct, including Indian grey hornbill, jungle bush quail, red spurfowl and large woodshrike.[17] Also, Bengal tiger, Indian giant squirrel and gaur are reportedly extinct in Gujarat.[22]

Talukas
  1. Subir
  2. Waghai
  3. Ahwa

Rivers of district

See also

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-07-27. Retrieved 2009-08-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "District Census 2011". Census2011.co.in. 2011. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
  3. "Governance in Gujarat Under Modi - A Critique"
  4. "About Dang".
  5. "Konkanian Origin of the 'East Indians'".
  6. Dangs darbar gets off to royal start
  7. Dangs Darbar kicks off at Ahwa
  8. G. D. Patel, ed. (1971). Gazetteer of India: Dangs District. Ahmedabad: Directorate of Government Print., Stationery and Publications. pp. 1–2.
  9. Kings of the Dang
  10. Andrabi, Jalees (13 March 2009). "Once a year, peasant rulers are given the royal treatment". The National. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
  11. Dang tribal kings urge Modi to protect their jungle
  12. "Kings hold durbar at Dangs, but at Govt expense". Indian Express Newspapers. 28 February 1999. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
  13. Decadal Variation In Population Since 1901
  14. US Directorate of Intelligence. "Country Comparison:Population". Retrieved 2011-10-01. Vanuatu 224,564 July 2011 est.
  15. 2011 Census of India, Population By Mother Tongue
  16. Ministry of Panchayati Raj (September 8, 2009). "A Note on the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme" (PDF). National Institute of Rural Development. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 5, 2012. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
  17. Trivedi, P. and Soni, V.C. (2006). "Significant bird records and local extinctions in Purna and Ratanmahal wildlife sanctuaries, Gujarat, India" (PDF). Forktail. 22: 39–48.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. "Mahal Eco Campsite". Gujarat Tourism. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
  19. Jhala, Y. V., Qureshi, Q., Sinha, P. R. (Eds.) (2011). Status of tigers, co-predators and prey in India, 2010. National Tiger Conservation Authority, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. TR 2011/003 pp-302
  20. "Vansda National Park". Gujarat Tourism. Retrieved 2017-01-29.
  21. Chavan, S.A.; Patel, C. D.; Pawar, S. V.; Gogate, N. S.; Pandya, N. P. (1991). "Sighting of the rusty-spotted cat Felis rubiginosa (Geoffroy) in Shoolpaneshwar Sanctuary, Gujarat". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society (88): 107−108.
  22. Worah, S. (1991). The ecology and management of a fragmented forest in south Gujarat, India: the Dangs. Ph.D. thesis, University of Poona, Pune, India.
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