Bardhaman district
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Bardhaman district বর্ধমান জেলা |
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| District of West Bengal | |
 Location of Bardhaman district in West Bengal |
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| Country | India |
| State | West Bengal |
| Administrative division | Burdwan |
| Headquarters | Bardhaman |
| Government | |
| • Lok Sabha constituencies | Asansol, Bardhaman-Durgapur, Sadar North, Sadar South, katwa, Kalna |
| • Assembly seats | Pandabeswar, Raniganj, Jamuria, Asansol Uttar, Asansol Dakshin, Kulti, Barabani, Bardhaman Uttar (SC), Bardhaman Dakshin, Monteswar, Bhatar, Galsi (SC), Durgapur Purba, Durgapur Paschim, Raina (SC), Jamalpur (SC), Kalna (SC), Memari, Purbasthali Uttar, Purbasthali Dakshin, Katwa, Ketugram, Mangalkot, Ausgram (SC), Khandaghosh (SC) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 7,024 km2 (2,712 sq mi) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Total | 7,723,663 |
| • Density | 1,100/km2 (2,800/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 36.94 per cent |
| Demographics | |
| • Literacy | 77.15 per cent |
| • Sex ratio | 922 |
| Major highways | NH 2, Grand Trunk Road, Panagarh–Morgram Highway, NH 60 |
| Average annual precipitation | 1442 mm |
| Website | Official website |
Bardhaman district (pron: bɔrd̪ʰomaːn) (also spelled Burdwan or Barddhaman) is a district in West Bengal. The headquarters of the district is Bardhaman, and it houses the cities of Durgapur and Asansol. In Medieval history, this area was known as Krishnapur.
It is the seventh most populous district in India (out of 640).
The name of Bardhaman city, which lends its name to the district, comes from the 24th Jain monk Tirthankar Vardhaman(Mahavir Swami).
Bardhaman was important during Medieval age and while India was under British rule.
This fertile land was important even during the Gupta and Sena rule.
During the Mughal age, from the sixteenth century, Muslims came to the city of Bardhaman and set up a settlement in the outskirts known as Sharifabad. When Sufi pir Baharam had to leave Delhi because of the plots of Abul Fazal and Faizi, he came to Sharifabad. His tomb is visited by both Muslims and Hindus. It was an important administrative centre and was the seat of a fouzdar since the days of Mansingha.
Since then Bardhaman has been ruled by the Khetri Maharajas commanding a large territory and operating through Sananads obtained from Mughals. The Maharajas of Bardhaman faced the Nababs of Murshidabad firmly and were the main cause of survival of the Hindus against the forced mass conversion by Murshidkuli Khan and his successors.
The district was acquired by the East India Company under the treaty with Nawab Mir Qasim in 1760 and confirmed by the emperor Shah Alam II in 1765. The land revenue was fixed in perpetuity with the zemindar in 1793.
In 1901 the population was 1,532,475, showing an increase of 10% in the decade. At the time, there were several indigo factories and the weaving of silk was the chief local industry. In addition, Bardhaman contains the great coal-field of Raniganj, where coal mining in India started in 1774, the enterprises first becoming corporatised around 1820 by Alexander & Co, and then under the leadership of Prince Dwarkanath Tagore, who bought over the existing collieries in 1835, eventually forming the Bengal Coal Co. in partnership with Gilmore Hombray and Co. in 1843. Other large firms started additional coal mining operations in Raniganj, including Birbhum Coal Co., Equitable Coal Co., Madhu Roy and Prasanna Dutta Co., Bird and Co., South Barakar Coal Co., Andrew Yule and Company Ltd. and Balmer Lawrie. By the early 20th century, an output of more than three million tons established Ranigunj coalfields as the major producer of coal in the country.
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