Rupnagar

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Coordinates: 31.34° N 76.18° E

Ropar

Ropar
State
 - District(s)		 Punjab (India)
 - Ropar
Coordinates 31.34° N 76.18° E
Area
 - Elevation
 - 262 m
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
Population (2006)
 - Density
 - ?/km²
Codes
 - Postal
 - Telephone
 - Vehicle		  
 - 140 001
 - +91-1881
 - PB 12

Rupnagar is a town in Punjab, India. It was formerly known as Ropar. The town of Rupnagar is said to have been founded by a Raja called Rokeshar, who ruled during the 11th century and named it after his son Rup Sen. It is also the site of an ancient town of the Indus Valley Civilization. The major cities in Ropar District are Morinda, Kurali, Anandpur Sahib and Chamkaur Sahib. It used to have the Town of Mohali as a part of the district before it was made a separate district in the year 2006. The famous Bhakra dam is at Nangal on the boundary with the neighouring state of Himachal Pradesh.

Ropar city is to the North West of Chandigarh ( the nearest airport) and at a distance of some 50 k.m from Chandigarh. It has Himachal Pradesh to the north and Nawanshahar district to its west.

Contents

[edit] Rupar - Witness To Six Ancient Civilisations

Rupar is a 21 metre high ancient mound overlaying the Shiwalik (also spelt as Sivalik or Shivalik) deposition on the left bank of the river Sutlej where it emerges into the plains. It has yielded a sequence of six cultural periods or phases with some breaks from the Harappan times to the present day. The excavations were carried out by Dr. Y.D. Sharma of ASI. The migration of the Harappans to Rupar has been postulated through the lost Saraswati River to the Sutlej as both the river once belonged to one system. ( See Ghaggar river).

Period I At Rupar excavation, the lowest levels yielded the Harappan traits in Period 1, which falls in the proto-historic period. A major find was a stealite seal in the Indus script used for the authentication of trading goods, impression of seal on a terracotta lump of burnt clay, chert blades, copper implements, terracotta beads and bangles and typical standardised pottery of Indus Valley civilisation. They flourished in all the Harappan cities and townships.

The earliest houses at Rupar were built with river pebbles available in abundance but soon they made use of cut slabs of lime with the same ratio of 4:2:1. Sun baked bricks were sometimes used in the foundations. Houses were built to suit climatic conditions. Walls were plastered with built to suit climatic conditions. Walls were plastered with water repelling sticky clay. In the north, flat roofs were common but deep-pitched roofs were used along the west coast - Bengal and Assam - due to heavy rainfall.

The dead were buried with head generally to the north and with funerary vessels as unearthed in cemetery R-37 at Harappa (Sind, Pakistan). What led the Harappans to desert the site is not known.

Period II Period II belongs to Painted grey ware people who followed the Harappans. Typical pottery of this period consisted of fine greyware painted black, terracotta bangles, semi precious stones, glass, bone arrowheads, ivory kohl sticks and copper implements. This period is identified as the period belonging to the Great War Epic - Mahabharata.

A new settlement sprang up here by about 600 BC - chronologically Period III at Rupar. Grey pottery of Period II still continued. This period belongs to circa 600 BC to 200 BC. It yielded the earlier coins (punch marked and uninscribed cast coins), copper and implements. An important find was an ivory seal inscribed in Mauryan Brahmi script (4th and 3rd century BC)

Minutely carved and polished stone discs with a figure and motif associated with the cult of the Mother goddess of fertility have also been unearthed in the excavations from Taxila (now in Pakistan), Patna in the state of Bihar and other Mauryan sites. Houses of mud and kiln burnt bricks were by no means rare. A 3.6 metre wide burnt brick wall traced to a length of about 75 mts probably endorsed a tank which collected water through inlets. The upper levels have soak wells lined with terracotta rings of Sunga and Kushana periods.

Period III To V From Period III to V there are fairly rich dwelling complexes with houses of stone and mud bricks. The full plans of the houses could not be exposed owing to the vertical nature of excavations carried out.

Period IV The next phase, Period IV revealed the evidence of the Sungas, Kushans (also spelt as Kushana) and Guptas and their successors. Excavations also revealed successive building levels of various dynasties. In the upper levels a hoard of copper coins of Kushan and Gupta rules were found. This includes a gold coin issued by Chandragupta-Kumerdevi of the Gupta dynasty, which is also known as the golden age in ancient Indian history.

A large number of terracotta figurines of Sunga, Kushana and Gupta periods were also discovered. Among them was a Yakshi figure with cherubic expression and a beautiful seated figure of a lady playing on the lyre reminiscent of Samudragupta’s figure in a similar position on the famous gold coins of the Gupta dynasty. A set of three silver utensils for ritualistic purpose with Greek influence depicts the fine craftsmanship of the Gupta dynasty in its chased decoration.

The pottery of this period in the upper levels is for the most part red ware and is frequently decorated with incised motifs. After a short break, there is evidence of a fresh occupation identified as Period V commencing around the early 6th century and continuing for three or four centuries. The coins of Toramana (circa AD 500) and Mihirakula (circa 510-40) have been recovered from these levels. The spacious brick building of the fifth period were constricted neatly and evidences showed a good measure of prosperity during this period.

Probably after desertion, a new town sprang up here around 13th century AD on the same site named Period VI and it continues to flourish to the present day.

An archaeological site museum has been set up to house some of the antiquities of Rupar along with the photographs displaying excavation material.

[edit] Location

Rupnagar district, included in the Patiala Division of Punjab falls between north latitude 30°-32' and 31°-24' and east longitude 76°-18' and 76°-55'. Rupnagar (formerly known as Ropar) town, the district headquarters is 42 km from Chandigarh, the state capital. The district adjoins Nawanshahar, Mohali and Fatehgarh Sahib Districts of Punjab. The district comprises 3 Tehsils, Rupnagar, Anandpur Sahib and Chamkaur Sahib and includes 617 villages and 6 towns namely Rupnagar, Chamkaur Sahib, Anandpur sahib, Morinda, Kiratpur Sahib and Nangal. All the towns except Chamkaur sahib fall on railways line. The Satluj river passes close (2 to 5 km) to the towns of Nangal, Rupnagar and Anandpur Sahib.

[edit] The Climate

The climate of Rupnagar District is characterized by its general dryness (except in the south-west monsoon season), a hot summer and a bracing cold winter. The year may be divided into four seasons. The period from about middle of November to February is the cold season. This is followed by the summer season from March to about the end of June. The south-west monsoon season commences late in June and continues up to about middle of September. The period from mid September to the middle of November constitute the post-monsoon or transition season. The temperature ranges from minimum of 4 °C in winter to 45 °C in summer. May and June are generally hottest months and December and January are the coldest months. Relative humidity is high, averaging about 70% during monsoon. The average annual rainfall in district is 775.6 mm. About 78% of the annual rainfall is received during the period from June to September. The soils of the District vary in texture generally from loam to silty clay loam except along the Sutlej River and chos where some sandy patches may be found. Chamkaur Sahib and Kharar blocks have sodic soils. The soils of Anandpur Sahib and Rupnagar blocks are undulating.

[edit] District Administration

  • The Senior Superintendent of Police, an officer belonging to the Indian Police Service is entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining law and order and related issues of the district. He is assisted by the officers of the Punjab Police Service and other Punjab Police officials.
  • The Divisional Forest Officer, an officer belonging to the Indian Forest Service is responsible for managing the Forests, environment and wild-life related issues of the district. He is assisted by the officers of the Punjab Forest Service and other Punjab Forest officials and Punjab Wild-Life officials.
  • Sectoral development is looked after by the district head of each development department such as PWD, Agriculture, Health, Education, Animal husbandry, etc. These officers belong to various State Services.

[edit] Important cities and towns

[edit] Colleges

[edit] Schools

  • D.A.V. Secondary Scr. Public School
  • Government Secondary Scr. School (Boys)
  • Govternment Secondary Scr. School (Girls)
  • Holi Family Convent School
  • Khalsa Secondary Scr. School
  • Nataji Model School
  • Sahibzada Ajit Singh Acedamy
  • Sant Karam Singh Acedamy
  • Shiwalik Public School
  • Satluj Public School

[edit] Statistical Data Of Ropar Distic

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Sr.No.

Particulars
AnandPur Sahib
ChamKaur Sahib
Morinda
Nurpur Bedi
RoopNagar
Total
1
No. Of Villages
A)
Total
128
112
73
110
196
619
B)
Populated
125
106
72
108
190
601
C)
Be-Charag
3
6
1
2
6
18
2
Population
A)
Population Rural
114677
60055
61460
81740
107717
425649
B)
- Rural (Male)
59940
31856
33336
42430
57585
225147
C)
- Rural (Female)
54737
28199
28124
39310
50132
200502
D)
No. Of Families
19971
9687
9334
14341
17905
71238
E)
No. Of S.Cs
21190
20903
21509
16717
30770
97036
3
Workers
A)
No. Of Workers (Agri.)
16314
11461
11662
16091
16446
71974
B)
No. Of Workers (Non-Agri.)
14561
5932
6862
6587
14337
48279
C)
No. Of Literates
60918
32286
34566
38484
60240
226494
4
Area
A)
Total Area (Hect.)
30741
18964
14856
34122
36033
134716
B)
Area Under Forest (Hect)
5301
</TD>
620
84
11601
8797
26403
C)
Net Cultivated Area (Hect)
15636
14592
12320
148755
17788
209091
D)
Total Cultivated Area (Hect)
26310
27002
22439
25716
31537
133004
5
Industry
A)
Small Industries
-
-
-
3
15
18
B)
Big Industries
-
1
-
-
1
2
6
Educational Institutions
A)
Primary Schools
139
85
66
107
165
562
B)
Middle Schools
20
12
9
14
17
72
C)
High/Sr.Sec. Schools
21
8
10
18
22
79
D)
Degree Colleges
1
1
-
-
2
3
7
Health
A)
Primary Health Centers
3
2
2
3
3
13
B)
Sub-Center
22
9
10
17
24
82
C)
Dispensaries
9
3
5
9
7
33
D)
Hospitals
1
1
-
1
1
4
8
Animals Husbandary
A)
Vet. Hospitals
7
7
4
7
9
34
B)
Vet. Dispensaries
6
5
7
8
9
35
C)
Semen Centers
9
11
10
11
20
61
9
Co-Operative Societies
A)
Agriculture
26
18
17
25
22
108
B)
Others
106
94
75
110
109
494
C)
Milk Collection Centers
38
60
58
84
75
315
10
Yellow Card Holders
A)
S.C.
2725
2749
2523
2795
3557
14349
B)
Non S.C.
6200
2245
2006
6763
4901
22115
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