Pratapgarh, Rajasthan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| ?Pratapgarh Rajasthan • India |
|
 |
|
| Coordinates: | |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
| District(s) | Pratapgarh |
| Population | 35,000 (2001) |
| Codes • Pincode • Telephone • UN/LOCODE • Vehicle |
• 312605 • +01478 • INBOM • RJ-35 |
Coordinates: Partapgarh, also called Partabgarh or Pratapgarh, is a district in Rajasthan, India.It is the newest District of Rajasthan. Famous for its Theva art, the town is surrounded by tribal villages.
People of Pratapgarh were demanding to make it a district separate from Chittorgarh district. The government of Rajasthan declared on 6th of July 2006 its intention to make Pratapgarh a separate district, according to Dainik Bhaskar and Rajasthan Patrika newspapers. The process of officially becoming a new district took time. Chief Minister Vansundhara raje declared paratapgarh as 33 district on 09 March 2007 in budget session. As Pratapgarh already had some district offices (a district session court, district hospital, district jail etc.) and also a different vehicle registration code than Chittorgarh, this is an apt decision
Contents |
[edit] Administration
The District Collector of Pratapgarh is Dr Prithvi Raj Sankhala (IAS) and the S.P is Mr Shiv Lal Joshi (Promotee IPS)
[edit] Geography
Pratapgarh is located at 24.03° N 74.78° E[1]. It has an average elevation of 491 metres (1610 feet). It is second highest place in Rajasthan after Mount Abu.
[edit] History
Sisodia family is amongst the ancient royal families in India. This family ruled Mewad for more than eight hundred years. The famous rajputs Maharana Sanga and Maharana Pratap belong to this royal family. The rulers of Pratapgarh raj were descendants of this Mewad royal family.
In the 14th Century Chittorgarh was ruled by Maharana Kumbha. Due to some dispute with his younger brother Kshemkarn he expelled him out of his territory. Kshemkarn's family took sharan (refuge) in the Aravali ranges in South Rajasthan. His son Rajkumar Surajmal conquered the adivasis of Devgarh and became the ruler of Devgarh (which is 45 kilometers from Mandsaur) in 1514. This raj later came to be known as Pratapgarh raj.
As the environment of Devgarh was not found to be suitable by the royal family, one of the descendents of Raja Surajmal, Rajkumar Pratapsingh started to build a new town near Devgarh in 1698 and named it as Pratapgarh. A detailed and proper planning was done before starting the work. As per the plans it was decided to build 3 Markets, 52 Streets, temples, etc. During the regime of Rajkumar Pratapsingh the actual work started and he developed the main market (Sadar Bazar). His successor Rajkumar Gopalsingh (son) took over the reins of the raj in 1721. He developed the Gopalgunj Mohalla during his regime. His son Rajkumar Salimsingh continued the work further and developed the Salampura Mohalla and Salamgarh Gram. It was during his rule that Pratapgarh was cordoned off from all sides by building up walls on all the sides. There were 8 doors of entry provided during that time. They were manned by security guards during the day and were closed in the night. Rajkumar Salimsingh also introduced a local currency and named it as Salimshahi Sikka (coin), which was made in a local mint. (Taksal)
Pratapgarh remained to a large extent unaffected during the Mughal era. However in order to safeguard itself from being taken over or destroyed by the Britishers, the Maharawat - Sawantsingh signed a treaty with the British Government in 1804. As per the terms of this treaty large sums (lagan) had to be paid to the British rulers. However as a result of this Pratapgarh remained largely unaffected from the wrath of the Britishers.
As Pratapgarh started developing the old capital of Devgarh started getting neglected. The famous royal palace of Devgarh wore a deserted look and started getting deteriorated. On the other hand Rajkumar Udaysinghji built a new palace in Pratapgarh in the year 1867 on the lines of those built by the Britishers and started living there. He then started getting involved in the development of Pratapgarh regularly. He opened the first dispensary of Pratapgarh in 1867 where allopathic treatment was given to the patients. Thereafter he built Pathshallas (school) in 1875. The Municipal Committee was formed in 1893. During this period only the Mandsaur Pratapgarh road was made. Slowly the legal machinery started getting developed and three levels of courts - The Diwani Court, The Jilla Court and The High Court started functioning from Pratapgarh. The Jilla Court had powers up to proclaiming the death sentence or expelling a person outside the territory. However such harsh punishment required ratification from the Raja.
[edit] Culture
The city is a blend of old and new cultures. In nearby villages, the tribal culture still thrives. Every Sunday when the tribes come to the city to buy merchandise in the weekly haat market, the city also looks tribal.
[edit] Places of historical and religious interest
A temple of historic and religious interest near Partapgarh is Shri Bamottar(Shantinath)Tirth. the temple has a 150 cms black colored high idol of Bhagwan Shantinath
How to reach: Shri digamabar Jain Atisay Kshetra Shantinathji is at village Bamottar. The village north of pratapgarh is 5 km from the road head from partapgarh-Choti Sadri-Chittorgarh road in Chittorgarh District. Partapgarh is 32 km from Mandsaur railway station.
The idol was installed in Vikram 1902. The first legend associated with its installation at the time of renovation in Vikram 1990 tells that it was found difficult to take the idol inside the temple due to small size of the entrance but the Dev gave dream to Bhattarak Hemchandra that idol would be installed by itself and in the morning the idol was seen on the Vedi. A local lord was prevented from sacrificing the goats by incapicitating the lord as a the miracle of this temple. the lord could be cured only when he took a vow not to sacrifice any animal. Even now, numerous people come here to fulfill their ambitions. A clan called the KAPTI clan of the Jain community annually organize a religious ceremony (POOJA in local dialect). The patriarch of the Kapti clan Mr. Mohanlal Birdichand Kapti (Jain) passed away in 2006 before which he led the ceremonies at the temple every year. The Kapti clan continues the annual ceremony which involves taking the idol from Shantinath temple to a nearby temple and bringing it back. Attended largely by residents of Partapgarh, everyone attending the Pooja is provided Jain vegetarian lunch complimentary by the temple.
The other idols in the temple are Bhagwan Ajitnath (about 80 cms black stone) in padmasan installed in vikram 1712- Bhagwan Padamprabh ( about 28 cms high white in padamasan) installed in vikram 1828- Bhagwan Chandraprabh (about 40 cms black stone) in padamasan installed in vikram 1659- Bhagwan Vasupujya (about 70 cms black stone) installed in vikram 1929.
[edit] Topography
The internal part of the city has many narrow streets and some of them are so narrow that it is hard for two bikes to cross each other. But since the last decade, the outer part of the city Nai Aabadi, Ashok Nagar are developing fast.
Nearby cities include Chhoti Sadri, Mandsaur and Dhariyawad.
[edit] Demography
As of the 2001 Indian census, Pratapgarh had a population of 35,414. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Pratapgarh has an average literacy rate of 74%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 80%, and female literacy is 67%. In Pratapgarh, 14% of the population is under 6 years of age.
[edit] Services and infrastructure
There are four cinema halls. They are Darpan. Archana, Smata and Pratap. The Pratap theatre was the first cinema hall in the whole Udaipur zone when it was built in 1945. Nowadays it is infamous for showing only adult movies.
Communication services were earlier relying on BSNL, but after the entry of several private mobile providers like Airtel, Reliance and Hutch, BSNL, Tata indicom is losing ground.
Though the city is connected to all important towns by road, railway line is still a dream. Due to the height at which it is located, it will be very costly to build a railway line to here.
A local newspaper, Jai kanthal, is printed in Pratapgarh.
[edit] Education
The town has some good primary schools like Bbn, Pragati Academy, Emmanuael Mission School and Aadarsh. Bbn is the only senior secondary English medium school in Pratapgarh. The oldest English medium school is St. Paul's School, . There are a few higher secondary schools named Govt. Sr. Sec. School, Aadarsh, Saifiyah and Bhattarak school. Pratapgarh has a small college too, opened in 1966 for higher studies. The town has produced many students studying engineering and MBBS in elite institutions. Many native people are now working with Multinational companies like Microsoft, WARTSILA,GE,TCS, Siemens as well as in the national labs like ISRO. Now there is also a girls B.Ed college.
|
|||||||||||||||||
