Sironj

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?Sironj Madhya Pradesh • India
Sironj
Coordinates: 24°06′N 77°42′E / 24.1, 77.7
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Area • Elevation	• 464 m (1,522 ft)
District(s)	Vidisha
Population	42,100 (2001)

Coordinates: 24°06′N 77°42′E / 24.1, 77.7 Sironj is a city and a municipality in Vidisha district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Demographics
4 Economy
5 References

[edit] Geography

Sironj is located at 24.1° N 77.7° E^[1]. It has an average elevation of 464 metres (1522 feet). coor title dm|24|06|N|77|42|E|region:IN_type:city

It is about 120 km North of Bhopal, the Capital of Central Indian State of Madhya Pradesh. Although it lies in the Vidisha district and is about 85 km from Vidisha town, which is the district headquarters) it is much easier to reach Sironj from Bhopal then from Vidisha, on account of better roads and more frequent buses plying between Bhopal and Sironj. It takes about 3.5 hours by a public transport bus to reach Sironj from Bhopal. These buses are available from Berasia bus stand of Bhopal. The nearest railway station is Ganj Basoda, 45 kilometers east of Sironj, which lies on the main Mumbai-Delhi railway route. For a person coming from Delhi, the best train to take is Hazrat Nizamuddin- Habibganj Express which leaves Delhi at 9 O’clock in night and reaches Ganj Basoda at 6 in the morning. Thereafter, one has to take a bus from here to Sironj, which is about 1 hour drive. The roads are not very good..^[2]

Terrainwise, Sironj is a mixture of undulating hilly tracts coupled with black cotton soil plains. The area was once full of forests but now almost completely devoid of them, barring the forests on the fringes of the block in remote villages. Sironj has a mixed population of Hindus, Muslims and Jains. While the villages are dominated mostly by Hindus, in the town, the Hindus and Muslims are almost in equal numbers. There is a considerable Jain population in Sironj. Most of the inhabitants of Sironj are traders, surrounded by the agriculturist community of about 300 villages that surround it.

[edit] History

Historically, Sironj was a part of the Malwa region, on the fringes of Bundelkhand, and has been a Jain pilgrimage. As a part of the kingdom of the Nawabs of Tonk, it bordered Gwalior State under the Scindhias. At the time of independence of India, Sironj was a part of the Tonk state of Rajasthan. Thus, it became a land-locked district of Rajasthan surrounded from all four sides by Madhya Pradesh. Under the State Reorganization Act of 1956, Sironj was made a part of Madhya Pradesh. However, it lost its status of a district and became a block (sub-district) under the Vidisha district of MP.

Being very close to the medieval trade route between Delhi and Gujarat, Sironj was full of traders. The most famous of such traders were the Maheshwaris, who later left Sironj taking offence on the actions of the Nawab of Sironj. Their deserted palaces still dominate the skyline of Sironj, which was famous for its three tiered market. In a single building, there were shops that were partly underground and partly on the surface (meant for customers on feet), shops that were slightly raised (for the customers on the horseback) and shops on the first floor (for the customers on elephant -back). Many of these shops survive.

[edit] Demographics

As of 2001 India census^[3], Sironj had a population of 42,100. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Sironj has an average literacy rate of 55%, lower than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 62%, and female literacy is 47%. In Sironj, 17% of the population is under 6 years of age.

[edit] Economy

Main crops of Sironj area are Wheat, maize and gram in winters and Soyabean and lentils in rains. Wheat from Sironj and other parts of Vidisha are famous throughout India and are sold at premium prices in the markets of Delhi. Soyabean from this area forms the backbone of the Soya-oil industry based at Indore.