Pratapgarh, Rajasthan

Pratapgarh
town
Pratapgarh Show map of Rajasthan Pratapgarh Show map of India Location in Rajasthan, India
Coordinates: 24°02′N 74°47′E / 24.03°N 74.78°E / 24.03; 74.78Coordinates: 24°02′N 74°47′E / 24.03°N 74.78°E / 24.03; 74.78
Country	India
State	Rajasthan
District	Pratapgarh
Elevation	491 m (1,611 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	45,000
Languages
• Official	Hindi
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	312605
Telephone code	01478
ISO 3166 code	RJ-IN
Vehicle registration	RJ-35
Website	pratapgarh.rajasthan.gov.in

Pratapgarh, is a city in Rajasthan, India. It is the district headquarters of Pratapgarh district the newest district of Rajasthan. Famous for its Thewa art, the city is surrounded by tribal villages.

History

Maharana Kumbha ruled Chittorgarh in the 14th century. Due to a dispute with his younger brother Kshemkarn he expelled him from his territory. Kshemkarn's family was a refugee for some time and lived in the Aravali ranges in near south of Rajasthan. In 1514, his son Rajkumar Surajmal became the ruler of Devgarh, and 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 descendants of Raja Surajmal, Rajkumar Pratapsingh started to build a new town near Devgarh in 1698 and named it Pratapgarh.^[1]

It was 15 gun salute princely state of British India, which acceded to Union of India in 1949.^[2]

Geography

Pratapgarh District is a newly constituted district in Rajasthan state. it came into existence on jan 26, 2008 as the 33rd district of Rajasthan. Pratapgarh is located at 24.03° N 74.78° E. It has an average elevation of 491 metres (1610 feet). It is said to be the second highest place in Rajasthan after Mount Abu^[3]

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. After the declaration as a district, new development plans has been executed in the city by state government.

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. In the last decade, the outer parts of the city are developing rapidly. The topography of the area is undulating because of the confluence of three different geological formations- Malwa Plateau, Vindhyachal Hills and Aravali ranges.

Nearby cities include Chhoti Sadri 47 km, and Mandsaur 32 km.

Demography

As of the 2011 Indian census, Pratapgarh had a population of 48,900. 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.

Services and infrastructure

There are three cinema halls. They are Archana, Pratap and Samata. The Pratap theatre was the first cinema hall in the whole Udaipur zone when it was built in 1945. The former Darpan cinema has now been shut off to run some other business. Communication services are being run by Airtel, BSNL(evdo), Idea, Reliance, Tata Indicom, and Vodafone. Due to its strategic location the Airport Authority of India has installed here a VOR station for guiding aircraft their path. It is said that Pratapgarh is midway between Delhi-Mumbai route.

Though Pratapgarh is connected to all important towns by road, a railway line is unlikely, since due to the height at which it is located, it would be very costly to build a railway line.

Education

The standard of education in Pratapgarh has risen radically since the late 1980s. The first English-language middle school was opened in 1989. Since then many education institutes have opened up. Educational services are available now for primary (up to 5th class), middle (up to 8th class), secondary (up to 10th class), higher secondary (up to 12th class) and graduation (Bachelor's degree).

Ecotourism

Pratapgarh is a popular venue for ecotourism. The Sita Mata Wildlife Sanctuary encompasses attractive fauna and flora, including flying squirrels, black-naped monarchs, and lesser floricans.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pratapgarh, Rajasthan.