Haryana (हरयाणा) is a state in northwest India. Neighbouring states are Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, Rajasthan to the west and south. The river Yamuna acts as the eastern boundary between Haryana and the states of Uttaranchal & Uttar Pradesh. Seasonal rivers like Ghaggar River, Markanda, Tangri, Sahibi etc pass through the state.
Geography
Haryana is situated in the north between 27 deg 37' to 30 deg 35' latitude and between 74 deg 28' to 77 deg 36' longitude. The altitude of Haryana varies between 700 to 3600 ft above sea level. The state is divided into four divisions for administrative purpose - Ambala, Rohtak, Gurgaon and Hissar. There are 19 districts, 47 sub-divisions, 67 tehsils, 45 sub-tehsils and 116 blocks. Haryana has a total of 81 cities and towns. It has 6,759 villages. An area of 1,553 km² is covered by forest. Haryana has four main geographical features.
- Shivalik Hills
- Yamuna - Ghaggar (Saraswati) plain
- Semi-desert sandy plain
-
Aravalli Range
History
Haryana was created on November 1, 1966, when the state of Punjab was split between a Hindu majority state and a Sikh majority state. The mostly Hindu and Hindi-speaking eastern portion of Punjab became Haryana, while mostly Sikh and Punjabi-speaking western portion remained as Punjab. Today, Haryana has the vast majority of the ethnic Hindu population. Chandigarh, on the linguistic border, was made a union territory, that serves as capital of both these states.
Haryana, with an almost 4000 year old history, is the cradle of Vedic and Hindu civilization. It was here 3000 years ago that Lord Krishna preached Gita at the start of the battle of Mahabharat. Before the Mahabharat war, a battle of ten kings took place in the Kurukshetra region in the Saraswati valley. Mahabharat (900 BC) mentions Haryana as Bahudhhanyaka, 'land of plentiful grains' and Bahudhana, 'land of immense riches'. The word 'Hariana' occurs in a Sanskrit inscription dated 1328 AD kept in Delhi Museum which refers to this region as "The heaven on earth". It was here that the Aryan culture took birth and matured.
Excavations in places like Naurangabad, and Mittathal in Bhiwani, Kunal in Fatehbad, Agroha near Hissar, Rakhigarhi in Jind, Rukhi in Rohtak and Banawali in Sirsa have unearthed evidence of pre-Harappan and Harappan culture. Findings of pottery, sculpture and jewellery in sites at Kurukshetra, Pehowa, Tilpat and Panipat have proved the historicity of the Mahabharat war. These places are mentioned in the Mahabharat as Prithudaka (Pehowa), Tilprastha (Tilput), Panprastha (Panipat) & Sonprastha (Sonipat).
Politics
List of political parties in the state
Districts
External links
Last updated: 08-18-2005 19:43:33
