Amreli district

Amreli district is one of the 33 administrative districts of the state of Gujarat in western India. The district headquarters are located at Amreli. The district occupies an area of 6,760 km2 and has a population of 1,514,190 of which 22.45% were urban (as of 2011). Amreli is the land of Yogiji Maharaj(Dhari), Danbapu, Sage Muldas, Sage Bhojalrambapa, Sage Muktanand Swami, Magician K.Lal, Zaverchand Megahani's place (Bagasara), Dr. Jivaraj Mehata etc. Amreli covers Dhari Gir National forest sanctuary area. Now it is developing as a Hub of Education.[2]

This article is about the district. For its eponymous headquarters, see Amreli.
Amreli district
District of Gujarat
Clockwise from top-left: Bhadkeshwar Mahadev Temple, Salt pan at Jafrabad, Dudhala village, Kotadi mountain, Ramdev Pir temple in Majadar
Amreli District location in Gujarat, India
Amreli District location in Gujarat, India
Coordinates: 20°52′N 70°45′E
Country India
StateGujarat
RegionSaurashtra
HeadquartersAmreli
Government
 • District CollectorGaurang Makwana,IAS
 • District Development OfficerDinesh Gurav,IAS
Area
 • Total7,397 km2 (2,856 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)[1]
 • Total1,514,190
 • Rank19 of 26 in Gujarat
 • Density200/km2 (530/sq mi)
 • Summer (DST)IST (UTC+05:30)
Websitegujaratindia.com

Origin of name

Amreli district name derives its name from the town of Amreli, which is the headquarters of the district. It is believed that during the year 534 AD, Amreli existed as a city place with name Anumanji. After that the name was Amlik and then Amravati. The ancient Sanskrit name of Amreli was Amarvalli.

History

Initially, Amreli was a small village with an ancient history, and part of various kingdoms and empires established in the area. It shot into prominence, turning from village to town, when the Marathas began acquiring territory and establishing their reign over the region in 1780s. Besides levying taxes on the other rulers of the Kathiawar Peninsula, the Gaekwads also acquired their own territory and chose Amreli as the headquarters for their "Kathewad Pranth", which included Dwarka mandal. Vithalrao Devaji was appointed the Diwan (1801–1820), and during this period, Amreli grew and prospered. Vithalrao Devaji converted much of the adjoining forest land into farm land to realise revenue and also built the Nagnath Mahadev temple. Later in 1886, under the Gaikwad regime, compulsory and free education policy was adopted in Amreli for the first time. From 18th century to 1959, Dwarika and Okhamandal was part of Gaikwad - Amreli state but after 1959, those two cities were merged with Jamnagar district.

During the British Raj, the Maratha Gaekwad dynasty organised its Baroda State into four administrative prants (equivalent to British Districts), namely Baroda itself, Kadi (the largest), Navsari and Amreli, the smallest.

After independence the district became the part of Bombay State and a separate district in Gujarat State after the bifurcation of Bombay State.

Geography

Amreli has a variety of soils such as Medium black, loamy, sandy, rocky inferior and saline.

Politics
District No. Constituency Name Party Remarks
Amreli 94Dhari Jaysukhbhai Kakdiya Bharatiya Janata Party
95Amreli Kaushik Vekariya Bharatiya Janata Party
96Lathi Janakbhai Talaviya Bharatiya Janata Party
97Savarkundla Mahesh Kasvala Bharatiya Janata Party
98Rajula Hirabhai Solanki Bharatiya Janata Party

Economy

Amreli district is industrially backward area. There are some small industries like oil mills spread over the district.

The economy depends upon agriculture. Agro-based industries are also well developed in the district. Mainly groundnut, cotton, sesame, bajri, wheat, and grams are grown therein. Fishery is an important sector in Rajula and Jafrabad talukas.

The district has 4 industrial estates under the GIDC (Gujarat Industrial Development Centres), two of which are in Babra. District has 4822 Small Scale Industries and 5 Medium Scale Industries in which Rs.4947.35 lakh is invested. 16,640 employments are generated through this industrial centres. Pipavav, Jafrabad and Victor ports are situated in the coastal district.

Gems

Gem cutting and polishing industries are located in Babra, while Savar Kundla taluka is famous for its Manual weighing Scales-Electronic Weighing machines across the country. Gold plating units in Bagasara city. The diamond trading industry is also well developed. small gem cutting industry located in Dhari

Mining

Rajula is famous for rajula stones which are famous worldwide.

Ginning

Babra is famous for Ginning industry with more than 50 ginning and pressing factories.

Talukas

The district comprises 11 talukas.

Villages
  • Pir-Khijadiya

Demographics
Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1901339,702—    
1911365,575+0.74%
1921363,009−0.07%
1931415,110+1.35%
1941501,270+1.90%
1951576,272+1.40%
1961716,720+2.21%
1971900,824+2.31%
19811,138,394+2.37%
19911,308,867+1.41%
20011,393,918+0.63%
20111,514,190+0.83%
source:[3]

According to the 2011 census Amreli district has a population of 1,514,190,[4] roughly equal to the nation of Gabon[5] or the US state of Hawaii.[6] This gives it a ranking of 329th in India (out of a total of 640).[4] The district has a population density of 205 inhabitants per square kilometre (530/sq mi).[4] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 8.59%.[4] Amreli has a sex ratio of 964 females for every 1000 males,[4] and a literacy rate of 74.49%. 386,635 (25.53%) lived in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 8.78% and 0.48% of the population respectively.[4]

Religions in Amreli district (2011)[7]
Religion Percent
Hinduism
 
 93.15%
Islam
 
 6.55%
Other or not stated
 
 0.30%

Hindus are 93.15% while Muslims are 6.55% of the population.[7]

Language

Languages of Amreli district (2011)[8]

  Gujarati (99.00%)
  Hindi (0.66%)
  Others (0.36%)

At the time of the 2011 census, 99.00% of the population spoke Gujarati and 0.66% Hindi as their first language.[8]

Cities and Towns

The population development of the cities and towns in Amreli.[9]

Name[lower-alpha 1] Status Population

Census 1991-03-01

 Population

Census 2001-03-01

 Population

Census 2011-03-01

Amreli Municipality with Outgrowth 67,827 95,307 117,967
Babra Municipality ... 19,071 25,270
Bagasara Municipality 28,389 31,796 34,521
Chalala Municipality 16,193 16,915 16,721
Damnagar Municipality 13,946 16,719 16,614
Jafrabad Municipality 17,553 25,086 27,167
Lathi Municipality 16,558 20,966 21,173
Lilia Census Town ... 9,902 10,359
Rajula Municipality 26,571 32,395 38,489
Savarkundla Municipality 64,815 73,774 78,354

Culture

The most popular temples in the city of Amreli are Nagnath Temple, Gayatri Temple and Shreenathji Haveli. The other tourist places in Amreli district are Tulshishyam-Una(via dhari), Sarkeshvar Mahadev, Balana (Jafarabad), Delvada, Holi-Dharin Nana Visavadar, Vakuni-Dhar, Hanuman Gada, Satadhar,[10] Galadhara-Khodiyar Temple and Khodiyar dam(Dhari). Kankai-banej and diu.ambardi safari park (Dhari) is most tourist attractions place in amreli district.

Notable people

See also

Notes
  1. Source: Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner (web), Delimitation Commission of India (web), Rand McNally International Atlas 1994, School of Planning & Architecture (web).

References
  1. "List of districts of Gujarat". www.census2011.co.in.
  2. "Census GIS India". Archived from the original on 2007-07-03. Retrieved 2009-08-27.
  3. Decadal Variation In Population Since 1901
  4. "District Census Hand Book – Amreli" (PDF). Census of India. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
  5. US Directorate of Intelligence. "Country Comparison:Population". Archived from the original on June 13, 2007. Retrieved 2011-10-01. Gabon 1,576,665
  6. "2010 Resident Population Data". U. S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 2013-10-19. Retrieved 2011-09-30. Hawaii 1,360,301
  7. "Population by Religion - Gujarat". censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 2011.
  8. "Table C-16 Population by Mother Tongue: Gujarat". censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
  9. "Amreli (District, Gujarat, India) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location". citypopulation.de. Retrieved 2023-03-17.
  10. "Satadhar :: Official Website of Shree Satadhar Temple | Shree Aapagiga Ni Jagya, Satadhar, Suarashtra, Gujarat, India". www.satadhar.com.
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