Jagdalpur

Jagdalpur is a city and a municipality in Bastar district in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. It is the administrative headquarters of Bastar District and Bastar Division, and was the capital of the erstwhile princely state of Bastar. Jagdalpur and its surrounding area comprise a major part of the Bastar District. The area is famous for age old wooden handicrafts. These are in high demand among both local as well as foreign tourists.

Demographics

India census, Jagdalpur had a population of 103,687. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Jagdalpur has an average literacy rate of 74%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 79%, and female literacy is 68%. In Jagdalpur, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.

History

The history of Jagdalpur (Bastar) takes us as deep into the past as Valmiki's Ramayana. It was the famous Dandakaranya through which Lord Rama is supposed to have passed. Scholars have also identified Valmiki's ashram here.

The Bastar rulers trace their ancestry not just to the moon, but also to Prithviraj Chauhan, the last Hindu king to rule from Delhi in the 12th century. Bastar has seen the rule of number of kingdoms like the Nals, Chalukyas and the Kakatiyas. The great Kakatiya king Pratap Rudra's brother, Annam Deo, left Warangal and established his kingdom at Bastar, around AD 1424.

Bastar has seen several hundred years of royal rule, wars of succession, conquering of kingdoms, battles,...
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