Social,
Environmental & Economic Sustainability
Our analysis of the rank of the district
Backwardness : Does not figure in list of 447 backward
districts
Sex Ratio Rank : 475
(Rank one is least sex ratio - Cenus 2001)
HIV Category District : A
(HIV Sentinel Surveillance 2004 - 2006)
Disability : NA
Literacy Ratio : 542 (Census 2001)
Minority : Yes
Water : Flouride in Groundwater above permissible limits
Challenges of the district : Our research with local communities
Dahod is dominated by tribes. These tribes have
not yet progressed in any way. The facilities provided by government
are not reaching them. There is poverty all around. There is no
food security. People find it hard to earn one square meal. Agriculture
is affected due to erratic rainfall. We do not receive clean drinking
water. There is urgent need of industries to tackle the issue of
unemployment. After the shut down of an industrial unit many people
lost their jobs. Transportation facilities have not yet developed.
Forest land has been encroached by local people due to lack of land
for building houses and agriculture.
Brief About Dahod District
Dahod is just a posed between the states of Gujarat
and Malva (Malva has since been divided into Madhya Pradesh and
Rajasthan).The name Dahod is result of the town's historic location
on the boundary between two states, (Do = Two and had = border).
It is estimated that Dahod is 1,000 years old.
During the war between the Gods and demons, the
saint Dadhichi Rishi came to the aid of Lord Indra in his battle
against the demons. Dadhichi destroyed himself in order for hte
Gods to make weapons out of his bones. The Gods used these weapons
crafted from the bones of Dadhichi to kill the demon Vritasur.
It is fabled that the Dhadhichi Rishi meditated at the banks of
the Dudhimati river in Dahod.
The Dahod area is also home to Bawka, an archeological
marvel located eleven kilometers southwest of Dahod. It is said
that this edifice built of stone and decorated with carved scenes
from the Kamasutras was built by a prostitute. This architectural
marvel was built during the prosperous reign of the Maharaja of
Champaner. This historical site is considered to be Khajuraho
of Panch Mahal district.
The great Maharaja Siddjaraj Jaisingh invaded
the state of Malva in Vikram Sanvat 1093 and camped in Dahod for
the next 12 years. Siddharaj's enormous army built Talab (Basket
Lake) in one night by having each soldiers of his army dig and
fill the boundries of the lake with one basket of earth. The historical
red stone with carved Hanumanji which was planted during the auspicious
grand opening ceremony of the lake is still intact at the last
overflow (Chhela Ovare).
The Maharaj Sidharaj Jaisingh placed a stone
writing (Shila lekh) in Sanskrit at Panigate. The British government
moved the Shila lekh to a museum in Poona, Maharashtra.
The Mogul emperors also have a historical presence
in Dahod. The emperor Jahangir rested in the cool and dense forest
of Dahod while on his way to Mandavgadh from Dahod (a town renamed
Gardabad, Dusty town, because of his hatred for Dahod and its
heat and dust). Jahangir was so content with the lotus filled
lake of Dahod that he rested in Dahod for a month. At the time
his elder son, Khurram, who was known in his later life as Shahjahan
was also with him. Khurram's fourth son was born during this respited
in Dahod. This son, Aurangzeb, came to the Mogul thrown in 1658.
Twenty years later he built a Dharma Shala (free sleeping facility)
in Dahod. The Marathas later converted the Dharma Shala into a
small fort or Gadhi.
Dahod is a town in the Gujarat state of India.
It is 200 km away from Dahod and 150 km away from Vadodara. The
famous Aurangzeb fort is here. Dahod is also a district in the
state of Gujarat. This district was carved out of Panchmahal district.
Dahod city is the administrative headquarters of this district.
This district is surrounded by Vadodara (South) and Panch Mahal
(West) districts. To the west are the states of Rajasthan and
Madhya Pradesh.
