Challenges
of the district : Our research with local communities
The health infrastructure is very weak. People very
frequently fall sick.
The quality of education received by children is very hideous.
We also face shortage of water.
Recommended NGOs in
this district
Number of recommeded NGOs in this district :
For more details, send a mail to
NGOServices@CSRidentity.com
Brief About Kanker (N Bastar) District
The Kanker District is situated in the southern region of the
state Chhattisgarh. Previously Kanker was a part of old Bastar
district. But in 1999 Kanker got it's identity as an independent
district. Now it is surrounded by four districts of chhattisgarh
state, namely Bastar, Dhamtari, Durg and Rajnandgaon. Kanker is
situated within the longitudes 20.6-20.24 and latitudes 80.48-81.48.
the total area of the district is 5285.01 square kilometers. Small
hilly pockets are seen throughout the area. Mainly five rivers
flow through the district namely- doodh river, Mahanadi, Hatkul
river, sindur river and Turu river.
PROFILE
The Kanker District is situated in the southern region of the
state Chhattisgarh. Previously Kanker was a part of old Bastar
district. But in 1999 Kanker got it's identity as a independent
district. Now it is surrounded by four districts of chhattisgarh
state, named Bastar, Dhamtari, Durg and Rajnandgaon. Kanker is
situated within the longitudes 20.6-20.24 and latitudes 80.48-81.48.
the total area of the district is 5285.01 suare kilometers. Small
hilly pockets are seen throughout the area and increase the beauty.
mainly the five rivers flow in the district named- doodh river,
Mahanadi, Hatkul river, sindur river and Turu river.
The Kanker is situated on the National Highway
number 43. It lies between the two well developed cities of Chhattisgarh
named Raipur (Capital of Chhattisgarh) and Jagdalpur. The Kanker
is 140 kilometers away from Raipur and 160 Kilometers from Jagadalpur.
A lot of Roadways and Private buses as well as taxis are available
on this national Highway. Presently railway is not available in
the district.
The climate of the district is of Monsoon type.
The May month is the hottest month and the December month is the
coolest month. Average rain of the district is 1492 mm. 90% rain
fall during the June to October. Climate changes in to dry and
wet. Dry climate is found in Kanker and Charama and the wet climate
is found in Bhanupratappur.
At present the Kanker district has 6 tehsils
named Kanker, Charama, Narharpur, Bhanupratappur, Antagarh and
Pakhanjoor and 7 blocks named Kanker, charama, bhanupratapur,
Narharpurn Antagarh, Durgu kondal and Koyali beda. The total number
of villages is 1074. The number of revenue villages is 988, whereas
forest villages are 47. The nuber of Gram Panchayats is 362.
The literacy percentage in district is 74.71 and the total population
of the district is 651333. The ratio of male female is 106. The
density of population is 100 per square kolometer.
ANCIENT HISTORY
The History of kanker is started from Stone era. In
starting stage here human was like abysmal and their behave was
like animals. With reference of Ramayana and Mahabharat there
was a dense forest area named Dandakaranya and the Kanker state
belonged to Dandakaranya.According to myths the Kanker was the
land of monks. A lot of Rishis (monks) named Kank, Lomesh, Shringi,
Angira were lived here. In sixth century before Christ the region
was affected by Buddhism. The ancient history of Kanker tells
that it remained always independent state.
In 106 AD the Kanker state was under the Satvahan
dynasty And the king was Satkarni, This fact is also descripted
by chinese visitor Whensaung. After Satkarni his disasters named
Pulumavi, Shivshri and Shivskand became the king. After Satvahans
the state was under control of Nags, Vakataks and Gupt dynasties
time to time.
After the Vakataks the Kanker state came under
control of Nal dynasty. according to historians Vyghraraj was
the first king of Nals. the second king Varahraj won the whole
region of dandakaranya. after Varahraj , Bhavdutt verma became
the king of Kanker state. During the kingdom of Bhavdutt
Verma Vakatak king Narendra Sen attacked on state and won a little
part of state, but after some years Bhavdutt Verma recollect the
lost part and also expand his state up to Orrisa and Maharashtra.
after the death of Bhavdutt verma his son Arthpati became the
king. He got a bigger state from his father but he was a poor
king and had not the qualities like his father and lost some part
of states to Vatakataks. In 475 Skand Verma became the king of
Kanker state and ruled up to 500 AD. He was the last memorable
king of Nal dynasty. After his death the Kanker state suffered
a lot of attacks and divided into many parts. After the downfall
of Nal kings the state was won by famous king Pulkeshin II of
Chalukya dynasty, he also won the some part of Orrisa. During
his kingdom a lot of temples were constructed in kanker state.
After Pulkeshin, Vikramaditya, Vinayaditya, Vijayaditya, Vikramaditya
II, Kirtiverman II were the other kings of Chalukyas They Ruled
the state up to 788 AD after Chalukyas the state was ruled by
different dynasties time to time like Nals, Nags, Kalchuris etc
up to 1100 AD.
SOM DYNASTY
Due to weakness of Kalchuri king Gayakarna, A brave
person Singh raj won the Kanker stateand kept the foundation of
Som dynasty, He ruled the state from 1125 to 1140.
After the death of Singh Raj his son Vyaghra
Raj became the king. He expanded his state, In fourth year of
his kingdom he suffered bye the attack of a kalchuri king and
lost some part of state. He was a brave person. Although he suffered
defeat but he ruled his state successfully up to 1166. He donated
some land for the construction of a temple of Kal Bhairav.
In 1166 Bop Dev became the king of state after
the death of his father. In starting he was the governor of the
state but the main power was under Kalchuri kings. but Bop Dev
took advantage of weakness of Kalchuris and became independent
but soon the Kalchuris awoke and again dominated Bop Dev. He ruled
the state up to 1184 under control of Kalchuris.
Bop Dev had two sons Krishna and Som Raj. After
the death of Bop Dev both princes fought for the kingdom and in
last Krishna got success and became the king. For the satisfaction
of his brother Som Raj he divide the state in two parts. So after
the death of Bop Dev the Som dynasty divided into two branches.
Karna Raj (Krishna) was a brave and religious king. He got constructed
Lord Shiva's Temple in Sihava and the Ramnath temple on the bank
of Doodh River in Kanker. He ruled the state up to 1206. There
is no details available about the other branch of Som dynasty.
After the death of Karna Raj his son Jait Raj
became the king. He was very brave person and attacked on neighbouring
states fro expansion his kingdom. During his kingdom the other
branch of Som dynasty mixed with main branch again. In 1258 Jait
Raj was expired. After that his son Som Chandra became king during
his kingdom the Kanker state became stronger and prospers. He
ruled the state up to1306. In 1306 Bhanu Dev became the king of
state. During his kingdom he had suffered a lot of attacks by
neighboring states but he came out successfully and saved his
kingdom. He was religious king and brought prosperity. After the
death of Bhanu Dev his son Chandrasen Dev became the king. He
got constructed a Lord Shiva's temple. He ruled the state up to
1344. He was the last king of Som dynasty.
KANDRA DYNASTY
After the downfall of Soms A brave and strong person
Dharam Dev kept the foundation of Kandra dynasty. His original
name was Dharman. He was a tribal leader. He won the khalgarh
and made it his capital after the death of last king of Som dynasty.
He got constructed a fort in Muchkund fountain. He was a famous
king. Once the king of Hiragarh arranged a competition for the
marriage of his daughter. The king Dharam Dev won the competition
and married with Hiradevi, a beautiful princess. Due to this marriage
the neighbouring king were jealous. According to myth the king
of Bastar Annam Dev attacked on Sihava for getting Hiradevi. So
Dharam Dev came to Kanker with his family. In his absence Annam
Dev won the Sihava fort. and on other end Dharam Dev won the Kanker
and made his capital to Gadhiya fountain a natural and safe fort.
After some years He again won the Sihava. He had two daughters
and two sons. The king Dharam Dev was very good and popular king
in peoples. He got dug so many tanks in Kanker. He never misused
the money of state. He ruled the state from 1345 to 1367. After
his death, his son Chhatar Dev became the king but due to his
poor administration he lost the some part of state and died in
1385.
CHANDRA DYNASTY
After the downfall of Kandras the Chandra dynasty came.
Some historian assume the Chandra dynasty was related to Som dynasty.
According to a myth the first king of this dynasty was Veer kanhar
Dev. Previously he was the king of Jagannath Puri in Orrisa, but
due to suffering from leprosy he left his kingdom and came to
Sihava and started to pass his time in worship. One night he saw
a dream that if he takes bath in a special tank at Sihava
he will get healthy. Then by keeping the faith on that dream he
took the bath in that tank and wonderfully he got healthy. In
Sihava the people surprised by this event and elected him the
king. He proved himself as a good king and ruled the state up
to 1404.
After the death of Veer Kanhar Dev, Veer Kishore
Dev became the king of the state, He was a wise and brave person.
He expanded his state by winning the neighbouring states. He declared
his capital at Nagri instead of Sihava. He ruled the state up
to 1425. After his death his son Tanu Dev became the king. His
kingdom is famous for the change of capital. He declared his capital
at Kanker. He was very popular in people he ruled up to 1461.
After the death of Tanu Dev, Vasu Dev became
the king of Kanker state. He got started to celebrate the festival
of Rath Yatra at Kanker. In this festival they walked in a procession
with the statues of lord Jagannath, Balbhadra and Subhadra. This
festival was very popular in villagers. He ruled the state up
to 1482. After his death Kapeel Narendra Dev became the king.
He got constructed the temple of lord Shiva on the bank of Mahanadi.
He ruled the state up to 1504. After his death Dhar Hameer Dev
ruled the state up to 1522 and after that Hameer Dev ruled the
state up to 1539.
After the death of Hameer Dev, Rudra Dev became
the king. He was very much brave person. He established the peace
in his state. He was married with the daughter of neighbouring
state and got that state in dowry. He declared Rudri as his capital
of the state. He got constructed the temple of lord Shiva on the
bank of Mahanadi, This temple is famous by the name of Rudreshwar.
He got constructed a big fort and two tanks in Dhamtari.
He was a popular king. His state was wealthy and peaceful. He
ruled the state from 1539 to 1588. After that the respective kings
were Himanchal Dev, Shyam Sai Dev, Harihar Sai Dev, Lal Sai Dev
and Ghoor Sai Dev. They ruled the state up to 1729. But their
detail information is not available.
After the death of Ghoor Sai Dev his son Harpal
Dev became the king. He had good administrative qualities. He
settled his sister's marriage with the Dalpat Dev, Who was the
prince of neighbouring state Bastar. And both the neighbouring
states lived friendly till the death of Dalpat Dev. Harpal Dev
ruled the Kanker state up to 1775.After his death Dhiraj Singh
Dev, Ram Raj Singh Devand Shyam Singh Dev were the other kings
and they ruled the state up to 1802.
KANKER UNDER CONTROL OF MARATHAS AND
BRITISH
During the kingdom of Shyam Singh Dev Marathas had
started attacks on Kanker and Bastar States due to prosperity
of these states. When Mahipal Dev was the king of Bastar State
then Marathas attacked on Bastar at that time the king of Kanker
was Bhoop Dev. Since Kanker and Bastar were neighbouring states,
therefore they affected each other. when the two princes Mahipal
Dev and Umrao Singh were fighting for kingdom Bhoop Dev supported
to Mahipal Dev due to their family relations. And also in the
case of Marathas Bhoop dev supported to Mahipal Dev so Marathas
could not get success. But they got angry with Bhoop Dev and attacked
on Kanker state. Bhoop Dev surrenderd and ran away and marathas
won the Kanker state. Bhoop Dev lived in a small village near
Dhamtari for 9 years in last he did an agreement with the resident
of Nagpur state Mr. Jenkins on behalf of Marathas and got his
sate again but for that he had to pay some tax per year and had
to obey some conditions. Bhoop Dev remained faithful towards Nagpur
state up to his death in 1839.
After the death of Bhoop Dev his son Padma Dev
(Padma Singh) became the king. He followed his father regarding
Marathas and remained faithful till death. The king of Nagpur
Bhosla Raja was very much impress with Padma Dev because of his
faithful behaviour. People were very happy during his kingdom.
He Got constructed a temple of goddess Durga. He ruled the
state up to 1853.
After the death of Padma Singh his elder son
Narhari Dev became the king. He has three brothers named Laxman
Dev, Shiv Charan Dev and Ghanshyam Singh Dev. His wife was Padmalaya
Devi, who was the daughter of Bhairam Dev, the king of the Bastar
state. During his kingdom the Kanker state came under control
of British from Marathas. British government gave the adoption
to Narhari Dev and He gave the acknowledge of fealty
to British. In1882 the control of Kanker State handed over to
Commissioner Raipur. The deputy commissioner Raipur visited the
Kanker State and submitted the precious report of Narhari Dev
to government. Narhari Dev had good administrative qualities,
After getting power he concentrated on administration. During
his kingdom A palace near Gadiya mountain, printing press, library,
Radhakrishna Temple, Ramjanki temple, jagannath temple and Balaji
temple were constructed. He was so much popular in people. He
made a plan named Ratna Bhandar for keeping grain in stock for
his people. He had two sons but they both died in 14 and 16 years
of age. So Narhari Dev got very much sad and left the kingdom
and went to holy town Vrindavan. But due to pressure of people
and British government he came back. He had smart personality
and was very wise and religious, He often donated a lot of money
and land to different temples. He established a new town named
Narharpur near Kanker. He was expired in 1903.
In 1904 Komal Dev became the king of Kanker.
He was the nephew of Narhari Dev. He controlled the state with
the help of his minister Anand Rao. He had three queens. He was
a good king. During his kingdom one English high school, one Girls
school and 15 primary Schools were established and also two hospitals
one in Kanker and the other in Sambalpur were constructed. He
established a new town near Kanker named Govindpur. He also tried
to make capital Govindpur instead of Kanker. He was expired on
8 January 1925. After his death, Bhanupratap Dev became the king.
he was a relative of Komal Dev because Komal Dev had no son. Bhanupratap
Dev was the last king of Kanker before independence of India
after independence He was elected M. L. A. from Kanker constituency
two times. He was expired on 14 August 1969
