Overview of the Lohardaga District

Lohardaga district came into existence after Ranchi was split into three districts namely Ranchi, Lohardaga and Gumla way back in 1983. The district is named after the town of Lohardaga, the administrative headquarters of the district. Lohardaga was given the position of a sub division in 1972 and a district in 1983. In Jain texts there is reference to Lord Mahavir’s visit to Lore-a-Yadaga, which means river of tears’ in Mundari. ‘Ain-e-akbari’, the famous book on Akbar, also mentions a place called ‘Kismate Lohardaga. The word Lohardaga may be made of two hindi words, Lohar meaning ‘ironmonger’, and Daga meaning center’, which makes the literal meaning of Lohardaga as ‘center of iron mining’. The district is situated in the south western part of Jharkhand State between east longitudes. The district covers an area of 1491 km² in the tribal belt of Chotanagpur plateau. District has a number of small hill blocks covered with forests. The general slope of the district is from west to east. The main rivers of the district are South Koel, Sankh, Nandni, Chaupat’s and Fulijhar etc. These are mainly Rain fed Rivers and dried up in the summer months. Some springs are also seen in the hilly tract of the district. Geologically the area in comprised with Archean Granites and Gneisses. In the uplands considerable thickness of late-rite of Pleistocene age is found in the Granite and Gneisses tracts. Alluvium of recent to sub-recent age is found in the river valleys. The most important mineral of the district is bauxite. Other minerals which are found in the district are feldspar, fire clay and china clay and have less economic importance. The major part of the district is covered with Golden Alluvium, Red and Sandy and Red and Gravelly soils. Late-rite and Red and Yellow soils are also found elsewhere in the district. The district enjoys a healthy and pleasant climate throughout the year. The annual average temperature is 23° centigrade and the district receives an annual average rainfall of 1000-1200 mm. The rainfall increases from west to east.