Manbhum

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East Indian district during the British Raj

title: "Manbhum" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["bengal-presidency", "former-districts-of-bihar"] description: "East Indian district during the British Raj" topic_path: "general/bengal-presidency" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manbhum" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary East Indian district during the British Raj ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox former subdivision"]

Field	Value
common_name	Manbhum
nation	British India
subdivision	Former district
today	West Bengal (Purulia) Jharkhand (Dhanbad, Bokaro, Ranchi, Saraikela Kharsawan, East Singhbhum)
event_start	Formation
year_start	1833
event_end	Disestablished by bifurcation
year_end	1956
date_event2	1846
event2	Dhalbhum curved out and merged with Singhbhum
date_event3	1879
event3	Khatra, Raipur and Simlapal area merged with Bankura
date_event4	1912
event4	Became part of Bihar and Orissa Province
date_event5	1937
event5	Became part of Bihar Province
capital
image_map	19s Bengal province map.jpg
image_map_caption	District map of Bengal administration, 1912
stat_year1	1833
stat_area1	20449
stat_year2	1872
stat_area2	12726
stat_pop2	995570
stat_year3	1901
stat_pop3	1,301,364
stat_area3	10741
stat_year4	1931
stat_pop4	1,810,890
stat_area4	10606
::

Manbhum District was one of the districts of the East India during the British Raj. After India's independence, the district became a part of Bihar State. Upon the reorganization of the Indian states in the mid-1950s, the Manbhum district was partitioned based on language. The Bengal-speaking areas were included in West Bengal, while the rest were kept with Bihar (present-day Jharkhand).

Etymology

Manbhum gets its name from the 16th century military general Man Singh I who is known for his conquests Of Bihar, Odisha and parts of Bengal. He later also served as the governor (Subahdar) of this region during the reign of King Akbar.

In other versions, the district name derived from Manbazar or Manbhum khas parganas. The headquarters of Jangal mahal region from around 1833 to 1838, when the district was formed.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Southwest_Bengal,_1776,_by_Rennell.jpg" caption="The jurisdiction of Panchet and Medinipur in Rennell's map (1776), decades after the region was ceded by the EIC, the region later formed as Manbhum district."] ::

The history of Manbhum region predates the 18th century. Before its formation, the Panchet estate was established through the consolidation of smaller zamindaris, including Patkum, Barabhum, Sikharbhum, and Telkupi. Historical records of these region's previous rulers or chiefs are sparse for the period before British East India Company rule in India. The company formed Jungle-Mahal district in 1805, incorporating the Panchet estate and other forested areas into a single administrative unit, with headquarters nearby present-day Bankura town.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/The_Sketch_Map_Showing_Provincial_and_District_Divisions_to_Accompany_the_Administration_Report,1872–73(Cropped_to_Bihar,_Chota_Nagpur,_and_Odisha).jpg" caption="Manbhum District as part of the [[Chota Nagpur Division]], [[Bengal Presidency]], 1872"] ::

In 1833, the East India Company formed the Manbhum district with its headquarters in Manbazar, covering an area of 7,896 square miles (chiefly Panchet and half of its adjacent Midnapore region), by dividing the Jungle-Mahal region to enhance administrative efficiency. In 1838, the headquarters shifted to Purulia, and over the following years, the district underwent several divisions. These divisions occurred in 1845 (Dhalbhum curved out with 1,183 square miles area and merged with Singhbhum district), 1846, 1871, and finally, in 1879, reducing its size to 4,112 square miles. In 1901, the district area was 4,147 square miles, inhabited by a population of 1,301,364. In 1912, Manbhum became a part of the Bihar and Orissa Province.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Manbhum_highlight.png" caption="Manbhum in [[Bihar and Orissa Province]] of [[Bengal Presidency]], 1912."] ::

On 1 April 1936, the Bihar and Orissa Province was partitioned into two separate provinces Bihar and Orissa based on language, though Manbhum continued to remain a part of Bihar. Post-independence, linguistic tensions emerged in the district due to imposition of Hindi language over the native Bengali-speaking majority. This led to the establishment of the State Reorganization Commission on December 23, 1953. The commission recommended the creation of a new district named Purulia, primarily for Bengali speakers, by carving it out of the former Manbhum district in Bihar. The proposed Purulia district included 19 police stations from Manbhum, while 10 police stations from the Dhanbad sub-division and 2 police stations from the Purulia sub-division of Manbhum remained in Bihar.

Subsequently, three police stations of West Bengal—Ichagarh, Chandil, and Patamda—were transferred to Bihar upon a special request from TISCO, Jamshedpur. The "Bengal-Bihar Border Demarcation" Bill was passed in Parliament on August 17, 1956, and in Rajya Sabha on August 28, 1956, ultimately receiving the signature of the President of India on September 1, 1956. Consequently, on November 1, 1956, Purulia officially became a part of West Bengal, comprising 16 police stations, covering an area of 2007 sqmi, and hosting a population of 1,169,097. However, other areas, including Ichagarh, Chandil, and Patamda, continued to remain under the jurisdiction of Bihar, with the former two became part of Saraikela, while Patamda (an area used to under the Barabhum police station) became part of Dhalbhum (presently East Singhbhum district). Furthermore, on November 15, 2000, South Bihar was bifurcated to form a separate state called Jharkhand due to demographic disparities between North Bihar and South Bihar. Today, these areas form parts of the Dhanbad, Bokaro, Ranchi, Saraikela Kharsawan and East Singhbhum districts in Jharkhand.

Demographics

|1872|820521 |1881|1058228 |1891|1193328 |1901|1301364 |1911|1547576 |1921|1548777 |1931|1810890 |1941|2032146 |1951|2279259 |source=Census of India |caption=Languages of Manbhum (1931) |value1 = 67.52 |label1 = Bengali |color1 = dodgerblue |value2 = 17.76 |label2 = Hindustani |color2 = orange |value3 = 13.37 |label3 = Santhali |color3 = green |other= yes |other-color = DeepPink As of the 1931 census, the Manbhum district recorded a total population of 1,810,890, with 940,009 males and 870,881 females. In terms of linguistic diversity, Bengali constituted the majority with 1,222,689 individuals, followed by Hindustani speakers at 321,690 (including [ 51,176] and the Santhali at 242,091. Other noteworthy linguistic groups encompassed Koda (4,623), Bhumij (2,918), Gujarati (1,912), Kharia (1,995), Marwadi (1,774), Odia (1,563), Karmali (1,568), Telegu (1,332), Kurukh (946), Naipal (662), Punjabi (661), Mundari (789), Tamil (525), Mahali (312), and Ho (57).

In terms of social demographics, the Kudmi Mahato comprised the largest percentage at 17.84%, followed by Santal at 15.59%. Other significant caste groups include Bauri (6.7%), Bhumij (5.74%), Brahman (4.58%), Kumhar (3.15%), Jolha (3.12%), Teli (2.68%), Goala, Ahir and Yadav (2.26%), Rajwar (2.15%), Kamar (1.95%), Bhuiya (1.86%), Rajput (1.7%), Hajam/Nai(1.38%), Dom (1.36%), Hari (1.15%), Ghatwar (0.98%), Mochi (0.94%), Kora (0.86%), Kayastha (0.8%), Dhobi (0.79%), Kahar (0.78%), Tanti (0.65%), Mahli (0.6%), Bania (0.56%), Koiri (0.54%), Chamar (0.51%), and Kewat (0.5%).

When the fragmented parts of Manbhum district, which are present in multiple states, are added together, the percentage of Bengali and Santali population in 2011 stood at 47.52 and 10.38 respectively. Various policies of the then Bihar government and the subsequent Jharkhand government alongwith the large influx of people from other places into the region are believed to be responsible for this demographic change.

References

Source

References

Banerji, Amiya Kumar. (1968). "West Bengal District Gazetteers: Bankura". Calcutta, Saraswaty Press.
(1869). "The Calcutta Review".
Beverley, H.. (1872). "Report of the Census of Bengal 1872". Bengal Secretariat Press.
Gait, E. A.. (1909). "Census of India – 1901, Vol- VIA – The lower probinces of Bengal and their Feudatourie (Part II, The Imperial Tables)". Bengal Secretariat Press.
{{cite EB1911
Roy, B. C.. (1950). "Raja Mansingh and the Final Conquest of Orissa by the Mughals". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress.
Bengal (India). (1911). "Bengal District Gazetteers". Bengal Secretariat Book Depot.
Chatterjee, Kalyan. (2021-06-17). "Representations of Manbhum and Purulia in Orientalist texts and the task of salvaging the past of the region". Routledge India.
"District Census Reports, 1891 Chota Nagpur Division, Bihar".
(1941). "Tables, Volume-VII, Bihar - Census 1941". Director of Census Operations, Bihar.
(1954). "A Not on The Linguistic Tables Census of Bihar - Census 1951". Director of Census Operations, Bihar.
Lacey, W. G.. (1933). "Census Of India 1931 – Bihar and Orissa". Superintendent, Government printing.
Lacey, W. G.. (1932). "Census Of India 1931 – Bihar and Orissa".
https://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ranchi/bihari-influx-altering-jharkhand-demography-congress-mla/amp_articleshow/112089595.cms

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