GEOGRAPHY

Banswara is located at 23.55°N 74.45°E.[1] It has an average elevation of 302 metres (990 ft). Banswara District is in southern Rajasthan with an area of 5,037 square kilometres (1,945 sq mi) located between 23.11° N to 23.56° N latitudes and 73.58° E to 74.49° E. longitudes. It is bounded on the north-east by Dhariawad, Pipalkoot & Arnod tehsils of Pratapgarh district of Rajasthan; on the east by Ratlam district of Madhya Pradesh; on the west by Sagwara and on north-west by Aspur tehsils of Dungarpur district of Rajasthan; on the south- east by Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh and on south & south-west the Dohad district of Gujarat. The region represents a rugged terrain undulated by short ridges west of Banswara. The eastern part of it is occupied by flat-topped hills of the Deccan trap. It has the southern end of the Aravali mountains. The drainage system belongs to the Mahi river which originates from Amjera hills near Dhar in Madhya Preadesh. Its main tributaries are Anas, Chanp, Erav, Hiran and Kagdi. The Mahi Bajaj Sagar Dam has been constructed on the Mahi, about 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) away from Banswara town. The Right and Left Main Canals and their distributaries irrigate 60,149 hectares (601.49 km2) of land. Normal annual rainfall is about 82.59 centimetres (32.52 in). The main crops are maize, wheat, rice, cotton soya bean and gram. Graphite, soapstone, dolomite, rock phosphate, limestone and a variety of marbles are mined in the region, with some deposits of gold found around Jagpura. About 20% of the area is designated as forested land, but most of the forest land is devoid of trees in the non-monsoon months.

HISTORY

Banswara was a Rajput feudatory state in Rajputana during British India. It borders Gujarat and is bounded on the north by the native states of Dungarpur and Udaipur or Mewar; on the northeast and east by Partapgarh; on the south by the dominions of Holkar and the state of Jabua; and on the west by the state of Rewa Kantha. Banswara state was about 45 miles (72 km) in length from north to south and 33 miles (53 km) in breadth from east to west and had an area of 1,606 square miles (4,160 km2).[3] The population in 1941 was 258,760. Banswara district forms eastern part of the region known as Vagad or Vagwar. The district was formerly a state ruled by the Maharavals. It is said that a Bhil ruler Bansia or Wasna, ruled over it and Banswara was named after his name. Bansia was defeated and killed by Jagmal Singh who became the first Maharaval of the princely state. It is named so because of the bamboo (Hindi: बांस) which were found in abundance in the forests.p

Banswara massacre is also known as Rajathan’s ‘Jallianwala Bagh’, a little known event of the British Raj era.On November 17, 1913, Banswara district of South Rajasthan was witness to a little-known massacre of around 1500 tribals by the British, echoing the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in which 329 people were killed in firing. British forces opened fire on tribals who had gathered on the Mangarh hillock situated in the Aravali mountains on the Rajasthan-Gujarat border. The tribals were led by their leader Govind Guru who inspired them to throw off the yoke of British rule. Govind Guru, influenced by social reformers like Dayanand Saraswati, launched the ‘Bhagat movement among the Bhils asking them to adhere to vegetarianism, and abstain from all types of intoxicants. The movement slowly took on a political hue and turned into a movement against the oppressive policies of the British. The Bhils began opposing taxes imposed by the British and forced labour imposed by the princely states of Banswara, Santrampur, Dungarpur and Kushalgarh. Worried by the tribal revolt, the Britishers and princely states decided to crush the uprising. From October 1913, Govind guru asked his followers to gather at Mangarh hill from where they would conduct their operations. The British asked them to vacate Mangarh hill by November 15, but they refused. On November 17, the tribals were gathering for a meeting when the British forces under Maj S Bailey and Capt E Stiley opened fire from cannons and guns on the crowd. Though there are no official estimates, locals say about 2500 people were killed in cold blood. Govind guru was captured and exiled from the area. He was imprisoned in Hyderabad jail and released in 1919 on grounds of good behavior. But as he was exiled from his homeland, he settled in Limdi in Gujarat where he died in 1931. The site of the massacre is today known as Mangarh dham and the locals are demanding that a national memorial be built there in memory of the martyrs.

DELIGHTFUL DESTINATION

Chacha kota, Talwada ganeshji, Shri Tripura Sundari Temple, Andheswar Parshwanathji, Anekant Bahubali Temple Lohariya, Anand Sagar Lake, Arthuna, Dailab Lake, Madareshwar Temple, Mahi Dam, Mangarh dhaam, Parheada, Bhim kund, Ram kund, kaagdi pik up, samaai mata temple etc.

DISTANCE FROM NEARBY MAJOR CITIES

Ratlam is the nearest city to Bansara, which is 90 km away. The other nearby city is Udaipur which is situated at a distance of 160 km. Ahamdabad is at a distance of 245 km and Indore is 215 km.

RENOWNED EDUCATIONIST

The land of Banswara has given great gems in the field of education to the country; such as Dr. Shankarlal Trivedi, Pannalal Nagar, Dr. Praveen Trivedi, Chandkaran Shah, Swami Raamanand Sarasvati, justice Dinkarlal Mehta, Banne Khan Saahab, J.B. Jems, Dhanshankar Jha, Randheer Joshi, Dr. Naveen Yagnik, Himmatlal Tarangi, Vice chancellor I.V. Trivedi etc. Their names and teachings are still considered relevant and they are remembered for their wisdom and simplicity.