Dhanbad

Dr. Ambedkar talking to people as the Labour Minister in the Viceroy's Executive Council at coal mines, Dhanbad

The present district used to be a part of Manbhum region and was occupied by Mundari tribals in the wilderness of South undivided Bihar. In the seventh century A.D. some information is available from the account of the travels of Hieun Tsang. These accounts narrate the existence of a powerful kingdom which comprised the district and adjoining areas, ruled by Sasanka.[17] Manbhum was one of the districts of the East India during the British Raj.

The region has thick forests, with rich mineral resources, and had a mixed demographic profile with people from different religious and social groups, including adivasis, particularly the Santals and the Mundas before the city was established.[18] After the Partition of India, the district became a part of Bihar state, and upon re-organization of the Indian states in the mid-1950s, the district became a part of the West Bengal. Purulia district was carved out of the district of Manbhum.[18]

In the Settlement Report for Manbhum (1928) it was stated that no rock inscriptions, copper plates or old coins were discovered and not a single document of copper plate or palm leaf was found, during the Survey and Settlement operations. The oldest authentic documents produced were all on paper and barely even a hundred years old.[19] Dhanbad city was in Manbhum district from 1928 up to 1956.[19] However, on 24 October 1956, Dhanbad district was carved out of Manbhum district with Dhanbad as District headquarter[20] on the recommendation of the States Reorganization Commission vide notification 1911.

This was done under the commitment and leadership of journalist, Satish Chandra. In the year 2006, Dhanbad celebrated 50 years of being an independent district and city. From 1956 to 14 November 2000, it was under Bihar. At present, it is in Jharkhand, after the creation of the state on 15 November 2000.[21] The discovery of rich deposits of coal in the region caused the city to flourish financially, but also bought notorious coal-mafia and gang wars[22] which continues to this day with areas of city like Wasseypur being most affected by the conflict.[22]

Dhanbad has an average elevation of 227 m (745 ft). Its geographical length (extending from north to south) is 15 miles (24 km) and the breadth (stretching across east to West) is 10 miles (16 km). It shares its boundaries with West Bengal in the eastern and southern part, Giridih and Dumka in the North and Bokaro District in the west. Dhanbad comes under the Chota Nagpur Plateau.

Dhanbad has one of the oldest and largest markets in the region and is also a centre of large scale industries. It is known for its coal mines and industrial establishments; the city is surrounded by about 112 coal mines[26] with a total production of 27.5 million tonnes and an annual income of 7,000 million rupees through coal business. There are a number of coal washeries there.

Heritage Building at Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad

Dhanbad is a leading center of education in eastern India.[27][28] The city's education system is followed as of the Indian Education System. Schooling is followed by 10+2+3 plan. Most of the schools in Dhanbad are of CBSE, ICSE and state board. The medium of instruction in schools are Hindi, Santali and Urdu and as well as Bengali and Kurmali.[29] Notable schools in Dhanbad include: Dhanbad Public School (KG Ashram), Carmel School Digwadih, DAV Public School, Delhi Public School, De Nobili School Bhuli, De Nobili School CMRI, De Nobili School FRI, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya and Tata D.A.V School.[30]

Binod Bihari Mahto Koyalanchal University is the public university of Dhanbad to which many colleges of the region are affiliated.[31] There are various engineering, medical and arts colleges in Dhanbad. Dhanbad is home to some of the leading engineering colleges of India —the Indian Institute of Technology, Birsa Institute of Technology and K. K. College of Engineering and Management.[32] The Indian Institute of Technology (formerly Indian School of Mines), was established by the British in 1926.[9] It is a premier engineering college of India. Birsa Institute of Technology in Sindri is one of the oldest government engineering college in India.[33]

SSLNT Women's College is one of the oldest women's science and art college in east India established in 1956.[34][35] Raja Shiva Prasad College was established in 1949 by Raja of Jharia. The Patliputra Medical College and Hospital, established in 1971 is a premier medical college where applicants write the NEET exam to get enrolled. Other major institutions includes Law College,[36] Guru Nanak College,[37] P.K. Roy Memorial College, Bholaram Shibal Kharkia College, B.S.S Mahila College[38] and Al Iqra Teacher's Training College.[39]

Dhanbad city and district is considered a BJP stronghold with majority of its MPs MLA's being of the party since the 1990s. Chandra Shekhar Agrawal of BJP is the mayor; otherwise known as the first citizen, of Dhanbad Municipal Corporation. He won by the margin of 42,525 votes.[40][41][42]

Raj Sinha of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won in the 40-Dhanbad assembly constituency defeating Mannan Malick of the Indian National Congress in 2014.[43] Pashupati Nath Singh of BJP defeated Mannan Mallik of Congress in 2005, Prasadi Sao of RJD in 2000, and Ramadhar Yadav of JD in 1995. Surendra Prasad Roy of Congress defeated S.K. Shriva of JD in 1990 and Ram Chander Singh of Janata Party in 1985. Yogeshwar Prasad Yogesh of Congress defeated Gopi Kant Bakshi of CPI(M) in 1980 and Kalawati Devi of Janata Party.[44][45]

Dhanbad assembly constituency is part of Dhanbad (Lok Sabha constituency).[46]

Cricket is the most popular sport in Dhanbad, followed by Football. Dhanbad is one of the centres where 34th National Games[52] was organised. Cricket Stadiums at present are at Tata Steel Stadium Digwadih, Nehru Stadium Jealgora and Railway Stadium where Ranji Trophy matches are organised.[53] Women's International Cricket were also played at Railway Stadium. Football matches of national level were played at Railway Stadium but now it is converted into Cricket Stadium by the Railway management.[54] Dhanbad officially became the second town in the state to boast a cricket stadium with floodlights, with the inauguration of floodlights at Tata Digwadih Stadium.[55]

Hindi newspapers are mainly published from the city, among them Hindustan Dainik is the most popular, followed by Prabhat Khabar, Dainik Jagran and Dainik Bhaskar. "Dhanbad Bokaro Live" is published from Dhanbad.

Doordarshan relay station is present in Dhanbad near Koyla Nagar. There are some local news channels in the city such as, Antarkatha which are creative media houses which broadcast on local cable on Dhanbad, Jharia, Bokaro, Chatra, Hazaribag, Koderma, Ramgarh etc.

FM radio is available as Vividh Bharti Service of All India Radio at 101.8 MHz.

• Bibhu Bhattacharya, Bengali film & TV actor
• P. C. Bose, freedom fighter, labour activist & politician
• Meiyang Chang, Bollywood film & TV actor
• Purushottam K. Chauhan - freedom fighter, labour activist & politician, coal miner
• Seth Khora Ramji Chawda, railway contractor, coal mines pioneer, banker and philanthropist
• Anurag Dikshit – businessman (ranked 207th-richest person in the world by Forbes in 2006)[56]
• Satya Narayan Gourisaria, British company secretary, Gandhian and a former secretary of the India League
• Subodh Kumar Jaiswal, IPS officer, current CBI director
• Chetan Joshi, classical Indian flautist
• Rishabh Kashyap, Bhojpuri Actor
• Shiv Khera, author and professional speaker
• Binod Bihari Mahato, politician, advocate, activist, founder of Shivaji Samaj and Jharkhand Mukti Morch
• Aseem Mishra, Indian cinematographer
• Zeishan Quadri, Bollywood actor, film maker
• A. K. Roy, founder of Marxist Coordination Committee
• Meenakshi Seshadri, former Bollywood actress
• Deven Sharma, former global president of Standard & Poor's
• Ram Krishna Singh, reviewer, critic, contemporary poet and retired professor of IIT-D
• Diwan Bahadur D.D. Thacker, noted coal miner and philanthropist.
• Randhir Prasad Verma, IPS officer and recipient of Ashoka Chakra
• Shahbaz Nadeem, emerging indian cricketer

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dhanbad.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Dhanbad.

• Website of the city of Dhanbad