About District

Bastar is a district located in the southern direction of Chhattisgarh State of India. The headquarters of Bastar district and Bastar division is Jagdalpur . Its area is 6596.90 square kilometers. Bastar district is surrounded by Kondagaon, Dantewada, Sukma and Bijapur . The population of Bastar district was 14,13,199 in 2011, covering the present district of Kondagaon. There were 6,98,487 men and 7,14,712 women. There are 70 percent tribal communities in the population of Bastar, such as Gond, Maria, Muriya, Bhatra, Halba, Dhruva community. Bastar district has been divided into seven Blocks / Tehsil, Jagdalpur, Bastar, Bakavand, Lohandiguda, Tokakal, Darbha. Bastar district is also rich in the natural resources and simple living style of tribal community . Bastar district is full of dense forests, high hills, waterfalls, caves and wild animals. The people of Bastar district are rich in rare artwork, liberal culture and innate nature.

Historically, Bastar region is described in the Ramayana epic as Dandakanya. In Mahabharata ,it is described as part of the Kosala empire. In the year 450 AD, Nal king Bhavdutt Varman was ruled the Bastar region.

In the year 1324, the imperial empire of Bastar was established by Maharaja Ananam Dev of Kakatiya Dynasty. Following Maharaja Ananam Dev, Maharaja Hamir Dev, Baital Dev, Maharaja Purushottam Dev, Maharaj Pratap Dev, Dikpal Dev, Rajpal Dev ruled. The capital of Bastar was settled in the city, then transferred to Jagdalpur city. The last rule in Bastar was Maharaja Praveer Chandra Bhanj Dev (1936-1948) Maharaja Praveer Chandra Bhanj Deva was a popular ruler of all the communities of Bastar.

The 70 percent of the total population of Bastar is tribal community, and 26.76 percent of the total tribal population of Chhattisgarh. The tribal communities of Bastar are mainly Gond, Maria, Muria, Bhadra, Halba, Dhurua community, and the large population of the tribal community of Bastar still resides in dense forests. Tribal communities of Bastar are trained for their culture, art, festivals, natural life styles.