Jhabua district General information
Jhabua is a predominantly tribal district located in the western part of Madhya Pradesh. It is surrounded by Panchamahal and Baroda districts of Gujrat, Banswara district of Rajsthan and Dhar and Ratlam districts of Madhya Pradesh. River Narmada forms the southern boundary of the district. The terrain is hilly, undulating typically known as "Jhabua hills topography". In this Jhabua hill topography the difference between the highest and the lowest points is varies between 20 to 50 meters. But this difference goes on increasing as we move towards south of Jhabua. In Alirajpur division which is in the south of Jhabua the areas is almost entire hilly and intersected by narrow valleys and low Vindhayan ranges covered with jungles. But most part of Jhabua is without any forest cover because of low fertility of land and soil erosion even mere existence becomes a hard problem and with the failure of rains the Bhils take to crime.
Demography
Jhabua is sparsely populated area with the total population of 13.94 lakhs according to 2001 census.
The total area is 6793 Sq Kms. There are about 1313 inhabited villages. About 85% of population is tribal while 3% population belongs to Schedule Castes. 47 per cent of the people live below the poverty line. The literacy rate according to 2001 census is 36.87% with female literacy of only 4%. Thus, Jhabua is an overwhelmingly tribal and poor district.
Food
The district is devoid of vegetation cover except Katthiwada and other patches and is full of undulated, hilly areas; The area suffers from poor and skeletal soils with shallow to very shallow depth and erratic rainfall , high temperature .The area comes under Agroclimatic zone No. 12 namely Jhabua hills covering an area of 0.68m ha. ( 1.5 % of geographical area of MP) .The district has three distinct sub zones namely Petlawad (Malwa), Jhabua (Low rainfall) and Katthiwada (High rainfall)zones.
Climate
Climate is generally moderate and seasons are well defined. The summers are hot , winters are short and the monsoon season is generally pleasant. The average rainfall in the district is about 800mm. Most of the rainfall occurs in monsoon season while there is also a little of rainfall in winter season.
Culture
Inhabited by the tenacious and hardworking tribes - the Bhils and Bhilalas, the district is highly drought-prone and degraded waste lands form the face for Jhabua. Although almost half of the population lives below the poverty line, the tribals still revel in their traditional colorful festivities and continue to make merry on the occasions like "Bhagoriya". The women make lovely ethnic items including bamboo products, doll, bead-jewellery and other items that have for long decorated the living rooms all over the country. The men have since ages adorned "Teer-Kamthi", the bow and arrow, which has been their symbol of chivalry and self defence.
Tourist Place
Bhabhara: It is a village in jobat Tahsil lying at a distance of 32 km. West-north-west of Jobat on Jobat-Dohad Road. The famous freedom fighter, Chandra Shekhar Azad is said to have been born here. Now a small memorial has been erected here in this honour. The population of Bhabra was 3,098 in 1991. It is the headquarters of the Tahsil and Tribal Development Block. It has a dispensary a branch post office, a co-operative society, a middle school and a police station house.
Deojhiri:A village of 320 souls in 1971, Deojhiri is 8 km. North-east of Jhabua on Ahmedabad-Indore State Highway No.22. It lies 1 km. To the west of the road, on Sunar river. As the name of the village denotes there is an ancient temple of Lord Shiva( Deo, a diety) and jhiri or a perennial spring. The spring has been built up into a kund. A samadhi of some religious is held on Baisakh Poornima, which falls mostly in the month of april according to Gregarian calender.
Kathiwada:Kathiwara is a small village among the beautiful environs of the North-Western off-shoot of the Vindhyachal. Formerly it was the seat of a petty state, now forming part of Alirajpur Tahsil, it is about 32 km. Due north-west of Alirajpur but the bus router leads via Borjhar, Bhabra and Bhajina and measures 60 km. Since the place lies on a hieght and receives a higher rainfall, it is generally cooler than the northern parts of the District.
Lakhmani Gram: Lakhmani gram is a small village located on the bank of the Sukar river. It is accessible 8 km. East of Alirajpur on Kukshi road. There is a newly constructed jain temple in this village. The village come in to prominace among archeologists, nistorians and lovers of plastic art in about 1925 when the jain images ensnrined in this temple were unearthed accidentally from a field . The images have been carved out of milky-white marble and black marble called sanmoosa. In addition images of Hindu doities and remains of Hindu temple have been found. The scultures belong to the style of 10th-11th century. Since the recovery of the images the place is held as a tirth ( Holy place) and an annual fair is held. There is a gram panchayat and a primary school at the village.
Malwai:Malwai is located 5 km. South of Alirajpur on the unmetalled road leading to Alirajpur and Walpur, before it bifurcates for Umrali. It settles on the northern foothills of the Vindhyachal Range in Alirajpur Tahsil. There is an ancient but small shiva temple in ruinous condition. The platform is rectangular but several conical columns rising from the base reach up to the kalash , which has fallen. The front portion of the cone has also fallen. Many beautiful carvings and images in the row of Penals are Visible whicn can be assigned to 12th-13th century.
Amkhut:Amkhut village is 24 km. North-west of Alirajpur on Alirajpur-Kathiwara Fairweather Road. The place is located among the forests of the Vindhachal range. It enjoys a natural beauty and cool climate . The Canadian Christian Mission established its centre here ami amidst the tribal villages. The village has a gram panchayat, a police out post, a primary school and rest house maintained by the Forest Department. The village has been electrified.