Dhanbad district

Dhanbad district is one of the twenty-four districts of Jharkhand state, India, and Dhanbad is the administrative headquarters of this district. As of 2011, it is the second most populous district of Jharkhand (out of 24), after Ranchi. It also has the lowest sex ratio in Jharkhand, at 908. Dhanbad is also known as the coal capital of India, due to extensive coal mining industry that dominates the district. Dhanbad district was constituted in 1956 by carving out the old Dhanbad subdivision Chas and Chandankiyari police stations of the Sadar subdivision of the erstwhile Manbhum district. Dhanbad is Police district since 1928. The re-organisation of the districts in the State of Bihar which took place after 1971 did not affect the district of Dhanbad. Dhanbad Municipality is the chief town and the headquarters of the district. In the year 1991, Bokaro District was constituted by carving out Chas Sub-division of Dhanbad district and Bermo Subdivision of Giridih District. The early history of the greater part of the Chotanagpur Plateau is shrouded in mystery and that of Dhanbad district is particularly so. Details of even later periods are difficult to trace as the present district formed but a small and insignificant part of Manbhum. In the Settlement Report for Manbhum (1928) it has been 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 in course of the Survey and Settlement operations. The oldest authentic documents produced were all on paper and barely even a hundred years old. In view of these circumstances the District Gazetteer for Dhanbad (1964) merely reproduces the chapter on history in the Settlement Report of 1928 which pertains to the entire district of Manbhum. It was a small village of the erstwhile district of Manbhum which had its headquarters in Purulia (now in West Bengal). Manbhum in turn, derived its name from Raja Man Singh, who was gifted this territory by Emperor Akbar, following his victory in a certain battle.