HISTORY OF DISTRICT

History of Satna district is part of the history of the region known as Baghelkhand, a very large portion of which was ruled by the treaty state of Rewa, while a small part towards the west was ruled by feudatory chiefs, holding their States under sanads given by the British rulers, There were eleven in all; important ones being Maihar, Nagod, Kothi, Jaso, Sohawal and Baraundha and the five Chaube Jagirs of Paldeo, Pahra, Taraon, Bhaisundha and Kamta-Rajula.

The early Budhist books, the Mahabharat etc, connect the Baghelkhand tract with rulers of the Haihaya, Kalchuri or Chedi clan, who are believed to have gained sufficient importance sometime during the third century A.D. Their original habitat is placed on the Narbada with Mahishmati (identified by some with Maheshwar in west Nimar district) as the capital; from where they seem to have been driven eastwards. They had acquired the fort of Kalinjara (a few miles beyond the border of Satna district, in U.P.), and with this as base, they extended their dominious over Baghelkhand. During the fourth and fifth centuries, the Gupta dynasty of Magadha was paramount over this region as is shown by the records of the feudatory chiefs of Uchchakalpa (Unchehra in Nagod tehsil) and the Parivrajak Rajas of Kot (in Nagod tehsil). The chief stronghold of the Chedi clan was Kalinjar, and their proudest title was Kalanjaradhishwara (Lord of Kalanjar). The Kalchuris received their first blow at the hand of Chandel chief Yashovarmma (925-55), who seized the fort of Kalinjar and the tract surrounding it. The Kalchuris were still a powerful tribe and continued to hold most of their possessions until the 12^th century.

The chiefs of Rewas were Baghel Rajputs descended from the Solanki clan which ruled over Gujrat from the tenth to the thirteenth century. Vyaghra deo, brother of the ruler of Gujrat, is said to have made his way into northern India about the middle of the thirteenth century and obtained the fort of Marpha, 18 miles north-east of Kalinjar. His son Karandeo married a Kalchuri (Haihaya) princess of Mandla and received in dowry the fort of Bandhogarh (now in the tehsil of the same name in Shahdol district), which, until its destruction in 1597 by Akbar was the Baghel Capital.

In 1298, Ulugh Khan, acting under order of emperor Alauddin drove the last Baghel ruler of Gujrat from his country and this is believed to have caused a considerable migration of the Baghels to Bandhogarh. Until the 15^th century the Baghels of Bandhogarh were engaged in extending their possessions and escaped the attention of the Delhi kings. in 1498-9, Sikandar Lodi failed in his attempt to take the fort of Bandhogarh. The Baghel king Ramchandra (1555-92), was a contemporary of Akbar. Tansen, the great musician, was in the court of Ramchandra and from their he was summoned by Akbar to his court. After the death of Birdhabra, Ramchandra's son, a minor named Vikramaditya acceded to the throne of Bandhogarh. His accession gave rise to disturbances. Akbar intervened and captured and dismantled the Bandhogarh fort in 1597 after a seize of eight months. It is after this that the town of Rewa started gaining in importance. It is said to have been founded by Raja Vikramaditya in 1618 (which perhaps means that he undertook the construction of palaces and other buildings there because the place had already assumed importance in 1554 when it was held by Jalal Khan son of emperor Shershah).

In 1803, after the treaty of Bassein, the British made overtures of alliance to the ruler of Rewa, but the latter rejected them. In 1812, during the time of Raja Jaisingh (1809-35), a body of Pindaris raided Mirzapur from Rewa territory. Upon this Jaisingh was called upon to accede to a treaty, in which he acknowledged the protection of the British Government, and agreed to refer all disputes with neighbouring chiefs to their arbitration and to allow British troops to march through or be cantoned in his territories. At the mutiny of 1857, Maharaja Raghuraj Singh helped the British in quelling the uprisings in the neighbouring Mandla and Jabalpur district, and in Nagod which is now a part of Satna district. For this, the king was rewarded by restoration to him of the Sohagpur (Shahdol) and Amarkantak parganas, which had been seized by the Marathas in the beginning of the century . The rulers of Rewa State bore the title of 'His Highness' and "Maharaja" and received a salute of 17 guns. Most of the Raghuraj Nagar and entire Amarpatan tehsil of the present Satna district were in the Rewa State prior to the formation of Vindhya Pradesh.

LONGITUDE & LATITUDE

Longitude        :  80"21' and 81"23' east

Latitude           :  23" 58' and 25"12' north

GEOGRAPHICAL AREA            :

LOCATION

The District of Satna is situated between latituedes 23" 58' and 25"12' north and longitute 80"21' and 81"23' east in mid northern part of Rewa Commissioner's Division in Madhya Pradesh state of India. The districts takes its name from Satna, the head quarters town, which in its turn takes it from Satna Rewa which flows near the town.

In the north the district boundary marches with that of Banda District of Uttar Pradesh state. Eastern Bombay of the district runs with the Teonther, Sirmour and Huzur tehsils of Rewa district and a very small questions of the Gopadbanas tehsil of Sidhi District. The entire western boundary of the district is made by Panna district while the southern boundary abuts on the Murwara tehsil of Jabalpur district in the west and Bandhogarh tehsil of Umaria district and Beohari Tehsils of Shahdol district on the east.

PHYSICAL FEATURES

Satna district lies on Vindhyan Plateau, which has an average altitude of 1000' to 11000'. The southern portion of Nagod Tehsil below 24"30' north latitude is a hilly country consisting of a tangled mass of low hills, and enclosing considerable stretches of level ground. The height of the plateau enclosed by these hills is from 1700' to 1800' generally but occasionally, some of the hills in the south of the tahsil rise to more than 800 feet in height above the plateau. The general slope of the country of the tehsil is towards the east, inclined towards the north in the centre of the tehsil.

Satna, the important river of the tehsil rises from the Panna hills and flows east as long as it is in Nagod tehsil. Near village Kathkone in Nagod Tehsil it is joined by the Amran river, and from this point of junction, it bends towards the south, making the boundary of Nagod and Raghuraj Nagar tehsils, till it meets the Tons river a few miles to the south-east of Satna town. Barua is another river of some importance in the tehsil, which rises from the hills in the south of the tehsil and flowing almost due west joins the Tons a few miles below village Karaia, at the border of Maihar and Nagod tehsils.

Amarpatan Tehsil is bounded on the south by the Son river. The Kaimur ridge, with its scarp side to the south, rises suddenly like a wall about eight miles to the north of Son river, going towards the east, with slight northerly inclination, almost parallel to the Son river. North of Ram Nagar, an isolated small hill rises to 2,354'. Rest of Amarpatan tehsil is again an alluvial plain draned by the Behar river, which flows more or less parallel to the Mirzapur road, in a north-easternly direction.

The south western Maihar tehsil consists mainly of sandstones of Bhander series, concealed in great part by alluvium. Beyond 80"44' east longitude the Kaumur ridge runs through the heart of the broader eastern portion of the tehsil dividing the basin of the Mahanadi from that of the Tons. The river Tons, which drains the tehsil runs between the railway line and the Kaumur and is joined by numerous small nullahs which run along the northern slopes of the Kaimur. The south eastern extremity of Maihar tehsil is bound by river Mahanadi, which marches with the boundary of Maihar tehsil first with Murwara tehsil of Jabalpur district and then with Beohari tehsil of Shahdol district.

Raghuraj Nagar tehsil consists in the south of an alluvial plain watered by the Tons and its tributaries the Satna, and the Simrawal from the north-west and the Magardha and Nar from the south. The Panna hills cross the narrowest portion of the tehsil in a west-east direction slightly inclined to the north and separate the valley of the Paisuni, in part ravinous, from the plateau to the south. Further north is Vindhyachal range running from west to east, almost parallet to the Panna hills, through the former sanad states of Baraundha, Patharkachhar and the Chaube jagirs.

MOUNTAINS AND HILLS:

Tha Kaimurs, the Panna hills, and the Vindhyachal ranges, all belonging to the Vindhya system togeter with their spurs constitute the principal hills of the district. The Kaumur range enters Maihar tahsil of the district at village Jhukehi on the border of Murwara tehsil, and runs through the entire length of Maihar and Amarpatan tahsil in an easterly direction slightly inclined to the north. At Jhukehi, the strike of the Kaumurs is displaced, producing the only gap in the whole length of the Vindhyas. Advantage of the gap is taken in the construction of the Mirzapur road and the Jabalpur-Allahabad section of Bombay -Calcutta railway line. The Panna hills enter northern portion of the district from Panna district and traverse the Raghuraj Nagar tehsil in a west-east direction and enter the Sirmour tehsil of Rewa district. The Vindhyachal range is in the extreme north of the district cutting across in a west-east direction slightly inclinedc to the north.

RIVERS:

Tons, Son, and Paisuni are the impurtant rivers of the district draining it into the Bay of the Bengal through the Ganga. The Kymore and the Panna hills act as water-divides. Most of the rivers flow towards the east, with an inclination towards the north. The Simrawal and the Satna rivers are, however, inclined towards the south.

Tons (or Tamasa) is the main river of the district, It rises in the Kaumur hill in the Maihar tehsil, its nominal source, called Tamasa Kund being a tank on the Kaumur hills, 2,000 feet above the sea-level. From the point is follows a general north-easterly course, traversing the rough hilly country around Maihar, flowing through the level fertile country of the Amarpatan and Raghuraj Nagar tehsil, and then enters the Rewa district. Satna an important affuent of the Tons, rises in the Panna hills, flows through the northern, narrower portion of the Nagod tehsil almost in a due west-east direction and bends towards the south from the point where it is joined by Aman river. Thereafter it makes the boundary of the Nagod and Raghuraj Nagar tehsils till it meets the Tons a few miles to the south-east of Satna town. Simrawal, another impurtant affluent of the Tons, flows south of Kothi in Raghuraj Nagar tehsil.

The Son, the great river to the south of the Kymore hills does not actually enter the district but makes the southern boundary of Amarpatan tehsil with Beohari tehsil of shahdol district. It is joined by the Mahanadi river, which flows along the boundary of Maihar and Beohari tehsils just at the point where the Son takes a turn towards the east between villages Sakwari and Bamaraha.

FOREST - FLORA AND FAUNA:

Forest in the district are included in the Rewa forest division with headquarters at Rewa. Forests, which are mostly mixed forests cover an area of 900 square miles in the district, extending over four ranges with headquarters at Satna, Majhgawan (both in Raghuraj Nagar tehsil) Nagod and Maihar. The breakup of the forests according to whether they are protected or reserved forests is given below for each range.

Teak (tectona grandis) occurs in about 10 square miles of Satna range, 8 square miles of Nagod range and 5 square miles of Maihar range. There is no Sal (Shorea robusia) in any one of the ranges. Bamboo is found in all the ranges. Other trees that occur in the district are saja (Terminalia tomentosa), salai (Boswellia serrata), tendu (Diospyros tomentosa), Woodfordia floribunda, Khair (Acacia catechu), etc.

FAUNA:

Common animals found in the forests are tiger (felis tigris), panther (felis pardus), sambhar (Rusa unicolor), chital (Axis axis), wild bear (Melursus ursinus), deer, etc.

Rainfall :

Like any other part of the State, Satna district receives its rainfall from the precipitation of the Arabian sea monsoon. June to September are the months when most of the rainfall is received. The downpour, as well as the number of rainy days are maximum in the months of July and August.

Climate:

The year is more or less elearly divided into three seasons; namely the hot season extending roughly from middle February to middle June; the rainy season from middle June to September and the winter from November to middle February. Ther month of October witness the transition from the rainy to the cold weather.