Major General James G. Blunt

Bagar, also Bagad (बागड़) a term meaning the "dry country",[1] is a region refers in north-western India and north Rajasthan, India where the Bagri language is spoken and which is inhabited by Bagri people. The region is characterised by sandy tracks and shifting sand dunes which are now irrigated by canals.[2]

Etymology

Bagar means the prairie (grazing shrubs and grassland) of northern Rajputana,[3] which likely comes from eponymous Arabic word "bagar" meaning "cow" (sacred to Hindus),[4] derived from the Arabic word "cattle".[5][6] Baggara in Arabic means "cattle herders".[5][7] Bagar tract refers to the semi-arid semi-fertile rain-fed sandy shrubby grassland tract at the confluence of arid Thar Desert and fertile bangar and khadir areas of Indo-Gangetic Plain, which as historically inhabited by the cattle herders who remained semi-nomadic until they began to adapt to settled life in the mid to late Medieval Period. Before the adoption of the Arabic name bagar, the area was earlier known as Jangladesh during the Vedic era of Mahabharata and even in early medieval times at least until the end of Hindu reign of Prithviraj Chauhan.

Bagar tracts

Bagar ( Hindi: बागङ) region is characterised by Bagar tracts which are long strips of shifting sand dunes called tibba (टिब्बा) and relatively semi-fertile lands and the area between them is called lal (लाळ) in northern districts of Rajasthan and along the northwestern districts of Haryana[8]

Geography

The Bagar region has potentially very fertile alluvial soil interspersed with highly permeable very sandy tracts in several places with water table more than 100 feet below ground containing brackish water usually unfit for human consumption, where dust storms frequent during the warm summer months from April till the end of July when monsoon arrives.

Previously, the drinking water availability in the Bagar tract was solely based on the rain & wells and irrigation was possible only in the small areas of Ghaggar basin of Bagar region in districts of Fatehabad, Sirsa, Hanumangarh, Sri Ganganagar and Anupgarh where the seasonal Ghaggar river flows.

Earlier Western Yamuna Canal and after 1963 Bhakra Nangal Dam canal system provides the water for irrigation in most of Haryana including all of the Bagar region falling in Haryana on its western border.

The Ganga canal in 1927 and in 1984 Indira Gandhi Canal irrigation also known as Rajasthan Canal brought the water of Sutlej and Beas rivers to the fields of Rajasthan including its Bagar tract, stabilizing the sand dunes and soil erosion by preventing the expansion of desert.[9][8]

Geographically, the Bagar region lies between the:

Geographical extent of Bagar region.
States Districts
Rajasthan
Punjab
Haryana

Bagri language

A Bagri speaker.

Bagri (बागड़ी), a dialect of overlapping Rajasthani language, Haryanvi language and Punjabi language of the Indo-Aryan family, spoken by about five million speakers residing in Bagar region of Rajasthan,Haryana and Punjab states in India[10][11]

Bagri people

Mani Ram Bagri with Rajiv Gandhi.

The term Bagri people was originally applied to Ethenic Jats,[16][17] Gurjars[18]Rajput and Bishnois living in Bagar Region and who speaks Bagri language[1][19][20][16][21][22][17]


There are also sections of Kumhar, Suthar, Nai, Agarwal Banias and Maheshwari banias as well as Badhik ("butcher"), Pardhi ("hunter"), Bawariya (semi-nomads) castes who are referred as Bagri living in the region.[20][22] Prominent bagri people are politician from Haryana Mani Ram Bagri (1 January 1920 – 31 March 2012, a politician from Haryana), Raj Bagri, Baron Bagri (24 August 1930 – 26 April 2017, India-born British businessman and a Conservative member of the House of Lords from 1997 to 2010, who was made a life peer in 1997).[23]

Politics of Bagar Region(Constituencies and MLA)

There are 40 Constituencies of Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan legislative assemblies where Bagri language is spoken by majority of the population.

  • In Punjab, there 4 constituencies of Fazilka and Sri Muktsar Sahib in South Punjab where Bagri speakers decides the fate of elections. Out of 4 constituencies only 1 constituency is reserved for SC candidate.
  • In Haryana, there are 15 constituencies in north west haryana which comes under the Bagar region out of which 2 constituencies are reserved for SC candidates.
  • In Rajasthan, there are 21 constituencies of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly which comes under the Bagar region in North Rajasthan. Meanwhile, 4 constituencies out of 21 constituencies are reserved for SC candidates.

Rajasthan

Following is the list of the constituencies and the candidates from Bhartiya Janata Party,[24] Congress party [25] and the Independent candidates [26] appeared in 2023 Rajasthan Legislative Assembly election[27] from the Bagri speaking region of Rajasthan.

Bagar Region (बागड़)
Year Seats Indian National Congress Bharatiya Janata Party Others
2023 21 10 Increase 1 9 Steady 0 2
2018 21 9 Increase 8 9 Decrease 7 3
2013 21 1 Decrease 10 16 Increase 8 4
Source:[28][29]
Constituency Winner Runner Up Margin
# Name Candidate Party Votes % Candidate Party Votes %
Sri Ganganagar district
1 Sadulshahar (1) Gurveer Singh Brar BJP 74,433 37.58 Om Bishnoi IND 58,973 29.77 15,460
2 Ganganagar (2) Jaydeep Bihani BJP 81,001 44.66 Karuna Ashok Chandak IND 51,222 28.24 29,779
3 Karanpur (3) Rupinder Singh Kooner INC 94,950 48.55 Surender Pal Singh BJP 83,667 42.78 11,283
4 Suratgarh (4) Dungar Ram Gedar INC 1,16,841 55.87 Rampratap Kasania BJP 66,382 31.74 50,459
Anupgarh district
5 Raisinghnagar (SC- 5) Sohan Lal Nayak INC 79,586 37.08 Balvir Singh Luthra BJP 65,561 30.54 14,025
6 Anupgarh (SC-6) Shimla Devi INC 1,02,746 53.18 Santosh Bawri BJP 64,865 33.58 37,881
Hanumangarh district
7 Sangaria (7) Abhimanyu Poonia INC 98,341 47.40 Gurdeep Singh BJP 56,331 27.15 42,010
8 Hanumangarh (8) Ganesh Raj Bansal IND 89,323 37.03 Amit Sahu BJP 79,625 33.01 9,698
9 Pilibanga (SC-9) Vinod Kumar INC 1,43,091 57.84 Dharmendra Kumar BJP 87,818 35.50 55,273
10 Nohar (10) Amit Chachan INC 1,03,623 43.22 Abhishek Matoria BJP 1,02,728 42.85 895
11 Bhadra (11) Sanjeev Kumar Beniwal BJP 1,02,748 44.68 Balwan Poonia CPI(M) 1,01,616 44.19 1,132
Bikaner district
12 Khajuwala (SC-12) Vishwanath Meghwal BJP 91,276 51.47 Govind Ram Meghwal INC 73,902 41.67 17,374
13 Bikaner West (13) Jethanand Vyas BJP 98,648 54.51 Bulaki Das Kalla INC 78,454 43.35 20,194
14 Bikaner East (14) Siddhi Kumari BJP 89,917 53.07 Yashpal Gehlot INC 70,614 41.68 19,303
15 Lunkaransar (16) Sumit Godara BJP 60452 29.98 Rajendra Moond INC 51583 25.58 8869
16 Dungargarh(17) Tarachand Saraswat BJP 65,690 32.55 Manglaram Godara INC 57,565 28.52 8,125
Churu district
17 Sadulpur (19) Manoj kumar BSP 64,368 32.92 Krishna Poonia INC 61,794 31.60 2,574
18 Taranagar (20) Narendra Budania INC 1,08,236 49.52 Rajendra Rathore BJP 97,891 44.78 10,345
19 Sardarshahar(21) Anil Kumar Sharma INC 99,582 42.27 Rajakaran Choudhary IND 77,250 32.79 22,332
20 Churu (22) Harlal Saharan BJP 99,432 50.05 Rafique Mandelia INC 92,558 46.59 6,874
21 Ratangarh (23) Poosaram Godara INC 1,09,383 53.69 Abhinesh Maharshi BJP 79,720 39.13 29,663

Haryana

Following is the list of constituencies and Members of Legislative Assembly from the Bagri speaking region of North Western Haryana.

District No. Constituency Name Party Alliance Remarks Reservation
Fatehabad 1 Tohana -(39) Devender Singh Babli Jannayak Janta Party NDA Cabinet Minister
2 Fatehabad - (40) Dura Ram Bharatiya Janata Party NDA
3 Ratia - (41) Lakshman Napa Bharatiya Janata Party NDA SC
Sirsa 4 Kalanwali - (42) Shishpal Singh Indian National Congress UPA SC
5 Dabwali - (43) Amit Sihag Indian National Congress UPA
6 Rania - (44) Ranjit Singh Chautala Independent NDA
7 Sirsa - (45) Gopal Kanda Haryana Lokhit Party NDA
8 Ellenabad - (46) Abhay Singh Chautala Indian National Lok Dal Won in 2021 bypoll necessitated after his resignation
Hisar 9 Adampur - (47) Kuldeep Bishnoi Indian National Congress UPA Resigned on 4 August 2022[30]
Bhavya Bishnoi Bharatiya Janata Party NDA Won in 2022 bypoll
10 Uklana (48) Anoop Dhanak Jannayak Janta Party NDA
11 Barwala (51) Jogi Ram Sihag Jannayak Janta Party NDA
12 Hisar - (52) Kamal Gupta Bharatiya Janata Party NDA
Bhiwani 13 Loharu (54) Jai Parkash Dalal Bharatiya Janata Party NDA Cabinet Minister For Agriculture
14 Tosham (58) Kiran Choudhry Indian National Congress UPA
Charkhi Dadri 15 Badhra (55) Naina Singh Chautala Jannayak Janta Party NDA

Punjab

Following is the list of constituencies and MLA in the Punjab Legislative Assembly from Fazilka district and southern part of Sri Muktsar Sahib district with the significant presence of Bagri Speakers in South Punjab,India.

District No. Constituency Name Party Bench
Fazilka 1 Fazilka - (80) Narinderpal Singh Sawna Aam Aadmi Party Government
2 Abohar - (81) Sandeep Jakhar Indian National Congress Opposition
3 Balluana - (82) (SC) Amandeep Singh ‘Goldy’ Musafir Aam Aadmi Party Government
Sri Muktsar Sahib 4 Lambi - (83) Gurmeet Singh Khudian Aam Aadmi Party Government

Gallery

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Nonica Datta, "Forming an identity", The Tribune, 3 July 1999.
  2. ^ "Revised Land and Revenue Settlement of Hisar District 9006-9011" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  3. ^ Elaine King,1998, Tales & legends of India, Page 61.
  4. ^ 2002, Abubakar Garba, "State, city and society: processes of urbanisation", University of Maiduguri - Centre for Trans Saharan Studies, Archaeological Association of Nigeria, Page 82.
  5. ^ a b Deepak Kumar Behera, Georg Pfeffer, 2002, The concept of tribal society, Page 284.
  6. ^ Mohamet Lawan, 1997, No travel is little, Page 66.
  7. ^ Jemera Rone, Brian Owsley, Human Rights Watch/Africa, 1996, Behind the Red Line: Political Repression in Sudan, Page 274.
  8. ^ a b c d India District Census Handboook, 1961
  9. ^ E. Walter Coward, 1980, "Irrigation and Agricultural Development in Asia: Perspectives from the social sciences", Cornell University press, page 302, ISBN 0801498716.
  10. ^ a b c d Gusain, Lakhan: Reflexives in Bagri. Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 1994
  11. ^ a b c Gusain, Lakhan: Limitations of Literacy in Bagri. Nicholas Ostler & Blair Rudes (eds.). Endangered Languages and Literacy. Proceedings of the Fourth FEL Conference. University of North Carolina, Charlotte, 21–24 September 2000
  12. ^ Census India 2001
  13. ^ https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-map-shows-study-area-and-the-Eco-cultural-regions-of-Haryana-Modified-after-Singh_fig2_364830044
  14. ^ https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-map-shows-study-area-and-the-Eco-cultural-regions-of-Haryana-Modified-after-Singh_fig2_364830044
  15. ^ https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-map-shows-study-area-and-the-Eco-cultural-regions-of-Haryana-Modified-after-Singh_fig2_364830044
  16. ^ a b B.S. Nijjar, 2008, "Origins and History of Jats and Other Allied Nomadic Tribes of India: 900 B.C.-1947 A.D.", Atlantic Publishers, page 51, ISBN 8126909080.
  17. ^ a b Nonica Datta, 1999, "Forming an Identity: A Social History of the Jats, Oxford University Press, page 12.
  18. ^ Ajay Singh Rawat (1998). Forests on Fire: Ecology and Politics in the Himalayan Tarai. Cosmo Publications. pp. 80–. ISBN 978-81-7020-840-2.
  19. ^ Robert Vane Russell, 1916, "pt. II. Descriptive articles on the principal castes and tribes of the Central Provinces", page 435.
  20. ^ a b Robert Vane Russell, 1916, "The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India (Volumes I and II)", Library of Alexandria publication, ISBN 1465582940.
  21. ^ 2000, "Haryana District Gazetteers: Rohtak district gazetteer, 1910", Government of Haryana Gazetteers organization, page 237.
  22. ^ a b Vīrasiṃha, 2006, "The Jats: Their Role & Contribution to the Socio-economic Life and Polity of North & North-west India, Volume 2", page 305, ISBN 8188629529.
  23. ^ Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (107 ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 219. ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
  24. ^ "Election Commission of India".
  25. ^ "Election Commission of India".
  26. ^ "Election Commission of India".
  27. ^ "Election".
  28. ^ India Today (4 December 2023). "Rajasthan Election Results 2023: Full list of winners". Archived from the original on 12 December 2023. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  29. ^ India TV (3 December 2023). "Rajasthan Election Result 2023: Constituency-wise full list of BJP, Congress, BSP and RLP winners". Archived from the original on 12 December 2023. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  30. ^ "Cong's Kuldeep Bishnoi resigns from Haryana Assembly, to join BJP today". The Indian Express. 4 August 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022.