Districts of South Gujarat
Dang (
Nepali:
दाङ जिल्ला
Listen (help·info),
Marathi:
डांग जिल्हा,(also known as
The Dangs) is a district in the state of
Gujarat in
India. The administrative headquarters of the district are located in
Ahwa. The Dangs have an
area of 1764 km² and a
population of 186,729 (as of 2001).
[1]
As of 2011 it is the least populous district of Gujarat (out of
26).
[2]
History
Before Independence several wars were fought between the five tribal kings of Dang and the British. According to the history of Dang, the biggest ever war took place at
Lashkaria Amba, in which kings of all five erstwhile states got together to protect Dang from British rule. The British were beaten and decided to discontinue war and resorted to compromise.
As per historic compromise treaty was signed in 1842 according to which the Britishers were allowed to use the forests and their natural products against which they had to pay certain amount around 3,000 silver coins to the five kings of the then monarchy. However, currently the kings are offered monthly political pension by the Government of India, which is the main source of their income. This payment is continued even though all privy purses for the Princely states of India was stopped in 1970 since the agreement was between then monarchy of Dangs and the British.
Every year during the financial end the Kings gather in Ahwa for a traditional royal ceremony in their richly decorated buggies, bands with tribal dancers to receive the payment as per the agreement of 1842. In ancient Indian Scriptures Dang is known as Dand Aranyaka, meaning
Bamboo Forest.
| State | Population ('000);[3] | Revenue (1881, Rs.) | Ruler's title. Notes |
| Dang Pimpri | 3,6 | 3106 | 388 km² |
| Dang Wadhwan | 0,253 | 147 | ca. 12 km². Not to be confuesd with the state whose capital Wadhwan was. |
| Dang Ketak Kadupada | 0,218 | 155 |
|
| Dang Amala | 5,3 | 2885; 1891: 5300 | Raja. 307 km² |
| Dang Chinchli | 1,67; 1891: ca. 1,4 | 601 | ca. 70 km² |
| Dang Pimpladevi | 0,134 | 120 | ca. 10 km² |
| Dang Palasbishar (= Palasvihir) | 0,223 | 230 | ca. 5 km² |
| Dang Auchar | ca. 500 | 201 | < 21 km² |
| Dang Derbhauti | 4,891; 1891: ca. 5 | 3649 | Raja. 196 km² |
| Dang Gadhavi (= Gadhi) | 6,309 | 5125 | Raja. |
| Dang Shivbara | 0,346 | 422 | ca. 12 km² |
| Dang Kirli (= Kirali) | 0,167 | 512 | 31 km² |
| Dang Wasurna | 6,177 | 2275 |
|
| Dang Dhude (= Bilbari) | 1,45; 1891: 1418 | 85 | < 5 km² |
| Dang Surgana | 14 | 11469 |
|
| Machhali | 1.1; | 4745 | 35 |
Economy
In 2006 the
Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Dang one of the country's 250
most backward districts (out of a total of
640).
[4] It is one of the six districts in Gujarat currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).
[4]
Demographics
According to the
2011 census Dang district has a
population of 226,769 ,
[5] roughly equal to the nation of
Vanuatu.
[6] This gives it a ranking of 587th in India (out of a total of
640).
[5] The district has a population density of 129 inhabitants per square kilometre (330 /sq mi) .
[5] Its
population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 21.44 %.
[5] The Dangs has a
sex ratio of 1007
females for every 1000 males,
[5] and a
literacy rate of 76.8 %.
[5]
References
Dang district 
