Bilaspur District Explained - Part 1 - Geography

Total Area	1,167 sq. kms
Languages Spoken	Bilaspuri (Kahluri), Hindi, Punjabi
Headquarter	Bilaspur
Average Altitude	610 m
Population (2011 Census )	3,82,056 ( third least populated district)
Population Density	330/sq km

                                                        Geographical location of Bilaspur

• Bilaspur lies on the banks of river Satluj, which forms the boundary between Mandi & Bilaspur districts upto the centre of the eastern boundary.
• Length of the district from east to west is 51 kms and from north to south is about 43 kms
• Satluj divides Bilaspur into two natural parts
•  Lowest elevation point is 290 m and highest elevation point is 1,980 m
• The erstwhile princely Bilaspur state  was  also known as ‘Sat-Dhar-Kahlur’ because of the seven main ranges of hills

Mountain Ranges in Bilaspur

• ·       Naina Devi Hills – It is 30 kms in length. The famous Naina Devi temple is on this mountain range at an elevation of 1,100 m from the sea level. Important forts such as ‘Kot Kahlur fort’ and ‘Fatehpur fort’ are located in this range.
• ·       Kot Hill - It is also approximately 30 kms in length. Some of the prominent forts located on this hill are the Bachhretu, Basiah, Naun, Shiwala Bachhretu Kot, Dagoga Malhot
• ·      Jhanjiar Hill – The Seer Khad divides this range into two parts – Southern part known as Badol, and the northern as Jhanjiar. Jhanjiar is the highest peak in this range with an altitude of 1100 m. This range has the famous Devi Badoli and Guga Gherwin temples in the southern range.
• ·      Tiun Hill – This range is nearly 10 kms in length. The highest point is ‘Sariun Peak’ at about 1,350 m from the mean sea level.  Forts located on this hill are – Sariun, Tiun & Naurangarh.
• ·      Bandla Hill – It is 17 kms in the length. The highest point on this hill range is at 1375 m above sea level.
• ·      Bahadurpur Hill – The ‘Ali Khad’ divides this hill into southern and Bahadurpur and northern part known as Tatoh. Bahadurpur fort located at an elevation of about 1980 m above sea level was the summer abode of Raja Bijai Chand
• ·      Ratanpur Hill – It is 11 kms in length. The Ratanpur fort is at an elevation of 1230 m. General Ochterlony inflicted defeat on Amar Singh Thapa, the Gurkha leader from this fort.

Valleys in Bilaspur

• ·         The Satluj Valley – The Satluj flows for about 90 kms within the district. Starting from “Kasol” hamlet, where the river enters the boundary of Bilaspur district and runs upto the village “Naila” where it leaves the district.
• ·         The Chaunto Valley – The valley extends approximately 13 kms near to the Bhakhra Dam. The Govind Sagar Lake ( largest man made lake ) is situated here. This valley bears closeness with Punjab and lower Shivalik hills.
• ·         The Danwin Valley -  It is located between Bahadurpur and the Bandla hills and is about 10 kms in length and 5 kms in width.

River System in Bilaspur

The main river of Bilaspur is Satluj. After flowing through Kinnaur, Shimla and Mandi Districts, it enters Bilaspur at Kasol village and leaves the district at Naila. A treaty between English and Sikh Raja Ranjit Singh was signed over Satluj river in 1809.

Water Body	Place of Origin	Details
Ali Stream	Village ‘Mangu Giyana’ in Arki Tehsil of Solan district	Enters Bilaspur at village ‘Kothi Harrrar’ and ‘Manothi’.           It joins Satluj at a point known as ‘Beri Ghat’
Ghambar Khad	Tara Devi in Shimla Hills	It enters Bilaspur at village ‘Neri’ of Pargana Ratanpur.           It outflows into Satluj at village ‘Dagran’
Seer Khad	Mandi District	Largest tributary of Satluj             Two Khads – Sukar & Saryali rising in Hamirpur join this Khad at village Balgar         Enters Bilaspur district at Hatwar and joins Satluj river at ‘Seri’

To be continued in Bilaspur District Explained - Part 2.1 - History 

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