Jind Town
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
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Jind Town
In 1908
Head-quarters of the Jind nizamat and tahsil, Jind State, Punjab, situated in 29 degree 20' N. and 76 degree 19' E., on the Southern Punjab Railway, 60 miles south-east of Sangrur, the modern capital, and 25 miles north-west of Rohtak. Population (1901), 8,047. It was formerly the capital of the State to which it gave its name, and the Rajas of Jind are still installed here. It lies in the holy tract of Kurukshetra; and tradition ascribes its foundation to the Panda- vas, who built a temple here to Jainti Devi, the ‘ goddess of victory,' round which sprang up the town Jaintapuri, since corrupted into Jind. Of little importance in the Muhammadan period, it was seized by Gajpat Singh, the first Raja of Jind, in 1755. Rahim Dad Khan was sent by the Delhi government in 1775 to recover it, but was defeated and killed. His tomb is still to be seen, at the Safldon Gate, and trophies of the victory are preserved in the town. It con- tains many ancient temples, and several places of pilgrimage. The fort of Fatehgarh, part of which is now used as a jail, was built by Raja Gajpat Singh. The municipality has an income of Rs. 7,210, chiefly from octroi ; and there is a considerable local trade.
Politics
As in early Jan 2019
Of Jind's 1.7 lakh voters [in 2019 Jan], 48,000 are Jats. Brahmins, Punjabis and Baniyas number between 14,000 and 15,000 each. Jind has been electing non-Jat MLAs [since the 1972-77 seat]. The last time a Jat MLA was elected was in 1972 when Congress' Chaudhary Dal Singh won. Ever since, most MLAs have been from the Baniya and Punjabi communities.
Jind [was, as in Jan 2019,] an INLD seat and the 2019 bypoll pitted the breakaway Chautala faction (Ajay and sons Dushyant and Digvijay) against the principal opposition party for the first time after the split. Digvijay contestedas an Independent since their outfit, Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), is yet to be registered. AAP is in the mix too but is not contesting the polls. It has extended its support to the JJP.
This [was seen as a] Jat-dominated [???] predominantly urban constituency 120km north of Delhi and located in the heart of Haryana.
In 2019, the faction-ridden Haryana unit of Congress is also using the poll, which was seen as a straight fight between INLD and BJP, to project a united face.
BJP could not win Jind in 2014.
[In the 2019] bypoll, Kandela holds centre stage in Jind politics
The "biggest troublemakers", a huge monkey population (12,000 by some estimates, and aggressive).
