Districts of Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh, a state of India, has eighteen administrative districts. A district of an Indian state is an administrative geographical unit, headed by a district magistrate or a deputy commissioner, an officer belonging to the Indian Administrative Service. The district magistrate or the deputy commissioner is assisted by a number of officials belonging to different wings of the administrative services of the state.

A superintendent of Police, an officer belonging to Indian Police Service is entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining law and order and related issues.

Presently Chattisgarh state consists eighteen districts. These districts are [Mathew, K.M. (ed.). "Manorama Yearbook 2008", Kottayam: Malayala Manorama, ISSN 0542-5778, p.518] :

*Bastar
*Bijapur
*Bilaspur
*Dantewada (South Bastar)
*Dhamtari
*Durg
*Janjgir-Champa
*Jashpur
*Kanker (North Bastar)
*Kabirdham (Kawardha)
*Korba
*Koriya (Korea)
*Mahasamund
*Narayanpur
*Raigarh
*Raipur
*Rajnandgaon
*Surguja.

Administrative history

Before Indian independence, present-day Chhattisgarh state was divided between the Central Provinces and Berar, a province of British India, and a number of princely states in the north, south, and east, which were part of the Eastern States Agency.

The British province encompassed the central portion of the state, and was made up of three districts, Raipur, Bilaspur, and Drug, which made up the Chhattisgarh Division of the Central Provinces. Drug District was created in 1906 out of the eastern portion of Raipur District.

The northern portion of the state, comprising present-day Koriya, Surguja, Jashpur, and Raigarh districts, was divided among the six princely states of Chang Bhakar, Jashpur, Koriya, Raigarh, Surguja, and Udaipur. To the east the states of Nandgaon, Khairagarh, and Kawardha comprised parts of present-day Rajnandgaon and Kawardha districts. In the south, the state of Kanker comprised the northern portion of present-day Kanker District, and the state of Bastar included present-day Bastar and Dantewada districts and the southern part of Kanker District.

After Indian Independence, the princely states were merged with the Central Provinces and Berar to form the new state of Madhya Pradesh. Present-day Chhattisgarh comprised seven districts of Madhya Pradesh. The former states of Kanker and Bastar formed the new Bastar District, the states of Surguja, Korea, and Chang Bhakar formed the new Surguja District, and the states of Nandgaon, Khairagarh, and Kawardha formed the new Rajnandgaon District.

In 1998, the seven districts that make up present-day Chhattisgarh were reorganized to form 16 districts. Dantewada and Kanker districts were split from Bastar; Dhamtari District was split from Raipur; Janjgir-Champa and Korba districts were split from Bilaspur; Jashpur District was split from Raigarh; Kawardha District was formed from parts of Bilaspur and Rajnandgaon; Koriya District was split from Surguja; and Mahasamund District was split from Raipur.

On November 1, 2000 these 16 districts were split from Madhya Pradesh to form the new state of Chhattisgarh.

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