Bhiwani , one of the eleven districts! of Haryana State , came into existence on December 22, 1972, and was formally inaugurated on Ja ilUary 14 , 1973. It is mmed after the headquarters . town of Bhiwani , believed to be a corruption of the word Bhani. From Bhani, it changed to Bhiani and then Bhiwani. Tradi tion has it that one Neem , a Jatu Rajput , who belonged to vill age B:twani 2, then in Hansi tahsil of the Hisar (Hissar) di strict , came to settle at Kaunt , a village near the present town of Bhiwani. Thi s was re sen ted by the local Jat inhabitants, and they pl otted his murder. Neem was war ned by a Jat woman , named Bahni, and thus forewarned , had his revenge on th e loc al Jat s. He killed m~st of them at a banquet, the site of which wa s min ed with gun- powder. He m'lrried B:thni and founded a village nam ed after her. At the beginning of the nineteenth century , Bhiwani was an in signifi cant village in the Dadri pargana, under the control of the Nawab of Jhajj ar. It is, how - ever, referred to as a town when the British occupied it in 1810 .3 It gained importance during British rule when in 1817, it was sel ected for the site of a mandi or free market, and Charkhi Dadri, still under the Nawa bs, lost its importance as a seat of commerce. Location and boundaries.- The district of Bhiwani lie s in be twee n latitude 2&0 19' and 290 OS' and longitude 750 28' to 760 28' . It is bou nde d in the north by the Hi sar (Hissar) district, in the east by the Rohtak district, in the south by the M'lhendragarh district of Haryana and the Jhunj hun u di st rict of Rajasthan and in the west by the Churu district and a par t of the Jb :unjhunu district of Rajasthan.' Area. -With an area of 5,090 square kilometre s, Bhiwani is th e seco nd 1. The twelfth district of Faridabad has been created on August 15 . 1979 . 2. Arnin Chand. Tawarikh -i-Zila Hisar . 1866 . p.lS. Bawani is appar ant ely Bawani Mera. now the headquarters of a tahsil of the same name in the district. 3. Hisar District Gazetteer. 1892, pAl . 4. S()ur~e : Survey Of India, North Westem Circle, Chandil?arh . largest district in the State follo wing Hi sar (Hissar). It comprises four tahsi ls covering the area s sh own belo wl : 1,470 .33 1,458 .67 .1,03 2.86 . 1,032.86 r,42L25 4.51 1,416 .74 1,16 5.56 ·2,59 1,162.97 5,090.00 is. 76 5,071 .24 Popu lation .~ The dis trict as such was no t in ex istence at the last Cens us of 1971 and separat e popul ation data have ' not been pub li she d. Howeve r, the p::>pul ation , com puted on th e basis of the 1971 Cen sus, was 7, 61,95 3 person s.2 In popul ati on, it is the eighth among el eve n di stricts of the Stat e fo ll owing Gurg aon, Hi sa r (Hissar ), Roh ta k, Amba la,K.:;strn al,Kuruk sh etra and Jind and st ands ahe ad of Mahe ndr agarh , Son ipa t and Sir sa . The first record of the ad ministrativ e div is ion now co mp ns mg the Bhiwani di strict, is found in Ain-i- Akba ri. Akb ar divi de d his kin gdom in to sub ahs, sirkars and mahals or par ga nas. Th e whole of wha t is now the Bhiw ani distric t was most ly in sirkar of Hi sar Fi ruza (prin cip al mahal s bein g Tosha m, Seor an and Siwani)3 and si rkar of Delhi (princi p;il mah al bein g Dadri Taha)4 of su bl h Delhi. Wit h the de ca y of the Mu ghal Empi re thi s area remained dist urb - ed in cons equence of fight in g be tween the neighb our ing chiefs ti ll 1803, wh en the greaterplrtofitc am~und er British rule by th e Tre atyo fSu rji Ar junga on . Thereafter conditions sea le d down. The present di strict ha s been formed by 1. Sou rce: Deputy Comm issioner, Bhi wa t,i. 2. Statis ti ca l Abstract of Har yana , 1975 -76, p.3 .(Issued by the Econ omic and St atisti ca l Or gan iza tion, Planning Departm ent, Haryan a.) 3.Abul Faz l, Ain-i-Akbari, Vo lume II (E ng li sh transiat ion by H. S. Jarrett, comc ;ted !In~ furth er annot ated by Sir Jadu"n ath Sarkar) ; 1949, pp. 298 -~OQ. 4. Ibid, PP.791 -93 •. m~rging three sepirate units, viZ. (i):Bhl~a~r ~rid l3awani Khera, which form- ed a p:trt of the Risar (Hissar) district ;'(ii) Dadri, which was formerly a part of a princely State and -later of the Mahendragarh district; and (iii) Loharu, which was a princely ' State and later merged with the Hisar (Hissar) district after Independence. These three tracts have different administrative histories. The first tract consisting of the . two tahsils of Bhiwani and Bawani Khera, was a part of the territory known as Haryana immediately prior to the British conquest in 1803 and was nominaJIy subject to the Marathas, who rul- ed it in the name of Mughal Emperor at Delhi. Siwani and Bahl were 2 of the 19 districts into which Haryana had been divided at that time. l In '1810,the date of the actual establi shment of .the British authority in this part, the whole of the Delhi territory ceded 1;'ythe Marathas was subject to the Re sident of D~lhi, and was divided into two districts: Delhi, already under the Resident, and the outlying districts including ' Hansi, Hisar (Hissar), Sirsa, Rohtak, Panipat and Rewari, under the ' immediate charge of an Assistant to the Resident . In 1819,the Delhi territory was divided into three districts: the central district which included Delhi, the southern including Rewari, and the north-western including Panipat, Hansi, Hisar (Hissar), Sirsa and Rohtak. In 1820, the latter · (north-western) was again sub-divided into a northern and a w<:sterndistrict; of Whi chthe latter (western) iucluded Bhiwani, Hansi, Hisar (Hissar) and Sirs~, th~ headquarters being at Hansi. In 1824, Rohtak 'which had previously :~beeli in the · western district, was constituted into a separate district to which Bhiwani was transferred. In 1861,24 villages of the Maham-Bhiwani tahsil of the Rohtak district ware transferred to the Hisar (Hi ll sar)district, 18 including the town ofBhiwani to the then con stituted Bhiwani tahsil and 6to Hansi . In addition to this, 5 villages, confi scate cj.from the Nawab of Jhajjar for siding against the British in the events of 1.857~were in the same ye'lr added to the Bhiwani tahsil. 2 On January 1, 1891,13 vill ageswe~e transferred from the Hisar (Hissar) tahsil to the Bhiwani tahsil '.3 Of the histo~y.of tj:Ie ' second tr~ct; Loharu, little is known. It once formed a part of ~he . Jaipur .· State, but tqwards the middle of the 18th cen- tury some adventurous Th",kurs; after the fashion of the day, shook off the 1. Griffin L.H. : The Raja s or 'the 'Punjab, 1870. p.168; Hisar District and Loharu State Gazetteer (Hisar District) , 1915. pp.39-40. > ,.' 2•. Hi-sar .Disfric:J ·Gdzetteer ••.. l892;p .53 ;· 3. Hisar District and Loharu State Gazetteer (Hisar District), 1915. pA6. Jaipur authority and t'orni~d an indep~ndent State. The Raja of Khetri, a de- pendency of Jaipur, attempted to subdue -them but was slain in battle at Loharu. The State was, however, re-annexed to Jaipur for a time, but it soon regained its independence. Subsequently it acknowledged British suzerai.nty. The British rulers gave the taluk of Loharu (73&square kilometres) in .reward to the Maharaja of Alwar, who had loyally aided them during the 1&03campaign against the Marathas. The sanad given by General Lord Lake to Raja Siwaee Bakhtawar Singh of Alwar on this occasion is translated as follows l :- "To all Mootsaddies, present and future " as wdl as to Amils, Choud- hrees, Kanoongoes, Zamindars and Cultivators of Parganas, Ismaeelpooro, and MJodawar with the Talookas of Darbarpore, Rutaee, Nimrana, Mandan, Ghelote, Beejwar, Suraie, Dadree, Loraroo, Boodwanah and Bhoodchalna- hur, under the Soobah of Shahjehanabad : Let it be known that between the Honourable the East Indian Company of England and Maharao Raja Sewaee B!lkhtawar Singh the friendship which existed has been stcengthened; therefore, with a view of proving and makil\g this fact public to everyone, General Lord Lake directs that the above-mentioned district be made over to the Maharao Raja for his expenses, subject to the concurrence of the Most Noble the Governor-General, Lord Wellesley. "On the permissiotlof tbe GovertlUr-General beiqg received, another Sanad will be given in place ofthe p,resent one, which will be recalled. "Until another Sanad arrives, this one wtu remain in possessioll of the Maharao Raja. "Parganas Ismaeelpore and Moodawar, with the Talookas of Darbar- p:>re, Rutaee, Nimrana, Mandan, Beejwarand Ghelote and Suraie, Dadree and Laharoo, Boodwanah and BhQOdchalnahur ,.