Location of District Bilaspur:
The geographical area of the district is 1167 Sq. kms which cover 2.1% area of the state.
The district lies between north latitude 31012’30’’ and 31035’45’’ and east longitude 76023’30’’ and
76055’40’’.
It is predominately situated in the lower Satluj valley in the outer hills.
District Bilaspur lies exclusively in the Shiwalik or the outer hills of the Himalayas. It is bounded on the north by Mandi and Hamirpur districts, on the west by Hamirpur and Una districts, on its south lies Nalagarh area of Solan district.
Altitude in the district vary from 1944 meters at the highest point is peak of Dhar Bahadurpur point to about 305 meters at the lowest.
It lies on both the bank of river Satlui which forms the boundary between Mandi and Bilaspur.
Hill Ranges in District Bilaspur:
There are seven main ranges of Hills. That is why earlier princely state used to be called sat-dar-Kehlur.
- Naina Devi: Naina Devi, Kot Kahlur fort and Fatehpur fort have been constructed on this hill.
- Kot Hill: Bachhretu, Basiah, Naun, and Dagoga Malhot are located on this hill. The highest peak of this Hill is “Kakrer”.
- Bandla Hill: It is famous for paragliding and the government has opened up Hydro Engineering college in this region.
- Bahadurpur Hill: Ali Khad divides this hill into two-parts. Bahadurpur Fort was the summer abode of Raja Bijai Chand.
- Ratanapur Hill: In this fort, General Ochterlony inflicted defeat on Amar Singh Thapa.
- Jhanjiar Hill: This range is divided by Sheer Khad into two parts, southern known as Badol and northern as Jhanjiar. Devi Badoli and Gugga Gherwin are two famous temples located on this range.
- Tiun Hill: The fort Sariun, Naurangarh, and Harimba Devi Temple and Sidh Gurunath are located on this hill.
Famous Valleys in District Bilaspur:
The Satluj valley: River Satluj enters in Kasol and leaves at Naila in Bilaspur District.
The Chaunto valley: It is near Bakhra Dam. It is flat and fertile land.
The Danwin vallev: It is located between Bahadurpur and the Bandla hills. It is famous for maize, rice, sugarcane, ginger, and wheat crops.
River System of District Bilaspur:
Main River of the district Bilaspur is Satluj. After flowing through Kinnaur, Shimla and Mandi districts, it enters district Bilaspur at village Kasol. Over this River Britishers and Maharaja Ranjeet Singh signed a treaty in 1809. Foreign travelers William Moorcraft (1820), Hugel, a German and G.T Vigne (1838-39) have written on river Satluj.
Ali stream: It rises in Tehsil Arki of Solan district; enter Bilaspur at Village Kothi Harrar. It joins Satluj at Beri Ghat.
Ghambar Khad: It rises between Tara Devi in Shimla hills, enters Bilaspur at village “Neri” and joins river Satluj at village”Dagran”.
Seer Khad: It rises in Mandi district. It enters Bilaspur at village Hatwar and joins as largest tributary of Satluj at village Seri. There are no natural lakes but the distt enjoys the honour of having the largest manmade lake Govind Sagar.
Water Springs in District Bilaspur:
District Bilaspur has two springs Luhund and Bassi Spring.
Languages spoken in District Bilaspur:
- The spoken dialect of the people is Kahluri which is on off shoot of Punjabi.
- Grierson calls it “Rude Punjabi” similar to that spoken in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab.
- Kahluri is main language spoken; Hindi and English are also widely understood.
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