Sonipat district

Sonipat (Hindi: सोनीपत) is one of the districts of Haryana state, India, and Sonipat town is the district headquarters. The district touches Delhi on one end, Panipat District on the other, and the Yamuna River acting as a border in one direction and Rohtak on the other side.

History

In the South of Sonipat, if we cross Delhi, there is a city called Sona, and in the North of Sonipat, there is a city called Panipat. If we combine these names, it becomes SONa+paniPAT. In spite of a+pani, the alphabet, 'I' was included to give special identity to the city. Therefore, a new name was formed viz SON+i+PAT. Thus, came into existence a city named Sonipat.

Sonipat was earlier known as "Sonprastha", which later on became "Swarnprastha", meaning the "Golden City": derived from two Sanskrit words, "Swarn" (Gold) and "Prastha" (Place). Over a period of time, the classical name Swarnprasth's pronunciation degraded into "Swarnpat", and then to its current form, "Sonipat".

The earliest reference of this city comes in the epic Mahabharata, and at that time, it was one of the five villages demanded by the Pandavas in lieu of the kingdom of Hastinapur.

Topography

Broadly speaking, the entire district is a part of the Punjab plain, but the area is not level in some parts. Over most of the district, the soil is fine loam of rich colour. However, some areas have sandy soil and others Kallar. The plain has a gradual slope to the south and east. The district may be roughly divided into three regions :-

1) The Khadar -Along the River Yamuna which is a narrow flood plain ranging from 2 to 4 miles in width and is formed by the river along its course. The Khader plain is 20 to 30 ft. lower adjoining upland plain. The soil is fine clay loam left by the receding floods of the Yamuna. Farmers in the Khadar area cultivate rice and sugar cane. Recently, the farmers have started planting Banana, Pappaya and other fruits trees in this area.

2) The Upland Plain -It consists of Sonipat tehsil lying to the west of the Khadar, and is the most extensive of the three regions: The Upland Plain is covered with old alluvium , which if properly irrigated, is highly productive. There is extensive Farming of crops, oil seeds, horticultural plants, vegetables and flowers in this region. The ridges in Gohana tehsil represent the northern most extension of the Aravallis.

3) The Sandy Region -A much smaller part of the district is covered with soil consisting of sand or sandy loam. Parts of this region have high PH values leading kallor land.

External links

* [http://sonipat.nic.in/ Sonipat Official website]
* [http://www.sonipat.info/ Sonipat city portal]
* [http://www.sonipat.com/ Sonipat-Portal Online]
* [http://mapsofindia.com/maps/haryana/districts/sonipat.htm Map of Sonipat]