Bilaspur district is a district of Himachal Pradesh, India. Its capital is in the town of Bilaspur. The district has an area of 1,167 km<sup>2</sup>, and a population of 381,956. As of 2011 it is the third least populous district of Himachal Pradesh (out of 12), after Lahul and Spiti and Kinnaur.
The district has the famous Govind Sagar Lake on the Sutlej River which acts as the reservoir for the Bhakra and Nangal Dam project.
History
thumb|Princely flag of Bilaspur|left
The area that is now Bilaspur District was formerly known as Kahlur, a princely state of British India. The ruler acceded to the Government of India on 12 October 1948, and Bilaspur was made an Indian state under a chief commissioner. The state of Bilaspur was merged with Himachal Pradesh on 1 July 1954 and became Bilaspur District.
Bilaspur was the capital of a state founded in the 7th century, and known as Kahlur after its earlier capital, or as Bilaspur after its later capital. The ruling dynasty was Chandela Rajputs, who claimed descent from the rulers of Chanderi in present-day Madhya Pradesh. The town of Bilaspur was founded in 1663. The state later became a princely state of British India, and was under the authority of the British province of Punjab.
On 13 May 1665, Guru Tegh Bahadur went to Bilaspur to attend the mourning for Rajput Chandel King Raja Dip Chand of Bilaspur. There Rani Champa of Bilaspur gave the Guru a piece of land in her state. The land consisted of the villages of Lodhipur, Mianpur and Sahota. Here on the mound of Makhowal, Guru Tegh Bahadur raised a new habitation. The ground was broken on 19 June 1665, by Baba Gurditta Randhawa. The new village was named after the Guru's mother, Nanaki. Chakk Nanaki later became famous as Anandpur Sahib.
In 1932 state was made part of the newly created Punjab States Agency, and in 1936 the Punjab Hill States Agency was separated from the Punjab States Agency. India became independent in 1947, and on 12 October 1948 the ruler, HH Raja Sir Anand Chandel, the last ruler of the princely estate of Bilaspur acceded to the Government of India. Bilaspur became a separate state of India under a chief commissioner, and on 1 July 1954 Bilaspur state was made a district of Himachal Pradesh state by an act of the Indian Parliament. The historic town was submerged in 1954 when the Sutlej River was dammed to create the Govind Sagar, and a new town was built upslope of the old.
Most of the Rajputs in Bilaspur are Chandels, that is they belong to different branches of the ruling family. These families are numerous, and all enjoyed jagir pensions from state amounting in aggregate to Rs. 40,000 a year in 1933. They are called 'the Mian families', and the chief names are:
Ajmerchandia,
Kaliyanchandia,
Tarahandia and
Sultanchandia.
Geography
thumb|The artificial [[Gobind Sagar lake, formed by the construction of the Bhakra Dam, is now one of the district's more prominent landforms.]]
Bilaspur district has a total area of 1,161 square kilometers, making it the smallest district in Himachal Pradesh.<!-- Mamgain, p. 2, 466 --> It covers the same territory as the princely state did in 1947, and there have been no changes in its boundaries since then.<!-- Mamgain, p. 2-3 -->
The district lies in the outer foothills of the Himalayas, at the point where they meet the Punjab plains.<!-- Mamgain, p. 2 --> There are no major mountains in the district, and the overall elevation isn't especially high, but the terrain is very hilly.<!-- Mamgain, p. 3 --> Flat land is restricted to narrow areas along rivers and streams.<!-- Mamgain, p. 6 --> The main river in Bilaspur district is the Satluj, which flows through the middle of the district for about 90 km and divides it into two approximately equal parts.<!-- Mamgain, p. 2-3 --> All the other streams in the district eventually flow to the Satluj.<!-- Mamgain, p. 4 --> Gobind Sagar is a popular tourist destination,<!-- Mamgain, p. 469 --> With the coming of the monsoon rains, daytime temperatures drop significantly, although nighttime temperatures stay about the same until mid-September when they drop too.<!-- Mamgain, p. 32 --> About 70% of the rainfall comes during the monsoon season.<!-- Mamgain, p. 32 --> The post-monsoon season is the months of October and November, and winter lasts from December to February.<!-- Mamgain, p. 32 --> Cold waves happen throughout the winter, and December is the coldest month.<!-- Mamgain, p. 32 --> Also during the winter, there is fog along banks of the Satluj.|align=right
According to the 2011 census Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh has a population of 381,956, This gives it a ranking of 562 in India (out of a total of 640).
|titlebar=#Fcd116
|left1=Religion
|right1=Percent
|float=right
|bars=
|caption=Distribution of religions
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Religious groups in Bilaspur State (British Punjab province era)
! rowspan="2" |Religious<br>group
! colspan="2" |1921
! colspan="2" |1931
! colspan="2" |1941
|-
!
!
!
!
!
!
|-
! Hinduism 15px
| 96,000
|
| 99,023
|
| 108,375
|
|-
! Islam 15px
| 1,559
|
| 1,458
|
| 1,498
|
|-
! Sikhism 15px
| 437
|
| 507
|
| 453
|
|-
! Christianity 15px
| 4
|
| 6
|
| 7
|
|-
! Jainism 15px
| 0
|
| 0
|
| 3
|
|-
! Zoroastrianism 15px
| 0
|
| 0
|
| 0
|
|-
! Buddhism 15px
| 0
|
| 0
|
| 0
|
|-
! Judaism 15px
| 0
|
| 0
|
| 0
|
|-
! Others
| 0
|
| 0
|
| 0
|
|-
! Total population
! 98,000
!
! 100,994
!
! 110,336
!
|- class="sortbottom"
| colspan="7" |
|}