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Haldwani (Kumaoni: Haldvānī) is the largest city of Kumaon, and the third most populous city in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Haldwani is said to be the financial capital of Uttarakhand, having the most commercial, economic and industrial activities of the state. Haldwani is located in the Nainital District, and is one of its thirteen subdivisions. Being situated in the immediate foothills of Kumaon Himalayas, the Kathgodam neighbourhood of Haldwani is known as the Gateway to Kumaon.

Located in the Bhabhar region in the Himalayan foothills on the banks of the Gaula River, the town of Haldwani was established in 1834, as a mart for hill people who visited Bhabar during the cold season. The establishment of the Bareilly–Nainital provincial road in 1882 and the Bhojeepura–Kathgodam railway line by Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway in 1884 helped develop the town into a major trading post and then a hub between the hilly regions of Kumaon and the Indo-Gangetic Plains.

Haldwani hosted National Games 2025 (Gaulapar).

Etymology

The name "Haldwani" is an anglicised version of the Kumaoni word "Haldu-vani" (literally "forest of Haldu"), named after the tree of "Haldu" (Kadamb), known to botanists as Haldina cordifolia. The Haldu trees were found in abundance around the city prior to deforestation of the region for agriculture and settlement. The place was regionally known as Halduvani until George William Traill took over as Commissioner of Kumaon and renamed it to Haldwani in 1834.

History

The Bhabhar region, where the city is located, has historically been a part of the Kingdom of Kumaon. The region came under the dominion of Kumaon, when King Gyan Chand of Chand Dynasty visited Delhi Sultanate in the 14th century. Later, the Mughals tried to take over the hills, but their attempts received a setback due to the difficult terrain.

Founding and 19th century

thumb|left|Ironworks in [[Kaladhungi at the turn of 1862/1863.]]

In 1816, after the British defeated Gorkhas, and gained control of Kumaon by the Treaty of Sugauli, Gardner was appointed the Commissioner of Kumaon. Later George William Traill took over as Commissioner and renamed Halduvani as Haldwani in 1834. soon martial law was declared in the region by Sir Henry Ramsay (the Commissioner of Kumaon), and by 1858, the region was cleared of the rebels. The Rohillas, who were accused of attacking Haldwani, were hanged by the British at Phansi Gadhera in Nainital. Later, Ramsay connected Nainital with Kathgodam by road in 1882. In 1883–84, the railway track was laid between Bareilly and Kathgodam. The first train arrived at Haldwani from Lucknow on 24 April 1884.

Before the formation of Nainital district in 1891, it was part of the Kumaon district, which was later renamed Almora district. The Town Act was implemented here in 1885 and Haldwani was declared a municipality on 1 February 1897. The Tehsil office was opened here in 1899, when it became the tehsil headquarters of the Bhabhar, one of four divisions of the Nainital district,

20th and 21st centuries

thumb|300px|Haldwani as a part of the [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh|United Province, 1907–1909]]

In 1901, with a population of 6,624, Haldwani was the headquarters of the Bhabhar region of Nainital District, in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, and it also used to become the winter headquarters of the officers of the Kumaon Division and the Nainital District. The Arya Samaj Bhavan was built in 1901 and Sanatan Dharm Sabha in 1902. The Municipality of Haldwani was disestablished in 1904, and Haldwani was constituted as a Notified area.

Haldwani hosted the second session of the Kumaon Parishad in 1918. Many processions were carried out in the city between 1930 and 1934 during the Civil disobedience movement. The 2nd battalion of the Naga Regiment, affectionately known as Head Hunters, was raised at Haldwani on 11 February 1985. Haldwani played a major role in the Uttarakhand movement. The town was spearheading the agitation, which often ended up in violence and also in police firing and brutality.

Forty human skeletons and 300 "grave-like structures" were discovered in Haldwani's Golapar area on 9 May 2017 during the construction of the Haldwani ISBT. The skeletons were speculated to be the remains of the Rohilla chieftains from Bareilly who fought against the British in 1857 and were killed by the British army or of those who died of epidemics, malaria or famine. However, forensic tests later revealed the skeletons to be only two years old.

Geography

Topography

thumb|left|Dry bed of [[Gaula River (India)|Gaula near Kathgodam; a characteristic of the Bhabar region in which Haldwani is situated.]]

Haldwani is located at , in the Nainital district on the right bank of the Gaula River. Geologically, Haldwani is settled on a piedmont grade (called Bhabhar) where the mountain rivers go underground to re-emerge in the Indo-Gangetic Plain. The Haldwani Bhabhar stretches horizontally, surrounded by the regions of Ramnagar and Tanakpur and lies between the Shivalik hills to the north and the Terai region of Rudrapur to the south. The average land elevation is above sea level. According to the Bureau of Indian Standards, Haldwani falls under seismic zone 4, in a scale of 2 to 5 (in order of increasing vulnerability to earthquakes).

The Haldwani tehsil has an area of 958.6 square k.m, including both flat and hilly ground, and is in the Indian Standard Time Zone (UTC−5:30). Dozens of colonies were set up in the early 2000s without any regulation with narrow roads, making commuting a nightmare.

Metropolitan area

thumb|Haldwani-Kathgodam area as seen from Bhimtal-Haldwani Road.

Haldwani is the principal city in the Haldwani Urban Agglomeration Area, situated in the southeastern part of Uttarakhand, in the Kumaon region. Apart from the towns of Haldwani and Kathgodam, the Urban Agglomeration of Haldwani also includes eleven outgrowths (judge farm, Damua Dhunga Bandobasti, Byura, Bamori Talli Bandobasti, Amrawati Colony, Shakti Vihar, Bhatt Colony, Manpur Uttar, Haripur Sukha, Gaujajali Uttar, Kusumkhera, Bithoria No. 1, Korta, Bamori Malli and Bamori Talli Kham) and two census towns (Mukhani and Haldwani Talli).

Haldwani is also a tehsil, one of the thirteen subdivisions of the Nainital district. The tehsil of Haldwani is situated in the southern part of the Nainital district and shares its borders with the tehsils of Nainital, Kaladhungi, Lalkuan and Dhari tehsils in Nainital district; Gadarpur, Kiccha and Sitarganj in Udham Singh Nagar district and the tehsil of Poornagiri in Champawat district. The tehsil comprises four towns and 202 villages.

Climate

Demographics

The Current population of Haldwani is about 650,000 people including urban and Rural areas.The region is dominated by the Kumaonis and migrants of various states including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Bengal, hence a major population belonging to various religions and regions are present in Haldwani as per provisional data released by the 2011 census. The population of the municipality area, combined with outgrowths was 201,461, and the urban agglomeration of Haldwani-cum-Kathgodam had a population of 232,060, out of which males were 121,409 and females were 110,686.