Hazaribagh district is one of the oldest districts of Jharkhand state, India and the district headquarter located in Hazaribagh town. It is located in the north east part of North Chotanagpur Division. The boundary of this district consists of districts of Gaya (BIHAR) and Koderma in the north, Giridih and Bokaro in the east, Ramgarh in the south and Chatra in the west.
Etymology
The district is named after its headquarters, the town of Hazaribagh. The name, Hazaribagh consists of two Persian words, hazar meaning "one thousand", and bagh meaning "garden" - so, the literal meaning of Hazaribagh is 'a city of one thousand gardens'. According to Sir John Houlton, a veteran British administrator, the town takes its name from the small villages of Okni and Hazari – shown in old maps as Ocunhazry. The last syllable in its name probably originated in a mango-grove, which formed a camping ground for troops and travellers marching along the ‘new military road’ from Kolkata to Varanasi, constructed in 1782 and the following years.
History
There are ancient Cave Paintings in Isko, Hazaribagh district which are from Meso-chalcolithic period (9,000-5,000 BC). There is a group of megaliths found close to Barkagaon that is about 25 km from Hazaribagh town at Punkri Barwadih, which has been proven to date back to beyond 3000 BCE.
thumb|The blue-shaded area (except [[Dhanbad district|Dhanbad and part of Bokaro) of current district map of Jharkhand, represents the historical Hazaribagh district from which other districts were carved out.]]
In 1872, Hazaribagh district had area of with 771,875 inhabitants. After that many area of the district are curved out as separate district, viz, On 6 December 1972, Giridih district was split from Hazaribagh. On 12 September 2007, yet another district was created from Hazaribagh's territory: Ramgarh.
Administration
Blocks/Mandals
Hazaribag district consists of 16 Blocks. The following are the list of the Blocks in Hazaribagh district:
The district is divided into two sub-divisions: Hazaribagh and Barhi.
Hazaribagh sub-division comprises 11 blocks: Sadar, Hazaribagh, Katkamsandi, Bishnugarh, Barkagaon, Keredari, Ichak, Churchu, Daru, Tati Jhariya, Katkamdag and Dadi.
Barhi sub-division comprises 5 blocks: Padma, Barhi, Chauparan, Barkatha and Chalkusha.
Demographics
According to the 2011 census, Hazaribagh district has a population of 1,734,495, roughly equal to the nation of The Gambia or the US state of Nebraska. This gives it a ranking of 279th in India (out of a total of 640).