Jumla District


Jumla District, is one of the ten directly constituent districts of the Karnali province of Nepal. This district has Jumla as its headquarters, an area of ; it had populations of 89,427 and 108,921, respectively, in the national censuses of 2001 and 2011. Its territory lies between longitudes 81⁰ 28' and 82⁰ 18' East, and between latitudes 28⁰ 58' and 29⁰ 30' North.
The Nepali language originated in the Sinja Valley. Sinja was the capital of Khas Kingdom, and the dialect called "Khas Bhasa" is still spoken among that region's people.

History

Khasa Kingdom

Jumla was a part of Khasa kingdom during 11th to 13th century. After 13th century Khasa Kingdom collapsed and divided into Baise Rajya in Karnali-Bheri region and Kingdom of Jumla was one of them.

Kingdom of Jumla

The Jumla Kingdom was one of the many kingdoms that dotted Nepal before its reunification by King Prithvi Narayan Shah of Gorkha and later by his younger son Bahadur Shah. The kingdom was founded around 1404 when Baliraja, who married the daughter of the last ruler of the Yatse Kingdom, succeeded his father-in-law. It was one of the most powerful kingdoms in western Nepal, being one of the 22 Baise principalities of the Karnali region which had once been part of the larger Yatse Kingdom. After centuries of intermittent warfare it appropriated the kingdom of Mustang in 1760. In the late 18th century the Jumla kingdom successfully defended itself against the first attack by King Prithivi Narayan Shah, and legend even has it that he got injured in the battle. Later, with the help of the kingdoms surrounding Jumla, Bahadur Shah attacked again and annexed Jumla for the Gorkha kings in 1789. The Jumla kings were Thakuris like the Gorkha Kings.
The Jumla Kingdom belonged to the more extensive pre-unification kingdoms in Nepal. At the height of its power it extended from Mustang in the east to present day Uttarakhand, a state in modern-day India, territory that Kingdom of Nepal lost to the East India Company in 1816 during the partition of Nepal. The Jumla kings belonged to the Kalyal dynasty, linked to the Mewar clan of Rajasthan, India. There have also been marriages between the Jumla royal family and the Shah's royal family of Nepal. The direct descendants of the erstwhile Jumla royal family include currently, Nepali Film legend Nir Shah, Former Director General of Nepal Electricity Authority Harish Chandra Shah, DIGP Sher Bahadur Shah, Colonel Nepal Army Bhim Bahadur Shah and AIGP of Nepal Police, Surendra Bahadur Shah.

Kings of Jumla

The kings of Jumla, post-1400:
Geographically, Jumla is a Himalayan mountainous region of which elevations ranges from to. The Higher Himalyan Region consists of Patarasi and Kanjirowa Himalayan range. The major rivers in Jumla are Hima, Tila and Jawa.
Climate ZoneElevation Range% of Area
Temperate2,000 to 3,000 meters
6,400 to 9,800 ft.
25.3%
Subalpine3,000 to 4,000 meters
9,800 to 13,100 ft.
49.7%
Alpine4,000 to 5,000 meters
13,100 to 16,400 ft.
13.9%
Nivalabove 5,000 meters7.3%
Trans-Himalayan3,000 to 6,400 meters
9,800 to 21,000 ft.
3.8%

Demographics

At the time of the 2011 Nepal census, Jumla District had a population of 108,921. Of these, 98.6% spoke Nepali and 0.6% Tamang as their first language.

Divisions

On 10 March 2017 Government of Nepal restricted old administrative structures and announced 744 new local level units as per the new constitution of Nepal 2015,
According to new structure Jumla district is divided into 1 municipality and 7 rural municipality:

Municipalities

Note: UM=Urban Municipality, RM=Rural Municipality