Sudurpashchim Pradesh


Sudurpashchim Pradesh is one of the seven provinces established by the new constitution of Nepal which was adopted on 20 September 2015. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north, Karnali Pradesh and Province No. 5 to the east, and the Indian states of Uttarakhand to the west and Uttar Pradesh to the south. Initially known as Province No. 7, the newly elected Provincial Assembly adopted Sudurpashchim Pradesh as the permanent name for the province in September 2018. As per a 28 September 2018 Assembly voting, the city of Godawari has been declared the capital of the Province.
The province is coterminous with the former Far-Western Development Region, Nepal. The three major cities in terms of population and economy are Dhangadhi, Bhimdutta and Tikapur.

History

Doti was an ancient kingdom in far western region of Kumaon which was formed after the disintegration of the Katyuri Kingdom of Kumaon around the 13th century. Doti was one of eight different princely states Katyuri Kingdom was divided into eight for their eight prince's and became different independent kingdoms; Baijnath-Katyuri, Dwarahat, Doti, Baramandal, Askot, Sira, Sora, Sui. Later on, the whole land between Ramganga on the west and the Karnali on the east, came under the Raikas after the origin of Raikas of Katyuris in Doti. "Brahma Dev Mandi" at Kanchanpur District of Mahakali Zone was established by Katyuri king Brahma Dev.
Before announcement of new provinces in Nepal, the area of this province was known as Far-Western development region of Nepal. There was no changes made in this province when this province was made.

Raikas of Doti

Niranjan Malla Dev was the founder of Doti Kingdom around the 13th century after the fall of the Katyuri Kingdom. He was the son of Last Katyuris of united Katyuris kingdom.
Kings of Doti were called Raikas. Later on Raikas, after defeating the Khas Malla of Karnali Zone, were able to establish a strong Raikas Kingdom in Far Western Region and Kumaon which was Doti.

Mughal invasion

During the period of Akbar's rule in the 16th century, the Mughals had attacked the Raikas of Doti. They invaded Ajemeru, capital of the Raika Kingdom. Ajemeru is now in Dadeldhura District of far western region of Nepal. Hussain Khan, army chief of Akbar residing in Lucknow had led the attack. According to `Abd al-Qadir Bada'uni, Indo-Persian historian during Mughal Empire, Mughal Army chief of Lucknow, Hussian Khan, lured by the wealth and treasures of the kingdom of the Raikas, wanted to plunder the region, this being the motive behind the assault; but they did not succeed.

Conflict with Gorkha

The historic place of war between the Doti Kingdom and Nepal during the period of Gorkha Expansion in 1790, according to the history of Nepal, is Nari-Dang, on the bank of the Seti River. The Dumrakot was the base of Doti Kingdom for fighting against the Gorkhalis.

Khairgarh-Singhai State

Raja Deep Shahi was expelled from Nepal in 1790 A.D and on arriving to Terai of Oudh he established Khairgarh-Singhai State in Khairigarh under British India. Kanchanpur Praganna was also the parts of his State or Zamindari. He succeeded in defeating the Banjaras rural of Khairigarh and establishing himself not only in that Pargana but also in parts of Bhur. His state was merged with India In 1947 after Indian Independence.

Government and administration

The Governor acts as the head of the province while the Chief Minister is the head of the provincial government. The Chief Judge of the Dipayal High Court is the head of the judiciary. The present Governor, Chief Minister and Chief Judge are Mohan Raj Malla, Trilochan Bhatta and Yagya Prasad Basyal. The province has 53 provincial assembly constituencies and 16 House of Representative constituencies.
Sudurpashchim Pradesh has a unicameral legislature, like all of the other provinces in Nepal. The term length of provincial assembly is five years. The Provincial Assembly of Sudurpashchim Pradesh is temporarily housed at the District Coordination Committee Hall in Dhangadhi.

Administrative subdivisions

The province is divided into nine districts, which are listed below. A district is administrated by the head of the District Coordination Committee and the District Administration Officer. The districts are further dived to municipalities or rural municipalities. The municipalities include one sub-metropolitan city and 33 municipalities. There are 54 rural municipalities in the province.
  1. Achham District
  2. Baitadi District
  3. Bajhang District
  4. Bajura District
  5. Dadeldhura District
  6. Darchula District
  7. Doti District
  8. Kailali District
  9. Kanchanpur District

    Demographics

The province has a population of 2,552,517 which is 9.63% of the total population of Nepal. The population density is about 130 persons per square kilometre. The province has a population growth rate of 1.53%. The sex ratio is 912 males for 1000 females, with a total of 1,217,887 males and 1,334,630 females recorded in 2011. The urban population of the region is 1,504,279 and the rural population is 1,048,238.