Ancient and medieval history During post Vedic period the Chhattisgarh region south-east to
Daśārṇas was referred as
Pulinda. Pulinda tribe were dominating tribe in this region.
Surguja District of Chhattisgarh is notable for finding of Mauryan and Nanda period coins. Few gold and silver coins of the Nanda - Mauryan ages, picked up at Akaltara and Thathari of the adjacent district of
Bilaspur. Another major discovery was
Sirpur of Chhattisgarh. According to the Chinese traveler
Hiuen Tsang, Ashoka erected Buddhist stupas in Shripura (modern-day
Sirpur), the ancient capital of Dakshina Kosala.
Sitabenga Caves are one of the earliest examples of
theatre architecture in India located on
Ramgarh hill of Chhattisgarh dated to Mauryan period of 3rd century BCE.
Jogimara Caves contain ancient Brahmi inscription and the oldest painting known in India. The inscription can be translated as either a love proclamation by a girl or a dancer-painter creating a cave theatre together. In ancient times, this region was known as
Dakshina Kosala. This area is also mentioned in Ramayana and Mahabharata.One of the earliest statues of
Vishnu has been excavated from
Shunga period site at
Malhar. The plains region of Chhattisgarh was formerly under the Mauryas, although they likely did not exercise much direct control in the region. After the collapse of the Mauryas,
Kharavela of the
Mahameghavahana dynasty, which was based in neighbouring
Kalinga, took over most of Dakshina Kosala. Later in the third century, the
Sathavahanas took over Dakshina Kosala, but this was contested and it returned to Megha rule.
Mahendra of Dakshina Kosala, who is believed to be identified with a Megha monarch, was the ruler when
Samudragupta carried out his
Dakshinapatha conquests and conquered Dakshina Kosala, as recorded in Gupta inscriptions in the early 4th century CE. Afterwards the Guptas held control over Chhattisgarh through vassal rulers, and shared control with the contemporaneous
Vakatakas. In the late 5th century CE, the Vakataka ruler Harisena recorded his conquest of the Dakshina Kosala region. After the death of Vakataka ruler Harisena, the
Rajarsitulyakula dynasty centred at
Arang, former Gupta feudatories, took power and briefly ruled all of Dakshina Kosala. They were contemporaneous with the
Nala dynasty, which was centered on the Bastar and Koraput regions. Both these dynasties were succeeded by the
Sharabhpurias in the early 6th century, who were likely also former Gupta vassals who had their capital at present-day
Sirpur. There is some evidence that the
Somavanshis, who later gained power in Kalinga, originated from the Panduvanshis of Dakshina Kosala and were driven out by the
Kalachuris of Tripuri in the late 8th century. The Kalachuris of Tripuri held on to the region for the next 200 years, splitting off their territories in Kosala in the late 10th century to be given to a vassal branch which also called itself Kalachuris. The
Kalachuris of Ratnapura, who were these vassals, became independent at the start of the 11th century to rule and fight off challenges to their authority by neighbouring kingdoms, most notably the
Eastern Gangas. The last known successor is from the late 13th century, after which the records become less available. By the early 14th century, it appears as if the dynasty split into two branches: one ruling from
Ratnapur and another moving to
Raipur. This is attested to by inscriptions of the king Vahara in the late 15th century, identified with a figure Bahar Sahai in local tradition at the end of the 18th century. Vahara fought against the Afghans and shifted the capital to Kosgain from Ratnapur. These rulers are now identified as the
Haihaiyavanshis and acknowledged the nominal overlordship of the Mughals when they arrived. In the late 14th century, Bastar was ruled by a dynasty which claimed descent from the brother of
Prataparudra, the last
Kakatiya king, Annamaraja. Most of Chhattisgarh was consolidated under the
Haihaiyavanshi Kingdom, who ruled central Chhattisgarh and held smaller
kingdoms like Kanker under their authority. The Haihaiyavanshis continued to rule the region for 700 years until they were
invaded by the Marathas in 1740 and came under their authority. Chhattisgarh was directly annexed to the Maratha
Nagpur Kingdom in 1758 on the death of
Mohan Singh, the last independent ruler of Chhattisgarh.
Modern history Chhattisgarh was under
Maratha Rule (
Bhonsles of Nagpur) from 1741 to 1845. It came under British rule from 1845 to 1947 as the
Chhattisgarh Division of the
Central Provinces. Raipur gained prominence over the capital Ratanpur with the advent of the British in 1845. In 1905, the
Sambalpur district was transferred to Odisha and the estates of Surguja were transferred from Bengal to Chhattisgarh. The area constituting the new state merged into Madhya Pradesh on 1 November 1956, under the
States Reorganisation Act, 1956, and remained a part of that state for 44 years. Prior to that, the region was part of the
Central Provinces and Berar (CP and Berar) under British rule. Some areas constituting the Chhattisgarh state were
princely states under
British rule, but were later on merged into Madhya Pradesh.
Separation of Chhattisgarh The demand for Chhattisgarh to be a separate state first rose in the 1920s, with similar demands appearing at regular intervals; however, a well-organised movement was never initiated. Several all-party platforms were created and usually resolved around petitions, public meetings, seminars, rallies and strikes. The demand was raised by the Raipur Congress unit in 1924 and was also discussed in the Indian Congress at
Tripuri. A discussion about forming a Regional Congress organisation for Chhattisgarh took place. In 1954, when the State Reorganisation Commission was set up, the demand was put forward but was rejected. In 1955, the demand was raised in the Nagpur assembly of
Madhya Bharat. In the 1990s, the demand became more prominent, resulting in the formation of a statewide political forum known as the Chhattisgarh Rajya Nirman Manch. The forum was led by Chandulal Chadrakar and several successful region-wide strikes and rallies were organised under it, all of which were supported by major political parties, such as the
Indian National Congress and the
Bharatiya Janata Party. The new National Democratic Alliance government sent the Separate Chhattisgarh Bill for approval by the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, where it was unanimously approved and then submitted to the
Lok Sabha. The bill was passed in the Lok Sabha and the
Rajya Sabha, which allowed the creation of the state of Chhattisgarh.
K. R. Narayanan gave his consent to the
Madhya Pradesh Reorganisation Act on 25 August 2000 and the government of India set 1 November 2000 as the day Chhattisgarh would be separated from Madhya Pradesh. As such, Chhattisgarh was formed from Madhya Pradesh. == Geography ==