Geography of Dhar

Historical city of Dhar is located in Malwa region in south-western part of Madhya Pradesh in Central India. Dhar district comes in Indore division and is one of the 51 districts of Madhya Pradesh. Dhar lies between 21°57' - 23°15' N and 74°37' - 75°37' E at an average elevation of 559 m (1,834 ft) above sea level. Dhar is situated about 53 km (33 miles) from west Mhow and surrounded by beautiful lakes, trees and barren hills. It is spread over vast area of 8153 sq km and bounded on north side by Ratlam, on northeast by Ujjain, on the east by Indore, on southeast by Khargone (West Nimar), on the south by Barwani and by Jhabua on the west direction. Dhar city is famous for its historical places and monuments which are of historical and cultural importance and center of attraction for tourists and historians. It is surrounded by various lakes and rivers. Narmada, Bagh, Chambal, Mahi and its tributaries are main rivers which flow through Dhar district.

Climate of Dhar

Climate of Dhar is of humid subtropical type and thus this part of Madhya Pradesh has usually warm and temperate climate. Summer, rainy and winter are three main seasons experienced in this district. Maximum temperature reaches upto 31.4°C in the month of June and January remains the coolest month when temperature is around 11.4°C. Average annual temperature remains around 22.1°C and average annual rainfall is 1778 mm in Dhar district.

Topography of Dhar

Dhar city is located in Malwa region and northern portion of Dhar district lies in Malwa Plateau. Dhar district is bounded by Vindhyachal Range on east and west sides as Vindhya Range runs in east-west directions through this district. Northeastern part of Dhar district lies in the watershed of Chambal River which joins holy Ganga via River Yamuna. Northwestern part of this district lies in the watershed of Mahi River and its other tributaries. The area of this district which is located in south direction of the Vindhya Range lies in watershed of Narmada River.

Physiographic Divisions
Dhar district has been extended over three major physiographic divisions. First one is Malwa Plateau which lies in the north, second is Vindhyachal range in the central zone and third is Narmada Valley running along the southern side of the district. This valley is further closed by hilly area in the south-western area.

Malwa Plateau
The northern half portion of Dhar district lies in Malwa region which covers entire northern parts of Dhar, Badnawar and Sardarpur revenue blocks. In this area, Malwa plateau has an average elevation of 500 m above sea level and covers an area of about 466,196 hectares in this district of Madhya Pradesh. General slope of the plateau is towards the north direction. However, land is undulation having few scattered flat topped hills which are roughly aligned between the valleys from south to north direction. These valleys are covered with black cotton soil which is good for cultivation.

Vindhyachal Range
A specific part of Vindhaychal Range generally extends in a crescentic belt from south-east to north-west direction in Dhar district. Towards west side of Bagh and Kukshi, Vindhya Range has been disconnected by Mahi and Hatni valleys. Then it restarts along Narmada valley in south-west direction. Vindhya Range extends from west to east with scarps at its high length towards south direction. Several streams of the Narmada valley originate on the Malwa plateau. Mograba (751.03 m) is the highest peak which lies in central part of Dhar.

Narmada Valley
Southern and south-eastern part of Dhar is occupied by the narrow valley of Narmada which lies just below Vindhyachal scarps. It covers Manawar and Kukshi both tehsils of Dhar district. This valley is extended 15 to 20 km in width. Elevation varies between 275 m to 150 m from northern part of Manawar tehsil towards the low plain of Nisarpur in south-west direction.

Demography of Dhar

As per last recorded Census of India (2011) population of Dhar was approx. 2,184,672 million. Out of total population, 51 % are males and 49% are females and about 13% of population is below age of 6 years in Dhar district. Population density is of 268 inhabitants per square km (690 /sq mi) in this district. Average literacy rate of this district is about 60.57% out of which male literacy rate is 71.12% and female literacy rate is 49.69%. Sex ration in Dhar is of 961 females per every 1000 males. Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism and Christianity are main religions in Dhar district. Hindi is the official and main language of local communication in Dhar. Urdu, Marwari, Gujarati, Malvi and Marathi are other languages spoken in this district.

Soil Texture of Dhar

Soil texture is different in various parts of Dhar district. Black sandy and granite soil is found on the slopes of Vinhdya scarps. Moist soil is present over the deeper alluvial mantle and sandy loam in the parts of sheltered valleys of Khirkiyan, Kheri, Kalghati, Kuan, Anjnai and Parbatpura. Mostly teak trees with other species of vegetation fill up top canopy in these regions. At some places, soil texture is laterite in this district.

Flora of Dhar

Dhar has abundance of diverse flora as it contains forests and important vegetation. Major part of this district is covered by forests and several species of trees, shrubs and flowers. Mainly teak trees and numbers of its species are found here. Flora of Dhar can be divided into main categories of dry teak forests, very dry teak forests, anjan forests, mixed forests, salari forests and dry deciduous shrub forests. Teak, tendu, sadar, moyan, rohan, dhava, kari, bija, kalam, kasai, lendia, bel, salai, kareya-saja, shisham, aonla, reunjha, salar, khair, gadhu and many other species of vegetation are found in this district. Apart from that a number of shrubs, grasses and important herbs are also present in large quantity. Thus, vegetation is quite interesting and abundant in this district of Dhar.