RAIPUR a district of India, in the Ckhatisgarh division of the Central Provinces, lying between 19° 48' and 21° 45' N. lat. and 80° 28' and 82° 38' E. long., with an area of 11,855 square miles. It is bounded on the N. by Bilaspur, on the E. by Sambalpur and Patna, on the W. by Balaghat, Bhandara, and Chanda, and on the S. by Bastar and Jeypur. The district spreads out in a vast plateau closed in by ranges of hills branching from the great Vindhyan chain. It is drained by the Seonath and the Karun rivers, which subsequently unite and form the Mahanadi. Geologically the country consists in the hilly tracts of gneiss and quartzite; the sandstone rocks in the west are intersected with trap dykes. Iron ore is abundant, and red ochre of high repute is found. In the interior the principal strata are a soft sandstone slate (covered generally by a layer of laterite gravel) and blue limestone, which crops out in numerous places on the surface and is invariably found in the beds of the rivers. Throughout the plains the soil is generally fertile. The climate is generally good; the mean temperature is 78° and the average rainfall about 49 inches.
The population of Raipur in 1881 was 1,405,171 (males 696,242, females 708,929). By religion 856,492 were Hindus, 14,991 Mohammedans, and 821 Christians. The only town with a population exceeding 10,000 is Raipur (see below). Attached to the district are four feudatory states, viz., Chhuikhadan (with 32,979 inhabitants), Ranker (63,610), Khairagarh (166,138), and Nandgaon (164,339). Their combined area is 2658 square miles....
Of the total area under British administration only 3636 square miles are cultivated, and of the portion lying waste 4337 acres are returned as cultivable. The staple crop is rice; other crops are wheat, food-grains, oil-seeds, and cotton. The commerce of Raipur is of quite recent creation, for under the Mahrattas the transit dues that were levied prevented its development. The exports consist mainly of grain, cotton, and lac, while metals constitute the chief import. The gross revenue of the district for 1883-84 amounted to about £89,829, of which the land yielded £64,871.
Raipur was governed by the Haihai-Bansi dynasty of Ratanpur for many centuries until their deposition by the Mahrattas in 1741. The country was then already in a condition of decay, and soon afterwards it relapsed into absolute anarchy. In 1818 it was taken under British superintendence and made rapid progress. It fell with the rest of the Nagpur dominions to the British Government in 1854. Raipur suffered but little during the mutiny.
RAIPUR chief town of the above district and headquarters of the Chhatisgarh division of the Central Provinces, is situated in 21° 15' N. lat. and 81° 41' E. long., on a plateau 950 feet above sea-level. In 1881 its population amounted to 24,948 (12,447 males and 12,501 females). The modern town dates from 1830, and carries on a flourishing trade in grain, lac, cotton, Ac.
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