Tohana

Geography

Tohana is located at 29.7°N 75.9°E / 29.7; 75.9. It has an average elevation of 225 metres (734 feet).

Communities

Tohana is located near Punjab border. The majority of people are Hindus and Sikhs,Jains. Jat, Jat Sikhs, (Dalits), Aggarwals and Arora people constitute the majority population of Tohana. Other population groups are Sainis, Jangir, Brahmans,bakmilis,ramdasiyas, etc. People of Tohana mainly speak Punjabi language, Harynavi language as well as Hindi language.

Demographics

As per census of India 2011, Tohana had a population of 2500000 and 12642 house holds. Males constitute 52.65% of the population and females 47.35%. Tohana has an average literacy rate of 67.81%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 72%, and female literacy is 62.54%. In Tohana, 11.99% of the population is under 6 years of age. In the under 6 years children, male to female ratio is 55.48%:44.52.

Tohana is situated just two kilometres from the Haryana-Punjab border in North-West of Haryana. One of the neighbouring cities is Hisar, 72 km away from Tohana (by which most of the people can identify it), which used to be the district headquarters of Tohana until 1997. Fatehabad was created as a separate district from Hisar and Tohana was included in the part that went to Fatehabad.

History

The area around Tohana used to be a desert land until the Bhakhra Nangal sub-branch Canal brought a source of irrigation for the town and neighbouring villages. After this, Tohana developed into a major agricultural hub.

Pre-historic and Maurian Periods

A channel of the mythological river Sarasvati River represented by modern day river Ghaggar crossed the area of Tohana. Aryans, at first settled on the banks of the rivers Saraswati and Drishadvati, and in the course of their expansion, covered a wide area of Hissar and Fatehabad. The area was probably included in the kingdom of Pandavas and their successors. Panini mentions quite a few towns of the region- Aisukari, Taushayana (Tohana) and Rori which have been identified with Hissar, Tohana and Rori, respectively. According to Puranas, the areas of Fatehabad district remained a part of Nanda empire. The discovery of Ashokan pillars at Hissar and Fatehabad shows that the area of the district remained a part of Mauryan empire as well. The people of Agroha, a town located Northeast of Tohana, assisted Chandra Gupta Maurya in the war against the Greeks.

After the fall of the Mauryas, the Agras, the republican tribes of the region, asserted for their independence. The Agras settled in the region covering Agroha and Barwala. They issued coins from Agroha, the capital headquarters. As attested by the discovery of coin-moulds and terracottas, the region was a part of Kushan empire.

Muslim Era

The early 11th century saw the Ghaznavid inroads in this area. Sultan Masud led the expeditions towards Agroha. The Chauhans seem to have taken special measures for protecting the area against Muslim incursions. The area of Agroha passed on to the Muslim rule after the defeat of Prithvi Raj III. After this, Sultan Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Ghuri placed one of his ablest generals in the Indian campaigns. But it appears that any meaningful control could not be established. Seizing the opportunity, a Rajput clan, Jatus, widely extended their power in Fatehabad area including Agroha. Firuz (1351–88) shot these areas into prominence. The ruler came to have somewhat unusual fancy for the tract (Hissar). It is a great credit to him that he established new towns of Fatehabad and Hissar and built two canals; one taking off from Ghaggar at Phulad and following the course of Joiya up to the town of Fatehabad. After the death of Firuz (1388), chaos and confusion spread all round . The situation deteriorated still further when Timur invaded in 1398. During his marching, Timur captured Fatehabad without any opposition from the inhabitants. Lastly, the invader reached Tohana but he could not set-up his permanent rule over the area. He soon left for Samana after looting these areas.

The areas of Fatehabad came under the control of Mughals -Babar and Humanyun. There is a small and beautiful mosque known as Humanyun mosque at Fatehabad . The legend assigns the association of the mosque to the Mughal Emperor Humanyun who in his flight after his defeat at the hands of Sher Shah Suri happened to pass through Fatehabad. Fatehabad was one of his important Mahals during Akbar's time.

The Medieval Period

By 1760, the areas became the scene of a sort of triangular struggle between the sturdy Sikhs of north-east, marauding Bhattis of north-west and the Muslim chiefs of the south. None of them could, however, hold the region permanently except for the Bhattis who became the masters of Fatehabad pargana. In 1774, Maharaja Amar Singh, a Bhatti chief of the Phulkian State of Patiala, along with his famous minister Dewan Nanu Mal laid seize to the stronghold of Bighar near Fatehabad which fell shortly afterwards. The Raja then took Fatehabad and Sirsa and invested Rania held by Bhattis. Tohana also was seized by the Chief of Patiala. But after a treaty of Jind in 1781, Fatehabad and Sirsa were made over to the Muslim Bhattis Nawabs and remaining territories were allowed to be retained by the Sikhs.

The British and the Modern Eras

By 1798, Agroha and Tohana were important parganas under the control of George Thomas. When George Thomas was driven out from here by the Sikh-Maratha-French Confederacy, a French Officer Lt. Bourquian controlled these areas on behalf of Marathas . He is said to have rebuilt the towns of Tohana and Hissar. Later these areas were placed under the charge of Illias Beg, a Mughal noble of Hansi. With the treaty of Surji Anjangaon 1803, the British became the rulers of this area and Marathas were vanquished forever.

In November 1884, the Sirsa district was abolished and Sirsa tehsil after the distribution of villages was formed . In 1889, 15 villages forming a detached block known as Budhlada were transferred form Kaithal tehsil to Fatehabad tehsil. The Barwala tehsil containing139 villages was abolished with effect from January 1, 1891 and its area was distributed between three contiguous tehsils ; 13 villages going to Hansi, 24 to Hissar and 102 to Fatehabad. At the same time 13 villages were transferred from Hissar tehsil to Bhiwani tehsil and a sub-tehsil was established at Tohana in Fatehabad tehsil. In 1923, the Tohana sub-tehsil was transferred from Fatehabad to Hissar tehsil. In 1972, Tohana sub-tehsil was upgraded to a full-fledged tehsil. Two sub-tehsils, one at Ratia of tehsil of Fatehabad and another at Adampur of Hissar tehsil were created in 1979. By the end of 1978, the Hissar district comprised 486 villages, divided between tehsils of Fatehabad -166; Hissar-115, Hansi-119 and Tohana-86. Fatehabad came into existence as a full-fledged district with effect from 15 July 1997, now having three sub-divisions, three tehsils and three sub-tehsils...

People and Attractions

Tohana grain market is the main trading centre for a number of villages in the vicinity and boasts of high amount of crop input, the main ones being cotton, wheat and paddy. Most of the industries in the town are agriculture based and almost 70% of the population is employed in the same. Agriculture is the main backbone of the town and the surrounding areas with Kharif and Rabi being the main crops which are cultivated here.

The main attraction of this small town is "Baliala Guest House" located near the head works of Bhakhra Main Canal where one can enjoy the sub-distribution of the water of Bhakhra Nagnal Main Branch Canal into seven different channels. Hence this town is surrounded by seven canals. Tohana is well connected by northern railways directly to Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkatta, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jammu, Bathinda, Faridkot, Firojpur and other major cities. It is well connected by the road network too.

Punjabi, Hindi, Haryanvi, Bagri and Saraiki languages are common here in the town. The strongest part of this small town is communal harmony. The people who had come from western Punjab after partition had become very influential with the passage of time. Tohana is nowadays developing into a major medical hub for the areas around it. List of main hospitals in Tohana:

Temples

Bdi Hanuman murti milan chowk tohana

Bala ji mandir mandi

Bala ji mandir kanchi chowk tohana

Gori shankar mandir ratia road tohana

Pracheen shiv mandir(jodh wala) tohana

Shani mandir tohana

Jain samadhi tohana

Jain sthanak tohana

Tera panth bhawan tohana

Nagar kheda ghanta ghr chowk

Lakhdata peer

Malerkotla peer

Baharli mata mandir

Marriage palace

Shagun resort

Royal palace

Hweli palace

Surya hotel

7 seas hotel

Paradise marriage palace

Anand marriage palace

Hotel blue star

Mirchi restaurant

Red star

Hospitality

The hospitality sector of the city has seen tremendous growth in the last few years, as people from the other cities began to visit Tohana for trading activities and medical purposes. Below is a list of some of the best hotels that provide excellent services to the industry.

Hotel Crown = Restaurant + Banquet Hall + Deluxe Rooms for staying purposes. Facilities: Wi-Fi, Lift, Valet parking, Decorative Banquet Hall, AC & Non-Ac rooms, Executive Rooms, Rooms Service(fresh food) By the opinion poll conducted in the month of February, Hotel Crown was rated the best hotel among its peers. It has overtaken all by providing best services to its customers and effective rates it provide. website:- www.hotelcrowntohana.in

No restaurant, only rooms available.

Only restaurant, no rooms available.

Only party hall available.

Education

Colleges

The town has two UG level colleges, one of them is a co-ed I.G. Govt. College, Tohana (Now BBA and BCA also available in I.G. Govt College Tohana affiliated with K.U.Kurukshetra and CDLU, Sirsa) and other one being women college Shri Durga Mahila Mahavidyalya. The courses available are mostly arts and commerce, but there has been an increase in the number of computer courses like MCA etc. Both the colleges are affiliated to the Kurukshetra University. The commerce was started in I.G. Govt College in 1989 and Sh. K.C. Goel has a great contribution for getting the Commerce courses started in I.G.Govt College. But unfortunately there is no science college [B.Sc. Medical/Non-Medical] in Tohana.

The city has two polytechnic colleges; (a) Apex Polytechnic and, (b) Guru Nanak Polytechnic. In addition, one management college is starting this year—Guru Nanak Institute of Management. The City also has Pushp Infotech situated at Pushp Complex, Gurdwara Gali Tohana which is approved study centre of M D university Rohtak and authorised learning centre of HKCL : a Haryana Govt. organisation providing variety of Computers ( BCA,MCA.M.Sc. Comp Sci,), Management ( BBA, MBA), Fashion Designing and no. of other short term course including spoken English and personality Development courses.

Tohana Mail, the daily evening newspaper, is widely circulated and read in Tohana.

Schools

The town has a large number of schools, viz, National Public School, S.S. Public School, DAV School, Colonel Public School, Green Valley Public School, K.M.School, S.V.M. School and Ryan Convent School. Until 90s, Government High School was the only good school in the town.

Distance Education

Pinnacle Education society is a registered Society under society act 1860. Its Registration Number is 2007/67. This Society setup its first institution in the name of Pinnacle Institute of Mgt. and Technology (PIMT) on June 29, 2007 in Tohana Distt. Fatehabad, Haryana. PIMT is a premier Institute In the field of Management & Technology accredited by Guru Jambheshwar University (Hisar).

Salient features:-

Govt. Offices

Hon'ble Court. The town has a bench of Hon'ble District Court. It has the facility of online evidence. It is situated in BDPO's building. It was built in 1988.

SDM Court. The town is Sub-Divisional headquarters. This is the commanding office of all other offices in town. There is a Sub-Divisional Court headed by the SDM (Sub Divisional Magistrate). Besides administration of the Tohana sub-division, SDM Office also handles making of new driving licence, registration of vehicle etc. It has E-disha Kendra as well.

Municipal Council. The town has a Municipal Council. This council has 21 wards and is headed by the President and the Vice President. Municipal Council is responsible for construction and maintenance of roads. All the jobs related to death & birth Records, Voter List Records and House Tax Records are maintained by this office. All its functions are carried out under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner Fatehabad as per rules of Haryana Municipal Act 1973.

Gen. Hospital. The town has Govt. Gen. Hospital with different specialist doctors. In this hospital all the facilities and medicine are provided free of cost by the Government.

Politics

Tohana has a notable political history. Sardar Harpal Singh won as MLA from Tohana many times from 1967 onwards and was also a minister in Haryana Government. His son Sardar Paramvir Singh has represented Tohana for the last two terms and served the peoples as Agriculture Minister in the Haryana's last Government. Mr Karam Singh Dangra, Sardar Nishan Singh, kamred Harpal Singh, Sh. Vinod Marya and Ch. Hanuman Singh Bishnoi have all been one time MLAs from Tohana and have worked for the welfare of the people of this constituency. Sh Subash Barala is the incumbent MLA of Tohana and is also the state BJP president.