HARYANA

Chakravarthi Raghavan Surinder M. Bhardwaj constituent state of India, located in the north of the country. It is bounded on the northwest by the state of Punjab and the union territory of Chandigarh, on the northeast by Himachal Pradesh, on the east by Uttar Pradesh and the union territory of Delhi, and on the south by Rajasthan. The city of Chandigarh is the joint administrative capital of Haryana and Punjab. The name Haryana means the abode of God. The region was the birthplace of the Hindu religion and the place where the first hymns of the Aryans were sung and the most ancient manuscripts written. On the battlefield at Kurukshetra, the Lord Krishna is said to have delivered to the warrior Arjuna the teachings contained in the Bhagavadgita, venerated by Hindus as the highest code of ethics. Lying athwart the route of overland invasions into India, the area underwent successive waves of migration from the time of Alexander the Great (326 BC) and was the scene of many decisive battles. Haryana came under the control of the British East India Company in 1803 and became a part of Punjab in 1858. In 1966 it became a separate Indian state as a result of the partition of Punjab into two new statesPunjabi-speaking Punjab and Hindi-speaking Haryanaand the union territory of Chandigarh. Nearly 90 percent of the Haryana people are Hindus. The official state language is Hindi. Most of Haryana lies on the Indo-Gangetic Plain, with low hills covering the northeast. The state, as a whole, is flat, the average elevation ranging from 700 to 900 feet (210 to 270 m) above sea level. It is drained by one perennial river, the Yamuna (Jumna), which does not flow within the state but forms its eastern border with Uttar Pradesh. Rainfall is scanty in most areas of the state, and there are periods of drought. The climate ranges from hot in summer to markedly cold in winter. The maximum summer (MayJune) temperature reaches 114 F (46 C). The minimum temperature of 28 F (-2 C) occurs in January. Haryana's economy is mainly agricultural, and it has received substantial investment in irrigation and fertilization. As a consequence, production of food cropsespecially wheathas increased significantly and has led to a rise in per capita income. In addition to wheat, the principal winter crops are gram (chick-pea), barley, and mustard. The chief summer crops are millet, rice, corn (maize), sugarcane, and cotton. The state also has large numbers of bullocks and dairy cattle. The increase in agricultural output (especially in sugarcane and cotton) stimulated the development of agricultural processing industries, and by the early 1980s Haryana boasted several cotton-textile and sugar mills. Other light industries include the manufacture of sanitary ware, tractors, machine tools, electrical and glass goods, cement, paper, and bicycles. The chief lines of transportation are those leading to and from Delhi, particularly the historic Grand Trunk Road and the main line of the Northern Railway between Amb ala and Delhi, which is the centre of the nation's rail, road, and air networks. Areas of Haryana adjacent to Delhi are especially attractive to industries and housing developments. Haryana is a land of legends, temples, historical places, and archeological sites. Its place in Indian history makes it an important region for pilgrims, and its people preserve Hindu religious and cultural traditions with annual fairs and festivals, such as the Janmastami (Krishna's birthday). The state has several teaching colleges and a university at Kurukshetra, which also has a regional engineering college. Maharshi Dayanand University at Rohtak grants degrees through affiliated colleges, and Hisar is the seat of the Haryana Agricultural University. The Gurukul, an educational and archaeological institute, at Jhajjar has a rich collection of antiquities. Area 17,070 square miles (44,212 square km). Pop. (1991 prelim.) 16,317,715. state in north-central India. It is bounded on the northwest by the state of Punjab and the union territory of Chandigarh, on the north and northeast by the state of Himachal Pradesh, on the east by the state of Uttar Pradesh and the union territory of Delhi, and on the south and southwest by the state of Rajasthan. The area is 17,070 square miles (44,212 square kilometres). The city of Chandigarh, within the Chandigarh union territory, serves as the capital of not only that territory but also of the states of Haryana and Punjab. Haryana was constituted on Nov. 1, 1966, as a result of the partition of the former state of Punjab into two separate statesPunjabi-speaking Punjab and Hindi-speaking Haryana. The reorganization followed agitation by the Sikh Akali party for a Punjabi Suba (Punjabi-speaking province), but it also substantially met the aspirations of people in the Hindi-speaking region of Punjab for a Vishal Haryana (Greater Haryana). The name Haryana means The Abode of God, from Hari (the Hindu god Vishnu ) and ayana (home), although it has also been suggested that the derivation may be from the word hari (green), denoting the fertility of the countryside. Additional reading Jasbir Singh, An Agricultural Geography of Haryana (1976), is a useful introduction. Agricultural conditions in the state are described in G.S. Bhalla, Changing Agrarian Structure in India: A Study of the Impact of Green Revolution in Haryana (1974), focusing on income distribution.