Chhindwara district one of the important district of Madhya Pradesh is part of the Jabalpur Division. It occupies 4 percent of the state and ranks first in terms of area in Madhya Pradesh. Chhindwara town is the district headquarters. The name of the place is derived from Chhind (date palm) Wada (place) trees, as it is believed that this place was full of date palm trees and hence Chhindwara.

History of Chhindwara District
History records the place from the time of the rule of Bhakth Bulund King, whose kingdom was spread over the Satpura range of hills and it is believed that his rule was up to the 3rd Century. This dynasty ruled up to the 7th Century. Then the "Gondvana" dynasty had ruled the area with "Devgarh" as the capital. King `Jatav` of `Gond` community had built the Devgarh fort. Bhakth Bulund King was most powerful in the dynasty and he had adopted the Muslim religion during the rule of Emperor "Aurangzeb". Later the power had changed many hands and finally `Maratha rule` ended in 1803. On 17th September 1803, East India Company had taken over this kingdom by defeating `Raghuji II` and hence had started the British rule. After Independence `Nagpur` was made the capital of Chhindwara District, and on 1st November 1956 this district was re-constituted with Chhindwara as the capital.

Geography of Chhindwara District
Chhindwara District is located on the South-West region of `Satpura Range of Mountains`. It is spread from 21.28 to 22.49 Deg. North (longitude) and 78.40 to 79.24 degrees East (latitude) and spread over an area of 11,815 Sq. Km. This district is bound by the plains of Nagpur District (in Maharashtra State) on the South, Hoshangabad and Narsinghpur Districts on the North, Betul District on the West and Seoni Districts on the East.

There are five major rivers which flow through the district namely Kanhan, Pench, Jam, Kulbehra, Shakkar and Doodh. Kanhan River flows in the Southern direction through the western parts of Chhindwara Tahsil and mixes with the Wenganga River. Jam river flows mostly through the Sausar region and joins with the Kanhan River. Pench River flows in the border areas of Chhindwara and Seoni Districts and mixes with the Kanhan River in Nagpur District. Kulbehra River starts at Umreth and flows through Chhindwara and Mohkhed and joins with Pench River.

As per Census 2001 the total population of Chhindwara town is 1, 22,309 and of the district is 18, 48,882. There are 953 females for every 1000 males as per Census 2001.

Culture of Chhindwara District
Chhindwara District has majority of tribal population. The tribal communities include Gond, Pardhan, Bharia, Korku. Hindi, Marathi, Gondi, Urdu, Korku, Musai, Parvari etc. languages/dialects are in use in the district. Majority of the tribals speak in Gondi and Hindi mixed with Marathi. Among the cultural functions/festivals in the district Pola, Bhujalia, Meghnath, Akhadi, Harijyoti etc. are famous ones. `Gotmat Mela` of Pandhurna is unique and world renowned fair. On Shivrathri day `Mahadev Mela` will be celebrated each year on "Choudagadh".

Tourism of Chhindwara District
Prominent Tourist Spots in the District include Patalkot, Tamia, Tribal Museum, Chota Mahadev Cave, Devgarh Fort, Nadadwari, Hot Water Spring at Anhoni and Radhadevi Caves and Jam Sanvli Temple.