Karnal district is one of the 23 districts of Haryana, a state in North India which constitutes the National Capital Region (NCR) of the country. The city of Karnal is a part of the National Capital Region (NCR) and is the administrative headquarters of the district.

As it lies on National highway 44 (old NH-1), it has a well connected transport system to the nearby major cities like Delhi and Chandigarh. Karnal District is also well connected via railways. Karnal Junction lies on Delhi-Kalka line and major trains stops at this station. The district headquarter also has a small aerodrome known as karnal airport.

History

Karnal district was conquered by the British in 1803. On 30 December 1803, the Daulat Scindia signed the Treaty of Surji-Anjangaon with the British after the Battle of Assaye and Battle of Laswari and ceded to the British, Hisar, Panipat, Rohtak, Rewari, Gurgaon, Ganges-Jumna Doab, the Delhi-Agra region, parts of Bundelkhand, Broach, some districts of Gujarat and the fort of Ahmmadnagar.

On 1 November 1966, when Haryana was carved out of Punjab as a separate state, Karnal was already an existing district of newly formed state of Haryana.Haryana: हरियाणा में नया जिला बनने की तैयारी, सरकार 1 नवंबर 2025 को कर सकती है घोषणा, NayaHaryana, 27 oct 2025.

Sub-Divisions The Karnal district is headed by an IAS officer of the rank of Deputy Commissioner (DC) who is the chief executive officer of the district. The district is divided into 4 sub-divisions, each headed by a Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM): Karnal, Indri, Assandh and Gharaunda.

Revenue tehsils The four sub-divisions are divided into five revenue tehsils, namely Karnal, Indri, Nilokheri, Gharaunda and Assandh, and three sub-tehsils, namely Nigdhu, Nissing and Kaimla. Kaimla is the largest village in Karnal district.

Assembly constituencies The Karnal district is divided into 5 Vidhan Sabha constituencies: Gharaunda Indri Karnal Nilokheri Assandh Kaimla Karnal district is a part of Karnal (Lok Sabha constituency).

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Karnal district has a population of 1,505,324, roughly equal to the nation of Gabon or the US state of Hawaii. This gives it a ranking of 333rd in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 18.22%. Karnal has a sex ratio of 996 females for every 1,000 males, and a literacy rate of 74.73%. Scheduled Castes made up 22.56% of the population.

Religion

+ Religion in Karnal DistrictReligiousgroup2011 Hinduism 1,341,002 Sikhism 126,207 Islam 31,650 Christianity 2,049 Others 4,416 Total Population1,505,324 + Religious groups in Karnal District (British Punjab province era)Religiousgroup1881189119011911192119311941 Hinduism 453,662 499,784 623,597 556,203 573,224 570,297 666,301 Islam 156,183 171,712 241,412 224,920 235,618 259,730 304,346 Sikhism 8,036 8,037 12,294 13,531 12,280 16,928 19,887 Jainism 4,655 4,065 4,739 4,213 4,222 4,190 2,789 Christianity 85 120 1,179 920 3,382 1,469 1,249 Zoroastrianism 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 Buddhism 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Judaism 0 3 0 0 0 0 Others 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total population 622,621 683,718 883,225 799,787 828,726 852,614 994,575 + Religion in the Tehsils of Karnal District (1921)TehsilHinduism Islam Sikhism Christianity Jainism OthersTotal Karnal Tehsil 154,965 73,199 2,780 723 940 0 232,607 Panipat Tehsil 119,229 50,664 133 1,298 2,472 0 173,796 Kaithal Tehsil 207,844 61,478 4,606 1,010 784 0 275,722 Thanesar Tehsil 91,186 50,277 4,761 351 26 0 146,601 + Religion in the Tehsils of Karnal District (1941)TehsilHinduism Islam Sikhism Christianity Jainism OthersTotal Karnal Tehsil 188,179 100,919 3,291 173 1,021 14 293,597 Panipat Tehsil 135,557 63,254 442 156 1,038 14 200,461 Kaithal Tehsil 241,650 81,039 8,496 423 694 1 332,303 Thanesar Tehsil 100,915 59,134 7,658 471 36 0 168,214

Languages

At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 54.28% of the population in the district spoke Hindi, 32.04 Haryanvi, 10.86% Punjabi and 1.06% Saraiki (Multani) as their first language..

People from Karnal District

Kalpana Chawla, first Indo-American woman astronaut. In 2003, Chawla was one of the seven crew members that died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan, First Prime Minister of Pakistan Vikramjeet Virk, Indian actor Navdeep Saini, Indian cricketer Manohar Lal Khattar, former Chief Minister of Haryana Kuldeep Sharma, Indian politician Harwinder Kalyan, Indian politician Karan Dev Kamboj, Indian politician

See also Kaimla Gagsina

Notes

References

External links

Official website