Dhamtari Knowledge Guide

History

Dhamtari's population was 17,278 in 1955. At that time, the town was part of Raipur District in the state of Madhya Pradesh. In 2000, it became part of the new Chhattisgarh state and headquarters for the Dhamtari tehsil. As a terminus of a narrow-gauge railway running 80 km (50 miles) north of Raipur on the main Bombay-Calcutta line of the Bengal Nagpur Railway, Dhamtari became a trade centre. Goods shipped from there included timber, shellac, morabulum nuts, beedi leaves(for cigarettes), rice and animal hides. The American Mennonite Mission was established in Dhamtari in 1899. By 1952 the mission had merged with the Mennonite Church in India (MC), which had its headquarters in Dhamtari. In 1955 the 558-member congregation was one of several missionary groups in Dhamtari, including the Dhamtari Christian Academy, Dhamtari Christian Hospital, the Samuel Burkhard Memorial Boys' Orphanage and a nursing school. At the present Dhamtari is a "Nagar Nigam" .Dhamtari is also famous for its Maratha community which Is one of the biggest gathering of Maratha’s in any state of India