Bhatinda was changed to Bathinda to conform to the phonetical expression as locally pronounced. According to Henry George Raverty, Bathinda was known as Tabarhindh. The earliest mention of Tabarhindh occurs in the Jami-Ul-Hakayat written about 607 Hijri or 1211 AD. In 1004, Mahmud of Ghazni besieged the local fort, which was located on the route from the northwest into the richGanges valley. In 1189, Muhammad Ghori attacked and occupied the fort of Bathinda. Prithvi Raj Chauhan, the ruler of this region, managed to recover possession of the fort thirteen months later in 1191 after the First Battle of Tarain. In 1634, a battle named Battle of Lahira was fought between Guru Hargobind and Mughals. In circa 1754, the town was conquered by Maharaja Ala Singh, the Maharaja of Patiala and since then it followed the history of erstwhile princely state of Patiala. With the dawn of independence and merger of Patiala and East Punjab States into a division called PEPSU, Bathinda become a full-fledged district with headquarters at Bathinda city.
Demographics
Population
As per provisional reports of Census India, population of Bathinda city in 2011 is 285,813; male and female are 151,782 and 134,031 respectively. The sex ratio of Bathinda city is 868 females per 1000 males. The number of literate people in Bathinda city are 211,318 of which 118,888 are males while 92,430 are females, average literacy rate is 82.84 percent of which male and female literacy is 87.86 and 77.16 percent respectively. Total children in Bathinda city are 30,713: 16,472 boys and 14,241 girls. Child sex ratio of girls is 865 per 1000 boys.
Religion
is the majority religion in Bathinda city with 62.61% people following the faith. Sikhism is the second most popular religion in the city which is followed by 35.04% of the people. Minorities are Muslims, Christians, Buddhists and Jains. Sikhs count for 70.89% of the population in Bathinda District on a whole in spite of not being a majority in the city.
Geography and climate
Bathinda is in the northwestern region of India and is a part of the Indo-Gangetic alluvial plains. The exact cartographic co-ordinates of Bathinda are. It has an average elevation of 201 metres. Bathinda's climate corresponds to semi-arid with high variation between summer and winter temperatures. Average annual rainfall is relatively low, in a range of 20 mm to 40 mm. In recent times, Summer temperatures of 49 °C and winter temperatures of 1 °C were not unknown in Bathinda, lowest being -1.4 °C in the winter of 2013
Transportation
has connectivity to most of the major cities in India. Four national highways: NH 7, NH 54, NH 148B and NH 754 pass through/near the city.
The Central University of Punjab Bathinda has been established through the Central Universities Act 2009 which received the assent of the President of India on 20 March 2009. Its territorial jurisdiction extends to the whole State of Punjab. It started its functioning from Camp Office in April 2009, which happens to be the residence of the Vice Chancellor, and from November 2009 it shifted to its City Campus spread over an area of 35 acres. Construction of the main campus has started on 540 acres of land in Ghudda Village on Badal Road. Engineers India Limited, a Navratna Public Sector Undertaking, is providing PMC services for the project.
is a private not for profit Medical College associated with a 750-bed Tertiary Care Teaching hospital. It has 150 M.B.B.S. annual seat intake. The college is located on the Barnala Bathinda Highway. The college was established in 2006 under Adesh Institutions. AIMSR is approved by Medical Council of India and permitted by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. It was affiliated to Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot from 2006 to 2011 MBBS Admissions Batch and is affiliated to Adesh University, Bathinda starting 2012.
Notable people
Harbhajan Mann, actor and singer
Rajinder Gupta, businessman, founder of TridentGroup
Mehar Mittal, actor and producer
Mayank Markande, cricketer
Manny Aulakh, Canadian international cricketer
Avneet Sidhu, Commonwealth games gold-winning shooter
Riaz ur Rehman Saghar, Pakistani poet and lyricist
Gurdial Singh, novelist
Kuldeep Manak, singer
Janmeja Singh Sekhon, politician
Sunny and Inder Bawra, composer duo
Kul Sidhu, theatre artist and actress
Mehreen Pirzada, actress
Environmental Issues
There has been increasing incidence of various types of cancer in and around Bathinda. It is attributed to the presence of polluting industries and the indiscriminate use of modern pesticides and other toxic materials in farming. A 2007 epidemiological study found that the surface waters of Bathinda are contaminated with arsenic, cadmium, chromium, selenium and mercury primarily due to the discharge of untreated waste water from surrounding industries. Unscientific farming practices, that emerged after the introduction of Green Revolution, are also alleged to be a reason for growing incidence of not just cancer but also, high rates of spontaneous abortions, reproductive ailments, genetic deformities, anaemia, diarrhoea, vomiting, fluorosis and a host of skin ailments including rashes and boils. Many young couples are also reported to be migrating out to save their children from adverse effects. Hence the government has completely banned the use of ground water in the city for drinking purposes.
