Sangrur district is an administrative district in the south-eastern part of the Indian state of Punjab. The town of Sangrur serves as the district headquarters. It is part of the Malwa region of Punjab and lies in the largely agricultural plains between the rivers Sutlej and Ghaggar.
| Country | India |
|---|---|
| State | Punjab |
| Region | Malwa |
| Headquarters | Sangrur |
| Official language | Punjabi |
| Type | District |
Sangrur district occupies a flat alluvial tract of the Punjab plain. It shares boundaries with several Punjab districts, including Patiala, Ludhiana, Barnala, Malerkotla, and Mansa, and adjoins parts of the state of Haryana to the south. The terrain is suited to canal-irrigated agriculture, with wheat, paddy, and cotton being the dominant crops. The Bhakra main canal system is an important source of irrigation in the district.
The district is divided into several tehsils and sub-tehsils, with subdivisions headquartered at towns such as Sangrur, Sunam, Dhuri, Malerkotla (prior to its separation), Moonak, and Lehragaga. Administrative functions are headed by a Deputy Commissioner. For police administration, the district is organised under the Sangrur range of the Punjab Police.
Before Indian independence, much of the present-day Sangrur district lay within the princely state of Jind, with neighbouring areas under the states of Patiala and Nabha. After 1947, these princely territories were merged into the Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU), and Sangrur served as the capital of PEPSU until the union was merged with Punjab on 1 November 1956 under the States Reorganisation Act.
Following the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab in 1966, Sangrur continued as a district of the new Punjabi-speaking state. In subsequent decades the district has been progressively reduced through the carving out of new districts: Barnala district was separated in 2006, and Malerkotla district was created from a portion of Sangrur in 2021.
The population of Sangrur district is predominantly rural and Punjabi-speaking, with Sikhism as the largest religion followed by Hinduism. Punjabi written in the Gurmukhi script is the official language. The district lies within the Malwi dialect zone of Punjabi. Cultural traditions associated with Malwa Punjab, including folk music, bhangra, and gidda, are widely practised. Important religious sites in and around the district include several historic gurdwaras associated with the Sikh Gurus.
Agriculture is the backbone of the district economy, with wheat and paddy as the principal crops in the Kharif and Rabi cycles. Allied activities include dairy farming and cotton cultivation in some belts. Agro-based and small-scale industries operate in towns such as Sangrur, Dhuri and Sunam. Dhuri is a notable junction on the Indian Railways network, providing rail connectivity in multiple directions across Punjab.
Sangrur is historically important as the former capital of PEPSU and as part of the heartland of Malwa Punjab. Its agricultural output makes it a contributor to the wider grain economy of Punjab, and its towns have political significance through their association with figures of the Indian freedom movement and post-independence Punjab politics.