Daman district, India

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Daman district Distrito de Damão[1]
District
Daman district Daman district headquarters Show map of India Daman district Daman district (Gujarat) Show map of Gujarat
Coordinates: 20°25′N 72°53′E / 20.41°N 72.89°E / 20.41; 72.89
Country	India
Union territory	Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu
Tehsil	Daman Tehsil
Headquarters	Daman
Government
• District Collector	Rakesh Minhas, IAS
Area
• Total	72 km2 (28 sq mi)
Elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population  (2011)
• Total	191,173
• Density	2,700/km2 (6,900/sq mi)
Languages[2]
• Official	Hindi, English
• Additional official	Gujarati
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
Sex ratio	1.69 ♂/♀
Website	http://daman.nic.in/

Daman district /dəˈmɑːn/ (formerly Distrito de Damão), is one of four districts of the Indian union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.^[3] It is located on the west coast of India and is surrounded by the Valsad district of the Gujarat state to the north, east and south, and by the Arabian Sea to the west. The district covers an area of 72 square kilometers (28 sq mi)^[4] and had a population of 191,173 as of the 2011 census, an increase of 69.256% from the 2001 census. The district headquarters is Daman. Previously, the territorial headquarters were in Panjim when it was jointly administered as Goa, Daman, and Diu until the time of the Konkani language agitation.

Daman lies at the mouth of the Daman Ganga River. Major industries have units here.^{[citation needed]} The closest railway station is Vapi, which is 7 km away. Daman is also known for its beaches, Portuguese colonial architecture, churches, and the scenic twin towns of Nani-Daman and Moti-Daman, which lie opposite each other across the Daman Ganga. The city of Surat lies to the north, and Bombay (Mumbai) is approximately 160 km (100 mi) to the south in the Konkan division of Maharashtra.

The edict of Emperor Ashoka (273 to 136 BC) was found in Saurashtra and Sopara near Bombay. The Satraps under the Kushana emperor seem to have ruled over Daman District during the 1st century AD. Coins of Bhumaka and Nahapan, the Kshaharata rulers, were discovered in the surrounding areas of Surat District. Ushavadatta, son-in-law of Nahapan, is said to have provided ferries on the rivers Dhanuha, Dhamana, Parada, and Tapi.^[5]

This is the earliest reference to these rivers, and the names of the places, i.e., Dahanu, Daman, and Pardi, have remained unchanged for the last 2,000 years. The district seems to have been subjected to the rule of Gautamiputra Satakarni around 125 AD, who drove away the Kshaharatas. However, the Satavahana's rule was short-lived.^[6]

Rudraman I, grandson of Chastan of the Kadamaka branch of Kshatrapas, reconquered a large part of western India, including the seaboard from the river Mahi in Gujarat to Ratnagiri, around 150 AD from the Satavahana ruler, Satakarni. Daman district then passed under the rule of Kshatrapa Vijayasen (234-239 AD), who seems to have ruled over the district until 249 AD. Abhir king Ishwarasena of Nasik, who conquered the western part of the Deccan from the Satavahanas, seems to have been succeeded by Gautamiputra Yajna Sri, who campaigned against the Kshatrapas from 180 to 200 AD.^[7]

The district seems to have been subjected to the rule of the Traikutakas during the 5th century AD. The Lata country was ruled directly by the Rashtrakutas of Malkhed in the Deccan until 808 AD by the successors Govinda II (575-795 AD), Druvaraja I (795-800 AD), and Govinda III (800-808 AD).^[8]

Govinda III handed over the Lata kingdom to his brother Indra around 808 AD, giving him the title Lateswaramandalasya or the Protector of Latamandala. Indra was succeeded by his son Karka, who seems to have ruled Latamandala jointly with his brother Govinda until 826. Druva II, son of Karka, ascended the throne around 835 and was succeeded by Akalavarsha in 867. The district passed to Tailappa II of the Chalukyas of Kalyani in 973. Tailappa II placed the Lata country in the hands of his relative and general Barrpa alias Dvarappa Chalukya.

By the middle of the 13th century, a Rajput prince named Ramsingh, also known as Ramashah, seems to have defeated the koli chief Nathorat and established himself in the hilly tract at Asheri of Asserseta near Daman around 1262. Ramsingh was succeeded by his son Somanath in 1295. The newly founded Ramnagar at the foot of the Ghats flourished under Somanath (1335-1360) and Daram Shah (1360-1391). Jagatshah succeeded Gopushah and ruled from 1432 to 1470.

The Portuguese acquired Daman from the Shah of Gujarat. They first noticed the port of Daman in 1523. Daman was a Portuguese enclave for four and a half centuries until the end of colonial rule in 1961. Daman has been a coveted prize, for which princes, monarchs, and alien powers waged wars. Muted memories of history lie vaulted in the monuments of Daman. It had been a melting pot where races and cultures met and mixed to bring forth a multi-coloured identity.^[9][10]

Daman was occupied by the Portuguese in 1531, and was formally ceded to Portugal in 1539 by the Sultan of Gujarat.

Mirroring the system of administrative division in European Portugal, Daman district (Distrito de Damão) was established as an administrative division of the Portuguese State of India (Estado da Índia) in the first half of the 19th century. The District was made up of the Portuguese territories of Daman, Dadra and Nagar Haveli. It was headed by a district governor, subordinate to the governor-general of Portuguese India in Goa. The district was divided in the two municipalities of Daman and Nagar Haveli, which were further subdivided into civil parishes.

The Dadra and Nagar Haveli landlocked parts of the Daman district were occupied by pro-Indian Union forces in 1954. In 1961, Dadra and Nagar Haveli was officially annexed by India, forming a union territory separated from Daman.

The rest of the District remained under Portuguese rule until it was annexed by Indian forces on 19 December 1961. From 1961 to 1987, it was a part of the union territory of Goa, Daman and Diu. In 1987, it became a part of the newly formed union territory of Daman and Diu.

On 3 November 2019, Daman Collector Rakesh Minhas issued a Section 144 order banning the peaceful assembly of four or more persons, slogan-shouting, and the use of loudspeakers across the entire district. Additionally, he ordered the conversion of High School, Bhimpore, and Sarvottam High School, Moti Daman, into 'temporary jails.'^[11] This was in response to a land ownership dispute between the local indigenous fishing community and the local administration,^[12] which had confiscated their land and bulldozed their homes. The ensuing 2019 Daman Indigenous Land Clearing Protests resulted in the detention of 70 protesters in the 'temporary jails' and another 8 arrests. While a few of the adivasi fisherfolk were rehoused, most were left traumatized and homeless on the streets near the rubble of their razed homes.^[13] Currently, the BJP is in power in Daman.

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Daman district has only one tehsil: Daman. The entire district falls within the Daman and Diu Lok Sabha constituency.

According to the 2011 census Daman District, India has a population of 191,173,^[14] roughly equal to the nation of Samoa.^[15] This ranks it 592nd out of 640 districts in India.^[14] The district has a population density of 2,655 inhabitants per square kilometre (6,880/sq mi).^[14] Its population growth rate over the decade from 2001 to 2011 was 69.256%.^[14] The district has one of the least balanced sex ratio in the country,^{[citation needed]} with 533 females for every 1,000 males,^[14] and a literacy rate of 88.06%.^[14]

Daman is connected by roads and is 12 km from Vapi, 125 km from Surat, and 195 km from Mumbai. Vapi railway station on the Western Railway is the nearest station to Daman and connects to all major cities. Daman Airport has a Coast Guard air base.^{[citation needed]}

A bridge over the Daman Ganga River between Moti Daman and Nani Daman collapsed during the monsoon on 28 August 2003, killing 27 school children and one teacher when their vehicles plunged into the river.^[16] A new bridge was constructed at a cost of about 90 million rupees, but it partially collapsed in August 2004. No casualties occurred in this incident. The collapse was attributed to heavy flooding of the Daman Ganga River.^[17][18] The new bridge, named Rajeev Gandhi Setu for Heavy Vehicles, has now been completed, and the old bridges are to be kept closed permanently.^{[according to whom?][citation needed]}

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In Daman, the most popular schools include Divya Jyoti English Higher Secondary School, the Institute of Our Lady of Fátima in Moti Daman, Coast Guard Public School in Nani Daman, Vatsalya in Moti Daman, Sunrise Champs in Dalwada, Aman Vidyaniketan in Nani Daman, Sarvajanik Vidyalaya in Nani Daman, and Shri Macchi Mahajan High School in Nani Daman, among other government institutions.^{[fact or opinion?]} Additionally, there is a college named Government College, Daman.

Daman is a twin town of Coimbra, Portugal.^[19]

• Andrada (undated). The Life of Dom John de Castro: The Fourth Vice Roy of India. Jacinto Freire de Andrada. Translated into English by Peter Wyche. (1664). Henry Herrington, New Exchange, London. Facsimile edition (1994) AES Reprint, New Delhi. ISBN 81-206-0900-X.

• Government of the Union Territory of Daman and Diu
• Daman District Administration Archived 28 December 2019 at the Wayback Machine