Dhanbad

Dhanbad, often called the “Coal Capital of India,” has a history built around mines, railways and migrant labour. The wider region was once part of the forested Chotanagpur plateau, inhabited by Adivasi communities and small farming villages under local zamindars and the Raj of Bengal/Bihar. Coal seams in the Jharia and Raniganj belt were known locally, but large-scale mining began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries under British and private company control. Collieries, rail sidings and workers’ colonies mushroomed, and Dhanbad grew from a small settlement into a bustling mining town serving the expanding East Indian Railway network.

In 1928, Dhanbad municipality was formed, and through the early 20th century the town became a centre for trade unions, labour movements and early industrial politics. After Independence, coalfields were gradually nationalised, culminating in the creation of Coal India Limited and subsidiaries like Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), headquartered in Dhanbad. This firmly established the city as an administrative and technical hub for India’s coal industry.

Dhanbad became a separate district in the mid-20th century, carved out of Manbhum. When Jharkhand state was created in 2000, Dhanbad entered a new phase as a major urban–industrial centre of the new state, known not only for its mines but also for institutes like IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, dense markets and growing malls amid a still coal-dominated landscape.