Hindutashravi at 14:40, 7 June 2025

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{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2018}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Ethora
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| other_name =
| nickname =
| settlement_type = Village
| image_skyline =
| image_alt =
| image_caption =
| pushpin_map = India West Bengal # India
| pushpin_label_position =
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in West Bengal, India
| coordinates = {{coord|23.7541|N|86.9235|E|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{flag|India}}
| subdivision_type1 = [[States and territories of India|State]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[West Bengal]]
| subdivision_type2 = [[List of districts of India|District]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[Paschim Bardhaman district|Paschim Bardhaman]]
| established_title = 
| established_date =
| founder =
| named_for =
| government_type =
| governing_body =
| unit_pref = Metric
| area_footnotes =
| area_rank =
| area_total_km2 =
| elevation_footnotes =
| elevation_m =
| population_total = 4,547
| population_as_of = 2011
| population_rank =
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_demonym =
| population_footnotes =
| demographics_type1 = Languages
| demographics1_title1 = Official
| demographics1_info1 = [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Hindi]], [[English language|English]]
| timezone1 = [[Indian Standard Time|IST]]
| utc_offset1 = +5:30
| postal_code_type = 
| postal_code =
| registration_plate =
| blank1_name_sec1 = [[Lok Sabha]] constituency
| blank1_info_sec1 = [[Asansol (Lok Sabha constituency)|Asansol]]
| blank2_name_sec1 = [[Vidhan Sabha]] constituency
| blank2_info_sec1 = [[Barabani (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Barabani]]
| website = {{URL|bardhaman.gov.in/}}
| footnotes =
}}
'''Ethora''' is a rural suburb of [[Asansol]], located in the [[Salanpur (community development block)|Salanpur]] [[Community development blocks in India|CD block]] in the [[Asansol Sadar subdivision]] of the [[Paschim Bardhaman district]] in the Indian state of [[West Bengal]]. It was a site of the first attempts at commercial [[Coal mining|coal extraction]] in the country. The area presently is a coal-mining area. It is in [[Raniganj Coalfield]] and lies in the [[Salanpur Area]] of [[Eastern Coalfields]].

==History==
In 1774, two employees of the [[East India Company]], [[Suetonius Grant Heatly]] and John Sumner, proposed to establish six mines in an area which they defined as {{quote|within the space included by the river Adji to the north, the border of Burdwan to the east, the river Damooda to the south, and a circular line to the west, described from the town of Aytura in Pachete, at the distance of ten miles from Aytura, between the one river and the other.<ref name=Heatly1842p814>{{cite journal |journal=Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal |volume=11 |number=2 |publisher=Asiatic Society of Bengal |year=1842 |title=Contributions towards a History of the development of the Mineral Resources of India |first=S. G. Tollemache |last=Heatly |page=814 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wr9JAAAAcAAJ |access-date=2011-10-27}}</ref>}} A site at Ethora was among the six selected and was probably the first to operate.<ref>{{cite journal |first=E. R. |last=Gee |title=History of Coal-Mining in India |volume=6 |issue=3 |date=10 August 1940 |journal=Indian National Science Academy |page=313 |url=http://www.dli.gov.in/rawdataupload/upload/insa/INSA_1/20005b80_313.pdf |access-date=2011-10-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425052026/http://www.dli.gov.in/rawdataupload/upload/insa/INSA_1/20005b80_313.pdf |archive-date=25 April 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The socio-economic impacts of artisanal and small-scale mining in developing countries |first=Gavin M. |last=Hilson |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2003 |isbn=978-90-5809-615-9 |page=435 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7QNRVmxq5RsC |access-date=2011-10-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Energy exploration & exploitation |volume=11 |page=88 |publisher=Graham & Trotman |year=1993 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=erqGAAAAIAAJ}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=West Bengal |first1=A. B. |last1=Chatterjee |first2=Avijit |last2=Gupta |first3=Pradip K. |last3=Mukhopadhyay |publisher=Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay |year=1970 |page=118 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pPIdAAAAMAAJ |access-date=2011-10-27}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|These are old transliterations. The Damooda is the [[Damodar River]], the Adji is probably the [[Ajay River]], and Aytura is Ethora. The men referred also to ''Bheerbhoom'', which may be today's [[Birbhum district]].|group=nb}}

According to the anthropologist [[Morton Klass]], by 1963 it "had become a sleepy village of mud houses scattered among the ruins of once much grander buildings." However, until the [[Partition of India|independence of India]] from British rule in 1947 it had been of local significance as it was home to a [[zamindar]] successor to the Maharajah of Kasipur and to both religious centres and schools, although it had never possessed a market. Klass noted in 1978 that it was still a focal point of sorts for the villages that surrounded it because many [[Brahmin]] priests continued to live there, along with other castes with specialist occupational roles.<ref name=Klass1978p117>{{cite book |title=From field to factory: community structure and industrialization in West Bengal |first=Morton |last=Klass |publisher=University Press of America |year=1996 |orig-year=1978 |isbn=978-0-7618-0420-8 |pages=117–118 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XAZ2JBQ2vwsC |access-date=2011-10-27}}</ref>

==Geography==
{{OSM Location map
| width=530| height=300| zoom=11
| coord={{coord|23|46|30|N|86|57|20|E}}| float=left|caption='''Collieries in Salanpur Area of Eastern Coalfields'''<br/>U: Underground Colliery, O: Open Cast Colliery, N: Non-ECL Colliery, S: Mining support, A: Administrative headquarters, R: Rural centre<br/>Owing to space constraints in the small map, the actual locations in a larger map may vary slightly
|mark-coord1={{coord|23|47|2|N|86|55|0|E}} | label-pos1=top|label1=Dabor Colliery| numbered1=U| mark-title1= Dabor Colliery (U)|label-color1=#800000 |label-size1=11| mark-size1=12|shape1=l-circle|shape-color1=#800000|shape-outline1=white|label-offset-x1=2
|mark-coord2={{coord|23|47|12|N|86|52|33|E}} | label-pos2=left|label2= Bonjemehari OCP| numbered2=O| mark-title2= Bonjemehari OCP (O) |shape-color2=#C42222
|mark-coord3={{coord|23|48|50|N|86|56|10|E}} | label-pos3=left|label3= Gourandi OCP| numbered3=O| mark-title3= Gourandi OCP (O) |shape-color3=#C42222
|mark-coord4={{coord|23|44|7|N|86|57|27|E}} | label-pos4=left|label4=Barmondia Colliery| numbered4=U| mark-title4= Barmondia Colliery (U)
|mark-coord5={{coord|23|47|8|N|86|55|44|E}} | label-pos5=right|label5= Mohanpur OCP| numbered5=O| mark-title5= Mohanpur OCP (O) |shape-color5=#C42222
|mark-coord6={{coord|23|45|40|N|86|56|53|E}} | label-pos6=right|label6=ECL Salanpur Area Office | numbered6=A| mark-title6=ECL [[Salanpur Area]] (A)| shape-color6=#C42222
|mark-coord7={{coord|23|45|28|N|86|50|09|E}} | label-pos7=right|label7= Ramnagar Colliery SAIL| numbered7=N| mark-title7= [[Ramnagar, Kulti|Ramnagar Colliery SAIL]] (N) |shape-color7=#AA6666
|mark-coord8={{coord|23|45|9|N|86|52|1|E}} | label-pos8=bottom|label8= Borira Colliery BCCL| numbered8=N| mark-title8= Borira Colliery BCCL (N) |shape-color8=#AA6666
|mark-coord9={{coord|23|48|17|N|87|1|31|E}} | label-pos9=left|label9=Gourandi Begunia Colliery| numbered9=U| mark-title9= Gourandi Begunia Colliery (U)
|mark-coord10={{coord|23|47|55|N|87|2|7|E}} | label-pos10=right|label10= Sarishatali Colliery CESC| numbered10=N| mark-title10= Sarishatali Colliery CESC (N) |shape-color10=#AA6666
|mark-coord11={{coord|23|46|7|N|86|50|49|E}} | label-pos11=right|label11= Damagoria Colliery BCCL| numbered11=N| mark-title11= Damagoria Colliery BCCL (N) |shape-color11=#AA6666
|mark-coord12={{coord|23|45|0|N|86|55|24|E}} | label-pos12=right|label12=Ethora| numbered12=R| mark-title12=Ethora (R) ||shape-color12=black| label-size12=13|label-color12=black
|mark-coord13={{coord|23.7076|86.7952}}| label13=Barakar| label-color13 = #77A1CB| label-angle13=110| label-pos13=top| label-size13=10| mark-size13=0| mark-title13 =none
|mark-coord14={{coord|23.6956|86.7952}}| label14=River| label-color14 = #77A1CB| label-angle14=58| label-pos14=top| label-size14=10| mark-size14=0| mark-title14 =none
|mark-coord15={{coord|23|48|12|N|86|48|15|E}} |label15=Maithon Dam|labela15= Reservoir| label-color15 = #77A1CB| label-angle15=0| label-pos15=top| label-size15=10| mark-size15=0| mark-title15 =none
|mark-coord16={{coord|23|51|0|N|87|0|11|E}} |label16=Ajay River| label-color16 = #77A1CB| label-angle16=20| label-pos16=top| label-size16=10| mark-size16=0| mark-title16 =none}}

===Location===
Ethora is located at {{coord|23.7541|N|86.9235|E|}}.

===Overview===
Salanpur CD block is part of the Ajay Damodar Barakar tract. This area is sort of an extension of the [[Chota Nagpur Plateau]]. It is a rocky undulating area with [[laterite]] soil, with the [[Ajay River|Ajay]] on the north, the [[Damodar River|Damodar]] on the south and the [[Barakar River|Barakar]] on the west. For ages the area was heavily forested and infested with plunderers and marauders. The discovery of coal, in the eighteenth century, led to industrialisation of the area and most of the forests have been cleared.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/DCHB/DCHB_A/19/1909_PART_A_DCHB_BARDDHAMAN.pdf |title = Census of India 2011, West Bengal: District Census Handbook, Barddhaman |work = Physiography, pages 13-14| publisher= Directorate of Census Operations, West Bengal | access-date = 23 January 2017}}</ref><ref>Chattopadhyay, Akkori, ''Bardhaman Jelar Itihas O Lok Sanskriti'' (History and Folk lore of Bardhaman District.), {{in lang|bn}}, Vol I, pp 14-15, Radical Impression. {{ISBN|81-85459-36-3}}</ref>

==Demographics==
According to the [[2011 Census of India]], Ethora had a total population of 4,547 of which 2,328 (51%) were males and 2,219 (49%) were females. Population in the age group 0–6 years was 513. The total number of literate persons in Ethora was 2,731 (67.70% of the population over 6 years).<ref name=census3-2011>{{cite web| url = http://censusindia.gov.in/pca/pcadata/Houselisting-housing-WB.html |title = 2011 Census – Primary Census Abstract Data Tables | work= West Bengal – District-wise |publisher= Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India | access-date = 18 February 2017 }}</ref>

<small>*For language details see [[Salanpur (community development block)#Language and religion]]</small>

==Education==
Ethora S.C. Institution is a Bengali-medium coeducational institution established in 1910. It has facilities for teaching from class V to class XII. The school has 1 computer, a library with 2,500 books and a playground.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://schools.org.in/barddhaman/19093101102/ethora-s-c-institution.html | title = Ethora S.C. Institution| publisher = Schools.org.in |access-date = 27 May 2020}}</ref>

==Healthcare==
In August 1921 the village suffered an epidemic and at that time the population was recorded as being 1902. The ''[[Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene]]'' reported that "the primary cause was neglected diarrhoea, due to eating indigestible food".<ref>{{cite journal |title=Journal of tropical medicine and hygiene |volume=26-27 |page=68 |publisher=[[London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine]] |year=1923 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EAwfAQAAMAAJ |access-date=2011-10-27}}</ref>

==See also==
[[Sodepur Area]] - for Chinakuri, another place where coal-mining had an early beginning

==References==
;Notes
{{reflist|group=nb}}

;Citations
{{reflist|3}}

{{Paschim Bardhaman District}}

[[Category:Villages in Paschim Bardhaman district]]
[[Category:Coal in India]]
[[Category:Coal towns]]
[[Category:Economic history of India]]

Ethora - Revision history

Hindutashravi at 14:40, 7 June 2025