About District

This is the easternmost district of Bundelkhand. The division of the district into two has been done by splitting Banda district , tahsil and block-wise. Karwi and Mau Tahsils lying in the eastern and South-eastern direction comprising the Manikpur, Mau, Pahadi, Chitrakut and Ramnagar blocks from the present Chitrakut district

TAHSHIL, BLOCK & THANA

There are Five Tahsils namely Banda, Naraini, Baberu, Pailani and Atarra comprising eight blocks of Badokhar-khurd, Jaspura, Tindwari, Naraini, Mahua, Baberu, Bisanda and Kamasinfrom the present district of Banda
There are seventeen thanas namely Kotwali City, Kotwali Dehat, Mataundh, Tindwari, Pailani, Chilla, Naraini, Atarra, Girwa, Kalinjar, Badousa, Bisenda, Baberu, Kamasin, Fhateganj, Jaspura and Marka.

TOPOGRAPHY

The district largely consists of irregular uplands with outcrops of rocks intermingling with mostly lowlands, frequently under water during rainy sesason. The Baghein river traverse the district from south-west to north-east. The tract lying to the right of the river is intersected by numerous smaller river and rivulets (Nallas), but to its left is a flat expanse, for the most part made up of Mar and Kabar soils, eroded and converted into ravines along the banks of the Ken and the Yamuna and to a lesser extent, the Baghein river and the Gadara Nala.
The general slope of the district is from southwest to north-east, along with the course of Baghein river as mentioned earlier. The district falls into two sharly defined portions= one is upland called Patha, situated on the Vindhyan plateau in the south of Mau anf Karwi tahsils (presently known as Chitrakut district), the other is lowlands of alluvium (presently known as Banda district).

RIVERS

Yamuna flowing north of the district, is the principal river attracting all the drainage of the district. For long this river had a general tendency of cutting the southern bank: this rendered many villages displaced and destructed. A famous village Shaipur near Chilla-ghat the head quarters of Pargana Pailani during Moghul time, is said to have been entirely swallowed by it. Flowing circuitously towards north, south and south-east directions Yamuna is joined by Ken at Chillaghat, Bhahein near Bilas, and Paisuni near Kankota villages. Total length of the river in this tract is 215 km. of this 130 km lies with Banda while the rest 85 km with Chitrakut
Ken rising is district Damoh, touches Banda near village Bilaharka in Naraini tahsil for about two km and then turns towards Chhatarpur district appearing again in the same tahsil. Then entering Banda tahsil near Utarandi village it flows north-east boarding distt. Hamirpur and then turns eastward to meet Yamuna at Chillghat. On the whole it flows in a deep and well defined channel scoured out by the action of flood-waters which occasionally come down in enormous volumes. The right bank is generally high and steep, scarred with innumerable ravines, but the left bank slopes somewhat more gently, and is subject to a certain amount of fluvial action. From Pailani to its junction eith Yamuna, the Ken is much affected by the stream of the larger river, which blocks occasionally its flow resulting in the swell of river water, submergence of even high-level villages and deposition of valuable silt in elevations which are normally above the flood plains.
Baghein is the second important river of this district. Emanating from a hill near Kohari of Panna district, it enters Banda district at Masauni Bharatpur village (the. Naraini). It flows north-east-ward and at a point separates Banda from the newly created Chitrakut district forming boundaries between Atarra, Baberu and Karrwi tahsils. Continuing north-east it joins Yamuna near Bilas village. It being most capricious in its action, depostis quantities of sand or Kankar shingles, but near its junction with Yamuna it tends to flood a large area of low lying land, if the stream in the Yamuna is sufficient to block its outlet.
The chief tributary of Baghein, the Ranj, joins it at Gurha Kalan (tahsil Naraini) but further east, there are several smaller tributaries from south namely the Madrar, the Barar, the Karehi, the Banganga and the Barua, each of which in turn has tributaries of its own. The barua has been dammed to provide some irrigation through canals

LAKES

No lakes or jhils exist in the district. Still there are a few fairly large depressions which always retain water. There are numerous tanks, some of which are of considerable size, such as that at Khar in tahsil Baberu.These have been excavated for the storage of water, many as fimine relief works.

HILLS

The hills of the district consists of the part of the Vindhyan plateau which lies in the extreme southern portion of the tahsils Mau and Karwi (now known as the district Chitrakut).The northern flank of the Vindhyas known as Vindhyachal range, starts near the Yamuna in the extreme east of tahsil Mau. It recedes from the Yamuna in a south-westerly direction-gradually rising in elevation, although nowhere abobe 450 metre from the mean sea level. It leaves the district near the scared hills of Anusuiya to reappear of Godhrampur in the south-eastern part of Naraini tahsil. From this point westward to Kalinjar the hills from the border of the district.