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Origin of the name Chhattisgarh

In the ancient period Chhattisgarh was called Dakshin Kosala. Later when Kalchuris made Ratanpur their Capital the state was called Ratanpur. Abul Fazal has called it Ratanpur in his Ain-e-Akbari. First mention of Chhattisgarh is in the poem of Dalram the Charan poet of Laxminidhi the King of Khairagarh in 1497. After this in 1689 Vikramm Samvat i.e. 1746 AD poet Gopal Mishra has mentioned Chhattisgarh in his work Khub Tamasha. In 1896 when Babu Rewaram converted Sinhahas Battisi into verse as Vikram Vilas, he also used the name Chhattisgarh.

The first use of the word Chhattisgarh in official records is by Captain Blunt in 1795. After this the Biritsh Resident in Nagpur started using The Zamindars of Chhattisgarh. Later this name Chhattisgarh became popular.

There are many views about the name Chhattisgarh. It is said that Chhattisgarh was a part of the Chedi Empire and therefore was called Chedisgarh which later became Chhattisgarh. Another view isthat 36 Kshtriya Kulas have ruled Ratanpur so it was called Chhattisgarh. Some people say that during the time of Jarasangh 36 chamar families settled here. It was initial called Chhattisghar which later became Chhattisgarh. During the Maratha period Garh was an administrative unit and there were 36 Garhs in the State so it was called Chhattisgarh. This appears to be the correct reason