Kheda District was also known as Kaira District in British Raj. Kheda District one of the thirty-three districts of Gujarat state in western India. It is part of the region known as Charotar, consisting of Kheda and Anand districts. Kheda was Former Administrative Capital In British Raj. Now Nadiad is the administrative headquarters of the district.

History

Formerly known as Kaira district, it was divided in two with the southern part becoming Anand district in 1997. The Charotar region of Kaira consisted of four talukas (sub-districts): Nadiad, Anand, Borsad, and Petlad. When the district was divided, Nadiad Taluka went with Kheda district and the other three with Anand district. Today, Kheda has eleven talukas. Balasinor and Virpur, once in Kheda district, were moved to the newly formed Mahisagar district in 2013. During the Indian independence movement in the first half of the 20th century, the Patidars of the Charotar region and other areas in Kaira resisted the British in a number of standoffs, notably the Kaira anti-tax campaign of 1913, the Kheda Satyagraha of 1918, the Borsad Satyagraha of 1923, and the Bardoli Satyagraha of 1928.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Kheda district has a population of 2,299,885, roughly equal to the nation of Latvia or the US state of New Mexico. This gives it a ranking of 197th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 541 PD/sqkm. Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 12.81%. Kheda has a sex ratio of 937 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 84.31%. The divided district had a population of 2,053,769, of which 474,041 (23.08%) lived in urban areas. The divided district had a sex ratio of 940 females per 1000 males. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes made up 98,686 (4.81%) and 37,310 (1.82%) of the population respectively. Hindus are 1,780,801, while Muslims are 239,214 and Christians are 26,387.

Language

At the time of the 2011 census, 97.35% of the population spoke Gujarati and 2.01% Hindi as their first language.

Administrative divisions

Since 2013, Kheda district has been divided into eleven taluka.

Politics

Notable people Of Kheda District