Nabha

Overview

Nabha is located in the western part of the district of Patiala, in the fertile soils of the northern Indian state of Punjab. By way of administrative boundaries, Nabha is a sub-division or tehsil of Patiala district. The Nabha Tehsil is made up of a sub-tehsil (Bhadson), a total of 174 villages, and the town of Nabha, where the sub-divisional offices of the district are located.

The people of Nabha are predominantly rural and agricultural in orientation – approximately 200,000 live in its villages while the town of Nabha accommodates 62,000 people (India Census 2001). The town is located approximately 20 kilometres west of the city of Patiala.

The history of Nabha is inextricably woven with that of the Punjabi community, the Sikh tradition and the ruling families of the erstwhile princely states of Nabha, Patiala and Jind. Historians are of the view that Nabha became an independent principality in the mid-18th century.

Folklore presents two interesting stories on how Nabha got its name. The first suggests a derivative from Nabhi – navel, in Hindi – indicating a centre point between Delhi on one side and Lahore (earlier part of Punjab in India, now located in Pakistan) on the other. And the second story says it was named after the lotus ‘nabha’ in Punjabi - grown in a pond in the centre of town.