page_title: Rarh region
section_title: Extent
hierarchical_section_title: Rarh region / Geography / Extent
context_page_description: Rarh region is a toponym for an area in the Indian subcontinent that lies between the Chota Nagpur Plateau on the West and the Ganges Delta on the East. Although the boundaries of the region have been defined differently according to various sources throughout history, it is mainly coextensive with the state of West Bengal, also comprising parts of the state of Jharkhand in India. Linguistically, the region is defined with population speaking the Rahr Bangla local dialect.
  The Rarh region historically has been known by many different names and has hosted numerous settlements throughout history. One theory identifies it with the powerful Gangaridai nation mentioned in the ancient Greco-Roman accounts. An inscription of Vallalasena names it as the ancestral place of the Sena dynasty.
context_section_description: According to Britannica, the Rahr plains cover parts of the following districts, divided into northern and southern Rarh by the Damodar river:
  Northern Rarh: Murshidabad, Purba Bardhaman, Paschim Bardhaman, and Birbhum
  Southern Rarh: Purba Medinipur, Paschim Medinipur, and Bankura
  P. R. Sarkar defines the Rarh region as follows:
  East Rarh consists of roughly of the following districts:
  Western Murshidabad
  Northern Birbhum
  Eastern Burdwan (Bardhaman)
  Hooghly
  Howrah
  East Midnapore (Medinipur)
  Indas of Bankura district
  West Rarh consists of the following districts:
  Old Santhal Pargana district (today 6 districts: Godda, Deoghar, Dumka, Jamtara, Sahibganj and Pakur)
  Most parts of Birbhum
  Western Burdwan
  Bankura district except for Indas
  Purulia
  Dhanbad
  Most parts of Giridih
  Four block of Ranchi, namely Silli, Sonahatu, Bundu and Tamar
  Singhbhum
  Jhargram subdivision of West Midnapore
caption: Districts of West Bengal