Chhattisgarh, carved out of Madhya Pradesh came into being on 1 November 2000 as the 26th State of India. It fulfills the long-cherished demand of the tribal people. In ancient times the region was known as Dakshin-Kausal. This finds mention in Ramayana and Mahabharata also. Between the sixth and twelfth centuries Sarabhpurias, Panduavanshi, Somvanshi, Kalchuri and Nagvanshi rulers conquered this region. Kalchuris ruled in Chhattisgarh from 980 to 1791 A.D. With the advent of Britishers in 1854, Raipur gained prominence instead of capital Ratanpur. In 1904, Sambalpur was transferred to Orissa and estates of Sarguja were transferred from Bengal to Chhattisgarh.
Chhattisgarh is bounded by southern Jharkhand and Orissa in the east, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra in the west, Uttar Pradesh and western Jharkhand in the north and Andhra Pradesh in the south. Area wise Chhattisgarh is the ninth largest state and population-wise it is seventeenth state of the nation.