Sagar district is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The town of Sagar serves as its administrative center. The district has an area of 10,252 km², and a population of 2,378,458 (2011 census), an increase of 45% or by 732,260 inhabitants from its 1991 population of 1,646,198. Sagar district is dominated by Sonis, Jains and Yadavs. As of 2011, it is the third most populous district of Madhya Pradesh, after Indore and Jabalpur. The tropic of cancer passes through Sagar district. History The history of the town of Sagar dates back to about 1660 AD, when Udan Shah, a descendant of Nihal Shah, built a small fort where the present one sits and founded a village close to it called Parkota Sagar. The present fort and a settlement under its walls was founded by Govind Pant Bundele, an officer of the Peshwa Bajirao I, who controlled Sagar and the surrounding territory after 1735 when it came under the Peshwa's possession. In 1818, the greater part of the district was ceded by the Peshwa Baji Rao II to the British Government, while the remainder of the present district of Sagar came into the possession of the British between 1818 and 1860. Thereafter in 1861, the Saugor and Nerbudda territories (along with the Nagpur state) formed a Commissioner's Province called Central Provinces. Sagar was the headquarters of the Sagar Commissionership for a short period until 1863-64 when this district was incorporated with Jabalpur Commissionership. In the year 1932, the district of Damoh was added to Sagar district and was administrated as Sub-Division. In 1956, however, Damoh Sub-Division was again separated from the district to form a separate district and Sagar district consisted of four tehsils viz, Sagar, Khurai, Rehli, Banda. Demographics According to the 2011 census, Sagar District has a population of 2,378,458, roughly equal to the nation of Latvia or the U.S. state of New Mexico. This gives it a ranking of 188th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 17.62%. Sagar has a sex ratio of 896 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 77.52%. Scheduled Castes and Tribes made up 21.09% and 9.33% of the population respectively. At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 55.38% of the population in the district spoke Hindi