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Baran city was under Solanki Rajputs in the 14th -15th  century. It is not exactly known that when the main town of the twelve villages under Solanki's was being named as 'Baran'. There are several thoughts for it, like some says since it was formed by twelve villages so it is called 'Baran', others says since the city was built by the 12 nearby villagers so it is named as 'Baran'. There are also saying that since the soils of the area is mostly 'Barani' so it is called 'Baran'.  It is also worth noting that 'Baran' in urdu means rain and no wonder that Baran has the second highest rainfall in the state after Banswara district.

Administrative Setup:For administrative purposes, the district has been divided into three sub-division viz., Baran, Shahbad and Chhabra consisting altogether of seven tehsils.                                                      

SITABARI

Sitabari :Sitabari is an ideal picnic spot, situated about 45Km from Baran in Kelwara kasba on National Highway road connecting Shivpuri-Gwalior.This is worships as a holyplace. It is well known in the area that 'Sita mata' has lived in this place after being left-out by Bhagwan Ram. This place is also known as the birth-place of Lav & Kush. There are Several Kunds in Sitabari namely Balmiki Kund, Sita Kund, Laxman Kund, Surya Kund, Lav-Kush Kund. Sita-Kuti is also situated in the forest area near the temple. The tribal Sahariya fair is held at this place in the May/June every year.

Kakoni:Kakoni is situated about 85 Km. from Baran district Headquarters in the Chhipabarod Tehsil. It is surrounded by the Mukundra mountain ranges and on the bank of Parwan river. It is said that the temples at Kakoni are built in 8th century. These are the remains of the 'Vaishnav', 'Shiv' and 'Jain' temples. About 60 % statues of the the Kakoni temples are kept in the Museums at Kota and Jhalawar districts. Archaeological department has announced the place as secure since 1970.

Ramgarh -:Bhand Devra Temple Ramgarh-Bhand Devra temples are situated about 40 Km. from Baran. The Shiv Mandir of Ramgarh was built in 10th century and are based on the Khujraho style. Due to the Maithun Statues, the place is named as Bhand Devra. This temple is situated on the bank of pond and now under the Archaeological department. This temple is known as Rajasthan's mini Khujraho.On the top of the Ramgarh hill, Kisnai and Annapurna Devi temples are situated in the natural cave. About 750 stairs were constructed by Jhala Jalim Singh for reaching the temple on the hill top. The main speciality of this temple is that one Devi is worshiped with Meva and another is with Mas-Madira. At the time of Parshad, curtain is raised between the two Devis. Fair is also organised during Kartik Purnima.

Kanyadeah-:BilasGarh Bilasgarh is situated about 45 Km. from Baran in Kishanganj tehsil. Connecting road is from village 'faldi' between Kishanganj and Bhanwargarh. Bilasgarh was the big city during the Khechi kingdom which was destroyed to ruins by the order of Aurangazeb. The daughter of the king Khechi was very beautiful and for her Aurangazeb has send his force which has ruined the city Bilasgarh. The princess ends her life in the 'Bilasi' river, the spot is now known as Kanyadeah. :The ruins of the Bilasgarh is still situated in the lonely place inside dense forest area.

Shergarh Fort :The historic fort is situated about 65 Km. from Baran in Atru tehsil on the small mountain in the city. Shergarh earlier known as Koshvardhan. The fort is one of the best forts in Rajasthan in the present time.

Kapildhara :Kapildhara is about 50 Km. from Baran. This place have natural beauty and pleasant place for visit. Water flows all the time from the 'Gaumukh' in the mountains.

Brahmani Mataji - :Sorsan The temple of Brahmani Mata is about 20 Km. from Baran in the village Sorsan. The 'Akhand Jyoti' is continously flowing in the temple since last 400 years. The statue of Brahmani Mata is situated under the large natural rock in the cave. The fair is organised on Shiv Ratri every year.

Shahabad :Fort Shahabad fort is the one of the best and strongest fort amongst the forts in Hadoti area. It is situated about 80 km. from Baran. The fort was constructed by the Chauhan Vanshi Dhandhel Rajput Mukutmani Dev in the century 1521 (Samvat 1577). This is situated in the dense forest area on the high mountain ranges. The fort is surrounded by Kundakoh valley on two sides. Third and fourth sides are surrounded by Ponds and high rocks respectively. The Topkhana(artillery), Barudkhana and some temples in the forts are still secure. It is said that the fort had 18 Cannons(Topes) in the past and one of the cannon was 19 feet.

Jama Masjid :Shahi Jama Masjid of Shahabad Shahi Jama Masjid is situated in Shahabad city and 80 Km from Baran city. This masjid was beautifully constructed during the reign of Aurangazeb. Its pillars and Mehrab are worth for seeing.

Nahargarh Fort :The fort is about 73 Km. from Baran in Kishanganj tehsil. Fort is an impressive structure in red stone and a fine example of the Mughal architecture.

Tapasviyo ki Bagechi :This is situated nearly 1 km. from Shahabad city which have large statues of Shivling and Nadiya. This place is surrounded by mountains and contains natural beauty. This place was used as a betal farming previously whose plots still exits in the ruined state. 

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Major Crops and Their Production Production: 1999-00, Tonnes ,Wheat 2,40,958, Maize 26,631 Gram 10,742 Sugarcane 7,032 Jowar 3,374 Paddy 1,730 Groundnut 1,210, Sesamum 51

Electricity: There are three power houses in Baran district with a generation capacity of 12 MW. These are located at Baran and Chhabra. Of the 1070 villages, 1037 villages were electrified as on 31 March 2000.

Water: The water for irrigation is available from Chambal canal in the tehsils of Baran and Mangrol besides wells/tube wells. All the 5 towns of the district have already been covered under drinking water supply scheme and there are 39 water supply schemes operating in the district.

Medical and Public Health Service:At the district headquarter, Baran has "B" grade district hospital, one maternity and child welfare centre, 3 dispensaries and 4 urban family welfare centres. There are 47 dispensaries/hospitals in the district.

Educational Facilities/Institutions:(No.) Primary Schools 930 -Middle Schools 332 -Higher Secondary and Secondary Schools 102- Degree Colleges 2- ITI 3

Industrial Scenario:No. of Large and Medium Scale Units 2- No. of Small Scale Units: 2,012- No of Industrial Areas: 2- Baran -Chhabra
Main Industries: Agricultural based units, cotton (in bales) textiles, embroidery, jute and jute based unit, leather units, metal based units, machine and machinery units, paper and products, petroleum based mineral units, readymade garments, rubber and plastic units, silk and artificial yarn clothes, soda water, tobacco, wool.

Export Items:Soya ,Rape, doc.

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Road Transport: The district is well connected to all district headquarters of the State. The total road length in the district was 1,491 kms as on 31 March 2000.
By Road Baran is well connected with road from all the major towns in Rajasthan. It is 72 Km. from Kota city and situated on National Highway No. 76.Towards Kota, Bundi, Biawar, Ajmer, Jodhpur, Delhi, Alwar, Udaipur, Medta

Rail Transport: The district has 95 kms railway line on Kota-Baran route.
By Rail: Baran is connected with Kota, Jodhpur Bhopwal and Galior

Air Transport: The nearest airport is at Jaipur (239 kms)
By.Air: Nearest Airport : Kota (72 km.)

Communication Facilities: (No.) Post offices 197- Telegraph offices 53- Telephone exchanges 24- Public call offices 724

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Fairs

Dolmela  Dolmela is organised at the Dol Talab (Pond) in the Baran city from Jaljhulni Akadhi. The main attraction of this day is a big Shobha Yatra (procession) which have about 54 Dev Viman (The Holy Statue Carriers) which is also known as DOL, of all the major temples of the city. In this procession some Akadas also demonstrates their Kartab (type of physical exercise).The procession started from Shreeji temple comes to the Dol Talab where all theDev Vimans are worshiped and then they are sent back to the respective temples. This fair is organised for 15 days which is very popular among the local residents as well as the residents from the Rajasthan state. People from adjoining Madhya Pradesh also visit for this fair.

Sitabari Mela Holy place Sitabri is about 45 Km. from the Baran city near the Kelwara Kasba. A big fair is organised here on Jeshta Amavasya. Lakhs of people come here for this fair. This fair is taken as Kumbh in the Sahariya tribe. The Swyambar (marriage function) of Sahariya tribes is organised in this fair where people comes from all over Rajasthan state and adjoining Madhya Pradesh. A Sahariya boy drops the handkerchief for proposing Sahariya girl, if the Sahariya girls accepts the Handkerchief, it is said that they are agreed for marriage. The bride and grooms take the 7 rounds (sat phere) of the Barnawa tree and after the blessings of their parents they are accepted as married couple. This fair is also called as animal fair where good varieties of Cow, Buffalo etc. selling purchasing are made.

Brahamani Mataji Mela This fair is organised in the old fort near Sorsan about 20 Km. from Baran. This is the only Donkey fair in the Hadoti region. Brahmani Mataji temple is in this fort. This fair is organised in Magh-Shukla-Saptmi. Other animals are also brought for selling-purchasing in this fair but mostly Donkey & Kachhar are sold and purchased in the fair.

Piplod Christmas Fair This fair is organised in the only Church of the Baran district in the village Piplod in Atru tehsil. This fair is organised on 25th December every year. Though this fair is organised near Church but local Hindu-Muslim also participate in the fair.

Phuldol Folk Festival This is the one of the oldest folk festival of the Rajasthan state. This festival is organised every year in the Kishanganj town on the occasion of Holi festival. The local resident of the town started this festival by the marriage ceremony of the Tulsi in their home with the statue of God Charbhujaji about 116 years ago. It is the tradition in the families that the groom comes to the in-laws home with their friends to play Holi. This tradition is followed by the God Charbhujaji and all the residents of Kishanganj town. On the day of Holi-Dulandi, lots of Swang(type of drama) is being played in all the town. Some of the famous swangs are Gidh-Rawan-Yudh, Band-Bandi swang etc. This festival runs all the day upto late in the night. Lots of people from nearby places come to witness the festival.

Urs - Balakhera About 33 Km. from Baran, there is a small village Balakhera, where Urs is being celebrated for last 33 years. It is interesting to note that this Urs was initiated by a Hindu Brahman family. Even today the flag of the Urs is taken out from the house of the descendant of this family.

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CLIMATE

Climate and Rainfall:

Climate :Mean Max. Mean Min.
Summer :41.8° C 28.0° C
Winter :23.2° C 5.0° C
Rainfall :26-44 cms
Clothing :
Summer :Light Tropical
Winter :Light Woolen

Best Season : October-March

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Area:6,955 sq.kms. (2.03 per cent of the State)

Location:The district is bound in the north and north-west by Kota, Jhalawar and Bundi districts and in the west by Chittaurgarh.,Climate and Rainfall,The mean daily maximum temperature is 42.6 degrees celsius ,Thee mean daily minimum temperature is 29.7 degrees celsius.

Latitude : 25.05 N
Longitude : 76.33 E
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Baran city was under Solanki Rajputs in the 14th -15th  century. It is not exactly known that when the main town of the twelve villages under Solanki's was being named as 'Baran'. There are several thoughts for it, like some says since it was formed by twelve villages so it is called 'Baran', others says since the city was built by the 12 nearby villagers so it is named as 'Baran'. There are also saying that since the soils of the area is mostly 'Barani' so it is called 'Baran'. In the year 1948, joint Rajasthan was formed and that time Baran was one of the districts in the joint Rajasthan. On 31st March' 1949, Rajasthan was reconstituted and that time Baran district headquarters was converted into Sub Division headquater of Kota District. It is also worth noting that 'Baran' in urdu means rain and no wonder that Baran has the second highest rainfall in the state after Banswara district.

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