Arghakhanchi District

Arghakhanchi is one of the districts of Lumbini Province in Nepal. The district headquarter is Sandhikharka. The district covers an area of and has a population (2011) of 197,632. Its neighboring districts are Palpa in the east, Gulmi in the north, Kapilvastu District in the south and Pyuthan in the west. The district also covers 4.18km of daily busy road connecting Kapilvastu and Bhalubang, Lalmatiya, Dang with Rapti River as Mahendra Highway or Easy-West Highway. History The district consists of two pre-unification principalities Argha and Khanchi. Argha (Nepali:अर्घा) was the name given to ritual offerings made at the former principality's main Bhagwati Temple. Khanchi may come from the word Khajanchi (Nepali:खजाञ्चि) or tax collector since the center of the latter principality was known for its tax office. Both were two of the Chaubisi rajya (24 principalities) centred in the Gandaki Basin. In 1786 A.D. (1843 BS) during the unification of Nepal the two were annexed by Gorkha. Later the merger was renamed “Arghakhanchi” and added to Gulmi District. Arghakhanchi became a separate district in 1961 A.D. (2018 BS). Demographics In 2001, the population was 208,391. In 1991, the population was 180,884.