Hamirpur district is situated between 76º 18' to 76º 44' East longitude and 31º 25' to 31º 52' North latitude. The tract is hilly covered by Shivalik range. There are three principal ranges which run in a South-Easterly direction. It is situated at lower elevation and comparatively warmer but has some hilly ranges covered with forests. The known tourist attractions are Deot-Sidh, Temples of Sujanpur Tira and Nadaun. Hamirpur town is the Headquarter of this district, which lies on the Shimla Dharamshala road. Majority of the population here comprise of Hindus. Hamirpur is the most literate district in Himachal Pradesh. Beas river flows through the northern part of and Sutluj river flows through the southern part of district Hamirpur. Both of these two rivers namely Beas and Sutluj are the famous rivers in Himachal Pradesh.

Geography: It is located in the south western part of Himachal Pradesh. It is covered by lower Himalayas, the elevation varies from the 400 meters to 1,100 meters. The main hill ranges of the district are known as Jakh Dhar & Sola Singhi Dhar. The Jakh dhar runs in continuation of Kali Dhar range in the Kangra district. It enters in Hamirpur district near Nadaun and transverses it into southeastern direction. The town of Hamirpur lies to the east of this range where the country is undulating but in the north and north east bare and rugged hills, deep ravines with precipitous sides transform the landscape into what has been described as an agitated sea suddenly arrested and fixed stones. The Chabutra hills have the same dip and strike as in the Jakh Dhar and are continued beyond the Beas to what is known as the Changar, a mass of rugged and broken hills. The Sola Singhi Dhar is the longest range of the tract and is known under various names such as Chintpurni and Jaswan Dhar in Una and by Sola Singhi in Hamirpur. Thus Dhar enters Hamirpur to the east of Tappa Daruhi and traverses it in a south-easterly direction more or less parallel to the Jakh Dhar and terminated on the Sutluj. Hamirpur district is bounded in the north by river Beas which separates it from Kangra district. In the east Bakar and Seer Khads separate it from Mandi district. In the south, It is bounded by Bilaspur district and in the west by Una district.

River System: The river is drained by a number of perennial streams which are tributaries of either river Beas or river Sutluj. Bakar Khad, Kunha Khad and Man Khad drain into river Beas, while sukar Khad and Mundkhar Khad drain into Seer Khad which ultimately mingles into the river Sutluj.

History: The history of Hamirpur is closely associated with the Katoch dynasty which ruled the area between the Ravi and Sutluj rivers in the olden days. It is evident from the “Puranas” and Panini’s “Ashtadhyai” that during the Mahabharta period, Hamirpur was a part of the old Jallandhar-Trigarta empire. It is believed that in the ancient period, the rulers of Gupta dynasty had set up their sovereignty over this part of the land. During the middle ages, the area fell under the control of Mohammed Gazani, Timurlang and later Sultans. The Katoch dynasty became predominant during the period of Hamir Chand who ruled from 1700 A.D. to 1740 A.D. At the time of Hamir Chand the area was under the control of ‘Ranas’ (Feudal hill chiefs). Some of the prominent Ranas were, ranas of Mewa, ranas of Mehalta and Dhatwal.

Hamirpur came to limelight during the period of Raja Sansar Chand-II. He made "Sujanpur Tira" his capital and erected palaces and temples. Raja Sansar Chand ruled from 1775 A.D. to 1823 A.D. He dreamt of re-establishing the old empire of Jallandhar-Trigarta. He attached Mandi state and made Raja Ishwari Sen a prisoner for 12 years at Nadaun. He also obliged the Suket ruler to pay an annual tribute and annexed parts of Bilaspur state on the right bank of Sutluj. Becoming alarmed by the advancement of Sansar Chand, all the hills chiefs joined hands and invited the Gurkhas to stop him. The combined armies fought against Sansar Chand’s army at Mahal Morion in Hamirpur. Raja Sansar Chand's army defeated the combined forces and compelled them to retreat on the left banks of river Sutluj. Raja Sansar Chand, weakened his army when, on the advice of his General Ghulam Mohammed, he enlisted Rohillas. The combined forces again attacked the forces of Kangra at Mahal Morian in the second battle and forced a crushing defeat in 1806 A.D. Raja Sansar Chand along with family took shelter in the Kangra fort. The Gurkhas ruthlessly looted the area between the fort of Kangra and Mahal Mohrian. Ishwari Sen was liberated by the Gurkhas from Nadaun jail. Raja Ranjit Singh on the request of Sansar Chand, attacked and defeated the Gurkhas in 1809 A.D. Sansar Chand had to pay a heavy price whereby he had to lose Kangra fort and 66 villages to the Sikhs. The Sikhs maintained their sovereignty till 1846 when they were defeated by the British army in the first Anglo-Sikh war.

The British made Kangra, of which Hamirpur formed a part, a district in which Kullu and Lahaul-Spiti were also merged to form the part of the district. Hamirpur remained a part of Punjab province until 1st November 1966, when these areas were merged in Himachal Pradesh consequent upon the reorganization of Punjab. As a result, on 1st September 1972, Hamirpur was created as a separate district with two tehsils of Hamirpur and Barsar. In 1980 three more tehsils viz. Tira Sujanpur, Nadaun, Bhoranj were created with the further reorganization of the tehsils. Of these Nadaun and Bhoranj have become full tehsils at the 1991 census. Presently, district has five tehsils viz, Hamirpur, Barsar, Bhoranj, Nadaun and Sujanpur and one sub-tehsil i.e. Dhatwal at Bijhari. It consists of three Revenue Sub-Divisions namely, Hamirpur, Barsar and Nadaun. The Hamirpur Sub-Division comprises of Tehsils Hamirpur, Bhoranj and Sujanpur, the Barsar Sub-Division comprises Barsar Tehsil and Sub-Tehsil Dhatwal at Bijhari, whereas Nadaun Sub-Division comprises only one Tehsil Nadaun.

Languages Spoken: People of the Hamirpur district speak dialects of western Pahari. These dialects are akin to other dialects spoken in the adjoining areas of Mandi, Bilaspur and Kangra districts. Pahari comes under Indo-European family of languages. Besides Western Pahari, bulk of the population of Hamirpur district can speak Hindi.

Living & Food Habits: Generally, people have the pucca houses in the district and are double storeyed. This is primarily because stone is available in abundance and slates for roofs are also available in nearby quarries in the adjoining districts. About 92% population of this district live in the Rural areas and they are agriculturist. They grow wheat, Barley, Gram, Masar etc. in the Rabi season and Maize, Paddy, Blackgram, Kulth etc. in the Kharif season. People like Wheat, Rice as well as Maize Roties with Lassi and Sarson Ka Sag. Fish is easily available in the Rivers, khads and Nullahs, which flow through the district. Population living in the rural areas keep Goats and Sheep and some people in rural as well as urban areas are also running Poultry Farms.

Fauna & Flora: The various species of plants and forest trees are generally found in the districts such as Kikar, Khair, Bil, Sirish, Ambla, Neem, Karal, Taur, Kasmal, etc. The species of animals commonly found in the district are namely Leopard, Hare, Wild Boar, Jackal, Kakar (Barking Deer), Monkey and Sambhar. Among the birds commonly found are namely chakor, crow, jungli murga, kala titar, safed titar and woodpecker etc.