​KANKER, a feudatory state of India, within the Central Provinces; area, 1429 sq. m.; pop. (1901), 103,536; estimated revenue, £10,000. It is a hilly tract, containing the headwaters of the Mahanadi. The extensive forests have recently been made profitable by the opening of a branch railway. The residence of the raja, who is of an old Rajput family though ruling over Gonds, is at Kanker (pop. 3906).